I want to thank you for all the love and support in 2008! Through my ups and downs you have shown me an incredible amount of friendship and love. I’m so touched that you care so much about me, I hope that our relationship continues to grow in the new year. Contrary to alot of people’s feelings, I consider 2008 to be an up year for me. I met an incredible woman who actually laughs at my cheesey jokes. (LOL) I became closer to my sisters and mom. My children both excelled in school and continue to be resilient through their parents divorce. I count my blessings and offer my strength and hope if you hit a rough patch this last year. Rememeber it is only temporary, nothing is permanent.

Looking back at this year I can’t help to think of 12 year old Christopher Rodriguez who you may remember was left paralyzed after a stray bullet from a drive by came through his music class’ window. He and his parents are my heroes of year. We could all learn a thing or two from them on how to deal with adversity.

My dissapointment of the year has to be my Patriots. 18-0 and no Super Bowl ring. (ouch) that wound has yet to close.

Scandal of the year? New York governor Elliott Spitzer. Client number nine got what he deserved. John Edwards comes in a close second. How the #%$#$ do you cheat on your wife who has cancer? We will call him “El Pendejo” of the year!

Best interview of the year for us had to be Gerard Butler from 300 and P.S. I Love You

Worst Interview of the year (and this might surprise you) Mario Lopez. He was completely out of it, boring and then he lied to us about not breaking up with his girlfriend Karina from Dancing with the Stars.

Most memorable new caller/listener of the year (and this is so tough) but Rich in San Jose who at over the age of 60 still enjoys some hot and heavy loving with his wife. His story about hooking up on a train in between the California and Nevada stateline will forever be in my memory bank. LOL

What will the new year ring in? We will find out starting next week. Be safe and God Bless You

BalTazer

The word is “frio” as in cold like this morning when we gave are public service announcement to cover your precious bushes and wrap your pipes. LOL Alright, I’m sorry just getting a little naughty. Did you catch the Biggest Loser finale? Way to go Michelle who lost 110 pounds. I was so moved by the before and after pictures of all the contestants. Check the TV listings because NBC usually reruns stuff on their other channels. Great stories last night from Michelle who rekindled her relationship with her mom and went on to win the big prize. I mean almost each of the contestants basically lost another person. If you are looking for a little inspiration that show really gives it to you. Now on the other end of the spectrum, The Real Housewives of Orange County has the opposite affect. Watching the 30 year old Gretchen party it up while her 57 year old millionaire fiancee is struggling through leukemia treatments had me shaking my head. She better get him to the alter before time runs out!

This is my last blog for the week because I’m heading out tomorrow to see my kids back east. I’m super nervous because I bought a pair of Patriot football tickets off of Craigslist to surprise my son. The guy says I should get them tomorrow but I won’t feel good until I have them in my hand. I want their Christmas to be extra special so my son gets a day of football with daddy and my little girl gets a trip to meet a real live princess at the Disney store in NYC.  Here I’m talking about “frio” and how cold it is here in Cali, I’m going to freeze my culi (I think that is how you spell it) this weekend! LOL 

I will catch up with you next Wednesday!

BalTazer

Whatup Folks, sorry I havent been blogging recently, its the holidays and i’ve been busy doing “the best of’s Balt Busters and Love Trap” CDS, we are giving them away all week around 6:30am and 9:00am … Life for me has been pretty good recently … I mean the econonmy sucks donkey tail so that isnt good for anyone, but people its gonna end up OK … this is America OK, so here are some stories/pics that crossed my desk recently …

Please check out FailBlog.Org … its really a funny site with “Epic Fails” … check out wikipedia if you dont know what that means, but within a few minutes on failblog you should be an “epic fail” master … use it with your kids … they will think your cool. Wikipedia just went all “mobile” and stuff … so when your out at the club and some hoochie is talking smack,

whip out the iPhone or whatever and prove’em wrong!

Speaking of Hoochies and the “Epic Fail” …

 Is McCain going to help Palin in 2012???

