TONY MANERO IN A DRESS...

If you were giving the movie awards which would be the winners of 2007?

Would it be Ratatouille because that's all you got to see?

Or if you had some alone time maybe you would vote for 3:10 to Yuma or Gone Baby Gone.

On the funnier side maybe you liked Superbad.

What did you think about John Travolta as a woman in Hairspray? A little change from Saturday Night Fever...

THINK...

Someone sent this to me...


There was a blind girl who hated herself because she was blind.

She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for her. She told her boyfriend, 'If I could only see the world, I would marry you.'

One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her. When the bandages came off, she was able to see everything, including her boyfriend. He asked her, 'Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?'

The girl looked at her boyfriend and saw that he was blind. The sight of his closed eyelids shocked her. She hadn't expected that. The thought of looking at them the rest of her life led her to refuse to marry him.

Her boyfriend left her in tears and days later wrote a note to her saying: 'Take good care of your eyes, my dear, for before they were yours, they were mine.'

This is how the human brain often works when our status changes. Only a very few remember what life was like before, and who was always by their side in the most painful situations.

Before you say an unkind word - Think of someone who can't speak.

Before you complain about the taste of your food - Think of someone who has nothing to eat.

Today before you complain about life - Think of someone who went too early to heaven.

Before you complain about your children - Think of someone who desires children but they're barren.

Before you argue about your dirty house someone didn't clean or sweep - Think of the people who are living in the streets.

Before whining about the distance you drive - Think of someone who walks the same distance with their feet.

And when you are tired and complain about your job - Think of the unemployed, the disabled, and those who wish they had your job.

And when depressing thoughts seem to get you down - Put a smile on your face and thank GOD you're alive and still around.

The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

THE BEST YEARS OF YOUR LIFE?

Does everyone remember the decade that you lost your mind, the decade that you fondly remember as the best years of your life? Did your parents think you’d “never amount to anything?”

Was it the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s or the ’80s? It was the decade that you acted stupid, dressed stupid and listened to music that you may or may not still listen to.

Everybody thinks their decade was the best. I am thankful that mine was not the ’80s because there was too much hairspray. I think the ’70s were the best because I still listen to the music and so do my kids. I was a big fan of Van Morrison, Rod Stewart and Percy Sledge and still am. And let’s not forget Dorothy Moore. They’ve aged a bit but those great voices are still there.

What were you wearing in your decade, who was your favorite singer or group and what was your favorite song and album?
Was it Maggie May, Brown-eyed Girl, Dream Weaver...?

So...the best years of your life? Let's see the pictures.

I’m begging…please e-mail me a photo from your favorite years and we’ll create a photo gallery of the “Best Years of Your Life.” I’ll put mine in if you will.

My e-mail is lsalter@jackson.gannett.com.

DANCING WITH TOM JONES...

If you read Christy Bridges’ blog (Spilled Animal Crackers) you know that every Monday she posts, from readers’ nominations, a guy that most would call a “hottie.” This week she felt obligated to post Antonio Banderas(no that's not him in the photo)…BECAUSE HER GRANDMOTHER THINKS HE’S A HOTTIE.

Heaven knows I’m not casting off on grandmothers because I am one and I think I’m still young. But it did get me to thinking about how my mother was crazy about Tom Jones (photo at right).

My mother was 58 when I was in my mid teens and she would absolutely swoon when she saw him on television. We laughed about it but my older sister took her to see him in concert and it only got worse after that. My sister said that Mama acted like a teenager and even bought a poster of him. She brought it home and put it on the wall. She thought he was hot!

The older I get the more I like his music and the more I understand that at 58 my mother was still young.

Now I classify his music as “happy” music…the kind that makes you want to dance.

And speaking of dancing to Tom’s music…check this out…

A SHORT TIME TO LIVE...

What would you do if you just found out that you had a terminal illness and had only a short time to live?

Pre-plan your funeral?
Load up the family and travel?
Clean the house so your family won’t have to go through your possessions?
Check on your will and life insurance?
Teach the husband how to pay the bills?

Read this mother’s courageous efforts to prepare her family for life without her.

0127dyingmom0127.html

PAID HELP...

Do you have help with housework? Paid help?
If so, what do you have them to do for you?
If not, then how do you handle it?

WHAT DO YOU CALL YOUR SHOES?

I found a funny blog on shoes.

What do you call your shoes? You know…your athletic shoes, Keds, tennis, whatever.

