Careful: May Cause Irritation

Howdy folks. Long time, no post. Just when I think things will start slowing down it goes in the other direction. It's been a very long week and one I'm anxious to get behind me. On with the post, this is it...

Thanks to all of you for keeping McKenna in your thoughts and prayers. After coding last week she is recovering slowly. Baby steps, they say. They started dialysis which has helped tremendously but there is still a long road ahead. They were told they may want to decorate the room for Christmas, but they still have hope that she will be home to celebrate the holidays. She is quite the little fighter!!

It has definitely cooled down outside and is feeling more like November. Julie has a desk calendar and today's had a list of the 7 animals that hibernate in the winter. How many do you think you can name? I have the list at the bottom of the post. See? We educate AND entertain! Well, at least we try to educate...

Some might think their home life is in the crapper, but THIS takes it to a whole new level...

I bought the new Cities 97 cd yesterday. I really had no intention of buying it until they were talking about it on the morning news and one of the DJs said that Shawn Colvin's cover of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" was on the cd. I knew I had to have it. I got to the Super Target in Chaska around 7:30 AM and the line was pretty long. By the time I got to the front of the line they only had about 50 left. Got there just in time! Oh, and the cd is really good, with one notable exception - that being the live "Anna Begins" by Counting Crows. I really can't stand the way Adam Duritz sings live. Totally irritating. Worst concert ever.

No, I'm not a nerd. Honestly.

Have you tried the Ice Breakers Sours? Very good. Very sour. On the back of the container it carries this warning: "Careful: Sour level may cause irritation to the mouth." Yeah, they're sour.

Okay.....

Today's post will end with a little more education. Oh, and the 7 animals that hibernate are.... drum roll please... bears, skunks, woodchucks, jumping mice, raccoons, bats and chipmunks. Who knew? Did you? And what the heck are jumping mice? I don't think I want to know.

In honor of Veteran's Day which was this passed Sunday comes this story about the Vietnam War Memorial. There is some wisdom in here that can be applied to where we find ourselves today.

The Vietnam War Memorial was dedicated NOVEMBER 13, 1982, honoring 58,000 American troops who died. U.S. forces inflicted over a million enemy fatalities, yet politicians did not allow a victory.

A former Communist North Vietnamese colonel, Bui Tin, called the American "peace movement" essential:

"Every day our leadership would listen to the world news over the radio to follow the growth of the American anti-war movement. Visits to Hanoi by people like Jane Fonda and former attorney General Ramsey Clark gave us confidence that we should hold on in the face of battlefield reverses."

On October 12, 1967, during Operation Medina, Marine Sergeant George Hutchings of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Division, had a dozen men killed around him when ambushed by the North Vietnamese in the Hai Lang jungle.

Months later, after numerous battles, George was shot three times, bayoneted and left for dead. He survived and was later awarded the Purple Heart.

Of the Vietnam Memorial, George Hutchings said:
"On that wall is the name of Corporal Quinton Bice, who was hit in the chest with a rocket running a patrol in my place. A Christian, he had shared the Gospel with me, but I didn't understand it till he gave his life in my place."