This and That

1. SuperBowl and Kurt Warner--Kurt used to be a neighbor when he was the quarterback for the St. Louis Rams. One day we saw him at the local grocery store. My son was pretty awe-stricken, and of course, we didn't have anything on us for autographs. But Kurt helped us track down a piece of paper and was very gracious. When a star is kind to your kid, in an unguarded moment, you always remember that. So here's to Kurt! He's a poster child for a guy who never gave up on his dreams even when he was stocking groceries and folks said, "Um, get a life, buddy," he believed in himself. Even when the Rams let him go after he broke his hand, he never stopped thinking he could get back on the field and fire a cannon. That's an inspiration to all of us.

2.Please, No More Help!--I'd been complaining about how cold my feet get in my office, which is in our basement. So to be sweet, my husband plugged in a space heater and fired it up before I went down to work. In fact, since he gets up earlier than I, he did it BEFORE I was out of bed and BEFORE he made me my daily latte. (I know, he's a gem!) Unfortunately, the space heater blew out the electrical system in my office. When we finally got things running again, my hard drive sounded like a blender. So David then had to take my computer in to get it fixed. The culprit? Dog hair. (Which is really odd because our dogs don't shed!)

3. Oh, Doggies, Could You Read That AAA Card to Me?--Last week David was in Tupelo, Mississippi, playing poker in a series of tournaments. On Monday, with all the bad weather threatening, I decided to take the dogs for a ride and go get groceries. I loaded them in the car, got part-way down the drive and remembered the box of food I wanted to mail to our son. I turned off the motor, left the keys in the ignition--I didn't want the dogs to knock the car out of PARK--ran inside and grabbed the box. After I closed the trunk, I tried to get back in the car. It was subzero, so I was in a hurry. But...the car was locked. One of the dogs had stepped on the door lock mechanism.

Inside the car was my purse. I ran into the house--fortunately I could still get in--and called Triple A. The woman was very kind, and told me, "This happens all the time, but usually when drivers pick their dogs up at the vet's office." She dispatched someone to help, but she also asked, "What's your Triple A number?"

Um, that was in the car with the dogs.

I thought maybe if I hung around outside long enough, one of the dogs might step on the door lock mechanism AGAIN and unlock it....

A few minutes later, my husband called from Tupelo. I try NOT to call him when he's off playing poker. I don't want to wake him up after a long night of playing or interrupt him when he's at a table. But, he was there on the line, and he knew where I could find a second set of keys. Whew.

4. Love Is Murder--I'll be up at Love Is Murder in Chicago. They always put on a great conference! Hope to see some of you there this coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday.