Google Maps...

When I first moved to this country back in 1979, when I was still in my 20s and starting a life from scratch, maybe even from debt, the first thing my husband and I bought was a AAA Club Membership. We felt safe having their protection, they handled everything from our trips to our Insurance to the guidance of where we are, where we want to go, what to find when we get there, how much will it cost, what rating it had.

I love Maps, always have for some odd reason, maybe because I love traveling and knowing where I am. When I have moved to many cities around the world every time I get there first I feel so lost, it is maps that help me find my way around and start to feel at home instead of in a foreign land.

Now there's the Internet, there's smart phone and GPS and my good friend and companion all day long GOOGLE MAPS!!! I don't think either my husband or I would have been able to adapt so quickly to our new surroundings first in San Diego, then all across the country to the other border, then finding our way around town, where to buy a car, where to park. We owe Google Maps our peace of mind that when we get in the car and are supposed to go wherever we have never gone before, Google Maps will illuminate our path and guide us right to the door that's going to be on your right side ;)

So I wanted to thank everyone at Google Maps and became proactive on paying back with what I know how to do, write and photograph. I post reviews, all around wherever I go I take pictures and post them on google maps to let people see what to expect when they get there. I tell them a little story of my experience there and how I feel about the place. My ratings are 99% for true excellence, I appreciate those who do their job with pride, although I have done a couple that truly disappointed us at all levels, I believe people need to remain accountable of their actions.

When I first started giving reviews and uploading pictures I had no idea they keep track and give you points and allow you to climb up the ladder, I'm up to Guide Level  #3. I thought that was a nice incentive to keep on people like me who like giving reviews and sharing photos to continue to climb up the ladder. It goes very slow but I'm not going anywhere I love finding something where I can help with what I love to do, give good reviews and take pictures of places and share them with anyone. I started 2 weeks ago and a week ago I get this e-mail direct from Google Maps congratulating me for having 1000 views on my pictures. It made me think wow, look 1000 people came to my gallery on opening night that's pretty darn wonderful. Well now this week I've passed 11,000, that's a growth of what percentage? I'm not mathematical  here but seems to me to be A LOT!! can you imagine what it will be years from now I'll become the talk of the town hahaha!!!

I love sharing what I like to do, what makes me happy and that all has to do with my inspiration to create something, whether it's writing, photography or some craft I get into all the time.

So this is a personal thank you first to the AAA Club, I'm still a loyal member since 1979 and now to Google Maps for holding our hand and not letting us get lost and just trust :)

Hugs xoxo
@nit@

Even When Nobody is Watching...

There are so many things that we do when nobody is watching, some are normal and make sense like going to the bathroom. There are others I also love, like dancing, laughing, singing and pulling at my lower lip that always gets dry with the changes of seasons. That's unsightly so I do it in private, like flossing my teeth.

Now there are other things us humans do when nobody is watching and not many of them are as normal or as standard as those I just described. So what happens when you commit a crime when nobody is watching? or rob someone or something that belongs to someone who will then experience pain because of the decision that you made when nobody was watching.

When my husband and I first moved to San Diego, CA it was the first time in his life he had entered the United States of America and he was already 50 yrs. old. He had traveled to Asia and Europe extensively but just never to the United States. He had lived in various countries as well but this was a totally new experience for him at all levels.

I remember taking him to Old Town, one of my favorite places anywhere in the World, it's just these few blocks that contain parts of the past when California belonged to Mexico. It reminds me of how amazing it is that two neighbors both so rich with so much abundance in their countries and their people, have such different cultural standards and values and its just right there across the street.

In Old Town he had to go to the restroom so we walked to this lovely small Hotel I know. When he came out the first thing he told me, "If I were back in Mexico where he spent the last 25 yrs. of his life and someone went into that bathroom that has extra toilet paper rolls and towels and hand cream, it wouldn't last an hour before someone would put all that into their purse and take it home". I couldn't help but laugh at his comment especially because I knew he was right about that, not everyone is a thief but it's like one does it so the other one gives himself permission to do things that are not right When Nobody is Watching...

Somebody is ALWAYS watching it's you, it's what you are planting it's what you will pick up in the end when it's all said and done, it's how you will carry yourself through the day with pride, it's how you can look at yourself in the mirror and smile.

I pick up garbage on the streets and when I had dogs I would pick up after other dogs because I wanted it clean and it wasn't. I recycle all I can and smile at those who frown. I walk a step back when I'm waiting for the elevator and someone else is coming out, I don't just stand there and stare as if why are you in my elevator when I want to get in.

I wipe the sink in public restrooms as well as the seat because I like finding it that way too. I post a little sticky note that says "Smile you Know You Want to" because it makes me smile to think of the one who is going to read that, maybe it'll make them smile too. I leave the bathroom tender a tip even when she had to leave the bathroom and only her little plate was there. I do this When Nobody is Watching because I Am Watching and I want my life to be the way I mold it for myself. Even When Nobody is Watching...


Hugs xoxo
@nit@

Buenos Aires for My Birthday...

Good Morning World, Good Morning Universe,...

