1. One of my favorite events of the year is the Ventura Winter Wine Walk and this year’s event once again did not disappoint.  I love events where you run into people all night long walking up and down Ventura’s downtown area sipping wine, listening to music and have a great time.

2. I was looking forward to just getting through Thanksgiving this year as Sydney Rose would not be around and there would be no home cooked meal; instead, my dad and Carol invited Carol’s sister and her husband (sharp as a tack at 90) to dine with us at Mimi’s Cafe.  Yeah, I know! Mimi’s??  The restaurant only offered Turkey dinners with all the typical side dishes and operated at full capacity like a factory assembly line, very effective getting people in and out and the meal was quite delicious.
It turned out to be a lovely day starting with a video chat with Sydney Rose and ending with the Thanksgiving episode of The West Wing.

3. Speaking of Turkey, Sydney has informed be she back to being a Vegetarian.

4. I’ve always had a problem keeping my cheese mold-free, but I thought it was because I didn’t use it quick enough.  It turns out, that some people report the worst thing you can do is wrap it tightly in plastic wrap.  They say you’re suppose to first wrap in wax or parchment paper, then a layer of plastic wrap.  The best solution for me is to stop buying huge blocks (cheaper) and just buy what I know I’ll eat in a short period of time.

5. Keeping with food for one more tidbit, I read an MSN article about fast food items you’ve been eating wrong your whole life. There were a few tips I found interesting, and some I found condescending, like the description on how to eat Toblerone chocolate, “lightly push your thumb against the top of the triangle to break it off.”  Really?  I did find value in a couple tips like using a fork to dip an Oreo in milk (or coffee), and cutting hot dogs into spirals allowing for extra crevices for condiments.

See article here.
Side note on Toblerone, they’re shrinking their bars changing the shape to keep prices down…making it even easier to “lightly push your thumb against the top of the triangle to break it off.” 😉

6. I was sorry to hear the passing of Florence Henderson, she was such a hip upbeat mom, she broke the mold of TV moms (and real moms for that matter). I’d like to think that my generation of moms all have a little bit of Carol Brady in them.

7. I’ve officially submitted my application to Cal State Channel Islands, I’ll be entering as a junior next fall. Did you know that they now ask questions about whether you are gender conforming, gender non-conforming, or both?

8. I read an interesting article from Redbook Magazine titled, “50 Things Every Woman Needs to Know about Her Body.” I figured I better read just in case there’s some mystery I’m not aware of, for instance, #18 states that not drinking enough water can make your breasts sag?  WTF, right!?? No wonder women always have water bottles about. And of course #41 is hard to face which is cellulite is incurable.  But I love the way they word # 12, “Your Hoo-Ha can change colors.”  That’s just funny. Odd…but funny.

Source article

9. I had a short discussion (private messaging) with a man who was ranting on Facebook about being accosted by police because he was sitting in his van at a local park.  They questioned his reasoning for being near children playing.  He thought it rude and started getting all kinds of sympathy from his friends on Facebook.
See, I thought it appropriate for a police officer to check on him.  That’s exactly what child molesters do. They hang out near children.   He just couldn’t see how that could be a problem, and PD was just doing their job.

10.  We actually have a Burt & Ernie who work in Public Works at City Hall.  An even funnier pair of employees who found themselves working together were Neil and Bob; thankfully these two salesmen had a sense of humor.  They were salesmen when I worked in radio and the morning show guys were relentless with them on the air.

11.  Speaking of radio, looks like I’ll be hitting the airwaves soon.  The CAPS Media station has a small signal here in Ventura but they will be streaming it on the internet soon. I hope to have a weekly program showcasing local bands of course.
It will be the first time since I was in college that I haven’t used an alias on air.  I was thinking of pulling a Prince, and calling myself, Pam Baumgardner, the DJ formerly known as  Stephster (or Stephanie Rose).

Well it was just a thought 😉

12. From my favorite quotes file:  “Ultimately the bond of all companionship, whether in marriage or in friendship, is conversation.” – Oscar Wilde

Thanks for listening!