A Little of Everything

Wow, it just dawned on me; I have not posted anything since November 30th. What is up with that? Well, I guess I better tell you guys what I have been up to for the past 12 days.

Boston - Boston was great. The work part was ok; you guys know, meetings, lunches, talking to the managers, that type of stuff. On Friday we did have our Christmas Party. That was ok, but it seems that I have had a better time in past years (could be that I consumed no beer? huh, maybe). On Saturday we visited the greatest place ever, and a new mandatory stop every time we visit Boston, the Wrentham Village Premium Outlets, omg!, the greatest place EVER. They have tons of outlet stores like bebe, Arden B, Polo, and get this, brace yourself, a Burberry outlet store, yeah!!! I was in heaven. I even got a pair of Gucci sunglasses for, get this, $69.99!!

After all the shopping we headed for the Custom House in Boston. They have an awesome observation deck and I was able to snap some pics.



On Sunday we hung out in Boston walked from Fanuiel Hall through the Public Garden to Newbury Street. Later that afternoon we headed for the airport to make our way home.

Houston: Mon. to Fri. - I have been so lazy this past week. I pretty much had the whole week off, and was supposed to get so many things done, but when I looked at the calendar it was Friday already. On Thursday our neighborhood had its annual Christmas lights walk through. Pretty much people walk around the neighborhood looking at the lights. This was the second year of the event and the second year that we have been a Host Home. We pretty much set up a table outside with drinks and cookies/cakes and people stop by and get a refreshment.



Saturday - Watched Maria Full of Grace. The movie was ok.

Sunday - I finally realized that my husband is not allowed to go out by himself. I swear every time he hits the town by himself something happens. Today he went to the Colts vs. Texans game. He has been gone for 12 hours, well, guess what, he was pick pocketed. Someone tried to use our ATM! We had to call around and cancel all his cards. Believe me weird things happen to that boy. Lesson learned, he is no longer allowed out of the house unescorted.

Scott Peterson

I don't think Scott should get the death penalty. Do not get me wrong I do believe in putting people to death for crimes, but I think that Scott will suffer far more in jail for the rest of his life...death is just too easy.

The realization that he killed his wife and his child , and the way they were killed, will sink in eventually and then he will wish he were dead.

As I looked at the Court TV highlights of the sentencing phase I was close to tears. All those pictures of Laci when she was little. She could be MY daughter. I just hope that I, as a mother, never have to go through something like that. I feel so bad for her family.

I think Laci's mother summed it best by saying "I hope the screams of my daughter begging for her life and begging for the life of her unborn child are herd by the killer for the rest of his life". I wish the same thing.

Thanksgiving Wrap Up

I really hope you all had a great Thanksgiving week and were able to find all those Thanksgiving deals on Friday.

Our Thanksgiving was typical, the usual, we had Thanksgiving BBQ at J.R. parents and then drove to see my family.

On Friday I had in mind to get up at the crack of dawn to go shopping, but decided against it after I did not find anything too cheap to pass up in the paper. Instead we got up and were out the door by noon. We went to Toys R Us and were still able to find the two sale items they were advertising (yippie!!). After that we went to Office Depot were I bought me a new 19 inch flat screen monitor, they had a $170 rebate (too good to pass up). I gave my old 17 inch flat screen to Baby Girl. She loves it, plus it gives her more room on her desk.

Saturday was light day. We put up tons of Christmas lights. We are now ready for our neighborhood Christmas walk through. I need to take a pic and post it.

Sunday was wash day. I am leaving for Boston tomorrow and need to get some things ready. So far the weather outlook is saying it will be high 40s to low 20s, NO SNOW, but I bet you guys that as soon as my plane lands the weather gods will change their mind just like they do every year.

Last year the weather called for no snow, but it ended up being the first snow storm of the season with the worst storm of the winter. We were stuck inside for 2 days. Ok, cross your fingers and wish me luck.

Great Movies

Hello there boys and girls. I am coming to you guys live from Youngstown, Ohio. Yeah, yippie for me (sarcastic). What are you doing there you might ask, well, I am working, but will be home back tomorrow.

While I am here I thought I would share with you guys some movies I saw this weekend. The first one is Osama. I really, really, really enjoyed this movie. If you think we women have it bad now days you need to see how women under the Taliban regimen live. The movie follows the life of a young girl that has to become a boy to help her family out (only men are allowed to work). The movie is in Pashtu, but has English subtitles.

This movie made me realize that the Taliban is not about Muslim fundamentals, but about oppression. Baby Girl watched the movie with me and asked "why are they all covered up?" I proceeded to explain to her about a woman's role in that society. All of the sudden a man is seen on screen. Baby Girl asks "why is he not covered up?". If my three year old can see the injustice why can they?

The other movie I saw was Super Size Me. We are all guilty of eating fast food more than we are supposed to, if you are not please let me know what you do, so this movie hit close to home. The dieticians in the movie say you are only supposed to eat fast food one time per month, ouch!!

Overall I really liked the movie and I specially liked the paintings that they showed at several points throughout the film. Oh, yeah, they did mention that in 2002 Houston was the #1 fattest city in the US and the second in 2003. I guess that is a title we do not want to have.

I Must Blog...

I need to blog about something today, but do not know what exactly. I have been thinking about doing a 100 things about me page, but I always decide against it. I just think I will come across as too psycho or weird. Maybe I can do one of those new lists where people highlight what they have done. I dunno.

I can talk about what shows I am watching, but it has been a lame fall, even for nov. sweeps, and the only show I have been religiously keeping my eye on has been Arrested Development.

I can talk about this year has gone incredibly fast. It is already November! The New Year will be here before we know it.

I can talk about my pregnancy, everything is great, I am due in February, but do not want to bore anyone to tears.

I can talk about work. I will be once again going to Boston the last week of the month. The bad thing is that it is already snowing up there and all of you know that cold weather and I do not mix. Plus, I am hoping my belly does not grow anymore. I have a winter coat that still fits and I am not about to buy me a down maternity jacket just for one visit to Boston knowing I will never wear it again. The good thing is that JR is coming up mid week. We are also staying at the Custom House Hotel right in the city so it should be lots of fun.

The Word of God

The other day I was driving around and a bumper sticker I saw made me think of how every person and religion interprets every word written in the Bible differently. I think it is amazing that there are thousands of Christian religions and sects based on a single book.

Well, back to the bumper sticker. The sticker just said "Thou Shall Not Kill - Become Vegetarian". Huh, food for thought.

Too Funny

My Weekend...

On Saturday we went to a wedding. I just love weddings they are so romantic. Yes, I know that 60% of the marriages end in divorce, but I think that for at least one day the bride and groom are completely honest about their feelings and are 100% optimistic about their future. I mean, no one is thinking about getting divorce on their wedding day.

One thing I really loved about this wedding and something I would recommend to all the people planning a wedding is to have a kid’s area. I had never seen such thing. They had an area with a TV with videos, coloring books, games, snacks, drinks, and a lady that looked over the kids. That is an excellent way to take the kids with you and have a good time without worrying about where the kids are. If I would of known we would of taken Baby Girl with us. Totally Cool Beans.

Movies - This weekend I saw Le Violon Rouge or The Red Violin. I LOVED it!!! If you guys are looking for a great movie to see without the regular Hollywood hoopla I hate I would absolutely recommend this movie. It is awesome.

The movie traces the life of a violin from creation (1681) to the present day. It is a series of stories that are tied together in an incredibly creative way. The story is great and the cinematography is amazing. Thumbs up!

Election Recap

People are SO dramatic. I have been reading tons of blogs today and most of them talk about the future downfall of the United States because Bush is our President. "They" also say that the next four years are going to suck and that they are moving to Canada, Europe, or South America. All I can say is - SEE YA!!!

This country needs people that will stick together. Plus, if you think the U.S. is bad you should try living in another country. Actually living some where else is much different than visiting for two weeks. Americans have so many freedoms and most of them are taken for granted. There is a reason why we have SO many immigrants and people risking their lives to live here. We live in a great nation no matter who the president is.

If you are a nay sayer go on, get out, there are thousands of people waiting to take your place.

Vote Vote Vote

Play by play election coverage from CNN.

My Spooktacular Weekend

On Friday we headed down to Galveston. We first stopped at Moody Gardens. The last time we were there was 11 years ago! Wow, the place has gotten bigger, or maybe I just don't remember it correctly. Anyway, it was still fun and Baby Girl had a blast. She really enjoyed the 3D Imax Ocean Wonderland movie. She was so cute; she kept reaching for the fish and moving out of the way when one was coming towards her. Somehow I though it was really funny.

After Moody Gardens we headed for the beach, well, our version of a beach. We were there just enough time for Baby Girl to get her feet wet and get some sea shells.

On our way back to Houston we stopped at J.R. grandma’s house and took her out for some dinner.

Saturday was all about house work.

Sunday...Yeah!! I just LOVE Halloween. We got up and cleaned up the house. J.R. was all day in the kitchen making some yummy chicken. We ate around 4pm, we put our costumes on, and got ready for the big night. This year my sister, mom, and stepdad came over and they took Baby Girl around the neighborhood while J.R. and I lit some candles, got out our stereo with spooky music, set up some chairs, got out a fan (yes, it was hot down here), got all our Halloween candy, and sat in our drive way to wait for the trick or treaters. We did not have as many kids as we did last year, this time we had around 100 kids, but it was still fun.

