Category Archives: Fresno

Love a Soldier

This last week I heard an interesting fact. Even though the President pulled the troops out of Iraq, there are still 50,000 members of the armed forces in Iraq. We also still have soldiers in Afghanistan and dozens of bases in foreign countries.

So I was excited to hear about our local Blue Star Moms organizing care packages and sending them off to many soldiers overseas! You have until November 11th if you want to participate. They are looking for ordinary things to give our troops just a taste of home. Things like

Tuna or Chicken Creations/Lunch Kits
(packages with condiments/ tuna or chicken salad with crackers)
Cup O Soup or Cup O Noodles
Beef Jerky – Trail mix – Nuts
Small bags of chips or small packs of Pringles
Individual powdered-drink mixes to put in water bottles
(Gatorade, Crystal lite, Kool-aid etc.)
Tea bags, sugar & creamer packs
David’s sun flower seeds
Cracker Jacks
Red/Black licorice
Cookies
Protein bars (ex: Power Bars)
Fruit snacks – roll-ups – gushers – (No canned items like fruit cups)
Candy (Tootsie Rolls, dots, gummy bears, jelly beans, jolly ranchers or anything that won’t melt -no chocolate, please!)
Gum (Caffeine Gum is a huge hit)
Breath mints
Water guns (for picnic fun)
Small Nerf balls or footballs – Velcro Dart games
Frisbees, Yo-Yo’s
Tennis balls, Hacky sacks
Card games (Uno, Skip Bo, etc.)
DVDs – Music CDs
Crossword puzzles, word search games, etc.
paper or plastic table-cloths, plastic forks
Black or white cotton socks
Pre-paid phone cards

So if you want to contribute some items or money, you can drop them off at locations around the Central Valley. That is including New Covenant Community Church on Nees between Cedar and Maple.

Remember that doing just a little can mean a whole lot! But hurry you only have until November 11th!!

Free Opera in Fresno

Ok, so did everyone else know about the California Opera Festival? The California Opera, that is here in Fresno, does a huge Opera festival here in Fresno every summer! They also do the kids’ shows in the winter like Hansel and Gretel! Where have I been, oh making babies for 6 years straight;).

An awesome thing about this festival is that the performances are all free! There are shows this weekend at the Fresno Met and next weekend at the Mercedes Theater in Clovis. I am eyeballing The Telephone this Saturday for myself, NerdDad and some of the Nerdlings. It is a comedy and in English so it is a great 1st time opera. But next weekend’s La Traviata and Madame Butterfly look great too! I think the kids would get a kick out of all the costumes of Madame Butterfly. Oh, to have more time!

This would be my first live opera! My heart is broken that I didn’t know that they have been doing this for almost 10 years! Have you been to any of California Opera’s shows? I can’t wait to attend one myself. I just hope I can squeeze it in this weekend!

Another Fresno treasure! Get out there and part take! Who says there isn’t any culture in Fresno?

Tea Party Without Tea

This was the sight as I walked up to my first tea party. I admit it, I wasn’t completely sure about the Tea Party thing. While I agree with the premise I was a little afraid that the crowd my be a little, oh what should I call it? The fringe element? But I want to be more educated and informed of local politics so I went.

I was a little underwhelmed at the crowds in the stands. One local news channel says that 4000 people came but I wouldn’t say it was all at once;). I have to say that unless you were coming to hear someone specific or are completely new to the conservative movement, it isn’t really worth coming to sit in the stands to listen. Maybe I am saying that as someone who already reads a fair amount of politics on the internet .

But there were booths, booths and more booths. We had booths with petitions, local candidates, state wide campaigns with a few candidates, and then booths that were selling stuff. Some of the stuff was just that some vendor had bought a booth. Like BRE selling boxes and boxes of dvd’s. But there was a lot of “Tea Party” memorabilia being sold. I thought this booth for women’s jewelry was a bit funny. Not wrong or anything but funny.

Overall I walked through the concourse at the stadium and got a lot of information from the candidates (which I will blog more about later).  I got to meet and talk with a few candidates and heard some interesting things. I think I will probably be getting more involved in the Tea Party movement and will probably attend another one in the future. A side note: I was shocked that I didn’t see 1 person I know. I go to a conservative church and have politically active friends so I was shocked to not see anyone. Not that it matters but it was shocking;).

Oh, before I end this long droning post. Best answer from a candidate! I was talking to Lawrence Naritelli who is running for Governor. I asked him what his big issues were and one of them is water. Now in my head a bell goes off because it is a huge issue here but not really seen as something the Governorship can do much about (since it is the Federal government causing all the trouble). It really annoys me when a candidate just picks up what ever issue is a hot one in the area even if it is something they will not be involved in if elected. So I asked him what he would do about it if he is elected. He had an answer! He said that the sheriff has immediate physical jurisdiction with the actual pumps but they need an order to turn them on. So as Governor he would issue an order for the pumps to be turned on. Now I don’t know how definite of a solution that is but I was impressed he had an actual action he would do. So I deem that best answer from a candidate for the day!

Pictures

I dislike pictures of me. I don’t like having them taken and I don’t care to look at them later either;). But I didn’t have any decent pictures of me for a headshot for my blogs or anything else I wanted to write for. (Why do you need a picture to take a written piece? But that is another issue) I happen to have a friend who is a talented photographer and I let her do her thing!

I have to say, I think I like the results. It would be much better if I was 100 lbs lighter but what wouldn’t be better;). I had seen Cali Morgan’s professional photography many times in wedding pictures, pregnancy portraits and family portraits and kid’s pictures. I knew that she specializes in making women look good. But I still wasn’t keen on it being my turn in front of the camera.
But as soon as I sat down for Carli, she instantly put me at ease. I know that I tend to be stiff and cheesy in front of the camera but she was able to totally work around that. She was a total joy to work with! I look forward to loosing some of my weight and having to take new ones;).
Now if you are looking for a photographer and are in the Fresno area, look no further! Go check Carli out!
(For disclosure purposes: This is not sponsored in any way. I payed for my pictures and my digital file like everyone else. I just really like Carli’s work!)

Unlicensed Contractors

Bethany Clough over at the Beehive has a list of unlicensed contractors who are operating in the Fresno area that you should on the look out for. She also links to some other articles that are talking about the clamp down on unlicensed contractors. Now I am not saying that people without licenses are bad but you need to be aware because it has other ramifications. Ramifications on your insurance and their ability to be insured to cover their mistakes.

Condolences

Rep George Radanovich’s wife, Ethie Weaver Radaovich, has passed away. My sympathy and prayers go out to Representative Radanovich, his son and all those who knew and loved her.

But now I have a question… Ethie and her battle with cancer was the prime reason that Rep Radanovich was not seeking another term in the House of Representatives. Is this effect what he is doing next? Can he/will he jump back into the race? Will he run for something a bit more local? Not to be callus but, is her passing so early in the campaign season a game changer?

Community College Tosses Students

I found it very interesting that the State Center Community Colleges chose to toss out 400 students between semesters. This is instead of waiting to kick out students who have carried an average of 1.75 (for 3 semesters) after the spring semester. They say this isn’t due to the large amount of students who can’t get classes but technology.

I think this is a great move on behalf of the State Center. There are many students who want classes and can’t get them. Maybe those who are having issues committing (because it does take 3 semesters to get kicked out) would be better served to come back when they get serious. I am saying this as a person who struggled with her grades the first go round. There are times when many of people went to school because it was expected and not because we were ready to make it priority. There are also times when, due to life circumstances, some of us just couldn’t make it a priority.
All in all I think this is right call!