Cutbacks ... Ouch!

Due to recent cutbacks at the Sarasota Herald Tribune, David Grimes, a columnist for the paper had this column in todays edition. But after reading the very funnypiece I thought of a few things.

1. I used to work for a newspaper and I'm sure they too are going thru some difficulties....must get in touch with my favorite editor.

2. Reading a column without vowels would be good exercise for the brain I think, refer back to my blog on Spa's for the Brain

3. And last but certainly not least David Grimes is a funny guy and quite persuasive to get this by his editors....way to go! Thanks for the laugh Mr. Grimes.

I now know that while we are traveling I will be sure to check in with Mr Grimes and see if he was able to add any vowels..........stay tuna'd

Proverbs

I love reading proverbs and their meanings.........I came across this African Proverb the other day and thought to fitting for the recent tragedy. Not all proverbs are serious some African Proverbs are quite funny and literal.

But this is up there with being an all time favorite ...

"However long the night,

the dawn will break"

Say it isn't so PLEASE

I don't know about your area or even your Country, BUT, this Country survives on volunteers and their many, many efforts.

When I read that volunteerism is dwindling I was very sad. But after reading this article I realized that it isn't quite as bad as the headline states, which is usually the case. Headlines are created by adventerous, aggravating editors, but if it leads us to the story the Editor accomplished what he set out to do.

We come from a long line of volunteers. I honestly cannot remember when I didn't volunteer to do something or belong to a non profit group. My Uncle in Indiana, before he passed, he was a volunteer Grandpa, how cool is that. My Aunt is a literacy volunteer, my sweet sister just received her five year pin being a docent at the gorgeous Getty Center in Los Angeles. I know my talented and beautiful niece volunteers a lot, how she has the time given her busy schedule, but she does.

If you have never volunteered and have the time to do so, please think about doing something ::: I am telling you it is a very fulfilling thing to do. Gads I'm beginning to sound like Oprah, not meant to.

A couple of ideas.........if there a Habitat office in your area. They need volunteers of all sorts from swinging a hammer to being a cashier. I did a recent fun thing, I read to a group of kindergarten children at the Library. That was fun reading a short story to a bunch of wiggle worms.

So think about your time, could you manage it better? This is not to say neglect others around you or yourself. But I guaran...damn...tee you you will truly get something from your time.

A christening of sorts

Well outta no where, a name has come to me for the new truck.......Louie, short for Louisville where he was born. Ford has a truck assembly plant there and it is on Fern Valley Road. Didn't think Fern was a good name for a truck.

He will be an Aries and the RV will be a Pisces must go see if that is a good match. Yep the RV will definitely be called Grace. And not for the reasons that those of you who know me think! The RV is manufactured by Monaco, and I think of Princess Grace whenever I hear the name Monaco.

So there ya go....seriously, anything that is couple together for an eternity must be named, and I know y'all think I'm nuts but it's just my grand entrance to feebledom.

Get the walkers ready lil bird.........stay tuna'd........ah yes for the coming adventures of Grace, Louie, Buddy the cat and Doodles and Mr Doodles.

Oh wow look what I found..........

Aries & Pisces

When Aries and Pisces come together in a love match, they can be very good for one another. Aries is a strong Sign; they are almost completely prey to their impulses, which they follow without a second thought to the outcome or possible consequences. Dreamy Pisces is much quieter and more internally-focused; they're the Poets of the Zodiac. On the surface an Aries and a Pisces may seem an unlikely pair, but when there's love involved, they can truly fulfill one another's needs. Pisces is very intuitive, both as a person and as a lover; Aries must take care to return this favor so Pisces won't begin to see their Aries partner as stingy and selfish.

What's the best aspect of the Aries-Pisces relationship? They really have a lot to learn from each other. Pisces shows Aries how to empathize and care; Aries teaches Pisces how to make dreams happen rather than just thinking about it! Theirs is a truly reciprocal relationship.

I must voice my opinion...

In recent days there has been a lot on the internet as well as on the national news, even NPR, about Don Imus and his inappropriate comments regarding the Rutgers ladies basketball team.
Yes I whole heartedly agree it was uncalled for, rude, horribly degrading. I'm ashamed that anyone would say anything like that. It is one of the reasons I don't watch anything on BET TV or listen to RAP music. The lyrics are horribly degrading.
So back to Don Imus, I can honestly tell you in my heart the man is not a racist, he's an insensitive jerk, but I don't think he's a racists.
I think MSNBC and CBS has missed an opportunity to educate instead of denegrate. They shouldn't have fired Imus, he could educate. We all know that his firing has been brought down to toal greed. MSNBC would lose advertisers, now get this, many of the very same advertisers that sponsors the IMUS cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer. Would you please explain the reasoning behind this. I must be really dense here folks.
Every year Imus has a two day radiothon that MSNBC did cover. The event was to raise money as they do every year for Radiothon to benefit the Tomorrows Children’s Fund, the CJ Foundation for SIDS and the Imus Ranch for Kids with Cancer. I hope this does not injure the ability to garner much needed $$$.
I will donate by going to the radiothon website.

For some of you that may not know about this or care to read about this is just one of the many articles on the internet regarding this mess.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/04/11/imus.rutgers/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Just ask and ye shall receive

Well hell I called Mr Ford about our truck and he said "relax babe it will be there on the 23rd of April or sooner". Needles to say being the impatient BITCH I am I chose the sooner part. We have things to do people to see along the way to the West coast and a cat to train to live in an RV. Oh this should be fun!

Speaking of cats, we must decided where to put Cousin Buddy's litter box. We think we came up with a great idea but we won't know till we can get back in the trailer and measure, you know Norm - measure six times cut once.

So here I am gathering all the info to do many change of addresses. Did you know that you must change your phone number as well because many companies relate to the phone you call in on for inquiries.

