A Place of Rest

A rest area somewhere between Arizona and Colorado. You can tell I took great notes on my move back to Michigan. September 2006

For Your Shopping Pleasure...

During my move from Tucson to Michigan a couple of years ago, I stopped by Fairview Heights, IL to visit my brother. Seeking a children's store, I came across this sign.

Toys for who?

I'm not sure that is the message Toys-R-Us intended to send their customers. Just sayin'...

Calendars of the Bizarre, Funny, and Crazy Continue

Another great yearly calendar site is found at BrownieLocks. She and the three bears have developed a fun and crazy site. Now that 2009 is up and running, you have no excuse to miss an important holiday.

Since my birthday is January 23, I thought I would share with you what special events "we" can enjoy around that time.

January 22:

Women's Healthy Weight Day
Answer Your Cats Questions Day

January 23:

National Handwriting Day
National Pie Day - so that's why I like pie!
Snowplow Mailbox Hockey Day - popular here in Michigan

January 24:

National Compliment Day
Belly Laugh Day

January 26: (My mother's birthday)

National Peanut Brittle Day - Mom loved making peanut brittle!
Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day

Click here for the rest of January's monthly, weekly, and daily lists.

Check out BrownieLocks.com for your special dates and enjoy a fabulous and fun 2009.

Know What Holiday This Is? Find Out Here!

For those who like to celebrate even the most obscure holiday, this handy website will keep you from missing out on your favorite date. At Holidays For Every Day, you can find a monthly and daily list of the most important (to you) dates.

For example, today is:

17- World Peace Day
17- Homemade Bread Day
17- Take a Hike Day (Not sure if that is you taking a hike, or you telling someone else to take a hike)
17- National Farm Joke Day
17- The Little Mermaid Day 1989

Tomorrow:

18- Calvin & Hobbes Birthdays 1985
18- Mother Goose Parade
18- William Tell Day
18- Mickey Mouse's Birthday (1928)
18- Superman Death Anniversary 1992
18- Teddy Bear Birthday 1902

Wednesday:

19- National Carbonated Beverage with Caffeine Day (Glad to see this day!)
19- Play Monopoly Day (My sister and daughters would love to honor this date)
19- Pop Tarts Birthday 1965 (My girls loved these!)
19- Little Red-Haired Girl's Birthday (Peanuts Character 1961)
19- Gettysburg Address Delivered (1863)

See how much fun you could have with all these celebrations! In these stressful times, celebrating the unique, quaint, and obscure should have a place on your calendar with those dates that are considerably more prominent.

Of course, this all leads up to the biggest dates of the year, New Years Eve and New Years Day. And,

27- National Fruitcake Day

28- National Quilter's Day
28- No Interruptions Day
28- Eat Vegetarian Day
28- Card Playing Day
28- National Chocolate Day

29- Opposite Day
29- Bowling Ball invented (1862)

30- Let's Make a Deal Day First aired 1964

31- Make Up Your Mind Day
31- New Years eve
31- You're All Done Day

Just sayin'...

What is your favorite holiday to celebrate? Do you have an obscure or unusual anniversary date you would like to share?

More Humor on Blogspot

Just added Indian Jokes Unlimited, found here on Blogspot, to the blogroll list. If you love or need humor in your life, check out this blog. The author advertises that they are Indian jokes, but really they are for everyone.

Some of the jokes are laugh out loud funny and will lift the spirits of anyone who feels down in the dumps.

For a good time...

Have you found any sites that can add LOL moments? Please leave the info in the comment section. Laughter every day keeps depression away!

The Bitter Stickgirl

Meet The Bitter Stickgirl from Singapore. She and her friends are here on blogspot and also have a website at http://www.bitterstickgirl.com/.

The caption to this entry is: Time to let go.

The heroine of this site has a penchant for Gucci bags, the usual young adult angst with the men in her life, and an interesting group of friends. The creator has a great handle on life as she shares from her experiences, and ideas she picks up at 7-11.


Companion sites include Stickgirl's FAQ and Stick Friends.


The blog began in 2005, and the other night I was so fascinated, I read every entry back to it's beginning. When you have a chance, click on one of the sites, although The Bitter Stickgirl is the main site.


If you have any interesting or fun sites, please let us know in the comments. We are always on the lookout for interesting and unusual sites.

Outsiders Inn

This show has to be the most hilarious I've seen in a long time. Over the last couple years, I have watched quite a few of CMT's reality shows. They are fun, innovative, and sometimes, beyond belief.

Cast mates on the original Gone Country, Maureen McCormick, Carney Wilson, and Bobby Brown are involved in a bed and breakfast that Maureen leased with option to buy. The B&B is in eastern Tennessee. Carney is the master chef and Bobby is the entertainment director.

They are deep in redneck territory which causes multiple problems for the three. Joining them are Leroy the handyman, and his two friends Mike and Todd. Ross, the intern on the Tonight Show, appears on episode two.

Bawdy humor and redneck characters raise (or lower) the humor to all new levels.

New episodes are on Friday nights at 8:30 p.m. on CMT with reruns throughout the weekend. Check it out for a great time!

What are your favorite shows? Anything out of the ordinary?

