Happy Halloween!!

To see the other pumpkins, go to our flickr page.

I Wish That I Had Duck Feet

I had a patient's five-year-old son hanging out with me while his mom was in the office, and I was doodling with him and drew an elephant nose on the man's face, and antlers, and it reminded me of the book I Wish That I Had Duck Feet by Theo LeSieg (Geisel backward ... aka Dr. Seuss). It's such a great children's classic. This, of course, gets me thinking about other favorites, including Because a Little Bug Went Ka-choo! Children's books are such great memories...

Angel Trumpet - Brugmansia 'Dr. Seuss'

Angel Trumpet - Brugmansia 'Dr. Seuss'
Originally uploaded by jenianddean

Remember way back in the spring, when Dean and I gutted the yard and planted about 400 plants.... Well the one plant I was most excited about finally bloomed. Brugmansia 'Dr.Seuss' This plant stands about 7' tall and its blooms are about 12" long. They are absolutely beautiful. When we took this picture there were about 8 blooms on it. Over the next couple of days Dr. Seuss kept blooming and blooming. We ended up with about 25 blooms. I was really disappointed because I thought it was not going to bloom due to being replanted - to tell you the truth, I had actually given up on it blooming. What a nice surprise!

With this late bloomer, it has already gotten me excited about next spring to see what some of the flowers do that got planted after their blooming period.

Smoking, breastfeeding and your baby's sleep

I saw this the other day in a newspaper and thought it was interesting enough to scan in and share.

A brief version of the article can be seen here as well. I think one of the interesting findings was that even though the breast milk tasted like nicotine in the initial portion of the study, the intake of milk did not vary much. So while the babies fed the same amount, the length and quality of sleep was much worse.

Largest full moon of the year

Thursday we will have the largest full moon of the year. Space Weather explains why, and according to them, "the Moon's orbit is an ellipse with one side 30,000 miles closer to Earth than the other. The full Moon of Oct. 25-26 is located on the near side, making it appear as much as 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser full Moons we've seen earlier in 2007."

Last year when this occurred we were up in Big Canoe with Tiffany and I remember pulling over on the side of the road by the lake up there and staring in amazement at how much the moon filled the sky. I tried in vain to get a picture of the moon, but it was so bright that it gave my camera fits. (Supposedly you can't really take pictures of the moon easily at all, and I think I confirmed that.) So take a few minutes Thursday, step outside and stare up at the sky.

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Speaking of weather and such, during my lunch I was driving to the bank and it was finally raining here. As I passed USC's campus, I passed a guy on a scooter holding an umbrella over his head while driving down the road. It's moments like this that make me wish I had a camera with me at all times.

Happy Birthday Doug!

Happy Birthday Doug! Hope you are able to relax some today and enjoy your birthday with Cathy and the kids. We look forward to seeing the gang this weekend.

SC winter?!?

When we prepared to move back to the South after seven Iowa winters, people asked us if we would miss winter. (Minus-65 wind chill ... are you kidding me?) I said, No, I'm from the South, winter's not that big a deal. And it isn't. But I expected some kind of fall. Today is October 23 and it was 87 degrees out. That's hot for an Indian Summer! And I don't think I'm being naive when I say, moving to South Carolina, that I expected some kind of fall. Even people who have lived here their entire lives are amazed at how nasty hot it is. At least it rained here tonight, but that leaves a toss-up between the possibility of humid or cool. I'm hoping for cool. (I don't know why I'm rambling about this, expect that I'm too stubborn to turn the air on one week before Halloween.)

Overheard in ...

Maybe I'm a little behind in the "Overheard in [pick your city]" craze because I found this link in an old archived post on another blog, but it's just too funny in an evolved version of Reader's Digest sort of way. I personally liked this one, this one, and this one.

I Am My Own Wife

Jeni and I went to the opening night of I Am My Own Wife at Workshop Theatre, a one-man show with 29 different characters. I had never seen a one-man show before and had little idea of what to expect out of the story, but I have to say I was very impressed. This is a show about a transvestite Holocaust survivor. I am thankful that I took German in college since there was splattered German throughout the play, although it was translated later, but it helped to follow the flow of the play. But it was very interesting to see one person portray so much and demonstrate the talent he did.

Carny lingo

Because we all love carnies, here's a glossary of carny lingo.

Looking for new music?

If your looking for new music but don't want to hunt all over the internet for it, let the Hype Machine do it for you. This site has music from everywhere, and all kinds of music to listen to. Check it out.

SC State Fair

We went to the State Fair on Sunday with Lisa, Brian, Gracie and Clara Ann. Despite it being in the mid-80s we had a great time. The highlight of the trip had to be the pig costume contest -- 14 pigs dressed in outfits with children in accompanying outfits. Very funny. Lisa and Brian took Gracie through the petting zoo and the cow barn and all the stinkiness. (Gracie asked at the pig show, "What's that smell?" and curled up her nose. That got chuckles from many within ear shot.) Jeni and I took sweet sweet Clara Ann into the air conditioned buildings and we enjoyed the sand sculpture and the flowers and artwork. (Of course, there was also a corn dog and funnel cake...FAIR FOOD!) It was a lot of fun spending the day with them. They are such good little girls.

