December 29 – Pepper Pot Day

Pepper Pot Soup was first made on December 29, 1777.

The legend goes:

“During the Revolutionary war, the Continental army was camped at Valley Forge. The winter was cold and harsh. Conditions were deplorable. Food was often scarce. George Washington asked his army's chef to prepare a meal for the army, that would both warm them, and boost their moral. The chef found scraps of tripe, small bits of meat and some peppercorn. He mixed this in with some other ingredients, and created Pepper Pot soup, also known as "Philadelphia Pepper Pot soup”. The hot, and somewhat spicy soup, was well received by the troops. It was called "the soup that won the war”.” – (holidayinsights.com)

I am travelling between people’s houses like a crazy person these few weeks. I can’t say during this holiday season because for me this whole year is a holiday season! I will say that when you have LOTS of other people celebrating a different holiday or holidays in general it is much easier to celebrate them. My “not as recognized holidays” are still being celebrated by ME but the celebrations have gotten a little smaller during my travels, therefore I was unable to make/eat Pepper Pot Soup. In honor of the continental army, I did stand outside in the cold and I was EXTREMELY hungry. I think that my education on this topic is also a good way to celebrate. I didn’t even know that there was a Pepper Pot Soup…and now I do.

December 28 – Card Playing Day

This is a day I do not have a hard time celebrating! I learned a new game called 99 from my mom, it was fun at first, but then got to be too long and involved too much thinking. I enjoy all types of card games. Jared introduced Tillman, our nephew, to cards – it was pretty entertaining.

Here are some of my favorite card games:

• Shanghi Rummi

• Hearts

• Euchre

• War

• Spoons

• All By Myself

• Solitaire

• Rummi

• Hand & Foot

December 27 – National Cut Out Snowflake Day

Today was FABULOUS!! (FYI: the red one is a real decoration, not one of our creations)

It was snowy outside, the sun was shining, and the whole family sat down around the table to make cut out snowflakes.

I dove right in cutting ferociously and ended up with a square looking snowflake that really wasn’t very good. I guess I can’t be great at everything.

Derek (Jared’s younger brother) looked up online how to make cut out snowflakes, he spent a fair amount of time on them and it paid off – his were AMAZING – rivaling those of Buddy the Elf.

Everyone had their own style and they all turned out great, it was the most participation in a blog holiday yet! HOORAY!

We hung them in the window for all to see, displaying out snowflakes to the world!  

December 26 – National Whiners Day

I wanted to take a picture, but the batteries in our camera were dead and I couldn’t find the charger. AND I had carried the camera all over and it didn’t work and it just sucked. I finally got the batteries charged and I can’t post any of my pictures I took because I forgot the cord to hook the camera up to the computer and now none of my posts can have pictures, so I will have to come back and put them all up later.

WHINERS UNITE!

I don’t like to brag, but I can be a really good whiner. This is not always a good thing, but today is the day to be good at it. Go ahead, whine about what you didn’t get for the holidays that you wish you did. Whine about the weather, your family, politics, whatever is bothering you. I actually think that this is a great idea…get it all out and then you can move on.

Today I whined about:
• Not getting a strike soon enough in bowling
• The cold weather
• There not being enough snow
• The finger holes in the bowling balls
• My back hurting
• The smoke in the bowling alley
• Not living in Michigan.

December 25 – No A’phabet Day

Today is the day of no “L”. Not quite sure if that means we are celebrating “l” or out-casting it. Since I have a few L’s in my name I will take it as honoring….in an absence makes the heart grow fonder kinda way.

Today we are ce_ebrating Christmas in Detroit, MI with my in-_aws. We arrived after a 5 hour drive from Chicago at 3am this morning. We sang Christmas caro_s most of the way. I was surprised that my beautifu_ singing wasn’t serenading Jared to s_eep, but he managed to fight through to get us safe_y here.

Jared’s o_dest brother is named _uke. It was quite fascinating as Jared was ca__ing him Uke most of the day and he never seemed to notice.

In writing this I am noticing “_” is not used near_y as much as I wou_d have thought. However, it is used is come very important words such as” _ove, smi_e, and Miche__e. It is a_so one of the _etters they give you in the fina_ round of Whee_ Of Fortune! RST_NE

I was trying to figure out what made this day No A’phabet Day, at first I started counting the _etters in the a’phabet to see if “_” was the 25th _etter…then I remembered that there are on_y 26 so there was no way “_” cou_d be the 25th. It remains a mystery…

Happy A’phabet Day!

