Iwanna Wednesday

My sister gave me an awesome idea for Iwanna Wednesday.
See...I was going to do an Iwanna post on toasters, cause Iwanna one. But I'm going to save that post for next week because what you're about to see. . . well frankly it got me so hot I can toast my own toast without a toaster!! Whewwwww Baby!

What Iwanna is one of the Men of Mortuaries, especially the one changing the tire on the hearse, mmmmmmm, mmmmmmmmm!!!

Watch this video and enjoy and if possible donate, it's a great cause! We've all had family members with breast cancer.

Doctor's Appointments

I had two doctors appointments this morning. Now you know how graphic I can get about doctors appointments and procedures...I warn you ahead of time.

The first doctor was my endocrinologist. An endocrinologist is a specially trained doctor who diagnoses and treats diseases that affect your glands and hormone levels (endocrine system) such as:
Adrenal Disorders
Diabetes
Lipid Disorders
Osteoporosis
Pituitary Disorders
Parathyroid and Calcium Disorders
PCOS, infertility
Thyroid Disorders ...which is my disorder and why I see one.

The second doctor was my surgeon, and well, I guess you know what surgeons do, except this one did it twice; cut me open I mean.

So I thought I would show you a picture of my two doctors. . .

First my endocrinologist. Capable looking guy isn't he? He can manage any of my disorders anytime!

And this is my surgeon. Definitely a man you would trust to take a knife to your throat isn't he?

Ok, Ok...I know. These are those two doctors from Greys Anatomy, a show I absolutely adore for many different reasons. The two McDreamy, McSteamy guys shown above being two reasons why I adore the show, mmmmmmmm, yummy!

So why did I lie and try to pass off these two gorgeous men as my doctors? Well because today's doctors visits consisted of the endocrinologist and the surgeon (both during different appointments, one at 8am and one at 9am) massaging and palpitating my neck and shoulder area gently with their bare hands. And do you think that when I closed my eyes, (cause to be frank, it felt pretty damn good) I thought about the actual real life doctors? No way Jose! I thought about those two doctors up above. It was worth the $275 a piece that I paid today!

A girl can dream can't she?

I can't wait til next Monday when I have a mammogram scheduled. Let's see what doctor or x-ray technician I conjure up for that one! Stay tuned.

Disneyland was Great!

Last Saturday I went to Disneyland. I hadn't been to Disneyland since my daughter was in the band in high school and she's now 28, so it had been quite a while. I really hadn't had any interest in going to Disneyland but when my daughter texted me and asked if I wanted to go I figured why not? It would be just her and I and if I got too tired we could just come home.

Then she told me that she invited my nieces, Alicia and Beatriz and I thought, well that's great. I would love to hang out with them as well and if I back out at the last minute April will still have someone to go with.

Then she told me that my brother Fred, his wife Norma and little Fred and baby Melissa would be going also and well that cinched it that I was going to have to suck it up and go. And I'm sure glad I did, because we had the BEST TIME EVER!!! We opened and closed the park and it was so great to see little Fred and Melissa enjoy their first time at Disneyland.

Here are some pictures because as the saying goes, a picture is worth a 1000 words. . .

First off the gang on Main Street, April, Beatriz, Alicia and Little Fred

First ride...Jungle Cruise. Here's Melissa and her daddy Big Fred. Now those are the faces you come to Disneyland to see. Just look at those smiles!

We ended up in a separate boat from Fred, Norma, Little Fred and Melissa. Here's Alicia, Beatriz and April ready to set sail for the Amazon Jungles of Disneyland!

After that ride it was time to split up. Fred, Norma, Little Fred and Melissa took off for Toon Town, Small World and the Tea Cups. They promised to wait and ride the Tea Cups with us. Here's the girls outside of the Indiana Jones ride. This one was fun! I was amazed that I wasn't scared to get on them because I usually don't like the fast, scary rides and prefer to sit them out. I was feeling particularly adventurous this day :-) I rode Splash Mountain and Space Mountain as well.

Mother and daughter! I know I look drunk, but hey, it was barely 9am. My eyes are actually just trying to refocus after that ride! Seeing April smiling made this whole trip worthwhile! Thank you so much April for wanting to drag your tired, old mom with you! xoxoxoxo

Ok, I look a little better here. Here I am with my namesake, my niece Alicia.

And I can't let Beatriz get away without taking a picture with her Tia Ale as well.

Here we are waiting to ride the Tea Cups. Melissa is eating Cotton Candy. You haven't had fun until you've watch her eat Cotton Candy. Her big sissy, Alicia actually sticks Melissa's whole hand in her mouth a little later to clean off all the pink, gooey, sticky, yummy mess! She's a great sissy-poo.

This next set of pictures are my favorites. Here's Melissa looking a little leery, wondering what in the heck this ride is all about. She's got her hands on the wheel in the middle, but she really doesn't know what it's for just yet.


Check out the closeup...is this a face or what?? Beautiful!

Ah Ha!!! She figured out what this whole thing is about and is this a face of sheer joy or what? This is what makes Disneyland worthwhile!


