Out with the Old in with the New

Well 2008 is coming to an end in a matter of hours so I would like to wish everyone a Happy and safe hopefully fun filled New Years Day as well as good throughout the year to come!

Down will be coming all my inside and outside Holiday decorations after welcoming in the New Year. I don’t have any big plans though as I never do. I have always been a homebody when it came to celebrating New Years, maybe a handful of the times I have celebrated it at a relatives but never any more than that. So, as usual I’ll be safe and sound in the presence of my home tonight sipping on me a glass of some bubbly champagne. We are expecting a few guests of about five so we should have a nice little time together.

I don’t get wrapped up in all the New Years resolutions and that is because I start off great then somewhere down the line it goes out the window, lol.

Bringing in 2009 I wish all a Happy New Years!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cheers!!

Blagojevich appointment of Burris to the Senate plus Rush

I was dropping by a political blog today that I had been reading First door on the left and it was the first of the breaking news that I heard of Blagojevich appointing President-Elect Obama senate seat to Roland Burris, although he is dealing with the possibility of himself being impeached, he is only carrying on his lawful duties as Governor, he mentioned.

I just have to add my further 2 cents to this announcement in regards to the way Bobby Rush carried on. I do not completely disagree with the message of Bobby Rush on race, but I do think there is a time and place for everything and his timing to me was off. Firstly, I thought Burris looked rather out of the picture in the whole accepting of the senate seat as he just willingly passed what was supposed to have been his spotlight onto Rush when he asked him to come up and speak. If I was Burris I would have preferred someone to speak more on me as a person, American, a human being or more on my actual credentials.

Secondly Rush should have found another opportunity to address his feelings and support of seeing another African American in the US Senate. I whole heart him and his feelings of sincerity on this, but he appeared to me as if he was saying that the race of the candidate is more significant than the actual person fulfilling the duties and the legal appointment from the appointer, and as if (not accusing Burris of any wrong doing) but it’s like he is ready to demand this appointment regardless of the current allegations of the Governor playing pay to play politics, simply because he feels the Senate seat of one African American should be passed on to another African American. Oh really is that how this all goes?

Is my views twisted or am I just looking into this all wrong? What do you think? Who would have taken the spotlight so diligently if the appointee wasn’t an African American, to defend the Governor’s selection? Was that really caused for from Rush?

article on Cnn

*A brief update into all this.*
Senate majority leader Harry Reid is still standing by his previous position along with the senate that Roland Burris still faces a slim chance of being sworn in with the rest of the Senate. He did recently say that he will talk with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and that hopefully there is room to negotiate something, perhaps Burris as just a Senator-Elect with little privileges who knows.

Meanwhile (D) Representative Bobby Rush of IL continues on with the racial terms portraying the Senate as “the last bastion of racial plantation politics in America.” I feel he really needs to stop this. Myself as a black of course I think it would be great to see another black take a seat in the senate, but I seriously think no matter whom tainted Blagojevich chose they would still be facing the same current problems as Burris, so the aspect of race is absurd to me. Burris himself seem pretty confident in becoming the next Junior Senator and I do think he will sooner or later be appointed somewhere down the line and if not let’s remember it was said before hand that the senate wasn’t willing to accept the appointee from Governor Blagojevich while this investigation is still underway. Well well well what a mess in Illinois politics right now.

1/6 Roland Burris has been denied the US Senate seat on to the courts he goes.

1/15 Roland Burris get's sworn into the Senate.

I so love the Wii

I really really do love it!!! I purchased one for my kid’s family this Christmas. We were due for an upgrade and hadn’t had one since the play station 2 and Nintendo game cube. Finding out that the wii played the game cube games was really a plus as well, since they have many games for it.

I find the Wii to be a great family system. I love the fact that majority of the time while you’re playing you’re up and on your feet moving about as opposed to just sitting back being a lazy spaced out couch potato. I have really been having a good time these past few days since Christmas playing the games with the boys. We all stayed up super duper late last night including the hubby playing golf on 4 players. Like what I don’t even play golf in real life but I must admit the game is very fun and makes me feel like a Tiger Woods in fantasy land, lol.

Thing is though that while yes it may seem like a great low cost budget system compared to the Xbox 360 and Play station 3 running at about $250 but jeez how about after purchasing 3 additional Wii Remote Controller at $40 each plus the 3 additional nun chunk controllers at $20 each, not to mention the classic controllers running at $20 each, plus the other little accessories like the sports pack Wii Grand Slam Sports Pack of baseball bat, golf club, tennis racket, driving wheel, charging system etc.. Okay yes granted these extras aren’t required but yet they are a kicker to have as they are fun and stimulating as in making you feel like you’re actually playing the real thing, virtual reality. Now what I didn’t get but think I really want is the Wii Fit!

It comes with wii sports which is cool, the basic sports of bowling, tennis, baseball…. We love Harvest moon and Animal Crossing: City Folk as well alot together helping each other out with it. Then comes my oldest boys with their WW Smack down vs. Raw (something wrestling) they get to slamming their knees into the floor so hard, jumping, yanking arms and all to the point that I have to tell them to take a real deal chill pill as in give it a break son…. Anyways I highly recommend the system!!

Do you or your kids enjoy the Wii, Xbox 360 or Play station 3 the best? What are some of you or the family favorite video games to play?? Yes I’m still a kid at heart :)!

All set and ready for Christmas

I am so glad to say that! I don’t know any other time of year that involves so much ripping and running. I thought I was done with all my shopping but apparently I forgot all about the grocery store run, so I went out and finished that up yesterday and took our dog to the groomer, so now thank goodness I am officially all set and done outside the home wise anyway. I still have some dusting and gift wrapping to do.

Traditionally our family does the whole pot luck dinner where everyone brings a dish and we alternate whose place to have Christmas dinner at. It’s our place this year so we don’t have to cook much. Normally when we go to our relatives for the Holiday’s we would take a dish but still prepare a small meal for home, but since all the food will be here I just mostly had to pick up fruits, candy, nuts etc….

I have a rather large family my Grandmother has 14 children alone, plus my Grandfather had four children before him and her married. Quite awhile ago my family decided upon a grab bag gift exchange every year for our family and friends. It had been running pretty smoothly and everyone was saving on gift purchases of course. Some still buy gifts for everyone while majority of us just purchase an adult gift and one or more kids gift from the grab bag.