December 24 – Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve! I LOVE today! I woke up this morning and Jared asked me what time it was….I started singing…It’s time to:

Rise and Shine and give God the glory glory

Rise and Shine and give God the glory glory

Rise and Shine and (Clap) give God the glory glory, Children of the Lord!

If you don’t know that song, I’ll sing it for you sometime…just ask! And of course it was done with the full set of motions!

Christmas Eve is a great day, I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning. First of all we are leaving for Michigan today…SO excited! I also thoroughly enjoy our Christmas Eve traditions that we have. When I was growing up we had an advent calendar that Pink Grandma made for us and it was so fun to get up every morning and race down to see what little character was going to be put on the tree. My mom made all three of us girls (I have 2 sisters in case you didn’t know, of which I am the youngest) a replica of that advent calendar. So on Dec 24th it’s always time to pull the last character out and it’s ALWAYS Baby Jesus! So this morning was no different after singing my song to Jared I took a quick shower and then hung up Baby Jesus. Duke’s tradition for the past few years is that he goes to the dog park. He and Jared are just about to leave now…we need to get him tired out for the plane ride…he is our carry-on! And finally, I have a little stool that says “Cookies For Santa” on it and I leave Santa a note and snack every year by the fireplace. I can’t remember ever missing a year. Since I will not be here on Christmas I will explain that to him in the note.

So I am off to write Santa a note, and finish up packing while Duke and Jared go run around the park.

Have a GREAT Christmas Eve!

December 23 – Festivus!

Festivus for the rest of us!

We watched the episode of Seinfeld where Festivus made its TV debut in 1997. Being that we own every season of Seinfeld, this was not a problem to find the episode and watch it. We learned that there are 4 main parts to the Festivus Celebration:

1. Putting up the Festivus Pole

2. Airing of Grievances

3. Festivus Dinner

4. Feats of Strength – where the head of the household must be pinned.

Festivus is so popular there was an article about it on CNN.com today:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/12/23/festivus.holiday/index.html

There is also a website: http://festivusweb.com/ if you would like to learn more.

We put up our pole – which happened to be a light that we have…usually sits in the corner. Next, we sat in a circle and told each other our grievances…this was not a very fun event…definitely the downer of the party. It was, however, a great thing to lead up to the feats of strength…really gets your blood pumping! Jared claims he is on the verge of getting sick and wasn’t really going to put up a fight, so Duke and I ganged up on him and won quite easily. I would like to say that it was just simply because of my overpowering strength and wrestling skill…he will tell you the sick story…but we all know the truth.

In case you would like to watch the entire episode it is called “The Strike” in season 9.

December 22 – National Haiku Day

I attempted this....I wouldn't recommend it if you are working in a stressful office! 

I only lasted 3 seconds.

Happy Birthday Amy!

You are such a very good friend!

Happy Birthday Amy!

Haiku’s are very fun to write I have decided! Haiku’s are typically written them in 3 lines and each line has a certain number of syllables: 5, 7, 5

“A Haiku must "paint" a mental image in the reader's mind. This is the challenge of Haiku - to put the poem's meaning and imagery in the reader's mind in ONLY 17 syllables over just three (3) lines of poetry!”

So I guess that really wasn’t a good Haiku…I’ll try again;

Michigan is there

I love the mitten, it’s home

I want to be there.

Jared feels yucky

He is starting to get sick

Poor Jared feels blah

The toys squeak all day

Four little paws chase the squeak

Always full of love.

I am sure those are some of the best Haiku’s you have ever read! Can you really get the imagery of what I am saying? I knew it!

Now go and make Haiku’s amongst yourself!

Go use the guidelines

Be creative in haiku’s

You can do it...yeah!

December 21 - National Flashlight Day

Today is National Flashlight Day because it is the day with the least amount of natural light. I tried to get Jared to only use flashlights tonight at our house…he said he wasn’t participating today. I think he was thinking about participating…then he said he was going to take a shower and I offered to stand on the toilet and shine the light in the shower for him…I thought it was a GREAT idea!

We did have some fun and Jared was showing me his dog and bird hand puppets in the flashlight shadows.

