Friday, April 29, 2016

Yard Posts


I haven't had any this year. Usually by now I'm chomping at the bit to do some small project in my yard, but funds have been a little tight, so I didn't even plan anything beyond scrounging up the money to pay the yard guy who was due to start upkeep again after a months' long hiatus. Of course the spring rains have kept everything soggy, which is made worse when the grass is overgrown and the sun can't reach the ground as easily. But we finally had a few days' grace and Lawn Guy came buy yesterday afternoon.

Before:








And after:





There's still some work to do to get it looking like I want it to, but some of that's on me. We've still got large branches down and leaves in the corners. So between now and his next visit, I'm going to get out and enjoy what's left of spring.

Anyone doing any fun yard projects?


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Wednesday, April 27, 2016

American Fun Facts


In honor of seeing my sister this past weekend, we're going to learn a little about Michigan. That's where she lives, not where she was born and raised. That was Nebraska, but we've covered that.

Michigan Facts and Trivia

  1. Detroit is known as the car capital of the world.
  2. Alpena is the home of the world's largest cement plant.
  3. Rogers City boasts the world's largest limestone quarry.
  4. Elsie is the home of the world's largest registered Holstein dairy herd.
  5. Michigan is first in the United States production of peat and magnesium compounds and second in gypsum and iron ore.
  6. Colon is home to the world's largest manufacture of magic supplies.
  7. The state Capitol with its majestic dome was built in Lansing in l879.
  8. Although Michigan is often called the "Wolverine State" there are no longer any wolverines in Michigan.
  9. Michigan ranks first in state boat registrations.
  10. The Packard Motor Car Company in Detroit manufactured the first air-conditioned car in 1939.
  11. The oldest county (based on date of incorporation) is Wayne in 1815.
  12. Sault Ste. Marie was founded by Father Jacques Marquette in 1668. It is the third oldest remaining settlement in the United States.
  13. In 1817 the University of Michigan was the first university established by any of the states. Originally named Cathelepistemian and located in Detroit the name was changed in 1821. The university moved to Ann Arbor in 1841.
  14. The city of Novi was named from its designation as Stagecoach Stop # 6 or No.VI.
  15. Michigan State University has the largest single campus student body of any Michigan university. It is the largest institution of higher learning in the state and one of the largest universities in the country.
  16. Michigan State University was founded in 1855 as the nation's first land-grant university and served as the prototype for 69 land-grant institutions later established under the Morrill Act of 1862. It was the first institution of higher learning in the nation to teach scientific agriculture.
  17. The largest village in Michigan is Caro.
  18. Michigan's state stone, The Petoskey is the official state stone. It is found along the shores of Lake Michigan.
  19. The Mackinac Bridge is one of the longest suspension bridges in the world. Connecting the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan, it spans 5 miles over the Straits of Mackinac, which is where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron meet. The Mighty Mac took 3 years to complete and was opened to traffic in 1957.
  20. Gerald R. Ford grew up in Grand Rapids and became the 38th president of the United States He attended the University of Michigan where he was a football star. He served on a World War II aircraft carrier and afterward represented Michigan in Congress for 24 years. He was also was an Eagle Scout, the highest rank in Boy Scouts.
  21. The Kellogg Company has made Battle Creek the Cereal Capital of the World. The Kellogg brothers accidentally discovered the process for producing flaked cereal products and sparked the beginning of the dry cereal industry.
