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.

I just want to get my Subway on!

The other day I was reading a post by Sextant of Navigating the Finite about why you should never choose the shortest checkout line at the grocery store. You really need to go and read it cause it's hilarious!!! Go on, go read it, I'll wait...

See, told you it was hilarious right? What makes it even more hilarious is that this kind of stuff has happened to us all. I know it's happened to me, and usually when you I am in a super big rush. Which bring me to one of my pet peeves (oh...there are many).  So what is one of mine? It's people that are not working, that choose to go out to lunch during the lunch hours between noon and 2pm. Ok, I know...this is America, we can have lunch whenever we want. But c'mon people!!! Some of us only have one hour for lunch and you, for whatever reason, have the whole day!

For instance...last week on Thursday, I went to a Subway Sandwich Shop for lunch. The line is out the door, I waited about ten minutes to get close to the front of the line. There is one women ahead of me and ahead of her is a young man about 18 and dressed casually, with him is a young girl about 16 or 17 wearing super baggy boys basketball shorts and a little girl about 4 years old. Obviously they have been waiting just as long as I have and have had tons of time of peruse the menu, but they get to the front of the line and when they are asked "May I help you" they get into a huge discussion of what kind of bread they want, as that's the first decision you have to make at Subway. I mean, c'mon...are you aliens? Is this your first time on planet Earth? Is this your first visit to a Subway Sandwich Shop? Do we need Jared to stand behind you to explain the menu?

Then...they have to make the decision of what kind of bread their friend that they are taking a sandwich to wants. Then do they want it heated or not? Anyway, you get the point. These two are obviously unemployed or students, or they could be employed but obviously not working that day considering their casual dress and the baby girl. I'm sure they've been to Subway 100 times and already know the menu and even if this is their first time there, they've had at least 10 minutes to study the menu while waiting on line.

Me on the other hand...I'm tired, hot and still have 4 more hours of work to go before I can go home. I'm in a hurry, only have 1 hour for lunch and I'm hungry! I have already wasted 10 minutes in line and 10 minutes waiting for them to decide what they want to eat. There should be a line for working professionals to go through, like the merchant line at the bank! That way those who only have one hour for lunch don't have to deal with the riff-raff that is just out for a casual lunch..don't you think?

The Red Bird of Paradise

Yesterday I did a post about a man that was so enchanted by my Arizona Plant that he stole a bloom from it. We've always just called it the Arizona Plant, but it actually has a name. My cousin Norrie who lives in Arizona City...and c'mon, if you are going to live in Arizona isn't Arizona City the best place to live?

So Norrie told me they have tons of those there and they are known as the Bird of Paradise. I always thought this was a Bird of Paradise...

Bird of Paradise

Turns out that the Arizona Plant I have is called "Red" Bird of Paradise or more formerly Caesalpinia pulcherrima.

So I went out this afternoon and took a few pictures of my Arizona Plant aka Red Bird of Paradise so you could see it close up.

My sister says that mine isn't blooming as well as hers because mine gets quite a bit of water when the grass gets watered, while her's is in a place at her home that hardly gets any water at all. These plants are pretty drought resistant which is probably why there are so many of them in Arizona.

Check out the colors......BEAUTIFUL right? I did a post in August of 2009 with lots of pictures on my sisters Arizona Plant. You can see them HERE. But here's a closeup picture of hers.

Stolen Flowers

See these flowers? A stranger gave them to me today. No...actually, a stranger stole them for me today. Aren't they pretty?



























See...here's what happened. Today after work, I was at home in my bedroom. My bedroom has a sliding glass door that faces a quiet street to the side of my house. I happened to see a small pickup truck go by. Mexican music was blasting out of this truck...very loud Mexican music. So I moved closer to the window, being nosey to see why the truck wasn't moving.

I see this man step out and walk over to my Arizona Plant, a plant that was planted by my mom and dad in the corner of the front yard. It only blooms when it's super hot as hell!

You can see the plant in this picture. (This is the view from my bedroom, don't you love it?) See the beautiful orange flowers? Well I guess this man just couldn't resist and I saw him walk over; after leaving his truck running in the middle of the street, and he took out his pocket knife and cut off one of the flowers. At that moment he looked up and saw me looking at him out of my bedroom window.

He looked at me kind of sheepishly and did a thumbs up. I took that to mean, "is it ok that I am stealing one of your beautiful Arizona flowers?"

Being totally generous of flowers that just bloom by the Grace of God, since I had nothing to do with it, I gave him the "thumbs up" right back so he would know, "Sure dude, it's all good...go ahead and steal one of my pretty little flowers!"

He then turned around and drove off and I went into the kitchen to tell my mom what had just happened.

