Best Life Barb

My name is Best Life Barb and I empower women!

Heartbeat Radio is getting busy.  Today there was a buzz in the office.  I like when there is a buzz.  It’s like the hum of a machine running.  A well oiled machine and while Kiran is gone, I feel responsible to make sure that it keeps humming. James brought in a big copy machine today, it copies in color!  We are technologically rich now!

The interview with Congressman Alan Grayson went exceptionally well.  I was very well prepared for the interview, in which he complimented me.  He wrote to me, “Honestly, your interview was the best-prepared interview I’ve seen in a long time. You deserve lots of credit.  I look forward to joining you again–and thanks for all the encouragment.” 

Well done, Miss Simone  if I must so say myself….:)

My goal is to land some really big interviews and put our name on the map.  Best Friend Barb is getting me Sanjaya of the American Idol Fame.  How cool is that!!I want every woman in the world to KNOW that we are out there.  I want to help women….even one at a time would be ok with me.  Slow and steady wins the race.

Tomorrow our interview with the Daily Commercial comes out.  I hope they got a good picture of me….no fat pictures allowed in the newspaper!

The house looks great.  My next door neighbor Jim was kind enough to help me mount the big ole mirror that weighs a TON above my couch.  Hopefully it won’t fall and put me out of commission.

Joe is coming home tomorrow.  He has a few minor things to close up, then he is off to his new apartment in St. Pete.  I will enjoy visiting St. Pete, I’m taking Spunky with me on Sunday.  Joe is pouring it on thick with me…he loves me…hmmm….I am taking it one day at time.  I have a lot on the line here.  He says he made some major mistakes that he regrets immensely.  Yep he sure did.  He wants to marry me and there is no one for him but me.  He will be the best man ever for me.

Deeds not words.  We will see.   I’m not a betting woman anymore.  I just don’t know what is going to happen there.

Time to change the subject.

Tonight the Penguins are on…and so are the Magic…both looking to win playoff berths.  Go PENS! and GO MAGIC!

I am looking forward to going to work in the morning…can’t wait to get there!  Did I tell you that my name is Best Life Barb…and I empower women?

all the BEST,

BLB

xxx ooo

Last year with my favorite Congressman, Alan Grayson!

Work today was fun.  I was there all by myself and totally just enjoyed the time with me and my listening family as I call them.  I did a short show, Kiran told me that I didn’t have to come in until 9 AM.  It’s amazing how much less tired I was by those two little hours.

No Kiku to be found.  I am believing that he is gone, he has been gone for two nights now.  It has been raining intermitently for 4 days now, sometimes a very strong rain.  I just pray that Kiku will be safe and know how to take care of himself.

Kizzy wants to go out but I won’t let her.  She is meowing as I write this.

Today I had Dr. Z on talking about heart disease and women.  According to him, with my cholesterol, I should be on a statin drug, but I am not.  It is just becoming that time for me to start exercising with Traci and Cardiofit.  My house is almost done thanks to Brodie and Sara today.  They came over and did all my little stuff and also some big stuff.  They are a big help to me.  I took them out to Red Lobster for dinner as their compensation.  They were happy with that.  You would be surprised how nice this little place looks.

Next week Joe is moving and I will be helping him.  It worked out pretty good because I have all kinds of things to give him, which he needs.  He called me from Alaska many times and his phone bill is going to be horrendous, however, he says I am worth every penny.  Isn’t that sweet?

I will be working on booking many more guests this week.  Heartbeat Radio for Women cannot be ordinary and I promise you it won’t be.  It is going to be the all time BEST radio show out there for women.  I think women like to hear the interviews, I know I would like them.  That’s why I book so many interesting interviews.  Tomorrow my friend Congressman Alan Grayson is coming on.  I’m so excited.  He is one of the best interviews I have ever done.  He is interesting, fun, engaging and just plain a very nice man.  I will be working on asking him some very good questions.

Ok, I’m off to bed soon after I do some more show prep.  I just love my job and my life right now.  I have been after that for a long time and finally it has come true.

Mission accomplished!

all the BEST,

Best Life Barb

xxx ooo

Kiku and Sassy Kitty before the Shawshank Redemption

After my wonderful evening reminiscing with Sweet Lou,  I came home, called Joe and went straight to bed.  I didn’t check on all the kitties, I figured they were all sleeping somewhere.

Well come to find out this morning that the screen was ripped open on the screen door and Kizzy and Kiku were gone.  I have done nothing but work on litter boxes and air fresheners and scratch pads and you name it.  Now Sassy, the fat cat is still here.  He is way to fat to jump out of anything.

