RIP Andy Griffith

I thought I would dedicate my post today to the legendary Andy Griffith, who passed away this morning. You will be missed Andy.

Yeah, I'll never be able to watch this video again without crying!!

XOXO!

20 Years Later, We Still Remember...

I grew up in Austin and was 13 when the lives of these four teenagers were taken on December 6, 1991. One of them was a classmate's sister. It's hard to believe that today marks the 20th anniversary of their deaths. If you aren't familiar with who they are, you can read about it here (I'd rather not go into the details on my blog). I just wanted to take time to remember them today.

In loving memory of Amy Ayers, Sarah Harbison, Jennifer Harbison and Eliza Thomas. Forever in our hearts. We will not forget.

Happy Friday to all!

Oh so much to get to in this post. First of all, if you are a regular reader of my blog, you might notice that it got a makeover. Yeah, I got bored last night, so I decided to try a new look! I would like to thank my wonderful friends at For The Love of Blogs for the awesome tutorial on how to make a new header/title. If you are interested in learning for yourself, check out the post here. Also, if you are looking to meet new friends, head over there and sign up for Fab Friends Friday!

As I sit here typing this (it's after midnight- oh the joys of not being able to sleep), I'm realizing that today, January 28, 2011, marks the 25th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Last year I posted a story about that day, go here for that post. I didn't post any pictures or videos of the Challenger (but I did post the picture of my 2nd grade class- we were watching it live on TV when it exploded). I want to take a moment to remember the seven crew members who lost their lives that day. Rest in peace.

Okay, sorry to bring you down on a Friday, I'll try to make the rest of the post happier!

1. If you had a $1,000 to donate to a charity, which would you choose?

I've mentioned before that C.J. Wilson has a children's charity (and no, I'm not just picking it because of him). I would want to donate to any charity that helps children. For more on C.J.'s charity, go here. It really is for a good cause! Here is a video one of the local children's hospitals did on him.

2. Snow days: Do you welcome them happily or are they a pain in your butt?

We don't get many snow days here in my part of Texas, so when it does snow, I welcome it happily. If it snows a lot and sticks (or if there is more than half an inch of ice on the road), the town pretty much shuts down and we all get a snow/ice day. Yeah, we can't drive on ice here, don't even ask us to! Usually when it snows it won't be cold enough to stick (because our weather is constantly changing). For instance, here is our 7-day forecast. Please don't hate me because it will be 70 today and tomorrow. Another cold front is headed our way and they are saying sleet/snow on Tuesday night. Since it's been so warm, it probably won't do much damage (although those might be famous last words). But temperature wise, Wednesday will NOT be a good day for me! Brrr!! My poor Texas body can't handle that!!

3. What talent do you wish you had and why?

I wish I could sing. My sisters both got the musical talent in the family (one of my sisters even recorded a CD last year). I can't carry a tune in a bucket (part of it is probably because I'm deaf in one ear). But yeah, I would love to be able to sing and not cause people to wince in pain. :)

4. Are you a news, politics, or celebrity junkie?

I don't go out of my way to find "celebrity gossip" but if I come across it, I might read it (meaning if I find an article online, I don't buy any of the gossip magazines). If you know me at all, you know that I don't get involved in politics or political talks. I don't like to discuss it. I respect what your political beliefs are, just like I hope you will respect what mine are. So yeah, if you like talking politics, I'm not the person to go to! :) And I know this will be a big shock to you, but I'm really a sports junkie more than anything. I know, I know, big surprise. I listen to sports talk radio a lot. In the mornings I listen to the local ESPN radio (for anyone in the Dallas area, it's 103.3FM). There are these two guys named Ben and Skin that do the morning show. I love them! They make me laugh! :) If you ever want to listen, they stream their show online! 9am-noon, Texas time (Central Standard time).

5. What is your favorite "cocktail"? (Are you a beer person, a kiddie cocktail junkie, or perhaps you're more the Cosmo kind?) Anything flies...doesn't have to be alcoholic.

Well, I don't drink beer or cocktails, so I guess I would choose a Dr Pepper Slurpee (can that count as a "cocktail"?) Um...Slurpee. I haven't had one of those in a long time! Since it will be "warm" today I may get one on my way home! :)

For more 5 Question Friday answers, go here:

Hope everyone has a great weekend. I am looking forward to a little rest and relaxation. The past four weekends I've been busy from Friday afternoon until Sunday night. I'm looking forward to catching up on some DVR watching and renting some movie online from Netflix. I am going to do my best to finally watch Inception!

XOXO!

