Happy New Years!

Let's face it: 2009 kinda sucked. Heck, the whole decade was kinda sorry, for that matter. The good news is that we get a new slate starting tomorrow. We also get a second full moon tonight. The extra moon is called a blue moon. Apparently, it has more to do with a mispronunciation of an old English word than the color of it, but, whatever. Anyway, it only happens every two or three years, so, that's got to bode well, right? Hey, I always liked the Marcels:




'Course, for you traditionalists, it's hard to beat Ella Fitzgerald:



Hope your New Year's Eve is good.

A Ministry of Cleaning Out Refrigerators.

Although the primary source of my distinctly non-subtle sense of humor was my wild and crazy dad, my mom (well, mine and AndyMan's mom) could be a pretty funny person, too. A few years after mom joined the Sisters of the Transfiguration, I went up to the Convent in Glendale, Ohio, to visit. She was taking her turn cleaning the kitchen, and opined to me and the remainder of those present that she had a special "ministry of cleaning out refrigerators". When the Apostle Paul talked about the special gifts doled out to the faithful, he may not have specifically mentioned a ministry of cleaning out refrigerators, but I chalk that up to the extensive lag time between his ministry and the invention of the refrigerator.

I've listed The Manor for sale, and it has been pointed out to me that a disgusting refrigerator, in the current economy, is not conducive to a quick real estate sale. My refrigerator qualified as disgusting, so I figured it was time to give it a bath.

So I did.

Hey, that's a good looking refrigerator!

Now I just gotta get some food.

EggMcMathews

When my brother, the Amazing AndyMan, and I were youngish lads growing up in Cigar City, we witnessed the advent of McDonald's Egg McMuffins. We liked them. We seldom got to have them. We developed our own answer: the Egg McMathews. Basically the same ingredients, but, you know, made at home. I'd passed this story along to financee and fab cook, Diane, and she prepared a surprise for the day-after-Christmas: the new and improved Egg McMathews. Toasted English muffins, topped with lean Canadian bacon, a poached egg, and (instead of mega-fattening Hollandaise sauce) a lite cheese sauce that was way-good. I had to tease her about her ultra-healthy choice of eggs, though. They were advertised as the eggs of "organic, vegetable fed" chickens. I didn't realize that meat-eating chickens were abundant.




Of course, nobody wants the horrid specter of zombie chickens eggs!. Hmmm. Maybe Diane does have the right idea afterall.

Merry Christmas, Baby.

Merry Christmas to everyone. Diane and I'll be at Midnight Mass in a bit. I hope that you find peace and contentment in your own way, and a little momentum going into the new year. Maybe Bruce can help:

Russ Turns Fifty.

As I've reported plenty in the past, the Baggetts were my "second family" as I was growing up in Tampa. I've known Russ since fifth grade. We went to Morgan Woods Elementary, Webb Junior High School, and Leto High School together, and later were housemates at Florida State University. I was shocked to discover that he decided to turn fifty last week. His sister, Sarah, set up a surprise party for him at his aunt's place near his house in Panama City, Florida. Fiancee Diane was all set for a road trip, and off we went.

Hmmm. Tire pressure's a little low. Better get Diane to put some air in 'em.

We stayed in Marinna, FL, about an hour North of Panama City, smack in the middle of Florida's "pan handle". Marianna is not big. Neither was its newspaper, The Jackson County Floridian, though its price was up there with the big boys. The lead story was that the turnout for the Christmas parade was low. The local population musta been applying for one of the four jobs listed as "now available" just above the headline.

The party was fun. Alligator hunter Phil came up from Tampa with fellow Leto H.S. Falcon Terrie; Pee Wee league Viking teammate Tommy Ostertag came over from Tallahassee, and lots of Russ' family were in attendance. Sister Sarah, Diane, and Russ and Sarah's mom (and my "second mom") Frandy, pictured at left, visited. Frandy and Diane hit it off, as I'd hoped they would. The barbecue and cake were mighty tasty, and it seemed like folks had fun.

The next day we checked out of the Fairfield and headed East on I-10.

I won't tell you where I saw this sign, but my first thought on seeing it was, "Uh, not since diapers".


We stopped in Jacksonville to visit with friends from the Boro, Jim and Gale.

Fat, Dumb, and Happy.

Looky here! South Carolina is among the Happiest States in the Country. The article in today's Charleston "Post and Courier" has us at number six, the Yahoo News article has us at number eight. Either way, we're in the top ten.

We're also in the top ten Fattest States, and Dumbest States (as measured by S.A.T. test results). Hmmm. Not sure what to make of that. Guess I'll have a cheeseburger and not think about it.

Time Magazine's Palmetto State Person of the Year

Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, has been named Time Magazine's "Person of the Year". I'm personally a bigger fan of his predecessor, Alan Greenspan, but I do dig that Bernanke is from Dillon, South Carolina, and that he used to be a waiter at a restaurant at super-kitschy South of the Border. Go, Pedro!