Fitness Center Alpha (Hopefully not Omega)

This may be my first blog post that contains the word treadmill. This is probably because today was one of the first times in the 2+ year history of this blog that I have been on one. Amy and I both joined a fitness center yesterday. It was a pretty cool deal actually. $19.95 a month for me and $15.00 for Amy (plus 1 month free for me for referring her). The best thing is that there were no contracts or cancellation fees. So this morning I woke up at about 6 a.m. drove to the center and spent 35 minutes on the treadmill and watched live t.v.! I hadn't watched live t.v. since the Oscars. The workout went pretty well, I went a little more than 2 miles. Next time I may try some of the other machines. Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Amy and I grew up in the Catholic faith and since embracing an Evangelical Protestant Christianity we have not really observed Lent in the same way. This reminds me of a joke I told in the early early eighties. I gave up Catholicism for Lent, and once it was over, I wasn't Catholic anymore so I didn't have to take it back. (My jokes were much more cerebral back then.) Actually many protestants observe Lent. So each Wednesday during this Lenten Season I will share some observations and activities. This morning I will kick off school with this fun lesson I found about the pretzel and its Lenten origins. Well the nice thing about exercising in the blessed a.m. is being awake and alert to get a post out before the school day commences. But it's that time again to get with it. Have a good day I should be back today or tomorrow with a SB136 epilogue.

One Schoolhouse to go, coming up.

The winner of the Old School House Expo, Expo to Conference MP3 is

Wait for it.

Chick Hatchers.

Congratulations and I'll be in touch soon with your mp3.

Sunday's Cool

I am trying out a new feature today. It's called Sunday's Cool: A Link up and a Look Ahead. Our family has several other blogs here in the blog-o-sphere. The majority of them go untended for and ultimately unread. I have decided that each Sunday I will link up one of those blogs here. This should give me the encouragement I need to have those update more often. That will be the link-up portion of the title. The look-a-head will just be a sneak peek at what may be appearing on this blog in the coming 7 days. As my loyal readers may have noticed, I used to end each post with a sneak peek of what my next post would be about. Sometimes the hardest part of writing a post was simply writing the next time tag. So, I gave up on it. This will give me a chance to give you a warning if I'm starting a six post series on lawn furniture feng-shui.

So with that build up here is the innaugural episode . . .

Sunday's Cool

A Link Up and a Look Ahead

A link up: A few weeks ago our family went to Springfield to indicate our disapproval with proposed Senate Bill SB136. It was tabled so we must have done some good. At our home school web site : Izola Becker Home School, I put up a few pictures from our time there. We chose this picture because past Puppy and the Liberty Bell replica you can see the lines of people waiting to enter the Capitol building and attend the discussion on the bill. Click on the picture to see the entire post.



A Look Ahead: Speaking of SB 136. I plan to post this week parts of an epilogue to SB 136 I saw at the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). I will give it a HSD twist and plan to call it "Of Carrots and Sticks." On Monday, I will be announcing the winner of the home school conference mp3 give-a-way. This is your last chance to enter. Click here to do so. Hopefully the week won't get away from me and there will be loads of interesting tidbits here. Enjoy your Sunday and have a great week!.

I Always Have My Camera With Me, Except . . .

When I walk by Jim McMahon

Yes you guessed it. It's Six word Saturday time at Show my face dot com and I just played my six.





Here's a bit of an explanation. Actually there are 2 explanations. If this was a t.v. show the first explanation would start with these words imposed on the screen:

25 years ago




The Chicago Bears won Super Bowl XX. There were many leaders on the team one of which was their punky QB Jim McMahon. Now that Walter Payton is no longer alive, McMahon is the living embodiment of that team (at least on the offensive side of the field).

This leads us to our second explanation. Again if this was a t.v. show and you hadn't already switched the channel you would see these words on your screen:




1 week ago ...


Our family was given free tickets to go see an Arena Football game about 15 minutes from our house. The name of the team is the Chicago Slaughter and they are coached by another Superbowl winning former Bear, Steve McMicheal. It was the opening game of the season and there was a carnival like atmosphere at the stadium. If you have ever been to a minor league baseball game, it was much like that. There were bouncy rides and other games for the kids and even a face painting station.








