Abby's New Ride!

Well, it wasn't to be another Ford as I wanted but new cars even the little tini wini ones are a little too expensive and since we'll probably be stuck with a payment for at least another six years it had to be something more affordable so we could have a comfortable monthly payment. So, I started scanning the available stock at the autoplex here in my neck of the woods and one car in particular caught my eye, and of all brands a Chrysler.

A dark gray convertible with a decent amount of miles on the odometer and only a year old. I had to go drive this thing and also to see if the car was as nice in person as it was in the pictures. I was not disappointed, the car indeed looks super clean and when on it's very quiet.

So... at this point I called Abby to tell her I had found a very clean and nice looking car at the price range we were looking into and that although not new the car pretty much looks new. So, I sent her this image as a teaser and then gave her the dealership's Internet addy so she could see the rest of the pics.

I think it's safe to say she saw it and liked it immediately.
As exciting as buying a car can be it also can be an unpleasant experience. Haggling and negotiating for a lower price can always take it's toll, but at this dealership there is none of that, and this will be the fifth car that has been purchased by me or a relative at this dealership and in this particular case my fiance.

Looks very nice, front and back.
So the question is will the paperwork come back from California in time for them to release the car to me so I can take it to her. I will be leaving for Cali on Wednesday and I will wait until early afternoon, otherwise I will just drive my trusty steed and we will pick it up when we come back to Phoenix on Friday.

So, although anything can go south at the last minute I think this is pretty much a done deal.








Abby, congratulations on your new set of wheels, I know you will enjoy it very much.

Merry Christmas Familia!

I did not get the chance this year to print and mail the Christmas cards so I am sending you this virtual one in hopes that it will reach all of you my family and friends in time for Christmas.

Wishing you
a very merry Christmas
and an new year
filled with happiness.

Christmas Decorating?

And just like that Christmas is upon us, as every year I have been having fun watching Christmas movies although my list is a lot shorter this year since I no longer have the Hallmark channel and Lifetime basically sucked as they keep repeating the two or three movies they are showing.

Holiday Switch
A Christmas Proposal
Christmas in Paradise
The Holiday
Secret Santa
Dear Santa
An Accidental Christmas
Comfort and Joy
A Diva's Christmas Carol
Fred Claus
A Christmas Strike
Nothing Like the Holidays
The Road to Christmas
A Nanny for Christmas
Deck The Halls
Four Christmases

I used to get very substantial bonuses when I was working which year after year allowed me to buy a little something to almost every family member, but this year that changed so I called my magical daughter Michelle and gave her the task to take me shopping for Christmas presents for the kids and told her I was on a very tight budget. So armed with little money and a great attitude we left and when the girl at the register finished ringing all the items I was still left with three dollars to spare. Michelle you are magical indeed, thank you for the help.



As much as I love Christmas I normally don't do the lights on the house, I think the one year I did them they stayed up until that house was sold. However I love to see a Christmas tree and for one reason or another started getting Santas for Christmas and before I realized it I had a fairly big collections of Santa's. I grab a new Santa every chance I get. The best time to find things like this is right after Christmas as all the stores lower the prices to almost nothing. Oh, this year, my Santas also remain in a box in my garage.

Don't get me wrong, I am in a Christmas mood but I have been in a house deconstruction mode and so this year I am skipping all the decorating aspects of the season. But I am enjoying the religious side of it which should be the most important part to begin with.

As I write this I am listening to some of the Christmas Carols we will be singing during our Christmas Eve mass, and also going over the readings to be more prepared to listen to mass.

Since I am not decorating the house at least I made sure this post had plenty of lights.

Yes Make Mine a Ford Please!

Ford, Fiesta
It actually looks like a nice little car to have, I bet it will be super economical on gas and sits four or five. Wow! But honest, does this look like guacamole green to you?

Fiesta: [fee-es-tuh; Sp. fyes-tah] (Party) -- A festival or a festive celebration.