R.I.P. Mrs. Cleaver

I was saddened to hear of Barbara Billingsley's passing today. For those not familiar with her name, she played  quite possibly the greatest TV mom of all time, June Cleaver, on the TV show Leave it to Beaver. Granted, that show aired WELL before my time, but thanks to reruns, I grew up watching it. I remember back in the mid 80s they had a new show called Still the Beaver (or The New Leave it to Beaver as it was called later) with Beaver and Wally all grown up, and Beaver moving back in with his mom after a divorce.  When I was little, I knew her best as the voice of "Nanny" on The Muppet Babies.

I thought I would post some videos in memory of her. Rest in peace "Mrs. Cleaver", you will be missed!

Muppet Babies intro:

Still the Beaver:

One of her more famous "non June Cleaver" scenes:

In loving memory of Jack...

Eleven years ago today, my brother-in-law Jack lost his battle with cancer at the age of 38.

Dear Jack: 

I miss your laugh. I miss your bear hugs. I miss you constantly flipping through the channels even though you knew you would end up on the Weather Channel. I miss the way you would yell at the Cowboys games (FYI, your sons have picked up on your yelling at sporting events). I miss how you could sleep soundly in a room with 8 screaming kids, the TV blaring and people talking all around you. I miss you trying to convince me the noise I heard was a "barking spider". I miss being called "your favorite blonde". I miss your constant opinions about my dating life. I miss you making fun of me for liking the Braves (and Steve Avery). I even miss you rolling your eyes. I miss the way you loved my sister unconditionally. I miss the prideful look on your face when someone complimented your children. I miss your smile of courage and faith the last time I saw you. I miss not being able to say goodbye.

I'm forever grateful for the years we had you. I'll cherish the memories always but I'll miss the ones we never got to have. I love you and miss you daily.

Love,

Your favorite little sister

Your loving family...

 

...You would be so proud of them.

We love you.

Jack S.: November 18, 1960-September 29, 1999.

Weekend recap and Blog Journal Day 13

Happy Monday my friends! If you aren't a sports fan, please bare with me to the end of my blog today (or skip down until you see the blog journal logo). So, how long has it been since I've mentioned the Rangers in my blog? Okay, not that long. BUT, I have to brag on them today. As I've mentioned in the past, I'm a Rangers fan: For better or for worse, in wins and in losses, in the rain, unexpected cold  fronts and the Texas 100+ degree heat, until death do us part. I've been a Rangers fan pretty much my whole life (you can thank, or blame, my brother David for that. He got me interested in baseball). :) I have suffered MANY bad seasons with the Rangers. But this season has been one of the greatest seasons to be a Rangers fan. I honestly think that the new ownership of Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan has lifted the cloud of doom that has lingered over The Ballpark for the past many years. We have hope. It's the third week of September and sports radio is still talking about the Rangers instead of non-stop Cowboys talk (and after that pathetic Cowboys game last night, I don't want to talk about them. They deserved to lose. There, I said it. I'll post about how Coach Wade Phillips sounds like Hank Hill from King of the Hill another day).

Anyways, moving on. Back to baseball. This past weekend MY Texas Rangers swept the New York Yankees. That hadn't been done in our Ballpark in 14 years. This was big. If you are a Yankees fan, let me have this moment. I saw this post on Twitter yesterday: "The Rangers have a $65 million payroll. That's only three Yankees players." That made me laugh. It's true though.

Oh, and the "claw and antler" shirts are finally on sale. I went by The Ballpark on Saturday and got mine! For non Rangers fans who don't understand the "claw and antler", check out the explanation here.

front of the shirt

 

back of the shirt

I'm supposed to go to the game tomorrow. I will proudly wear it! :)

Video about the claw

  
Day 13: A fictional book

Haunting Rachel by Kay Hooper 

 

Ten years ago Rachel Grant's fiancé, Thomas, disappeared. His body was never found. Now there's a stranger in town, a man who could be Thomas's twin-or his ghost. His name is Adam Delafield. He's been watching Rachel for days. He has the locket she gave Thomas before he vanished. And he says he owed her father three million dollars. But there's no record of the loan-or a shred of proof that Adam is who he claims to be. And he's always nearby as accidents begin to threaten Rachel's life. Is he an innocent man who only wants to repay a debt? Or a figure from the past with a score to settle? Rachel must expose lies and unravel stories, find out who wants her dead and why...before the next attempt to kill her succeeds.

I love this book. It was the first Kay Hooper book I read. I've read it three times! :)

Thanks for hanging in with me for a long Monday post. Hope everyone has a great week!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This post is dedicated in loving memory of my friend Mr. H. You will be missed sir. It was a pleasure and honor to know you and call you my friend! Thanks for the memories. Rest in peace.

