THIS IS A TEST!

Every blogger has their first picture ever posted......

Here is mine , posted on Oct. 1, 2007

Which one is yours??????

Number 1
Dec. 23, 2006

Number 2

Aug. 10, 2008

Number 3
Aug. 31, 2006

Number 4

July 27, 2007

Number 5
June 7, 2006

Number 6

Nov. 17, 2005

Number 7
Sept. 24, 2006

Number 8

Nov. 15, 2007

Can't hold my tongue

Thousand of individuals from foreign countries walk unchallenged across our southern border every day. We don't know who they are, where they come from, or their intentions. It is an invasion by definition.

I am not only a citizen of Arizona but a third generation native of the state.

Standing in line waiting to board our plane from New Orleans, the news on the TV was showing Gov. Brewer signing the new law for Arizona and a young girl standing behind me asked her mother what that meant....the mother quickly replied that it was profiling and that it is a wrong thing to do and not what our country is about, but when I purposefully turned and looked at her she quickly added that people were causing a lot of trouble in Arizona and they were having a hard time.

It ceases to amaze me how people can so quickly come to a conclusion on a matter not even having read the law, or lived in the area affected but then if our Congress can pass bills without reading them I guess it should be of no surprise.

Been to an airport recently? Know how tight the security is? Know how many people are complaining that enough is not being done? Do you support airport security? Why then is it no problem that illegals with backpacks can just walk into our country in droves? Here's a news flash they don't all stay in Arizona.

Well, this is my opinion........We (America) is at fault

Many years ago we stopped adhering to the law and looked the other way. There were perhaps many reasons for this, charity, greed for cheap labor, friendships or whatever but we looked the other way and now, when just one report of illegals apprehended and retained for trial for one day, in one location, Feb. 5, 2009 shows that 325 were charged as border intruders and 8 were charged as drug runners at night, we see we have a problem.

If you are interested go here http://immigrationcounters.com/ to see some statistics.

Many years ago employers and police enforced the law that required people to have proper documentation.....a green card if you will. They are still around but few have them, why you might ask? Well they aren't that easy to get...http://uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis ...they require a sponsor, a fee, and a waiting time so if someone will hire you without one why should you bother? On a side note if you are pregnant and can get into the US and have your baby (free by the way) you have an immediate legal citizen to bind yourself with, these are called Anchor babies.

WAY back in the day when I got my first driver's license I had to bring my birth certificate, today, that is not required, and by the way you don't even have to speak English, you can take the test in Spanish here in Arizona. I guess I have lived in the dark ages because until I recently checked it out, I thought it was still required and that if you had a driver's license that proved you were here with paperwork. I think I am still a little confused on this issue because my Grandson has applied for ID (not a drivers license) and has always had to bring a copy of his birth certificate. That being said I have hired people to clean my yard or my house if they were driving and I want to share this situation with you. My past cleaning lady was a young Christian woman married with three children and has lived here in the US for 12 years or more and came to me under recommendation, one day I simply asked her if she was here legally and to my shock, she said no, that her husband was but she wasn't............These situations are why this is now a heartbreaking problem. I asked her if she was trying to become a citizen and she said "It's just not that easy". I checked it out and you see, once you come here illegally you pretty much have to go back and apply for the green card that allows you to live and work in the US for 10 years. After five years you then can apply for citizenship but not only do you have to be able to read, write and speak English you also have to understand the fundamentals of U.S. history and government and can support the principles of the U.S. Constitution to become a citizen.....Can you imagine that this is our law and yet, when a Govenor of a state tries to pass a law that to get a driver's license you must speak English it all but creates a riot?

Just to set the record straight here is a condensed version of the Arizona law:

