Finding the Perfect Pair of Running Shoes - A Review

I walk my big red dog, Lucie nearly every morning. Walking is great exercise for me and it helps Lucie’s daily attitude. She tends to border on the hyperactive side. Walking or running requires a good pair of shoes for the best foot support.

ShopWiki.com is a good place to find sneakers, running or trail running shoes. There are shoes for men and women in varying styles. ShopWiki.com provides some very useful information such as how to choose the correct shoe and lists tips for the care of your shoes.

ShopWiki searches out every store on the internet so the customer has a chance to compare products and prices. We recently purchased a new flat panel TV. We originally were going to mount it to the wall but since getting it home, we decided to go ahead get a nice stand. I typed in TV stands and 22 stores popped up. This is much easier than searching through each store on an individual basis.

Whether you are in the market for new athletic shoes or like me looking for a new TV stand take a look on ShopWiki.com

 

Sponsored post

Military Monday - Great Idea for 9/11

I wish I could take credit for this idea but I am happy to pass it on. I actually received this in an email and thought it would be a great Military Monday post.

We have about two weeks and counting to get the word out all across this great land and into every community in the United States of America.

If you send this in an email, blog or twitter to least 11 people and each of those people do the same ... you get the idea.

 THE PROGRAM:

On Friday, September 11th, 2009, an American flag should be displayed outside every home, apartment, office, and store in the United States. Every individual should make it their duty to display an American flag on this eighth anniversary of one of our country's worst tragedies. We do this to honor  those who lost their lives on 9/11, their families, friends and loved ones who continue to endure the pain, and those who today are fighting at home and abroad to preserve our cherished freedoms.

In the days, weeks and months following 9/11, our country was bathed in American flags as citizens mourned the incredible losses and stood shoulder-to-shoulder against terrorism. Sadly, those flags have all but disappeared. Our patriotism pulled us through some tough times and it shouldn't take another attack to galvanize us in solidarity. Our American flag is the fabric of our country and together we can prevail over terrorism of all kinds

 Action Plan:

 So, here's what we need you to do .

 (1) Send this in an email, blog or Twitter about this program to everyone you know. Take a moment to think back to how you felt on 9/11 and let those sentiments guide you.

 (2) Fly an American flag of any size on 9/11. Honestly, Americans should fly the flag year-round, but if you don't, then at least make it a priority on this day.

Thank you for your participation. God Bless You and God Bless America!

 

Sunday Brunch

It seems that so many celebrities or maybe just famous people have lost their lives this summer. Maybe I am just more aware since we lost our Lolly Pop Kid. I don't know. I blogged in an earlier post about my feelings after watching the Michael Jackson memorial service which occurred on the two week Angelversary of Lolly's passing. I woke up that morning to find the sky vividly red. Lolly has flaming red hair.The sight of the sky overwhelmed me. I called my boss and said I would not make it to work that day. I wasn't going to watch the memorial because I thought it might come off as an over the top spectacle. I was wrong. I sat there that day and watched another family feeling the pain and loss of a loved one.

Yesterday I watched the Ted Kennedy funeral and once again felt the same pain and loss for another family. I have my own opionions about these people who haved passed away this summer, but I will keep those to myself. The point is that each and every one of these people have families that cared about and loved them deeply. Just as our family cares and loves our Lolly.

I do not know what happens in Heaven. Nobody does. I have faith that we will all go one day to a new beautiful place called Heaven and live in eternal peace and love. So that being said, as I said in my earlier post about MJ and Lolly, our Lolly is probably learning to do the Moonwalk and MJ is finally learning what it is like to have a simple, beautiful childhood.

                                        Maybe Lolly is learning how to play the guitar from Les Paul and sing with folk singer, Mike Seeger.

 

John Hughes may be teaching him what teenage life is like through all his films and I am sure Lolly would have a crush on Molly Ringwald as so many teenage boys did in the eighties. After all, she has beautiful red hair too.

DJ AM may be showing him how to spin a mean record and maybe add a few dance moves too. Of course I do believe Michael is the person to go to for the dance lessons.

 

 

 

Eunice Shriver might teach him to have compassion for children and all people with disabilities. I am sure there must be a Special Olympics in Heaven. But on the other hand, everybody is healed in Heaven so everyone participates in the Heaven Olympics.

