Michael Jackson’s family is now trying to convince us all that he was murdered! Really?! I don’t understand what they have to gain by that, unless there is a claus in his insurance policies that will deny benefits if it’s proven he died from an overdose of drugs. But even if that were true, the drugs were, supposedly, legally obtained.

I grew up with MJ’s music and liked most of it. I thought he was a bit of a freak in his later years. Even if the whole thing about the glove was to hide the beginnings of vitiligo (skin disorder where the melanin pigment cells are destroyed) and the total bleaching was to hide the later effects of the same disorder, there doesn’t seem to be any explainations of all the plastic surgeries or the really odd behavior. When he was accused of being a child molester, he would have probably had a lot more support from fans if he hadn’t become so weird over the years. He did give a lot of money to charity, so that was good.

It is sad that he felt the need for all those drugs to make him feel normal. You might think that fame, fortune and the love of 3 beautiful children would be enough. You might also think that those lovely and innocent kids, who loved thier father (?) unconditionally would be a great incentive to get his life together. But I shouldn’t judge. I haven’t walked in his shoes. I don’t know what all he was going through.

Still, having his family call his death murder just continues the whole freak circus atmosphere of his death. You would hope that in death, he could have just been remembered for the good he did for the music industry and not all that craziness. But no…..not gonna happen.

I guess there is a bright side to it all….at least with the family accepting that he is, indeed, dead, there won’t be any of the nonsense that Elvis fans continue with even today….”He’s alive! I saw him at the corner store just yesterday!”

My only child moved away about 10 years ago and, while I have young nieces and nephews, I really don’t spend that much time with them. I had forgotten how they can be.

This past week, my 16 year old niece, Bekka, has been staying with me to help out because I had carpal tunnel release surgery.

First of all, it’s absolutely amazing how much she knows. I mean, really, like, she knows EVERYTHING. She must, because every time I try to tell her or show her how to do something, she’s saying “I know” before I can even finish my sentence.

But the funniest thing happened yesterday. We went to the grocery store and she wanted to buy a coconut. Amazingly, she didn’t know how to open it, but, of course, she wasn’t about to ask, either. When I finally realized she was getting seriously frustrated, I went online and got the instructions.

The first thing you have to do is put holes in it at certain points. I suggested she use an ice pick. “A what?” she said. She had never heard the term or seen the tool. Same thing with her 19 year old brother.

I actually have an old fasioned dial telephone. The first time I showed it to them, they could not figure out how it was used.

These things really make me feel little old, but at the same time, it’s nice to still know a few things that they don’t.

If I had the talent of http:/www.xanga.com/Melfamy, I probably could have written something this funny. But I don’t, so I didn’t, but I thought it was funny enough to post…

This should clear up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

Q.  I’ve heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life; is this true?

A:  Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that’s it…don’t waste them on exercise.
Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live
longer; that’s like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live
longer? Take a nap.

Q:  Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?

A:  You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are
these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a
pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.

Q:  Should I reduce my alcohol intake?

A:  No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine, that means they take the water out of the
fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!

Q:  How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?

A:  Well, if  you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one.
If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.

Q:  What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?

A:  Can’t think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain…Good!

Q:  Aren’t fried foods bad for you?

A:  YOU’RE NOT LISTENING!!! …. Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they’re
permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?

A:  Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing
sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.  

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?

A: Are you crazy? HELLO Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It’s the best feel-good food around! 

Q:  Is swimming good for your figure?

A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.

Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?

A: Hey! ‘Round’ is a shape!    

I just posted this File of Facts widget for 250 credits. You can earn free credits too!

I was born and raised in NW Florida and have never left. My siblings have all moved away, and all moved a little further north. One even moved to northern California! Brrr! She has since moved back, but even then, she moved to the northernmost part of the county. Where we live is considered coastal and our temps generally remain about 10 degrees warmer than hers.

The temperature here in the winter can range from 30 to 70….in the same week. Love those 70′s, but not so much the 30′s. I know it’s been this way all my life, but this is the first year that I’ve had 2 little monster puppies that insist on having a walk every morning. This morning it was 37! And with the wind blowing from the north, brrrr!

I’m sure the people in places like International Falls, Mn where it seems they are usually in the minus category, would consider me a major whimp. That’s ok with me. I just don’t think I was built for cold weather. Some people really like it, but I don’t even like being cold when I get out of the shower. The only exception is during periods of hormonal hot flashes, but that’s a whole different subject.

