Of course, I've heard that one Tuesday of the year (Today), IHOP gives a short stack of pancakes to anyone that enters. They've been doing it since 2006. The idea is that they will give you the pancakes, with hopes that you will make a donation to The Childrens Miracle Network.

While IHOP has been doing it only a few years, my Granny celebrated Pancake Day on Shrove Tuesday from as far back as I can remember. She would start mentioning it weeks in advance--Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. It would start a frenzy of questions, since children have a warped since of time. Telling us "next week" may as well have been telling us "next year."

Finally, when Pancake Day would arrive, she would make pancakes by the thousand--well that's what it seemed. She would have many different bottles of syrup--Granny always made you feel like you had choices. We would eat pancakes for hours. Fun times. Sharing a meal with multiple generations of extended family and friends. Such memories.

I will think of her often today. What I wouldn't give to see her just once more..

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By the way, I'm still in first place in the Sun Sentinel's Best of Blogs contest. If you haven't voted today, here's the link. Also, the Awards Ceremony is next Wednesday night. They ask that nominees bring family and friends to support them. If you are interested in attending, here's that link as well.

The past couple weeks have been a blur. What an experience! I've done more in the past week than I thought was humanly possible. I've also learned a few lessons:

• I don't do well on just a few hours sleep
• I'm quite good at elbowing for position on red carpets
• If you haven't eaten in 12 hours, Chile Limon Flavored Cheetos taste amazing
• Stilettos are over rated
• $55 for Friday night parking on South Beach doesn't include valet--only park and lock
• Cj Jeans by Cookie Johnson are my new favorite thing
• Super Bowl Week swag is the same as anytime else
• Interstate 95 Road Rangers really do exist
• Your car really won't run out of gas when the "miles to empty" meter reaches 0
• Kim Kardashian really is gorgeous
• Prescriptives 24 Hour Longwear Mascara will last for 26 hours
• a $10mill home on Miami Beach will only get you 8 bedrooms and 10 baths
• Wendy's Bacon & Blue burger is my next new favorite thing
• Always have an extra SD card on hand

That's all that I can think of now. What did you learn this week?

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There are so many things that I miss from days gone by. Time goes on, life changes, and things that we once held dear are no more--sometimes gone forever and missed and sometimes gone and never thought about again.

My Granny (who is someone that I miss everyday) used to say that nothing lasts forever--not good times or bad times. She was so right. NOTHING lasts forever. Some of the things that didn't last for me and I find myself longing for are:

• frozen custard from the Polar Bear Frozen Custard place that used to be in DC
• old friends that I lost touch with, like Brenda Graham, Michelle Pryor, and Katrina Williams (and my cousin, Rachel Rascoe)
• the carefree days of my youth, when I had no idea that we weren't rich
• the loud, boisterous family gatherings we had all the time
• my late Aunt Kitty's rum cake
• great music with G-rated lyrics
• paperdolls

What do you long for? What do you miss? Can you get it back or is it gone forever?

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If you missed Part 1, check it out here. But here is the rest--

After wandering around, I finally found Alice. She was mingling with a group of women, near a table decorated festively. I recognized a few women, but didn't know most.

Finally, I figured out why Alice was so vague in telling me about the luncheon. To her, it simply wasn't a big deal. This group of women has been meeting for years. They were all ages, colors, professions, etc. They meet informally a few times a year and invite others into their circle. There was Melanie, who runs the premiere social website in Miami. There was also Sonia, who, 15 years ago, established the Miami arm of Suited for Success. There was a real estate professional sitting next to a housewife and a jewelry designer, next to a socialite. Very diverse group. And I had a ball. It was about networking and sharing. The afternoon was filled with laughter and giggling. There were little trinkets for each chica. We ate, drank and had a good time.

This is what life is all about--exchanging ideas, networking, helping each other. I'm so glad that I was invited into this fellowship. I can't wait to see them again!

