LinkUp: Leaping Lizards!

Leap day. A whole extra day for the year. What should I do with it? I went to the gym. But that was because it is Wednesday. Should I do something daring? Mundane? Out of the ordinary? Relaxing? Oh the choices. Don't waste this day. It won't come again for another four years! Oh the pressure! I guess I will just sit here and blog.

Leap. Leap Year. Leaping. Leap of faith. Leap Frog. Leaping Lizards. Leapt. Quantum Leap. A Giant Leap for Mankind. A Leap in the Dark. Look before you Leap. Hmmm. It has to mean something. But what to do? According to the movie Leap Year, this is the one day a year that Irish lasses are permitted to propose marriage to their lads. Don't worry, I confirmed this information with the source of all that is right and good, Wikipedia, it is totally true.

It also turns out that people born on February 29 (or Leaplings as they are called) are all invited to join The Honor society of Leap Year Day Babies. I only know one person born on leap day. I will call her today and ask if she is a member of the society. According to the Guinness Book of Records, there are world record holders both of a family producing three consecutive generations born on February 29 and of the number of children in one family born on the elusive day. Apparently it is considered unlucky in Scotland to be born today. The checkout lady at the grocery store yesterday told me that her parents' anniversary is leap day. Her dad said it was lucky because it saved him money on gifts. Plus also, he only forgets their anniversary once every four years I bet!

And how about those Chinese? They add a whole Month extra every three years. I am pretty sure that if I cannot figure out what to do with a day, I am not figuring out a whole month! The jewish calendar also has 13 months in a leap year, and is referred to in Hebrew as Shanah Me'uberet, "a pregnant year." I do not even want to think about the ramifications of that!

This leap day has been named Rare Diseases Day. Antonio Sabato Jr., Dinah Shore, and Jimmy Dorsey were Leaplings. My birthday is exactly one week after leap day. And the best news is, we have one extra day to procrastinate doing our taxes, and some of us may even get an extra paycheck this year! All because Earth takes a little longer than a year to travel around the Sun--364 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds to be exact. But who's counting? Happy Leap day...Make the most of it!
In honor of the extra day Write on Edge is having a fun LinkUp. Go ahead. Go...Add your two cents. It could be fun!

Quote of the Day: "Thirty days hath September April June and November. All the rest have thirty-one excepting February alone. It has twenty-eight days clear, and twenty-nine in each leap year!

LinkUp: M Is For Mormon

I hope that our gracious and phenomenal teacher Ms. Matlock does not mind, but this blog post is going to touch upon a couple of things that I don't necessarily talk about a lot, politics and religion, so if you would like to turn away or read the post while peeking through barely separated fingers, by all means...do whatever necessary. I just feel the need to discuss this topic right now.

Let me just start by saying that this is not an endorsement of Mitt Romney. I have yet to endorse any one candidate, but rest assured that when I do, you will all hear about it at the press conference. In the spirit of full disclosure, I will likely vote for whomever the GOP candidate is in the general election, but I have not actually made my mind up yet as far as the primary election goes. This is also not intended to convince anyone that they should believe what I believe. It is however a bit about what I DO believe.

With all of this election business going on pretty much 24/7 I have been somewhat concerned and also a bit  disconcerted at the misinformation that I have seen and heard. Many people are discussing Mr. Romney's faith as he is a practicing Latter-Day Saint. So am I. I have not always been. I was not raised LDS, but I converted when I was 15 and have been a practicing member of the LDS church since then. And believe me, we have heard it all. Every misinterpretation and fallacy out there about Mormonism. But I would like to get just a bit of truth out there, you know...from the horses mouth. Wait...what did she call me?

Ok, so, I'm a Mormon. For the most part, I live my life like most folks. I don't drink alcohol, coffee or tea, and I abstain from tobacco products as well. I do eat chocolate and far too much Mexican food. I don't shop on the Sabbath or watch R-rated movies on any day of the week. I do attend church every Sunday for 3 hours, sometimes more. I don't buy lottery tickets. I do use stupid fake swear words like "fetch" even though I know it makes me sound silly. I do believe in abstinence before marriage and that families can be sealed together for eternity. I do have a huge crush on Colin Firth. My husband is aware of this.

I don't profess to be perfect, but I do believe that that is our ultimate goal. I do know that this perfection can only come through our Savior, Jesus Christ. I do believe in the Bible. I also believe The Book Of Mormon to be the word of God. I do believe in the Ten Commandments and quite a few others. I don't always act like it. I make mistakes. Big ones sometimes. I do pick myself up off the floor and try to do better each day.  I am a wife and a mother, a sister and daughter, a big mouth blogger, a gentle yoga teacher. My name is Leslie, and I am a Mormon. Thanks for listening....

Quote of the Day: “Try a little harder to be a little better.” Gordon B. Hinckley 

ListenUp: Flowers and Chocolate and Sondre Lerche

Happy Valentines Day to My amazing and extremely Hunky Hubby and to lovers everywhere who are still mad for each other...

Quote of the Day: "All you need is love"--John Lennon

EatUp: It's All Greek To Me...

I think I will be letting you all in on a little love of mine soon, but for now here is a preview over at The Renegade Farmer. This is soooo delicious and easy that you will not buy yogurt again. Ok, well that is not true. I even bought some today, but you will be less satisfied with the store-bought yogurt if you try this recipe....

Quote of the Day: "I've been on a diet for two weeks and all I've lost is two weeks."

       --Totie Fields commedienne