Here's the gang in the other Tea Cup. It is just too funny to watch grown men sitting in these Tea Cups!

Uh Oh! I think Fred has had just about enough of this spinning around, don't you think? Although April, Beatriz and little Fred seem to find Fred's discomfort rather amusing.

Awwww, how cute is this?
Here's Melissa telling Daddy it's ok after his scary ride on the spinning Tea Cup.

Mother and daughter yet again. A little more tired, hair a tad messy after the water ride. Let me warn you, Splash Mountain should be renamed "Come out totally soaked" Mountain, there is no splashing...there is drowning! But I loved it. Thank you April. Love, Love, Loved Disneyland and love you too!

Next time someone invites you to Disneyland, Go, Go, Go. It's so worth it!

Iwanna Wednesday

I had a whole Iwanna post all ready. Uh, well...I had pictures and an idea ready, but then my sister came over and said, "Iwanna you to help me with my resume!" And I figured that was such a big Iwanna that I would help her and just explain that this week, Iwanna help my little sister!

Putting Up Walls

I wish I had room in my house for some of the room divider's shown at this website, but alas, I have a really small home. I especially love this one though.



If you were to just look at it you wouldn't know that it's made with recycled water bottles. And when you think about how many water bottles you go through in a month you could easily have all the supplies you need to make this in just a few short months; maybe 1 month if you're a real big water drinker...which I'm not.

Pretty cool, don't you think?

The Happiest Place on Earth

Guess where I'm headed tomorrow?

It's known as the Happiest Place on Earth (I've always thought my couch during nap time was the happiest place on earth).

Yep, I'm gonna go see Mickey!

M . I . C . . . K . E . Yyyyyyyyy

M O U S E!



I'm headed there with my daughter and my brother Fred's whole Clan!

Wish me luck because I don't know that I'm cut out for amusement parks anymore :0(
I'll be sure to post pictures when I get back.

I'm really excited because

1. I'm going with my daughter,

2. I'm going to be with my nieces Alicia and Beatriz,

3. I get to see Melissa experience her first time at Disneyland,

4. I get to experience seeing my brother Fred having fun for once!

and last but not least I get to see little Fred and Norma experience Disneyland!

It should be a fun time for all.

Iwanna Wednesday

It's been a rough couple of weeks in my life. Work has been very stressful and although a beer or a drink really helps; I don't want to turn into an alcoholic!


So I started thinking about what else I could do to relieve stress and I realized that what Iwanna one of these. . .




A hot tub! And I don't want just the hot tub, Iwanna the whole enchilada! The Gazebo and see there...see that little bar on the side? Love that! And Iwanna one of those big screen tv's that slides out of the side and slides back into a hidden panel. And that's what Iwanna this Wednesday, especially since it's going to get pretty hot, pretty soon.

Update on the Nico Bowl or La Olla de Nico

I was just chatting with my mom and she asked me to read her the blog about Nico. She liked it. But then she asked me why I didn't put the story about how the Nico Bowl came to be. I told her, "cause I don't know how the Nico Bowl came to be."



This is the story. . .



Remember these?

You do if you grew up in Arizona in the late 50's early 60's. These are S & H Stamps. You used to get these for free everywhere, from grocery stores to the five and dime stores and gas stations. I remember licking hundreds of pages and being totally anal about lining them up perfectly on the pages of the books you used to place them in.

When you had enough books you could exchange them at the S & H Redemption Store.

And that is where the Nico Bowl came from. My mom saved enough stamps to snag the Nico Bowl and she gave it to Nico. I always remember Nico keeping panesitos or tortilla's or Bizcocho's in this bowl. My mom says that after Nico passed Tia Leonor used it to boil the beans. Every time my mom would go to Eloy to visit Tia Leonor she would tell Tia, "Hoyes Leonor, cuando me vas a dar la Olla de Nico". And Tia Leonor would say "Talk to the hand!" No, not really, but she would put her hand up the same way and tell my mom, "Esperate, esperate". (Wait, wait)

One day I guess my mom caught Tia Leonor in a good and generous mood and when she asked for the Olla, Tia Leonor told her to go ahead and take it. . . and that is where the Nico Bowl came from. So Nico and Leonor have both used the bowl, then my mom, then my brother Fred.

A free bowl, from S & H Green Stamps? And Hallmark thinks they have the market on wonderful memories?

Dos Equis Beer

The other day I saw this commercial and it made me want to try Dos Equis Beer. Now I'm usually a Corona drinker with salt and lime. I also enjoy Michelob Ultra. But I now have a new favorite...Dos Equis!

I love the way beer tastes. I don't particularly like that it gets you drunk since I love the flavor itself. Anyway, since I saw this commercial I guess this guy has become a big hit.

Here's the commercial of the Most Interesting Man in the World and Dos Equis drinker.



You can find out more info on the Most Interesting Man in the World here.

"Crazy" Friday

On Friday nights I used to go out with friends and go dancing and one of our favorite songs was this one, Crazy by Patsy Cline. One of the girls in one of the bands we listened to sang this. And she was good, I loved the way she sang it...but...there is only one Patsy Cline.

