Apples, Oranges & Raisins Recipe

I have been trying to watch what I eat lately and let me tell ya, the fruit alone is getting pretty boring and plus, my poor apples were starting to die. So anyway, yesterday, I decided to clean out my refridgerator of the excess fruits I had in the fruit drawer. I cut up 2 apples, 2 oranges and poured about 1/4 cup of raisins into the bowl and covered them with about 1/4 cup of coconut flakes (I have a ton of them for a very tasty, yet fattening treat, which I have NO business eating LOL). So I grabbed one of my Betty Crocker cookbooks to see if I could find something else which would maybe spruce up my fruit salad. I found something similar to what I had already started throwing together and the dressing below really added a bit of a kick to my fruit. It was yummy. Try this out:

2 T of lemon juice
2 T of honey
1/4 t. of cinnamon

Mix the juice, honey and cinnamon all together, then drizzle it over the fruit. Don't stir it all together until after you let it set for awhile in the fridge. I left mine for about 2 hours, pulled it out, stirred it up and enjoyed the fruit with this different twist. Try it, I'll bet you'll enjoy it.

Supposedly coconut is a "good fat"

Living with an STD?

Positive Singles is a website dedicated to people who are living with an STD and are wanting to connect with others who understand their situation or who are simply looking for love. These people are wanting to live honestly and without the fear of passing an STD along. Too many times, when a "positive" person needs to share their "positive" status with a new mate, they are rejected out of ignorance or basic fear. Usually, they are searching for that special someone who also shares a concern in regard to their positive STD status, such as HPV, HSV, HSV1, HSV2 or HIV.

You can search profiles and if nothing else, make a lifelong friend, someone with whom you can share your story with and be there for each other for support. To not feel alone. So check them out today and add your profile to the website if you are living with an STD. Heck, even if you're not living with an STD and interested in learning more about all of the different viruses you can join. Who knows, you might have it and not even know it. So stop living your life in fear of passing it on. Stop being ashamed if you're living with an STD. After all most of these viruses won't kill you.

Tattoo at 14? Too Young?

My son is now interested in getting a tattoo at the age of 14. I personally am not jazzed about this idea, but he's so sure that it's the right thing to do to his body. I don't agree at all, however not agreeing is NOT a first. I'm looking forward to the day when my son agrees with me, but I digress *chuckling*

So, we go on vacation right before Christmas and my son sees a sign for tattoos in the Bayside Market Place (aka: shopping mall) in Miami and of course, he just has to have a tattoo, RIGHT NOW!!. He claims that everyone else in school (those damn Jones'!!!) is getting one and of course, he thinks he's entitled. Ah, the good ole I'm entitled strikes again!! OK, so thank goodness they were henna tattoos, because you know, he knows everything there is to know about tattoos at 14 *healthy roll of the eyes again* and he wants his to be PERMANENT because he just knows that an armband would be something he wants to live with for life! I have such a SMART kid. (note sarcasm)

OK, so the tattoo topic was shelved until we got back from our cruise and we decided to drive around Tampa, waiting for our cheaper flight to return home. My son begged and begged and begged for a tattoo. I said, we'll look into it and I kept my promise. I looked through the yellow pages because I couldn't think of anyone I knew in Tampa who might be savvy about tattoo artist recommendations, so I went with my gut instinct on finding someone who had a decent business vs. a hole in the wall (mind you, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a hole in the wall). I personally don't know much about tattoos, except for the needle thing needs to be clean and that it hurts like hell. So, we find what seemed to be an upstanding tattoo place because they had paid for a huge ad in the Tampa yellow pages (my logic, if they can afford a big ad, they must be good) What do I know?? That's the way I do things *shrugging my shoulders* lol. We walked in, they were super friendly guys (wish I could think of their name now) and seemed to be very knowledgeable about their craft. The one fellow asked if they could help and I told them that my son would like an armband, how much would it cost (that's ALWAYS an issue for me) and his response was "How old is he?". I said, "Oh, he's 14." The guy replied with, "Sorry, we won't do tattoos for anyone under 18." I secretly mouthed to him "THANK YOU!!!" *wink* and then of course, my ALL KNOWING son says, "Well, all my friends have one!!" (the damn Jones' strike again!!). UGH, I can't win, so we left there and my son was PISSED!!! He wasn't mad at me, (even though I felt like he was), but just at that "professional" tattoo artists opinion, but of course, in my son's opinion, the guy didn't know anything!! The point made was that my son at 14 is still growing and they also admitted that they regretted having gotten tattoos at such a young age as well. Exactly my points I had tried to impress upon my son too. Thank you guys! So needless to say, I've been able to avoid the tattoo topic for awhile. He wants everything, but what kid doesn't.