The Arizona law requires the police to determine the immigration status of any person who is stopped for any "lawful" reason. Only if that person does not present valid, government-issued identification is there a "reasonable suspicion" that he or she is "unlawfully present in the Untied States," after which the officer must make reasonable attempts to verify the person's immigration status. State authorities are required to report the arrest or conviction of an illegal alien to Federal immigration authorities. The law requires an illegal alien (or a lawful alien who is not carrying his green card) to pay fines and jail costs.
The vast majority of the law is dedicated to imposing stiff sanctions on those who employ or smuggle illegal aliens. This Arizona law is not a new law deciding that being here without paperwork is illegal....... It is an Arizona law that creates a State penalty to mirror what already is a federal crime.
I have shared many of my hubby and I trips to Mexico on this blog and have loved going but we won't be going this year....... It is just too dangerous. In the past when a US citizen was in Mexico it was pretty clear that the government had a tight reign on any violence that would threaten the tourist market but the Mexican drug cartels now dominate and are overpowering the Mexican government. We experienced this first hand if you remember my post On June 10, 2008 on our trip to Puerto Vallarta where they robbed and killed a worker where we were for a zip line ride. Our last trip to Mexico was a Rivera Mexican cruise in 2009, some people that found out we were from Arizona asked us is it was safe to come to Arizona with all the kidnappings, drugs,murders and etc. Are people afraid to come to your state?
I am very fortunate, I live in the suburbs of Phoenix and do not hear the gun shots at night and the sirens 24 hours a day and see the results of the drive by shootings but I tell you what I do see, if I drive in certain parts of this city, I would swear I am in Mexico...the colors, sounds and all the writing on business's are in Spanish and I by the way am an intruder. I can go to my local post office on any given day and see anywhere from 3 to 7 Mexican men waiting for someone to come and offer them a day job...same thing at Home Depot. I watch the news and see a high school go against a group of us citizens wearing our American flag because it may offend those celebrating Cinco de Mayo which has absolutely nothing to do with the United States except for an excuse to party. I see people who are here illegally standing and protesting.....try that in Mexico, you will be shot. Do you know that even being born to Mexican citizens in Mexico does not give you the right to Mexican citizenship? Google "Requirements to become a Mexican Citizen" and get a big shock....You have to live there five years just to apply to become a citizen and you can not own land in your name if you are not a citizen.
I want to tell the illegal young people I see who are standing and protesting, go home and build a country others would want to come to, put your hand to the plow not up in a fist to the government that gave you a free education. I hear people say "this country is built on immigration" they just forget to add legal. Both sides of my family immigrated here from other countries but they were sponsored to come here, documented and became citizens, adhering to our culture, language, customs and contributing in taxes and accepting the reponsibilty of going to war to protect this country. Illegals do none of the above and will protest and threaten when we try to adhere to the law of our land as we are seeing.
There has been a 60 % reduction of illegal immigrants in the area between San Diego, Calif. and Yuma, Az. Why?
this is the area that the proposed wall has been completed. Now people say "you can't build a wall across the whole southern border" I say, if Congress wants to pay for job creation via Public works projects ---there is a fence that needs to be finished and by the way.....what happen to the "Yes, we can, man"? His position, and I quote...."So I want to say it again, just in case anybody is confused. The way to fix our broken immigration system is through common-sense, comprehensive immigration reform. (Applause). "That means responsibility from government to secure our borders, something we have done and will continue to do." I am sorry Mr. President, but I am confused...first you state that our immigration system is broken and then you say that the way to fix it is doing what we have done and will continue to do?
Build a fence, add border patrol, have cameras like in New York City, send in troops like we are doing in Afghanistan to protect their borders, crack down on employers hiring illegals , do whatever it takes, but the most important job of the Federal Government is to keep us safe and secure our borders!

New Olreans 6

This will be the last New Orleans post (some are breathing a sigh of relief). Of course we did all the things New Orleans is known for..... eating a beignet (fancy word for a donut) at Cafe Du Monde, strolling down Bourbon Street, Jackson Square and etc. but think this last post will be about food and drink......

Went to the Carousel bar...... Ingenious! It actually turns very slowly and is really beautiful. Located in the Hotel Monteleone.

Overall, I found the service in New Orleans to be very generic, maybe because so many people go in and out of the area and they are always serving a new face.

Even though it is the south the food is more Creole based. I personally don't care for it but did try a few things popular for the area.

A new local popular drink, Sazerac, was made with whiskey...not my favorite but did give it a try.....already tired a Hurricane on my first trip here.

As I mentioned before, there was a little Mexican food restaurant across from our resort and their food was real good to our surprise. We went to an Italian restaurant one night and had a love/hate experience. The bar area and bar tender was warm, relaxed and friendly but the restaurant area (separate room) was cramped and rushed...they all but threw the food at us and they were in the process of setting us their entertainment (a piano player) which was to have started 30 minutes earlier. Was shocked to see at the bottom of the menu that we would be charged $3.00 each for this. I told our waitress not to charge us for a service we did not get. Have never heard of charging someone for their un-advertised entertainment like that.

