Red Fish and Blue Fish have arrived!!!
Congratulations to my brother Mr. Uncie and his wife Knobbleknees on the birth of their twin tax deductions on Wednesday, December 31st. In keeping with tradition, they have already been assigned (Sponsor's Name Here)'s Official Nicknames. Both were born at 4:47 PM on Wednesday. Dick Clark weighed in at 6 lbs, 6 oz. and Rockin' Eve weighed 4lbs, 9 oz.
I went down to the Greater Hoffman Estates Metroplex area yesterday to visit them, and Knobbleknees seemed to be in good shape, but Mr. Uncie's mother-in-law had Mr. Uncie already warn down to the nub.
GIZMOS AND GADGETS A-PLENTY
This popular saying comes to mind now that that holiday season ends. Although sales were down, I am sure that some of us received gifts. Although some were left to be desired, others were truly on our wish lists. For myself, I received some financial gifts, yet the most important gift I received was a clean house. My youngest purchased me a food chopper (probably to save her eyes from those dreaded onions), storage containers and also a Betty Boop calendar. And of course we know, Betty was the original 40’s are the new 30’s woman. (Thank you so much for making curves the “in” thing Betty!)
Should be Dangerous Owner Ordinance.
Have you all heard about the Dangerous Dog Ordinance that the Common Council is voting on sometime early this year? It started out specifically talking about Pit Bulls but has now been revamped to be any dog deemed dangerous by a humane or law enforcement official. The criteria includes things like, "an apparent attitude of attack" or a history of inflicting harm.
While I empathize with Sedlar about seeing her child attacked, I'm more inclined to agree with Semandel from Spirit of 76th Veterinary Clinic that it's more about the owner than the specific dog. If the owner is neglecting or otherwise abusing the dog or training them to be aggressive, the dog is going to be more likely to reach out to others inappropriately because it's what the dog knows.
Meet my parent's grandchildren, Version 2.0 and 2.1
Rockin' Eve is on the left, Dick Clark on the right. They were brought home from the hospital Sunday afternoon.
"Slumdog Millionaire" Worth Your Money
More new grandchildren for my parents - Version 3.1
My brother and sister-in-law, Mr. Uncie and Knobbleknees, aren't the only ones to add to the grandchildren collection. Meet Mr. Cranky Pants (pictured in between Gooey and his sister Jelly Bean). Born in late-June, my brother and sister-in-law, St. Jon and Strawberry Fields (who live in West Allis) completed the adoption process of Mr. Cranky Pants this morning.
THANK YOU FOR TAKING MY LIFE
My Dear Friend:
First off, I know you have a really busy life. I know this economy has brought most of us down. In fact, there are so many in this country suffering financial losses, the number is too great to count.
Signs of the Times
Several of us bloggers and commentators have been speaking about how bad West Allis has become, or, has it always been that way? I'm the type of person who tries very hard to examine both sides to every story. So, in order to accomplish that, I've been trying to follow the crime related news stories and the good accomplishments that do surface either in print, tv or online. What I've discovered is that NO area of the city or county is immune to crime. Recently it seems that most of the crimes seem to be related to the hard times, poverty and joblessness that has become so pervasive all over the country. I'm seeing more crimes of theft. Groups of people swarming into a store, taking whatever they can and running out with their "loot" for example. I believe that we're going to be seeing more drive-offs at gas stations, especially with the price of gas rising again. The Dollar Stores are getting robbed oftener as are pharmacies. I've no doubt that there's more shoplifting happening too. Times are hard for many folks but that's not an excuse to steal.
It makes me wonder what causes a person to think that if I have something and you want it, it's ok for you to take it from me. Violently too, if I don't co-operate. This type of action is definitely NOT ok. It reminds me of the old bridal shower game of Take-a-way. I'm getting more emails telling me how to stay safe and how to defend myself against attacks. Are the current times really this bad or is it my imagination? I'm definitely not picking on West Allis either since crimes of theft know no boundaries. It was brought home for me this weekend when a good friend of mine reported to me that his van had been stolen. Now this van isn't anything spectacular. It was found yesterday with the driver's side window smashed, the steering column trashed and many items stolen. I often wish that I could be the proverbial fly on the wall or the germ inside the brain of thieves. Doesn't anyone have a conscience anymore? Whatever happened to old-fashioned guilt? Where did respect disappear to?
Huh?!? What did you say?!?
You've got to speak up. I went to see Metallica last night at the Bradley Center (and we remember how important they are), and nine hours after they left the stage, my ears still have a distinctive ring to them.
Set List
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That Was Just Your Life
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Broken, Beat & Scarred
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One
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Harvester of Sorrows
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Cyanide
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Sad But True
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Wherever I May Roam
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All Nightmare Long
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The Day That Never Comes
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Master of Puppets
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Fight Fire With Fire
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Nothing Else Matters
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Enter Sandman
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(Encore) See You in Hell
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Stone Cold Crazy
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Seek and Destroy
Been to Titanic Yet?
My husband and I are planning to see the Titanic exhibit on Monday and I was hoping some of you already had.
Is it good? Not so good? Worth the price of admission?
REGARDING POLICY
Alright, so once in a while I read the paper in the office. While glancing through, I tend to look at the obituaries. The reason being is because I love to read how much the person was cared about and loved. I love to hear tales of how some lived their lives.
