Almost a Nephew

My baby sister Mandy will be having a baby today, Valentine's Day 2006. This is her first baby and the Official Mom's first grandson. So we're excited.

As of 9:52 AM EST, Mandy had just received an epidural and was dilated to 5 cm, so it will be less than two hours.

Mandy has been miserable these last few weeks, so it will be a welcome relief to finally see her son James.

This is the same sister whom I remember vividly holding when Mom and Paul, my stepfather, brought her home. She was a "bald-headed" baby. I remember teaching her how to crawl, and that she would suck her middle and ring fingers and call me "bro-bro".

Now she gets to look forward to the same things with her son.

I am just praying for everything to go okay, and that James is healthy. Mandy, too, for that matter.

More to come later.

no iPod required

Valentine's Day Facts

U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for Feb. 14: Valentine's Day

2/13/2005 10:05:00 AM

To: National and Feature desks

Contact: Rick Reed or Tom Edwards, 301-763-2812, both of the U.S. Census Bureau

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is the daily 'Profile America' feature for Feb. 14 from the U.S. Census Bureau:

VALENTINE'S DAY

Profile America for Monday, Feb. 14. This is Valentine's Day -- and while an unofficial holiday, it's one of the best observed of the year. Its origins are a mix of legends involving two Christian martyrs, a Roman fertility rite and the old notion that this is the time of year when birds choose their mates. What is sure is that Esther Howland of Massachusetts began selling the first mass-produced valentines in the 1840s. Now, Valentine's Day is one of the biggest occasions in the country's greeting card shops. It's also a busy time for the nation's jewelers, florists and candy stores. There are some 3,800 candy stores across the U.S., selling $1.2 billion of sweets annually. The average person consumes close to 25 pounds of candy a year. Find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau on the Web at http://www.census.gov.

Source: U.S. Newswire : Releases : "U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for Feb. 14: Valentine's Day"

11 Years and Stronger Than Ever!

You tell me you're the lucky one
But I see things differently
And I have just begun to show you that you mean
Everything to me
I still feel the need to

Love a little stronger, dig a little deeper
Go a little farther, anything to please
you, girl
Tonight I'm gunna start all over
Show you girl what's in my heart
Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, gunna love a little stronger

"Love a Little Stronger" (second verse and chorus) by Diamond Rio, via AskLyrics.com

DAYTON, Ohio -- It was 11 years ago on this date that I first told Jennie Doddy that I loved her. While some may consider this insignificant, we don't. What began on Valentine's Day 1993 had grown into true love, and I wanted the moment that I confessed it to her to be a memorable one.

Every Memorial Day weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio, where we lived, there is a festival called "A Taste of Cincinnati," in which downtown streets are closed, and they are taken over by vendors and various musical acts.

My best friend, Praveen Cherian, and I had set up the double date. Sometime during that date I would walk Jennie across the Roebling Suspension Bridge, which is romantically lit up at night, to the middle. As we would look out over the Ohio River, I would profess my love to her.

Unfortunately, it began to thunderstorm, and we all decided to go to a movie instead. I needed to get some money, so while the other couple waited at a Hardee's, Jennie and I walked to the bank ATM.

And it was THERE, ladies and gentlemen, underneath the shelter of the bank's ATM machine, that I said to Jennie

You know, I really love how our relationship is going right now. And I love you, too.

Jennie was so excited to have finally heard me say those important three words. She echoed my sentiments.

Arm in arm, we walked to the grocery store, and I bought her a rose. By the time we returned to the Hardee's, we were all ready for the date to be over anyway.

Eleven years later I must say that my love for her has grown stronger and deeper. I've made her my wife, and we have a lovely daughter. You could say that I'm just as sappy as ever.

