*Click on pictures to enlarge them.*
A Pink Sunrise in Vegas. The clouds sure do light up nice during sunrises this time of year.
Wednesday, March 05, 2025
Tuesday, March 04, 2025
Everyone Has A Story, Here's One of Mine
I've been thinking of writing an autobiography or memoir but it just never comes together for me but I figured if I write one story at a time and post it on my blog maybe once a month, I can do that. Maybe one day I'll pull all the stories together and put them in a book but for now I'll just share some stories with you about my childhood. Some of the stories will be happy, some sad and some horrific because that was my childhood. But they will all be real, things that actually happened. If it seems like something that people enjoy reading maybe I'll keep it going. These stories will not be in any kind of order, I'll just write them as they come to me.
Jose Santos Salazar Jr.
I sometimes worry about using people's full names in my stories because I don't want drama from anyone but a few months ago I Googled a few names to see if they were still around or in jail ect...
When I googled this particular name I found an obituary and saw that he had passed away in 2013. I sent the link to my brother because I figured if I was interested he would be too and he was.
The picture the obituary used was really old because this is exactly how he looked when I knew him when I was 15/16 years old and he was my mom's boyfriend. I've talked about Jose before but not a lot. He got my mom using and hooked on PCP dipped cigarettes and cocaine. We were living in Hawthorne, California. I went to Leuzinger High School in Lawndale, California. We lived very close to Compton, California. If you know California, you probably know this wasn't a great neighborhood to live. Maybe that's why my neighborhood now doesn't phase me all that much.
She went to jail for this and child neglect/abuse and spent 6 months in prison. That's when my brother and I went into foster care for a while.
Before he met my mom he had a motorcycle crash, according to him he was on the freeway going pretty fast and had an accident where he crashed. His helmet saved him from dying but he had quite a bit of brain damage. He won a $1 million dollar settlement after the accident. His mom was in charge of the money but gave him money whenever he wanted and he used it for drugs. He had an older brother, I believe his name was Raul who was in prison for something and got out in 1985.
Jose spent a lot of time at my house smoking pcp dipped cigarettes and using cocaine with my mom, and Uncle Jack and Aunt Wanda. My mom was so out of it most of the time she had no idea what was happening around her.
Jose would wait until my mom was passed out on a few occasions and he would try to climb in bed with me. Nothing ever happened because I would start yelling at him and he would leave. I told my mom but she accused me of leading him on if it happened which she told me he would never do. So me telling her went nowhere.
A couple of weeks before I turned 16 Jose's brother Raul (I believe his name was) came to our house and kept staring at me. When he found out from my mom that my birthday was coming up he kept saying he wanted to take me out that day for my birthday. This guy had just got out of prison and he looked like it. He gave me the creeps but thankfully I had a boyfriend who lived next door and I told Raul this, that I couldn't go out with him. He was mad. I told my boyfriend the next day and he told me that if the guy gave me any problems to let him know. My boyfriend was 22 years old and I was 15. Yes, I know the age difference was wild but I knew I could count on him. I told my boyfriend he was staring at me weird and gave me the creeps and he talked to Raul one day. Raul left me alone after that thankfully.
Because of the drugs my mom and Jose were arrested a bunch of times for different reasons. She would call me from jail and tell me to take care of my brother and she would be home in a few days. Jose always got them out with his money somehow. But I would sleep in the living room chair all night sitting by the phone waiting to hear from my mom. Not knowing if she would be back in a day or a few days because of the weekend. Sometimes I would call my grandma to come over because I was scared or because we needed food while we waited for my mom to get home. My grandma always came over.
My mom did finally leave him and get clean when she moved to West Virginia to live with her mom and step father. My brother and I moved there a few months later after having a horrible time living with our dad and step mother after we got out of foster care.
Links to past stories
2023
Monday, March 03, 2025
Happy Raturday!
"This is the only Super Bowl I care about."
*Pictures used today are courtesy of martymousehouse.com*
Sunday, March 02, 2025
Apartment Life #358
This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 26 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 26 years here in a weekly blog post.
