Interesting facts

I love to to find out how things come about and why some things are the way they are. I received an email today that went along well with the previous post, so I figured I'd share it with you...

INTERESTING STUFF


In the 1400's a law was set forth in England
that a man was allowed to beat his wife
with a stick no thicker than his thumb.
Hence we have 'the rule of thumb'

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Many years ago in Scotland, a
new game was invented.
It was ruled 'Gentlemen Only...
Ladies Forbidden'... and thus,
the word GOLF entered
into the English language.

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The first couple to
be shown in bed together
on prime time TV was
Fred and Wilma Flintstone.

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Every day more money
is printed for Monopoly
than the U.S. Treasury.

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Men can read smaller
print than women can;
women can hear better.

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Coca-Cola was
originally green.

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It is impossible to
lick your elbow.

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The State with the
highest percentage of
people who walk to work:

Alaska

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The percentage of
Africa that is wilderness: 28%
(now get this...)

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The percentage of
North America that is wilderness: 38%

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The cost of raising
a medium-size dog to the age of eleven:

$ 16,400

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The average number of people
airborne over the U.S.
in any given hour:

61,000

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Intelligent people
have more zinc and copper
in their hair.

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The first novel ever
written on a typewriter:

Tom Sawyer

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The San Francisco
Cable cars are the only mobile
National Monuments.

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Each king in a deck of playing cards
represents a great king from history:


Spades - King David


Hearts - Charlemagne


Clubs - Alexander, the Great


Diamonds - Julius Caesar

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111,111,111 x
111,111,111 =
12,345,678,987, 654,321

------------

If a statue in the
park of a person on a horse
has both front legs in the air,
the person died in battle.
If the horse has one front leg in the air,
the person died because
of wounds received in battle.
If the horse has all four legs
on the ground, the person died
of natural causes

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Only two people signed the
Declaration of Independence on July 4:
John Hancock and Charles Thomson.
Most of the rest signed on August 2,
but the last signature
wasn't added until 5 years later.

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Q. Half of all Americans live
within 50 miles of what?


A. Their birthplace

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Q.. Most boat owners name their boats.
What is the most popular boat name requested?


A. Obsession

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Q. If you were to spell out numbers,
how far would you have to go until you
would find the letter 'A'?


A. One thousand

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Q. What do bulletproof vests,
fire escapes,
windshield wipers
and laser printers
have in common?


A. All were invented
by women.

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Q. What is the only
food that doesn't spoil?


A. Honey

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Q. Which day are
there more collect calls
than any other day of the year?


A. Father's Day

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In Shakespeare's time,
mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes.
When you pulled on the ropes, the mattress tightened,
making the bed firmer to sleep on.
Hence the phrase...
'Goodnight , sleep tight'

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It was the accepted practice
in Babylon 4,000 years ago
that for a month after the
wedding, the bride's father
would supply his son-in-law
with all the mead he could drink.
Mead is a honey beer and
because their calendar
was lunar based, this period
was called the honey month,
which we know today as
the honeymoon..

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In English pubs, ale
is ordered by pints and quarts...
So in old England, when
customers got unruly, the bartender
would yell at them 'Mind
your pints and quarts, and settle down.'


It's where we get
the phrase 'mind your P's and Q's'

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Many years ago in England,
pub frequenters had a whistle
baked into the rim, or handle,
of their ceramic cups..
When they needed a refill,
they used the whistle
to get some service.
'Wet your whistle'
is the phrase
inspired by this practice.

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At least 75% of people who read
this will try to lick their elbow!

------------

YOU
KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2009 when....

1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5.Your reason for not staying in touch
with friends and family is
that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and
use your cell phone to see if anyone is
home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has
a web site at the bottom of the screen

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone,
which you didn't even have the first 20 or 30 (or 60)
years of your life, is now a cause for
panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and
go on line before getting your coffee

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12 You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to
whom you are going to forward this message.

