Being the designated driver and having fun

Okay, it's your turn...you get to go BUT no drinking for you so how are you supposed to have fun? 





Let me assure you there is plenty of ways to be included in the fun (and a few things you can do to create some fun yourself).

Be prepared:  There is nothing worse than driving a really drunk person home.  I suggest you have food in your car that will help soak up some alcohol on your ride.  PB sandwiches (no jelly) are good as they don't "drip" on your seats and it will help fill them up.

Take a notebook with you and assign each person a page.  I love to have them sign their name on the first line before they start drinking.  Each time they finish a drink you write what their drink was and have them sign next to it.  You can have a contest on the most legible signature at the end of the night....and let's be honest we love Facebook and can "post" their sheets the next day.  Make sure the bartender/waitstaff/customer takes a group picture BEFORE the drinking begins.

Go to the dollar store and buy a crazy hat or button.  When one has a "drunk moment" (we all know what those are....falling of the chair, falling into a wall, etc.) they have to wear the hat or button until the next "drunk moment."  Don't forget the picture of this.


If you have a great group of people have each person give you $20.00 before the beginning of the night.  The one with the worst signature has to tip the bartender/waitstaff their whole $20.00 and the rest tip $5.00 of their $20.00.  Depending on your group you can either return the remainder to the "non losers" of the signature game or, if everyone agrees, you can keep that as your tip.

If you feel like you are out of place drinking soda?  Order a non-alcoholic beer or drink.  If your group likes to drink shots (this gets fun with the notebook) have a shot with them....just do it with water, soda or orange juice.

As the designated driver it is your responsibility to keep everyone safe....and of course it is your obligation to take pictures and/or video of the night.  (only do this if you are the type of friend who will respect their privacy and only show them...unless they say you can post it on Facebook).  You will only remain friends if you are first a friend....but there are no rules that say you can't embarrass them in small groups.  Ask the bartender/waitstaff to take an "end of the night" picture for your notebook.

The next day:  You now have pictures and signatures.....create a memory book of the night out.  If you have a great group of people and a great bar you can have a wall of your memories of that night out.

Now, being the designated driver doesn't seem so bad does it.

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Free pick up and take home Pueblo West Bar

I want to talk about drinking and driving and the importance of NOT DOING IT!

Across the Country we have had free rides home on New Year's Eve but a local bar in Pueblo West, Colorado has taken that to a new level!



Jimmy's Tavern is offering Pueblo West residents a pick up and drop off service to their bar.  All you have to do is call them, schedule the time for them to pick you up.  When you are ready to go they will safely deliver you home.  

We need more bar/tavern owners taking that extra step to keep their customers safe, keep other drivers on the road safe and to help stop the drinking and driving!

Hats off to all those that assist in stopping drinking and driving.  Deaths on the New Years holiday increases by 150% (according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety) and we all need to do our part in stopping these senseless deaths!!

Please be safe and sober if you are driving this New Year's holiday!!!

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New Years Eve: Go out or Party at Home

What do you plan on doing the New Years Eve?  

If you go out...you have to worry about drinking and driving.  Please don't drink and drive.  There are many ways you can avoid this.  To learn about FREE rides home in Colorado click HERE.  If you are going to be the designated driver...next blog is about some great ways to have fun sober!!



If you are staying home and having a party at your house...you are braver than I am.


Let's do first things first:

The guest list:  How many do you plan on inviting?  Can they bring a guest?

Food:  You don't need to prepare a large meal but you do need to provide alcohol soaking foods like; pizza, sandwiches, crackers, etc.  When deciding what kinds of food you are going to provide think about this:  Drunks spill.  Pizza sauce on carpet.  Mustard on carpet.  Plan ahead!

Drinks:  You will need to provide non-alcoholic drinks for those designated drivers.  Make it fun for them....plain soda is boring (not that you don't need to provide soda...just don't let that be the only non-alcoholic beverage). Think about virgin drinks provided by ehow: 

• Mix together two teaspoons of lemon juice, one teaspoon of grenadine, a dash of bitters and seven to eight ounces of ginger ale. 
• "Southern ginger." Mix five ounces of dry ginger ale, a half-ounce of simple syrup and a half-ounce of lemon juice. Pour the drink over ice and add a mint sprig. 
• For a fruity drink, create a "black and blueberries." Place one cup of berries, a cup of soda water, two tablespoons of honey and a teaspoon of lemon juice in a blender. Pulse until the mixture is blended.

