This is the card I gave mr. kenju on Father's Day.....

and here is the one our older daughter gave him. I guess we have him pegged, right?

Truth be told, it describes both of us nowadays. Our matching recliners flank a table and both are facing the TV, about 14 feet away. There is no question in anyone's mind what that room is used for......LOL

I'd love to rearrange the the room, but one end has a built-in bookcase/TV/DVD player cabinet We had it built in right after we moved in to this house, 28 years ago, and I'd give anything if we hadn't done that. This room also has 2 windows, a set of French doors, a bar with cabinets above and below, a fireplace, 4 door openings/arches and precious little wall space! I can't remember the dimensions, but it isn't a very large room. I'd love to rip out the bookcases and bar and start over, but it is too late in our lives to be starting something like that and I cannot bear the thought of having everything torn up for even a short time - even if we could afford it.

There is an easier way to cure at least part of the problem, and that is with a new flat-screen TV hung on the brick wall above the fireplace mantel. I can't afford that either - but I can dream - can't I? Do you think maybe OPRAH will send NATE BERKUS over here to do a make-over for us? Wouldn't that be wonderful???

Wes, Jim, Oprah and Me

Tuesday on Oprah, there was a man named Wes Moore, who has written a book titled "The Other Wes Moore". He learned about a man who grew up in the same neighborhood, with the same name and got to know the guy years later - when he was in prison for murder. There were many parallels in their lives; deprived childhoods, no father, surrounded by drugs and crime, but the Wes Moore who wrote the book was saved by a determined mother and loving grandparents who sent him off to military school. He eventually became a Rhodes Scholar and has become very successful in his life. I am planning to read that book (which came out today) and maybe it would appeal to you too.

The second half of the program was about a man named Jim Killeen, who googled his name and found 24 other men named Jim Killeen - all over the globe. He corresponded with many of them, and eventually six of them decided to meet - in Killeen, Texas. They all felt an instant connection (with some more than others). One of them is an Irish Catholic priest, one is a father of eight, one is from Australia. There was quite an age range as well as ranges in weight and other stats. I thought several of them looked remarkably similar, although the only one who turned out to be distantly related to the original guy, does not. It was fascinating to me and I hope that the first Jim Killeen - the one who gathered them all together - will also write a book about his experiences .

You may remember reading my tale here about the time I first tried to join Facebook. It wouldn't let me join with the name (short version) I use daily, because there was already someone else with that name on Facebook. That intrigued me, so I sent her a message (she lives in another state) and found out through subsequent communications that she has a sister who lives a mere 20 miles from me. We haven't met yet, but I am hoping that we will this summer.

Having googled my names before, I know that there is a third one in Chicago and the fourth in Florida, and I suspect there may be more of them who simply haven't shown up on the webs yet. I would love to meet all of them and to get them all in one place like Jim Killeen did with his namesakes. Wouldn't that be interesting ?? Jim Killeen had a list of 30 + questions that he asked all of the men who cooperated with him. They didn't go into it enough for me on Oprah's show - because I would really like to know how they are alike and how they are different. I wonder if a chart could be developed to show how much and in what ways they are similar and where their differences lie and to what each difference could be attributed. I think I should have been a sociologist!!

Have you ever met or known of someone with your same name (who wasn't a relative?)