Along the path...

I received an email recently about horrible places to stay on vacation. Their teasers are posted further below, but I wanted to chime in with a story of my own. Some friends and I took a trip to St. George several years ago for a weekend getaway. The details are a little hazy--and, no, we were not partaking of any substances that would impair memory. Age does a fine job on it's own. Thank you very much. We had a coupon for a discounted room rate at a certain hotel, which should have been our first clue to stay away--stay far, far, FAR away. I remember vague feelings of foreboding as we walked to our room, being a little nervous about us single girls staying there. We should have listened. The second clue was that the pool was disgusting. The third clue was that, when we called the front desk about the fire alarm beeping for a new battery, they removed the battery and replaced the cover. The fourth clue was that one of the beds broke when we sat on it. At this point we were still la...

So it's April Fool's Day as well as the 2010 census due date. Is your census filled out and mailed in? On the first note, here are a few cool April Fool's things from today: Google outdid itself this year. They changed the company name to Topeka after a city in Kansas, because Topeka informally changed its name to Google. more Gmail dropped the vowels. Or should I type Gml drppd th vwls? more And Google introduced a new translation application that will revolutionize life as we know it. I'm thinking about getting an android as a result. Check out the video: YouTube announced that you can now watch videos in text - why bother with HD and videos clogging up your bandwidth? more Starbucks announced it will add two new beverage sizes to its menu: Plenta™ (128 fl oz) and Micra™ (2 fl oz). more Tina texted me that she owes me ice cream. Not sure if I'm going to believe that one is a joke or not. Free ice cream is always a plus.

A friend called recently to let me know that someone she cared about deeply had passed on. It was something that their family had been waiting for this week--that release from this mortal coil. And it was a blessing. It left me thinking (dangerous, I know), do the people I love and care about know how much they mean to me? Hopefully you do already know, but I plan to multiply my efforts to be more thoughtful and show that I care. Maybe I'll start with extra doggie treats for Cambridge right now. Thanks for stopping by my humble blog. Love you!

I am trying to get back on track with posts and blogging. For now I'm working forward, but need to work backward at some point to document the summer. After work on Friday, Tina, three of her nieces, me and my niece AJ, Lisa, and Linda headed to the State Fair . Unfortunately I forgot my camera to document it. We started with the equestrian show, watched the lemon shark and nurse sharks, looked at some vending booths, ate a hot dog (or just the bun in AJ's case). We saw and petted sheep, goats, cows, pigs, and rabbits. The world's tiniest horse was pretty cool, but probably about the same size as a normal shetland pony. The vantage had from walking up around the horse made it seem smaller though. Al the alligator was pretty cool. AJ was nervous he would eat her until Tina pointed out the glass and bars between him and us. I also reassured her that if Al tried to eat her I'd protect her and let him eat me first. What does it say that that put her at ease? AJ didn't w...