Christmas Lights-Which One Are You?

Every since I can remember, I have always liked the white twinkling Christmas lights. Maybe because I grew up on fake trees and colored lights. In Hawaii, it was the silver aluminum Christmas tree with red balls without lights, maybe because the silver was bright enough for my mother in her very plain French way. In California it was always the fake green tree. I used to whine, why can't we get a real tree? to my mother, who would always reply, because I'm allergic, which I'm sure she made that up, not liking to deal with the falling needles and smell. So it was the fake green, with red balls and colored lights. I can remember eating breakfast before school and looking at the tree and it always gave me a feeling, to quote a song, comfort and joy. When I moved out, it was always always, real pine trees, methodically picked and fussed over on the Christmas tree lot. And it always had to be white lights. Real trees and white lights. It wasn't until last year I decided to try the colored lights on the tree and you know what, I liked them. The lights on the house were white and this year, I decided to put up colored lights as well. Of course one should always have a plan when decorating the house with lights, but I kinda just took strands strung them up and plugged them in. Never mind that half the front shrubs had white lights with the last shrub having colored, never mind that the lights leading from the shrub were colored which lead to the icicle lights over the entrance were white which lead to the tree that had white lights which lead to the strand over the garage which were colored. When I plugged in everything, it looked like someone threw a bag of lights over our house and the different colored lights landed where they may. I kept thinking it needed more lights so I made a late night CVS run and bought a stand of colored lights, but only to plug them in, when the entire connection went out. Thankfully, I found which strand it was and had to remove it from the bottom of the tree. I decided there and then, no more fooling around with the lights, because something else will go out. I've come to the conclusion, it's a conspiracy with the Christmas light companies you know. They make the Christmas lights every year in different bulb sizes so you can't interchange the bulbs from one strand to another, let alone trying to find the one bulb that is burnt out. It's just easier to buy a new box. I know the house looks kind of pathetic, but at least it's festive unlike the non-lighted homes on the block. Hopefully next year, it will either be all white or all colored lights, meanwhile, now I have to decide, to tinsel or not to tinsel! So many decisions!

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

The author Stieg Larsson is Swedish born, which explains a lot of the way he writes. First of all the names in the book were distracting. The main character Mikel Blomkvist which I supposed resembles Larsson himself, name needs to be changed to Michael Bloomquist. All during the book, I just kept reading him as Michael and will do so here. The first 100 pages were somewhat a yawner. Come on now, when are we going to get to the goods? I knew it was some kind of murder mystery, but the mystery doesn't appear on the scene until we have to learn all about Bloomquist financial down fall from his magazine empire, which has little bearing on the story itself. Michael is called to investigate the disappearance of Harriet Vanger, the young heiress to one of Sweden's wealthiest families. The octogenarian uncle persuades Michael to live on the island for a year to investigate the mystery. It is here that the book starts becoming interesting, finally! Michael enlist the help of a tattoo genius hacker, Lisbeth whose own personal life is in shambles. The two team up to cipher clues to the mystery and uncover something much more sinister and evil. A good bedtime read and will probably make a great movie along the likes of Silence of the Lambs. I think I'll wait for the dvd release, I want to sleep at night.

Who Knew Porcupines Could Be So Cute?

Meandering Thoughts on DWTS

I can remember when Dancing with the Stars used to be a showcase for D listers. Those quasi-celebrities vying for a come back, in fact I can't even recall past winners, which is probably a good thing, who needs to have that information stored in one's head? I did start to watch regularly when Donny and Marie Osmond started making it respectable. I loved their wholesomeness but I'm biased since my 7th grade gal pal was in love with Donny and I loved it when Marie fainted. Come on, how many times do we get to see someone faint? But who are all those athletes? Sure Apollo Ono, what a cutie, even if is as tall as the Travelocity Gnome. Or Evan Lyschek, I simply adore ice skating, sequins and all, but come, big burly line backers doing the fox trot?

So as a there's nothing else to watch watcher, I will have to put in my two cents regarding this seasons contestants. I loved Brandy, she definitely knew how to move, much to the criticism of the judges, I thought she was good enough to win and well, Maxim as a partner, yum! Jennifer Grey winner of last nights finale, the girl has been through some physical challenges, but do we have to hear it every episode? If you enter a dancing contest where you are required to move it and shake it, then you better be physically fit or bow out. Enough already with the neck, the back and the Patrick Swazye. Out of the three left standing, she was clearly the winner. I just thought it would have been nice if she did do a tribute to Dirty Dancing after all isn't that what's she's known for?

I thought Kyle Massey was cute in a chubby sort of way and he sure can hip hop. I'm just wondering why he didn't drop any pounds?

And now for Bristol Palin. The girl can't dance. She dances like a white girl, all wooden and stiff. Sure she improved 100% from when she started, so snaps for that, but all that tea party voting just because her mom is Sarah Palin. Well, to me that stinks of voter fraud and I'm sure tea partiers wouldn't stand for it if Democrats stuffed the ballot boxes with 80 votes each. No matter how many lessons from Arthur Murray, the girl will never be a great dancer and maybe DWTS knew better than give her the mirror ball trophy!

Immortalized on the web-they used to have the 3:14 minute video of me on LMAD, but I guess CBS takes them off after they have aired-poo! At least I have a real picture of myself and Wayne Brady together!

The Last Child

The Last Child
By John Hart

This is definitely a book I would take to the beach and if not beach time, then read it while riding the bus, on a train, on a plane, on vacation, but don’t read it before you go to bed, because you might not get to sleep! The last few chapters had me sitting on the edge of my seat, I couldn’t put it down. I was out of town for work and the minute my meeting was over, I would rush up to my hotel room, order room service and settle in with book in hand and food in mouth.

The story centers around Johnny, whose twin sister is kidnapped a year earlier and his desperate search for her. All of twelve, his search is methodical, exhausting, bordering on calling the magical forces whose belief in talismans and totems serve to sustain him in what would otherwise be a hopeless, futile search for any adult. But Johnny believes. truely believes, irregardless that his mother can’t cope with the loss of her daughter and the desertion of her husband, and gets through each day in a fog of pills, tangled in an abusive relationship with the town’s most powerful man. There’s the detective whose inability to solve the case and his obsessions with Johnny’s mother haunts all corners of his professional and personal life.

A tightly woven story which keeps you biting your nails, hoping against hope that somewhere out there Johnny will find out what happened to his sister, his mother will come to grips with her grief and the detective will be able to mark the case closed.

Let's Make a Deal Delivers the Goods

Just a recap, Donna and I went on Let's Make a Deal when it was taping here in Las Vegas last year, Sept 25, 2009 to be exact. They no longer tape here, they've move to Los Angeles. It was almost a year before they aired our show, which meant no prizes until then. Our show # 1011 aired last week so I was wondering how long before they would ship out the prizes, since the contract you sign states they have up to 3 months to deliver on them. Well, lo and behold, I received the prizes less than a week later. I was out of town for work, but when I got home, my husband ushers me into the office and there were some rather large boxes. I'm like, I didn't order anything, whatever could they be when it dawned on me that it was from LMAD. We excitedly opened the boxes. Yep there was the Beatles Rock Band for the PSP3 that we won, and also the Beatles's collection of CD and the Beatles Vision Box. Upon closer inspection, I noticed the shipping labels on the boxes. The PSP3 stuff came directly from Amazon.Com, but the Beatles Vision box came directly from 3 Doors Productions (in Burbank) the Let's Make a Deal production company. There was something used about the vision box, it was opened, the back of the box was soiled and the precious laminated to hold the CD's were bent. Like the TV (opened and used), the Beatles Vision Box was opened and had been used on the set as display. I'm hoping they are not expecting me to pay taxes on used goods, because someone at 3 Doors Production Company will be getting an earful-ya you Shannon! Well, at least my daughter is happy that she finally got her Beatles's Rock Band. Have to go now, I'm being called to sing!

