Wrong Number...Honest!

I have a 1-800 number for my business and when someone leaves a message on that line, I get both an email and a cell phone notification.
Today I received a wrong number from an elderly woman (Sylvia) wanting to order 3 pounds of organic coffee. She left all her personal information (well...I exaggerate..I do NOT have her dress size), including her credit card # and expiration date and 3 digit code on the back of her Mastercard.
Obviously, I felt compelled to call her back to notify her that I did not sell coffee, organic or otherwise. The phone was answered by Sylvia's older sister, Edna. When I tried to explain that Sylvia had dialed the wrong number, Edna repeated everything I said to her sister, without letting me talk with her directly. So, I was literally "tied up" with the "coffee sisters" for five minutes while Sylvia told Edna that the number she called was the number on the can. I told Edna, who repeated to Sylvia, that maybe she should have dialed a 1-888 or 1-877 or 1-866 # instead of a 1-800 # but Sylvia, through Edna, said again, that she dialed the number on the can. She must have said it 7 times! (for once, I am NOT exaggerating)

After hearing what brand, what amount and how much she liked this particular coffee a few more times, I told Edna that I would be happy to sell Sylvia some coffee but it would be from our local Kroger's grocery store and it may not be organic ~ NOR the brand she wanted.
Edna relayed that message to Sylvia and Sylvia started reading the brand of the coffee off the label on her can and of course, Edna dittoed everything said.

I finally told Edna that she would have to call back tomorrow because we were out of her coffee today.
Click.

Now I'm kinda interested in trying this coffee....and I don't even DRINK coffee!

Cousins

Wouldn't it be nice if EVERYONE were blessed with the cousin who was a best pal?
Older Connor and younger Griffin have been buddies for 7 years.
May this friendship continue another 80+ years!

The Joy of Childhood

Question here...has anyone seen any cuter kids between the ages of 1 and 3?
Cooper and Parker Murphy...hopefully siblings and friends forever.

Oh, dear... I hope these kids don't hold a grudge in 2028 because I posted this in 2008.

Shoo, Flu, Don't Bother Me!

I REFUSE to get the intestinal super-bug that everyone I know except my mail carrier, has entertained.

I may just head out for Florida if only the weather would cooperate in stopping the icing on the cake long enough to drive over the mountains!

Super Hero Phone Needed Please

HELP! Save me!
I am without a phone!
"Good gabbing, Batman, how will she survive?"
"Tell her to take deep breaths, Robin! But..I'm curious..how in the cell did is she without a phone?"
"She dropped it in the...wait..no, that was the last time she ruined her cell phone. This time she washed it with her clothes."

OK...I have to admit that I'm just a bit panicky and sure WANT to call on some superhero to get me out of this jam. I rely on my cell phone almost as much as toilet paper. I don't have a "land line" in my name anymore (I know some young whipper-snappers are wondering what a "land line" is!).
What makes this predicament even more annoying is that the city has shut down due to a little nuisance called ICE on the roads. I'm wondering if there isn't SOME cell phone distributor who would brave the elements to come deliver a device to me. But...how would I call them to inquire?

Wait just a darn minute here. I've got to put my thinking hat on.
There.
That's better.
Here I am baby-sitting a 4 month old baby! I'll just use hers!
Super baby to the rescue!

The Facts Are In

The average person has over 1,460 dreams a year.

The longest one-syllable words in the English language are "strengths" and "screeched".

The telescope on Mount Palomar, California, can see a distance of 7,038,835,200,000,000 million miles.

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

I, obviously, need to go get me some of them minerals and shampoo my hair in them.

A Little Cheating?

Plagiarism...funny spelling, eh? I had to look it up in a dictionary. Whoops..does that mean that I plagiarized because I took that word DIRECTLY from a book?

I'm kinda confused about the recent rukus about O'Bama (anyone with an "O" before his name must be Irish) using a couple of lines from a speech made by a fellow Democrat a couple of years ago. He didn't read an entire chapter of a book...just a couple of lines.

Are there any real original phrases, statements or even thoughts?

I wrote a silly little book for my great-nephew, Griffin a while back. I slapped a title on it and had a few printed and forgot about it. The title was "I Can Do Anything" and was about learning to tie shoes. I never marketed the book and had no intention of it being an even "not-so-best" seller.

