In Memory of Elizabeth

When my sister was 20 she gave birth to her first daugheter, Elizabeth Rae. Sister was homeless, had no money and had just married Beth's father. The two of them had nothing except their names, so they returned from the hospital to the home we grew up in with a baby in her arms and not a clue what to do.

In stepped my Mom and my Grandma Elliot - two very proud and first time grandmas/great grandmas. While they didn't "take over" the raising of Beth, they certainly played a significant role in keeping her fed, bathed, clothed, loved, and safe at night. I remember being fascinated with that tiny little girl as she slept and when she was awake. Still a teenager, as her uncle, I was somewhat embarrased by the circumstances at which she came into the world. But, I recognized the importance of giving her a good start and watched as mom and Grandma did their best to make that happen for the first 10 years of her life.

But, as it is in the world, not everyone contributes to the lives of the littlest ones around us. Once sister moved out of the family home, got divorced, remarried had a second child, got divorced, remarried, and had her third child, the potential for not only Beth, but her sisters too, were reduced faster than a Santa Barbara mudslide after a 10-inch rain. Mom moved from the hometown we grew up in. Grandma passed away. Sister and husband number three moved to Kansas and before Beth could live to be 25, her life ended on Nov. 29, 2006.

WIBW-TV Channel 13

Ice Related Accidents
Fatal & Injury Accident

Posted: 10:41 PM Nov 29, 2006
Reporter: Marla Carter

Icy weather may be to blame for an accident that killed a 24-year-old. Elizabeth Dominguez-Santo of Lawrence died when the car she was riding in hit a mini van. The Turnpike Authority says the car was headed westbound on the turnpike, when the driver lost control in a construction area. The driver slid sideways into an eastbound minivan. In all six people went to the hospital.

My favorite memory of Beth dates back to the "better days" when she was only four or five. Mom had just relocated, so we packed up to visit her for Thanksgiving and Beth went with us on the 1400-mile road trip. Still innocent and always wanting to win the love of those around her, she charmed us throughout the trip. We taught her how to spell Mississippi as we returned to Iowa, and she taught us how fun it was to have a child who was so obviously impressionable, eager to learn and willing to please.

It's that Beth that I choose to remember. The sweetheart of a girl with huge brown eyes and a big bright smile. The girl dancing in her Great Grandma's living room with curlers in her hair, excited because there were fresh cookies or a cake baking in the oven just for her. The girl in a beautiful flower girl's dress who walked down the aisle on my wedding day - the center of attention if only for a few minutes - perhaps the only time that she walked so proudly and had "all eyes" watching her.

Beth's life in recent years was nothing to be proud of, but she remained my niece. Her Great Grandma welcomed her with open arms yesterday, telling her, "It's time for a fresh start in a world where all has been forgiven."

I hope the two of them are dancing together.

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On a Cloud

Have you ever wondered where the clouds go? When a child asks his mom or dad, “Hey where are those clouds going up there?” how would you reply? Instead of an “I don’t know” response, you could always try something slightly more philosophical like: “Clouds have no destination. They just go. They’re not like us. They appear and disappear and just go where the wind takes them.”

Unlike the clouds, Moms, Dads and kids always have places to go and things to do. Karate class, piano lessons, friends, work, shopping…the list is endless. We live life with a purpose, even when we think we’re just relaxing. We eat, sleep, play, work and breathe because we can and we want to.

But what of a cloud’s life? If we were more like clouds, going in the direction the wind takes us and merging with other clouds when they cross our paths, forming into a thunderhead to rain down on the earth (a truly purpose-driven cloud), then breaking up and dissipating into nothingness, would it be such a bad life?

Like everything we come in contact with, clouds do enjoy a purpose and as far as inanimate objects go, they live a life with a great deal of meaning.

We can be jealous of the clouds from time to time. After all, they just go.

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Time to Jingle

So we all know the song "Jingle Bells," right? What Christmas carol sets the mood more appropriately than this one - AND it's perhaps the most well known thanks to all the artists who have recorded it over the years.

