Another Busy Saturday

So, today I woke up at 7:00 a.m. got up and was ready to start my day. So far I don't mind waking up this early on a Saturday I had a small "to do" list and I tackled it first thing in the morning.

First order of business was to make me a cup coffee and sip on it while I checked my emails and facebook, then the house cleaning started. I have cleaned the house somewhat but had not mopped in about a month so today was the day. Now it smells clean with a hint of pine sol.

My daughter got tickets to the Home and Garden show so we planned on going except the van decided to have it's brakes totally worn out to the point where it sounded like metal was rubbing metal. Not too good a sound when you press on that brake pedal. So I called my father in law and he agreed to come and fix them but he couldn't give me a specific time.

I went to pick up my daughter as I told her that even if we didn't go to the show her and ducky could spend the day with me. When I came back 45 minutes later I found my father in law already working on the brakes. Luckily they were covered under the life time warranty so I didn't pay for the replacements, but I did have to dish out a hundred bucks to replace the very worn out rotors.


It didn't take him long to install them so by 2;30 p.m. we were on our way to the fair. We spend roughly about three hours there and must have walked quite a few miles, bought a couple of gadgets and came back with many dreams and ideas of how we would like the house to look.

Immediately after coming home we left for my sister's house. Her husband and daughter were celebrating their birthdays and they had carne asada, chicken, and an array of sides such as rice, salads, beans, etc, etc, etc. All good stuff. As always the house was full of family and an endless amount of little ones running around.

I was already too tired from running around all day so I decided to bail and came back home where now I'm relaxing, blogging, and sipping on my coffee.

While we waited for my father in law to finish with the brakes, my graddson "Ducky" and I played catch for a while.

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To My Kids

It seems to me my kids are struggling to not having their mom around anymore. This breaks my heart but I know they will come out of it too. Mi chica and I had such beautiful relationship that for me it's easy to draw from there and use it as my strength. It's obvious I miss her physical presence but after 31 years of being together she pretty much lives and will continue to live in my heart and my soul.

Memories, mostly good pop in my head and make me smile. I was watching the slide show I posted here not too long ago and I caught myself smiling while looking at her, and I know in my heart of hearts that she will be OK as long as we are OK.

To all my kids: If you are reading this just ask yourself, did she hate what I am doing right now? If the answer is yes, I hope you have a way and the strength to correct what ever it is. One thing she would totally hate is for any of us to do something we very well knew she hated and blame it on her not being here and or because we miss her so much. To honor her memory is to honor her wishes and to address the concerns she had towards us.

Me: “Oh no that’s my favorite song.” --- “Love disco style”
Cyclone: “Well, go dance it.”
Me: “But I have been dancing all night, there’s a girl go ask her to dance with you.”
Cyclone: “You go ask her,”
Me: “Come on fool don’t be a scary cat you haven’t dance all night.”
Cyclone: “You go ask her, look she’s looking for someone, she wants to dance and she is cute too.”
Me: “You are right, wait for me I’ll be back”

Me: “Would you like to dance.”
Chica: (she wasn’t “mi chica” back then) Yesssss.
Me: “Cool let’s go”.

Well we started dancing back then and we haven’t sopped yet. I wonder if Cyclone is still waiting for me, after all I told him I would be right back. But this “chica” swept me off my feet and took me away. Our life has been a roller coaster but that’s exactly what has made it so exciting, just like no one ride feels the same, well no one day has been the same, sure some are similar but for the most part each day has been unique in it’s own way.

So what was it? Was it the lyrics of the song? Or was it the name of the band that sang the song. “Erotic Drum Band” Hummmmmmm!!! Oh baby you know, (even though I just met you), you know I love you, (I was stretching it a little). But I wanna know (here’s the catch). I wanna know if you love me too (say yessssss). And take me into your paradise… Ok, I don’t know about paradise but where we are is ideal and lovely so I guess it’s close to it. (Ok, it’s kindda chaotic and crazy right now but it’s our paradise never the less). Who would have known back then that this particular song would launch us into many years of dancing, to this day every time I hear this song it takes me back and if I close my eyes it feels as if it was yesterday. Isn’t if funny how time works, if you ask me right now “what will you be doing 25 years from now?” I would probably say that 25 years is so far away, but ask me about 25 years ago and in many cases it’s as if it was yesterday.