A couple of weeks ago, I received a letter from an attorney in California insisting I "cease and desist" selling any of the aforementioned book and that I needed to retrieve any of those that were in bookstores and destroy them "or else"! Apparently their client had spent $200 to trademark the phrase, "I Can Do Anything" and they had published a little kids book and put the phrase on a half dozen t-shirts...in California. I looked on Amazon.com and saw that two other books had the same title, one that had just been release last month. (Boy, are THEY in trouble!)
What was interesting was that they obviously didn't think I was much competition because they offered to "sell me the rights" to use the title for a "reasonable sum".

Wow...Now I'm wondering if I can even SAY the phrase again without being accused of being a "Cheater McCheat"...

Oh, well..I guess I can do ALMOST anything.

Restoring Factory Settings

I'm not sure there is a better teacher than a small child.
Researchers have found that children ages 2-4 were tested and the results showed that 95% of them had a very high creative and imagination score. The same children were tested around the age of 7 and the results had flipped. In those few years something happened that resulted in only 5% of these little ones registering high in these same categories.

Why did this happen?

Here these kids were given great hardware AND software from the Big Manufacturer in the sky. Yet, they get viruses and intruders who wreck their original factory settings of being positive, creative, loving beings.

If life beats us down to this degree at a young age, what is happening to us as we grow up and try to deal with even more "infiltrators" to our internal computer?
Maybe we should just reboot, retool and re-look at what is influencing our original factory settings.

Let's learn from the wee ones.
They still love, hug and show their emotions.
They are positive and think they can do anything.
They find ways to be happy with just two empty boxes because their creative software is still in tact.
You don't see kids at age two telling others what is wrong with them or being critical.

I know I need to look at my personal computer settings and stay on top of keeping my internal software in good order.

What? Do you hear a noise? It's a beeping on my laptop.

Whoops...my computer battery is low so I have to sto

Little King For a Day

Cooper...a Valentine overnight guest who stole our hearts...as usual.

Keep in Mind, My Valentine...

Happy Valentine's Day!
A day to remember whom we love.
A day to send cards, gifts, flowers and candy.
A day florist and retailers enjoy.
A day to say "I love you" to someone who may not be so easy to love.
A day to call someone who is alone and ignored, who maybe won't get a valentine.
A day to celebrate love and being loved...

And then tomorrow we can go back to our normal lives of liking, not loving?

Roll Out Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer

After yesterday's snow/ice storm I've talked with people who say, "I can't wait for the warmth of summer!" Yep. I'm "down with that" (I think that means "I agree")
When I think of summer, I think of sitting by the pool, absorbing the sunshine and then taking a float (not swim) in the water.
"I just need to relax"..."I need to chill"..aren't those phrases that spill out of the mouths of almost anyone at any day?
People (Sean) kid me about taking a lot of trips. Hellooooooo! I need "a break", Mister! (that word is very close to "minister", isn't it?)

Of course most of us have the lazy gene...more commonly called, "a remote" or a "button". Think of all the chores around the house that we used to have to manually complete..turn on the TV - remote, cook food - push button on the microwave or set the timer on the oven or use the crock pot. Laundry and dishes are washed by pushing a button. I can start my car with a remote! I can have a piano that plays FOR me!
I can push buttons to write and send communication..no more smoke signals for me.

And with all this instant gratification, comes the need to cure our ailments with a quick fix - PILL. Most ailments are stressed induced. Most experts in handling stress tell us to EXERCISE. High blood pressure, high cholesterol and bone loss can be helped by EXERCISE and a controlled DIET.

ABC had a news story about a 69 yr. old woman who was having such bad memory problems, her daughter started to look at whether her Mom needed Alzheimers care. In trying to figure out what cause this, the woman took herself off of Lipitor, a drug used to help with high cholesterol. Within 8 days, she was back to normal. She said, "I didn't want to be the person in the nursing home with the lowest cholesterol." She is regulating it now with diet and exercise. It turns out the Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company who sells this drug did know that about 2% of patients have some kind of memory problem. (we all know the jokes about how the side effects can go on and on for most drugs yet we gotta have 'em!)
I'm wondering if even 2% of people get a benefit from this medication...but that's just MY skepticism of most Rx pushers.

Snow/Ice Day

SNOW, ICE FREEZING RAIN, SLEET, SLUSH, SNOW, ICE, MORE FREEZING RAIN...THAT'S TODAY



And THIS is what a parent will need today...because kids have a day off from school!

A Penny For Your Thoughts

I heard a news story that the penny is costing our government almost 2 cents to mint. So, is a penny really just worth 1 cent?