It's funny what happens to me every morning, at first it takes me a while to just kick into gear, then once I'm on a roll I have to stop everything and take my husband to work if I want to keep the car for the day, I always hesitate about taking him all the way downtown and back it's about an hour round trip, but then I remember that once I put on those shoes and say yes I will have an adventure on the way there and another one on the way back. I will have felt so many emotions it will be worth hundreds of hours of therapy all wrapped up in just one hour of pure bliss, half of it in the company of my wonderful husband and the other half in my own wonderful company, I mean can you think of a better place to be than with yourself? or are you still working on that part, not quite sure what to make of yourself, one day you like yourself the other you hate yourself and there you are all the time you can't get rid of you!

So we're just about to get on the Freeway on our way to Downtown Seattle and it hits me all of a sudden, here we are only 3 yrs. in the USA only 3 yrs. as a married couple and we've accomplished the work that would have taken us ten years at a normal pace. We just do the intense courses and move up another step. So I said to my husband "Everything we planned for so far we got so I'm planning my next birthday. We are going to Buenos Aires to meet the Family" I declared.

Three years ago no matter how many times I repeated to him that we were going to get something, I always had to show him first and then I had to remind him I said so, he'd claim I was lucky, and I'd say it has nothing to do with luck don't you get it?

Today when I told him we were going to be spending my 65th Birthday in Buenos Aires being loved and cared for by the family I have and haven't even met? he knew we'd be there, he just said well I'll have to ask for vacation again, as if giving it a tone of a maybe, but I'm never a maybe he knows that so he said good we'll have to plan then.

And I bet you my daughter will tag along, maybe invite a friend, it's an awesome trip I'm sure they won't wanna miss it. I plan on having a 'Wedding Party' since we got married all by ourselves, I told this story before, we even had to pay a witness $14 to sign and then we went to a popular Pancake House for breakfast and a walk by the beach holding hands.

From today until January 24th, 2017 I will do one little thing every day to promote that trip not only takes place but it will be one to remember, there are important people I can't wait to see and hug again and others I'm so anxious to hug for the first time. I can't wait...Buenos Aires We'll Be There for My Birthday...

Hugs xoxo
@nit@

Dirty Dancing...

I don't know about all of you, but I go on stages. Sometimes I like certain foods and I can eat them every day for months and not get tired of them, same as reading, or walking, or listening to music, or watching movies, etc. etc. I focus on one thing from each category in my life, and I try to keep some sort of continuity. I think I do it more as an escape, an illusion of having some sense of control when my life seems too chaotic. Lately it's been movies.

At the end of my long day, once I finally rest my head on the pillow, I just like to transport myself into a fantasy world, so depending on the type of adventure I feel like experiencing, that's the type of movie I will play on my little portable DVD player. I've been going through A LOT!!!!! of big time challenges, that made me wonder how to better control my thinking, so as not to continue to attract what I seem to be attracting lately, and it was only after I watched Dirty Dancing last night, for the umpteenth time, that I decided to see the 'Special Features' and read the huge challenges they had to go through to make that movie. It reminded me that when we are going through rough waters, we just have to let go of the resistance, trust, believe, stay focused, and the the storm is sure to pass.

I paused the 'Special Features' to write down all the facts of the Making of the movie, so that you can see what I'm talking about. What is most important is to realize that challenges will continue to happen, it's how you handle yourself while going through them that matters. Some people just quit, some others begrudge going through the challenges, some fall apart, some thrive and are passionate enough to keep on going until they succeed. Which of these are you? I hope you enjoy these facts.

Hugs, xoxo @nit@

The Making of Dirty Dancing

• Movie Budget $5,000,000
• New York was too expensive for the shooting, so Kellerman's was filmed at the Mountain Lake Hotel in Giler County Virginia, but the cast and crew had to lodge there in order to make it viable.
• Record rainfall had the crew wearing hip boots.
• The clouds parted for 4 days, just long enough to shoot all exterior scenes.
• The scene where Johnny teacher Baby how to do the lifts in the warm summer lake, was done on an icy 30 degree lake.
• Throughout the production the set was plagued with bad luck.
• The rehearsal place was burglarized, heavy flooding blocked the roads, an art department station wagon destroyed the prop department van, and a set decorator fell off a ladder, injuring his face.
• The wardrobe assistant broke her toe, the second assistant director fractured her wrist, and three crew members were stricken with food poisoning.
• To add to the bad luck, the production crew was experiencing, it was soon discovered that much of the green foliage surrounding the resort was turning red, left with only one solution, they spray painted the leaves green.
• When the cast and crew moved on to Lake Lure, NC to film the staff quarter scenes, they faced overwhelming heat.
• During the filming of the final dance scene, many of the cast were overcome with heat exhaustion.
• Miraculously on October 27, 1986 production of Dirty Dancing wrapped with all involved surviving bringing the film under budget.
• Ten months later on August 26, 1987 it premiered.
• It was greeted with highly favorable reviews and a brisk opening weekend business.
• It went over to gross over $65 million in the US and propelled both Jennifer Gray and Patrick Swayze into stardom.
• As a result of the film's success, two chart topping soundtrack albums were released, a nationwide dance tour was launched, and the subsequent home video broke many records...