Ted Kennedy along with his brothers, Jack and Bobby will probably teach him all about politics and public service. But more importantly, they probably teach him about family love until we are with him again. 

Lastly, I am sure that Lolly will know how to clean just about everything because I am sure Billy Mays is real busy making tons of Heaven infomercials. God must be going nuts.

 

 

 

And what do all these people get from Lolly?

The joy and pleasure of knowing our sweet Lolly Pop Kid!

And that's all I have to say about that.

Today's Sunday Brunch recipe is:

HARD CANDY LOLLIPOPS

2 c. sugar

2/3 c. light corn syrup

3/4 c. water

Oil flavors (optional)

Color (optional)

In a saucepan, blend sugar, corn syrup, and water. Bring to a boil over high heat, until mixture reaches 290 degrees. Remove pan from heat. Allow to stand until bubbles have simmered down. Add flavoring and color as desired. Too much stirring will cause syrup to solidify into a hard sugary lump. Mold into desired shapes in Pam-sprayed hard candy molds. Work fast.

Keep mixture warm over hot water. If mixture becomes too cold and thick it may be warmed for a few seconds in microwave. Put sucker sticks in molds before pouring mixture.

Can You Hear Me Now?

This has been a very interesting week. I took time off this week to help Flower Child and the twins, Fuzzy & Wuzzy. I really only spent one day with them as I was waiting for the phone guy to come and install my new landline the first day. He finally came around noon, but this was after Flower Child was in the middle of a minor breakdown during her first day alone with the twins. She did get through it but I can only imagine how hard it is having to take care of two newborns by yourself. After all of that, my phone was still not working. I called and they told me to wait 24 hours because my other service was not disconnected. I called again the next day and spoke to a really nice person who told me the issue would be resolved the next day.

It. was. not.

I called again and spoke to someone who kept giving me a standard answer as to repairing my service. Let's get this straight:

I. had. no. service. Ever. I called back and threatened to cancel the whole kit and caboodle. Nicely, I might add. That got their attention. A really nice technician arrived yesterday morning and took one look at my phone hookups and new exactly what was wrong. He also went into my smartbox and fixed everything. He also told me I could throw former services' phone modem into the street. Yea, I don't think so. He definitely did not like my former phone/internet service.

Anyway I spent a few hours the next day with Flower Child and the twins. Fuzzy liked me but Wuzzy wanted nothing to do with me. Oh well, I just might have to resort to bribery at some point ie: candy, cookies, toys. Flower Child decided to fly solo the next day and did ok. I had to return to work on Friday because I have no time off left. Please pray I do not get the Swine Flu inbetween now and January.  

The Ted Kennedy Funeral was on TV at the time the new phone guy came and he had a few choice words for that too. He also told Corvette that the war in Afghanistan has something to do with Obama's opium crops. (insert cricket sounds here)

On the other hand he loved my dogs and they loved him. Buddy (my chihuahua) did not bite his ankles and Lucie, (my big red dog) did not jump on him and knock him down. Quite frankly, I did not know what to make of him. But, hey, he fixed my phone so I guess it is all good.

I am currently watching the Ted Kennedy funeral. I have a take on this and all the people that have passed this summer, but I will wait until tomorrow to post about that. I am worn out with the phone stress.

 

 

Quote of the Week

People are like stained-glass windows.
They sparkle and shine when the sun is out,
but when the darkness sets in,
their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.

-Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

Wordless Wednesday - Clouds

rainbow cloud

glowing cloud

 

hole in the red sky cloud

angel cloud

all of these clouds appeared on a different Angelversaries of our Lolly Pop Kid.

Angel Tuesday

Angel Tuesday profiles Asa Imad Mayle who became and angel on January 4, 2007. He was 6 years old and in the first grade. Asa was hit by a school bus as he was crossing the street.

I learned of Asa through Virtual Memorials. Lolly Pop Kid's online memorial is at this site also. Please feel free to visit.

Asa was an inquisitive little boy with a big kool-aid smile and big brown eyes. He liked his clothes nice and neat and he especially loved his belt.

Asa absolutely loved everything Batman. He had Batman sheets and would tie them around his neck and make a cape. His mommie could not resit buying Asa Batman stuff.

He once asked his mommie, "If Batman can't fly why does he have a cape?" Good question.

Asa even at his young age would talk about growing up, getting married and going to college. He wanted to go to Ohio State. He also new what kind of car he would like to own. Asa wanted a PT Cruiser. Spotting PT Cruisers became a game for Asa. He would shout "PT Cruiser I saw it you missed it!!"