Flashback:

Ray (my ex-manager): So you are getting married?
Me: Si (I didn’t speak that much English back then, remember)
Ray: I was married too.
Me: What happened?
Ray: Didn’t work out.
Me: Sorry to hear that.
Ray: Don’t be
Me: OK
Ray: I give you no more than two years.
Me: Shut the hell up, I will last more than two years.
Me again: Now shut up and eat your burrito.
*Ray, wherever you are, here’s an FYI; it’s now 25 years and counting.

I don’t think there is anything out there better than lemonade when it comes to refreshing ones thirst. So why do they associate lemons with things gone badly. Is it the “sour” part of it? I guess that’s why they say that if life gives you lemons (which are sour), make lemonade (which taste great). The outlook on life, the outlook of things sometimes may present itself in a sour state, it is up to us to change things around and turn sourness into sweetness. “Mi chica” sometimes attracts sour comments, which at first hurt so much not because of the abrasiveness of them, but because of the people that say them. The other day as I said good night “mi chica” told me about a comment that came her way totally unexpected and may I add uncalled for. “What is it about me that attract these comments?” Why me? What have I ever done to deserve them? All I do is help. Now I am at a “screw you suckers” mode/attitude. Can’t say I blame you baby, 25 years with you have thought me a lot, 25 years with you have shown me a lot. You and I are so different and don’t even think alike which in my opinion is why we have been so successful in dealing and coping with each other. As a result we have had a great contrast of ideas and ideals that together have melted in an imaginary pot creating the force of two I spoke about before. If I had to explain to you the “whats ” and the “whys” I would probably had to summarize it in one word, the word being POWERHOUSE.

Gee, I wonder why? People don’t usually attack someone when they are down, so when you are a powerhouse I think it’s safe to assume it’s going to happen. To disseminate the word “powerhouse” if you are a source of influence or inspiration (which at point in life you know you are) not everyone will like that, jealousy may kick in and stupid comments may arise. One having great power (which you do) - (yes, even over your Dad) there will be others that may feel the need to compete against you, even though you didn’t even know such competition existed. One having great drive, energy, or ability. (I feel sorry for those that feel the need to compete with you knowing that you will win hands-down).
If you are ever accused of being a “powerhouse”, proudly just say “guilty as charged”.

I felt the need to write something about this for you baby, just my views and opinions. I know it’s tough but to tell you the truth I don’t really think there would be a real answer. I love your strength because I know tomorrow you will view things differently and will do your part to right what’s wrong to the best of your abilities. But sometimes it does feel good to say “screw you all” doesn’t it.

She's a brick----house
Mighty mighty, just lettin' it all hang out
She's a brick----house
The lady's stacked and that's a fact,
ain't holding nothing back.

She's a brick----house
She's the one, the only one,
who's built like an amazon
We're together everybody knows,
and here's how the story goes.

Well I guess the two first verses of the song “She’s a Brick House” by the Commodores sums it up, “Mi chica” is a brick house, mighty, mighty and holding nothing back. She’s the one, my only one, and we’re together everybody knows and the rest of the story? Well we don’t know how it goes because we are still writing it day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, and second by second.

If life throws us so many lemons, let’s not waste them and start making lemonade, it really isn’t hard to squeeze them dry. Thank God that life it’s not throwing us onions that for sure would make us cry.

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When Life Gives You Lemons

Staying at my mom's every Tuesday helps me catch up on my sleep. My mom's house has the power to send me to bed early as it is very peaceful and quiet there. Not to mention I catch up on the many stories she has to tell. One thing is for sure I have been enjoying the time spent with my mom to the fullest.

Not too much going on these days besides the fact that the house is very empty. So not much new stuff to tell you, so I'll just continue posting excerpts of my "Life's a Dance" piece from almost five years ago.

Image borrowed from the Internet.

Come on in, grab a tall glass of Lemonade and make yourself at home while I continue telling you about these thoughts that invade my head and that normally stay there, well that is until now.

When life gave us lemons, we made lemonade. Our lives (mi chica’s and mine) took a turn for the best at the beginning of the millennium. You know that the saying goes “it will have to get worse, before it gets better”, well it did. But someone said that if you are made of the right material a hard fall might result in a higher bounce. I want to believe that we are made of nothing but the best materials, “pura materia prima” if you will. Talking about wake up calls and rude awakenings, well yes, we got ours and again the “no hay mal que por bien no venga” saying proved itself true. With the new millennium we adopted a totally new way of interacting; we opened our minds to new ideas, and opened new lines of communication. All of a sudden we found ourselves tuned to the same wave and thinking along the same lines, we stopped dwelling in the past and moved forward with our new found strength, and newly adopted good attitude. To date life is good and we look forward to each new day with optimism, now we remind ourselves of how much we love each other and have a good and at times comic way of communicating. From the ever popular happy face to the very exclusive “~ito” signature, to singing via email where it doesn’t matter if you are way off tune, it still reads the same. With the new millennium we adopted new ways of communicating and we have made them fun, each time improving our ways a little bit more.

