Fun Monday

Mariposa is this week's hostess. Here is was she has asked us to do...

Next week's Fun Monday is easy, I'll only be asking TWO things -

(1) Please share to us how the NAME of your BLOG was made? I can't wait to hear interesting funny stories!

(2) Please share to us (in words or photo, though a combination of both will be a bonus!) your favorite/ most common dish!

First...the name of my blog...

It's pretty simple. Mi Vida Loca is spanish for My Crazy Life. With 3 small children, 2 of the autistic, you never know what the day is going to hold. Sometimes I just have to laugh at things that aren't really that funny just to keep from going crazy!!

Second...the favorite dish at our house is my homemade lasagna.

The problem with it being homemade is I don't really have a recipe, at least not for the sauce. It is my MIL's "recipe" which she really doesn't have either. Am I making any sense?? You see, I never really put the same ingredients in it twice. Every time it's different. Sure I always start with tomato sauce, then I add some Italian spices, oregano, garlic, onion powder. I never use the same amounts though. Sometimes I add butter, sometimes not. Sometimes chili powder, sometimes not. I could go on and on. Back to the lasagna...

I use three different kinds of cheese, mozzerella, cottage cheese (or ricotta), and cream cheese. Yes, cream cheese. It sounds kinda nasty, but it's really good. You should try it. When you are putting the lasagna together just throw some dollops in here and there. When you bite into one of the hunks of cream cheese it is just heaven!!

I made lasagna last week. Actually, the day before I found out the subject of this week. This is a picture of leftovers, so it isn't great. It looks much yummier when it is fresh out of the oven!!

1. Tracey

2. Yummy

3. ellen b

4. Cynthia

5. Rachel

6. Jenni

7. Gabriel

8. mamalang

9. Our Happy Happenings

10. Jan

11. Alison

12. Nekked Lizard Man

13. janet

14. Linda

15. Lisa

16. carrie

17. Ivana

18. Sayre

19. Michelle

20. Heather

21. Irish Coffehouse

22. SwampAngel65
23. My4kids

24. min

25. rotten correspondent

26. abby

27. Kaytabug

28. Aoj & The Lurchers

29. Hootin' Anni

30. BS

31. chrisb

32. Celeste

33. Tien

34. Maria

35. Sauntering Soul

36. mem

37. Jientje/Heaveninbelgium

38. lisa's chaos

39. Karina

40. Peter

41. Sandy

42. Gattina

43. IamwhoIam

44. Monica
45. nikki

46. Swampy

47. Willowtree

48. David

49. Ann

50. Joy T.

51. jill

52. Robinella

53. Pamela

54. Lana G!

55. faye

56. Robin (PENSIEVE) :) LOVE IT

57. Arkansas Songbird

58. ari_1965

59. Tiggerlane

60. Amanda

61. Junebug

62. Kim

63. Jo Beaufoix

Fun Monday

Tiggerlane is our host for this week. This is our assignment...



Have you heard of The Bucket List? Well, that's what I want from you! Make a list of things you want to do before you die. It must be at least five items - and you can make it as long as you desire. Photos are optional. And let's hear about some of the wackiest, most bizarre to-do's on your Bucket List!

I am excited about this post. I actually have a list that Trad and I made a few years ago. I am going to post that plus and my own little half list for just myself.


These are in no particular order. We have actually marked off a few of them already.