Hope you all had a wonderful and safe Halloween.

Karaoke on National Television

It has been a week since I have posted anything. Sigh, maybe some of you have heard that the Astros did not make it into the World Series. Maybe next year, sigh. Pettite will hopefully be back and even though I doubt that Beltran will stay with us, as we all know money talks and right now the Yankees are screaming, I think that we have enough momentum to carry us into the next season. Ok, the book is closed on the whole Astros business. I will talk about them again next season.

Last week I celebrated my one year blog-o-versary. Yippie for me!!

Not Cool Beans - to Saturday Night Live. For some reason my husband finds it necessary to TiVo Saturday Night Live. I always get upset when I see that little green light on between 10:30 to midnight on Saturdays because I find it a waste of my hard drive space, but this past Saturday TiVoing it came in handy. I was doing some eBaying while my husband saw the humorless show (his time not mine) and I joined him at the end just in time to see Ashlee Simpson apologize to the audience for a mistake her band made. I quickly told J.R. to rewind to see what had happened. OMG, I felt so embarrassed for the girl. I mean, I thought the girl had no talent, but for her to confirm it in national television was a dream come true. For those who do not know what happened, or what didn't, here is the news story...here.

But, why is everyone speaking up against Ashlee when SNL has always said that they only allow "LIVE" shows on their show? I am beginning to wonder what they mean by live. Boo, hoo to SNL. They all knew she was going to lip-sync and they allowed it to happen.

Baseball Talk

Sorry guys I have been ignoring my blogging duties lately, I do not mean to, but it seems that this baseball business has gotten the best of me.

A few days ago I was going to blog about the, once again, downfall of the Red Sox, but they have proved me wrong...good for them!! Yes, I have not only been staying up late watching the Astros play, but also the Red Sox. Why the Red Sox you ask...well, we used to live up in BeanTown and my daughter, Baby Girl, is a native Bostonian. They must put something in the water because, I swear, her first’s words were mama, dada, and Red Sox. Every time I go up to Boston she asks me to bring her a Red Sox dress, T-Shirt, or hat, her last request were for Red Sox socks (yeah, try saying that real fast several times), but I could not find any that would fit her.

I really hope the World Series does not come down to the Red Sox vs. the Astros because I don't know if my husband would like to see, or could take, our daughter cheering for the other team. Well, at the same time it could be entertaining!

Well, that is pretty much ALL I have been up to lately. I hope to come back to my regularly or irregularly posting schedule as soon as the Astros win the World Series.

Ok, here is a pic of the cutest Red Sox fan.

I Need to Get a Life

I guess I need to get a life and start blogging about other things aside from the Astros. I would LOVE for them to make it to the World Series, but they are struggling. The Cardinals are an awesome team and they hit incredibly. If we are able to get past the Cardinals we will have an easier time with the Yankees or Red Sox. Ok, that is it for that.

Last week I started watching a new show on ABC called Life As We Know It. Believe me, I am not one to get hooked on an teen drama (is that what they are called?), but this show is pretty good.

I am so looking for Arrested Development to start. The season will begin on Nov. 7th.

Baseball or Presidential Debate???

Huh, actually not a though choice. I am thinking the third presidential debate will be a repeat of number 1 and 2...Same old record that skips at the same places.

I instead will be watching the first game of the Astros against St. Louis and I am thinking a lot of people will do the same.

As of now, I don't know who will win (ha, ha, double meaning), but I am pulling and cheering for the Astros. As for the presidential race, well, if they had the wives speak I am sure the Bush team will win hands down because every time I see Kerry's wife she seems either drunk, disoriented, or deeply sedated. I say let the women go at it. It would be a lot more interesting. Wasn't there a wives debate a few elections back?? I think it was Dole's wife vs. Hillary. I think.

Anyway, the game starts at 7pm on Fox and the debate will be at 8pm on every other station. Go Astros!!!

Yippie!!

Way to go
Astros!!

My So-So Weekend

On Friday, I headed to the Flying Saucer to meet the other Houston Tiaras. The event is always a lot of fun, because it lets us, first, put faces with names and, secondly, it lets us catch up with each other. There is always something new and exciting going on that you have not read about. Congrats to Cybertoad on all her weight loss and to I Don't Think on her upcoming nuptials. See how much fun it is!!! Pics link to Cybertoad's site.

On Saturday, we hung out and saw the awesome Astros kick some Atlanta a*s. GO 'Stros.

On Sunday, we actually went to the game. Let me just say this, there were 5 seconds at the surprising ending of the game were no body moved, there was just silence and looks of disbelieve. I felt so bad for J.R. He is a die hard Astros fan and I had gotten him tickets for Sundays game because I thought that we were going to win, we did have the home field advantage after all. After the loss there was sadness every where. The fact that we had a couple of Atlanta's fans in our section did not help matters much, but it was good for some comic relief. Some of them were quiet, while another hackled and fought with the drunken Astros fans, not always a good move. To say the least that Atlanta fan ended up leaving early.

Today is another day...Go Astros!!!!

Wet Beans in Florida

I am in Chicago today. Well, I was here yesterday and will be here tomorrow, anyway, I went to the local grocery story to buy some water and guess what I found?! Donald Trump has his own brand of water. It is called Trump Ice and the label is cheesy as hell. Why is he going into water anyway? Isn't that market over saturated (no pun intended) ;)



I have decided to create a "Cool Beans!" or "NOT Cool Beans!" section, it is pretty much just like the Jeers and Cheers in the TV Guide, but I decide to come up with my own titles. Ok, the first entry...

Cool Beans! - To the owner of the land right next to the Women's Federal Prison in Alderson, W.V. for charging $750 for parking to news trucks trying to get a glimpse of the arrival of Martha Stewart. I would of done the same thing.

Not Cool Beans! - To Florida voters...See story here. What the hell is going on over there?! They seem like intelligent people to me, but it looks like some of them did not fill out their voter registration cards correctly. Plus, there has been some tampering with some of the ones that were not filled out the right way, huh, it all smells fishy to me. Ok Florida, get it right this time.

Nip/Tuck Over

The season finale of Nip/Tuck was tonight and I miss it already. I can not believe that I am going to have to wait till next June to see new shows. Wow, this season was awesome and far fetched at the same time...Come on Ava a man?!! The ending was great, but predictable. Do not get me wrong I love the show and all its insanity and can not wait for next season.

Are You Having A Bad Day?

This guy is having the worst day of his life. Read his story here and you will be feeling a lot better about how your day is going. So many questions come to mind, but I am going to put those in the comment section.

A Great Day to Be in Houston

This weekend was great. On Saturday, we with 20 of our family and friends headed to Minute Maid Park to see the Astros in action. The game was sold out and the Astros did not disappoint. What a great game.

On Sunday, we made our way back to Minute Maid park, on the last game of the season, to see the Astros clinch the wild card spot. The stadium was again sold out and full of excitement. It was a great game, but a little nerve racking. The Astros won 5-3.

The series against the Atlanta Braves starts this Wednesday! Good luck 'stros.

Bush or Kerry...Tough Choice

With a month to go, do you know who you are voting for?? Most people do already and are very adamant about it. I myself think these elections are like trying to pick a pair of high heels that hurt the least. You know they will all hurt, but are trying to get the least amount of pain.

Anyway, everyone has an opinion. As lame as both candidates are this election has stirred up people to the core. I am even afraid to say who I am voting for, because every time I do is like opening the doors of hell.

The debate last night was bland. I did not get inspired by either candidate. Kerry kept talking about how Bush f%^&$d up and Bush kept talking about how Kerry always switches sides. Of course there were other issues covered like the war in Iraq. In my opinion USAs presence there will never end. There is only one reason why we are there and that is oil. If there was no oil there we would care less about them killing themselves; we would just send them monetary help like we are giving Sudan. If Sudan was full of oil we would be the first ones there looking out for people's freedom and getting our military there ASAP securing the oil.

North Korea and disarming terrorist was a big discussion last night also. I do fear that there will be a war with North Korea. There has not been any UN inspectors looking for nuclear reactors since 2002 when their communist government kicked them out. Disarming Terrorist, well, that is another story, one that will never end no matter how hard we fight and how many people get killed. Unlike North Korea, a country with a location and borders, terrorism is borderless. Terrorist are everywhere, they are like rats that hide from the sunlight and come out at night when no one is watching. Disarming them will be a war that will never be won.

To Know or Not To Know

Well, I made it home last night. The trip was uneventful, a lot of work though. Tomorrow I am heading to Los Angeles. I have not been there in a while. I will only be there a night, so just enough time to see a friend.

Next week, I am heading to Chicago. In hopes of winning a new car I tried to register for Oprah's show, but they are all booked till November...oh, well.