The excerpt from the blog:
“When I was a kid, I used to have a subscription to Field and Stream magazine, and one of my favorite parts was the column written by Patrick F. McManus. He told stories of his childhood, growing up fishing and hunting. One I remember, clearly, was when he explained to a rich kid that Tenner shoes were so called because they were invented by a Mr. Tenner. ‘They were ugly. Tenner designed them that way on purpose so girls wouldn't want to wear them.’ Having learned the true etymology of the shoes' name, I have called them Tenner shoes ever since.”
http://www.parentdish.com/2008/01/17/what-do-you-call-your-shoes/

Say what???

As a kid, I called them my Converse, Nike, New Balance and I even called them tennis shoes but never “tenner” shoes.

So…I had to do a little research.

It seems that there are lots of people with sneaker obsessions.

According to sneakerhead.com, Goodyear invented a rubber and canvas shoe in 1892 and called them Keds.

James Dean made them popular in the ’50s by wearing them with Levis and a t-shirt.

I didn’t find Mr. Tenner so I am going to continue to call them my Nike.

So…what do you call them?

How much would you pay for a pair for yourself?

How much would you allow your teen to pay for a pair?

YOUR FAVORITE GIRL SCOUT COOKIE...

Girl Scout cookies should go on sale right before Thanksgiving. You could use them for the holidays and no one would moan about being on a diet at the first of the year...and the Scouts would sell a lot more cookies.

What's your favorite Girl Scout cookie?

How many do you plan to buy this year?

SEX AND BOOZE...

How do you feel about Gardasil, the vaccine for human papilloma virus (HPV) that is believed to cause cervical cancer?

Recipients have remarked that the shot hurts much more than a regular shot and health officials have reported some fainting.

Officials at Merck say the sting is due to the "virus-like particles in the shot."

Plenty of bloggers say don't trust Merck..."first they give you Vioxx and now they want to give you Gardasil."

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention there have been 13 reports of Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) after Gardasil. Six of the 13 reports occurred when females received Gardasil at the same time as Menactra, a vaccine for meningitis.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/hpv/downloads/hpv-gardasil-gbs.pdf

The Mayo Clinic Web site defines GBS as "an uncommon inflammatory disorder in which your body's immune system attacks the nerves causing severe weakness and numbness, eventually paralyzing the entire body." It says there is no cure for the disorder.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/guillain-barre-syndrome/DS00413

Also on the topic of sex...
College parties aren't what they once were. Big surprise there but ABC News reports that researchers have found that young women are drinking more and wearing less. Skimpy clothing is regularly featured at themed college parties, such as naughty school girl, toga and lingerie parties, along with lots of alcohol. The report says that the less clothing girls wear, the more they drink, possibly to "lower their inhibitions" to be seen wearing so little.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4086600&page=1

COLOR YOUR FIRE...

This weekend was warm. Sid and I decided to get a few leaves off the patio Sunday evening and then threw some burgers on the grill. As the sun went down it got a little chilly so I made a fire in the chiminea and we ate outside.
Our niece and nephew gave us a neat Christmas gift that I'd never seen before...Hearth Color Sticks. You put them in the campfire or fireplace and you get color flames. I got the fire started and then tossed in a few of the sticks. It was beautiful...purple, blue, green and red flames. This would be absolutely beautiful in a campfire. We sat there for several hours just watching the colors and talking.

OH BRITNEY...

There’s much talk on the Web today after the custody standoff at Britney Spears’ house last night.

According to several Web sites, she refused to turn over the children to ex-husband Kevin Federline’s bodyguard. The bodyguard called the police and quickly paramedics, fire engines and law enforcement swarmed the property. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital because she appeared to be “under the influence of an unknown substance.”

The talk on the Web today runs the gamut. Some say she needs help, others say she is doing it for attention, a few call for prayer. A few say it was a setup by Federline and many say the paparazzi drove her to all of this. It’s pathetic in the video and see the paparazzi chasing the ambulance for photos. News is news but good grief, get out of the way for the ambulance.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-spears5jan05,1,5654510.story?coll=la-headlines-california

Any way you look at it, it’s bad for the children.
How do you feel?

CHECK OUT THIS NEW RIDE...

Christmas was really fun this year thanks to four-year-old grandson Rowan.

We got him a red Mustang convertible to keep at our house and he came over New Year’s Day to drive his ride for a while. Here we are (photo at right). I'm wearing my hat Sandi knitted for me and Rowan is wearing his MSU hat because...well, because he loves Bully.

Rowan said the car was “too tight.” We all looked puzzled...looked like he had plenty of room. His mom explained that he likes to watch Pimp My Ride. “Tight” means really nice.
Well we’re glad to hear it because the little red number wasn’t cheap.

He fiddles with the radio while he drives. For crying out loud…he must think he’s a teenager.
He loves the shiny rims. He gets out of the car often to kick them…I’m not sure why.
He looks under the hood and pretends to pump gas. The funniest thing he does is slide across the hood like Bo and Luke Duke.