A Little Bit of Nothing

Hello fellow bloggers, it's been a long week but here we are ready to enjoy the long weekend, yoohoo! I decided to take Friday off as to stretch my weekend just a little longer. I like and enjoy my job but every so often is nice to walk away from the office and do nothing but rest.

Since we have had a busy summer and are now kindda broke we have no immediate plans to do anything special, would have been nice to take a quick trip to California or even up north to Sedona or Williams but again money is against us so we will leave those thoughts for the future.

"Mi Chica" works for Country Wide and unless you live under a rock then you know what's going on there. They are laying off people left and right and then left again. She is still there but we have the feeling that she will be without a job very, very soon. If that happens then we'll be even tighter with money. It won't be the first time we find ourselves in that position so I am confident we'll come out of it, but shit it really makes things stressful for a while. I am sure that we are like many of you out there that unfortunately live on a paycheck to paycheck basis.
What, did you say savings? What the heck is that?

I can't believe that it's already a year since we took our Wedding Anniversary cruise. Some of you may remember that last year at around this time all I would post about was about the anticipation of said cruise and now in just three weeks it will be a year. Where did time go?

Well, I just felt I had to write something, spending almost three days at my moms with no computer is hard to post something and then when I am here at home and I have the computer in front of me, fingers on the keyboard just waiting to start moving my mind closes up and doesn't send any signals to them. Not that I am the most interesting blogger anyway, I do realize I am far from it, however I have made a few friends and I feel I must say something to stay in contact with them so again bear with me, I'll try to post sooner.

In the meantime feel free to come and visit my photo blog which is updated daily, if you have not been there before, don't you think it's about time. Come on go ahead and make my day.

Mom's 75th Birthday

I think my mom could have done without the element of surprise, not because we scared her a little as she came in the door but because she would have preferred to know we were up to throwing her a party.

In any case we surprised her and the party went on. Every relative living here in Phoenix was present including an influx of kids that were running in every direction. My younger sister made the trip from California with her three daughters, so none of her "kids" was missing.

We kept it as a family get together, "mi chica" and my sisters cooked some great
dishes and there was plenty of desserts, such as fruit and cake, oh and let's not forget the punch. The pineapple and rum punch was the best. My niece is studying cooking as she would like to be a chef and her instructor was nice enough to help her with the cake, while she cooked it he totally decorated it, it actually looked expensive and tasted great.

The party must have been great because seven hours passed and we didn't even feel them. From conversations to music listening we did a little of everything.

Next year we might eliminate the surprise and just get together to have some coffee and sweet bread, but for now another celebration is in our family history books.

"Mi Chica" and my momMe and my mom

A Father and Son

My daughter likes watching a show with Hulk Hogan and she invited me to watch it with her. In this particular episode Hulk was desperately trying to fit in his son's life. Apparently when he turned 17 he started doing things on his own making Hulk feel like he no longer fit in his life.

Hulk started to listen to rap music and actually was rappin' which was actually kindda funny, but it seemed that no matter what he did his son still wasn't showing the kind of interest he showed before.

Finally he went and took lessons in "drifting" which is what his son has been doing since he got his drivers licence. As we went down the track he asked his son's friend to let him use his car. Needless to say the lessons had payed off and his son actually showed enthusiasm and pride in what his dad had just done.

When he asked him where he learned to drive like that, Hulk told him that he had taken a couple of lessons, that way he could be connected to him again. His son replied that he didn't have to go to that extent and that no matter what his interests were he didn't have to impress him because he was his dad and he loved him no matter what.

In this I have been blessed, I don't recall a time where my son shinned me off or even implied that he didn't want me around. Our love has no bounds, no borders, no limits and or limitations. I don't like rap music even though he does, I don't like Chevy's even though he does, I don't care much for sports even though he does, and yet there are still so many other things that we have in common, so many other things that we can talk about. Just the other day we were going down music memory lane as he was showing all the music that he had downloaded into his ishuffle or whatever it's called. Most of the music he had is the music I used to listen when I was younger than he is.