On Monday I am having a Level II ultrasound. Since I do not have a thyroid they need to see how the Sequel is doing. This raises a good question...Do I want to find out the sex of the Sequel? Part of me says, no! It would be fun to wait till the end to see what it is. But, the other part says, find out. It would be nice to tell Baby Girl what the Sequel's sex is now instead of hearing her talk about the baby girl mommy is having. It will break my heart if she hates the Sequel because it is a boy. I just feel that I should prepare her now. If anyone has gone through this and has any advise I would LOVE to hear it. Baby Girl is 3 years old.

On The Road Again...

I will be in Dallas from Monday to Wednesday, coming home, then flying to Los Angeles on Thursday. I really hope to blog from the road, so I will keep you guys posted.

Star Wars-ed Out

If I see anything else Star Wars related I am going to scream!! My husband went out, well, realistically, we bought it together, and got the new DVD release of Star Wars. Yeap, we watched them all - back to back to back. I hear the dark side theme in my head, like a bad ringing that does not go away.

Well, let me tell you guys, not only did we watched the movies, but my husband made it a point to tell me about all the enhanced scenes and all the gossip going around on the internet about episodes 7-9.

Do not get me wrong I am fan. I truly enjoy episodes 4-6 way, way, way more than 1 and 2, but I am so looking forward to episode 3. I think it will answer a lot of questions. I really hope it is well done and leaves any annoying characters (like Jar-Jar) out of the story.

I Am Pissed...

I am very angry right now, not because of anything that happened to me, but because I feel my sister is being taken advantage off. I hate insurance companies!!!

My sister got hit (see Sept. 21 entry) by a person that does not have insurance, so she has to rely on her own insurance to cover her car. To sum things up...She is getting $4,300 for her car (she just put a new engine on it worth $4,000), once she gets a check she will have three days to return the rental car (which she has not gotten yet since she just got back in to town last night), in those three days she is expected to find a car and if she has to take time off from work they will not reimburse her for lost wages. Why should she be inconvenienced after someone hit her?!

Let me give you some background on my sister and her car. She has owned her little silver Toyota Celica since it rolled off the production line. Yeah, the car was a 1995, but it has less than 70,000 miles on it (my car is a 2001 and I am close to 45,000 already!). She loved it like it was her child, it even still had that new car smelled. I believe that she would of kept that car for another five years, but all that is gone since some lady decided to run a red light and destroy my sister's little piece of heaven.

There is no way that she will ever find a nice car, with low miles, and good working order for the $4,300 she is getting. That sucks!! By the way, she has Geico for her insurance. Now let me tell you about Geico...The will sell her old car for parts, and then sue the lady that hit my sister. They will end up making a nice profit. Assholes!!

Ok, yes, I am venting my anger, but think that it is very unfair what is happening. She would of been very happy with her car for a while longer, but now, through no fault of her own, she has to go and find a $4,300 dollar car. You all know how much it sucks to shop for a car and it sucks much more when they send you to the back of the lot where the $4,300 cars are at.

Yuck...

Yuck, it is 3:10am and I am working!! We are having issues, of course I should of known we would after they said that we were going to start promptly at midnight. Well, since I am here let's talk about my weekend...

It all started awesomely and went downhill real fast. On Friday J.R. and I invited some friends to join us at the Astros game. I invited Ms. Zam and I am glad she was able to make it, let me tell you guys, if you guys think she is funny you should meet her man. The game was awesome and the Astros kicked some Brewer butt.

After the game we decided to cross the street to get a beer and to catch up with some friends. After a while I told J.R. that we better go since Baby Girl needed to be picked up from my sister's house. I decided to call my sister when we got on the road and she starts a sentence with "I need to tell you something, but don't want you to get upset". I with all the calmness that I could muster said "ok, what is it?". She proceed to tell me that she and Baby Girl had gone out with a friend of hers and that on the way home some lady ran a red light and hit them!!! I remained calm.

After making sure she and Baby Girl were ok I was left with the task of letting J.R. know what had happened. He freaked and, of course, took me with him. We made it to the accident scene in no time - J.R. was driving and cursing everyone that got in our way. Baby Girl and my sister were ok, just a little shook up.

We did not make it home till almost 2AM. It took the police over three hours to get there and take down the information. Hell. I felt bad for J.R. he had to get up a 5AM to take a plane to Boston. I think he is still tired.

On Sunday, my sister had to be dropped off at the airport, so to make things easier Baby Girl and I spent the night at her house Saturday night.

That was my weekend. Today, I am still working with no end in sight.

Utterly Jealous

I am so jealous of thin people and now pretty much everyone qualifies as thin to me!

There has to be some 800 number I dial to let all catalogue companies know that I am pregnant and that in no way, shape, or form do I want to see their thin models showing me clothes I will not be able to wear for a while (10 months if I am lucky).

I do not get mad, or I have always gotten mad?, when I get the Victoria's Secret catalogue mainly because I know I never looked like them, but it is the Anthropologie and designer catalogues that really bug me. They are teasing me! All I can do is flip through the pages and sigh.

I have done my best to look super cute being pregnant, but is hard because maternity clothes are either ugly or super expensive (giving the 5 more months I will be wearing them) and not very creative. All pregnant women end up looking the same after a while.

Sleepless in Houston

It happened again! Another sleepless night. The theme for last night was 80s movies, well, started out with 80s songs (thanks to Diva Diversions that posted about her favorite song), but since I am not a fan of 80s music the subject quickly turned to 80s movies. Please, please, please, lets keep in mind that during the 80s I was between 9 and 18 years of age, before you post comments about my taste in movies.

There are two movies that I clearly remember watching, but for different reasons. One was Footloose and the other was Terms of Endearment. I just loved Footloose, I loved it so much that I actually paid to see that movie three times. Whatever happened to the girl that played Lori anyway?

The only reason I remember watching Terms of Endearment is because I was babysitting some kid and his mother took us to the movies. Everything was sold out and Terms was the only movie available. I don't even remember half the story, the only thing I remember was that the theatre was so packed that I felt like a sardine.

Aside from those experiences I was a HUGE fan of all things Hughes, John Hughes that is. I love Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, and The Breakfast Club.

During my teens I was also a horror film junkie. I don't think there was one 80s horror film I did not see. I don't even go near the stuff now - no way, no how!

Well, I really hope I am able to catch some ZZZs tonight. Looking at the bright side, me not sleeping does gives me some things to blog about ;)

Going Ape

Yesterday I just could not go to sleep. Well, I went to sleep and woke up and could not go back to sleep. As I tossed and turned in bed hoping to get some shut eye I began thinking of the movie Planet of the Apes. I am a huge fan of the film and watched it all the time when I was young.

As a laid in bed, I pretty much went through the whole movie in my head and then the sequels, but something stumped me...I do not remember who or what warned the past humans to kill little Caesar (the baby talking/thinking monkey that eventually would enslave humankind)?

If anyone knows please let me know I have been thinking about it all day.

9/11/2001

I am without words. Sigh. Sad.

Awesome Show

Yesterday I watched PBSs Great Performances - John Lennon's Jukebox - It was awesome, Kudos PBS!!

The show took a look at Lennon's musical inspirations through his jukebox. The jukebox was not one of those huge, corner of the bar, ones, but a little portable one, pretty cool. The jukebox was hauled around as the bands and singers whose 45s were inside the jukebox were interviewed. As the singers were talking their much younger pictures were shown as well as old footage, and videos.

The documentary portrayed such singers as Fontella Bass, Otis Redding (One of my favorite singers), Donovan, The Lovin' Spoonful, and many others. The only aspect of the show I did not like was that someone, somewhere, saw fit to involve Sting in critiquing the singers. What the hell was he doing there?! Just because he is British does not give him any insight into Lennon's tastes.

In a personal note, I have always wondered about the lives of black singers/musicians during that period (50s, 60s, and for that matter 70s). I know that their music was extremely popular and that whites as well as blacks bought their albums, but how does one cope with being a popular musician and at the same time not being able to drink from the same water fountain, or use the same bathroom as whites do?

As I was discussing this with J.R. his initial response was "Discrimination only existed in the south", a myth that a lot of people believe, until I told him that Boston was one of the last cities to desegregate its schools. The show Welcome Back Kotter was not even shown in Mass. because the did not want to show a black man in a desegregated school. The show first aired in 1975!!!

Ok, yes, I am going in a tangent here, but I just think it would be interesting to know how awesome black singers coped with their greatness when faced with such adversities.

GMAIL - Again

Once again I have got a million invites to Gmail. If any of you would like one please do not be shy. Just ask and you shall receive. Email me at: chicachic@gmail.com

I Did Nothing...

I did nothing this weekend. Not even the dirty laundry that has been staring at me for two weeks.

On Saturday it was my mom's bday. The family got together and took her out to eat. After dinner we drove home, opened gifts, and had cake...that is pretty much the extend of my weekend.

World News...What the f&*k is going on in Russia. My heart goes out to them. This just proves that those Muslim Fundamentalist are crazy. They will even kill children to get their point across. The whole world is their target.

Today I read that those terrorist, the ones in Russia, were funded an Al-Qaeda cell in that country. They are everywhere. There are no safe places anymore.

Kobe Not Going to the Big House

Ok, for all those living under a rock, it was announced yesterday that the rape case against Kobe Bryant has been dropped.