We always have our flashlights handy…there seem to be power outages here ALL the time. The worst one was 2006 we had no power for 3 days. It was in Dec and got pretty cold. I remember we went to the mall just to warm up – had to go to a far away mall. We thought about getting a hotel…turns out we were the LAST people to think of that, as they were all full.

I am not sure whey they are called FLASH lights, nothing is flashing, you might think they would be called steady beam lights. Maybe because you can just FLASH them on…but don’t all lights come on like that? Hmm…now this is bothering me.

The Energizer Bunny answered my question!

How did the flashlight get its name?

When the flashlight was first invented, battery power was still in its infancy and there wasn't a strong enough source to power the flashlight for a long period of time. Users pushed a button to literally “flash light” on the path in front of them, shining the light for just a moment. Hence, we have the name we use today—flashlight.

December 21-27

Dec 21 - National Flashlight Day

Dec 22 - National haiku Poetry Day

Dec 23 - Festivus

Dec 24 - Christmas Eve

Dec 25 - A'phabet Day

Dec 26 - National Whiners Day

Dec 27 - Make Cut Out Snowflakes Day

I was REALLY excited about the Hershey's Bar!

**I will be travelling until Jan 4th.  I will be doing my best to post my celebrations, but you can bet I will be celebrating!**

December 20 – Mudd Day

At first I thought this day was about mud (the dirt); I was thinking WOW two holidays honoring mud…I never realized how important it was! Then I did a little research and discovered the real MUDD of the day:

Samuel Mudd was born on this day in 1833. I am not so sure I want to celebrate this day, so we are just going to call this an Educational Day not a Holiday.

Here are the basics:

Samuel Mudd was a Doctor in Maryland and a supporter of the Confederacy. He was associated with John Wilkins Booth, and was convicted of giving him medical attention and helping him to escape authorities after Lincoln was shot. He received a life sentence in June 1865, but was pardoned by Andrew Jackson in 1869. He eventually died of pneumonia in 1883.

If you would like to read more you can check out this website:
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWmudd.htm

Duke was sad to learn the truth about this day…he had been hoping to play in some mud he found at the park today.

December 19 – Look For an Evergreen Day

Today is the day to buy your Christmas tree! We usually buy our tree shortly after Thanksgiving and this year we aren’t even getting one…sad because I LOVE Christmas trees…happy because that means we will be at home in Michigan this holiday season! Yes for the first time since Jared and I have been married we will be going back for the Christmas season!

I woke up and told Jared what day it was and he walked over to the window and said…There’s one! Not hard to do being that we live in “The Evergreen State”. There are many evergreens everywhere you look. They are beautiful and do help during the 10 grey months we have in Seattle…give us a little color to look at.

Since we do not have a tree this year, here are some of our past Christmas trees!

2006 Our First Christmas

 

2007 - Duke did very well this year

2008 - Duke and his Reindeer

December 18 – Underdog Day

Underdog!!! That was my favorite thing to yell as a kid on the swings. After asking my dad, mom, or sisters for what felt like hours to PLEASE give me an underdog I would excitedly count….1…..2…..3…..UNDERDOGGIE!!!!!!! It truly was an exciting thrilling experience every time!

Jared and I headed to a park close to our house to give each other Underdogs on the swings. I hope you appreciate these pictures…Jared had to give me about 16 until we figured out just when to push the button and how long before the camera took the picture on the timer mode. Luckily we figured it out while I was on the swing; I only had to give him 1 underdog, which was good because apparently he was getting dizzy on the swings…

I also cheered for an underdog team; I watched the Montana vs. Villanova football game and cheered for #3 Villanova, because Montana was ranked #1. Nova was down in the beginning but came back to win! HOORAY…the Underdogs are the winners!

I also laid under our dog to be truly…Under Dog.

We thought about dressing Duke up as Underdog the cartoon, but decided he wouldn’t really like that and it’s not his blog, therefore participation is optional…he opted out.

Happy Underdog Day!

December 17 – National Re-Gifting Day!

Today is the day you truly hope that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure…or you just say “FINALLY I can get rid of this and let it collect dust in someone else’s house!”

