Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day! Our day started out with Jennifer's "vegan" whole wheat pancakes for breakfast. Vegan except for the egg. Eggs seems to be optional for alot of vegans! Yikes! Don't tell Jennifer I said that. But the pancakes were yummy!

I thought I had bought a card for Rocky, but if I did, I couldn't find it anywhere. I have a problem with cards. I always stop at the card section of just about every store and pick up several random cards, then proceed to never take them out of the bag and can't ever find them when I need them. When I do find them, years later, I always wonder "Hmmm .... I wonder who I bought that for?!?" I have a cute box for filing cards - actually I have two cute boxes for filing cards, but they're empty at the moment, except for a couple of sympathy cards filed under "Congratulations!"

Anyway, thank goodness I had watched the Today Show because Martha Stewart was on and she made the cutest Valentine cards, and they looked SO easy. I didn't really pay attention to the first part of the segment, which I have to say now, must have been the most important part, because when I went to Hobby Lobby to buy the stuff, which, by the way cost WAY more than going to Target and buying several cards, I couldn't find what I thought she must have used, so I thought, "Not a problem. I'll just improvise!"

I gathered all the materials together, and there were plenty! Then I cut out the hearts using a little heart-shaped box for the pattern. Here's where I actually DID pay attention to the demonstration on Today. Well it all looked SO easy, but noooooooo! In addition to what I had already purchased, I had to use super glue and then Elmer's glue when the super glue failed, and florist wire. Martha didn't use any glue at all! Or wire! The whole ordeal didn't go so well, but here's the final product.


While Rocky made rounds, I scurried around the kitchen making Valentine cookies and candy and was exhausted by the time he got home. And the kitchen was a horrible mess. I made some chocolate peanut candy and poured it into heart-shaped cookie cutters thinking, "Oh, isn't that cute!" But when the candy hardened, I couldn't get it out of the cookie cutters, so Troy and I came up with the bright idea of letting them soak for a few seconds in hot water. That worked well until we forgot what we were doing and hot water poured over the candy and made an awful mess. But it worked......sorta!

Troy and I decorated the cookies and as you can see, we are not in the bakery business, but it's the thought, right??? They all got eaten anyway, and we had a good time.

After all that WORK, Rocky and Troy and I went for a romantic Valentine's dinner at Peppe's in Canutillo. It's not a particularly nice place, but it has great Mexican food. After dinner I took a nap!

Hope your day was as nice as ours.

Seven Ways to De-Stress.......with a twist!

In my "25 Random Things About Me" post, I referred to something I heard on the Today Show earlier this year - a list of 7 ways to de-stress. The list was just different enough from most of the other ideas we hear about so often, and I thought you'd like to see it.

1. Exercise to decrease stress hormones.

2. Do some deep breathing.

3. Stay away from caffeine and alcohol.

4. Keep a Joy Journal. Write down things that make you happy instead of dwelling on your adversities. Keep the "daily grind" in another journal.

5. Schedule your "fret" time. ("I'll think about that later.")

6. Wean yourself off "triggers" such as checking the stock market every hour during the day, or weighing yourself every day. Check the stock market only once during the day, and jump on the scale once a week.

7. Take charge and take action of the things you can change. Let go of everything else.

There now! Don't you feel better already?

My "Almost" Top Ten Beauty Secrets!

Now there's an oxymoron, using my name and beauty secrets in the same sentence, but I've been tagged by Jennifer, and I must obey!

My beauty routine doesn't amount to much. At almost 60 years of age, they say less is more and they mean it. And it's so much cheaper!

Beauty Tip Number One: I HAVE to bathe or shower every day or I can't stand myself, and neither can anyone else. I use Twisted Peppermint body soap and foot scrub from Bath and Body Works. It smells soooo good! I used to use the Twisted Peppermint body spray until a little girl at church said "Mama, she smells just like cotton candy!" I thought I smelled all fresh and minty, but instead I smelled as if I'd just come from the circus. Poor Rocky used it once and the girls at the office said he smelled like bubble gum!