2006 will mark our 25th Wedding Anniversary and I’m thankful for the chance and opportunity to reach such a milestone. We are living an era where moral values are not the top priority on people’s lists and to be able to say that we belong to the 25 year club is very cool indeed. You may think we are bragging about it. Well why not; I believe we earned that right. So in a quick reflection of the first 25 years together I will let Shania Twain summarize it for me:

(When I first saw you, I saw love.
And the first time you touched me, I felt love.
And after all this time, you're still the one I love.)


Looks like we made it
Look how far we've come my baby
We mighta took the long way
We knew we'd get there someday

Bridge:
They said, "I bet they'll never make it"
But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going strong

Chorus:
(You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're the one I want for life
(You're still the one)
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night

Ain't nothin' better
We beat the odds together
I'm glad we didn't listen
Look at what we would be missin'

I'm so glad we made it
Look how far we've come my baby

I have asked “mi chica” if she is ready for the next 25 and her reply was a reverberant yessss. So without further ado we will be the architects of our own future and will start immediately to lay and execute the plans as they present themselves to us. We are a force of two and we are ready to explore and conquer.

So baby, let’s dance, put on your dancing shoes and dance with me. It is not so hard to do, get with me and follow the rhythm of the next 25 coming years.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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Flower Power

A few years back, I started doing things for “mi chica” that I would not have done before. Simple things like saying “I love you”. “That goes without saying” is what I told myself, or something as simple and easy as it is to buy a bouquet of roses. “What is it about women and flowers?” is what I always asked myself. Well guess what, I stopped asking because I don’t really know that there is an answer to this, however the rewards for bringing her flowers and even a single flower for that matter will go a loooooooong way. I came to the realization that I have difficulty expressing my feelings, so by bringing “mi chica” flowers, I know that they are telling her everything for me. And even though I may widen the gap from time to time, I don’t let it get so wide that she will tell me “You don’t bring me flowers anymore”. However if someone would have told me sooner that flowers are the language of romance, I would have been singing a different tune a long time ago.

So once again, Garth Brooks sings and I listen:

Sometimes late at night
I lie awake and watch her sleeping
She's lost in peaceful dreams
So I turn out the lights and lay there in the dark
And the thought crosses my mind
If I never wake up in the morning
Would she ever doubt the way I feel
About her in my heart
If tomorrow never comes
Will she know how much I loved her
Did I try in every way
To show her every day
That she's my only one
If my time on earth were through
And she must face the world without me
Is the love I gave her in the past
Gonna be enough to last
If tomorrow never comes

What does it cost to buy a bouquet of flowers? How long does it take to send her an email telling her I love you and signing it with a . Did you make sure to kiss her in the morning? No baby, that dress does not make you look fat… really! Scouts honor. (Even though I was never in the scouts) There are so many things one can do and most don’t cost a thing and in return they will take the relationship a long way. And if the old saying is true then be advised that the best things in life are free. And just to quote a little piece of a Kenny Rogers song: “If I could only read her mind she would say. Buy me a rose, call me from work, open the door for me, what would it hurt, show me you love me by the look in your eyes. These are the little things I need the most in my life”. Yes it took me a while to learn this but after all isn’t life a dance we learn as we go.

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Tango

Here is another excerpt from what I wrote four years ago. I used and quoted a lot of songs because as I mentioned before I believe the lyricists have a gift of writing down what in a moment in time we feel. You just have to find that one song that will make you feel like it was written for you. It was based on dancing and songs as my inspiration so for luck of a better title I always have referred to it as "Life's a Dance".

There was some chaos back then and even though it has not disappeared completely at least we are all living in good harmony.

Tango: A ballroom dance of Latin-American origin in 2/4 time with a basic pattern of step-step-step-step-close and characterized by long pauses and stylized body positions; also : the music for this dance.

