A Numbers Game

Ever have special numbers that just keep popping into your life? I'm amazed by the ones I've been noticing that crop up around birthdays. My husband H's family has a rash of birthdays all on the first of various months. He also shares his birthday - April 1st - with his oldest sister. There is the Ohio baby girl who was born on 8/9/10 at 11:12pm. And for the next few years we will have the possibility of kids born on 10/10/10, 11/11/11 and 12/12/12...

I've taken to calling my boys "The 13 brothers" as they were born on August 13th and July 13th respectively.

What about you? Maybe we should be considering some lottery tickets... I'm putting in a bid for Lucky Number 13!

Help, I'm slipping into the Twilight Zone...

Cah-ray-zee weather lately around here. I guess it pretty much amounts to "snow squalls." The sky suddenly darkens, huge fat flakes fall to the ground (or sideways if the 40-mile-an-hour winds gust up), thunder, lightning, and over in half an hour. It lasted a bit longer tonight, just in time to complicate a drive home from my mother-in-law's house.

From the "What Were They Thinking?" Files: There is a restaurant on a corner of Main Street in our little town. It used to be a Thai place, but not too long ago changed to Italian. I'm quite sure that running a restaurant is not an easy business, so I've got to hand it to anyone who tries. But they've been putting a mannequin out front, dressed in a chef's outfit, with a big "Welcome" sign between his hands. I wish I could figure out a way to drop an anonymous suggestion that it's just, well, creepy.

To Infinity and Beyond...

In the category of odd things you must see, I present... The House on the Rock. Located in Spring Green, Wisconsin, H and I took the tour with my mother a few years ago. Designed and built (begun in the early 1940s) by Alex Jordan of Madison, WI this is actually a complex of rooms, streets, buildings and gardens covering acres of land. I did not realize at the time, but discovered in checking out their web presence that there is actually an Inn and resort to stay at as well.

The top photo is an outdoor shot of "The Infinity Room"... truly a sight to see as it juts out 218 feet over the valley (unsupported) and has 3,264 windows for walls. Much of the rest of the house contains the various collections of Mr. Jordan, including items such as the world's largest carousel, antique guns, dolls, mechanical banks, areas devoted to aviation, nostalgia, a nautical theme (including a Titanic display, and this creature below...) and much more. It is an attraction that at times defies description. But if you find yourself in Wisconsin, I encourage you to swing through!