When said RV and TRUCK (the two will also be named at the ceremony) do come together it is a marriage of sorts and Doodles and Mr Doodles will celebrate that anniversary every year just like we do our anniversary.

I'll send out announcements but please NO GIFTS........stay tuna'd

I'm calling Mr Ford about our truck

I open the paper this a.m. and what do I see, above the fold, WORSENING DROUGHT HAS AREA ON EDGE, and EXPERTS SEE ACTIVE HURRICANE SEASON FOR THIS REGION.

Then below the fold is......... Pollen count hits an all time high in area........WTH!!!

Now granted hurricane season does not start till June 1st and is rarely active until August or September. And trust me we will be way long gone by then. But the pollen and the fires are just as scary, cause the pollen keeps me from doing my walking and the fires keep popping up and causing even more air pollution and danger to all in the path of losing there property.

I was in Ft Myers yesterday and saw two brush fires on the side of the freeway. One of them did errupt into something more serious enough to close the highway, after I was already past, thank you very much.

Truck is supposed to arrive on April 23rd...stay tuna'd!

Now my cats angry ~ really angry

So now we read and hear on the news that they are recalling cat treats. It was hard enough to get my cat to eat treats as a reward. Buddy as previously mentioned has always eaten dry food and in some ways I am very grateful for his finicky taste.

So now with this dog and cat food scare they have an alert out for soft treats made by Del Monte and others read here on SNOPES.

And Buddy the cat is now really pissed cause he has gotten used to his treats and we had to dispose of them. What's next ... my GOD the world is falling apart, Global Warming, now this........is their no end to the madness.

As I type Buddy is writing a customer service letter to Del Monte, actually honey husband is helping Buddy compose said letter..........stay tuna'd

ps........if this becomes a problem and those DOPES in Washington think they might want to get on the bandwagon be afraid and start cooking for your pets.

Concerned over pet food

I don't know about you but every blasted time I see a news alert regarding another contamination of pet food, my stomach gets in a knot. I know that we are very vigilent and careful. But my cat Buddy, is almost 12 and his cousin Buddy the dog is almost 12 and they have two baby cousins Max and Multy, not babies just a lot younger.
I am tempted to start feeding my sweet cat hamburger and rice, But he has never ever eaten wet food, just doesn't appeal to him. And Iams, the brand we use in the dry food, has come out to say that wheat gluten is not used in any of their dry food. I am grateful that the pet food industry on a whole has kept the public informed. You certainly cannot say that for the USDA.

So if you have an animal stay in touch with the situation by going to the PetSmart home page or the home page of the kind of pet food you use.

Neurobics Spa

not quite what I'm used to in the true definition of spa's. However neurobics could be our new best friend.

Don't go looking up the word neurobic cause it is not in the dictionary not even on wikipedia, which surprises me cause wikipedia has information they just make up. I digress...sorry.

There was a lengthy article in our paper yesterday regarding neurobics. I see that the article on line has been cut down. But you probably already have realized that when you put the word SPA on anything there is mucho dineros involved. And little did I know we have Neurobics Spas in my own backyard.

I have always known that exercising your brain, which is really what neurobics is, I have always known that it was good for you. Probably won't prevent anything but it just might delay the onset of old age dimentia. Now that is something I'm not about to get. Hunky husband and I do things while we are driving to do brain exercise, especially when you are on a long stretch of boring road. And I have a feeling that we may just run into that once we are on the road.

I must remember to tell my sweet bunky that I have been saving tons of $$$ by playing games as I do and not toddling off to the spa, neurobics that is. And here my sister gave up games for Lent last year - holy cow I hope her mind didn't atraphy during that period. I must challenge her to some games to see. Maybe we could treat each other to a day at the SPA.....stay tuna'd.

Go BRUINS!!!

The Stork came to visit us...

No it's not what you think.....but these are pictures of a stork. We have never ever seen one around here as I would think I would remember this bird with the funny thing on his head. Kinda looks like he is wearing headphones.

Not only the neighbors are coming over to say good bye to Mr & Mrs Doodles, the Stork stopped by to see us and Buddy. You can kinda see Buddy in the one photo of him staring at the bird. This guy was rather tame but when he heard my camera click he was a tad skitterish. He probably was on the patio for a good ten minutes.



Storks are relatively common along the West Coast near Tampa.

You may see them near the road or wading in ponds along with Ibis and Egrets

reference: http://www.sno-bird.com/fla_bird.htm

A lot to think about...

Getting ready to be the wanderlust, vagabond, and/or gypsy that we are going to be doing. It seems there is a lot to do before one takes to the road.

Seems we need Big A** insurance for the Big A** truck. It is not considered a regular passenger vehicle, it is in the commercial department. So we have a quote out to three different companies and yes seester dear, one of them is SF.
We have captured a wonderful deal for the RV insurance but unfortunately because of the class of the truck that company does not underwrite needed insurance.

I have also spent the day, while waiting on hold, making a budget in excel for travel expenses. Also a much needed to do list for what is required when we park and then one for when we leave. It's not quite like locking the door and pulling off down the highway.

Then we have the good fortune of having friends that are seasoned RV'rs that have given us a list of what is needed in terms of yep a broom, particular kind of jack and all the other junk we need to drag along. See why I have to limit my shoe collection but then this edict is coming from a man that has two pair of shoes, sneaks and sandals.

This is going to be fun but with much preparation to attend to. Once the truck and trailer marry, so to speak, it will take a day, at least just to hook up the electronics and for me to move in the household items.

So we are still looking at mid April to get outta here.........stay tuna'd!

Good Luck to the UCLA Bruins moving on to the Final Four!!!

Another Happy Dance !!!

Gotta love those UCLA Bruins!!!

They are going to the Final Four!!!

That's Norm and I doing

the Happy Dance ! ! !

We are no longer home owners in the

State of Florida.....let the adventure begin!

please............... stay tuna'd

Good Luck to the Bruins tonite !!!

