A Trendy Update

Since this was a pretty boring week for me as most of it was spent in a recliner watching TV, reading, and recuperating I'm going to look forward and to what I hope will be my personal trends for 2011. Those are:

Better health.

More walking.

Less Free Cell.

More writing.

More saying yes.

More fun.

Less anger.

More Risks.

Less fear.

More outings.

Less isolation.

That is a good start. What are your hopeful trends for 2011?

We all like food so here are the food trends predicted for 2011:

http://www.slashfood.com/2010/12/28/a-man-canning-and-other-food-trends-for-2011/?icid=maing%7Cmain5%7Cdl3%7Csec2_lnk3%7C33944

On the agenda this week. Today lunch with Mom and two work assignments. Monday shopping for walking shoes and a new computer. Tuesday and Wednesday nights and Thursday morning at Mom's. Friday housecleaning.Saturday the company holiday party. One I wouldn't normally go to but this is my year of saying yes.

Besides sharing your personal trends of 2011 you also get to update me on your lives. What went on with you last week and what will go on with your next week? This is your day so post whatever you damn well please!

Memories

Sidney Poitier: After his first audition, Poitier was told by the casting director, "Why don't you stop wasting people's time and go out and become a dishwasher or something?" Poitier vowed to show him that he could make it, going on to win an Oscar and becoming one of the most well-regarded actors in the business.

I'm kind of taking the day off today. First there was eleven of nineteen nights at Mom's not to mention the days there during the holidays. Then as soon as I finished at Mom's there was three days in a recliner. This is really the first day I can do some things so I am going for it. I'm also behind on my work and need to catch up on that. Tomorrow the blog will be update day and Monday the blog will return to normal. I will share a holiday memory with you today then its off to play and work.

Watching the rose parade this morning brought back a memory of one of my favorite New Year's Day. Dad was a manager of a hardware story that sold television sets. They wanted him to try out this new thing, color TV, so they gave him a brand new Motorola color television set right before New Year's Day. Of course we were the first ones in the neighborhood to have a color TV. For New Year's Day Mom invited everyone in the neighborhood over to our house for breakfast and to watch the Rose Parade on color TV. All fifty of us in attendance were just awed by the new invention and by Mom's ability to feed us all. Scrambled eggs, hash browns, cinnamon rolls, sausage, ham, bacon, and coffee. Buffet style. Now wonder I still like breakfast and buffets!

What are your memories of the first day of the year?

Recovery Day 3

Oprah Winfrey: Most people know Oprah as one of the most iconic faces on TV as well as one of the richest and most successful women in the world. Oprah faced a hard road to get to that position, however, enduring a rough and often abusive childhood as well as numerous career setbacks including being fired from her job as a television reporter because she was "unfit for TV."

Pat and DR convinced me that yesterday was day two of my recovery so that makes today Day 3. I went to the doctor for a follow-up this morning. Improving. Medicine the dosage was doubled. Elevate and walk. Not the full tilt elevation of the past few days but the elevate whenever I am not walking. I'm to walk part of the day to increase the circulation in the leg. If it isn't healed in ten days back to the doctor. Progress is a good sign.

This is for DR. Here is an article about the most inspirational stories of 2010:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/toan-lam/small-acts-big-changes-wh_b_796309.html

Here is a link to the article mentioned in the above article where you can click on any story not mentioned in the above article:

http://yearinreview.yahoo.com/2010/us_inspiring_acts#Inspiring%20Acts

I'm doing my usual New Year's Eve threesome. Diet coke, DVD, and a warm blanket. And I'm following the advise in the following article under "unusual tradition." To ensure good luck in 2011 you must wear yellow underwear on New Year's, to ensure finding love in 2011 you must wear red underwear on New Year's eve and if at the stroke of midnight if you carry a suitcase through your neighborhood it ensures that in 2011 you will embark on the journey of your dreams. I've already got both yellow and red undies on and I've go my suitcase by the door for my midnight journey around the neighborhood. I'm not sure if I should wear pants over the red and yellow boxers on that journey. Stay tuned.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/new-year-traditions.html

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Are you going to follow any traditions tonight?

Day 2 or 3 of Recovery

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Mozart began composing at the age of five, writing over 600 pieces of music that today are lauded as some of the best ever created. Yet during his lifetime, Mozart didn't have such an easy time, and was often restless, leading to his dismissal from a position as a court musician in Salzberg. He struggled to keep the support of the aristocracy and died with little to his name.
I think this is day three of the recovery. I'm just now sure how to count it. I went to the doctor Tuesday so you Tuesday as a bench mark this would the third day. However, it has been less than forty-eight hours since I started the anti-biotic so am I still in my second day? So much to ponder when you are confined to a recliner. Like pondering the top ten crime stories of 2010.

