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Son surprises mom from 12,000 miles away

ANAHEIM, Calif., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- A California contractor working in Iraq stunned his mother on her 50th birthday by appearing live on a computer screen in a store window she was passing.

"That's my son!" Ginger Barnett of Anaheim, Calif., squealed Saturday night when she saw 33-year-old Carl waving hello from the screen inside Ben Bridge Jewelers in the Brea Mall.

Next to the computer screen was a Rolex watch with a card that read, "Happy 50th Birthday Mom," The Orange County (Calif.) Register reported.

Brown said he enlisted family and friends to set up the live Web cam and accompany his mother to the mall and past the store, where she had often admired the jewelry and watches.

"I can't stop shaking," Barnett said. "I had no idea."

Brown, a U.S. Army veteran who works under contract training Marine troops in Iraq, said the longer he is away from home, the more he values it.

"One thing will never change and that is, where Mom is, home is," Brown said.

Lost dog found family 2 miles away

YORBA LINDA, Calif., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- An 85-pound Labrador retriever named Timber endured cactus spines and a cut to hunt down his California family 2 miles away at a house he'd only visited by car.

Timber had been staying with Justin Murrietta's parents because Murrietta's landlord in Yorba Linda does not allow dogs, the Orange County (Calif.) Register reported.

Timber escaped Dec. 30 through an open gate at Armando and Rose Murrietta's home about 2 miles from Justin's house, which the dog had visited occasionally by car.

The family posted fliers, checked the local animal control Web site hourly and drove around Yorba Linda looking for Timber.

About midnight on New Year's Eve, Justin Murrietta's wife April heard a thumping at the front door and found Timber covered in cactus spines and with a cut that required 20 stitches. Apparently, the thumping was Timber hitting his tail against the front door.

The Murriettas planned to ask their landlord if Timber can stay while his stitches heal.

"This family would have been torn up if Timber didn't come home," said Justin's mother Rose. "He really is one of the family."

Sox workers first to marry in Chicago

CHICAGO, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- A couple who met while working at the baseball field where the White Sox play have become the first to marry in Chicago in 2009.

Venus Davis, 38, and Tony LeFlore, 36, beat out several other couples in arriving at 7 a.m. Friday at the Cook County clerk's office, the Chicago Tribune reported.

It was the first marriage for both, and their first-in-line position at the clerk's office got them a free stay at the Palmer Hilton House and a free marriage license with the usual $35 fee waived.

Davis, who ran a cotton candy booth, and LeFlore, who drove a garbage truck for the stadium, met in July at U.S. Cellular Field.

"I knew he was the one," Davis said. "He has a great smile. He's polite. He's a true gentleman and he gives good massages."

More than 200 join mud race across river

MALDEN, England, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- The Mad Malden Mud Race justified its name Sunday, as more than 200 costumed competitors staggered across the River Blackwater in eastern England.

A crowd of 10,000 people, wrapped warmly against below-freezing temperatures, cheered the racers on, The Telegraph reported.

The race dates back around 30 years, when drinkers in the Queen's Head pub in the Essex town would cross the river, drink a barrel of beer and then return to the bar to get hosed down by the landlady. Now, it is done for charity with money going to organizations chosen by the Malden Rotary and Lions clubs.

Racers dressed as everything from cowboys to Father Christmas for the event.

Stuart Putt, 36, from Boreham in nearby Hertfordshire, was the first past the post Sunday.

"I am knackered," he said. "It was tough out there. I am a runner anyway, but this was hard. The first bit was the toughest, as you go through the water and up the other side."