All Dolled Up - First Lady Style

While I was in Ohio and staying with Mike & Barb, we went to go see a traveling exhibit called "First Lady Style: White House Gowns" - a display of all of the first lady gowns. It was located at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center (see yesterday's post) and it was the last weekend before it moves on to the next city!

It was a really neat display, but Barb and I were thinking "Man, these dresses look TINY! From the pictures of the first ladies next to each dress, there's just no way she fit in this thing!" Well, come to find out, all of the dresses are 'reproductions of the original' and were 'tailored to fit a model's size'. Whew!! That made me feel better.

However, there were 5 dresses that were original and actually worn by the first ladies. Here are 4 of them:

LAURA BUSH
BETTY FORD
NANCY REAGAN
BARBARA BUSH

Understandably, Mike wasn't so keen on the dresses exhibit, so he stayed home - he was busy grilling up lunch by the pool! He is such a great guy and took care of us!!

Here's Barb getting ready to jump in the pool for the afternoon:

And Mike, relaxing in the pool after being a stellar grillmaster for lunch!

It was an absolutely gorgeous day - I'm so lucky to have friends like Mike & Barb and for the weather to have cooperated so well during my visit!

Presidential Morning

When I was in Ohio last week, I stayed with my friends Mike and Barb in Fremont for the first night. We had pina coladas immediately when I got there, which was awesome! We went out for pizza and ice cream that first night. Here's a pic of Mike at the ice cream place....

The next morning, we hung out on their porch, then headed over to the President Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center to tour the Hayes home, gravesite and museum.

Here's President Rutherford B. Hayes and his wife, Lucy - circa the late 1800's:

This is the memorial area of the museum - very pretty:

And this is a cannon that was used in the Civil War!

And this is the former president's white house carriage:




Here I am at the president's gravesite - located just behind the house.

And during the tour of the house, they said that he buried 2 of his horses on the grounds - we found the stones from when they were buried! They actually buried the president right by where his beloved horses were laid to rest.

And this squirrel was the biggest, fattest one that I have ever seen! It's hard to see the size perspective because it's such a close-up, but it was INCREDIBLE!

And this is my good friend Barb! Mike and Barb were such wonderful hosts and so generous. I miss you already, my dear!

Back To The Buckeye State

About a week ago, I flew up to Toledo, Ohio for 4 days to visit friends that I hadn't seen since I moved down to Texas (about a year and a half). It was a great trip and I got to see a lot of people and do all of the things that I missed about that area. The weather was PERFECT and it was a wonderful break from the 100+ temps that are hell in Texas during the summer!

However, here is something that I DON'T miss about Toledo and my very liberal neighborhood that I used to live in:

Yep, it's the crazy lunatic that has had these war signs up in his yard for years - the whole time I lived there and they are still up. The "ToledObama" sign is new - at least for me. YUCK. I would've been so miserable if I had to go through this last election in Toledo. WAY too liberal for my bones.
And this odd gentleman came walking out of my old house when Holly and I did a 'drive-by' of the house. Is that some sort of dress or frock that he is wearing??? We got a good laugh out of this one.......
Holly and Michael were so generous and let me borrow their extra car while I was up there, so I didn't have to rent a car to go all over and see different friends. It was great! And since Michael is a contractor, he had a hard hat and safety glasses in the car - I couldn't resist!

And what would a trip up to Toledo be without going to Cedar Creek?? I miss that church so much and felt so good to go back and visit...

I realize it was probably very tacky to take pictures in church, but I just had to!


And a couple other things that made me a little nostalgic and happy:

Northern grass!!!!

And good 'ole Speedway gas stations!

More Ohio adventures all this week!

Stalling....................

OK, so I have been crazy busy this week trying to catch up after my vacation to Ohio, so I don't have much to write about since I haven't gotten to uploading my pics from the trek north.....but I will be doing that this weekend, so my blog posts for all next week will be the highlights from the Buckeye State!

In the meantime, who doesn't love a few pictures of wiener babies?!?!

PS - Yes, Pollyanna Dindor - these are 'cute animal' pictures and you're just going to have to LIKE it!
Holy crap - is this the cutest mini-wiener you've ever seen or what?! Maggie wasn't much bigger than this one when I got her!

How can you not love that face????

What a big sweetie!

And I Will Call Him Mini-Me

Toy horses are usually plastic and aimed at young girls but this little pony is 100 per cent natural and ready to make friends with anyone her size.

Going for a walk: Sam leads the way, followed by Bliss and her tiny new daughter.

Born ten days ago at a stud farm in the southern state of Victoria, Australia, the 15 in.. miniature horse is yet to be named, but has already formed a bond with Sam Leith, 12.