At first I was nervous that I wouldn’t have anything to re-gift…as I said yesterday I love purging and don’t keep much extra stuff around…I am sure when I have a garage, basement, or storage area of some sort that will change a little. I was looking at our book shelf and I saw a couple hiking books that Jared and I have used maybe one time. PERFECT…I happen to know a lot of people who like to go hiking. There are LOTS of beautiful hikes out here, however, I have done very few of them.

I grabbed the books and the Albertson’s add from the paper (Albertson’s is a grocery store out here) and wrapped them up. Nothing like re-gifting in re-used wrappings! Again, I called my friend Erica…the one who let me herd her cats…and again asked if I could come over for a quick visit tonight. I can only imagine what she was thinking – what animal am I going to torment tonight, or crazy thing am I going to make her do – however, being the great friend that she is again she said she would be there.

It was a quick stop as she and her hubby, Joe, were packing for their Christmas trip back to New York/New Jersey where they are from. I think she liked them, I told her if she used them more then once, they were getting more use with her then with me…if she doesn’t want them she can re-gift again! The vicious cycle continues!

National Re-Gifting Day is on December 17th because supposedly this is a day that there are a lot of office parties. On the way to Erica & Joe’s house we drove by the Expedia Headquarters and they were having their Christmas bash…looked like a great time…we are all paying too much for tickets through Expedia for them to be having that big of a Christmas party!

Now that I think about this…possibly you should have known that this day was coming before you celebrated yesterday too much. Take those old annoying toys and pass them on to another unsuspecting parent! I have vowed not to get my nephew any annoying toys for fear of retaliation from my sister and brother-in-law when we have kids of our own.

December 16 – Barney and Barbie Backlash Day

This day is a day to get rid of all those annoying toys that have taken over our society.  I believe this day is strategically placed before the holidays when kids will be loading up with the next round of annoying toys.

Luckily, I do not have any annoying toys around my house. I have no kids and don’t live by my nephew. I also LOVE to purge things so Jared and I go through our house at least 2-3 times a year and get rid of things we never use and don’t need – needless to say we don’t have much to get rid of right now.

I don’t think I had any annoying toys when I was little…however, my parents may disagree.  Here is a list of my favorites toys and activities as a kid:

· Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

· Stuffed Animals

· I loved building forts

· I used to take my stuffed animals for rides in the wagon behind our John Deer mower

· Basketball, Soccer, Football – my dad used to teach me patterns to run in the backyard and we would play football together

· Tramp Shows – my sisters and I would create big elaborate trampoline shows and my parents would sit outside and watch and we even have one on tape…I am pretty sure it is Jared’s favorite movie

· Race Cars

Get rid of the annoying toys in your house…if you don’t have toys clean out other junk from your house.

December 15 – National Cat Herding Day

Today is an interesting day; at first I took it straight up as Herding Cats…there are, however, two meanings for this day. One is actually herding cats and the other is strategically placed on this day because about this time of the year you feel like you are being pulling in so many directions with the holidays that it might be easier to herd cats! (I agree)

Meaning #1

I only know 2 people with cats in Washington and they are married so really it’s like one. I called my friend Erica up and asked her if I could come over and herd her two cats. Without even asking a question she said “Sure!” as if that was a normal request. I arrived at her house not sure what I was going to do, she has 2 cats, one that could really care less what you are doing and one that was scared of me. I decided I would try to corner the cats in an area of the house. Erica thought the best way to herd them was to just offer them treats. This worked, but I wanted a bit more of a challenge. I decided to herd them to the end of the hall. One cat, Roxy, simply moseyed on down the hall and sat down, Moose however, gave me a little bit more of a challenge. I chased him around the through the kitchen and hallway, he escaped by me a couple times, but for a brief moment I was able to corner both cats under the computer desk. By this time I was positive I was causing stress and not making friends with the cats so I stopped. It was quite fun, I would like to try with a bunch of cats, knowing I would never probably succeed, I still think it would be fun.

