Being Chaotically Creative with a Credit Card and Still Staying On Budget!!!

Want to know my secret for using a credit card and not getting into debt? How to use a credit card and still stay within budget? How to use a credit card and not have it affect your credit score? Well stick around because I am about to share my secret with you! The secret to my financial success. Here it is, are you ready for it?

Do you see it? Do you see the secret to my success in staying debt free by using a credit card? That's right! Don't use the credit card to make purchases, use it to paint! 

Righto...that Mixed Media Journal Page above was painted using only a credit card. No brushes, sprays, sponges or salad spinners!!! Just a credit card.

I know, I tricked you! And even now I am tricking you because I didn't use an actual credit card, I used a gift card that no longer had any cash on it. 

Started with a blank multi media page and dotted some paint on it in purple, pink and white and used the credit card like a palette knife and spread the paint around. Not evenly, let some white show, blended the colors, just had fun with it!

Let it dry and then used the credit card to make lines, slashes, rectangles and squares. The only time I did not use a credit card was when I used scissors to cut out the shape of the feathers and I used a small bamboo skewer to glue the feather shapes together. I then painted the feathers, again using the credit card and used scissors to cut the fringed feathery parts. A bit of glue to attach them to the page and then added my page title: CREATIVE

The purpose in doing this? Just to show that you don't need a bunch of fancy art supplies to create beautiful art. This was just simple craft paints which you can purchase at Walmart for 59 cents a bottle and imagination...oh and scissors!

These are great exercises in learning to let go of fear of messing up, or being too precise or too (as I am) obsessive about things having to be perfect. I do plan to get back into my acrylic painting, as soon as the weather cooperates and it gets below 90 degrees, currently as I type this it is 99 degrees. I can't wait for fall already!!!

There are so many other ways to be creative and artistic without spending a lot of money on supplies. One of my favorites that I've seen online is an artist that uses fruits and vegetables to create dresses on the models that he first hand sketches. He also uses other household items. Here's a YouTube video of his art that I hope you will watch and enjoy.



So that's it for now, hope you enjoyed my credit card art and remember the best way to stay out of credit card debt is to use it for art!

Alicia

Chicken Soup Made Easy - with Beans even!

So I've mentioned a million times in previous posts that I am not a natural born cook like my sister. My sister can open up her pantry and her fridge and see that she has six ingredients in there and she can whip up a meal just using those things!

I can be in the middle of a whole grocery store with tons of ingredients and I couldn't figure out how to boil water without a recipe in writing!

Luckily there are people, like my sister, that are great at being creative with food, and they actually have the good sense to write it down, with pictures and step by step photos! Not that my sister doesn't have sense, she just doesn't have time to write everything down!

So I've been hunting down soup recipes! I know that we're not in the middle of a freeze here in sunny California, but it does get cold people. At least cold for a transplanted Arizonian!

I found a great recipe and a great Chef. And you know why this Chef is so great? Because not only does he create these recipes and write them down, but darned if he doesn't do a video too!

Chef John is an online teaching Chef on the award winning food blog Food Wishes. I love this blog! He has so many recipes and tips and ideas and you know what else? He is damned entertaining. Such a creative, droll, sarcastic sense of humor! Just love him!

The recipe that I tried and loved is Chef John's White Bean and Chicken Breast Chili. This is a photo of his version. Doesn't that look great? Plus I really love the white bowl, that bowl just screams "Soup's on!"

Photo Credit - Food Wishes

This soup called for quite a few ingredients I didn't have on hand, so I had to stop by the store. Is it just me or do you have the experience that you can stop by the grocery store to pick up a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread and you end up at the register with a full shopping cart of $200 in groceries? Every single time!

Here's my version. I made it a bit more soupy as I wanted a soup, not a chili. Verdict? Loved it! So rich and spicy.

Some of the ingredients that Chef John had me get were things I had never tried before, but then again I had never tried making a soup before either. I had to get powdered Ancho Chili and powdered Chipotle Powder and Corn Meal. I had also always wanted to try Cannellini Beans so as long as his recipe called for white beans I bought them, they were good, very meaty.

My peeps are not very fond of onions, but I decided it was time they grew up and ate like real adults and not like five year old kids that can't abide onions, so I did just like Chef John instructs in his video and started out by caramelizing the onions. My peeps loved it! You can taste the onion with all the other ingredients but the onion is almost invisible, just a translucent little gem in there, like you can see in the picture above.

Here's Chef John's video, watch it if you have a chance he's so funny!

***Chef John's Ingredients, watch his video above for instructions***

Ingredients for 4 portions:

2 tsp vegetable oil

2 or 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 1 1/4 lbs

salt and pepper to taste

1 large onion

4 cloves garlic

1 tbsp ancho chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp flour

about 3 cups chicken broth or stock, divided

1 tsp fine cornmeal
2 cans (15oz) white beans

cayenne to taste

1/4 tsp sugar or to taste

1/3 cup chopped green onions

sour cream and cilantro to garnish

I used the toppings he recommended, cilantro, sour cream, chopped green onions and I added chopped jalapenos. I am loving making soup! More soups to come!