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/28/top-crime-stories-of-2010/?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%7C192418

I think I am improving, it really is hard to tell. The good thing is the redness has stayed within the non-danger zone and has even lessened a little. Not as bright red as it was either so that is a good sign.

Back to elevate. Hope your day is going to be more exciting than mine!

On The Shelf

Igor Stravinsky: In 1913 when Stravinsky debuted his now famous Rite of Spring, audiences rioted, running the composer out of town. Yet it was this very work that changed the way composers in the 19th century thought about music and cemented his place in musical history.

A couple of the days ago I did a blog post entitled "Off The Shelf" today the post is titled "On The Shelf" because that is what I am until Friday. I had a small cut on my leg. I didn't think it was anything serious so just put anti-biotic cream and lived with it. Mom and my niece repeatedly beat me up over the head with constant love nags to go to the doctor. I went to the doctor basically to prove them wrong. Damn it they were right. The medical personnel was really concerned and immediately put me on an anti-biotic and ordered me to three days of staying off my leg. I have to be in the recliner with my leg above my heart for three freaking days. Of course I can take short breaks for certain things but mainly I'm locked in the recliner and loaded with books and food. They diagnosed it as cellulitis whatever the heck that is. I go back to the Doctor on Friday and if it hasn't improved I am in it deep. It already looks better than yesterday so I'm very optimistic.

However, I can't stay up long enough to research the Who Am I and the articles for the blog. So until Friday the blog will be either on vacation or there will be really small posts or updates on the man in the recliner.

Back to my uplifting life.

Health & Drugs

Jack London: This well-known American author wasn't always such a success. While he would go on to publish popular novels like White Fang and The Call of the Wild, his first story received six hundred rejection slips before finally being accepted.

Interesting article about cancer cells:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20101223/hl_hsn/cancercellsmaybeabletourgetheirowndeath

Just think of the possibilities if the can encourage cancer cells to kill themselves.

Next up is what illnesses to watch out for during winter:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20101216/sc_livescience/7healthwoesbroughtonbywinter

I knew most of them but it did kind of surprise me that heart attack and strokes are more prevalent during the winter.

The United States has spent a trillion dollars over the years on their War On Drugs. Does Portugal have a better way?

http://www.officer.com/web/online/Top-News-Stories/US-Eyes-Portugals-Drug-Policy-Success/1$55981

And a brief correction to the above story:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101227/ap_on_re_eu/eu_failed_drug_war_solutions;_ylt=Atzy5rPKWNlK3a3_hz8kiULVJRIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJ0ZjgwMTZsBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAxMjI3L2V1X2ZhaWxlZF9kcnVnX3dhcl9zb2x1dGlvbnMEY3BvcwMxBHBvcwMyBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA3BvcnR1Z2Fsc2RydQ--

Certainly sounds like something our government should look into.

The answer to yesterday's Who Am I was Sharlot Hall.

Your comments and thoughts will be well received here!

Off The Shelf

I'm doing some off the shelf items today on the blog. I had planned on stopping the little blurbs of people throughout history that had suffered failures before they became famous and successful. I have several left so will continue to them until the shelf is bare.

Zane Grey: Incredibly popular in the early 20th century, this adventure book writer began his career as a dentist, something he quickly began to hate. So, he began to write, only to see rejection after rejection for his works, being told eventually that he had no business being a writer and should given up. It took him years, but at 40, Zane finally got his first work published, leaving him with almost 90 books to his name and selling over 50 million copies worldwide.

Now on to the articles of the day. Some people are social and some aren't. I probably fall in the middle, I'm incredibly shy to being social is kind of difficult but by the same token I love to interact with people. It may be the size of my brain that causes my at times anti-socialism:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101226/ap_on_sc/us_sci_social_brain

We all hate spam. Those annoying penal enlargement and breast implant emails providing the links to there websites. Delete. Delete. Delete. However, now a man has taken another approach, read on:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101227/ap_on_hi_te/us_anti_spam_crusader

As you know by now I love stories of children succeeding or doing fun and good things:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101222/ap_on_sc/eu_britain_child_scientists

Your comments are appreciated. Off to Mom's which may be my last night there until next week. It depends on the road conditions from Utah to Portland and when my sister can make it back home.


