Inner Peace

If you can start the day without caffeine,

If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,

If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,

If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,

If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you anytime,

If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,

If you can conquer tension without medical help,

If you can relax without liquor,

If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,

Then You Are Probably The Family Dog!

Thanks to Denney Crane

Where do they all come from?

On Memorial Day I did a blog post about how amazed I am by the number of visitors to this blog. I suggested a contest for people to guess some of the statistics, but that idea went over like a lead balloon.

So, rather than make it a contest I thought I would share the information. I realize that nobody but me is really interested, but since I have compiled the data I am going to include it here.

So, between April 20 and May 30, 2009 (excluding May 27 due to a technical error), this blog has had 632 readers that have come from:

3 continents

• Americas (619 visits)
• Asia (8 visits)
• Europe (5 visits)

From these 3 continents there have been visitors from 8 sub-continents

Americas

• North America (614 visits)
• South America (5 visits)

Asia

• Eastern Asia (2 visits)
• Southeast Asia (2 visits)
• Southern Asia (1 visit)
• Western Asia (3 visits)

Europe

• Northern Europe (3 visits)
• Western Europe (2 visits)

From these 8 sub-continents there have been visitors from 11 countries

North America

• Canada (1 visit)
• United States (613 visits)

South America

• Argentina (5 visits)

Eastern Asia

• South Korea (2 visits)

Southeast Asia

• Vietnam (2 visits)

Southern Asia

• India (1 visit)

Western Asia

• Israel (3 visits)

Northern Europe

• United Kingdom (3 visits)

Western Europe

• Belgium (1 visit)
• France (1 visit)

Finally, from the US there have been visits from 33 states & the District of Columbia

• Arizona (7 visits)
• Arkansas (6 visits)
• California (8 visits)
• Colorado (4 visits)
• Delaware (2 visits)
• District of Columbia (2 visits)
• Florida (9 visits)
• Georgia (3 visits)
• Illinois (8 visits)
• Indiana (2 visits)
• Iowa (1 visit)
• Kentucky (2 visits)
• Louisiana (1 visit)
• Maryland (2 visits)
• Massachusetts (2 visits)
• Michigan (7 visits)
• Mississippi (1 visit)
• Missouri (2 visits)
• Nebraska (3 visits)
• Nevada (6 visits)
• New Jersey (4 visits)
• New York (10 visits)
• North Carolina (3 visits)
• Ohio (2 visits)
• Oklahoma (2 visits)
• Oregon (23 visits)
• Pennsylvania (8 visits)
• South Carolina (2 visits)
• Texas (465 visits)
• Utah (1 visit)
• Virginia (7 visits)
• Washington (6 visits)
• West Virginia (1 visit)
• Wisconsin (1 visit)

Thanks to everyone for stopping by!

Taking Chance - A Must See Movie

Mary and I just finished watching Taking Chance, an incredible movie. It was written by Lieutenant Colonel Michael Strobl, USMC. It is about his experience escorting the body of 19-year-old Lance Corporal Chance Phelps to his hometown for burial.

I strongly recommend you make the effort to witness this incredible portrayal of “a uniquely non-political film about the war in Iraq, the film pays tribute to all of the men and women who have given their lives in military service as well as their families.”

Click on the image above to learn about this HBO Film. Be sure to click on the menu items on the top corner to see photos, videos, etc. I am also including some links below that you might be interested in.

Read The Original Trip Report

Article From The Marine Corps Times

Beer Pong...Without The Beer - Amazing

Olivet Nazarene University students turn a college drinking game affectionately known as beer pong on its ear. The result is a YouTube sensation.

Read The Article Here

Need some inspiration on the last Friday in May?

A remarkable story. This 12 minute video will inspire you.

Thanks to PrayersForBlowouts

Facebook Reunites Mother With Long-Lost Son

Mother reunited with abducted son 27 years after his non-custodial father fled with him to Hungary.

Read The London Times Article Here

Free Entertainment In Fort Worth

Frugal In Fort Worth has a great idea for free entertainment in Fort Worth. Click the link below to read about it.

Free Fort Worth Entertainment

Gamestop: Buy 2, Get 1 Free Used Video Games

Gamestop has a promotion for Buy 2 Get 1 Free on used games in store or online. This is good May 28-31 only. Click the link below for details.