 

Almonds Snacks - Versatile and Low Carb

It's Almond Season in Kern County! You can always tell because the air is filled with dust from the "shaking of the almond trees". They use these machines that grab hold of the trunk of the almond tree and shake it vigorously to knock the almonds to the ground. Here's a video of the process. It's really amazing to watch.




We are surrounded by Almond Orchards and I think they are so beautiful. I'll have to take pictures someday when they first bloom in the spring. These next two pictures were taken by a friend of mine that is a truck driver and he was waiting in the fields for his truck to be loaded and thought he would shoot these two pictures and I thought they were really good and he let me share them with you! Thanks Ruben!

I love this one, almost like the trees are swaying and dancing! Almond tree ballerinas!

Here's a picture of the almonds being loaded into trailers where they will be taken to a packing shed for processing. You can see that the whole process creates a ton of dust and with the drought that we are having the dirt is so fine and powdery and there is nothing to wet it down with so people really suffer with allergies during this time. Luckily not me!

So my co-worker gave me a bag of raw almonds that she got from a friend of her husband. I decided to try to make some type of snack with them. Almonds are one of the worlds healthiest foods and naturally low-carb so I eat a lot of them. Usually the roasted brand you can buy in the store, but I've never worked with raw almonds!

First I made a chocolate snack. I used the almonds raw. I melted in the microwave 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter with 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream for just about 30 seconds then I stirred it and microwaved it another 10 to 15 seconds. I then added 1/4 cup of granulated Splenda and 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder and stirred and stirred until it was incorporated and glossy.

I had thought I would put the almonds in the chocolate and then spoon it into little paper cups but I got lazy and just pour the whole thing into a small cake pan lined with wax paper and placed it into the fridge to harden. Then I pulled it out after about a half hour and broke it into pieces. It's not very pretty, but it sure is good! I guess I would call this LOW CARB CHOCOLATE ALMOND BARK!

While the Low Carb Chocolate Almond Bark was hardening in the refrigerator I made a savory almond. The recipe I modeled my almonds after asked for Thyme, but I didn't have Thyme or time to go buy Thyme, hahaha, crack myself up.

So I looked to see what I had. I had Basil, Oregano and Italian Seasoning Mix. I figured Italian Seasoning would be great because it should have basil and oregano in it anyway and probably some thyme. Not sure what all is in there but I gave it a shot.

I read that it would be a good idea to blanch the almonds. I'd never blanched almonds but it seemed easy enough. Put raw almonds in a bowl then covered them with boiling water, covered the bowl and let sit for 1 minute, drain hot water and rinse with cold water, drain and place in a kitchen towel to finish draining and then peel each almond with your fingers.

Yeah well...that didn't work for me. As I tried to peel them they would fall apart, so I just left them with the skin on.

I then placed 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a hot pan and dropped in the almonds and sauteed them for about 10 minutes. They smelled wonderful!!! I took them off the heat and stirred in 2 tablespoons of the Italian Seasoning, sprinkled in some Kosher salt and ground some fresh black pepper on them and stirred and stirred until they were completed covered. Poured them out on a foil lined cookie sheet to cool. I stole a couple and they are yummy! I can't wait to eat them tomorrow! I thought these were much prettier though!

Now I'm going to package these up in containers and take them to the office so that Angelica and I can have healthy, yummy low-carbs snacks to nibble on when the mood strikes us. Oh...and I need to name this one, so I'm going to call it SAVORY ITALIAN ROASTED ALMONDS!


 

Being a Jack of All Trades Can Amount to a Hill of Beans!

It is kind of great being a “Jack of All Trades and Master of None”! 

Photo Credit - Hello Beautiful 

Photo Credit - The Political Carnival

I know all kinds of little things that probably don’t amount to a whole “hill of beans”, but when I do need to use that one little bean it sure can be helpful to one or some people. 




One of those Jack of All Trades things that I know and store in my mind are quote. Quotes, I know quotes! They just stick in my head, like lyrics to songs, not leaving room for important things like Math and Engineering and Medicine! I know quotes, but not who quoted them, I know lyrics but not who sang or wrote them. 

But the true purpose of my story today is my knowledge of “How to Tie a Scarf”. 

 In November of 2011 I found this super cool video “25 Ways to Wear a Scarf in 4.5 Minutes”. I shared it as a blog post for Iwanna Wednesday, you can find that post HERE. 

I stored the information that I saw on that video in my mind. I didn't know it was there and I very seldom use that knowledge, unless I’m tying a scarf. 

