Lady Gaga

As the name of my blog implies, I am trying to remain open to new ideas, innovations, and changes of the times as I grow older but last night's American Idol presentation of Lady Gaga proves to me that some things are just going to be beyond my ability to understand the new generation.

You Just Can't Fix Stupid

These are actual articles from newspapers.

David and Prom Date

This is grandson David Pitts and his prom date. David was hospitalized for several weeks earlier this year due to a staph infection in his spine and he is currently in rehabilitation but he is a tough and determined young man and did not let that keep him from his senior prom.

You look great, David and your date is lovely!

American Idol Pool

For the past several years, our family and friends have participated in a small betting pool for the winners of American Idol. Listed below are those who submitted entries and the choices they picked.
The scoring is determined by Terry Hawkins each year and he submitted the following rules:

# 1 correct: 100 points
# 2 correct: 75 points
# 3 and 4 : 50 points each (correct in any order)
# 5,6, & 7: 35 points each (correct in any order)
# 8,9 & 10: 25 points each (correct in any order)

Sara's Picks:

1. Danny
2. Matt
3. Adam
4. Allison
5. Lil
6. Kris
7. Anoop
8. Scott
9. Michael
10. Alexis

Amy's Picks:

1. Adam
2. Danny
3. Matt
4. Lil
5. Anoop
6. Allison
7. Michael
8. Megan
9. Kris
10. Scott

Kirk's Picks:

1. Adam
2. Lil
3. Danny
4. Allison
5. Alexis
6. Kris
7. Scott
8. Matt
9. Michael
10. Megan

Benji's Picks:

1. Matt
2. Danny
3. Kris
4. Lil
5. Adam
6. Allison
7. Alexis
8. Anoop
9. Megan
10. Scott

Kristen's Picks:

1. Lil
2. Adam
3. Alexis
4. Danny
5. Scott
6. Michael
7. Allison
8. Anoop
9. Kris
10. Matt

Davidson Family Picks:

1. Danny
2. Kris
3. Matt
4. Lil
5. Allison
6. Megan
7. Adam
8. Scott
9. Alexis
10. Anoop

Jamie Edwards Picks:

1. Adam
2. Danny
3. Lil
4. Matt
5. Allison
6. Alexis
7. Kris
8. Scott
9. Anoop
10. Megan

John's Picks:

1. Adam
2. Matt
3. Danny
4. Allison
5. Lil
6. Kris
7. Anoop
8. Scott
9. Michael
10. Alexis

Terry Willmon's Picks:

1. Danny
2. Matt
3. Kris
4. Lil
5. Adam
6. Anoop
7. Allison
8. Scott
9. Michael
10. Megan

April's Picks:

1. Danny
2. Adam
3. Matt
4. Lil
5. Allison
6. Anoop
7. Alexis
8. Kris
9. Michael
10. Megan

Susan's Picks:

1. Kris
2. Lil
3. Danny
4. Anoop
5. Matt
6. Adam
7. Allison
8. Scott
9. Alexis
10. Michael

Terry Hawkins Picks:

1. Adam
2. Danny
3. Kris
4. Lil
5. Matt
6. Allison
7. Scott
8. Michael
9. Anoop
10. Megan

Happy Birthday, Susan and Terry

My daughter, Susan, and my son-in-law ,Terry are both celebrating birthdays this week. They were high school sweethearts and are now married and are parents to my wonderful grandson, Will. They are moving into a new home this week and are busy following Will around as he plays college golf.

You bring our family so much joy and we love you very much ! I hope you both have a wonderful birthday!!

The Toilet Toll

First, it was charging extra for luggage, then it was doing away with the peanuts, then it was charging for the blankets and pillows, but this is ridiculous!
Europe's largest budget airline carrier, Ryanair, is considering a new cost-cutting measure --- charging to use the toilet on the airplane!! Toll slots on each bathroom door!
Knowing me, I would get 3500 feet up in the air, have a bathroom emergency and be fresh out of pocket change! I just don't think that idea is going to work. I think the money they would earn charging for toilet use would be offset by cleaning services for those who didn't have the proper change for the slot.

Trust me, Ryanair, it ain't gonna be worth it!