After all these years of carrying this tradition since I was a child myself I remember with the grab bag and pot lucking. This year brings something a little different we still doing the pot luck dinner but the grab bag has taken a turn for the worst. I guess it was a combination of lack of participation and organizing. Instead of everyone pulling or receiving a name on Thanksgiving as we did in the past it was decided for everyone to just purchase a unisex gift and throw it under the tree and the kids names were just threw around. Not many like the idea including myself so my cousins and I decided it’s time for our generation to carry on our family tradition and from here on out we will take on the responsibility every year of getting everyone together for Thanksgiving and pulling from the grab bag just like we used to do it. We haven’t told everyone just yet but we plan to make the announcement on Christmas, I’m sure my Aunt probably would be glad since she has been the main one putting forth so much effort over the years to help keep our family close and tight.

As well I would like to Wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday for whichever you are Celebrating this Season, if any!

School Snow Day

Ice sleet, slush, and snow you name it and we are getting hit with it all. As a result all schools in our district are closed for the day. Now I have all these little teacher and student presents to hang onto until they go back to school after these two weeks of winter break. Oh the joys of living in a winter wonder land. It is such a mess outside, the snow is super hard my husband barely got our driveway cleared out with the snow blower it sounded like the thing was about to fall apart, maybe we need to upgrade the poor thing. He had already called in late for work so I decided to boot up and go out there to help him finish up. We ended up switching it up as he broke the snow up into chunks with the shovel and I plowed as he shoveled. That was a morning workout and this is only the beginning of winter so we have much more funner days ahead of us, blah!

Drew Peterson in the news again

In a nutshell Drew Peterson age 54 a former police sergeant made the news headlines when his 23 year old wife Stacy became missing back in 2007. Till this day she still remains missing.
Kathleen Savio, Petersons ex wife before Stacy was found dead in the bath tub of their home once declared accidental has now become the investigation of homicide. Drew is a suspect involved with both of the above.

I know life goes on and everyone has to live their life but can somebody just say creepy to this. Peterson has recently told reporters that he is engaged once again to a 23 year old, by the way she would make wife number 5. Then he goes on to say that he is tired of all the media attention but couldn't help but laugh as he said “letting the media into his wedding could come with some perks like free photographers and videographers“. He has quite a sense of humor.

How can someone feel safe and secure in the arms of a man with so much revolving around him? The father of his current fiance says he is trying to talk his daughter out of all this, he even went and paid Mr. Peterson a visit to tell him to take his ring back. Mentioned was that Drew has been promising his new lover many materialistic things. Which is more valuable life, safety and well being or money for crying out loud? Now that really wasn’t all in a nutshell either.

My son got his feelings hurt over snow pants

Yesterday our temperature dipped into the single digits so I pulled out the snow pants for my boys, since they do have to wait outside for the school bus. I could not believe it this morning when I was getting my youngest son ready for the bus and when I handed him his snow pant’s I saw his facial expression turn rather gloomy, so I asked him what was wrong??? Normally he is in a spectacular mood about riding the school bus and going to school in general.

His response to me was that he didn’t want to wear his snow pants to school again. I asked him why and he sadly told me because he got laughed at for wearing them to school and that it hurt his feelings. I’m like WTF, hello my son is in Kindergarten and since when did snow pants become unpopular for 5 and 6 year olds. I just reached out to him and gave him a hug, told him it’s okay and that the snow pants are to keep him warm while he waits for the bus in the cold and that sooner or later other kids at school would be wearing them too. Along with mentioning to him that he didn't want his Asthma to flare up due to the cold weather changes.

Then I turned around and asked him if he did not want to wear his snow pants to school again today or if he wanted to stay warm and go to school in his snow pants, needless to say my baby chose on his own to stay warm so he left in his snow pants.

Jesse Jackson Jr. Says clear his name

Well actually his words were that he wants his name back and is trying to stray away from the linking’s of him as candidate #5 in the whole corruption charges of IL Governor and him possibly being one of those bidders for Obama Senate seat involved in pay to play politics.



If by slight chance you’re wondering who is Jesse Jackson Jr. he is a current member of congress from IL and is the son of civil rights activist Jesse Jackson Sr. founder of rainbow/operation push.

Tisk, tisk, what’s new so many politicians are dirty and corrupted to the point that it’s almost the norm. Even the spotlight revolving around this case leads many to question our current President Elect Obama and his staffers and any involvement or wrong doing pertaining to this. Please don’t let it be.

It’s sad to say but with so much going on at once NO I wouldn’t be surprised if any found cases end up being linked with any connections with Obama or his staffers although I don’t think anything will likely be linked to Obama himself as I think he is too smart of a guy to fall into this trap. A politician is a politician though and I surely hope Obama isn’t involved in any of this wrong doing because I myself look forward to the day of having him serve as our commander in chief.

As for all this hype going on with Blagojevich, Jackson Jr. and Obama or his staffers who knows, but they surely know their own involvement.

IL Governor Blagojevich arrested on several corruption charges

I briefly tuned into the news this morning while getting me and the boys ready for school and I was shocked to hear of the news that the Chicago based Tribune media co. is filing for bankruptcy along with the talks of them selling the Chicago Cubs baseball team which they own. Even though this is surprising news I guess it can’t be too much of a shocker in the midst of the economic crisis in general and I heard a little info about Governor Blagojevich of IL being arrested but I had to get out the door so that was that.

By the time I had gotten home and sat down to relax on the sofa with my doggie to watch a little TV I didn’t see anything I wanted to watch so I decided to tune in to CNN, which I watch frequently. By now the news with the Governor was off my mind as I had forgotten about it but as soon I tuned into CNN it was the first story being covered. So, I’m like oh okay I was wondering what was going on with the recent news I heard.

Blagojevich was arrested this morning by the Feds on corruption charges and yet again this is still not a major surprise he was already in the spotlight of corruption dealings. According to U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald the government had the Governors campaign office and his home phone tapped. What took the cake though was when they mentioned that he was offering President Elect Obama vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder. I can only shake my head at this.

Barack Obama response to this news as he spoke today at a rather awkward press conference was that he had no contact with Blagojevich about his seat in the Senate. That he was saddened about the news and that he felt its best for him to not go into the matter any further since this is an ongoing investigation in regards to the Governor. More on all this here

OJ Simpson going down, Guilty

Well it looks like the OJ has lost his juice as he just has been found guilty on the charges he was facing of armed robbery along with kidnapping. His sentence is supposed to be at least 9 years in prison for him.

My take on this is that for one OJ must be losing his marbles if he actually thought he didn’t commit a crime by busting into a hotel room with a gun like he “The Man” I mean seriously though I find the thought of that rather wacky.

Now, as for the amount of time they giving him “Pay Back” yes that’s right and that’s my opinion as we are all entitled to one. The Judge and jurors can say what they want but I think otherwise. Who did he hurt and what did he steal? His own belongings???