Today in the ladies room I ran into a lady that works in this building. We always say hi and how are you but the other day I mentioned to her that I liked her scarf and she went into a long conversation on where she bought it. 

Today she had a different one on and again I commented on it and she told me she really liked the one I had on as well. Then she said that the one she had on today was too long and kept getting in the way and she wasn't sure she liked it. I then started showing her “25 Ways to Wear a Scarf in 4.5 Minutes”! She was amazed and tried a couple of different ways and found one she really liked and she thanked me and said “You’re so smart!” 

Being a Jack of All Trades paid off in a nice compliment! Plus it feels good to help someone find peace with their scarf!


 

A Smile on an Old Piano

My sister Lisa is an old softy. She is very sensitive to peoples feelings, and not just peoples feelings, she is sensitive to the feelings of inanimate objects. 

Many times when we've been shopping together she's pointed out a pair of shoes or a blouse or purse and I'd tell her, "Eww, that's ugly!"  She gets mad at me and tell me not to say that for fear of hurting the feelings of the shoes, blouse or purse!

I laugh at her and tell her she's nuts. She's at the point now that she won't show me anything for fear I'll hurt it's feelings.

But I watched this video and tell me if you don't see what I see in the video. I see the piano smiling with joy at being able to produce beautiful music again. And the joy in Rick, the musician is equally noticeable. This made me smile too, hope it makes you smile.



 

Weekly Low Carb Wrap Up!

     I thought I would start doing a weekly low carb wrap up on Sundays to showcase some of the delicious things I've been able to eat during the week on a low-carb diet. I have two reasons for doing this:

     1. I want to push myself to try new things, foods and recipes. If every single week I am just posting the same old tired pictures of fried eggs and taco salad then feel free to call me out on it and tell me to get more creative!

     2. I just like to show off and I love blogs with pictures. I could tell you I ate a taco salad, but wouldn't you love to see just what it looked like? No? Yes? Well doesn't matter because I'm posting pictures anyway!

     And since I'm linking up to Mosaic Monday I've created a sweet little mosaic of a few of the more unique (at least to me) low carb foods I've tried this week.

     I eat a lot of turkey taco salads, but this week I switched it up and tried a tuna salad (pictured bottom right). 

     I love Romaine lettuce and I slice up about three of them each week, I wash it and put it in a lettuce spinner then put it into a plastic container like the one shown below. Then I seal them all well and place them in the crisper section of my fridge and they hold up pretty well. This one I ate on a Friday and see, the lettuce still looks fresh and green. There's also a few radishes and celery chopped finely in there.

     It's a super simple tuna salad, one you all probably make quite often. Just tuna, mayo, Lawry's Seasoning Salt and pepper, oh and my favorite, sweet pickle relish. I know that sweet pickle relish adds about 2 carbs but I just love it and it wouldn't be tuna salad to me without it. I topped it with some slivered almonds for some crunch and slices of avocado for decadence and creaminess. I didn't even need dressing!

     I had a few of my cheesy crackers (pictured bottom center) left that I made on Tuesday and I chomped on those at the same time. It made for a delicious lunch!

     Then the other night my mom said my daughter April had bought some asparagus and asked her to cook it. Mom said she had boiled it in the past and should she make it like that again. I told her I would look up a recipe on youtube (mom loves to watch recipes on youtube). I found this great one from ChefEvelyn TV. She simply places the asparagus on a foil lined cookie sheet, sprinkles extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt and pepper and tosses the whole thing with her hands, places in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes and Voila! Roasted cauliflower that was to die for!

     Mom had planned to make fried ham sandwiches and chips for dinner, so I asked her to just fry two pieces of ham for me and I had a boiled egg that I cut in half and added a spoonful of mayo, salt, pepper and paprika to and added some of the roasted asparagus and I had a delicious, easy meal without a lot of drama! It just takes imagination! The asparagus was nutty and delicious!

     A new recipe I tried this week was an Orange Creamsicle Mousse. Remember eating Orange Creamsicles? I used to love them!

     But they have 20 grams of carbs and 12 grams of sugar, so it's not something that I can fit into my carb count...unless I were to just eat one bar the whole day and nothing else, but who am I kidding, if there is a box of these puppies in the house I'm eating them all!!!

     So I got lucky and found a great recipe at genaw.com. Linda has a ton of great recipes on her website and I plan to try a lot of them in the coming year. She had this one listed under desserts/Butter Mint Mousse. While the Butter Mint Mousse seemed intriguing I only had lemon, vanilla and orange extract in the house and so I tried the orange. It looks pretty light in this picture but it's actually a pretty orange color. 

