04.07.2009

April is almost here! It's my favorite month of the year, probably because my birthday is in April. April's birthstone is the diamond and the flower of the month is the daisy or sweet pea. ~Phyllis

April first is April Fool's Day, and it is observed throughout the western world. Here are some sayings about fools...

It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and leave no doubt.
-Mark Twain

Looking foolish does the spirit good.
-John Updike

A fool must now and then be right by chance.
-Cowper

Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed.
-Mark Twain
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Also in April;
April 12 is Easter.
April 22 is Earth Day.
April 24 is Arbor Day in the USA.
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To learn how Earth Day began in 1970, click on the following link
http://earthday.envirolink.org/history.html
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And for information about Arbor Day, click on this link;
http://www.arborday.org/arborday/index.cfm
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Remember these?
http://theimaginaryworld.com/cbarch.html
A fun archive of cereal boxes past and present. You might see some of your old favorites there.
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Do it yourself tips to save a little cash!
1. Keep your closets and cabinet doors closed. This will cut down on the square footage that you are heating in the summer or cooling in the winter. You could save up to $50 a year.
2. Turn down the thermostat on your water heater. Usually they are set at 140 degrees so you have a shorter wait for hot water. But if you turn it down to 120, you could save up to $30 a year on your electric bill, not to mention that your risk of scalding will be decreased.
3. Replace the filter on your central air conditioner once a month. This will keep the air flowing freely and reduce the strain on the blower motor. You could save up to $40 a year.
4. Use your microwave instead of the range whenever possible; it consumes half the power.

If you have any other tips for saving money, send them to me at Twofriendsnewsletter@gmail.com and I'll include them in a future issue.
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COOL PICK
This weeks Cool Pick website is
http://penzu.com/features
At Penzu, you can keep an online journal. Its totally free and private. Plus, since its online, you can write a journal entry wherever you are, as long as you have access to a computer! If you're wondering what you could write about in your journal, how about your personal goals? Or use your journal to work through any problems you are going through...or just as a creative outlet!
There are many benefits to keeping a journal, such as the ones listed at http://www.mymotivator.com/journal_top10.htm
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Just for fun!

http://www.mrpicassohead.com/create.html?skin=original
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Beautiful pictures of roads...
http://geniusbeauty.com/beautiful-places/amazing-roads-photos/
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To find out how many servings of fruits and vegetables you need, go to
http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/
Here you will also find out about the benefits of eating healthy, you will also find recipes and more.

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Hello, good to be back. Thanks to everyone that sent get well messages. It was a huge encouragement to me. I am feeling a good deal better, but still not 100%. Our weather yesterday was lovely so John got me set up on a sturdy lawn chair so I could enjoy the sunshine. I'm sure it was good for my body (making all that Vitamin D) and I know it was good for my mood. Sometimes the weather can be three steps forward and one step back however, and so I guess that's how we now find ourselves under a winter weather advisory; the weather guy is predicting some accumulation in the mountains and that is us. My grandma would have called this our Easter storm. Okay, I'd better get down to business as I have strict instructions from John to not spend all day sitting at the computer. Oh, I also I wanted to say that Phyllis did her half of the newsletter last week so that's why she was talking about it almost being April.
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~Tips from Cheryl~

Have A Bit of Salad Dressing Leftover? Don't throw it out. You can stretch it out by adding several teaspoons of vinegar and shaking well. Add 1/2 cup of sour cream and mix well. You have a tasty "new" dressing.

Understanding Product-Dating Terms Here's what they mean: Expiration Date: Last date the item should be eaten or used. Freshness Date: Manufacturer's stamp that tells how long freshness is guaranteed. Sell or Pull Date: Last day the item should be sold in a store. It should be removed from shelf after that date.

When Hand-Washing Dishes To prevent grease from sticking to pots, pans and dishes while cleaning in the sink, add about 1/2 cup of vinegar to the wash water. It will do the job.
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We all know walking is good for us, but sometimes it's hard to get started. Try walking with your computer. Beginning April 8, you'll be able to create a personalized walking plan on the American Heart Association's Start! site ( http://mystartonline.org/ ). You take a ten-question quiz; the site selects one of seven walking plans matched to your fitness level, goals and lifestyle. You can even plug in your zip code to find a walking buddy and beginner-friendly local route maps.
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Missouri

