Tuesday Thoughts

I'm linking up with Stacy because I'm feeling random!

STAY TUNED for my 2,000th post!  I'm in the process of setting up a new giveaway.  It's been awhile.

My kids (I say kids.  They're 21.  Twins, a boy and a girl.) Anyway... My kids and I were having a "what if" discussion about driving the other night, and our favorite was, What if you could only drive  as fast as your age?  Wouldn't that be scary? 

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People my age going at a moderate speed, but some of our older drivers, like my mom, who scares me when she drives, could be going close to 80!  Crazy, huh?

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The other day at school, the counselors set up pet therapy----for the teachers!  It was only during a certain time, so I missed it, but I bet it was fun!

Here's something I saw on the Web this past week:  The difference between American and Japanese toilets.  If you have read my blog for very long, you know that I HATE public toilets!  I especially hate porta-potties, but this post isn't about those, so...  My point is, why can't we have these?  Check these out!



Easter is almost here!  Do you make (or buy) Easter baskets for your kids?  At what point do you stop giving them baskets?  Do you do anything for your partner or spouse?  Just wondering!

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And before I go...

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Have a great week!  And stay tuned for my 2,000th post and giveaway!

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Sunday Synopsis

😢No Sunday Synopsis today.  I'll be back next week.  Yes, on Easter!  Have a great week!

Armadillos - Texas State Animal

People sometimes ask if the Armadillo is really the state animal of Texas.  Yes.  Yes, it is.  Since June 16, 1995.  And they often asked if I have ever seen one.  Well, yes, I have.  I have seen them dead and alive.  I've even seen armadillo babies.  They're cute!  Here are some fun facts you probably don't already know about the armadillo.

1.There are about 20 different species of armadillos.  Our state armadillo is the nine-banded armadillo.

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2.The armadillo is a distant cousin to both the sloth and the anteater.

3.Their life-span is 12-15 years.

4.The word armadillo means "little armored one" in Spanish.

5.The armadillo has a bony,  scaly shell to protect it from prey.

6.Armadillos were once native to South America, but now they range as far north as Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Kansas.

7.My favorite pose to see an armadillo is when it is upside down holding an empty lone-star beer bottle.  This happens first because the armadillo dies, usually because he's been hit by a car.  They don't have great eyesight, so they can't see that car coming down the road.  They're sometimes called "hillbilly speed bumps."  Then a good old boy sees it, gets out of his truck, and takes one of his "empties" and places it on the armadillo in memoriam. (You can actually purchase these on eBay!)

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8.Armadillos don't usually cause harm to people, but they are wild, so I wouldn't necessarily keep one as a pet, but you can if you want!

9.Some armadillos carry the bacterium that causes leprosy.  I bet you're re-thinking that decision to keep one as a pet!

10.The 9-banded armadillo weighs from 5.5 to 14 pounds and stands 15 to 23 inches tall.

11.They mostly eat insects.

12.Armadillos are solitary and nocturnal creatures.

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13.You can eat armadillo (I never have.)  During the depression, many people did.  They were called "Hoover Hogs" back then.  Some people call it possum on the half-shell.  Haha!  I bet Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies could have cooked up a mean armadillo dinner!

Sources: Mental Floss, Wonderopolis, AnimalSake.

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Random Tuesday Thoughts

I'm linking up with Stacy today.

Wow!  The time change and a week off school both have my body clock messed up.  I guess you could say part of it is my fault for failing to follow the same schedule I normally have throughout spring break.  Oh well.  I'm just tired.

News... news?  I don't know.  Too many bad things are happening.  Bombings in Austin, Texas (my home state), and we have friends and relatives there.  A shooting at a high school in Maryland.  The 14 year old boy is stable, but the 16 year old girl is in critical condition, last I heard.  The perpetrator was killed by the school resource officer, a former SWAT officer.

I need to focus on the lighthearted stuff!