Let's Make a Deal Finally Airs Our Show # 1011!

Well, it was almost a year that we were contestants on Let's Make a Deal and all I can say to CBS is, what was the big deal in holding up the earlier shows? After our taping on Sept 25, 2009, we were so excited that we were picked and won prizes, we told our friends and family to watch for the taping. After checking the airdates, we were so disappointed that our show was not listed. We were told that the early tapings were not as good and therefore were probably going to air at the end of the season which was August. At first they gave us the run around saying they weren't going to air during sweeps, then it was something else, then it was the move to L.A. and by then I was so fed up, I had given up all hope. Finally someone said that it would probably (operative word there, probably) air in August (she could have added when no one is watching). Well, it did air last week and after watching it, I'm like thinking it was no big deal. It was the same as all the other shows. Maybe the prizes weren't that great, heck I didn't win the $6,000 trip to Puerto Vallerta, but hey, I won a TV, Sony Playstation and other goodies. And maybe the camera added the 10lbs and 10 years to my look which I was willing to expose on national TV without pause, and maybe I came off as some Krazy Kooky Asian lady, and maybe in trying to get my co-worker (the other Donna) on the stage with me so she could get some air time, Wayne took it as she was my "life partner" (which there is nothing wrong with that) but we're friends, co-workers and not "partners". So in essence, old, fat and lesbian, I was willingly to have this all out there on TV, so CBS, what was the big deal? You disappointed a lot of contestants that participated in good faith during the first months of taping here in Las Vegas at the Tropicana, and yes, we are still waiting for our prizes. I just got stuff but Pocahontas on our show won the car. I guess she must be relieved that she will soon get it.
Watching our show, we were tickled, we giggled every time we saw ourselves and I was mortified to hear that my relatives taped it so that they could watch my royal kooky oldness over and over. Am I happy that we did it, yes but still disappointed that it didn't air sooner. Well, I guess that's Hollywood baby. I'm glad that it's over and now I can't wait to get the prizes-stay tuned!

Sedona, AZ

(view from our room!)

For a last hurrah for the summer, we took a short vacation, weekcation, to Sedona, AZ. We had been there years before staying only one night just to soak in the local beauty, but I really don't remember much beyond that. This time we stayed 3 nights. Booked The Best Western Inn of Sedona online. They had a good rate of $119.00 per night which is pretty middle of the road. At first I was like, I want to stay some place in town, but everything was so expensive closer to $200.00 per night and hey, this is not a major vacation, so $119.00 was just in my price range, even if it was a short drive out of town, which turned out to be only about less than a mile and really not a necessity to stay in town if you have a car. We drove from Las Vegas. Mapquest said 288 miles, or 4 1/2 hours with a warning about the dam construction. We took the dam anyway, hoping the delays wouldn't be that great, which it did slow us down for about 45 minutes. We stopped in Kingman for lunch and then it was about another 1 1/2 hours to Sedona. The drive after you turn off 40 to 17 and then to 89A was magnificent. The drive winds down from an elevation of 6500 to about 4500 in Sedona. I had to reign in my impatience at the slow cars that seemed to crawl even if it was posted 30 mph and just soak in the scenery and boy it was beautiful. We arrive at the Best Western and the nice lady said she upgraded our room to the second level terrace. Definitely ask for either the 2 or 3rd level rooms, they have the best views. We climb a short flight of stairs to be greeted with a magnificent view of the red rocks. It was gorgeous! The room was spacious and clean enough. The only bad comment I have to make is that the air conditioning unit roars rather loudly and therefore, I didn't have restful sleep. But all that aside, it was the view that made the room worth it. A large front of the room terrace was nice where you could sit out and watch the sun rise over the mountains and at night count the stars. They have free continental breakfast from 7-10 and free Internet in the rooms, which my daughter loved. The pool is small, but adequate with a nice hot tub.

But enough of resting, the next day it was off to Slide Rock State Park about 6 miles up the mountain you came down the previous day. Entrance to the park is $20.00 per car (up to 4 people). We were told to make sure to head out early because once the park fills up, they stop allowing cars in. We got there at 11:00 am dressed in surfer shorts and tankini's, water shoes and towels, we made the short trek to the river bed. On the way is a market where you can get snacks, drinks and stop for a pee break before heading down. There are no words to describe the awesome beauty of this place and imagine that they actually let you swim and slide your heart out in what should be a historically preserved park. It was beyond me. To be swimming among the red rock, walking over rocky shelves and swimming in nature's river was amazing. Be careful tho, the rocks are really slippery and you could break an arm or leg. The water is really cold but it didn't matter, because it was so beautiful to be swimming in such a natural place. We stayed till about 2pm, by then we were so starving. We drove back and stopped at the Dairy Queen, which turned out to be some popular tourist spot with a few local vendors selling jewelry. The service is excruciatingly slow so be patience. I think the guy takes the orders, makes the orders and takes the cash all while mopping the floors!

We wanted the next day to do the tubing, but unfortunately, we started out too late. The tubing company, Sedona Adventures Outfitters along route 89A suggest to get to the tubing location by 10:30-11:30. It's about an hour drive from Sedona toward Camp Verde, off highway 17. Tube rentals are $25.00 pp CASH only. We got side tracked by seeing all the monuments at Village at Oak Creek, Bell Rock, Chapel of the Holy Cross, that we never made it out and by the time we got to Camp Verde it was nearing 1:00. So instead we had a nice lunch at the Sonic in Camp Verde across from the Indian Casino. Get the foot long chili dog, yum!

Dining tip, the best Mexican restaurant in Sedona, The Javelina, try the green chile tamales, to die for! Nice patio dining.

Sedona, a beautiful place, wonderful scenery, and amazing fun, what more can one ask for?

The Red Box

I've discovered the Red Box! I have been walking by the Red Box every week when I went grocery shopping. At first I noticed it, something to do with rental dvd's. Why bother? Didn't I already have a Blockbuster card which held all my top secret credit card information and my preference in movie viewing? Didn't we just get a new Sony PSP3 player, where lo and behold, my daughter informs me we can rent right off the Sony PSP3 website delivered straight to the PSP player for immediate viewing. No getting in the car, going to the store and renting. Granted you have to buy a giftcard for the PSP3 and granted the PSP rentals are for a 24 hour period and is the same price if not more as the Blockbuster 5 day rental, but who needs 5 days right? And I thought the PSP3 was the next best thing since sourdough bread and butter, but nope I was wrong. I've discovered the Red Box! Why I stopped that one time to read the selection, I haven't a clue but what did grab my attention was the rental cost of, hold on to your seats! $1.00 for a 24 hour period. What! You can't buy gum for $1.00! With a little trepidation, my daughter and I made a selection, we choose Valentine's Day. Stuck my credit card in the slot (I'm always suspicious of phony credit card readers!). Took home the dvd, brought it back the next day, not a great inconvenience, since I go to that market every weekend. Checked my credit card statement and saw a charge of $1.08. No, this is crazy, dvd rentals for only a buck. The following week, we splurged and rented gasp! 2 dvds! Within a span of 3 weeks we've seen:

Valentine's Day

Shutter Island

Paranormal Activity

Young Victoria

Tooth Fairy

I'm hooked! Red Box, I love you! Just hope no one else discovers the Red Box, because I wouldn't want them to become so popular they raise the price, shush!

Gotta go now, I'm off to the Red Box, I'm dying to see Up in the Air!

I Love New York City-Cheap Eats-Cheap Treats

This much I thought I knew about New York City, it's expensive, it's expensive, it's expensive. We've traveled all over the world, yet we have never visited NYC. My grandparents on my dad's side lived in upstate New York and whenever we would visit we would never get the chance to go to NYC, maybe because my dad hated it with a passion. He's not a big city kind of guy. So it's taken me all these years to make it there, namely because my daughter arranged a family reunion in Boston, but that's another post.

