Christmas 2011

70th Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

Today is commemorated as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. It is the 70^th Anniversary of this event. Let us remember the men and women who sacrificed their lives for the freedom we experience today.

Visit these sites for historical information about the attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941:
Department of Navy – Naval Historical Center – Pearl Harbor Raid
National Geographic – Remembering Pearl Harbor
The Pearl Harbor Day Page
Wikipedia – Attack on Pearl Harbor

Listen to FDR’s “Day of Infamy” Speech, courtesy of University of Missouri-Kansas City, and see copy of the speech delivered to the Joint Session of Congress on 8 December 1941.

Please visit MichelleMalkin.com for her tribute to these men who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Riptide

I recently obtained a new book from Del Rey Ballantine Books  in the Star Wars universe, Riptide by Paul S Kemp.

Old Republic – Revan

I recently obtained a new book from Del Rey Ballantine Books  in the Star Wars universe, Old Republic – Revan by Drew Karpyshyn.

Complete Peanuts 1981-1982

I bought the sixteenth volume of the series, The Complete Peanuts 1981-1982,  with a forward done by Lynn Johnston.

The previous volume can still be purchased in the US.  Amazon.com still carries these volumes. The official current list of available The Complete Peanuts volumes can be found at Fantagraphic’s website.

Complete Peanuts 1979-1980

As I did last year to save money this year, I bought the fifteenth volume of the series, The Complete Peanuts 1979-1980,  with a forward done by Al Roker as a set with the sixteenth volume, The Complete Peanuts 1981-1982.   It was worth the wait.

The previous volume can still be purchased in the US.  Amazon.com still carries these volumes. The official current list of available The Complete Peanuts volumes can be found at Fantagraphic’s website.

The Lutheran White Lie Cake

Have you ever told a white lie?

You are going to love this, especially all of the ladies who bake for church events:

Alice Grayson was to bake a cake for the Lutheran Church Ladies’ Group in St. Louis, but forgot to do it until the last minute.

She remembered it the morning of the bake sale and after rummaging through cabinets, found an angel food cake mix & quickly made it while drying her hair, dressing, and helping her son pack up for Scout camp. When she took the cake from the oven, the center had dropped flat and the cake was horribly disfigured and she exclaimed, “Oh dear, there is not time to bake another cake!”

This cake was important to Alice because she did so want to fit in at her new church, and in her new community of friends. So, being inventive, she looked around the house for something to build up the center of the cake.

She found it in the bathroom – a roll of toilet paper.

She plunked it in and then covered it with icing.

Not only did the finished product look beautiful, it looked perfect.

And, before she left the house to drop the cake by the church and head for work, Alice woke her daughter and gave her some money and specific instructions to be at the bake sale the moment it opened at 9:30 and to buy the cake and bring it home.

When the daughter arrived at the sale, she found the attractive, perfect cake had already been sold.

Amanda grabbed her cell phone & called her mom.

Alice was horrified – she was beside herself!

Everyone would know!

What would they think?

She would be ostracized, talked about, ridiculed!

All night, Alice lay awake in bed thinking about people pointing fingers at her and talking about her behind her back.