About twenty minutes later, as I was looking out the kitchen window...I know, I know...I'm like one of those lookie-loo neighbors that never minds my own business!

But ok, I was looking out the kitchen window and I see the same little pickup truck pull up and park  in the street along side my house and I realize it is the same truck. So I tell my mom, "Uh oh...that guy that stole the Arizona Plant Flower is back!" The guy gets out of the truck and I see that he is holding some white flowers in his hand.

I immediately thought, "Stalker alert!"

So he starts walking towards the front of my house and I head back into my bedroom where he is waiting outside the sliding glass door. Now I know why no one wanted this bedroom cause it's way too accessible to the street!

I open the screen door and he hands me the flowers and he says, "I felt bad that I stole your flower and so I stole these further on down the road to pay you back." Can you believe that? I take the flowers and tell him that I understand his stealing the Arizona Plant Flower because it's so beautiful and so unusual and they don't normally grow in California. He agreed and then said, "Well, the real reason I stole it is because yesterday I buried my wife and I'm heading to the cemetery and I saw your flowers and knew she would have loved them, so I had to take one".

Is your heart breaking yet? Mine did...

I told him how sorry I was and told him that I was sure his wife would love it and that he didn't have to repay me. He said he just felt bad because I was so nice to let him take one flower and he wanted to do something nice for me and now he was going to have to go steal flowers from somewhere else to repay the person he stole my flowers from!

I bid him good bye and put my pretty flowers in the pitcher you see in the picture above and sat there thinking about the whole thing and then said to my mom who had followed me outside, "Mom, if you had just buried your wife yesterday, would you be driving on the way to the cemetery with joyful Mexican music blaring in your car?"

Hmmmm, would you? I was brought up with the tradition that when someone dies you have a suitable period of mourning or "luto" as we say in spanish. You don't watch TV or listen to music or go to dances or parties. But I know that now a days, we don't mourn but we celebrate life...so who knows.

What say you? Does this seem odd or normal to you? Either way I had something interesting to blog about and I got to show you all my Arizona Plant and also I can brag that the beautiful pitcher and bowl that the flowers are in was made by my mom in a ceramics class she took eons ago. Isn't it pretty? I love it!

It's All Peachy!

It's been so hard lately to find time to blog! I've moved into a new house and the packing and unpacking and putting stuff away and understanding the Feng Shui of the house so that I can place furniture and pictures and knick knacks takes up most of my time. Not to mention the full time job.

But today I felt like doing something therapeutic and fun. So I baked a pie...a peach pie. My dad planted a peach tree years ago and when I moved into the house everyone told me to "cut it down!". But I'm a sentimental sap and I just couldn't.

I mean just look at it! The beautiful peaches ripening in the sun. The glorious California sunshine streaming through the leaves (ok, well it's over 100 today, but the sun is still glorious, if not a tad irritating!). Could you bring yourself to cut it down?

My Dad's Peach Tree. These are White Peaches, sweet and delicious!

So my mom and I picked us a whole bowlful of these bad boys and I pulled out my dusty cookbook from years past when I was a stay at home mom and baked beautiful pies, and got to work!

Aren't these beautiful! So sweet, even when they are green.

Here I am in the thick of things putting together the pie crust and facebooking in the background. I'm such a great multi-tasker!

Love the blue bowl my daughter April gave me. It's a whole colorful set and made out of Melamine!

Pie crust is done. The secret to a flaky pie crust is to try to never touch it with your hands. Cut the shortening in with a pastry cutter. I don't know if you can see it in the picture above, but that's the do-hickey right behind the jar of Crisco Shortening that's covered with flour. Then just toss the flour gently with a fork while you add the water and then quickly gather it into a ball and chill in the fridge, like so...

I wrap this with Saran Wrap and stick in a clean bowl to chill.

Then you prepare your peaches. I actually did that before I did the crust, but it would have been better to do it while the crust chilled, but no harm done. I didn't actually take a picture of that, don't know why not, but I didn't.

After your peaches are mixed with the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt you roll out your dough. This part went relatively well, I don't know why I thought it would be difficult.

Ok, do not do this. I put flour on my new granite counter tops and then realized I didn't know how I was going to pick up the crust once I had it rolled out. I usually roll out on Wax Paper. You do it the right way ok?

I roll it on Wax Paper to make it easier to lift into the pie pan.

Once my bottom crust is ready I gently lay it into the pie pan. This part can be tricky as if you are off a little (which I was) then it's really a son of a gun to move around and you can end up tearing it.

Even though I was a little off I was able to fix it when I put the top crust on.

