DANCING WITH THE STARS WII

I'm hanging my head in shame...yes I am. I told you guys I would faithfully post about Dancing With The Stars. But remember, telling you something is not the same as promising you something. I would never break a promise..but sometimes I can't help breaking a tell or told.

Last night my current immediate family, along with all their some nieghbors....

which shouldn't be confused with my Texas immediate family, played the wii bowling.

Then we played the wii training bowling. We did this until the neighbors drank all the beer my avatar lost her little round arm.

The end...

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL

I told you I was going to have a super special day today......and I did. But before I delve to deep into my Sunday Surprise, I have to tell you a little something about Saturday..

A really special co-worker of mine from the County, invited me and a few other friends over for a luncheon. We were buyers together and friends before that. One of the other gals was one of my first friends when I started there.....and a fellow Big Brother fan from way back to season one. She was the one who promoted me to a buyer. Then there were two other friends that worked with me in the County Surveyors office.........this was in the same building, and we all knew each other. We had a really great time....and only the two lurkers from Surveys know about my blog...so I won't be posting pictures.....

Now, for today.....I finally met my blogging friends from LA.

That's right, Jason from The Jason Show.....

and Kim from Pumpkin Delight! A super surprise was meeting Hula Hank from the land down under...that would be Australia of course, and his son and friend. Of course, I didn't know he was Hula Hank until halfway though brunch...

We had brunch at the wonderful Farm at The Grove in Los Angeles. I had never been to The Grove, before. It's really quite nice with cobblestone walks and loads of nice shops, flowers and fountains...

The fountains were a big hit with Diego.....yes! Jason brought his husband, Giancarlo and their adorable son Diego. Diego is a real charmer...who didn't want to shake my hand at first, but gave me a big hug when I left...because I told him he can come to Texas and visit me and my boa constrictor....yeah, that's what I told him.

The weekend was wonderful and way too short....thanks to everyone who shared in it with me.

SOMETIMES THE TRUTH........
.......is stranger than fiction

And then other times people are just plain out of the loop. Seriously out of the loop.

Over the years I've engaged in many conversations with other mothers, sharing stories about being a newly expectant mother, mother of an infant, toddler...and so on. Every so often a mother will tell a tale that borders on bizarre or unbelievable....as in "who would ever do that?" This is one of those.

Now, when I was growing up we were fortunate to never get really sick. When we would get sick, our parents would smather you in tons of Vicks take us to a doctor. It was rare when a Bayer aspirin or the Vicks didn't work, so I don't really recall regular office visits.

When I got pregnant with my oldest daughter, I was sicker than a dog. I thought I had the worse flu ever....I couldn't move without puking my brains out. This went on for a couple of weeks. Finally I called our old family doctor and described my symptoms. He said it sounded like I was pregnant, and did I have an OB GYN? Nope....I had never been to one.....ever!

The good doctor referred me to Dr. Tucker, and "Tucker" would be his first name.
I called to make an appointment, and his receptionist told me to please bring a urine sample. She explained that it should be from the first trip to the bathroom the morning of my appointment.

if this is too much information for my two male readers....oh well!

I was so excited....Little ol me was going to an OB GYN. And...I'm probably pregnant! I sterilized a jar the night before my appointment. I layed out my freshly ironed baggiest blouse and slacks. Because, if you are going to an OB GYN, and you might be pregnant...you want to make sure everyone knows...or at least suspects.

Thank goodness I was young, because I opted out of going to the bathroom before going to bed...you know, the speciment....I wanted to make sure I had a good one. And I did.

Boy did I. I filled the jar.....and carried it out to the car, put it on the seat next to me....and carried it into the office....propping it up on my lap in the waiting room for everyone to see....because I wanted them to know I was pregnant.

So there I sat and just as I predicted, everyone noticed......

They noticed because it was a quart size mayonaise jar...and it was full! I sat there so smug.....and they all stared.....jealous women...all of them.