I decided to take a ride up to Orlando and go visit my friend Jenny.  I haven’t seen her for a while.  I had a few errands to run and I got them handled.  My son Brian was then to come over to help me with some odds and ends that I have left here at the house.

Brian got lost getting here.  It took him almost 2 hours, he took a wrong turn somewhere.   He helped on a few things, I bought him a pizza and then he was gone.  Brian is so cranky all the time.  OH he reminds me of his father, even though I haven’t seen his Dad for years.  A very negative person.  That’s probably the foremost reason why we divorced.  I couldn’t stand the attitude!  Brian just tells me that he is so tired all the time because he goes to work everyday…I told him that he is supposed to go to work everyday…most people do!  I must say he did hook up my hand held shower, and fixed the cable in the back room  Thanks honey!

Joe and I are getting close again.  He is coming back from Alaska on Wednesday and moving into his new apartment on the weekend.  He can’t wait!  We seem to be making lots of plans.   Hailee May, his new granddaughter is a cutie.   Even though I don’t seem to have time for much, I must say I missed Joe.  He is comfortable, like an old pair of shoes.  Joe is pursuing me and tells me he wants us to grow old together.  We shall see.

I told him that he needs to take care of his business first.  And he is very willing to…I knew that he had no where to go when I kicked him out.  I still can’t believe that woman knew we were living together but chose to pursue him.  Those kind of women are a dime a dozen….good for a few months but no one wants them long term.  I hope she learned her lesson.

Back to the move……I still have one room to empty out and that is the computer room.  Honestly, I am ready to just get a big ole garbage bag and throw everything into it!  I am sick and tired of going through stuff!  And it’s only stuff!  Stuff that I haven’t even known I have had, mostly.  My son Brodie is coming over tomorrow when I get home from work and he will help me, and he is not a negative person at all!  He is very easy going and sweet.  All four of my kids are so different!

OH and when I was taking Spunky for his walk today,  I started calling for the kitties and I heard Kizzy Lynn meowing and I hurry up and scooped her up and put her back into her prison….my house…lol.  Kiku is still gone, and it rained horribly again.  I have to believe that Kiku can take care of himself outside, he is a hunter.   I just hate “losing” him.  But I do have Kizzy Lynn.  Whew!

I have to work tomorrow for a short shift only 9 to 1 and I’m ok with it.  At first I really didn’t think I would want to work, but I do.  This weekend I will be going to a gala with Best Friend Barb on Saturday.  She is my date…woo hoo!  I am going to be pretty busy all week, working on my schedule…getting new guests and trying to bring some revenue into the station.  I cannot understand why anyone wouldn’t want to advertise with our station..it is so affordable and we have the best radio station in the world…bar NONE!

I talked to Sweet Lou a few times today…when I called him, he told me he was thinking of me right that second before I called.  Isn’t that crazy how that happens? Sweet Lou is on his way to his sister Faith’s in South Carolina.  Then he will be in Quantico the next day.  I miss my Sweet Lou already.

Ok, I have to go finish watching the Magic game now.  They are doing great!  The Penguins won their last game and are fixing to be in the Stanley Cup Finals.  I think that’s great!  I just love sports, especially NFL football.

Now Kizzy is meowing, she wants to bust back out of Alcatraz but she is staying right here…no more outside for her!

all the BEST,

BLB

xxx ooo

Sweet Lou and Best Life Barb

It was the day after my birthday in 2007.  My friend Linda was over my house and we were playing on My Space on the computer.  All of a sudden I got a request to become someone’s friend.

Unless I know the person, I usually delete the request.  As I was ready to do just that, my friend Linda said…hey wait a minute, don’t delete him, he’s cute!

That one little action that I didn’t do changed my life for the better.

Lou Caracci was moving to Orlando from Pennsylvania.  He was divorced, in his forties and handsome as the devil.  It  just so happens that he wanted to network, meet new people in the area and for whatever reason, my profile popped up.

As crazy as this may sound, I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend.  Joe had just moved out and before that we were living as roommates for a few months.  Anyway,  Lou and I started a “myspace” friendship which culminated in our meeting a month or so later.

We just “clicked” immediately.  Lou is from Western Pennsylvania and so am I even though we lived about 2 hours apart from each other when we were growing up.

All my friends told me that a guy and a girl cannot be friends.  You, know it’s like When Harry Met Sally.  Something always happens, and it turns into something else.

