Brad Pitt Honored

Brad Pitt was honored on Thursday for his work rebuilding New Orleans. He received the honor from the U.S. Green Building Council for the foundation he founded called "Make it Right, New Orleans." The Make it Right foundation has unveiled 14 eco-friendly and economical designs for duplexes in July and it built 13 homes so far with 150 in process. The average utility bill is only 13-dollars a month - could you imagine that?

Still on the Market

The housing market has been slow and that includes Walt Disney's birthplace in Chicago. The home has been on the market for a year and is listed at 199-thousand dollars. It was built by Walt Disney's father and Walt only lived there for 5 years before moving to Missouri.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Unbelievable, I'm so excited - Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs has been a book in my house since I was in elementary school and now it is on the big screen! I love this book and even read it to my daughter's class last year as a guest reader. I usually don't go to movies much, but I may need to make an exception and go check out Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs featuring the voices of Bill Hader, Neil Patrick Harris, James Caan and Andy Samberg. Oh, yes I will take my daughter with too.
You know they do usually say that the book is always better than the movie. If you have a chance to go this weekend - email and let me know what you thought.

The End

Well they announced the end was coming months ago, but Friday it came true. Guiding Light, that started in 1937 on the radio, showed the last episode of Reva and Josh and the rest of the cast. After 72 years, I think they have earned retirement.

I always enjoyed Guiding Light when I was home on summer vacation, it was one of my favorites. I have not watched it years because of work, kids and life, but it seems odd that it is over.

What now you ask - a new version of "Let's Make a Deal."

Read more on how the show ended.

Patrick Swayze

Yes you remember him in Dirty Dancing, Ghost, Point Break and Roadhouse, but what about his personal life. I did not know he has no children and he had been married for 34 years. 34 years of marriage to one person in Hollywood is incredible! Unfortunately cancer took him away from his wife and the rest of the world to early at the age of 57 this past week. Sympathies to his family. Read more about his wife and how they met by clicking here.

Facebook How To

The Do's and Don'ts of Facebook. If you are like me you are still trying to figure out Facebook. I just found out according to CNN that 1 out 22 people worldwide are on Facebook, so there's a lot of us trying to get the hang of everything. Well here it is just click on this link for some helpful hints on Facebook. Now in no time at all you will be a Facebook pro like the rest of the world!

Home Improvements

Well the kitchen is painted and my sister and I started the living room last week, but wouldn't you know we hit a snag! Doesn't that always seem to happen when you do home improvements - you think this should be an easy fix, but oh no - something underneath the wallpaper shows a different story. So here is what happened - There is one wall of my living room that is paneling. Instead of taking the wallpaper off and dealing with panelling I thought let's paint over it, but not so much. My sister painted it and you could see every flaw even more than before, so tearing off wallpaper was the way to go. Unfortunately the wallpaper is not the easiest stuff to tear off and we are still working on this project that we thought we could get done in a few hours. It's just the way it goes isn't it?

CMA Nominations

Brad Paisley pulls to the lead with 7 nominations with Keith Urban not far behind with 5. Hopefully your favorite received a nomination for the CMA's. Read all about it.

The predictions are out

The regular season of football has not started. The starters for the football teams have not played a full 3 quarters yet, but the predictions on who will win the Super Bowl are in. According to the Rasmussen Reports national survey of football fans the Patriots and the Steelers are tied with 14% of the vote that they will win the Super Bowl. Sorry Packer fans but the Vikings are in with 5% of the vote (Go VIKINGS) and the Bears with 3%. This is just a survey, so I'm not counting my chickens yet. Let's just watch and see. Click here for the full story.

Great Weekend for Hiking

We live in such a beautiful area and are blessed with great hiking trails. I hope to get a chance to take the kids this weekend to one of my favorite hiking spots - Whitewater State Park in St. Charles, MN. The weather sounds as if it is going to cooperate, so why not? I have heard Hixon Forest also has some great hiking trails to enjoy. Take your pick and get out there and enjoy for yourself the beautiful area we all take for granted.
Do you have a favorite hiking spot? Email me and let me know where it is.

Applefest

Applefest is approaching fast. It is only 2 weeks away, are you ready? Applefest is as close to a hometown celebration for me as it gets and I enjoy the King Apple Parade, spending time with friends and family and eating the caramel apples. There are those things you need to do year after year, but it with good reason. Come celebrate in LaCrescent with me and find out what is going on by clicking here. See you in LaCrescent!

Are you Happy?

Are you in the majority of Americans that like their jobs? The Clarus Research Group found that 88% of Americans are satisfied with their job. If you think about it we are talking about the place where you spend most of your time - don't you think you should enjoy it? I have worked at many different jobs and I can say I'm satisfied with my two places of employment. This is like a big weight lifted. It's just one more thing not to have to worry about. I hope you are satisfied with the place you spend the majority of your time, but if not maybe it is time for a change.