Sunday Favorites - Germs!

Sunday Favorites! Love this meme cause then I don't have to worry about what to write. I can just go through my older posts and pick one that calls out to me. Sometimes I read one and can't believe I wrote it.

Please enjoy my germy post below that was first posted on November 8, 2008 and then visit Chari over at Happy to Design to see what other gems bloggers are sharing. Happy Sunday!

Favorite Post from November 8, 2009
            Germaphobe? Me?

I'll admit it. I don't worry about germs very much. I love my house to be clean and my workstation at work and I wash my hands a million times when I'm cooking or applying makeup; but for the most part, when I walk out the door I don't see germs and parasites lurking everywhere.

I know people that carry baby wipes in their purse to wipe off tables in restaurants or to wipe their hands after handling money.

I know people that carry little plastic baggies in their suitcases when traveling so they can put the hotel tv remote control in it. (Cuz you know the first thing men grab after having sex.)

I even know people that wash their car and/or house keys after someone else has handled them.
I know that are lots of other people out there that have their little quirks, but I've never really thought of myself as one of them.

But lately I've been thinking a lot about Eco-friendly reusable shopping bags such as these:

It all started last week when I went to Trader Joe's and a woman at the checkout next to mine had to run out and get her "Eco-friendly reusable shopping bags" from her car, and that got me to thinking.

I know that right now in my trunk I have a tennis racket, an old smelly pair of my son's shoes, some books and papers that have been in there two years or so, my car's tire jack, a bunch of plastic bags, an old plastic bag full of tennis balls, a birthday present with Victoria's Secret lotions that I never gave to the person and an umbrella.

Say I used "Eco-friendly reusable shopping bags", and these bags are sitting under my son's smelly shoes, or say I had an SUV and my bags are thrown in the back where I put my dog and he rolls around and sheds all over the back, or say I ride a bike and I ride it all over the bike trail over roadkill, dog poop...well you get the picture. And I have my "Eco-friendly reusable shopping bags" in the same location. How sanitary do you think those bags are?

Now I guess if I want to put my groceries into those unsanitary bags, well that's my business and I'll live with those germs. But say Mrs. Brown with the big hairy dog and six kids puts those dirty, nasty, germ-filled bags on the same grocery counter where my groceries are going to go. Do I want her germs?

Am I being weird, because I usually don't think about these things, but this sort of bothers me. What do you think? Would it bother you?

Iwanna Wednesday - I'm putting it on hold for this Wednesday

If you're tuning in to Titere con Bonete to catch another exciting episode of Iwanna Wednesday you're going to be sadly disappointed as I didn't even realize today was Wednesday until I sat down here to check my email.

I mean, I know it was Wednesday all day, but when I'm at work...it's all about the job and I don't think about blogging, well not much...well ok, normally I think about blogging a lot, but not today. Today was super busy.

Then normally on the weekends I do my grocery shopping and my home supplies (laundry detergent, toilet paper, shampoo, you know...necessities) shopping. But this weekend guess who came to visit? That's right, the adorable little Chorizo! (Click to enlarge, I didn't have time to resize it.) Do you think maybe I love this puppy so much cause she matches my color scheme? Hmmm?

Yep...she begged her mommy (my daughter April) to take her to go visit her grandmomma (that's me). And we headed straight for the coast on Saturday. I have gorgeous pictures to share. If you want a sneak peak just take a gander at my new header. That's one of the pics I took this weekend. I also have a million and one photos of Chorizo :-) 

By the way. The reason Chorizo looks so wet in the photo above is that she woke grandmomma way too early on Saturday and she wanted to go play outside and Uncle Jim (my son) hadn't mowed the lawn yet and the grass was long and wet and she ran all over in the wet grass. She had a blast then came running inside and headed straight for the couch!! Aren't I a great grandmomma to not yell at her? She's to cute to yell at.