Click this link for a 22-song "Jingle Bell"-athon.


Artists featured include:
Arthur Godfrey (1953)
Artie Shaw (1943)
Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters (an out-take that must be heard in its entirety.)
Count BasieFerrante and Teicher (1962)
Gene Krupa Trio
Gisele MacKenzieGlenn Miller (from 1941 radio broadcast)
Glenn Miller (1941 studio recording)
Sammy Davis, Jr. (Reprise label version)
Morton Gould
Prissy Reed, Margie Singleton, The Jordanaires
Ray Price
Sammy Davis, Jr. (Again, with Columbia label version)
Sammy Kaye
United Choral Singers
Benny Goodman (1935)
Dinah Shore (1960)
Les Paul (1951)
Tony Harper (1950)
Les Paul, Mary Ford (Jungle Bells, from 1953. Awesome guitar feedback)
Santa and Johnny (Twistin' Bells, 1960)

Of all of these, the Glenn Miller version (in studio and radio-broadcast versions) is probably my favorite one.

Enjoy and start singing!

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Overexposed

Without a doubt, one of the most overexposed media celebrities in Minneapolis is Sid Hartman. Sid is an old-school sports columnist who, in addition to his columns in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, also manages to appear on just about every radio sports talk show in the city. Plus, he's recently written a book that he's hyping. Plus, he does guest spots on different Sports Wrap style TV segments on Sunday nights.

He's an old codger. He often mis-speaks and gets facts wrong. He's been known to forget he's doing live radio and will swear, prompting the radio host to "dump" his curse words. When he talks, spittle shoots out from behind his dentures. Sid really needs to retire.

Here's a surprise. When enjoying a quiet night at home, I'm known to walk through the kitchen, open the fridge door and swill directly from the milk carton. When I'm done glugging away, I'll let out a big "ahhhh." Sometimes I'll burp. I think I may need to get a hobby.

In three days, my kids and I will make the trek to Southern Illinois to enjoy Thanksgiving with my family. It's the first time they kids will be with me enjoying a holiday as children of divorced parents. I'm a little anxious about it. I know my son, who's 12, might be a bit melancholy in missing his mom on Thanksgiving. I believe, my 15-year-old daughter will internalize her feelings and try to make me feel good by putting on a happy face.

The good news is, we'll have 10 hours in the car to decompress from the Holiday, share stories, share dreams, and talk about Christmas (which they'll be spending with their Mom). Such is life after divorce. I just want them to know I love them.

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Death of a Legend

Legendary former University of Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler died on Friday after collapsing during the taping of a television talk show, officials said. His death at age 77 came on the eve of Saturday's highly anticipated football game between top-ranked Ohio State University and No. 2-rated Michigan.

Schembechler, who once coached at Ohio State under another legend, Woody Hayes, was the winningest coach in Michigan's history, running up a record of 194 wins, 48 losses and 5 ties during a career at the school that ran from 1969 to 1989 and never saw a losing season. He guided 17 teams to post-season bowl games, including 10 Rose Bowl appearances.

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My O.J.-Esque “If I Did Its”

After reading that FOX is going to air a special featuring O.J. Simpson aptly called, “If I Did It, Here’s How I Murdered (Oops I Mean WOULD Have Murdered) My Ex Wife,” I decided there are several of my own “if I did it” scenarios...

1) If I did it, I would have invented self-cleaning toilets. A gruesome job, even with a toilet brush and strong Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner (TBC), I’ve never mastered the task. Oh, I get the bowl clean, but there’s always a splash here or there – especially when dispensing the TBC.

2) If I did it, all U.S. marriage laws would enable spouses to “renew” their marriage license every five years, similar to how we renew our drivers licenses. There would be no penalty for not renewing the marriage license. Non-renewal would mean the marriage ended. No fuss, no muss and no emotional or financial hardships imposed.