Well not true.  We have been friends, good friends, for 18 months now and it never turned into anything other than that.  He is like a brother to me.  Although, if we had a dollar for every time someone said that we look good together, we would both be very rich right now.

I think we knew each other in a different life.  We understand each other, mostly he understands ME..lol…and we just feel very comfortable around each other, even in the beginning.  I started cooking him the foods his Mom used to cook for him.  We just hung out about every day and had so much fun!

When no one else could attend my CSB broadcasting school graduation, Lou came, with a present of Pittsburgh Steeler Stamps.  Something I had always wanted…:)

When I decided to do The Best Life Barb Show, there was no one else who could truly fill the spot of my co-host who became christened SWEET LOU.

We worked together, traveled together, had fun dancing together and even got a little tipsy together.  We became the very best of friends, something that I will treasure for the rest of my life. I went to his baseball games and screamed for him like he was Babe Ruth and he is awesome at baseball even when he plays with the Bad News Bears.  I love Sweet Lou and I know that he loves me, too.  We have become each other’s family.  Sweet Lou has always been there for me, and I counted on him many, many times to help me out, or listen or pick up my daughter and grandson from the airport.

Not many people know the true me, just a few and one of those people is Sweet Lou.

Sweet Lou is kind, steady, a great listener, and very cheap.  Sweet Lou is an emerald personality, which just happens to be the personality type that I gravitate to.  I think by me being so outrageous and loud and Sweet Lou being so BORING and quiet (lol) we have balanced each other out.

So tonight, we are going out for the last time before he leaves for a new job in Virginia.  We had a lot of fun in the past 18 months, playing hooky on life.  I will miss hanging with my best friend, but like he says, he is only a phone call away.  Or maybe better yet a text….he just loves to text…it must be cheaper or something to text.

God Bless you Sweet Lou and don’t ever think I will be out of your life, because I won’t ever be.  I wish you the very best!

Oh boy, I better take a box of  Kleenex with me tonight because I am going to need them. LOVE YOU SWEET LOU!!!!!  You better not forget me…oh I won’t you ever do that.  I want to be there for YOU when you have your first grandbaby, too.  Miss you, Sweet LOU!!!

all the BEST,

BLB

LEXIE, THE GOOD DOG!

This is a very short post, here on Friday, May 22nd.  I am on air at the station, but I do want to check in here for my listeners.

My friend Joe’s daughter Alicia had a little baby girl last night and I want to send out a shout out to her and Baby Haley before I forget!  Congrats to Joe on becoming a grandpa!  Being a grandparent is one of the most wonderful things that can happen to someone!

I’m still working hard here at Heartbeat Radio for Women, loving it just about every single minute. I’m just running on empty it seems!  I need a break from it all!  Come to find out today that I need to replace the bedroom carpeting in my old house, and that’s an expense I wasn’t counting on.  Fortunately we bought the best of the best when we bought the carpet and I may be able to get it free from the warranty.

Katherine Kelly from Oprah Radio was a guest today on the show and she really was a great guest!  We talked about being successful and she, of course, is the successful operations manager at Oprah Radio.  Katherine talked about one of the guests, Dr. Robin Smith, and one of her favorite sayings was “feed the good dog, not the bad dog”  You have two dogs inside of you and you have to keep feeding the good one and DON’T feed the bad one!  I loved that!

Ok, back to on air and I will catch up with you all on the weekend.

all the BEST,

Best Life Barb

xxx ooo

I am going crazy!!!

Well you would think by today, Tuesday, I would be a little settled in.  Unfortunately that has not been the case.  Moving on Sunday, having to get up for work at 5 AM on Monday and having a little bundle of joy that doesn’t want to sleep at night creates a little bit of chaos.

I’m tired of hearing myself say I’m tired!  But I am tired!  Cameron has been sleeping with me because I want to give Rachael a break cause she has him all day long.  But him getting up at 2:30 AM then 4:30 AM then my alarm rings at 5:00 AM is kind of crazy.

I stopped at the house yesterday to pick up a few things and ended up filling the car up.  I still have houseplants to pick up.  Tomorrow, Rachael and Cameron leave, then I meet with the guy who’s family is renting my old house to do a walk through.  Then I will probably come here and collapse.

Joe’s daughter Alicia is due to have her baby any day now and he will be going to Alaska to be with her.  She is having a baby girl, just like the psychic Linnea Star said.  I hope he has a wonderful time.  He has been very sweet to me and right now I could use a kind word here and there.

