Weird Sitings on the Road

Back in October my sister took a picture of this on the commute home from work. We thought it was pretty weird. Recently we've seen another weird object that is unexplainable to us and we've tried to take pictures as we drive by with no luck.

This Saturday while I was out by myself thrift shopping, I drove over to where this object is and took these pictures for my sister. A winged horse? He's beautiful and someone obviously took a lot of time to make him...it's driving us crazy why. Lisa says she's going to call them up and ask, so if she does I'll let you know what he's going to be used for. Righ now he's just the Guardian of Route 99 in Bakersfield.

Not sure what this was made for or what it's going to be used for...but it's so beautiful. I love it!

Iwanna Wednesday

Welcome to Iwanna Wednesday, the day when I get to ask for anything Iwanna without worrying about cost, practicality, usefulness or chance of actually getting this item. I can just Iwanna anything. It's fun being able to shop without having to worry about all those things just mentioned.

A year or so ago after watching a makeover show called "What Not To Wear", I played the game on the show myself by going shopping online and putting items of clothing, shoes, jewelry and accessories into my shopping cart...and you know what? It's hard to spend $5,000! I know...you wouldn't think so, but it is. Try it for yourself.

In the meantime, take a look at my current kitchen table. It's beautiful and I love it, but it's not very practical with the glass top. It would be great in a dining room where you can set it and just look at it be pretty...but Iwanna practical, workable table.

Iwanna something like these...

These next two would look wonderful with one of last week's Iwanna item...

Spring and Easter Tablescape

A while back I wrote this post about a blogger who does tablescaping. I did my first tablescape for Valentines day and now I've done one for Easter. Hope you like it.

The plates were purchased Friday on my lunch hour at Dollar Tree for $1.00 each. The small square plates in the middle of the larger plates were given to me at Christmas by my daughter April. The spoons are those beautiful jeweled spoons that I almost didn't end up with, you can read about them here. The gold napkins are from the American Cancer Society Discovery Store. The centerpiece was bought for me at Goodwill by my wonderful mother who knows my love for pink and totally unnecessary items. And the champagne glasses were another gift from my very generous daughter April. The table runner is actually a scarf my mom gave me right after my surgery when I was so traumatized about the scar left by my surgery.


Here's a closeup of the centerpiece. I love the way the easter grass hangs over the sides...

And here's a closeup of the plates, I forgot to take a picture of one though, or maybe I deleted it, but there are four place settings. Don't you love the plates? And for only $1.00 each!

I'm ready for Easter...except for the food. Pizza anyone?

Treasures found for Spring

Saturday I woke up and debated...should I spend the day cleaning house and doing laundry or should I go hit all the Goodwill's and some yard sales and see if I can find any treasures? Guess which idea won out?

If you guessed Goodwill and yard sales you win! So what do you win? Well the only thing I can offer is a peak at all the treasures I found and some pictures on what I did with them.

My first stop didn't prove to be too fruitful, but I did find these little gardening bunnies. All total they came out to $2.52 and the funny thing was that was exactly how much money I had in my purse!

After leaving that Goodwill and heading to the next one I kept an eye out for yard sales. I only found one on my way and almost didn't stop at that one...but I'm glad I did, look at what I scored:

When I got to the yard sale I saw a lady pick it up and ask the man how much he wanted for it and he told her $3.00. She walked around with it for a bit and then put it back down and I snatched it up and went and asked the man how much he wanted for it...and he told me $1.00!? Kind of weird huh? But I didn't ask any questions, just figured it was my lucky day and snatched it up.

Here's a picture of where I hung it in my bedroom. I love this wall because it's the one I look at when I first wake up in the morning. The picture that says "It's a Wonderful Life" was a gift from my sister in law Connie and family. It's just what I need to be reminded of every single morning. The little bunny picture was a thrift find which I found at the American Cancer Society Discovery Store.

At the next Goodwill I found a set of dishes with a grape design that I haven't photographed yet, but I will once I get them hung up in my kitchen and another bowl that I bought just because of the beautiful colors, but I also didn't photograph it. It's more autumn colors.

Then I went to my favorite Goodwill. This Goodwill has mostly books, but a few knick-knacks and pictures. I found a few more things for a Spring and Easter display.

First this aluminum bucket I guess is what it is. Here it is empty...

And here it is after I decorated it with some Easter grass and small colored eggs.

