Wordless Wednesday-Ziggy

Jars Of Clay- Worlds Apart

Ok maybe this is my favorite one after all. Do you ever feel how can people come up with just one more excellent song? I am always amazed. "Did you really have to die for me?" I am so glad He did.

Jars of Clay - Love Song for a Saviour (Live)

I think this is my favorite Jars of Clay song.

I won a contest!!

Look at what I won in a contest. There are pretty Christmas cards and tags.
This lovely prize came from Tamara at TP Designs.
She handmakes these cards and tags. Go check out her site for Christmas!
Thank you very much Tamara.

The Notebook Video , After All by Peter Cetera and Cher

Wasn't this a great movie and book?

Friendship

"They color my life with the beautiful hues of friendship. Although we come from different backgrounds and cultures we share the same spirit of friendship."

I received this beautiful "Friendship" award from very nice blogger friend Kila. I have only been blogging since September of this year and I have met so many wonderful blogging friends. Everyone has been so helpful to me. (and I needed much help) I am enjoying blogging so much. I am never at a loss so far for something to say. The wonderful thing with a blog is you can say whatever your heart desires. That's freedom. And then the lucky thing about it is you might have people read it and comment. Bonus!!! Then of course you feel validated and necessary in this life. Well, I may be putting to much emphasis on this, 'cause my real value and acceptance comes from God, but blog comments are like the icing on the cake. You could do without it, but it makes it much sweeter and adds a final touch. I would like to pass this award on to some new "friends." My first person that I came into contact with and who has encouraged me was Janet. Her sister Donna is also an encouragement to me. Not to get carried away here but there are so many I could give this award to: bluemomma, extremely nice to me, humbleorigins, I see her being a friend every place I visit, Sandy, another friend who is always there. Here is another Janet who I like to call Janet Planet, she has been much help to me. I could go on and on, last but not least Robin. I joined two of her groups, Fun Monday (which just being a part of has gained me many blogger visits) and the poetry group. There are others that I could mention that have already been given this award by someone else. I am happy to have met all of you.

Ziggy

Ziggy, my all time favorite cartoon.
Isn't he a doll?

FUN MONDAY BELOW

Fun Monday

This weeks host is Hootin' Anni

The Fun Monday Game I'm hosting for y'all is this:
30 GIANT STEPS - IN ANY direction. You may have to make a few turns and pivots so you won't run into any walls or such...don't want any injuries today! WARNING: Avoid any obstacles in the way. After the 30 giant steps, Stop! TAKE A PHOTO AND/OR NOTE WHAT YOU'RE SEEING!! Then, take 15 baby steps back. After the 15 baby steps, Stop! TAKE A PHOTO AND/OR NOTE WHAT YOU'RE SEEING.
What you see is what we get!!

Moi: Mother, May I take 30 giant steps forward?
Hootin' Anni: Yes, dear, you may.


This is my living room. And people talk about clutter? I am the queen of clutter.
Note: magazines on floor? extra pillows?


Now:
Moi: Mother, May I take 15 baby steps backward?
Hootin' Anni: Yes, yes, yes, dear, you may.


This is my dining room. I have not decorated for Thanksgiving yet. I will be
working on cleaning up my rooms and decorating this week. I can't replace
my tablecloth until the day of Thanksgiving if I want it to be clean. We have
a cat "Kissa" who climbs and lounges on tables. Cat hairs and turkey? Not a
good thing as Martha would say.

Next week's host is the girl who loves green: Karisma
Go on over and sign up. And don't forget to visit other Fun Monday players @ Hootin' Anni

Fort Worth National Cemetery

My dad is buried in Fort Worth National Cemetery.

Veteran's Day-Admiral Husband E. Kimmel (my fourth cousin twice removed)

Husband E. Kimmel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Husband Edward Kimmel
26 February 1882 – 14 May 1968



Rear Admiral Husband E. Kimmel
Place of birth Henderson, Kentucky, USA
Place of death Groton, Connecticut, USA
Allegiance United States Navy
Years of service 1904-1941
Rank Rear Admiral
Unit United States Pacific Fleet
Commands United States Navy
Battles/wars World War I
World War II
*Attack on Pearl Harbor
Husband Edward Kimmel (February 26, 1882 – May 14, 1968) was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy. He was the commander of the Pacific Fleet at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.