Back to my first statement, well when I was first researching NYC hotels, it was hard to find a reasonable hotel within Time Square, but I happened upon a Priceline deal, New York Sheraton Towers on 7th and 53rd for only $218.00. I was a bit hesitant since my friend booked through Priceline for a hotel in Chicago and was greeted upon arrival with a curt "Oh you're the Priceline people!" (and not in a complimentary way). Not to worry. We fly in from DC on Jet Blue. I had asked the hotel if they had a shuttle from JFK and was informed that there are no shuttles for any of the hotels. Any hotel? Yes, any hotel. After you collect your luggage from baggage claim, there is an information stand where all you have to do is tell them your hotel and they will tell you the best way to get there. In our case, it was to take the Airtrain to Jamaica Station and then the E train to 7th. It was easy and inexpensive and took about 40 minutes which I'm guessing is probably a lot quicker than taking a cab what with all the traffic. We get out of the subway, drag our heavy luggage up the stairs to the street where we now have to find our hotel, when my daughter says there it is, right across the street. How nice! We check in. No mention that it is a Priceline, third party reservation. We are given a room on the 44th. One word, wow, the view is amazing, the room tho is ok. The hotel is a little careworn and needs some refurbishing, not to mention that there is a distinct odor of urine coming from the bathroom. As I go to pick up the phone to complain, my daughter and husband says to suck it up, a little bleach will take care of that. So we stay. We also have 44th floor club privileges, continental breakfast and hor d'ourves (is that the way you spell that? my daughter asks), not available on weekends, but during the week, a great bonus. Nice expansive continental, with cheeses, cereal, bagels, pastries, fruit, and best of all, my favorite self serve espresso machine. The cocktail hour brings, cheeses, meats, mini sliders, egg rolls and fruits. Really great and right down the hall from our room. The club also is equipped with computers and comfy chairs. Do I really need to leave my hotel at all?

Well, this is New York and New York is calling and I'm all about finding the deals. Our first night there, we came in kind of late, which for NYC nothing is really too late. We find a Japanese noodle restaurant, Sapporo, on 7th at 49th (152 W. 49th). The place is small with clean tables and crowded with Asians, a good sign! The menu is not complicated serving up noodle soup bowls laden with ramen noodles and veggies for around 8-9 dollars. Comforting, delicious and cheap!

Another great find is a restaurant called Bella Vita, right off 7th, 211 W. 43rd on the right side if you are walking down from 53. A tiny unassuming Italian eatery where I can spy from the doorway the chef hand throwing the pizza dough. There is a small wait and the restaurant is packed, another good sign. There is a deli case to the left where walk-ins can order food to go. We are ushered to a small table wedged in the middle. The menu is your typical Italian menu, but the food is anything typical. My daughter orders the eggplant parmigiana, Andy orders the pesto and I get the pasta Bolognese. A true test of a good Italian restaurant is how good their Bolognese is. They don't give bread, which was kind of disappointing, so we order the garlic knots, similar to the ones they make at Sabarro. Our pasta plates come out, hot and plentiful. Two words, crazy delicious! Everything was absolute perfection, but I must say the dinner prize was the pesto. Andy ordered it with spaghetti as it was over corkscrew pasta on the menu, but when he got it, it was over the corkscrew anyway. Needless to say, after one taste, all was forgiven. It was one of the best pesto I have ever eaten. Bright green, creamy, rich and nutty. The sauce would have made strips of shoe leather taste wonderful. My Bolognese was just as rich and meaty to rival anything I have ever eaten in Italy and my daughter's eggplant was sheer heaven. The pasta plates were around 12-16 dollars, a small price to pay for perfection. The pizza's looked amazing and delicious as well. The table next to us ordered the calamari appetizer which looked so crispy I had to restrain myself from reaching over and helping myself. Ah excuse me....

The best buys on the street are of course the independent vendors selling all those "pashmina" scarves for only $5.00. Make sure you open the package since some of them do have runs or flaws in the fabric, but a good deal none the less. I wish I had bought one in every color! I bought my daughter a splatter NY hoodie for about $20.00 (at Time Square) but those can be found on the way to the ferry for the statue of Liberty for $15.00! If you are lucky you might be there for the street fair, which is one of my all time favorite things to do when going shopping anywhere in the world. This one was on Broadway and then on Lexington Ave the following day. The best deals were the Murano necklace pendants with a colored ribbon. Cheaper than going to Venice, Italy! Another good bargain, leather belts for $4.00 and knockoff sunglasses 2 for $10.00. Speaking of knockoffs, I was excited to shop Canal Street to find some knock off purses. I had heard such fantastic stories. When we got there, it was basically the same unrecognizable purses that were in the shops at Time Square. The only knock off I could barely recognize were the terrible Coach knock offs, who would buy one that had the logo CE? Believe me I learned my lesson from Venice, Italy, where we ignorantly bought knock offs that had the initials of LX and FL (Louis Vittion and Fendi). Sorry no refunds. The purses sold for around 25-35 dollars and when you have to ask the salesperson what knockoff is it supposed to be, then that's pretty bad. Stick to buying at the outlet store ladies. You can buy a real Coach purse for $75.00! My suggestion for cheap buys is sticking with the "pashimas" and leather belts and watches. I got a very good buy on a white enamel watch for only $15.00.

I absolutely love New York and can't wait to go back. A foodies paradise and a shopper's dream. Not to mention, Phantom of the Opera was utterly beautiful, I wept. Did I feel like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, when she went to the SF Opera and wept during Carmen? not quite, but I still felt like weeping at the sheer beauty and grandeur of it all!

Let's Make A Deal-Finally!

On the airdates on the LMAD website, they finally have our show 1011 listed for airing 8/18! What it's only been 11 months, more laborious than giving birth! Not having our show air was like the elephant in the room. Well, we'll see, who knows, an earthquake could strike and all the old tapes could be destroyed!

On Parenting-This Much I Know

On Parenting:

This much I know:

My daughter is 12. We adopted her when she was 18 months, so we missed parenting her infant baby years. I imagine those must be the happiest times of joy and wonder. Don’t get me wrong, the entire experience of parenting is of joy and wonder. But, I’m thinking the pre-verbal years are the best.
We did have her for her terrible twos, but terrible they weren’t. She was still adjusting, getting acquainted with her new US home, so everything was just wonderful. She potty trained really quickly, maybe due to the fact that in China, they don’t keep the kids in diapers for too long what with the cost of diapers and all. When we first got her, her pant seam was split so one could easily put her on the potty. Not a diaper to be found anywhere in our group. Usually before the age of 2 Chinese kids are potty trained.

But by the time she was three however, when we moved back to California, and she in her new very big bedroom, she went through what must have been her terrible two’s or trying three's. She screamed nightly saying there were ghost in her room. She would cry for hours, so much so, that I told my husband, maybe we should hire an Anthropologist to see if our house was on a sacred Indian Burial Ground. Don’t be crazy he says, it’s just a phase and it was.
By the time she was four and in pre-school, talking was the problem. She wouldn’t shut up, so much so it became a behavioral issue at school. It’s just a phase my husband says, and it was a phase, a phase that lasted well into elementary school and on into middle school, where thankfully she has learned to keep silent in class. Whew!
In elementary school, I became concern that she was not quite grasping the concept of composition and grammar structure, so much so, I enrolled her into Sylvan, against my husband’s rolling his eyes and saying it’s just a phase. Ok, she’s our daughter and I expect her to be genius. I expect her to write volumes suitable for publishing at the age of 7. Well, after a few months of Sylvan and a lot of money later, (could work for you) we (I) decided I was being overly expectant and took her out.

At the age of 7 we enrolled her into private guitar lessons, which her teacher commented on how quickly she picked up things, (well, yeah, she’s got a new brain!). We rotated the guitar lessons with piano lessons. She definitely did not like the piano. Ok no piano. When she enrolled in middle school, she wanted to play in the orchestra but that required playing the violin. So it was on to playing the violin. Never mind we spent hundreds on guitar lessons. I'm hoping that somehow she'll parlay those lessons into some kind of talent, yeah right!