The Butcher, the Baker...the Cake Decorator

My mother loved to bake and decorate cakes. We have several photo albums with pictures of the cakes she baked, many times with the recipient in the picture.

I hope that none of her cakes ended up like the ones you will see when you check out the blogsite below.

I know, in the bottom of my heart, she would love the cakewrecks website. I can hear her laughing right now.

My favorites are:

+ June 21 - Naked Mohawk-Baby Carrot Jockeys

+ June 10 - Its just a cold sore

+ June 3 - The anti-wedding cake

+ May 24 - The most disturbing cake EVER

+ July 25 - Freud would have a field day. You really need to read the description below the picture on this one.

As you scroll through the pictures, be sure to read at least some of the commentary with each picture. The most fun was I never knew when I was going to double over with laughter. Hope you enjoy these wonderful posts.

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com

Have fun and please let me know which ones were your favorites.

More Online Fun

The internet has opened up avenues of absurdity we would never have known pre-computers.

Today I discovered http://www.graphjam.com/ . This website utilizes Venn diagrams and pie charts created online by users. The site offers numerous templates for anyone to use.

Some charts relate to songs or pop culture sayings, while others are the pure invention of clever minds. All are just plain fun.

A graft today showed the “Duration of Turn Signal Activity after Execution of Turn” by seconds. The vehicle models used were Cadillac (pre-1980), Lincoln Continental, Mercedes 300SD, and the Buick Century.

Another was a colorful pie chart of “Time Spent at my Lifeguarding Job.” The titles of the various pieces of the pie were funny. Also, you can vote from one to five on each entry.

There were other tabs that led to political humor, funny cat pictures, and funny dog pictures. The site provides the pictures and the users add whatever comment they would like.

Check out this site for a great time...ur...waster, that is...

I mean...

Well, anyway. Check it out and have a great time. Maybe you will come up with an idea for a graph or pie to the amusement of the masses. We'll be watching.

Summer Fun on the Network, Son

It's unbelievable what one can find on the web. For lack of anything better to do this morning - hey, I'll try anything to get out of housework - I checked out the following websites.

1. This site will certainly become a favorite of mine. I started cooking when I was about nine-years-old and I remember a lot of the old recipes found on the back of a box.

The http://www.backofthebox.com/ site contains many of the recipes you wish you had copied or cut out of the box when it was still available. There are thousands of recipes, all originally from food companies like Kraft, Bisquick and Kellogg. What fun to go back in time and see recipes such as Velveeta salsa dip and cheeseburger pizza. And who could forget "impossibly easy bacon pie?" No fair counting calories!

2. This site will attract fiction writers and parents-to-be with its rich selection of first and middle names. www.behindthename.com/random allows people to choose the number of names they want (a first name and up to three middle names), specify a gender and select "generate a name."

Maybe you'll find a great name for your next child, pet, or fictional character. Each selection shows the origin and meaning of the name.

3. This morning I had fun sending e-cards to my sister using http://www.someecards.com/ and I'm sure she appreciated the welcome she received when she opened her email. The cards were, in my humble opinion, hilarious, and I had trouble choosing just one (actually, I couldn't).

Many of the cards are free and there are others you can purchase. This is another site that will tempt you to spend time looking everything over.

So, on the next rainy day you now have several options that I'm sure will call you away from any housework, writing assignments, or blogging you might need to do and give you a valid reason to while away the time - if you need one.

Have fun with the above URL's and if you find any others, please leave them in the comments so we can check them out. Have a great weekend and we'll see you Monday!

Confessions of a Caregiver

Throughout the course of my life, I have learned that journalizing, humor, and positive distraction goes a long way in creating calm in the midst of storm. This blog will provide me a place of relaxation, rejuvenation, and reflection. I hope it helps you, too.

My ElderCareCafe will offer a more professional take on caregiving and senior issues. Edie's Potpourri allows me to go in a more personal direction. You will hear more about my family, other interests besides caring for my dad, and my sometimes quirky sense of humor.

What is positive distraction you might ask? Well, it's a technique I learned during a stint in the Surgery Department of a large hospital. Under often extremely stressful situations, I watched as the "board runner", an RN who controlled (as much as she could) the order of surgery, nursing assignments, tried to keep the timely flow of cases moving throughout the day as she dealt with frustrated and angry surgeons. Well, that gives you just a small insight as to her duties.

Anyway, this particular nurse had the ability under the most stressful situations, to walk into the front office, sit down and say to a friend who worked in the office, "Did I tell you about (daughter's name) goal last night at soccer?" Then they would proceed to talk about whatever was happening in their personal life. A few minutes later she would leave the office, not once saying anything negative or mentioning the stressful situation.

She did this day after day. I soon realized this was her way of dealing with stress. She could come to a relatively safe place in the department to get away from the negativity going on elsewhere.

I was very impressed and have applied this technique many times over the years. Try it sometime. When you are the most stressed about something, turn your attention to anything that will distract you from the issues at hand. You will return to the stressful situation with a renewed sense of well-being and a greater ability to handle whatever comes your way.

Please feel free to leave comments on this blog. I look forward to hearing from you.