--The 'Show Me State' expression may have began in 1899 when Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver stated, "I'm from Missouri and you've got to show me."
--The first successful parachute jump to be made from a moving airplane was made by Captain Berry at St. Louis, in 1912.
--The most destructive tornado on record occurred in Annapolis. In 3 hours, it tore through the town on March 18, 1925 leaving a 980-foot wide trail of demolished buildings, uprooted trees, and overturned cars. It left 823 people dead and almost 3,000 injured.
--At the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, Richard Blechyden, served tea with ice and invented iced tea.
--Also, at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904, the ice cream cone was invented. An ice cream vendor ran out of cups and asked a waffle vendor to help by rolling up waffles to hold ice cream.
--Stockton, Missouri was home to Two Friends Newsletter founder Toni Groves from the time she was 6 months old till age 3.
--Missouri ties with Tennessee as the most neighborly state in the union, bordered by 8 states.
--Warsaw holds the state record for the low temperature of -40 degrees on February 13, 1905. --Warsaw holds the state record for the high temperature recorded, 118 degrees on July 14, 1954.
--Kansas City has more miles of boulevards than Paris and more fountains than any city except Rome.
--Kansas City has more miles of freeway per capita than any metro area with more than 1 million residents.
--Jefferson National Expansion Memorial consists of the Gateway Arch, the Museum of Westward Expansion, and St. Louis' Old Courthouse. During a nationwide competition in 1947-48, architect Eero Saarinen's inspired design for a 630-foot stainless steel arch was chosen as a perfect monument to the spirit of the western pioneers. Construction of the Arch began in 1963 and was completed on October 28, 1965. The Arch has foundations sunken 60 feet into the ground, and is built to withstand earthquakes and high winds. It sways up to one inch in a 20 mph wind, and is built to sway up to 18 inches.
--In 1889, Aunt Jemima pancake flour, invented at St. Joseph, Missouri, was the first self-rising flour for pancakes and the first ready-mix food ever to be introduced commercially.
--The tallest man in documented medical history was Robert Pershing Wadlow from St. Louis. He was 8 feet, 11.1 inches tall.
--The most powerful earthquake to strike the United States occurred in 1811, centered in New Madrid, Missouri. The quake shook more than one million square miles, and was felt as far as 1,000 miles away.
--President Harry S. Truman was born in Lamar, May 8, 1884.
--Missouri was named after a tribe called Missouri Indians; meaning "town of the large canoes" --Jefferson City, Missouri, the state's capital, was named for Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States.
--In 1812 Missouri was organized as a territory and later admitted the 24th state of the Union on August 10, 1821.
--In 1865 Missouri became the first slave state to free its slaves.
--Laura Elizabeth Ingalls, writer of Little House on the Prairie grew up in Missouri.
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New product review...Vaseline Clinical Therapy One day in March 2008 I was hanging out with my friend and her two daughters. The youngest was 7 at the time and, well you know how honest kids can be. She and I were holding hands and she was looking at the back of my hand and said so sweet and innocently that my hand looked like a leather football. lol Since then I have tried numerous lotions and I never got rid of that scaly look. I ordered a free sample of Vaseline Clinical Therapy and when it arrived I immediately put some on the back of my hands and I am so excited to say that within two days the backs of my hands are smooth and very hydrated looking. I can't wait to see Hailey again to see what she thinks. :)
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Cheryl sent this to me and I hope you'll be UP for it...

Lovers of the English language might enjoy this. It is yet another example of why people learning English have trouble with the language. Learning the nuances of English makes it a difficult language. There is a two-letter word in English that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is UP. It is listed in the dictionary as being used as an [adv], [prep], [adj], [n] or[v]

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends and we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has a real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP . When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets UP the earth. When it does not rain for awhile, things dry UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP!
And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions.

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.
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I keep vitamins, pain relievers, etc. in a large plastic basket in a cabinet to keep the pills away from the moisture of the bathroom. To keep from having to search through bottles to get what I'm looking for, I use a Sharpie marker and write on the lid what is in the bottle. That way I can see at a glance what I'm looking for. While I'm at it I also write on the lid the dosage. Keeps me from having to read the mouse-print label each time to check how many to take.
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New stamp issue...

Richard Wright

On April 9, former Chicago Post Office employee and renowned author Richard Wright (1908-1960) becomes the 25th inductee into its Literary Arts series. The dedication ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. in the lobby of the Chicago Post Office, 433 W. Harrison St.

Best remembered for his controversial 1940 novel, Native Son, and his 1945 autobiography, Black Boy, Wright drew on a wide range of literary traditions, including protest writing and detective fiction, to craft unflinching portrayals of racism in American society.