It sounds like it's an interesting dance, with 2/4 time and a basic pattern of step-step-step and the characterization of long pauses and body positions. Sounds like a dance to be shared, it sounds like a partner is needed, it sounds to me that… (Correct me if I’m wrong but I think I just came up with a new catch phrase) It Takes Two to Tango!
OK, I did not come up with that phrase; it’s actually been around longer than I have. Once I tried to dance a tango at the house while listening to it on the TV as I was watching an old Latin movie with Libertad Lamarque but it really felt silly to be going up and down the den going “tarara tan tan tan tan, chiquibum tarara ta ta tan tan tan tan” by myself, so I have never tried it again but I know that “mi chica” and I may sometime go someplace where tango is played and give it a shot. I know we will because we are together and we love to dance and we always like the challenge of trying to do things that appeal to us and that we haven’t done before. Yes, indeed it definitely takes two to tango.

But what happens when one of the partners just can’t go past that basic step, and the step-step-step pattern is repetitive instead of stylized? Some people may get stuck right after the basic step, and as the dance becomes faster and the moves and position become more intricate they just stop and give up, quitting becomes the easy way out and something that could have been beautiful and fulfilling becomes something of the past, something that you will say “been there, done that” and is now part of my failures list.

There’s also the group of stragglers, the ones that can’t quite get it the first time, or the second or third for that matter but they keep trying, they get stressed because the steps are hard, frustrated because the moves get faster, mad because they feel that they will be putting a check mark in the failures list but yet they keep that mentality of “If you first you don’t succeed, try and try again!”, and when they least expect it, they are dancing to the same tune, at the same pace, with the same rhythm and feeling the total joy of success. This group knows that a month or two from now some of the steps may be forgotten and they will be stepping on each other’s toes. But they already know what to do to bring those steps back and they will repeat the process until once again they dance to the same tune. They will refuse to be repetitive in their dance routine and innovation will be the only way they will allow to keep that routine fresh and enjoyable.

Life is a dance when you do the steps.

Life is a dance! Sometimes life is hard so think of it as a “tango”, it will be easier to learn if you have a partner to share. John Michael Montgomery one of my favorite country singers said it best in his song "Life’s a Dance":

When I was fourteen I was falling fast
For a blue eyed girl in my homeroom class
Trying to find the courage to ask her out
Was like trying to get oil from a waterspout
What she would have said I can't say
I never did ask and she moved away
But I learned something from my blue eyed girl
Sink or swim you gotta give it a whirl

Life's a dance you learn as you go
Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow
Don't worry about what you don't know
Life’s a dance you learn as you go.

The longer I live the more I believe
You do have to give if you wanna receive
There's a time to listen, a time to talk
And you might have to crawl even after you walk
Had sure things blow up in my face
Seen the long shot, win the race
Been knocked down by the slamming door
Picked myself up and came back for more

Life's a dance you learn as you go
Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow
Don't worry about what you don't know
Life's a dance you learn as you go

Thank God there was no blue-eyed girl in my life, I was lucky enough to find me a brown eyed one of a kind, I did find the courage to ask her to dance to that classic song “Love Disco Style” and here we are 24 years latter and we still haven’t stopped, keep the music playing and feel free to change the tune. I guess it is true life’s dance and we learn as we go, sometimes she leads, sometimes I follow and if we worry about what we don’t know, who gives a hoot, as long as we are together, we will learn as we go. Yeah we too were knocked down by the slamming door, but we picked ourselves up and came back for more. Yes I think we are two of the straggles kind, and I know we both firmly believe in the “try and try again” part.

The Spanish saying goes, “Nadie sabe lo que tiene, hasta que lo ve perdido” which in this particular train of thought of mine roughly translates into “you don’t really value what you have, until it is gone”, and then you can kick your self in the ass… or worse. Boohoo, boo, boo, I once had her and now she is gone. Did I love her? Did I care? Yes I did, but I never found the courage to tell her. But aren’t women supposed to know this, doesn’t the female intuition switch turns to on automatically. Why should I be verbal about it? Why should I commit? What difference does it make? Be with me or take a hike and see if I care. Do I love you? Do I care? I don’t really know, but what do you think? Just take a wild guess because chances are that your guess will be as good as mine. Well life’s a dance and you want to dance it well, so if you show commitment to your partner you’ll find out that life’s difficulties which may come your way with your perfect rhythm and your fancy step you’ll be dancing to a perfect pattern and it won’t matter if it’s the one that goes step-step-step.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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Saturday

So, this morning I woke up at 7:30 and normally I would have gone back to bed, as many of you may have heard Saturday for me was my "sleep late" day, and when I say late I mean like 12:00 or 1:00 p.m. But the day seemed so nice that I decided against going back to bed and headed for the kitchen instead.