One night this week we heard 4 gunshots and then about an hour later we heard another 4 gunshots. I didn't know where they were coming from even though they sounded close so I didn't call the police.
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This is who we call, Screamer Lady. We call her that because as you can see, she screams and yells all the time. She's been living across the street for at least the 26 years that I've been here. 25 years ago though she was the neighborhood prostitute. She propositioned Ken (my late husband) sooo many times. He'd come home and tell me about it and what kind of craziness she was wearing. Now though the drugs have taken their toll on her and so has mental illness I'm suspecting. But this woman walks up and down the sidewalk all hours of the day and night screaming and yelling all the time like she did here.
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My neighbor caught this homeless guy in our alley smoking something he found in the trash. She saw him from her bedroom window. He found something in some tinfoil and was trying to smoke it like drugs.
You can see he is trying to smoke this like they would meth of crack cocaine. I have no idea what was in the tinfoil.
He was lighting a lighter under the tinfoil to heat up whatever it was and sucks the smoke up through the glass pipe he has in his mouth. I've seen a bunch of the homeless people around here doing this with drugs. These are screenshots of a video that I couldn't figure out how to post. It just refused to post on blogger for some reason. So if the crack pipe looks a little wonky, that's why.
The high this week was 79F/26C
The low this week was 49F/9C
So that's it for this week's Apartment Hell Life! Be sure to come back next week for more.
Saturday, March 01, 2025
Saturday Vittles
My Daughter and I are trying to eat more healthy so I thought I would share some pictures on Saturday's of what we've made. Most pictures are from my daughter since she takes good food pics. lol
Mushroom Quinoa with Spinach and Onion
You Will Need:
1 tsp. Chicken Bullion
1/2 Cup Uncooked Quinoa
1 Cup Water
1 Package white Mushrooms- sliced
1/2 Yellow Onion- diced
1 Cup Fresh Spinach- chopped
1 Stalk Green Onion- diced
1/2 tsp. Onion Powder
1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tsp. Butter
To Prepare Quinoa:
Rinse and drain quinoa. Add 1/2 cup of rinsed quinoa in a pan with 1 cup water. Add 1 tsp. Chicken bullion to the pan and cook on high heat until boiling. Turn down to medium low heat, cover and let cook for 15 minutes or until water is gone. Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes.
In a skillet heat 1 tsp. butter over medium heat, add celery and onion. Cook until translucent. Add spices and sliced mushrooms, cook for about 15 minutes until they are cooked down and the water from them has almost evaporated. Add spinach and mix until spinach is wilted down. Add warm quinoa and mix well. Top with green onion and serve.
This makes about 4 servings.
Each serving is about 100 calories and 12 carbs.
I made this as a light vegetarian meal and also served it as a side dish for dinner. It was good either way.
Would you eat this?
Friday, February 28, 2025
Freebie Friday!
Welcome to another weekly Freebie Friday post, where I tell you what free samples and full sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a "Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.
A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things. So I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.
You can find links to great samples at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.
This week Falcor got some freebies.
He received Hartz Dog Male Wraps, (Belly Bands)
I figured it would be good to have them since he's almost 11 years old and might need them in his old age if he gets incontinent.
I figured it would be good to have them since he's almost 11 years old and might need them in his old age if he gets incontinent.
A bag of Zignature Trout formula soft dog treats. He likes the treats, not that you can tell from the look on his face though. lol
Did you receive any freebies this week?
Thursday, February 27, 2025
Book Review: Defying My Wolf by Scarlett West
Book Description
Aila
As a half-human, half-wolf hybrid, I’ve been rejected by my mate and cast from my pack. Then Kaden kidnaps me, ushering me into his dark shifter world. I’m drawn to him more than I should be and he awakens a primal passion in my wolf. He wants to claim me as his fated mate. Only, there are two problems: he intends to use me in a dark ritual, and he’s my worst enemy.
I hope I make it out alive…
Kaden
Aila didn’t see it coming when I took her, but if I didn’t, we would remain in danger. As alpha, I planned on using her in a ritual to break a curse killing my pack. She’s my enemy…and getting under my skin in ways I never anticipated. Ways that make my wolf demand I protect and claim her as mine.
