Good Morning:  It's Sunday April 15, 2001!
BIRTHDAYS:  Leonardo da Vinci, 1452; Roy Clark, 1933; Elizabeth Montgomery, 1933; Claudia Cardinale, 1938; Michael Cooper, 1956; Evelyn Ashford, 1957.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1865 President Abraham Lincoln died from wounds sustained at the Ford Theater where he was shot by John Wilkes Booth.
On this date in 1912 the passenger liner S.S. Titanic sank.
On this date in 1955 Ray Kroc opened his first McDonald's restaurant.  The slogan at the time was "G.S.C.V." (Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value).
MEANINGLESS FACTS:  The United States has no circulation problems with 455 billion dollars pulsing through pocket and purse at any given time... There are 119 grooves on the circumference of a quarter... Three women have appeared on U.S. currency:  Martha Washington, on the $1 silver certificate; Pocahontas, on the back of the 1875 $20 bill; and women's suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony, on the 1979 silver dollar.
TRIVIA:  What is the tallest tree in the world?
     How about a new word for Sunday:  onomatopoeia -- noun:  a word that imitates the sound with which it is associated.  Let's try that one out on a friend...
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Thanks to AB:  Did you know?
President George W. Bush’s dog Spot is the only second-generation presidential pet in history. Born in the White House on March 17, 1989, she’s the daughter of former President George Bush's dog, Millie.
Source: whitehouse.gov
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From a friend:  24 Things   23 Things to Always Remember And One Thing Never to Forget
 
   1. Your presence is a present to the world.
   2. You're unique and one of a kind.
   3. Your life can be what you want it to be.
   4. Take the days just one at a time.
   5. Count your blessings, not your troubles.
   6. You'll make it through whatever comes along.
   7. Within you are so many answers.
   8. Understand, have courage, be strong.
   9. Don't put limits on yourself.
   10. So many dreams are waiting to be realized.
   11. Decisions are too important to leave to chance.
   12. Reach for your peak, your goal, and your prize.
   13. Nothing wastes more energy than worrying.
   14. The longer one carries a problem, the heavier it gets.
   15. Don't take things too seriously.
   16. Live a life of serenity, not a life of regrets.
   17. Remember that a little love goes a long way.
   18. Remember that a lot ... goes forever.
   19. Remember that friendship is a wise investment.
   20. Life's treasures are people ... together.
   21. Realize that it's never to late.
   22. Do ordinary things in extraordinary ways.
   23. Have health and hope and happiness.
   23. Take the time to wish upon a star.
 
And don't ever forget ... For even a day ... How very special you are in the love of God....you are special to me and above all to God,,,
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Thanks to LBS for this one:
The aspiring psychiatrists were attending their first class on emotional extremes.  "Just to establish some parameters," said the professor, to the student from Arkansas, "What is the opposite of joy?"
"Sadness," said the student.
"And the opposite of depression?" he asked of the young lady from Oklahoma.
"Elation," said she.
"And you sir," he said to the young man from Texas, "How about the opposite of woe?"
The Texan replied, "Sir, I believe that would be giddy-up."
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Thanks to M/M Riverrats (and my apologies to Californians, all of whom I trust have a good sense of humor...)
YOU KNOW YOU'RE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IF:
You make over $250,000 a year and still can't afford a house.
It's sprinkling outside, so you leave for work an hour early to avoid all the weather-related accidents.
Your child's third grade teacher has purple hair, a nose ring, and is named Breeze.
You've been to a baby shower for an infant who has two mothers and a sperm donor.
You have a very strong opinion about where your coffee beans are grown, and can taste the difference between Sumatran and Ethiopian.
You know which restaurant serves the freshest arugula.
A really great parking space can move you to tears.
The guy in line at Starbucks, wearing the baseball cap, sunglasses, and looks like George Clooney, IS George Clooney.
Your car insurance costs as much as your house payment.
Your hairdresser is straight, your plumber is gay, and your Mary Kay rep is a guy in drag.
It's sprinkling out, and there's a report on every news channel about "THE STORM!"
Over 85% of the cities, towns, and streets start with San, Los, El, La, Santa, De La, or De Los.
Two overcast days in a row drive you mad.
A family of four owns six vehicles.
Everyone who lives here knows that hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and snowstorms are way worse than earthquakes, which are, after all, over almost as soon as you realize what's happening.
Even if the store is across the street, you drive there.
And finally, a question:
Q. How many Californians does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A. None. Californians cannot afford to turn on the lights.
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The following are from a friend:
Several years ago a cartoon appeared in the Saturday Review of Literature in which little George Washington was standing with an ax in his hand. Before him, lying on the ground was the famous cherry tree. He had already made his smug admission that he had done it -- after all, he "...cannot tell a lie." But, his father was standing there, exasperated, saying, "All right, so you admit it! You always admit it! The question is, when are you going to stop doing it."
The growing problem facing many pastor’s today is not how to get people to own up to sin, although that still mains a task; but rather how to get them to stop from returning to sin. Lost in the shuffle of religious terms is the true meaning of repentance – a change of mind, a turning from one direction to another.
Most people do not like to dwell on the horrors of the crucifixion. It is too blooding, too horrible.  But the crucifixion is the perfect picture of just how ugly sin is. If anything can help us turn from our sin, it should be a clear and perfect view of the horror of sin and its cost. It should be the cross and all of its ugliness.
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From a friend:
A father gave his young girl a generous weekly allowance, on the condition that she kept good records of how she spent the money. At the end of the month, the dad was going to check on how she spent the money.
When he checked on how she did, he was delighted that she had kept good records. But he came across several items that were listed as TLOK. In fact, about 1/5 of her money was listed this way. He asked her what TLOK meant.
She said, "Well, it’s this way. Sometimes I did not jot down the amounts I spent. When I sat down to try to jot down all that I spent, I couldn’t for the life of me remember where I had spent all that money. I couldn’t make my accounts balance, so I placed several dollars under TLOK."
The father said, "But what does it mean?" She said it means, "THE LORD ONLY KNOWS!"
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ANSWER:  Perhaps my California readers got this one right away -- others may be tempted to say Uncle Sam's Money Tree (tomorrow being 'black Monday' -- Taxes are due, you know) -- but the tallest species is the coast redwood, and the tallest example of it is in the Redwood Creek Grove, Humbold County, California.  It measured (at my last information) 367.8 feet!
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