I can’t say something like that. We’ve got some great other young governors. I think you’re going to see the governors assume a greater leadership role in our Republican Party.

-John McCain

It looks like Tyson ate Oprah…

I love me some Gossip Girls … and facebook, so this story is awesome!

Supposedly, Leighton is getting hitched and it was announced on there FaceBook pages?!? Kids nowadays are silly … A source close to the starlet told us the inseparable lovers are engaged - and they made the announcement on their “secret” Facebook pages. “Gossip Girl” star Meester and Stan have been dating since they met on the set of the show last year, when Sand played a character who was featured in two early episodes. Meester’s rep had “no comment.” of course this is from PageSix , so who knows if its true … i checked out the facebook pages and they were “private”

“Not only has it seemed to not work with Sean and his teammates, and maybe even the city of Dallas, but the team wasn’t playing well and then, on top of it, the issues that came out off the ice compounded things,” Stars co-General Manager Brett Hull said on a media conference call. “I’m disappointed. I would imagine he is disappointed.” Before the season began, Avery signed a four-year, $15.5 million deal. Hull said his contract would still be honored as they explore options for the star, who is voluntarily participating in a 10-day treatment program.

This is lame, he made a joke, yes he made the mistake of getting the “media” together and doing it, but it was a joke, and he got fired. That kinda sucks Did you catch the last part of that, 10 day treatment?!?! for jokes?!?! CMON PEOPLE!!!! REHAB CANT FIX EVERYTHING!!!!!

Kanye West on SNL

Madonna falling on stage

I wanted to end this blog on a cute note

  awwwwwwh….kitty!!!

Did you hear the news? Maria’s countdown to lockdown has begun. Please join me in congratulating her on the great news. You can email her directly at Maria@movin997.com She will be happy to hear from you. Love must be in the air because Saturday I ran into a guy proposing to his fiancee by the Christmas tree at Union Square. You can hear the proposal story tomorrow morning, breakout the tissues. LOL

Remember I predicted it back in January and she just laughed. Ha ha ha, you can call me Nostradum-ass from now on. LOL

I found out the big news on Friday afternoon at the Hillsdale Mall Toys for Tots show we did with Alexa. So coming in this morning I was interesting to see how Maria was going to bring it up on the air or if she was going to bring up it at all. After doing a couple of breaks on the air and still no mention. I was like “girl you can’t keep this a secret”! She is private person but come on you have tell the world. In which she responded, “I’m gonna let Al tell the story after 8 o’clock”. What we have to wait another 2-3 hours! Maria is very modest and didn’t want to be the center of attention this morning. But talking about mundane things from 5-8 this morning was driving me crazy! Oh well, the cat is out of the bag and we have everybody and their moms calling in with wedding ideas or products.

Before I go, I have to give another thanks to all of you who supported our Toy for Tot Drive at Tommy T’s on Friday.  It was such a pleasure to meet you and enjoy your company. Next year is going to be even bigger!

Have a great day!

 BalTazer

As if times aren’t tough enough, here I go bringing up death. The reason I bring it up now (in case you didn’t hear the show) is that I was touched by it yesterday. After my ranting about the importance of love and family getting you through these tough times (I admit a recurring theme with me these days) I got news that forced me to “live my truth.”

After I got off the air, I got a call letting me now that thanks to a busted pipe my whole first floor was flooded. Reeling from that news (which comes on the heels of a damaged roof thanks to Hurricane Ike) I went to call my mother because in times of turmoil she is my rock. I dial her up only to find out she’s reeling from even worse news…a beloved cousin who had been having hard times financially and with her health had passed away. I was shocked because though my cousin had been ill for a while there was no expectation that she would not recover. Well, death trumps bad plumbing anyday and I found myself holding on to my troubles to comfort my mom and find out what I could do to help the family. My Mom and I are similar in that (and I think I’ve mentioned this in a previous blog) we learned from my Grandmother that you have to put a time limit on feeling sorry for yourself in the face of adversity. Cry, scream, wallow…whatever and then get on about doing what has to be done.  We both cried a bit more, sucked it up gave each other words of encouragement and decided to send money to help instead of attending the funeral because it would help the family more. Unfortunately we can’t afford to do both. My Mom said she was going to notify more family members and get all the information. I told her I would check back that night. When I called later, we both were calmer and thankful to have each other. We were also thankful that we have had the “death conversation”.

