Category: INSPIRATIONAL

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY

I can’t believe it is Monday already. Last week just whizzed by and I’m not done with everything I started!  

Be sure to link up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy homemaker Monday and with Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.   

WEATHER OUTSIDE
So much better this week.  There has been a wonderful breeze and temperatures are down around 80 at the heat of the day and around 50 at night.

TO DO FOR THE WEEK

  • Eye Doctor appointment
  • a few letters
  • several phone calls
  • filing
  • Oncology check up – 4 1/2 years – almost there!

CURRENTLY READING
I’m still reading Jana DeLeon.  I finished her Miss Fortune series and am awaiting the newest book in that series, but have begAn her Ghost-In-Law Series for a fun summer read and am on book 3.

TELEVISION / DVR

  • When Calls the Heart season finale
  • Dark Matter (new)
  • Beauty and the Beast
  • Astronauts Wives Club (new)
  • Royal Pains
  • Melissa & Joey
  • Devious Maids
  • The Whispers (new)
  • Proof (new)
  • Rizzoli & Isles
  • Major Crimes
  • Wayward Pines – just not sure about this one yet

MENU PLANS FOR THE WEEK
BREAKFAST
DINNER
DESSERT
MONDAY
Cereal & Fruit
CHARDONNAY CHICKEN
TUESDAY
Bagel & cream cheese
EXPERIMENT NIGHT
WEDNESDAY
Yogurt with Blueberries & Granola
HERB ROASTED CHICKEN & VEGGIES
THURSDAY
Scrambled Eggs with cheese & Toast
Y.O.Y.O. / C.O.R.N.
FRIDAY
Yogurt with Blueberries & Granola
TOMATO PORK CHILI
SATURDAY
BRUSCHETTA CHICKEN BAKE
CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE
SUNDAY
MAHOGANY CHICKEN & BROCCOLI

SUCCESSFUL RECIPE LINKS FROM LAST WEEK

RECIPE FINDS TO TRY LATER

  • Salted Caramel Chocolate Cheesecake Cake
  • Black Forest Dump Cake
  • Mocha Madness Dump Cake
  • Apple Caramel Pecan Dump Cake
  • Chicken Caesar Burgers
  • Sicilian Burgers

HOMEMAKING/COOKING TIP
When frying food add 2 teaspoons of natural cocoa powder (non-dutched anti-oxidant form).  You WON’T taste it, but it blocks the absorption of fats and carbohydrates.

GIVE LAVISHLY! GIVE ABUNDANTLY!
The more you give, the more you get –
The more you laugh, the less you fret –
The more you do unselfishly,
The more you live abundantly…
The more of everything you share, 
The more you’ll always have to spare –
The more you love, the more you’ll find
That life is good and friends are kind…
For only what we give away
Enriches us from day to day.
~Source Unknown

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY

  • Clean counter tops
  • Clean baseboards
  • Cool breezes
  • Smiles and hugs from my favorite neighbor kids

FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA

INSPIRATION

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY

I can’t believe it is Monday already. Last week just whizzed by! Be sure to link up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy homemaker Monday and with Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday. 

WEATHER OUTSIDE
MAJORLY HOT ESPECIALLY FOR THIS AREA and time of year! Today is supposed to be 97. We only hit 93 yesterday, but it wasn’t too bad in the afternoon in the shade with the heavenly breeze that made its way in.

TO DO FOR THE WEEK

  • Hair appointment
  • Pedicure
  • Cleaning
  • a few small projects
  • a couple recipe development projects

CURRENTLY READING
I’m still reading Jana DeLeon.  I finished her Miss Fortune series and am awaiting the newest book in that series, but have begun her Ghost-In-Law Series for a fun summer read.

TELEVISION / DVR
A few new shows have started, but I’m still not sure about a couple of those.  I’m still trying to finish up a few from the spring that are on the DVR.

  • America’s Got Talent
  • DIG
  • The Americans

CRAFTS & PROJECTS
no actual crafts his week

MENU PLANS FOR THE WEEK
BREAKFAST
DINNER
DESSERT
MONDAY
Cereal & Fruit
Y.O.Y.O. / C.O.R.N.
TUESDAY
Bagel & cream cheese
EXPERIMENT NIGHT
WEDNESDAY
Yogurt with Blueberries & Granola
Chicken Wings South of the Border
THURSDAY
Scrambled Eggs with cheese & Toast
Bun Less Burgers Beer Baked White Beans & Salad
FRIDAY
Yogurt with Blueberries & Granola
BBQ Pork Ribs & Potato Salad
SATURDAY
Quiche Lorraine
Peach Crumble Pie & Homemade PayDay Bars
SUNDAY
OUT
Paprika Fried Chicken

SUCCESSFUL RECIPES  FROM LAST WEEK

RECIPE FINDS TO TRY LATER
My mom found these cute little books for camping recipes to make in pie irons.  Now, I’m NOT going to go camping to try them, but am going to try and convert them into everyday oven recipes.

