FRIDAY MATINEE ON MONDAY

Well, only two of you offered me a movie suggestion. I can only assume that my other two readers are either busy entering a contest at Pioneer Woman for a Kitchenaid mixer, or they slept in late.


Here are the suggestions.....Rebeckah @ Life With Kaishon suggested The Boy In The Striped Pajamas. That movie isn't playing within 40 miles of me. I do hope to see it when it gets closer to home.


Cortney @ The Cortney Chronicles suggested Australia. Another movie I want to see, but I may be disappointed because it will remind me of my Aussie heartthrob Hula Hank who is way cuter than Hugh Jackman. What's even more depressing is they are both spoken for.


So, I'm going with a retro "memories are made of this" type movie...

Cadillac Records! I heard the soundtrack is fantastic, and Beyonce is fabulous as Etta James. I can't wait to get back to you all later this evening.

Don't wait up because after the movies I have other social stuff to do.

THE ONLY 4 MEME

I was tagged by My Second Journal to do The Only 4 Meme. It's an easy one, and I love easy things....simple, uncomplicated...bring it on!

Four places I go to over and over
1. Walmart
2. Walgreen's (do you see a pattern here?)
3. JJ's house
4. The pool

Four people who e-mail me regularly
1. Walmart
2. The Biggest Loser Club (I don't belong, but obviously someone wants me to).
3. John McCain
3. Nick

Four places I would rather be right now
1. Catalina Island
2. Hawaii
3. Beaches of Orange County
4. The slopes of Colorado

Four TV shows/programs that I watch
1. Fox News
2. Big Brother 10 (and BBAD)
3. Survivor
4. The Dog Whisperer

Four things I have for breakfast
1. Coffee
2. English muffin (sourdough)
3. Coffee
4. Pizza

Four animals I like best
1. Dog
2. Dolphins
3. Monkeys
4. Dogs

Four beaches I've been to
1. Huntington Beach (my home town and every beach in Southern California)
2. Cocoa Beach, Florida
3. Hampton Beach, New Hampshire (summer vacations in N E)
4. Mazatlan & Cabo San Lucas MEX.

Tagging 4 people. I'm making this a serve-yourself-buffet to all that want to do it. But I would really like the following Bloggers to give it a whirl.

1. Kim at Heart Shaped Hedges, Because she's my daughter
2. Rebeckah at Life With Kaishon, because I would like you all to meet her
3. Chesapeake Bay Woman at Life in Mathews, because we need to keep her busy.
4. Cortney @ The Cortney Chronicles

Please let me know if you do this easy as pie The Only 4 Meme. Don't forget to visit My Second Journal for a good read, and one of my favorite blogs.

ARTE Y PICO AWARD
for me?

I was just awarded my first ever Blog Award...the Arte Y Pico Award. Katrine at Squibs and Crackers bestowed this blog award on me. I don't know what Arte Y Pico means, but I must deserve it, right? Thank you, Katrine!

I have nominated these five bloggers:

1. Kim from Heart Shaped Hedges because she encouraged me to blog, I love the way she blogs with substance and humor, and oh yeah, she's my daughter.

2. Cortney from The Cortney Chronicles because she actually commented on other blogs, tell me to start blogging.

3. Marey from Elemento-P. I knew Marey before I started my blog and she also encouraged me. She is by far the world's best kindergarten teacher ever!

4.Chesapeake Bay Woman from Life in Mathews. This woman is as funny as they get, yet she blogs about the beauty and serenity of a place far away from the stress most of us live with.

5. Rebeckah from Life With Kaishon. Because she named me one of her favorite blogs writes with humor and an upbeat sense of how to live life as a mom.

Congratulations my nominees! Here are your rules:
1. Pick five (5) blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4. Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of “Arte y Pico” blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award Art y Pico

THANK YOU M

for the cutest ever!

Some of you might remember me briefly mentioning, a trip I made to the ER...with possible fractures to my right hand. Does that jog your memory? Well, I was reminded of that incident when I went to my mailbox today. No, it wasn't a statement or bill. It wasn't a notice to change my follow-up appointment.

It was this beautiful card.....

