Here’s a question for you:  Would you rather live near Starbucks . . . or McDonald’s?  I would hands down like to have a Starbucks within a block or so of my house  (I have a Peaberry)

–The reason I ask is because, according to a recent survey, 35% of Americans would prefer to have Starbucks in their neighborhood . . . while 43% would rather have a McDonald’s nearby.  What???  And smell french fries and Quarter Pounders while I’m on the treadmill?  No thanks.

–Maybe you’d rather have a Taco Bell or a Coldstone.  What would you not mind being in your neighborhood?

(–Also, according to the survey, people who prefer Starbucks are more likely to be:  liberal, young, wealthy, college-educated, female, not religious, and from the West.

Thought this might be fun in honor of Presidents Day this week.  I found a list of America’s favorite (and not so favorite) Presidents.  We heard a lot about how wonderful JFK, Lincoln and Reagan were during the campaigns last year.  Btw, Obama was excluded from this list but is operating the new administration with a 68% approval rating so far!

Anyway, take a look at the lists and sound off is these prezes are deserving to be on either list.  Side note:  the day President Bush left office, he had 88% dissapproval rate and has landed at #7 on the “worst” list!  Man.. I will miss the infamous press conferences from the White House and those hilarious Bush-isms though!

The ten BEST presidents are:
#10.)  Ronald Reagan:  40th president;  served from 1981 to 1989
#9.)  Woodrow Wilson:  28th president;  served from 1913 to 1921
#8.)  Dwight D. Eisenhower:  34th president;  served from 1953 to 1961
#7.)  Thomas Jefferson:  3rd president;  served from 1801 to 1809
#6.)  John F. Kennedy:  35th president;  served from 1961 to 1963
#5.)  Harry S. Truman:  33rd president;  served from 1945 to 1953
#4.)  Theodore Roosevelt:  26th president;  served from 1901 to 1909
#3.)  Franklin D. Roosevelt:  32nd president;  served from 1933 to 1945
#2.)  George Washington:  1st president;  served from 1789 to 1797
#1.)  Abraham Lincoln:  16th president;  served from 1861 to 1865

–And the ten WORST presidents are:
#10.)  Rutherford B. Hayes:  19th president;  served from 1877 to 1881

#9.)  Herbert Hoover:  31st president;  served from 1929 to 1933

#8.)  John Tyler:  10th president;  served from 1841 to 1845

#7.)  George W. Bush:  43rd president;  served from 2001 to 2009

#6.)  Millard Fillmore:  13th president;  served from 1850 to 1853

#5.)  Warren G. Harding:  29th president;  served from 1921 to 1923

#4.)  William Henry Harrison:  9th president;  served from March 4th, 1841 to April 4th 1841  (– Harrison’s ranking isn’t very fair . . . considering he died after just 32 days in office.)

#3.)  Franklin Pierce:  14th president;  served from 1853 to 1857

#2.)  Andrew Johnson:  17th president;  served from 1865 to 1869

#1.)  James Buchanan:  15th president;  served from 1857 to 1861

Ok now that we have a new President and America seems genuinely “Obamafied” it’s a time of change.

Obama is calling all of us to get involved, make a difference and do something!  Starbucks is even offering free coffee if you pledge to volunteer at least 5 hours.  Lots of folks want to answer this call to action but have no idea where to start or what to do.  I’ve decided that I am personally going door to door in my neighborhood and offer to help people begin a recycling program.  It might sound funny but out of the 88 homes in my development, maybe 12 homes recycle, so I’m on a mission.  But you can do anything!  The president said even nurturing a child would be great!  So tell me your ideas on how you planned to make change come in 2009.

So the holidays typically mean parties, get togethers and sometimes unexpected visits from friends and family.  Here’s how to turn your train-wreck mess into something presentable in only 30 minutes.  I highly suggest (and have used) the laundry basket shoved in the closet trick!  Do you have any good tips to add to this “save your a** list?”…Chime in!

–THREE MINUTES.  Use a laundry basket to pick up random items all over. . . and shove it in a closet.

–ONE MINUTE.  Close all the doors to the bedrooms, and any other rooms that are messy and not intended for guests.

–TWO MINUTES.  Grab a few hangers and make room in your coat closet for their coats.

–TWO MINUTES.  Take any dishes and glasses off the sink and countertops.  Put them on a cookie sheet and stick them in the oven.

–FIVE MINUTES.  Wipe off the kitchen counters and the rims of the bathroom sinks.

–FIVE MINUTES.  Empty the trash in the kitchen and bathrooms;  reline the garbage cans.

–FOUR MINUTES.  Wipe the fingerprints off your appliances with glass cleaner.  Give the toilet a very quick scrub.

–3MINUTES.  Quickly and lightly dust the coffee table and other spots where the guests will be.

–FOUR MINUTES.  Vacuum the living room and any areas where guests will be.  Shake out the bathroom rugs.

–ONE MINUTE.  Burn scented candles in the bathroom and kitchen.  (Yahoo!  News)

OK so we are a nation of spoiled-instant gratification-non-waiting-no tolerance for inconvenience Americans.  And I’m just as guilty as the rest of you!  So they did this poll recently and asked “if you could have any drive-thru service that does not already exist, what would you want to have?”   The over whelming response was Drive Thru Daycare!!

Yes! Yes! Yes!   Here’s LeeAnn Sommers at the window… “Uhhh yeah I’ll take my kid and a strawberry shake please”…Love it!  Now I realize not everyone has kids so maybe this prospect is not as exciting for you as it is for me so let me know what your fantasy drive-thru service would be.  Keep it clean gentlemen!! 

You could be forgiven for thinking that baby names like “Apple” and “Sunday” are common these days . . . but really, only celebrities with no sense of reality give their kids stupid names.  Maybe now that the Brangelina twins have arrived, Vivienne and Knox will become the new hot baby names.  Not too out there eh??

–And even though most parents give their babies pretty ordinary names . . . the top baby names of today look nothing like the top baby names of 1950.  Check this out and then add your favorite baby names to my list.  ps..our son is Roman Michael so I’m partial.  Tell me your kids names!

–In 1950, the top ten baby names for boys and girls according to the Social Security Administration were . . .
#10.)  Gary and Kathleen.
#9.)  Charles and Carol.
#8.)  Thomas and Sandra.
#7.)  Richard and Deborah.
#6.)  William and Nancy.
#5.)  David and Susan.
#4.)  Michael and Barbara.
#3.)  John and Patricia.
#2.)  Robert and Mary.
#1.)  James and L

–You still hear those names often today . . . but here are the names you probably hear the most, according to this list of the top 10 baby names from 2007 . . .

#10.)  Andrew and Elizabeth.
#9.)  Matthew and Hannah.
#8.)  William and Abigail.
#7.)  Anthony and Olivia.
#6.)  Christopher and Sophia.
#5.)  Daniel and Madison.  (–The name Madison become a really common female name after the movie “Splash” came out in 1984.  In the movie, DARYL HANNAH took the name Madison after seeing it on a street sign in New York City.)
#4.)  Joshua and Ava.
#3.)  Ethan and Emma.
#2.)  Michael and Isabella.
#1.)  Jacob and Emily.  (Yahoo! News)

(–And get this . . . names are so diverse today that the top 10 boy and girl names only account for ONE-TENTH of all baby names.  That means there probably ARE a lot of kids running around with the names “Apple” and “Sunday”.)