  • Individual chicken casseroles
  • Muffin Tin Meals
  • Buffalo Chicken Hand Pies
  • Sloppy Joe Pockets
  • Pepperoni Snails
  • S’mores Hand Pies
  • Potato Pancakes
  • Dream Pies
  • Chicken Pot Pies
  • Caramel Banana Jumbles
  • Extreme Brownies
  • Onion Puffs
  • Peanut Butter Waffles
  • Sweet & Spicy Crescent Clubs

HEALTH & BEAUTY TIPS
The old adage, “you are what you eat” has never been truer than in life today. I try to do anti-oxidant fruits and veggies everyday in form or another.  If you are on a tight schedule, you can make smoothies in large batches and then freeze in ziploc freezer bags.  Just place a frozen one in the frig the night before and it will a perfect on the go breakfast the next day.

My favorite recipe is Bolthouse Farms Green Goodness, pomegranate juice, banana and wild blueberries.

HOMEMAKING TIP
On sticky or squeaky drawers use a bar or soap or an old candle on the tracks to create a smooth edge for the drawer to slide along.

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. 

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY

  • Reading a good book that engages my imagination
  • When my favorite team wins
  • Starry nights

FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA

These two really are inseparable (pun intended)
INSPIRATION

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY

I can’t believe it is Monday already. It was not a real busy week, but it sure went by quickly. Be sure to link up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy homemaker Monday and with Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

WEATHER OUTSIDE
Absolutely beautiful and supposed to stay that way this week.

TO DO FOR THE WEEK

  • Laundry
  • Cleaning
  • Paperwork

CURRENTLY READING

TELEVISION / DVR
It’s that time of year before much new begins so playing catch up on the DVR.

CRAFTS & PROJECTS
Nothing new yet.
BREAKFAST
DINNER
DESSERT
MONDAY
Cereal & Fruit
Y.O.Y.O. / C.O.R.N.
TUESDAY
Bagel & cream cheese
EXPERIMENT NIGHT
WEDNESDAY
Yogurt with Blueberries & Granola
THURSDAY
Scrambled Eggs with cheese & Toast
FRIDAY
Yogurt with Blueberries & Granola
CHOCOLATE MONKEY BREAD
SATURDAY
SPAM & EGGS
SUNDAY

 RECIPES IN YELLOW ARE ACTIVE LINKS

SUCCESSFUL RECIPES  FROM LAST WEEK

RECIPE FINDS TO TRY LATER

  • Apple Slaw with caramelized Cider Dressing
  • Spiderweb Florentines
  • Pumpkin Gingerbread ice cream sandwiches

HEALTH & BEAUTY TIPS
Summer is almost here and we’ll be wearing flip flops and going barefoot more and more.  So here is a little recipe for a foot soak that removes the dead skin from your feet.
1/4 cup Listerine
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup warm water

  • Soak feet 10 minutes.
  • Rinse and dry.  Dead skin will just fall off.

HOMEMAKING TIP
Have strong odors on your hands from onions, garlic or fish?

  • Wet your hands.
  • Sprinkle on baking soda.
  • Rub together until hands are coated in the paste.  
  • Rinse well and odors will be gone.

ON MY MIND
Just trying to understand why someone does not return phone calls, repeatedly.  I’ve called several times over the past few months, but they go unanswered and un-returned.  Obviously they are miffed about some unknown, but about what, who knows?  I wish things were different because I do miss our chats, but I can’t fix what I don’t know is broken.  Since I don’t know what I did, I figure they’ll call eventually.

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY

  • Sunny Skies
  • Hubby getting the sling off this week 
  • A clean house
 Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles, it empties today of its strength. ~Corrie Ten Boom

FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA

LEO the clown at the CULPEPPER and MERRIWEATHER CIRCUS

INSPIRATION

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY

I can’t believe how quickly Monday seems to come with each new week. This past week seemed to fly by and I didn’t get everything on my to do list finished. Maybe this week will be more productive. I’m adding a new category this week – Quotable Quotes.  Be sure to link up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy homemaker Monday and with Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

WEATHER OUTSIDE
Decent temperatures, unstable air, but dreary and rainy one minute and then sunny and gorgeous the next.

