I'm sitting in front of the tv switching back and forth between the local news and critiquing how they bring us information about what is going on in our city and county.

I'm terrible about that because I used to produce the news at 7, so I feel like no one can do it better than I did!

My obsession with politics bugs the crap out of Mike, though. I can see him rolling his eyes when I get going on a rant, so I've tried to tone it down a bit. To me, politics is a contact sport, and I watch it with as much passion as men watch their favorite football team!

That's why I hope our listeners understand that the thing I enjoy best about political talk is finding out someone else's opinion. I certainly don't know everything, and I'm like everyone else when I get blinded by my own biases and emotions. Those things color the way I look at politics, but someone else's viewpoint could be the thing I need to hear to change my mind and see the way someone else see's the same subject.

The freedom to speak your mind is a powerful thing, but sometimes I forget to use my inside voice! So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, thank you, dear listeners, for bearing with me when I get on my soapbox and forget that I'm not Empress Patricia! But if you wanna talk politics, call me at the station. I love to argue!

NO LONGER A PHONE NERD ... So my birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and I got a cool present - a new cell phone! Now it might not seem like much to you, but to me, who was carrying around a cell phone that had no camera, no video, no ability to download music, it's pretty huge! Darren said it was time to get me a cool phone when he saw my four and nine year old nieces making fun of me because they have cooler phones than their Auntie Titi!

It's a Blackberry and I can take pictures and video, download music, really keep my schedule together with a cool calendar, even text without having to hit a button four times to get to the letter I want! The good thing about the camera capabilities, of course, is being able to send stuff to Ryan in Iraq. He was laughing because I sent him some pictures from the night we celebrated my Mom's, my sisters, and my birthdays. My Mom and I were born on the same day, my sister a day before us. We were all at my other sister's house and I was taking pictures and sending them to Ryan.

Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out why the pics were so cloudy, like they were being taken through a veil. Well, my eleven year old niece walked by just as I was complaining that this whole taking pictures with the phone thing wasn't all it was cracked up to be. She asked to see my phone and took the protective film off the back and handed it back to me without saying a word. Yeah, I'm a phone dork.

So now I've joined the cool kids with the cool phones, but I get the impression that they still won't let me sit with them at the cool kid table at lunch! Oh well........

CHECKIN' OUT THE CHICK MAGS: I check out the chick mags because there's never enough time to read all the good stuff in line at WalMart!
GLAMOUR: FALL FASHION UPDATE:

Fall is right around the corner, and the ladies at Glamour tell us that the hottest footwear this season will be thigh high boots! Yowzah! So how do you wear them without looking like a hookah? DON'T wear them with a mini-skirt! You want to look hawt, not for sale! Pull those bad boys on over a pair of skinny jeans and keep the rest of your legs covered up!

MARIE CLAIRE: How To Deal With Your Football Fan

If you don't want to be a football widow again this season, try these strategies from the gals at Marie Claire ~

Don't take the non-cooperation approach and refuse to take part in any football-related activities, unless you want to be a lonely girl! Instead, power share your man with his team!

Let him have his four hour blocks of time when his team plays, but then remind him that turnabout is fair play and he has to hang with you for the same block of time! That should keep him from doing too much footballage!

AND FINALLY FROM THE MINXES AT COSMO: Tackling Your Man's Style, or Lack Thereof!

Cosmo says if you want to change your man's look, DON'T throw out his favorite t-shirt or jeans that he adores but make you throw up! Instead, bury them at the bottom of the laundry hamper. Then buy stuff to replace the crummy stuff! Men are like puppies - if they don't see something, they'll forget it exists!

Then, when he is wearing something you like, shower him with praise! When he picks something you hate, don't mention it! Pretty soon, he'll remember that you liked one thing and not the other, and since he wants you to be all over him, he'll wear the stuff you like to make that happen!

That's my first installment of Checking Out the Chick Mags! Stick around for more tidbits from the mags you can't put down!

There is some scary stuff going around, and they call it the bird flu. There is a lot of information out there, but here are some quick answers. As you can tell from reading, there are a lot of unknowns in this outbreak - that's because this is a brand new virus. As more information becomes available, we'll keep you up on it. Read on . . .