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Are you old enough to remember when we called the newspaper comics "the funnies?"  I liked to read them every day, but especially on Sunday when they were in color. My favorite was always Peanuts.  I grew up, not only reading it in the funnies, but also in books.  I had stacks of Peanuts books.  I think I had these two (and dozens more), but mine were paperback.

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I'm pretty sure I still have them somewhere. The covers were colorful but the pages were black and white.  I didn't care.  I loved them.  I also had a few with the original Charlie Brown in them.  Or was he just the "young" Charlie Brown?

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Before I go, I will leave you with these:

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That's all for this week!

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Sunday Synopsis

The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought this was one of the Plantagenet/Tudor novels that I would skip. I'm so glad I didn't. I loved it, just as I have loved all of Philippa Gregory's novels that I have read so far.

This is the story of three very different women whose stories overlap. First, there is Anne of Cleves. Historically, not much is known about her except that she left her home country to marry Henry VIII, and even after their marriage was over, she stayed in England and loved the country she eventually called home. She is characterized as the sister of a Duke who was overbearing and a mother who cared little for her. On her first day at Henry's court, a fateful incident takes place that sets the tone for her entire, though short, marriage to Henry. Does she have misgivings on her way to meet the King of England, the one who disowned one wife, beheaded another, and lost one during childbirth? Perhaps, but she is the essence of propriety and regalia.

Next is Katherine Howard whose story begins when she is a maid-in-waiting for Anne's court. Vain, beautiful, spoiled, and lusty, Katherine catches King Henry's eyes immediately, and he sets his sights on having her for his wife. She loves all the gifts, the attention, the treatment, but she doesn't love Henry. Instead, she falls for a young man in Henry's court, much like her cousin Anne Boleyn who lost her head on the chopping block.

A woman who is part of both Anne's and Katherine's courts, as well as the court when her sister-in-law was Queen, Lady Rochford, also called Jane Boleyn. Jane was married to Anne Boleyn's brother and gave testimony against them both that led to their demise. Back at court after Jane Seymour's death, Lady Jane has her sights set on wealth and a title. She acted as a spy when Anne of Cleves was Queen, at the ready to give testimony against her if necessary. And during Katherine's time as Queen, she assisted Katherine in treasonous affairs against the King.

This book is versatile. There is happiness and sadness, anger and lust, power and betrayal, shame, heartache, temptation, and triumph. I just wish Gregory would stop using the phrase, "It's early days." But seriously, her writing is so easy to read and so addicting. This book is hard to put down!


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1965

Below are some important events from the year of my birth:  1965.

1. On January 16, the TV show "Outer Limits" ended.

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2. The Byrds recorded the song "Hey Mr. Tambourine Man" on January 20.

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3. On February 1, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and 700 fellow activists were arrested in Selma, Alabama.

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4.  The Sound of Music was released on March 2.  It starred Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.  The Sound of Music won the Academy Award for best picture the following year.  It's still one of my favorites.

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5. On March 15, the first TGI Fridays restaurant opened in New York City.

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6. The first baseball game at the Astrodome (The 8th Wonder of the World) was held April 9.  Houston beat the Yankees 2-1 even though Mickey Mantle had his first indoor home run.

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7. On May 16th, SpaghettiOs came out.

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8. The Rolling Stones released "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" on June 6.  It hits #1 on the charts July 10.

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9. Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th President of the United States signed the Voting Rights Act on August 6.  The Act prohibited voting discrimination against minorities.

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10.On September 13, the "Today Show" was broadcast in color for the first time.

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11.The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri was completed on October 28.  It stands 630 feet tall.

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12.On November 8, "Days of Our Lives" premiered on television.

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13.December 9, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" premiered.

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Beautiful Moon

I'm linking up with Wordless Wednesday and Image-in-ing.

copyright DLA

This photo was captured by my husband at Goose Island State Park
near Rockport-Fulton, Texas in March of this year.

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Random Thoughts

I'm linking up with Stacy for Random Tuesday Thoughts.