For my taste the whole thing was a bit too dramatic, I mean, Kobe is an asshole that gets any girl that crosses his path just because he is a celebrity. This is not the first time he has cheated on his wife, but was the first time he got caught. On the other side, you have a psycho girl, well, that is what the defense team was saying after they interviewed over 10 of her past lovers, that slept with Kobe because he is a celebrity, cried rape, and now refuses to stand up for herself!...All crap if you ask me. The case had so many wholes in it since it started that I tuned out.

My advise, let it go America, the case was a joke and the fact that the news media thought the announcement last night was important enough to interrupt my regularly scheduled program pisses me off even more.

Who Lives Down the Street From You???

Have you guys ever wondered how many sex offenders live down the street from you? I actually had not until I ran into the TDPSs Crime Records Service website and found out that there are around 10 sexual sex offenders living in my zipcode...scary!!

The site gives you all their stats including their address, how many offenses they have had, and even a photo of the predator.

I know some of these guys and gals have done their time, are rehabilitated, and deserve a fair chance, but at the same time it is hard to be open minded when you have kids that are running around the neighborhood. It is a scary world out there.

Song in My Head

I must get Maroon 5's She Will be Loved out of my head. I have been singing it all day and to be honest I am getting delusional since I think I actually sound good singing it. Help!!!

Back In Another 4 Years

The Olympics were great this time. There was a great opening ceremony, awesome scenery, and yes, there were sports in there somewhere. Kudos Greece for a great show! And, boo to NBC for having retarded reporters. On several occasions I heard the following conversation...reporter (interviewing a silver medalist) - "So where did you go wrong? Where could you of improved?" Athlete (trying to be pleasant) - "I did the best I could; I did win a silver medal!!" I mean hello! Retards!

Ok, back to my life...I am heading to Cleveland this week. Traveling is getting old. Yuck. I am happy that I get a lot of Hotel points and will not have to pay for a hotel anywhere I decide to go on vacation, but, on the other hand am like, do I have to go? It should be a short trip and I hope to blog when I get back.

Hey does anyone watch Nip/Tuck?? I think they are going for shock value this season. In the last 3 episodes my jaw has dropped and it has stayed open for a good 5 minutes ;) A good show, but very intense at times.

Here I am...

I have not posted all week, somehow it feels weird. As you guys know I was in Phoenix and thanks to my company (The Internet Nazis) I was not able to get out to the internet. That completely sucks. I plan to write a strong worded letter to the powers that be this week...I mean, for a company that prides itself in being ahead of the pack dialing-up at 19.9KBS is just not right.

Phoenix was hot, what else can I say. I think is funny, but every time I visit someone, somewhere always busts out that "dry heat" crap. I am sorry, but when the heat gets to be over 100F it does not matter whether is dry or humid, either way, is fricking hot!!!

Well, I am home now and should be this week. Yippie for me.

Olympics Update
On Wednesday I stayed up to watch the Women's Gymnastics Team Finals. During the whole time I watched only two thoughts came to mind.
1. I guess the girls must have been training for a good amount of years, in seclusion, far away from human contact and any episode of Sex and The City, not to notice that scrunchies are completely out. And
2. What is up with the funky eye makeup?

Ok, guys I am heading to the Bad Art Night tomorrow, if any of you guys are interested I would love to meet you. Go to Htown Blogs for more info.

The Babe Parade

This weekend the Olympics started. On Friday I sat there glued to the TV waiting for the Panama athletes to show up. I was kinda disappointed because the athletes were shown very quickly before the station cut to a commercial break. Oh, well. Anyway, the Parade of Nations or "Babe Parade" was a sight to be had. I don't know if it is because they are young, built, cute, or maybe that shine in their eyes that says "anything is possible" that made them all super adorable.

I do have a bone to pick. Ok, now when the girls play beach volleyball they play in a sport two-piece, super tight and leaving little to the imagination. I waited patiently for the guys to play and expecting to see them in a Speedo and no shirt I was surprise to see them in tank tops and loose sports shorts...whaaaaat the helllll?? There is just no justice in the world.

Anyway, I did find a cool way to get Baby Girl involved with the Olympics. Every time a country would come up we would look it up in the world globe. Now before we sit down to watch she gets the globe and asks me questions.

I am going to Phoenix this week for work. I hope is not too hot ;)

Houston We Have A Cold Front

Wow, hoo, Yeah!! The weather is so awesome today that I feel hot being indoors. It is almost 1pm and the weather is 79 degrees. Yippie for us!!! Tonight is going down in the 60s.

Ok, ok, maybe I am going a little crazy with the weather, but 2 weeks ago the thermostat in my car flashed 103 degrees, so 79 is heaven to me.

This nice cool front is supposed to last till Sunday so I think we are doing a lot of outdoor activities. Guys, enjoy it before it goes back to a dreaded 99 degrees.

On TV

T-Mobile
Has anyone noticed how Catherine Zeta-Jones looks like crap in those T-Mobile commercials? Her hair looks like it is stuck on. The commercials are doing nothing for her image and someone must tell her.

Amish in the City
After reading some blogs I decided to check out Amish in the City for myself. If you ask me the Amish kids are pretty normal compared to that extremely vegan Ariel girl that thinks that cows are aliens and that milk is their piss! She is also not that bright. When one of the Amish kids made a comment about Abraham Lincoln eating eggs she said, and I quote, "then he probably died at 35".

Well, the show is ok. Once you get the Amish kids in normal clothes you just have a another Real World show including the drama, yelling, and fighting.

The 4400
What was up with that ending??!! Am I to assume that it will become a regular series now, instead of the Epic Mini Series it was labeled under? USA Network has given no time on when The 4400 will return, if at all. If I have to wait till next summer I will be completely pissed.

Nip/Tuck
Completely awesome this season.

Last Comic Standing
The finale is tonight. I think Alonso is super funny, but Gary is super cute (I work with his mother and she would kill me if I did not vote for him). Good Luck Gary!!!

Baby Girl Turns 3

I have been pretty busy all week, not with work, but with putting together my daughter's 3rd bday party.

The party took place Saturday afternoon, because of the usual August heat we decided to start the party at 5pm (if I would of known that the weather was going to be awesome I would of started the party a little earlier).

We had a great turnout. We had over 45 guests, well, before you guys say - 45 guests for a three year old?!!! - you guys must understand that we have a lot of family friends. Not family, but people that we have known forever and that must be part of our family's special day.

When it comes to parties I am a little weird. I used to be an event coordinator so when I think about parties I think pretty big. Some people think that it is odd that a I plan and put so much effort in putting together her parties, but people must understand that we have gone from having three parties a year to just one, mainly because we live so far away and asking our friends to make the drive so often would be pretty inconsiderate.

Anyway, back to the party, I must say (patting my own back) that the party turned out pretty good. We had a princess/medieval theme. We served turkey legs, corn on the cob, assorted breads, berry fruit salad...well, everything that would go with the time period. We had an awesome dragon pinata. The Pinata Place did an awesome job. We rented the Disney Princess castle bouncer. The bouncer is 5 sided and has all the princesses on top, super cute. The cake was a 2-D crown. To top the whole thing I hired a "Princess" that came in dressed like Sleeping Beauty and dressed all the kids up in costumes, put makeup on the girls and mustaches and beards on the boys, played games, gave them prices, and told the kids a story. She was GREAT.

We had a great time well, the party is not over yet, now is time to write all those thank you cards.

Sorry Guys...

It took me 6 hours and 2 phones calls to find out that my thyroid medicine needs to be adjusted, well, not even that, the nurse said that they will retest my thyroid next time just to see if there is a change. That took me 72 hours to find out?!!!

I had to make two calls to the doctors office before anyone would call me back and I think the only reason anyone called me back was because I left them a message that went something like this..."This is the second message I have left for you guys. Someone called me on Friday and asked me to call you guys back. I am assuming that something is wrong since you guys said that you would only call me if there was something wrong with the tests. I am worried, so if someone could call me back I would really appreciate it". When the nurse called me back I asked her why she would leave a message like that on a recorder and she said that if it was something really serious they would not leave a message - what is up with that?!

I just thought that since I was terminally ill they were not bothering with me since they were not going to be able to squeeze that much more money out of me. Damn PPO!

I am glad it is just my thyroid and not something more serious. Thanks you guys for being so concerned, I really appreciate it. Hugs.

The Dreaded Phone Call

Today as I was checking my messages I heard a recording that went something like this "Hello Chica, this is Bertha from The Women's Center. Please give me a call back". She left her number. I called back, but the office closed at noon. OMG!!!

I thought back about my visit with the doctor. During both exams, blood and vaginal, they said that they would only contact me if something was wrong with the tests. They stated that over and over again. Now I know something is wrong...the exams could of indicated something as trivial as my thyroid medicine needing to increase/decrease or as horrible as that I have a malign tumor and have only 6 months to live. My brain immediately jumped to the tumor...this will not be a good weekend. Maybe that is what I get for making fun in my July 8th post.

The tumor has made me think a lot about my life and all the things I have yet to do. I feel that I need to call someone and patch things over. I need to take my shoes off and run in the rain. Squeeze life dry. Make myself 110% happy. It is really funny how a call like that can make you rethink your life.