He got off the hook on the previous double homicide charges in the past with his ex wife and all, if he was guilty or innocent obviously there was never enough solid evidence. He didn’t get sentenced to prison then but he’s well on his way now. I do think he brought certain things upon himself though writing a book “If I did it” and all, ridiculous to me. Well OJ perhaps you got what you wanted for whatever reason. I guess he now figured out its not always a good thing trying /being in the spotlight.

Shame on it all OJ "The Juice".

Dinner with or without the TV?

I recall when I was growing up we always ate dinner together as a family gathered around the kitchen table. This rubbed off onto me and my family as well. When dinner is ready we all eat together in the kitchen. I have dinner ready 8 out of 10 times when my husband gets home from work. Since he pretty much makes it home at the same time everyday I pace my cooking times accordingly so that we can wait for him to make it home and for us all to have dinner together at the kitchen table.

The only thing different with me and my family versus my family when I was growing up is that we had a TV in our kitchen. A little small 13” color TV, yike’s you rarely even see TV’s that small nowadays. We don’t have a TV in our kitchen and nor do we branch off to separate parts of the house to eat dinner or watch TV while eating dinner. After dinner we can all go whatever way we want, it’s not that I hold anyone hostage during dinner time but I firmly believe in a family sitting down together for dinner minus the TV so dinner time is family time with us.

I understand not everyone is able to be compatible with their daily schedules, busy lifestyles and work hours or whatever but what do you think about dinner time with the TV is it on or off for your family? Do you gather together for dinner or does everyone eat wherever they choose?

World Aids Day

December 1st 2008 marks the 20th anniversary of raising awareness with World Aids Day. Over 30 million people are currently living with HIV throughout the world. HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) the virus that causes AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) as many know Aids is a disease of the immune system that has treatment options but currently there is no cure for it.

HIV can be transmitted in several ways, through direct contact of a mucous membrane or the bloodstream with an infected bodily fluid such as blood, semen, vaginal fluid and breast milk.
The transmission can involve anal, vaginal, or oral sex, blood transfusions, contaminated hypodermic needles, exchange between mother and baby during pregnancy, childbirth, or breast feeding, or other exposure to one of the above bodily fluids.

Prevention and awareness is the key along with getting yourself tested towards stopping this disease from spreading further throughout the world.

Today in connection with blog catalog bloggers unite to spread the awareness of HIV/AIDS.

Aplogies for my recent blog errors

I never noticed after I made my most recent blog makeover that it appeared to show okay in FireFox, but it was all over the place in Internet explorer, my goodness. Why didn't someone send me a friendly hint comment or word to the wise that my blog was showing up as a hot mess? Lol! Apparently not all templates are compatible with all browsers, excuse me for not knowing this. (duh)

As you may have guessed by now No I'm not a computer suave techy type of person (doesn't it show) but I'm trying here so give me a pat on the back at least, okay lol! I'm going to get this all sorted out. I'm like super persistent and when something just isn't right I have to keep fooling around until I make it better or it nags at me.

Anyways If anyone has been visiting me lately (sheds tear) and was wondering what has been going on with all my many screw ups, you now know why, sorry about all this. I guess this one will just have to do, at least for awhile since it is showing fine in both my browsers, finally. (geez) Okay now I have to reload all my widgets but it's time to prepare dinner so I'll get to this later, at least I'm up and running again and looking better on the eye's, lol!!

Thanksgiving and the after rush

We enjoyed our Thanksgiving and ate a great feast. Afterwards the children went off to play and we adults still gathered around the dinner table full as bulls and moving in slow motion reminisced and laughed while talking about the older days within our generations.

My mother ended up tricking me into cooking up the chitterlings this year. I was supposed to buy them for her to cook this year but I wound up cooking them instead. I don’t mind cooking them but sometimes I just don’t feel up to the cleaning of them and when I do I like to buy them clean them then freeze them ahead of time and not the night before the holiday. In case some of you have never heard of chitterlings you can read more about them here but perhaps if you have a weak stomach I’ll just say they are pork. I know pork itself is pretty unhealthy and chitterlings is down right gross to many but I have been eating them for as long as I can remember and even as I got older I just continued on eating them. I can’t eat just no anybodies though so more often than not I usually do cook my own. They have just been traditionally served within our family once or twice a year at the most usually Thanksgiving or Christmas. I never knew the real meaning behind the tradition until I was an adult myself and I don’t think many others do, but despite what they are when well prepared and cooked I just love them with me some hot sauce.

It was almost midnight when our family members departed and after tiding up a little bit I went straight to sleep. I just knew I was going to oversleep and truly not make it out to go shopping this morning. Wrong, I didn’t even set my alarm clock my body just woke up and after sipping my morning cup of coffee I gathered the store’s I was trying to shop with all my items highlighted and off I went solo, leaving my purse at home and caring only what I needed zipped away in my pockets.

First stop was 3:45am at Kohl’s. They opened at four and I made it there in good time because shortly after I made it to the line to get inside the crowd was just coming and the line grew super long so fast. I was in and out of there as I only had to pick up one item so the line was like no waiting. I left there and headed over to Jcpenny and picked up quite a few items before making my final stop at Walmart. They opened their doors at midnight I believe but no one was allowed to grab any door buster deals till 5am. I arrived there at about 4:45 thinking I would probably get nothing since people were already inside so early but I figured I would try my luck anyway. I could not believe it that I got every single item off my Walmart list this year, that’s something I’m rarely able to do.

I even picked up a HDTV for my Aunt. I told her I would try to get it for her while I was out. Walmart was well prepared for the crowds this year, they even had the Police on duty inside the store mostly around the electronics though just incase a fight broke out I guess. Everyone was really waiting to grab those TV’s. Soon as the worker yelled it’s 5:00 you can shop people just dived into the TV’s I noticed everyone was reaching for the top TV’s so I just patiently watched as a few got cleared away then I slide my little self right under the crowd and came out with me a TV in peace. I heard a little commotion trying to get started as I was walking away but I didn’t turn back I kept moving right along. One guy that was also waiting but didn’t grab his laughed and asked me how did I get one? I just laughed back and told him I guess because I’m so little I slid in and out the crowd rather easily.

I loaded up my trunk and back seat with all my goodies and made it back home at 6:30 am in time to kiss my husband out the door. I waited for the boys to wake up and have their breakfast then I told them to come and watch TV in the family room and I laid across the couch with my blanket and pillow and off to sleep I went. I had to get me a nap in after that adrenaline rush.

