Lonnng weekend coming

Well today/tonight will be long I am sure. My brothers father in law passed earlier this week and tonight is the all night wake. Starting at 4:00 PM and going all night till the early morning hours. Will I be there all night long? No but they are family so I need to be there for a while to show my support. Especially with the kids. They loved their grandpa and they are still very young so it may be a little hard for them to understand what is going on.

Saturday will on some small level be a day of rest until the evening when I have to drag myself to the latest and greatest Elktone gig. I think I am becoming really old in mind because I am starting to want to stay home on Saturday nights??? How in the world did this happen? I have a rock star reputation - those silly people. This will require a trip to South Beach soon.

Sunday is Super Bowl Party at my Elks Lodge. Pot Luck. Have no idea what I will be bringing I am thinking Garden Salad. Ok that will go over real well in a party with what I am sure will have wings, cuban pork, chips, dips, beans, and then Garden Salad. Gotta love it.

Stay Tune..

Happy Tuesday

Happy Tuesday! Yesterday was the Chinese New Year, and now it has come and gone and yes I did have Won Ton Soup and uncut long noodles and sauce for lunch. It was actually pretty good. And for the record no I was not hungry an hour later. Hee hee hee.

Tonight I shall be going to my Local Elks Lodge for dinner. We are taking our Great Grandmother (91 years old) there for dinner. We feel she will fit in really nice there and feel comfortable.

On a sad note my Brothers Father in Law passed away early Monday morning and he will be missed. In our family we are all close and love each other so he is a missed loved one for us now. He was in a lot of pain for a long time. Among other things he had cancer and his liver eventually failed him. We actually feel better he is no longer in pain and at peace. The services/viewing will be Friday night. In our culture viewings are an all night affair to send the loved one on to the light. While I will not be there all night I do plan on staying with the family for a while. Mainly more for the kids in 3 years they have lost 3 grandparents and sometimes for the little ones it is hard to understand.

Better times are ahead we know that.

Todays Quote:

Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

Celebrate the year of the Ox

Welcome to the 4707th year of the Chinese lunar calendar. Thus making this the Year of the Ox. I thought since in this world we are fortunate to be surrounded by many different cultures and personalities I would give a small tribute to the Chinese and their year today. The Ox is the sign of properity through fortitute and hard work! I like that A LOT! The Year of the Ox is denoted by the earthly branch character 丑. In the Vietnamese zodiac, the water buffalo (zodiac) occupies the position of the ox. Ox people need peace and quiet to work through their ideas, and when they have set their mind on something it is hard for them to be convinced otherwise. It is important to remember that the Ox people are sociable and relaxed when they feel secure, but occasionally a dark cloud looms over such people and they engage all the trials of the whole world and seek solutions for them. Hum am I an Ox person? The answer to that question is no I just fell shy of being born in the year of the Ox. The Ox years have been 1937, 49, 61, 73, 85, 97.

So if you can to celebrate the Chinese new year eat some Chinese food. A little lesson I recently learned in the Spiritual sense traditional Chinese people will eat Fried Rice for properity and will eat uncut noodles because represents longevity and long life. On this day they will sleep with the windows to their homes open to scare of evil spirits, will not wash their hair today.

More little facts about the Chinese New Year is The origins of the Chinese New Year celebrations were born out of fear and myth. Legend spoke of the wild beast Nien (which also is the word for "year") that appeared at the end of each year, attacking and killing villagers. Loud noises and bright lights were used to scare the beast away, and the Chinese New Year celebrations were born.

So there you have it my tribute to the New Year. May we all have health, peace, love and properity.

Warm days ahead

It is warming up guys! Currently it is 54 outside but it will warm up to 67 yeah beach weather some would say. Ah it was nice while it lasted.

Well it is Friday and the weekend is already here. What will the weekend bring?

Stay tune..

Weather - LOVE IT

It's 46 and soooooo cold! And I hate to say this but it warmed up to 46 because when I got up it was colder and I heard on the news in some areas with the wind chill it felt close to low 30's upper 20's YIKES Batman that is cold! Yeah another jacket day this time the jacket was the thicker one used in New York. Yeah that's right I had to break it out from way back in the closet (note to self send jacket to get dry cleaned its been hiding back there for a few years collecting dust). There are Freezing warnings throughout the state. Yeah things stop when it gets that cold not just because it is cold but because of the crops and plant life being harmed.

In the last few days and even today I have heard a couple people say "Ok I am tired of this enough" "This is ridiculous we are in Miami it is not suppose to be like this" "I am sick of this cold weather." OK come on people we are having the pleasure of getting a nice cool spell, lets enjoy it. If we had this for months at a time I would tend to agree but come on a week maybe 2 if we are lucky - I think we can handle it. Before you know it the heat and humid temps will be back you can go back to sweating. Yeah I am looking forward to that.

Time to slightly change the subject, have you watched American Idol? Oh boy it is good. While there are the usual "are you kidding me" people trying out I have heard quite a nice selection of good talent too. I think we may see the next super star. Some really sounded pretty good. I like the new judge she seems to be a keeper.