Then I found these beautiful nesting boxes. The all fit inside the big one and you can display just the big one, or all three of them. These are yours April...I remember how you once told me you wanted Russian Nesting Dolls and these are sort of the same thing, but different. But you can't have them yet :0)

I also found this little bunnies tree house decoration...


These bunnies I picked up on my lunch hour Friday at Dollar Tree. Their faces look a little big more like sheep than bunnies, but they have ears and sheep and bunnies are both for Easter so that makes the Easter Bunneeps or Sheennies.

And here's my Easter Mantle display. For less than $20.00 I was able to put this together. The Easter Bunny Garland in the background was purchased last year at an after Easter sale and this is the first time I've used it.

Tomorrow I'll show you my Easter Tablescape.

I love thrifting. These are all unique items that I will enjoy for years plus I spent a great day searching for them.

Oh, almost forgot. I also found these beautiful butterflies that match the colors in my bathroom which are baby blue and baby pink for some reason. I just hope they don't fall off the wall when we close the bathroom door...they seem so fragile.

Sunday Food Frenzy

It's no wonder that the term "por eso estamos como estamos" fits my family and myself to a T. We're a bunch of food-o-holics. This morning I got up early ready to do chores, weeding, washing bedding, etc. So I showered, made coffee and then made pancakes. I sat and had my delicious pancakes with a glass of OJ and coffee in front of the computer while I caught up on some blogs.

Then the phone rings and it's my sister and she wants to go out to breakfast. She loves breakfast out on Sunday mornings. So I told her I had already eaten but I would go with her and keep her company. So we went to IHOP and believe it or not I ordered their new special! Two eggs and some kind of loaded potatoes, which were country potatoes made with bacon, cheese, green onions and topped with sour cream. Sort of like a baked potato. They were yummy. To my credit I didn't eat but half of them but I did eat both eggs and all the toast!

Then I came home and did some of that weeding and laundry and then my son decided he wanted pizza. So he went out and got us one and I had two slices of pizza! And two pecan sandies for dessert.

And I just got off the phone with my mom who wanted me to come over and have some frito chip salad with her! I begged off because I've got so much to do and because I'm stuffed from all the junk I've eaten this day already. And I know there's a bowl of ice cream with my name on it in the freezer as a reward when I'm done with all my chores...I have to leave room for that. It's ice cream after all. I know there's a storm outside and the wind is blowing and it's cold and dreary, but I must have ice cream!

An Amazing Video

This is amazing, at first my heart dropped and then it soared. Sometimes I have so much fear of and for today's youth but maybe there is hope and promise and as a world we won't just have to "deal with them" but we can live with and through them.

Words do not change things. But words change people and people change things. ~ Anon

Fun Facts about Bees and the Bee Whisperer

Did you know that the Bee is the official insect of the states of Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah and Wisconsin.

St. Ambrose is the patron saint of beekeepers. (That's not really a fact about bees though is it? But it's ok, because beekeepers will be a subject of my actual post here in a bit...keep reading)

It is rumored that Alexander the Great was buried in honey. Burying the dead (especially nobility) in or with honey was common practice in Egypt, Assyria, and other regions. Honey was also used to embalm the dead. (I found this fact particularly interesting given my history in funeral service)

Honey is believed to help the immune system and fight infection. It is often used as a "home remedy" to treat colds. Honey mixed with lemon can be a soothing cough syrup.

Bees possess five eyes.

Honey is nectar that bees have repeatedly regurgitated and dehydrated.

The honeybee is not born knowing how to make honey; the younger bees are taught by the more experienced ones.

Why the sudden interest in bees you might ask? Simple...because I have a hive of bees in the tree in my backyard. Three hives actually. A few months ago when I would go out of my backdoor there would be a carpet of dead bees on the back steps. I was puzzled as to where, why and how they got there and how come they were dead. Today's visitor to my home explained all that.

My visitor today is a beekeeper and one of the most attractive men I have ever met in my life. I could have listened to him speak about bees for the rest of my life :0)

But I digress, lets stick to the subject of why this young man was here in my backyard with his beautiful, piercing blue eyes and gorgeous black hair and jeans that he wore like. . . uh oh, wait a sec while I get a towel to wipe this drool off my keyboard. Be just a minute. . . . . . .

