Happy Mutual Birthday!

Today is Arnold Schwarzenegger's birthday. This evening in Rostov-on-Don, we will be celebrating Governor Schwarzenegger's big day.

Today is also Paul Anka's birthday. We will be celebrating his birthday too at Mama's Pizza, a neat Italian place.

Say do you remember his song, Having My Baby, summer of 1974? What were you doing back then? I remember long days of lifeguarding, heading into my last year of college and student teaching. Life was golden. In part because somebody else was havin' his baby.

Henry Ford was born on July 30th too. This evening we will think grateful thoughts in his honor. Where would we be without vehicles? Or, for that matter, without the assembly line that he developed?

(Photo courtesy of Time magazine)

Hilary Swank will be blowing out birthday candles today too. She won the Best Actress Oscar and Golden Globe again for playing a boxer in Clint Eastwood's 2004 Oscar-winning film Million Dollar Baby, a role for which she underwent training in the ring and gained 19 pounds of muscle. I can relate to that gaining of 19 pounds. Might have been muscle, might not have. . .



(Photo courtesy Internet Movie Database)

Dr Elizabeth Haley was also born on July 30th. I knew her as Dean Haley when she was dean of the College of Home Economics - now the College of Human Sciences - at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas back during my graduate school years, 1987 - 1990.

During those years, Dean Haley was tapped to serve as acting president of the university. She was in her mid-40's then. What a visionary leader, Dean Haley. Now she serves TTU as Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean Emeritus, which probably involves in strategic planning and fund raising. Now there is one smart cookie. Under her leadership the College of Home Economics flourished, with 2,000 some students enrolled, one of the top two home economics programs in the nation.


Oh yeah ~ and today is my birthday day too! We will be celebrating around 7:30 or so this evening after our Wednesday pm Bible study. It's just a short little walk from our church building to the restaurant so we'll hike there and that will help burn off calories. And that's something we all want to do, is it not?



I've invited everybody from our Bible study plus several favorite people to join us and can hardly wait to be together and enjoying exotic Italian ice cream. See this is the Russian way, throw yourself a birthday party. I love this system! Say, care to join us? We'll save you a spot and maybe some ice cream too.