Anyway...due to the fact that I didn't get to do my shopping I had to go on Monday night to get the necessities shopping done and then last night I had to go to the grocery store and I almost missed American Idol. I know, I know...the horror! But I only missed the first singer.


Then tonight I went to play tennis with my sister and her two boys Sean and Isaac. I don't know that we got a lot of exercise, but we had a great time! So now I'm barely eating dinner and I'm pooped. And that's why I didn't realize today was Wednesday. Sorry all. Next week ok? Iwanna thank you all for your patience :-)
 

Vacation with a Hologram?

On my lunch hour today I was catching up on Blogs of Note and I ran across an interesting post on the blog The Cougar Clause regarding texting. The post was written by Trista Daniell entitled The Reality of Student Communication: Sexting, Texting And Everything In Between. It was a really interesting post and if you get a chance you should go check it out.

One of the comments made on the post is what prompted me to write this post. The commenter states:

stoplivi said...

It is really sad when the youth of today can't seem to fully function without a cellphone around.
I'm surprised so many people I know can manage to actually put their phone down to study and whathaveyou.

My sister and I were discussing just the other day how much fun we used to have on long car trips with our parents because my dad used to tell us stories of his growing up in Mexico and my mom used to tell us stories of growing up with so many sisters and how they both met. We used to sing songs, our favorite always being "Sons of God" learned from our Catechism classes. We would read and fight with each other and do the slug bug game. We interacted and shared moments together.

I mentioned that kids today would never know how to do that as the minute they get into the car they either have the DVD on watching a movie or they have their earbuds on listening to music on their IPods or they are busy texting their friends and total strangers on their phones. They don't watch the scenery, they don't sing and laugh and play and fight with each other. The don't listen to their parents talking about all those interesting adult things that I loved to eavesdrop on.

So I told my sister that it's going to be even weirder for them when they become adults and take their kids on long car trips. Heck, they probably won't even have to take them. The kids will be able to sleep program themselves to stay home and they will send a hologram of themselves to go on those long drives.

We laughed and thought it was so true that that might actually happen, but seriously...it's not funny. If you stop to think about it our kids are missing out on time spent with us, their parents and/or their siblings. They're missing out on learning to socialize by actually speaking face to face with people and are much more comfortable texting or facebooking or tweeting. Many of them would prefer to spend hours on their phones and computers speaking with strangers than talking to their friends down the street.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm just an old fuddy-duddy and this kind of thinking comes from getting older; just like when my parents didn't understand the music we were listening to, or the hair styles we had. What do you think? Have you ever wondered about this? Those of you that have teenagers, do you see this going on? Those of you that have smaller children that don't have phones and computers yet, have you wondered how you're going to handle that? It's intersting to wonder about as it truly is A Brave New World!

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

I've use the term "The best laid plans of mice and men" many times. I know what it means or what I've always believed it to mean; that even the best laid plans can get waylaid due to obstacles and/or interruptions we may not foresee.Is that what you always thought it meant? Or did you think it was something different?

Today for the umpteenth time I used that phrase while commenting on The Pioneer Woman's food blog called The Tasty Kitchen. I commented because she's giving away a beautiful Candy Apple Red Kitchen Aid Mixer. I already have a beautiful Pink Kitchen Aid Mixer that my daughter gave to me, so if I win it I will give it to my daughter. If you get a chance go over and comment and that will enter you as well, and if you win it you can give it to my daughter too! Hahaha, just kidding, you can keep it.

But I digress; the real purpose today is to find out where the term "The best laid plans of mice and men" comes from. My favorite term in life is probably, "You have the world at your finger tips, Google it!" I say it to my kids, my coworkers and pretty much anyone that asks me any question. I may even have that term engraved on my head stone.

I know, I know...a tad bit morbid. But you see, I worked at a funeral home for several years and I tend to look at these things a little differently than most. Maybe I'll post about my adventures there someday.

But again...I digress. Geesh, quit with the digressing Alicia...this post is already too long!

