How the Heck Should I Know!

Well my internet is down right now. Not sure why though. I came home and notice that my son is talking to someone and monkeying around with the router so I’m assuming he’s trying to get it fixed for me. Hope so!
So I’m typing this in Word and I trying to do research on my phone about something that is old news but that has really been bothering me. On August 20th the news story that caught my attention said, Kaitlin Nootbaar, Oklahoma High School Valedictorian, Denied diploma for Using “Hell" in Speech. I listened to the story, which I believe was on The Today Show and when it happened I thought, ”I should do a blog post about this!” but I never did because life got in the way as usual. So now that I’m making a concerted effort to avoid life in order to blog, I thought I would go ahead and write this.

Internet is back Jack!!!

Ok, so anyway back to Kaitlin and her speech. What bothered me about it is that they requested a copy of her speech prior to graduation for approval. In the copy she gave them, she used the word heck. Did she intend to use the word "hell" all along? Was it in the "heat of the moment" as the media is saying?

I know this really isn't that big a deal and the media has sensationalized it beyond belief, but what really bothers me is whether or not this girl who was a straight A student was dishonest in straying from the speech she had submitted for approval. If she was, then she doesn't seem like Valedictorian material to me.

Should she have to apologize? I say yes. There were lots of people there that may have been offended or shocked by her use of that word. I know it doesn't seem like a big deal but I see with my own mom how it might affect someone elderly. There have been a few times that she and I have gone to our local burger place to get an ice cream cone or a milkshake. This place is a local gathering place for high school and college age kids. It never fails that there will be a crowd of boys and girls that are using really vulgar language and I see how it offends and scares my mom. There is a time and place for everything but a public forum where there are parents, grandparents and children is not the place for a four-letter word! Yes, Kaitlin should appologize, it would be the decent thing for her to do. And just because the First Amendment gives you Freedom of Speech doesn't mean you have to exercise it.

Should the school withhold her diploma? No. What Kaitlin did and what was in her mind and heart is known only to her. If she misled the school staff by showing them a speech with the word "heck" and then purposely changed it to show how cool she was by quoting a scene from a movie and using the word "hell" instead of just being intelligent and creative and writing her own speech...well that is something she will have to live with. Myself, if she had been my daughter, I would have counseled her to apologize.

So what say you? Was she right or wrong? Should she apologize or not? Should the school give her the diploma or not?

Iwanna Wednesday - Iwanna live where I can wear these...

It seems like Fall is almost here. Well not here, it's everywhere else except where I live! Blogland, Pinterest, Google are all filled with fall decorating ideas, warm and hearty soups, fall colors in clothes, purses and makeup.

*sigh* It really makes me wish that I lived somewhere where the leaves actually change color and the mornings are chilly and sharp. Somewhere like this...

So today for Iwanna Wednesday, Iwanna pretend that I live somewhere where it gets cold enough to get all bundled up in beautiful, gorgeous, warm winter coats! Coats that I will never own because it just doesn't get cold enough in Kern County to wear coats like this. So I will share them here and I will drool and lust over them, but alas...I will never own them.



I know this one doesn't look very fall-like, but I do love PINK and this one is so cute and feminine!

The major drawback to this one though is the horrible chest cold one would get with one's chest completely exposed like that right? Not very practical, but then again....a great reason to go shopping for pretty scarves and you know how I love me some pretty scarves!

This next one would truly please my mother as she is a lover of all things RED!

For some reason this one reminds me of Michael Jackson. I googled him to see if I could see him wearing something similar but I didn't find anything other than the outfit he wore when he filmed thriller and a military type of short jacket which was red with gold epaulets. I just love the way this coat ties at the neck with the big red bow...no chest colds or sore throats with this one!




So that would be my mom's fav coat, but my favorite color is green and I've always loved the one that Anne Hathaway wore in The Devil Wears Prada. Oh...by the way, if you haven't seen this movie you really must, even if just for the fashion! I loved it and I love this dreamy green coat with the beautiful leopard trim around the neck and sleeves.

Doesn't Anne look gorgeous in the coat, with the white gloves! I'm just loving this coat, hope it snows this year!

Even though I am not partial to yellow I am really loving this yellow pea coat. I've always loved pea coats and I love the pleated detailing on this one.

I love the buttons too!

And just because a girl can never have too much pink...how about this pink coat with the beautiful ruffly neckline?

I'm loving it and I'm also loving the wire coat form underneath. Even if I never had opportunity to wear this one I could at least display it somewhere in my gorgeous walk-in closet!

Oh wait...that's right, I don't have a walk-in closet. Ok, maybe that will be next week's Iwanna!

And because she is the Queen of Fashion, even though she is only a Princess and because I love her and her style, I couldn't leave out this coat that I've seen Kate wearing. What I love best about it is the ruffle at the bottom. You can't find that same coat anywhere...well at least I couldn't.

Don't you love the buttons and the ruffle. And don't you love the way Kate looks in it?

And last but not least, my very favorite coats. The lovely black and white with the ruffled petticoat that reminds me of the dresses that Miss Kitty wore in Gunsmoke! You all remember the show Gunsmoke right? With Marshall Dillon and Festus and Miss Kitty?  That show and the Big Valley and Bonanza were some of my favorites growing up.

It looks to me as though the ruffle is part of the coat, but maybe she's wearing a ruffled dress underneath?

Either way I love this one!






