What If.....

..... no one was fat?  That's the title of a new article posted recently on MSN.com in the money section. See the entire article here.  While the thought runs through my mind FREQUENTLY regarding myself, I've never pondered it regarding the population as a whole.  The article theorizes what could happen to the airline, food and weight-loss industries if the over 66% of overweight Americans ate less and maintained a healthy body weight. Fuel for airlines would cost less (because there would be less weight on the plane), Jenny Craig, Weight Watches and Nutri-System would not exist and doctors who made their living treating ailments caused by obesity would have to consider another facet of medicine. The cost would be so significant that, according to the article, that every American family could be given $4000.00. It makes you want to rethink that super-size option.

For Alexis, Bianca, Mason, Noah, Victoria, Ryan and Devin

Yesterday, I participated in the March of Dimes March for Babies. The walk supports research efforts in finding cures for birth defects, premature births and infant mortality. Employers and individuals alike come together with this main goal in mind. I have done this walk consistently since 1999 and it was the first time I noticed the T-shirts. Of course you have the corporate ones like UH, Macy's, Bechtel and Continental, but it was the personal ones that caught my eye. AsI said earlier I have done this walk yearly, but never with anyone in mind. After spotting these personally designed tees and posters as I walked the five miles, I felt like yesterday had a purpose. I approached the family of the children above and inquired about their stories. Some had happy beginnings.



Bianca, Victoria, Noah, and Alexis  all had rough beginnings but are all doing well now. Ryan and Devins' story did not have the same results.  Ryan was born in June of 2002 with a heart defect. He blessed his family for 13 days before sadly succumbing to his heart defect on Father's Day.  Ryan's Aunt Sylvia, who is pictured with me at the 5-mile finish, walked in his honor.                                                                  Devin was born prematurely lived for a month and sadly died in 2003. His family was out in full force in support of the cause. They were happy when they spoke about Devin and all walked with pride in support of their son and brother.

Yesterday was dedicated to Alexis, Bianca, Mason, Noah, Victoria, Ryan and Devin and their families.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Not Guilty

How is it that police unload 50 bullets on three men, killing one and then a court of law acquits them of ALL wrong doing? That is the end result of the Sean Bell trial. According to a New York Post article this morning, the judge in the case, prior to announcing the verdict said that the police officer's version of events were more credible than the victims' version. Read the entire article here. I remember this story during the 2006 Thanksgiving holidays as we had family in from New York. In discussing the events, we all believed this case would have a better ending for the survivors, unlike Amadou Diallo. You may recall he met the same fate back in 1999 when police unloaded 40 or so bullets on him. Their justification for this - they believed he was armed. In reality he was reaching for his wallet. After only two days of deliberating the jury cleared the police officers in his case of any wrong. His family sued and was awarded a three million dollar settlement. I wonder how many more times will this have to happen before we as a society see something wrong with this type of policing. 

A New Venture

I have two loves...actually I have more than two loves but for purposes of this, I will make it simple. I thought to further increase my writing, I would, along with Thoughts on Paper and another friend ( I haven't asked her permission to pur her out there yet), blog about my latest endeavor- running a half marathon. We will blog about our journey at Three Runners. Check it out when you have a chance. I know running and weight loss ( the result of running) is a private thing for most but maybe what you read on Three Runners may help you on your journey or perhaps motivate you to add something new to your workout routine. Either way I hope you enjoy the blog.

Be Careful On Those Houston Highways

About a week or so ago, I was headed down a main freeway here when I first saw one of these . I almost ran into the railing of the freeway. Needless to say I was SHOCKED.  Reading about this here and seeing it in person is two TOTALLY different experiences. What is the world coming to? Cars that you CAN'T ...yes that's what I said CAN'T see unless you are LITERALLY on them. Somehow I have the feeling that is so the POINT! I immediately went home and jumped on the web to see if I could find out what this sighting was all about.  I looked on HPD's website and several local news sites to no avail. Though I was still in shock about the whole sighting, since I couldn't find anything on it, I began to think maybe it was some sort of prototype and what I saw wasn't REALLY what was happening or more importantly what I began to think could happen in the future. Well that thought changed today. I was going through my daily (....ok every other day) read of my favorite blogs and behold The Insite blogged about the Houston Police Department's newest resource yesterday. Call me suspicious but...personally ALL I see is entrapment. What do you think? 

Happy Sunday blog readers. Today I attended a special mass at the newly dedicated Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral here in Houston. The mass was for St. Catherine. Special guests included the President of Xavier University, its local alumni and members from St. Francis of Xavier Catholic Church and of course, the rest of us commoners.  St. Catherine, originally Katherine Drexel, was born into a wealthy family in Philadelphia in 1855. She was vocal about racism and injustice when it wasn't vogue. An heir to millions, she gave up her inheritance and dedicated all of her wealth and efforts to providing schools to Blacks and Native Americans mainly located in the southwest. One of her most well known accomplishments is Xavier University, hence their attendance at the speical mass. She died in 1955 and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in  2000.

As I mentioned Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral was dedicated earlier this month. It was my first since the dedication. We decided to head to the church a little early to listen to Father Troy discuss the construction of the cathedral and its contents. Above are a couple of shots of the inside.  The mass was nice traditional - no short cuts. Very similar to when I was a kid. Because of where we were sitting, we took communion from the newly elevated Cardinal, Daniel Di Nardo. That was pretty cool, if I could use those words. Don't ask me why that was important but it was. I wanted to get a picture with Cardinal Di Nardo but my mom was NOT having it. She looked at me as if I was mad when I asked her to take my picture. She was like, "Well I want you to take MY picture"! So I guess you know where this short story is going- She got the picture.  She seemed rather pleased with herself.