Ed Icionsub

Last night I read a post on Jerry’s blog about how many businesses do not have their street address prominently displayed. I think he makes a really good point. There have been several times that I had to go downtown and search for an unfamiliar address. That is so very frustrating, especially when you are trying to get to an appointment on time.

I call this situation a Nashville conceit. The merchants and professionals seem to have an attitude of “if they want me they will know where I am.” That is SO wrong!

Friday night TV is never any good on the networks. But this is the one night of the week that most of the family is usually at home and hoping for entertainment. Thank goodness there are 100 cable channels to surf through and find something worth watching. Unfortunately we did not have a lot to pick from tonight. We ended up watching a Disney movie, called The Game Plan. It was a cute comedy starring Dwayne Johnson, the former pro wrestler called, The Rock.

Part of the adventure of growing up has to do with learning your limits and boundaries. Hopefully this will be accomplished in a controlled environment, surrounded by responsible people who care about you and your welfare. My parents taught me to drink alcohol while I was in my teens. We began by having a glass of wine with dinner every once in a while – special occasions like my parent’s anniversary, and certain holidays, like Thanksgiving. Then, we I turned 18, we would have a cold beer at baseball games or other sporting events.

I learned that I could handle one or two drinks without getting stupid drunk, and I learned from their example to never drive if I am drinking. In fact, I rarely drink alcohol in public, and any drinking that I do is always in moderation and never before driving. I feel blessed that my parents took this important life lessons so seriously and didn’t leave me to learn at the hands of my peers.

A large portion of Chile has been devastated by a series of major earthquakes. My heart goes out to the survivors and my prayers go out to those who have lost family members or their homes. The earthquakes were scattered along the west coast of South America, and Chile’s second largest city was particularly hard hit. We are waiting to hear news reports of the damages and I’m sure the United States will send humanitarian aid right away.

Today is my wife’s birthday. Although it is not a “big one” in reference to those birthdays that indicate a decade of history, as far as I am concerned, every birthday that she celebrates is a big one. We almost lost her to Cancer several years ago – it was a very dark period in our marriage and our lives. But thanks to wonderful doctors and modern medicine, she was able to beat the Cancer and we are blessed to have her still with us.

Love you honey – we are looking forward to taking you out to dinner to your favorite restaurant tonight! Happy Birthday!

The political race for governor has begun. The commercials started with the Super Bowl, and now they are on every night. None of the candidates are worth a hoot, but this is a very powerful position in the state, with a chance for presidential nod one day. I have to find one worth supporting, from a field of post turtles.

The love song I just posted by Whitney Houston is my wife’s favorite song. But mine is this one, by Bryan Adams:

This song by Whitney Houston was rated by Yahoo users as one of the top favorite love songs:

I probably should have posted this on Valentine’s Day, but I got busy . . .

Our holiday this month is to honor the American presidents, a combination holiday that includes the dates of birth of both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. This is a good day to reflect back on all of our presidents, and consider the contributions that all of these men made to our country. Some of them had to deal with very tough and stressful times, others enjoyed a brief period of national prosperity, growth and change.

I know that I did learn about each of the presidents while in school, many years ago. But to be honest, I don’t think I retained enough of that information to be able to name each president, much less in order of their service to our country. So I intend to make a visit to the public library tomorrow and find a book that will refresh my rusty memory and give me a better insight into the real history of our country and its elected leaders.

Valentine’s Day sometimes sneaks up on me. If I am not in the stores buying groceries or household supplies, I don’t notice the aisles and aisles of displays of chocolates and large red cardboard hearts. I always try to buy a nice box of Godiva chocolates for my wife. She is not a big fan of chocolates, and especially forgoes cheap chocolates. But once a year I know she does appreciate a gold ballatin with a red ribbon from the Godiva store. And, of course, a Hallmark card that poetically says I love her.