TO DO FOR THE WEEK

  • Appointments
  • Shopping
  • Paperwork
  • Sorting and Cleaning

CURRENTLY READING

  • Miss Fortune Mysteries by Jana DeLeon

TELEVISION / DVR

  • Bones 
  • When Calls the Heart
  • the Hallmark movies I taped

CRAFTS & PROJECTS
Nothing new this week

MENU PLANS FOR THE WEEK
BREAKFAST
DINNER
DESSERT
MONDAY
Cereal & Fruit
Y.O.Y.O. / C.O.R.N.

TUESDAY
Bran Muffin & Fruit
EXPERIMENT

WEDNESDAY
Yogurt with Blueberries & Granola
Slow Cook Moo Shu Chicken and Vegetables

THURSDAY
Scrambled Eggs with cheese & Toast
South of the Border Chicken Wings and Salad

FRIDAY
Yogurt with Blueberries & Granola
Herb Meat Loaf & Gravy with Broccoli

SATURDAY
Halibut & Cabbage Gratin

SUNDAY
Salmon in a Blanket
Pickle Fried Chicken with Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

RECIPES in YELLOW = LINKS

SUCCESSFUL RECIPES  FROM LAST WEEK

RECIPE FINDS TO TRY LATER

  • Ultimate Stuffed Artichokes
  • Avocado Egg Rolls
  • Cauliflower Breadsticks
  • Peach Chili Lime Hot Wings

HEALTH & BEAUTY TIPS

  • Mix a small amount of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide together until you have a paste.  
  • With a toothbrush scrub the paste into your nails.  
  • Add the remaining paste to enough warm water to cover your fingers and/or toes and let them sit 5-10 minutes.  
  • Rinse off and you have sparkling white nails.

HOMEMAKING TIP
Strong steeped tea makes a great permanent scratch cover for wood furniture.

ON MY MIND
Why is it that you no longer hear ” (insert name here) please pick up your children in the security office?  Not once, but twice while grocery shopping yesterday the same 3 young children (and I mean to young to not be with their parents – like 5 or 6) came racing around corners with racing empty carts bumping into people and almost knocking over an old lady.  When I was a kid these kids wold have been scooped up by a store employee and delivered to management to be picked up by their parents. 

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY

  • Quiet time
  • Soft Chewy Cookies
  • Blue Skies with Fluffy white clouds

FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA
Spring in FULL bloom

Life can only be understood backwards, 
but it must be lived forward. 
~Soren Kierkwgaard

INSPIRATION

THE LAW OF THE GARBAGE TRUCK

This is an email that came across my desk again today and I know I’ve shared it before, 
but I thought the analogy was so well spelled out that I’d like to pass it on again.

One day I hopped into a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. I mean he was really friendly. So I asked, “Why did you just do that? That guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!”
This is when my taxi driver taught me what I call, “The Law of the Garbage Truck.” He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they’ll dump it on you.
Don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don’t take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life’s too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so….. “Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don’t.”

THE TABLECLOTH – BLOGMAS 2014 – DAY 21

This story originally came across my email and I was reminded that it is a beautiful way to celebrate Christmas Holiday spirit so I thought I’d share. This is such a beautiful story that makes you understand that things truly do happen for a reason. Don’t forget to grab the tissue box.

The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry, to reopen a church in suburban Brooklyn, arrived in early October excited about their opportunities. When they saw their church, it was very run down and needed much work. They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first service on Christmas Eve.

They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc… and on December 18th they were ahead of schedule and just about finished.

On December 19th a terrible tempest – a driving rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days.

On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high.

The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home. On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity so he stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church.

By this time it had started to snow. An older woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later. She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc… to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area.

Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was like a sheet.. ‘Pastor,’ she asked, ‘where did you get that tablecloth?’ The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria.
The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how he had just gotten the Tablecloth. The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria. When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the next week. He was captured, sent to prison and she never saw her husband or her home again.

The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth, but she made the pastor keep it for the church. The pastor insisted on driving her home, that was the least he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a house cleaning job.

What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return. One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood continued to sit in one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn’t leaving.

The man asked him where he got the Tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike.

He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison. He never saw his wife or his home again all the 35 years in between.

The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier.

He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman’s apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.