I'm so proud of our Houston Astros for choosing to accept the invitation to visit the White House.  Regardless of who is in office, it is an honor and a privilege to visit our nation's capitol and meet with the President of the United States.

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The president of business operations had this to say when the Astros received the invitation:

“This is a tradition and an honor. For many people, this might be their only time to ever be invited to the White House,” Astros president of business operations Reid Ryan told the Houston Chronicle at the time. “And as the representatives of baseball and the World Series champs, when the White House calls and invites you to come up, it’s something that as an organization we felt both a responsibility and an obligation to be part of.” (Source)

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Putting politics aside to be honored for your outstanding performance is a characteristic of a true champion.

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And in other sports news... Our Houston Rockets are number one in the league right now!  I would be so thrilled if the Rockets won the championship, too!

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And on another note... This animated Uncle Ben's commercial seems to come on frequently, and every time it does, it creeps me out.

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Why, you ask?  It's the song.  A little kid is singing Peter Frampton's "Show Me the Way."  I was a teenager when that song was popular.  It became a hit after it was released on Frampton Comes Alive in 1976.  Some of the original lyrics: 

 I watch you when you're sleeping
And then I want to take your love
Oh won't you show me the way
I want you day after day

So when I hear a little kids singing some of these words (albeit not all of them), it seems creepy to me.

And this is creepy...



Did Amazon ever figure out what was causing the creepy laugh?  Was it a hoax?  Or was it genuinely a glitch that has been fixed?  I never really heard the outcome.

And this- this is definitely NOT creepy!  It makes me laugh every time, no matter how many times I've seen it!



And that's all I have for today!  Have a happy week!

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Sunday Synopsis

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this book eight years ago, and it was published eleven years ago, but in light of recent events in the United States, I feel it is appropriate to re-read this novel. I highly recommend this book to anyone concerned with school safety, peer pressure, or bullying. And everyone knows that Picoult not only writes well, but her novels usually mirror issues in popular culture.

An idyllic small town in New Hampshire is rocked by a school shooting. Josie Cormier was a witness to the tragedy, but she can't remember what happened. And, by the way, her mother is the presiding judge on the case against the shooter, Peter Houghton. Something of note is that Peter is an avid violent-video-gamer.  On the other hand, you may actually feel sorry for Peter when reading about what led him to commit this horrific act. And in true Picoult style, there is a surprise at the end.

Picoult deserves praise for tackling such a tough topic and showing, not just the points of view of the victims, but the perpetrator's views as well, who himself is a victim first. Using flashbacks and various perspectives, she presents multiple sides to a tragic situation.  It will definitely make you think.

Nineteen minutes is not just about a school shooting, though. Nineteen Minutes is about the complexities of families, friends, relationships, anger, vengeance, and forgiveness. It is raw. It is emotional. And it is not easy to put down.

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Strange

Yesterday at work (I work in a school), I walked into the ladies' restroom in the office because, well, because I needed to go.  Duh!  When I opened the door, there was one of our substitute teachers, an older (age 65 or 70)  woman of Indian or Middle Eastern descent washing her foot in the sink.  She was wearing rubber Crocs with the back bent in so they were almost like slides. One of them was sitting on the floor since her foot was in the sink.

Anyway, I just thought it was bizarre!  Would you wash your foot in the sink of a public bathroom in front of other people?  She tried to explain to me what she was doing and why, but I couldn't get out of there fast enough.  No, I didn't go to the bathroom or use that sink again.  I couldn't get the image out of my head.  Luckily, we have several teacher bathrooms.

Then, I see on our great WWW that putting your foot in the sink and taking a selfie is actually a thing.  WHAT?  WHY?

Then, I see on our great WWW that Muslims wash their feet before prayer.  Maybe that was the real reason instead of the fake "My toe was bleeding" excuse she gave me.

Am I being dramatic, or is that really unacceptable to wash your feet in the sink at your workplace?  Is it a cultural thing?  I don't know.  It just gave me the heebeejeebees.

That is all.

P. S. Only 4 more posts to number 2,000!  Stay tuned for more!

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