2003 Half-Year Retrospective

We are now halfway through 2003, and it's about time for a quick look at the Journey Inside My Mind over these past six months. This time around I'm offering something different for the retrospective. I'm providing the link to the monthly archive page and a list of titles to some selected posts from that month. The list of posts is in chronological order, but they are laid out on the page in reverse chronological order. I recommend that, after opening the link, scrolling to the bottom of the page and working your way up:

January

New Year's Template

Tom Daschle Must Go

Happy Blog Birthday to Journey Inside My Mind

Streams of Consciousness: Broken Things

Response to Police Questioning (Backpack Reflections)

Mistakes Are GOOD

Thank God for Fri-Daze

Tom Daschle Must Go

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Coming Soon

If We Only Have Love

Martin Luther King Day

A Balmy 16 degrees Fahrenheit in Dayton

Beat-you-up-and-steal-your-lunch-money Cold

My Girl is a Spy Kid (Daddy and Daughter Date)

Listening to My Online Radio Station

R.I.P. Nell Carter

Frozen Friday Feeling

Tom Daschle Must Go

Snapshot Memories

I Want to Fire My Bank

More Customer No-Service (Public School Transportation)

Hailie's Back (Prayer Request)

Gas Passers Sitting Happy

Subpoena Duces Tecum

Paving the Milestones

Recalling the Challenger Disaster

February

Feeling Poorly Today

Yesterday I Visited My Past

Hard to Post (re: Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster)

Better Than Chocolate

'Pooh' in the Courtroom!

Somehow You Found It, Parts One and Deux

The Day The World Went Away

The Sinus 'Crud'

Enneagram Test

Blogging the Past

Valentine's Day

I Still Prefer Steak (Chocoholism Reaches Near-Epidemic Proportions)

Get Off The Mooch List

As White As... Well... Snow

Get Ready to 'Bloogle'

Happy President's Day (President's Day Quotes)

Living in a Winter Wasteland

I've Discovered My Inner Veggie!

Dealing With Another's Pain

Yet Another Winter Advisory

Franco-American Relations

Phone Call (peek into our relationship with creditors)

Steel Beach BBQ

R.I.P. Fred Rogers

The Muppets Take Mordor

March

Computerfest® Is Coming!

It Was Just A Dream

Friends In The Fight For Enduring Freedom

Leave It To The Dog

"A Bit of Light Reading"

Signs That Spring Is Coming

Blogger and Google Are Improving My Memory

McCustomer No-Service Rant

QuotesBlog - growing wiser on the wisdom (or Stupidity) of others

McCustomer No-Service Rant Followup

Yet Another Blog - About My High School Reunion

More Twists Than A Pretzel (about 'Alias')

Brought to You by the Letter 'Q'

Squoosh A Terrorist

Restoration! (email from a formerly disgruntled coworker)

Call for Officials

Squoosh A Terrorist Update

From Powerless to Powerful

Hailie's Back

I'm Going To Fire My ISP

A Dream of Apocalyptic Proportions

Email from the Battlefront

Keisha Update

Google Search: Squoosh A Terrorist

April

An Important Note from Dan Johnson (i.e., my feeble attempt at an April Fool's joke)

Keisha Update, Continued

Crazymaggiemay - Me, Myself, and I (Mom Starts Blogging)

50 Ways to Become a Better Reader

Everybody Should Blog

Another Email from the Gulf...

License and Registration, Please

Iraqi Liberation

Garage Door Battle

A Proud Husband

That's What Happens When It's Spring!

Email Obfuscation

Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows

Hotmail No More

April 15th

On This Day I Complete My 33rd Year

More On My Birthday (the word 'emesis' comes to mind)

Friday 5

It May Be The Cowboy In Me

This Ride May Be A Little Bumpy!

He Wants To Know

Target of Your Choosing

Her First Lost Tooth

It's Scary Down There!

Bunny Babies

Drought in the Streams of Consciousness

Stick-to-itiveness

May

We Live in Sinus Valley

Free Verse - Free Basing?

Jake Rinard (love that slogan)

Lay Low and Go!

Because We Love Her

We Still Got Power

The Listeners Make The Playlists

"Well, I just had to laugh..."

Another Visit From The Tooth Fairy

His Royal Jakeness

Mom

They Sent Us To Our Basement

Sinuses, Allergies, or Was It Too Much Mother's Day?

