Does anyone remember Gwen Verdon? She was a dancer in the 50’s and 60’s famous for her rolls in Damn Yankees, Sweet Charity, Chicago and Can Can. Here is a nice little video of Gwen dancing to Mexican  Breakfast, choreographed by her husband Bob Fosse.

HERE SHE IS DANCING TO BEYONCE KNOWLES’ “SINGLE LADIES”!

Dontcha just love technology?

With the holidays coming up, It’s going to be hectic for the next two months. This is the time of year where I wish I could take a nice long trip somewhere. Starting in November our family always goes to the Simi Valley Town Center’s Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. We will all be going tomorrow evening (early this year). Guess they have to get everyone in the Christmas Spirit so they will let loose of some of that cash they have in their pockets.

Here are some pictures taken last year. The first one is of my Grandson Jeremy. There is a candy store nearby and his mother gave him $.87 cents to buy a piece of candy. Now what in the world can you buy for $.87 cents? When Jeremy left the candy store, he had a bag full of candy costing a grand total of around $18.00 (compliments of his Auntie Teresa).

The Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony is a grand event. The tree stands 67 feet tall, is adorned with 10,000 lights and 10,000 ornaments and weighs 12,000 pounds after it is decorated with the lights and ornaments. Here is a short video of the  Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony that I took last year. There are laser lights, music, fog and snow.

The next video has the “Snow Princess” waving around her wand and Jeremy eating his candy. He is not even interested in the Snow Princess. We thought she was going to “fly” through the air like Tinkerbell, but I guess she had a fear of heights. Watching Jeremy eat his candy was a lot more fun that watching the Snow Princess.

]]> http://theemptynest.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/tis-the-season/feed/ 2 Kathryn jeremys-candy http://theemptynest.wordpress.com/2008/11/10/im-a-kreativ-blogger/ http://theemptynest.wordpress.com/2008/11/10/im-a-kreativ-blogger/#comments Mon, 10 Nov 2008 20:04:05 +0000 Kathryn http://theemptynest.wordpress.com/?p=207 ]]>

Woo Hoo! Joy at Joy of Desserts gave me this really neat Kreativ Blogger Award. And for the last three months I have had writer’s block! Thank you Joy! I will proudly display this on my Awards Page. This Award is kinda kreativ in itself ‘cuz you have to list and answer 7 groups of 7 questions. So here goes….

Seven things I did before:

1. Had three children

2. Worked for an attorney as a paralegal

3. Was a candy striper when I was young girl

4. Volunteered on Thanksgiving to serve the homeless

5. Became unemployed

6. Grabbed a waiter at my son’s wedding and made him dance with me

7. Talk to strangers anywhere (ask my daughter about the time we were in Williams Arizona)

Seven things I would like to do:

1. Go to Las Vegas to see if things that happen in Vegas really stays in Vegas

2. Go to Santa Catalina Island and see the flying fish

3. Go wine tasting in Napa Valley with a designated driver

4. Go skydiving and being able to leave the roll of toilet paper at home

5. Be 21 again

6. Retire with tons of cash (I hate the taste of dog food)

7. Sell my two houses in Arizona for a profit (like that’s gonna happen)

Seven things that attracted me to my husband:

Since I have not been married for many many years, and I am getting up in age, I forgot the seven things that attracted me to my husband. I do remember one thing though….my hormones were at fault!

My seven favorite foods are:

1. Anything chocolate

2. Any kind of pie

3. Any Sprinkles cup cake

4. A large Mc Donald’s sugar free vanilla iced coffee. Yum yum. (I will be getting an email from someone in Tasmania)

5. Brownies with vanilla ice cream

6. Anything in the “sugar food group”

7. Haagen Daz Ice Cream

(do you see a pattern here?)

Seven things I say most often:

1. “Do you love your mama?” I say this to my dogs

2.  “I lost the remote again.”

3. “Oops”

4.  “Move that bus.”

5. Starting a sentence with the word…”So”

6.  “That’s cool”

7.  My one and only expletive word that starts with an “S”.

Seven people I am tagging:

Instead of a “Tag”, I would like to make this a “Meme”. Feel free to grab this Award and post it on your blog. Don’t forget to post 7 questions in 7 categories and link back to me. Have fun!

