Let me introduce you

I want to take this space tonite to introduce you to a very special friend of mine.  Her name is Jill.  I met Jill when I first got online about 12 years ago.  Like all good friends, we get caught up in real life and send each other forwards, giggles, have had a few heart to hearts and I have to say that she has added much joy to my life in the last decade.  She is multi talented and probably about the most giving person I have ever been privileged to know.  If she has it, you need it, you got it. The kind of friend that sends you real honest to goodness snail mail when you least expect it but most need it.  Can you tell I just loves me some Jill?  Like a good secret that you can't wait to tell, I am sharing her with you.
Jill has just started a blog.  And I know it will be a fun one to read.  But her first real post has a special urgency to it.  Please take a moment, go and visit Jill.  And then go back and visit her again in the future.  You won't be sorry. 
http://untieribbons.blogspot.com/

It's Shocking to Think of - Really!

I received this as a forward.  I am not even going to try to snopes it.  It just makes so much sense and is shocking when I think of it.

Have you ever noticed girls who set their handbags on public toilet floors, then go
directly to their dining tables and set it on the
table?
Happens a lot!   It's not always the 'restaurant food' that causes stomach distress. Sometimes
'what you don't know will hurt you'!

Read on.............
Mom got so upset when guests
came in the door and plopped their handbags down on the counter where she was cooking or setting up food. She always said that handbags are really dirty, because of where they have been.

It's something just about every woman carries with them. While we may know what's inside our handbags, do you have any idea what's on the outside?
Women carry handbags everywhere; from the office to public toilets to the floor of the car. Most women won't be caught without their handbags, but did you ever stop to think about where your handbag goes during the day.

'I drive a school bus, so my handbag has been on the floor of the bus a lot,' says one woman. 'On the floor of my car, and in toilets.'
'I put my handbag in grocery shopping carts and on the floor of the toilet,' says another woman 'and of course in my home which should be clean.'

We decided to find out if handbags
harbour a lot of bacteria. We learned how to test them at Nelson Laboratories in Salt Lake , and then we set out to test the average woman's handbag.

Most women told us they didn't stop to think about what was on the bottom of their handbag. Most said at home they usually set their handbags on top of kitchen tables and counters where food is prepared. Most of the ladies we talked to told us they wouldn't be surprised if their handbags were at least a little bit dirty. 

It turns out handbags are so surprisingly dirty, even the microbiologist who tested them was shocked.

Microbiologist Amy Karen of Nelson Labs says nearly all of the handbags tested were not only high in bacteria, but high in harmful kinds of bacteria. Pseudomonas can cause eye infections, staphylococcus aurous can cause serious skin infections, and salmonella and e-coli found on the handbags could make people very sick.

In one sampling, four out of five handbags tested positive for salmonella, and that's not the worst of it. 'There is faecal contamination on the handbags' says Amy. Leather or vinyl handbags tended to be cleaner than cloth handbags, and lifestyle seemed to play a role.... People with kids tended to have dirtier handbags than those without, with one exception.

The handbag of one single woman who frequented nightclubs had one of the worst contaminations of all. 'Some type of faeces, or possibly vomit' says Amy.

So the moral of this story is that your handbag won't kill you, but it does have the potential to make you very sick if you keep it on places where you eat. Use hooks to hang your handbag at home and in toilets, and don't put it on your desk, a restaurant table, or on your kitchen countertop. 

Experts say you should think of your handbag the same way you would a pair of shoes. 'If you think about putting a pair of shoes on your countertops, that's the same thing you're doing when you put your handbag on the countertops.'
Your handbag has gone where individuals before you have walked, sat, sneezed, coughed, spat, urinated, emptied bowels,
etc!

Do you really want to bring that home with you? The microbiologists at Nelson also said cleaning a handbag will help. Wash cloth handbags and use leather cleaner to clean the
bottom of leather handbags. 

November: Kick off time for celebration seasons

Hello Folksies!
It's Veteran's Day!  Hope that everyone who reads this remembers to wave a flag and thank a Veteran for their loving service to our great nation.  God Bless America!

November always heralds the kick off for Christmas. Ever notice that in the past few years you are hearing Christmas songs on the tv before Halloween? Good grief. As if I don't have enough stress already! Look at it from my point of view. For the next few months it is non stop celebrating. It begins with Mr. Luscious and his birthday.
Then a few days later comes my dear sweet Mommy's birthday: Here they are last year:


Last year Mom spent most of it very ill for months on end. This year she is doing much better and we are planning an all out big celebration of good health.

Then comes my oldest one's birthday:

Since he is a newlywed, I am certain his birthday will be extra special in the celebrating department this year.

Then comes my birthday. Oh yeah, we won't mention the candles on my cake:
Following closely on that day is


Then right after that is my wonderful SIL's birthday:

Then shortly after that is Baby Girl's day

How can anyone not want to celebrate my Daddy's birthday! He's my own personal hero.  WWII would have not been won had it not been for my dear daddy!


The flurry of birthday celebrations end with Middle Son's birthday:

Once we get done with all that partying, it is a quiet few months.  But my clan always looks for a reason to party.  After all, everyday is someone's birthday.  Yep, we like having un birthday parties round here!  Pick out a date, bake a cake, make a pot of food and it's a party here.