This true Story was submitted by Pastor Rob Reid.

More entries over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom’s BLOGMAS.

SOMEONE SPECIAL SHARED THIS WITH ME, AND I WANT TO SHARE IT WITH YOU

On the first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t already know.

I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. 

I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.

 She said, ‘Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?’ 

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, ‘Of course you may!’ and she gave me a giant squeeze.



‘Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?’ I asked. 



She jokingly replied, ‘I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids….’ 



‘No seriously,’ I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age. 



‘I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!’ she told me. 



After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake. 

We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this ‘time machine’ as she shared her wisdom and experience with me. 



Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she revelled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up. 



At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I’ll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor. 


 Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, ‘I’m sorry I’m so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I’ll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.’ 



As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, ‘We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. 

There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humour every day. You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. 

We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it! 



There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. 

If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. 

Anybody! Can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability.

The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets. 

The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.’ 



She concluded her speech by courageously singing ‘The Rose.’ 

She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.

At the year’s end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those months ago. 

One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. 

Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it’s never too late to be all you can possibly be.



When you finish reading this, please send this peaceful word of advice to your friends and family, they’ll really enjoy it! 

These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE. 



REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. 
GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL. 

We make a Living by what we get. We make a Life by what we give. 

God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage. If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it. 



“The Rose”
Some say love, it is a river
That drowns the tender reed.
Some say love, it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed.
Some say love, it is a hunger,
An endless aching need.
I say love, it is a flower,
And you its only seed.

It’s the heart afraid of breaking
That never learns to dance.
It’s the dream afraid of waking
That never takes the chance.
It’s the one who won’t be taken,
Who cannot seem to give,
And the soul afraid of dyin’
That never learns to live.

When the night has been too lonely
And the road has been too long,
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong,
Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed that with the sun’s love
In the spring becomes the rose.

Ketchup VS Catsup

Do you ever wonder why we have both names or how they originated. Recently hubby has been requesting my 1000 Island dressing a lot which recently sparked an animated conversation on ketchup vs. catsup when I was a bit tired and my mid-western inflection sounded odd to his west coast ears. I decided it was time to put an end to the debate and started researching both names.

What I thought was going to be a simple research turned into an in depth history study. Here is what I found.

According to Culinary Sleuth the difference is primarily in the spelling and pronunciation, but I found that may not truly be the case. They claim it is America’s most widely used condiment and can be found in 97% of all kitchens.

The basic ingredients in today’s ketchup are tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, salt, allspice, cloves and cinnamon. Onions, celery and other vegetables are frequent additions. Catsup may be made of tomatoes, onions, cayenne, sugar, white vinegar, cloves, cinnamon, celery seed and salt. So the two do not differ much except that catsup appears to be spicier than Ketchup.
Per this site, “catsup is known to most experts to use higher quality tomatoes. This fact is not known to most consumers, and they blindly purchase the inferior ketchup more often”.
All versions seem to attribute the origins to an Asian, Chinese or Indonesian spicy pickled fish sauce that was predominantly a soy and Worcestershire based sauce that sometimes also had anchovies and dates back to the 1600’s. English Sailors brought ke-tsiap home with them from their voyages where the name was changed and finally became ketchup. It wasn’t until the late 1700s though that New Englanders added tomatoes to the blend. Henry J. Heinz began making ketchup in 1876 but he was neither the inventor nor the first to bottle it. His recipe remains the same to this day.
During my search I also found the Brooks Catsup of Collinsville Illinois which is home to the world’s largest bottle of catsup that doubles as the town’s water tower. It was saved in recent years by a preservation society and restored to it’s original appearance. This product is owned by Bird’s Eye in today’s world and is produced in limited quantity.

I also found this interesting parody on catsup v. ketchup, or at least I hope it is a parody. LOL

An email I’d never seen, but made me laugh…

The Stranger 

A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on. 

As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey. But the stranger… he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies.

If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn’t seem to mind. 
   


Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.) 
   


Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home – not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our long time visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush.

 

My Dad didn’t permit the liberal use of alcohol but the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely!)
about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing.. 
   


I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked… And NEVER asked to leave. 
   


More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents’ den today, you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures. 



(Note: This should be required reading for every household!)
His name?…. 
We just call him ‘TV.’ 

He has a wife now….we call her ‘Computer.’ 

Their first child is “Cell Phone”. 

Second child “I Pod “.

And JUST BORN THIS YEAR WAS a Grandchild  IPAD.