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When I was a kid, I would love to see newly fallen snow. It was so pretty, untouched. Later, when cars started driving on it and folks started walking on it, it was so pretty anymore. It became yucky.

There's another thing that I'm reminded of when it snows. Everytime I see snow, even on television, I think about it. When I was young, my Mom would act strange when it snowed, even when they were only calling for a dusting. She used to stand at the window and fret. She would look so sad.

Once, I asked why she looked so sad everytime it snowed. She replied, "I'm just thinking about all the people who have no place to go." That's always stuck with me. I was looking at the beauty of it, from my warm, cozy home--with food in the cabinets. Someone else was looking at it close up, from their sleeping spot on the street. Ain't it funny how 2 folks can look at the same thing and the meaning it totally different for them both?

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Ok, so why is it that when I arrive up to the Drive Through Window of certain, nameless fast food restaurants, I have to ask for napkins? And even then, they give me 1. Not 1 per item, or 1 per sandwich, or even 1 per occupant in the car, just ONE. A single napkin. You have to beg to get more.

Why is that? Are napkins really that expensive? And if they are, will we soon be charged for them, much like the airlines charge for baggage? So I'll drive up and say, "Give me a Mega Burger with extra cheese, no onions, and please put the mustard on the side. I'll also have a Super Size fries, a Medium Diet Grape Faygo and 3 napkins....Wait, make that 4 napkins...Wait..Can I get 3 napkins and a paper towel? Thanks, that's it. WAIT...How much are straws???"

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I post daily. So that you don't miss any of my randomness, you might want to subscribe by email.

One of the things that I miss most about my hometown of Washington, DC is the overabundance of greasy spoon restaurants. I believe that you get the best in local eats from these kinds of places. Now, don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with fine dining, but why go to unfamiliar territory without experiencing it the way the locals do.

When my friends travel to my hometown, I tell them to hit Ben's Chili Bowl for a chili half smoke, as well as Horace & Dicky's for a fish sandwich unlike any you've ever had before, and Booeymonger for a Patty Hearst sandwich. And when I go to visit, these are the kinds of experiences that I want to have as well.

What about you? Do you stay on the tourist beat, or do you get down and dirty with the residents? Tell me about your favorite "Greasy Spoon."

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I post daily. So that you don't miss any of my randomness, you might want to subscribe by email.

I don't have a lot of girlfriends. I know a lot of women, but very few are "girlfriends." However, when I meet one, I know right off.

A few weeks ago, I emailed someone to secure an invitation to an event that I wanted to cover for Examiner.com. Another person returned the email. She was nice enough, and after a short volley of emails back and forth, I had all the information that I needed.

A few days later, she emailed me again and said that I should meet a friend of hers, a local jewelry designer. She sent me some background on "Marilyn." Marilyn emailed me a few days later and we set up a time to meet. When she suggested the Bistro at Nordstrom in my favorite mall, I knew that she was my kind of girl.

When I walked up to the Bistro, I didn't see her. So I looked around. I'd never even spoken to her on the phone, but as soon as I saw her, I knew it was her and I knew that I liked her. It was instant. Lunch was a blur. We talked and laughed and shared and giggled. It was so natural and so comfortable, as if we've known each other for years. She was funny and smart and chic and down to earth, all at the same time. She bought jewelry for me to see. I told her about Twitter. She invited me to a fundraiser that she's chairing. I told her about a potential client that I wanted to introduce her too. In the week since the lunch, we've texted and emailed each other. And we have another lunch scheduled already for this week!

Why is it that sometimes folks you meet are instantly "friends" and other folks have to "grow on you"? Have you had these kinds of experiences? Aren't they great??

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I post daily. So that you don't miss any of my randomness, you might want to subscribe by email.

While watching Dr Phil this morning, I realized something about myself. I have an addictive personality, at least according to him.