Iwanna Wednesday

I've had to do a lot of yard work lately, and by lately I mean yesterday. Yesterday I came home with my sister and she and my mom and I went out onto the back patio at my house. We sat there and chit-chatted for a bit and then I came inside to go to the bathroom. When I came back out my mom and sister had the weed eater/edger out to do yard work, so I felt the only thing I could do is grab the lawn mower.

And so....work began. I'm glad we did it, thanks Mom and Lisa. My yard now looks lovely. I love it now, its so pretty. Except for one thing. This. . .

It looks like my rose bush has sprouted a branch that might or might not be a climbing rose. It hasn't bloomed yet, so I'm not sure it's a branch that will bloom or not. See how it separated at the bottom?

If this is a climbing rose then what Iwanna is for it to shape itself like these photos:


Iwanna one of these as well. Isn't this one really pretty and different?

I love the idea here of using an old ladder. I have a ladder just like this, but I still need mine, (to change light bulbs and stuff). So maybe this weekend I will look for something while thrift shopping, because I'm try really hard to not buy anything new...except for food, cause 2nd hand food just doesn't sound very appealing does it?

And that is what Iwanna for today. Anyone else have any idea what to do with what may or may not be my climbing rose?

Thrift Store Treasures

I love thrift shopping! I always have, always will. I say it comes from the Tarango side of the family since they all love thrift shopping as well.

My idea of a perfect Saturday is to wake up late, (around 8am) and head out for the thrift stores. I just think to myself, "Settle down cobwebs, dust to go sleep, I'm shopping with mom, cause mom's don't keep." (Meaning I don't worry about cleaning the house on Satudays, none of us remember how clean our mom's houses were do we? But we remember time spent with our mothers.)

My partner in crime is my mother. She loves thrifting as well. We've had many a bonding moment over other people's junk. One woman's junk is another woman's treasure, I always say. Goodwills are our favorites. They just seem to have the best stuff and they also seem the cleanest.

This Saturday, we hit the Goodwills and found many treasures. Sometimes you go and you find nothing, sometimes you just get lucky. The first Goodwill we hit had nothing and we got a little discouraged. The second one...well I hit the jackpot. I left the shopping cart with my mom who was looking at blouses and I went to check out the aisles with dishes, Nick-knacks, odds and ends...and I found these!!! $.75 each.

Beautiful wine glasses with a hand painted grape design! I think you can click on them to see the design better. I'm trying to do a grape theme in my kitchen and they're harder to find than you might think, so I was really happy to find these. So I carried my little treasure back to my mom's shopping cart and my mom said, "You don't have room for those, where are you going to put them?" And I said, "C'mon Mom, there's always room for jello!" And off I went again.

So then, I came across these gorgeous ice cream bowls. What I first noticed is that they almost looked like carnival glass. I have one piece of carnival glass and I love it. These were not carnival glass, but I was really in need of ice cream bowls. Lovely, aren't they? $.75 each.

So I carried my little treasure back to my mom's shopping cart again and again she said, "Very pretty, but where are you going to put them?" She can be so practical!


So since I was on a roll, I took off again and happened to catch one of the ladies who works at Goodwill bringing out a wire cart from the back room. In the back room they have these magical elves that price the treasures and put them on a wire cart. Then the ladies roll them out with brand new treasures that haven't been picked over yet! Oh, let me tell you...it's a joy and a privilege to be the first to pick through the NEW junk!


That's where I found the "Nico Bowl". What is a Nico Bowl you ask? Well, I had an aunt named Nico. Nico was the most wonderful, beautiful soul ever born on this earth, next to the mother of Jesus Christ! She was a gentle, loving woman who although she never had children of her own made us all feel like we were her children. I don't ever remember a cross word from Nico, a frown or a reprimand. I just remember love; beautiful, wonderful, unconditional love.

Nico had a bowl that looks like the one pictured below.


2...

I can remember this bowl as a child filled with little "panesitos" (little bread). Nico used to make these little unleavened rounds of bread that we loved to eat with beans, or Chile Verde or Bologna. My mom still makes them and they are one of my son's favorite foods.

My mom ended up with this bowl and it became for our family; the Nico Bowl, or La Olla de Nico. This bowl is famous in our family for being the bowl/olla that holds bbq meat every single time we bbq. It's famous for my brother Fred saying to first Alicia (his daughter, not me), then Bebe. "Ale/Bebe, bring me the Nico Bowl", when the meat was done on the grill. When La Olla de Nico comes out, you pretty much know it's almost time to eat!

So now I have my own Nico Bowl, or Olla de Nico. Let's hope that I can build memories as wonderful as the ones Nico left me in my childhood and that my brother Fred gave me in adulthood.

What childhood memories do you have of Nico, or some family member in your life?

MOVITS! - Awesome music video

I'm not a big fan of music. I mean I like music, in the car when I'm by myself, or when I'm doing housework. But for the most part, I would rather listen to myself talk...that's just how I roll! But I found this video and this really makes me want to jump out of my chair and dance around like a fool in my kitchen. Hope you like it as well. . .