What’s my punch line.

Here we go with this week’s punch line. Have at it and have a good time.

What do you get if you cross Hillary Clinton with a poodle?

Or, for the few Democrats who read my blog:

What do you get if you cross John McCain with a bulldog?

Honk if you got em.

I finally came to the realization that when I drive I turn into a drunken sailor on shore leave with a chip on their shoulder, while my husband turns into my tea-drinking grandmother. You cut me off, turn in front of me, or drive too slow I will lay on the horn like there was no tomorrow.

My husband, on the other hand, will let you cut him off, practically side swipe his car, nearly force him off the road into a ditch or even come so close to rear-ending him that he can see the color of your eyes in his rear view mirror and he might flash his brights at you. But more then likely, he won’t do anything.

If I happen to be in the car with him during one of these events and suggest that he might want to honk his horn to demonstrate his displeasure, he will lightly tap the horn, emitting a pathetic beep that unless you were pressing your ear to the hood of the car would never even notice. When I pointed this out to my husband, he pulled a cheap shot and offered to let me drive if I felt like I could do better.

He knew that wasn’t going to happen, because we had to get on the freeway - and he knows I don’t do freeways. So I pouted and stared out the window the rest of the trip. It got me thinking, however, that I never noticed that when it comes to driving I am much more aggressive than my husband. I blame my dad, who has a very colorful vocabulary to describe the drivers who routinely cross his path. I am also secretly proud of my husband who can maintain his cool even though the driver’s around him are @*$%# idiots. I just wish he would honk with a little more oomph.

Vocabulary word of the day

Phantasmagoria (noun)

Pronounced: phan-tas-ma-go-ria

Definition: a succession of things imagined.

The parade of phantasmagoria making their way through my brain every night when I go to sleep are more then enough to keep me entertained.

My mom will be so proud!

The Ambulance Driver has a really neat link on his post today. I tried it, and as you can see from my results I have a very clean mouth, at least on paper.

Vocabulary word for the day.

Fortitude
for·ti·tude
Pronounced: fawr-ti-tood, -tyood
Definition: Showing mental and emotional strength and courageous when faced with extreme difficulty or great temptation.

It will take a great deal of fortitude on my part if I am to succeed on my diet.

Oh my!

I had no idea that I could do so much damage in just two short weeks. I admit I was bad over spring break, but my mom is such an incredible cook, and it is always hard for me to eat well while traveling in the car.

That's no excuse, there are ways around that, and I understand there is such a thing a portion control. I'll have to give that a try. But the week after spring break (before weigh in) I was going to be so good. Then Easter happened and that brought See's candy into the house and all was lost.

I stepped on the scale expecting bad news and I was right: up a whopping 3.2 pounds. I am not going to dwell on that, though, it's back in the saddle and salad for lunch!

And the winner is!

We have a new winner this week. Medic3 wins with this joke: "John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama are standing in front of the pearly gates." His response was "and there was thunderous applause from the United States."

I wanted to link his blog in this post but I couldn't find a link.

Unbelievable.

CNN had the following article posted today.

Family seeks $8 million in airport death

(CNN) -- The family of a woman who died last year while in police custody at Phoenix, Arizona's, Sky Harbor International Airport filed an $8 million claim Wednesday against the city of Phoenix and its police department, the first step in filing a wrongful death suit.

Carol Gotbaum, a 45-year-old mother of three from New York traveling to Tucson, Arizona, to enter an alcohol rehabilitation center, was taken into custody by Phoenix police on September 28 after she missed her connecting flight and flew into a rage.

She was left alone in a holding cell at the airport and subsequently died, accidentally strangling herself while trying to escape her handcuffs.

The claim accuses the Police Department of using "excessive and unreasonable force" on Gotbaum and failing to follow its own procedures in handling people who are obviously disturbed.

"Good people here made lethal, unreasonable mistakes, with catastrophic results for Carol, her three small children and for her husband," the claim says.

Gotbaum was treated "as if she was a dangerous criminal, rather than as a sick, intoxicated and vulnerable person she was," it says. "She had no weapon and never threatened anyone."

City attorneys responded to the claim, saying that police officers acted properly and responsibly in restraining Gotbaum.

"The Gotbaum family has publicly admitted, not only that Carol hid her medical and mental condition, but that the officers responded to Carol exactly the way her husband knew they would respond because they did not have critical information known only to the Gotbaum family," city attorneys representing the Police Department wrote.