Oh the joys of spring!

Spring is here, the weather has turned lovely, well except for the heavy pollen in the air. This could be a great time to load up a 5th wheel and a big a** truck and hit the road.

And we have just one more sleep!!! Oh lordy now I am getting really excited and antsy.

Go Bruins!!! they play thursday......that could be a very lucky day lil bird!!!

stay tuna'd.........

No escaping the many demons of Florida !

And here I thought we would be safe because we were going to boogie outta here before the start of hurricane season. Crap I forgot about the dreaded Love Bugs!!!

If you care, read about the dreaded infestation of the LOVE BUGS . What is the reasoning behind the name love bug when they are so detrimental.

Read that article while I go out and spray the front of our vehicles with PAM It seems that PAM keeps the little darlins from sticking to the front of the car. Think I'll leave a can of PAM in the cupboard for the new owner.

Now if we can get outta here before the mating season of the Florida alligator

Three more sleeps....................stay tuna'd

Just a few more

We are now down to 4 count em 4 more sleeps! Gads talk about wishing your life away. But that's OK that only means I will be closer to headed West and spend time, valuable quality time with my family and my hunky husband will be there too.

When we had our business there were very few vacations and certainly not many together trips West to visit family. When we retired, for good, one of the things we did first off was schedule a trip with sister and sweet brother in-law. We met in Vegas and traveled the Four Corners. What a wonderful time we had. The sites we saw and the laughs we had. Hope there is another trip with those two in the near future - we travel well together. And ya know ya can't always say that about traveling with relatives or friends.

Keep hoping our truck arrives quickly. The latest ETA would be the beginning of April. You need that truck to pull that RV. So we could still be out of here by mid April......stay tuna'd

GO BRUINS ! ! !

One down!

When you enter into the March Madness of basketball, take nothing for granted. UCLA beat Weber in their opening game 70 ~ 42.



Trust me those Hoosiers will not be a walk in the park when they play Saturday.

GO BRUINS!!!

Bruins Basketball!!!

First game of the March Madness Tournament is always nerve racking.

Bruins can go all the way this year - however I am keeping my fingers crossed to be on the safe side.

Cause I have a BIG bet on this tournament with a Hoosier!

Go Bruins!!!

We all know better BUT...

we aren't all good at changing our eating habits, at least I'm not and I know several friends that aren't either.

Many of you know I contribute to a food blog called Peanut Butter Etouffee, along with my sister Moon and my niece lil bird. When you food blog you have the opportunity to meet and read a lot of other fellow food bloggers, exchange recipes and comments. One of my favorite food blogs is Lucullian Delights. The writer lives in Italy and has some of the best food photos on the internet. But don't get me wrong Ilva also has some wonderful food recipes. And she has partnered up with another food blogger to create a site called

The Heart of the Matter - eating for life .

The following is quoted text from this new event:

Joanna from Joanna's Food who has experienced how it is living and cooking after a heart attack of her husband, her blog is full of recipes of heart friendly food. We plan to make this a monthly event with different themes each time and after the roundups on our blogs, these roundups are going to be posted on a special blog named after this event, The Heart of the Matter-eating for life, because this is an event with a difference, it's made with the hope of building up a recipe base that will be useful for all of us when we want to cook healthy meals so every time you participate you are not only presenting us with a nice recipe, you are also doing a good deed.

So, the reason I am mentioning all of this is that since hunky husband and I are going out on the road and doing a lot of traveling I was somewhat concerned about the spreading of our butts. Now yes we will be doing a lot of hiking and walking, however what I did not want to get into the habit of nipping in to a fast food joint for a quick meal = bad idea = butt spreading food.

So Ilva & Joanna have come up with this idea and I applaud this and definitely plan to participate. I hope you go check out the web site, who knows maybe you get an idea or two and maybe even contribute.

FYI~~~~~~~~~~~8 more sleeps~~~~~~~~~~~~stay tuna'd

Are you ready for some "Madness"?

The Merry Month of March brings us to College Basketball, one of our very favorite sports.

Now for some of you that don't know I am a UCLA Bruin fan big time. Fair warning I will bore you to tears with stats, results and such on the upcoming tournaments.

Don't know what to think of the Sports editor of our local paper picking UCLA to go all the way this year. I have faith however let's hope this guy is right. Cause nothing would make my family happier, well maybe a few other things would but the Bruins going all the way certainly would be at the top of the list.

So if you want March Madness updates I'll give em to ya, cause I have nothing else better to do than cheer on the Bruins.

Oh well maybe packing up some boxes for the move but that we can do while watching the games.........stay tuna'd..............9 more sleeps!!!

Somebody got the memo...

Do you spose Ford Motor Company sends memo's to the Sheiks over in the oil rich nations?

I can see it now ~~~Alert ~~~Mr & Mrs Doodles just bought one of our Big A** trucks, so if y'all wanna make more $$$ raise the price of that crude stuff.

Dang what a time to be gouging, it's not even summer yet. If you want to find fuel prices around the US and Canada check out GASBUDDY It seems they update this site quite often, so this may be my new favorite site in the months to come.

10 more sleeps..........stay tuna'd

Happy Birthday to me !!!

It's getting closer...

Finally we heard yesterday about the big A** truck to pull the fifth wheel trailer.

Seems the dear Ford Motor Company has had a dispute with the engine builders and they decided they weren't gonna pay them. Well the dispute got settled rather quickly much to my amazement and they are back to building these monsters in Louisville, KY

And yes that is the color we got Copper, F450 King Ranch with a moon roof for Buddy,

We are fortunate to have a dear friend who has a Car Store. That is the way dear friends refers to his business. Anyway, husband spoke to him yesterday and it appears that said truck, pictured below, will be here between first and mid April. Kinda what we had planned so there is no delay at the moment.

