ooooooo, ahhhhhhh, neato...

Tonight's full moon will be the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. It offers anyone with clear skies an opportunity to identify easy-to-see features on the moon.

The moon is, on average, 238,855 miles from Earth. The moon's orbit around Earth – which causes it to go through all its phases once every 29.5 days – is not a perfect circle, but rather an ellipse. One side of the orbit is 31,070 miles closer than the other.

So in each orbit, the moon reaches this closest point to us, called perigee. Once or twice a year, perigee coincides with a full moon, as it will tonight, making the moon bigger and brighter than any other full moons during the year.

Tonight it will be about 14 percent wider and 30 percent brighter than lesser full Moons of the year, according to Spaceweather.com.

As a bonus, Mars will be just to the left of the moon tonight. Look for the reddish, star-like object.

randomness

I love refrigerator magnets - especially from places. But when we moved into this house, Bill put his foot down...no magnets on the fridge. Well, I do have a few but they serve a purpose and are actually holding things to the fridge. (I would like to be one of those people who have an extra fridge in their garage...just so I could cover it in magnets!) It's okay though, I have metal in my cube at work so I brought some here. And when I start on the craft/library at home, I will find a way to put them up! Anyway, keep me in mind when you go somewhere and see a fun fridge magnet, I can always make more room! :-)

Super Bowl bound!

Yippee! I love all the excitement, it's so great!! I went to the grocery store early this afternoon and there wasn't anybody on the roads! Everybody at home getting ready for the game. So fun.

Yesterday we went to the RV show. Mom and Bill found one they both fell in love with. Mom was ready to buy it!! They are so silly. It was a lot of entertainment for $6 bucks. I guess we'll check into the whatever zoning issues we may have, for parking it on the side of the house. Hey, you never know :-)

The birthday dinner at Maggiano's was DELICIOUS, of course. I love it there. And Mom got me a blue ray DVD player. Something I wouldn't buy for myself for sure so it's a great gift!

Great weekend all the way around. And how 'bout those temps? It got up to 54 today! It's January. Yup, great weekend :-)

BEST card EVER!

I love the spirit of you...
the grace with which
you welcome each challenge,
the childlike wonder
that still colors
your days.

I love the originality of you...
your willingness
to stand out from the crowd...
your unique perspective
on what's happening in the world
and in your life.

I love the wisdom of you...
the way you trust your intuition...
your unfailing commitment
to doing the right thing.

And most of all,
I love the heart of you...
the genuine compassion, empathy,
and friendship
you offer to everyone you know.

Thanks Mom :-)
I love you too.

the dumber the better...

I LOVE really silly and stupid jokes!

Oh man was that ever funneeeee

Gotta love those long weekends!

Well, if you're retired you don't care. I'm not so I really enjoy the extra time.

It was a really nice weekend with a little bit of everything thrown in.

Mom came over Saturday and we spent the whole afternoon out and about.
Our main purpose was going to the big liquidation sale at the local discount furniture store...which turned out to be a big scam! All they did was keep their old prices and then put a "compare at" price above it. What a bunch of crap! I was shocked that they could get away with that. It made me want to write a letter. Humph. Needless to say, that was a big bust. But we did lots of other fun things instead.

Next weekend, I think we're going to the RV show. Not that we're in the market, but it's always fun to dream. Saturday night we're going to Maggiano's for dinner. Mmmmmmm. I think it's my birthday tradition now. This will be the 3rd year. But I feel like we should find one out of town, so every year it can be some place different. Really, that could bee fun!!

I finally finished the excruciatingly long Stephen King book, Under the Dome. Whew. Let me say it again, 1074 PAGES! It could have been about 500 pages shorter. It was okay but definitely not on the list to read again. If you're going to read it, don't read it for the story/plot. It's all about the characters. The actual story takes a back seat to all the characters. I guess if you like a good human nature story, like Lord of the Flies, you would probably like this book. Me, I don't care for the ugly side of people. I picked Pirates Latitudes by Michael Crichton, published posthumously. It's only 300+ pages. It seems like a magazine compared to the monster I just finished!

And we ordered new cell phones, all around. Bill and I got the same one, only his is a smooth flat black...mine is SO much cuter...

New eyes!

Finally, my new glasses came! It's so great to be able to see better :-)
This year, I even splurged for prescription sunglasses. Since I've already started to notice the brightness of light, because of the cataracts, I figured I would be really happy to have them this summer!

Another long weekend coming up...then a dry spell until April.
*sigh* I would like to be retired and just goofing off, reading, dabbling in artsy fartsy things, walking the dogs...

Oh! At lunch today we walked downtown to the Colts Pep rally. Not that I'm a football fan, but it's fun to live in a city that gets so pumped up about their team! I like that. GO COLTS!!!!!

And today is National strawberry ice cream day. I think I can accommodate my man ~ getting a lot of use out the personal ice cream maker!!

Oh my NOLA

Got tickets for Harry Connick Jr today! He'll be here in February. Mom and I went to see him a few years ago and had a great time. Bill said he was sorry he didn't go...he's going this time. It'll be fantastic.

He's a delight. Lots of energy, funny, tells a good story and he's a hip cat man!

Art?

You know that starving artist show? There is a reason they're starving...their art stinks. I thought perhaps I was being too critical, then I thought, nope...their art stinks. Like cheap hotel art. Not that there's anything wrong with that! Just not my cup-o-tea. Remember Bob Ross?

