That sucks!!

I am so excited as I have already mentioned to some. I got a new vacuum yesterday! Sounds crazy, but get this...

So, I am vacuuming one day and all of a sudden the damn thing starts making all this noise and black pieces start coming out of the bottom. Immediately I stop. Ok, what could this be?? I tell my wonderful man to check it out and please fix it. Well, after he takes the whole entire thing apart, down to the little wires, he sees that there is a problem with some rubber piece which is a cushion of some sort for the motor. Ok, whatever....So fix it!!! I have some cleaning to do. Well, easier said than done. He calls around vacuum repair shops looking for this piece. Now the vacuum is like 5 yrs. old or something, so we are having a hard time. I go online and finally find it for like $4. Awesome right! Well, at the same time, he is on the phone with Bissell. He talks to them about the part and they tell me that it is obsolete and that the part is not available anymore. Great!!! I need a vacuum.....So I told him that I would order the part online and it would be done. Fine, no not fine. He wanted to go through Bissell. Well, they told him to cut off the cord of the broken vac and send it to them. Now I have nothing at all to vacuum with. So he spliced some wires and fixed the other one temporarily, thanks!!

So yesterday, I get a knock on the door and it is FedEx. Hmmm....what could this be? I look out the door and there sat a entirely new vac. AWESOME!!!!! I know that just means more cleaning, that is OK with me. One thing I don't like is having to do things without the right tools...Now I have a new vac that really sucks and good. Hehe!!!

Could this be the start of something good??

So, I am sitting there listening to the news as I am teaching lessons this morning. I know, "I'm not watching anymore..." I have to blame my bf, he always watches it. Anyhow...as I am listening, I hear something about California and the possibility of making marijuana legal. Hmmm! I said to myself, seems interesting, need to hear more. So I wait till it comes on and listen. From what I understood, if they legalize it, they expect to generate 1.3 billion dollars in taxes. Most people of course don't agree with that. Some say that people would smoke more if made legal. From how I see it, they wouldn't. They are people all over the US that smoke it now illegally. Will they smoke more??? I guess we won't truly know till it happens. On the other side of things, how 'bout the jobs it could create? It is like agriculture, right. So we could have people keeping the crops, packing, selling, etc...Sounds like bunches of jobs to me. Could it really help the economy. Think about this... instead of spending money trying to fight something that has been and will continue to happen, how about earning some money on it. Shit, more that half everyone I know smokes...in fact I know more people who do, than don't. Would they smoke more, I don't think so. I think it would be the same, except they would easily be able to go get it...I know that I would pay taxes on it and have it regulated just like alcohol. In fact, it's too bad alcohol is legal, because really it should be the one illegal....It does more harm to you than marijuana does. I can't say that I have heard anyone anywhere that uses alcohol for medicinal purposes????? If you know, please inform me...on the other hand, marijuana is used for many things medically. It is also used for other purpose besides medical. Did you know the Declaration of Independence was drafted on hemp paper? You can read more about hemp and its benefits on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp.

Ok, maybe I am just rambling, but I know personally that if it became legal, I would more than likely not even drink alcohol. The damage alcohol does more than outweighs the benefits of marijuana, whether it be in full form or just medicinal.

If one state legalizes it, will other states follow? Maybe if they see an increase in state tax revenue. I know I would. Quit trying to fight a loosing battle, embrace it and use it for good instead.

I know there are many other issues out there regarding this and I would love to hear your imput!!!

Family Vacation

Well, where do I start. Thanks to Uncle Sam, and all my hard work, I was able to take my family on a wonderful vacation. It will probably be the last for some time as the economy sucks! Anyhow...

We decided to go on a cruise. With the help of a good neighbor we were able to get a good deal, so we booked it. This was the first for all of us. We went to Key West and Cozumel, also a first.

We departed the Port of Miami on Monday the 16th, about 4 p.m. We were on our way. We first ate lunch as soon as we boarded the ship. It took some time before our room was ready, so we got started immediately. (Now I won't try to bore you with every detail, I do have some pics). Of course, the first nite we partied. The ship had all kinds of things for the kids to do and so they did. We barely saw them the whole 4 days. AWESOME!!!!