Gotbaum, the stepdaughter-in-law of New York public advocate Betsy Gotbaum, became agitated after missing her flight when gate agents were unable to seat her on a subsequent flight. Airport surveillance video shows Gotbaum's arrest, with police officers struggling to handcuff her.

Police reports say she was "uncooperative" and resisted arrest, screaming during their attempts to escort her out of the airport terminal.

She was accused of disorderly conduct and placed in a holding cell at the airport, where she continued to scream for several minutes after police left the room. Shortly after she stopped screaming, an officer found her unconscious, and rescuers were unable to resuscitate her. The Maricopa County medical examiner ruled that her death was an accidental hanging.

This is an awful story, but for the family to hold the city of Phoenix and the police department responsible is unreasonable. This poor woman should never have been placed in this situation in the first place. She was coming to Arizona to enter an alcohol rehabilitation center. Knowing that she had this problem, why would any one in her family allow her to fly unescorted? Someone should have been with her to offer support and help get her situated in the rehabilitation center. That would have been the right thing to do.

Instead, they send her there alone to an unfamiliar environment, and when she responds to the stress and becomes agitated, disorderly, and refused to comply with the officers request she was placed in a situation where she accidentally hanged herself. Had she been with someone who could have supported her during her trip, none of this would have happened. Rather then sue the city of Phoenix for 8 million dollars, they should first look at their own responsibility for this tragedy.

Vocabulary word of the day.

Mercurial
mer-cu-ri-al
Pronounced: mer-kyoor-ee-uhl
Definition:animated, volatile,flighty, changeable, and erratic.

By their very nature teenagers are very mercurial.

Vocabulary word of the day correction.

Oops, my bad. I left off a letter in the pronunciation. Thank you, Dana, for catching it!

spindle
spin·dle
Pronounced:spin-dl
Definition: to impale.

I now know what they mean when they say do not fold, spindle or mutilate.

Wednesday's poetry corner.

This week I wanted to share a poem by a famous woman poet. While searching for women poets, I came across Louisa May Alcott's name. I knew she was a well-known writer of the "Little Women"and "Little Men" books but I did not know that she wrote poetry. I thought "To The First Robin" was especially appropriate for this time of year and it is a really sweet poem. I hope you enjoy it.

TO THE FIRST ROBIN

by: Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888)

ELCOME, welcome, little stranger,

Fear no harm, and fear no danger;

We are glad to see you here,

For you sing "Sweet Spring is near."




Now the white snow melts away;

Now the flowers blossom gay:

Come dear bird and build your nest,

For we love our robin best.

"To the First Robin" is reprinted from Louisa May Alcott: Her Life, Letters, and Journals. Ednah D. Cheney. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1889.

The poem was taken from the following web site http://www.poetry-archive.com/a/to_the_first_robin.html

Feeling a little shy today.

The princess was a little self-conscious today when we brought her to school after her appointment to get her head wired up. When we walked into the office to get her tardy slip she hid behind me. This surprised me, because this is the same child who has no problems wearing different colored socks to school or the most interesting combination of colors and prints you have ever seen.

Her teacher was absolutely wonderful, though. When we took her to her classroom her teacher told Robyn to come to the front of the class and said, "Robyn just got back from the doctor and she looks a little different today. She is wearing a really pretty hat and she is allowed to wear just for today. Please don't stare and be careful of her back."

And that was it. Robyn went to her seat and began her work. When I went to pick her up after school, her teacher did say that she had been very fidgety all day and was unable to focus at all. She expected that and I was not surprised either - the equipment would have been very distracting to me as well.

And then she told me that she let my daughter eat lunch in the classroom rather then have her eat in the cafeteria with all the students at her school. I was so touched by her kindness toward my daughter and understanding how self conscious she felt. Robyn loved eating with her teacher and every thing has turned out fine so far. Next we see how well she sleeps while all hooked up.

Thank you, everybody who has put Robyn and our family in you prayers and thoughts. We really appreciate it.

Vocabulary word of the day.

Chary

char·y

Pronounced: chair-ee

Definition: shy, timid, and cautious.

My daughter was a little chary when she entered her classroom wearing her 24 hour EEG monitor but her teacher put her right at ease.

Sorry for the lateness of the vocabulary word today I will try and have it posted earlier tomorrow.

