HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISTEN...

I hope you have a GREAT day!!

2008 Summer Olympics...

I love watching the Summer Olympics. Swimming and gymnastics are my favorite sports to watch. I will watch diving AND if I can catch it I love to watch synchronized swimming. Unfortunately synchronized swimming is on at 2am...so I don't think I'm going to catch it this Olympics.

I try not to miss gymnastics if I can help it...I actually look at the broadcast schedule make sure I get to see it. Sunday night a 33 year-old German woman competed in gymnastics. She is the oldest competitive gymnast EVER. This Olympics is her 5th. She will compete for a individual medal in vault. How cool is that?!?! Some of her team members weren't even born when she first started competing.

The closing ceremonies are August 24! You still have time to catch some of the Olympics!

Cold Snap...

The weather here has been amazing the last two days. Yesterday the high was in the low 80s. Right now it is 79 degrees. I have my sliding glass door and windows opening letting my apartment "air out". I know it is only a matter of time before it is hot again but I'm enjoying today.

What?!?!?!?...

When would this EVER be a good idea?

MARATHON, Fla. (AP) - Authorities say a grandmother was arrested for driving around the parking lot of a Marathon grocery store with her 3-year-old child sitting on the roof of the car. Monroe County Sheriff's Office deputies were called to the Publix store Tuesday and arrested a 54-year-old woman after she was driving around with her three-year-old granddaughter on the roof of her car.

The grandmother was released from jail 15 hours later. The woman said Thursday she would never let anything hurt her granddaughter. She says she was driving at "snail-speed" and holding the child's leg. Authorities say the woman told police she was giving the child some air and letting her have fun. She faces charges of child abuse. The child is back with her mother.

I Couldn't Believe It...

I was at church last night. The church I'm attending has a Saturday night service. This lady's cell phone started ringing...I know sometimes that happens you forget to turn off your phone. What happened next is what I couldn't believe...SHE ANSWERED THE PHONE. Then had a conversation. She was so loud. She was behind me and people were turning around staring. Who does that?!?!?!?!

Professed Blog Stalker...

I stalk blogs. I love it. I do it. There I have admitted it. I know other people do it whether they are willing to admit it or not (not pointing fingers just making a point).

I will start on a blog of a person that I know, then I will pick a blog they have linked and so on and so on. If I really like the blog...I save it in my favorites...I don't know what I would do if something happened to my laptop...maybe I should save my list of stalked blogs. I do back-up my blog just in case something unforeseen were to happen while I'm planing around with my backgrounds...anyway that's another subject.

Well I have found this blog...don't ask me how...that I love. They are missionaries in Haiti. Many things I like about that blog here are a couple. 1. They update regularly...signs of a good blogger (again not pointing fingers). 2. They have adopted. I love to read about their kids and the experiences. Check out the blog...The Livesays. Plus I have them linked.

Restaurant Report...

I'm most excited that Chick-fil-A got an A!!!

By David Zinczenko, with Matt Goulding

America's Best - and Worst! - Restaurants

Eating out invariably raises a number of tricky questions: sit-down or drive-thru? Burgers or pizza? Thin or stuffed crust? And if you're dining with your family, add the biggest question of all: Will the food we eat today bring a fatter tomorrow for our kids? And fewer tomorrows for the rest of us? So the choice between McDonald’s and Burger King shouldn’t be based solely on whether you're more terrified by the scary clown Ronald McDonald or that creepy masked Burger King. Choosing one over the other could be the difference of hundreds of calories in a meal, more than 10 unnecessary pounds over the course of a year, and countless health woes over the course of a lifetime. During more than a year of research, my coauthor and I discovered vast dietary discrepancies between many of the places Americans love to eat most. So to help you separate the commendable from the deplorable, we put 43 major chain restaurants under the nutritional microscope — both for your benefit, and that of your family. How did we judge the restaurants? We started by calculating the average number of calories per kid entrée, then rewarded restaurants for having healthy adult options that would appeal to the young palette, and for providing healthy vegetable sides and non-soda drink options. Finally, we docked points for those restaurants still harboring nasty trans fats. The result is a Restaurant Report Card that holds each eating establishment fully accountable for the fare they’re serving up to all of us — moms, dads, kids, teens, and twentysomethings — along with a survival strategy for making it through any meal unscathed. Did your favorite restaurant make the grade?

