............................no bull !

This is it folks. D day or is it B day?   I decided that I would write one last post. This on the eve of my 50th Birthday.  I stayed away from this blog after it was revealed that it had become offensive and too exposing and uncomfortable for someone.  So for those and for other reasons, I decided it was best to just stop.
Until now.

Today marks the 49th day of this celebration and I feel like I am trying to come up with reasons to not go tomorrow. Its like those holiday parties we all get invited to but somehow in the back of our minds we automatically know we will do whatever it takes to not go and wonder why we were asked to begin with.  My usual excuse is that I don't like the food. Like Hummus.  I have always wondered who invented that nasty dish and why it moved up the ranks to the top of the finger food menu like it has. Seriously, can't we think of serving anything better than ground up garbanzo beans on teeth breaking crackers?  Oh sorry, I forgot, this is not about food, although most things with me start and stop with food. Its about my rite of passage. 

OK, so maybe I need to be more embracing of this rite of passage. Its not like I have a choice right? Even though I feel like tomorrow I will have transitioned over to the other side of something, and I don't know what or where that something is, I am going willing; although  figuring out how to be a mere spectator at this gig is gonna be tough.  What's the big deal right? Its just a number, its just another year, its just half of one hundred years.

Truth is, I have a really great time and I am so grateful and feel so blessed for being given the chance. I have bought and celebrated. I have been at times, loud and boisterous, and then quiet and introspective and when it called for it, outwardly emotional. I mean I even cried. Although not about my birthday, it was during the unfurling of the championship banner at Staples, but who cares right, tears were shed. No blood has been spilled yet but there are a few hours left still. Point is, it has been awesome and cathartic.  I learned that word a few years ago.  (Word Power in the Readers' Digest)

I have a few people to thank. First of all my family. My husband and my kids and my brothers and sisters and my mama. I want to thank my awesome friend Cara. You guys have been so great and so faithful and I'm sure by now, tired.  I want to thank my wonderful friend Debi Wilson for kicking off this weekend celebration by bringing a beautiful banner to work. It was fun and cool and so festive.  She made it herself and it is something I will always keep and cherish.

Yesterday I celebrated two milestones. One, I had my first ever birthday party. I even had a Pinata. It was fun and festive and the food was amazing. My mom and my sisters were right in there making everything great and easy. The family was there and it was great to spend time with them. Second thing, I had drinks with my daughter Kim who turned 21 in August. Its really something to have drinks with your kids. You realize that somewhere along the way they learned to do things you did not teach them. But that's another blog.  After the party at my mom's we went to a Country Western bar in Temecula. The first thing I noticed was the mechanical bull. I could not take my eyes off it. Maybe it was because it looked like a bull sitting inside the middle of a jolly jumper minus the walls. Anyway, I seriously contemplated riding it. I came so close that I even asked for the waiver to sign. The young woman there said she would waive the five dollar fee since I was celebrating my birthday. We watched both young men and women ride the bull and even in the slow mode, it was still a little fast. So after my second very tall margarita, and after deciding that even though I was wearing a dress, in the very likely chance that I would be bucked off, the fact that I was wearing spandex shorts would be enough to keep everything neatly tucked in, the time had now come. But, wouldn't you know it, I was told I would have to take my boots off. Well that sealed the deal. Without these boots, no way could I even get on the thing. Cara suggested I just bounce myself on but I chose instead to try to line dance.  Ever tried to line dance? It is hard and intimidating. Without a few lessons, its really hard to keep up. I suppose being coordinated might help too. But it was fun to watch and I look forward to doing it again.

OK so I"m gonna close here. Thank you all for tuning in. I'm sorry I let you down. As my daughter says, I am mostly made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions. I suspect there will be cake tomorrow at work and I look forward to that. I have never met a cake I didn't like. See, inevitably all roads lead to food with me.  So with that, I bid you farewell. Thank you again and again for being my friends and for being you. Goodnight and Godspeed.

Stevens' Easy Cheese Rolls
I package cold but pliable Puff Pastry
I cup of crumbled Feta or Gorgonzola cheese
I egg beaten.

Roll out puff pastry into square. Leaving a 1/2 inch border sprinkle cheese over puff pastry. With a pastry brush wet edges with beaten egg, Roll into a tight jelly roll type roll. Cut into 1/2 inch slices and place them in a non stick cake pan and brush the tops with the rest of the beaten egg.  Bake in  a 350 degree oven until tops are brown or for approximately 25 minutes or so. Serve warm.

........Red or Blue?

I know I have been absent for a few days. Things just get in the way. But tonite, I just feel like talking. Ok venting. So I hope you voted. I always say I am only going to vote in the presidential elections, but then I remember that men fought and died for my right to cast a vote, and still today, there are people on this planet who do not yet have the privilege. So I voted.  And actually, I think I'm gonna change my affiliation to Independent. Because I am and my ballot reflected it. Might as well admit now that I voted in favor of the legalization of marijuana. It did not pass, but its well on its way. 

I wish I was smarter. I wish I understood the political process the way some people instinctively know it. I wish. Like for example, I don't get how the American people won.  The Republicans won. The bloodbath of the Democrats in the house reflected that. The Democrats won because they retain control of the Senate. So what does this all mean?  To me it means that jack shit is gonna get done. The Republicans hate Obama and will not work with him and will go out of their way to make him look incompetent. The Democrats will not be able to get anything done or passed because it will be an automatic turn away in the House.  So its a stalemate. An expensive one at that. All these so called lawmakers will accomplish nothing and will continue to spend my money and yours. They have their own agenda and will set their sights on 2012. The Republicans have also conveniently forgotten that the reason for the economic downturn is not Obama's fault, its theirs. Its all of theirs. Democrats and Republicans alike. Eight years of Bush/Cheney drove this country into the ground.  Obama, well he signed up foolishly thinking that everyone would be working with him and for the common good.  Not!

And you know what, I can live with it. All of it.  What I can't live with the constant disrespect of our President by the Republicans. These guys should be the epitome of respect and manners and decorum. But, instead they reduce themselves to the level of street thugs getting ready for a gang fight. All that's missing is the boxer shorts and the baggie pants. Street thugs in Armani.

Obama was elected. He did not waltz into office and just decide he was gonna be president. So when people, especially the Republicans or those ridiculous jokers of the tea party question the validity of his birth certificate or the legality of the title he holds, its insulting to me. Its an insult to the 65 million people who voted for him.

Ok, I'm done venting.