Swine Flu

It was the night of October 12th, I was helping my son with his essay when I started to get the chills. My head caught on fire with heat and pain. My bones ached, I got dizzy. I told the kids goodnight and I went to lay down. The shivering kept my muscles locked, the pain was relentless. As I pull more covers on me the heat poring out the top of my head was nearing explosive. I tried to relax if only I could get some sleep. My eyes flew open as the sound of my alarm clock streamed threw the room. I stumbled out of bed, shook my daughter gently to wake her up. Yelled down to my manchild (18 yr old son) and told him he would have to take his sister to school. I wabbled into the bathroom sat on the toilet and let the sickness pour out. Then I grabbed firmly onto the trash can and let it pour out the other end. When it was over I dragged myself back into the bed convinced I was going to die and fell asleep. In awakening a few hours later volcanic heat still poured out of my head and eyes, so I knew it was time to head straight for the doctor. He said "yep you have the flu." Then prescribed cough syrup and penacylin.

I knew I had to make it into the office to get payroll sent in.  

Vagina Dialogues at Ontario Improv

Mr. Right

So I've been looking for Mr. Right for awhile now. I'm almost convinced he doesn't exist. I don't think I'm asking for to much:


 Must have own place

 Must have a job

 Must be available on weekends for dates and sex

 Must be ok with my spontaneity

 Must like kids (mine)

 Can have kids of his own or not

 Must not want to have more kids

 Must like texting (cause I hate talking on the phone)

 Must like movies

 Must be acceptable to snoring (Cause I do)

 Must be handy (Cause I need help fixing up my house)

 Must not Smoke and only Drink moderatly or not at all
 Must not drive a 2 door car (you’ll have to read one of my past blogs to find out what that means)



I think that’s it. I told you it wasn’t much. If you know someone that fits the list send him my way.

Floating Pearl Necklace

So I joined a new Meet up Group - The Art & Crafts Club. I went to my first class Wednesday night, and we made Floating Pearl Necklaces. It was a small group of 6 women. Trinh was the host, she was very nice and a great Teacher, very patient. There were 3 other women there from her work, myself, and Sherry (the crazy craft lady). I was surprised at how easy the technique was; it looked hard when looking at the necklace. Everyone in the group was very nice. I have to clarify when I say "Crazy Craft Lady" Sherry is one of those people that are so crafty and talented and kind of crazy. But you just can't help but love her. She wears tons of jewelry that she made herself (It's gorgeous). Below is a picture that resembles the necklace that I made. When Trinh posts the pictures I’ll post the real one on here.    

Still Pondering

I usually hate watching commercials. I would rather put a show on go do things around the house for 15 min then come back and rewind to the beginning, just so that I can fast forward through the commercials. Commercials to me are just a reminder of what I should be doing instead of watching TV. So the other day I was watching a show and it happened - I watched a commercial. I don't even remember what it was for I just remember watching a woman park in a lot, get out and put cones in the spaces next to her. Then run off to go shopping. I just kept thinking why wouldn't someone just move the cones out of the way and park there. Then I thought about it, most people do think of orange cones as un-movable. When was the last time you thought you could just go over and pick up a cone and just move it? Then I started thinking why didn't I think of that. I could go out and buy a couple of $10 cones and put them in random places just to confuse people. That would make for such an exciting day. I could get the kids together pack a picnic, go to mall parking, and place a couple of cones in prime parking spaces and then watch to see what happens. Wow - good times.

School schedules have changed so much since I was in school. Back in the day we had school from 8:00 am to 2:30 pm and we had 3 months off in the summer. Now the kids go from 7:30 am to 3:00 pm and they only get 6 weeks off for summer. They should just make the school schedule 8:00 am to 5:00 pm all year. When you want to take a vacation you have to put in for it at least 30 days in advance. They would have to bring their school work with them on the vacation. That would be perfect, and then the kids would understand what real life is like.