A

Chick-fil-A excels in every category we tested for. With a slew of low-calorie sandwiches, the country’s “healthiest” chicken nugget, a variety of solid sides like fresh fruit and soup that can be substituted into any meal, and nutritional brochures readily available for perusing at each location, Chick-fil-A earns the award for America’s Healthiest Chain Restaurant (for kids, for the adults who drive them there, plus anybody else wise enough to make it their fast food choice). Your Survival Strategy: Even the smartest kid in the class can still fail a test, so be on your toes at all times, even at Chik-fil-A. Skip salads with ranch or Caesar dressings, any sandwich with bacon, and avoid milkshakes at all costs.

A-

Subway A menu based on lean protein and vegetables is always going to score well in our book. With more than half a dozen sandwiches under 300 calories, plus a slew of soups and healthy sides to boot, Subway can satisfy even the pickiest eater without breaking the caloric bank.
But, despite what Jared may want you to believe, Subway is not nutritionally infallible: Those rosy calorie counts posted on the menu boards include neither cheese nor mayo (add 160 calories per 6-inch sub) and some of the toasted subs, like the Meatball Marinara, contain hefty doses of calories, saturated fat, and sodium.Your Survival Strategy: Cornell researchers have discovered a “health halo” at Subway, which refers to the tendency to reward yourself or your kid with chips, cookies, and large soft drinks because the entrée is healthy. Avoid the halo, and all will be well.

B

McDonald’s Though not blessed with an abundance of healthy options, Mickey D’s isn’t burdened with any major calorie bombs, either. Kid standards like McNuggets and cheeseburgers are both in the acceptable 300-calorie range. Your Survival Strategy: Apple Dippers and 2% milk with a small entrée makes for a pretty decent meal-on-the-go. McDonald’s quintessential Happy Meal® makes this possible — just beware the usual French fries and soda pitfalls. Adults should go for a Quarter Pounder without cheese.

C+

Domino’s suffers the same pitfalls of any other pizza purveyor: too much cheese, bread, and greasy toppings. If you don’t order carefully, you might bag your child a pizza with more than 350 calories per slice. To its credit, Domino’s does keep the trans fat off the pizza, and it also offers the lowest-calorie thin crust option out there.Your Survival Strategy: Stick with the Crunchy Thin Crust pizzas sans sausage and pepperoni. If your must order meat, make sure it's ham. And whenever possible, try to sneak on a vegetable or two per pie.

C

Burger King BK has only four legitimate kids’ entrées on the menu, and none of them — French Toast Sticks, hamburger, mac and cheese, chicken tenders — are particularly healthy. And while the recent addition of Apple Fries provides a much-needed healthy side alternative for kids, the menu is still sullied with trans fats.
BK pledged to follow in the wake of nearly every other chain restaurant and remove trans fats from the menu by the end of 2008, but so far, we’ve seen little action. Your Survival Strategy: Adults can sign on for the Whopper Junior and a Garden Salad, and escape with only 365 calories. The best kids’ meal? A 4-piece Chicken Tenders®, applesauce or Apple Fries, and water or milk. Beyond that, there is little hope of escaping unscathed.

F

Applebee’s, IHOP, Olive Garden, Outback, Red Lobster, T.G.I. Friday’s These titans of the restaurant industry are among the last national chains to not provide nutritional information on their dishes. Even after years of communication with their representatives, we still here the same old excuses: it’s too pricey, it’s too time-consuming, it’s impossible to do accurately because their food is so fresh. Our response is simple: If every other chain restaurant in the country can do it, then why can’t they?