I’m Thankful what about you

I’m thankful for every morning I wake up in good health
I’m thankful for having 3 handsome active boys
I’m thankful for having a hard working supportive husband who is in good health
I’m thankful that although my son has some disabilities he is able to walk, run, ride a bike
I’m thankful although he is speech impaired he is able to talk
I’m thankful to see my parents still happily married after all these years
I’m thankful for everyday that I get to talk and laugh with my grandma
I’m just thankful for my family, a large family I’m a part of
I’m thankful for being able to own a home while the economy is in an uproar
I’m thankful to have been able to live and see our first African American President Elect
I’m thankful to be able to say I’m thankful

Be thankful for what you have it’s not always about what you want it’s also about what you have right in front of you
For everything not going the way you planned there’s another thing going the right way
Be Thankful on Thanksgiving and Happy for whatever food you put onto your plate

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

Are you a Black Friday Shopper?

Black Friday shopping is only a week away, are you going to be one of those crazy shoppers out at the crack of dawn, sleeping in tents and running people over in the stores? Joking, well not really as there does be some craziness going on during the sales. I have been shopping the sales for the last five years straight but I don’t know about this year but I guess I have to really see something that catches my eye. I used to shop toy crazy but with my boys getting older I don’t have many toys on my list this year so I may decide to actually sleep in for once. I have yet to find anything that would actually encourage me to camp outside the stores in a tent, no offense to anyone but I’ll pass on that one, have fun if you are one of those campers. Have you checked out ­ Gotta Deal I was ahead of the crowd last year when looking through the ads they be pretty accurate so if you want some sneak peaks into the sales you may wanna give them a peak or two if you haven’t done so already.

So, what will you be doing sound asleep and in peace or getting your adrenaline rush on out shopping? Got any shopping strategies you use while dealing with the crowds and trying to get everything you want? How long are you out shopping, just one store or do you spend the whole day out, lets here it?

Proximidade Award

It’s great to know you have visitors that actually read your blog but it’s even better when you know you have visitors that return often to your blog. Today I would like to give a very special thanks to http://glue4families.today.com/ for passing on to me my second blogging award. Thank you so much!!! Go over and check her blog out she posts regularly with some great well written and interesting posts. Here is the award I received from her.

“This blog invests and believes, in ‘proximity’ [meaning, that blogging makes us ‘close’ - being close through proxy]. These blogs are all charming and they aim to show the marvels of friendship. Let’s give more attention to them! So with this prize we must deliver it to eight bloggers that in turn must make the same thing and put this text.”

It is now my turn to pass this award on as well and here are the blogs I’ve chosen:

http://meandtheblueskies.blogspot.com/

http://www.baltimorehousewife.blogspot.com/

http://www.mydogatemyresume.com/

http://sassyblackfriend.com/

http://www.iluv-pink.blogspot.com/

http://www.ordinarymomss.com/

http://olliemckayschicboutique.blogspot.com/

http://reginasfamilyseasons.blogspot.com/

Give them a visit and Thank you to all my visitors!!!

Festive Weekend

Had a joyous weekend we took the boys to an annual tree lighting ceremony and festival of lights at an outdoor shopping plaza near us. It was nice they enjoyed it and thanks to the crowd it wasn’t to chilly out plus we were bundled up. We all song Holiday carols together and gathered around as Santa appeared and began the display of lighting the tree and watching all the decorated lights on display go to dancing around to several tunes. It was really nice to watch and I couldn’t believe that I forgot my camera at home. That’s what I get for changing purses. I had my camera already in my bag and ready to go but I decided I wanted to carry a smaller bag and well yea that’s how my camera got left behind.

Even woke up this morning to see some snow actually on the ground. Not much but enough to where it was able to stick a bit in the lawn and atop the rooftops. Brrr on comes the freezing weather, snow, hats, scarves, gloves and all that good stuff for keeping warm.

Random Deal of the day in arts and crafts

My random deals of family arts and crafts supplies for the week were at  Michaels. Great deals on painting supplies, the 16oz size bottles of washable poster paints are currently on sale for $0.99 which are regularly priced at $1.99. I stocked up and purchased 10 bottles creating a savings of $10 not much but in these days any savings you can get counts, plus my boys will have enough painting supplies to hold them over for awhile. Along with the paints I picked up a refill roll of poster paper for their easel for $4 and a variety pack of paint brushes originally $4.99 for only $2.50 after using the clip out coupon from the sales ad. I love to shop during deals and bargains, every penny saved adds up.

Christmas shopping has begun

It sure is something how fast the Christmas Holiday season appears. Halloween barely makes it in and then its like bump here comes all the Christmas decorations and sales, after that Thanksgiving sneaks on in there somehow. Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year and I am officially in the mood. I got started with some of my Christmas shopping this weekend but I have a long way to go before I finish up. Plus, I am one of those crazy black Friday shoppers so I typically start early and finish up that day after Thanksgiving, but this year I got a later than usual start. I like to beat the crowds with the exception of black Friday and get the items I want before they sell out. I brought some new outdoor decorative items at the end of Christmas sale last year so I can’t wait to set them out. We don’t get decorating crazy just a bit but in all we do celebrate with a big family Christmas.

Obama historical victory rally

I know some may have read my previous post about if I was going to decide to go to the Obama election night rally downtown. My plans when leaving home was to get downtown to be near the event and after getting with friends we decided to just watch from a nearby lounge. All around the town there was much excitement awaiting the results and when they finally came in everyone around us was jumping, screaming and crying as we celebrated this historical moment. Once he came on and began to speak everyone was so glued you could almost hear a pin drop and once again at the conclusion of the speech tears of joy and shouts of yes we did filled the room. When I got home I was so proud, happy and still full of excitement I was barely able to get to sleep. I woke this morning so hoarse I nearly lost my voice.

My Book meet got canceled

A friend and I started a book club almost a year ago. We both enjoy reading and would often swap books so we decided to round up some likewise readers for a monthly meet over appetizers and cocktails. The last couple of months our attendance has been dwindling down and yesterday we had our first official cancelled meet of which it was my turn to host. Do to the low expected turnout and transportation reasons this that the other it got cancelled.

Thanks to me for waiting around till the last minute to go out and grab the food and cocktails I didn’t go out my way to spend any unnecessary money preparing for the night. I for some reason had a funny gut feeling then I was also tipped off the night prior of the possible cancellation. Hopefully we will continue to get together for our monthly book meets if not it was fun while it lasted.

I <3 your Blog award

I received my first blogging award and it was given to me by Brandi over at
http://mrsbigcountry.blogspot.com/ so I would like to give a big Thank You to her, yea!!!

Now I have to pass the award on and here’s who I choose:
http://afrogtokiss.net/
http://www.petulaw.com/
http://glue4families.today.com/
http://azlynne1972.blogspot.com/
http://mariucasperfume.blogspot.com/
http://absolutelymoms.blogspot.com/
http://workathomemomrevolution.blogspot.com/

I <3 your Blog award
There are some rules for this award:
1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the persons you've nominated.