3) If I did it, childhood obesity would become part of history because all gaming devices such as Playstations and Nintendo consoles would require participants to stand and move about. The latest Nintendo Wii enables users to jump and move freely with the wireless remote controller device. In my scenario, however, all games would have to include physical movement. Grand Theft Auto, for example, would require the user to walk and run to catch whomever they were chasing, and then actually swing their arms as if they were hammering their victim with a baseball bat.

4) If I did it, all homeless kids would have a bed under a roof with their moms or dads who receive special help in learning a trade while being compensated to cover basic expenses. School-age kids would get to go to school.

5) If I did it, the Iowa Hawkeyes would ALWAYS beat the Minnesota Gophers in all Big 10 sporting contests each year.

6) If I did it, cable/satellite TV, wired and cellular phones, Internet service, and satellite radio would all be bundled together with unlimited use for the low price of $40 per month. Face it, these companies are ripping us off with their installation packages and high monthly fees.

There. If I did these things, life would be soooo much better. I better get busy!

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Refusing To Get Thicker

ACK!

I’m thick around the middle and I don’t like it! Since, oh about last January, I’ve slowly been thickening from the thighs up through the waist. I can’t even think about putting on my favorite jeans and my body vibrates in places that it shouldn’t when crossing the railroad tracks. So what am I doing about it?

I’ve done all the usual things. Tried to curb my chocolate obsession. Tried to drink more water during the day. Tried to exercise more. Tried to buy only good foods at the grocery store. Tried to eat less take out/drive through foods. The list is endless! But my commitment has been suspect.

So…right here, right now…I type my blogging pledge to do all of the above with a penchant – now through the point where I can happily say I’m wearing my favorite jeans (and they’re comfortable to wear).

What a statement, eh? And so very public, too.

But as I sit here at my desk eating a yogurt at 3:35 in the afternoon vs. the chocolate tiramisu that sits in our office kitchen – remnants of a birthday celebration – I feel full of conviction and determination. Two items that I’m quite familiar with. Why should, at age 41, my weight cause me pause or even provide a fleeting thought that I might fail in obtaining the body fat level that I’m most happy with? It won’t and I will succeed at this. It is, after all, a simple matter of turning fat into muscle; slovenly behavior into an active fitness plan. Calories in, calories out. Easy!

I’ll report back on my progress, but as of today (and I’m guessing since I don’t own a scale) I weigh 195 pounds. In three months, or by January 15, I’ll weigh in at 180.

My jeans will love me for it!

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That Time of Year

I may be Norwegian, but because I was adopted I have no real history of my heritage. I was raised around a bunch of Germans on my Dad's side. My mom's grandparents both immigrated from Sweden. Even through my adoptive heritage, I'd never been exposed to Lutefisk until my 30s...and I've never let it pass my lips.

Then today, I read this article (http://www.startribune.com/456/story/796805.html) from the Minneapolis Star Tribune. I never cease to be amazed at the popularity around codfish soaked in lye.

Here's a short excerpt:

Harris has a prodigious constitution: In 2004, he visited 30 lutefisk
suppers, and last year, 24. Like Parker, Harris keeps meticulous notes of his tastings. (Admittedly, Harris doesn't go into as much detail as Parker does about the delicate bouquet and subtle flavor notes.)

But Harris modestly disclaims any comparison to Parker; he's a
lutefisk lover, not an expert, he said. "The basic secret is, you have to have it firm and flaky. If you boil it just a little bit too long, it's going to turn into Jell-O. And that's not good lutefisk."

The one big schism among churches is the doctrinal issue of sauce: The Swedish custom is cream sauce, while Norwegians favor melted butter. Harris has noticed a pattern: "The Swedish churches all have butter sauce for the Norwegians, but there are quite a few Norwegian churches that don't have cream sauce for the Swedes."

I continue to be curious, but not brave enough to attend a church supper featuring lutefisk on the menu. I think I'll stick to chili or some form of tuna casserole when I get the urge to eat in a church basement.

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Run for The Border!!!