Can you believe it? Not only is it a "hope your injury is healing nicely" card....it's from my new BFF.... That's right, and to respect her privacy I'll call her M. I've never really met M, but I've met her daughter, Cortney, along with Briana, on my Major Road Trip to Phlugerville Texas. Is this about the nicest gesture ever? And on top if it all, M made that beautiful card for me. The photo doesn't do it justice, but it's three dimensional and hand stamped. So, thank you, M, for caring enough to send me the beautiful card. It really meant a lot to me.

M might not appreciate me mentioning this but what's even nicer, except for the beautiful caring note inside, is finding out M has a rubber stamp business and does this for a living too!

THE PARTY'S OVER...
....evidently

When I woke up this morning, reality was hovering over me like....well, reality! I had been living a whirlwind, fairytale life for the last several weeks. Events swirled around me like the tornado that almost came close to my home.

Then there was Mother's Day when I was showered with gifts like "Forget-me-not" pajamas from Pooper, Beauty, and Little One, great book from my daughter in Colorado, Starbucks coffee, travel mug, brunch and a movie from my daughter and her family here in Texas, several theatre tickets from JJ and these from my son and his family.

Which shout, "Hello, it's time to say adios."

Then of course there was the time I spent offering support and tweezers comfort to these women, which, by the way, is ongoing. There were endless hours planning and organizing my Major Road Trip to see Cortney and Briana, leading up to the Major Road Trip Finale

So, with the air temporarily sucked out of my balloon, it's back to the daily nitty gritty of sleeping in and watching The View. Yesterday, I drove 56 miles round trip to the closest fabric store to me. And I bought this material to make two more soft furry blankies for the kids in the Pediatric Oncology ward.

My nose is to the grindstone, which must really hurt, to get these done this week. After that I'm free to start planning my next junket to Las Vegas, BABY!! And I may need your help.

MAJOR ROAD TRIP FINALE....
or day one

because really? That's it in a nutshell. A very big nut shell. I was very excited to finally meet Cortney and see Briana again as well as meeting her family.

When I arrived at Creekside Gathering, Briana was looking out for me to pull up. Her parents where there too, and it was nice seeing them again! Just a side note...not only does Briana run marathons, along with century bike rides and triathlons, but her MOM runs marathons! These are my kind of people because, and this might come as a shock to some people, but I walk .46 miles every night. It's something I don't like to brag about.

Cortney and her good friend Amy are big time organizers for this particular casual worship service, and boy can we say inspirational, upbeat, fun service with a message....and great music.

I sat between my two blogger friends which did nothing to make me look young like them...can't you tell?

Three more favorite people that I finally got to meet where Briana's husband Joel, who we didn't get a picture of...what happened? Her (recently confirmed and heading to Italy) daughter Madison, and her adorable super soccer player son Dalton.

After the service I met Pastor Terry. He was nice enough to let us take some pictures because no one told him where they would end up.

Cortney and Briana, along with Briana's family took me out to a fabulous Mexican restaurant. I immediately said "dibs" to sit next to Dalton, and across from Madison.....because we have so much in common with stuff like the wii, and Guitar Hero III. I also had to remind Madison to throw some coins in the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy.

Needless to say, I am very thankful that my friends from Pflugerville/Austin gave me such a huge, warm reception. That's one thing about Texans...everything is done up big! Thank you!

*Please note, this Major Road Trip in no way resembled or cost as much, or took as long as any Excellent Road Trips. Full disclosure is noted.

MAJOR ROAD TRIP....day one only

I don't know where the time has gone, but today's the day I head down the road to meet two great blogger friends, Cortney and Briana at Creekside Gathering.

I'm all packed and ready to travel south on this infamous highway to the beautiful city of Pflugerville Texas.
The world will be a condensed version our oyster in a nutshell for one glorious day. I'm excited and can hardly wait. Hasta!

*please note that this Major Road Trip is in no way meant to resemble any Excellent Road Trips. Besides, Bossy doesn't read my blog, everyday and what she doesn't know won't hurt her...too badly.

I apologize for not giving credit where credit's due. I stole this challenge from my friend Cortney Go check out her Challenge!

TAKE THE CHALLENGE

Here is a fun challenge, blogger friends!
The only rule is that you have to answer the questions using only pictures.
Here is mine. I want to see yours, so let me know!

