Tucson, Arizona

So on a Friday afternoon and only after we stopped to eat some tacos at "Don Panchos" we picked up our two passengers and we were on our way to Tucson. Our daughter has only been away for three weeks and we were already missing them. More like missing the kids. So at 6:00 p.m. we got on the freeway and were on our way to Tucson.

As anyone can guess, six o'clock in the afternoon means only one thing, it's rush hour and traffic is bumper to bumper. But if anyone has been reading this blog for a period of time, then you probably already know that to us the getting there is just as important as the being there. So with a lot of conversation done mostly by one of our passengers since the second passenger is only three years old and normally talks to himself, the two and a half hour trip (normally a two hour trip)was not that bad at all.

We finally got there at 8:30 and to see our grand kids so surprise and happy to see us there was worth the trip. When they saw that our little passenger was our other grand kid "Ducky" they jumped up and down they were so happy. What a sight to see.


















The plan was to spend Saturday with them and we did just that. As soon as we woke up Jr. went to the store to buy some things we needed for a good breakfast, coffee and eggs were in the list. Mi chica and my daughter cooked "huevos con chorizo" that were pretty tasty. The kids of course did the cereal thing and we were all with full stomachs.

We then loaded the van with all the kids and just took off. We drove around Davis Monthan Air Force Base and showed the kids all the planes and jets parked there. Then we went to the downtown area. Being that it was Saturday it was kindda quiet. We took a lot of pictures there and I made sure to take pictures for my photo blog too. Downtonw Tucson has a mixture of old architecture and new architecture, you could see contrasting buildings side to side.
















Time to do some more driving, this time Jr. took us to his old neighborhood and even showed us his old house, or the house that they grew up in. We all remember George Lopez when he said about his visit to Mexico, "OMG, do people actually live there, oh my God", of course when that's all you know and you live there that is home and you have to make it as good and in their case as fun as they could. Driving through his old neighbourhood I spotted two old pick up trucks and they kids immediately thought they were life size replicas of "Tow Matter" from their favorite movie cars.



By this time a few hours had passed and we were once again hungry, we drove to another section of Tucson where Jr. has relatives and first stopped at a McDonald's so that they kids could get their happy meals, we let them play in the play land for a little while and then it was our turn. We wanted Mexican food, preferably tacos. We found a Mexican restaurant that looked promising. For starters they refused to sell my daughter a kids meal because it was not for the kids, we could have walked out then and there but still thinking the food would be good we stayed. Well we did get tacos and even a ceviche tostada but in the scale of 1 to 5, five being best I gave it a Joe Cool rating of 2. We now know not to ever go back there.



The last two hours we spent with Jr's relatives, it was worth the wait because the kids and Jr all got free haircuts, key word being free.

It was starting to get dark and we got back to their house, we loaded the van made some coffee for the road found out than not only "Ducky" was coming back with us but Diego and Lena were coming back too. They will spend the whole week here with my other daughter and will go back next Friday with their nana or nanis as they call her.

Got back home Saturday at around 9:00 and agreed that no matter how much fun we have in these outings it's always great to come back home.

Bix, Sims, and Sing Snap

And so once again it's Friday and I'll be posting a couple of songs in hopes that you will enjoy them. There are three websites where you can see (that I know of) and right now I am using all three of them.

Bix

The first one is called "Bix" and I found it by chance through Yahoo. Bix is a lot of fun and an easy site to maintain, there are hundreds of members but as in any club only a core group is there all the time. It's more of a community of people that love to sing and for the most part a fun place to be. However where there's so many people interacting with each other via comments conflict are bound to rise. It is hard for me to believe how in a community of hundreds three or four people can disrupt the harmony amongst the members making it so uninviting for new prospects to even join in, and for current members to feel like staying away for a while. What a shame when adults act worse than kids. But hey, what do you do.

Visit me on Bix.com!

Sims On Stage

Then there's "Simms On Stage". This site is more of a mellow peaceful site. Good selection in music including a few songs in Spanish. Only problem is the recorders tend to get out of sinc once in a while. I have not had any problems as I have discovered some tricks in order to have good or decent recordings.



Sing Snap

The last one is "Sing Snap". This is probably the best out of the three, it has the best song selection and a huge Latin music file. However in order to record there my computer required more adjustments to the sound mixers and now when I go back to bix and Sims my sound is not so good anymore. I have to learn how to set the mixers depending on which site I am using. It is a learning experience. I am still too new at Sing Snap so I really don't know the community there.



So with these three choices my craving for singing is being fulfilled.