It has to be fate, Abby's car has been screaming to be replaced and last week it kindda gave up and left her stranded at her own house. She needed to drive from Lancaster to La Puente to pick up her daughter and so she tried to rent a car from her cell phone but she was not successful, so I did it for her from Phoenix and according to the rental company she was to get a Chevrolet Aveo as I asked for a compact car.

She called me to let me know that she had picked up the car and that she actually liked it. What? She likes a Chevrolet? Well it turns out she did not get an Aveo but a 2011 Ford Fiesta and although it wasn't her favorite color (she called it guacamole green) she said it is a really nice little car and that now that we are on the marked for a new car she would be happy with something like that.

So, I think we will continue to be a Ford family and a little Ford will maybe join us pretty soon.

Hummmm we will see?

The Christmas Season

Ever since I was a little kid in Mexico Christmas has been a special time for me, I can close my eyes and remember the "posadas" which start on December 16 and run through December 24. It is a tradition to celebrate a posada every night where many get together and reenact when Joseph and Mary got to Bethlehem and asked for a room at the inn and time and time again they were sent away. We do this by way of song, where the group outside represent Joseph and Mary and the group inside rempresent the village innkeepers.

Then we would brake anywhere from two to four pinatas which most of us spent all morning making from scratch. This part of the celebration fun. The pinatas were filled with some candy but mostly fruits such as oranges and sugar canes, as well as a bunch of peanuts. The pinatas were made out of a clay pot which we covered with layers and layers of glued newspapers. We were pretty creative and many different designs were made during the fourteen days.

Every house had a very elaborate Nativity set and going to church on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day was a must. Although we have our own Christmas carols we also have a Spanish version to most of the popular American Christmas Carols. Then believe it or not, firecrackers are a huge part of the celebration as well.

Although we knew of St. Nick most of us kids didn't expect presents, instead we would wait another 13 days and on January 6th we would write a letter to the three Wise Men and put it inside one of our shoes which then were left outside the room doors.

As we came here to the U.S. it wasn't hard to very quickly adopt the American way as we too got caught up with all the gift giving and the food and so on.

Christmas to me is just one happy holiday and the Christas season fills me with joy and peace.

So, I wish you all a Merry Christmas. Celebrate Jesus' birth with your loved ones as this is a wonderful time to spend with the family.

Lancaster Trip

So I left at a good time, but not as early as I wanted, after gassing up and running some errands I finally hit the road. As I said to my son shortly after boarding his truck I was looking for the wire to pull and make the air horns work. I am so used to both my Mustangs being so low to the ground that even his regular not so tall Silverado felt sky high to me.

My son's Silverado, not too bad a truck, and yes it fit him just fine.
Not being to familiar with his truck I decided to take it easy on the speed and the gas, so I kept it at a legal speed. I had a soda before I left so right away my bladder started to talk to me and to ask me to stop. The first rest stop is by the Palo Verde nuclear plant, and right before I got there I notice a strange cloud formation that went up and then had a 90 degree angle bend. Upon further inspection I noticed it was some sort of a steam cloud coming out of the plant.

This cloud started on the ground and went up into the sky.
I stopped in Quartzite to fill the gas tank again but proceeded right away. When I got to Chirico Summit to get me a coffee I noticed a bunch of new things I could photograph that I had not seen before. These place never runs out of thing to take pictures off and before I knew it over half an hour had passed. That was my last stop before getting to Lancaster but it took me forever to get there. Nevertheless, the trip was very nice, the truck is really comfortable and my reliable phone's GPS app once again proved to be extremely reliable.






Scenes from Chiriaco Summit.
It was nice visiting Abby in her own turf as we had always met either at my sister's or her mom's in La Puente. We had a good time shopping late and falling asleep watching movies, as well as in cleaning out the storage rental unit she had. Mission accomplished in this trip to Lancaster.