Ok, I'm back and I'm going to stick to the story and not get carried away again. Anyway, this beautiful man with the blue eyes to die for is a friend of my brother Fred. My brother asked him to come and see if he could take away the beehives for me so that I wouldn't be worried about them. (My sister Lisa is the one that prodded and bugged Fred to do this for me...thanks Lisa.)

So the beekeeper came and looked at my bee hive and told me they were awesome and how thrilling it was for him to see them. He explained to me how important bees are to the garden and how they won't hurt anyone and how the hive was too small for his purposes but he could get on a ladder and spray Black Flag on them, or I could just let them live and that they would die off on their own in about a month because he didn't see any eggs so there was no queen.

He also told me I could come out at night and take the water hose and spray the hives and the bees would drown because they breathe through their skin. (How does one so young and so gorgeous know so much?)

He also explained to me that bees can't fly in the dark and that's why they were dying at my back door. I have a motion sensor that comes on automatically and so it would do so and the bees would fly to the light then the light would go off and damn if those silly, little bees were then lost and would just die of cold and loneliness.

So that's my bee and beekeeper story. I've decided to keep the bees to remind me of the young man with the beautiful blue eyes who was so enraptured by the bees. And the bees were equally enraptured by this gorgeous bee whisperer...with the piercing blue eyes *sigh*

Uncle Sam wanted Me! Well he wanted my money anyway!

Today I'm a good American...I filed my income taxes. Which means I paid taxes, even though I'm getting a refund "Thank God!". As with anything painful, if you can see the humor in it you can get through it; and I'm a firm believer in the silver lining concept. So here's some deep and some are funny quotes that make you think and put tax time into perspective. Enjoy!

• “I am proud to be paying taxes in the United States. The only thing is – I could be just as proud for half the money.” — Arthur Godfrey
• Ever wonder why the IRS calls it Form 1040? Because for every $50 that you earn, you get 10 and they get 40 ~ Anonymous
• I just filled out my income tax forms. Who says you can't get killed by a blank? ~ Milton Berle
• The tax collector must love poor people, he's creating so many of them. ~ Bill Vaughan
• The only difference between a taxman and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. -- Mark Twain
• Worried about an IRS audit? Avoid what's called a red flag. That's something the IRS always looks for. For example, say you have some money left in your bank account after paying taxes. That's a red flag. -- Jay Leno
• Congress can raise taxes because it can persuade a sizable fraction of the populace that somebody else will pay. -- Milton Friedman
• The difference between death and taxes is death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets. -- Will Rogers
• Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors... and miss. -- Robert A. Heinlein
• There's nothing wrong with the younger generation that becoming taxpayers won't cure. -- Dan Bennett
• The only thing that hurts more than paying an income tax is not having to pay an income tax. -- Lord Thomas Robert Dewar

I guess when it comes right down to it, in today's economy the last quote really hits home for me. It hurts to pay taxes on my income, but it would be even worse to have no income at all.

Iwanna Wednesday

In order to show you what Iwanna this Wednesday, I need to show you my kitchen. Well part of it anyway. I like to call it the dining room...but it's really just the north corner of my kitchen. But still and all it's one of my favorite places in my home. Here's a picture:



The reason for showing you this picture is to show you what I call a hutch in the corner with some of my glassware and other things. I love it. I love the way it looks. It's one of my favorite places to feast my eyes on in my home. But really it's just a bookcase, purchased at Goodwill along with my computer desk that I've altered to fit as a hutch. And it works, but .... take a look at these!!!


And my very favorite one...this one. I love it! Absolutely love it as it is. The same color, antiqued, just as is. Mmmmmmm, yummy fabulous! *sigh* I wanna this!

Busy Weekend!

Wow, what a busy weekend I had. I honestly meant to take pictures of the thrifting goodies I found on Friday after work but I just never had the time to sit at the computer until just now.

Saturday I got up early because I wanted to go get a lawnmower and a weedeater/edger, and I also knew I had to get some groceries. I called my mom and sister and they wanted to go with me but at the last minute my mom didn't feel well and it was just sis and me. We went to Sears and found a great lawnmower which was way over the amount I wanted to spend, so we went to Home Depot but they didn't have anything comparable for the money so back to Sears we went and I bought a really nice, self-propelled, easy start one.

Then we went to a nursery because my sis was trying to find this flower...

She never really did find this particular one which I believe is called the Anemone Coronaria. Beautiful though. She's going to wait til fall and then plant bulbs instead of buying the annuals which will just die anyway. She did buy some other different flowers though.