You notice I have posted 12 more sleeps, that means 12 more days and this house will belong to a very nice lady from CT and she is going to let us stay here till we take delivery on aforementioned truck and trailer. And I thought people from CT were a bit stanoffish. Well maybe they warm up when they get to warm weather cause this buyer is a dream.

12 more sleeps...stay tuna'd

So, the dopes in Washington could do the right thing

and give all of the Service men and women the same insurance coverage Dick Cheney has. That certainly be fair and equal treatment now wouldn't it. The big dope didn't even go to Walter Reed, they took him to Bethesda. What's up with that? Do these people think they are fooling us? Well they aren't, they are just big fat liars, all of them liars.

What can't I live without???

I must start thinking of things that I can put in our new 5th wheel home. This is somewhat of a predicament, that I am in. There are a lot worse things trust me I know that. But since we are going to be living in this "rig" for at least a year one does have to plan.

You see I am alloted X amount of weight. So there lies the problem do I take 6 pair of jeans and 6 pair of shoes? Or do I take 4 pair of jeans and and extra pan/skillet for cooking. Oh yep you bet I'm hiding the shoes - Norm will never, ever know. And don't you be telling him.

So what few items could you not live without. Knowing you are going to be traveling for about a year, with a variety of weather conditions

If y'all have any suggestions I'm open to listening and no lectures please about shoes K?

Right now I'm trying to write a farewell poem to Florida to be recited upon our departure.

Stay tuna'd...15 more sleeps

Well ~~~ we did it...

We are now the proud owners of a 5th wheel trailer. Now the truck should be here in the next 6 weeks and we will be nomads.
Rather looking forward to being free to roam.

A couple of snaps of the interior for your viewing pleasure.

You already know the TV will be replaced by a larger unit.

The cream colored leather chairs are good for us retired folk!

And the kitchen area is just big enough.

Under that TV is a computer station. So many comforts and we opted out of the fireplace.

More photos to follow...stay tuna'd

16 more sleeps!!!

A boo boo of sorts...

OK actualy a big hurt in my mouth. I woke up the other a.m. to an abscessed tooth. OH NO not again I say. I have things to do, boxes to pack, husband to supervise, IMPORTANT, VERY IMPORTANT things to do to get ready for the adventure.

Well the tooth gods had a different plan for me and set me straight, well not straight set my fat ass in bed and in substantial pain. Which I might add is unusual because I have an unusual high tolerance of pain.

Husband toddled me off to the dental dude and he took one look at my swollen face, which by the way looked like Mohammed Ali beat the crap outta me, and said yep abscess, here ya go antibiotics to get rid of the infection then we'll attack that problem once the infection is gone.

So here it is Saturday a.m. and we are somewhat back on track, my swelling has gone down some and I'm feeling like I could whip Ali. Well not really but you know what I mean ;)

Monday we are going up to pick out the interior of the 5th wheel trailer. Snaps to follow Sooooooooooo................stay tuna'd

20 more sleeps

Wonder no more...

I know some of you are wondering why the hell do those two whackos wanna get in a fifth wheel trailer pulled by a big ass (husbands words) truck***, haul that sucker around the good olde USA and Canada.

Well this could be one of the reasons LaNina the little meanie sister to El Nino and also the fact that our homeowners insurance has TRIPLED <<<(not a typo) yep tripled. I think there just might be some folks that are trying to put the stae of Florida out of business. There are just waaaaayy too many articles to refer to regarding homeowners insurance rate increases in the "blue tarp state".

Now you probably realize that this has a snowball affect. Your auto insurance goes up, if you are a renter, your rent is going to go up. That owner has to pass along the increase to someone. Also fewer people will come to visit this state so hence retail is going to increase in many ways, and don't even think about what it's going to cost to go to Disney World.

So I'm gonna go check the weather in AZ, 22 more sleeps stay tuna'd...

***big ass trucks = testosterone level ;)

12 step program for pack rats

I suppose there is a support group for pack rats, heck why not there is one for everything else. As you have probably surmised we are in that stage of the move.

It starts out with "honey do you want to keep this?" to "are you sure you want to keep this?, to "No way you're not keeping that are you?". We are beginning to sound like the Bickersons. Having lived in this particular house near four years, I am totally in awe of what we have accumulated. Many items will be going to GoodWill, Salvation Army, the Church and Habitat for Humanity. I have turned over a new leaf and will no longer collect schtuff, WTH do we need it for. If you haven't touched it in a year, Good Lord man give it away to someone who can.

Here's the deal, what we are preparing for now and deciding what to keep and what to toss. After that decision is agreed upon then all will be packed up and moved to AZ where said schtuff we think we need will remain in storage till a house is built. And that house will be built in between many visits to CA for family fun and frolic. Several visits to Canada for friends and folic. And somewhere in there will be a trip to Alaska. I know what your thinking, Doodles in Alaska I'm not seeing it. Ya see I'm still trying to talk Mary into starting out on the trip with Norm and I'll pick it up half way thru. Don't think Mary's buying it, but she does like Alaska.

24 more sleeps till...stay tuna'd...

Might I bore you with this?!?

Ya see we have this house that we just got a contract on after a bazillion months of the blasted thing being on the market. And I'm really funny about count down clocks. I love doing that....maybe because Dick Clark, New Year's, I don't know.

So I'm gonna bore you to tears with my count down to closing on the house. BUT I am going to do it a bit differently. My friend, who happens to be on a driving adventure around the USA, told me of a clever countdown which she did for her trip countdown.

stay tuna'd ....................... 26 sleeps till the closing.

Washing D.C. must have a school for dopes

Go read my sister's blog of the men and women of the war and then tell me why.