You Came Here, And I Noticed

Miracle Migraine Medicine/Migraine Mantra

The Week of the Migraine

Sick As A Dog

Dayton, Ohio USA: The Place To Be In 2003

The Matrix: Reloaded

CodeAmber.org - Amber Alert for the Web

Template Wackiness

Sinus Crud - Again

Living in the Estrogen Ocean

The Official Iowan Takes a Break

Head Full of Snot

Road Trip!

The Johnson Family Web Site - Updates

Beachstock Reflections

Sigh

Saddam Hussein's Top Ten Romantic Tips

Streams of Consciousness: Keisha and Sagwa

She Couldn't Stay Away

This Is Not A Love Song

June

Daisy and John

McPiggy

Big Brother in the Miami Valley?

The Matrix: ReSeussed

Tinky and Binky

I Knew He'd Be Back

My Fotolog

A Day in the Country 2003 - Preview

A Weakness

Pseudonyms

The Official Iowan

She's So Cute!

Add to Your Coloring Books!

Creative Parenting

R.I.P. David Brinkley and Gregory Peck

Daddy - Daughter Date (a must read!)

Dan Johnson, Certified Mixologist

Oh, Mr. Sun

Assigned Seating - For Real

8 Years Ago, We Said, "I Do!"

Enneagram Test

Migraine Pain... Again

"Jake Wants Some Love!"

Her First Time In A Bar - Sort Of

You Can't Take Me Clothes Shopping

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

The Official Bartender

BANGHEAD!

This Blog is Rated G

Mundane Journal Stuff

Call For Officials

Camping with the Men

R.I.P. Kathryn Hepburn

Valentine's Day: Love, American Style

The link I originally used to is no longer valid, and I was unable to find the story within the Dayton Daily News archives. Maybe you'd like to try to find it. Here's the original link:

http://www.activedayton.com/auto_docs/epaper/editions/today/lifestyle_4.html

Valentine's Day 2003

Here are a couple reasons why Valentine's Day is special for me this year:

1. One year ago, on February 14, 2002, you could say that this blog, Journey Inside My Mind, gave birth to two additional blogs. They are
   • Letters to God
     • Current page
     • First post
     and
   • QuotesBlog
     • Current page
     • First post
   Over the last year these blogs have been very useful to me, and I look forward to continuing to update them as the days go by.
2. More importantly, however, what makes this year's Valentine's Day special is that it was on February 14, 1993 that I asked Jennie Doddy if she would be my steady girlfriend. I'll have to blog the story behind that some other time, but for now, let's just say that my life has been oh so different (much better) since then! I fell in love with her and told her so for the first time on Memorial Day weekend 1993, and by October 1993, I was convinced that she was the one for me. The rest is history, which also makes up for good content on blogs, by the way.

More Small Talk: Work Question of the Day

In response to GB's earlier message, LC wrote:

Wow. I feel depressed just reading that.

I was planning on working outside on my car's radiator
hoses, getting dirty, freezing my arms and fingers
off, skinning my knuckles on the engine whenever my
hands slip off the wrench or I snap the head off
another bolt (I've snapped 3 bolts off already.) Then
I will get changed and go to work for six hours. Then
I will come home and work on two homework assignments
that I have already spent four hours on that are due
tomorrow and I doubt that I can complete.

But after all that, such a long and difficult day, I
will come home and give my girlfriend a call and talk
to my sweet, because it's Valentines Day. What a
special day this is for both of us. Oh, wait, I don't
have a girlfriend. Before I crash for the night, I
will probably eat some oatmeal and some shredded wheat
straight from the box 'cause I don't have any milk,
and wash it down with some water. I will be so tired
that I will go to sleep without brushing my teeth.
Then I will fall asleep because it's two in the
morning.

That is my plan for Valentines day.

- LC

Valentine's Day 2002

A friend of mine, GB, whose tagline on his emails is "Peace, Love, & Hair Gel", sent me this message. He's a pretty wacky fellow.

Small Talk @ Work Question of the Day asks: What Are U doing for Valentines Day?? GB answers: I am going to spend the evening laying in bed in the dark listening to Bette Midlers song "The Rose" play over and over again while I am surrounded by all kinds of pies, cakes, cookies and chips... eating myself into a food coma... and then not come of out the house for about 2 weeks...