Up in Grand Marais, Minnesota, – about 300 miles from civilization – there’s a border patrol station. It’s funded by the federal government. The handful of agents at this outpost on the border of Minnesota and Canada are responsible for hundreds of miles of border protection – ensuring that terrorists and drug smugglers of any nationality don’t find ways to sneak through the Boundary Waters into the U.S. and do our children or residents harm in any way.

So when a few rabble-rousing Grand Marais residents started throwing a hissy fit because the government wants to fund and add 40 officers to this patrol station, my frustration erupted big time!

Using the excuse the additional officers would mean more cars, more ATVs, more snowmobiles and, generally, more nuisance, to a pristine area of the United States, the anti-patrol people are attempting to rally support to oppose the new officers being placed in Grand Marais. They contend that the area is so quiet and beautiful that they’re basically willing to take the risk that terrorists and drug smugglers might cross the border in their region. At one point I thought most Minnesotans were relatively bright. But this opposition proves that assumption completely wrong.

If you look what President Bush just did along the U.S./Mexico border – signing a $1.5 billion bill to fund a 700-mile-long 20-foot-high barb wire fence to keep illegals out, do you think for an instant he’s going to consider that the Boundary Waters are too pretty to deploy a few more border patrol officers to the area who will defend our northern border against druggies and terrorist acts?

Grow up people. Recognize that we’re in the 21st Century. Recognize that certain factions in the world hate the U.S. so much that they’d do anything, even enter Canada and cross into Minnesota, to unleash a terrorist act on the country. Recognize that drug smugglers hoping to make it rich selling crack and meth and pot will abuse the lack of patrolling of that border until someone waves a gun in their toothless face and says stop.

The U.S. has millions of acres of pristine beauty. Protecting a few hundred miles of open border from harm makes perfect sense.

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John Kerry Can't Tell A Joke; Bush Is One

I'm a terrible joke teller. First, I can never remember the specifics of a decent joke to really convey it the way it's meant to be told. I end up half way through saying, "This part was really really funny. You'd love it....(getting frustrated). DAMN! If I could just remember how it went!

So I admire John Kerry, Massachusetts senator and former presidential candidate, for attempting to make light of the debacle the current administration has put the U.S. in in Iraq. When Kerry said, "get educated or wind up in Iraq" he had obviously left out a few words from the remarks his speechwriter provided. The real sentence was probably something like, "get educated, get a degree or you'll end up behaving like George W. -- sending our troops to Iraq with no plan to bring them home and wondering why we're still there long after Saddam has been caught."

Actually, Kerry's botched "joke" attempt is probably more funny than the speechwriter's pithy language. But, in typical political fashion, the Republicans have to place their stranglehold of wrath on Kerry's neck for bumbling his remarks.

It's not like George W. has never uttered something silly. Strategery? I always loved that one. And what about:

"One of the things I've used on the Google is to pull up maps. It's very interesting to see -- I've forgot the name of the program -- but you get the satellite, and you can -- like, I kinda like to look at the ranch. It remind me of where I wanna be sometimes."

and

"You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror."

and

"I said I was looking for a book to read, Laura said you ought to try Camus. I also read three Shakespeares. ... I've got a eck-a-lec-tic reading list."

and

"I would guess, I would surmise that some of the more spectacular bombings are done by al Qaeda suiciders."

and

"We shouldn't fear a world that is more interacted."

and

"I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a 7.5 pound largemouth bass in my lake." --George W. Bush, on his best moment in office, interview with the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, May 7, 2006

and, finally...

"I think -- tide turning -- see, as I remember -- I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of -- it's easy to see a tide turn -- did I say those words?"--George W. Bush, asked if the tide was turning in Iraq, Washington, D.C., June 14, 2006

So kudos go to Kerry - for not only botching the joke in the first place (which I can relate to) but for sticking to his guns and refusing to apologize to the Republican political machine.

Bush said Kerry owes our troops an apology (yes he actually uttered those very words). Now that's the REAL joke when recognizing the mouth the words came from!

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