Factual Friday- Presidental Edition

1) Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Indepence in a tevern in Philadelphia.

2) Abraham Lincoln was shot durig a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford Theater.

3) Chester A. Arthur changed his pants several times a day. He owned over 80 pairs.

4) Martin Van Buren was born in his father's tavern.

5) Theodore Roosevelt was a New York City police commissioner before he became president.

6) Rutherford Hayes won the presidental election by 1 electoral vote.

7) Warren G. Harding was the first president to speak on the radio.

8) William H. Taft was the largest president. He weighed in at 332 pounds.

9) Millard Fillmore did not make an inaugural address.

10) George W. Bush has 2 dogs- Spot and Barney and 1 cat- India.

Seasons Change

I am very excited! My favorite season is almost upon us. I guess Fall is my favorite time of year because growing up in Florida we didn't have much of a fall. I used to love looking at the clothes in the back to school catalogues. I couldn't get a wool skirt because it was still 85 degrees out. I digress. So I noticed that it felt fall-like the other day but it wasn't actually fall. Here are some

Signs That Fall Is In The Air

1) It gets dark out earlier.
2) The air thins out.
3) You start thinking about Halloween costumes.
4) You start thinking about Thanksgiving dinner and wonder why you don't eat turkey dinners more often.
5) Football season starts.
6) Baseball season ends.
7) The trees are a million colors.
8) Tomatoes and watermelons are replaced by pumpkins and sqashes at the Farmer's Market.
9) The stores are overwhelmed with back to school crap.
10) You or someone you know is planning a trip to New England.

Hey Baby

I know I shouldn't but I can't help it. I am always looking for a little girfriend for my son. I guess it is that mother-bear survival of the species crap kicking in. Since we don't really know a lot of babies in our neighborhood, I have picked out some celebrity babies for potential mates for my son.

*Please note that Thud is forbidden to play with Suri Cruise or Sean Federline.


8 Celebrity Babies for Thud To Date (in the far off future)

1) Violet Affleck
2) Apple Martin
3) Mathilda Ledger
4) Shiloh Jolie-Pitt
5) Zahara Jolie-Pitt
6) Pearl Anderson (daughter of Maya Rudolph and Paul Thomas Anderson)
7) Alice Richmond (daughter of SNL's Tina Fey)
8) Isabella Damon

Song Sung Blue

I am really bummed. I am missing a fun night of karaoke next weekend cause I am going to a wedding. It's funny, I am not a big karaoke person but lately I have wanted to do it really badly. I guess I need some kind of performance outlet- that has been missing in my life as of late. Well, for all of you curious readers, here is my list of

14 Karaoke Songs I May Have Done This Weekend


1) I Hate Myself For Lovin' You- Joan Jett
2) Nine To Five- Dolly Parton
3) Roam- B 52's
4) No More Tears- Barbara Streisand & Donna Summer
5) Girls Just Want To Have Fun- Cyndi Lauper
6) Eye Of The Tiger- Survivor
7) Celebration- Kool and the Gang
8) Walk Like an Egyptian- The Bangles
9) Vacation- The Go-Gos
10) I Want Your Sex- George Michael
11) I Wear My Sunglasses At Night- Corey Hart
12) Goody Two Shoes- Adam Ant
13) Crazy On You- Heart
14) Survivor- Destiny's Child

Factual Friday

1) Tom Sawyer was the first novel written on a typewriter.
2) Butterflies taste with their feet.
3) Coca-Cola was initially green.
4) There are more statues of Sacagawea in the United States than of any other woman.
5) Pigs are the only animals besides humans that get sunuburned.
6) Jupoter is bigger than all the other planets combined.
7) The average woman uses up approximately her height in lipstick every five years.
8) When they began their romance Cesar was 54 and Cleopatra was 21.
9) Florida law forbids a housewife from breaking more than three dishes a day.
10) In 1982, a Chicago women burst into flames for no apparent reason as she walked down the street.

Shut Up!