My very best dinner was at Mila They had wonderful bread and my Pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon on top of Celery-Root Puree was to die for. I had never eaten celery root before but I loved it! Hubby's favorite dinner was at Cochon....Oven roasted gulf fish (red fish) "fisherman style". We also had Shrimp and deviled egg gumbo here.....not bad to my surprise. Another pleasant surprise was my tomato soup and grilled ham and cheese sandwich at the World War II restaurant....big deal huh? but not only was it very good but was served real clever on a wood plank with a soup can panted white on the outside for the soup bowl........I happen to love things like that.


Most of you know my love of cookbooks so of course I had to bring home a few little ones....

"The little Gumbo Book"..The preface says "Ahhhh.... gumbo. The word itself conjures up warmth and contentment sitting before a steamy bowl of this healthy,rich, Creole dish". There was a large section on the importance of Roux and how to make it. My second book was "Soul on Rice" and it not only has recipes but also history of how the African slaves influenced American cooking as they tried to make a home away from home. I share one of the little entries with you...Hoe Cake
"Hoecake was meal mixed with water in a thick batter. Got it's name from some of 'em slappin' it on a hoe and' holdin' it in de fire place tell its cooked. Mother ain' done that. She used to cook hoecakes in a big iron pan, two or three at time. Simple fare, it was, but they was always plenty of it."

* * *

"Moisten salted corn meal with scalding water or milk. Allow it to stand for an hour. Put two or three teaspoons of this on hot greased griddle. Smooth it out to make cakes one-half inch thick and let it cook. When one side is done turn over and brown the other. Serve very hot for breakfast. This dish goes well with sausage. "

My last little book was "From the Land of Tabasco Sauce".

I was surprised to learn that the creation of Tabasco sauce came from here. I would have loved to have taken a tour of Avery Island that has existed since 1818 and founded the pepper sauce industry in 1868. The pictures of the swamp, gardens and fields are beautiful and the recipes interesting. Most include just a dash of Tabasco and may indeed lend a special touch to some old stand by's like "Picnic Potato Salad".
Now, if I just cooked:)

New Orleans 5

Swamp Tour

Signed up for a swamp tour but the real thrill is the airboat

There is nothing to compare with this....

To my surprise many parts of the swamp were pretty

Notice the yellow headphone looking things on the lady taking the picture? That was ear protection from the noise of the motor. Of course the goal is to find alligators and we found several, like this guy hiding in the cool of the green and you know the old saying.....seen one alligator seen them all. The tour guide brought a bag of marshmallows and would throw one out and an alligator would sometimes come and get it. He said they don't taste them but are attracted to things that are white and that is why the number one killer of them is white plastic bags. See the marshmallow...

He was one big alligator....

About 12 foot long and the highlight of the allegator hunt.

New orleans 4

Oak Alley Plantation

(Photo from web site)

A trip to the south without a visit to a magnificent plantation would just not be right. I took several pictures but this professional one captured the unbelievable glory of the trees.

This mansion was built around 1838 and the oak trees (already established) were the inspiration. There is a dirt road at the end of this walkway and on the other side a green berm which serves as a dam for the Mississippi river. Thanks to Mrs. Stewart, the last widowed owner of the estate, the non-profit foundation was set up and allows it to be enjoyed today.

The estate had been sold several times and was abandoned for a time as well so there was little original items inside but the view from the second story was the best......can you imagine sitting and sipping a mint julep with this view.

Like all of the elegant mansions of the south the architecture is wonderful but here at Oak Alley it's all about the trees....

deemed more that 300 years old.
As you can imagine there have been several movies filmed here and of course wedding and receptions. There is also a little restaurant were we had lunch and I experienced Chicken-and-Andouille Sausage Gumbo................mmmmmmmmmmmmm. After I got home I went hunting for a recipe and hope to enjoy it again.
I have to remind myself these beautiful places had no running water, no electricity and no indoor toilets and was dependent on slave labor. Many didn't survive the Civil War.
There were 8 more plantations that could be toured in this area and I would have loved to have seen them all but for hubby.....one was just right.

New Orleans 3

This was my surprise highlight. Most people that I have shared about the World War II museum with all say "I had no idea it was even there". My hubby and I are not shoppers so I look hard to find things that might interest us and that is how I found the museum but I had no idea how magnificent it would be.