When I first read the DaVinci Code I was very intrigued by the story. I have always been convinced that there was more to the story of the bible. I do believe that GOD sends down people to inspire us and to keep us on track. I do think that these people have learned over the years to keep it "real" and that the Jesus of yesterday would be locked up in 10 seconds in today’s world. There is a lot of talk about Jesus rising up and coming back. So does that mean that reincarnation does exist? I have always thought that I was Mona Lisa in a past life. I know what she was thinking when the painting was done. People have always told me I resemble her (except I have eye brows). So what if Jesus was already here. What if Mac the lead singer of 3rd Day is Jesus reincarnated. He has a strong message from GOD that is "real" he's not in danger of getting locked up. He looks like Jesus. What are we really expecting when he comes back? Unless he is riding on top the wave that is suppose to be coming to kill all of the sinners, then how will you know?

I know a lot of people that have pets. Most people you see with pets you never think anything of it. BUT what is with poor people thinking they need pets. I have known a couple of families with kids at home, and the parents aren't working or they're just squeaking by and they have cats and dogs, and rats, and lizards, and snakes, crazy pets and not just one MANY. They should have a rule if you can't feed your kids then you shouldn't have pets. Where are they coming up with the money to feed these things? We have a puppy and he costs a fortune. I couldn't even imagine having more with less. Then let’s talk about the smell. These animals smell, and these peoples houses weren't that clean to begin with then the people smell, but of course they don't think so. Poor pets : (

What do you do when you meet your soul mates wife? Or your husband’s soul mate? We as a society of people who don't like to be alone are rushing into relationships with people that sometimes we don't even like. There are so many people settling for just OK out there. Whose soul mate are you with? The sad part is that your soul mate can't find you because you settled for something less. What happens when you do meet your soul mate and there with someone else? Do you just walk away? Do you wait? Do you interfere and break them up? I believe that you have relations so that you can grow and learn as a person. When you are both ready then you find each other. But what if he doesn't realize he's with "not the one"? What if he's ok settling? People wake up! If you fight more than you make up, or you’re just in it for the kids, STOP you have someone else's "the one", let them go!

I was in that situation I was married to my 3rd husband and I met his "next", I had known all along that he wasn't "the one" so I had to let him go and let him find his "the one". Leaving me open to finally start searching for mine. I thought I had found him once, but I must be mistaken because he's happily married. So my search will go on.

 

Who Needs Donuts?

I know you can't tell from the picture, but this book has so much intricate detail in every picture found in Mark Stamaty's brilliant Who Needs Donuts? Even at this size, I fear you'll miss some of the humour, eccentricity and wit. But to help you out, the billboard next to the title is advertising "String Bean Cola," that's a small tree growing out of a pipe, and one of the rare books for sale is titled 499 Ways To Simplify Your Life.

The Birds have different animal heads (and people heads)  each tile of the sidewalk is covered with little circles.

Oh how I love this book. I first saw this book at The Alley. When I saw all of the detail I was immediatly drawn to it. After looking through it and seeing that there was more picture then story, I thought my daughter would love it too. It had been marked down to $5 - how could I lose.

Who Needs Donuts? is the story of a boy named Sam whos love of donuts takes him to the Big City where he makes friends with Mr. Bikferd, a world class collector of donuts. But when Mr. Bikferd falls in love with Pretzel Annie, the prophecy of an old homeless woman comes true: "Who needs donuts when you've got love?" Mr. Bikferd bequeaths his donut collection to Sam, who uses it to save the old homeless woman from drowning in a basement flooded with coffee.
The story is fun enough but the real delight with this book is the artwork. I've read the book over a dozen times now and I still find new puns, interesting characters, and visual gags. Anyone who enjoys sitting in the heart of a busy city and simply taking in the wild sights and sounds will enjoy this book. I highly recommend it to everyone, even if you don't have kids!
 

Originally published in 1973, Who Needs Donuts is a sweet visual feast that will have kids (and nostalgic parents) poring over its rich tableaus for hours. Every inch of each black-and-white page is covered in detailed, delightful drawings, at times bringing to mind the two-dimensional cartoons of Saul Steinberg, at others the scratchy realism of Lynda Barry’s comics. In fact, there is so much to look at in this short, simple story that new discoveries are sure to be made with each successive reading (of which there are bound to be countless).

Young Sam, clad (inexplicably, yet charmingly) in cowboy duds, already has a nice house with a big yard and lots of friends, but he feels nonetheless that something is missing. He mounts his trusty trike and heads for the big city in search of one thing: donuts, and not just a few, but "More than his mother and father could ever buy him."