Silver dun tovero in color, she was given a clean bill of health and should reach 24 in. when grown.

The birth has generated such excitement in the community that local people are entering a competition to give the horse a name.

Owner Lee Scown said she wanted a name that reflected the tiny, unique nature of the horse.
'Its the smallest horse I've ever had and she's so gorgeous,' Ms Scown said..

The miniature horse snuggles up to mummy as local people try to come up with a name for her.

The horse, currently only a little taller than a book, is expected to grow to about 24 inches.

'Its amazing to see a horse so tiny. She's about the size of a week-old lamb.'

The horse is the smallest born at Riverdance and its arrival surprised even its breeder.

'We were told the mare wasn't due for another four weeks but on Sunday morning I walked outside and called her, and out ran the little foal behind her.'

A Tribute To The NEW Motherland

JUST TEXAS

Pep, Texas 79353

Smiley, Texas 78159

Paradise, Texas 76073

Rainbow, Texas 76077

Sweet Home, Texas 77987

Comfort, Texas 78013

Friendship, Texas 76530

Love the Sun?

Sun City, Texas 78628

Sunrise , Texas 76661

Sunset, Texas 76270

Sundown, Texas 79372

Sunray , Texas 79086

Sunny Side , Texas 77423

Want something to eat?

Bacon , Texas 76301

Noodle , Texas 79536

Oatmeal , Texas 78605

Turkey , Texas 79261

Trout , Texas 75789

Sugar Land , Texas 77479

Salty, Texas 76567

Rice , Texas 75155

Pearland , Texas 77581

Orange , Texas 77630

And top it off with:

Sweetwater , Texas 79556

Why travel to other cities? Texas has them all!

Detroit , Texas 75436

Cleveland , Texas 75436

Colorado City , Texas 79512

Denver City , Texas 79323

Klondike , Texas 75448

Nevada , Texas 75173

Memphis , Texas 79245

Miami , Texas 79059

Boston , Texas 75570

Santa Fe , Texas 77517

Tennessee Colony , Texas 75861

Reno , Texas 75462

Pasadena , Texas 77506

Columbus , Texas 78934

Feel like traveling outside the country? Don't bother buying a plane ticket!

Athens , Texas 75751

Canadian, Texas 79014

China , Texas 77613

Egypt , Texas 77436

Ireland , Texas 76538

Italy , Texas 76538

Turkey , Texas 79261

London , Texas 76854

New London , Texas 75682

Paris , Texas 75460

Palestine , Texas 75801

No need to travel to Washington D.C.

Whitehouse , Texas 75791

We even have a city named after our planet!

Earth , Texas 79031

And a city named after our State!

Texas City , Texas 77590

Exhausted?

Energy , Texas 76452

Cold?

Blanket , Texas 76432

Winters, Texas

Like to read about History?

Santa Anna , Texas

Goliad , Texas

Alamo , Texas

Gun Barrel City , Texas

Robert Lee, Texas

Need Office Supplies?

Staples, Texas 78670

Want to go into outer space?

Venus , Texas 76084

Mars , Texas 79062

You guessed it. It's on the state line.

Texline , Texas 79087

For the kids...

Kermit , Texas 79745

Elmo , Texas 75118

Nemo , Texas 76070

Tarzan , Texas 79783

Winnie , Texas 77665

Sylvester , Texas 79560

Other city names in Texas , to make you smile......

Frognot , Texas 75424

Bigfoot , Texas 78005

Hogeye , Texas 75423

Cactus , Texas 79013

Notrees , Texas 79759

Best, Texas 76932

Veribest , Texas 76886

Kickapoo , Texas 75763

Dime Box , Texas 77853

Old Dime Box , Texas 77853

Telephone , Texas 75488

Telegraph , Texas 76883

Whiteface , Texas 79379

Twitty, Texas 79079

And last but not least, the Anti-Al Gore City...

Kilgore , Texas 75662

And our favorites...

Cut n Shoot, Texas

Gun Barrel City , Texas

Hoop And Holler, Texas

Ding Dong, Texas

Muleshoe , TexasHere is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about folks from Texas ...

If someone in a Lowe's store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you may live in Texas;

If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you may live in Texas or MN;

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you may live in Texas ;

If 'Vacation' means going anywhere south of Dallas for the weekend, you may live in Texas ;

If you measure distance in hours, you may live in Texas ;

If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you may live in Texas or MN;

If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you may live in Texas ;

If you carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you may live in Texas ;

If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph --you're going 80 and everybody's passing you, you may live in Texas ;

If you find 60 degrees 'a little chilly,' you may live in Texas ;

If you actually understand these jokes, and share them with all your Texas friends, you definitely live in Texas ..