The headline reads Army Probes Reports of Neglect at Walter Reed

I am becoming more dismayed (another word for totally pissed off) as the days go by. Tell me why we have to read and hear about the deplorable conditions at Walter Reed Outpatient Clinic. The Army is going to conduct an investigation because they read about this mess in the Washington Post. Good Lord man how can y'all look at yourselves in the mirror each morning. There was one dope (General) that said he jogs, jogs around this building just about everyday. Well good for you General because the majority of the patients in that building are amputees and can't jog. Ya never went inside?!?! We have a severe problem with our system folks and we just cannot allow this to continue...stay tuna'd...

Well hell I'm feeling a LOT better!!!

Norm and I finally have a solid contract of the sale of our house. There are many adjectives to describe how we feel BUT ecstatic certainly is one that comes to mind.

So now the real tombstone tumbleweed journey begins. I have a feeling that real retirement is just around the corner, if you call building a new house in an area that we have never lived in before. Well that's no exactly true Norm was based out of Tucson when in the USAF and I lived in Phoenix a gazillion years ago for about a year.

Actually we are going back to the scene of the crime so to speak, we were married thirty six years ago in Tombstone, AZ. Nothing conventional about us as you probably already know.

So get ready for a few travel blogs and travel photos because that is what we are going to do, bore y'all to tears with a travelouge.

But most of all I am happier than I can even imgaine to be moving closer to my sister and brother-in-law, my niece and newphew-in-law, my dear friend, Daddy's wife Mary. We have lived on opposite coasts for way too many years and it is with great delirious anticipation that we will be almost in the same time zone.

So as I have said from my very first blog, stay tuna'd...

and how smart are you???

This is exactly how I felt this morning when I woke to frost on the ground and I still feel like crap - damn sinus.

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Every dog deserves a loving home

How true that is. And that's what the Pedigree Dog Food Company says........while they put their money where their mouth is.

Go to their web site http://www.pedigree.com/home.asp make a donation to the American Humane Association and the Pedigree Company will match each donation. This is being done in conjunction with the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show taking place in New York City tonite and tomorrow nite.

Good Luck to all the dogs and their owners and handlers participating in this wonderful event.

MAX MULTY BUDDY

An omen of sorts...

Well this little guy greeted me this a.m. when going out to get the newspaper. I'm calling him my lucky frog cause our momma had lots of frogs scattered around her home and yes all of them were of the glass or ceramic variety.

So maybe this little guy will bring us good luck to our open house to be held today.

I had gone to the nursery to see what was available and I came upon this jade plant. Discovered when I got it home that I didn't have the proper soil to transplant it to a different pot suitable for hanging. So I just plopped it on the hook. Don't know if I brought the lucky little guy home or not..cause I am imagining driving and this frog jumping out from the plant and distracting me from my driving...holy crap. But maybe he is a local neighborhood frog and we just had yet to meet. If so how the hell did ya get up in that plant.

Just hope he dosen't attack any visitors today...stay tuna'd

Front page news...

So my sweet adorable husband is reading me the newspaper this a.m., the headline in particular. No It's not the senior discount it's the fact that Mr Bush is going to cut health AND education!!! In one fell swoop, the nerve of some peoples children, how dare he. What must he think when he lays his little pointy head down on his pillow at nite. And where oh where will it end???

Now I want y'all to know that the look on Buddy "the cat" face is one of disgust and annoyance OK!

Holy Colts!!!

Please do not say that Coach Tony Dungy, of the Indianapolis Colts, was the first African American to win the 2007 Super Bowl, please say that the coach with the most class won the Super Bowl. Cause it would be so very true.

How many Coaches do you know would stop in the midst of a media frenzy, in the rain, reomove his hat and stop to hug and kiss his wife.

Congratulations to the Colt's and all of their many fans. And to those who doubted Peyton Manning........nanananana!!!

Oh yeah, can ya just imagine how Archie Manning is feeling this morning, his son Peyton is going to DisneyWorld........in his new Cadillac that he won as the games MVP. note to GM as Peyton was the MVP winner, ya should have given him a Colts blue Cadillac instead of the red one!!!

Hoosier's Unite....

OK you don't have to be a Hoosier to be cheering for the Indianapolis Colt's to win the Super Bowl. BUT can you just imagine what it must be like in Indianapolis.

QB Manning will more than likely be going to the coveted football hall of fame, let's make sure he is wearing that SuperBowl ring when he arrives.

Coach Dungy on the other hand had a stellar career with among others, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Coach Dungy, then QB Dungy played on the same team as a friend of ours Gary Dunn. Gary is one of the sweetest "big guys" you have ever met. I have had the great pleasure of wearing his Super Bowl ring - my it's heavy and quite large - but a beauty none the less. However the one ring Gary prizes more than any would be his Championship ring when playing for the University of Miami. I digress.

So let the madness begin. The media will converge on Miami and bore us to tears by the end of the week and we will wish the damn game was over.......with the Colt's being the Super Bowl Champions of course............stay tuna'd!!!

Get ready...

now this is something I can wrap me leetle brain around.........

January 24th is National Belly Laugh Day.

I love to laugh, I find I laugh more when I am around seester Moon, but we laugh a lot even on the phone. Then when niece lil bird is joining us it can be pretty silly sometimes. We do tend to find humor in a lot a things.

Nothing is cuter to me than a bunch a kids laughing and giggling uncontrolably, cause it's so real.

We have all heard that laughing is healthy, so here's your perscription for the day Go have a good laugh and do it with a friend cause I think it's healthier that way. And we all could be a little healthier.

Do you have a cat?

Well we do, boy do we ever.

His name is Buddy the cat not to be confused with his cousin Buddy the dog. He is a handsome cat but he is a black cat and therefore does not photograph well. Actually his breed is called Havana Brown. Looks black but in the sun they have that very deep brown undercoat, he is handsome for a black cat.


Here's the story about Buddy, he likes/loves water. I know he's a cat but the damn cat grew up with water.

Buddy was found, when just a few hours old, in the mouth of a rotweiler dog. It is presumed that the dog disposed of any of the brothers or sisters and probably the momma. This was discovered by my friend Brigitta, who is the wife of a Vet. She plucked the teeny tiny kitty out of the mouth of the dog and took it inside. Brigitta to the rescue.