Asa is loved and missed by his family and always will be. Please take a moment to visit his beautiful memorial made in loving memory of Asa by his mommie.

Military Monday - LCpl Honda at Sea.

Here is a pic of LCpl Honda working on the flight deck in Combat Cargo. He is the one one the right. The Marines are moving a net that is used to transport cargo, food and other supplies from the the cargo ships and between the Navy ships. Combat Cargo also aids in assisting visitors or military personnel arriving and departing from the ship. It does not matter how high up in rank the visitor may be. Combat Cargo personnel is in charge on the flight deck.

LCpl Honda will be home on leave this weekend and then will deploy in Sept. It is going to be a long 7 months. He will however get to visit quite a few ports in many countries. Anyway, here he is:

 

God Bless our Troops. Happy Military Monday!

Sunday Brunch

We enjoyed a weekend with Cinderella, Tango & Butterfly. They came down to to visit and see Fuzzy & Wuzzy our new twins. The twins are doing well, but always seem to be sleeping when we visit.

Cinderella gifted Hippie Guy & Flower Child with a digital camera so they can provide us with lots of pictures of Fuzzy & Wuzzy. I have a few more to post and will do that at the end of this post.

I like my new blackberry phone but it has quite a learning curve. It is like a mini computer. Any help would be appreciated.

Today's recipe is my most favorite potato salad. It doesn't really have a name so I will just call it Juliannah's Potato Salad.

Eight to Ten Red Potatoes

2 Hard Boiled Eggs

1 cup Mayonnaise

1/4 cup Rice Vinegar

1 Tbsp Sugar

1/4 cup Red Bell Pepper

1/2 tsp Onion Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Pepper

1/2 tsp Paprika

Boil the potatoes with the skins on until done. Boil the eggs until done. Cut up the potatoes and eggs. Cut the bell pepper into small pieces. Mix potatoes,eggs & peppers. Mix mayonnaise, vinegar, spices & sugar into potatoes, eggs & peppers. That is it. You can also substitute green bell pepper, pickle relish or anything else you may desire.



 

Here are another couple pics of the twins:

Fuzzy





Wuzzy

Today is also the  2nd month angelversary for Lolly Pop Kid. We all miss him so much. I had a knock at the door today and it was Mormon missionaries. They gave me a card with a illustration of Jesus and on the back of the card it said, "Faith in Christ can help you resolve personal and family challenges.

God Just keeps knocking on our door.

Lolly Pop Kid we love you and miss you. We want you back.

And that is all I have to say about that.

I Upgraded Myself.

Yes, that is correct. You see I sorta live in the stone age of cell phone land. I have one but it just has voice on it. No internet, text, camera etc. Sooo I took the plunge and bought a new phone! Boy o Boy did I ever.


I decided I wanted a Blackberry. Hey if it's good enough for Obama, it's good enough for me. And it's pink. It will match my new red computer. I think they will get along with each other just fine. Hopefully I won't have a problem operating it. But just look how cute it is.

So now that I am upgraded just look for the girl with the pink Blackberry hunched over her phone like everyone else. Not. I don't even really know how to text. Yet.

Quote of the Week

The more difficulties one has to encounter, within and without, the more significant and the higher in inspiration his life will be.
Horace Bushnell

Wordless Wednesday - Dogs

~

~

~

Angel Tuesday

Today’s Angel Tuesday child is Ethan who became an Angel on July 26, 2008. He went to heaven because of a horrible drowning accident.

Ethan, a beautiful 6 year old with a smile that exudes radiant energy and a huge open-mouth laugh that delighted everyone. All that knew Ethan commented on his smile.

Ethan loved creating ships with Legos and playing with Star Wars toys. He loved tossing a football and listening to his Veggie Tales CD.

 

 

 

 

On what would have been Ethan's 7th Birthday his family held a Global Star Wars party where many people from all over the world watched the movie Star Wars.

Ethan just plain loved Star Wars.

Ethan is and will always be very much loved and missed by his family. His mom Lisa keeps a blog where she has written so beautifully about Ethan, her family’s loss and how they manage the “new normal.” Lisa is also a wonderful photographer as there are many poignant photos of Ethan and her family.

 

 

Please visit Hey Jude. Please keep this family in your prayers.