There are certain slang that when I hear people say it that makes me sick. Why do we continue to use these rediculous words? Here are


8 Words/ Phrases to be removed from the American Lexicon

1) "You go, girl!"
2) "That's hot!"
3) "Da bomb"
4) "Aaiight"
5) "Touch base'
6) "S'all good!"
7) "talking out my ass"
8) "Pimp" or any combo of "pimp" and another word or phrase

Tri and Tri Again

ent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.wbur.org/photogallery/oag_triathlon/images/3.jpg">
I spent this weekend with The Fink participating in the Danskin Women's Triathalon in Sandy Hook, New Jersey. While the race was difficult, we determined it was very worthwhike in the end. The medals we received for finishing say "The woman who starts the race is not the same woman who finishes the race." Cheesy? Yes. True? More than you will ever know.In my attempt to get more women next year to participate, today's list consists of

20 Reasons To Do A Triathlon:

1) Beacuse you can!
2) Once you finish this, many things will seem a lot less difficult.
3) It is one of the most supportive athletic events you can participate in.
4) You will feel like a hot athlete when you are finished.
5) Let's face it, your ego could use a little boost!
6) Why not do it?
7) The satisfaction you get from telling the people who thought you'd NEVER do it that you did it fabulously!
8) It is much easier than trying to do a marathon. Those people are crazy!
9) You could meet a cute doctor in the medical tent. We did!
10) You can support other women, which is nice.
11) You probably look hotter in a swim cap than you think.
12) Doing a triathalon is one of those things you can bring up at parties to impress people.
13) This is also one of those things you can cross off that "life list" you've been making for the past 5 years that still has nothing crossed off.
14) The meals before and after the race can be whatever you want 100% guilt free!
15) The training and race could possibly have you in the best shape of your life. I am in better shape now than I was at 25.
16) If a 65 year old can do it, you can too!
17) If a 14 year old can do it, you can too!
18) You get free stuff.
19) You might win a diamond necklace like The Fink!
20) You may never feel more accomplished. Why pass that up?

PS- The Danskin Triathlon series has cancer survivors as participants. It is truly amazing. They actually start the race. When The Fink and I were heading back to the car feeling sick and dizzy and in much pain, we passed a woman talking on her cell phone. I heard her say, "Scared? No, I wasn't scared! I went through 16 weeks of chemo. What do I have to be scared of?". Nothing like a little perspective! I will now think of her everytime I am at the start of a race and I am scared!

Factual Friday

Beat all your friends in Trivial Pursuit. Read Factual Friday every week!

1) Man is the only animal that sleeps on its back.

2) The White House requires 570 gallons of paint to cover all of its exterior surfaces.

3) Home plate on a baseball diamond is 17" wide.

4) Most hampsters blink one eye at a time.

5) Every human being spent about 30 minutes as a single cell.

6) The average duration for sexual intercourse for humans is 2 minutes.

7) Gerald Ford is the only US President not to have been elected to the office of President or Vice President.

8) Honey is the only food that doesn't spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Eqyptian pharaohs has been deemed consumable by archaeologists.

9) When the Statue of Liberty was moved from France to the United States, 214 crates were used to transport it. The Statue was also reduced to 350 pieces.

10) Many of the sweaters worn by Mr. Rogers on the popular television show, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, were actually knitted by his real mother.

Quotable

Some people really love quotes (yes, The Fink, I am talking about you). I have been hearing some really good ones lately so I thought I would provide you with a list of

10 Great Quotes

1) "I want two things from you- silence and distance." -Marlon Brando to Elaine Strich during a season of summer stock on Long Island.

2) "I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity."- Gilda Radner, actress/comedianne

3) "I didn't want my tombstone to read 'She kept a clean house'". -Ann Richards late Governor of Texas as to why she went into politics later in life

4) "In America, anyone can become President. That's the problem." -George Carlin, comedian

5) "Life sucks. Get a fucking helmet."- Dennis Leary, comedian

6) "Though I am not naturally honest, I am so sometimes by chance."- William Shakespeare, playwright

7) "Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing."- Elie Wiesel, author and educator

8) "True religion is real living; living with all one's soul, with all one's goodness and righteousness." - Albert Einstein, sceintist

9) "A free race cannot be born of slave mothers."- Margaret Sanger, activist and founder of Planned Parenthood

10) "The role of the artist I now understood as that of revealing through the world-surfaces the implicit forms of the soul, and the great agent to assist the artist was the myth." -Joseph Campbell, educater and philosopher

You Paid For What?

