all you need is love

annie is too young to write letters to santa, but i liked this letter written by my niece gretchen.

Dear Santa,
All I really only want for Christmas is lots of love and some money. I haven't been good but I haven't been bad.
Have a Merry Christmas
From,
Gretchen

gretchen and annie may 2006

howdy y'all

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.
The Midland
Boston
North Central
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The South
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

i saw this here.
when i was in istanbul, turkey, a guy staying at our hostel guessed from my accent that i was from west coast united states. he was right. i guess i do have a west coast accent (or lack thereof). although true to my utah roots, i do sometimes say fer instead of for. sorry.

the truth about nutrition

this was sent to me by a fellow ESL teacher.

For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting medical studies:


1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Americans, British or Canadians.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the Americans, British or Canadians.

3. The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Americans, British or Canadians.

4. The Italians drink large amounts of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the Americans, British or Canadians.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Americans, British or Canadians.

6. Ukrainians drink a lot of vodka, eat a lot of perogies, cabbage rolls and suffer fewer heart attacks than the Americans, British or Canadians.

CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

i'm not a barbie girl

hate is a strong word, but i really really really don't like barbie. i never liked playing with her as a child, and i still don't. for 3 hours the other day i had to play barbies (really only one barbie, and the rest puppets, stuffed animals, or little people pirates) with a cute little girl i was babysitting. barbie is just so snotty with her perfect body, perfect hair, and self centered attitude. all the other characters have to watch her dance all day, give her presents, and stay out of her room. i never had a real barbie growing up. the only "barbie" i ever had that i liked was ms. hippo, a veluptuous doll with a hippo head, who would sometimes play with ms. giddyup, my sister's "barbie" that had a horse head. i just hope annie doesn't grow up wanting to play barbies. i'll just have to send her to play with liz or emily.

to dan

when you're there, i sleep lengthwise and when you're gone i sleep diagonal in my bed.

Paco

Paco
March 1995 - November 25, 2006

Paco passed away quietly after a short but courageous fight with pancrieatitis surrounded by family on November 25, 2006. Not knowing his real family he instantly became part of the Curtis home when Blair brought him home as a small puppy. Paco was always kind and gentle with kids and loved the mail man and UPS trucks. Paco liked to dress up in women's clothes and was well known for his many tricks. Paco was preceded in death by his sister Zurnkey, favorite nephew Toby Blackburn, and good friends Smooch Lowder and Cindy Jorgensen. He is survived by Mark & LaFaunda Curtis, Chame Blackburn (Jon), Michele Bolke (Dan), Blair Curtis (Maisy), Stuart Curtis (Jane), Grant Hall and many friends. He loved Halloween and garbage day. He will be greatly missed as he truly was part of the family and our best friend.