Sweet Lou is leaving next Tuesday for Virginia.  My Sweet Lou, what am I going to do without my Sweet Lou?  He has been my very best friend for the last year and a half.  We traveled together, worked together, laughed together and had a great time.  I will miss him so much.  Sweet Lou listens to me and that is what I love about him.  I can’t write any more about him or I will start crying.

It has been pouring down rain for the last two days and I mean pouring.  Spunky is constipated and I have been getting soaked trying to get him to do his business in the new neighborhood.  The house is a mess with boxes everywhere.  Rachael was in the shower a little while ago screaming that there was no shampoo.  I was going through all kinds of boxes until I finally found the one with the shampoo in it…and of course I picked up the conditioner first and handed that to her…and it wasn’t right….:(  My kitty Kiku is the only one that is really pissed about this move…he is not himself at all, walking around meowing and I can interpret his “meows” as I want to go outside please!  But he can’t go outside because he will get lost or even worse eaten by a coyote or alligator.

I know I am venting but I’m allowed to do that!  I know I’m supposed to focus on what’s working and that’s what I’ll do from now on….as soon as I get rid of some of these boxes….as soon as Spunky goes to the bathroom…as soon as I stop crying from missing Rachael, Cameron and very soon my Sweet Lou.  As soon as…Kiku stops meowing and throwing up hairballs…oh I”ll be alright in a day or two, I promise!!!!

Now breathe….in through the nose and out through the mouth….deep breath one more time…….:)

Today is the start of a new beginning for me.  I’m ready! I know it’s going to be a very long day!  My finger still hurts from yesterday, but I am trying not to think about it.

Baby Cameron slept with me last night.  He slept like a little angel!  He loves to cuddle.  I am going to miss him so much when they leave on Wednesday.  But I’ll be visiting them in PA soon.

Wish me luck on this glorious day!

BLB

xxx ooo

Auntie Esther with the Baby Boy

Here is my heart, Cameron and my right hand, Keesha!

I know that I mentioned in the earlier post that Keesha came to see Cameron, but I just had to show you the picture of them together!  It’s so cute!

BLB

xxx ooo

Before hitting the garage sale war zone...:)

Hello!

Right now it’s Saturday night and I am moving tomorrow.  The garage sale was a success and thank goodness it’s over.  The hot tub is at my son Brodie’s house after screens came down and branches were cut off.  Most of my boxes are at the new place thanks to Joe.  But we now have a casualty….me…:)

Spunky was on the couch with me and I was using the scissors to cut off the hair that matted on his ears.  I wasn’t counting on cutting the tip of my middle finger.  Darn it hurts big time and did that sucker ever bleed!  I am typing with 3 fingers on my left hand.

Cameron fell out of his stroller today.  We were busy with the garage sale, he got unclipped and the next thing you know he was on the garage floor.  Rachael freaked out, I scooped him up and thank God he is ok.  He ended up going into the pool with his Uncle Brian later which he LOVED.  Whew…I guess Rachael needs to get used to it, kids do fall and get bumps and scrapes but it still scares the heck out of you.

Rachael’s leg is killing her.  She worked so hard today.  After the sale, she went and got a pedicure.  She deserved it.  But she is wounded, too…:)

Keesha came over to visit Cameron.  That was so nice.  Her son Brian is a good looking kid.

I had a really nice time with Joe.  I will leave it at that for this time.

My back is hurting big time.  My finger hurts.  Oh enough complaining!

BLB

xxx ooo

Brian with his favorite nephew

Today is Friday and I’m on air at this time. This week has also gone by very fast. Rachael is still here with Baby Cameron and he hasn’t been sleeping very well. Rachael is tired, poor thing, and I haven’t been helping her all that much because I get up at 5 AM to get ready for work.

Today after work, my old boyfriend Joe is coming over with his truck to help me take some stuff over to the new house. We have decided just to be friends right now and it seems to be working out ok. I will always love Joe and he REALLY is telling me that he loves me a lot, never stopped, etc. but right now I want to be on my own.

Sweet Lou is on his way to Pennsylvania today, his son Louie is graduating college. Sweet Lou got a new job and will be leaving soon…I will miss him more than I can say. I don’t even want to talk about it because I will start crying if I do.

My boss, Kiran, is leaving tomorrow for Trinidad with her Mom and son. I will miss her so much, she is younger than me and my boss….lol….I love her, I truly feel such an affinity toward her. The staff is shaping up here at Heartbeat Radio. It’s very exciting to see how this company is growing.

So tomorrow the garage sale, Sunday is moving and Monday morning back to work. Rachael and Cameron leaves on Wednesday…how can I bear to see them go? TTYL….BLB xxxooo