National Hot Breakfast Month

Traditional breakfasts in the United States and Canada derive from the full English breakfast and other European breakfast traditions and feature predominantly sweet or mild-flavored foods, mostly hot.   Typical items include hot oatmeal porridge, grits (in the South), other hot grain, porridge, egg sausage or small link sausages, pan-fried potatoes (hash browns), hot biscuits, toast, pancakes, waffles, bagels, French toast, cornbread, English muffins, pastries (such as croissants, doughnuts, and muffins), and fresh or stewed fruits of various types (stone, citrus, etc.).  Hot grilled Steak may be served with eggs on the traditional menu.

So, in observation of National Hot Breakfast Month, my brother-in-law and I enjoyed the breakfast bar offerings at Shoney's Restaurant after his dialysis treatment this morning.  After dialysis, he is usually hungry because he goes in so early (5:30 a.m.) and can't eat for 4 hours during the process. 

All the traditional full English breakfast offerings were there and enjoyed.  Because we are in the South, we had grits (with salt and butter), bacon, link sausage, country ham (salt-cured), home fries (hash browns), hot biscuits (with white sausage gravy with pepper), pancakes, French toast, and eggs (scrambled nice and fluffy) with orange juice and coffee.

It was really, really yummy and because it was actually brunch, couldn't even think about food for the rest of the day!

February 2 - Ground Hog Day

Groundhog Day is a holiday celebrated on February 2nd in the United States and Canada.  According to folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter-like weather will soon end.  If it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow, and the winter weather will continue for six more weeks.

Modern customs of the holiday involve celebrations where early morning festivals are held to watch the groundhog emerging from its burrow.  In southeastern Pennsylvania, Groundhog Lodges (Grundsow Lodges) celebrate the holiday with fersommlinge, social events in which food is served, speeches are made, and one or more g'spiel (plays or skits) are performed for entertainment.  The Pennsylvania German dialect is the only language spoken at the event, and those who speak English pay a penalty, usually in the form of a nickel, dime or quarter, per word spoken, put into a bowl in the center of the table.
The largest Groundhog Day celebration is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.  Groundhog Day, already a widely recognized and popular tradition, received worldwide attention as a result of the 1993 film of the same name, Groundhog Day, which was set in Punxsutawney and featured Punxsutawney Phil.

In History:

The holiday, which began as a Pennsylvania German custom in southeastern and central Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries, has its origins in ancient European weather lore, wherein a badger or sacred bear is the prognosticator as opposed to a groundhog.  It also bears similarities to the Pagan festival of Imbolc, the seasonal turning point of the Celtic calendar, which is celebrated on February 1 and also involves weather prognostication and to St. Swithun's Day in July.

An early American reference to Groundhog Day can be found in a diary entry, dated February 5, 1841, of Berks County, Pennsylvania, storekeeper James Morris:


Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate.

In Scotland the tradition may also derive from an English poem:

As the light grows longer

The cold grows stronger

If Candlemas be fair and bright

Winter will have another flight

If Candlemas be cloud and rain

Winter will be gone and not come again

A farmer should on Candlemas day

Have half his corn and half his hay

On Candlemas day if thorns hang a drop

You can be sure of a good pea crop

Alternative origin theories: 

In western countries in the Northern Hemisphere the official first day of Spring is almost seven weeks (46–48 days) after Groundhog Day, on March 20 or March 21.  About 1,000 years ago, before the adoption of the Gregorian calendar when the date of the equinox drifted in the Julian calendar, the spring equinox fell on March 16 instead.  This is exactly six weeks after February 2. The custom could have been a folk embodiment of the confusion created by the collision of two calendrical systems.   Some ancient traditions marked the change of season at cross-quarter days such as Imbolc when daylight first makes significant progress against the night.  Other traditions held that Spring did not begin until the length of daylight overtook night at the Vernal Equinox.  So an arbiter, the groundhog/hedgehog, was incorporated as a yearly custom to settle the two traditions.  Sometimes Spring begins at Imbolc, and sometimes Winter lasts 6 more weeks until the equinox.

National Baby Week

February is National Wedding Month so it makes sense that the first week in February is National Baby Week. I've tried to do some on-line research about the origins of National Baby Week and so far I've only come up with some files from the early 20th century in England. Most were articles regarding encouraging families to adopt orphans from WWI. There were some Getty Images from 1923 of nurses with babies in prams and some announcements from 1917 and 1918 from organizing committees for National Baby Week. So far, I have not been able to locate any information on the observation of National Baby Week in the U.S. Nevertheless, it was fun researching and looking at cute pictures online of lots of scrunched up babies in various forms of swaddling.  Here's the one that I thought was the cutest of all the images I sorted through.

National Baby Week

National Weddings Month

February is National Weddings Month which I think is really strange because I thought all young women longed to be June brides. Maybe February is National Wedding Month because lots of diamonds are given away at Valentines and lots of romantic proposals are made to love and cherish each other forever.