WHAT IS YOUR NAME:

FAVORITE FOOD
RELATIONSHIP STATUS
CELEBRITY CRUSH
FAVORITE TV SHOW
A FAVORITE BAND
WHAT YOU HAD FOR BREAKFAST ONE THING YOU ARE WERE WEARING
FAVORITE COLOR FAVORITE ELECTRONIC ITEM SOMETHING FUN YOU DID
IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS

HOW DO YOU FEEL RIGHT NOW
Yeah, I'm like such a dork!

IT'S OFFICIAL

The plans for my Major Road Trip are coming together. I will be traveling approximately 67.7 miles down the infamous I35 to Austin to meet up with this blogger and her too.

I was getting antsy waiting for confirmation but then I saw this cute calendar on Cortney's blog.
Yes, it confirms my greatest fears the fact that this Major Road Trip is turning into a reality. I immediately looked for my official calendar, the one that is pitifully empty that I use for all my important social activities.

And I marked the date. There are details to work out, and the excitement mounts.....stay tuned.

I'm hoping this tunnel isn't on my route....

*Please note that this Major Road Trip in no way.......blah, blah, blah, as usual.

THE MOTHER OF ALL ROAD TRIPS

There seems to be a huge blogging road trip going on right now. Actually, it's officially called Bossy's Excellent Road Trip. That's right, her name is Bossy and she is criss-crossing the country visiting bloggers. Anyway I got to thinking....and then she got me thinking again!

For those who haven't been reading my blog don't know, I am fairly new to Texas. I retired last year and moved here from the OC, which is in paradise So Ca. Well guess what? She lives in Central Texas too....and so does she ...and others do too. I like these bloggers and I love their blogs. I actually met Briana when she ran the San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon in 2005 (I think). I felt such a connection because I ran it too Briana was a member of Team in Training, running for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society.

Well, Cortney has been begging me mentioning getting together for some grub at Taco Bueno a meet and greet....sort of like a Major Road Trip!

I decided to check out the logistics for such a trip. This is what the interactive map looks like in all time zones:

It seems very do-able....so I'm invisioning, meeting these blogging friends. The planning would mean traveling on the infamous Central Texas interstate.

I'm sure you are familiar with some of the famous historical travelers of this well traveled interstate. Before it was an interstate Poncho Villa probably traveled this road to defeat spongebob those guys, or maybe not.

But did you know who else became famous traveling down this road?

And with that being said, look forward to more updates on the impending Major Road Trip right here in the heartland. So blogger, please get together, pick a time and destination for a hoe down. Your area is way more exciting and I probably have nothing going on in my life a more flexable schedule, so you guys lead the way Jose!

*please note that this Major Road Trip in no way is meant to compete with or mirror any Excellent Road Trips currently taking place. Besides, Bossy doesn't read my blog, and what she doesn't know won't hurt her..too badly.

MY APOLOGIES FOR THE OVERSIGHT

To Be Specific......I'M SORRY, MAREY AND CORTNEY

The one thing I love about Blogger, is the ability to put polls on this site. It's a tool I use to find out stuff about the people who read my ramblings. Not everyone takes the poll, and now I know why.


I currently have a poll on this blog...yeah, check it out, over there on the right.....and it's flawed. While I try to be all inclusive, I've come to realize not all people are normal roll the same way. In my broadmindedness...I did remember to add an alcoholic beverage, because I don't expect everyone to start the day sober the same way.


I was reading the comment section this morning and I found that I omitted a couple of obvious options. Not only that, but the couple of options were favorite morning beverages of my only two two most favorite readers.


I quickly moved to remedy this oversight. That's right.....I hired these two guys to paint a billboard for me.......
And this is what it said........ That's right, Cortney drinks Coke first thing in the morning. And this is what her breakfast table looks like.

My other good friend, Marey is a wife, mother, teacher and health nut. She is wayyyy smarter than you or me. She loves milk in the morning. And really? Why not? Her milk comes from the Happy California Cows. That's right, they graze along the coast so they can go surfing after they give Marey their milk.

If you show up at Marey's house, this is probably how her breakfast table looks.

And when Marey sleeps in late she just does this! Yes, she does.

So Marey, Cortney, please accept my apology. Milk and Coke are legitimate options, and should have been included.

If anyone else has a favorite beverage to start the day, please let me know. I want to be fair.....because I'm nothing if not fair.