The Peppermint body wash makes a great bubble bath, but I have to be careful because if I turn on the jacuzzi, the bubbles multiply exponentially and envelope me! It's kind of scary because there's not alot of oxygen in those bubbles! The first picture is of a nice, normal bubble bath, the 2nd is only a few seconds after the jets have been turned on, and the third is my view of the bubbles while I'm in the tub!




Beauty Tip Number Two: After I dry off, I rub lotion all over my arms, legs and feet - Peppermint, of course! I have to wait a bit after I put it on my feet because when I try to walk on the wood floors, it's hard to remain upright.

Beauty Tip Number Three: Now comes the trickiest part. Makeup. I've never really been shown how to apply makeup, so I've been on my own all these years. So any thoughts you may have about what might have gone wrong on any particular occasion, now you know why.

One day when I was getting my hair done, a lovely lady asked me if I wanted to try a new type of make up "so pure you can sleep in it!" I didn't see anything different about that because I've always slept in my makeup, but I said "Sure!" like a dope, not realizing it was going to cost me more than I'm willing to say in print. For some reason, I thought it was all going to be free!!

She showed me all these different powders and "told" me how to apply them, but really didn't let me see what she was doing. Then all of a sudden she whirled the chair around and voila! There in the mirror was a CLOWN!!

On my own, I've slowly learned how to use this makeup and I really do recommend "Bare Essentuals." Yes, that's spelled correctly. It's reasonably priced, lasts forever and they have hundreds of colors!! I use only one or two colors myself, because I'm not very adventurous when it comes to makeup. The only problem with this makeup is, if a tear happens to roll down your cheek, you can see the track mark! Below are pictures of my makeup drawer and brushes. Nice, huh?



Beauty Tip Number Four: Applying the makeup, which is not the same as describing the makeup. Two totally different processes. First I start with a cheap moisturizer, like Oil of Olay or Ponds. Those pricey brands don't work. I've used them all, and look at me. If anyone disagrees, please let me know of a brand that really does what it promises!

Since I'm a middle-aged+ woman, I have several age spots....you know those brown spots we get on our hands and face. I was a sun worshipper in my youth and they're not kiddin' when they say "You'll be sorry one of these days!" My time has come. So I start dabbing on powdered concealer, and having alot of Irish ancestors, I sometimes get mixed up and spend alot of my 5 minute beauty routine dabbing at freckles!!

Beauty Tip Number Five: Makeup experts say to apply blush to the "apples" of your cheeks. My entire face is an apple, so it's hard to decide just exactly where to put that stuff! But if I mess it up, I just apply a mineral veil. That stuff is great because it blends all the awkardly applied colors to where they look.......not so bad!

Beauty Tip Number Six: The eyes. Now this part is serious because I happen to believe that my only redeeming quality is my eyes. Patti once did me a huge favor by having me color-typed. Everyone should do that because it really helps when choosing the colors you wear. Brown is best for blue eyes, so I try to stay in that color palate. Blending one color on my lids and another on my brows is way too hard. And the trickiest part of all is eyeliner! But the one thing I absolutely hate to do, but it makes the biggest difference, is apply mascara! UGH! After that task, I have to use several Q-tips to clean up the excess! I look like a little girl playing "grow up" with my Mom's makeup!

Beauty Tip Number Seven: Lips. You're supposed to wear a lip liner that's the color of your lips. So for me that's a liver color (hard to find)! Then I apply lipstick and that's about it. It's like coloring - it's important to stay within the lines! Occasionally I apply some lip gloss, but be VERY CAREFUL here! Let me tell you why. I have a wrinkle (or two or more) that go up from my lips to either side of my nose. Stop laughing -it'll happen to you too! One hot day I was at a quincienera flitting around, talking to friends, introducing myself to strangers and while they were all pleasant enough, they all looked at me kind of funny. I didn't notice anything until I got in the car and looked in the rear-view mirror. My dark pink lip gloss had melted and traveled up those wrinkles! Those people must have thought I had blood poisoning!! How totally embarrassing! I have recreated to the best of my ability, the incident for you here! (Oh, and forget the gloss debacle, look what a HUGE difference a little lipstick makes!! I think it's important to have lipstick in your food storage.)



