Tracie's World

It's official. I am now old, or at least middle-aged. What prompts this declaration is that I had a colonoscopy the other day. Of all the things I did not envision having to do yet, this would be near the top of the list. The procedure was deemed necessary due to some problems recovering from my surgery. The thing about a colonoscopy is that you have to have a "prep" day, where you drink nothing but clear liquids in order to prepare for the procedure. Without going into details, let me just say that if I never have to drink Gatorade ever again, it will still be too soon. The procedure is a bit of an indignity in itself, but you never realize the full extent of all the indignities until you go through a prep day and then a pre-op prep with the nurse on the day of the procedure. The good news is that I have an absolutely beautiful colon. I have the pictures to prove it (which you'll be grateful will not be displayed here), and trust me, it is mighty fine looking.

Ricardo Montalban (a.k.a Mr. Roarke) died today. I well remember how he always greeted the guests on "Fantasy Island". It's a classic television moment. That made me think how now that he's there, they might let him take over to be the greeter at the gates of Heaven. I can just hear it now - "My dear guests, I am Mr. Montalban, your host....welcome to Paradise!" For some people, I guess that really would turn Heaven into a "Fantasy Island".

I had an email from my sister-in-law yesterday that was just so precious, I had to share. They received " Sleeping Beauty " for Christmas, and it seems that my nephew totally loves it. His favorite character is Prince Phillip. Saturday, he told my sister-in-law that he wanted to "go on a date" with her that night. So the both of them went to dinner at Fazoli's, and the entire time he pretended that he was Prince Phillip and she was Aurora. What the men in my ward couldn't learn from that!

Former Rhode Island Senator Claiborne Pell passed away the other day. What makes this particularly notable for me is that he sponsored legislation that eventually became known as the Pell Grant. The Pell Grant provided federal funds so that kids from low-income families could attend college. We were a large family, and my parents weren't able to put money away for us to attend college. I was able to go to college in large part due to Pell Grants paying for a large portion of it. And I will always be so grateful I had the opportunity to attend college and get my degree. Senator Pell also sponsored legislation creating the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, both of which have given me knowledge and made my life more enjoyable. So "Thank You" Senator! I'm in your debt.

Whatever your feelings about President Bush, I think it's safe to say that rarely has a president been such an ineffective public speaker. Here's just a small sampling of his gaffes, faux pas, and misstatements from the past 8 years, as compiled by The Associated Press: • "I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." — September 2000, explaining his energy policies at an event in Michigan. • "Rarely is the question asked, is our children learning?" — January 2000, during a campaign event in South Carolina. • "They misunderestimated the compassion of our country. I think they misunderestimated the will and determination of the commander in chief, too." — Sept. 26, 2001, in Langley, Va. Bush was referring to the terrorists who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks. • "There's no doubt in my mind, not one doubt in my mind, that we will fail." — Oct. 4, 2001, in Washington. Bush was remarking on a back-to-work plan after the terro

I'm not much of a poetry reader. My own poetry reading has pretty much consisted of Emily Dickinson and not much else. Basically, if it doesn't have an a-b, a-b rhyme scheme, I seldom "get it". But while I was at my brother's place the other day, I spied a book of poems by William Wordsworth on the bookshelf. For some reason, it intrigued me and I asked if I could borrow it. My sister-in-law is a big reader, and very kindly let me bring it home with me. I got home, and started reading, and have been hooked ever since. For some reason it is really speaking to me. Wordsworth wrote in the early 1800's, and later in his life became the poet laureate of England. He wrote about life, nature, people in his village, spirituality, and various other things, and did so using various forms - sonnets, odes, and pastoral poems. Basically he wrote about anything that was on his mind. Which makes me realize - folks then and now are really not all that different. P

I love New Year's Day. For me, it has always been about the Rose Parade, and college football bowl games. We would get up early and watch the parade, then spend the rest of the day watching all the games, and finishing off all the Holiday snacks. Yesterday was a really good day, even by my usual New Year's standards. I started it out by getting up early and watching the Parade. I'm a parade geek/junkie and have to watch it every year. I also called and talked with my grandmother for a few minutes. Not only did she remember who I was, but she was pretty clear mentally for the entire conversation. She suffered a stroke last spring and has been having memory issues ever since. She was watching the parade as well, so we visited about the different bands and floats. That side of the family lived for years in Southern California, and going to the parade was a tradition for them. After the parade was over, I watched the rest of the Outback Bowl, where my beloved Iowa Hawk