WHO AM I?

I was born in 1870 and died in 1943 and was an American journalist, poet and historian. I was the first woman to hold an office in the Arizona Territorial government and my personal collection of photographs and artifacts served as the starting collection for a history museum which bears my name. When I was eleven my family followed the Santa Fe Trail to Arizona Territory. During the trip I was thrown from my horse and suffered an injury to my back or hip. The pain of the injury would remain with me the rest of my life. Il was educated in public schools, At an early age I demonstrated an interest in poetry. My work would eventually earn me an honorary Bachelor of Arts from the University of Arizona. At the age of 20 I sold my first article to a children's magazine. By age 22 I was working as a journalist, poet, and essayist. I served as Territorial Historian. A year after my appointment I released of Cactus and pine: songs of the Southwest. Following the death of my father l acquired the cabin which had served as the "Governor's mansion" for Arizona Territory's first governors. I founded the Prescott Historical Society. I was a popular speaker, giving talks on local history and folklore to schools and clubs throughout the state. I was among the first to be inducted to Arizona's Women Hall of Fame. Who Am I?

A Day Of Rest.

I am really tired. It has been a really busy three weeks with first the caregiver off on vacation, then sister off for the holidays, and then the holiday themselves with guests in and out. I spent a ton of time at Mom's in the three weeks and it has left little time for some of the things I need to get done at home. I get one day today and then back to Mom's tomorrow. So I am resting today and this blog entry is going to set a record for how short it is. Yes, I know this normally is update day but all of you have already shared your holiday stories and I have shared mine. You are still welcome to share anything else your little hearts desire and update us on anything that you would like to share. This is still your day on the blog to do whatever the heck your want to. But for me it is a day of rest. I will share with you a link of the most inspirational stories of 2010. Of course you don't have to read all of them, just read the headlines and then click on the ones you find interesting.

http://www.takepart.com/news/2010/12/25/our-12-most-inspiring-stories-of-2010

That is it for the day. Comment at will.

Christmas Day 2010

Hope this Christmas Day will bring you joy and happiness. We had our celebration last night. Well, we had our first celebration last night. I cooked a meal of ham, scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole and rolls. As the cook I can honestly say the meal was damn good. We opened our gifts. Santa was really good to me. A generous movie gift card, an Oregon Duck sweatshirt, a combination tie-vest-shirt, sugar free candy, three nice calendars (one for each room in my house), a nice pair of pajamas and a generous check. The annual gift from heaven was a hit with Mom. Today my nephew and his family are coming up from Eugene and bringing a turkey. My niece and her family are coming over from Tualatin and bringing desert. Mom & I are provided the leftover rolls, ham, and scalloped potatoes. No gift exchange, just eating and playing games. Well one game. We all love Catch Phrase, it is a hoot. Two Christmases! Can a man be any luckier.

Wanted to provide a link to one of Dona's memorable moments of 2010. It's hilarious.

http://mrgreenjeans.blogspot.com/

Christmas is for inspiration and sharing. Today we are sharing inspirational stories.

First up a young woman that started giving at a very young age. Adults provided her with a field and she ran with it:

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/07/30/sixth-graders-harvest-stocks-food-pantry-shelves/

Like the above story the following story was picked as on of the top ten good stories of 2010 by AOL news.
A secret agent outs herself:

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/08/06/secret-altruistic-agent-reveals-identity/

In Parade Magazine issue last Sunday they awarded several foundations doing good things grants of fifty grand. The following foundation stood out for me:

http://www.awarriorwish.org/

Enjoy the day!!

Merry Christmas

With relatives in an out during this holiday season and emotions (mine and Mom's) in and out throughout the holidays there will be no regularly scheduled Who am I of the day until the new year arrives. The Who Am I may make an appearance before then but no promises.

We always celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve. That was our tradition. When young us kids just couldn't wait until Christmas morning to open our gifts. Greedy little tykes we were. However, in the growing up process I learned that the best Christmases were the ones were memories and pictures were shared with friends and family, where there was in inspirational story here and there, and where stories of giving were the focus of the holiday season.

First the inspirational story:

Oliver Stone: This Oscar-winning filmmaker began his first novel while at Yale, a project that eventually caused him to fail out of school. This would turn out to be a poor decision as the the text was rejected by publishers and was not published until 1998, at which time it was not well-received. After dropping out of school, Stone moved to Vietnam to teach English, later enlisting in the army and fighting in the war, a battle that earning two Purple Hearts and helped him find the inspiration for his later work that often center around war.