California is over $60 billion in debt and is among only a few states that has borrowed to close a budget gap! In 2004, $11 billion in “Economic Recovery Bonds”  were issued, and the governor’s 2008-09 budget calls for  borrowing an additional $3 billion to cover current budget shortfalls.

California’s bond rating is lower than all states except Louisiana. The lower the bond rating, the higher the interest rates are. It’s sort of like our own FICO scores. California can expect to pay more to borrow as long as its budget and debt practices persist.

General Obligation Bonds make up 72 percent of California’s outstanding debt. A general obligation pledge (promising to raise tax revenues to the levels needed to repay them) are the least expensive form of debt, but they often require voter approval. Most California voters know very little or nothing about how bonds are repaid.

With this being said, I am trodding right down to my polling place and save California from diving into more debt.  There are 13  State Propositions.. 4 are for the sale of Bonds and 2 of them are for allocation and funding of money we don’t have.

Here is just one of these great Proposition that I know someone must have stayed up all night to think about and draft:

1. PROPOSITION 1A. SAFE RELIABLE HIGH-SPEED PASSENGER TRAIN BOND ACT. To provide California a safe convenient, affordable, and reliable alternative to driving and high gas prices; to provide good paying jobs and improve California’s economy while reducing air pollution, global warming, greenhouse gases, and our dependence on foreign oil.

Question: Shall $9.95 BILLION in bonds be issued to establish a clean, efficient high-speed train service linking Southern California, the Sacramento/San Juaquin Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area.

My Answer is: NO. Just how many people will use this high-speed passenger train? Let’s see…I will probably use it once every five years. It’s not convenient for me. Now make one to Las Vegas and I might consider a YES vote.

How many times a day is this high-speed passenger train going to run? I take Amtrak three times a year to Arizona. They have one frikkin’ train a day. The Southwest Chief leaves Los Angeles at 6:45 p.m. and drops me off in Kingman Arizona around 12:45 a.m. (if they are on schedule).  Just when I get into a deep slumber and dreaming of winning the lottery, the conductor wakes me up for my stop. Here I am in a podunk little town in the dark in the middle of nowhere at 12:45 a.m. I have never had the priviledge of calling Amtrak and telling them that I would like to leave Los Angeles and arrive in Kingman at 2:00 in the afternoon.

Just how affordable is this high-speed train service going to be? Let’s see….an affordable price to me would be $30.00 or $40.00 one way. But then when I add in the tax I will be paying for this service, I know it is getting a little too expensive for me.

My solution to this proposition is to let Amtrak purchase high-speed trains and use their our own existing tracks. Problem is solved!

To all my “friends”. I did what you told me…I sent the email to 10 people like you said…I’m still waiting for that miracle to happen…

To all of you who sent me best “wishes”, chain letters, “angel” letters or other promises of good luck if I forwarded something. NONE OF THAT CRAP WORKED!

From now on could you please just send money, vodka, chocolate, movie tickets or gasoline vouchers and airline tickets instead?

Thank you!

 Joy at Joy of Desserts is having her “We All Scream For Ice Cream”  Recipe Round Up. Here is my contribution.

I love ice cream and I try to find ways to make it even more delicious. I got this recipe from Paula Deen on The Food Network. This milkshake is soooo decadent and sinfully delicious. It’s just like drinking a cinnamon roll. It is to die for! WARNING: This milkshake is so yummy. Please refrain from drinking it too fast or “brain freeze” will occur.

CINNAMON ROLL MILKSHAKE

4 scoops vanilla ice cream

1 package instant vanilla pudding, prepared according to directions

1 cup milk

3 heaping spoonfuls caramel ice cream topping

Cinnamon and Sugar, recipe follows

Cream Cheese Icing, recipe follows

Cinnamon stick (optional)

In a blender, mix together the ice cream, prepared pudding, milk, and caramel, Add the cinnamon/sugar mixture (Leaving a little left over). Blend until combined. Top with a dollop of cream cheese icing, sprinkle with a little cinnamon/sugar over the whole shake.  Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Cinnamon and Sugar:

3 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Combine both ingredients in a small bowl.

Cream Cheese Icing:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese

1 stick butter

3/3/4 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat together ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth and incorporated.

