Well, my gambling buddies, I wanted so much to surprise someone with a win but it was a bust. (: I told the dealer what I was doing and he suggested playing all the numbers at once for better odds.  I did and the number that came up was 33….. Boooo!

Since blackjack is my usual game, I tried that too – and I lost 20 bucks there too! Oh well, it was still fun and the next time I come here, I will try to win for somebody again. Thanks, guys, for playing along.  It looks like I have better luck with my baking.

We are off to Las Vegas for the week! My stepmom is moving and Denis and I are going to help with the move. I’m making her a surprise batch of my caramel corn as a housewarming gift – she loves that stuff. But we will make time for some fun… a little blackjack… a few sluts…. oops, I meant slots but we should see plenty of both.

I have a fun idea. If anyone has a lucky number, I will put a dollar on it for you in roulette. Can you play a dollar in roulette? Whatever the minimum bet, I will place it in your behalf. If your number wins, I will send you the winnings, assuming you trust me with your dollar. Oh wait — it’s not your dollar — but I will send you the winnings anyway. And keep my dollar. The winning odds on a single number are 35 to 1. (Denis will witness the bets)

This offer is good for the first 15 people who send me their lucky number. There are 36 numbers on the wheel. So I guess we’re having another contest of sorts. Should be fun. Good luck!!

Well, it  didn’t take me long to disappoint myself in 2012. We’re only five days in and I’ve broken most of my New Year’s Resolutions. Let’s review:

1) EAT LESS SWEETS, EVEN IF I BAKE THEM MYSELF. (I’m still eating my leftover Christmas cookies and refuse to stop until they’re gone)

2) WALK MORE DAYS PER WEEK THAN ONE. (I haven’t walked yet this week. I’m afraid if I leave the house someone will take my Christmas cookies)

3) SPEND LESS TIME AT THE COMPUTER. (Here I am)

4) ACCEPT THAT NO WOMAN OVER SIXTY SHOULD WEAR PIGTAILS. (or clothes from the drugstore either, but I do both, so what? —  other people should mind their own beeswax)

5) FINISH MY COOKBOOK BEFORE SUMMER. (I have to taste all the food, I won’t have time to walk, and I’ll be at my computer until summer… in my pigtails and drug store clothes!)

I hope I’m not the only one who couldn’t make it through the first week without crumbling like a six-month old pfeffernusse.

I baked a whole bunch of Christmas cookies and left them for Santa but they were all still here in the morning. Since he didn’t eat his cookies, what to do? It’s a dilemma.

Maybe I should  eat them…

…all…

…today.

I’d like to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and I hope all your Christmas wishes come true.

One of my wishes came true when I got to sing with a gospel group. It was eleven years ago when Brent Jones and the TP Mobb performed on my Christmas show and invited me to sing with them. I was so nervous I thought I might faint but I got through it… with lots of love from the audience.

Click here to listen to our version of “Silent Night.”

Happy Holidays!

I had to sleep with earplugs last night because the house sounded like it was going to break apart. We had unbelievable wind gusts overnight, up to 97 miles per hour in some places! I couldn’t tell if the banging noises were from the doors shaking or windows rattling, or trees slamming against the roof, but I wasn’t going outside to find out.  I hid under the covers, trying to remember this was not an earthquake, and trying to sleep. Finally, I had to use earplugs which I don’t like to do because then I can’t hear the monsters when they come out of the closet (I should get some therapy for that!). Anyway, I don’t think I’ve ever felt winds like that in my life, where the house feels like it’s moving. Trees came down all over town, onto houses, cars, and blocking a lot of roads. There’s more coming tonight, so anyone wearing a hairpiece should stay home.

We went to the zoo yesterday and saw all kinds of animals but no turkeys. I wonder where they all went?

The zoo was a great place to walk off some of my pumpkin pie.  There was a lot of noise coming from the chimps so I ran over with my camera but I couldn’t figure out what was going on. How about a good caption…

I did it again. Last year I did some wardrobe shopping at Walgreens (see July 25, 2010 posting). I wasn’t planning to but they had the display right in front of the entrance and it was only $9.99 for a beautiful summer skirt. I bought it, hoping it wouldn’t make the tabloids in the “Stars Who Have Hit Hard Times” section. So… fast forward to last month when my sister was here and being from Canada, she was looking for a warm and fuzzy plaid outdoor jacket. We never found it, maybe because it was 80 degrees every day of her visit. Literally, the day after she left I went to Rite-Aid and there it was! Right at the entrance – a rack of warm and fuzzy plaid outdoor jackets. This was exactly what she wanted – for $19.95! With a hood! And extra zip lining! It was perfect!  But I had to make sure the size was right so I tried it on myself. One look in a mirror and I’d know what size to get but this was a pharmacy and they don’t have dressing rooms… or mirrors. Can somebody please put mirrors in the drug store! I put on the jacket and walked up and down the aisles looking at my reflection in various glass display cases, but I couldn’t see much. Finally, I found a rack of sunglasses with that long skinny 2-inch wide, 48-inch tall strip of mirror which is great if you’re a naked anorexic. I was able to see enough to pick the right size. She got it, loved it, and said it was a perfect fit. What’s next at the drug store? “Waiting for a prescription? Get your eyelids done on aisle three!”

Halloween is not the only scary thing about October. I was out walking today and did not realize I was heading straight into a huge 4-foot spider web. I only noticed it because the spider that built it saw me coming and ran up to the top. I was inches away from walking right into it, face first. If that happened, you’d find me in the psychiatric ward of the hospital in the S.I.F.T. ward (Spider In Face Trauma!) This thing was HUGE! He ran up to the top and then looked down at me and I swear I heard a voice say, “What are you lookin’ at?” I decided to stare him down but then he started back down the web. He was either the biggest spider I’ve ever seen or he was carrying a backpack. I took a stick and knocked down part of the web and ran, afraid to look back in case he was mad and bungee jumped down his web to come after me. You know what doesn’t scare me now? Scorpions.

Look what I saw at Venice Beach yesterday! A car from Juarez, Mexico! I have never seen any Mexican license plate in all my years in California but this one is from Juarez. Isn’t that the most dangerous city in the hemisphere? The murder capital of the world? That’s where all the drug dealers are. But what would this vehicle be doing at Venice Beach? All I saw there were street performers, sunglass kiosks, T-shirt shops, and bunch of medical marijuana shops. Hmmm, it’s a conundrum.

My sister came to town for the weekend with her two daughters and one granddaughter for some fun. We went to Venice Beach, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and shopped and ate ourselves into a near coma: a monster buffet, gourmet burgers, Benihana, Cheesecake Factory, Chicken Pot Pie at the Daily Grill, Pinkberry for dessert. Well… you can imagine. I was one slice of cheesecake away from needing my stretch pants! 🙂