Yet if I get her into my bed, we may not survive…
If you love broody alphas, sassy heroines, and hot paranormal romance with a heart, Defying My Wolf is for you. The novella is a prequel to the series, Stone Mountain Wolf Shifters.
My Review
Aila was rejected by her pack because her mother was human and she's half human. Her father would kill her if he ever saw her again and so would most shifters since they see her as an abomination. She's kept herself safe from shifters for years since she was kicked out of her pack when she was a teeneager.
So when Kaden spots her in a laundromat and kidnaps her because not only is she his mate, she's also from an enemy pack who cursed his pack. The only way to stop the curse is to sacrifice her on a specific night and hope the curse is lifted. Kaden is torn as to what he wants to do with her the more time they spend together. He feels the pull to his mate but he also doesn't want the rest of his pack to die a horrific death because of the curse. But Aila is an innocent is all of this, she had nothing to do with the curse and she's not part of that pack any longer so Kaden and his pack killing her to lift the curse seems very wrong. Kaden and his pack were pretty unlikable.
There was no real romance between these two characters because they only got together because she was in her heat since she's a shifter and any males around could smell her and wanted her. It seemed like that and the fact that the mate bond was pulling them together was the only reasons they even spent any time together. I didn't care for Kaden, he was not a likable guy for most of the book and the ending seemed very rushed. I felt sorry for her that she got stuck with this guy.
I give this book 2 out of 5 stars.
Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Favorite Picture of the Week!
*Click on pictures to enlarge them*
I looked outside right as the sun was setting one night this week and saw the fiery sky. Had to get pictures of it.
The sky looked so cool with these colors streaking across it.
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Book Review: Descent by Chloe Adler
Book Description
Sydney Flores doesn't believe in love. Why should she? Men only want one thing.
As a third-generation working girl, it's all Sydney has ever known.
But when she's done with walking the streets and trades up for a brothel she quickly learns that Ichor isn't just any brothel... it's also a blood bank where lonely vampires come for a little entertainment with their refreshment.
Syd has seen and done it all, so a little fang on the job doesn't scare her away, especially when it comes with security cameras, bouncers, and a 401K.
Plus, it takes a whole lot of man to make her Latina blood boil. So imagine her surprise when she meets three of them...
It was just another night on the job when a shifter, a vampire, and a warlock walked into the bar.
That bad joke is her reality.
How fast can she run if love really is on the menu?
My Review
After reading the description I figured I would be getting a paranormal romance story like what I'm used to. But that's not really what I got. Sydney is a prostitute and works in a brothel with a madam. She's relatively safe because of the bouncers and cameras but not all the time. Paranormal creatures are known and she has a rule against taking vampire blood or being bitten to be a blood donor. I really expected to see more magic, more about the vampires but we hardly ever hear about that, only the fact that Sydney refuses to be a blood donor for any vampires.
This book was mostly about Sydney's life, what led to her being a prostitute and what she does to keep herself safe. The guys who end up falling for her, how and why it happens was too rushed and over the top. The ending abruptly stops which I didn't like at all. The fact that these guys all fall hard for a prostitute when some of them are in fact more than a century old and couldn't find love with anyone else? Really? Was just not believable. The warlock had no idea that magic was being used against him, really? Again, not believable.
I was expecting more romance but with Sydney being a prostitute maybe I shouldn't have been because even though these guys think she's all that and a bag of chips, I didn't care for her personality at all, she's an unlikable character. She sleeps with her new friends boyfriend and doesn't tell her what happened after she starts staying with the both of them? Not a very nice person.
I give this book 2 out of 5 stars.
Monday, February 24, 2025
Happy Raturday!
"We hope you had a nice Valentine's Day. Sending you kisses."
"No matter what, find something to smile about."
* A big Happy Birthday to Huckleberry, Asher, Blue and Sage for turning 2 years old. Picture courtesy of Karen Grant on FB*
*All pictures this week are courtesy of martymousehouse.com and Karen Grant on FB*
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