A Blog Award

Wow!  I received my first blogging award today!  Isn’t that pretty cool.  Getting award for something I actually like doing.  I was given this award for Sarah at Curiouser and Curiouser.  She has a awesome blog so be sure and check it out.
Now there are a couple of rules to receiving The Versatile Blogger Award.  First, you have to thank the person who gave it you by linking back to their post.  Second, you have to tell seven things about yourself.  Third, you have to award 15 recently discovered new blogs.
Here are seven things about me:
1.  By trade I am an electrician, although I am certified as a welder, air conditioning and refrigeration, hydraulics and pneumatics.
2.  I live by the ocean
3. I love everything about the ocean, except the hurricanes (although I am still fascinated by the storms).
4. I play the guitar, and write a lot of my own songs
5. I have my own line of surfer style jewelry, that I design, manufacture and sell
6. I have a special knack of being able to know how things operate and can fix most things.
7. I have lived or visited 8 different countries
I would like to give this award to the following blogs:

1. Diary of a Wonderfully Wacky Ex-wife
2. Incredible Creature's at Home and In The Wild!
3. Scrapwedo
4. Delayed Reaction Lounge
5. The Vegetarian Center
6. Ceramic That Passion
7. Creative Tizzy
8. Notes From the Second Half
9. The Sweet Life
10. Life After Kids
11. Marlene's Many Hats
12. The Glamorous Life of an Army Wife
13. Is You Bored
14. My Dishwashers Possessed
15. Our Life in Alaska's Wilderness

Thank you again for the award.

Piñatas

As a native Texan, I have been to many a party and played hit the piñata with a stick.  I have purchased several piñatas for the birthday parties of my own children. 
I have purchased these piñatas at the local grocery stores and Wal-Mart's.  Brightly colored paper-mache in the shape of stars, donkeys and flowers filled with special treats.  Sometimes for the older kids they are blind folded and spun around to disorientate them.  Smaller kids are given the stick and the piñata swung a little to make a challenge to the game.  Finally someone will hit the piñata and treats either of candy or coins fall to the ground.   All the kids scramble to get the treats.
This has been carried out in my family for several generations, just as pin the tail on the donkey was also played at the children’s birthday parties.
Today, I was reading online about how piñatas are a threat to your child’s psychological well being.  I had to take a double take at the article. 
Piñatas: A Bad Idea for Your Child's Party?
Vanessa Bartlemus, Yahoo! Contributor Network
A blindfolded child is let up to some poor helpless papier-mâché animal hanging off a tree by a string. They have a stick or a bat in their hand, and they proceed to whack the animal with all their might. Other children are cheering on the fight. When the piñata is broken open, candy spills out. Everyone rushes to grab as much candy as they can. It's every kid for them self.
Doesn't sound like such a good party game when it's put like that, huh?
Piñatas are not a good idea for your child's party. Children should never hit anything with a stick. Even worse, kids can get piñatas in their favorite character too. Doesn't anyone slightly cringe at the thought of their child whacking Dora the Explorer or Elmo around with a baseball bat? What is that doing for a child's character? Getting a flower or car piñata is only slightly less worse.
People carefully teach their children, from the first time they playfully hit as a baby, that hitting is wrong. They don't allow hitting in their family and they don't spank. But then children are allowed to hit piñatas to the breaking point. Then they get candy; they are rewarded for violent behavior!
..
So what are some better alternatives? There are now pull-string piñatas...which get rid of the hitting element. Your child pulls a string and the contents of the piñata fall out. That way, your child can have the experience of having a piñata at their party, without the violence.
As for the candy that spills out afterwards, each child is quickly grabbing as much as they can. Whatever happened to sharing? Not to mention that all that candy isn't that great for your child's health. And what about the shy kids, or the kids who aren't pushy? They end up with much less than everyone else. Is that how they're rewarded for their better behavior?
So what are some better alternatives? There are now pull-string piñatas...which get rid of the hitting element. Your child pulls a string and the contents of the piñata fall out. That way, your child can  have the experience of having a piñata at their party, without the violence. Fill it with healthy snacks or toys. Have a set number of toys or snacks inside and tell the children before hand how many of each thing they can each pick out. Or have a set number of the same kind of thing for each child, and have the birthday child pass out the toys/snacks to each of the other children. If you really want the children to have the experience of all grabbing after the piñata contents, let them, but at the end, observe each child and see if anyone seems to have not gotten as much. Then find a kid or kids who got a lot and ask them if they would like to share with the kid/kids who didn't get enough.
I know this article makes a seemingly innocent and well-liked party game seem horrible. Even I never thought twice about hitting a piñata till I recently saw kids with a piñata on T.V. and it dawned on me that, hey, this game is pretty violent! But please consider the implications it has for your child's behavior, and think twice before getting your child a piñata for your next party.
Maybe your child should never play baseball, softball, tennis and golf or any other sport that hits an object with a stick, racquet or bat.  I am uncertain where our country is heading when they think that competition is not a good thing and everything should be divided equal.
When I first read this article I thought it was a joke.  The more I read it, I realized this lady seriously believed this.  Competition is healthy as far as I am concerned.  What is this woman’s child going to do when they grow up and get their first job?  Start crying and demand they get paid the same amount of money as everyone else because they are shy.  Better yet, I hope the draft is not reestablished and we are at war and they are serving next to one of my children.  Excuse me Mr. Terrorist, can I pull your string.  Just surrender to me and we can all be happy!