Fast forward a couple a weeks, Brigitta comes to work, she worked for us in the busy shipping time. She walk thru the door, in her breast pocket of a shirt she had on was this rescued kitty orphan. Ugly, gray and wrinkly. She baby bottled fed him, we think, then took it to the sink and wrung it out so it would doo, doo it's business. Didn't know that could be done but learn sumpin new everyday.

Now here comes the love of water - Brigitta would wash him and fluff him up with a wash cloth, went to plug in the heating pad, put the kitty on the heating pad with his new friend, a stuffed
orangutan. This took place several times during the day. So water was this kittens friend.

Well the look on husbands face was priceless, he couldn't keep his hands off that kitten. That moment he fell in love with a cat. We have had a cat previously but Smokey was more of a barn cat and not a house cat, certainly not a cat to fall in love with.

Jump ahead another couple weeks, I invited Brigitta and her Dr. Doolittle husband over for dinner. Sure I said bring the orphan. See we were ganging up on husband to become the new proud daddy of this kitten. Suffice to say it worked like a charm.

Brigitta and the good Dr. walked in the door, she promptly went over, put the kitten in husbands lap, pleading a trip to the ladies room was necessary. There ya go, we had a cat!!!

Needless to say we were not skilled at keeping a teeny tiny orphan kitten alive so Brigitta took him home for another couple weeks. Wait, we did birth 7 baby bassett puppies and hand fed all the little demons, thanks to sister and momma. No matter but that sure could be another blog.

So rescued kitten gets a new home, and as many of you know any baby anything is cute, human or otherwise. This was one funny kitten, very adventurous and quite comical. But there were some things we didn't know such as he wants to get in the shower with you.Buddy loves water still to this day. Some days he gets more drenced than others, well not drenched but he does get we.

In the early years Buddy would not be kind to guests, he once tore up the legs of our next door neighbor, yep drew blood. Funny the neighbor was a cop and was going to arrest the damn cat.
You're right that's not funny at all, I hated having to put the cat on another patio when guests came but hey. The Dr. vet dude said when he tries that spray him with a water bottle. You must be joking he loves water, he would think he was being rewarded for god's sake.

Buddy will be twelve this 4th of July and to this day Buddy still takes a shower with husband, sometimes me but not often. Maybe I don't always find the humor in a cat running around the shower under foot. However I am happy to report that Buddy, the evil cat we used to call him, he is now calm and so very sweet and friendly.

What's up with that, but stay tuna'd because we are takling about Buddy the cat!

I do have a video that I am going to put up on You Tube.

Real Estate not Selling ??? Good Reason

Do ya spose.....I suggest we take our Federal Tax $$$ and send it to Tallahassee then we could self insure ourselves until the insurance companies can decide. Then maybe, just maybe the Fed would listen

Wait till ya here this, I had the "Audacity of Hope" to email Senator Obama, asking him please help with this horrible mess we are in regarding our insurance problems and I promise I will work my fanny off to help y'all get elected in the fine state. He Emailed back and said I'll have my people contact your people.

I am convinced that we will be in Florida for at least another year or so, sad but true, sorry seester. Sooooooo for sure stay tuna'd...........

Insurance Remedies May Have Unintended Results
By KEVIN BEGOS The Tampa TribunePublished: Jan 18, 2007
TALLAHASSEE - Florida politicians are considering radical changes to the property insurance business. Whether the fixes will work - and whether they're even legal - is another matter."I think it's excellent what Florida is trying to do; I think it will be unsuccessful," said Tom Baker, director of the Insurance Law Center at the University of Connecticut.He was referring to legislation that would put pressure on companies that refuse to write homeowners policies in Florida, as well as allow regulators to consider the profits of national parent companies when setting rates. Those moves could ease the crisis in homeowners insurance, lawmakers say."There would be no legal reason why the Florida insurance department couldn't do that," said Baker, noting a long history of other states looking at the market in a broad way.However, the effect might not be what politicians intend, he said. For although the state could compel insurers to offer homeowners insurance when it is equipped to do so, a company could decide to pull out of the state entirely rather than comply with the new rules.That's just one of many potential problems, said Robert Hartwig, president of the industry-sponsored Insurance Information Institute."Some of these provisions threaten to legislate insurers out of existence in Florida. They are anticompetitive. They will drive capital away from the state," he said.Hartwig also thinks that forcing insurers to write multiple lines and considering the profits of national affiliates is flat-out illegal. That interferes with interstate commerce, he said, suggesting that a federal court would strike down such laws."You cannot compel an insurer to sell any particular type of insurance," he said.Some past disputes on insurance issues have gone all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and Congress, Baker said.The battle over hurricane insurance also has parallels with the way fire insurance evolved.The U.S. Government Accountability Office noted in a report that "as the 19th century progressed, and the power and profitability of the fire insurance industry grew, state governments began taxing fire insurance companies, as a means of obtaining revenue, and enacting laws requiring deposits from out-of-state insurers and imposing heavy taxes on their local operations, as a means of protecting local insurers."Partly as a result of such disputes, Congress exempted the insurance industry from interstate commerce laws and allowed states to handle regulation."The insurance industry is really the last big industry that is primarily regulated by the states," said Robert Jerry, dean of the University of Florida Law School and an expert on insurance law.During the past decade, though, there have been increasing calls to federalize parts of insurance regulation, he said, noting "that discussion has probably been as intense as any time in the last 30 years."At a meeting of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs in the summer, representatives of state insurance commissioners called for keeping the current system, but some leading industry voices supported a move toward national regulation.Some are waiting to see the final legislation in Florida before passing judgment.Adam Shores, a spokesman for Allstate Floridian in St. Petersburg, said the process of refining legislation could take months, even if the main bills are passed this week."We're talking about a fundamental restructuring of how insurance operates in this state," he said.Shores praised the concept of the state providing reinsurance to companies such as Allstate. That could be "a strong step in the right direction" that lowers rates for consumers, he said, although Allstate is concerned about other attempts to punish the industry.Reporter Kevin Begos can be reached at (850) 222-8382 or http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/mailto:kbegos@tampatrib.com.