I have a LONG weekend ahead of me...you guys have fun out there.

Poop Emergency

I dont' know what to do! I need some advice. My daughter will be three next week and after she found out that she will be a big sister she has stopped going in the potty. It sucks!!

She was 85% potty trained (I don't know how I came up with 85%, but it seems like a good number). She was going poo and pee all the time in the potty, she was even sleeping with panties...She did not wet the bed once!!! The only thing, she was a little slow at telling me that she needed to go potty when we were out, but we would get to the bathroom on time most of the time.

Today I tried leaving her with out a Pull-Up to see if she would run to the potty, but she cried and held her pee in until I put a pull-up on. During the process I tried sitting her in the potty, both hers and ours, and she screamed.

I need some advice from mothers that have gone through this. I just don't want to be called in to her high school every time she needs her diaper changed. Help!!!

10 Year Anniversary

I just found out that today is the 10th, yes 10th, anniversary of the movie Pulp Fiction. Oh, I just feel so old at this moment.

The Complexities of Death

I attended a funeral yesterday. One of J.R.s co-workers committed suicide. At lunch J.R. and I were discussing, well, I said, that I think it takes a lot of courage for a person to kill themselves. J.R. immediately disagreed by saying that it is so much easier to escape than to deal with issues.

I feel that even though suicide might seem like an easy way out, it is not. You have to think of the planning that goes involved in the process. First, you have to think of how. Next, you have to deal with the fact that you will never see your loved ones again and how much grief you will put them through. After that, the person needs to be certain that the afterlife is better than the situation that they are currently in. That itself takes a lot of guts.
What gets to me the most is that death is actually an option. Dying, doing all the steps, is better than dealing with the issues you currently living.

The Funeral House was packed, there were over 200 people. One by one - niece, colleague, brother and friend got up and spoke about how great this guy was. They shared memories and even though I did not know the deceased well the stories brought tears to my eyes. It was a sad afternoon.

After the memorial service I thought of the deceased's wife, they had been married for 23 years! Her husband committed suicide while she was out of town. When she got home she found his body. In my case, I don't know if I would be angry at him for leaving me to find his body alone or angrier for knowing that my love for him could not save him.

Boston Recap

Well, I finally made it back home from Boston. I love going there but this time the visit was not as great mostly because I had to be there till Sunday (I saved the company $1000 by having a Saturday night stay) and I could not drink. I am not a BIG drinker, but I do enjoy a beer here and there. Plus it seems that all my co-workers do is drink. Well, it is fun getting together with people you only see once a year and talking while kicking back a few. I usually enjoy doing that a lot more than I did this time...Maybe I was not drunk enough.

The work meetings were long and boring. We had the Quality something, Sexual Harassment, and the Save Internet Usage or what I like to call the - "do-not-do-anything-on-your-computer-ever-again-or-else-a-giant-virus-will-infect-
your-machine-and-you-will-not-only-loose-your-job-but-you-will-be-sued-by-the-company" meeting. The self-proclaimed "Super Hacker" had us all pretty scared.

I also had my yearly evaluation. I got a raise 3.5% and a CE (constantly Exceeds) which will come in handy when the yearly bonuses roll around.

Overall, this company meeting was good. Oh, yeah, we are all heading back to Boston in December for some training...yippie me (sarcastic. Not that I do not like Boston, but it seems that the weather knows when we, or me, are coming. This year it rained half the time and last winter New England had their first snow storm of the season which stopped traffic for 2.5 hours. Yeap, I just love Boston in winter).

Sorry Guys

Sorry guys, but I have been bad with blogging this week. The reason is that I do not have internet at the hotel. Well, I do, but have to pay $9.99 a day, so I have to blog from the office, which is not easy, because if I think of something it needs to stay in my brain till the following day...most likely not going to happen.

Well, I am hoping to get connected for the weekend and maybe then I can post something interesting. Ok, I will keep you guys posted ;)

Boston - Update 1

Got to Boston yesterday...yippie. The weather is awesome, well, I think anything in the 70's is great weather right now.

I am in Boston for work, so we had to go through some required training. The first session this morning was Quality something. I don't know, and still don't know, what that meeting had to do with my job. I think we were just guinea pigs.

The afternoon meeting was about the all dreaded issue - Sexual Harassment. Not a how to, mind you, but a boo, hoo, lets spoil the party training. I have a lot of guys to apologize to.

Tomorrow we are going on a Casino Boat. I hope is fun.

Weight Gain

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the fact that I was gaining weight at an alarming rate and that only loosing my limbs could save me. Anyway, well, it turns out that I am pregnant. Well, I think, and hope, since my OB/GYN did not have an appointment till the 21st of July, so it is either a baby in there or a huge tumor preventing me from having my period, yeap, I vote for the baby.

I have taken two pregnancy tests, one because I knew something was not right and the second one after the tumor idea got in my head, both test came out positive.

How I got pregnant, where, when - I don't know. I now know how those teenage girls feel when they "surprisingly" end up pregnant. At first I thought, and still think, that it was an immaculate conception, because if it was anything else I did not enjoy it as much as "we are making a baby" sex should be enjoyed. As a matter of fact I feel robbed now that I think about it!

Anyway, we are excited about the baby, and Baby Girl is thrilled. I was getting tired of her asking me for a baby, so I am glad one is on the way.

My Fourth of July Weekend

I finally made it back home from Puerto Rico on Friday. The trip was fun, but I was really, really, missing home.

The getting home part was pretty much the highlight of my weekend. The next three days were pretty low key. On Saturday we cleaned up some around the house and went out to see the Astros play. Baby Girl is still not an Astros fan, she, again, started to cry as soon as we sat down and did not stop until we left the stadium. J.R. and I figured that they must inject kids with something up in Boston when they are born, because she is a ardent Red Sox fan.

On Sunday we hung out, went to Home Depot and bought a new fan. My sister came up and we all headed out to eat some BBQ. I thought we would be the only people at the BBQ restaurant, but I was so wrong. After we had ordered the restaurant got so packed that the line went all the way outside (I was glad we got there before the crowd). Geez, and here I thought we were being lazy by not barbecuing. At around 9pm we headed to see the fireworks.



After the firework show we went home and had a show of our own.



On Monday we just hung out, went out to eat, and went shopping.

Commercials in Movies

Yesterday as J.R. and I were driving around seeing the Puerto Rico sights we decided that we should go to the movies. The last movie I saw was Shrek 2 and before that I think it was Frida. J.R. and I were the type of couple that were at the theatre every weekend and some times we would double-dip, or triple-dip if we had nothing else to do, but that was over 4 years ago.

As soon as we walked towards the theatre we could see hundreds of people lined up to watch Spiderman 2. J.R. really wants to see Spiderman 2 and I might since everyone says that it is way better than the first. Anyway, because of the LONG lines we decided to see The Stepford Wives, but that is not the point of the story. The point is that before the movie started there were, and I kid you not, no less than 20 commercials with two movie previews mixed in.

I could not believe it!! 20 commercials seems a little extreme. In looking around I have found out that the price of the before movie commercials is increasing mainly because people are no longer watching commercials at home. There is TiVo and so many channels that it makes it impossible for marketers to find a captive audience - and captive we were. We sat there and watched as 5, 10 and then 20 commercials announcing anything from Coca Cola, hotels, and digital cameras danced on the screen. After all that I was tired. I have never wanted a movie to start so bad in my life.

I guess it is good that we are not addicted to theatres anymore. I don't know that I would be able to pay $8 to watch a movie with 25 minutes worth of commercials. I guess watching Spiderman 2 at the theatre is not going to happen.

P.R. Picture Update 2

On Monday we headed to Old San Juan. Here are some pics.

Puerto Rico Update 2

On Sunday we, J.R. and I - he made it in on Saturday, made the 1.5 hour drive to visit the Arecibo Observatory and the Camuy Caves.

The Arecibo Observatory is home to the largest radio telescope in the world. We visited the information center, saw the obligatory informational movie on the telescope, and took awesome pics. The telescope was featured in the movie Contact with Jodie Foster.

After the observatory we headed to the Camuy Caves. The caves were pretty neat. After you watch the obligatory movie, once again, you jump on a trolley that takes you all the way down to the cave. You get out and a tour guys walks you through the cave explaining what everything is - a rock over here, a rock over there, bats, bat poo, etc. Overall, it was a pretty neat tour.

Getting out of that area of the country was not so neat. The roads were very narrow and they would zigzag all over the place on the edge of a mountain. Sometimes the road would go down to one lane, scary stuff!!

We made it save and sound to the hotel. That night we went to Mi Casita Restaurant were they serve Puerto Rican food. J.R. had the Mofongo - a dish made of crushed plantains mixed with pork rinds. The mixture is then stuffed with meat and served. That is one of the things I like about J.R. he is always willing to try something new. I, on the other hand, stuck to the save and traditional white rice, beans, sweet plantains, and chicken soup. Yummy!

P.R. - Picture Update 1

View from my room.

Puerto Rico Update 1

My trip last night was good. Because of the unstoppable rain in Houston the plane was late 30 minutes leaving.