Too old for trick or treating

Do you agree that there is such thing as too old for trick or treating? Some local communities are trying to ban trick or treating for kids age 14 and up except for those with special needs. Reason being is that they feel over 14 is simply to old to be out begging for candy and that most of them don’t even bother to dress up in a costume. Also because they were frightening residents by showing up as late as 11pm carrying large sacks for treats or with overly scary costumes on. Do you think its okay if the older child is out trick or treating with younger siblings or do you just strictly believe over 14 is simply to old. Do you pass out treats on Halloween?

Are you bothered with egg throwing in your community? It’s a shame that some stores actually have to go as far as to pull eggs from their shelves around Halloween and only sell them to adults if they ask for them. This is an attempt to avoid selling eggs to youth that wishes to throw them on Halloween. I think egg throwing is the most silliest part of Halloween.

Well there is no way I’m opening my door for trick or treaters that think they can show up at 11pm. I don’t really mind older kids trick or treating, until you see the same big kid trying to show up twice then I have to send them away, other than then I feel they just kids being kids trick or treating and it doesn’t bother me during regular trick or treating hours what about you?

Obama Election night event tickets

This is so surreal to me I got my email invite to the Obama Biden Election Day celebration early yesterday evening. I contemplated hard as to if I would plan to attend this event here in IL or just watch it from home. Regardless if Obama wins or loses I’m still excited to see the outcome. While trying to make up my mind I thought about how the annual events in the downtown area can be like the annual Taste of Chicago which gets seriously packed around the 4th of July with people from all around the world coming out to have their taste at the different food venues set up and to enjoy the fireworks from the lake. When dealing with these large turnouts it never fails to be some type of violence and terrible traffic. Well just as soon as I decided that I wouldn’t miss this moment of history on Election Day and that it would probably be very unlikely in my lifetime that I would see another moment like this occur so yes I decided that I would plan to attend.

I remember hearing my grandmother speak about her days of picking cotton in the fields and my great-aunt speak about herself marching with Dr. King in Alabama, these are all significant surreal memories they were able to personally share. Now here I will be attending an Election night celebration event in honor of Barack Obama the first successful African American to make such history right before my very eyes. I praise him for making it till the end and I have praise that he will still be standing tall and hopefully with a victory in the end.

Unfortunately for me though I didn’t check my email messages until early this morning and when I went to reserve my ticket the return message was “sorry there are no more tickets available for this event.” I should have known that. Oh well tickets gone in less than 24 hours. While this event will be held at a huge park I might still go to see the turnout of outsiders like myself trying to look in, just the presence alone excites me, but not as much as it would have if I actually had a ticket, so maybe I’ll go snap a few pictures and head home early or maybe I’ll just stay home altogether I’m back undecided we‘ll see.

Jennifer Hudson lost her mother and brother

I just wrote a blog a short while ago of Jennifer Hudson’s success after being a contestant of American Idol and how she has been doing her thing. Sadly, tragedy has struck within her family. I feel so sorry for Jennifer and her family my condolences goes out to her and her family. Her mother and brother were found dead in their South side Chicago home, murdered gunshot wounds. Her 7 years old nephew is reportedly missing from the scene with the alleged suspect possibly driving a white 1994 Chevrolet Suburban Illinois license plate X584859. This is so sad, such a shame. Gun violence, resulting in the murder of two lives for what reason? Was it that serious, did these two lives have to end this way and to cause so much heartache and pain in this young woman’s life? Things like this just breaks my heart, nobody deserves to be murdered. Domestic disturbance is all I've come up with in regards to why this may have happened. Jennifer you will be in my thoughts and prayers and I hope the suspect of this double homicide is captured and for the safe return of your nephew.

Update, police has a suspect in custody for questioning but her nephew Julian King is still missing.
Amber Alert

Oh my goodness updated 10/27 police have discovered the body of Julian King inside the white suburban on the West side of Chicago. This precious child's life taken by gunshot wounds as well, this is such a devastating tragedy.

Rainy day family crafting

Well we had a very rainy yesterday, rather gloomy, windy and chilly. My son enjoys art and being creative very much. He asked me last week to take him out for more crafting supplies, but I had 50 million things going on and didn’t get around to it. Next thing I know my other boys started in on me about the supplies and just our luck while looking through the Sunday ad’s I noticed that both Michaels and Jo-Ann Fabrics had great sales going on, so I finally got around to take them shopping yesterday when they arrived home from school. Thankfully the rain had let up from pouring down to just drizzles.

We went to both store’s since they are both in the same shopping plaza. They had fun looking around at the wonderful project ideas and the final decision came down to jewelry making. So, I let them pick out some beads, and the other needed supplies and we made it home just in time for dinner. We had leftover roast beef, with potatoes and macaroni and cheese. Since they had me out all evening my husband actually made it home before us so he did the honor of reheating our dinner and had everything ready for us when we made it in.

I thought the boys were probably tired out from the shopping in the rain and would maybe want to wait until today to begin their projects, wrong. They were full of energy and after brushing their teeth, ready to get started. Okay, so we having so much fun that we didn’t realize bedtime were approaching. Every time we got near the end of stringing up the beads we would lose them when it was time to tie the cord and have to start all over again, It was so funny watching them as a little frustration began to sat in, lol. I guess next time I’ll know to get the wire or more string cording instead of the stretchy kind. We’ll be at this again today because after for what seemed like the 20th time of beads flying off the cords Dad finally gave us a helping hand with tying the knot‘s for us. He got one done and we cheered yeah!!!!! But, not the other so we had to call it goodnight for the boys, to be continued today…….

Obama rallies crowd of 100,000

Photo’s below are of Barack Obama rallying a record crowd turnout of an estimated 100,000 plus in St. Louis, Mo on October 18th. Next, up more record breaking news are the Obama / Biden fundraising for the month of September reached $150 million. More excitement for the campaign, Republican Colin Powell speaks highly of Obama and it is expected that he will be giving his endorsement to Obama this election.

The final debate Obama and McCain

Well as they say three strikes and you’re out, winner of the final debate goes to Obama. Although it’s clear that majority of people say whomever they support is the clear winner of the debates. Obama supporters say Obama wins, McCain supporters say McCain wins and so on. Polls of polls give all 3 debates to Obama though. I must admit for a second there I actually thought McCain was going to pull off himself a final victory and win the final debate, wrong. He started off rather strong and aggressive for quite a while putting Obama on defense a bit, too bad it couldn't continue on and pull it off for him, McCain tactics wore off and grew rather dull as he kept trying to avoid the real issues in our society and rather stick to his hurt feelings on the campaign trail as if trying to gather sympathy vote’s for his hurt feelings lately, well newsflash McCain did you expect running for Presidency to be a walk in the park and a easy fight, politics is tough as usual and if you cant handle the heat get out the kitchen, stop wasting your chance’s to appeal to a national audience about how you’re going to bring about reform by tossing in the kitchen sink hoping that Joe the unlicensed plumber is going to fix it as he mentioned Joe name repeatedly throughout the debate.