It was awesome to see that most of the music I listened to was passed on to him, we spent a good time together reminiscing.

My son already has to beautiful girls, one seven years old and the other six. But as of yesterday he also has a brand new baby boy. Little league baseball, seems to be in his future, as it is now part of my past. It was priceless to see him call anybody and everybody that is listed on his cell phone. Plans to sit with him and watch sports are probably already going through his mind, and I'm sure that he'll pass the music to him as well.

So to my youngest little angel, you are lucky to have such a great daddy, and to you my son, God has blessed you and Jen with such a beautiful bundle of joy.

May you be as lucky as I have been to have a good loving son.

So Long

I don't have access to a computer 24/7 as I did before so now it's harder for me to post regularly, I will try to do better and post more often but in the meantime bear with me.

My niece's husband whom we all love dearly lost his mom last Monday to heart failure. Today we will be with him during the services to give him support, and to let him know how much we care.

Please join me in wishing her a good journey, and fast healing for the ones left behind.

While You Were Out

We had a good productive weekend. On Friday night my daughter and I went to watch Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix. We are both Harry Potter nuts so obviously we liked the movie. No you won't get a review from me because I really liked it even though some people think that the "been there, done that" applies. The only thing I'll say about it is that it definitely was a more mature movie. Now if they can only hurry up and make the last two.

It was my sister's birthday on Saturday, so we were invited to a "cafesito con pan" gathering. She turned 29 for something like the 24th time. Coffee with sweeat bread and a good
conversation is how we celebrated, the kids were getting extremely loud so after a few hours at her house we decided to go home.

You may remember that my mom's birthday was last Thursday. Well, since we all take turns to stay with her at her house and the room that we stay in was kinda univiting, my sister organized a "while you where out". So my mom attends the 11:30 mass every Sunday so we asked my other sister to take her to the stores after mass. Right at 11:30 "mi chica", my sister, and I got to her house and in about three hours got the room painted, and redecorated. The room is now very nice and cozy, complete with TV and cable yey. She was pleasantly surprised with what we did.


"Mi chica" and I don't stay in that room, so now I have told my mom that since she is the land lady of the house that I want our room redecorated too and with a color TV instead of the small 13" black and white that we have now and that we demand cable too. Will she comply with our wishes? I'll let you know.

Now, we have planned a surprise birthday party for her next Saturday. We will have lots of food and music so we can dance and celebrate. 75 is quite a milestone and we hope she will have a great time.

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is a very special day because my mom reached her 75th birthday. To say she is excited is an understatement. Last night she was telling me that she never thought she would reach such a milestone.

Well, my mom is still here and is the axis of our family unity. I have mentioned before that my dad and mom came to the US in hopes that they would give us a better life that what we could have had in Mexico. It all started as the two of them here, leaving us all behind in Mexico until one by one they brought us all here.

Well, the days of just the two of them are long gone, the family grew, and grew, and grew to what it is today. On any given major occasion there can be as many as a hundred of us, and it is thanks to them that our whole family is united.

My father passed three years ago but I know tonight he'll be with us to celebrate my mom's birthday.

Looking forward, I know my mom will continue on her journey just as God has it planned for her. Hers is a story of success and good examples as to how life should be lived. However we all know how easy it is for her to also be abrasive and how easy it is for her to argue. Oh yes, she will argue until you give in or at least pretend to give in. Her rule number one is probably the one that says "Mom is never wrong".

So I invite you to join me to congratulate her and to wish her a very happy 75th birthday.


Me and my mom on Father's Day 2006

When they all say I'm your favorite
It fills my heart with such joy
And my face displays a big grin
That they all fear it'll explode.

Who am I to be so lucky?
Why you never tell me, no.?
What has bonded us together
I don't really want to know

All I know is that in this life
I better enjoy you now
I won't leave it for tomorrow
Cause tomorrow may not come

Yes today I count my blessings
And I thank our God above
For you reached another birthday
His present for us no doubt

75 years ago
In a little country town
You started your wonderful journey
What a great life you've had

You have tought us to be noble
You have tought us to be wise
I don't know why we don't listen
But I promise I will try

Today I thank you for bringing me
Into this wonderful world
That allows me one more time
To tell you Happy Birthday dear Mom


Happy birthday mom, I love you with all my heart and soul.