Middle school posed new problems and new phases. And as such, with each new phase, we can only hope it goes away quickly. I agonized that she was spending way too much time in front of the computer, but secretly hoping that it wouldn't end. The minute my sister-in-law let the words out of her mouth and spilling them into the universe, well be thankful she's not at the mall, our daughter said she was getting bored with the computer and maybe she could meet her friends at the mall if we would let her. Uh, I think not! Now go back to playing on the computer!

So now looking back on parenting retrospectively, these are the things I’ve learned:

Don’t worry too much about your child, it’s probably just a phase
Don’t expect them to be geniuses
Expect less get more
Don’t over react
Don’t spend too much dough on private tutors, they probably don’t need it (especially in elementary school!)
Don’t rush out and buy the latest thing for your kid, what will they have to look forward to?
Don’t spend tons of money on your child’s wardrobe, they’re kids, they grow too fast and don't care what they are wearing , at least not until middle school
Don’t expect them to be like the other kids, which in some ways is a good thing.

Don't worry, that computer phase where they are always playing their games on the computer doesn't last long so enjoy! Home entertainment will soon become extinct.

and lastly,

Practice practice, patience, because this too shall pass.

Book Review-A Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond

This story is a mother's worst nightmare. You glance away and in that one minute of inattention, you lose your life. You lose your child. How does one deal with something like that? The story's been done before, Deep End of the Ocean, by Jacquelyn Mitchard, which they made into a great movie, The Adam Walsh Story, heartbreakingly played by JoBeth Williams as the mother, and Kate Nelligan as the brave mother in Without A Trace. For this story, it centers around Abby, who isn't even Emma's mother, but who is engaged to her father and finds herself in that terrible situation. I think maybe in this case it would be a much greater case of loss and sorrow, to lose someone else's child, how could you live with yourself? How could you ever forgive yourself, even if everyone else does? Abby and Emma are shelling for sand dollars on the shores of Ocean Beach, where a foggy haze lingers over the sky. Abby looks away from Emma to take a photograph of a seal pup. When she looks up, Emma is nowhere to be found. Thus starts the heart wrenching search, a story of realization and determination. A story of faith and hope even when it seems everything is lost. A story of discovery and justice. Every street scene evokes the mood and atmosphere of my beloved city by the bay, San Francisco. Every chapter would elicit my response of I've been there, which is one of the reasons why I loved this book so much.

As with any good book, I hated for it to end, but hurry to the end I did, the suspense was killing me. I then turned it over to my 12 year old daughter to read. At first she was like, it's too slow, but with a little prodding, she quickly became engrossed and we had many a lively discussion on which actor would play who. She was so taken by the book, it became the subject of her final book project for her reading class in school. A great summer read and I can't wait till they turn this one into a movie!

Donna's Crock Pot Chili

I know it's almost approaching summer, but one last winter day meal and something I cooked last week, a little north wind was blowing (howling actually at 30 mph) so something soupy in a bowl was just the thing!

In a skillet, heat up some olive oil, add 1/2 onion chopped and soften. Add 1/2 green bell pepper, cook for about 5 minutes, add 1lb ground turkey cook till brown.

Put all of the above in crock pot, add 1 can crushed tomatoes (large can) and 1 can of beef broth. Add three cans of red (cooked) kidney beans (rinse before adding to pot). Season with salt, pepper, chili powder, about 3 T, cumin 2t, and 1 jalapeno pepper with most of the seeds removed (I just keep a few seeds for heat). Add 2 cloves chopped garlic and cook on high for 6 hours.

Top it off with either sour cream, cheese, and avocado!

Delicious!

Doubletree Disneyland

Last week was my daughter's long awaited trip to her Fine Arts Competition held in the Anaheim area, with the awards ceremony held at Disneyland. The school's buses left the school yard promptly at 7:00, four white buses loaded with screaming kids, instruments, and suitcases. Myself and husband after dropping off the dogs at the vet, played catch up on I-15 looking for the white buses hoping to catch up. We passed one white bus and thought it must be one of them, but when we didn't meet up with the other three, it must have been another group. We finally met up at Barstow where the kids were let off for a break. This was my 12 year old's first trip semi-away from her parents, although we were tagging along and she was going to share a room with her friends with us in a room on the upper levels. I was a little nervous on how she was going to handle it. She can barely stay over someone's house for a sleep over when she calls and says she's homesick. We decided to make the trip to Disneyland, because they were planning to return back to Las Vegas at 2:30 in the morning Sunday, which I'm like I'm not getting up in the middle of the night to pick you up. Better go and she can leave with us on Sunday at a reasonable time.

We played cat and mouse with the buses on the freeway, myself not quite sure of the freeway routes. I usually stay more toward the valley side of LA. I was amazed how fast the buses made the trip. We left Las Vegas at 7:30 and we were rolling in to the hotel at 12:00. I've only known one way to get to Disneyland and that is off the Santa Ana freeway, south. Take a note, the quickest route to Disneyland from Las Vegas: I-15 south to 60 West to 57 South. Nice and easy. The school booked rooms at the Doubletree next to the Block at Orange, which is an outdoor shopping mall. The kids were let off there for lunch and shopping (which proved not a good idea since most of the kids spent their Disneyland money on stuff there). Thankfully I was there to give her more money after she spent over half her $100.00 on stuff from Claire's.

The Doubletree was a pleasant surprise. I always had liken the Doubletree to the hotel level of the La Quinta's. Don't get me wrong, nothings wrong with those hotels, but this Doubletree, I was like, what am I at a Westin or something? The rooms were large and nicely appointed. But what was a true gem was that the restaurant on site was really good. Being that the aunt had a bum leg, we were not able to find parking at the nearby Block at Orange where there were a pleathora of restaurants, we had to eat at the hotel restaurant, which was surprisingly delicious. That night the competition, back to the hotel where the kids were served a dinner buffet and then the next day Disneyland and the award ceremony at the Park.

That night after being at the Park all day, we decided to come back to the hotel and eat at the restaurant again. Unfortunately, as I told the waiter, the chef from the previous night must not be working because the food was awful. Our pasta sauce was watery and Andy's steak didn't have the onions and mushrooms as the menu said. When the waiter asked if we would like something else, the aunt said she would take the club, because how can they mess up a club sandwich? Well they can if they bring you out a cheeseburger! The waiter got so flustered, he called the manager who was so professional and did the right thing and not charge us for a single thing. Aricela was the restaurant manager's name, and I cannot stop complimenting her enough. Finally in this world where no one cares if you got what you expected, she was fantastic. Give that girl a raise!

So if you plan a trip to Disneyland, stay at the Doubletree (100 The City Drive) next to the Block at Orange. It's a nice hotel and just a short drive to the park. And oh yeah, my daughter's orchestra group took first place in everything. What more could a mother ask for! Woo Hoo!

3D Avatar Experience

Ok, I really didn't want to go to the movies and I certainly didn't want to sit through an animated feature film. Can you find a friend to go with, I pleaded to my 12 year old daughter. No mom, everyone's busy and I want to see Avatar. I'm furiously thinking how long can I keep her at bay? You can rent it when it comes out, but then it's not in 3D she whines. Yeah, but those 3D glasses give me a headache! After much fussing, I say, ok, then it's a matinee for us, you know matinee prices and all that. We get to the theater and buy the tickets, $21.00 the clerk says. I'm like thinking, what did the prices go up? Grumbling, I reluctantly pay for the tickets, get in and of course we can't pass up the refreshment counter, medium popcorn, yes with butter, and a medium soda, setting us back another $12.00, ouch! This better be good, prices like these I could of had a nice dinner out.