MAINTENANCE REQUIRED
I don’t know about you, but life as a single person is quite interesting. I look around and view couples, or those I believe are in happy relationships. Dating, engaged or married, most look settled, somewhat comfortable. Yet, once in a while, you meet that couple that just doesn’t seem to fit. You know, the ones who never see eye to eye or agree on anything. I don’t know about you, but I would rather be alone than miserable even 5% of my life with someone else.
POOR BILLIONAIRES
Has anyone read the recent article where many of our countries billionaires have lost unspeakable amounts of their vast wealth? One man, who had upwards of 20 billion is said to now “only” have approximately 10 billion due to his financial losses. Although I would like to say I feel sorry for these particular people, I really do not.
DON'T SMOKE ON MY PARADE
I recall as a young girl that smoking in our household was a normal occurrence. My parents probably smoked two packs a day, each. The cigarettes were always in our kitchen cupboard, above the telephone. Way back then, our phone had an actual cord on it. For those of us who remember way back then, it would be somewhere between rotary dial and cordless. Or, as my daughters would say, somewhere between the birth of Christ and Napoleon Dynamite.
I recall smoking being a part of my life and most of my friend’s lives as well. Statistics state that if your parents smoked, chances are, you will smoke as well. Believe it or not, out of the four girls in my own family, only one has chosen that path. I have to admit, though, that a couple of years ago I met someone who I became great friends with. She was a smoker, I was not. Yet, each and every Friday, she would offer, and I would decline. Yet, after a couple of months, I decided to try one. I mean, it had been since my first attempt in high school, so what the heck, right? I inhaled, and immediately felt light headed. It felt good. Since our night out was Friday, I noticed that I could not wait until that night. I just had to have that cigarette, or two. I made a very difficult decision and quit cold turkey. Sure, it was not as if I was hard core, but it could have gotten there eventually.
America has been cool for the last 8 years
(Subtitled: How to begin the first Lightning Round in 2009)
Apparently there is a belief that America hasn't been cool since Slick Willie was getting serviced by Monica... So inaugurations are either cool or not... I think the Obama presidency will be a political and economic nightmare, but a milestone like a black man becoming president isn't a horrible thing... So who really thought the Cards would take out Atlanta, Carolina and Philadelphia? Not many, as they were dogs for all three games (two of those games at home)... Pittsburgh is good - not great -, but Arizona is not gooder so look for the Steelers to win The Big Game (because I can still call it that!)... What the hell's the matter with Anquan Boldin? Can't you be happy about going to The Big Game? Hell, Asante Samuel was excited about losing the NFC Championship... Being busy at work in inversely proportional to the amount of blogging that I do... Did everybody watch the season premiere of Flight of the Conchords yesterday? No? Did you at least watch the season premiere of Big Love? Thank goodness for DVRs because I actually watched the four-hour football game last night... Tommasino Italia now serves lunch during the week, including the best chili this side of 17th & Wells... Speaking of chili... The Milwaukee Wave game this weekend will feature a tribute to the past, honoring their 25th season. After the game will be an alumni game... Ask me a Wave trivia question, I bet I know it. I also bet that no more than 10 non-employees have seen as many home games in 25 years as I have... I hate when websites get too cute. I tried to link from the Wave's homepage, but it is all Java-y and wouldn't let me... First one to stump me on a Wave trivia question (and you'd better be dang sure of the answer) wins a MyCommunityNOW.com pad of post-it notes and a pen... I haven't mentioned bowling yet... Planning a trip to Las Vegas in April for the USBC national tournament. I found rooms at the Sahara for $28/night, but flights (at convenient times) are still hovering in the $250 range... There, the obligatory mention of bowling.
Looking for a Director
And PR people get paid for this...
First, you've GOT to read this nugget. The article is about how Heinz is removing the pickle logo from its ketchup bottles.
Done? Good. So what part stuck out at you? No, I wasn't talking about the "Milwaukee" byline (although it is odd that a company in Pittsburgh and on a New York website would have anything to do with Milwaukee). It's this:
Phoenix residents are learning what we learned last year
The NFL machine keeps going.
Just like last year around this time, the NFL is raining on many Arizona parades.
A super prediction
In looking at the Pittsburgh Steelers / Arizona Cardinals match-up, you have one team that traditionally plays a solid defensive game against one that can put lots of points on the board in a hurry. In baseball, good pitching can cancel good hitting. In football, though, it isn't quite as simple. All you need is on defensive back, for example, to look over the wrong shoulder and the result is seven points. Or the defensive call could be an all-out blitz, which is picked up and a slant pass ends up going for a long score. Conversely, you could have the good offensive team with a few scores, but some defensive adjustments and the resulting turnovers put the team with the good offense in the hole, and when the entire stadium knows a pass is coming, the defense locksdown.
In other words, stop looking at the vaunted Steelers against the high-flying Cardinals. A better view of the game might come from reviewing the Steelers offense against the Cardinals defense.
Facebook gets Face Time
I know, I know...I've been AWOL again for a few weeks. I never intend to have these lapses in posts, but I keep adding new activities. My latest distraction is Facebook. I assume most of you are familar with the networking site. My husband's friend and his wife were talking about it while we waited for the comedy show to begin at Giggles.
(Which, by the way, was an awesome show. My only complaints would be not enough parking and the entry area to the club is quite narrow (stuffed into a strip mall), so it was tough moving around.)