Bad Day at McDonalds

I saw this online and had to repost.  I could not stop laughing.  Who goes to McDonald’s for the food, I wanted to get a boy toy.

The Infiltration

I must admit I have an un-birthday coming up soon.  I stopped celebrating my birthdays a couple of years ago.   I try to keep from thinking that I am getting older, but here lately it seems that every direction I turn someone is reminding me of my age.

AARP has infiltrated my mailbox, with the precision of a well tuned Army.  It started a few months ago, a casual letter in the mail.  Now it has turned into a avalanche of mail reminding me of my upcoming birthday and just how old I am.   AARP is not the only perpetrator, I have been received letters from assisted living companies and retirement communities.  The funny part, is I still have approximately 15 years before I am able to retire.

I told myself at first, it is just coincidental, junk mail that is sent out to everyone.  I am seriously starting to have second thoughts about it now.  I think it is a serious conspiracy to make me feel my age.

Texas Sand Fest

The Texas Sand Fest is a three day festival that qualifies the master sculptors for the World Championships.  I went on day two, and although the sculptures were not completed they were totally awesome.  The festival had many teen and adult sculptors in the amateur event along with the master sculptors completing to qualify for the World Championship.  There were also many venders offering anything from wood works, t shirts, hats, jewelry and food.    

		Texas Sand Fest VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Live bands were playing all day long.   What more could you ask for?  A great day at the beach, awesome sculptures, live music and good food.

The Remote

What is the connection between men and the remote?  Is it like a tradition passed down from father to son, that the remote is an extension of their hand.  They are the ones to control the volume and the station. 

In my household when we sit down in the evening to watch a little television.  My husband already has the remote in his hand, he changes it to the guide.  Faster than a speeding bullet, he starts going through all 500 stations.  All I can see is a white blur, unable to read the words as we go through all the channels.  Suddenly the station stops, perhaps on the weather channel, fox news or the history channel, but never on the show we are going to watch.

Innocently, my husband asks, “Did you see anything you wanted to watch?”  

I reply, “No, I didn’t see anything” 

My husband states, “ I saw an a program on the history channel we haven’t seen before, do you want to watch it?”  and before I can answer the guide is already up and moving at light speed to the desired station.

So we start watching a show and the first commercial comes on.  Instantly the guide is back up, heaven forbid we watch a commercial.  Warp speed through the channels, check tomorrows weather, maybe a little headline news, then back to original show which has already started.

Now, I thought this was just at my household.  The other day we went to visit our children and my son does the exact thing.  Then I started noticing it at other households also.  

I have come to the conclusion that this is male thing.  They have to control the remote and they have to surf the channels. 

 

 

Blue Jeans and Mom Jeans

Nothing quite defines my relaxing without thinking of a pair of my favorite jeans.  My jeans are worn in to fit me, holes in the buttocks under the pockets, holes in the knees, weathered almost white from so much wear.  Soft to the touch, a calming comfortable feeling when worn.  A totally chilling day, sitting around the house in a old pair of jeans, playing my guitar.   You just can not put a price tag on a pair of jeans like that. 


Well one of my old friends finally wore out it there is such a thing.  I decided to make a pair of shorts of them.   This lead me to having to buy a new pair of jeans.
I headed out to pick me up a new pair, I could not find my favorite jeans anywhere on the shelf and asked the sales person to assist me in finding them.  She was polite and led me to another section in the store.  She asked my size and showed a me a wall of jeans.
Now I have not purchased jeans in a while.  I hang on to my jeans for years.  I wear them until they are thread bare, hardly held together.  I looked at the wall of deep blue jeans and all the numbers designating the different styles.  Sighed deeply and choose a few pairs in my size to go try on.
Slowly I took off my old jeans and put on the new pair.  I turned around to look in the mirror and instantly started to shudder.  These are mom jeans.  They fit up over my waist, just under my ribs.  I turned sideways and started shaking.  These jeans do not flatter any part of my body.  Hastily I took them off and cast them aside, to put my old friend back on.

I can shop for jeans some other day. 

Babies

 

Maybe it is because my children are grown and I have not been around infants or toddlers for awhile.  I am uncertain what caused it, but I think I have developed an allergy towards infants.

Now I never had this when my children were young or maybe I just never noticed it.  There are things about your own children that you never notice.  I am sure every mother thinks her children are perfect.

Babies seem to know when I am holding them.  It is like a little radar goes off inside of them, alerting them.  Every time I am holding an infant something seems to come out one side or the other.  It is never the kind of thing that washes off quickly, the aroma lingers for awhile.  The smell of spoiled milk stays with you.  Or some little toddler decides to sit on you lap only to leave a wet spot on you lap.  I can not help but shudder when someone asks me to hold their baby, I quickly look at what I am wearing.  Wonder to myself what is the possible worst thing that can happen.  Maybe if I sneeze or cough they will think I have a cold and decide someone else should hold the baby.

All my friends are starting to have grand children.  I do not have any grand children of my own.  I wonder if when I do, if my allergy will disappear as it did with my own children. 

Denny's Introduces a Maple Bacon Sundae - Bacon Bacon Bacon - Eater National

Denny's Introduces a Maple Bacon Sundae - Bacon Bacon Bacon - Eater National

I love bacon just as much as the next person. I love it on burgers and I love it with my eggs. Bacon with my ice cream I never imagined. I am not going to knock something I have not tried, but I can honestly tell you, I probably will not try it either. But to each their own. It may be good.