Husband E. Kimmel was born in Henderson, Kentucky, on 26 February 1882 and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1904. Before reaching flag rank, he served on several battleships, commanded two destroyer divisions, a destroyer squadron, and the USS New York (BB-34). He also held a number of important positions on flag staffs and in the Navy Department, and completed the senior course at the Naval War College.
After promotion to Rear Admiral in 1937, he commanded Cruiser Division Seven on a diplomatic cruise to South America and then became Commander of Cruisers, Battle Force, in 1939.
Pearl Harbor

In February 1941 Kimmel became Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet and Pacific Fleet, with the temporary rank of Admiral. The base for the fleet had been moved from its traditional home at San Pedro, California to Pearl Harbor.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7, 1941. Edwin T. Layton related that during the attack, “Kimmel stood by the window of his office at the submarine base, his jaw set in stony anguish. As he watched the disaster across the harbor unfold with terrible fury, a spent .50 caliber machine gun bullet crashed through the glass. It brushed the admiral before it clanged to the floor. It cut his white jacket and raised a welt on his chest. ‘It would have been merciful had it killed me,’ Kimmel murmured to his communications officer, Commander Maurice ‘Germany’ Curts.”[1] In The World at War a naval serviceman, who had been situated alongside Admiral Kimmel during the attack, recalled that as Kimmel watched the destruction of the fleet, he tore off his four star epaulets and replaced them with those of a Rear Admiral, in apparent recognition of the impending end of his command of the Pacific Fleet.
Kimmel was relieved of his command in mid-December 1941, while he was in the midst of planning and executing retaliatory moves. He took an early retirement in 1942. He spent much of his time defending himself in front of various hearings, pointing out that all the key information which would have enabled him to anticipate the attack was never made available to him.
Some historians now believe that Admiral Kimmel and Army Lieutenant General Walter Short became scapegoats for the failures of their superiors prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor and that their careers were effectively and unfairly ruined. Edwin T. Layton (later Rear Admiral Layton), chief intelligence officer for Kimmel, and one of the officers who knew Kimmel best, provided support for Kimmel's position in his book, And I Was There: Pearl Harbor and Midway -- Breaking the Secrets (1985). Admiral Layton argued that Kimmel had not been provided complete information, and that Kimmel deployed the few reconnaissance resources at his disposal in the most logical way, given the available information.

Rear Admiral Kimmel's son, Manning M. Kimmel, died after the submarine he commanded USS Robalo (SS-273) struck a Japanese mine near Palawan in July of 1944. Kimmel himself worked for Frederick R. Harris, Inc after the war. He died at Groton, Connecticut, on May 14, 1968.
In 1994, Kimmel's family, including his grandson, South Carolina broadcaster Manning Kimmel IV, attempted to have Kimmel's four star rank re-instated. President Bill Clinton turned down the request, as had Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. A 1995 Pentagon study concluded that there were other high-ranking officers responsible for the failure at Pearl Harbor, but did not exonerate him. On May 25, 1999, the United States Senate, by a vote of 52-47, passed a nonbinding resolution exonerating Kimmel and Short, and asking the President to posthumously promote Kimmel, and others, to the admiral rank.[3] Senator Strom Thurmond (R-SC), one of the sponsors of the resolution, called Kimmel and Short "the two final victims of Pearl Harbor." However, neither President Clinton nor his successor, President George W. Bush, have undertaken to posthumously promote Kimmel.

Admiral Kimmel and my grandfather were fourth cousins. I would be Admiral Kimmel's fourth cousin twice removed. I have spoken to his grandson Captain Thomas Kimmel (my sixth cousin). He is on a cruise ship to Hawaii right now doing a lecture on this subject. He will be at Pearl Harbor today, Veteran's Day.

I have an original copy of this Time magazine. I bought it on e-bay.

Brother and Sister and the Tallest Man on Earth

These pictures were taken several years ago at Ripley's Believe It or Not in Branson, Missouri.