Gamestop: Buy 2 Get 1 Free

Store Locator

A Little Stevie Nicks From PS22

These kids sound great.

Thanks to Keith at BagOfNothing

Worst Parallel Parking Job

This is impressive...or scary...

Thanks to Keith at BagOfNothing

Chance To Win Randy Alcorn Book, Software & Subscription

Bible Study Magazine and Eternal Perspective Ministries are giving away signed copies of Randy Alcorn’s book, Bible Study Software, and subscriptions to Bible Study Magazine. Read more at Frugal In Fort Worth.

Extreme Computer Desk

Those crazy guys over at Popular Mechanics have taken the computer desk to the extreme. Click on the picture below to read the article.

Always Select The Right Tool For The Job

NEVER overload your trailer


Thanks to Big Things........Small County

Make Beautiful (or not so beautiful) Music

Frugal In Fort Worth just forwarded this little time killer to me. Just click the link below and then start clicking on the squares. You can also click and drag the mouse over multiple squares at one time.

Make your own little bit of music and beats using the ToneMatrix. It's a simple grid in which you click to add "tones" and the ToneMatrix automatically starts playing your tune. You can add and remove the tones as you go in real-time to create a wide range of music.

Make Some Music Here

JCPenney - $10 Off $25 - Ends 6/2/09

JCPenney has a $10 off coupon for a single purchase of $25 or more. This coupon is good through June 2, 2009. As always, read the fine print before using the coupon.

JCPenney $10 Off A Single Purchase of $25 Or More

For other great money saving ideas visit Frugal In Fort Worth

The Dustbuster Turns 30: Suck Out the Candles

Popular Mechanics has an online article about the 30th anniversary of the Dustbuster. For as popular as it was, it sure did not work very well.


Read The Popular Mechanics Article Here

Stupid Criminals

Gotta love the entertainment stupid criminals provide...

Sip some FREE frozen lemonade From Corner Street Bakery

From my wife's blog "Frugal In Fort Worth": Corner Bakery is offering a FREE frozen Mango or Pomegranate lemonade.

Read The Blog Post Here

Love and FEAR: Vince Antonucci

A blog I follow had a post this morning that I found intriguing. He starts the post with this statement:

My friend Dean Trune teaches that we need to love God and fear God. Our love for God drives us towards Him. Our fear of God drives us away from temptation and sin. He believes that for most who fall away from God, the problem wasn't a lack of love but a lack of fear.

Vince wrote a great book that I think everyone that either is a Christian or knows a Christian should read. Learn more about the book by clicking the image above.

Read Vince's Full Post Here

Tips For Travelers Could Save Your Life

CNN has some good tips to keep in mind when you are traveling. The link to the article is below.

"Situational awareness is the foundation of personal security," says Robert Siciliano, a personal security expert and the author of "The Safety Minute."

The need to maintain situational awareness extends to every minute you're on vacation -- whether you are walking down a street, riding a bus or shopping in a crowded market, Siciliano says.

These tips for travelers could save your life

Frugal In Fort Worth

I wanted to tell you about a brand new blog, Frugal In Fort Worth.

 Frugal In Fort Worth will share ideas and encouragement on becoming financially free as well as solutions for reducing your family expenses.

So, take a moment and look around the blog. The best place to get started is by clicking on the My Story link at the top of the page. If you want to be alerted when new posts are made you can subscribe to either e-mail alerts or the RSS feed on the upper right corner.

I hope you enjoy it, and don't forget that you can send me 25% of everything you save from these money saving tips. I promise to use it responsibly. :)

PetsMart Coupon

Kensington wanted to give a shout-out to all of her K-9 friends out there by sharing a 15% coupon to PetsMart. It is good from June 4-7.

PetsMart 15% Off Coupon

For more money saving tips go read Frugal In Fort Worth.

Hillside House From Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Remember the Ferrari in Ferris Bueller's Day Off? What about the garage it was parked in? Well, the house that garage belongs to is for sale. The 4 bedroom, 4 bath home is listed for $2,300,000.00, but I think I might make a low ball offer.

Click on the picture to see the full real estate listing.