Patti had a similar experience with bronzer. She put it on all over her face, and by the time she got to wherever she was going, it had collected in the wrinkles around her eyes, making her look like a tiger!

Beauty Tip Number Eight: My hair. I've had my hair long, very short, colored, highlighted, lowlighted, permed, and just about everything else one can do to their hair. It's pretty straight for the most part, but as I get older I have these weird "waves" which make it very hard to style. So I put a little product in, blow it dry with a huge brush, flat iron parts of it, then put a curling iron to other parts. Doesn't make much sense, huh? It usually turns out OK, but never great!

Beauty Tip Number Nine: Hmmmmmm.....I think that's it.

Twenty Five Random Things About Me.

I've been tagged three times now to do this and I guess I just need to get it over with. So here goes....

1. I don't like beets, eggplant, turnips or mangos.......at all.

2. I'm not a great housekeeper. My house is almost always clean, but it gets pretty messy. That's why I'd much rather you call before you come over!

3. I enjoy doing laundry and folding it, but putting it away is almost more than I can handle. Strange, huh? And I don't iron, because I don't know how, unless it's a pillowcase or a handkerchief - and who irons pillowcases and handkerchiefs anymore?! Actually I know a few people who still do that and I just don't get it.

4. I don't appear in public in a swimsuit. That's way too scary and disappointing.

5. I like to do daring things, like learning to fly. I'd LOVE to skydive, but I don't think my knees could handle the landing!

6. I would love to go to the mountains for 3 months, shave my head and see what it looks like when it grows back. I'm curious to know just how much gray or white hair I really have. I bet it's at least 60%!

7. One of my favorite kinds of music is Big Band. I got that from Daddy.

8. I love to drive around with my top down....convertible top, that is! The wind in my hair feels so good, unless my hair is whipping around in my eyes! That stings.

9. Other than my family, I have three really great friends who I treasure. Two live here in El Paso, and one just sent me a card - just because. The other lives in Dallas. She and I have been BFF's for 41 years. It's a nice, comfortable and fun relationship, and there's nothing I can't tell her.

10. I love technology and how it makes our lives so much more interesting and easy! I even love the way it smells when it's new!!

11. I love to play Guitar Hero, especially with Patti and Troy. We have so much fun!

12. One of my New Year's resolution is to be more positive, and it's really worked. There's only one subject that will immediately drag me to the dark side, so we won't talk about it!

13. I've heard that challenging your brain can help prevent Alzheimer's Disease. That may or may not be true, but since I don't like doing crossword puzzles, I like to play Brain Age and Big Brain Academy. My boys gave me Brain Age II for Christmas, so I guess they're worried about me too!

14. Earlier in the month, there was a segment on the Today Show on how to reduce stress. Most of them were the usual: exercise, take time for yourself, no alcohol or caffeine, etc., but the one that got my attention was to keep a Joy Journal. It's different from an everyday journal where you have good and bad days and talk about all the highs and lows of your day. In a Joy Journal you write only good things, like things you're thankful for. One day as I was driving across town, I was thankful for my car because it's so cute, and I don't owe any money on it, and I LOVE driving it. Another day I was thankful for the unconditional love I get from my doggies. Simple, silly things like that. Try it, whether you write it down or not, but it makes a huge difference in your thinking!

15. I'm nervous about the economy. We've lost so much money from our pension plan this past year, so now I'm just socking away as much as I can every month in a low-yield savings account. At least I know it'll be there when I need it!