Florida can't pick up Calif.'s citrus slack

Well it's not like they aren't trying, but that sound you hear are the prices going up for citrus


Copied from the Herald Tribune dated January 17, 2007

DESOTO COUNTY — Sure, Florida can take up some of the slack for the ravaged California citrus crop, but that doesn’t mean it is going to be easy.Florida does not grow much supermarket-style fruit for one thing. It is more of an afterthought for most growers. Ninety percent of Florida oranges make their way to big juicers like Bradenton’s Tropicana Products Inc.The second complication is that because of the citrus canker disease that has devastated a good portion of Florida’s crop, growers here cannot ship fresh fruit to California or any of 10 other citrus-producing states, such as Texas or Arizona.For any of Florida’s fresh orange providers to meet the demand left behind by California’s freeze, they would have to ship directly to the customers in other states, bypassing California.And Florida and California oranges are quite different.The Sunshine State’s fruit has thinner skins and is more prone to wind scars and other blemishes that make it unsuitable for table fruit. The trade-off is that Florida has sub-tropical weather conditions that make most orange varieties grown here much more juice-filled than the Golden State variety.Despite any complications, Southwest Florida growers remain optimistic that they will reap something positive from California’s painful winter freeze.Last year, they did not think they would not have much of a market at all for their fresh citrus because of canker.“Anyone who has fresh oranges will certainly be filling the void caused by the California freeze,” said Barbara Carlton, executive director of the Peace River Valley Citrus Growers Association, which counts about 300 growers in Southwest Florida among its members.“This could be a very good thing for those who have fresh fruit. That’s agriculture: One man’s problem is another man’s benefit.”Tom Spreen, one of the state’s top citrus economists, shared Carlton’s optimism.“I see a big jump in the fresh citrus price,” said Spreen, the chairman of the Food and Resource Economics Department at the University of Florida in Gainesville.Spreen predicted the California freeze would push fresh orange prices at least another 15 percent higher. “That’s not a bad price,” said Richard Kinney, the chief executive of Florida Citrus Packers in Lakeland, the industry’s trade group. “This will help us increase our margins.”Joshua Citrus, a DeSoto County gift fruit shipper operating a grove off of U.S. 31 near Arcadia, already is seeing the price for wholesale “table fruit” rising because of California’s icicles.“It will affect our wholesale business because the price has gone up due to the shortage of California navels,” said Lynn Shelfer, co-owner of the business with her husband, Kevin. “It’s very unfortunate for them, but the price has gone up already.“It’s a terrible thing, and I feel very sorry for those people. We might be next: The winter’s not over yet.”Ripple effectThe weather in California is even affecting businesses in DeSoto County that don’t grow citrus but feed the people who do.When Martha Clement was opening her Arcadia restaurant, Slim’s Bar-B-Q & Grill, on Wednesday morning, her produce supplier had some bad news: the price of a 200-count box of limes was going to double, from about $20 to about $40.“We can’t adjust our prices that fast so we’ll just bite the bullet. We’re already going into the mode that some items will be unavailable.” Clement said.“What wasn’t impacted, those prices have skyrocketed. We are already in the mode of ‘prep only what you’ll need.’”If the California freeze has any effect on juice processing, it will occur when processors and packinghouses start competing for late-season Valencia oranges, which are not harvested until March. By the time the freeze hit, California growers had picked 25 percent to 30 percent of its early season navel orange crop, said Duke Chadwell, the manager of the Citrus Administrative Committee in Lakeland. Because California Valencias were still on the tree when the freeze hit, they probably incurred the biggest losses, Spreen said. Before the freeze, the USDA estimated at the California Valencia crop at 13 million boxes. Florida processors were offering about $13.50 on tree for Valencia oranges before the freeze, he said, and even at the price, not many growers were selling.The on-tree price represents the price growers get from the packinghouse after deducting harvesting, transportation and packing costs. It does not account for the grower’s caretaking and other production expenses. Growers got an average $6.47 per box on tree for juice Valencias and $5 a box for fresh Valencias in the 2005-06 season, according to preliminary USDA statistics. Processors pay more for Valencias because it’s used in most not-from-concentrate, or NFC, juice products, the most widely sold type of orange juice. So processors and packinghouses could get into a real bidding war over the Florida Valencia crop, estimated at just 65 million boxes this season, Spreen said. That, in turn, will drive the retail prices for NFC orange juice and fresh Valencia oranges even higher, he said. “It’s going to be pretty expensive (for the consumer) this year,” he said. The good news for Florida processors and packinghouses is that on-tree prices probably won’t double, Spreen said, but that’s only because they began at a much higher level this season. Even with more Florida oranges going into the fresh market instead of the juice side, the effect will amount to a “minor negative” for OJ production, Spreen said.It might mean another 1 million orange boxes going fresh. “One million boxes is not that much fruit relative to the processing industry. It’s only a few million gallons.”

Evacuation help is here

I know, I know it's a tad early to start thinking about evacuations, hurricanes and the like.

It's a wonderful thing when you come upon something so very worthwhile and ya found the dern site strictly by accident.

Well maybe it wasn't a fluke, maybe I was meant to find this site http://EvacuationHelp.com

Glad I did, so please help me spread the word. Go to Evacuation Help read how to get involved, it's really quite simple. It could save someones life. All I can think of is the look on some of those folks during Katrina, not just New Orleans all over the Gulf Coast states. A whisper and it would have been right here in dear old Florida.