Mr. H

October 13, 1949-September 12, 2010

We Will Never Forget and Blog Journal Day 11

I could write a lot about the 9/11 anniversary, but I think this pretty much sums it up: I still remember. We will never forget. God bless America. This is in loving memory all of those who lost their lives on 9-11-01. God bless.

Day 11: A photo of you recently.

This was taken last month in Atlanta. We were waiting on the tour of Bulloch Hall to start.

It's sad that I'm so pale you can't tell where my legs end and my white socks begin. I obviously didn't get enough sun this summer!

A Somber Anniversary...

This morning I was reminded that today marked the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing. It's so hard to believe that it's been 15 years since that day. I remember I was in my junior English class when we heard the news. In a "pre- 9/11" era, it was the worst terrorist attack we had ever seen on American soil.

I wanted to honor and remember the 168 lives that were lost that day (that included 19 children). Garth Brooks made a video to his song, "The Change" by using footage of that day. I honestly don't believe anyone can watch this video without crying (so you have been warned!)

For the men, women and children who lost their lives that day, we will not forget...


Garth Brooks video: The Change from Tim Miller on Vimeo.

January 28, 1986: A day still not forgotten...at least not by me...

I'm not sure how many of you remember where you were 24 years ago today. On January 28, 1986 my classmates and I were sitting in Mrs. Ruiz's second grade class, very excited about a special and unique opportunity. We were going to watch the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger. I don't know if we were more excited about being able to watch TV during school or that we were going to witness a piece of history: the first teacher in space. I remember how excited we were about counting down to liftoff. We cheered as the space shuttle lifted off the launch pad. Little did we know that 73 seconds later we, along with the rest of America, would witness a tragedy that I can still vividly see in my mind even today (and because of this I'm not going to post a video. If you want to watch it, you can find it on YouTube).

Like a lot of people watching, we had no clue what had happened when the Challenger first exploded. I can remember after a minute or two, Mrs. Ruiz got a strange look on her face. I've wondered if it was at that moment she realized what had actually happened. She finally turned off the television and it wasn't until later that day that someone came in to talk to us about it. They explained that something bad had happened that morning to the space shuttle. I remember someone in my class asking if the astronauts were dead, and they said yes.

Over the next few months, the evening news replayed the explosion over and over, and over. We kept seeing the reactions of the crowd, of the families, and of Christa McAuliffe's students in New Hampshire. I remember at one point my dad started turning the TV off during the news because it was too upsetting to watch. Up until September 11, 2001, I think it was the most horrific thing ever witnessed on live television. Also, up until 9/11, the Challenger Explosion was the "where were you" moment of my generation's lifetime.

January 28th might not be the familiar date that September 11th will always be, but still, I wanted to pay tribute to the seven astronauts who died living out their dream:
Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis and Judith Resnik.

It seems that most pictures of the Challenger's crew are copywrited, so I don't want to post them on my page without permission. You can Google them if you want. So, instead, I will post a picture of Mrs. Ruiz second grade class, way back from 1986.

                                                 Mrs. Ruiz's second grade class, 1985-1986

We Remember...

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the collapse of the Aggie bonfire back in 1999. It's hard to believe it's been 10 years. I was in college at the time and remember waking up and hearing the news, and just being in complete shock. For those not familiar with the Texas A&M tradition, here is information about it here. It was built every year before the big game between the Aggies and the University of Texas Longhorns. For those of you not fortunate enough to be from the great state of Texas, the Aggies/Longhorn rivalry is as great as the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry in baseball.

Even though I did not attend Texas A&M, I've had a connection to it my whole life. My oldest sister graduated from there (in fact she was in college when I was born). I grew up in Austin, but did not attend the University of Texas. But, I have always felt some sort of connection to this rivalry despite not attending either school.

The collapse was tragic, but it brought the state of Texas together like nothing I had ever seen at that time (this was pre-9/11). Aggies, non Aggies (including Longhorns), came together for a time of mourning and healing. Even if you didn't "bleed maroon", you felt like you were a part of this family known as Texas A&M, and you shared in the sadness.

I was on YouTube earlier and found some videos I wanted to share.

The first one is the tribute the Longhorn band did at halftime during the Longhorn/Aggie football game. They dedicated their performance of "Amazing Grace" and "Taps" to the 12 Aggies who lost their lives.

The second is a recap that CBS News did of the bonfire collapse and a recap of the football game (which, by the way, the Aggie won).



Finally, a tribute to the fallen 12. We will never forget. God bless.