A Bit of Trivia...

I am or close to:

51 years 3 months younger than Walter Cronkite, age 89
46 years 7 months younger than Nancy Reagan, age 84
43 years 7 months younger than George Herbert Bush, age 82
36 years 4 months younger than Barbara Walters, age 74
34 years 2 months younger than Larry King, age 72
28 years 0 months younger than Ted Koppel, age 66
24 years 7 months younger than Geraldo Rivera, age 62
21 years 7 months younger than George W. Bush, age 59
16 years 6 months younger than Jesse Ventura, age 54
12 years 3 months younger than Bill Gates, age 50
7 years 5 months younger than Cal Ripken Jr., age 45
1 year 7 months younger than Mike Tyson, age 39
2 years 6 months older than Jennifer Lopez, age 35
7 years 11 months older than Tiger Woods, age 30
14 years 5 months older than Prince William, age 23

and I was:

33 years old at the time of the 9-11 attack on America
31 years old on the first day of Y2K
29 years old when Princess Diana was killed in a car crash
27 years old at the time of Oklahoma City bombing
26 years old when O. J. Simpson was charged with murder
25 years old at the time of the 93 bombing of the World Trade Center
22 years old when Operation Desert Storm began
21 years old during the fall of the Berlin Wall
18 years old when the space shuttle Challenger exploded
16 years old when Apple introduced the Macintosh
15 years old during Sally Ride's travel in space
13 years old when Pres. Reagan was shot by John Hinckley, Jr.
11 years old at the time the Iran hostage crisis began
8 years old on the U.S.'s bicentennial Fourth of July
6 years old when President Nixon left office
4 years old when Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace was shot
a 1 year old at the time the first man stepped on the moon
not yet 1 year old when Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated

These movies were released in the U.S. when my age was:

1: Midnight Cowboy
4: The Godfather
5: American Graffiti
7: Jaws
9: Star Wars
10: Animal House
11: Star Trek The Motion Picture
14: ET
16: The Terminator
18: Top Gun
19: Planes, Trains & Automobiles
21: Steel Magnolias
22: Home Alone
24: Wayne's World
25: Jurassic Park
26: Forrest Gump
28: Fargo
30: Saving Private Ryan
31: Toy Story 2

and lastly, and I was:

2 years old when All in the Family was first shown
4 years old at the time the TV series M*A*S*H began
7 years old when Saturday Night Live first aired
10 years old when CBS introduced Dallas
12 years old during the first airing of Hill Street Blues
14 years old at the time the first Cheers episode was televised
18 years old when L.A. Law was first aired on TV
19 years old at the time the series Married with Children began
22 years old when Seinfeld was first televised
23 years old in the month Home Improvement began
26 years old at the time the TV series Friends began
28 years old when Everybody Loves Raymond first aired
31 years old when Who Wants To Be A Millionaire began in the US


Want to know how many years older or younger you are than prominent people as well as how old you were when certain historial events took place? Click HERE.

Want to know about the movies? Click HERE.

Curious about the TV trivia? Click HERE.

Finished and Free!!!

The last thing I heard when I left on the last night of my Music in the USA class was: “Thank you and good luck.” It’s what my instructor said after I turned in the 2 question essay final exam. He did return our 5 papers and commented on how impressed he was with the quality of work the entire class did. I not only got an A on my papers, but I got an A on the second test! I truly thought I would get a C and would be lucky if I received a B. To say the least, I am thrilled with the A! If I were to guess about my live performance paper, I’d say I’ll probably get an A on it since I followed the same format as my other papers. Writing is one of my best strengths. Even if I bombed the final exam, I’d still walk away with a B for a final grade… which should come out sometime next week.

I am now free for the summer!! Even though the past 3 weeks have been a bit hazy, time consuming, and stressful, I am glad I have one more class out of the way. Despite a lot of regurgitating, I do have a new appreciation of analyzing music. Funny how various classes change your life, isn’t it?

Update: It's official. I got an A for a final grade in my class. Not bad for someone who has no music background whatsoever! Woo Hoo. Happy Dancin' for me!

A Question of Fours...

Four Jobs I Have Had in My Life:
1 – Public Accounting... Counting beans for more than one client at the same time. No co-mingling of beans, now. Most of my clients love me. There are a few who for some odd reason think *they* are my only client and expect me to drop everything. “You want what, when? Yesterday?” I may bend over backwards, but I’m not that flexible!
2 – Land Title Bookkeeper... what can I say? I became a bean counter during the hey day of home refinance in the early 90’s.
3 – Hotel Guest Services Rep/Auditor... Need to get checked in at the wee hours of the night, I’m your gal. Need someone to complain to because the party next door is too loud, I’m your gal. Need someone to close out the cash and balance the books for the night, I'm your gal. I received Employee of the Quarter for managing the entire hotel when the fire alarms went off and my “security guard” high-tailed it out of the building because he thought there was a fire. It was HIS job to figure out where the alarm was set off and *if* there was a fire, while I managed the phone calls from sleepy-eyed guests. And to think he still had a job after that!
4 – Fast Food Counter Girl... “Would you like fries with that?” Imagine being on the receiving end of: “If I wanted G*d-D*mn, F*cking fries with that, I would’ve ordered them” In those days, microphones not headsets were used, and anyone in the restaurant could hear what was said. Never saw my manager come running out of her office so fast!

Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over Again:
1 – Officer and a Gentleman
2 – Pretty Woman
3 – Gone with the Wind
4 – Titanic

Four Places I Have Lived:
1 – Illinois
2 – Ummm... Illinois
3 – Let’s see... Illinois
4 – And oh yes... Illinois!

Four TV Shows I Watch:
1 – Today Show
2 – Grey’s Anatomy
3 – The Apprentice
4 – Friends

Four Places I Have Been on Vacation:
1 – Disney World in Orlando, FL
2 – New Mexico
3 – Caribbean
4 – Alabama

Four Websites I Visit Daily:
1 – Yahoo Mail
2 – Yahoo Groups
3 – Yahoo News
4 – MSN

Four of My Favorite Foods:
1 – Sushi
2 – Seafood
3 – Pasta
4 – Rice

Four Places I'd Rather Be:
1 – At home (vs. at work)
2 – Vacation in Europe
3 – Shopping at a huge photography store
4 – Taking a walk through the woods

SBQ Picture Day

The first request comes from Vash who is requesting pictures ofthe back of your stitching... Are you brave enough to give this one a shot?

The second request comes from Singular Stitches, and she is asking for "a pictorial tour of the special place that you go to create your wonderful stitched creations."

Since my pictorial "tour" would be a bit fragmented due to having stash in various places throughout the house, I'm just including a pic of the area I stitch in most. The rest I'll describe best I can: I have two shelves in my "office" that are filled with cross stitch books, patterns, and magazines. I have a craft cupboard in a spare bedroom that is home to: 11 floss cases with floss wound on bobbins, a small storage case with excess unwound floss, a tackle box full of metallic floss, two bead storage units, 2 medium suitcase-type storage containers with various fabrics and kits, and all my scroll rods. On the desk beside the craft cupboard, is a double magazine case that holds kits, and another box with evenweaves and linens. Beside my sofa is a basket full of stitching magazines, patterns and kits. What can I say... I'm a collector! I've also got goodies in bags (from my shopping trip two weeks ago) on the floor of my office that I haven't managed to find time to put away yet. One day I'd love to have a room just dedicated to my crafty stuff... and another room for my photography stuff.

Patriotism & Cross Stitch

What started out as a gift of love for her Dad has turned into a patriotic mission. Although cross stitch is disappearing from the shelves of our stores, young Brittany is helping to keep the craft alive by making stitched gifts for soldiers in Iraq. I, myself an avid stitcher, am creating a memorial piece for a 22-yr old soldier who was killed in Iraq during 2004. Once finished, Freedom will be mailed to his family in Belvidere, Illinois. Here's more about Brittany's story:


Posted: 6/5/06

Brittany Limanen just wanted to give her dad something special before he left for Iraq. Now she is making something special for 150 soldiers. Brittany was simply making a “see you later present for my dad,” she said. “I thought it would be cute for my dad.”

Before Coon Rapids resident Brian Limanen was deployed to Iraq, his 10-year-old daughter made him a cross-stitch USA hanging decoration that she and her mother, Brooke, purchased at a local craft store. “He almost didn’t get his before he left, because I messed up the first one,” Brittany said. So, in a scramble she and her mother purchased another kit and got busy cross-stitching another one for her dad. “I finished it just before he left,” Brittany said.

Her father’s National Guard unit was activated in September 2005. He spent several months in training before being deployed. “It’s lonely at dinner because he would always tell us about stuff he learned that day,” Brittany said. Brian is a facts guy. “He is a walking/talking encyclopedia,” Brooke said. “He always shares facts with the kids.” Brian is a staff sergeant with the 134th Red Bulls. His job is fixing artillery, mostly on tanks. His unit will be in Iraq until May 2007.

“It was really hard when he left, because I’ve heard of all kinds of bad stuff happening to soldiers and I didn’t want anything bad to happen to him,” said Brittany. As soon as Brian was situated in Iraq, he hung up the special gift from his daughter. “He was really appreciative to receive that from Brittany. He said that it was pretty special,” Brooke said.

One of the men in Brian’s unit saw his cross-stitch decoration on the wall and told him that he wanted one. So, Brian asked his daughter to make one for his friend and Brittany began working on another cross-stitch project. Soon, more and more requests were coming in and before she could finish the second decoration, Brian had requested 150 USA cross- stitched decorations for other soldiers in Iraq.

“It feels special because I started this. It’s pretty cool,” said Brittany. A fifth-grader at Morris Bye Elementary School, Brittany works on this special project as often as she can. She receives help from her mother and grandmothers. “I think it’s awesome,” Brittany’s mother said. “She sees the drive in her dad and his love for the Army and it’s her drive and support that makes me so proud.” It takes her about 12 hours to complete one decoration, according to Brittany. The plan is to finish and have the cross-stitch decorations to the soldiers by July 4.

“She is daddy’s little girl. They have such a special bond,” said Brooke. Both Brooke and Brian graduated from Coon Rapids High School in 1994. They have been married for 11 years.
They also have a son, Bradley, who is five.

HometownSource.comECM Publishers, Inc.
4095 Coon Rapids Blvd.
Coon Rapids, MN 55433
by Jennifer Kivioja
Staff writer
ABC Newspapers