I find things and become obsessed about them. It generally passes when I find a new obsession. I think it's harmless since it has been things like BeJeweled2, Twitter, raspberry lemonade water ice, and french fries from McDonald's. At least it's not cigarettes or crack, huh?

Are you a fellow addict? What kinds of things do you obsess about?'

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I post daily. So that you don't miss any of my randomness, you might want to subscribe by email.

Just when I'd thought that I had seen it all, I saw something yesterday that truly amazed me. I ventured way out of my comfort zone to a shopping mall that I don't frequent very much. I've been there 3 times in the nearly 8 years that I've been here. But when Homecoming is this weekend and your daughter has yet to find a dress, you do drastic things.

Within a half hour, we'd found a dress (Yay!!) and then 15 minutes later, we had shoes to match. We ventured over to the food court. Here's where I got the shock. The most popular place in the food court sold corn and corn products. Yes, CORN.

You could buy cups of corn in various sizes. They had regular corn. They also had corn scampi (topped with butter, garlic and salt). They had all kinds of toppings to go on the corn, including chipotle, teriyaki, lemon, chili powder, etc. Then they had corn muffins, corn soup, arepas, and corn smoothies. CORN SMOOTHIES???

There was a guy giving out samples and I tried the scampi. Although it was tasty, walking the mall with a cup of corn just didn't appeal to me. And folks were waiting in line to buy the stuff. Did I mention that it wasn't cheap?? A large cup, about the size of your average styrofoam coffee cup was $4.99. Perhaps I should take a second look at this thing. Or maybe I could create a spin-off. I could use rice. Or tomatoes. Or grits. Would you buy it?

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I post daily. So that you don't miss any of my randomness, you might want to subscribe by email.

The other night, my beloved hometown lost a great one. Ben Ali passed on. Ben, along with his wife Virginia, founded Ben's Chili Bowl in 1958.

Ben's has been an institution in Washington, DC ever since. Many feel that Barack Obama's visit last year put Ben's on the map, but I beg to differ. Homegrown folks, along with tourists who've done their homework, have paraded through Ben's for years. If you've never had a chili half smoke, do yourself a favor, trek over to the U Street corridor, and throw caution to the wind.

Ben's is one of those places where families of tourists sit next to businessmen with their ties tossed over their shoulders and everyone is digging in. In between are local, national, and international celebrities. Never be surprised at who's sitting next to you in Ben's. They are open nearly 24 hours a day, closing for only a few hours for cleaning and restocking.

Mr Ben was a good guy, as are his children, who've been running the place in recent years. I sure wish I could get there this weekend. RIP Mr Ali...

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I post daily. So that you don't miss any of my randomness, you might want to subscribe by email.

As most of you know, I love a good snack. In fact, snack time is my most favorite time of the day. And it shows...

But I digress. I do, indeed, love snacks. I'm even willing, in most cases, to try a new snack combination. Many years ago, FOJ Stacey, invited me to try her movie snack combo. She mixed chocolate covered raisins into her buttered popcorn in the movie theatre. I tried it and, sure enough, it was delicious. Ever since, I've been buying popcorn AND raisinettes at the concession stand before a good flick.

But, I saw something yesterday that stopped me cold and rendered me speechless. And that is NOT an easy thing to achieve. While, people watching, I saw a young man, in about his early 20s, I would guess. He was in public. He had a small backpack. He was only about 6 ft from me, so I'm SURE of what I saw. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a package of regular Ramen noodles. He opened it and pulled out the seasoning packet. He opened the seasoning and sprinkled them on the hard, uncooked noodles. He then proceeded to eat the noodles--UNCOOKED. He bit and broke off small pieces of the noodles and crunched them like chips. I could NOT stop watching him. I have NEVER seen that one before. Took him about 5 mins or so to finish the pack. He took out a napkin, wiped his mouth, and chased it with a bottle of water. Of course, this all happened roughly 5 hours BEFORE I got my new Flip video camera. But now I have it and it's fully charged. If I ever see him again, I will capture video of it. See, THIS is exactly why I need one...