1. Whats the deal with animal flu's in humans?

The influenza virus constantly mutates that's why we can't get full immunity to the flu.
Flu virus' in animals - like the bird flu - swaps genes with other viruses a process called reassortment, and jumps to human beings.
The bird flu doesn't pass easily from human to human to another, and is a phase 3.
A phase 4 is a new virus that begins to pass easily from person to person.
Since it is apparently causing large-scale outbreaks in Mexico, along with cases in the U.S. and Canada and suspected cases in other countries, it looks like the criteria for phase 4 has already been met.
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2. What happens if this outbreak is classified as a pandemic?
Serious containment actions would have to be taken on the national and international level.
That could impact the global economy, and freak out the public, so doing that is a matter of not only science, but politics as well.
Meanwhile, the opportunity to contain the disease at its source has passes because the virus is already crossing borders easily.
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3. Why have the U.S. cases been so much milder than the ones in Mexico?
No one knows and what worries officials is that in Mexico, swine flu is killing young and healthy people who can normally fight off the flu.
Officials say the true severity of the swine flu is still not known.
A 1918 flu pandemic began with a fairly mild wave of infections in the spring, but a much worse strain of the virus came back a few months later.
The current swine flu virus could evolve also and become even more dangerous to people.
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4. How ready is the U.S. - and the world - to respond to a flu pandemic?
Better prepared than it has ever been, thanks to concerns over the bird flu.
Millions of doses of antivirals have been stockpiled.
We can identify new viruses faster than ever before, and we have life-saving technologies - like artificial respirators and antivirals - that weren't available back in 1918.
But we are also fighting against international air travel which means that infections can spread very quickly.
And even though a new swine flu vaccine can be developed quickly, it could take months for the pharmaceutical industry could produce its full capacity of doses - and even then, there wouldn't be enough for everyone on the planet.
The U.S. is particularly vulnerable because only one plant here makes flu vaccine which could pose the problem of trying to get other countries to give us some of theirs when their people need it too.





SYMPTOMS OF SWINE FLU

Swine flu symptoms are similar to regular flu symptoms and include cough, sore throat, fever, chills, headache, and fatigue. Some patients have also reported nausea and diarrhea. There is no easy way to distinguish swine flu from other types of flu or other germs. It takes a lab test to tell whether it's swine flu, so if you feel ill and are worried, call your doctor.


Scared yet? Don't be. Just keep an eye on the news, cover your mouth when you cough, and wash your hands!

Warmer weather is here, and that means summer is right around the corner and kids will be getting out of school and spending their days at the pool to try and keep cool.
But before all the fun can begin, the city will be temporarily closing three pools in East El Paso for maintenance before the busy summer swim season.
The Therapeutic & Instructional Pool at the Multipurpose Center at 9031 Viscount, will be closed this coming Monday and Tuesday.
The Hawkins Aquatic Center at Hawkins and Montana will be closed this coming Wednesday and again on April 30th.
Marty Robbins Pool at 11-600 Vista Del Sol will be closed May 7th and 8th.
General admission for city pools is $2 for adults up to age 49, $1 for youths, and $1 for seniors 50 and older.

Ok, so now I feel better! Turns out Kathy Ireland, one of the supermodels of the eighties, let things get out of hand, too! Apparently, she developed a serious sugar habit while she was busy raising her kids, being married to an emergency room doctor, and just generally living her life. I think we can all understand that! I mean, my kids are way older now, Ryan is 23 and Sam is 17, so it's not like I have little ones at home who need to be tended to, and still, before I knew it, I was heavier than I've ever been!

Which leads me to thanking everybody for all the nice emails of support after my last blog. I got lots of great suggestions about where to find jeans to fit my booty and "you-go-girl's" in regards to trying to lose weight.

A little update: for the first time this morning, I put on my pair of jeans that were just out of the dryer . . . and I didn't have to do deep knee bends to stretch them out! Don't you hate the way your jeans shrink in the dryer? I do! So I took it as a great little victory that they were comfortable right away. *heavy sigh* I guess that means that eating fewer brownies and drinking fewer Cokes really does work, so I'll have to keep doing it. Oh well, it's worth being able to feel smug in the morning when I pull on my jeans! Stay tuned!

So, here is the new Dora the Explorer. What do you think? I think she's way to grown up, even for tweens, but that's just me - you decide!