Have the plan together on how to stop intoxicated drinkers from driving.  

• Have a place in your home for them to stay the night.
• Have sober drivers available for taking them (and possibly their vehicles home). 

Remember a great party is a party that has something for everyone and everyone gets home safely!!

Now for the day after:  the clean up!  The worst thing to do is clean your home while you are hungover.  Plan a group of party attenders to come and help you. 



Get rid of the stains by calling a professional carpet cleaner (preferably one who cleans upholstery also cause you never know).

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The Christmas Tree

The Christmas Tree

Samuel T. Coleridge - Ratzeburg, Germany 1799

There is a Christmas custom here which pleased and interested me. The children make little presents to their parents, and to each other; and the parents to the children. For three or four months before Christmas the girls are all busy; and the boys save up their pocket money, to make or purchase these presents. What the present is to be is cautiously kept secret, and the girls have a world of contrivances to conceal it -- such as working when they are out on visits, and the others are not with them; getting up in the morning before daylight; and the like. then, on the evening before Christmas day, one of the parlours is lighted up by the children, into which the parents must not go. A great yew bough is fastened on the table at a little distance from the wall, a multitude of little tapers are fastened in the bough, but so as not to catch it till they are nearly burnt out, and coloured paper hangs and flutters from the twings. Under this bough, the children lay out in great order the presents they mean for their parents, still concealing in their pockets what they intend for each other. Then the parents are introduced, and each presents his little gift, and then bring out the rest one by one from their pockets, and present them with kisses and embraces. Where I witnessed this scene there were eight or nine children, and the eldest daughter and the mother wept aloud for joy and tenderness; and the tears ran down the face of the father, and he clasped all his children so tight to his breast, it seemed as if he did it to stifle the sob that was rising within him. I was very much affected. The shadow of the bough and its appendages on the wall, and arching over on the ceiling, made a pretty picture, and then the raptures of the very little ones, when at last the twings and their needles began to take fire and snap! -- Oh, it was a delight for them! On the next day, in the great parlour, the parents lay out on the table the presents for the children; a scene of more sober joy success, as on this day, after an old custom, the mother says privately to each of her daughters, and the father to his sons, that which he has observed most praiseworthy, and that which was most faulty in their conduct. Formerly, and still in all the smaller towns and villages throughout North Germany, these presents were sent by all the parents to some one fellow, who in high buskins, a white robe, a mask, and an enormous flax wig, personate Knecht Rupert, the servant Rupert. On Christmas night he goes round to every house, and says that Jesus christ his master sent him thither, the parents and elder children receive him with great pomp of reverence, while the little ones are most terribly frightened. He then inquires for the children, and, according to the character which he hears from the parent, he gives them the intended presents, as if they came out of heaven from Jesus Christ. Or, if they should have been bad children, he gives the parents a rod, and in the name of his master recommends them to use it frequently. About seven or eight years old the children are let into the secret, and it is curious to observe how faithfully they keep it.

Merry Christmas!!

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Red Wine stains on your carpet

It's that time of year....parties and celebrations.  If you are reading this you made it through the Mayan prediction of the End of the World December 21, 2012.  Whether you are celebrating this or getting ready for the Christmas gatherings it is important to understand what can happen during these celebrations.....spilled red wine.


I have read many tips on cleaning up red wine stains and I will be honest with you....I haven't found any that really work.

• I've tried the vinegar/water solution
• I've tried the dish washing detergent
• I've tried the blotting and using hot water and salt

I've tried them all and if you have light colored carpets like I do...there is no hiding the stains unless you buy throw carpets and that can get expensive.

I will tell you this...the only thing that has ever worked is calling in the professionals.  

picture compliments of eHow

I have three steam cleaners at home; one of the push ones that promise to work as good as the professional cleaners.....NOT.  Right now it takes up space in my closet.

I have the wand with the small bucket and I have to say it works well for non-stain messes so really what good is it.