Meaning #2

This day, again, fell perfectly on the right day for me. Today I just felt completely stressed out about the holidays. I usually am not a very stressful person, I may seem stressed at times on the outside, but I can usually just step back and work my way through things. Today, however, I was completely overwhelmed and led to me realize again how stressful and not fun it is to live far away from home. Jared and I are going home for Christmas for the first time in about 3 years. We love to see people at home, but it is never a real vacation for us since we have to see all different groups of people, everyone wants a certain amount of time and so forth. Every family has traditions and certain days…it is all just completely overwhelming. Today it just got to me and I just wanted to go to Michigan sit in a chair and say, “whoever picks up my chair and takes me somewhere…that is where I will go…I am making no decisions…and I just don’t care!” WHEW! Anyways, I have calmed down a bit and am beginning to get a grip on the situation. I just need to realize ahead of time, we are going to be driving all over, we will never see everyone, and the people we do see it will never be for long enough, but I just need to enjoy the moments we do have with the people we do get to see.

Happy Holidays!

December 14 – National Bouillabaisse Day

You know how you want to throw that super fun New Year’s party…with great music, fun games, friends…or have that wonderfully planned out Thanksgiving where all the food is done at the exact same time, everyone arrives with smiles and offers to do all the dishes while you sit there and relax…today was kinda like those days to me…I had GREAT expectations…then the reality of the day hit me.

Bouillabaisse for those of you who do not know is a traditional Provencal fish stew originating from the port city of Marseille.

What makes a bouillabaisse different from other fish soups is the selection of Provencal herbs and spices in the broth, the use of bony local Mediterranean fish, and the method of serving. In Marseille, the broth is served first in a bowl containing the bread and rouille, with the seafood and vegetables served separately in another bowl or on a platter. (wikipedia)

I had high hopes now that Jared is done with school that we would be able to whip this up and try it…I knew that I would hate it, I don’t like soup/stew or seafood…so there really was no hope for me – but I was willing to give it a go for the sake of my blog.

However, I looked up a recipe online and that idea flew right out the window and got hit by a semi!

I am no chef…cook…or anything else that might belong in a kitchen as we have discussed before. When I looked at the recipe and saw there were 22 ingredients…and then 6 more for the sauce…most of which I did not already have in my house (or even know what they were for that matter) I knew I was done. I looked at going to get it at a restaurant…but you can’t pick this up at some little store on the corner, you have to go to a NICE restaurant…when you consider Applebee’s to be a “big night out” a place that serves Bouillabaisse is off the charts!

Therefore, today I learned what bouillabaisse is and that anyone who can make it is amazing!...and no I would not like to try it, so if you can make it…you enjoy it all!

December 14-20

Dec 14 - National Bouillabaisse Day
Dec 15 - Cat Herders Day
Dec 16 - Barbie & Barney Backlash Day
Dec 17 - National Re-Gifting Day
Dec 18 - Underdog Day
Dec 19 - Look for an Evergreen Day
Dec 20 - Mudd Day

December 13 – Ice Cream & Violins Day

Well, there was a slight misunderstanding in this day. I understood it to be Ice Cream & Violins day…however, as you may or may not know there are a number of different holidays on any given day. Therefore, today is Ice Cream Day and it is ALSO Violins Day.

Well, I am combining them, because that is what I originally thought it was...oops…here I go making up new holidays!

I ate my vanilla ice cream today with a cookie on the side while I was looking at pictures of violins. I also listened to some great violin music. This got me thinking I wonder if you could eat ice cream while you were playing the violin. The way violinist move their head and entire body for that matter while they are playing, I am not so sure this could be done with accuracy…besides the fact that you would have to have a feeder, because I absolutely cannot see how you could feed yourself while playing. You would need to invent some sort of magical machine to do that.

I am thinking of taking up the violin, I am pretty sure that if I moved my head and had a serious look on my face, no matter what I was playing I would look like a pro. I am a pretty good fake violin player, I would just have to go at it with full vigor and not let up no matter what was happening…I wonder if I could make money on the streets…then I could go buy ice cream! Another great meaning to the day! I think in the future on this day you should have to go outside and play your violin until you get enough money to buy ice cream…GENIUS! I better start practicing for next year!

December 12 – National Gingerbread House Day

I do not believe I have ever actually made a Gingerbread House before. I never really understood the point of them…I mean no one actually eats them do they? Maybe people do…I certainly never would. And why is it called Ginger-“Bread”…I see nothing “bready” about this at all. It is more like cardboard…cracker, or graham cracker like…I am not so sure about this whole BREAD thing. I am aware that people eat gingerbread, but really the houses…I don’t see people pulling them apart after sitting out for a week and eating them…if you do…umm…great, I’m sure a lot of people do! (No I’m not.)