I find it rather odd that Joe whom seems to be a supporter of McCain all along to trying to blast Obama about his taxes being raised when the national average salary for a plumber is in the $40K range and Toledo, Ohio avg salary in the $40K range as well meaning your avg “Joe the Plumber’s” would most likely get a tax cut if anything under Obama’s plan. Make’s one wonder just what was Joe’s motive’s here? I thought McCain was going to shed a few tears when speaking of Lewis and his comments, not to mention Acorn and accusing them of voter registration fraud, he failed to admit that while yes they turned in some bogus registrations, yet this is required by law in many states that they must turn in every single card regardless and if the elections officials let Mickey Mouse pass their eye’s then they obviously wasn’t doing their job, which was the case with some Acorn workers getting paid to register voters but instead they were creating false card’s while stealing $8 hourly from Acorn.

I think we totally lost the fighter pilot when they began to discuss health care and education. McCain may have done himself well with conservatives on the issue of abortion but what about those independents. In all I do have to salute McCain for at least coming out stronger in this debate and finally standing up for himself as not being Bush. That part was so funny to me I nearly fell out my seat he tried really hard to put on that tough guy image telling Obama he should have ran 4 years ago if he wanted to run against Bush. He looked like he rehearsed that one liner all night. Reality check for McCain is rather he like it or not it’s hard to separate him from Bush policies when he voted with bush 90% of the time, so why should we expect such reform and improvement from the Maverick now.

You know it’s rather silly to me the things you find out when you do a little fact checking into these issue’s. I can’t deny that both candidates are guilty of stretching the truth during these debates, that’s another reason why I don’t understand for the life of me how someone can actually make up their mind whom they’re voting for after watching these debate’s maybe a little influence so to say of who to lean toward, but a complete decision making change, hum alrighty then.

Relief at the gas pumps

Hooray, finally a break at the gas pumps. Gas prices have dropped by 35 cent nationally I heard on the morning news. It’s about time with driving a suv gas has been a killer. I stopped for gas today and noticed it was actually only $3.49 a gallon. Which is fairly much better than the average upper $3.80’s I have been paying per gal? I hope it drops more or at least stays in the $3.40ish per gal range for awhile, I shall see.

Jamie Lynn Spears pregnant again

Word has it that Jamie Spears Zoey 101 star and younger sister of Britney Spears is about eight weeks pregnant with her second child after just giving birth this June. She allegedly thought she wasn’t going to be able to conceive because she was breast feeding and the conversation of aborting has come up. Is this really true or just a rumor coming from the Enquirer, Read more here.

That one’s name is Barack Obama Mr. McCain

There sure is some bad blood between the Obama's and McCain’s. Did you notice how Obama and McCain barely shook hands at the end of the debate and when they did they just kept right along moving with no further conversation and my goodness Michelle and Cindy didn’t even acknowledge each other at all. Its funny how after the vice presidential debate Palin and Biden almost seemed like one big happy family at the end when they all were on stage, just carrying on in such a friendly manner, but then again at least their reasoning was valid being that they were all just meeting one another for the first time.

Not to mention McCain’s insulating way of referring to Obama as if it kills him to speak his name or something. I think the slight edge that Obama has been gaining in the national polls is beginning to take its toll on McCain. I think he was more negative in this current debate as opposed to the last one. The more I hear them battle it out the more McCain keeps me aware of the reason I feel Obama is the true change for the better we need in this election.

From McCain himself:

"It was an energy bill on the floor of the Senate, loaded down with goodies, billions for the oil companies, and it was sponsored by Bush and Cheney," McCain said. "You know who voted for it? You might never know. That one. You know who voted against it? Me."

More details into the debate here

Presidential Punch

Serves: 1

Need:

• Ice cubes
• 8oz clear glass
• ¼ C cranberry juice
• ¼ C wild berry flavor Gatorade Fierce
• ¼ C 7 - Up

1. Fill glass to the top with ice cubes
2. Pour cranberry juice into glass
3. Slowly and carefully pour Gatorade on an ice cube, not directly into the cranberry juice
4. Slowly and carefully pour diet 7 - up on an ice cube, not directly into the Gatorade
5. Look at your beautiful drink; then enjoy it.

*If you use the exact ingredients and follow the directions precisely you can actually layer these patriotic drink colors. If you must substitute, remember that the secret is to have a liquid with a high amount of sugar (making it denser) on the bottom, a liquid with a medium amount of sugar in the middle and one with no sugar on the top.
(courtesy of my son's school)

Good bye Summer Hello Fall

Although it’s already starting to feel rather wintery in the Midwest during the early am and late pm brrr!! It’s almost about that time to crank up the furnace. We got a brand new high efficiency furnace put in our home over the spring so I’m eager to see how that baby is going to work and cut down on our heating bill. I will be keeping my eye out for that decrease.

This is the start of my clean closet weekend as I call it. Do you pack away summer / winter clothing when the seasons change??? I’m such a shopaholic (for bargains and deals that is) that I have to clear away the summer clothes into totes and space saver bags to make room for our Bulky sweater and winter gear. I t makes it easier to find what you’re wearing for the day especially for my boys, the less clutter the better organized things are.

Sometimes I place my boy’s outgrown clothing for sale on ebay, Craigslist or sell them through consignment shops or resellers and well there are times when I just feel like the heck with it. It’s time to clear house and I donate them which is easier. I have a scheduled pick up in 2 weeks with Amvets so they gotta go gotta go gotta go right now. I hate to feel cluttered with unnecessary things.

Well fall it fall it is time for all leaf raking. It’s fun at times!

American Idol’s Jennifer Hudson Debut Album

Jennifer Hudson American Idol contestant native of Chicago IL debut album under Arista record label hit stores yesterday. With songs featuring Fantasia Barrino season 3 Idol winner, Ludacris and T - Pain. I remember watching when she was once mentioned as the 3 divas during the season referring to her, Fantasia and La toya London. I haven’t purchased this cd as of yet but I have listened to it. It’s just okay to me.

I actually just heard of its debut today on the radio while driving in my car. Wow she finally makes her debut album after what 4 years, hum? Well I do have to give her props though for someone that was the 6th runner up on American Idol season 3 she seems to be doing rather well for herself to say the least. She was actually voted off the show but came back as a wild card pick. I wonder why they stopped doing those on the show. I remember Clay Aiken was a wildcard comeback pick that went on to do very well with his album.