  22. The painted turtle is Michigan's state reptile.
  23. The western shore of Michigan has many sand dunes. The Sleeping Bear Dunes rise 460 feet above Lake Michigan. Living among the dunes is the dwarf lake iris the official state wildflower.
  24. Vernors ginger ale was created in Detroit and became the first soda pop made in the United States. In 1862, pharmacist James Vernor was trying to create a new beverage when he was called away to serve our country in the Civil War. When he returned, 4 years later, the drink he had stored in an oak case had acquired a delicious gingery flavor.
  25. The Detroit Zoo was the first zoo in America to feature cageless, open-exhibits that allowed the animals more freedom to roam.
  26. Michigan is the only place in the world with a floating post office. The J.W. Westcott II is the only boat in the world that delivers mail to ships while they are still underway. They have been operating for 125 years.
  27. Indian River is the home of the largest crucifix in the world. It is called the Cross in the Woods.
  28. Michigan has the longest freshwater shoreline in the world.
  29. Michigan has more shoreline than any other state except Alaska.
  30. The Ambassador Bridge was named by Joseph Bower, the person credited with making the bridge a reality, who thought the name "Detroit-Windsor International Bridge" as too long and lacked emotional appeal. Bower wanted to "symbolize the visible expression of friendship of two peoples with like ideas and ideals."
  31. Michigan has more than 11,000 inland lakes and more than 36,000 miles of streams.
  32. Michigan has 116 lighthouses and navigational lights.
  33. Seul Choix Point Lighthouse in Gulliver has been guiding ships since 1895. The working light also functions as a museum, which houses early 1900s furnishings and maritime artifacts.
  34. Forty of the state's 83 counties adjoin at least one of the Great Lakes. Michigan is the only state that touches four of the five Great Lakes.
  35. Standing anywhere in the state a person is within 85 miles of one of the Great Lakes.
  36. Michigan includes 56,954 square miles of land area; 1,194 square miles of inland waters; and 38,575 square miles of Great Lakes water area.
  37. Sault Ste. Marie was established in 1668 making it the oldest town between the Alleghenies and the Rockies.
  38. Michigan was the first state to provide in its Constitution for the establishment of public libraries.
  39. Michigan was the first state to guarantee every child the right to tax-paid high school education.
  40. Four flags have flown over Michigan - French, English, Spanish and United States.
  41. Isle Royal Park shelters one of the largest moose herds remaining in the United States.
  42. Some of the longest bulk freight carriers in the world operate on the Great Lakes. Ore carriers 1,000 feet long sail Michigan's inland seas.
  43. The Upper Michigan Copper Country is the largest commercial deposit of native copper in the world.
  44. The 19 chandeliers in the Capitol in Lansing are one of a kind and designed especially for the building by Tiffany's of New York. Weighing between 800-900 pounds apiece they are composed of copper, iron and pewter.
  45. The first auto traffic tunnel built between two nations was the mile-long Detroit-Windsor tunnel under the Detroit River.
  46. The world's first international submarine railway tunnel was opened between Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario, Canada in 1891.
  47. The nation's first regularly scheduled air passage service began operation between Grand Rapids and Detroit in 1926.
  48. In 1879 Detroit telephone customers were first in the nation to be assigned phone numbers to facilitate handling calls.
  49. In 1929, the Michigan State Police established the first state police radio system in the world.
  50. Grand Rapids is home to the 24-foot Leonardo da Vinci horse, called Il Gavallo, it is the largest equestrian bronze sculpture in the Western Hemisphere. 