Orange Creamsicle Mousse
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
1 tsp orange extract
3 drops yellow food color
2 drops red food color (I used 3 and it still seemed a little light to me.
1 tbsp sugar free instant vanilla pudding mix

You simply pour the cream into a mixing bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and using your mixer beat it on low speed until blended then beat on high until thick and fluffy. This is 4 servings with 5 net carbs if you use the granular Splenda and 3 net carbs is you use the liquid Splenda. It's a creamy, delicious treat!

     And last, but not least I tried something that I've been thinking of trying since forever! I riced a cauliflower and made Asian Pork Fried Rice......oh my gosh was it ever yummy!

     First..ricing a cauliflower? Yeah, I had no idea how to do that but I found this great video on youtube. There are other ways of doing it, like with a food processor, but since I don't have one and I do have a blender, this was the next best thing. It's a short video so please watch it. It was made by Robin Sue at Big Red Kitchen.

     Pretty cool huh? I love that there are so many low-carb, gluten-free, paleo, vegetarian blogs out there with cooks that love to experiment and share these wonderful tips, videos, ideas and recipes. I am so grateful for them!

     So I riced my Cauliflower and then followed the basic simple instructions on another video by another awesome low-carb chef, Kent Altena at Atkins Diet Geek Blog. He's made hundreds of videos and I've not had the chance yet to watch more than 10 or so and can't wait to see all of them. He also has an inspiring weight loss story to tell! Here's his video on making "Faux Fried Rice" using riced cauliflower. 

     I did basically the same thing, except I had no bacon, so I fried about a cup of my riced cauliflower for about 4 minutes with some olive oil and butter and salt and pepper, then added diced ham and some left over chicken kabob from dinner with my dad and sister the other night.

     Then after another two or three minutes of frying that up, I moved it all to the side and added one scrambled egg, fried the egg a bit then incorporated the rice, ham, chicken mixture in, added a shot of soy sauce and a small shot of sesame see oil and about a tablespoon of Sriracha Sauce (I love this sauce, it is my favorite seasoning of all time!). Stirred it a little longer and ended up with this little beauty.

    

     Every week I post a zillion low-carb recipes on Pinterest, and I definitely think it's time to start trying some of them, otherwise this will be true of me!

    
     Have a great week everyone and please feel free to head over to Mosaic Monday at Little Red House to see what everyone else is sharing. 

Peace - Do You Hear What I Hear

It's been a long day. I admit that I watched the clock big time today at work, and that last hour lasted forever! I could hardly wait until 5pm!

Then the magic hour got here and I shut down my computer, gathered up my purse, cell phone, sweater, travel coffee mug, lunch bag and keys and got into my little putt-putt and remembered I had to stop at Smart and Final and pick up a bag of frozen meatballs for a little recipe I pinned on Pinterest that I want to try.

Photo Courtesy The Country Cook

Don't those meatballs look delicious? I had them many years ago at a Christmas party. The secret is grape jelly....but shhhh, don't tell my family. If I tell them grape jelly is in there they probably won't even try it. Check out the recipe at The Country Cook (plus she has a really great blog with tons of great recipes!)

I stop and pick up my meatballs and hurry to my car because it's freezing (well freezing for Southern California, it was like 68 degrees!) I start heading home when my son texts me to remind me that I have to return some Christmas lights that are in the trunk of my car...darn it!

So I think I'm going to outsmart traffic by taking the road less travelled, unfortunately everyone in Bakersfield took the road less travelled because I could see Highway 99 to my left and it was flowing smoothly while I was stuck in a single lane of traffic all waiting for the light to turn green so they could turn left while I was the only person that wanted to turn right but couldn't because all the lefties were in the way and the only way I could have done it would have been to booney-bounce all over the shoulder and I just got new tires and had them aligned ..so that wasn't happening!

And I'm hungry and cold and I know my meatballs are melting and the traffic keeps going slower and slower and I'm thinking, "why me?" All day I looked forward to just going home and here it's 6pm and I'm stuck in traffic and I forgot and changed purses this morning and left a bag of MandM's in my old purse so I don't even have anything to snack on and I know I'm going to starve to death and tomorrow they would find my cold, dead body and melting meatballs!!!

I'll admit, I'm cursing and debating whether I should just make a U-turn and go home and try to return the lights tomorrow. All of a sudden I hear this golden voice coming out of my radio. Here...take a listen.




Instantly I felt the stress and road rage slip away. I sang along with Bing and marvelled at what an impact this one man had made on the world with his talent and his beautiful voice and I counted myself lucky at being able to enjoy this moment and have his music touch my life.

So go listen to your favorite Christmas music and unwind, let your cares, worries, stress and most importantly road rage just slip away.

What's your favorite Christmas song?

Puppy Rescue in Bakersfield

It seems that things that happen in Bakersfield never make national news! But I really thought that this story should have. I wish I could have found the original video showing the firefighters pictures while they cut through the pipe to rescue this puppy, but I could only find this follow-up.