We Might Be On National TV Tonight

Back in the fall Mary and I spent a day at the State Fair of Texas. While standing in line to buy a Fletcher's Corny Dog we noticed a commotion at the next food vendor over. Not wanting to miss out on the excitement we wandered over to see what was going on. Much to our surprise we found a film crew setting up to shoot a story on some of the deep fried treats that fairs are known to produce. In this case the crew was from the show Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel.

We know we were in the background for several shots, but after editing there is no way to guess if we might be included or not. Let us know if you see us since this show is not broadcast over our antennae.

Article: Lonesome Dove featured on Bizarre Foods

Bizarre Foods, May 26, 9:00 PM Central

FREE Stuff!

Some Free Stuff...

Frugal In Fort Worth

F-7 or FO-7?

A humorous article about a dad teaching his kids to keep score at baseball games.

Read The Full Star-Telegram Article Here

Good Information On Keeping Score At A Baseball Game

High School Classmates Of A Supreme Court Nominee

This is not about Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor. I don't know anything about her so I have no way to form an opinion. This is about the people she grew up with, the people she went to high school with.

Can you imagine if one of your high school peers was nominated for such a position. I think back to my days at Sam Rayburn High School in Pasadena, TX and cannot imagine any of my fellow graduates being nominated to the Supreme Court. Oh, there are a few that would definitely be more shocking than others, but for the most part I remember them all from that snapshot in time. My friends were athletes, they were musicians in the band or orchestra, they were in the choir. Some were honor students and some just barely got by. Many were on the yearbook or newspaper staff. Some went on to be writers, military officers, choir directors, and I am sure most have been successful in their chosen career. But I just cannot imaging picking up this mornings paper (or opening my web browser) and reading that Craig, Amy, Jane, Lois or Skip (especially Skip) from the SRHS class of 1983 was being nominated for the Supreme Court of the United States.

I wonder how many of Ms. Sotomayor's classmates spewed their coffee across the table when they read that headline.

(Just kidding Skip!)

Belly Flop

I think everyone has done a belly flop at one time or another. You know, you try the graceful dive into pool and get just a little off, resulting in a painful slap on the water. Well, have you ever done a belly flop from 125 feet in the air?

Thanks to Denney Crane

The Most Tragic Event of My Life: Chuck Norris

As Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf once humbly concluded: "It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle."

Read Chuck's Full Editorial Here

Bryant Family Blog Game Round 1: Continents

This internet thing is amazing. Who knows, it might catch on after all. I have been blogging to one degree or another since the summer of 2007. I converted from the blogdrive service to this site in March of 2008. Up until that point I had no idea how many people actually accessed the things I posted.

On April 20, 2009 I added the Google Analytics tools to this blog. This is an amazing resource that tells me many things about the traffic that visits this site. This tool tells me what internet browser readers are using, what operating system they have installed, what their screen resolution is set to, and it even tells me where they are visiting from. It is really cool to see how many people are getting to experience my wit and wisdom (and yes, that last part is a joke).

I have been tracking this info in a spreadsheet for a little over a month now. I want to give you a chance to guess some of the statistics. I also want you to let me know how you first heard about the blog. This is purely for my curiosity, so no wagering please.

So, the first question is, of the 500+ unique hits on this site, how many continents do you think are represented? For extra credit, name the continents that you believe might be on the list. And don't forget to let me know how you heard about the blog.

Please submit your answer using the comment link at the bottom of this post, and if you don't mind please give me at least your first name when commenting (although signing in with your full name, e-mail and your blog URL is preferred).

Thanks for playing...

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Mary and I went to see Night At The Museum this afternoon. We visited Washington DC in December of 2008 and many of the Smithsonian employees were talking about Ben Stiller and crew having recently shot the movie. With those stories fresh in our memory we were eager to see this sequel to the 2006 comedy. We enjoyed the original, but both of us thought that this follow-up was even better. You should go see it if you get the chance.

Happy Birthday Cyndi!

Today is my older sister's birthday. Happy twenty something sis!

Lance, Gaylin, Jared, Grant
Britta, Cyndi, Abby

Memorial Day Photos

Memorial Day photos from the Boston Globe. Click on any of the pics to be taken to the source.