The weekend is almost here there is an Elktone function - yee pee. Then the rest of the weekend is rest and chill.

Stay Tune

It is cold no freezing in Miami??

Huh? What is up with that? Ok I do not complain about it being cold and no I am not complaining but oh yeah it is super duper cold!! Look at how it is right now!





48° Clear Wind: NW at 13 mph Humidity: 46% Wind Chill: 43°





It is 48 and feels like 43 and depending what part of town you are in can be colder. Oh yeah baby it is cold. Now look at the forecast!

This means it is not going to warm up in the usual 2 days. How COOL is that? I actually wore my jacket to work today. Oh yeah I sure did.

Ok so here we are the day after the new beginning for this Country. The hope is that we can come and stay together and work to rebuild our lives and become a stronger nation. The economy sucks and our new President has a tough road ahead but I think if the government tries then we the people will also try and together we can move ahead.

All I have to say is...

Stay Tune..

Todays Quote:

Overcoming Limits

"Discovering new worlds will not only
bring you happiness and wisdom,
but also sadness and fear.
How could you value happiness
without knowing what sadness is?
How could you achieve wisdom
without facing your own fears?
In the end, the great challenge in life
is to overcome
the limits within yourself,
pushing them to places you would never
have dreamed they could go."

A New Dawn

A new dawn is here. Today this country will have a new President and a milestone at that. The first African American President and he promises change. Well, we already know change just by the President. I can't wait to see how he changes the country. I am looking forward to the economy being better, more jobs opening, people having better opportunities. While this is a great country to live in, there tends to be a trend that if you do not have the money then you are going to get no where. I once heard someone say that kids in the lower level commit the crimes because they have worthless parents who do not care about them. I was in an environment where confronting him on that would not had been favorable because no one there would of backed me up so I needed to refrain. But I wanted to say you know I am one of those kids that for the first 14 years of my life I lived in one of those neighborhoods and guess what my parents did care. They cared enough to work their buns off even though this was a time where two incomes was not popular. But they did it. While sometimes I agree there are some who are so messed up they neglect their kids, guess what not all parents living there are like that. Some are struggling just to keep the roof over their heads and feed their kids. And, it is people like that which makes it hard for working class dogs to get even a little ahead. They see where they live and automatically judge them. Is that fair to judge someone based solely on where they live? No I do not think so and maybe the next few years there will be better chances for people to move on up. I hope we get more and more diversity in our culture and we see change for the better. Not just in this country but all over.

Ok so the last few days have been rather nice and peaceful. Friday night we were at the lodge for the Friday Night dinner thing and my gang of usual suspects came and it was just a great time. I love sitting down with a small group of friends and hanging out laughing and just enjoying the time. Saturday was nice too. My BFF from like Junior High came over and we went to yeah hold your horse my Elks Lodge. The http://www.gold-diggers.org/ were having a preview party and we got to crash the party and watch some numbers. The girls and guys use the ballroom for practices starting this week so it was nice to go by and see some old friends and meet some new ones. Sunday was nice too a great lazy day and then went to my mother in laws for dinner. "Granny" is in town - mind you Granny is 91 years old and quite sweet. Monday was a super duper day it was a true lazy day. Did well - nothing all day. LOVED IT!

Now today/now back to work. Well I suppose it was about time right? We shall see. I should of taken off to the see the swearing in but I am recording it so I can skip through the babble of the reporters and stuff like that. Now I am just looking forward to the week.

Stay tune..

Mid Week Already

I cannot believe it is already Wednesday mid-week and not just that but midway through January! Oh time is a ticking. The Rocky Horror Movie Party has been called off - pity. I am so glad I did not go out and spend a ton of money on toilet paper, lab coats, party hats, rice, toast, etc...oh yeah and that does not count the food we were going to make. Hopefully it will happen.

This week has been good. I have tons of work some annoying but thats part of the deal of working sometimes it gets a little annoying. The first show of American Idol was last night and it is always one of the best to see people who truly think they are good. You have to have a special kind of need to see and hear what the previous winners sound like and then think oh yeah I am just as good if not better. It just amazes me truly funny. The Mentalist was also on and that was "so-so". There was a story on witches and I found myself not wanting to watch TV's version of witches because I do know better so instead I watched more American Idol. I may go back and watch I did tape it just to give it a chance.

The book I know I know I said I would start it and I must be running on Cuban time because I have not started it but man I am thinking about it a lot. I will yes I will.

Tonight is Elks Meeting I hope it all goes smoothly.

Stay Tune

The Group still lives!

Ok this weekend was pretty fabulous. Thanks to Facebook and a few emails I have managed to hook up with a few friends from the past. I had not lost touch with all of them ok actually I only kept in touch with 3 of them, but we did hook up. Way back in the day/yeah I would say early 80's and 2 from the 70's was when we became friends. At a young age of 16 my best friend Patty and I decided to work in the mall at JcPenney and we developed a nice friendship with a few people. We all would go out together have parties in our homes and we decided we need a name for our group so we called ourselves The Group. Yes I know extremly original what can I say. Well after countless emails and endless "no can't make it on that day" we finally picked this date out and a place here we are. Not everyone was able to make it but we figured we needed to make the effort and do it and keep it up. We went and had lunch then went to see the move Bride Wars and hung out in "the mall". Oh yes best part was we decided to play Power Ball Lotto and we all bought a ticket with the same number and decided if we won we would have to have a party at the Plaza in New York - you have to see the movie to understand. Well no party at the Plaza - at least not now. But the memories of that afternoon/early evening was priceless.