Heath Ledger

Heath Ledger

Sometimes you just have to wonder WHY? Proof that life is fragile, live it right, live it to the fullest.

He was pretty young, and have had a great career so far. My favorite movies with him were "10 Things I Hate About You" and "A Knight's Tale", "The Patriot" was also good and to date I still have not watched "Brokeback Mountain". I understand they were robbed the Oscar for this movie. "The Lords of Dogtown" was pretty obscure but we liked it and:


He was to appear as The Joker this year in "The Dark Knight," a sequel to 2005's "Batman Begins," which recently finished filming, and in the Terry Gilliam film, "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," scheduled for release next year.

He came out in many movies, which one was your favorite?

Walking Report

I am happy to report that I have continued with my 2-mile walk during my lunch hour. Have I lost any weight? I don't know but my legs are gaining muscle and probably getting stronger. The weather is wonderful here so that's not even a problem. It takes me half an hour to do the two miles. I think that's pretty good.

I think that maybe if I had some sort of a diet then it would reflect on the weight but I don't see any diets in my immediate future either. I said this before and I'll say it again, "mi chica" and my mom are both great cooks. Remember the phrase "Of you build it, they will come", well if they cook it, I will eat. Here's a good example, yesterday I ate a shrimp cocktail in the afternoon, then another one before dinner, and the sirloin steak. Hummmm steak!

So as long as I keep walking I think I'll be OK.

What a Great Saturday.

It had been a long time since I had gotten up early on a Saturday morning since normally wake up very late on Saturdays. "Mi chica" and I decided to get ready and go out for breakfast. There's a restaurant in old Avondale the food there is very affordable and is actually really good, it's a Mexican restaurant that where they serve genuine .
Mexican food. My favorite dish there is the "Machaca con huevo" with rice and beans, while "mi chica" ordered a "menudo" no not the musical group, but the one you eat.

After we ate and as we were pulling out I noticed the name of the business across the street, and we decided to take a picture of it
With a full stomach and time to kill we went to a couple of stores to buy things we needed and also to buy a gift for my niece whose birthday is today but we celebrated last night. Happy Birthday Gaby, nice blouse and shoes.

















Another thing we did in the afternoon that we hadn't done in a long time (I'm ashamed to say) was wash "mi chica's" van. This poor thing was screaming wash me! and after our trip to the snow last week driving in wet and muddy terrain we could no longer overlook it. We washed it at home but a quick trip to the car wash for vacuuming and here is the end result.



Looks great doesn't it.

I really have no idea why people put down mini vans, they are economical, they carry a lot of passengers, compared to SUVs they drive very smooth and because they are so aerodynamically designed they are fast, and yet they are still constantly being put down. Well, I am proud to say we are a mini van kindda family, last week all the kids took turns riding on our van on our way to Flagstaff, our little "Ducky" was the only one that didn't get to ride in it even though he kept asking "I wanna go in Jamma's van". He didn't get to ride in the van then but the next Tuesday he got to spend all day and night with "Jamma", not a bad trade was it.

After washing the van, we watch a movie I had rented and that was due in a couple of ours. The movie was "Freedom Writers". What a great movie, two hours long and interesting from beginning to end. If you haven't watch it yet, I highly recommend it. It is a feel good movie that is not going to bore you at all. Hilary Swank started in this movie, with Patrick Dempsey and Scott Glenn and a cast of many unknowns.

At night we went to my sister's to have a "cafesito" (coffee) with cake. She actually had three different kinds of cake and I just had to try them all. Gaby had an intimate but nice birthday celebration, my sister made us laugh with her stories as usual to the point where I was laughing so hard that I had to get up from the table because I was afraid I was going to fart. I know nasty, but it was true, you have to know that only my sister Yolie can come up with some outrageous stories that actually happen to her.

This is my sister Marya, she eluded me all night during our New Year's celebration and then complained that I didn't post her with me. lol So here she is, isn't she a pretty one too?

All in all, we had a very fun and productive Saturday.

Bix Friday

This post is dedicated to Amy. Amy is a dear friend of ours from bix that is in the hospital right now undergoing surgery. Amy please get well and come back to us a.s.a.p. we love you and we miss you.

Wow, time does fly when you are having fun. It's already been almost a week since we went to the snow, even though work is slow making my days drag, the days still just swooshed past me. I sort of don't like for my weeks to go that fast because that only means I'm getting old too fast.

So today is Friday and I know you all wait for me to post my songs from bix. Last week I posted my friend Lisa, today I'll be featuring another great singer from bix than despite the fact that she only uses the computer built in microphone as opposed to some of the other members that have mixers, condenser mics, and pop filters installed in their mic stands, her voice is one of the best and purest voices in bix land.

