Borden Dairy (founded in 1857) has filed for bankruptcy, the second major U.S. dairy to do so lately. Dean Foods, America’s largest dairy producer filed in November 2019. People are now drinking almond, soy and oat milk. Protein bars and on-the-go breakfasts have replaced our morning bowl of cereal. Borden says 2,730 U.S. dairy farms have gone out of business in the last 18 months, meaning that the remaining farms can command higher prices. Poor Elsie.
Texans’ J.J. Watt is scheduled to host Saturday Night Live on February 1, along with musical guest, country artist Luke Combs. Watt will be the 27th athlete to host and the 11th person with NFL experience.Some athletes included LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Derek Jeter, The Rock, John Madden, Wayne Gretzky, Hulk Hogan, O.J. Simpson, Charles Barkley, Joe Montana, Walter Payton, Bill Russell, George Foreman, Fran Tarkenton, and Alex Karras. J.J. may be what it takes to get me to watch a whole show instead of just pulling up Eddie Murphy clips.
Northern Ireland has now recognized same-sex marriages, but couples reportedly must give 28 days’ notice of their plan to marry, so the first same-sex weddings are expected during the week of Valentine’s Day.
To determine if a coffee pod (think Keurig) is recyclable, look on the packaging for the plastic number. Coffee pods that are recyclable are typically made out of plastic #5, where pods that are not recyclable are made out of plastic #7. Try to avoid purchasing #7 coffee pods since these end up in a landfill. Before tossing, be sure to peel off the aluminum top (trash) and empty the grounds (nature loves the grounds so dump them in your yard or flower bed). If you throw the pod inside a recycling bin before removing the top and coffee grounds, it may no longer be recyclable. This goes for anything you put into recycling. Clean it out first.It was reported that enough Keurig plastic pods were sold in 2014 to circle the world more than ten times. Since this way of drinking coffee has become so much more popular in the past few years, just think of how many pods are now in landfills. It’s estimated that one in three homes in the U.S. have a single-serve coffee maker. We do pour-overs at my house – unbleached paper filters, then we place the filter and spent coffee in our compost. Easy, affordable, Earth-friendly solution.
A woman with dementia survived for six days in her snowbound Suburban in Butte Meadows, California. She stayed warm by periodically turning on the car for heat and bundling up with moving blankets and floor mats.
Sometimes I don’t wear my glasses when I really should…obviously. After midnight last night, I was tidying up before I went to bed. I had been at the kitchen table working on tax stuff for several hours and getting tired, so I took my off glasses. Huge mistake. Anne-Elisabeth had been home for the weekend so there were a few things out of place.I unloaded lunch containers, placed them in the dishwasher along with a coffee cup, then grabbed a glass jar, unscrewed the lid (assuming it was dirty) and turned it upside down as I placed it in the dishwasher. Yikes. The jar had quite a few poppy seeds waiting to be planted in the garden. You know, the ‘tinier than a grain of salt’ seeds? They were scattered throughout the unsmooth bottom of my dishwasher. I could have used tape but then I couldn’t plant them. I pulled a credit card from my purse and scraped up as many as I could and put them back in the jar. The others were wet (see above…coffee and lunch remains,)so I got as many as I could with wet paper towels and laid them on the cabinet to dry. This morning, I realized the seeds had stuck, so I tore the paper towels into pieces and threw them in my flower bed. Tonight, I will place a little potting soil over each piece and hope for the best. Who knows, they may stay in place and grow even better this year. Last year the rains washed the seeds into the edges of the flower beds. I may be on to ‘something.’
RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Rock musician Jimmy Page is 76. Led Zeppelin. Singer A.J. McLean is 42. Backstreet Boys.Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is 38. Actor Stanley Tucci is 59. Actress Demi Moore is 57. Actress Calista Flockhart is 55. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio is 45. Musician Jon Batiste is 33. I LOVE him. Country singer Dolly Parton is 74. Former ABC newswoman Ann Compton is 73. TV chef Paula Deen is 73. Butter. Rock singer Martha Davis is 69. The Motels. Actor Desi Arnez Jr. is 67. Little Ricky.
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin is 90. Country singer Narvel Felts is 81. Reconsider Me. Actress Katie Holmes is 41. Actor Brad Pitt is 56. Actress Jane Fonda is 82. Actress Betty White is 98. WOW. Actor James Earl Jones is 89. Former first lady Michelle Obama is 56. Rap musician Questlove is 49. The Roots.
Local LJ doctor, surgeon, businessman, Rotarian and humanitarian Frank Grady, died at 78. He was the first surgeon in Texas to implant an intraocular lens following cataract surgery, was the first physician in the area to perform radial keratotomy in 1980, and with his missions, saved the eyesight of thousands of people in Juarez, Mexico. Local businessman Wayne Shaw died this week at age 81.
There is a couple getting married in April, I don’t know who they are, but they are asking Habitat for Humanity of Southern Brazoria County to provide a Wedding Registry so their friends and family can contribute to the building of a Habitat home rather than traditional gifts. I LOVE it. Habitat is now working on House #113 in Brazoria County. 113 people are lucky to have all those volunteers build them new homes. If you want to help, call them. They need volunteers and will find you a job that’s perfect for YOU.