Something I don't understand is - Why would an airline going to a Latin American country over sell seats? (Usually airlines over-sell tickets in hopes that if some people do not show up the plane will still be full). The airlines would save themselves a lot of aggravation if the would just understand the Hispanic mind. We will show up!!! Not only will we show up, but we are taking our whole family with us. Yesterday's trip was no different, there were moms with kids, aunts, and grandmas carrying their huge colorful plastic bags with the red handles. I can only guess what they have in them. My old Tias do the same thing when they visit from Panama. Once my Tia Caca brought boxes of generic Kelloggs in one of her colorful bags. She was on a "special" diet and had to eat the corn flakes everyday.

The trip was fine. It did seem longer that the 4.5 hours it was supposed to take. I love traveling, but I hate the plane ride. It has been over a year since the last major airplane catastrophe and we are due. I just think that would be one of the most horrible deaths. If the plane would explode in mid-air (30,000 feet or so) it would not be problem, I would die instantly, but most plane crashes happen within 20 minutes of take off or landing. You will most likely feel everything. Anyway, enough about that. Happy happy thoughts.

I actually drove to the hotel last night and, yes, you guessed it, got lost, but at least I know where everything is at now.

This morning I got up and had breakfast by the beach. I had to work all day, but was able to move next to the pool in the afternoon.

So far the trip is good. J.R. gets here tomorrow.

A Nice Day

I had such a nice day yesterday, well, considering that I had to work from 3am to 6am (Tues) and again this morning (Wed).

My day was really nothing special, but it all started when I picked up Baby Girl from my mom's house (she had spent the night there because I had to work in the morning and I NEED, desperately, to get my beauty sleep). When we got home we decided to make some soap. I did not know soap was so easy to make. Wow, I think I found a new hobby. We got little squirting critters and put them in the soap. They are so cute. Baby Girl was so excited and she helped every step of the way. How much fun.

After the soap making we made cupcakes and bunny cakes (cupcakes, but in the shape of bunny heads). Baby Girl picked chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Yummy.

After all that Baby Girl was all yucky and covered with frosting, so we put the new made soap to good use by giving her a bath. I love making soap already. The little critters on the soap squirt, how much fun is that!

The night was topped off by the commercial-free premier of Nip/Tuck. Wow, this season is going to be awesome.

I am heading to Puerto Rico tomorrow (work trip). I should be able to blog from there since the hotel has DSL. According to the hotel website you can get connected on the beach!! Should be fun. I will keep you guys posted.

Gmail...

If you are one of those crazy people that is planning to give up your first born just for a chance to have your own personal Gmail account, well, today is your lucky day, or not, depending on how you are looking at it.

I have a million invitations that I do not plan on using, so if you would like me to send you an invite just email me at justascribble@yahoo.com.

Also, unless the kid is potty trained I don't want it. I am having enough problems with my own child. Also, your first born must be cute and under 5. I am not taking any jobless 30 year olds!! ;)

Puerto Rico

I guess I am going to have to settle with being bathing suit passable since I am leaving for San Juan, P.R. next week. I was hoping to be able to loose some weight by then, but unless I loose a limb I don't think it is going to happen.

I am looking forward to going to P.R. Last time I was there it was a lot of fun, but I went with a bunch of people. This year I will be going alone. I think J.R. will join me during the weekend, but don't know for sure yet.

I need to wash clothes so bad. I still have not unpacked from our family vacation, so I have been having to go to the back of the closet (where I keep all the clothes that I don't like, but might come in handy some day). Yikes, I need to get things done. Later.

Oh, yes, Happy Father's Day to all the daddies out there.

Random Ramblings

Today is my 9th wedding anniversary. Yippie us!!

Madonna has decided to change her name to Esther. Something about the energy of another name, blah, blah, blah. Do these people have anything else to do with their lives?? News article here.

Who is this Ashlee Simpson chic?? At first I thought "there is no way that she can be Jessica Simpson's sister". Then as I watched MTV I realized that it is!! What the hell??!! I mean if the big sister could sing I would say "ok, talent might run in the family" but talent doesn't run the in the family, so what the hell? All they have going for them is that they are cute. The BIG marketing MTV guys have decided that they do not want people comparing the two, so Ashlee has gotten the obligatory hair color change and a tougher image. She is seen swearing and flipping people off. She also appears not to be a virgin like Jessica "alleged" to of been. Bad move MTV.

Forgot...5 days till the Nip/Tuck Season Premier.

I Need Some Magic...

Does anyone know how I can get 10 pounds off in a few weeks? I need a miracle. Does anyone know if those deals with the devil really work??

It turns out that my Puerto Rico trip has been pushed to earlier than expected. I might leave next week or the week after and I just don't look right. I look Houston ok, but not Caribbean great. Lately I have been thinking of changing my blog name to Chuncky Chic, but figured it would not do much for my self steem. I need help. Any suggestions will really help.

Thanks.

Enough is enough

How many products are "they" going to come out with that have 0 or are low in carbs?? I mean, every company has jumped on the bandwagon to get a piece of the action. There are low-carb drinks, low-carb bread - bread?! yuck, low-carb cereal, low-carb chips - blasphemy, and get this, now "they" have come out with low-carb gum!!! Yes, gum. It seems to me that if you are worried about how many carb grams there are in a tiny piece of gum then your weight is not the only thing you should be worried about.

I am just waiting for a marketing guy to come up with the "0 carb water". I bet it would sell, that is how insane this whole "low-carb craze" has gotten.

Home Sweet Home

We are finally home from our nine day vacation. I must say the whole trip was awesome, but I am glad to be home. By the end of the trip all the rocks started looking the same. Sorry that I could not blog, but in some of these places I could not even get my cell phone to work.

Here is a rundown of our trip:
Friday to Sunday - Got upgraded to first class - yippie for us!!! What a great way to start a vacation. We spent three days at my friend's house in Phoenix.
Sunday - Headed to Flagstaff. Stopped at Montezuma's Castle (cave dwellings). Explored Flagstaff - Awesome.
Monday - Went to Meteor Crater and Wupatki National Monument (Houses built by Indians). There is a natural blow hole at one of the sites. The hotter it gets outside the cooler the air that blows out, it felt like an air conditioner outside in the desert...Neat. Visited the Lowell Observatory...Amazing. We were able to look at a star cluster...Did I say amazing?!!
Tuesday - Drove to the Grand Canyon and spent the whole day there, did some hiking. It is really breath taking. We were also able to get some great sunset shots. Drove to Page, AZ.
Wednesday - Went to Antelope Canyon. Wow, I did not know it was that cool. It is awesome and amazing. Highly recommended. Drove to Utah.
Stopped in Kanab, Utah. Had lunch at the weirdest Chinese Restaurant and visited the Frontier Movie Town, yes, kinda hokey, but it gave us a brake from the rock watching. After all that we headed to Zion National Park.
Thursday - Hiking Day. Hung around Springdale, Utah...An amazing city. On my top 10 of favorite cities in the US.
Friday - Drove to Sedona, AZ.
Saturday - Drove around Sedona, AZ. and took some pics of all the "famous" rocks. We did not visit any of the Vortex, but I could feel some vibrations in some very special places ;) Drove to Phoenix to attend a my friend's neighbors party.
Sunday - Going home day. Plane ride from hell. The pilot gets on the intercom and says "we are in a 1:20 hold pattern, but we only have :45 worth of fuel, so if they don't lift the hold pattern we will have to go to San Antonio to refuel". Well, we headed to San Antonio and waited three hours in the plane. What a horrible way to end a great vacation.

To be in Dallas or not to be...

You guys are not going to believe this. A couple of days I blogged about how I was so busy getting ready for our vacation but had to work. Well, yesterday my boss calls me and says that he needs me in Dallas ASAP. I got a car, made the 4 hour trek, and checked into my hotel (Renaissance Dallas Hotel - I did not like it very much). Once I got there I called the guy I was going to be working with, he did his stuff, and we started testing. We were there for about 15 minutes and nothing was happening. He puts me on hold to do his stuff and then comes back and asks me "Where are you at?" I told him I was in Dallas. He says "Well, the point code says you are supposed to be in Houston" I tried to remain calm "What?! I just drove four hours to Dallas from Houston!!" We called my boss and he could not believe it either.

Geez, since Dallas was getting hit by a huge storm at 8:30pm I decided to get out of there at 8pm. I was glad I did because as I was driving out of town the sky got scary dark and the wind was blowing so hard that 18 wheelers were swerving. Crazy stuff.

So now I am not only home busy (laundry, packing, etc.) but also have to do the work I would of done yesterday in Dallas. Sucks!

Funny Things People Do

This is a funny, funny link (see link then keep reading). I was, and still am, rolling on the floor laughing. When I think about it the giggles come back - link here.

What could possess a person to do that to themselves?? I would rather throw the bathing suit away and keep myself pride than sell that damn swimsuit for $2.99. It just goes to show what people will sell on eBay.

Busy

I am so busy this week!! We leave for vacation on Friday...I think, well, Baby Girl has developed a stomach virus and an ear infection, so she is on antibiotics, how much fun is that! She throws up every time she eats. Anyway, back to my story, we are supposed to leave Friday and I have lots to do. I was hoping to have these few days off but my boss calls me today telling me that he needs me to work tomorrow and Thursday...yuck!! This will be work from home so it is better than driving around, but it is still work.