Spunky the Wonder Dog

My friend Donna suggested I write about my dog Spunky after I made a comment on her blog.
First, I must backtrack and tell you about the previous dogs we have owned. Our first dog was named Farfo (after the cartoon many years ago). He was a stray that we took in, all in all a pretty good dog. He was with us for several years, I can't really remember his demise.

Farfo and hubby. (If you look over to the left,
you can see the Arkansas River)
Our second dog we bought was a registered Doberman Pinscher. We got him as a pup and went through the process of having his ears and tail cut. He was a good dog, not all that smart but pretty sweet. We lived out in the country. We always have actually. The doberman was named Jasper because he was black. But not too good of a guard dog if you ask me because somebody stole him.

I don't remember what he got into but he sure looks guilty!

He was a fine specimen of a dog!

Next came Molly the border collie. We bought her for the kids. She did not turn out like we thought, not all that bright either. She ended up being given away after she growled at a little neighbor child. She was black also so I thought "Molly" was very fitting. Black Molly, which I think is a very common name for a border collie. But I didn't know that at the time.

Now for Spunky. We got Spunky for our son. His father (Spunky's, not my son's) was a rat terrier and his mother was a cocker spaniel, both full blood. They lived in the same house and got mixed up together creating Spunky and his litter buddies. He was a cutie. We (our son really) decided not to cut his tail. Spunky was very aptly named. You know that cartoon about a dog and a cow. He pretty much looked like that dog to me. Just a fat little white bundle with black spots on his side like a kidney bean. His body was a rat terrier, but his head more like a cocker spaniel (ear wise anyway). We kept him in the house for a short time as a puppy but soon he became the outdoor dog. We have never had a dog living in our house before this.
Spunky could jump so high. We had back and front storm doors just alike. They had glass window half way up. He would jump straight up in the air so he could peer into the house. Boing! Boing! Just like a kangaroo. It's quite a sight to see a little dog jumping up and down like that.
Spunky was quite the popular dog in our town. I think most people (in our town) have seen this dog for he had an unusual habit....
to be continued.....
Yes, I am leaving you hanging....and it reminds me of someone else who leaves us hanging but I don't think Spunky is quite the hiney tingler as that. But you know what? I'm going to pretend to myself that he is...

John Mayer - Heart of Life with additional lyrics, MSG

The Heart of Life is good...

Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now (Live, 1970)

Something I used to listen to and play on the piano.

Dennis the Menace

This is one of the reasons we never pretended that Santa Claus was real,
we wanted our kids to believe that God is real. I understand that some
won't agree with me but it's my opinion and I can live with it. We tried
to do the best we knew how with our children. I'm all for fantasy and
make-believe and pretend but I want those things to be in a different
catagory, not grouping God with myths and fables.

God Is Like This

I cannot see the wind at all
Or hold it in my hand,
And yet I know there is a wind
Because it swirls the sand.
I know there is a wondrous wind
Because I glimpse its power
Whenever it bends low a tree
Or sways the smallest flower.

And God is very much like this,
Invisible as air,
I cannot touch or see Him, yet
I know that He is there
Because I glimpse His wondrous works
And goodness everywhere.
~Rowena Bennett~

Tagged

I have been "chosen"~ er~ tagged by Crown Princess to reveal 7 random things about myself.
1. I wanted be an archaeologist when I was little.
I loved King Tut and the pyramids.
2. I loved "Heidi" when I was little, I so wanted to live
in Switzerland.

3. We celebrated our 30th anniversary on a ship in Alaska.


4. I love Orangina. I got these glasses
at a cafe in Paris. We asked if we could
buy them but the waiter let us take them.

5. I love Paris!!!! We visited Paris in 2000.
This is my daughter, Melissa, and me.

6. I love Switzerland. I would live there if I could.

7. I am part German on my mother's side of the family.
"Kimmel" is the surname. This is a picture of my mother
and me in Heidelberg, Germany in 2000.

Wordless Wednesday-"Day and Night"

View other Wordless Wednesday participants over at Blue Momma

Sting

I love this song. I play it over and over when I am driving. It's so beautiful.

My Offspring

~Autumn Fires~
In the other gardens
And all up the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke trail!
Pleasant summer over
And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
The grey smoke towers.
Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,

Fires in the fall!~Robert Louis Stevenson~

These are my babies, how time flies!