Butterfly Award

My very good friends Becky and Meg have awarded me the Buttefly Award.



Thank you! I am honored.

The rules for this award are to link to the person who gave it to you, post the (updated) graphic and pass it on to 10 other bloggers.

I must admit that while I love blog awards, I always hate being limited to choosing a set number. I read every blog on my bloglines because I like the blog very much. I read far more than 10 blogs. Sigh

Here are my 10 in no particular order. (Don't count, please. Ahem.)

Doc
Carole
Heather
MamaB
Kate
Hillary
Sabrina
Michelle
Summer Fae
Elisheva Hannah Levin
Audrey

Yes, I realize this is 11. In my defense, Meg awarded Audrey, so perhaps it's just an honorable mention?. Audey has been so good to me, so supportive and such a wonderful friend that I just could not leave her off my list. Really, she's great.

Mean Parents ~or~ Song Stuck in our Heads

Which cartoon was it that used to give alternative titles for each episode? Bullwinkle? Anyway, this post needs two titles.

Bob came home at lunch today and said he had a song stuck in his head. And then he sang it. Thomas went crazy, because he hates the song. Family Guy did an episode on this particular song. (Yes, I'm an awful mother and let my son watch Family Guy, which is clearly an adult cartoon.)

So Bob and I kept singing the song to the point Thomas was putting his hands over his ears shrieking "Noooooo." All in fun, of course. We wouldn't really torture the poor kid. He was laughing.

So I simply had to hit You Tube, so we could listen to the real version.

Now it will not only be stuck in Bob's head, but mine as well. And probably Thomas's as well.

I plan on turning off Abba, which Thomas does torture me with daily, and playing this song the rest of the afternoon.

Oh, I'm evil. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha (my evil cackle) Payback for Abba.

1856

For those studying westward travel, steamships or US rivers, I stumbled upon a cool website.

It seems in 1856, there was a Steamship Arabia which traveled the Missouri River. The steamship was built in 1853 and carried passengers on part of their journey west. It was 171 feet long and could carry 222 tons.



On August 30, 1856, she left St. Louis bound for Kansas City, Council Bluffs, Sioux City, and beyond. It snagged a tree a mile from shore, which was one of the biggest hazards of river travel in the time. It sank within minutes. Fortunately, though, the cabins remained above water and Arabia's single lifeboat brought all passengers to safety. Only one mule died.

Through the years, many attempts were made to find The Arabia. In 1987, a four-man team of Bob, David, and Greg Hawley along with Jerry Mackey set out to find The Arabia. Folklore was that it was buried on a farm owned by Norman Sortor.

They found it, the excavated it, and The Arabia is one of only two ships to ever be discovered with its full cargo intact.

They found a time capsule. Countless artifacts, brand new, were aboard the ship. It is a true way to look back in time, to 1856, and see what treasures people used then.

Although Thomas and I are not studying the westward journey at the moment, we have visited the website. We spent a little over an hour there, watching the video, reading the history and looking at the wonderful pictures.

If I lived in Kansas City, this museum would be a must-see for us.