Then it was off to buy groceries at FoodCo, but sis and I didn't realize that we had a huge box (the lawnmower) in the trunk of my mom's SUV and it took up all the space. We barely had room for the groceries.

So once I got home, which was late around 5pm and we got the lawnmower down and groceries down and put away I did some dishes and straightened up my house a little bit and I was POOPED, so I went to bed and watched TV til about 11pm.

Then Sunday, I still had to make my Walmart run and I also wanted to buy the weedeater while I was at Walmart, but they didn't have any, just a few that were very expensive, so I hit Lowe's, then I had lunch with April at El Torito which was delicious and buffet style! I also got a gift from April that I will try to photograph tomorrow. Then I stopped by my mom's house and visited with her for a bet, she's feeling better now.

Then home to do laundry, put away Walmart stuff and whew......now I finally get to sit down. I hope to get those pictures taken this week, but it's going to be a busy week so we'll see.

Did me some thrifting!

Oooooooooo, what a great day! I did some thrift store shopping today after work.! Well actually I got into it on my lunch hour because while my sister was driving me back to the office after lunch we saw a sign for an estate sale and we had to hit it! They had lots of neat stuff, but we didn't have much time and no cash. I did find a plate for my kitchen that was grapes, since I'm trying to do a grape theme in there and it was only $2.50.

Then after work we hit the American Cancer Society Discovery Store and I got lucky again and found a beautiful picture with angels on it that have a little story...well actually two stories because my brother in law had his own story he made up...more info tomorrow. I also found a nice lampshade. I had been wanting one...need to dress it up a bit, but more on that tomorrow as well.

Then we went to the Goodwill store and I found a lovely, wonderful, beautiful picture for the living room wall behind the couch that is absolutely blank and white right now, hopefully I can get it hung tomorrow and can share with you.

And a perfect ending to the day...I had homemade cheese enchiladas, beans and rice and a margarita...well actually two, at my sister's house. Enchiladas courtesy of my brother in law. Thanks Guero! They were sooooooo good and spicy, ay ay yay!

Iwanna Wednesday

Last week I showed you all a beautiful bookcase, wall display unit. And I mentioned a desk that is shown in the picture.

Well this week what Iwanna is something to put on that beautiful little desk. What you may ask? This...

and not just the monitor and keyboard, but Iwanna the whole system with all the latest gadgets including CD and DVD burners, a scanner, printer and fax, the latest version of either Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop.

I've debated whether or not it would be better to have a laptop and while I love the idea of being able to write posts to my blog while in bed all warm and toasty I really can't afford Wi-Fi, so there's really no purpose to having the lap top at this point.

But since this is just an Iwanna moment, then Iwanna that PC up there and Iwanna the laptop with Wi-Fi as well :0)

Moral Dilemmas

I was stumbling again today and I came across a Website called Some Moral Dilemmas. This websites gives a list of moral dilemmas from a book called Moral Reasoning, by Victor Grassian (Prentice Hall, 1981, 1992).

Reading this website brought back memories of an Ethics class I once took where I argued with a professor that ethics and morals have a religious background. If you don't know right from wrong because you were never taught as a child what God considered right or wrong than how can you know what is ethical or moral? This professor did not agree with my theory and brought up the question of atheists who don't believe in God, weren't taught right or wrong as decided by God. Did that mean atheists didn't know how to be ethical or moral? It made me think. But I think what I was trying to say is that for me, making ethical or moral decisions is based somewhat on WWJD - What would Jesus Do, even way before that saying became popular.

So in reading some of the moral dilemmas on the website I noticed that my decisions are based on my faith, my religious upbringing and WWJD. Read some of them and see what you think? For instance...here's a random one:

A Parent's Agonizing Choice
You are an inmate in a concentration camp. A sadistic guard is about to hang your son who tried to escape and wants you to pull the chair from underneath him. He says that if you don't he will not only kill your son but some other innocent inmate as well. You don't have any doubt that he means what he says. What should you do?

My immediate reaction is that God says Thou Shall Not Kill. He doesn't say Thou Shall Not Kill unless your children are in mortal danger. So morally and ethically according to my religious upbringing I answered that I would not do what the guard wanted me to do. Not because it was my son, but because it's not in my hands to take another person's life. Even if taking that life will save another.