My baby.

Sorry for the light posting today, but with the computer still acting up and getting my daughter ready for her doctor's appointment tomorrow morning at 7:00 am I wasn't able to focus on my blog. We will be taking her to the hospital in the morning where they will attach a mobile EEG to her and then wrap her head up in gauze. She will look like she either just had brain surgery or was in an awful accident. Either way she is not looking forward to going to school with this thing strapped to her waist.

We tried to minimize the appearances by buying her an adorable pink camo floppy hat to hide the wires and we got her a new shirt with a sweater to hide the wires. I think she will look fine, and hopefully we can find out if the seizures are really under control or just so brief that her teachers are not catching them. The picture of the little girl with her mobile EEG is not my daughter, but that is what it should look like - with bandages.

She would never allow me to post a picture of her when she was all wired up. Hopefully, we will get some answers soon and figure out what is keeping her from focusing at school.

The horror!

I am sorry that I have been away so long. I have missed my blog but it was unavoidable. First, my mom does not have high-speed internet, instead she has, gasp, dial-up. I had forgotten how horrible dial-up can be - especially for someone as impatient as I.

Second, when we arrived back at home we discovered that the internet bill had come due while we were away and as they did not receive said payment they cut off my internet and cable. With a lack of anything else to do, my children and I were forced to clean.

Finally, we are connected again and I learned the third and final difficulty in getting back to my blog: my computer sucks. Every time I try to open Microsoft Word it freezes up on me. In fact, it is still freezing up on me and I was forced to use the old standby computer with the nasty keyboard and mouse that drives me nuts. I just couldn’t stay away any longer and decided to bite the bullet and do what it took to get back to posting. Thank you to everyone who stopped by while I was gone, I’m back!

What’s my punch line?

I left for vacation over a week ago leaving a punch line from last week's joke; How do you keep a leprechaun in suspense? Apparently you do it by not participating in the contest. So, when the leprechaun comes back there’s nothing there. This week we will try a different joke, I hope you like it.

John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama are standing in front of the pearly gates . . .

Vocabulary word of the day.

Scutwork

scut·work

Pronounced: skuht-wurk

Definition: Routine menial work done by underlings.

Some people might consider working in a cafeteria as scutwork, but I take pride in providing a hot nutritious meal to the children at my school on a daily basis.

My son has become one of them.

My son just informed me that I have once again ruined his life. My work is done.

And how did I do this, you might ask? By planning family vacation over spring break to go see his grandparents for a few days. Not even the entire spring break but only for four days. I thought I was being reasonable when I explained that he would still have half of his spring break to spend with his buddies, but no, I always have to ruin the one chance he has to hang out with his friends by forcing him to go see Grammy and Grandpa.

This could be a long eight hours in the car, followed by a long four days until he can get back to his friends and loiter in the church parking lot doing whatever it is teenagers do. And the really ironic thing is that once we get his grumpy butt there he will have a good time and probably wish we could stay longer. Sometimes I swear there is no pleasing a teenager.

Road trip!

The family and I are loading up the car and heading out east early Saturday morning. We are headed for my mom and stepfather's for Spring break. I hate the trip - seven hours in the car with a tiny bladder is no fun - but I can’t wait to see my mom and their new house.

They have been working on this house for the last 12 years or so. They did most of the work themselves, and from what I have seen it is a beautiful house. I am not sure if I will be able to post much during the week because I don’t know what kind of computer my mom has, and whether or not I can access the web from my son’s laptop.

I will try to post while I am gone, but if not I promise I will be back by the end of the week. I hope everyone who will be on spring break this week has a safe and happy time off. And for the rest of you neener, neener, neener!

And the winner is!

Again, we have a two-way tie between BobG and Fuzzy’s Dad. The joke was "What do a Leprechaun and a Democrat have in common?" BobG answered with "Leprechauns keep a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Democratic candidates keep promising that pot to their supporters." And Fuzzy’s Dad answered with "Hey, both offer imaginary riches."

Congratulations to both of them.

Since I won’t be here to post on Monday I will give the punch line now.

How do you keep a Leprechaun in suspense?

Good luck and have a great week

It’s a blue ribbon day!