As the second Half was just beginning I was coming back from the aforementioned face painting station when I walked right past Jim McMahon. This was not so unusual as it was Jim McMahon night. He was posing for a picture and it would have been so easy to snap his picture right there 10 feet away from him. Very easy as I almost always have at least 1 camera around my neck when I'm in public. I am a blogger, after all.


No, I had left both cameras I had brought to the event in the stands so my family members could take pictures like this ...




But in reality they were taking pictures like this . . .

So I rushed back to the stands to get a camera but by then it was too late. McMahon had gone back to his suite and even though I did snap two pics of him there.








The best you could say about these pics was the guy sort of looked like he could possibly maybe look a little like Jim McMahon. But the thing is:

HE WAS JIM MCMAHON !!!

The evening was still a whole bunch of fun. It's not every day you can shout Slaughter the Beef. (The slaughter lost to the Omaha Beef.) I will leave you with some video of the evening.

For more Six Word Saturday click here.

Dr. Seuss and More.

Yes, today is Theodor (Ted) Geisel's birthday and the beloved children's author best known by his pseudonym Dr. Seuss has been well celebrated today in the blogosphere. He was born on this day in1904 and died on September 24th 1991. At least 3 blogs in my blogroll have broached the topic. Check those out here, here and here. My post is going to be less about Seuss and more about others who share common bonds with him.

First here is a short list of a few other Theodore's who were known by other names.





Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt. 26th President of the United States.

Born: October 27th 1858. Died: January 6th 1919.



Other nicknames: The Trust Buster, The Hero of San Juan Hill (among others).



Quote: No man is above the law and no man is below it: nor do we ask any man's permission when we ask him to obey it.

Theodore (Ted) Samuel Williams. Hall of Fame left fielder for the Boston Red Sox

Born: August 30th 1918. Died July 5th 2002

Other nicknames: Teddy Ballgame, The Splendid Splinter (among others).

Quote: Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer.

Rev. Theodore "Ted" Martin Hesburgh. President, University of Notre Dame 1952-1987.

Born 5/25/1917.

Other nicknames: Father Ted.

Quote: The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.

While there are many famous Theodore's (One of them is even a Chipmunk) to choose from. I picked these 3 to accompany the good doctor for these reasons:

1) They all at one time went by Teddy or Ted.

2) They all were alive at the same time. For about 18 months from May 1917 to early January 1919 they all breathed the same air.

3) Like Teddy Roosevelt the other 3 would be on the Mount Rushmore's of their chosen professions. Seuss made the Children's book what it currently is. Hessburgh is a revered figure in religious, academic and political circles. He is Guiness world record holder for honorary degrees. Ted Williams is the best baseball player of his generation.

Here is a quick video from: The original Cat in the Hat television special. The cat is voiced by Alan Sherman (Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah) also born in 1924.

And now 3 videos featuring other doctors who really weren't doctors at all:

1. Dr. Johnny Fever (portrayed by Howard Hesseman in WKRP in Cincinatti 1978-1982

2. Dwight "Doc" Gooden Major League Pitcher 1984-2000

He still owns the record for strikeouts as a rookie.

3. Dr Pepper

The soda was invented in 1885 at a drug store in Waco,Texas by Charles Alderton. It was introduced to the country at large at the Worlds Fair in St. Louis in 1904, the same year Geissel was being introduced.



Others born on March second include: Desi Arnaz (1917), Mikhail Gorbachev (1931), Karen Carpenter (1950) and Jon Bon Jovi (1962)

People of note born in 1904 Peter Lorre- Actor (Casablanca and Maltese Falcon), B.F. Skinner - Behaviorist ( or as psych 101 students call him, the rat man), and Johnny Weismuller. Olympic Medalist and Tarzan actor.

So that's it for me. No time left to tell you that when Amy and were getting married we registered for a copy of Greens Eggs and Ham. (See how I snuck that in.)