He made it all look so effortless. Apparently it's not, especially if you're not talented. There were tons of landscape paintings, with trees in them, that look like they were done by Bob Ross wannabe newbies. Oh well. At least now we've been to one of those.

Kinda chilly

Well, we only got 4 inches of snow according to Angie's Dad, but it seemed like a foot. Really, TONS of people didn't go to work or left for home early. I had a nice drive home...no traffic and no horrible roads. Woohoo!

This weekend is going to be downright cold though. I think the high for Saturday and Sunday is only 18 and the low Sunday is calling for -2. So much for taking down the lights this weekend!

That's fine. Sunday is the starving artist art show at the Sheraton. I've always wanted to go to one of those. I was hoping my new glasses would be ready by now. Grrrrr. It really would be great to be able to see better!

Are you a Survivor fan? You know the next season starts in about a month...Heroes vs Villains. Man, I can't wait to see how this plays out. Evil Russell, Boston Rob and Coach, all on the same team? Now that's good TV!

Brrrrrr

Brrrr - this was taken today (Indy Star, Charlie Nye)



And this is the shirt on Woot today ~ appropriate, plus it made me laugh.
It's called, Jurassic Parka. hahahahaha


It's going to be a loooooong drive home. But I won't complain. It could be worse, like in Bowbells North Dakota ~ where the wind chill is MINUS 52 this morning!!!! Ouch!

How much were you worth?

On MSN today there is a fun article on how much your salary would have been, in 1958.

Here are 25 contemporary jobs and their current salaries* compared with their monetary equivalent 50 years ago:

Accountants
2008: $54,440
1958: $7,313

Administrative assistants
2008: $44,471
1958: $5,973

Automotive mechanics
2008: $34,565
1958: $4,643

Chefs
2008: $54,143
1958: $7,273

Construction workers
2008: $36,214
1958: $4,864

Dry cleaners
2008: $22,429
1958: $3,013

Elementary school teachers
2008: $53,020
1958: $7,122

Emergency medical technicians
2008: $35,609
1958: $4,783

Fast-food workers
2008: $19,833
1958: $2,664

Firefighters
2008: $52,293
1958: $7,024

Flight attendants
2008: $63,913
1958: $8,585

Grocery store managers
2008: $55,629
1958: $7,472

Commercial painters
2008: $41,120
1958: $5,523

Hospice workers
2008: $46,191
1958: $6,204

Janitors
2008: $25,725
1958: $3,455

Newspaper journalists
2008: $21,963
1958: $2,950

Personal trainers
2008: $46,049
1958: $6,185

Plumbers
2008: $48,591
1958: $6,527

Police officers
2008: $52,801
1958: $7,092

Public relations representative
2008: $72,575
1958: $9,748

Registered nurses
2008: $66,427
1958: $8,923

Sales clerks
2008: $26,844
1958: $3,606

Surgeons
2008: $322,281
1958: $43,289

Veterinarians
2008: $93,685
1958: $12,584

It's National WHAT day??

I forgot to post January’s list! We've already missed National Whipped Cream Day darn it!


January 2 National Buffet Day
January 2 National Cream Puff Day
January 3 National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day
January 4 National Spaghetti Day
January 5 National Whipped Cream Day
January 6 National Shortbread Day
January 7 National Tempura Day
January 8 National English Toffee Day
January 9 National Apricot Day
January 10 National Bittersweet Chocolate Day
January 12 National Marzipan Day
January 13 National Peach Melba Day
January 14 National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day
January 15 National Strawberry Ice Cream Day
January 16 National Fig Newton Day
January 20 National Buttercrunch Day
January 20 National Cheese Lover's Day
January 21 National Granola Bar Day
January 22 National Blonde Brownie Day
January 23 National Pie Day
January 23 National Rhubarb Pie Day
January 24 National Peanut Butter Day
January 25 National Irish Coffee Day
January 26 National Peanut Brittle Day
January 26 National Pistachio Day
January 28 National Blueberry Pancake Day
January 29 National Corn chip Day
January 30 National Croissant Day
January 31 National Popcorn Day

1st post of 2010

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the future.

Will you say two thousand and ten or twenty ten? I'm going with twenty ten, it's easier.

Did you make any new year resolutions?

Did you make any new year resolutions that you'll actually stick by?
Nope, not me. I'm just going with the flow :-)

As a matter of fact, I haven't even taken down the Christmas decor yet. Last year I didn't get around to it until February...I'll be quicker this year though.

Dinner was nice on New Years Eve. Mom looked pretty, all sparkly! We were going to go to the auto show Friday but went shopping instead...which was a lot more fun! We had some gift cards to spend. Plus I had a great lunch coupon for one of Bill's favorite places to eat, Mongolian BBQ. Saturday was our lounging day ~ laundry and house chores. Plus lots of reading for me. I'm working on Under the Dome by Stephen King...1074 pages long. Oye. Such a commitment. And I have all these other books I want to read but I can't do more than one at a time. Sunday was more reading and alternating working in the bathroom. Finally it's ready to be painted. By this weekend there should be color on the walls and all the new fixtures in place. Then we can start on the floor. It may actually get finished this year!!! (a girl can dream)

Currently, the midwest is being attacked by an arctic cold front...brrrrrrrrrrr. No snow however. I think if it's going to be that cold, there ought to be something to show for it. And the power is out at the homestead. Hopefully it'll be back on in the next couple hours. Otherwise we'll have to call Mom to come and rescue the girls from shivering their teeth out!