I was very apprehensive about Weight Watchers yesterday, considering that I missed last week because I was sick and I have been on steroids for most of this week. Everyone told me I was going to gain weight, but I stepped up on the scale and was very pleased. I lost 2.6 pounds for a total of 11.2 pounds so I finally earned my ten-pound blue ribbon. I am one happy girl!

Vocabulary word of the day

Respite

res·pite

Pronounced: res-pit

Definition: a short period of rest and relief.

Spring break will bring a welcome respite from work and school.

Arizona city seeks moat to secure Mexico border

By Tim Gaynor Thu Mar 13, 8:21 AM ET

YUMA, Arizona (Reuters) - Most plans to gain control of the porous U.S.-Mexico border focus on some combination of fence. But this city in far west Arizona is looking to build a moat.

Faced with high-levels of crime and illegal immigration, authorities in Yuma are reaching back to a technique as old as a medieval castle to dig out a "security channel" on a crime-ridden stretch of the border and fill it with water.

"The moats that I've seen circled the castle and allowed you to protect yourself, and that's kind of what we're looking at here," said Yuma County Sheriff Ralph Ogden, who is backing the project.

Curbing illegal immigration and securing the nearly 2,000 mile (3,200-kilometre) southwestern border are hot topics in this U.S. election year. Washington has pledged to complete 670 miles of new barriers by the close of 2008, despite resistance from landowners and environmentalists.

The proposal seeks to restore a stretch of the West's greatest waterway, the Colorado River, which has been largely sucked dry by demand from farms and sprawling subdivisions springing up across the parched southwest and in neighboring California.

The plan to revive the river, which drains from the Rocky Mountains through the Grand Canyon and runs for 23 miles (37 kilometers) along the border near Yuma, seeks to create a broad water barrier while also restoring a fragile wetland environment that once thrived in the area.

"What you are building is a moat, but it's bringing the life and the wildlife back," said Ogden, an Old West lawman with a handlebar mustache, explaining how the project differs from other plans to fix the border.

"It's innovative thinking. It doesn't take much brainpower to build a 12-foot high fence around something, but this is unique."

RECLAIMING NO-MAN'S-LAND

The project is starting with a desolate 450-acre patch of scrub and thickets known as Hunter's Hole, a once-thriving wetland on the border a few miles southwest of Yuma that has become a haven for drug smugglers and illegal immigrants crossing from Mexico and a headache for local law enforcement.

"It's in the United States, but it's become a no-man's-land, an area where bodies were dumped, where people and drugs were smuggled over the border," said Ogden, whose deputies share much of the responsibility for tackling border-related crime with federal police.

Engineers plan to dig a "security channel" up to 10-feet (3 meters) deep and 60 feet wide through the problem area, which lies a short way inside the border. The dirt removed would be used to create a levee along the outside to give U.S. Border Patrol agents an elevated patrol road overlooking the line.

The area would also be replanted with native sedges and rushes to provide habitat for threatened local species such as the Yuma Clapper Rail, a secretive marsh bird. Backers say it would also provide a space for residents of Yuma, a farming town popular with winter visitors, to walk and fish.

The organization behind the project would like to extend it the entire course of the Colorado River, which marks the U.S.-Mexico border, in what it sees as an environmental recovery program that complements the Border Patrol's task.

"It doesn't replace the Border Patrol's efforts, it supplements them. At the same time you are restoring habitat in a secure environment and creating a place to relax," said Charles Flynn, the executive director of the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area Corporation.

PROMOTING SECURITY AND FRIENDSHIP

Curbing illegal immigration and securing the border are issues that frequently confront both presumptive Republican Party nominee Sen. John McCain and Democratic rivals Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who are campaigning to be their party's pick for the November election.

The U.S. government has sought remedies including boosting police numbers, adding surveillance technologies, and, controversially, constructing hundreds of miles of vehicle and pedestrian barriers along the international boundary, which has drawn fierce opposition from some quarters.

More than a hundred border landowners in south Texas have resisted a government bid for access to their lands to build new fencing, which they see as a meddlesome and unwelcome intrusion, while environmentalists say fences may sever key wildlife corridors for animals including the jaguar.

The planned revival of the Colorado River, where it carves through desert peppered with fertile farmland, is something of a standout.

It has won the backing of the federal Bureau of Land Management, which owns the land; the Bureau of Reclamation, which has provided a grant to drill wells and pump groundwater, and a letter of support from the Border Patrol. Also on board are Yuma City Council and local residents including the Cocopah Indian tribe, who have farmed the river's flood plains for centuries.