In the original video they mention how difficult it was to protect the puppy while they cut the pipe to rescue him/her. They worried that the pipe might get too hot so another firefighter put his hands through the back side wrapping the puppy in a towel to protect it.

The gentleman who found the trapped puppy said that his wife saw the momma dog with a bunch of puppies in the area and she looked hungry so she told her husband they should take the momma dog some food. Good thing they did as that's how they found the trapped puppy!



A happy ending. Hopefully someone wonderful will adopt the rescued puppy and his brothers and sisters and especially the poor momma dog!

KONY - 2012

All week I've been hearing on the news about a video that  has people talking. Hearing that there have been over $58 million views on youtube. But because I'm busy living my busy life and running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I had not had time to view it.

Today my sister emailed me and she said, "Do you know who Kony is? Have you heard about him?" I told her that I didn't, that I had heard snippets on the news all week but I really didn't know who he was. My sister shared a video on facebook that I am about to share with you.

Not only did this video touch my heart, but it made me realize just how global our world has become. I'd never thought of it before. Never before have we all been so connected and so able to make a change just by being a part of the whole.

Please watch this video and I hope it touches your heart and your mind just as it did mine.



I'm signing the pledge. I want to make Kony as famous and as well-known as George Clooney and Angelina Jolie. I want my voice to be heard. But mostly I want Joseph Kony to be found and arrested and tried for his crimes against humanity.

Why we love Mariachi Music in my Family

"...the first mariachis did not read their music, they felt it." Jeff Nevin

There is just something in Mariachi Music that sings to the souls of all those in my family...from the youngest to the oldest. Mariachi's and Pinata's are our childhood. We all have our favorite songs and the one in the video above is my favorite. At about 1:33 in the video you will see two of my cousins, Elpidia and Ofelia or Pete and Faye as they are affectionately known, singing along with the Mariachi. And in the very left corner you see my own beautiful sister giving out a yell Mariachi style! We had a blast at this party and I'll share more photos in another post. For now enjoy the video. The lyrics are below and I have tried, as best I can, to translate the song.

Lyrics to El Rey :
(El Rey means The King)

Yo se bien que estoy afuera
 (I know well that I am outside)
Pero el dia que yo me muera
(But the day that I die)
Se que tendras que llorar.
(I know you will have to cry)
(Llorar y llorar, llorar y llorar)
(Cry and Cry, Cry and Cry)
Diras que no me quisistes
(You'll say you never loved me)
Pero vas a estar muy triste
(But you will be very sad)
Y asi te me vas a quedar.
(And that is the way you will stay)

Con dinero y sin dinero.
(With money or without money)
Yo hago siempre lo que quiero.
(I always do what I want)
Y mi palabra es la ley.
(And my word is the law)
No tengo trono ni reina.
(I don't have a throne nor a queen)
Ni nadie que me comprenda.
(Nor anyone that understands me)
Pero sigo siendo el rey.
(But I continue being The King)

Una piedra en el camino
(A stone in the road)
Me enseno que mi destino.
(Showed me my destiny)
Era rodar y rodar.
(Was to roll and roll)
(Rodar y rodar, rodar y rodar)
(Roll and Roll, Roll and Roll)
Tambien me dijo un arriero
(Also I've been told by a muledriver)
Que no hay que llegar primero
(That you don't need to arrive first)
Pero hay que saber llegar.
(But you need to know how to arrive)

(Chorus - Already translated above)
Con dinero y sin dinero.
Yo hago siempre lo que quiero.
Y mi palabra es la ley.
No tengo trono ni reina.
Ni nadie que me comprenda.
Pero sigo siendo el rey.

The meaning is lost a little bit when you translate it into English, but it's your basic love song. Guy meets girls, he screws something up and she kicks him to the curb, so that's why he says he is outside, he's outside of her life, but he knows that she is going to regret it and someday when he dies she is going to cry and cry and cry!! She'll lie to all her friends and pretend like he wasn't "all that" and she never really loved him but she's never going to get over him...or so he says :-)

Then he get's all macho and tells her that it doesn't matter if he has money or not cause he always does things his way (which is probably what got him into trouble in the first place!) And then he says that his word is the law...hmmm, maybe that's what got him into trouble? For some reason whenever any Mariachi sings that one line the women all swoon and go nuts, seriously, go back up and listen to them scream...women! We just love the bad guys *sigh*. Anyway, he goes on basically saying he doesn't need anyone when he says he doesn't have a throne or a queen and he's so misunderstood... but it doesn't matter cause he will always continue being the King!

Then he sings about a rock or a stone or a pebble he saw while on the road and he realized his destiny was to be like a rolling stone and roll and roll. You know, like the song, "Papa was a rolling stone. Where ever he went that was his home; and when he died....all he left us was alone!" Or like a rolling stone gathers no moss? Anyway basically he's saying "That's how I roll woman!"

