ANSWER TO THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY AND EARTH-FRIENDLY FRIDAY

ANSWER TO THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY: Wikipedia shows 18. But there are at least twelve according to yahooanswers.com:

Andorra
Bahamas
Brunei
Kuwait
Maldives
Monaco
Nauru
Oman
Qatar
United Arab Emirates
Vanuatu

NOW FOR EARTH-FRIENDLY FRIDAY:

Winter has come and spring is just around the corner so it's time to start thinking about the garden. One of the best ways to help save the Earth is to compost and it's easier than you might have thought. Check out the info on the compost web page and see what you think. But remember, even a little bit means a lot...less.

So if you're only composting your coffee grounds and putting them back into your garden, that's more than most and it's saving space in the landfills while helping to regenerate your soil. Plus, your plants will love you for it. And we can all use a lot more love. :)

THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY

It seems like just the other day I was cooped up in my house, snowbound and enjoying the holidays. But I look up on the wall calendar and see the month is already more than half over.

At work, they handed out our W-2's. It made me think about one of the two certainties in life: Death and Taxes.

Well, at least the second part of those two certain things: the taxes part.

QUESTION: Do you know how many countries don't require their citizens to pay taxes?

And, can you name it/them?

ANSWER TO WORD FOR WEDNESDAY

Smarmy:

Cheesy, pretentious, similar to snobby.

WORD FOR WEDNESDAY

Writers out there, you should know more words than most. So here's my challenge: tell me what the word for Wednesday means - Without googling it or looking it up. Be brave fellow blogging-buddies and take a guess if you don't really know. It's more fun that way.

WORD FOR WEDNESDAY: SMARMY

Check back around 3:00 p.m. and you'll see the answer.

TWO REASONS TO CELEBRATE

First of all it's Inauguration Day and a new beginning!

And second:

Kreativ Blogger Award??? For Moi


What?...I can't even spell it right. But thanks to Rena Jones I've been nominated.

It's kewl to think my blogging-buddies enjoy reading my stuff - now if only publishing houses thought so too. :)

Here's a list of some other blogs I'm nominating for this award, check them out, I think they are worth reading:

1. Chocolate for Inspiration by Christina Farley;

2. Hello Ello by Ellen Oh;

3. A Little Sweet, A Little Sour by Cindy Pon;

4. Summer Friend by Danette Haworth;

5. Colorado Writer by Stephanie Blake;

6. Brenda's Page; and,

7. Marcia Hoehne's blog

HAPPY READING!

LET'S CELEBRATE - IT'S MLK DAY!

It's MLK Day! And in these hard economic times, I think it's nice to remember that Dr. King said:

"Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead.

But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop."

Martin Luther King, Jr., April 3, 1968, Mason Temple, Memphis, TN

(Side note: it's my 26th year wedding anniversary!!!)

Sasha - Our Siberian Husky

Sasha wasn't in a talkative mood. We'd taken her to the dog park so she was tired and wanted to be left alone.

Have you ever tried to get your kid to do something on cue? . . . so, you understand.

Siberian Huskies are usually very friendly dogs. And they can have different colorings. But, I think they are all beautiful. Of course, I've always been an animal person.

We have one frog, two dogs, and a cat - right now. But in the past, we've had iguanas, hedgehogs, horses, birds and more. So, maybe I'm not the person to ask, but I say animals are very smart - well...some of them are. Just like people, some are smarter than others. And, some are nicer than others.

People can be grouchy, anti-social and quiet but, if you find those same traits in a dog, its thought of as "dangerous".

I say it's all in the personality. . . of the person and the pet.

And, I say Siberian Huskies talk. Sasha even picked out her own name. I wish I had filmed it but - sadly - I didn't.

My daughter, Kara, wrote down ten different names, each on a separate piece of paper then she spread them out around the floor.

We all stood and watched as Sasha went up to one particular piece of paper. She picked it up in her mouth. Kara read the name.

Jake didn't like it. He said it sounded slutty. So, Kara - wanting to please her brother - put all the names back in a circle and sat Sasha in the center of the circle. We watched as she walked back over to that same piece of paper and peed on it. That was it.

Now, she's slutty-Sasha. We cut it short: Sasha. But...she does love attention.