We enter in the already darken theater screen rolling trailers. There's about 5 people in the theater, we head for the top. I sit back put the 3D glasses on and let out a small yelp as a dragon comes flying at me. Mom, it's just the screen why did you scream? I'm not used to these fan dangled 3D glasses making everything so up close and personal. My 3D has certainly changed! The movie starts, pass the popcorn please. The popcorn bag is so large it's like passing a small trash can between us, this should last the whole movie and the drink for a medium is more like jumbo size. Well at least they try to give you the money's worth.

Avatar starts out promising, I love love love Sigourney Weaver, never mind that she really hasn't put out anything good after Aliens. I move the glasses up and down to see what the movie looks like without the glasses, fuzzy clear, fuzzy clear. My daughter whispers they make 3D movies in layers, gee how did you get so smart? Pretty soon I forget that I'm wearing glasses mesmerized by all the beauty. One word for this movie, amazing, astonishing, fantastic, incredible, oh that was four. I have never seen anything like it. The story's not new, your typical pillaging and raping of someone else's land, but told in the most amazing way. Who thinks of these things? What an imagination, what talent. If you haven't seen Avatar and are still old school like myself, I can tell you will enjoy it, it will take you on a fantastical journey and you will be surprised, hard to believe surprises at the movies still can happen. Take the kids, it's worth spending the time and Money on it, just remember not to hold the butter popcorn in your lap or you'll do what I did, walk out of the theater with greasy butter stained jeans!

Paula Dean's Savannah Cheesecake Cookies or Rather Bar

My daughter and I love anything cheesecake, so when Paula Dean made her Savannah Cheesecake cookies that required little more than mixing, I was like, I have to make those! Why is it that I'm always watching the Food Network during my 30 minute treadmill? Well, Sundays are the days that I cook up a big Sunday dinner, this week, my corned beef and roasted veggies with smashed red potatoes, delicious. Of course no big Sunday meal could come to a satisfying conclusion without something sweet so it was time to try those cookies. This is a perfect recipe to let your kids help.

Crust:

1 cup of flour

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1 cup chopped pecans (I used walnuts because it was in the pantry)

1 stick of melted butter

Mix everything together-press into 13 x 9 pan (I used one that was slightly smaller because I wanted the cheesecake to be taller)

cook for 12-15 minutes at preheated-350 until lightly brown.

Filling:

2 8oz packages of cream cheese softened

1 cup of granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 t pure vanilla

Fresh berries

Beat cream cheese and sugar together until smooth (with hand held electric mixer)

Add eggs and extract and beat till smooth.

Pour over crust

Bake for 30-35 minutes until top is lightly brown. Let cool completely before cutting. Add fresh strawberries or other fruits.

I thought the cream cheese filling wasn't as sweet as it should be but I think with fresh berries, it's a perfect compliment. Less of a cookie and more of a bar.

And now for my Big Sunday Dinner:

Corned Beef with roasted veggies and smashed red potatoes:

Cook corned beef according to package directions-about 3 hours in water

Boil red potatoes (whole) until tender but still firm, drain. In skillet, add olive oil and 1/2 stick of butter, add red potatoes whole in pan. With a large fork or wooden spatula, smash red potatoes till broken but still somewhat intact. Chop 4 cloves of garlic and sprinkle on top and add salt and pepper and onion powder. Cook till brown and has a nice crust.

Since my family is not to fond of boiled veggies with the corned beef, I roast them instead. Take about 6 stalks of celery, wash and cut into thirds leaving the leaves on. Peel six carrots and cut into thirds and if the bottoms are rather thick cut those in quarters so they will cook evenly. Sprinkle oil olive and salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, once corned beef has cooked, take out of pot, let rest and then slice. After slicing, I like to place the slices on top of the roasted veggies and put in oven on broil until the meat is firm and crusty, about 5 minutes. Hey, I like everything crusty. Serve and enjoy and hey, happy St. Paddy's Day!

Super Easy Caesar Salad Dressing

Getting my daughter to eat her salad is a challenge, but with my homemade Caesar Salad dressing, she loves her salad, even if it does has carrots in it. I used to make this dressing with raw eggs, but with all the scare over salmonella, I've sub mayo.

In food processor:
4 whole cloves of garlic-pulse till minced
Add-a good squeeze of anchovy paste (or use can anchovy about two fillets)
Pulse till mixed
Add about 2 cups of mayo (my measurements are approx since I just spoon the mayo in)
Generously sprinkle Parmesan cheese over top
Salt and pepper
Turn on processor-
While processor is running, slowly add olive oil (about 1 cup) till dressing looks yellow and smooth. Squeeze half lemon pulse till mixed. Add more salt and pepper and cheese to taste. If you accidentally add the olive oil too fast (this I've done when my daughter distracts me) dressing will become thin and separate. That's ok, it will just need to be shaken before dressing your salad. Otherwise, it should be somewhat thick. Enjoy!

Let's Make a Deal-Moving to Los Angeles

Let's Make a Deal is permanently moving to Los Angeles, because the show is having a hard time filling the seats here in Las Vegas, with taping two shows 4 days a week. When Donna went the second time, she said that after her show (her and her husband dressed in fifties outfits) they were asking the audience to stay for the second showing by offering free buffet tickets and other freebies. By then Donna said that her and Mark were so tired, since it is still a long process, 4 hours without food or drink, all she wanted to do was get the heck home and have a martini. Still no word when our show 1011 will air, but I am somewhat happy that I have 1/2 of our prizes, the TV and the Sony PS3. When my daughter hooked up the PS3, I was like what's it for? When I looked online to see how much the games cost, I was appalled at the price tags, $60.00 on up. But the other night, my daughter, she's 12 figured out that we could get the Internet on it. I'm like cool, maybe we can watch stuff on Hulu. We went out and bought a gift card for it so my daughter could buy some cheap online games. I can't let her wait for us to receive the second half of my winning prizes, the Beatles Rock Bank for PS3, so I let her buy a $20.00 gift card. When we came home and she activated the card, we found out that we could also rent movies. WOW, I never have to go to Blockbusters ever again. We rented "The Box". It's a 14 day rental, but after the movie is viewed it goes away within 24 hours. It takes about 20 minutes to download, so download it before you pop that popcorn. I'm still amazed that we can rent videos on it, so I guess the PS 3 is good for something. Still hoping that our show will air, maybe more towards the summer when the show goes on hiatus. Either way, they better not tax our prizes for the length of time we've had to wait!

Death by a Killer Whale

It sadden me when I heard of a trainer's death by a killer whale at Sea World. Years ago while putting myself through college, I worked at Sea World. I worked for the production department at Sea World, which meant I would be part of running the shows at the theme park, namely the Shamu show, the penguin show, the water fantasy show and the dolphin lagoon show. Summers consisted of running from show to show. The animals involved in the shows would have to “work” back to back shows, which meant during the summer months there are as many as 10 to 12 shows without a break. I know Sea World has done some wonderful research on marine animals. They are involved in the clean-up of oil spills, rescue animals, and they help educate the public about marine life. My question is however, must we insist on making these amazing marine mammals do tricks for their keep? Why do they have to jump through hoops, do the hula on their tail fins, let a trainers ride on their backs? How would you feel being pent up in a tank and made to perform many shows daily? These animals are God’s gift to planet Earth. I’ve seen first-hand the frustration of killer whales having to perform and turn their frustration on their trainers. I've witnessed trainers being pushed around the tank by a very angry killer whale. I think I heard some press people say that Tilly was not angry, that he was interested only in the trainers ponytail, that he was being playful. I think not. The public must be, should be educated on the captivity of these magnificient creatures and what their daily lives are like. We must stop animal entertainment to make a buck. Isn’t keeping a large animal in confinement animal abuse? These whales are meant to travel hundreds of miles a day, what must that whale feel like when he can barely swim in the tank that he's in? Aren’t we outraged when we see how cows and pigs being confined in a small area, without any means of turning around, don’t we call that animal abuse? Aren't we outraged at the puppy mills, when dogs are caged and sold for a buck? Then why aren’t we outraged when we see dolphins trained to do the hula on their tail fins to music for public amusement? Is it because the park is a nice place to visit and that makes it ok? How would you feel if your freedom was taken away and every day you were forced to perform tricks? I think not. We must stop the animal for amusement mentality and fight for these magnificent creatures.