Here is a little background.......My Dad served under General Patton in the European theatre during World War 2 but like most....he did not talk about it. I was lousy at History and still have a hard time if it is just dates and facts but give me pictures, things, and maps and it all comes alive for me. I have a metal lunch box full of memorabilia from my Dad while he was in the war including pictures, dog tags, letters to my Mom, maps and etc. and think I may now be able to piece together a history to leave to the grandkids. I also have his uniform.

Everything about the museum was wonderful but I will just tell you a few of the things that griped me, you probably already grasped these things and may be bored:)

First off we knew that Germany was doing exactly what they had done that caused us to have World War 1 (over taking other countries and people to empower themselves) but we decided we did not want to get involved because of the high cost of the war and we also knew that Japan was building up this huge army yet, we were totally unprepared to go to war. Our country was in a depression and a very weak condition when we were bombed at Pearl Harbor and all hell broke loose. When you see the figures and statistics and the fact that we fought two wars at the same time............ it is a true miracle that we won and are a free country today!

I guess the things that stood out to me are things that I wonder if we would be able to do today....mainly, pull together. The coordination among our ally leaders that fought beside us and the support on the home front were truly amazing.
These things took place all over the U.S.

Gathering scrap metal. Some people even saved gum wrappers until they had a ball large enough to donate.

Grease was saved and recycled to make ammunition.

Women gave up their silk stockings so that they could be made into parachutes. It took 36 pairs to make one chute.

Even the movie stars advocated buying war bonds.

Everyone was unified and there were no protests while our service men fought in some of the worse conditions known to man and persevered over four long years.

and the women left behind became not only sole supporters for their families but the workforce of our country

many who had never held a job out of the home

and all hoped and prayed for their loved ones to come home.

A Picture of a flag displayed in the museum

This is the inscription if you are having a hard time reading it.

During the war small flags bearing stars were a common sight in home windows.

A blue star indicated a family member was in the service. A silver star originally denoted that a family was in service overseas but later meant someone was missing in action. A gold star signified that someone in the household had been killed while in service. Everyone knew the meaning of the term "Gold Star Mother".

If the museum was not enough right next door was the Solomon Victor Theater, yes another fee but oh so worth it to have the opportunity to see the movie "Beyond all boundaries" produced and narrated by Tom Hanks. The screen was 120 feet wide, 27 surround speakers, special effects theater seats, and several items that rise before the audience from a deep pit below like a 25 foot guard tower and a anti-aircraft gun to name a few. Go to the web site and click on the film clip to get a little glimpse of this very moving movie.

Now I know that New Orleans is famous for Bourbon street and Mardi Gras but for me....it will be the World War II museum. God Bless American.

P.S. there is also a Civil War museum that is very good as well.

New Orleans 2

trFor our first day we decided to take a city tour and get our bearings and also see some sites we wouldn't see on our own.

We drove through the French Quarter, Jackson Square and the beautiful Garden District. You can take the trolley through that area but the bus driver went some different routes and we saw a popular football player's home (sorry I don't remember the name).

It also included a trip to the ninth ward that was so badly damaged from hurricane Katrina. Most of the homes have been abandoned or torn down with only the foundations left but there is new homes being built thanks to actor Brad Pitt. These homes however are on built on pillars and the bottom serves as covered parking and would provide more protection from another flooding. They explained how the writing on the different homes told if they had been searched and if they found anyone dead. Not only did people die from the flood water but also from the extreme heat and humidity afterwards.

One of the things I found interesting that a different tour guide said was that the dam was breached because of a barge that broke loose and hit it. We saw one of those barges and they are huge...this makes more sense to me than the dam just giving way.

Lastly we visited one of those famous above ground graveyards....

I have seen many of these from a distance and always wondered why the tombs were so big.....

These are all the people buried in this family tomb!
I learned a lot here ........the guide told us, that if a family member died one year and one day before the last family member who was buried in the tomb, they would have to be put in a holding grave because it takes one year and one day for a body to decompose here. You see a person is put in the tomb in a coffin and when it is time to bury another family member the coffin is opened and the remains are swept to the bottom of the tomb...that is how so many people can be buried in one tomb.

Below is one such holding area and it was in very bad shape. This is also the area where people are buried if they do not have a family tomb.


There were many tombs that were deteriorating....

and the guide explained that if there is no family left to care for them, they eventually tear them down.

I will tell you about the surprise highlight of my trip next time............