Have you EVER seen anyone eat uncooked ramen noodles? Have you done it yourself? Is this something I should try?

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I post daily. So that you don't miss any of my randomness, you might want to subscribe by email.

I have made some bad choices. Very bad choices. For the past week, with the family here, my food choices have been horrible. I've had everything from creamy dips to fried chicken to bread puddings. While they were absolutely delicious, I am going to pay for it.

DSM!! Which means--"Diet Starts Monday!!" Next week, I vow to make healthy choices(at least half of the time). I am going to be thin by the holidays. I see everyone snickering, but I REALLY mean it this time! I'm going to be slim and trim!!

I know that I always fall off the wagon early on, but laying around the pool and seeing those hard bodies have made me a changed woman. No more oreos dipped in chocolate. No more fried macaroni/cheese appetizers. No more Coldstone Creamery. Bring on the fresh fruits and veggies.

So, it's settled. DSM. Which means that for the next week, I have to have my last hurrah! Wish me luck!

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So, it's that time of year again. Next week is BEACH WEEK. It's the week that my family and friends descend upon South Florida for merriment, mirth, and mayhem. In other words, we have a ball!

Though I live very close to the Atlantic Ocean, I don't regularly visit. I do "see" if often, driving by. But next week, the visitors generally want to hang out on the beach--both Fort Lauderdale Beach and Miami Beach. We'll also visit those local attractions that they have come to love--including Sawgrass Mills Mall, Aventura Mall, Taverna Opa, Pollo Tropical, Bubba Gump's, the Seminole Hard Rock Casino, etc. etc.

This year, there are also planned jaunts to the Miami Dolphins training facility, Spa Boulevard, and the Dolphin Mall. I think they spend a lot of time online, trying to figure out where they want to go, but then we always seem to hit the same spots. Last year, we ate breakfast and dinner at the same restaurant--the restaurant staff found it quite amusing, since we took up half the place.

At any rate, blogging will continue, in fact, there may be pictures of some of the funniest moments. Please readers, if you don't pay attention to anything else that I've ever wrote, please digest this--FAMILY is the most important thing of all, at least for me. I love my family, even with all the craziness and drama. I was overjoyed to marry into another loving family. I would not be who I am today, had it not been for my family. I love them all, from the babies to the seniors.

What about you? What's your take on family? Could you live without them?

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My regular readers know that I suffer from severe anemia. These last few months have been full of medical procedures and weekly visits to my hematologist. I take a large amount of iron in pill form everyday. While the iron pills haven't done very much for my hemoglobin numbers, they have curbed my constant craving for ice. That's a blessing because, at my worst, I would have rather eaten ice than food.

Well anyhow, last night, while talking to one of my favorite folks in the world, I explained that I hardly ever have that overwhelming desire for ice anymore. This lead to a discussion about the "best" ice, and where to get it. You see, ice cravers like me have preferences. Of course, I have the fancy schmancy fridge that makes ice, but I don't like the shape of that ice. The cubes aren't cubes at all. They are long and curved and much too dense.

I believe McDonald's has the best ice. They have flat, circular "cubes" that fit nicely in your mouth and hold their shape in non-carbonated beverages. I would give McDonald's ice a score of 9. The next best ice comes from Pollo Tropical. They have the true square cubes, but again, the size and density are amazing! I would give them a 7.5. In fairness, I probably should mention that Pollo Tropical using an inferior cup, that starts to leak in less than an hour. (You can't expect me to eat a huge cup of ice in less than an hour, can you?) The worst ice is from Antonio's pizza. The ice there is crushed--YUCK! It's like eating a snowcone without the syrup. I give them a score of 1. The next worse is KFC--the ice is too watery and melts too quickly, though they do use a plastic cup--no chance of leaking.