So, what do you think? Should a 14 year old get a tattoo?

Do Clothes and Fashion make a Person?

Does it really matter how you dress for school or for a job? I believe that dressing for success has everything to do with comfort and being relaxed in your day to day activities. Sure, there is a time and a place for everything, depending on the title you might hold at your job, but should we be judged because of the attire we choose to slip on before we head off to our jobs each day?

This has been a topic as well as an issue for the past two years for me, both in regard to myself and my son. For me, I was involved in Mary Kay Cosmetics and the big push was to only wear a blouse, skirt and closed toed shoes!! *rollin' my eyes here* That is simply not me and to be honest, I didn't feel comfortable in that get up. OK, so the Mary Kay corporation and those in the upper echelon of the organization felt that being dressed to the hilt, all made up with Mary Kay make up only, was one of the ways of being successful in Mary Kay. Of course, now I know better and realize it was simply a case of smoke and mirrors. If you dress like a business woman, you send off the message that you are successful at selling Mary Kay. UGH!! Can I say bullshit? Yep, because after having "seen the light" I realized that it was what it was, just another way to get new recruits to believe that they wanted to sign up too. Ah, but that's another story. For the real truth on Mary Kay Cosmetics, be sure to check out Pink Truth. I'm now back to dressing for comfort and occasion, not trying to impress anyone.

Now on to my kid!! He's 14 years old and is trying to dress like he's a hip hop rap star or a city kid. Well he is definitely into the music, but don't let him fool you, he listens to all sorts of music. So anyway, we took a trip before Christmas and after getting settled into our Miami hotel for one night, we walked across the street to a shopping mall called Bayfront. This mall was geared towards the kids in the biggest way. We're talkin' Hooters Bar. Yes, for some reason my kid is impressed with Hooters lolol -go figure-. I guess that could simply mean that he has a normal sex drive (normal=in the eyes of the general population). WHEW!!! *smile* So anyway, he found this "blingin" watch and just HAD to have it. OK, so it was Christmas time and I succumbed to the purchase, even though I knew darn well what would happen. He wore it on vacation and I haven't noticed that he's worn it since, but he just HAD to have it!! He just loved this mall, saw lots of things he thought he would like to have, but fortunately, I didn't give in to his every whim. I did end up buying him a new pair of sneakers, made in Argentina (modeled after their soccer team) while we were in Key West and he's actually been wearing those. Luckily, they didn't soak me for 100.00, but I did buy him some nice cologne. He's all about 'smellin' good' lol. We returned home from vacation on Christmas Eve and luckily, I had done a bit of Christmas shopping prior to even knowing about this last minute vacation so at least I had some Christmas presents for him. All in all, I think I did pretty good. It's so difficult to buy for kids who think they have to 'dress to impress' and keep up with those darn Jones' In the past, I have let him pick out his own Christmas clothes, but this year, I got smart *wink*. I followed a couple of "men of color" around the store in Erie and bought what they bought after having seen basically how they dress. Akademis sounded like a possible hit and Old Skool worked for me too in regard to urban wear. He really wanted some Ice Cream sneakers by Pharrell, but we never did find any his size. So that's when he settled for the shoes from Argentina. *smile*