Perhaps more surprisingly, it has also won support across the boundary in Mexico, where plans to build border fences are eyed with suspicion. Local environmentalists there have embraced the project and plan to work in tandem to restore the wetlands on the Mexican side.

"Instead of putting up walls and promoting division, we can promote security and friendship," said Osvel Hinojosa, the director of Pro-Natura, an environmental group in northwest Mexico, of the proposal.

"Moreover, instead of damaging the environment, we can improve it."

To link back to the article clink on http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080313/us_nm/usa_border_moat_dc

I think this is the best idea I have heard of so far. Not only does it protect our boarder but also it makes the environmentalist happy because it is restoring the habitat back to its natural state before the water was diverted. Every one wins. We get a secure boarder, the environment is returned to a natural state and the wild life will return. I hope more boarder towns will consider doing the same thing.

Something to think about.

As a mother of a young daughter, I have been very interested in the vaccine to prevent cervical cancer. I have heard information on both sides but I think this article taken from CNN best describes a mother’s thought process about whether or not to have her daughter vaccinated.

Cervical cancer vaccine not a simple choice

By Linda Saether
CNN

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- I'm the mother of two daughters, a teen and a tween. So every day, I tiptoe through hormonally laced minefields hoping to avoid emotional carnage in response to any of my random comments or actions.

As I tiptoe, I sometimes stumble, as any mother of girls that age knows. No adult woman in her right mind would knowingly, willingly utter comments that result in young people hissing, hurling verbal grenades such as, "Thanks, Mom, for calling me fat, AGAIN." Or "Are you EVEN listening to me?" Or any version of the very popular, "I hate YOU," "I hate you SO much," "I hate this family," or just plain "AAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!" followed by stomping feet and slamming doors.

So given this background, you might understand why, when I chose to broach the subject of the latest vaccine for young girls, I was braced for a fight. Oddly enough, for once, the battle didn't come.

I told my teenage daughter I wanted her to get the HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine the next time she went to see her doctor.

"I don't want to."

"Well, sorry. You have to."

"I heard it hurts."

"Well, that's too bad. But it might prevent you from getting cancer later in life."

"Oh. (pause) OK."

If you were keeping score, you might chalk that one up as a Mom win.

The only problem with that is after winning over my daughter, I now had to convince myself. This drug has its own emotional battlefields.

The HPV vaccine has been available to the public for almost two years. When Merck launched it in 2006 under the name Gardasil, many people enthusiastically embraced it as a wonder drug. Dr. Kevin Ault, associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Emory University's School of Medicine, says the vaccine helps women avoid an assortment of ailments, some not too serious, but others that are potentially deadly.

"There are about 100 different types of human papillomavirus," he said. "Some of them are pretty common and not dangerous, like plantar warts or warts on your hand. About 30 of them infect the genital tract, and about a dozen of them are associated with cancer."

Health for Her: Watch more the HPV vaccine and girls »

In this case, the cancer Ault is talking about is cervical cancer.

The National Cancer Institute estimates that in 2008, there will be over 11,000 new cases of cervical cancer diagnosed and almost 4,000 women will die from it in the United States. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that at least 50 percent of people who have had sex will have one type of HPV at some time in their lives.

Given those stats, this vaccine would seem like a pretty good thing, right?

The hitch is that the vaccine is suggested for adolescent girls, but the viruses in question are sexually transmitted. And that is one of the big reasons the HPV vaccine has divided parents in the question of "to give or not to give."

Let's face it. Parents don't like thinking about their daughters having sex at all. Ever. Now a new drug comes along, and not only are parents told they should embrace this new vaccine for their young daughters, but it's also part of the set of routine vaccines that doctors are strongly encouraged to give their patients.

Merck says the drug has been safely tested for girls and women between the ages of 9 and 26. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that girls get the vaccine at age 11 or 12.

Ault explains why youth is key. Human papillomavirus is sexually transmitted, "so one of the advantages of giving it to adolescents is that they are unlikely to have been sexually active, so they will not have been exposed to the virus before getting the vaccine." Another reason to do this early, Ault points out, is that "our immune system is a lot better when we are 11 than when we are, say, at 22."

Ault also suggests that parents could use this experience to teach their children about sex and, even more important, about the realities of life, such as sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies.