1. Go on a cruise. (This is mostly my idea, Trad has no desire to do this.)
2. Build our own home together. (This may not happen since we are living in the house I grew up in. We did remodel the house and may add on one day.)
3. See the US (especially the South & National Parks)
4. Visit the continents (travel Europe, see the pyramids, great barrier reef, Japan, etc.)
5. Visit the Olympics
6. Visit the Sacred Grove
7. Visit Salt Lake City (This we accomplished in 2001)
8. See Washington DC (We have both been, just not together.)
9. New Orleans at Mardi Gras
10. Own our own business
11. Go ice skating
12. See a pro basketball game (We accomplished this also. We went to Atlanta to see the Hawks play the Raptors. We got mugged.)
13. Learn sign language (We are working on this. Both of our sons are autistic and are non-verbal. We made this list before we had children, it's kinda funny that we wanted to learn, now we NEED to learn.)
14. Take a photography course
15. Fly to Hawaii (I said FLY. I will get the nerve one day.)
16. Take dancing lessons. (Again, Trad has no desire to do this!)
17. Learn about local history.
18. Help others (especially during the holidays.)
19. Vacation at Disney World, Sea World, Epcot, etc (We would have already gone if the boys didn't have problems with crowds or change.)
20. Visit NYC at Christmas/New Years.

This is my list...

1. I want to finish college sometime in my lifetime. I am not that far from a degree, but with the kids it is hard to take time for myself.
2. I want to breed and train service dogs.
3. I would like to write a book.
4. Help with fundraising for AUTISM.
5. Learn to sing.
6. Give money each year to The Smile Train.

I am sure there is more, but I can't think of anything else right now. I am still excited that the GIANTS won the superbowl!!

Here is a list of the players for this week.

1. Swampy

2. Arkansas Songbird

3. Susan at A Slice of Life

4. Deb's Valentine Patch

5. Lil Mouse

6. Kitten

7. Mamalang

8. Straight Up and Slightly Dirty

9. La Vie en Rose

10. From the Planet of Janet

11. Kila, momto3cubs

12. AOJ & The Lurchers

13. Pete, at Holtie's House

14. Ragracers

15. Raising3Saints

16. Summit Musings

17. Three Dog Blog

18. Carrie and the Koehmstedts

19. Myanderings

20. Nikki

21. Eclectic Blog

22. Lady K

23. Ms Cellania

24. Beckie, at Give it a Try

25. Tales of a Southern Doll

26. The Rotten Correspondent

27. Sauntering Soul

28. Robin at Pensieve

29. Lisa's Chaos

30. Karmyn R, at Dreaming What Ifs

31. Jenn, at Simply Not So Simple

32. Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

33. Sallad Says...

34. Rob

35. Alix at DC Days

36. Lisa, The Food Snob

37. -Ann, For the Long Run

38. Candid Karina

39. Fianna

40. Sayre Smiles

41. Junebug

42. Robocop

43. Bermudabluez

44. Pamela

45. Jettie

46. Gattina

47. Ooh, A Shiny Pen, who has volunteered to host next week!

48. Ped Crossing

49. Andre Veloux

50. Welcome to Mi Vida Loca

51. RDH Mom

52. Mama Speak

53. Retrohipster

54. ari_1965

55. Nekked Lizards

56. Return of the White Robin

57. The Prytz Family

58. Hootin' Anni's

59. Karisma

60. Cynthia

61. Swampangel65

62. Robin, My Two Blessings

63. Patience-please

64. Ellen B.

65. Nancypants

66. Lana G.

67. Joy T.

68. Sirdar

Fun Monday

Today is the 1st anniversary of Fun Monday. Now, obiviously I haven't been participating for a year, but congrats to those who have! This seems to be a wonderful way to make friends with people. If you aren't participating, you should!

Now, Vickie is our host this week. This is what are assignment is...

For those of you who did NOT post a picture of your view from your front door, then your assignment is to post a view from your front door. To do this you stand in your doorway looking outside and take a picture. That simple. We (I) want to see what you see when you look out your front door.

I have to say, this is going to be a pretty boring post for me. There is actually not much scenery from my front door...Here we go...

This is the view looking straight out the front door. You see the road that runs by our house. This road has become more and more travelled as there have been more houses and subdivisions added. I remember when there wasn't much activity on the road at all. On the other side of the road there is a big tree stump. This used to be a huge old oak tree. There were actually 2 of them at one time. I hate it when a tree has to be cut down. Behind the stump, you can't really tell, but there is railroad tracks. When I was little, trains came through many times a day. Now we hardly ever see one, a couple times a week at most. Behind the tracks is a lumber mill. This was owned by former Tennessee state senator, Jerry Cooper.