It made me realize life is short and one should thank their blessings for special friends. Making a little effort to make it happen is so rewarding. We could of easily given up after all this get together has been in the works for 3 months but kept up the effort and gosh I am so glad we did! This was Saturday's event.

Friday was dinner at the lodge with some friends and that was fun too! We had the best time eating, laughing and planning a Rocky Horror Movie Party. Then once we did that we broke out the Wii Bowling and played quite a few games.

Yes such the life of the rock star.

What else will life bring...

Stay Tune...

Gator Nation in Miami

Gators were biting last night that is for sure. It was a happy household last night. And this morning I suspect someone wore their Gator shirt to work since they now have bragging rights. Makes you wonder their star quarterback will not be back next season because well he graduates I wonder if the Gators will still be on top? Regardless I am sure it will be a great season. Congratulations Gators well deserved. And for those who are not Gator fans (and you know who you are) think of a raspberry....hee hee hee...

Tonight I am going to my Elks Lodge (surprising isn't it?) for dinner and some of my best buddies will be there. This should be fun because we are planning a Rocky Horror Movie Party at a mutual friends house. Oh yeah it is going to be fun hanging and dancing the weird dance and singing and just acting totally silly. I can't wait!

Have a great weekend everyone...and Peace

A Sports Minute Lola Style

It is a rare moment when I talk/write sports mainly because I am so not sports knowledgeable but today is a special moment. As far as teams I really only truly enjoy one team and that is the Miami Dolphins. Yeah the last season was well a wash out but this season goodness we made it to the playoffs! Yeah Fins! The Dolphins, fresh off a franchise-worst 1-15 mark and having been absent from the playoffs for six frustrating seasons, learned how to win again in 2008. The actually won the AFC Division! So even though they are longer in the playoffs gosh darn it they did pretty darn good! So go Fins.

Then we go into college football. This is one I walk a thin line on because you see I grew up in the University Of Miami Hurricanes part of town, when I was a temp I worked the campus often and met many nice people there. I actually enjoyed going there. So I pretty much always supported the Hurricanes. Then I met a Gator and it gets better I married him - yeah I know! For the most part it is fine the Canes and Gators rarely play each other so I can route for both teams. I cheer for the Canes and I cheer for the Gators but it is known when they play each other my cheer is mainly for the Canes. So tonight is the Gators versus the Sooners. Should be a no brainer cheer for the Gators (and I am) but one of my buddies at the lodge a really nice guy is a Sooner! Yikes! How in the world did that happen? Well no I am not changing I am still a Gator fan but it should be interesting. So go Gators!

Now who do you think will win?

Stay tune..

A freaking out post.

I know I tend whine about our constant weather of hot, warm, mild, hot, hot, hot. Then there are days when I watch the morning news and the weather around the country and I see wicked winter weather out there. I see tons of snow on the roof of homes and people fearing that the roof may cave in unless it is shoveled off immediately. I think oh my goodness I could never shovel snow off my roof! Then I sit back and I look around and at our forecast and I am happy for my blessings. Do I still want cold weather? Well YEAH but I am happy for this weather right now because I am not trained on wicked winter weather. I hope the ugly weather passes fast and with little damage to people and their homes.

In other news I have a Trustees meeting tonight at my Lodge plus afterwards I will be preparing quarterly reports to submit to several committee leaders. Oh yeah it is going to be a fun rock star night. Also more "bringing up to speed" on being Exalted Ruler in April. The nominations are in February and I guess I have to accept the fact I will take over the Lodge for the upcoming Elk Year. Ok I am actually getting nervous about this. I have been around for a few years I have worked in the office gone to conventions why in the world am I getting nervous? I don't know but I am I have this fear no one will want to help in anything and as of yet my officer positions are not filled. Yeah I am freaking a bit. I can't seem to want to find people who want to commit to attending meetings twice a week and it is not like our meetings are long. ARGG. Ok freaking out freaking out freaking out. Whew I feel better now!

Work is good it is keeping me busy so that is always good. The upcoming months of Elk traveling is approaching, oh dear this time I am traveling as Exalted Ruler? Titles are bad yeah titles are bad one tends to focus on the title and not the person so my new goal is to forget title and do the best job possible? How is that? Yeah I like that.

Stay tune

5 days already?

Can you believe 5 days into the new year is already here? I know I can't oh but times flies when you are having fun. The illness has finally gone it's way - yee pee! Now the illness of work - ok work is not so bad it actually helps make the day go by.

Time to put all those things into motion. Yes the notebook is open the book on creating characters is there yeah I see it I will get to it. But the notebook is open that is good thing right?

I hope everyone has a great new year lets make this a year of change for the better and bringing harmony into our lives.