Her name is Natalie and you will agree with me that she is just too awesome. While raising her six kids (thus her handle motherOf6) she manages to post a song here and there as her time permits. Rest assured that each song she posts is sure to be pure enjoyment.

Visit Natalie on Bix.com!

Hey Amy this is supposed to make you smile. I can not believe I am even trying this. Guess it show that I am a little frutti. LOL. But anything for such a sweet dear lady. God bless you hope it brings a smile to your face or maybe even a laugh. I redid this so much I got light headed .LOL ~Natalie

The above is Natalies's dedication for Amy, a friend of ours from bix that just went surgery and got a piece for her foot removed due to diabetes. As she is in the hospital all her friends are posting a song to sheer her up.

There are many computer gurus out there that learn how to beat the system and bypass certain hurdles. Well technology is great, too bad I can't keep up with it. Thank God for people like Lisa (remember Lisa, she was featured last week singing "Heal the World") that know how to stay current. Well, I recorded the song "How can you keep the music playing" originally sung by James Ingram and Patti Austin, well I did all of James' lines and then Lisa went in and finished it by singing all of Patti's lines and this is the end result. I truly hope you'll enjoy it.

Visit me and Lisa on Bix.com!

Now keep in mind I am on the West side of the country while she is on the East side, we used two totally different computers, her setup although not too elaborate at least includes a mixer, while mine is just my computer and to enhance the voice I plug in my karaoke/DVD player to the lap top so I can use the microphone through it. Very simple and very inexpensive, and yet I think the sound and our voices blended really good.

Isn't technology grand?

Thanks Lisa for the opportunity to sing with you and I am looking forward to our next duet.

Just a Picture

I do believe I have one of the best views from my back yard. On this particular day the rain was coming and it looked it was here to stay. Luckily it came and went pretty fast but I was lucky enough to capture the image and to keep it for as long as I want.

AI and Prison Brake

Two of my favorite shows start this week. Prison Break started tonight. I have been watching this show since the beginning and I must admit, it has taken many turns and I have no idea where they are going, but the show remains one of my favorites anyway. Does anybody else watch this or am I the only viewer?



Also, the grand daddy of all reality shows starts tomorrow. Many people claim they don't like the auditions but the ratings don't lie, and yes they are high. So all of you AI fans, the fun begins. Don't forget it's a two day show.

The Trip to the Snow.

"Do you realize all of our kids our coming with us on this outing?" Yep, I said, and then some. For some reason every one wanted to go see the snow. Most of the little ones had never seen it so we knew then it would be a treat.

We had to wait for my sister in law's husband to come off from work so we hit the road at about 10:30 a.m. already a bit late but the best we could do. I suggested for us to take the 101 up to the 17 as it would be faster, but if you know about Murphy's Law if anything can go wrong it will. Not even three miles into our trip we found out they had a freeway closure. Man they have those every weekend and they are a pain in the rear. It took us almost 40 minutes to cruise a 4-mile stretch, that was valuable travel time.


We got to our first stop at the McDonalds at the Camp Verde exit. Got off the van and realize that the long sleeve shirt I had was not warm enough anymore, so on went the sweat shirt. We ate home made tacos, bought drinks, went to the rest rooms, and some 35 minutes later hit the road again.

Next stop should have been in Flagstaff, except mi chica noticed that one of the four cars we were traveling in was not in following us anymore, she got on the cell phone and found out that the car kept stopping for some reason. So she called all everyone and we all got off on exit no. 315 on Rock Park Rd. There was already plenty of snow there so we all got off and the kids started to experience the snow for the first time ever. Some of them thought, wait a minute this is not nice at all, they kept sinking in the snow, they couldn't walk, they were cold and all of a sudden they decided that this snow business was not nice after all.




















We took pictures with "Mike" a snow man made by some previous travelers, our stranded team was only about five minutes behind us so we didn't even have to wait for too long. We deiced to put them in the middle and pushed on towards Flagstaff.

We finally got to Flagstaff at around 2:00 p.m. Since we didn't have drinks we stopped at the local WalMart, big, big mistake. The store was crowded, it was hard to find parking spots, we were scattered all over the place and winded up wasting a good hour and a half there.



Now it's late so we decided to push on, we started heading towards the Grand Canyon and couldn't find a suitable spot. Mi chica once again noticed the same car from before was missing, she gets on the phone and finds out that they got stuck in the snow, but had been able to get the car going again.