This is the view from our front door looking to the left. This is Wayne's Body Shop. He has only been there for the past few years. This was where the other huge oak tree was standing.

This is the view looking to the right. Directly behind where that light pole is there used to be a house. You may be able to tell the remnants of a driveway to the left of the little dogwood trees. Our neighbor was Mr. Jess. I don't remember what his last name was. They tore that house down after he died. I don't remember how long ago that was, but it has been a while. In the very right-hand corner of the picture you can see a building. This is a meeting hall for the church that sits beside our house. They bought all the land that you see in these pictures after Mr. Jess died. We actually had our wedding reception there. It isn't the prettiest building, but a great location!

Fun Monday

Ann is this week's Fun Monday hostess. This week our topic is on websites. Here is what Ann wants to know...

Now, the reason you're here: the topic for Fun Monday on 14 January. I want to hear about a web site and not just about any old web site. I want to hear about a web site that's changed your life. A web site that you can't live without. A web site whose inventor you'd like to see win a McArthur Genius Grant.Maybe you want to sing the praises of a dating web site for helping you meet your spouse. Maybe the only thing getting you through the dark days of winter is an Internet comic. No story is too big, no story is too small - I want to hear it all on Monday.

I have a few websites that I use as daily "therapy." The most helpful to me is actually a comic strip called "Clear Blue Water" by Karen Montague-Reyes. This is a clip that I took from http://www.gocomics.com/ that describes it...

The phrase "clear blue water," explains author Karen Montague-Reyes, comes from the world of politics. It describes the ideological divide between two political parties. In the Torres house, clear blue water is the gulf of personal experience that Eve and Manny cross each day to make their lives work. Male and female, liberal and conservative, biracial and Hispanic, they approach everyday life from opposite shores and find common ground in their devotion to each other and their determination to raise their children well.

My friend, Cynthia, introduced me to this comic. Now some days I don't relate to her well at all. I am not overly in to politics and at some times, such as now with the election coming up, she aims her comic that way. Sometimes I don't get much out of it at all.

The days I do make up for the other days. You see, the author's son is autistic. Many days her comic is geared towards something he did or said or something the family has went through. With both of my sons being autistic, it is very comforting to actually see in black and white that I am not the only mother going through these particular trials. And, believe me, sometimes it really feels like I am!

The author has really made me feel less lonely. I check her comic strip every morning when I get up. I have really connected with this comic. I love reading it and seeing what is in store for the Torres family next. It has helped me up when I was down, helped me to see humor in things I sometimes wouldn't. I am very grateful that I have this little bit of "help" in my life. I am grateful to the author for putting her family and her story out there for people to read about.

If you are looking for a hilarious, side-splitting comic strip, this wouldn't be for you. Although, if you know someone who is autistic or who has a relative that is, it is worth checking out. If you would like to read "Clear Blue Water" click HERE.

Fun Monday

Peter over at http://holtieshouse.blogspot.com is this week's host. Here are our instructions...


I want you to tell us your favorite joke and/or show usyour favorite cartoon, don’t worry if there is someduplication that just means more than one personfound it funny.So come on and regale us with your best joke and/orcartoon, remember its New Years Eve and we feellike a good laugh, before 2008 comes along and does its thing on us.

We had a "going away" party yesterday for a lady at our Little Rock claim office. One of the supervisors called a Wal-Mart and ordered the cake. He told them to write: "Best Wishes Suzanne" and underneath that "We will miss you". As the picture shows, it didn't quite turn out right. It was too funny not to keep it.

I chose this because I worked at Wal-Mart for years. My poor husband still works there. I'll say one thing for them, they sure can hire some talented people!! LOL!!!