Here are some little known, very interesting facts about Texas .
1. Beaumont to El Paso : 742 miles

2.. Beaumont to Chicago : 770 miles

3... El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas

4. World's first rodeo was in Pecos , July 4, 1883.

5. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America built over water.

6. The Heisman Trophy was named after John William Heisman who was the first full-time coach at Rice University in Houston.

7. Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America.

8. Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America 's only remaining flock of whooping cranes.

9. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978.

10. The worst natural disaster in U.S. history was in 1900, caused by a hurricane, in which over 8,000 lives were lost on Galveston Island.

11. The first word spoken from the moon, July 20,1969, was " Houston ," but the space center was actually in Clear Lake City at the time.

12. King Ranch in South Texas is larger than Rhode Island.

13. Tropical Storm Claudette brought a U.S. rainfall record of 43' in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July of 1979.

14. Texas is the only state to enter the U.S. by TREATY, (known as the Constitution of 1845 by the Republic of Texas to enter the Union) instead of by annexation. This allows the Texas Flag to fly at the same height as the U.S. Flag, and may divide into 5 states. Also, can secede from the union at our discretion...which we may do in short order if things in Washington don't change soon!

15. A Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1500 years old.

16. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.

17. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period in Dr Pepper.

18. Texas has had six capital cities: Washington -on- the Brazos, Harrisburg , Galveston ,Velasco, West Columbia and Austin.

19. The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the U.S. which is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington DC (by 7 feet).

20. The San Jacinto Monument is the tallest free standing monument in the world and it is taller than the Washington monument.

21. The name ' Texas ' comes from the Hasini Indian word 'tejas' meaning friends. Tejas is not Spanish for Texas.

22. The State Mascot is the Armadillo (an interesting bit of trivia about the armadillo is they always have four babies. They have one egg, which splits into four, and they either have four males or four females.).

23. The first domed stadium in the U.S. was the Astrodome in Houston.

Y'all git all that?

EXTREME Red Tape

I know this is almost certainly not a real story, but I thought it was very funny and I got a good laugh out of it. Read it all the way to the end!
A New Orleans lawyer sought an FHA loan for a client who lost his house in Hurricane Katrina and wanted to rebuild. He was told the loan would be granted if he could prove satisfactory title to the parcel of property being offered as collateral. The title to the property dated back to 1803, which took the Lawyer three months to track down.

After sending the information to the FHA, he received the following reply.

(Actual letter): "Upon review of your letter adjoining your client's loan application,we note that the request is supported by an Abstract of Title. While we compliment the able manner in which you have prepared and presented the application, we must point out that you have only cleared title to the proposed collateral property back to 1803. Before final approval can be accorded, it will be necessary to clear the title back to its origin." Annoyed, the lawyer responded as follows.

(Actual Letter) "Your letter regarding title in Case No. 189156 has been received. I note that you wish to have title extended further than the 194 years covered by the present application. I was unaware that any educated person in this country, particularly those working in the property area, would not knowthat Louisiana was purchased, by the U.S., from France in 1803, the year of origin identified in our application.

For the edification of uninformed FHA bureaucrats, the title to the land prior to U.S. ownership was obtained from France, which had acquired it by Right of Conquest from Spain. The land came into the possession of Spain by Right of Discovery made in the year 1492 by a sea captain named Christopher Columbus, who had been granted the privilege of seeking a new route to India by the Spanish monarch, Isabella.

The good queen, Isabella, being a pious woman and almost as careful about titles as the FHA, took the precaution of securing the blessing of the Pope before she sold her jewels to finance Columbus' expedition. Now the Pope, as I'm sure you may know, is the emissary of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and God, it is commonly accepted, created this world. Therefore, I believe it is safe to presume that God also made that part of the world called Louisiana. God, therefore, would be the owner of origin and His origins date back to before the beginning of time, the world as we know it AND the FHA. I hope you find God's original claim to be satisfactory. Now, may we have our damn loan?"

He got the loan.

Tombstone

I know that I will probably offend a few people and ruffle some feathers with this post....I try as hard as I can to keep political stuff out of my blog, but I just couldn't help it on this one! I love all of you, no matter what side of the aisle you sit on, but I can't not post this.... :)

Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law, St. Paul , Minnesota , points out some interesting facts concerning the Presidential election:

Number of States won by: Democrats: 19 Republicans: 29

Square miles of land won by: Democrats: 580,000 Republicans: 2,427,000

Population of counties won by: Democrats: 127 million Republicans: 143 million

Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Democrats: 13.2 Republicans: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Republican won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of the country. Democrat territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare..."

Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.

If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegals and they vote, then we can say goodbye to the USA as we know it in fewer than five years.