See you Friday!

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Monday, April 25, 2016

So, life...


It's been an exciting few days. The most exciting thing is that I got to see my second mom, my sister, my aunt and my cousin this weekend. It was my aunt's birthday last week and they were having a party. My second mom and my sister flew down from Nebraska and Michigan respectively to be here.

My sister and me:


And baby sister wearing her tutu, because life will always be better with a tutu!


She has inspired me though and I now know what I'm wearing to the 221B Con next year. :D

In other very interesting/exciting news...I was contacted via Facebook by a very very old friend of mine. Usually, when one hears about these things, the parties involved knew each other in high school or college. In this case, I knew this friend back in elementary school!! Our moms were great friends for many years, and so we were friends too. The really amazing thing is that while we both lived in Southern California as children--she now lives in Texas! So we'll be making arrangements to meet and catch up here in the next month or so.

So how was your weekend??


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Wednesday, April 20, 2016

American Fun Facts...Nebraska


Nebraska Facts and Trivia


  1. Nebraska was once called "The Great American Desert".
  2. In 1927, Edwin E. Perkins of Hastings invented the powered soft drink Kool-Aid.
  3. J. Sterling Morton founded Arbor Day in Nebraska City in 1872.
  4. The state nickname used to be the "Tree Planter's State", but was changed in 1945 to the "Cornhusker State".
  5. State insect is the honeybee.
  6. State motto: Equality before the law.
  7. The goldenrod was declared the state flower on April 4, 1895.
  8. The Naval Ammunition Depot located in Hastings was the largest U.S. ammunition plant providing 40% of WWII's ammunition.
  9. The Lied Jungle located in Omaha is the world's largest indoor rain forest.
  10. Nebraska is the birthplace of the Reuben sandwich.
  11. Spam (canned meat) is produced in Fremont.
  12. Nebraska has the U.S.'s largest aquifer (underground lake/water supply), the Ogalala aquifer.
  13. Nebraska has more miles of river than any other state.
  14. The Union Pacific's Bailey Yards, in North Platte, is the largest rail classification complex in the world.
  15. Nebraska is the only state in the union with a unicameral (one house) legislature.
  16. Nebraska was the first state to complete its segment of the nations mainline interstate system, a 455 mile stretch of four lane highway.
  17. Nebraska is both the nation's largest producer and user of center pivot irrigation.
  18. Nebraska's Chimney rock was the most often mentioned landmark in journal entries by travelers on the Oregon Trail.
  19. The 911 system of emergency communications, now used nationwide, was developed and first used in Lincoln, Nebraska.
  20. Nebraska has more underground water reserves than any other state in the continental U.S.
  21. Marlon Brando's mother gave Henry Fonda acting lessons at the Omaha Community Playhouse.
  22. Lincoln County is the origin of the world's largest "Wolly Mammoth" elephant fossil.
  23. Weeping Water is the nations largest limestone deposit and producer.
  24. Mutual of Omaha Corporate headquarters is a public building built with 7 floors underground.
  25. The Nebraska Cornhuskers have been to a record 27 consecutive bowl games and 27 consecutive winning seasons
  26. The University of Nebraska Cornhusker football team has produced more Academic All-Americans than any other Division I school.
  27. In Blue Hill, Nebraska, no female wearing a 'hat that would scare a timid person' can be seen eating onions in public.
  28. The world's first college course about radio personality Rush Limbaugh is taught at Bellevue University in Nebraska.
  29. Origin of Nebraska's Name: From an Oto Indian word meaning flat water
  30. Nebraska's Motto: Equality Before the Law
  31. Nebraska's State Gem is the Blue Agate
  32. The largest porch swing in the world is located in Hebron, Nebraska and it can sit 25 adults.
  33. The world's largest hand-planted forest is Halsey National Forrest near Thedford, Nebraska
  34. The world's only museum dedicated to Fur Trading is located at Fort Atkinson near Blair.
  35. The famous architect, Edward Durrell Stone, designed the Stuhr Museum near Grand Island, Nebraska.
  36. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln weight room is the largest in the country. It covers three-fourths of an acre
  37. Chevyland USA near Elm Creek, Nebraska is the only museum dedicated to a single line of cars.
  38. The largest Kolache Festival in the world is located in Prague, Nebraska
  39. Cozad, Nebraska is located on the 100th Meridian where the humid east meets the arid west.
  40. In Nebraska in 1986 for the first time ever, two women ran against each other for governorship of a state.
  41. The cost of the Nebraska Capitol building was $ 9,800,440.07 in 1932. The construction job came in under budget and the building was paid for by the time it was completed.
  42. Union Pacific Railroad's museum is headquartered in Nebraska.
  43. Buffalo Bill Cody held his first rodeo in North Platte, Nebraska July 4, 1882.
  44. In 1950, Omaha became the home of the College World Series.
  45. There are five army forts open to the public in Nebraska: Atkinson, Kearney, Hartsuff, Sidney, and Robinson.
  46. Sidney, Nebraska was the starting point of the Black Hills Gold Rush.
  47. Antelope and Buffalo are counties in Nebraska named after animals.
  48. Dr. Harold Edgerton of Aurora, Nebraska is the inventor of the strobe light.
  49. Kearney, Nebraska is located exactly between Boston and San Francisco.
  50. Father Edward Flanagan founded Boys Town in Omaha, Nebraska in 1917.
Ever been to Nebraska? I lived there for ten years, and it's where I met DH. :)

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Monday, April 18, 2016

Monday, Monday...

Haven't been feeling well...


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