I consider all of you here as family. Nothing better than sharing pictures of family. One of DanaRae's memorable moments of 2010 was her family reunion. The first picture is of her "Clan."



Next up is DanaRae's Mom sitting, with siblings Rhonda, Deb, and Lake and DR herself on the far right.




Following is a picture that I am completely shocked that Dona didn't share with us as one of her most memorable moments of 2010. How could The Shankster teaching us all how to get rid of data on the hard drive of a printer not be memorable? The shame, Dona, the shame.



Last are two stories of giving. A woman gives on her birthday instead of receives:

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/12/barbara_cookes_birthday_was_al.html

The final story is one of a man that decided to see how he could impact others even though he was unemployed:

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/22/laid-off-american-reed-sandridge-gives-away-10-a-day-for-a-year/?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl1%7Csec3_lnk2%7C191577

Merry Christmas everyone. Thanks for the gift that you have given me all year, the most valuable gift of all, your time!

Memorable Moments of 2010. The Final Entry.

Charles Schultz, Peanuts creator, had every cartoon he submitted rejected by his high school yearbook staff and Walt Disney wouldn't hire him.

The answer to yesterday's Who Am I was Francesca Saverio Cabrini.

This is the final entry of my memorable moments of 2010. I know I wasn't going to rate my moments but the first one mentioned today really is my favorite moment of the year.

My uncle Frank & my Aunt Velma had four children. Dixie, Denny, Debbie, and Dave. The beautiful Debbie died at the much to young of age of fourteen. Their family and our family always lived in the same city growing up. We all celebrated holidays together. Frank and Velma were a second set of parents. Dixie, Denny, Debbie until she passed away, and Dave were not cousins but a second set of siblings.

I hadn't seen Dixie since my Dad's memorial. I hadn't seen Frank and Velma since the year before dad died. Mom hadn't seen her brother since then either. Frank is her only sibling. In September bless Dixie's heart she brought Frank here to see Mom and I. It was a great reunion. We had a blast. As great as the visit was it was also a wave of emotions. I had never cried about losing Dad. This was the third most read post on the blog in 2010 barely beating out "Things I Learned From My Dad." Here is the report of Frank and Dixie's visit:

http://thedahnreport.blogspot.com/2010/09/stark-realities.html

The week before Thanksgiving I decided to make some changes. I decided I need a new suit. This time I was going for the gusto. I wasn't go to go cheap I was going good quality. I set out to buy an Armani but the salesman and the tailor convinced me that the Canali suit was better made than the Armani and you wouldn't be paying for the brand name. I didn't go cheap, I went stylish. I started my year of saying yes with this new suit:



The final memorable moment was just a couple of weeks ago. As we all discussed when you become a caregiver you often lose yourself. You also isolate yourself. I had been isolating myself for several years now. I decided after observing a year Lian Dolan, the hostess of The Chaos Chronicles Blog, lived using her "Let Her Rip" motto that I was going to take inspiration from her and adopt my own motto for next year. Just say yes.

As luck would have it Lian was having a book signing at Powell's for her first novel, HELEN OF PASADENA, not from where I live. Her sister Monica was going to introduce her. This is exactly the type of event in the past I would have wanted go to but would have talked myself out of it. I would have found every excuse in the book not to attend. I spent most the day trying to talk myself out of going but I sucked it up, put on my new suit and went to the signing. It was one of the most fun evenings that I have had in a very long time. Lian and Monica were just so doggone nice. If I had a choice of having someone put a lighted match under each one of my fingers and toes or take my picture I'd choose the matches every single time. Except at the book signing I really wanted my picture taken with Lian. This is the picture her sister Monica took. Great picture of Lian, not so great of me.



I've been kicking myself in the hindquarters since then for not also having a picture taken with Monica.

That was my 2010 in three narcissistic posts. Thank you for bearing with me! Your comments are appreciated.

PS

Remember you can share your memorable moments at any time on the blog. You can also be the guest blogger for a day and tell us your memorable moments in the form of a blog entry. Just email me at williamjdahn@aol.com. Also remember that on any picture on the blog you can enlarge it by clicking it.

Memorable Moments of 2010 - Part Two

Thomas Edison's teachers said he was "too stupid to learn anything." He was fired from his first two jobs for being "non-productive." As an inventor, Edison made a 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?" Edison replied, "I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps."