Not to make light of the situation, but one of my jobs at Sea World was to perform the hula while dolphins did their hula on their tail fins. I shared a dressing room with a very irate chimp. Our dressing room was the hollowed out volcano in the show. I would go in to change into my costume, with the chimp in the cage awaiting for his appearance. While changing he would jump up and down and scream all kinds of monkey chatter. On a really bad days he would take his poop, roll it into balls and throw it at me. He was an angry chimp, he didn't want to go out on water skis being pulled around the volcano by dolphins he'd rather be in his home with other primates. But day after day, he would perform his tricks and day after day, I would be pulled out in a boat after the chimp exited his stage, by dolphins and do the hula with them, while they did backflips. Back then, it was a novelty, it was an interesting job. I had little interest in animal conservation and preservation. Gads, I could barely keep my cat fed. Today is a different story. I can barely get through that Emperor Penguin movie without shedding copious tears. I can't stand to watch Planet Earth when animals eat each other, even if it is Mother Nature's way. And so, I can't bring myself to support places like Sea World and circuses that profit off animal entertainment. Sure, places like that do educate the public but at what cost?

Let's Make a Deal-Prize Delivery

The other night, out of the blue, I got a call from Heather at Let's Make a Deal. Apparently they want to deliver my TV that I won. She said that they were closing the warehouse and were going to deliver the TV but the other prizes that I won would be delivered once our show aired. Of course I was so excited! I'm getting my TV, ha ha as I danced around the house. Finally reaping some reward for our appearance as contestants on that damn show! It's been what 5 months!! Yeah, but would they really air our show? Heather assured me that it would air in season one. I ask her when is the season over with then? June she replies. I'm guessing with the move to Los Angeles, tapings are falling behind for this season and they will have to air some of the earlier shows which includes ours. Yipee is all I can say for that, because if they hadn't moved from Las Vegas, I might not have gotten anything, so the move from Las Vegas was a good thing right? Donna's disappointed because she was trying to get on the show again because she wasn't really a contestant, just my side kick. Myself, I'm SOL, I will have to wait another 3 years to be eligible, thems the rules.

They told me they would be delivering the TV between the hours of 10-2. By one o'clock still no delivery. Then a call, Travis said they were having some sort of trouble. What could it be? Were they going to renege on giving me my TV? Finally after some kind of scrambling on their part they finally delivered the TV. Now mind you I wasn't home, so my husband accepted the TV. He called me and praised how nice they were, young kids, he said. Said that they told him the show was moving, because they couldn't make the show work here. Which was true, Donna told me they had a hard time filling the audience for the tapings. When I came home, the TV box was in the middle of the living room. I suspiciously spied duct tape on the box. Humm, looked opened and used. When I looked in the box, the TV was sloppily inside without the original packing. What?@! Was that a used TV? Did I just win a used TV? Hey what kind of show is this? When someone wins a car, is it a used car? I'm yelling at this point. How could they give a used prize. I bet all the scrambling before the delivery was probably because they couldn't find the remote for the TV. It was really insulting that Let's Make a Deal could deliver a prize that had been used on the show. The box was marked Show 1001, Act 4. The taping I went to was Show 1011, so obvious, this TV was the display model they used on the set. What a disappointment. Not only did we suffer the disappointment of our show not airing in a timely manner, now they do the low class thing and give away prizes that have been used. And I am supposed to pay taxes on a used prize? Very disappointing! That same night, Heather calls again, this time she says they have my PS3 and will deliver it later that evening. Of course I didn't want to be rude about the TV I had received that was in less than new condition, but told her that the TV was used. Her reply was that they checked it out to make sure it was in good condition. Yeah, but I didn't know when I won the prizes, that they were going to be used goods (I'm thinking). Of course this isn't her fault, so I didn't rant on like usually do, I was getting my PS3 (whatever that is?). All I could think of I wonder if that's going to be used to?

Travis, (he's a cutie) quietly knocks on the door, it's 9:30 by now and hands over the PS3. I say my thank yous and go back inside. Madison runs down stairs (since she has laid claim to it) and we look over the box. Humm, well, it looks like it hasn't been opened. I know what was happening. The people at Let's Make a Deal are moving to Los Angeles, and in order to move less, they got rid of their stuff here. On the one hand, at least I got some of my stuff but on the other hand, it has been a mix bag.

Being picked as a contestant, getting lucky and actually winning was thrilling, not showing our show, a total disappointment, and finally getting some of the prizes only to get used goods, totally horrible. LMAD, not a class act. They acted more like thugs that stole hot merchandise and were getting rid of it on the sly. Don't get me wrong, the TV looks good in my media niche, even if it does have a few scratches in it and appears to work just fine, but it's the principle of the whole thing, you expect when you win something that it's new and unused, but the whole thing was just a total misrepresentation and that's the real deal.

Let's Make a Deal Update

Update-still no go for our show # 1011 although I have called the girl at in the prize department so many times, and she's assured me that it will air. Today I disguised my voice, I used my awfully bad British accent (Donna was laughing hysterically) to complain to the recording on the phone that why are they showing reruns of shows that have already aired when they could show the September tapings. I'm sure the public would rather see a new episode even if it has flaws than to see a rerun. Geez, I looked up to see that Brian guy in his cow suit and I told Donna, damn this show was already on, watch he's gonna say "My parents named me Brian so there must be a reason, so I'm picking B", that was almost verbatim from my memory from watching it the first time!! Give me a break CBS, no one likes to watch game show reruns, you probably lost millions of viewers as they flipped the channel because like myself, recognized it! AIR OUR SHOW!!! 1011 from SEPT 25!!! We want our PRIZES!!!!!