So, where I am going you may be wondering. Well, this year we have decided to go to Arizona and Utah. I have been chosen to be someone's God Mother (Life Counselor, I rather say) so we are combining the trip. We will be flying into Phoenix (115 degrees this weekend...yippie) hanging out the whole weekend and then heading north. We are planning to visit Sedona, Flagstaff, The Grand Canyon, and then driving into lower Utah and taking in some of the sights. It should be fun, but feel kinda weird about it now with Baby Girl not doing so well.

Last year for our family vacation we went to Aruba...awesome!!! I really want to go back. In 2002 we went to Italy and visited 5 cities. We are thinking of going to southern Italy and Greece next year for our 10th wedding anniversary. I just love vacations.

Ok, must go and get some things on my list and then come home and do laundry. So much fun.

My Weekend...

Friday...some friends and I got together in Downtown Houston. We meet everyone at Cabo. After Cabo we headed to Sambuca. Yes, it is true what they say, the place is full of "working girls". I was skeptical at first, but at 1:00 they start closing in on their prey and it becomes very obvious at that point. After that we headed over to Frank's for beer and pizza.

Saturday...We got up pretty late, hung around at the house, then went to have lunch at P.F. Changs - on the new section of The Woodlands Mall. The new section is AWESOME, there are tons of new stores and it even has an Anthropologie!! One of my favorite stores. After all that we headed to my friend Claudia's house for a "greet and meet". We finally got a chance to meet her daughter Martha. She is such a cutie.



Sunday...We packed the car and made our way to J.R.'s family reunion in Texarcana, Texas (yes, I know what you are asking yourselves, why Texarcana?! Honestly I don't know).

Monday...Made our way back home and jumped in the pool.

That is about it for my long holiday weekend. How was your weekend??

Life

This afternoon J.R. calls me and tells me that he is stuck in traffic. He tells me to go to the traffic website to see what is going on. I get on there and see that there is an accident. I tell him this and hang up. It always amazes when there is an accident at 1:30 in the afternoon. I think there is no traffic why is there an accident?! I continued to think about this and get angry until J.R. gets home two hours later.

I forget all about the accident until I see the news. It turns out that a lady was talking on her cell phone while her two, 4 and 5 year old, daughters where in the back seat. All of the sudden she turns around to talk to the girls and runs off the road and into an 18-wheeler that was parked on the shoulder fixing a flat. The impact is so severe that her 5 year old, that is in a car seat, is completely thrown clear and dies instantly. The right side of the car is completely taken off. You can read the story here.

As a mother my heart goes out to her. I think, what did she turn around to tell the girls? Did she yell at them? (she was on the phone after all) or did she turn around to see something cute they were doing? I guess I will never know.

This whole accident made me think of how fragile life is, what a short time we have here, and how we all need to tell people in our lives all the time how much they mean to us. After all, you just never know when it will be the last time you see them.

Gmail

Ha, ha, I came around this link by mistake. It is called Gmail Swap and is a place where people can enter a plea or offer something to swap for an invitation to join Google's Gmail.

I think it is pretty funny what some people offer up as trade. Read them and see, it is a good laugh.

I guess I better start feeling pretty lucky since I have TWO gmail accounts. Maybe next time I get an invite I will take one of the guys at Gmail Swap up on their offer.

Funny stuff...I just checked eBay and you can buy a Gmail account for around $40.

My Weekend Recap

My weekend actually started on Thursday this week (since I was out of town Mon-Wed I got Thurs. and Fri. off). On Thursday we picked up Baby Girl early from school and headed to see Shrek 2. We just loved it! a very nice film for the kids.

Friday was Baby Girl's last day of school. She also had her first recital!! She has been taking music for three months (well, it is more like a music appreciation class). She was the youngest child in the class and she looked even smaller next to all those big kids (she is only 2.9 years old). She was into it for the first couple of songs, but then started to cry...My poor baby. She joined us and we watched the other kids finish their performance.

We also got in the pool for the fist time today! The water is still a little chilly.

Saturday was my brother-in-law's graduation day, so we went out to eat and later we went to his graduation party.

On Sunday we went to blogger Karen's son Christian first birthday party. The party was a lot of fun and it is always fun to see her family.

Oh, I forgot to mention...I finally broke down and bought a new camera. I ended up getting a Canon G5. I guess I was tired of having everyone yell at me when they attempted to take a picture with my old piece of S*%$ camera (I had a Sony DSC-P9).

This week I seem to be off (knock on wood), so I need to get my house clean before we leave for our family vacation.

Withdrawal

It has been over 24 hours and I am having withdrawal really bad. I am glad that I have decided to do this, but I now this is just the beginning and I have a long way to go.

Last night I went to bed at around 11pm, I usually go to sleep around 1am, but I guess since I did not have my usual pick me up my body was just tired.

I came to the realization that I needed to do something about my problem when my pants started fitting me a little bit snuggly. I also noticed that my habit was getting more expensive and that I was doing it with no one around. I would go to the store, usually a Walgreens, and instead of getting a regular Hershey's bar I would be drawn to the more expensive Cadbury or Lindor Chocolate Truffles. I would also go home and enjoy my just purchased goods all by myself. I hate to admit this, but there were times that I would eat the chocolate in the car!!!

My habit had been getting worse and worse with each passing day. There were times that I would rather have a hit of chocolate or dessert over eating anything else. I knew I had a problem when I broke my one Coke rule and had two in one sitting.

I don't know how long I can go without having a relapse. I just hope that is enough time for me to loose a couple of pounds. Wish me luck!

Home Again...

Yippie for me...I was able to get out Tijuana a little early. I was supposed to spend the night in san Diego, but decided to come home instead.

Tijuana is such a nice place, the weather rocks, and the beach is awesome. I keep telling J.R. that he needs to come with me one of these days. There is an incredible golf course where I usually stay - Real Del Mar. I am not a golfer at all. J.R. did surprise me one Christmas with Golf Clubs, he is just too funny, I just looked at him and said "where is my real gift?".

I have never played golf, but I have gone to the driving range. I usually suck. One time I even hit a guy! I hit the ball and it bounce back and forth between the dividers until it escaped, it had a mind of its own. Seconds later I heard an "ouch!". I look to my left and see a guy a few spaces down holding his chest. I was so embarrassed! All I could do was apologize...I thought he was going to sue me. Anyway, that was the last time that my hand touched a club. I Just thought you guys should now.

Anyway, back to Tijuana/San Diego...Get this, the price for a gallon of gas is $2.50!! Geez, we think we have it bad.

My Weekend...

My weekend was extremely laid back. I really did not do much outside, yes, yes, it was a gorgeous weekend, but I did have a massive pile of clothes to wash and iron. I am heading to Tijuana, Mex. tomorrow and wanted to get all the wash done. I would just hate to get home after a long week and see a pile of clothes waiting for me. Ok, more about my trip later.

On Sunday I did manage to get out of the house and meet Who...Hymn? at Amy's for ice cream. He is such a nice guy. After ice cream we all went over to my sister's pad where we continued chatting some more. He can talk!! Thanks for hanging out with us Who...Hymn?, it was fun.

Back to my trip...I will be going to Tijuana for work tomorrow. I have been there before, but last time I went I flew all the way to Mexico City and then back up to Tijuana (dumb, I know), so this time I am taking a non-stop flight to San Diego, taking a cab to the border, and crossing on foot. I should be there by 1pm PST.

Tijuana is not as bad as people make it out to be. It is a large city with more than a million people, not your usual border town. Ok, ok, I must knock on wood now.

I think it is really funny that every time I go to Tijuana I must have the "In case you get kidnapped" talk with my boss. He assures me that they will pay the ransom. Should I be posting that? I better delete all my pics ;).

Yippie for me!!

Yippie for me! I finally finished updating my sidebar. It had been a long time. I also updated my Blog Roll. If I missed anyone please let me know.

And Then There was No Light...

Electricity has become part of our everyday life, we take it for granted. We do not sit there and think what life today would be like without it until, you guess it, the lights go out.

Today has been raining cats and dogs here in Houston. This morning the rain was so thick that I could not even see out the window. The morning started like any other...I got up late, checked my email, and proceeded to read some blogs. As I was talking to my work travel coordinator on my cell phone (I am rescheduling my trip to Boston because it coincides with the All-Star Games, but more about that later) the lights went out. They just did not go out, the started flickering on and off for a while before turning completely off as it thundered (just like a scene from a scary movie). Anyway, I finished my cell phone conversation and sat there for a while thinking of what I could do next. As I looked around it dawned on me...oh my gosh...What do I do now??! There is no computer, no TV, no landline, no washer (I need to do laundry really bad), no anything, and is not like I could go out for a walk since it was raining. I went into the kitchen and said "I have a gas stove that should work", but it didn't. Gas comes out, but I guess it needs electricity to make the spark, urgh!!