Is it insulting to use the phrase, "A penny for your thoughts"? Maybe the person asking the question was hoping their pensive pal wouldn't really tell them their entire thought process so it would only be worth a penny.
Maybe we should say, "$5.65 for your thought if you succinctly communicate it in 30 seconds or less".

(Note...the first notation of the phrase, "A penny for your thoughts" was seen in a book written by John Heywood book in 1546.
1 penny invested in a bank in 1546 until 2007 at 5% interest? $43 million dollars!)

I don't know why we have to mint as many new coins to re-circulate as they do. It is a HUGE budget that costs a lot of this freshly minted money. I wonder if they could just not mint the money that it costs to pay the bill of printing the money and say it was an even exchange?

This makes me feel guilty that I have a change jar ~ or that every kid in America has a piggy bank. (with inflation, wouldn't it be more appropriate to have an elephant bank?)
Now I'm thinking here...I've never known any bank or merchant to not have the change needed for my transaction.

I remember when my nephew, Griffin was just 3 or 4 yrs old, he swallowed a quarter. When I was talking with him last week, the now mature 7 yr old remembered the incident in detail. When I asked him if he recalled why he swallowed a quarter, he thought a second and explained, "It was worth more than a penny!"
and, he continued pensively, "I thought the "change" would do me good...just to "coin" a phrase"

Everyone has to be a comedian.

MY Happy Day

This week was my birthday. For some unknown reason, while most people enjoy a birthDAY, mine escalated to a marathon celebration. (for once it wasn't MY idea too!)
I had a surprise luncheon, three dinners and cake made by a 1 and 2 yr. old with supervision by their Mom, niece Annie.

I received beautiful flowers, a new TV, a Photoshop software program, a memory bracelet from my niece and nephew that I doubt I will ever take off, emails, calls and cards from everyone but the Pope (and I'm sure his best wishes are on the way but with his budget, it probably is coming by way of boat). I had nice things said about me in blogs and loving sentiments expressed in many ways. Oh, yeah, and there was some "enthusiastic"(?) singing of "Happy Birthday Cha-cha-cha" and it reminded me that NO Murphy or relation to a Murphy should audition for American Idol.

Wow...I was so so overwhelmed with the attention that I was SURE that someone had a Doctor's report about me that I was not aware of!

At the end of last night's festivities, I told my 7 yr. old great nephew, Griffin, that I would see him tomorrow (for our weekly Thursday after-school 3 hour date).
He paused, looked at me and with a broad smile said, "Oh, is tomorrow my happy day?"
I said, "well, it's Thursday and I get to see you on Thursdays."
He nodded and said casually, "Yep, I call that day my "happy day"...

No, I call that MY "HAPPY DAY"...and a great ending to a magical week. I am blessed.

Finally, John Edwards Endorsement

Finesse exclusive silk and soy protein formulas that smooth and improve the cuticle, strengthening every strand to leave hair more soft and naturally shiny. For hair that's irristibly alluring to the eye and beautiful to the touch.

Lots of Ads ~ Oh, and by the way, a SUPER, Suprbowl Game

Yes, it was Ad Heaven...something for everyone. An ad during the this year's Superbowl only sets a company back $90,000....per SECOND. $2.7 millin dollars for this commercial to be played ONE TIME!
I think I watched 30 of the 32 ads that were run and enjoyed 4 of them. The other 26 must have been written by people who were advertising drugs...and not the pharmaceutical kind.
Yeah, I really want to see Shaq on a racehorse...it COULD have been funny, I guess...
and Carmen Electra ~ doing what?

The hype of this event's advertisements has people going to the restroom on first down instead of at a commercial. People are yelling at the host of the party to come back from the kitchen because "the commercials are on!"

I wonder if the vitamin water will get any revenues, not to mention enough to cover their costs.

I didn't know the Writers Strike affected advertisers but that's the only excuse that I can think of!
Thank heavens Joe tells us that the strike might be over soon. Bet on it!

Maybe Some Wagering Going on? BET on it!

I'll take the Giants and 13 points..
OK...so Las Vegas will allow betting on almost anything that you can imagine. I just read that one can place $$ on whether the first touchdown in the Superbowl will be made by someone wearing a jersey with the number above 44.
You can also waste your money gambling on how long Jordin Sparks (of American Idol not-so-fame) will take to sing the National Anthem.
Point spread for the game = Patriots by 12.5
I'll take the Giants.

(I heard that Ton Brady was dancing too long on the ole ankle last night)