Let's Make A Deal

The other day at work, Donna and I both noticed that the new Let's Make a Deal was being taped at the Tropicana Casino in Las Vegas. I went on the website and saw that they had free tickets for the taping to be contestants, all you have to do is sign up for tickets and you get an email confirming the tickets. On the website you can chose the date and time you want to attend. I signed up for a 2:30 taping on a Saturday. I signed up and called Andy. When I told him we were going to be contestants, he was like, I'm not going to do that! What a party pooper!
Why are husbands such a drag? So Donna signed us up, heck why not, we could both take off work, after all it's not every day you get a chance to be a contestant. We came up with the idea (don't know for sure whose idea it was) to be babies. The rules said that homemade costumes were "encouraged". How more homemade could a diaper be? We ran down to the local Halloween Mart and picked up some gigantic pacifiers and a bonnet (more in the Betsy Ross style). Donna had to buy sheets to make her diaper, me, I fitted into my king size pillow case, altho my ass was flat as a pancake (had to stuff my diaper with towels, very uncomfortable to sit! Nothing like walking with a wad between your legs!). We wore black tights and a pink top, fashioned bibs out of napkins and wore our famous purple/pink wigs. I looked like a cross between a scary baby and a scary french maid! Donna looked like she was was a baby swathed in a loin cloth. That diaper of hers looked like it had a load that kept wanting to migrate down to her knees. I thought we looked so scary and ridiculous. I told her why is it we can never be glamorous? The tickets said that the door opened at 10:00, and after hearing horror stories that lines for game shows can be crazy long, we decide to get there at 7:30 am. I was like thinking if there are thousands of people, I wasn't waiting, diaper or no diaper. We walked through the casino, people were staring, pointing and looking like they were watching a car wreck, (come on people, haven't you ever seen girls in diapers!). We get there and there is not a single person there. The game show people told us to come back at 9:30 which was just a well because I forgot our fantastic sign at home and Donna needed to make adjustments to her baggy, saggy diaper. We get back at 9:30 and stand in line. When the lane opens, we are contestants 1 & 2. We fill out the paperwork. One of the forms was tell us something funny or interesting about yourself. I was drawing a blank. Ya, I know there is something funny and interesting about me, I just can't think of it! After we make our way to the photo line where our pictures are taken, then past security to a second seating area. There a producer comes out and casually chats with each of the contestants while a second producer takes notes in the background. Donna and I being first, chat with her and then she moves on. Of course we were so fired up, we were chattering like two chipmunks, when the producers told us to shut up! Ok, so we were a little hyper! We were so funny, we could be our own comedy team, we could have our own talk show, we made them laugh and everyone like our costumes.
Next its on the the next holding area right before you get into the studio. There we waited about another hour. Donna and I had to go to the bathroom several times. Do you know how hard it is to take off a diaper?
Next they let us into the studio. By then there were about 158 total contestants. Donna and I were in seats 1 & 2 and prominently in the front row, how awesome is that? For the first 30 minutes, the stage director makes us go through a series of cues, laughter, shock, applause, hooting and shouting. And the Oscar goes to....Boy my throat was so sore. We're both sweating buckets in the chilly studio. I was getting pit stains! I could feel that my shiny face was blinding the camera. I must say it was about that time our energy started to wane, we were quickly becoming cranky babies, not to mention the fact that from 7:30 on we really didn't get to eat or drink anything.
Then the taping begins. Wayne Brady comes out. He is really cute but is slimmer than what he looks like on TV. The camera really does add 10 pounds! His legs are really skinny and his shoes were pointy and very shiny (I bet they were real patent leather!). Wayne comes out and asks for the first person to show him a nickel. A girl shouts and he gives her $500.00. The next contestant wins a golf cart. The taping is done in segments, with a couple of breaks. One time when Wayne came out, I happened to catch his attention and he said Hi to me! The next thing I knew, he was pointing to me, cute baby (cute baby?). Surely he wasn't looking at me (he had to be looking at miz boobs two seats away, but he was! OMGOMG! I go up and he offers up 70th anniversary edition of the "Wizard of Oz". He asks me, if I've seen the Wizard of Oz, of course! He asks me what is my favorite part. There I freeze like deer caught in the headlight? The entire studio waits for my answer. I meekly say, "The Woods". I couldn't believe my ears! Am I that lame? I was so frozen at that moment I couldn't think of a single thing! Wayne went on to make some jokes, of which I have no idea what he was saying, only that the audience was laughing ( at me or at him?). Next he says, he will give me the dvd which has money in it or I can trade it away to contestant Danielle, and play for what is behind door 3, which opens to a trip to Puerto Vallarta. I scream like I just won a trip around the world or something for heavens sake! Gwad, what a nit wit I am! At first I'm not understanding, I have to play for the trip? I ask Wayne what are the chances? Lame comment # 2! He says, what am I, a poker dealer? I give away the dvd to Danielle. Cut to break. Next they bring out a board with 6 cards on it. Wayne says I have to pick three that match. At first I'm thinking they are picture cards, you know horse, donkey, cow, but they are playing cards (uh dud!). I ask Donna for a number, she picks 3. I pick 5 and 1 and tell him that they add to 9 which is Chinese for luck, lame comment # 3! He turns over card 3 which is a 4 and then turns over card 1 which is another 4. Then he turns over a card that I didn't pick which is another 4. The audience is screaming. He then tells me, I can chose to continue or pick what's behind door number 2 which opens to a plasma tv, Beatles collection, PlayStation, electric guitar and drums. I'm stunned. What should I do, continue on for the trip or pick the sure thing. All I could think of, if Andy were here, he would have picked the correct cards. Sure thing, gamble, sure thing, gamble... Moments feel like hours, when I tell Wayne, I'll take door 2! The audience is clapping! He turns over my last card and it is a King. I jump up and down like some crazy whacked out contestant on some game show. I just won an electronic package!!! I scamper back to my seat, Donna and I hug! It is so hard to be in the moment, everything you learn goes out the window. I became jello, mush, a mind full of split pea soup and therefore the lamest contestant in game show history.
Danielle now has my dvd that I gave to her. Wayne sweetens the deal and gives her another dvd which has money in it. He tells her she can keep the dvd's or trade it for door 1. She trades the dvds, which he opens and both only held $1.00!!! We were so relieved, because if there were thousands of dollars in it I would have cried! Danielle gets a exercise package. And lastly, he ask Danielle if she would like to be the big trader of the game and give up her door for a prize that is worth $23,000! Who wouldn't? She goes for it and wins the car! Game over. All in all, it was fun, but a really long process that started at 9 and ended at 3:30. The chances of getting called on are pretty slim unless you can be the first with something that Wayne asks for. For the Donna's we got really lucky. Somehow the planets must have been aligned just right, the signs were all in the right place and we somehow Karma came to us, we got really lucky. The four people left the line and we moved into seats 1 & 2. We sat in the front row, we had our sign, and I caught the eye of Wayne who probably noticed our purple wigs. I'm glad Danielle, who was dressed like Pocahontas, won the car, she was standing in line with us, chatted with us and deserved to win (stay at home mom), plus she was really nice, good for her! The only thing is that I'm sure when I watch our show, I'm going to look like the biggest nerd on national TV. UGH! I'm so stupid-the woods!
By the way, you can't trade in your prizes for cash. All prizes are shipped to your address, so my daughter eagerly awaits her PlayStation, my husband and I will enjoy our plasma TV and Donna will get the collectors edition of the Beatles. All in all a good day for the Donna's!-Single D
Go to the Tropicana Casino (Las Vegas) website (link below)-click on the Let's Make a Deal banner and click the show you want to attend. After entering your info, you get an email confirmation stating what time to show up and the contest rules. You can also get paid to sit in the audience if they don't have enough to fill the studio at the rate of $40.00 for 4 hours. I believe there is a number on the website you can call if you want to be a paid audience member.
http://www.ocatv.com/shows/show/269
ps-Our airdate has postponed-when??? Who knows!!!

Los Angeles City Schools Old Fashioned Crumb Cake

Ah, grade school lunches, the stuff of many a fond memory. One of my favorite grade school lunches was tuna boats with a cheddar cheese sail and crumb cake with milk. Don't know if it was the cute triangle of cheddar cheese or the tuna salad in a hot dog bun or the delicious buttery crumb cake that made this particular lunch stand out, but I seem to remember it with great fondness. The lunch room in my school had a stage on which different color flags stood. Green meant all was well in the lunch room with the noise level at a acceptable level. A yellow flag meant beware the noise level was rising and red of course meant shut your traps or else! One sunny lunch day, happily ensconced with my favorite tunaboat lunch, crumb cake and carton of milk, I remember I was blowing bubbles in my milk carton, engrossed in this activity for what a few seconds, maybe minutes, when I noticed the lunch room become eerily quite. As I looked down into my carton which seemed to have an unnatural hold on my attention, I noticed two black sensible shoes tapping rapidly by my side. I automatically look toward the stage where a red flag stood like a terrible exclamation point. I quickly looked at Miss Sensible two shoes, whose prickly red fingernails pointed to the principle's office. No words needed to be exchanged as a pitying hush filled the cafeteria, as all eyes spied my leaving my lunch and my beloved tunaboat with it's cheddar cheese triangular sail and buttery crumb cake as I headed for the office where I would spend the remainder of my lunch hour stomach protesting in it's emptiness. All these years have been spent in search of that crumb cake recipe of which the following comes pretty darn close and at least gives me some sort of redemption solace when eating it.