It was interesting building a Gingerbread House in a Canadian hotel room. I am pretty sure when the maids come in tomorrow they will say, “WOW a masterpiece! What a nice gift!” They will probably pass it around the staff taking pictures with it. I'm sure it will end up being displayed in the lobby of the hotel for all to see. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a call saying that we are welcome back any time for a free stay!

Apparently the gingerbread house started to become popular with the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale.

Overall, it was fun to make a Gingerbread House…to have the experience, but not something I would need to do again.

(This was before I realized that the right side of the roof was slowly falling off...thanks to the "frosting" that looked more like caulk I was able to fix it!)

December 11 – International Mountain Day

(Mt.Baker)

I LOVE MOUNTAINS! They are so beautiful! I am not quite sure what makes them so beautiful, is it because they are so big? All the different colors and textures in them? That there is no way I can deny God made them? The house some of the most interesting animals….not to mention BIG FOOT?!

Well, I did go international today, Jared and I headed up to Vancouver for the weekend. However we got to Canada at 4:00 which out here it is already pitch black so I was unable to get pictures of the actual “international mountains”. Here are some GREAT pictures of the mountains I get to look at almost every day! - To some they are international so there ya go.

(Olympic Mountains in the distance)

I have been proud of myself, when I moved out here it seemed that the people who lived here were immune to the beauty and awe of the mountains and I was determined not to let that happen to me. I am proud to say that when the sun is out, the sky is clear, and they are actually visible they still take my breath away and I always say “WOW look at the mountains! They are so beautiful!” I mean sometimes I may say some variation of that…it’s not like I have a line memorized for those occasions. So enjoy your mountains (the big rocky ones outside…no dirty minds please)…if you can’t find any you can look at these!

(Cascade Mountains)

December 10 – Human Rights Day

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948 without a dissenting vote is the first multinational declaration mentioning human rights by name, and the human rights movement has largely adopted it as a charter.

The basic rights and freedoms that all humans should be guaranteed, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law.

For this day I am happy to say I live in the USA. No we are not perfect, I don’t know of a place that is, but we are trying. I don’t believe there are many places where you can bash the leader of your country on TV or in the paper, or say that you hate how everything in the country is done, and still be given all the benefits of living there.

Basic human rights – life – seems like it should be an easy thing, but it’s not. I am so glad that I am alive, have food, shelter, and so much more then I could ever need.

I had the privilege to visit Mother Teresa’s orphanage in India...that woman was amazing! It was an experience I will never forget.  I hope that I can make an impact on the world in my life even if it is 1% of her impact it would be great!

Today I am taking time to value my rights as a human and thinking about how I can make an impact to help others have these same rights. Thank you to all the Human Right Leaders who have graced this earth and to all those in the making!

December 9 – Weary Willie Day

Today celebrates Emmett Kelly’s birthday – he was born on Dec 9 in 1898. He was born in Kansas, but grew up in Missouri. He ended up working in silent films and came up with the character Weary Willie. After doing many other things, and turning down The Ringling Brothers twice, he finally signed with them in 1942.

Emmett Kelly, in his guise as Weary Willie, did not join the huge Spectacle numbers at the conclusion of each performance, but instead wandered into other performers' acts -- string up laundry on a low acrobatic wire, dusting off animals, and working the stands. In addition, Emmett Kelly also performed in the ring in his own acts, with the most famous undoubtedly being his "sweeping the spotlight" routine.

Emmett Kelly Sr. remained with the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus for fourteen seasons, taking the 1956 season off to perform as the 'mascot' for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Emmett was active on Broadway ("Please Keep off the Grass") and movies (notably the circus classic The Greatest Show on Earth and Fellini's classic The Clowns). Beginning in 1957, he worked with the Shrine Circus and made personal appearances worldwide.

Emmett Kelly Sr. died of a heart attack on March 28, 1979, at his home in Sarasota, Florida, USA. He is memorialized by the Emmett Kelly Museum in his birth town of Sedan, KS.(http://www.clownministry.com/)

Read more: http://www.clown-ministry.com/index_1.php/articles/emmett_kelly_sr_biography_world_famous_tramp_clown/#ixzz0ZFHDgVQO

December 8 – Take It in the Ear Day

I did some research on this day because I had absolutely no idea what it meant. Turns out no one else does either...it is on all sorts of crazy holiday calendars and websites, but no one knows how it started or what it means. One web site said maybe we are just all spelling it wrong...add an “r” to the beginning of ear.