Their goal is to mobilize fellow Americans to build Pre-Disaster Relationships (PDR) across the country in the hopes to get everybody out of harms way ahead of time, in turn saving lives and helping each other to maintain a quality of life and preserve our integrity and pride.

So please, spend some time read the site and if you are in a position to volunteer it would be appreciated. They have a great contact, just email them if you have any questions. If not tell someone about Evacuation Help.

And yes I signed up.

stay tuna'd cause I bet there's more from this group on the horizon.

why???

Read THIS once again and tell me why do we want to send 20 thousand more troops to Iraq.

Just think about the latest, for lack of a better word, SCREW UP! If they cannot hang a man correctly, my God is there such a thing as that!!! Why do we want to send more men and women to this country and jepordize their lives.

Consider writing the President and all the good folks in Congress, see what we can do. There really is such a thing as power to the people. At least try!

When I wrote to the President concerning my thoughts of the Iraq debacle, my sister wrote as well, read her blog about the situation http://frenchbenefits.blogspot.com/ Anyway she got a response from the White House, however it being a form letter but a response none the less. I got nothing. I felt like maybe I was on a list of some kind until yesterday, I got the same stupid form email.

Some ask could it get worse I say stay tuna'd....

no labels here

Many of you have heard me speak of a market I frequent called PUBLIX. It's a chain of many stores, that is employee owned, throughout Florida, Georgia and a few in South Carolina I think.

To bring attention to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day today Publix put a full page ad in the newspaper that nearly blew me away.

Picture several tin cans without labels on a grocery shelf, and the statement underneath...

In honor of a man who didn't believe in labels.

Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 1.15.07

My patience is just about over

I went to bed last nite somewhat afraid of the consequences that are going to come from the speech of the President along with the gazillion talking heads that had to join in.

A few things that bother me and I'm sure that list will grow as all of this mess esculates.

One is when they were interviewing the reporters on the White House lawn you could hear demonstrators in the background. Oh my God! Not that I don't want people to demonstrate I do, I just have these horrible flashbacks of the 60's.

Another worriesome item is he kept mentioning the region Iran and Syria. Oh my God! Seems to me that Iraq will implode and poor Turkey who is tring to mind their own business and happens to border on Iraq with Syria to their south. Oh lord there is gonna be a huge civil war over there.

I woke up to my bunky saying some pretty radical things about the President and this mess he has got us into. Now those of you that know my husband know he is not the least bit radical or horribly outspoken on the President, the Government or anything else for that matter. Yep he spent 4 years in the U S Air Force, as a Canadian resident I am reminding you. And yes he was in Vietnam more than once , so what, so were a lot of other very brave folk. But he's having flashbacks of more boots on the ground rhetoric and it's not looking good.

I do not see any good to come out of this what so ever, ever, ever. BUT stay tuna'd...let's see if this new Congress has any balls.

Happy Birthday Elvis and Jeff

A friend told me today was her husbands birthday, Happy Birthday Jeff.
Then she reminded me it was also the birthday of Elvis. OK!!!

Not that I have ever celebrated Elvis Presley's birthday BUT I do have a few memories of Elvis. So when my friend mentioned this event, a couple of Elvis memories immediately came to mind.

One of which was WAAAAAAY back when he first appeared on the Ed Sullivan show. We lived in Indiana, had a black & white television, beautiful piece of furniture, blond wood, anyway the tuner was broke and to keep it on the station you wanted to watch you had to hold the tuner. I sat inches away from the TV for the whole time while old Elvis swiveled his hips and sang to the world. I even remember the two sofas we had in the living room were quite stylish of black and white tweedy material and very modern. Long time ago.

Now I was never ever an Elvis screamer but I had his records and saw his insipid movies cause I thought he was rather handsome.

Now fast forward many years to being married and living in Connecticut. Sometime in the spring or early summer of 1977 I hear that Elvis is coming to Hartford. I mention this to my dear husband, says sure let's get ticket for his concert in August. I toddle on up to Hartford when the tickets go on sale, wait in line, get really good seats for his show on August 18th.

Well do ya see where I'm going with this??? Tragically Elvis departed this world on August 16, 1977. Not only did I not get to see him which I would have enjoyed BUT husband, without my knowledge, took the tickets back and got a refund. Then went and bought me an Elvis album.
The dear sweet soul came home and handed me this album, I say what the hell is this? as I am such an ungrate person aren't I. Well he says since you didn't get to see Elvis and I know how disappointed you were I thought I would get you his album. How sweet I say but DO YOU KNOW HOW VALUABLE THOSE TICKETS WOULD BE IF YOU KEPT THEM!!!

Actually the thought never crossed husbands mind because he doesn't think like that. And I apologized for being so ungrateful and to tell ya the truth I don't know now if the tickets would be of any value. But let me tell you when the name Elvis comes up husband usually will tell someone about the returned tickets. My man is a keeper.

Random thoughts and a good thing

A few years ago after retiring, permanently, for the second ot third time. Oh that's for another blog. Anyway I put on a gew inches, pounds, gray hairs and such. So it was then that I decided after perusing the internet and library for diets, it's not a diet at all I was looking for it's a lifestyle change oh yeah and to break bad habits.

But on a side note, when searching thru many magazines I noticed a very disturbing, repetetive something going on in these magazine. On the cover in very BOLD letters reads "OUR BEST DIET EVER" and then maybe at the bottom of the page in a somewhat smaller font is an article about
"OH So-Good Desserts!" Now I guess the publishers of theses magazines must be all things to all people but come on the recipe for Chocolate Creme Brulee followed by the best diet ever seems rather un-kind.

I digress - here goes, I started back walking more and enjoying it more last week. Doing two and a half to three miles daily outside when weather permits then on thos sticky humid days, which we are having a lot of these days, I pop in my Walk off the Pounds DVD and walk with the annoying Leslie Sansome.
And guess what I really do believe endorphins are our friends...stay tuna'd