It was then that I realized how much my life depends on electricity. Then I started thinking about our forefathers. They braved the extreme cold and sizzling heat just to make the world what it is today. Then I thought, huh, maybe that is why electricity was invented...Our forefathers were just sick and tired of going to bed at dusk, having to make a fire before they were able to eat, and washing their clothes in the river.

So, with that thought I put on my raincoat, braved the elements, and got in my car. This is America, damn it, and I am sure someone out there has a generator and a credit card machine that works without electricity.

disgusted, Disgusted, DISGUSTED

I am so completely disgusted with American Idol. I am actually angry right now. I might NEVER watch the show again.

I can not believe that the best singer, La Toya London, has been kicked out of the competition. It is insane she has an incredible voice and has been great since the first song.

Last week when George Huff was kicked out I was speechless, but now I know there are things going on behind the scenes. I posted about my theory back in April (see April 27) then Elton John agreed with me (see April 30) not even 3 days later! I knew back then that there was something weird going on, but now there is no doubt in my mind that American Idol is fixed. It is so blatantly obvious!! Come on! At least conceal it a little. They just want some young, white girl to win (no offense to my young, white friends, but you all know what I mean). They want a girl just like Kelly Clarkson. I am willing to put money on the white chick, Diana DeGarmo, winning.

For you all that do not follow American Idol...There are 3 girls left, one black - She sings pretty good, one Hawaiian - she sings just ok, and the white girlie that sings just ok.

By the way, I found out that according to the Nielsen Ratings American Idol is watched in more Black households than White. It just does not add up.

I am sad by these turn of events especially since I have been watching America Idol since the first show ever aired. Oh, well, life goes on.

WOW, $1.99!!!!

I can not believe this. The price for a gallon of gas has gone up to $1.99. I have not seen it that high in a long time. I could not believe it, my jaw dropped when I saw the price and to top it off (ha, ha, no pun intended) I was completely empty. Lucky me, watch it go down to $1.50 tomorrow.

My Weekend...

My Birthday weekend turned out to be lots of fun. It all started on Friday afternoon when I met Kymberlie and Christine for dinner in Downtown Houston. After pizza and a few beers at Frank's we headed to the May's Tiara Happy Hour. This Tiara was extra special because we were celebrating Christine's bachelorette party. Woo,hoo, that was fun. I completely forgot...the picture comes courtesy of Elaine. Thanks.



On Saturday we had a Mother's Day lunch at one of my favorite restaurants Red Onion Cafe. They have a pinapple salsa that is to die for! I can eat just that. After getting home and taking a long nap we decided that it was best to wait until Sunday to go out of town. So, instead we watched Big Fish - nice movie.

On Sunday we packed the "free" rented car and drove down to Bastrop, Texas. We had a nice stroll by the Colorado river and then went to the Lake Bastrop National Park.

On Sunday, when we got back home, I gave myself the biggest present of all - I finally finished updating my personal website. Yippie for me!! The site had not been updated since October of 2002, so you guys can just imagine how much work I had to do. Overall, I am happy with the results. Happy Birthday Me!!!

Friends - A 10 year run

Last night I watched the series finale of Friends. I had not watched the show in forever, but fell compelled to watch the end, why?, well, I dunno, maybe because I knew everyone else would be watching it and wanted to add my 2 cents, or maybe because, at some point in the past I actually identified with one of those six characters, or maybe because, well, it was on for 10 years.

As I watched the pre show and then the last episode my thoughts were not on the show itself, but on my life and how quickly a decade has gone by. I hate to sound like a cliche, but time sure flies. I sat there in front of the TV and thought back at what I was doing 10 years ago when the series premiered. Well, lets see...I was barely 22. I was not married, and Olivia was not even a figment of my imagination. I was attending UH and getting drunk and partying a little bit too much. And as I watched those friends I thought of mine - the ones that have come and gone, and the ones that are in it for the long haul. Friends it what makes life special.

Friends are the people you can sit around with and just spend hours talking about when you were young and stupid. They are the people that know the crushes you had, met the little boys you liked, and helped you mend a broken heart. They lent you money when you were broke and celebrated with you in your accomplishments.

Even though, I did not enjoy last night's episode of Friends I do want to thank it for taking me back in time and reminding of how special my own friends are to me.

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT go to IKEA

I went to Ikea last night because I was looking to get some doors for my shelves. When I got there I was surprised to see the parking lot pretty empty (I usually have to fight for a space). When I went inside the store I saw why - there is nothing there!! Ikea will be moving to a new building (next door to the other one) in August 2004 and as a cost cutting measure they have decided to get rid of all their inventory so they do not have to move it to the new building. The only thing wrong with that is that they are NOT ordering new stuff, so if you are looking for a piece for something you already own you are not going to find it.

The only good thing is that I might go back in a month or so to see if I can buy some displays. We all know that it takes forever to put their furniture together especially after an important piece is missing from the box.

The World Has Gone Mad

I can not believe this, it is insane! My favorite singer in American Idol, George Huff , has been "voted least". I am so mad. George was a better singer than Jasmine. I don't know what else to say.

Ten Things You Don't Know About Me.

Yes, I have finally given in! This will be the first time that I have done the 10 on Tuesday thingie. I have been meaning to do a "100 Things About Me" list but keep putting it off. Maybe by doing this it will get me motivated. Anyway here is goes...drum roll please.

1. I have had too many jobs in my life. 14 to be exact.
2. I have been working since I was 14.
3. Many times I had two jobs at once.
4. Once after the "mutual" decision that I should no longer work at a place I was forbidden to go within 100 feet of the establishment. (I am not dangerous at all!!!)
5. One of my most interesting jobs was being a News Reporter for Univision.
6. My most boring job was selling car insurance.
7. I have done a couple of commercials. I do not count them as jobs.
8. I am now a Network Analyst.
9. That is the longest job I have ever had - almost 5 years.
10. The way I got that job is a story best told over drinks.

That was not too bad. I might name my list "The 100 things most interesting about me" since 10 things just went to explaining part of my job life.

Bag Dilemma Solved!!

Ok, ok, yes, I know we were all waiting for me to make a decision about the Coach bag ;) I decided to return the bag, but instead of getting the Vuitton bag I wanted, I got a fun summer bag. The bag is pretty big - I am a fan of small purses that fit just my wallet, phone, camera, and keys. I don't need anything else. - I have not had a bag that big in forever, but I thought it was cute, plus I plan to dress it up with scarves - I got this cute one and two other ones - very summery. Can not wait to use it.

I LOVE my new hat!!

I had a super dooper great weekend. I with my friend Teresa celebrated our birthdays on Saturday. She is such a cool girl that it was a lot of fun. We had the celebration at the Cotton Exchange Bar in Downtown Houston. Thanks for everyone for coming, it was great!!

I also got a lot of cool gifts!! Yippie for me!!! I got a custom made ring with a Ruby on it from my friend Carmen N (her dad is a jeweler), awesome. I also got the cutest Burberry hat from my sister Carmen - I will SO be stylin' this summer. I also got a Coach bag, jewelry, Spirits (French Wine), and Gift Certificates. I am debating whether I should keep the Coach bag or not. I am dying for this Louis Vuitton bag - here - but everyone and their dog has it. I might return it and get a fun Coach bag. I dunno. I just love Vuitton.

Elton John Agrees With Me!

A couple of days ago I wrote an entry titled Race and TV (April 27, 2004) where I questioned the American Idol predicament in having three awesome black singers in the top three. They are awesome and to think that the black girls keep getting picked to be on the bottom three makes no sense. But now Elton John has made a public statement about the issue. I feel vindicated. Here is what he had to say!!

My Bday Celebration

I will be celebrating my birthday this Saturday, May 1st at the Cotton Exchange in Downtown Houston. All Chica readers are cordially invited to attend the festivities. Check out the evite for more info. See you there.

My Pet Peeve

There is NOTHING more annoying in the world than waiting while the person that is supposed to help you finishes her/his personal cell phone conversation. That drives me insane!!

I have had it happen to me several times already and only once has the clerk apologized (she was getting married on Saturday and there was something wrong with the dress, I am not cold hearted, I can understand that). I though that businesses had some sort of rule about no cell phones on the job or at least while working. If they don't have such rule they should really have one. There is nothing worse than having the white chick scanning your groceries answer her cell phone and turn ghetto right in front of your eyes. I mean, is there no customer service left in the world?!!

It seems that customer service and client satisfaction has been put in the back burner in a lot of establishments. There are no rules for employees, no boundaries, no taboos. The other day I was in line waiting to be rung up while the cashier (female) and another (male) employee, that was sitting behind the counter, discussed how to get the male employee laid (he was gay). Should that be discussed at the job?? In front of people???

Maybe I am getting old, I dunno, but I am tired of hearing party plans, dates gone wrong, moms calling their kids and bitching, and sexual discussions while waiting to make my purchase.

That Who Sings Last

Ok, it is that time of week again, time for my American Idol picks.
I have been completely wrong about who is getting "voted less" that I should stop making predictions. Ok, I will, but I do think that John is getting the boot this week.

My Top 2 are -
George
LaToya

The Rest -
Fantasia
John
Diana
Jasmine

The Outies-
Jennifer
Jon
Camille
Amy
Matt
Leah