16. I'm thinking about taking a nursing job at the jail!! I like the edgy jobs.

17. I seem to collect socks. Yesterday I cleaned out my dresser drawers and donated at least 50 pairs of socks to Goodwill. Don't worry tho, I still have at least that many left. Do you think I have a problem??

18. I wish more than anything that I had grandkids, but I don't. Maybe someday.

19. I'm really bad about starting projects and never finishing them. So when that actually happens, it's a BIG DEAL around here.

20. I wish I was thinner. I did Weight Watchers a few years ago and that worked well. Lately I have NO willpower. None at all. It's sad.

21. The older I get, the more I miss the people who have passed on before me, especially my brother Rico, and my cousin, Lurlene. I wish I could tell them one more time, face-to-face, how much I love them.

22. I graduated from high school in Mexico.

23. Troy gave Rocky and I a night in a castle for our Christmas present in 2000 in Germany. It was really a neat thing. We ended up in Paris for Christmas Day where we visited Notre Dame Cathedral during High Mass on Christmas morning. I don't have the words to describe that experience. It was so spiritual.

24. I love to travel, but I love coming back home a whole lot more!

25. I don't like writing things about myself that no one really cares about!!

So now I've fulfilled my obligation to Jennifer, CJ and Lisa.

Happy New Year!

We hope everyone has a happy and healthy 2009! 2008 was a little traumatic for our family and several others we know, so it's got to be better, no? New resolution.....Think Positively! That's not MY resolution necessarily, it's a good one!

We set a record!!

Yesterday, I whiiiined about wanting to go to the Sun Bowl game, but NO ONE, not even my ever dependable sister would go. Actually the whining didn't start yesterday. It started sometime last week. But funny thing! All of a sudden 4 free tickets fell into our laps and then everyone wanted to go! I had already called Patti before the ticket bonanza, and she insisted she was still NOT interested. Then about 30 minutes later the guilt set in, just like I knew it would!! (It's all part of the plan!) She said she'd go with me. You should have heard the tone in her voice. It was like I had asked her to hike Mt. Kilimanjaro! But I had to tell her we had no more tickets!! I think I heard her sigh of relief.

Anyway, as much as I love football, the ONLY reason I wanted to go was to see the half-time show. Get ready for this......The Village People!! I always thought they were so unique, in alot of ways! ;)


Aren't they just the cutest?!?!

They only sang 3 songs, "Macho Man," "YMCA," and "In the Navy." I think that's the only songs they ever sang! AND.....in the process of enjoying the concert, we set a Guiness Book of World Records by the most people doing the YMCA dance at the same time in the same place! Over 45,000 people participated. The last record set was in 2001 in Utah, but with only 13,000 people. There was even a Guiness Book Record Certifier there! They're real serious about ridiculous things like this. I haven't heard the results, but I'm pretty sure we set the record.

So they showed us "how" to do the YMCA dance, and after all these years, we've been doing it wrong! You probably have too, if you've ever stooped to that sort of thing! But we had SO MUCH FUN! Even Troy and Ben had fun. It was one of the better half-time shows I've seen. WAY better than Michael Jackson.....Patti!

The game was between Pittsburgh and the Oregon Beavers. The Beavers scored a field goal in the first quarter to make the score 3-0, and the final score was 3-0!! Apparently it was the lowest scoring bowl game for the past 75 or so years. Pretty sad. We left after half-time tho, because as I said earlier, it was all about The Village People for me!

Memory Lane Mondays ~ "Please leave!"

Quite a few years ago, the husband of my mom's best friend Leola, passed away. Patti and I went to the funeral at the Douglas Street Chapel, and it was packed. We found a seat in front of our Aunt Ernestine, who we LOVE, and listen intently to the talks. Well....as intently as Patti and I are capable. We really tried this time out of respect to the deceased. One of the speakers had been our Bishop when we were kids and he was an "interesting fellow."