Fragility

Even the sky in all it's glory becomes fragile and is easily overpowered by the clouds. Nothing is so strong that won't break. But it's always been said that after the rain, calm comes. As my sister said one of her posts, "Live your life as if it's your last day", so that when the time comes, you can go with no regrets.

So You Think You Can Dance

What a terrific season it has been for "So You Think You Can Dance". The dancers shone all season long, and it will be a matter of who has more fans. Now six dancers remain with two more leaving on Monday.


I like them all but I think that Pasha and Lauren will be the ones leaving. Again more than anything they will leave based on popularity more than their ability to perform. Danny is a great dancer but has come across as being to over confident which is why he was bottom two a couple of times.


That leaves Sabra, which to date has been the most consistent of the girls and Lacey which in my opinion is the most liked. I don't know if America wants brother and sister to hold the crown but I certainly do. She is one hot dancer and consistently gave us good performances time and time again.


Should America decide we need another guy as a champion then I hope it will be Neil. This guy is amazing and has proven to be worthy of the title. The judges have been hard on him more than once but so far they have not been able to fool America. He is still alive and I wouldn't be surprised if he takes the title. Well at least that's the way I would like it to go.

For now we wait until Monday night to see who goes on to the final.

One-Year Old and a Baby Shower

So last weekend was pretty hectic. Saturday we went to Goodyear Park to celebrate my niece's first birthday. They chose the park because since it's so hot these days and the park has a splash park section they fought it would be the best place for kids and kids at heart alike. I for one took my swimming trunks and was running under the water chasing my grand kids. It was fun, it's
funny how it doesn't matter how hot it is when you first get wet you still feel cold. I being the only grown up running up and down like crazy managed to stay cool all afternoon, everyone else was suffering the humid weather.

Plenty of good food and a huge amount of relatives were there, well after all you don't turn one every day.

Then on Sunday we went to my son's house for their baby shower. Once again the swimming pool was the place to be. We started things off by having a water balloon fight. The out went the inner tubes and we just laid there on the water.


The food was out and we all went to eat, and while they had us all together the games started. As I said before, baby showers are no longer just for the girls, they throw the parties with the whole family in mind. We had a great fun time.



I'm hoping for a slower more quiet coming weekend, but with the way my family is, I don't count on it.

Leaded or Unleaded

My sister-in-law's husband was telling me that he went to gas up his Tahoe and a guy in an Excursion was on the pump next to him. Although his tank was nearing empty he filled it up put the lid back and was ready to go while excursion guy was still there pumping. "How much gas does it take?" he asked, Excursion guy replied that he had a 40 gallon tank. Ouch!

I remember (mostly because I am not that old) that when I started to drive I used to go the Chevron gas station on Washington and San Pedro. It was a small gas station complete with tire shop and light mechanic garage. I remember that upon entering and getting close to the gas pump the tires went over this plastic hose that activated a loud ring or sort of "ding-dong" noise. A guy in a blue uniform normally greasy or sweaty would come up to my window and ask "leaded or unleaded?" All my cars took unleaded, but a good friend of mine had a 56 Bel Air and that baby only took leaded or the engine would knock real loud.



While he put in the nozzle and started pumping gas the would ask you to unlock your hood and he would check your motor oil, transmission fluid, and top off the water. All this while keeping an eye on the meter since most of us used to ask for just a few dollars worth of gas. They were good too because they never gave you more gas than what you asked for. As a last thing before you left they would check all four tires and give them a kick and if air was needed they would fill it up then, everything was right there within their reach.

Now there's no service anymore, we stop and do everything ourselves, even the air and water are no longer free, $.75 cents for air that will only get two tires inflated to proper level and the water just barely comes out from the nozzle. The tire shop was replaced by donuts, and the service bay where they used to do oil changes and light mechanics is now a service center for you and your body to fill your appetite.