So now I’ve decided that we should move south for the winter next year. We can rent our house to one of the many ‘snowbirds’ that migrate down here every year and we’ll go live on the beach in Key West. It sounds good to me!

Honey, if you call, I’m out spending my paycheck on lottery tickets!!

When I was younger, the only time I recall hearing the phrase “BREAKING NEWS” was for something really major. The president has just been shot or the Challanger has blown up, war has broken out somewhere….something really important for us, as a nation, to know about.

We’ve been watching a cable news channels this week and I have noticed that they use that phrase every time they want to announce something. They don’t seem to know the difference between Breaking News, Breaking Gossip and just plain News.

So, News People, listen up!!!!

BREAKING NEWS: Blagojevich gets caught trying to sell senate seat.

JUST PLAIN NEWS: Blagojevich has been under surveilence for years.

BREAKING NEWS:  John Travolta’s son dies.

BREAKING GOSSIP:  The Travolta family takes son’s remains back to Florida

BREAKING NEWS:  Obama elected president

BREAKING GOSSIP: Obama’s children attend first day of school.

BREAKING NEWS: Roland Burris appointed to senate seat by Blagojevich

JUST PLAIN NEWS: Roland Burris shows up to take his senate seat

If there isn’t a clear difference between these types of news, how in the world are we supposd to know when they are important enough to pay attention to?

 We have early voting for 2 weeks before the actual election day, so I took advantage of that and went to vote today. Right before I got to the voting site, my 15 year old niece called me to say she had missed her bus and asked if I could pick her up at school. It just so happens that the Supervisor of Elections office, where I was going to vote, is a block from her school. So I picked her up and invited her to go in with me. I wish I could say she was awed by the experience and couldn’t wait to be able to vote for herself, but I think she was rather bored with the whole thing. Oh well….I tried.

I had to download the picture of the sticker…..it was decided after the primary election that they would not be passing out the stickers here anymore. I think there were complaints about the guy sticking them on people’s clothing as they left the polls. He always handed mine to me, but that must not have been the case for everyone.  I didn’t always wear the stickers, but it’s kind of a shame to see the end of something that’s been a tradition for years.

Anyway, if anyone reads this, GO VOTE!!!!

Today is your birthday….I hope it’s a great one!

You are the best husband and friend in the world and deserve all the best!

I love you, honey!!!!

www.Howmanyofme.com is a neat website someone sent me. You put in your first and last name and it tells you how many people in the US have the same name as you.

There are 159 other people with the name of Catherine Cobb in the US. Only 59 if I put the nickname Cathy instead.  Incidently, I’m related to 2 of them. At a party for Greg’s aunt a few years ago I met the other 2. I think they are both cousins of his.

I also had to change doctors once because of another patient named Catherine Cobb….they kept mixing up our records.

I checked on Catherine Johnson, which was my maiden name. There are 4,609 of those. Or for Cathy Johnson, there are 1,693. In my senior year of high school, there were 3 of us. (Maybe 3 should be my lucky number?) We all 3 tried to take stenography at the same time. The teacher thought we were playing a joke on her when she called roll. 2 of us ended up dropping the class.

A few years ago I needed a copy of my diploma, so I called the school. First they told me that I had not graduated. Nope, that was one of the other ones (and that one ended up marrying one of my old boyfriends!). Then to eliminate the other one we had to go to what the permanent mailing address was.

I checked Greg’s name….only 149 if you check Gregory, or 44 if you go with the nickname.  There is at least one of them here in town. A while back there was an article in the paper about a Greg Cobb that got arrested for robbing a laundromat. I was working for one of the phone companies at that time and one of my friends called to tell me that another person there had decided that my husband was the one that did it because she didn’t think there was anyone else with the same name! If only I’d had this information back then!

BTW…..I looked up my daughter’s name. She’s one of a kind! But I already knew that.  

Rocky… a harmless kitty….unless you are a slow mouse.

The curious puppies, Prissy (the girl) and Shadow (our Alpha wanna be).  They’re now almost 5 months old.

Prissy, looking pretty

Her fur is going through sort of an ugly stage right now.

Shadow playing tug-of-war

Rocky slapping at Shadow because he just can’t stop pestering the poor cat. Too bad Rocky is de-clawed!

The real Alpha dog….15 year old Harpo. He puts up with a lot from the puppies. I think he secretly likes them!