About 30 minutes into the funeral, the former Bishop got up to speak on "The Big Picture." He talked and talked and talked and talked and talked. We started glancing at each other, which was a HUGE mistake. He continued to talk, on and on. We were getting fidgety and bored and just wanted to go home! As you can imagine we started whispering to each other, and that started the uncontrollable laughing. Aunt Ernie was poking us in the back saying things like "You girls never change!"

After what seemed like an eternity, and I'm NOT kidding, our former Bishop pronounced, "And that brings us to "The Big Picture!!" What was he SAYING all that time?? What was the Big Picture?? So with that statement we looked at each other quizzically, and started laughing so hard we were gasping, choking, tears running down our cheeks, shoulders shaking, and we could NOT STOP!

Aunt Ernie leaned forward and asked us to please leave the funeral until we could compose ourselves! How embarrassing is THAT?? Have YOU ever been asked to leave a funeral for bad behavior, or for any reason? Oh, and we're adults, or at least we looked like adults!

Memory Lane Mondays ~ Silly things my Mom says!

While on a trip to Mazatlan some years back, Troy and Grandma were leaning over the edge of the tourist cruise boat (and I use that term loosely) peering into the water. Troy was about 10 or 11 years old and was saying things like "Look how blue the water is!" and "I wonder how cold it is?" and "I wonder how deep it is!" Mother, with her brow intently furrowed, replied "What I want to know is, what is a participle!"

A few little things I remember about growing up....

1.  Sitting on the curb on a rainy day with our feet in the rushing water and trying to make little dirt dams
2.  Dipping my raw carrots in ketchup
3.  Mary the rabbit, Chocolate the dog, and Cheema the cat....and Cheema #2, the next cat!
4.  The smell of Carmen's tacos
5.  Playing baseball, and hide and seek in our backyard
6.  The smell of the little cedar boxes we always bought in Ruidoso
7.  Running away to Roy English's house, and Mom saying "OK!"
8.  Sargent, who had the most beautiful lawn on the block
9.  Our babysitter who always threatened to call the cops on us, and whose dad just              happened to be the Chief of Police!
10. The smell of mothballs at Grandma's house....mmmmmmm
11. Having to listen to Daddy read instruction manuals for each and every new appliance we ever bought! I NEVER read instruction manuals now.
12. Climbing the China Berry tree and crossing the patio roof to get to our tree house
13. Jumping on the Jenkins' trampoline and drinking their milk out of their side-by-side, restaurant-style milk machine. It was always so yummy and cold!
14. Using TV trays to slide down the hill when it snowed
15. Watching "The Mummy" with Patti and Rico and being scared to death - every time!
16. Flying kites in the park across the street
17. Rico throwing Patti's "Flower Drum Song" record like a frisbee over the fence of the reservoir because she played it so many times. He had warned her.....
18. Our dog Mutts, running around the yard with Daddy's freshly grilled (or should I say freshly charred!) chicken or steaks
19. Our flocked Christmas trees
20. How Mother made each and every Christmas magical

Survival of the Dumbest!

Saturday Patti, Mom and I took a day trip to Colonia Juarez to see Jennifer, Sasi and Jeneanne, and let Mom visit with her sister, Aunt Nellie. It's only a 3 hour drive, and very do-able in one day....assuming all goes as planned.

Our drive down was uneventful, which is great with the conditions in Mexico like they are. We got thru all the checkpoints without any problems. The only stop we made was in Casas Grandes to get Mother's hair cut and styled. Patti and I had been extremely negligent in getting that done earlier and poor Mom looked like a homeless woman, as you can see in the picture below! Her hair was down to her shoulders, combed to the side and just awful. We ended up at a beauty school and didn't know what to expect at first, especially when they showed us this picture of a funky haircut all spiked up! We agreed to it anyway, and you can see Mom wasn't all that thrilled with what was happening to her! But during the styling process, they used a curling iron and she look really cute - not funky at all! Aunt Nellie always looks so prim and proper, we just couldn't take Mother to see her looking like she did.