But then I got to thinking further, that peace officers and soldiers and doctors make those decisions everyday. Sometimes you have to take the life of someone to save the life of someone else. Peace officers may have to shoot a bank robber who has taken hostages in order to save the lives of the hostages. Soldiers may have to take lives of innocent bystanders in order to save the lives of even more humans in the community. A doctor may have to terminate a pregnancy in order to save the mother.

It's interesting to contemplate all these different dilemmas and choices that can be made and why. For instance, this dilemma:

The Fat Man and the Impending Doom
A fat man leading a group of people out of a cave on a coast is stuck in the mouth of that cave. In a short time high tide will be upon them, and unless he is unstuck, they will all be drowned except the fat man, whose head is out of the cave. [But, fortunately, or unfortunately, someone has with him a stick of dynamite.] There seems no way to get the fat man loose without using [that] dynamite which will inevitably kill him; but if they do not use it everyone will drown. What should they do?
Since the fat man is said to be "leading" the group, he is responsible for their predicament and reasonably should volunteer to be blown up. The dilemma becomes more acute if we substitute a pregnant woman for the fat man. She would have been urged by the others to go first out of the cave.

What do you think? How would you vote?

The Story of the Spoons and other delightful objects

The other day my daughter April and I went to dinner and shopping after work on a Friday. We went to one of our favorite places, Jake's Tex Mex. She had Tri-Tip and I had the Salad Lite, which is so Un-lite it's not even funny. You have to go through a cafeteria line at Jake's and you pick and choose what you want on your salad. I started out with their wonderful shredded chicken. They put this chicken which is all white meat into a bowl and it's a lot of chicken, let me tell you. Then you tell them what you want in your salad. You can have either Pasta salad or Broccoli salad plus the lettuce and stuff. I wanted Pasta. Their pasta is awesome, it's made with these little round noodles. So then you have chicken and pasta salad and lettuce in the bowl and I picked ranch dressing, sunflower seeds and tortilla strips. They hand toss them over and over and over again in a bowl til it's all mixed together and tasty and then they toss shredded Parmesan cheese in. It's totally enough to feed two people! I ate half and brought half home which my son devoured when he got home from work.


So then we went to Marshalls and we looked around and I picked up some stuff and then would put it back, then pick up something else, then put it back. Finally I picked up these spoons, and there is a story behind these spoons. (Oh, by the way...if you click on the spoons and wait for the picture to open up to normal size you will see ME reflected in the spoons...thats what the pink dot on the spoons is, it's me!)




So the story is that right after Christmas, my mom and I went shopping at TJ Maxx after getting our nails done. I found these spoons and fell in love with them. And my mom just didn't see what the big deal with these spoons was. She said they were totally impractical! And I told her, "But mom, look at how beautiful and precious they are. Don't you just want to get up every morning to have your morning coffee knowing you can stir it with these beautiful little spoons?" She just didn't see it. :o(


So I put them back and we wandered around some more. Then I thought, "No dammit, I deserve to have happy mornings! I ask for so little in life, just pretty little nothings!" So I told her I had to have those spoons and she laughed at me and I went back to go get them and THEY WERE GONE! I was devastated! I came back and told my mom and she said, "No way!" I think what she really meant was, "Is there someone else as ridiculous as you in this world that can't get through the morning without stirring their coffee with ridiculously jeweled spoons?" I guess there is someone like that out there and dammit! they took my spoons.

So that day that my daughter and I were at Marshalls and I found the spoons I knew it was "kismet"...it was meant to be! So I bought them and they came home with me. Along with this beautiful Jasmine scented Reed Diffuser...



and this lovely Butterfly plate

that I hung up on the empty wall on my bathroom.

My bathroom has sort of a butterfly motif thanks to this picture...
that I stole from my daughter and this shower curtain...
which I've had forever and I love cause when I take my shower in the morning it's like a spring rain in a field full of butterflies...(hey, whatever I need to make it through the day ok?)

And I wanted to show off one more "pretty". A salsa bowl that my daughter brought back from the beach for me. I love it! I can't wait til spring so we can sit out on the patio with some Margaritas and Chips & Salsa. Yummy!

Thrift Shopping is like Disneyland?