At this point we were hungry as well as frustrated, we headed back to an area we saw with some activity and just parked there. We all ate, and mi chica found out she wore the wrong boots for the snow, as they had a smooth sole all the way, she had to skate instead of walk and was afraid of falling. So, there was a huge pile of dirt and tar covered with snow about a quarter of a mile away and we all headed that way. It was a pretty steep climb and the cardboard boxes we took to use as sleds did a good job. The kids were coming down so fast that we had to catch them at the bottom but after doing it once they got the hang of it and they loved it. The hard part for all was getting to the top of the slope.

















After a good hour there and once all the kids were totally wet and with running noses, we all headed back to the cars where a dry set of clothes waited for each one of them and decided that the next time we would prepare better. Yes the plan is to go up there again later in the year before the snow melts.

All in all we had a trip that was a little stressful, as too many of us went without a previous plan, but was so much fun never the less. Next time should be a lot better. But always remember about Murphy's Law.

Heal The World

Because your friendships are valued I am trying to stay on top of my blog as best as I can so I don't lose you my readers. However my life is so repetitive that the same events I blogged about last year are starting again.

For starters my brother-in-law Alfredo will be celebrating his birthday this Saturday. So here's a big birthday shout out. There will be a birthday fiesta at my sister's tomorrow afternoon, unfortunately we had our trip to the snow planned since Christmas so we will miss it. He knows we are with him in spirit. Anyway happy birthday to him.

Mr. Manuel, from "Manuel's View" gave me a virtual karaoke machine for Christmas and I just want to let him know that it's getting plenty of use. (((lol))) I couldn't think of a better virtual Christmas present than this.


So this week I bring my dear friend Lisa as my featured bix guest of the week. Lisa retired from the U.S. Air Force in December 2000 and now works as a defence contractor but in her leisure time she loves to sing and she does it quite well. If you don't believe me visit her page and you'll see what I mean.

In the meantime here is a sample of her sweet voice, come on turn the volume up, sit back and enjoy her performance.

Visit Lisa on Bix.com!

I knew you would enjoy her stellar performance, I told you I wasn't ling.

I did this song last week and somehow it has received many wonderful comments from my fellow bixters. I know bloggers and bixters see things a little different but since I am both I am interested in hearing what you think. So here it goes, I truly hope you'll enjoy this song.

Visit me on Bix.com!

Well, we are gearing up for our trip to the snow tomorrow. I am excited and anticipate taking a bunch of good pictures.

Flagstaff - Snowbowl - Snow

Pictures courtesy of the internet


So I mentioned that I wanted to go to the snow up in Flagstaff, Arizona and asked who wants to go? Turns out everybody wants to go so I guess this Saturday we will be going up north to the snow. It should be a lot of fun as we have not been to the snow in the past five or six years. I will be taking big cardboard boxes so we can use them as sleds to go down the hills.

We are not used to being cold so hopefully we won't under dress, specially the kids. I am planning on taking lots of pictures, I'll share them with you.

Walking for Health

With the exception of Monday I continue my lunch break walks, as I have told you before it is a 2-mile walk around my workplace. It was taking me 45 minutes to do it, then 40 and yesterday it only took me 30 minutes. I believe 30 minutes will be my best time unless I walk a little slower.

I feel no different, I look no different, but I hear it will make a difference in my health so until it gets hot, and believe me it will get hot after all this is Phoenix, I will continue to walk. It's fun and it's good for me.

I usually take my camera with me just in case I see something interesting to photograph. Because it rained during the weekend and on Monday there were a lot of water puddles all over the place. I took a picture of some of them, here's one of them, to make this interesting I am posting the picture twice.




I have a walking trail right behind my house and I don't get to use it. It is a rather enjoyable trail with nice view that follows the perimeter of the lake. You get to see other peoples backyards, you see ducks, pelicans, cranes, and a lot of different types of birds either flying around or swimming in the lake. Mi chica and I have walked it on occasion but for the most part we don't use it. I will try to make it a point to use it more often.



Now if anyone wants to spare me all this walking just be nice and give me a year membership for the gym. Now that would be the ticket.

American Idol is Near

I should be going to bed but I am waiting a little bit because I just ate a burrito. Why eat so late? Because I was hungry that's why. lol How can I lose the weight when I eat burritos at midnight. But hey, mi chica made it specially for me and it was hummm, hummm delicious.

So, there's a lot of people that I don't hear from until it's American Idol time. All of a sudden I start seeing comments from the AI crowd and that just made me realize that season number 7 begins in about a week. Oh yeah baby! 2-night season premiere on January 15 and 16.