I was tired of the lack of civility in today's world and took a pledge.

http://thedahnreport.blogspot.com/2010/05/my-pledge.html

Some of you took the pledge with me. How did you do? I give myself a C and hope to improve that to an A in 2011.

One of the most memorable and fun events for me was the cousin reunion here in July. Because Mom really couldn't travel to the cousins, the cousins traveled to Mom's. I was put in charge of pulling it all together. Frankly, I did a damn good job.

Google has a stat service on all blogs. It really doesn't tell you much but one of the more interesting features is it will calculate the most read posts. The most read post on the blog of 2010 was my report about the cousin reunion:

http://thedahnreport.blogspot.com/2010/08/reunion-full-story.html

After the reunion Mom and I spent a lot of time going over family pictures preparing for cousin Barbara's visit. Barbara was and is working on the family history. Getting ready for Barbara's visit produced the second most read blog entry of 2010.

http://thedahnreport.blogspot.com/2010/08/family-history-in-pictures.html

It was a wonderful look for me at the past and how I arrived at where I am today. I just didn't think anyone else would be all that interested in pictures of my family or my history.

Your comments are appreciated. Remember you can share your memorable moments of 2010 at any time.

WHO AM I?

I was born in 1850 and was the first American citizen to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. I was the tenth of eleven children to rich cherry tree farmers. Only four of the eleven siblinhd survived beyond adolescence. Small and weak as a child I remained in delicate health throughout my life. I became the mother superior of the House of Providence orphanage in Codogno, where I taught. The orphanage was closed. Myself and six other sisters that took religious vows with my founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I composed the rules and constitution of the order, and she continued as its superior-general until my death. The order established seven homes and a free school and nursery in its first five years. Its good works brought me to the attention of Giovanni Scalabrini, bishop of Piacenza and of Pope Leo XIII. The Pope sent me to New York City to help the Italian immigrants "Not to the East but to the West". I obtained the permission of Archbishop Michael Corrigan to found an orphanage. It was the first of 67 institutions I founded in New York, Chicago, Des Plaines, Seattle, New Orleans, Denver, Golden, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and in countries throughout South America and Europe. Long after my death, the Missionary Sisters would achieve my goal of being a missionary to China. I died of complications from dysentery at age 67. My legacy is healing, teaching, and caring around the world. Who Am I?

Memorable Moments of 2010 - Part One

Isaac Newton, known as the greatest mathematician of all time, derived the law of universal gravitation, invented the branch of mathematics called calculus, and performed experiments investigating the nature of light and colour. He did very poorly in grad school.

The answer to yesterday's Who Am I was Tenny Emma Albright

I am not doing memorable moments in order of importance, all the moments are important to me.

In January my Mom and an old friend Maxine celebrated their birthdays together. It was Maxine's 90th birthday. Mom and Maxine hadn't seen each other for over twenty years. Maxine's daughter and granddaughter brought her to Portland for a very fun weekend. They took Mom for a pedicure because she had never had one before. We had a nice dinner at Rose's the night they arrived. Then we had a great dinner at McCormack & Schmicks. They even had menus with Happy Birthday Maxine & Miriam at the top of them. On the morning the Idaho group left we had a nice breakfast at their hotel. Of course the weekend was filled with conversation, laughter, and memories.

Maxine and her husband Boyd and their children Billy and Tammy lived next door to us in Pocatello, Idaho when we lived on a very small farm. Our two families bought ten acres together and then split it down the middle. Growing up I road horses with Tammie. We were buds. I hadn't seen her for years and years. So not only was it reunion for Mom, it was a reunion for me too.

Mom is seated, Maxine is standing.



Nikkie, Maxine's granddaughter, is standing on the left, Tammie Maxine's daughter is kneeling on the right.



Not all memorable moments are good ones. Mom and I had a doctor appointment with the foot doctor in January. I overslept and dressed in a hurry. I didn't bother to turn the lights on, I just got dressed in the dark and run out to the car. When I got to Mom's I looked down at the shoes I was wearing. Oops. My choice was to go home to get the right shoes and be late or go as is and be on time. I went as is and made it with three minutes to spare. It was memorable for the doctor and his wife/receptionist too since every time I have returned since then they say "it is nice to see your shoes match."




The following is the final memorable moment of the day. A link to the blog entry where after years and years I earned redemption.

http://thedahnreport.blogspot.com/2010/04/redemption.html

Your comments are appreciated. Be kind.

Word Of The Year

Leo Tolstoy, the Russian writer whose psychologically and morally complex novels are regarded as masterpieces of realistic fiction flunked in college. He was described as "both unable and unwilling to learn."