My sister hates shopping.
HATES it!
Once in a while though, when she feels I need or deserve a special treat (like I'm her little pet dog) she will allow me the privilege of going thrift store shopping with her.
Did I mention she hates shopping? Well she especially hates thrift store shopping. She doesn't mind so much going into a store like JC Penneys or Walmart and going right to a certain department and getting the exact items she has on her list...but she doesn't have that "Thrill of the Hunt" that is inbred in me from the Tarango side of the family!

My Tia Leonor was the Queen of Thriftshopping the Queen of Yardsaling and the Queen of Antique Stores. You could not drive past a yard sale with Tia Nor and not know that you HAD to stop. And she could find treasures like no one else could. Her home was filled with her treasures and we all know about her "cuartito" that was filled with...um, well I don't know what it was filled with cause no one ever let us kids in there, but I'm sure it was filled with treasures.

Later as we all grew up Tia Nor filled the buses that Tio Tino and Tio Jesus had parked on her property with more treasures. And she knew what was in each of those buses and in the cuartito and if people needed something she knew just where to go and get it. She also had a pretty lucrative business selling clothing she picked up at yard sales for a song and selling it for a profit to migrant farm workers. She was my hero! heroine?...well you get the point.

I especially remember a plate that she had hanging in the kichen. The plate had John F. Kennedy on it. I loved that plate and always wished she would give it to me. I guess I should have asked, but I never did and I never knew what became of that plate. I hunt for it online, but although I've found others similar, it's not the plate I remember.

So thrifting is in my blood and I remember a few weeks ago for some reason on the way home Lisa suggested that we stop at one of my very favorite thrift stores, Goodwill on Rosedale Highway. I was thrilled and the closer we got the more excited I got. And when we were in the middle lane waiting for a pause in the traffic so I could turn left into the parking lot Lisa was laughing at me about how excited I was. And I told her that to me, going thrift store shopping is like a little kid going to Disneyland, you just get all excited and you can't wait and dad can't drive that car fast enough into the parking lot for you. Remember that feeling from being a kid whether it was going to Disneyland or to a County Fair or Circus? That's the feeling I get about thrift shopping, and I thought I was the only one until today when I read the blog Manic Thrift Store Shopper.

This guy Brian, is my spiritual Tarango twin and he speaks in a language that only true thrift store connoisseurs understand, just listen to him write about how he feels...

"When I drive past a thrift store, I often imagine that I feel a little pull to go inside. I think that something, some object, is calling out to me to be found and rescued from the shelves piled high with junk. I believe that if I look long enough and hard enough, that amazing object will be revealed and I will be rewarded for following my instinct, for turning from the street into the parking lot and getting out of my car."

Please go check out his site, he has so many "pretties" for you to see and he's one heck of a writer as well.

Iwanna Wednesday

Welcome to Iwanna Wednesday where you get to see what's inside of the brain of the woman that Iwanna's everything!

I spent the last week at home due to radioactive iodine treatment for Thyroid Cancer and most of the whole week I spent looking at the wall behind my computer, which is also the same wall behind my TV, so basically...I spent the whole week just staring at this wall that has no pictures on it, nothing. Just a plain white canvas.

But Iwanna knows what Iwanna wants this wall to look like...check this out

I love this! I want the whole wall to look like that and where you see that desk is where my computer desk would be and then I would want it to extend a little further to the right and have another area there where my TV would fit. Then I could display all my Iwanna treasures to my hearts content.

Yep...Iwanna this!

Depression Cooking

With the state of the economy right now and the high unemployment rate and all I figure we're all probably going to have to learn Depression Cooking, since it seems that we're in a Depression. I wonder how hard that's going to be given that most women are now in the workforce and don't always have time for making home cooked meals and I just don't see all that many men jumping on the band wagon to be the main cook and bottle washer in the family.

But all the same, if we do have to learn, this lady would be a great cook to learn from.

Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's Off to Work I Go!

Yep, it's official. The geiger counter said I'm no longer radioactive, or at least not radioactive enough to kill anyone! So it's back to the salt mines tomorrow.

Is it sad that I'm actually looking forward to it?

Coffee - $24.96 a Gallon

You know who I love?
I love Starbucks coffee. Love it!
Back before I bought my house I would get a Starbucks coffee every single day.
Every day!
My poison of choice? A Venti Breve Latte with one Splenda!
Mmmmm, so creamy and warm and delicious, perfectly sweet, but not too sweet. I just wanted to kiss it and hug it and marry it!!