The second day we arrived in Key West. Since the partying was so heavy the night before, we didn't depart. We had been there many times before anyways. So that day was spent mostly in the sun, hanging out with a few people we had met the first night. It was so relaxing, I just couldn't believe it was really happening. We departed Key West about 2 p.m. and were on our way to Cozumel, Mexico. Yipee!!! We had our elegant dinner at 6 p.m. and boy was it good! After that, Jeff, Max and I went to the Captains Coctail Party. Max really wanted to meet him. After that we went to the pool and dropped Max off at the game room with Sam. Well, the second night didn't go as well, something about a hang over and a rocking ship that doesn't mix....

Third day we did some more hanging out and relaxing. In the meantime, the kids are hanging out with their new friends. My boys were back and forth, from mini golf to ice cream machine. I guess they were in their own worlds too. Every evening around 9 or 10 they asked to go to Camp Carnival, which was a fun place for the kids under 11. There was also a 12-14 yr. old club, thats where my big girl hung out. I must say I rarely saw her! She had a blast. So anywho, we arrived at Puerto Maya in Cozumel at 1 p.m. We took a taxi ride to Playa Corona and went snorkeling. The water was beautiful and crystal clear. A little too cold for us spoiled Floridians, but still just as wonderful. We had lunch at Three Amigos Restuarant at the port. After a few hours on shore, then back on the ship, the kids missed their new friends. Again, more hanging out and partying. That night was till 6 a.m. WOOOWW!!!!

Then comes the forth day. The fun day at sea, and that it was. Back to sunning and eating and having fun. Kids doing their things, parents doing theirs. We basically hung out with the two same couples that we met the first night. They were a blast too. It is so nice to mingle with people, just love it!!! We did some dancing, mostly everynight! Had to, I just don't get much of that at home anymore, ya know reality...We didn't hang out too long the last night, had to be up wayyyyyyy tooooo early.

We arrived back at the Port of Miami at 8 a.m. on Friday the 20th. Nothing amazing obviously, except for how much we were going to miss all the people we just spent four days with.

I have more pics if you are interested... go to http://picasaweb.google.com/Minicaca73/FamilyVacation?authkey=XP2xj2upItY&feat=directlink

So in Love...

Today I am so in love with life. I woke up feeling great, refreshed! I want to find something to do today, but like always I have a house full of kids. Maybe that is what is so great. I love to see the kids happy, and not bugging me. Shy had a friend sleep over and so did Sam. So we have a total of 5 kids in the house. Seems to be the normal on most days. Sometimes it is more, but 5 is the average. I knew I should have had more, lol! NOT!!! The best thing is that they do go home, hehe!

So, the sun is shining and there is gas in the car. Maybe a ride to the beautiful Florida Keys would be in order. Ahhh, that sounds good. I could just listen to music and let the kids do whatever. Maybe after breakfast I will ask them what they think. We have been in the house all week, because the cold weather. Today is just beautiful, no need to be inside today!!

There are, of course, things I need to do today, like clean. But I can do that later. The house is a clean one anyhow. Lots of people think it is too clean! I agree, not today, or not right now.

I am making progress with my business so that is another thing I feel refreshed about. Like I said I feel so rejuvenated today.

Call me crazy...

Ok, so you may think that I am crazy, but I am suffering a loss tonight. It is because of my little pet rat, Socks. She died tonight while we were out. She, after 3 yrs of life, got a tumor. This is very common among older rats. It ended up hindering her breathing because it was right under her neck. She had the tumor for quite some time, so eventually she was destined to die. Of course, it is always sad to lose a pet.


This is the latest pic of her...


May she rest in peace...


We still have my other rat, Nena. She is way alive and kicking (Stacey). She helped Socks in her last days by holding up her head up to help her breath. Something about rats that people don't realize is that they are very personable. They love affection. Socks was a very loving rat. You could hold her on your shoulder for hours. She only bit when you stuck your finger in her cage. LOL! There were many of times that I would take her out in public. People freaked, why because it was a rat. Some people just don't understand..


It's funny because I didn't like her at first because she was the cause of my other rats' death. I blamed her for a long time before I could accept her as being, well, just another pet rat. I have loved all my rats. But after this I am done. I don't think I can stand to lose any more pets.



She will be greatly missed....