Tomorrow will start my memorable moments. It was actually fun going through the year and taking a look at the year in my rearview mirror. I was surprised that there was more memorable than I had anticipated and disappointed that there weren't more.

Previously I listed the most annoying words of 2010. So today I am going to share with you the words of the year:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101220/ap_on_re_us/us_word_of_the_year

We have a lot of Jeopardy fans amongst us and next year will bring us the Jeopardy competition of a lifetime:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/14/ibms-watson-supercomputer-will-play-jeopardy-on-these-dates/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl7%7Csec1_lnk3%7C190681

I'm closing with a very touching article. It just pulls on my heartstrings. Courage written all over it.

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/18/with-love-sabrina-parker-and-matt-scozzari-face-a-deadly-diagno/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-sb-n%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%7C190841

I'm looking forward to you all starting my week off with you always informative and great comments.

Who Am I?

I am one of the more amazing women that Bill has used as a Who Am I. I am a polio survivor, an Olympic athlete, and a doctor of medicine. I was born in 1935. A graduate of The Winsor School in Boston, I entered Radcliffe College as a pre-med student, and after my Olympic triumph focused on completing my education and graduated from Harvard Medical School. I went on to become a surgeon. I was also selected by Sports Illustrated as one of the top 100 female athletes of all time thanks to being the first triple crown winner in skating and the first American female to win a gold medal in skating. I never skated professionally instead concentrating on my medical career and my first marriage to a former owner of the Ritz-Carlton. I was the daughter of a prominent Boston surgeon and a homemaker. I had one younger brother. My parents gave me my first pair of skates at age eight. Illness almost ended my skating career before it began. At age eleven I contracted polio and nobody knew whether I would walk again. I was not scared about being sick. The fear I had was staying in the hospital overnight. I couldn't imagine anything worse. No one told me how serious it was. In fact, they took the sign 'polio' off my door, hoping I wouldn't realize how sick I was. Looking back, I don't think I ever knew how sick I was, because it never occurred to me that I couldn't and wouldn't get better. I recovered and was soon released from the hospital. Since I was still weak, the doctors encouraged me to return to ice skating, feeling that the exercise would improve my strength. The doctors were correct in their assessment; just four months after my polio attack I won my first competition: the Eastern Juvenile Skating Championship. I was known for the quote, "If you don't fall down, you aren't trying hard enough, you aren't trying to do things that are hard enough for you. So, falling down is part of learning for whatever you do, and it certainly is for skating." After winning the medals I entered Harvard Medical School and was one of only six women in a class of 130 students. I served on the Board of Directors of the American Cancer Society and chaired the National Library of Medicine Board of Regents. I also led international efforts to eliminate polio when she was a member of the World Health Assembly. My two marriages produced three daughters. I am in the Olympic Hall of Fame. Who Am I?

Sunday Update

Winston Churchill is widely regarded as the greatest British leader of the 20th century. Churchill is celebrated for his leadership during World War II (1939-1945), one of the most desperate struggles in British history. He failed sixth grade. He did not become Prime Minister of England until he was 62, only after a lifetime of defeats and setbacks. His greatest contributions came when he was a senior citizen.

I left Mom's on Thursday about noon. I was at Mom five of the previous seven nights and seven of the previous eight days. When I left Mom's I went directly to the movies to catch LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS. It was a really good movie that probably should have had a strong R rating and not for sixteen and under. Acting good. Story good. Ending touching. Friday and Saturday besides the blog I finished my shopping and did most of my cards. I must have been pretty exhausted because I ended up getting over a total of twenty hours of sleep the last two nights.

Next week on the agenda is only two nights at Mom's. Wednesday and Saturday. Saturday is Christmas Day and of course I am going to look forward to spending Christmas with her. At her age you never know if this will be her last Christmas. I'm also going to take Mom to church services on Christmas Eve. Opportunity number two to wear my new suit. The rest of the week is lunch on Monday with a client. Tuesday night out to dinner with Sister, Brother-in-law, and Mom for an early Christmas celebration. Sis and her husband are taking off for Utah on Wednesday morning to spend time the holidays with sister's daughter and her four boys. Thursday Mom out to lunch. Friday is Christmas Eve. Saturday is Christmas.

Not much on the entertainment front. The doctors did win The Amazing Race. First all women's team to do so. And an women's team finished second, the Shopping Network TV hosts. There were some reports that on the next Dancing With The Stars will be Lindsay Lohan and Todd Palin, husband of Sarah Palin. If the later is on I will probably not watch the show this season.

