Archive for December, 2006:
Interesting
Hat tip to Fr. Joe! - I love this kind of stuff!
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In the 1400’s a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have “the rule of thumb”.
Many years ago in Scotland , a new game was invented. It was ruled “Gentlemen Only…Ladies Forbidden”…and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.
The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV was Fred and Wilma Flintstone.
Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the U.S. Treasury.
Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.
Coca-Cola was originally green.
It is impossible to lick your elbow.
The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska.
The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% (now get this…)
The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%
The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $6,400
The average number of people airborne over the U.S. in any given hour: 61,000
Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.
The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.
Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:
Spades - King David
Hearts - Charlemagne
Clubs -Alexander, the Great
Diamonds - Julius Caesar
111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air!, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn’t added until 5 years later.
Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?
A. Their birthplace.
Q Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested?
A. Obsession.
Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter “A”?
A. One thousand.
Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laserprinters all have in common?
A. All were invented by women.
Q. What is the only food that doesn’t spoil?
A. Honey.
Q. Which day are there more collect calls than any other day of the year?
A. Father’s Day.
In Shakespeare’s time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase… “Goodnight, sleep tight.”
It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride’s father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.
In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts…! So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them, “Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down.”
It’s where we get the phrase “mind your P’s and Q’s”.
Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. “Wet your
whistle” is the phrase inspired by this practice.
AND FINALLY…
At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow!
Don’t delete this just because it looks weird.
Believe ! it or not, you can read it. I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?
Subscribe to the comments for this postWords of wisdom
From my friend Elaine:
This morning I was reminded of something I know we all already know. I saw an article on yahoo stating that the world’s oldest person had died. What made me think was the list of nearly 560+ decendents she accumulated in roughly 100 years. We will all have 560 decendents by 2106, even if we don’t know them. It was a nice reminder for me to remember why it is so important to do our job well. We ARE changing the world, through birth or adoption, while we are sweeping the floor, changing diapers, making sure that that one particular child who doesn’t really want to do their schoolwork does it anyway, reading great literature with our children, etc. We know there is no guarantee that our 560+ decendents will be practicing our faith in 2106, but I am going to do my part to not prevent it. Kind of cliche…but the future is in our hands and that is so much more powerful than so much that this world has to “offer”.
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Today we celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe - Patroness of the Americas and Patroness of the Unborn.
The story of Our Lady’s image is truly miraculous. If you don’t know the story you can read about it here.
Daddy read the story of The Lady of Guadalupe to the whole family this evening.
Listening to the story I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for so beautiful a mother who loves us so deeply.
In our house we also celebrated the birthday of our sweet and precious Margaret Mary who turned 7 years old today.
As we have just welcomed our newest daughter Maria - on the feast of Saint Juan Diego no less - things were quite low key this year with a simple cake and family gathering after Grammie and Pop Pop took Maggie out to dinner at Friendly’s.
We have promised that Maggie will have a party next year and Alice over at Cottage Blessings has given us some great ideas we plan to use for a birthday tea party, while Kim at Starry Sky Ranch linked to these exquisite paper flower bouquets that will be the perfect finishing touch.
Cute things said by Peter (age 5) in the last 2 days.
I don’t want to forget these so I’m writing them down and posting them here.
At the hospital when meeting his baby sister:
“Do we get to take her home and keep her??”
“Is she always just going to do nothing?”
and this afternoon:
“She’s still sleeping? OK I’m going upstairs to play - let me know if she wakes up!”
For Unto Us a Child is Born. . .
Maria Faustina Immaculata Quigley
was born Saturday Dec. 9th 2006 at 6:12 a.m.
weighing 8 pounds and measuring 20 1/2 in. long
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Share our joy!
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Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, “full of grace” through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:
The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.
The “splendor of an entirely unique holiness” by which Mary is “enriched from the first instant of her conception” comes wholly from Christ: she is “redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son”. The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person “in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” and chose her “in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love”.
Catechism of the Catholic Church # 490-492
