Do Blogs Have Infommercials?

I have been known to purchase a thing or two on eBay. I have succumbed to sales pitches and called in to order products pitched while sleepily watching infommercials in the wee hours. I have even gone to the As Seen on TV Store at the Mall of America to buy one of those vacuum bags to store pillows and blankets. You may want to remember that because I am about to do a product endorsement. You judge if I am credible.

Mary good friend Mary gave me a Christmas present that I love. She has listened to my whining about trying to keep my windows clean. When the late afternoon sun shines through the dining room windows all the streaks show. In warmer months they need cleaning at least monthly. I use a long poled sponge / squeegee and a solution made with rubbing alcohol, ammonia, Dawn and water. It works pretty well but not perfectly. I hate doing it in cold months because the solution runs down the pole and I get cold and wet.
Mary gave me something called " My amazing cloth". I was skeptical. Then I tried it. Viola. Windows, mirrors, and the glass shower doors cleaned up easily with just that damp cloth. No soap. No squeege. No streaks. No problem. I love it. Thanks Mary.

Time Flies

Today is the 25th birthday of our youngest.
Like moms everywhere, I paused to remember the birth of this son on a very cold January day.
He arrived at 8:30 am at Lakeview Hospital in Stillwater, MN.
He is an only child with two brothers and a sister. Most of his childhood he was an "only" child but when we brought him home as a newborn he was the adorable baby brother of very loving siblings.
Sister, Mary, was thirteen and got some concerned looks from strangers when she pushed his stroller. Brother Dave, fifteen, was very patient trying to soothe Andy when he cried. He would rock him or push in the stroller until he quieted. Older brother Dan, then seventeen, was also very close and when he left home for college he missed you the most.
Andy. Our unplanned but much loved son has grown up, married his sweetheart and most recently become a home-owner. Congratulations and Happy Birthday.
Photo: Laura & Andy on move in day.

The Price of Peace

I just left the house as bullets were flying and "the" war was raging. Jon was watching a DVD of "The Pacific", a miniseries done by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. Jon wasn't actually watching as I left, he was snoozing in his recliner. This is a man who gets up very early, sometimes at one or two am. When he sits to watch a movie he rarely sees more than the first fifteen minutes. There are ten episodes in this miniseries. I figure it will take Jon until summer to see all of them.

Eventually I will probably watch the series with him. I don't like war movies much. I don't like the violence or the audio at ear-deafening levels with the surround sound system. That is pretty shallow thinking. War is loud and messy. I was moved when I watched the first Spielberg / Hanks production about WW2 called "Band of Brothers".

Band of Brothers was based on real individuals, a group of men from Easy Company lead by Capt. Dick Winters. Dick Winters just died in January at the age of 92. He survived the hell of

that great war and lived a long life. He will be remembered kindly as a hero. So many others died with less acclaim and did not live long lives. We are indebted to them forever. May they remain forever young.

Justice Delay-ed

I cannot speak with any expertise about Tom Delay or his politics. I don't feel strongly about him or the charges that convicted him of money laundering. I am not sure I am against money laundering. I have heard most of our currency is contaminated with traces of cocaine. Go ahead. Launder the money. I don't care.

Looking at the former politician, my impression is that he is guilty of something. Bad clothes? Too much Botox? A facelift? The worst contestant on Dancing With the Stars?

Mr. DeLay's attorneys will appeal his recent conviction. They cite trumped up charges and trying him in a liberal Texas county. That surprised me. There is a liberal county in Texas?

Cool Date 2

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Weather, You Like It or Not

We've made a dent in January and February is a short month. These are things a northerner tells oneself to cope with a harsh winter. After almost a decade of less than normal winter weather, Minnesota is experiencing a return to our regular climate. It started abruptly in November with an early heavy wet 8 in. blanket of snow weeks before Thanksgiving. We had not had snowy day of thanks in years.

December was cold and we had record breaking amounts of snow. Weather statistics have been kept for about a hundred and thirty years. Overcoverage on TV news had us almost cheering for that extra inch of snow to break the old record leading me to believe that cold, snowy weather causes madness.

Hear we go. Old and crazy and cacooning. Better plan a winter get-away. We looked at our options and I began to campaign for a road trip to the gulf states. Go south to Louisiana and eat crawdads in Cajun country. Explore the coast along Mississippi and Alabama. Perhaps a nice ocean side rental in the Florida panhandle for a few weeks. I solicited friends from New Hampshire to join us. I found nice pictures on the internet of white sandy beaches to try to convince my husband. It had possibilities.

Everything changed this weekend when the second big winter ice / snowstorm hit that region.
Six southern states are hunkered down waiting for the ice and foot of snow to melt. They don't have our fleet of snowplows or our enormous stashes of salt and sand. They just stay indoors until it disappears. Only the children are thrilled with snow days that cancel school and let them go sledding.

Some Minnesotans handle winter better than others. They ski, slide, ice fish or snowmobile. The rest are at risk for cabin fever. At risk for delusions of snowmen peeking in their windows.

Maybe that is how Minnesota will solve it's fiscal problems. We can sell snowmobiles, parkas and skis in the south. They may need our advice to handle difficult winters and learn to enjoy the snow. They better watch out if they start wishing for that extra inch of snow to set new records.

Photo: credit to son Andy who built this with his college buddies a few years ago.

Going Home to Glory

My review of the book in blog titled "I Like Ike" on January 9th, 2011.