These arguments aren't convincing to some parents, the ones that are choosing not to have their daughters vaccinated. There are several reasons for doing this, including religious beliefs. Some faith-based groups feel the vaccine is inviting their young daughters to become sexually active.

Others believe the drug is just too risky. CDC spokesman Curtis Allen says the vaccine is constantly being monitored by a joint CDC /FDA hotline. Parents, patients and physicians can call the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, to report any adverse reaction to the vaccine.

Through a Freedom of Information Act petition, the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch got records from VAERS that showed three deaths in girls who'd had the vaccine in March-April 2007 and over 1,600 adverse reactions reported from June 2006 to April 2007. All said the response came after getting the HPV vaccine.

Allen cautions restraint in considering the reports. "Most of these reactions were minor," he said, and the deaths "were linked to circumstances not related to the vaccine." The CDC and the FDA are constantly monitoring the VAERS hotline and won't hesitate to act should they see any dangerous trends due to the HPV vaccine, he said.

The vaccine does have some known side effects. Ault has seen his share. "I certainly hear from women who get the vaccine that it's painful, and I think some dizziness has been reported."

In fact, fainting has been added to the list of potential side effects to watch for. Allen says doctors are now recommending that girls stay in their doctor's office for a short period after they get the injection for just that reason.

Three injections are necessary to get the full benefit of the vaccine. The shots need to be administered over a six-month period and at this stage are guaranteed to work for at least five years.

All of this information leaves me confused. Frankly, I'm not really sure I have won myself over when it comes to the "shot or no shot" decision for my daughters. However, in the back of my mind, I hear the words a father spoke when he thought about not giving the vaccine to his still-young daughter.

He said, "How am I going to be able to turn to my daughter when she's older and tell her, 'When you were younger, I had the chance of making sure you never got a certain type of cancer, and I decided not to do it' ?"

That's an emotional minefield I truly don't think I'm emotionally equipped to walk through. To link back to the article click on this link http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/family/03/07/hfh.gardasil.parents/index.html

At this point I am leaning towards getting her vaccinated against the virus, not because I think she is going to become sexually active when she is older but because I don’t know whether her eventual partner when she chooses to become sexually active with (on her wedding night of course) may be a carrier of the virus due to his past activity. I would want to protect her from that exposure. As a mother, I can do nothing less to protect my daughter’s health and well-being. Fortunately, we have a very qualified pediatrician who I trust and we will definitely consult with her prior to any vaccinations we may give to our little tornado.

Vocabulary word of the day

Perspicacity

per·spi·cac·i·ty

pronounced: pur-spi-kas-i-tee

Definition: the ability to understand and assess situations shrewdly and to come to logical conclusions.

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s perspicacity lead him to the conclusion that he was in a heap of trouble and not going to be governor for very long.

Finally

Apparently, it takes three days to download a video from YouTube. I found a really interesting video of different combinations of animals that I wish existed in real life. I especially like the animals mixed with the birds. Also I have included a video by crazy frog. My son really likes this crazy little frog and the music is pretty cool too. I hope you enjoy them.

Amazing Morphed Animals - Photoshop Weirdness

CraZy FrOg - AxeL F

Wednesday’s poetry corner.

This month I will be show casing Irish poets for my Wednesday’s poetry corner. While searching for Irish poets I stumbled across James Joyce. He’s name sounded familiar so I looked up his poems and found several very nice love poems. His imagery is both beautiful and sweet. If you like, what you have read here you can find more of his poems at http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/in-the-dark-pine-wood

In the Dark Pine-Wood

In the dark pine-wood I would we lay, In deep cool shadow At noon of day. How sweet to lie there, Sweet to kiss, Where the great pine-forest Enaisled is! Thy kiss descending Sweeter were With a soft tumult Of thy hair. O unto the pine-wood At noon of day Come with me now, Sweet love, away. James Joyce

Vocabulary word the day.

Colcannon

col·can·non

pronounced: kuhl-kan-uhn

Definition: A traditional Irish dish made with potatoes and cabbage or other greens boiled and mashed together and seasoned with butter.

On St Patrick’s Day, I will be serving my family corn beef and colcannon.

There are a lot of sick people out there.

Especially after seeing Wyatt’s post about the heinous rape of a five-month-old baby, I thought this would be a good time to post this as well. From Kim Komado’s web site,(picture at right) she asks that we post the following on as many web sites and send it to as many people as we can.