His quest is rife with humor and adventure, not to mention a man in paisley suit and a woman named Pretzel Annie. Kids will adore the no-holds-barred kookiness displayed throughout (a street vendor selling fried oranges with optional mayonnaise; a "self-service" restaurant where the waiters look exactly like the customers), and adults will smile at the hippie-era moral that love is all you need. As the flap illustration warns, "This book is addictive," but this sugar habit need not be kicked. (Ages 5 to 10) --Brangien Davis

This is a reissue of Mark Alan Stamaty's masterpiece of the absurd, first published 30 years ago and out of print nearly as long. With an illustration style that mixes a benign Hieronymus Bosch with an urban Where's Waldo?, Stamaty's off-the-wall humor is on target for little kids and big kids today.

Lobster Fest Review

So I went to the Lobster Fest on Sunday. I brought my 13 and 6 year old with me. We had to park in the Cruise Ship parking and then buses took everybody to the event. We arrived at 12:30 and got our discount tickets to get in @ 7 for just me and my 13 year old. My 6 year old was free. Then they have you buy your lobster meal ticket at the same time, at $17. We went in and the kids wanted to go straight to the rides. We found the ticket booth and the rides where $1 a ticket or 30 tickets for $25. Each ride took 4 tickets. They had the spinner ride that goes pretty fast, a small Ferris wheel, a sack slide, a kiddy train, kiddy tea cups, kiddy swings, kiddy cars, and dizzy dinos. It was already hot, 91 deg, which surprised me I thought it would be cooler by the beach. Needless to say we weren't at the ride section for very long at those prices.
We walked by where you sit and eat lobster (packed). Then we went over to the food booths to look for something the kids wanted to eat. We found $4 nachos and Corn on the cob, with $2 cans of soda and bottled water. Then we found a wall to sit on and eat. I ran over and got my lobster platter. The lobster came with a smashed roll, a cup of butter, a cup of watery Cole slaw and a spoon full of Cajun potatoes. The food was ok; I had some concerns that the lobster hadn't been cooked long enough.

After we ran over to the pirate treasure hunt. We were instructed to seek out 4 pirates and ask them for a clue. We found the first pirate by the concert section who told us "The captains treasure is without measure" the second pirate found by the lobster booth taught us the proper captain solute and "I I and thank you captain" we didn't have to search far for the 3rd pirate in front of the Coca Cola truck who's clue to us was " The captain is fair he'll give you your share" across the street was pirate 4 "keep to the code" he said. So off we went to report back to the captain. Jazzy told him the clues and he gave her a cup full of coins (plastic play coins) and that was that.

We walked around a bit more, paid way to much for jelly filled churro's (that were not advertised as jelly filled until you bit into them) and then we decided to go home. On our way out we couldn't help but notice the extremely long line for lobster. Then the even longer line to get in, and the even longer line to get on the buses to go to the event. So I am definitely glade we had gotten there early and were leaving at 3:00. I heard they ran out of lobster at 5:00, considering they are open till 7:00 that is bad. I'm not surprised though - the night before they had the competition for the Guinness Book of World Records for the most Seafood Prepared at an outdoor event. Here is the official report on it:

Saturday, Sept 19 the Port of Los Angeles Lobster Festival surpassed the old record for The Most Seafood Prepared at an Outdoor Event of 3,835 lbs and one ounce in two hours and fifteen minutes, and at 9 pm set a new Guinness World Record of 12,527.4 lbs. Unlike the old record which included mostly sardines, but some other seafood as well, the Lobster Festival weighed only lobsters and nothing else.
Under the supervision of The Fine Living Network’s Chef Chris Cognac, aka The Hungry Detective, and Guinness Adjudicator Carlos Martinez, San Pedro Fish Markets cooked and prepared the meals.
The record setting meal was purchased by James Lam of Alhambra, California. Councilwoman Janice Hahn announced the new world record shortly after 9 pm in a ceremony in the lobster serving area.
The festival would like to thank all the dedicated people at the Port of Los Angeles who worked so hard behind the scenes to make this happen.

I wanted to thank David at Social Foodies Meetup Group for letting me know about this event. It was a great day to get out and walk around with the kids. I'm sorry that we didn't get to hang out more as a group. I just don't think this was an event where that was able to happen.