Our little munchkin, Rebecca
I’m not usually big on “Awareness” Days, but I make an exception for this one, because it celebrates some very special people. The date that was picked (3/21) is no accident – on this date, we celebrate those wonderful people who have 3 copies of the 21st chromosome. Life in a family with a DS member is a whirlwind adventure!
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Hooray! The mantle was finally completed this weekend – Paul finished all of the “last-minute” tweaks, sanded it, stained it, and put a couple of coats of shellac on both the upper and lower mantle pieces.
Now they are both in place and ready to rock:
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(And yes, Paul will be getting a TV that is big enough to fill the entire space above the mantle; that’s why we have so many plugs up there…. 😛 )
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This cute song is from a live stage performance I saw on TV many, many years ago; it’s called “Your Feet’s Too Big“. I was wracking my brain trying to remember where I had seen this song.
As it turns out, that song – and the performance that I saw all those years ago – was from the Tony-award-winning Broadway show “Ain’t Misbehavin‘”, which aired on NBC in 1982 (and re-aired on Bravo in 1999).
I tried to find this version of “Danny Boy” (Garrett Morris, SNL, 03/18/78), but it’s behind a paywall at Hulu…
One of the reasons that I love Saint Patrick’s Day is because it gives me an excuse to listen to one of my all-time favorite songs, “Danny Boy“.
If there were ever any doubt about my ancestry (I’ve got some “Kelly” and “Carroll” in my family tree), the way that this tune makes me feel like I’ve “come home” puts that to rest – there is no denying that music from the British Isles is the kind of music that stirs my soul.
In putting this post together, I listened to a LOT of different versions of the song, and I ran across one that surprised me. You see, I’ve only ever known Bob McGrath as a performer on “Sesame Street” – I didn’t have a CLUE that he had such an amazing voice!
When I heard this version, I knew that I had found “the one” (I apologize for the video quality – the audio is pristine):
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OK, this is great.
Warning: Be sure and pee first before you read this……
Life as a child growing up in Texas…
Author Unknown
Around age 10 my dad got me one of those little badass compound bow beginner kits. Of course, the first month I went around our land sticking arrows in anything that could get stuck by an arrow. Did you know that a 1955 40-horse Farmall tractor tire will take 6 rounds before it goes down?
Tough sumbich..
“Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears…”
Caesar: Who is it in the press that calls on me? I hear a tongue shriller than all the music Cry “Caesar!” Speak, Caesar is turn’d to hear.
Soothsayer: Beware the ides of March.
Caesar: What man is that?
Brutus: A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.
Julius Caesar Act 1, scene 2, 15–19
…hope your day goes better than this guy’s did, back in 44 B.C.:
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Vincenzo Camuccini, Mort de César, 1798
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(If you stay away from Senators on the steps of the Roman Capitol, you should be OK….)
Yes, I’m a geek – I bought this for Rachel a couple of years ago:
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She’s a geek, too – she loved it….
(And yes, I bought myself one as well – can’t be letting her have all the fun!)
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You can purchase a Pi Plate of your very own from the What On Earth? catalog – it’s a veritable smorgasbord for a nerd like me…. 😛
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In keeping with the Texas theme, I thought that a Texas-themed tune might be fun.
Paul, his Dad, and my Dad are/were all Texas born and Texas bred. This one fits them (and all the other Texas men I know) to a “T” –
Fellow Texan (and fellow Texas Aggie!) Lyle Lovett never fails to deliver:
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The man knows how to put on a show, don’t he?
Have a great day!
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The President was in the Oval Office when his telephone rang.
“Hello, Mr. President,” a heavily accented southern voice said. “This is Archie, down here at the Joe’s Crab Shack in Houston, Texas. I am callin’ to tell ya’ll that we are officially declaring war on ya!”
“Well, Archie,” the President replied, “This is indeed important news! How big is your army?”
“Right now,” said Archie, after a moment’s calculation, “There is myself, my cousin Harold, my next-door-neighbor Randy, and the whole dart team from Hooters. That makes eight!”
The President paused. “I must tell you, Archie, that I have one million men in my army waiting to move on my command.”
“Wow,” said Archie. “I’ll have to call ya back!”
Sure enough, the next day Archie called again. “Mr. President, the war is still on! We have managed to acquire some infantry equipment!”
“And what equipment would that be Archie?” the President asked.
“Well sir, we have two combines, a bulldozer, and Harry’s farm tractor.”
The President sighed. “I must tell you, Archie, that I have 16,000 tanks and 14,000 armored personnel carriers. Also I’ve increased my army to one-and-a-half million since we last spoke.”
“Lord above”, said Archie, “I’ll be getting back to ya.”
Sure enough, Archie rang again the next day… “Mr. President, the war is still on! We have managed to git ourselves airborne! We up an’ modified Harold’s ultra-light with a couple of shotguns in the cockpit, and four boys from the Legion have joined us as well!”
The President was silent for a minute then cleared his throat. “I must tell you, Archie, that I have 10,000 bombers and 20,000 fighter planes. My military complex is surrounded by laser-guided, surface-to-air missile sites. And since we last spoke, I’ve increased my army to TWO MILLION!”
“Oh Lord,” said Archie, “l’ll have to call you back.”
Sure enough, Archie called again the next day. “Mr. President! I am sorry to have to tell you that we have had to call off this here war.”
“I’m sorry to hear that” said the President. “Why the sudden change of heart?”
“Well, sir,” said Archie, “we’ve all sat ourselves down and had a long chat over a few beers, and come to realize that there’s just no way we can feed two million prisoners..”
TEXAS CONFIDENCE CANNOT BE SHAKEN
If you are a TEXAN, you won’t even need to be told to pass this on.
GOD BLESS TEXAS!
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Since we’ve been commemorating Texas events this week, I thought I would post THE quintessential Texas recipe – Chicken Fried Steak.
This recipe comes from The Pioneer Woman, ‘cuz she knows how to do Southern Comfort Food right – if you click on the link, you can see step-by-step pictures of how to make this dish, along with a yummy recipe for mashed potatoes.
(As always, I use gluten-free flour to make this recipe – one advantage of using GF flour when making gravy is that it won’t clump up when added to liquid; every sauce and gravy that I’ve made since going gluten-free comes out delightfully smooth!)
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The Fat Lady Has Sung