Then he said he was told by an "arriero" which is a mule driver, I guess some guy that he stopped to chat with and complain about how his woman "done did him wrong"...anyway, this mule driver tells him, "you don't need to be the first to arrive, it's better to know when to arrive" or "it's better to make an entrance". I guess when you seek advice from a mule driver you get what you pay for as it sounds good and makes the song flow in Spanish, but it really doesn't make much sense to me? Any suggestions?

So that's the song in a nutshell. Oh...and go back up and watch it again and watch for the lady Mariachi! Gotta love her! I always wanted to be a Mariachi but sadly I can't sing or play an instrument or perform in public or wear blouses that you have to tuck into your skirt! Other than that though I could probably be a pretty good Mariachi!

Thank you to the Baldenegro Family for hosting the celebration of their parents 50th Wedding Anniversary and giving us all a chance to get together for a happy occasion for once.

Que Viva los Baldenegros...Long Live the Baldenegros!

Take a letter Maria, Address it to My Wife. . .

Hey…remember that song, Take a Letter Maria, Address it to my Wife?

Earlier today, I asked my assistant Mary if she had added a trailer to a policy and she said, "What" and came into my office so she could hear me better and I sang, "Add a trailer Maria".  Then she gave me the look I get 100 times a day, the look that says, "Why oh why did I have to be assigned to Alicia?" So I said, haven’t you ever heard that song and I sang,

"Take a letter Maria,
Address it to my wife,
Tell her I won’t be coming home
I’m gonna start a new life."

After hearing me sing in it my beautiful, melodious voice...well then she thought it was a cool song. Which made me wonder why the man singing it was so cold blooded. Telling his secretary Maria to take a letter and tell his wife he’s done with her. So I pulled up the lyrics…

Last night as I got home about a half past ten
There was the woman I thought I knew
In the arms of another man

I kept my cool, I ain't no fool
Let me tell you what happened then
I packed some clothes and I walked out
And I ain't going back again

CHORUS:
So take a letter Maria, address it to my wife
Say I won't be coming home, gonna start a new life
So take a letter Maria, address it to my wife
Send a copy to my lawyer, gotta start a new life

You've been many things but most of all a good secretary to me
And it's times like this I feel you've always been close to me
Was I wrong to work nights to try to build a good life
All work and no play has just cost me a wife


CHORUS
So take a letter Maria, address it to my wife

Say I won't be coming home, gonna start a new life
So take a letter Maria, address it to my wife
Send a copy to my lawyer, gotta start a new life


When a man loves a woman it's hard to understand
That she would find more pleasure in the arms of another man
I never really noticed how sweet you are to me
It just so happens I'm free tonight
Would you like to have dinner with me


CHORUS
So take a letter Maria, address it to my wife
Send a copy to my lawyer, gotta start a new life
 
This song was written by Ronald Betram Aloysius "R.B." Greaves III in 1969 and was a #2 top hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
 
1969...hmmmm, that means that I was only around 11 years old when this song came out and I was singing it at the top of my lungs everywhere I went. A song about infidelity, being sung by an 11 year old? What do you think I was thinking when I was singing this? I don't remember anymore. I just remember I loved the song, the words were easy to remember.
 
It really was a lovely song, if you just don't take into account the infidelity and the sexual harrassment there at the end when the boss hits on poor defenseless Maria. Give it a listen.
 
 

Fine, Fresh, Fierce?

I've got a song stuck in my head and I can't get rid of it. It's Katy Perry and her song California Girls!
I’ve had that song in my head for two days and I can’t quit singing it.

California girls

We're unforgettable

Daisy Dukes

Bikinis on top

Sun-kissed skin

So hot

Will melt your popsicle

Oooooh Oh Oooooh

California girls

We're undeniable

Fine, fresh, fierce

We got it on lock

West Coast represent

Now put your hands up

Oooooh Oh Oooooh

And every time I hear it in my head I think to myself…Nuh Uh! I’m a California girl and I don’t wear daisy dukes and bikini tops! My pale, white office florescent-light drenched skin is far from making anyone’s Popsicle melt!

Fine, fresh, fierce? Oh honey…not even on a good hair day. I would represent but if I put my hands up you’d see my saggy underarm chicken-skin…not representing very well I’m afraid!

Sometimes I forget I'm not a girl anymore! Anyone else ever experience that? You look in the mirror and expect to see that fresh, young face from your youth and you wonder who that 52 year old woman staring back at you is?

Then I remember that I’m not a true California girl. I’m an Arizona girl transplanted to California!!! Oh, well yeah, that explains everything.

Heeeeeres Johnny!!!!!

I watch the Today Show with Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira every morning. I've watched the Today Show ever since my kids started school. I love watching them. Today on the Today Show Meredith Vieira did a piece about the Greatest Late Night Talk Show Host EVER! Johnny Carson.