Make 2-4 servings

I have made this twice. The first time, I made the full-fat version as written, but I was moaning in pain afterward because of the richness. The second time I used sugar free jello Cheesecake pudding prepared with 1% milk and light ice cream. I omitted the cream cheese icing and instead topped it with a squirt of light whipped cream.  It still had a lot of sugar with the caramel sauce, cinnamon sugar and ice cream, but it lightened it up enough to where I didn’t feel like dying after eating it. And it was still just as sinful and delicious tasting as the original.

Mmmmmmmm do I love Ice Cream! Summer is here and I will be loading up my freezer with so much ice cream that brain freeze is evident.  Yum yum!

 On July 18th, Joy at Joy of Desserts will be hosting an Ice Cream Recipe Round Up. I have the most delicious ice cream recipe (not a home made ice cream recipe) and I can’t wait to share it with all of you. I can’t even give you a hint about my recipe as it is top secret and I don’t want anyone pilfering it. Well okay, I will give you a hint…it contains a lot of good “stuff”, but I am only giving you a hint of some of the ingredients. Some of th ingredients are  vanilla pudding, cream cheese and butter.  Whaaa? Come back tomorrow and my top secret recipe will be revealed.

If you love ice cream, come by her Site and get a recipe or two, and you can post your own recipe for all to enjoy. It will be lots of fun!

For those of you who just tuned in, I took a commuter Metro Liner and a Bus to work and back and wrote about it here and here.  This is the last chapter on my Adventures In Bussing.

I left work about 15 minutes early to catch my bus  home from Sun Valley to North Hollywood. The good ole’ Number 152! The bus picked me up on time, and I was glad for that. I noticed that the bus going back was pretty crowded….not packed, but crowded.

There were several young women that were wearing white knit shirts, the kind with straps and no sleeves. One particular woman wore one of those shirts with a black bra underneath with the straps showing. She was overweight, her stomach was hanging out, and she was put into her pants with a shoe horn. She had a baby slung over her hip and it was wearing nothing but a Tshirt and a diaper. Her eyebrows were pencil thin. Yes….she was “a real lady”.

Then three African Americans boarded the bus about a mile into my trip. A young man was wearing one of those black cloths that fit tightly over his head. They call those “do rags”. I guess it’s because it’s a rag that goes over your “do”. (heh heh) He was “tatted” up to his eyeballs. I was looking for gold teeth, but alas…he had none. As a matter of fact, he was missing a few of ‘em.

Since it was after 5:00 p.m., my guess would be that all the welfare recipients ”woke up”  and was now up and about.  I’m starting to get a little nervous. Then I thought…the bus driver does this every day….and if he’s not afraid, then I shouldn’t be concerned. That seemed to calm me down.  Other than that, the bus ride was uneventful.

I got off at my stop and again I walked across Lankershim Boulevard to catch the “elegant” Metro Liner. After I purchased my ticket, I had to wait for the second Metro Liner to pick me up as the first one was completely full. I hopped on the Metro Liner and got my seat. Again…there was no one to take my ticket. Oh well, I have it in case anyone wants it.

The ride was pretty good except the driver kept putting the ”pedal to the metal”.  We were going so fast that we passed another Metro Liner (they are supposed to be 4 minutes apart). When we came to a stop, she put on the brakes pretty fast, and I had to hold myself from sliding across the seat. I always try to use logic when I get a little “panicky”. Here it my logic for this one…I just kept thinking that she must not be going that fast..or we would have fish tailed or jack knifed by now. And since we haven’t done that, I tried to put that thought out of my mind.

A young woman sitting across from me, had to get off the bus, and as she  got up, she held a center pole with her right hand which steadied her. The driver put on the brakes so hard that the force of gravity swung her around that pole really fast. It was kinda comical.  If there wasn’t a sideways bar to stop her, I am sure she could have entertained everyone by giving us a pole dance. I think that she would have kept on swinging around the pole for quite some time.