14. You are too busy to notice
there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up
to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list

~~~~~~~~~~AND FINALLY~~~~~~~~~~

NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.

Go on, forward this to your friends.

You know you want to!

Go lick your elbow.

12 Days of Christmas

A little history for you. You learn something new every day:

There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me. What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?

This week, I found out.

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.

-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.

-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.

-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.

-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

So there is your history for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlightening and now I know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol...so pass it on if you wish.

Merry (Twelve Days of) Christmas Everyone!!!

The Evolution Question

In the third debate hosted by CNN on June 5, 2007, Mike Huckabee responded with great eloquence about his stand on creation, evolution, and God's role in that process.

In my opinion, this is one of the best responses I have ever heard in regards to the evolution question. I thought his answer was very well put after "Wolf" asked if he "literally" believed that God created in 6 days. Huckabee goes onto say if anyone wants to believe that they are descendants from a primate, they are more than welcomed to it but that we are unique creations of a God who knows us and loves us and created us for His own purpose. WOW!!!!

Life Lessons

Regina Brett's 45 Life Lessons and 5 to Grow On
By: Regina Brett
Sunday May 28, 2006, 10:13 AM
To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.
(Sent to me via an email. I don't know who Regina Brett is but her list is too lovely not to share. Plus, she wrote it for a column in The Plain Dealer, my hometown newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio.)

It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolls over to 50 this week, so here's an update:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.

17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.

18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.

38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

45. The best is yet to come.

46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

48. If you don't ask, you don't get.

49. Yield.

50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

All I Want for Christmas is a Pink Toy Chainsaw

As I was driving to work this morning I was thinking about how fast time has flown by. I can not believe it is already almost Christmas 2009. Seriously, where does the time go?! I was thinking back to how magical Christmas used to be when I believed in Santa Claus...

To be honest, I must have been one weird child because I remember asking for some of the strangest things for Christmas. My yearly request was a sister, but Santa (at the mall) told me that I needed to ask my Mom. I never understood why. Boy are kids funny! Anyway, my older brother, Aaron, was my hero and I wanted to be just like him. So when he would write his Christmas list to Santa, set out his milk and cookies, and went to bed- I did just the same. I copied everything he did and requested all the things he wanted because I wanted to be just like him. Actually, let me take that back. I requested everything he wanted... but in PINK!

So one year, I must have been 5 or 6, for some strange reason Aaron wanted a toy chainsaw for Christmas. He must have seen my Dad using one and wanted one for himself. So I remember that Christmas when all I wanted was a pink toy chainsaw. My Mom kept telling me that Santa has a lot of requests and that he might not give me a pink one but he would surely give me one that I would like. This was unacceptable to me because I wanted a pink one. As we were opening our presents, I opened one after another but there was no pink chainsaw. Finally, there was one present left. I opened the present and lo and behold there was my beautiful pink toy chainsaw, wrapped up in all it's glory. You can imagine my excitement and I immediately opened up the box and began playing with it. Aaron and I were running around with our chainsaws and we were the happiest little kids alive.

I have no idea how my Mother actually located a pink toy chainsaw (she didn't even have to paint it!). I guess that's just the magic of Christmas.

It's memories like this that remind me how grateful and blessed I am for my family. I can not wait to spend this Christmas with them, all sitting around the tree, opening presents and drinking eggnog. And next year is going to be especially fun because I will have a new neice or nephew to spoil. ((sigh)) I love Christmas!

Taking Out The Trash

The past couple of months I have had an itch to start going back to church more frequently. I have been trying to make more of an effort and I was even baptized this past summer. I guess I used the "I'm too busy" excuse and at one point, pretty much stopped going all together. I kept telling myself that I needed to change, but did not put forth much of an effort. So yesterday I thought that I should go to Free Chapel's Wednesday night service, which is a decision I'm very glad I made.

Yesterday, I was supposed to hang out with my neighbor Lori but she emailed me last minute and explained that she had to cancel our plans because something came up. Usually on Wednesday nights I have softball but the season just ended and my night had an unexpected opening. I remembered that my favorite church, Free Chapel in Gainesville, has a Wednesday night service. Although there are many other things that I could have gotten done around the house... vacuuming, laundry, cleaning, finishing the book I've been wanting to finish... I decided that I may as well put it all off one more day so I could make it to church. I had an inner battle with myself regarding the near hour drive to and from church but I knew I wouldn't be able to go to church much in the next couple of weeks (due to the holidays, parties, etc.) so I really felt I needed to go. So there I was, driving at 6pm trying to make it to church by 7pm.

To be honest, when I first arrived to church I was very nervous. The first thing I thought was that Justin's parents go to church at Free Chapel for the Wednesday night service and I did not want to run into them. I haven't seen them since we broke up and I knew that it would be very awkward. Lord only knows what he told them- not that I care, but still. Anyway, I found a seat in the front center and plopped my bottom down. A feeling of relief came over me and I was glad that I decided to come.

The first 20 or 30 minutes we spent worshiping. This is my favorite part of the church service because even though I'm in a room that is crowded with people I still feel like I'm in my own place, just me and God. Worship last night was beautiful and I got into it more than ever. Closing my eyes and praising Him.

After worship, Jentezen Franklin took the stage and began speaking. The sermon was about Taking Out The Trash. In other words, cleansing our spirits. He read from 2 Corinthians 6 & 7 and from 2 Chronicles 29.

I think this sermon affected me so much because I have had a lot of emotions and stuff build up this past year. A lot has happened and instead of working through it, I just shut my feelings out, figuring that they would dissapate on their own. I am one of those people that always sees the glass half full and figured that I should not waste my time being upset over the past and moved on. I never realized how good it would feel to "take out the trash" and let those feelings go. Last night, as I was sitting in church, I decided that it was time to forgive all of those who have done me wrong. I will not be bitter, upset, or waste any more time thinking about those who have hurt me in my past for it is them who have made me who I am today, and for that I am thankful.

I think it is ironic that the sermon was titled "Taking Out the Trash" because that's what Justin's upcoming business is all about. He is starting a trash pick-up service for apartment complexes. That business caused such a strain in our relationship and his relationship with my family. I feel like it is another one of God's ways to tell me to let it go- to trash it. Not to say that I am not over him, because trust me I am, but boy does God have a sense of humor.

Afer the service was over, I walked out of church with an overwhelming sense of relief. I was no longer nervous to run into his parents- and glad that I didn't. It felt so good to let go of everything that was bubbling over inside and to trash all my negative feelings that have been holding me down. It was as if a burden was removed from my soul. I can't even tell you how good it felt.

So now I ask, have you taken out your trash lately?

Cyber Monday

If you are my friend, you already know that I love to shop, which is why today is quite significant to me. Today is Cyber Monday! It is the Black Friday for online deals. Online shopping is one of life's greatest pastimes, so go online today and buy some great stuff at great prices. You know I already did!