Retailers start gearing up for the June fever and lots of Bridal Shows start cranking up to hawk their wares that put newlyweds and their parents in hock almost to the degree home ownership and a college education do. Most couples would benefit financially by having a small civil ceremony or a small gathering of family and friends at a religious ceremony and using the "wedding fund" towards the down payment on a house, establishing a retirement account, toward paying off student loans, or a purchasing a long-term care policy.

Unfortunately, TV producers don't make reality TV shows about the benefits of making smart financial decisions but they do make shows and a ton of ad revenue on shows like "BRIDEZILLA" and "Say Yes to the Dress!" After all, every adult female should get to dress up like a fairy-princess and alienate her friends and family by taking on the self-induced stress of planning the perfect wedding.

For those looking to plan a shower the newest thing is a Tea Party Shower (according to Bigelow Tea Company).  Tea Party Shower

Happy Valentines Day!

February 1 - Sea Serpent Day

The legend of the Loch Ness monster dates back to 565 AD, but are there really sea serpents?  The area of water on our planet is vast and mostly unexplored, so who knows?  Zoologists find new species of animals every year - and there are animals they thought were extinct for millions of years that turn up again.  It's possible that the water creatures called sea serpents are just waiting their turn to be found and named.

2011 Delayed

Savory Hickory SelectionYep, 2011 begins for me today!  January 2011 could be labeled "the Lost Episode." 

Let me explain.  Starting on the 1st of October I began a seasonal job for "a premium specialty foods brand retailer."  I lost my job January 2009 so I guess you could say that 2009/2010 could be considered the "the lost episode."  I was so happy to get a job I really didn't mind the long hours until I begin to feel that I was being "put upon" by my boss who called me at all hours beginning at 7:30 in the morning until after 11:00 at night.  I worked six hours a day and was thrilled when Sunday (remember, I'm in the bible belt - God's day of rest) came around.  I wanted to sleep all day but unfortunately it wasn't going to happen as there were tons of other things that had to happen.

The job was scheduled to end on December 28th which I was fine with as my plan was to spend the week between Christmas and New Years updating the resume, scanning the job boards, re-connecting with the job clubs and networking groups.  So, I sent a written notice to my boss copying in the staffing agency I was working through giving them a 3-week notice that my last day would be December 28th.  The rental car was due to be turned in that morning and all the units were supposed to be closed down and all materials returned by then. 


Well, the best laid plans of mice and men.  By the 27th, we still had two units open because the retail planning group did not get us the material we were to sell between Thanksgiving and Christmas in time so we had a considerable amount of inventory still on hand.  We had exceeded the sales goals for the district but they kept sending product that should have never been shipped. 

Because I am a good egg, I drove 150 miles on the day after Christmas in icing snow conditions to one unit to officially close it.  It should have been closed the day before Christmas, but my boss just didn't get it.  The normal 1.5 hour drive, took 4 hours.  So, in the snow, I loaded product into the rental car to take back to the next unit to be closed and drove another 4 hours back home.  Needless to say, I was whipped and began to feel the beginnings of the flu.  Sure enough, over the next two days I had the full fledged flu symptoms with a temperature of 101 to 103 with laryngitis and was still expected to close three units in the next three days.

When December 27th rolled around, there were still two units to close and my boss was still thinking I was going to work bast December 28th although I had been telling her I would not be.  Not sure what part of NOT working past the date of my notice she didn't get.  I'm always amazed when advice columnists tell employees to just be honest with unreasonable supervisors and say "no" to unreasonable demands.  It has never seemed to work out for me.  Apparently, I say no in a foreign language.  I can say no in several foreign languages but I think that I generally speak English but apparently I don't speak int clearly or loudly enough.  Anyway, I head 30 miles north to close the first unit which should have been closed on the evening of the following day, we shut the unit down by 11:00 a.m. and tell the boss we are headed 2 hrs South to close the last unit.  By this time, my temperature is about 101, my voice was completely gone.  I had to write down prices and totals for customers because NO sound was coming out.  Because I was feeling so bad and was taking a TON of over-the-counter meds that said NOT to drive or operate heavy machinery, I had to have one of my employees drive me to the next unit because I was afraid I would fall asleep on the highway and knew I would not make it back.   When we got to the unit, she had already called to say we would not be closing and that I would have to go back down then next day to close the unit.  I informed her that I would stay until 7:00 p.m. but when 7:00 p.m. arrived, I was going to be heading back home and would be turning in the company rental (due back at 9:00 a.m. the next day), closing out any paperwork and shipping all company materials back to the appropriate addresses as directed.  All the while she is saying I have to stay through 11:00 p.m., drive two hours back to the location of the unit we closed earlier that day and then 45 minutes back home, turn around and be back at 9:00 a.m. the next day all while I have complete laryngitis (I had been talking through one of my staff members as I could not speak above a whisper) with a 102 fever with less than 24 hours left on the payroll.  I'm all for giving i100% but at that point I had already but in a 12 hour day and with a 2 hour and 45 minute drive ahead of me, I was adamant I was leaving at 7:00 p.m.  My team leader at that unit agreed to work the next morning to close the unit.  She had a 5 minute drive.  Can't say I'm anxious to get back to corporate America.  Since then, my former boss has not returned any of my calls and will not answer a LinkedIn request.  It's amazing that three months of work, leading the region in % to plan, and the smallest shrink in her region all went poof over the flu and 24 hours.