In my first installment of Adventures in Bussing, I had mentioned that there were 10 parking spots reserved for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in the parking lot where I parked my car, and I couldn’t figure out why they needed the parking spaces. Well, I found out all about the Sheriff’s Department and their parking spaces. Here goes….About the fifth stop on my journey home, several people departed the Metro Liner, and 4 or 5 Sheriff’s were waiting to greet them . The Sheriff’s  randomly wait at a station and check tickets as people exit the bus Metro Liner. I later learned that you must purchase a ticket to ride the Metro Liner, but checking the tickets are random. If you are caught without a ticket, it is a really stiff fine.

When I got to my stop, I took a deep breath,  got off the Metro Liner, found my car and I drove home. Would I do it again? Never….even if gas was $5.00 a gallon. I’m too old for this type of “Adventure”.

I  described in my previous post, “Adventures in Bussing”, what it was like commuting to work on the Metro Liner from Woodland Hills to North Hollywood, California. It was a pretty exciting adventure.  Now I will tell you about my transfer in North Hollywood and my bus ride to Sun Valley on the second leg of my journey to work on the Thursday after Dump the Pump Day.

After the Metro Liner came to the end of the line in North Hollywood, the entire contents of the Metro Liner sardine can emptied out and everyone made a sharp left. Since this was my first venture, I followed hundreds of people across the street like a lemming going to it’s demise. Across Lankershim Boulevard there is a subway connection called ”The Red Line”…destination Los Angeles. There is also a station for the Metropolitan Transit Authority (busses) that take you to parts unknown.

Here we are above…crossing Lankershim Boulevard. The orange, yellow and green structure is actually a covering, and escalators take you down to the subway. I find it amazing that they would build a subway system in “Earthquake Country”. 

Here is a picture of the bus facilities which contain concrete sidewalks, small trees, and a few benches.  After roaming around a few minutes, I found my bus bay and waited about 15 minutes until the bus was ready to depart. On the bus I go, I deposit my 55 cents into the little meter, took my seat, and away we went.  This bus wasn’t as new as the Metro Liner that I previously took. There were a few people in the bus, and one of them was of questionable “gender”.  As I looked around, I couldn’t help but have a smile on my face as I snuck a peek at all the people sharing the bus with me. After I took a quick “people inventory”, I was satisfied that there were no homeless people riding with me, and that made me happy.

After riding for a few minutes, I secretly snapped a quick picture of the bus and the driver. Notice the screen in the upper left hand corner? When that screen is on, it contains the news, advertising and shows the position of the bus (GPS). There is also some little keyboard to the right of the bus driver. Every once in awhile he starts to punch the keys like he is sending  text message to someone. The machine in front of the passengers right hand is the machine that takes your money, tokens, passes and bills.

Uh oh….I just heard something foreign….something that is not quite right. I soon realized that this was a non English speaking bus. Here is a conversation I overheard heard between two middle aged women.

 First woman: “Aye Carla, Ahora voy a limpiar la casa del doctor. Odio ese lugar. Si ese chihuahuaita orina la carpeta de nuevo, Voy a renunsiar!!”

Second woman, “Si, La neta jija!”

TRANSLATION:

First woman, “Oh Carla, I am going to clean the doctors house today. It hate it there. If that little chihuahua pees on the carpet again, I am going to quit!”

Second woman, “Yes, I hear ya girl!”

The bus traveled at a snails pace and stopped just about every light to either let someone off or to let someone on.  Finally the bus rounded the corner and my stop was coming up. I pulled the wire to let the driver know that a stop was requested. It pulled around the corner and dropped me off safely at my destination.

Whew, that wasn’t that bad, and I am only 40 minutes late for work! The ride home was much more interesting than the ride to work. Stay tuned…..

THIS IS INDIA. IT’S WHERE YOU CALL WHEN YOU HAVE A TECHNICAL PROBLEM WITH YOUR COMPUTER, OR ANY TECHNICAL SUPPORT QUESTION. I KNOW I CALLED INDIA WHEN I HAD A PROBLEM WITH MY AT&T FIBER OPTICS TV RECEPTION. I KNOW I CALLED INDIA WHEN I TRIED TO CANCEL MY EARTHLINK INTERNET SERVICE. I KNOW I CALLED INDIA BECAUSE THEY HAD THEIR INDIAN ACCENTS…AND BESIDES…I ASKED. I DON’T KNOW HOW MY CALL GOT THROUGH.