Coming up on the blog next week will be My Most Memorable Moments of 2010. There will be either a picture of the moment or a link to a blog entry about the moment. I won't do it all in one day, it will be over two or three days. I would love it if you would begin to think about your memorable moments of this year and share them on the blog. For now your task is to catch me up on your lives. Let me know how your health is, what you have been up to, any events attended or that you will be attending, any deep dark secrets, or just introduce yourselves. I really do like to learn more about all of you.

Let's Observe Ourselves.

Abraham Lincoln became one of the greatest presidents in the history of the USA. Born into poverty, Lincoln was faced with defeat throughout his life. He lost eight elections, failed twice in business and suffered from a nervous breakdown.

On the agenda today is starting and finishing my Christmas Shopping. I also hope to finish sending Christmas Cards. I only send cards to relatives. When I was in business for myself and had five hundred clients I quit sending out cards. It was just to expensive. It was also hard to separate out the ones that celebrated Christmas and the ones that didn't. So I made a decision to only send cards to relatives. It certainly has made the season a lot easier.

You may have visitors coming to visit you this season and want your house sparkling clean. I have some tips for you:

http://www.shelterpop.com/2010/12/03/cleaning-tips/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl5%7Csec1_lnk3%7C190663

Now I know why people buy Spam. Not to eat it but to polish their furniture with it. After reading the above article are you going out to buy diapers?

You may be traveling overseas during the holiday season and one of your stops may be the city where our Snugpug resides, Singapore. Right the city is involved in a LOO campaign. Let's Observe Ourselves. What do you think the campaign refers to? Check this article out:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101217/od_nm/us_singapore_toilet;_ylt=Am7ALtj8ToUDUVuxe9YPnSftiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJvNzcyZmZyBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTAxMjE3L3VzX3NpbmdhcG9yZV90b2lsZXQEcG9zAzMEc2VjA3luX2FydGljbGVfc3VtbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsawNmdWxsbmJzcHN0b3I

The answer to yesterday's Who Am I was Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, the second woman to be given the title of doctor. As you know most of the Who Am Is of the day feature women who have done groundbreaking and/or spectacular things. While there isn't a Who Am I for today I am sharing with you an article about a spectacular woman:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101218/ap_on_re_us/us_search_for_amelia

Hope your are enjoying the weekend. I am off shopping but will look forward to returning home from the malls to read your spectacular comments.

Thank you.

Charles Darwin, father of the theory of evolution, gave up a medical career and was told by his father, “You care for nothing but shooting, dogs, and rat catching.” In his autobiography, Darwin wrote, “I was considered by my father, a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard in intellect.


Let's start out the day with a charming story:

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/12/raising_six_kids_from_haiti_im.html

I really admire the family for providing a home for six previous homeless children.

Sometimes with how busy we all are and at the pace we lead our lives I often think that we really don't to enough time to stop to smell the roses, to appreciate nature, to see the good in our lives, or to say thank you. Do you think the words "thank you" are powerful? Read on:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/excerpt-365-yous-john-kralik/story?id=12402610&page=1

There is a video of the TV interview of Mr. Kralik that I saw in the article. During the year of gratitude he found that he not only changed the lives of others but he changed his own life. He realized he wasn't that bad of a person.

Because of the length of today's two articles that is it. Your comments are appreciated.

PS

To the followers, readers, and commenter's of the blog. Thank you. Thank you making room in your life to read the blog and share you life with me. Thank you for being a part of my life.

WHO AM I?

I was born in 1836 the second of the nine children of a grain merchant and a homemaker.
My younger sister became a leader of the constitutional campaign for women's suffrage. . I was educated at home and at a private school. When twenty-four I resolved to study medicine. I was refused admission as a full student at many medical schools to which she applied. I studied anatomy privately but not only did medical schools deny my application many refused to even to admit me to their examinations. Eventually end the Society of Apothecaries allowed me to enter for the License of Apothecaries' Hall. I was later appointed general medical attendant to St Mary's Dispensary, a London institution started to enable poor women to obtain medical help from qualified practitioners of their own gender. The dispensary soon developed into the New Hospital for Women, and there I G worked for over twenty years. I obtained the University of Paris degree of MD the same year I was elected to the first London School Board. I married the co-owner of a steamship company but did not give my her practice. We had three children, one died of meningitis, and one became a pioneering doctor of medicine and social campaigner. I gained membership of the British Medical Association and remained the only woman member for 19 years, due to the Association's vote against the admission of further women. Elizabeth was the first woman in the world to earn the title of doctor, I was second but the first woman in England to be referred to by that title. I was also the first woman in England to be elected mayor of a city. I died at age eighty-one. Who Am I?