Then you roll out the other half of the chilled pie crust and pour your sugary, cinnamony peach mixture into the first crust and then put the top crust on and crimp the edges as best you can. Don't worry about it being perfect. As you can see, mine wasn't perfect but when it baked it didn't make one bit of difference cause it's still beautiful!

Peach Pie and his Peachy Brothers. Isn't this a pretty picture? We picked way too many peaches!

Here's a close-up of the little guy before he goes into the over. I add my own little touch by mixing up some sugar and cinnamon and sprinkling the top, it's makes the crust crunchy, sugary and cinnamony.

Somehow I got one big glob of just cinnamon right in the middle!

Then you are ready to bake this baby! Here he is just ready to get that oven door shut in his face!

I hate cleaning the oven and cleaning the cookie sheet, so I place it on the cookie sheet covered with foil.

And here you go. Peach Pie in all it's Glory! And the crust was the flakiest I have ever made. It's like riding a bike, you never forget how. (And it does help to have it all written down!) This Peach Pie recipe belonged to my mother in law Marge.

Mmmmm, where's the ice cream?

That's how I spent a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon. Baking and sharing with friends and family on facebook and then blogging for posterity.

Oh...and I had a kitchen remake. I don't have the before pictures to share yet, but here's a sneak peak at my new kitchen. When I get a chance I'll show you all the before pictures...what a change

New back splash, new granite counter top, new painted cabinets, new cabinet hardware. I love it!

I think...no, I know that I am going to love cooking in this kitchen for years to come!

Tips on some great blogs, an award and seven things you didn't know about me, or maybe you did!

One of my favorite bloggers in the whole blogging world is JarieLyn from Write Place! Write Chick! From the very first day I started reading her I was hooked. Her photographs are amazing and she lives in the City that Never Sleeps...Las Vegas! She shares lots of information about Vegas and the surrounding area. She's fun,funny and goofy at times. Other times she's sad and pensive and can make you cry, but regardless, she is always JarieLyn! One day I hope to get together with her since she's from my neck of the woods and I visit Vegas at least once a year, so I'm sure it's just a matter of time until we sync up our calendars and make time to meet.

JarieLyn recently started another blog. How she does it I don't know as I can barely keep up with one. The new blog is called dancewithwords, very fitting for JarieLyn as she loves to dance and she does have a way with words! I'm going to explain the idea of the new blog using the  explanation off of the blog itself:

"This blog is a collaboration between two women who live in two separate countries. One lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, the other one lives part time in two different cities in Brasil. The reason we created this blog is to improve our writing skills while developing discipline in this medium. Our concept in writing entries for this blog is to each contribute a paragraph or two on one topic. Two perspectives, one post. It is our thought that writing this way will challenge us to write out of our comfort zone and to think more creatively. Each post has both of our writing styles within the entry."

Isn't that a great concept? I hope all my readers...all three of you, run right over there and check out one or the other or both of these great blogs.

The reason I'm mentioning these blogs and JarieLyn is that she has honored me with a blogging award on her dancewithwords blog! She's given me the award but even better she's given me the gift of her beautiful words by writing this about my humble blog: "Alicia over at Titere Con Bonete is my favorite blogger. She is so talented in her personal storytelling. Her blog is fun and never boring. I just love Alicia because she is so down to earth."

Isn't that so sweet? High praise from someone I respect and have such affection for. Thank you again JarieLyn for my SISTERHOOD OF THE WORLD BLOGGERS AWARD!

Now I'm supposed to tell you 7 things about myself and since I love talking about myself this should be easy...let's see if that's true.

1. I was very shy in high school so I forced myself to try out for the cheer leading squad in order to not let my shyness defeat me. I made the squad and had a blast and have always been proud of myself for not giving in to my fears!

2. Like JarieLyn I love, love, love to dance! My favorite dance music is Mexican music, especially Cumbias, Rancheras and Cha-cha's! Of course, I usually need to get my rhythm going so I always start with a shot (or two) of Tequila and then sip the rest of the night on a Long Island Ice Tea!

3. I'm a recipe cook...meaning I can't just throw things together and come up with a meal. I have to have a plan and a recipe and all the ingredients that go with it or I can't cook.

4. When I first got my computer back in 1994, I got hooked on chat rooms. After hanging out in a chat room for about a year with the same group of people, we all decided to meet one weekend in Chicago. I flew from LAX to Chicago all by myself to meet a group of 20 or so complete strangers. I had the best time and was so proud of myself for being so brave!

5. I really don't think I have much of an imagination. I think of myself as an "in the box" individual. I don't stay in the box because of fear, I just stay in the box because I don't have the imagination to get out of there. But I do so admire people that are creative and think outside the box.

6. I'm not a dog person. I know you wouldn't think that because I love my daughter's dog Chorizo to little itty-bitty pieces...but that's cause Chorizo isn't really a dog. And how can you not love this little face?

