Tag Archives: kansas city

Italian Snowballs Discovered in Kansas City

Posted on by

"Now that's an icy meatball!"

Today my 4 year-old and I were driving down the road and she called out from her car seat, “Look Mama!  A great big snowman!!”  Luckily, I saw the 6 ft., inflatable, faux “Frosty” just seconds before because Kansas for some reason isn’t into snow this year like the rest of the country!  I otherwise might have thought she was bored and making up stories.

Glancing in the rear-view mirror, I respond, “Can you believe it?  He is so huge and there isn’t even any snow on the ground!”

Then the headline of the day was voiced… “Mama, that snowman has a great big meatball in his hand with white frosting on it.”  She then proceeds to laugh with a true belly laugh – not because she thought she had made a joke, but because who would have a snowman holding an iced meatball in their front yard!?  What fools!

Now I know that this munchkin of mine is not fond of cold weather, coats, hats, boots (or any other foot coverings), and heaven forbid a mitten could stay on her bright red fingers, but how did she truly miss out on the teachable moment of snowballs in the last four years of her life?

We’ve read stories about snow, snowmen, and snowball fights (repeatedly); but this kiddo missed the message.  The imagination is a wonderful thing to waste… I didn’t correct her.  Just laughed and said, “Icing on meatballs?  Ew, gross!”  She agreed on the ridiculousness of the winter yard art and we went on our merry way.

So to all of you Northerners and East-coasters out there…be wary this wintery, snow filled season.  You think you have it bad having to shovel truckloads of snow…it could be worse.  When you’re not looking, you could get an “white butter cream meatball” right in the noggin’!

Meteorologists…I Don’t Wanna Be Right.

Posted on by

As I sit at my computer and watch the gi-normous snowflakes float down from the sky, I am reminded once again that I am glad meteorology was never my thing.  Today the news said 2-4 inches of snow in Kansas City, and I am already observing six and it doesn’t look like it is letting up very soon.  I know meteorologists are smart people and you would think their equipment that they boast about so often is state of the art, so WHY can they rarely get the prediction correct?  How frustrating for them.  I would hate it if I came to work every day and had to say, “Well, I guess I messed that up again!”  Must be terrible for the self-esteem.  And what other profession allows such mistakes on a regular basis?

Or do the weather persons come to work and think, “You know…no one ever gets it right, so I’m going to grab another doughnut and take a nap under my desk.  The viewers don’t expect perfection, so why should I?”  Either way, I don’t think it is a healthy profession.  I’m sure they get stopped all the time by total strangers who complain about their incorrect predictions; or even worse, blame them for the weather itself.

I need to make certain my children show no interest in meteorology.  I don’t want my girls subjected to such a life of low standards and constantly being wrong.  If they want to be wrong all the time, they should have children of their own.  (Just not for at least another 20 years!)

©2010, Hatton. All rights reserved.

Prayers for Local Pediatrician

Posted on by

As a humorist, I can usually find the “funny” in about anything.  However, this is a difficult time to find material when all everyone wants and needs to do is to aid the people of Haiti.  The earthquake last week deeply saddened my heart and photos in the media have made it impossible to ignore.  Which is finally a good thing!

However, as I sit down to write this posting, my heart is pained on a personal note.   This morning the Kansas City Star ran a front page article on the disappearance of  Dr. Frank Vaughters, a beloved Kansas City pediatrician who was doing mission work in Haiti at the time of the earthquake.  No one has heard from him since.  Even though I only worked with him briefly as a home health nurse, his compassion and love of his job shined through the phone when I would call with worries about his patients.  Obviously, with his dedication to the people and children of Haiti, his passion for healing was greater than most and his disappearance is devastating.

If you are a prayerful person, please take a moment and send a prayer to Dr. Vaughters, his family, his fellow co-workers, his patients and their families.  And please pray for a miracle for this doctor (who so selflessly creates miracles for children and families every day) so that he will call home once again…  God bless you, Dr. Vaughters.

Here is the link to the KC Star article from this morning:  http://www.kansascity.com/842/story/1699780.html