The stamp artwork by Kadir Nelson of San Diego, CA, features a portrait of Richard Wright in front of snow-swept tenements on the South Side of Chicago, a scene that recalls the setting of Native Son. Nelson’s portrait of Wright was based on a circa 1945 photograph. Nelson worked under the direction of art director Carl T. Herrman of Carlsbad, CA.
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Unusual town names for Connecticut:

Giants Neck
Mianus
Moodus
Moosup
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Is white your favorite color? Here's what it means around the world:
--A white flag is the universal symbol for truce.
--White means mourning in China and Japan.
--Angels are usually depicted wearing white robes.
--The ancient Greeks wore white to bed to ensure pleasant dreams.
--The Egyptian pharaohs wore white crowns.
--The ancient Persians believed all gods wore white.
--A “white elephant” is a rare, pale elephant considered sacred to the people of India, Thailand, Burma, and Sri Lanka; in this country, it is either a possession that costs more than it is worth to keep or an item that the owner doesn't want but can't get rid of.
--It's considered good luck to be married in a white garment.
--White heat is a state of intense enthusiasm, anger, devotion, or passion.
--To whitewash is to gloss over defects or make something seem presentable that isn't.
--A “white knight” is a rescuer.
--A white list contains favored items (as opposed to a blacklist).
--A “whiteout” occurs when there is zero visibility during a blizzard.
--A “white sale” is a sale of sheets, towels, and other bed and bath items.
--A “whited sepulcher” is a person who is evil inside but appears good on the outside, a hypocrite.
--“White lightning” is slang for moonshine, a homebrewed alcohol.
--A white room is a clean room as well as a temperature-controlled, dust-free room for precision instruments.
--White water is the foamy, frothy water in rapids and waterfalls.
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Cheryl reminds us to visit http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/ It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on 'donating a mammogram' (pink window in the middle). This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for advertising.
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Find out a getaway that you can reach with one tank of gas or less.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/TankOfGas
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This is a really cool site sent to us by Cheryl:

If you are an avid reader of newspapers (live or on the internet), as am I, you will enjoy this -

Just put your mouse on a city anywhere in the world and the newspaper headlines pop up... Double click and the page gets larger...

http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/flash/

Also, if you look at the European papers, the far left side of Germany will pop up as The Stars & Stripes (European edition, of course).

AND, this site changes everyday with the publication of new editions of the newspapers.
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Fifteen downloads to pep up your older pc:

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.docommand=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9129351
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~Marie's laughter~

A woman burst out of the examining room screaming after her young physician tells her she is pregnant. The director of the clinic stopped her and asked what the problem was. After she tells him what happened, the doctors had her sit down and relax in another room and he marched down the hallway where the woman’s physician was and demanded, “What is wrong with you? Mrs. Miller is 60 years old, has six grown children and nine grandchildren, and you told her she was pregnant?” The young physician continued to write his notes and without looking up at his superior, asked, “Does she still have the hiccups?”
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John Cadbury

A young Quaker named John Cadbury opened a grocery in Birmingham, England, in 1824. In 1831, he began selling bitter drinking chocolate and cocoa. In those days, sweet chocolate confections were unknown.

In 1847, Cadbury was joined by his brother Benjamin to form a business called Cadbury Brothers of Birmingham. About this time the pair started making some of the first "eating chocolate" in England.

Sweet chocolate quickly became a luxury of the rich. In 1853, the Cadburys received a royal warrant to make chocolates for Queen Victoria. Benjamin left the company in 1860 and a year later John Cadbury retired, leaving his sons Richard and George in charge of the business.

Over the years chocolate went from being the treat of the rich to a common snack. In 1993, the United Kingdom ranked fifth in the world in chocolate consumption. The British eat an average of 16.09 pounds of chocolate per person each year, and Cadbury dominates that market' The company introduced its famous Cadbury Creme Egg in 1971 and entered the U.S. market in 1978.
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Real celebrity names:

Sheena Easton -- Sheena Shirley Orr
Buddy Ebsen -- Christian Rudolph Ebsen, Jr.
Barbara Eden -- Barbara Huffman
Blake Edwards -- William Blake McEdwards
Vince Edwards -- Vicent Edward Zoino
Duke Ellington -- Edward Kennedy Ellington
Gloria Estefan -- Gloria Maria Fajardo
Dale Evans -- Frances Octavia Smith
Chad Everett -- Raymond Lee Cramton
Don Everly -- Isaac Donald Everly
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...breaking news...April 9...Happy Birthday John...love you bunches...
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