She also won several awards for her debut actress screen role in the movie Dreamgirls as Effie. Not to mention that she was also the 8th youngest actress to win a best supporting actress Oscar at the age of 25, the fourth African American to win an Oscar in such a competitive category. She became the first African American singer to appear on the front page of vogue magazine and the third African American celebrity to be on the cover of Vogue with Halle Berry and Oprah being the other two.

She is now engaged to David Otunga better known as Punk from the second VH1 reality TV show of I love New York and Ms. New York may be better known for her appearances in the reality TV show Flavor of Love competing for the love of the hip hopster Flava Flav.

Jennifer Hudson singer actress model you go girl! Jennifer is a powerhouse no doubt there she can sang.

McCain will show for the Debate

Well it appears tonight’s first Presidential debate will go on as planned tonight in Oxford, MS 9 pm est. McCain originally announced that he was suspending his campaign and wanted to postpone the debate to return to the White House to focus his attention towards the big $700 billion bail out plan dealing with all the Wall Street financial messes currently going on. Well there is still no agreement reached but McCain has decided that he will be attending the debate tonight and resuming with his campaign plans. Obama had already committed to being present for the debate. His response was that you should be able to multi task. For some reason I knew all along that McCain would show up for this debate tonight. I couldn’t imagine him wanting to allow Obama all that media spotlight attention for himself, especially after his poll numbers have been gaining more grounds. Both candidates where present at the White House discussing the bail out talks yesterday. This shall be an interesting debate to tune in to tonight.

Also voter registration is coming to an end, so if you haven’t registered what are you waiting for? I'm not the one to persuade and push politics on anyone but I do think everyone should place a vote for the candidate of their choice. Express yourself, let your voice be heard and use your right to vote in this election.

A little humor for the day

25 Ways to Annoy Everybody

1) Pretend to be one of the Bush family. Doesn't matter which.
2) Have an uncontrollable lusting for someone else every five minutes.
3) Pretend to be from different ethnic backgrounds every hour, and when people ask you about it, answer like a hillbilly would.
4) Act like a hillbilly. Period.
5) Improvise Italian operas.
6) Gossip about someone to their face.
7) Answer every question with a question.
8) Repeat yourself constantly.
9) Act like a member of the opposite sex.
10) Repeat yourself constantly.
11) Act like Mr. Flanders from The Simpsons.
12) Change what you repeat every now and then.
13) Use homonyms in your e-male that the spell cheque would knot sea as miss steaks.
14) Change what you repeat every now and then.
15) Talk to someone while looking at somebody else.
16) Employ in your casual banter extensive vocabulary that will befuddle thy contemporaries.
17) Change what you repeat every now and then.
18) One word: Caffeine.
19) Another word or two: Caffeine and Sugar.
20) stringwhateveryousayintoonelongwordsoitshardtomakeoutwhatyou'resaying.
21) Using non-existent words like George Bush would.
22) Change what you repeat again.
23) Speak in rapid Spanish.
24) Pretend not to know about the rule of personal space.
25) When doing number 24, pretend to have a heavy nose cold causing you to breathe heavily through your mouth. Sneeze occasionally.

Lipstick and Politics

What is really going on with all the lipstick remarks going on with the candidate's that has just been such an uproar these past few days? We have a video with McCain and his lipstick comment, Palin and her lipstick comment and Obama and his lipstick comment. McCain allegedly referring to the Clinton's, Palin upsetting a few hockey moms particularly those that don't wear lipstick and found the comparison humiliating, then Obama as calling Palin a pig and showing sexism, enough already with all this lipstick smear talk.

My husbands yummy spaghetti salad

This is a recipe that my husband has became famous for. No matter which holiday or special occasion it is this is the most highly requested dish for my husband to prepare. We have been teasing everyone for years as to the recipe for his hit making spaghetti dish. We call it spaghetti salad because it can be served hot or chilled either way its delicious. Haven't met a person yet that dislikes this dish. Some have turned their nose up at the appearance of it but after tasting it, they absolutely loved it.

My husband is the type that just cooks as he goes along so measurements may not be accurate as he really isn't the type of cook that takes the time to measure his ingredients when he cooks, so you may have to play around with it until you get it right to your tasting but after several requests here goes directly from him:

1 small box of spaghetti (he prefers thick)
1 can small peas (drained)
1 can original rotel
1 can cream of chicken
1/2 box of Velveeta cheese (sliced in chunks)
1 red bell pepper (finely diced)
1 green bell pepper (finely diced)
salt & pepper to taste

Let the spaghetti boil in water that is already hot till it begins to get a little fluffy then add all the ingredients to the pot and boil uncovered stirring occasionally. Cook until pasta and vegetables are tender and the cheese has melted forming a creamy spaghetti salad. Eat up and enjoy there is no such thing as leftovers with this dish because it leaves quick even when we double the recipe.

I will update this with a photo the next time my husband prepares this, so for those whom haven't tried or heard of this dish bookmark my page and be sure to check back if you have any concerns as to how it's supposed to look once it's done. I hope you enjoy it!

Bully Breeds Awareness Day

Courtesy of blessthebully.com I will be mentioning October 25th 2008 will be the second annual national Pit Bull awareness day. Awareness, education & advocacy. I wanted to mention this because they totally have my support the same as last year & I would just like to share & pass this info forward, do with it what you please, hopefully it's supportive or educational. The BSL just isn't fair don't punish a specific breed, punish the deed, educate and bring awareness.

Punish the irresponsible owners, not the loving & devoted owners like myself. They cant stand up for their rights, but we can, stop the discrimination. It's a sad fact that I can barely find a camp ground to take my APBT / AM STAFF to, not to mention the several other places that don't welcome them.

They can indeed be great family pets. Why couldn't they?? If you disagree please state why?? In the wrong hands yes they can be very dangerous. That's even more of a reason why an awareness day is a good deed, please support it or at least look into it for some educational facts and help further spread the word.

From the website itself:

Calling all responsible pit bull owners, advocates and fanciers...


Please mark Saturday, October 25, 2008 on your calendars for the SECOND ANNUAL nationwide Pit Bull Awareness Day.

Last year's first ever Pit Bull Awareness Day was an incredible success thanks to YOU - all the breed advocates across the country united to educate, raise awareness, and promote a positive pit bull image. This year's events can be even better!

Bless the Bully's has teamed up with ROVERlution for this great cause in an effort to raise awareness to the plight of the All-American pit bull terrier AND to make a united stand against breed specific legislation. October 25, 2008 will go down as a day that pit bull advocates all over the country joined forces in support of an incredible cause! To learn more about ROVERlution or host a Luv-a-Bully march, please visit www.roverlution.org.