Happy Birthday - Kristen and Amy

Two of my favorite girls are celebrating birthdays this week. My daughter Amy has a birthday tomorrow and my granddaughter Kristen had a birthday yesterday.

Happy Birthday Kristen and Amy.

I love you very much!

Hawaii - Here We Come!

My grandson Will qualified to play in his first AU golf tournament to be held in Honolulu, Hawaii, next week! What a way to start his career as an SEC golfer! His mom and two grandmothers are going along for the ride.

We will not have any fun without the rest of the family (it's a rule) but we will try to tolerate the 80 degree weather and gorgeous scenery so we can support Will and his team ! :) We promise to take lots of pictures for sharing.

I Can't Make Up This Stuff !

Morticians say the new trend in preparing the dead for display in the casket is botox injections, and other face and body lifts to make the corpse look younger!

People are actually pre-paying funeral expenses to include cosmetic-enhancing procedures to be done after they are gone. I can hear it now: "I further bequeath to my children and other heirs the sum of $3.00 as it will require the remainder of my estate to make major adjustments to my body in order for me to look good dead."

I don't get it.

Your Doctor Would Never Recommend This

In preparation for Super Bowl Sunday, the airwaves have been inundated with recipes to please the crowds gathered at our homes for eating and watching football. This morning Good Morning America had a recipe for Bacon Explosion ! These are the ingredients: 2 pounds thick cut bacon, 2 pounds Italian sausage, 1 jar barbeque sauce and 1 jar barbeque rub.

Directions include an elaborate task of weaving bacon strips together to form a casing, then frying more bacon to put inside , then rolling sausage into a roll, then cooking on a grill for about 2.5 hours. If you live through smelling the fumes from the cooking, I'm pretty sure you would not make it through the eating without clogging every single vein in your body. I think they should rename it Weapons of Mass Consumption!

Did You Hear the One About ??? - - - -

Edgar and Nina Otto of West Boca, Florida, just spent $155,000.00 to clone their dead dog!

Let me begin by saying I am a "dog person". Have owned many dogs, prefer dogs to cats as pets, have adopted dogs from shelters, have fed stray dogs, have "dog-sat" for people who went out of town and needed their pets cared for, and would never in this world do anything to harm a dog --- but dropping $155,000 smackers in order to get another dog just like the one you had is "over the top" in my opinion.

Last time I adopted a shelter dog it cost me $50 so assuming one can be adopted for about the same amount now, Edgar could have gotten 3100 dogs for the same amount of money. Oh yeah, and he already has 9 other dogs so it ain't like he is lacking for dog-panionship.

Just when I think I have seen or heard it all - - - something like this comes along to blow my mind!

Proud Grandparent . . .

I thought for many years of my life that there was very little to compare to the pride I felt when my children accomplished their goals and fulfilled their dreams. I still have that but now realize that the same feelings are there when my grandchildren achieve those things in life for which they have worked so hard.

This weekend, my granddaughter Kristen, was offered a full tuition music scholarship to University of Alabama and she is only a junior in high school. And my grandson Will who is attending Auburn University on a golf scholarship received a letter stating that he had been named to the Dean's List for academic excellence his first semester there.

Congratulations, Kristen and Will! I could not possibly be more proud and I could not possibly love you more!

January 15th is an Important Day. . . .

January 15, 1559 - Elizabeth I was crowned Queen of England
January 15, 1870 - The democratic donkey made its debut in Harper's Weekly
January 15, 1892 - The 13 rules of basketball were established and published.
January 15, 1908 - Edward Teller was born and became the architect of the hydrogen bomb.
January 15, 1967 - The Green Bay Packers won the first Super Bowl, led by Bart Starr.
January 15, 1929 - Martin Luther King, Jr., civil-rights leader was born.
January 15, 1943 - The world's largest office building, The Pentagon, was dedicated.
January 15, 1974 - "Happy Days" premiered on television.
January 15, 1940 - Sara Isbell was born and ushered in the largest snowstorm ever recorded in
Fort Payne, Alabama, measuring an official accumulation of 18".

It's Those Side Effects Again. . .