7. I enjoy sweet and salty foods together. The other day I added strawberries to my salad that had bacon bits and ranch dressing and mixed them in and they were delicious! I love Kettle Korn for the same reason, cause it's sweet and salty...plus crunchy!

So there you go....7 things about lil ol me! I'm supposed to pass the award on to two other bloggers that I feel are worthy of being in the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers.

The first blog I would love to offer the award to belongs to Paula over at Sweet Pea. Paula is one of those "out of the box" people I admire. She's a 7th grade school teacher and that right there would leave me exhausted. But not Paula, she's very active and enjoys keeping fit and sharing fitness tips and secrets with her readers. She's also a wonderful Crafter and believe it or not she can show you how to make a wreath out of a tennis racket. But my absolute favorite thing about her is when she shares here family heirlooms with her readers. She's a lot like me in that she is very sentimental about items from the past; things like vases and pots, old sewing patterns, cookbooks, jewelry, crystal...just tons of stuff. She posts much more regularly than I do and I guarantee if you check out her blog daily you will learn a lot plus be thoroughly entertained!

The second blog belongs to DUTA over at Places with Character. I have given DUTA an award before, and giving her another one is just further proof of how much I love her blog. DUTA lives in Israel and shares so much of her world with her readers. She posts amazing pictures and visiting her is like being given a tour by a professional tour guide. And she is so amazing because no matter how many comments she receives she personally responds to each and every one! She travels often and shares video about the places she has been.  Reading her blog helps me to realize that even though she's in a completely different country there are startling similarities in our life in spite of different cultures and beliefs. Did you know that there is a Global Seed Vault in Norway? I didn't know that either, but thanks to DUTA I now do. My dad has been a farmer all his life and when I told him about the seed vault that I read about on DUTA's blog I was amazed to find out that he knew all about it. And that is why I feel DUTA is deserving of a Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award. I hope that you visit her because I'm sure you will love her blog as much as I do.

I couldn't give a Sisterhood of the World Bloggers award to another blog I really enjoy because that blog is written by a brother...not a sister. But I do want to mention him on my blog. He is Sextant of the blog Navigating the Finite. Sextant has the most interesting blog and he writes about so many different topics. I love that he does so much research when it comes to writing his posts. He writes about politics, electronics, retirement, the military and he does book reviews. One of his funniest posts recently was about a bird pooping on his head, it was hilarious. I wish I could make him an honorary sister and give him the award but I don't want the awards police to come after me. So Sextant know this...if I could give you the award I would but you have the Alicia of Titere con Bonete Award of being one of my favorite blogs!

We Must be the Cleanest Family on the Planet

Remember the Great Bee Invasion of 2009? If not then you can read all about it HERE.

Not since the Great Bee Invasion of 2009 have we been plagued by an infestation of any kind...until now. Now we are suffering through the Great Ant Infestation of 2012!

There are these little tiny black ants everywhere!

We can't leave even one breadcrumb on a counter. We can't leave any cookies or chips, no matter how tightly we seal them in the kitchen cupboards because they figure out a way in!

We can't leave dirty dishes in the sink or on the table. We can't leave any trash at all in the kitchen trashcan over night.

The little guys seem very friendly, although both my mom and my son say they have been bitten. I've found them crawling on my arms and legs and I haven't been bitten once...maybe my blood is not as sweet?

Well because of these little ants, we have had to clean up after ourselves every time that we make a sandwich, or eat some milk and cookies or chips or ice cream. Not that we don't normally clean up after ourselves...but c'mon everyone makes a sandwich and leaves everything on the counter until they finish eating, then you clean up, right?

During the summer months we love to eat ice pops. You know those little tubes of colored sugar that you stick in the freezer? I know, I know...they are full of sugar, but they are so refreshing and delicious! And they're just a summertime treat! And I only eat maybe 7 or 8 at one sitting...so give me a break ok?

Because of the little black ants, when we eat one we immediately go to the kitchen sink, put in a drop of Dawn and wash out and rinse the little plastic tube before we put it in the trash. We do the same thing with our cans of Pepsi and Diet Pepsi. We have the cleanest trash on the block!

Unfortunately because of the ants I have not eaten my quota of ice pops! It's just too much work to go and rinse out the little tube each time! And all because of "them ants!"
We been spraying Raid Ant Killer and their masses seem to be dwindling. Yesterday I purchase some Ortho Home Defense Spray and today I cleaned thoroughly and then sprayed the inside of the house thoroughly and we plan to spray the outside tomorrow. So hopefully soon the Great Ant Infestation of 2012 will be just another moment in history, just like the Hippy Bees!