As you can see, I've become quite an expert on the ice served in my immediate neighborhood. Have you ever given it any thought? Or are you one of those folks who chooses places to eat, based strictly on the food???

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It was on this day, 40 years ago, that Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon. It was widely believed that, at some point in the future, people would live on the moon. I'm not sure about you, but this notion is not appealing to me at all. I wouldn't want to live in Idaho, let alone the moon.

I would, however, be glued to the television, should a colony of humans decide to set up camp on the moon. I would hope that they would set it up much like the tv show, Big Brother. That would bring new meaning to the term, "satellite tv." I'd love it.

How would they handle everyday occurrences--suppose the kids wanted to run away? Where do you run away to on the moon? Suppose you got a serious case of the munchies late at night? Would there be Taco Bell on the moon? Suppose you got invited to a party and needed something to wear? Would Macy's overnight a little black dress to you? This is how my mind works. I am always full of the "what ifs?" What if my Kindle didn't work up there? What if there was no internet? What if my husband couldn't find a job? What if there was no tiramisu????

What are your thoughts? Would you move to the moon? Why not?

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For the last few weeks, I've been craving french fries doused with malt vinegar. And, I confess, I've given in to the temptation, more than once. If you've never had them, trust me when I say that it's good eating.

Anyhow, I mentioned it to a couple folks and they had never heard of the fries/vinegar combination. Some even questioned how the two tastes could possibly interact in a good way. I'll admit it, it may not sound tasty, but heck, there are a lot of things that don't sound tasty and actually are.

I mean really--whoever thought of bleu cheese on a burger? For that matter, who thought of bleu cheese, PERIOD? And who invented turducken? Were they drunk??

So, here's my question. What quirky things do you eat--ketchup on eggs? Mayo AND mustard on a sandwich? Tell me some of your weird combinations of food. I may try some..

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Please help me settle a 40 year old family argument! It all revolves around Porky Pig. You youngsters may not know who Porky Pig is, but the oldheads know. Porky Pig was an animated Warner Brothers cartoon character. His most distinguishing features were his severe stutter and his lack of pants(repeated later in Chuck E. Cheese).

Now, some of you may know that I have brothers. They are 14 months younger than me (which means that they, too, are OLD!) and they are twins. Anyhow, when we were all toddlers, our family "acquired" 3 children's plates. I haven't been able to determine how they came to the family, but they were in our kitchen as far back as I can remember. So, we got THREE plates. (THIS IS SIGNIFICANT). We had 3 children in the family. (THIS, TOO, IS SIGNIFICANT). Two of the plates had a huge Bugs Bunny in the center, and the third had Porky Pig. So, let's examine this. THREE PLATES. THREE KIDS. TWO BUGS. TWINS. ONE PORKY PIG. ME.

Well, at EVERY meal, and I do mean EVERY, there was a huge fight about which of us would get to eat from the plate with the big Porky Pig. It was like whatever meal that was on it tasted so much better. Whoever ended up with it gloated while the other 2 glared. For years, we argued about that plate. There were tears, fighting, slaps, punches, punishments, and it usually ended up with everybody being sent to bed early, sometimes without eating at all.

Anyhow, the plate was MINE. The Porky Pig was MINE. The boys had the Bugs Bunny plates. Porky was MINE!!!!! But noooo, do you think my parents would back me on this???? NOPE! We had to rotate Porky at every meal because they claimed they didn't know who rightfully owned Porky. They knew. They knew. It was MINE! And this lack of support, so early in my formative years, probably contributed heavily to the neurosis I suffer from today. But I digress--

S0metimes now, years later, when we get together as a family, someone will bring up the big Porky Pig plate and it will start a fierce debate. Both of my brothers still claim that the plate was theirs. My parents still claim that the plate didn't have a rightful owner, but was rather a "community" plate. Hmmph!! Ok, so I've told my side the story. Please tell me--WHOSE plate do YOU think it was??

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