The drug Fosamax, used in the treatment of Osteoporosis, has now been linked to 23 cases of esophageal cancer and also linked to a condition known as osteonecrosis in which the bone of the jaw dies off. But it may help your osteoporosis!

I know you have all read and heard the warnings of almost every drug on the market: "Take this and it will help your shoulder pain but it may cause rectal bleeding, oozing open sores, impotency, and blindness but you can count on it to help shoulder pain."

A recent magazine I received had one page of advertisement for some drug followed by four pages of side effects which may occur if you take it.

I think I have a handle on all that stuff. I do not take one single pill of any kind. I may be just a disease waiting to happen but the way I look at it, I would rather die from the thing that kills me than from the pills I took to cure it!

A Look Back at 2008

These are some of my highlights of 2008:

1. I lost 30 pounds and have kept it off for 7 months by eating better and exercising regularly at the gym. (I guess that stuff really does work)
2. One of my daughters and son-in-law sold their house and are now building a beautiful new one.
3. Another daughter and son-in-law bought a beautiful house in the neat neighborhood of Oakhurst in Decatur, GA.
4. My grandson, Will, earned a golf scholarship to Auburn University and started his freshman year at college.
5. My granddaughter, Kristen, was one out of only 400 in the U.S. , accepted at Brevard Music School for the summer.
6. My stepson Andy, sold the store where he had worked for 26 years and started a new career as a driver with Maverick Truck Lines.
7. My son, Kirk, was involved in a car accident, broke his back and spent three months in the hospital in Birmingham this summer but pulled through and continues to amaze us with his courage and spirit.
8. My husband, John had quintuple bypass surgery in Birmingham and had to spend several weeks at home recuperating and has recovered in spectacular fashion.
9. My hometown basically lost its entire hosiery industry to South America - an industry which has employed several thousand people in Fort Payne since I was a young girl.
10. Barack Obama was elected President of the United States. (Four years ago when I heard him speak to the Democratic Convention, I turned to John and said, "One day that man will be President of the United States." )

This has been an eventful year - not without some trials and stressful times - but I have been blessed with the most awesome family one can have and they are always my source of strength.

I look forward to 2009 when I turn 69 years old and plan for the celebration of my 25th wedding anniversary with a fabulous trip to Italy! Ciao!

Brick Layers in Bangladesh

No Title Required. . . . .

A Visit to Chick-Fil-A

This weekend, I, along with some other family members, attended a Christmas Open House at Chick-Fil-A headquarters in Atlanta. The corporate headquarters building was beautiful and we were entertained by the Atlanta Boy's Choir and several other musical groups. We toured the product kitchens, the antique car display, the museum and also walked through the office of Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-Fil-A.

As is the case of many successful people, Truett Cathy started very small - but with big ideas and a strong work ethic. He started as a short-order cook at a small grill in Hapeville, GA, and he now has Chick-Fil-A restaurants in 1000 locations throughout the United States.

I am always inspired by people who are successful but who never lose sight of the things that are really important - love of God, family and fellow man. It is obvious from touring his headquarters that Mr. Cathy has always embodied these principles.

Thank you , Mr. Cathy and Chick-Fil-A.

A Wedding and Baptism All in One

Living With Your Mother-in-Law

Since the Presidential election, news stories have circulated that Michelle Obama's mother will probably be moving into the White House with the Obamas.
Late-night talk show hosts have had a heyday with the news.

Jay Leno said, "Obama's mother-in-law may be moving to the White House. Joe Biden was right: Hostile forces will test the President within the first few months of this administration."
David Letterman's comment: "His mother-in-law in the White House? I thought this administration was against torture!"

Since the White House has 55,000 square feet of floor space, it's possible they could make it work but generally speaking, I think co-habitating with in-laws is a bad idea!
I am a mother-in-law and have a great relationship with all my "in-law children" - but I certainly haven't had any offers to move in with them - and I don't plan to ask any of them to move in with me either!

Now, in the event any of my "in-law children" make it to the Presidency and end up living in the White House where I would have access to full-time chefs, housekeepers, valets, gardeners, spa treatments, personal trainers, media rooms and huge libraries, I could see myself reconsidering my stand on this matter.