This brings me to my point. Too many of us (I’ll speak for African-Americans and Latinos since I’m part of those groups although this probably affects most)  avoid the death conversation until we are reeling from grief. No matter how good we take care of ourselves one of these days will be our last. I hope that day is much later rather than sooner but regardless, dying is a part of living. I urge you to broach the subject with family members. If you think it’s too somber for Christmas do it at New Year’s. It’s a perfect time for reflection as well as planning for the future with loved ones. I have seen families torn apart from the financial burden of having to bury a loved one. I know siblings who no longer speak because of arguments over treasured possessions. I urge you to make a will, tell your family if you want to be an organ donor, express how you want your remains dealth with and please get some life insurance. If you’re young and/or have few assets you can probably get away with doing a simple will from a kit if you can’t afford a lawyer to draft one for you. Suze Orman sells a great box set that has the documents and outlines of how to do a will, to name medical power of attorney etc. I got one for each of my parents and myself. Having the hard talk now will prevent hard feelings later. Settling how things should be handled when you die will make it easier to enjoy your life to the fullest and when the time comes you’ll really be able to rest in peace.

This morning’s show was fun for me. In the Ladies Room today the topic was “What was your favorite toy from Christmas Past”? Man, did some of these bring back memories especially the woman that called in about the Chrissy doll. I had a Chrissy and her little sister Velvet. They were “regular” sized dolls and the thing that made them special was that they had a turning wheel in the back. When you turned it, their hair would grow. I loved those dolls and played with them until I was a teenager. I think that’s why I have a love of hairpieces today. I hope some of the answers brought back a memory or two for you as well.

Growing up in Buffalo, New York I was an “indoor” girl and I still am. I’d rather read than take a hike but I know that in life there should be balance so I do make an effort to get some fresh air. When I was growing up, it was years before my brother came along so my parents and grandparents acted as playmates, especially my grandmother. She was a card player and expressed that it was a nice social skill to have. We started with Go Fish and by the time I was a teen I could play an assortment of games (Spades, Hearts, Tonk, Rummy, etc.) as well as any adult and was often asked to sit-in a hand or two while someone took a break. In high school my friends and I discovered Uno and spent many a snowy night ’til the wee hours of the morning trash talking, and cracking up over game after game. In college my roommate taught me a variation of Solitaire called Clock that requires an amazing amount of patience to win. As an adult a trip to the casino taught me Blackjack and boyfriends in the Marine Corps taught me all variations of Poker.

While working in a mall bookstore I befriended an elderly gentleman who I eventually learned was a retired magician. Sometimes when he bought his papers he would perform a slight of hand trick with the bills or coins. One day he came in when business was slow and amused me with some card tricks and actually taught me one that I use to amuse children to this very day.

I tell you all this to say that one of my favorite “toys” from Christmas past is a deck of cards. Whenever I shuffle a deck it connects me to my past. I think of my Grandmother and know she was right about it being a nice social skill. I also think it’s a lost art. I don’t know many people who play cards anymore (except part-time or professional gamblers who do it for the money). Heck, I’ve probably forgotten more games than I currently know because I haven’t played them in so long.  As a matter of fact the name of one of my favorite games is on the tip of my tongue and I can’t remember it because I haven’t played it in so long.

I know times change. We’ve gone from Barbie’s to Bratz from GI Joe to Guitar Hero and lots of places in-between. Toys have gotten more and more sophisticated as the years pass. However, just for a moment picture your eight or ten year old self sitting on the floor, or at a table, or in your bedroom alone or with your brothers and sisters or parents. You are having a ball playing without a care in the world. It’s so much fun they have to stop you. Now take that feeling with you throughout this holiday season and try to pass it on to some little person you love.