In keeping with our tradition, your event is up to you... Whether you plan an event all your own (and being so close to HOWLoween, themed events could be a lot of fun!!) or if you choose to participate in a Luv-a-Bully march, please join us on October 25, 2008 to celebrate this incredible breed and their devoted and responsible owners!


Why a Pit Bull Awareness Day?

In light of the constant negative publicity and sensationalized hype that surrounds pit bulls, Pit Bull Awareness Day was established as a day to focus on these incredible dogs and their devoted, responsible owners.

As breed advocates, it is our duty to show the public that all pit bull owners ARE NOT alike. As responsible pit bull owners, we can no longer be willing to sit back and be judged and criminalized by the image set by the visible minority of irresponsible owners. Although we all work hard everyday to change the undeserved image of our dogs, Pit Bull Awareness Day is the time to collectively make our voices heard. After all, we are the ONLY voices are dogs have.

Regardless of where you are located, please join Bless the Bully's in celebrating this wonderful breed and their devoted, responsible owners/advocates.

Please participate in an activity on October 25, 2008 to promote and celebrate responsible pit bull ownership. Whether you choose to participate in a Luv-a-Bully March or another activity of you choice - an educational workshop, a meet and greet, a bully rally, a dog wash, a BBQ or just a friendly get together - please sign up to participate so people in your area know and can participate and promote responsible ownership with you.
Working together, we can change the image bestowed upon our dogs (and their owners).

Never underestimate the power of a few committed individuals to change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. ~ Margaret Mead

VP: Running Mate's

With both the parties conventions nearing soon, beginning August 25 in Colorado for the Democrats and September 1st in Minnesota for the Republicans. We are expecting to hear the status of their running mate choices very soon. It's rumored that Obama will make his announcement as soon as this Friday & August 29th for McCain.

It has been mentioned that McCain has decided to allow Obama to make his announcement first since the Democrats are holding their convention first, not to mention he's looking to take the post convention spotlight off Obama at the same time.

Here is a listing of possible running mates for Obama

• Delaware Sen. Joe Biden
• Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh
• Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine
• Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius
• New York Sen. Hillary Clinton

Listing of possible running mates for McCain:

• Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney
• Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty
• Florida Gov. Charlie Crist
• Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal
• Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman

We'll have to wait and see who will be chosen. Will it be one of the above mentioned or will it be a rather surprising pick?

A Piece of Cake

This is my review of a book that I recently read. I personally consider it to be a very good book. It is a memoir called A Piece of Cake By: Cupcake Brown. Cupcake takes you through her upbringing from how she discovered the body of her mother to how she later learned the man whom she thought was her father truly wasn't. Once meeting her maternal father it didn't take long for her to begin to hate him. It was because of him that Cupcake was placed from foster home to foster home enduring rapes, beatings, starvings and far worst.

Cupcake did probably every street drug imaginable from PCP to heroin, weed, booze & pills just to name a few. Somehow though she managed to get married, hold down several jobs to waking up to find herself asleep & unconscious behind a garbage dumpster, it was then she new she needed serious help & was finally admitted into a drug rehabilitation program.

Despite all the drama and hardships in her life this memoir is indeed a very inspiring one. Never in my life have I cried from reading a book but the ending of this book took me there. It was just that good. Not to spoil the book I will end this by saying the book was a good read and the ending honestly just took the cake, a New York Time's best seller!

I like this authors writing style. It would be nice if she was to actually write another book.

Our family outting today was at CiCi's Pizza

We took the boys out to eat for dinner tonight. We went to CiCi's Pizza an all you can eat pizza buffet. I typically don't care much for buffets, but this is a nice place to go for an family outing.

They provide a variety of pizza's from buffalo chicken, spinach, pineapple, ham and more.... Also they have pasta where you add your own pasta or alfredo sauce in addition to the salad and dessert bar.

Although you are allowed to serve yourself they do have staff standing directly behind the buffet tables. After we got done with our meal we let the boys play a few games in their arcade. They don't have a large arcade though, just a few games.

How much does it cost for a night out at CiCi's a whooping $4.99 for adults $2.69 for children 10 and under, kids under 3 eat free. Free beverages not included in the above prices. (prices may vary by location)

They offer catering and a To - Go menu as well. Overall its a nice place to go at a great value my kids enjoyed tasting the different pizza's and used up many quarters in the arcade. Its a spaciously clean restaurant with a friendly staff. They have several locations throughout the United States.

I need a green thumb

I wish I had a green thumb because I need one, my yard is so plain and simple. I don't why for the life of me that I cant seem to beautify my front yard.

I did initially hire some landscapers that came out redid my yard for me. I just told them to give me all bushes and shrubs something easy to maintain. They put down the weed fabric and rocks so it was going good for a few years, that was until I decided I was tired of my yard looking so dull and green.

I called myself trying to make some flower beds so I cut little small spaces through the weed fabric planted me some tulip bulbs, gladiola's and some potted pansies. Okay so they grew out pretty nicely, but the gladiola's didn't work to well they were fragiler leaning forward, looking sad, so I decided to undo the bulbs so they wouldn't return this year.

The tulips are growing well they just don't last long. Needless to say I wish I never tried do it yourself gardening because I suck at it. I just had to battle the weeds yesterday because they were starting to grow like crazy through where I cut the fabric so they took over my pansy bedding.

I just wanted to make my yard more colorful but it back fired on me. Now when it comes to indoor plants yes I do have a green thumb for that I love my indoor plants, but I need me a outdoor green thumb. My next adventure in my garden will be to experiment with seed packets, bulbs are too much work, hopefully I'll get better results with the seeds than I did with the bulbs and potted pansy's.

This should be fun awaiting the turnout!

Back to School

Now is the time to get started with all the great back to school sales and bargains. It's always cheaper to get started earlier rather than wait till the last minute when all the good bargains have ended. I surely went to pick me up 2 cases of spirals today for my children and niece's. Walmart has a great sale currently going for the week of 7/13 some bargains are

$0.05 for 70 pages spiral notebooks normally $0.97

$0.22 Elmers 4 oz glue or 2 pack glue sticks normally $0.94 to $1.24

$0.88 Bic 10 pack blue pens normally $1.28

Do you ever crave seafood

Its seafood Friday at many restaurants today. I'm surely craving me some seafood too. I'm about to have me a seafood feast right at home. I cant wait I have the craving today for snow crab legs. I'm about to go to the grocery store and buy about 4 or 5 pounds and feast away on them with me some lemon pepper and melted butter. Zatarains makes an excellent seasoning that you can place in the water while you're boiling crab legs. I know I'm serving garden salad on the side and I guess I may bake some potato's with corn on the cob as my side dishes. I been craving them ever since yesterday.