Josie Wathan

Angie, a friend of ours from Iowa, and her husband Jesse really need for everyone to keep their little girl, Josie, in their thoughts and prayers. Please go and read her story. If you have some spare change to send their way, please do. If not, please remember them in your prayers. This precious little girl needs every good thought and prayer. They have a long journey ahead of them, and they don't know where the path is going to take them.

Thanks.

Gracie and her uncle Deano

Happy Birthday Dean
Originally uploaded by jenianddean

Here is the picture of Gracie and Dean from his birthday, as promised many moons ago. Gracie was such a big helper at Dean's birthday. She helped Dean blow out his candles; she was the official icing taster (someone had to do it); she helped with the presents. What more can you ask for in a big helper!!!

We loved have Gracie and Clara Ann at our house. They are so stinkin' cute I just want to squeeze them all over and kiss their little faces all day long.

Just click on the picture to head over to our Flickr to see more super cute pictures of the girls in their Halloween costumes.

Marion Jones

Jeni is not a big sports fan. She loves her Tennessee football, and Peyton Manning and the Colts, and she'll watch the Lady Vols in the Final Four, but for the most part that's where it sits for her. But then there's the Olympics, and that's another story -- clear off the DVR because we're recording every minute of the Olympics, the majesty, the glory, the stories. So for Marion Jones, America's darling from 2000, to admit to steroid use leading up to her five gold medals, well, Jeni is heartbroken. This is sad, and I'm sad for Marion Jones ... I do feel for her, but she did this to the country, not her fans. She represented the USA. It's different than Barry Bonds, who represents San Francisco, and maybe Major League Baseball, but with Marion Jones it was national pride. And that's what makes it so hard. She was a role model for little girls everywhere, and it just breaks Jeni's heart. Just a sad day for Olympic sports. (At least in the Winter Games you know the snow boarders are just getting high...)

Nerd Herd

I really respect when TV shows actually build the web sites that are part of their shows. Last night on Chuck there was a very subtle web address for the Nerd Herd at their help desk. It was scanned by so fast that I actually had to back it up to see the actual address, but I checked today and Nerd Herd Help is an actual web site. So kudos to NBC and Chuck, which is quickly becoming my favorite hour-long show.

OK, while talking about the new season, let me just say, without a rant, that I think Desperate Housewives is a desperate show and it shows. Also, Grey's Anatomy is looking pretty weak, too. Are they doctors or high schoolers? Like Jeni said the other night, I can't believe how disappointed I am that Lost isn't coming back until the spring. I thought there'd be other returning shows to keep me entertained until then.

Chuck

Chuck is on tonight ... finally some TV to get excited about!

October already? ...and rambling about football

Is it really October already? Seems September slipped by while I was waiting for better football games to come. Hopefully October will bring a fresh start for Tennessee. This has been an odd football season, to say the least. Who would have ever thought that, next to LSU, Kentucky would be the highest ranked SEC team? And South Carolina just below Florida? (South Carolina is overrated if you ask me...) It seems certain teams are climbing the polls through attrition more than anything. And in defense of my Tennessee Volunteers, who are getting no love from the AP poll, their two losses were to Florida and Cal, currently ranked 3rd and 9th, and yet they remain unranked. I guess if they beat Georgia they should jump to the middle of the top 25 like South Carolina did.

And while I'm fussing about South Carolina let me share one of my biggest pet peeves... I hate when you are listening to a football game on the radio and the announcers keep referring to the team as "we" instead of South Carolina, or Tennessee, or whoever. You are an announcer, and while you may solely cover South Carolina, you are not part of the team and shouldn't call them we. Maybe I'll give a pass to the former player who is now an announcer, but for tubby in the press box eating his cold cuts and watching the game in the air conditioning, no you are not part of the team, so act like a professional and not a fan and call the game right. (Maybe I was spoiled by John Ward calling games for Tennessee and the class of broadcasting he brought.)

Also, I hate to tell South Carolina, but their little magic show set to 2001 is not "the most exciting entrance in college football," as the announcer said Saturday as I listened to the start of the game on the radio. Sure, I guess it's unique, but I've been to two games in the three years we've lived in Columbia (both UT wins) and I find myself thinking, "I've seen this magic trick before. He's hiding in the base." And how can nine guys running in with flags spelling out Gamecocks after a chicken magically appears in a box to the theme of 2001 compare to running through the T at Tennessee, of Bevo leading the team in at Texas, or dotting the I at Ohio State, or the Sooner's stagecoach or Purdue's largest drum in the world, or Howard's Rock in Clemson? I could go on and on... but thankfully I won't. Just had to get that off my chest.

(OK, here's a collection of team entrances, and they do hype South Carolina and Virginia Tech as the two best, so go, watch and you be the judge...)