2 1/2 c flour

1 c brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1 t salt

1 t nutmeg

3/4 c oil

2 t cinnamon

1 t baking soda

1 egg

1 c buttermilk

Combine flour, sugars, salt, nutmeg and oil in bowl. Remove 1/2 cup of the mixture from bowl and add to it 1 t of cinnamon and set aside as topping.

Combine remaining 1 t of cinnamon, baking soda, egg and buttermilk (or milk and yogurt/sour cream combination) and blend well. Add flour mixture, do not over mix.

Spoon batter into greased 13x9" pan, sprinkle with reserved topping and bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes.

Let cool slightly before cutting and sit back, enjoy and reminisce!

The Difference Between Husbands and Wives or At Least In My House

The other day when I was vacuuming, I was thinking about the differences between me and my husband when it comes to everyday household stuff. Why is it that men think so differently than women and have their priorities so skewed? Here's what I've noticed.

We have a two story house, so when I don't want to go upstairs, I will leave stuff at the bottom to be taken up whenever anyone goes up. Of course this never happens because my husband and daughter never seem to notice there are things piling up at the bottom of the stairs until I yell will someone take this up!

I can come home and not be in the house for more than 5 minutes and know exactly where the dogs have either peed or pooped in the house (accidentally of course). Like the one time I came home from work at 5 and my husband had been home since 2. I could smell a horrible smell and went right to the source, a big runny mess of dog poo in the dining room. Andy of course was in the next room, happily watching TV. When I asked him, can't you smell that? He's like smell what? Although he claims that his smell is his strongest sense, guess not when it comes to dog poo.


Men suffer what I call the Scarlett O'Hara syndrome, or there's always tomorrow. Like when I wanted to move the huge prehistoric dinosaurs of a TV out of the house when we got our new plasma. Instead it sat in my husband's man office for over a month, when I finally had it with vacuuming around that thing and moved it myself into the garage, but not before screaming for him to help me. Man mantra, do we have to do it now?

Never notices when the couch pillows are smashed, never notices dust bunnies multiplying in the corner, doesn't care if the air conditioner filters are changed, if colors are mixed with the whites in the wash, doesn't care if there are grease spots on the cook top or if the counters are cluttered with mail. Doesn't know that there is an order to the pantry, cans with cans, chips with chips, bake goods with baked goods, there is? Yes dear, there is. And doesn't notice that the sweating water glass is leaving a permanent water mark on the desk.

But on the infrequent occasion when he does clean the bathroom sinks or when he does do a load of laundry, horrors, he will puff up chest and be expected to be thanked for doing the mundane task of housework. And if I say, does anyone ever thank me for vacuuming, mopping, taking the dishes out of the dishwasher, cleaning the oven, change the bedding, cleaning out the closets, so forth and so on, he looks at me like I'm speaking Martian. So I've learned to appreciate the small stuff, take it when it's given like small life pearls and chalk it up to a different points of view. What else can I do?

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Our Favorite Smootie

How do you get a tweenie to eat her fruits? Smoothies of course! I remember when we first adopted our daughter from China when she was 18 months old, she had an appetite for everything and anything. Living in a orphan house and not having much access to plentiful food varieties, Xiao She, as she was called then ate non-stop when she was handed over to us. Our weeks in China getting acquainted with our new daughter consisted of strolling around the hotel and grazing at the buffet, to which she had no trouble finding food she liked. She would eat clams, fish, oysters, chow mein, eggs, noodles and on and on. To keep her from crying, we would feed her raisins like she was a poodle in training. She would fall asleep with food in her mouth. One time back home in Denver my in-laws took her to the restaurant I worked at, where she quickly fell asleep in her chicken soup fancy hat and all. Today, getting her to eat or try healthy food is another story. She quickly moved from eating everything to eating only mac and cheese or anything noodle. Getting her to eat her fruits is even harder. Eat an apple dear, but my braces she whines! So one day, I made smoothies. Yum she says, this is good. Yes, there is a God! I vary the recipe little, because why tamper with something she likes and will eat.

Smoothie recipe:

In blender-add 1/3 blender full of crushed ice

Add fruit juice to cover ice

Add frozen blueberries

Add fresh or frozen strawberries

1/2 banana

Add 2 large scoops of plain yogurt

Blend until smooth-

Amounts of fruits can vary depending on your taste

Top with wheat germ if you like nutty crunch

Dancing Girl

Ever Have A Perfect Memory?

Ever have one of those memories from your childhood that you can remember in perfect detail? The other day on the TMC channel the "Trouble with Angels" was playing. Watching this movie brought me back to the day I went to see this movie with my best friend growing up in Southern California. I think I was in 6th grade. I remember it was playing at the Vogue Theater downtown. It was summer and very hot, not typical for a town close to the beach. I don't know why this particular day in my mind is so clear. Maybe it was the first time I was able to go to the movies with my girlfriend without being accompanied by my mother, who when I went to the movies with, would cover my eyes during the kissing scenes, oh mom! Maybe it was the movie, "The Trouble With Angels", starring Haley Mills, whom I always wished I were born blond and British. I stopped what I was doing and sat down to watch it. It was just as good now as it was then. I remember my mother taking us to the theater and dropping us off and told us she would pick us up promptly when the movie ended. How I was able to go to the movies without my mother is still a mystery to me. I remember I wore gold capri stretch pants and a black turtle neck, even though it was summer outside. My hair was pulled back in a single pony tail. How I felt like Audrey Hepburn in that outfit! I bought Goobers and Terri bought a box of vanilla bon-bon ice cream bites covered in chocolate. I remember sitting through that movie and in the end when the Haley Mills character sees Mother Superior, Rosalind Russell, mourn the death of one of the sisters and then decides to join the convent, I was crying in the dark.
In the ensuing years, the Vogue theater converted to showing Spanish films, I lost touch with Terri after junior high school, she went to another school, and I don't know what happened to those gold capri pants.
As I watch my daughter play with her friends on the computer, I'm wondering will she ever have that perfect girlhood memory that she will remember one day while doing housework or something, in perfect nostaglic detail? I hope she does, because in the end, isn't perfect memories all we have?-Single D

Martha Stewart-Citrus Cornmeal Cookies

I love cookies, cookies in any form, shape, flavor and size. I do however tire easily over cookies. Like for example, I can't buy a bag of cookies in the grocery store without half the bag getting stale because I never finish it. I'm like a cookie tramp, I get tired of the same cookie after a few days. However, there is one kind of cookie that I really never tire of and that is the shortbread cookie done right. I have tried many shortbread recipes and I have found that the less sweet the better. When we were in Rome, the pastry shops there are crazy fantastic. Why is it that the pastry shops look so much more enticing in Europe than they do here. I do have to mention of a little pastry shop in San Francisco that I used to go to that reminded me of a Paris patisserie, Fantasia Bakery in the Laurel Heights section of town. More old fashion of yesteryear, but definitely European in flavor. I miss those days of buying their hot cross buns at Easter, napoleons and butter cookies. One of my favorite Italian cookie is the buttery shortbread cookie made with cornmeal, really delicious and not very sweet. So when I came across a Martha Stewart recipe for Citrus Cornmeal Shortbread I was in heaven and hoping it would be like the ones in Italy.
Take two sticks of butter out of the fridge and let stand at room temp.

Put soften sticks of butter in kitchenaid:
Add 3/4 cup of confectioners' sugar
Add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
Grate over the bowl some orange zest mix well in bowl-
Then stir in 2 cups of flour + 2 Tablespoons of yellow cornmeal and 1 teaspoon of salt and mix until well combined.
Dough should be soft (if too soft at this point put in fridge until dough firms somewhat, dough should be nice to handle), flour counter top and take dough out. Halve dough and shape into two logs about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and wrap in plastic and refrigerate until cold, at least an hour.
Take dough out and cut into 1/4" rounds and roll in 1/4 cup of yellow cornmeal. Bake in a 300 oven for 30-35 minutes until golden.

These are delicious, crunchy and tender, and I could eat a hundred and that's saying a mouth full. -