Our visit was great fun. Mother is 95 and Aunt Nellie is 92 and at first they didn't even recognize each other! We had to introduce them. They are so funny together. Their conversations are nothing but nonsense! But they have alot of fun together, and that's so nice to see.


Jennifer and John fixed us a delicious lunch. After we had eaten, Aunt Nellie took all the extra brownies off the plate, wrapped them in a napkin and a baggie and took them home. That was a little odd!



I called Rocky to let him know we'd be on the road by 4:30. We planned to spend the last hour at Aunt Nellie's home with Jen and Sas, but I always forget to include the time it takes to get Mother out of the car and into the house, and the reverse when we have to leave. It's a significant! By the time we were actually in the car and ready to go, it was 5:30! When we were finally on our way, but still in Aunt Nellie's driveway, Mother asked "Where are we going?" When I said we were on our way back to El Paso, she said "I hope I can go to the bathroom before we leave."

Grrrrrrrr. Patti, being "patient and kind," asked her if she could wait 3 more hours!! "Well, I'll TRY!" was Mom's response! So we looked at each other, sighed, and backed up and started the process of getting mom out of the car, into the house, to the bathroom (that's another story altogether!), back to the car, into the car and finally we were off.....2 hours late! After stopping for tortas where the store was closed, gas and queso Menonita, it delayed us just enough that when we got to the Santa Teresa bridge it had closed, exactly 3 minutes before we got there. We couldn't believe it!

I have to interject a story here. There's a military checkpoint half way between where we bought the cheese and the border. The soldiers there check mostly for weapons, but probably look for drugs too. Patti and I both speak fairly good Spanish, and between the two of us, we're awesome! Patti was driving so she was in charge of fielding all the questions. I guess the soldier couldn't see into the back seat where mother was sitting, because he asked if we had any "pasajeros" (passengers). So Patti reaches for the handle to pop the trunk at the exact same time I told the soldier "Yes, our mother is with us," while I point with my thumb toward the back seat. So up pops the trunk, and the soldier looks at Patti, then at the trunk, then at me and back at the trunk. He very slowly walked toward the trunk fully expecting to see our mother back there. I asked Patti "WHAT ARE YOU DOING????" She said "I got confused!" I don't know how she could have thought pasajeros meant cajuela (trunk)!! Finally we all got on the same page and he let us go. That was a close one! Those guys don't have anything close to a sense of humor!

So now it's 10:03 p.m. Being a little closer to the border, I finally had a phone signal and was able to let Rocky know we were so close, yet so far! Because the bridge was closed, we had to drive 10 miles back to the road that takes you to Juarez, which is supposed to go directly to the Santa Fe bridge. Well, that didn't happen. (On a side note, the highway we were on now, took us right through the Home Depot parking lot in Juarez! Isn't that strange??) We spent two more hours of meandering around unfamiliar parts of one of the most dangerous city in the world! Patti, who has this uncanny sense of direction had completely shut down, and I had no clue where we were, except when we hit the red-light district. That was VERY interesting!! All we knew is where we were, not where we were in relation to the bridge! So we asked a taxi driver if he could tell us how to get there, and he said he'd lead us there in his car.....for $5! He got us there in about 3 minutes and I was so grateful, I paid him $10.

It's now past midnight and there's a hold up in the line to cross the border. We waited at least 30-45 minutes before we could finally pass. When we got to the US side of the border, Mother pipes up and says within earshot of the immigration officer, "Is this the place where you told me to say I'm an American?" Another uncomfortable moment, but I don't think he heard what she said, thank goodness, because all we had to prove her citizenship was a Mexican passport! Those guys don't have a sense of humor either. We got home at 1 a.m. and were exhausted! A three hour drive took us eight hours!

We had LOTS of laughs on the trip, because Patti and I think everything is funny, but we were so, so happy to be home.