Please also remember our Angel Lolly Pop Kid.

Military Monday - USS New York

The USS New York was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center. It is the fifth in a new class of warship, designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.

It was christened by Dotty England, the wife of Associate Press Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England on Saturday, March 1, 2008 at Northrop Grumman shipyard in Avondale, Louisiana.

Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite, Louisiana to cast the ship's bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept 9, 2003, “Those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence,” recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. “It was a spiritual moment for everybody there.” said Capt. Wensing.

Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the “hair on my neck stood up.” “It had a big meaning to it for all of us,'” he said. “They knocked us down. They cannot keep us down. We're going to be back.”

The ship's motto?
'Never Forget'

 To read more about the USS New York go here.

Baby Pics!

Here are some great pics of our twin grandsons. I found bloggie names: Fuzzy & Wuzzy. This is because Flower Child pointed out that Fuzz had fuzzie hair all over his back as did Wuzz, so Fuzzy (A) & Wuzzy (B)! Family members please email me and I will tell you who is who.

Happy Family



Wuzzy



Fuzzy



Hippie Guy with his sons. 



Flower child with her sons.



Grandma & Grandpa with Wuzzy & Fuzzy.



Grandma with Fuzzy and Wuzzy.



Fuzzy



Wuzzy



Goodnight sweet boys.

 

 

"We Made Humans."

Hippie Guy and Flower Child became the proud parents of twin baby boys yesterday. The whole family is doing fine and we are thankful to be able to welcome two healthly and beautiful babies into our family.

It is funny because Flower Child was scheduled to have a C section yesterday at 1:00pm, but nature decided to step in as she went into labor the night before so they arrived just a bit earlier in the day. This was the day God intended them to come and they most certainly did.

I must admit that my son Hippie Guy looked a little shell-shocked right after the birth. I do believe he was given that wonderful little life changing gift every new parent receives upon the birth of their child.  Responsibility. Not that he isn't already responsible, because he is, but now there is a bit of a twist on that.

Flower Child looked very serene and beautiful except for the 3 hour period from the twins' birth to when the nurse finally brought them to her. I think if she could of got out of bed at that point it is quite possible there would have been a few wounded nurses. Seriously.

If you are wondering about the title it was a remark that Flower Child made while we were discussing the birth experience. Yes, Flower Child and Hippie Guy, you made humans. And two fine ones at that.

I will post a couple of pictures now, but I left my camera at the hospital and I will be posting more pictures later when I get it back. Plus I need to think of bloggie names for the twins. So far my mind seems to be blank concerning this. Any suggestions? But please keep it nice and clean.

So for the time being they will still be A and B. This is A.



This is B.

Wordless Wednesday - Butterflys

 

Angel Tuesday

I had a lot of trouble starting this post. I am not sure why. Maybe because I wish I did not have to. I did not realize how many children die each day. To be honest it was not something I wanted to think about. Nobody does.

Today is seven weeks since Lolly Pop Kid became an angel.  Today is another Angelversary.

So I will try and bring a new child each week either an angel or a child with an illness. Please pray for these children and their families. Visit their blogs or sites and if possible leave a message.

The pain does not go away and it does not get better. It helps when people reach out.

Here is Lolly's memorial site.

 

I wish I could open the door and pick you up and hug away the tears.

I wish you could open the door and pick me up and hug away the tears.

Military Monday - At Sea

I am a little late with this. There is a new series, "At Sea" on the Military Channel featuring the US Navy and the US Marines. It actually started last night, Aug. 9th. It is a three episode special focusing on Naval ships.  The second episode airs tonight Aug. 10th at 10pm eastern time and concluding with the third episode on Tues. Aug. 11th. Hopefully it will repeat at another time. There is an excellent article about the series here.

The series focus is to let the American people know how the Navy and Marines work together and what these joined forces do when they are at sea. Our armed forces are made up of real people who have chosen to serve the American people and the series conveys this message to the viewer.

LCpl Honda is currently on the USS Bonhomme Richard preparing for an upcoming  MEU. This is why I am especially interested in this program. He currently works on the fight deck in Combat Cargo. He and other Marines and Sailors are responsible for loading and unloading cargo and making sure that people get on and off the Helicopters safely.

Go to the Military Channel website and you can explore an aircraft carrier interactively, find out more about the program, "At Sea" and learn about ships of the future.