Whatever

Colonel Sanders had the construction of a new road put him out of business in 1967. He went to over 1,000 places trying to sell his chicken recipe before he found a buyer interested in his 11 herbs and spices. Seven years later, at the age of 75, Colonel Sanders sold his fried chicken company for a finger-lickin' $15 million!

Whatever. For the second year in a row that came out on top as the most annoying word or phrase in the English language. I'm a sure a lot of you will be happy that my bad didn't make the list. Checkout what made the cut here:

http://www.canada.com/Like+whatever+Poll+results+find+most+annoying+English+words/3982753/story.html

The ones that didn't make the list that I would have liked to make it were; "to be honest with you", "if you will", "at the end of the day" and "at this point in time." I really don't mind "it is what it is". What would you put on the list? What would you take off the list?

From depressing words and phrases let's move on to depressing jobs. My occupation made the list:


http://www.aolhealth.com/condition-center/depression/10-careers-highest-depression-rate?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl3%7Csec1_lnk3%7C190021
http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/12/15/larry-king-live-tribute-the-shows-11-greatest-moments/?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl2%7Csec1_lnk3%7C190220

It does surprise me that accounting and finance made the list. Does any job on the list surprise you? Any jobs not on the list that you would add? I would add firemen, policemen and EMTs to the list.

I'm closing with some laughs. We really aren't laughing are others, we are laughing with them. I'm sure most of us have had our embarrassing moments at work. Here are few ones that I am glad I didn't make:

http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2010/12/15/professional-mistakes/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-sb-n%7Cdl4%7Csec3_lnk1%7C190230

I'm not confessing to my embarrassing moments so I am not expecting you to. However, if you want to tell us your deep dark secret about a work experience I know we would all appreciate it.

Looking forward to your comments.

Mona Lisa Eyes

The movie Star Wars was rejected by every movie studio in Hollywood before 20th-Century Fox finally produced it. It went on to be one of the largest grossing movies in film history.

I start out the day at Mom's. After tonight I don't need to be back until next Wednesday. After parts of six out the last seven days at Mom's and as much as I love Mom and the incredible woman that she is I am looking forward to being home for a few days.

First up is what I call a we will have nun of that story.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101213/od_nm/us_crime_nun

I don't why is always surprises me when a religious figure ends up accused of a crime but it does.

Next up is a story about a woman's eyes holding secrets that could unlock history:

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/13/do-hidden-letters-in-mona-lisas-eyes-reveal-a-real-da-vinci-cod/

We are closing with puzzles. Do you like puzzles? I don't. They frustrate me and I really don't have the patience for them. I love to take a good quiz because I am good at those. But no to crossword puzzles. No to jigsaw puzzles. One man is lucky that there is such a thing as a jigsaw puzzle expert:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101210/od_nm/us_taiwan_cash

I will be checking in on the blog throughout the day from Mom's to look for all the outstanding comments I am sure you have about today's blog entry.

It's A Crime

Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he finally succeeded.

Dr. Seuss' first children's book, "And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street", was rejected by twenty-seven publishers. The twenty-eighth publisher, Vanguard press, sold six million copies of the book.

I think it is a crime that Dr. Seuss had to go through twenty-eight publishers before finally find one with brains enough to publish his first book. I'm not so sure, however, that men wearing makeup is a crime. I've worn makeup before when I was in plays in Drama in High School:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101208/od_nm/us_sudan_decency

What is your reaction to the article? I don't know, I certainly wouldn't waste a courts' time to prosecute a man for wearing makeup.

Did you know that there was a murder in outer space? Read on:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101212/ap_on_sc/us_sci_saturn_rings

Should we send a team of detectives up there to see if they can solve the murder?

It bothers me sometimes when I go to check out a book at the library and it isn't there because some irresponsible human being didn't return it out time. I want to put those that don't return library books in jail when that happens. I'm not sure if that is just venting or if I would actually put them in jail if I were in charge. However, some people have no doubts:

http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/article/texas-woman-jessekah-few-jailed-for-overdue-library-books/19749685?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl1%7Csec4_lnk2%7C188797

Are you with them or against them.

It is a crime that I have to be in a boring seminar today but I hope none of you get arrested today so that you can comment on today's blog entry.