Small people working for small companies for greedy corporate weenies living in big houses in Boca Raton, FL.

I think the Island is haunted.

Google map link to the house I rented.

Nothing good came from living on the island. 

We, the man I was seeing at the time and I, were almost arrested on New Year's Eve 2009 by the scariest Southern-stereotype sheriff's deputy I've ever encountered (actually, I've never encountered one but this dude was scary).  His name was actually named Bubba Hogg.  I'm not kidding.  I had visions of my friend and I ending up in the marsh as "gater bait." 

I was driving but demanded my friend's license.  He was in the passenger seat so I'm not sure why he needed his license.  I had ran out of gas and had pulled the car onto the shoulder of the road to wait on the AAA wrecker.  When my friend explained that he did not have his license, again I was driving, the deputy had my friend step out of the vehicle for a pat down.  I'm not kidding.  He then handcuffed him and escorted him to the cruiser for him to contact the dispatcher and look something up on the on board  computer.  Bubba repeatedly made references to my friend "looking like one of them there 'furiners'."  He made a number of references to him being "Al Kader."   Now, mind you, this was Gator Bowl weekend and the area was filled with "out-of-towners in their fancy duds."  Seriously, who talks that way except on really bad detective dramas and B movies?

The only reason the "lawman" stopped was I had my flashers on waiting for AAA to show up because I ran out of gas.  Every bad Hollywood script about South Georgia flashed through my mind.  Really, they can't write a script like this.

When the wrecker arrived, I was even more frightened as my friend was handcuffed in the back of a police car and I was alone on dark, deserted highway with an officer named Bubba Hogg, his partner, and a wrecker drive who looked like he had just been released from the Florida State prison system.  The wrecker driver had prison tattoos all over his neck and knuckles and he and Bubba were laughing about a cross burning in Callahan.

When they finally hooked up my vehicle to the wrecker they let my friend out of the cruiser and we climbed into the cab of the truck for the wrecker ride back to my place.  Needless to say this was a New Years Eve to remember and should have been a warning of the year to follow.  By the way, our romantic evening was also shot to _ _ _ _.!

Marsh in the Daylight

Speed Racer at a Stand Still

My sexy little red Speed Racer.  I miss her!  Part of my lost life I've struggling to get back.

Speed Racer at a Stand Still

A Boring Bio of Me

I was born at Maxwell AFB, Montgomery, AL where I lived with my father, mother, and my one younger sister until I was five.  When I was between five and six, my father was sent to Takhli Airforce Base in Thailand at the end of the Vietnam war.   Before my father left to go overseas, we moved to Concord, AL to be near my mother's parents for me to start school..  My paternal grandfather was still alive at the time and living in Iowa.   We lived there until my father returned from Thailand.

When dad came back to the States, he went to Randolph Air Force Base in Texas for training to enter the AF Recruiting Command and we moved to Hill AFB, outside Salt Lake City where I completed the 1st grade.  After the assignment at Hill, my father was assigned to the the Decatur, AL recruiting station where I attended elementary school from 2d -5th grades.  We moved to Hartselle, AL and my father was promoted and assigned back to Maxwell AFB to complete the last two years of his service prior to retiring.  The family stayed in Hartselle, as my parents had just purchased a house and us kids, me and by then my two sisters were in school.

I attended 6th-12th grades at Hartselle Junior High and then Morgan County/Hartselle High School. After graduation, I completed my first 2-years of college at John C. Calhoun Community College in Decatur, AL while commuting to my first position with the U.S. Army Space & Missile Command in the Travel Pay Section of the Pay & Examination Branch of the Deputy Finance Office at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL.

After graduating Cum Laude with an Associates in Business Administration from John C. Calhoun Community College, I took a break from school and continued to work a the Missile Command until 1994 in various capacities.  I was promoted seven times in eleven years.  During this time, I entered Athens State College, now Athens State University, the oldest institution of higher learning in the State of Alabama and completed my Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1997.   I remained in North Alabama until 1998 when I relocated to North Florida (Jacksonville and Fernandina Beach, FL) where I resided until April 2009.

My Florida experience was one of personal growth, challenge, joy and heartbreak.  But, I'm hoping that what they say about what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.  I'm back in Alabama again.  I never thought I'd be back but here I am for now.  I miss my Florida life: my friends, my professional life, the sea breezes and the sights.  As I start the second month of the second decade of the 21st century, I'm ready for the second phase of my life and a second chance to determine my own destiny.