You may ask me and my fellow Idol crowd if we haven't had enough, the answer most likely will be a resonant no. When it comes to reality shows American Idol is king. First we will endure the endless hours of comedy while they start filtering and choosing how will go to Hollywood. And then the show begins. Just when you think it's getting old or that it's just a repetition of last season, the show takes a form all it's own and grabs you.

Last year I was rooting for our hometown girl since the very beginning and it was a total treat to see her win. Jordin Sparks had the spark. She was a true winner whom I'm sure took the title by a huge margin. Unlike Taylor winning over Kat, we all know now that people really were not that crazy about him. It's kindda cold when he gets elected and then gets totally forgotten. But that's the beauty of the show.

I look forward to seeing Simon, Randy, Paula, and Ryan, as they are just as much a part of the shows success.

Don't forget during AI season the site to visit is DJ Slim's Idol Live. He has a totally interactive site that is a lot of fun to visit and to be a part of. So send me your comments and opinions on why you love or hate the granddaddy of all talent shows. American Idol.

Ant Then There Are Only Two Again

So my younger daughter and her husband and their son moved out of the house about three weeks ago. The house quiet down a bit. Friday night my other daughter, her husband and their two kids told us they were moving out. On Sunday they did. While my younger one only moved 15 minutes away to Phoenix. My other daughter moved to Tucson and that's at least two hours away. :(

As you can imagine, the house is quiet and wouldn't you know it, it's clean too. Yey for mi chica. I already miss them but I'll get used to it... OK, I'm over missing them. lol I wish them the best as they will FINALLY will be on their own. And just like that a household of nine is now of two.

We Just Love to Sing

Today is Saturday, it's only just past 5:00 p.m. and it's rainy and gloomy outside. So, "mi chica" made a "caldo de pollo" or chcken stew and I already made us a couple of nice hot coffees.

I can only sing during the weekends over at Bix and Sims so that's what I was doing today.

I have already featured my friend Sonny with "Teddy Bear", and Duke with "Mele Kalikimaka", today I really encourage you to click on my featured guest. Her name is Nicole a.k.a. Tecknik and she is in many ways better than a real professional performer. This lady has one of the most beautiful voices at bix and not only this but every song she sings shows just how talented she is. Don't believe me? Do yourself a favor and click on this song, turn your speakers up, and for the following four minutes just sit back and enjoy her rendition of a Carpenters classic. Don't click on it and you'll be missing out.

Visit Tecknik on Bix.com!

You want to hear more from her just click on the above link.

As for me, today I'll be posting a song that entered in a contest and won first place. Granted there were only five entries but still. The song is also a gender bender as it is a Linda Ronsdstat song.

Visit me on Bix.com!

Mi beautiful chica in the picture.
There are thousands of people out there that are finding out that doing karaoke on line is a lot of fun and extremely easy. Basically all you need is a computer and a mic. After that you can add stuff as you want. I don't believe we want our fifteen minutes of fame, for that you can actually go to a karaoke bar and pretend you are a star, I know that most of us singing on line do it for one and one reason only, we all love to sing.

Hey, give these two songs a try and let me know if you like them... or not.

New Year's Eve Party

I know you were waiting to see some of the pictures from our New Year's gathering. Well wait no more, here are some pictures from that night.














Top Left: My older sister and I
Top Right: My daughter and her husband and their kids, and one in the oven.
Bottom Left: My daughter and two of my nieces.
Bottom Right: Mi chica and my daughter.

As I mentioned in the previous posts, we didn't have a huge gathering but still there were a good 20 of us, once again we had plenty of food and plenty to drink. We had ham, stake, rajas con cebolla y crema, shrimp, salad, salsas, smashed potatoes as I call them, and gravy, and to top it all off we had chocolate cake. Now you know why I am weighing 196 lbs.











Top left: My grandson and my son.
Top right: My grandson and I.
Bottom left: My sister and I
Bottom right: My daughter and my niece.


Me and my mom.

A New Year a New Outlook

OK, so I came in to work, this morning and started tieing all the lose ends from last year and then I saw the scale and decided to weigh myself. Well I did gain a few pounds, I normally weigh 192 lbs. but this morning I tilted the scale at 196 lbs. that is just four pounds shy of 200 so I decided something has to be done.

For starters I took my two mile walk during lunch time, I takes me a good 45 minutes to go around the block and right now the weather is perfect for walking. I need to start exercising but I must admit I am just too lazy, hopefully I'll come up with some sort of exercise just so I can stay in shape. Right now the shape I'm in is round, I want better this year.

Any ideas of what I can do to stay in shape send them my way. I am totally open to suggestions.