I love Johnny Carson. I can remember waking up late at night to the cry of a hungry child (mine, not just random hungry children) and sitting there rocking my baby to sleep and watching Johnny Carson. He is about the only person that has made me laugh out loud. He could do it with just a look, he didn't really have to say anything.

Well now his entire Tonight Show career has been digitized and put on DVD! Man oh Man! Would I love to own the entire set. The great thing is that even if you can't afford to get the whole collection, you can go to johnnycarson.com and they have tons of clips you can watch for ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!

Here's a few of my favs. . .



Johnny was so awesome with kids!




This next one is a bit long but worth every single minute...trust me! This brought back all those memories of laughing out loud! Not only was he great with kids, but he was great with animals!




Go on now...GO! What are you waiting for? I know what I'm doing tonight. I'm watching the King of Late Night Talk Show, the Original, the One and Only...Johnny Carson! Heeeeeeres Johnny!

Guilt Trips - Why?

"The Guilty think all talk is of themselves"

Geoffrey Chaucer, English Poet

Truer words were never uttered!

The other day on my way to get that Baskin-Robbins Pecans & Pralines Ice Cream I told you guys about here on my lunch hour, I was waiting my turn patiently at a red light when all of a sudden someone honked. I have no idea what direction the honking came from, but I knew, I just knew it was directed at me and that I was doing something wrong!

But what? I immediately checked the light again to make sure it truly was red and I wasn't just sitting there daydreaming of ice cream while the light had turned green...but no, it was red. I quickly ran through the motions of what I did before I got in the car; did I put my purse on the roof, did I get in the wrong car, was there a dead animal attached to my rear bumper that I had accidentally hit as I was backing out? What! What did I do, why were they honking at me?

Turns out they weren't honking at me at all. They were honking at the Dancing Cowboy who stands at the corner of California Avenue and Stockdale Highway with a Little Caesars sign who has become a celebrity of sorts here in Bakersfield (yeah I know, but since Buck Owens passed away we're pretty hard pressed to find celebrities here). Although we can claim a professional football player, Joey Porter. I have no idea who he plays for but I know there's a fund raiser in his backyard this weekend.



This guy has been doing this job every single week day (I don't know if he does weekend cause I'm never in the big city on weekends) for as long as I can remember, at least two years. Sometimes it's 102 degrees out there and he's always wearing that black cowboy hat. People honk at him and he becomes even more animated. He's pretty amazing and I certainly hope Little Caesars is making it worth his while to stand out there and entertain their customers.

But anyway...this time the honking was not all about me; it usually isn't as I'm an awesome driver and never almost never distracted. But what is it about a honking horn that makes me all paranoid and certain that I am doing something wrong. Does that happen to you? Is there some other thing that happens randomly that makes you panic like that? Do Tell...

Baby, Baby ... All Night Long

There's a song in my head that's been there for a week now. Just the chorus, over and over in my head. I believe they call that an ear-worm? Anyway, I just can't get over it so I thought I would put it in your head as well. So c'mon, join me and sing cause the lyrics are right below the video. I love to put my headphones on and sing at the top of my lungs and annoy everyone! It's so satisfying! Enjoy!

You've been my queen for longer than you know

My love for you has been

Every step I take, every day I live, everything I see

And if I get things wrong

don't want you to think I'm running away

But I heard from Joe about this guy and I want to know

What did he say?

He called me baby, baby, all night long

What did he do?

He called me baby, baby all night long

Why? Why? Why did you need him? Where was I?

Just how close to you is he?

Every smile you gave, every touch you made, every word you said

And it hurts beyond hurt

It was a love that blinds and a love that stings

When I heard from Joe about this guy and I want to know

What did he say?

He called me baby, baby, all night long

What did he do?

He called me baby, baby all night long

What did he say?

He called me baby, baby, all night long

What did he do?

He called you baby, baby, all night long

What did he do?

He called me baby, baby, all night long

What did he say?

He called me baby, baby, all night long

What did he do?

He called you baby, baby, all night long

I know he called you baby, baby, all night long

Blogger Driving By Spots Body by Side of Canal

I haven't left my office for lunch since April 16th or so when the dreaded Sciatica hit me. I've been brown bagging it to work every day; at first to rest my leg and not drive around while on Vicodin and then because there's no way I'm driving around in the heat that we've been having.

But today I had to go to the bank and I thought a frozen yogurt treat from Mannings Yogurt would be awesome. So I headed there and was driving down Stine Road when I see a bunch of deputy sheriffs cars and I slow down to see what's going on and there...by the side of the road is a body. I could tell the person was dead because there was no drama going on with the deputies trying to revive the person or applying CPR and no EMT's were on the scene.

Now I worked for a funeral home for nine years. I'm used to seeing bodies. Death doesn't scare me, I know it's a part of life and the person laying there in the casket is someone that is loved and will be missed by someone else. But to see someone lying there, on the side of the road, in the dirt and you know he's dead...well that is a little freaky.