I thought you might be interested in the Web site: Test your kids' knowledge of MySpace.

It is a great resource for children and parents to be better aware of how to avoid attracting predators on MySpace profiles.

View this helpful quiz at http://www.komando.com/myspace

Do it for Bono.

My husband just sent me a link to a cool site. It’s called http://www.freerice.com. When you click on this site, you are taken to a vocabulary test. For every right answer you get the site donates 20 grains of rice through the UN World Food Program to help end hunger. Give it a try its fun and it’s for a good cause. Bono would be happy.

Vocabulary word of the day

Blarney

blar·ney

Pronounced: blahr-nee

Definition: to shamelessly flatter or to talk nonsense.

The Democratic health care plan is a lot of blarney.

What’s my punch line?

This week’s punch line is what does Leprechaun and a Democrat have in common.

Health update.

I am still feeling awful. As much as I did not want to, I had to start taking the steroids today. There go my chances for getting into the baseball hall of fame. I have to get better because we are supposed to be going to see my mom and step father during Spring break. I cancelled on her over Christmas because I came down with bronchitis and I simply cannot do it to her again. She will think I am avoiding her and that is just not true, I really want to see her and their new house. Keep your fingers crossed that a week from today I will be well and in Santa Fe with my mom.

Vocabulary word of the day.

Eire

Eir·e

Pronounced: air-uh

Definition: The Irish name for Ireland.

I thank all of the immigrants who came from Eire to the United States and brought with them the tradition of St Patrick’s Day that we have all come to know and enjoy.

Better late then never.

I just found out that RT had tagged me about a month ago to list five facts about my self. A little late but her they are.

One: I once sat in the lap on James Doohan, Scotty from Star Trek, during a star trek convention. I was dressed up as the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland at the time. I still have the photos somewhere.

2. When Raiders of the lost ark came out I saw it every Friday for the entire summer and I never saw the scene where the airplane propeller chops the guy up. I always closed my eyes and I still haven’t seen it to this day.

3. I have an extensive collection of Star trek, Stat trek the Next Generation, Battlestar Galatica, Indianana Jones, And Quantum Leap paper backs.

4. I am afraid to drive on freeways so I don’t. If I can’t get there on surface streets, my husband has to take me.

5. I have never been east of the Mississippi.

Even though it is quite late I will tag fuzzy’s dad, the evil lunch lady and bobg.

Weigh in will have to wait.

I was not feeling well enough to make my Weight Watchers meeting on Thursday so I do not have anything to report. I am a little worried though because I did not exercise at all unless coughing, hacking and whining count and in that case I did. I should be over this by next week and make the meeting on Thursday and I hope to report back with good news then. Congratulations to everyone who did well this week.

Can I get a howdy?

My husband just told me about a former co-worker and very good friend of his who has a blog of her own. She was a good friend to my husband before he was let go and continued to be supportive and helpful during his job search.

They still keep in touch through e-mail so I was excited to hear abut her blog. She has been writing for some time now and I am glad to have found her site. I hope you will all stop by and say howdy to a newfound blogger The Mitchell Family.

Vocabulary word of the day.

Cordial

cor·dial

Pronounced: kawr-juh l

Definition: heart felt, friendly sincere, gracious greeting.

Please give The Mitchell Family a cordial welcome to our circle of blogger friends.

And the winner is!

I had some good entries for this week’s joke what is green and gold and really runs fast. Wyatt Earp entered with "the green Lantern after Mexican take out." Little Codster ran with "a leprechaun in the wrong part of town," and the final contestant Bottoms up used "Green Beer in a Brass mug on St Patty's Day." It was hard to choose but I am going with Little Codster!

Congratulations. I am sorry but they don’t seem to have a blog so I can’t send you there, but congratulations anyway.

Vocabulary word of the day.

Prostrate

Pronounced: pros-treyt

Definition: Physically weak or very tired.

This bronchitis as left me feeling prostrated.

Wednesday’s poetry corner.

I am going back to Ogden Nash this week because I am sick and this poem sums up pretty much how I feel. I spent 35 minutes waiting for the doctor who spent less then 5 minute with me to tell me what I already knew. I have bronchitis with asthma. He prescribed antibiotics and if I am still feeling bad in four days I get to go on steroids. I don’t want to go on steroids so I really hope I am feeling better. I hope you enjoy Ogden’s poem “The Common Cold.” Taken from http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/325.html

Go hang yourself, you old M.D,!