So there you have it, my Iwanna wishes for this Wednesday are that Iwanna have weather cold enought to allow for coats and Iwanna all the coats above and Iwanna the figure to pull off wearing that much bulk!

So happy Iwanna Wednesday and may all your Iwanna wishes come true!

My Fav Car and the One that Changed My Life!

So I told you all yesterday that I was off to read some of my favorite bloggers to see if I could find some inspiration and Boy Howdy...did I ever. Today during my lunch hour I visited Sextant over at Navigating the Finite. Sextant is an avid reader, a Jack of all Trades and a Master of Most and I always learn something when I visit his blog.

He writes some pretty interesting book reviews and the other day he reviewed a book entitled Engines of Change, A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars by Paul Ingrassia. He gave the book 5 stars out of 5 stars so it's probably a pretty good book. I asked him in the comment section if he could tell me what car had been his favorite car and which had changed his life the most. His response about his 1970 Duster and his Plymouth Voyager Mini Van and his question asking me the same prompted me to leave an entire blog post in his comment section which I just copied and am pasting and editing here for your reading pleasure and enjoyment...lol. Well at least I hope you enjoy it and that it prompts you to consider what car was your favorite and which one changed your life.

Here's what I wrote to him:

Of course, being the true Southern lady born in Arizona of Hispanic heritage that I am...I knew that if I brought up the subject of a man's favorite topic...cars, that I would get a great response back! And I did, it was very interesting reading about your fav car and the one that changed your life the most. I even had to google quite a few things to understand what you were talking about. Like Ziebarting and Blizzack tires. I always learn something reading your blog!

Ok, my favorite car was my big old Red Ford Explorer. My ex-husband and I bought that SUV right before we split up forever. We made a deal between ourselves that in lieu of child support he would continue making the payment on that car.

A few months later I met a nice man, that was a love interest for a few months and later turned into a dear friend. The ex-husband must have been spying on me and saw this new man driving the car he was paying for! The outrage! It was one thing for this new man to be sleeping with his wife (which he wasn't) but it was an unforgivable insult for this new man to be driving a car he was paying for. So he stopped paying! Without telling me! A few months down the road the repossessor came to take it away!

Fortunately I had worked for American National Bank in the repossession department and this repossessor and I were friends and he was very nice about the whole thing and even told me how I could get it back. After living without my car for a weekend I showed up first thing Monday and refinanced the car in my name and paid for the car my own damn self!

But that is not the reason that the car was my favorite car. The reason it became my favorite car was because of the fun I started having once I left my ex-husband behind. I remember trips to Arizona with my kids to show them the land of my birth and to introduce them to their family. I remember trips to the beach and to skate parks and band trips. I remember going out with girlfriends for happy hour and having one of them throw up out the passenger window after drinking a tad too much and how her vomit stained the paint and forever that memory sat right there on that door. That dear friend was with me when I traded it in and she fondly stroked the streaked paint while she and I both cried saying goodbye to Old Red! I still miss her, the car I mean because the dear friend is still my friend...on facebook :)

The car that changed my life is the sweet little White Saturn that I am driving now. Why you ask? Why is that the one that changed my life the most? The Saturn is the first car I ever bought on my own. And when I say my own I don't just mean the only car that my dad didn't buy for me or co-sign a loan for me or my husband co-purchase with me (only to flake out in the end).

No...when I say that is the first car I ever bought on my own I mean that I took my lil ol self on a Saturday to the car dealerships in Bakersfield and wheeled and dealed on my own only to be turned down by Ford, Toyota and Honda for my debt to income ratio. I was a single mother, times were tough, did Ford, Toyota or Honda care? Nope!

So I was driving myself home in my Ford Explorer that was on it's last legs due to transmission problems when I drove by General Motors and saw a Saturn Ion with Suicide Doors and I was intrigued. So I dried my tears and I stopped and I test drove and I was approved by GMAC to purchase the Saturn interest free!!!

As I drove away in my brand new Saturn I was filled with pride in myself that I DID THIS! I bought a car without the help of a man. I can do this! I can make a life for me and my kids. I can buy a house on my own and not wait there in the tower combing my beautiful brown locks waiting for my Prince in Shining Armor to come save me. Nope...I was my own Princess in Shining Armor and I've been saving myself ever since! Many mornings as I leave for work I turn and look at my house, my couch, my kitchen table, my curtains, my KINGDOM and I say to myself, I DID THIS...ME, MYSELF AND I. My Saturn taught me "Si se puede!"


How about you? What was your favorite car? Did you have a car that changed your life? Funny how we have such a connection to a car. I've cried many a time I've seen someone drive away in a car that I used to own.

Practice makes perfect? We Shall See.

Richard Carlson, motivational speaker and author of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...and it's all Small Stuff says, "You are what you practice most."

I've been thinking back to when I had tons to blog about, everything I saw, felt and experienced immediately in my mind went to how I could, should or would blog about it. The more I blogged, the more I wanted to. Now I realize that I haven't been blogging much lately. I go through my day just getting through it. I need to get over that! The only thing I've been practicing lately is work, TV, Facebook and Pinterest.

So today I decided I need to get back to practicing and practicing hard. Writing every day, training my mind once again to see a blog post, hopefully an interesting one, in everything I see and experience.

And I'm going to start visiting the blogs of some of my favorite bloggers. Many times just reading one of their posts inspires me to write about something similar.

So I'm going to try to post every single day this week! Let's see how that goes. So far this is all I got for today. Since I'm not particularly inspired to blog about something specific I'm going to go read blogs.