Ok, so lets see, my point is the term "The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men". So I Google this term cause that's my thing, (see headstone above).

And what I found was this website where I read that this line comes from a poem written by Robert Burns called To A Mouse. He was inspired to write this poem after plowing up a mouse's nest. It must have weighed heavy on his heart because he wrote a beautiful poem as an apology to the mouse. In the poem he tells the mouse that he's sorry that he plowed through the mouse's home which said mouse had built with a great amount of work thinking that he was preparing himself a wonderful little home for the cold and bitter winter to come. And with one fell swoop, whoosh......it's all gone. (Next I'm going to Google "one fell swoop" as that's a term I use a lot and have no idea where it comes from either, anyone know?) I'm thinking it's a reference to killing someone in a sword fight, but I could be wrong.

Robert Burns felt bad that this had happened, but he wanted the mouse to understand that we can't count on anything. No matter how well we plan them, no matter how well we document them, no matter how many good intentions we might have, we can't count on anything because life is fragile and ever-changing. And in that manner we, as humans have no more say in what life deals us than does a lowly little field mouse. Therefore the saying, "The best laid plans of mice and men".

The poem was translated by George Wilkie from his book "Understanding Robert Burns". Below is the poem as Robert Burns originally wrote it. If you would like to read the translation by George Wilkie you can do so here.

Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim'rous beastie, 

O, what panic's in thy breastie! 

Thou need na start awa sae hasty, 

Wi' bickering brattle! 

I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee, 

Wi' murd'ring pattle!

I'm truly sorry Man's dominion
Has broken Nature's social union,
An' justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle,
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion,
An' fellow-mortal!

 

I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve;
What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!
A daimen-icker in a thrave 'S a sma' request:
I'll get a blessin wi' the lave,
An' never miss't!

Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin!
It's silly wa's the win's are strewin!
An' naething, now, to big a new ane,
O' foggage green!
An' bleak December's winds ensuin,
Baith snell an' keen!

Thou saw the fields laid bare an' wast,
An' weary Winter comin fast,
An' cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell,
Till crash! the cruel coulter past
Out thro' thy cell.

That wee-bit heap o' leaves an' stibble,
Has cost thee monie a weary nibble!
Now thou's turn'd out, for a' thy trouble,
But house or hald.
To thole the Winter's sleety dribble,
An' cranreuch cauld!

But Mousie, thou are no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men,
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

Still, thou art blest, compar'd wi' me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But Och! I backward cast my e'e,
On prospects drear!
An' forward, tho' I canna see,
I guess an' fear!

Now I understand the term and I'm happy to say I've been using it correctly. What's your favorite term and have you ever wondered where it came from?

Can you hear me now? Hello? Hello?

Cell Phones, we all have them and they come in many shapes, sizes and offer many different conveniences.
We have Smart Phones now, Android Phones, Texting Phones, IPhones and Blackberries.
Phones can now lead the way with GPS applications so you can find your way anywhere. You can find restaurants, you can buy tickets to movies and concerts with your phone. You can calculate a tip, take a photo, send a photo, check your email, tweet someone, keep track of your kids. You can vote for the next American Idol, you can donate money to Haiti or Chile. You can play games, watch videos, surf the web. You can update your status on FaceBook or MySpace or any of the other popular social networking sites. You can use your phone in place of a cigarette lighter in concerts or as a very dim flashlight to guide you down a dark hallway at night or to light your car door so you know where the key goes.

You can do all those things and more with cell phones, but you know what you can't do? You can't make a decent phone call! There's no reception, you can't drive through an almond orchard without dropping the call. You can't make a call on a cloudy day because for some reason when it's overcast you can't get any reception.

I wish they had just left a cell phone a cell phone and put all their imagination and money and time into building a better phone....for phone CALLS.

I'm just saying......................