Are we having fun yet? If you are not, we sure are. Let me take you behind the scenes at B & M. Everyday for the last four months Chunk has been writing post it notes on the calender for the quote of the day. Some are from “on-air” moments, the others are from the everyday conversation we share off the air. We have compiled them all and placed them on our Movin Mornings page on Facebook. So do a CIO and check it out. My favorite has to be Maria’s “the Cowboys are going down like Lindsey Lohan at a WNBA game” LOL

Ooh my new guilty pleasure is on tonight, Real Housewives of Orange County. One of them is leaving the show tonight, my guess is that it is Gretchen, the new girl who probably either can’t hang with the other cougars or her very old boyfriend’s (27 years older) health took a turn for the worse. I got the popcorn ready for the drama tonight!

I have a few tips for any lady having trouble shopping this holiday for the guy in your life? If he is a golfer, get him a round of golf at one his favorite courses. If he loves football a day without you talking would be great  (No! No I’m joking..Ha ha…LOL) Get him a personalized jersey or even better,  tickets to an away game to a cool city his team will play next season. A friend of mine recommended go cart racing for a guy’s day of fun. I will try to get some more ideas for you in the next couple of days. (please email me if you have cool ideas too!)

Don’t forget to vote for your favorite Love Trap of 2008. I will catch up with you later, have a great day!

BalTazer

Hi, hope you a had a nice weekend. I have a few observations and comments about the last few days.

Oscar de la Hoya-It is time to say the immortal words that legendary boxer Roberto Duran is famous for “No Mas”. Watching the fight with friends Saturday night I couldn’t help to notice that all the women in the room were grimacing after Oscar took an extraordinary amount of punches. Ay dios mio we surely don’t need a disfigured Oscar de la Hoya, we already have too many ugly people running around. LOL.. Good luck Oscar in your new endeavors and we will see you shortly on Dancing with the Stars…LOL

Without telling you what I bought (present for my girl) I saved a ton of money this weekend. Check for the “pre-sale” price at certain department stores.  I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the leftover “ching ching” in your pocket.

FYI, 77% of Americans love getting restaurant gift cards. Psyeah! Can you say I want my babyback, babyback ribs!

I checked out Four Christmas this weekend with Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon dealing with trying to avoid their families during the holidays. Hella funny and not too long!

If you have a Facebook account be on the lookout for the “Koob Face” virus being sent via picture and video messages. The scary thing is that the video or pic is sent from someone you know!

Don’t forget about our live show from Tommy T’s in Pleasanton on Friday morning! Bring a toy for Toys for Tots and make a little ones Christmas!

Have a great day, we will chat again later this week.

 BalTazer

The answers to this Ladies Room fill in the blank were….WOW!  My answer to that was ”when he called me collect from jail.” I had loaned him my car to go to work and on the way home he got a DUI and ended up in the slammer. Before you say I should have given him a break let me also tell you he was a bartender. I say he should have known better. Adios Amigo!

Ladies thank-you so much for your participation. Your answers made this a GREAT topic. I am sure many of you were sitting, listening and nodding with agreement because something similar had happened to you or you felt better that another story wasn’t yours. One thing that struck me about the stories this morning, is that you were all able to laugh about them now. I am sure that at the time, these situations were everything from surprising to heartbreaking but I am glad that we have all been able to learn from these experiences and rise above.

Many years ago ,when I was still living in Buffalo trying to decide whether I could bear to leave my family to take a better job out of town, a friend I worked with named Kato (hey, it’s radio so you have friends with names like that) said “May the times you live in be interesting!”.  By which he meant I could stay where I was, in a place a knew, surrounded by people I knew and be comfortble but boring or take a chance on life unknown. I decided I wanted interesting and so I took that chance and I must say life has been very interesting (sometimes too interesting) but I am glad to have lived my life and look forward to more, lots more. One piece of wisdom I know for sure, the only constant in life is change. Embrace it, hold on and enjoy the ride!

Don’t forget around 7:30am we’re looking to give away another pair of Britney Spears tickets …

MOViN ViP’s already have the info … check out the homepage for deets