When the nurse called me in, and I handed her the jar she tried so hard to not laugh.... but I was oblivious to my own stupidity.....until I was leaving and she handed me one of those small speciment jars to use for my next visit.

There you have it....now, tell me the most embarrassing thing you ever did....it's just between us, I won't tell anyone..and I promise not to point at you and laugh.

Tomorrow is a special day.....I can't wait to tell you about it.

RECYCLING

Bringing it to a higher level.....




Just to show you everyone can be green...unless


Someone takes my Bedazzler away.

DO THEY TAKE COUPONS?

Another news flash!

Eli's Manhattan has decided it isn't enough to charge five times the national average for a one pound bag of carrots.....which would be $4.50. Unless you're a cheap chump who schleps her way to Walmart or H.E.B. or somewhere else and pays $.79 for the same bag. No siree!

Eli's wants to take full advantage of the energy crisis and charge a surcharge on top of their already high prices.

Now, I don't shop in gourmet markets because there aren't any in Central Texas Walmart has a Gourmet Half-Aisle. It has all the fancy pickles and mustard and maybe some artichoke hearts floating in marmalade.

I know I would never pay $150.00 for this breakfast basket, even if they threw in a couple extra croissants. Now add the energy surcharge...BINGO! $152.70.

I love good bread....fresh bread, with some weight to it and lots of fiber and never white. But would I pay $55. for four one lb. loaves? Don't forget the energy surcharge.

A seven lb ham is $95.

How about one lb of hand dipped chocolate shortbread cookies....only $45.

So please Mr. Eli's.....why the greed? I would guess you already make a nice hefty profit. You will never make up the loss in revenue that your former customers have taken elsewhere because of your stinking 1.8% energy surcharge.

Does anyone know of anyone who shops at Eli's? Still?

IT DOES A BODY GOOD, WITH HOT FUDGE

I'm an ice cream lover like none other. There was a time when I could down a pint a night watching TV and never gain an ounce....but then something happened...the earth started turning on its axles or antler, and all of a sudden a pint of ice cream would miraculously morf into three pounds of hip or thigh. Am I crazy? Does the math even make sense? 16 oz = 3 lbs squared.

I quit buying the stuff. Once in a blue moon I'll get a Wendy's Frosty, or maybe I'll raid someone else's freezer for an ice cream drumstick, but it's not daily.

Yesterday I read something that might ruin my appetite for ice cream for good.
Yep, PETA sent a letter to Ben & Jerry's asking them to switch from cows milk to human milk in their ice cream. They claim the cows are forced to get pregnant every gestation cycle so they continually produce milk.

They claim cows milk is bad for humans and is linked to all these illnesses:

allergies, heart disease, colic, flatulence, breast cancer, autism, diabetes, sick children, obesity, constipation, osteoporosis, acne, ear infections, prostate cancer, mucus, Crohn's Disease, beer, lactose intolerance.

They claim the cows aren't happy. Are they half crazy? I personally know that dairy cows are the happiest cows around.

What about Janice here...she's one of the California Happy Cows....named after me. Shes seems pleased that she's not top sirloin.

Then there is Diane....she's a Happy Cow too....and Dianne is my middle name. Who named these cows?

So friends, I think I will be keeping a close eye on the ice cream industry. I will definitely start reading labels for content. I'm just a bit too old for breast milk, from any one's mother.

Here's the real clincher...PETA has it in for M & M's. No one messes with my M & M's!

All opinions are mine. None were intentionally meant to hurt the feelings of any human, cow, or candy lover. Amen.

IF LOOKS COULD KILL....the judges

Never mind that she's 82, Cloris Leachman is a force to be dealt with. If and when she gets the old heave ho, they will have to carry her out screaming and kicking.

She did a mambo, and they called her Coconut Mama. Now, I don't know if he's looking for her coconuts, but they ain't under there.

Susan Susan.....you have a great figure and you are a decent dancer, but your face scares me almost as much as Cloris' threats.

Warren Sapp woo'ed the crowd again! I think he is my favorite so far.

And just as I predicted, Jeff Ross was sent home.....

He was such a good sport, and his family was there to support him til the end.

IF IT'S TUESDAY, THIS MUST BE MONDAY'S POST

I know, I know, I’m a bit slow on the uptake lately. Remember, I’m on vacation in Orange County California. The boredom level here is non-existent. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the slow pace of Texas where the wind comes rushing down the plain….oops, I was thinking about the folks in my compound rushing to the pool, or something equally exciting.

But really, do I miss Texas? Yes and I miss my family there…and JJ…..and Wal-Mart. The Wal-Mart’s in Texas are different than the ones in CA. They sell everything 24/7. And you can wear anything….jammies are big there.

Now here is a bit of what I’ve been doing. Yesterday I met with some co-workers for lunch at my favorite Mexican restaurant, Avila’s El Ranchito.

Maybe you remember them…they were my lurkers minus PG and with the addition of AG. Being that they are civil servants, we had a long leisurely lunch. We finally had to call it quits so we wouldn’t miss Monday Night Football.

I also did other exciting things like run to Ralph’s to get marinate for a BBQ we are having tonight.

Ralph’s, for the sake of Texans and others who aren’t familiar, is one of many grocery chains in California. I like the idea of having a dispenser with anti-bacterial wipes by the shopping carts. I’ve seen too many little ones picking their noses with dirty hands while sitting in those carts.

Of course I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Dancing With The Stars! I can’t rehash the whole thing, but here is my take on a few of the dancers.

Yeah for Cloris Leachman! She’s 82 and a real trouper. Is that the right trooper/trouper? Who cares. Anyway, she did a great job, and of course she will be an audience favorite if she continues to do her little burlesque thing with the leg and boobs for the judges. They weren’t impressed enough to give her a good score so she flipped then off cussed at them. You go girl!!

I thought Kim Kardashian was ok, stiff just like the judges said.

Am I the only one that thought Susan Lucci looked almost as botoxed as Priscilla Presley did? Her photos are great and she’s no spring chicken, even those her legs would make a liar out of me. Her dancing was so so..

Warren Sapp was great! Not that others weren’t. I’m just pointing out the stuff that either surprised me or ticked me off. Yep, there was one thing that really ticked me off…sort of.

Why, oh why, did Jeff Ross have to wear that gawd awful satin shirt with the polyester pants from the seventies? Who's idea was that? All the other men wore pretty sharp, sometimes funky threads. I mean really, when he and Edyta were standing in front of the judges, you could see his nipples through the shirt. I have a feeling he will be going home, and of course Edyta will be toast too.

I put a Dancing With The Stars update widget at the bottom of my blog for Hollywood you to check out if I sleep late tomorrow. It didn’t fit right in my side bar.

SUNDAY IN CALIFORNIA...........

.........is much the same as Texas!

Honestly, I wanted to make today a red letter day. The sky was clear, the sun was warm and the morning coffee was excellent.

I'm Catholic, and in Texas my parish is St. Paul Chong Hasang. It was established by a small community of Korean Catholics, and now serves a much larger community with most masses in English. I love my parish.

So here in Southern California, I chose not to go to the local St. Josephs, but I went to mass at St. John Paul II, which is a unique parish that caters to the Polish community. I never knew there was a Polish Community, but the parishoners come from all over Southern California. I loved the mass, and then the festivities they have afterwards with authentic music and food. It's become somewhat of a tourist attraction with all the Polish art, crafts and culture.

Now that I was all holied up, I attended a Little League Baseball game for my grandson Ryan. Just the thing I would probably be doing in Texas. He pitched, caught and played second base and had three grandmas and a great-grandma cheering him on! What fun!

Late afternoon we headed a few miles in the opposite direction for a Harvest Festival at another church. We had some good rockin' gospel music.....not unlike churches in Texas would have, and then we went inside the hall for some bingo!