I guess this poor soul was tossed into the canal after being hit in the head as the Sheriff's department said it was a suspicious death. Here's the video taken about an hour and a half before I drove by:



Here's the story from SouthwestBakersfieldNow.com.

Man working on roof spots body in canal

Authorities pulled a body from a canal Wednesday with what they called "suspicious" signs of trauma to the head.
The Kern County Sheriff's Office wouldn't specify what head injuries 50-year-old Julio Cesar Brizuela had sufferd.
A man working on a roof in the area of Belle Terrace and New Stine Road said he spotted the body and alerted law enforcement.
"Yeah, it's pretty crazy," said the witness, Damien Smith. "It's not something you see everyday."
The sheriff's office said the level of decomposition indicates the body wasn't in the water for very long.

I'm still sort of freaked out and my heart goes out to the family of Mr. Brizuela.

Embracing Life

I'm on the way to healing from my bout with Sciatica. I started hurting on April 18th and I think I've gone to work two days in all that time. Today will be my first full day this week, if I hang in there all day and I think I'm going to be able to. I've so missed blogging and reading all my favorite bloggers! The sad thing is that I've been home for almost 2 1/2 weeks, flat on my back but since I don't have a laptop, I haven't had access to the internet :-(

But more about all that later. Today I wanted to share a video that my cousin Norrie sent to me in email that I think is one of the best videos I've seen.  Take a look and share this with everyone you know who makes excuses for not wearing their seatbelt.

Movie Made Using Cross Stitch by Holly Klein

I just happened upon this cute little video and I knew you would all love it as well. This lady, Holly Klein is not only skillful with Cross Stitch but she's an awesome film maker.

If you need a smile, take a minute or two to watch this video...it's amazing!


Maggie and Mildred from Holly Klein on Vimeo.

We Are the World 25 for Haiti

In 1984-1985 Africa experienced a famine that killed in upwards of 1,000,000 individuals. USA for Africa came together along with social activist and entertainer Harry Belafonte to create a song which would be sung by some of the music industries most famous artists of the time.


Belafonte enlisted the help of Lionel Richie and Kenny Rogers. They in turn got Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson to help. The song itself was written mainly by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson.


We Are the World was the song written and it was recorded in 1985 and has sold more than 20 million copies and earned more than $63 million dollars for charity in Africa and in the United States as well. The song has won many awards, including three Grammy Awards, one American Music Award and a People's Choice Award.


I remember crying when I first heard the song. The music, the lyrics inspired and touched me, but what really reached my heart was the compassion and love that I saw on the faces of the artists that participated. I felt their love and their intense craving to help in any way they could with the talents given to them by God...especially through their voices. It was amazing.


Here's a version of the original We Are the World.




Twenty-five years later, driven by the need to provide help and financial aide to Haiti who experienced a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, it was decided that We are the World would be remade by new artists to reach a whole new generation.

The song was recorded on February 1st in 14 hours by over 80 artists. The new version was aired for the first time during the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Olympics in Canada. 


When I first heard the new version, I decided I didn't like it...at all. But then I figured maybe the reason I liked the original version is that it was my version, the version I first heard and fell in love with. And now it's a whole new world, a whole new generation and maybe they need a version that they can love and that can make them feel the way my version made me feel.


So I listened to the new version over and over again and the more I listened to it; the more I experienced the words and the faces and the voices of the new artists, the more I loved it. It's still not as awe-inspiring as my version, but it's pretty darn close.

I love that they included the original clip of Michael Jackson.


And unbelievable as it seems to me my favorite part was the rap part close to the end that was contributed by LL Cool J, Will-I-Am, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, and Swizz Beatz. I love the way they sound, but more than that, I love the lyrics.


We all need somebody that we can lean on
when you wake up look around and see that your dreams gone
when the earth quakes we’ll help you make it through the storm
when the floor breaks a magic carpet to stand on
we are the World united by love so strong
when the radio isn’t on you can hear the songs
a guided light on the dark road your walking on
a sign post to find the dreams you thought was gone
someone to help you move the obstacles you stumbled on
someone to help you rebuild after the rubble’s gone
we are the World connected by a common bond
Love, the whole planet singing along.



Here's the new version. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, let me know what you think.




Which is your favorite version and why?

To donate:

Download to Donate at itune.com

Text the word "WORLD" to 50555

or go to world25.org

Behind the Back Catch - Is this guy relaxed or what?

I'm not a big baseball fan. Heck I didn't even know that the World Series is going on. I love going to Dodger games, but mostly for the ambiance. It's so fun to sit there and be part of such a happy crowd.

But I just happened across this video and I wanted to share because the pitcher is just so relaxed. It's like to him it's just another day at the office. Gotta love him!