New Orleans

Spent nearly one week in the jazz center of the world "New Orleans". This was my second trip here and my hubby's first. We had one week from our time share left to use and chose to come here and stay at Wydndham La Belle Maison n
It is located in the warehouse district of the city and just blocks from the French Quarter and all the other attractions. The facility was very nice and the people were helpful and friendly.......Had no problems with the exception of breakfast. Our first morning we asked the concierge where to go for breakfast and she said to "Mother's"


just a short distance away, so map in hand we head out. Now you need to remember we have never been here before so have no idea how things work....we get to the door and a man says "this is the exit, you have go to the other side"....so we walk around and there is sort of a ramp that leads up to the door with a little awning, my hubby opens the door for me and suddenly this man steps in the doorway and says "you will have to wait there until the line thins out" so hubby says okay...the man says "close the door"! By this time several other men have joined our line outside and are asking why we are standing out here? Meanwhile, people start coming out (the going in door) and act like we are the ones in the wrong place......we waited for quite a while, when finally, a different man (more friendly) opens the door and says "take a menu and get in line"........so here is the deal, it is like a fast food place with one single line and after you place your order and find a seat, a waiter comes and gets your ticket and brings your order to you when it is ready. This is a very small place and clearly very popular. We soon found out why.....the biscuits and ham were to die for:) but the ambiance?? It was one of those hurry and eat and get out of places. Oh...I forgot to tell you that they have chickory coffee.This is something that you can't really discribe and at this particuar place it was VERY strong, in fact it was served with milk unless you asked for it black.....trust me there is a reason why. Sadly, the other little local restaurant we found was set up the same way and no others to be found but I must say at this restaurant the server was the friendless, happiest person I have ever encountered.....I smile just thinking of her. My hubby would tell her it was too cheap and give her a big tip, on the last day she said " I sur hopes you just keep on a comin!
There was a Mexican restaurant right across the street that had really good food and advertised breakfast but didn't start serving until 11:00 A.M. Go figure.......Well, we didn't go hungry for sure but did miss our nice sit down quiet start of the day. I did also discover that I like grits with sugar sprinkle over them....tastes like cream of wheat. There were several more things I learned while I was there but will share them later.

Gone

I am off in New Orleans for a week but thought I would remind myself of the beauty I left at home....my climbing vine in all it's glory on the side of the house.

it only blooms once a year but it is dazzling!

Eighteen years ago my life was overrun with wedding plans for our daughter..... I even began to joke "is there life after the wedding"? You want everything to be just right and you quickly find out that in the wedding world everything is different, It's a pay before you go deal and those little things you decided to make for the quests to take home.....take forever to make!!!

This month is their 17th wedding anniversary and we wanted to surprise them with dinner where their reception was held...... Arrowhead country club
It is indeed a beautiful facility with a view to die for.....

and the intricate ceiling is very beautiful.

but the best part?



They are still together. It is not easy to maintain a marriage, it takes a lot of work and sacrifice, but it is so worth it.

Happy Anniversary kids

Sundial

A sundial is a simple, yet accurate, instrument, which tell time by the movement of the shadow a pointer casts upon a dial, which marks the hours of the day. The shadow moves as the sun changes position in the sky throughout the day, and the dial tracks this movement.

For a sundial to be accurate, the pointer must be slanted at an angle equal to the latitude of its location.

Arizona is the proud owner of the World's largest sundial located in Carefree, Arizona .

It stretches 62 feet.

Records

When my computer crashed one of the things that I thought I had backed up and ended up not having, was my Family Tree program data. I had not worked on it in a long time but fortunately for me...my program is connected with http://www.ancestry.com/ and most of my data was still there so I have been able to restore the majority of it. If you don't know about ancestry.com it is that commercial that talks about getting a "leaf".....well, to my shock I had nearly 8 leaf's on my Paternal Grandfather's side and now am up to my 9th Great Grandfather!!! Obviously someone had gone to Germany where they immigrated from and done a huge amount of research and generously shared it. It is a strange thing to realize that you are spanning over 400 years in just reading these names and this site is amazing and can give you tons of information and records if that is something that you are interested in but I have to tell you that more times than not I refer to this little calendar my Mom kept......

she got this free from a little drug store the year I was born and she jotted done everything from birthdays to deaths and funerals....

and allowed some of my scribbles as well. Even the passing of our favorite pets were penciled in and wedding anniversaries too.

I'll bet Sprouse-Reitz never would have guessed what an important part it would play in my life all these years.....I have added some of my important dates to remember and keep it in a safe place.

So, how do you keep your records?