Those were the days, when 57 Chevys were dream cars (in my case a 59 Impala) and people used to provide us a service with a smile. These days the only smile I have at the gas station is if my tanks fills up and the bill stays bellow $30.00.

Memory Lane

On my last post I told you that "mi chica" and I spend Tuesdays and Wednesdays at my mom's house, that means we wake up on Tuesday morning go out to work and we don't come back home until Thursday night.

My mom and dad did very good for themselves as they were always hard working people but best of all they new how to save money. Recently her 35" TV broke down and it took me a while to take it to my work so they could check if it could be fixed. In the interim my mom went and bought herself a 62" screen TV, not a plasma but an LCD.

Three days later she tells me that the TV looks small in her living room, I told her "What are you talking about, your TV is
huge". See her 35" rested in a wall to wall entertainment center which we moved to the den when she bought the new TV so of course now all she saw was a bare wall with a big TV in the center but needless to say the wall overpowered the TV.

So "mi chica" and I took her to the furniture store where she right away picket up a brand new entertainment center for it. (Must be nice)

So now I have an old school mom with state of the art electronic equipment.

I remember I was still in Mexico when my dad won our very first ever 5" B/W Sony TV. While some of my friends had had theirs for five or six years we started to enjoy our. I remember we could only watch for just an hour or two max a day and then my dad would put it away.

Prior to that we were allowed to go to my best friend's house on Sundays to watch their TV, I remember turning it on and having to wait as much as five minutes for the image to appear as it had to actually warm up. The voices would be talking but the screen was black and then all of a sudden it lit up. As a kid of 9 years old I remember wondering if we turned the TV set upside down if the people inside would fall.

We were all in awe on day when my best friend's uncle brought home a TV with remote control, it was a hand size metal canister with a long (About 20 feet) cable, each time the canister was pressed the dial would jump to the next channel, and you could do this from the comfort of your sofa, imagine that.

Then when told to turn it off we would remain sitting motionless staring at the little dot that took forever to disappear. It's funny how we used to find excitement and fun in event the smallest things. Nothing like the fast pace life our kids live now, in our house the TV seems to be on 24/7 and kids don't even go out to play any more.

The programs now as compared to the ones I used to watch as a kid have no value, even cartoons are nothing but a big commercial to sell action figures. My appreciation for classical music came from watching the loony tunes, find something like that on TV now.

And to all this, guess what my mom has in the guest room were we sleep when we spend the night there, if you guessed a 13" TV in black and white with dials you were absolutely right and nope there's no remote control for it.

How times change, and while at my mom's we seem to enjoy a little of both time zones.

Adapting

Once again, "mi chica" and I are adapting to our new schedule. My brother and his fiance moved in with my mom about a year and a half ago but recently decided to buy a house and moved out to be on their own, nothing wrong with that except my mom once again was left all alone.

Before my brother moved in with her we used to each spend a night at her house, "mi chica" also volunteer to spend a night with her, so now we have to start a schedule again. "Mi chica" came up with the idea of her and I spending Tuesday and Wednesdays with her and so this was our second week staying there.

For now this is one of the reasons that my posts are being far and few, but soon I'll get back in the swing of things.

Staying with my mom has it's perks. She cooks for us some of the best meals, actually "mi chica" is a terrific cook too and my mom can say she taught her. Also her tales and stories are great plus she always makes us laugh because she is also a great joke teller. Every time we go there she tells us one or two jokes, I have no idea where she learns them but her repertoire is huge so even if she recycles them for us sometimes is like if we heard it for the first time.

Since these days my house is a small circus going to my moms is a bit relaxing only thing is the bed we sleep in needs to be replaced, it is old and totally makes our bodies ache.

So do not think I'm slacking it's just that at my mom's there's no Internet, which in turn allows for some quality time and best of all going to bed early.

Note to my baby: What for most would be a now show or an inconvenience for you is just another way of showing me how much you love me and how much you care. I hit the mother load when I got you.