If you don't know me there is something I should tell you about myself. I have to confess I am a cheapskate, a penny pincher, frugal. I always look for a bargain. If it isn't on sale I probably won't buy it. One of my favorite magazines ever was Budget Living (which folded recently much to my disappointment). OK, I think you get the picture.

As part of being a tightwad, there are certain things I just don't want to pay for. Period. In my mind I just can not justify spending money on the followinf six items:


1) Office supplies- I always did my back to school shopping at the supply room in my Mom's office. Why do I have to spend $.99 on a highlighter when someone can swipe one for free for me at their job?
2) Water- Its water. Turn on the faucett.There it is.
3) Duck Sauce- Why would I? I have a lifetime supply from my favorite Chinese takeout.
4) Tooth Picks- again you can get these at any resturant for free. Can you really think of a time where you used even 15 toothpicks for something?
5) Car Washes- In suburbia you just turn on your hose and get lathered up. Here in the big city, hoses are a luxury. You have to pay up for your car to look clean. I won't do it, I tell you!
6) Iced Tea- I make this stuff by the gallon. I always have it at home so it makes me cringe to fork over $2.50 for a cup of this stuff at Starbuck's.

Today

I contemplate putting up my extensive to-do list for today's post. It seems silly.Silly seems silly Today.

As Jay-Bee is walking out the door to go to work, he reminds me that if anything happens today, there is gas in the car and the Tri-Borough is the fastest way away from here.If I have to, just take the baby and go- don't wait for him. I do not want to have this conversation but I know in my heart of hearts that not having it would be even worse.

Today, this day, always makes me think back. The thing that stands out the most in my mind was how grateful I was to have my husband walk through our front door. Something in me knew this was a gift that thousands of spouses wouldn't get Today, something I will always be grateful for. I try to think about gratitude in my life today. My list today could be much much longer, I am happy to report but Today here are


20 things I am graterful for:

1) My family
2) My friends
3) Peace and Quiet
4) Cooking
5) Music
6) My Health
7) Friends (and myself) turning 30
8) Parents turning 60
9) Laughter
10) Hot Showers
11) Email
12) Vacations
13) Triathalons
14) Coffee
15) Cookies
16) Happy, Giggly Babies
17) Blogs
18) Going Home
19) Coming back to where I live
20) My husband coming home

Factual Friday

1) Al Capone died of syphilis.
2) Mickey Mouse first appeared in 1928
3) After her husband died, writer Mary Shelley kept his heart wrapped in silk until she passed away.
4) The shortest war in history lasted 38 minutes and was between Great Britian and Zanzibar. It was Zanzibar who surrendered.
5) In 15th Century Venice, the government ordered the prostitutes to go topless.
6) The word applause comes from 2 latin words that mean upon approval.
7) The Great Wall of China covers more than 1/20th of the Earth's circumfrence.
8) No cocuntry has a claim on Antartica.
9) Technically speaking, World War II is not finished. There has never been a formal peace treaty between Germany and the Soviet Union (Russia).
10) There are 108 stitches on an official Major League ball.

Greats To Be Seen

Before the little one came along, I went to the movies on a regualr basis. In fact, movies are considered a major form of entertainment in my family. My father is an avid movie goer. When my brother and I were growning up, Dad talked to KB about sports and to me about movies.

I miss going to the movies regularly. Now that I am not working (the company I worked for folded), I have some time on my hands during the day. I am contemplating watching all those "classic" films that I have missed- if its not on here I may have seen it. Here is my list of

15 Classic Films To Watch

1) The Godfather
2) LA Confidential
3) Taxi Driver
4) North By Northwest
5) Casablanca
6) The Graduate
7) On The Waterfront
8) Chinatown
9) Annie Hall
10) Doctor Strangelove
11) Dr. Zhavago
12) American Graffiti
13) Goodfellas
14) Rebel Without A Cause
15) The French Connection

Holiday (and cue Madonna)

Due to the holiday weekend, Factual Friday will return next week. Look for a new post on Tuesday . Hapy Labor Day weekend y'all!