You shall not sneer at me.

Pick up your hat and stethoscope,

Go wash your mouth with laundry soap;

I contemplate a joy exquisite

In not paying you for your visit.

I did not call you to be told

My malady is a common cold.

By pounding brow and swollen lip;

By fever's hot and scaly grip;

By those two red redundant eyes

That weep like woeful April skies;

By racking snuffle, snort, and sniff;

By handkerchief after handkerchief;

This cold you wave away as naught

Is the damnedest cold man ever caught!

Give ear, you scientific fossil!

Here is the genuine Cold Colossal;

The Cold of which researchers dream,

The Perfect Cold, the Cold Supreme.

This honored system humbly holds

The Super-cold to end all colds;

The Cold Crusading for Democracy;

The Führer of the Streptococcracy.

Bacilli swarm within my portals

Such as were ne'er conceived by mortals,

But bred by scientists wise and hoary

In some Olympic laboratory;

Bacteria as large as mice,

With feet of fire and heads of ice

Who never interrupt for slumber

Their stamping elephantine rumba.

A common cold, gadzooks, forsooth!

Ah, yes. And Lincoln was jostled by Booth;

Don Juan was a budding gallant,

And Shakespeare's plays show signs of talent;

The Arctic winter is fairly coolish,

And your diagnosis is fairly foolish.

Oh what a derision history holds

For the man who belittled the Cold of Colds!

-- Ogden Nash

Vocabulary word of the day.

Alveolus

al·ve·o·lus

Pronounced: al-vee-uh-luh s

Definition: tiny air filled sacks that look like grape clusters in the lungs that exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide.

My alveoli are not working at 100 percent efficiency just now.

Something to think about.

While watching “Ghost Rider" with my husband the other day and scratching my cat's belly I got to thinking: If people have belly buttons because that’s where we were attached to our mothers why don’t animals have belly buttons?

At this point, I began trying to find my cat’s belly button. She only tolerated this for so long and then left. I never found one, and in fact, I am pretty sure she doesn’t have one.

This got me thinking: Why don't they? Or maybe they do and I just can’t find it. Any thought s on this has any of you seen a belly button on anything other than a person. Something to think about.

Vocabulary word of the day.

Felicitous

fe·lic·i·tous

Pronounced: fi-lis-i-tuh s

Definition: having happiness or good fortune.

May St. Patrick’s Day be a felicitous day for all of you?

Excuse me while I cough up a lung.

I should have expected this. I stayed home with the tornado Tuesday and Wednesday because she had a sore throat and a nasty cough. Sure enough, by Friday I was coughing, hacking, and feeling like I had bronchitis. Because I am asthmatic, this is not uncommon for me. Whenever I catch a cold, it generally settles happily in my chest several weeks where I feel like I could cough up a lung.

But just for giggles, I found this website http://www.ehow.com/how_2188396_tell-have-bronchitis.html that lists the symptoms of bronchitis. I thought I would check it out.

Step 1:
Examine your cough. Acute bronchitis involves coughing that worsens over time and lasts for about 10-14 days. It also generally worsens at night and often produces mucous (phlegm).

I’ve got that.

Step 2:
Watch for shortness of breath, and a wheezing sound when you breathe. Both are signs of acute bronchitis.

I’m doing that.

Step 3:
Pay attention to a rattling sound in your chest, another indicator that you might have bronchitis.

Not yet but give me a couple more days.

Step 4:
Note a slight fever or overall feeling of illness that usually accompanies bronchitis.

That’s me, I feel cruddy.

Step 5:
Expect chest pain, soreness, and tightness in the chest with bronchitis.

Like a hippo sitting on my chest.

Step 6:
Look for a combination of the above symptoms. When several are present, that's basically how to know if you have bronchitis.

It’s unanimous. I have bronchitis.

I used up my days off staying home with the sick daughter last week so I will be dragging myself to work. This week is so going to suck.

What’s my punch line?

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, this month's jokes will be dedicated to all things green, leprechaunish, and beer inspired.

To start things off what is green, gold, and runs fast?

Vocabulary word of the day.

Verdant

ver·dant

Pronounced: vur-dnt

Definition: green in color.

Verdant is the color of March.