And I have the portable mini steam cleaner for spots.....really?  

I have tried just about everything and the only thing that works on these kind of stains (I also want to add that I have a puppy who loves to chew on things....right now blue pens are her favorite...just try getting that stain up with any of the machines I mentioned)

I will give you a tip you can do immediately that I have found to keep the red wine from spreading and getting worse.

Salt!  Pour salt onto the stain and about one inch outside of the stain.  This doesn't remove the stain but it will keep it from getting bigger.

Now here's the best tip I can give you....don't waste your time "trying" and don't waste your energy "trying."  Call a professional carpet cleaner and get them there as soon as possible.

If you are in Southern Colorado and you need a professional carpet cleaner who understands you and your carpet I highly recommend Larry Trujillo!  

Please like Trujillo's Cleaning Company (Formally Trujillo's Steam King) on Facebook or visit their website.

The world didn't end....what now?

The world didn't end as the Mayan's predicted.  

If you were one of those believers than the next few days are going to be rushed for you because you probably didn't clean your house, shop for presents and now you have to host the Christmas dinner.



If you believed what was all over the internet you really thought the world was coming to an end today, December 21, 2012.  The Mayans and the Egyptians predicted, right?

Here's where I was always confused.  Nostradamus predicted disaster in his writings and drawings.  Let's look at one of them. One of his drawings should a crab with "swirls" above his head.  Believers of the end of the world said it was amazing how he new the milky way was swirled when they knew nothing of the milky way.  

Here's what I think....it is easy to take a picture and decide what it means when we have knowledge of something and can relate it to that.  For all we know Nostradamus meant the "swirls" to be water....I mean you find crabs in the water right?

When we take drawings from the 16th Century and "understand" them with 21st Century thinking we can make anything "fit" however we want.  

This fascinates me...not that I believed the world was ending 12/21/12 but the rationality that went behind the interpretations was interesting on how they came up with the end of the world. We will forever wonder exactly what the writing of the Mayans, the writing of the Egyptians and the writing of Nostradamus meant and I'm sure we will see, in the near future, that the writings of the end of the world were correct but the time was  mis-interpreted.   Without the doom of our future what will we do?

For those of you who didn't believe than your next few days will go on as if this prediction never happened; you are prepared for Christmas and hosting a holiday family gathering. For those of you who believed it....have fun getting ready for the holiday in a few short days.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

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Cleaning the carpet after pet accidents

Pets:  They are part of the family.  We love them unconditionally and they love us back.  If we could just train them to use the toilet like in the movie Bruce Almighty our lives with our pets would be perfect.  (Except for the chewing of our belongings that it).

Watch the video of the dog in Bruce Almighty HERE...absolutely great!!

Well, I'm just going to say that training my dogs to do this...not likely going to happen.  One they are pretty stubborn and two...who has that kind of time, right?

Our one year old puppy is just now becoming consistent of "going" outside.
Our 19 year old is......old and there are time that he has accidents.

When our puppy had accidents they were mostly urine.  Our 19 year old...well his accidents are mostly feces.  

I'm going to be completely honest here.  I use the vinegar and water solution.  I use the enzyme afterwards and for the "most part" they come up.

Here's the problem....no matter how hard you work and no matter what you do to remove the "accident" you never know if you got it all (unless the stain remains than you definitely know!)

I love my pets....and no matter what accidents they have....I will always love my pets.  So what do I do?



I do the immediate care of the carpet.  I use the vinegar/water, I use the enzyme cleaner AND I call a professional carpet cleaner!  Here's why I use a professional carpet cleaner a few times a year.

• I don't know if I got ALL of the "accident" completely up.
• The good ones have a solution they put on the carpet to keep the pet from "going" back to that area.  (Although for my older dog....it's not a matter of lazy accidents or not being trained).

Carpets are one of our hidden dangers in our home so I want to keep them as clean and safe as possible.  To read more about these dangers click HERE.

I said before and I will say it again....I love my pets...accidents and all.

If you find yourself with this problem contact a professional carpet cleaner about your options.  If you are in Southern Colorado I highly recommend Trujillo's Cleaning Company; Formally Trujillo's Steam Clean.


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