There will be a Chocolate Bay Watershed Public Meeting to discuss Chocolate, Halls and Mustang bayous water quality issues due to high levels of bacteria, on January 30th at the Alvin Public Library. For more information call Steven Johnston 832-681-2579. We need to know that we have a clean, safe community.
Recently I wrote about, “it being time for my kids to go back to school after winter break,”meaning, I love to see them come, I love to see them go. A friend read the column and shared something that one of her friends said years ago. “The best holiday lights were the ones that she saw on back of her kid’s cars as they drove away from the house and back to school.” I just had to repeat this, it’s too funny. Thank you, Emily.
A customer came in today and I was rewriting his pre-written ad for a rental house on the intercoastal canal and it mentioned crabbing. Except he had spelled it with just one ‘b’. After he left, I looked up the word just to be sure I was right. The Urban Dictionary definition for crabbing came up as: “When a man is urinating in a public urinal on his own and he attempts to urinate an equal amount in each urinal by sidestepping like a crab while using hands to control urine distribution.Such as: I went into the urinals and there was no one there so I did a bit of crabbing.” We live in a weird world now.
A teenage kid from NY was interning at NASA. Just three days into the job, he discovered a brand-new planet.The old Randalls/Albertsons grocery store (that takes you a tad bit further back in time) will be re-modeled by Olin to use as administrative offices. It’s time. Macy’s was founded 162 years ago in NY and are closing 28 namesake stores and one Bloomingdale’s store. Pier 1 Imports will close 450 of its 936 stores.
Monster Jam is Jan. 25th& Feb. 8-9th in Houston. Brazosport Symphony is Jan. 25th called Covering all Basses. I went to the Hotel California Symphony concert in Oct. and it was great. The symphony is having so much fun this year. Nunsense at The Center for the Arts and Sciences is showing Feb. 21 – March 1.
There is a u-pick tulip farm in San Antonio just south of I-10 that you can visit, but just for a short time because there’s such a short bloom time. There is also a maze for the kids and another tulip farm in Dallas.Texas-tulips.com. Great idea for a Valentines getaway, just pretend it’s Amsterdam.
In case you haven’t already heard, it’s official. 2019 was the second hottest year worldwide in recorded history. What year was the hottest? Globally, was 2016. Which brings us to the fact that the past decade was the hottest ever recorded on the planet, driven by an acceleration of temperature increases in the past five years, according to data released ‘jointly’ by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Perhaps releasing information jointly will make a bigger difference to people understanding the problem. Global average surface temperatures last year were 1.8 degrees higher than the average from the middle of last century.
Is three anything better than making a kid laugh? Michelle Williams
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo will have Willie Nelson on March 4th. Midland will open on March 3 and Luke Bryan will close the final show. No George Strait this year.
In North Houston, a couple took their 8-year-old cat in for her check-up and rabies vaccine. Because of a mix-up on syringes, Sophie was mistakenly euthanized. When the mistake was realized, the vet gave her oxygen, fluids to try and flush out her system and epinephrine to get her heart going again but she died.Her cat momma says, “When you take your animal to any vet, not just this particular office, but any Veterinary office, be vigilant, ask questions, ask what their protocols and procedures are.” I can’t even imagine losing any of mine.
Many thoughts have gone through my head as I tried to decide whether to share this story or not. I’m not a fan of The Bachelor, but Hoda and Jenna were discussing a clip from the show this morning. I think it’s funny. OK. You decide. One of the female contestants (Kelsey, 2017 Miss Iowa, 28,) brought a bottle of champagne “all the way from Des Moines, Iowa.” One of the other contestants (Hanna, Alabama model, 23) opened that‘special’bottle of champagne and Kelsey exploded as she confronted the accused contestant, who said, “I’m sorry, I’ll get you another bottle of champagne.” (Surely, we all believe that.) Fast forward and the Bachelor (Peter Weber) offered Miss Iowa a brand-new bottle of champagne with Miss Iowa sitting very, very close to him. She accepts the bottle from him, picks it up and chug-a-lugs straight from the bottle (as she quietly mentions, “I’m not always a classy b****.” Uhhh, we noticed. I think the proper word for this is a swig. She took a big swig from the bottle. As she prepared to lower the bottle, all those bubbles just gasp to be released, explode, geyser up and spew champagne ALL OVER HER FACE and hair. Hmmm. I’m glad that I can only afford champagne on special occasions because I could be such an embarrassment to my children. 😊
A judge has ordered Google to turn over a year’s worth of Jussie Smollett’s emails, private messages, photographs and location data. A special prosecutor is trying to find out why 16 counts of disorderly conduct charges were abruptly dismissed against the actor after he allegedly staged an attack in downtown Chicago and then lied to police. Smollett maintains his innocence. I’m interested.
On the front page of The Chronicle was a picture of a mother and her 15-year-old son who has been suspended multiple times and she says “there must be a better way” to discipline students in Beaumont ISD. Students were suspended at a rate more than six times the state average and far more than any other district last year, 46 suspensions per 100 students. Well, you want to know what I think…if that had been me at age 15, I wouldn’t have been able to ‘stand’ next to my mother after the first suspension. Raise your children at home, which is your job, then the teachers can spend their whole class-time teaching, which is their job. It’s disruptive to constantly discipline in the classroom. That’s what I think. Thanks for reading us this week. Be sure to let us know how we are doing.
Lisa Baker