Anyway, I did a lot of listening today and I really tried to take it in. I listened to people at work, I listened to all the people I had to call on the phone for reference checks at work, I listened to friends on the phone, family, Jared, and I tried to listen to Duke but he is not that vocal.

That’s all I really got…if you have any idea what this may mean please let me know! The following is purely for your enjoyment.

These are the inmates in Cebu in the Philippines. They do monthly performances for their family and the public…everyone is invited to come watch. This was part of a tribute to Michael Jackson! (I love large organized dance things)…I hope you enjoy!



If you are interested there are many more performances on Youtube.com

December 7 – National Cotton Candy Day

Cotton Candy, can be one thing or can be separated into two separate things. Both are fluffy and not good for you. I like to break things up, much like you would in a game of Charades or Guesstures…for example highchair you could split it and get people to say HIGH and then CHAIR…this leads me to Cotton Candy Day.

I could not find any Cotton Candy. I was not at a fair, ball game, or circus of any type. I must admit that I am not a big fan of cotton candy, but it seems at those places there are always people shoving the brightly covered sugar sticks into your face. I got a tip from a co-worker that our local video rental store sometimes had it…no good. Therefore I used this opportunity to stretch my thinking power. I guess I was just assuming that Cotton Candy Day meant that puff of sugar kids get and end up with blue or pink patches all over themselves – looks very sticky and highly unattractive.

Possibly, and I think there is a good chance, that Cotton Candy day meant celebrating two great things: Cotton and Candy! I was wearing quite a bit of cotton today and I was able to eat a slice of chocolate cake…and later a 3 Musketeer. I severely enjoyed all of my cotton and my candy today. I also finally remembered to get some cotton balls from the store!

I told Jared I got him cotton candy, here he is heading off to his LAST MONDAY MBA class ever!

Some people even think that Cotton itself is Candy…check out this scene from one of my favorite holiday movies: (the volume is really quiet so if you want to hear turn it up loud)



Enjoy your Cotton and your Candy today, or if you have some, your Cotton Candy too!

December 7-13

Dec 7 - National Cotton Candy Day
Dec 8 - National Take It In The Ear Day
Dec 9 - Weary Willie Day
Dec 10 - Human Rights Day
Dec 11 - International Mountain Day
Dec 12 - National Gingerbread House Day

Dec 13 - Ice Cream & Violins Day

Haha - this picture is me sliding down the slide with my nephew....I was falling at the bottom and trying not to land on him...my sister caught the action!

December 6 – National Pawnbrokers Day

I love pawn shops! We used to live right down the road from Yuppie Pawn, it was a great little pawn shop, I bought a camera, Nintendo games & accessories, and a couple other things from there.

Since we moved we have not been to the local Pawn Shop so we decided to go take a good look around. Musical instruments, tools, and guns…that pretty much sums up the inventory. So if you are a country guy or need props for a country music video…it’s the place to go. Being that I used to work for Black & Decker/DeWalt, I take a special interest in the tools – there are all the older models, I like looking at them and inspecting them myself. We found an accordion that looked to be in great shape, a English saddle, and a video camera from about 1985 – you know those big ones that weigh 12lbs – looked just like the one we had when I was little.

Pawn shops are a great place to relive the past, you can find all sorts of things fro your childhood. Oh, I also saw a slide projector, and some mounted animals in case you don’t want to shoot them yourself, but enjoy having dead animals on your wall staring at you.

Thank goodness for pawnbrokers to take all of our crap and give us a faction of the value in return. Whoever traded in that video camera better spend that $1.02 wisely!

December 5 – National Bathtub Party Day

OH, what a fun day! Let me tell you I throw one good Bathtub Party! We had decorations, music, food, bubbles…it was great! It didn’t take long for me to prepare my party with a little pre-planning. Duke made several appearances…it was more just a party for one with visitors or should I say, a visitor (Duke) stopping in. I sat in the tub in my bubbles singing away and eating chocolate chips – FABULOUS! I encourage everyone to do this – be a kid again and really do it up!

What is better then a tub filled with hot water and bubbles on a cold day!