Yep, of course it was another Catholic church, because didn't they invent bingo?
I won two games in a row, each paying $30. We headed over to the beer garden for some more music, then headed home.

And pictures? I took plenty...but my memory card was in the slot on my laptop and not in my camera. I don't have my cable to download them.

So Sistas? When are you going to start circulating that Blogging for Dummies Book?

I may go to a mattinee tomorrow....maybe....a big maybe

ON A SERIOUS NOTE

I guess when you have a blog there will come a time when someone gets offended. I have seen this happen on other blogs and wondered why people would rant about something instead of just clicking on that little x up in the right hand corner. I don't mind the occasional difference of views, and I purposely stay away from religion and politics. I have my own beliefs and leave it at that..besides we have enough blogs that delve into that stuff.

But for me, it happened in a much different way. No one came on my blog to disagree, rant, or take offense with something I said. No, in this case I offended someone by putting their picture on my blog. It wasn't done in a bad way, and it wasn't done to offend or upset anyone....but it did, and for that I'm sorry.

Now for the record, the offended person had never seen my blog....or at least hadn't up to that point. Someone who reads my blog, someone who lurks on my blog mentioned seeing a picture of this person on my blog. Just so you know, this person probably didn't know it was a big deal, or maybe they did. I don't know. What I do know is that I would never, ever, intentionally put a picture on my blog that is hurtful, or embarrassing to anyone. If I poke fun, it's usually at myself.

So, I guess this is a wake up call for me, and an apology to anyone offended. The blog posts have been edited to remove the pictures. Amen

Tomorrow, I have some more of my usual goofy stuff....which is what I do best. Well, that is until the next The Batchelor starts, or Dancing With The Stars. Or better yet, Billy Mays comes out with a fantastic product for gift giving this Christmas....cuz I'll be all over it!

NEWPORT BEACH ON A FRIDAY AFTERNOON

After Labor Day and the start of a new school year, things usually simmer down in resort towns across the Country. Not so in Newport Beach California. This is a year round resort town...probably more so in the winter months. More in the way of cash spending, not diaper changing tourists.

On my way down to the Newport Peninsula, I stopped at Hoag Hospital, which is on a cliff overlooking Newport Bay. I love this view. I have memories of looking over the bay after giving birth, and when I lost a loved one....several years apart, same view.

Then headed on down to the Newport Pier, parking in front of Charlie's Chili, right at the foot of the Newport Beach Pier, where you have parking meters that give you three minutes for a dime. My family has a rich history with Charlie's, through two generations of working there, marriages, divorces and lifelong friendships going back over forty years. This is a legendary place to go for great food for ridiculous prices...ridiculous as in low. John Wayne used to order their chili by the gallons for parties. But...I was on a mission...for chests, bare chests, and this was probably the best location to find them in the time alloted on the parking meter....30 minutes.

Also at the foot of the pier is the historic, still functioning home to the infamous Dory Fishermen of Newport Beach. What a site to see at the crack of dawn when the fisherman beach their boats and drag them up the sand to be filet and sold to the multitudes waiting. Well, not really multitudes, but close. Local restaurants relish in this open fish market...by eight in the morning, the place closes down, waiting for another day.

Now I wander up the pier to get a better view of the beach. Oh my, there will always be a bird feeder until the sea gulls gets ticked and peck this guy mercifully.

This guy had no problem letting me inch my way closer along the rail on the pier.

He seemed very content.

So was Lucky...yep Lucky's mom is a beautician! Who wudda guessed? She said she changes the color of Lucky's coif every so often for variety's sake. If Lucky were a girl, I think JJ would go bananas. Yes, that's Lucky's real hair.

Now Jessie didn't have a problem letting me take his picture....are you sitting down dear friend?

He asked me to take another!

These folks are tourists.

At first glance you would think they were related to Lucky!

There is nothing like stopping for a double double at In n Out Burgers on the way home.