Iwanna Wednesday - An Irish Wish

What Iwanna this Wednesday is to wish you Happy St. Patricks Day! 

May you always have walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire.

I Want to Play, but I have to Pay :-(

Usually I spend my lunch hour reading blogs and smiling and laughing with you; but today I can't play...I have to pay.

Pay Bills I mean, and forward Explanations of Benefits to the insurance company and contact a company to reissue a check I found for $25 from October, 2008, and a myriad of other things.

So I can't play and I'll miss you Jo, Kathryn, Summur, JarieLyn, Stine, DUTA and Heather and all you other wonderful friends out there in blog land.

Let's do lunch tomorrow shall we?

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.

Sunday Favorites - The Pink Room

It's Sunday Favorites again!! I love Sunday Favorites because we get to post a favorite post from the past. It's like blast from the past! Be sure to visit Chari from Happy to Design who is our gracious hostess. And visit all the other blogs sharing a little blast from their past.

Today I would like to share with you a post from June 21, 2008 about a room in my house. This room is now totally different and I will be posting pictures of it soon. I hope you enjoy reading this post as much as I enjoyed writing it.

My Favorite Post

from

June 21, 2008

September of 2007 I bought a new house, well an older house, but new to me. The house was built in 1952, so it's just slightly older than me.

I'm posting pictures from one particular room in this house. When we first saw the house, Lisa and I instantly started calling it the "Pink Room" for obvious reasons once you see the pictures.

I'm doing this post under the label "Labor of Love" because the woman who lived and raised her family in this house before I bought it was an amazing woman.

I didn't know her personally as she has passed on and I bought the home from her children, but everyday I notice something new and special that makes me realize just how much she loved her home and her family, this room especially shows that.

The first picture has the most amazing story. It's the floor in the pink room. The carpeting is like Joseph's Coat of Many Colors. Her daughters tell me that their mother took the original carpet that was in the room, I'm not sure what color that was, but she turned it upside down in the room so that the rough brown side was showing, then she collected various pieces of carpets and rugs and cut them into smaller pieces and then took all these pieces and glued them to the turned over original carpet, making this a "Carpet of Many Colors" (click on picture to enlarge).

My sister and I were amazed when we heard this story. That someone would go to so much obvious trouble. Cutting and arranging and gluing all these pieces of carpet to create this masterpiece! My own mother is a very crafty person and there's not one member of our family that doesn't own a quilt that she has made for them so we understand how much love is involved in such an undertaking.

Before I moved into the house, I decided that I would replace the carpet in the living room, my bedroom and in the pink room. Showing their own labor of love my dad and brother offered to pay for the carpeting. But when I showed my brother the pink room he voiced what my sister and my nieces and my mom had already said, "You can't replace this, this is an original, this is a work of art". So as you can see by the picture I kept the carpeting. It's shabby and many of the pieces of carpet are worn, but everytime I see it it reminds me of my own mom and the strength and love women have.

The following pictures are just pictures showing why we called it the pink room. It's the perfect little girl's room I would have loved to have as a little girl. I've decorated it with some of the many bear's I've collected through the years and some dolls that April has given me. I still have boxes and boxes of bears stored in the garage and as soon as the weather is better and I have some energy I plan to have a yard sale.

Isn't the pink room pretty? No one lives in it, it's kind of my guest room.




Usually there is a quilt my mom made with bears all over it, but I took it off to wash it and didn't put it back on, but talking about the quilts has given me an idea of taking pictures of everyone's quilts and doing a separate post on them.

Great way to end a Thursday!

Every once in a while, either I or my sister Lisa will have a rough day and we'll send a text to the other that simply says...It's a Margarita day!

Instantly we know that means it's a rough day for one of us and we need to get together and talk. Today was a Margarita day for both of us!

So I received that text, Sis...it's a Margarita Day and I responded with I hear ya my sista.

So we met, we talked, we ate and we shared...and some how it turned into a great day.
Love you My Sista!