Then, I bought my house and I heard a guy on the radio talking about what Whiners we Americans are and how we whine about the price of food and gas and a gallon of milk when the whole time we are spending $30 a gallon on coffee.

WHAT? WHERE? WHEN? ME?
Yep, me.
If you figure that my Venti Breve Latte with One Splenda was 20 ounces and cost me $3.90 per day, and it takes 128 ounces to fill a gallon then I would have to buy 6.4 Venti Breve Lattes with One Splenda to fill a gallon and 6.4 x $3.90 = $24.96.

I was buying coffee at $24.96 per gallon! And at $3.90 per day x 5 day work weeks x 50 weeks (estimating two weeks vacation) = $975.00 per year!

It put everything in perspective for me and now I brew my own coffee every morning at home.

Do I miss my barista? Yes I do. He knew me the minute I drove up to the drive thru and he would always say, "Good morning, Venti Breve Latte with One Splenda this morning?" And I felt like I belonged, like someone loved me and worshipped me and wanted to make sure that my every desire was met. I don't know, maybe $24.96 a gallon wasn't so much to pay for such a great feeling.

What's your big splurge and could you live without it?

Captivity ~ Day Six

Well today is my last day in Captivity. Tomorrow I have a doctor's appoint at around noon where they will do some type of a full body scan and check the radiation level in my system and then if all is good I can return to work Tuesday morning.

I gotta say, I had a great time being home. Even though I didn't feel 100%, 100% of the time, I still felt pretty good most of the time. I just wish I had been able to go out and do something fun. It was hard being home all week knowing that I couldn't just go over to my mom and dad's house and just hang out with them or go shopping with my mom.

But hopefully all this is behind me now and I won't even have to do this again. And I do have one more week's vacation so maybe I can head to Vegas or something exciting.

I want to thank everyone that made this so much easier for me. My mommy and daddy who called me every day and brought me milk and migas and chili beans and took in my poor homeless son Jim and fed him and cared for him. I want to thank my daughter April who texted me almost every night and sometimes during the day to see if I needed anything. My son Jim who also called me everyday and drove my car so the gas wouldn't get old in it :0) and who also brought me paintbrushes and delivered the chili beans. My sister Lisa who let me sleep late every morning and didn't call me to chat on her way to work the way we are used to, but who did call me around 9am just to make sure I did wake up that day. She also bought me vacuum cleaner bags, red potatoes and a red bell pepper which she knows is my fav! Thanks to my brother Fred for the daily phone calls and the Sweetarts, Pixy Stix and Macadamia nuts. Thanks to my nieces and nephews that texted me with sweet messages and offered to bring by anything I wanted and needed as long as they could just leave it on the front porch, :0)

Thanks to my sister in law Connie for texting me and making me laugh. Thanks to my coworker and friend Angelica for calling me and bitching about the office and for missing me terribly. If I forgot anyone know that what you did, the thoughts, the prayers have been greatly appreciated by me.

I have a plan already and if tomorrow they release me and tell me I'm no longer radioactive I'm heading for the Discovery Store and to my favorite Goodwill store! I can hardly wait!

Weird Shoes I Stumbled Upon

I think I've mentioned before this cool little program called StumbleUpon. You simply download the program and install the toolbar into your browser, super simple. Then you personalize to the things you are interested in from a whole list of different things. For instance I personalized with things I am interested in such as:
Cooking
Food
Crafts
Humor
Catholic
Women
Health
Fashion
Clothing
Shopping
Puzzles
Quizzes, etc...you get the picture right? So then whenever I want to I simply click on the STUMBLE button in my toolbar and the Great God the of Web will locate a website it thinks I would be interested in depending on my choices. So I may get a really cool website about blond jokes or word puzzles or Bible Verse of the Day, etc etc. So if I like that website then I click on the "I like it" button and I will get more websites similar to that one. If I don't like it then I click on the "thumbs down" button and I won't get anymore like that one.

The reason for me going into such detail is twofold

1. I think you should download StumbleUpon

2. I want to show you something I StumbledUpon just today at this website...

Can you believe these shoes? And there are other ones to view if you click the link above! But these two were definitely the weirdest. See StumbleUpon knows that one of the interests I have is in fashion and that's probably why they showed me this website or could it be my interest in humor? Or maybe it's a puzzle...how do you get the flies inside the shoe to feed the live tarantula without it biting you? Go see the rest of these and you decide! Ugh!