First things first, ummmm can you smell it? Yep, I nice warm cup of coffee to wake up. Let's see make the bed, turn on the computer and check my emails, my facebook, and my blogs, a comment here and a comment there and I was done. What to do now?

I resumed my lunch time walks while at work so why don't I just take my trusty steed and take a ride? It will be good exercise. So I did and I took off. Sweat pants and a sweat shirt was all I needed. Sorry back east friends but even though I know we'll pay for it soon when it gets hot, our weather here in Phoenix is just plane gorgeous. I can't even relate to what you guys are going through with the cold, the now, the wind chill etc.

Image captured at around 9:00 a.m. notice how clear and wonderful the sky is and how awesome my trusty steed looks.

I kept going and a few blocks past the freeway is the Avondale Autoplex. I rode up and down the long street looking at all the cars. It saddens me to see how much the dealers are struggling to stay alive. There are already about three or four dealers that had to close as they did not survive the bad economy last year.

Still it was fun taking pictures while riding around the area.

Ahhh! a steed of a different breed.
Gotta love it. Reduced to $14,000+, convertible and with 20" custom wheels. Sweeeeeeet!
Then I saw this and I thought it would make for an interesting capture.
Then I swung by Coyote Honda hoping to see some bikes and to my surprise they only had ATVs in there, I guess the motorcycle sales were down and now they will concentrate on the all terrain vehicles. I truly hope this bad economy that has been very unkind to many will finally turn around.

The freeway was widened so the bridge had to be reinforced, it took many months to complete this but it's finally done. It looks great and it proudly shows our town's name and our State.

So, I am heading home now and it's still early. Wow, waking up early gives you a chance to do many things. Back home I took the next hour to continue cleaning my garage, another couple of bags filled with garbage and some box shuffling but nothing major there. I will continue to do this regularly, sooner or later I will have that garage the way I want it.

Next I went out to the back yard and decided to water it down. It really needed it and after I was done it really looked nice. The day kept getting nicer and nicer and to prove it I give you these two shots.

A cleaner backyard.
Gorgeous weather.
The floor looked great after it was watered down.
At this time my pictorial will end as my camera decided to stop working. I've had it for over three years and have carried it with me daily, and it's captured thousands of images but I think it's about to finally and completely quit.

I have a $50.00 gift card to a Harley Davidson dealership that was given to me on my birthday so I decided to go to Arrowhead Harley Davidson. I spent a couple of hours there as the sales rep that sold me my bike ten years ago still works there. I had not seen him in over four years so we talked for nearly the two hours I was there. The I walked around the store twice hoping to see something I would like to buy but found nothing so I came home with my gift card still intact.

After all I had done all day I was a little tired so I took a nap but woke up in time to go to my daughter's for enchiladas. Good food, and great company made it for a fabulous ending to a busy and fun Saturday.

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Shall We Dance!

The nice thing about writing is that you can always go back to your notes and quote yourself if necessary. That's exactly what I'm doing here. The following is another excerpt from that wannabe book a wrote four years ago. This is from the very first chapter.

The same feelings I had then remained with me and fueled our relationship to where it just kept growing and growing and growing.

Shall we dance! So here I am, it's late at night, and I decided to come and write about something that "mi chica" just told me tonight, just out of the blue and with a sparkle in her eyes she looked at me and simply said "I like you". My eyes opened wide because she caught me off guard, and when I asked her "why you like me?" she simply said to me "just because". As today is the first day of the year all I could say was "Well thank you very much" and then all I could think was what a nice way to start the year.

Last night I was watching a movie that I have watched more than once, if you are thinking it's a dancing movie or movie about dance, you were right. In this particular movie the wife thinks that her husband may be having an affair and she hires a private eye to follow him. They had been married for 18 years and she just couldn't cope with the doubt. To her surprise she finds out that her husband has not been unfaithful to her and tells the private eye that his services will no longer be needed. Now I may not remember the exact words or dialog in the movie but when the private eye asks her about why she cares about being married and having a partner she gave the most beautiful answer.

"Because it is important to have a witness to your life, my life will not be in vain because you are here, and your life will not go un-noticed because I care". Since I wrote this by memory I may have changed the words but the idea is the same.

Well, mi chica, if you must know my answer to you is more like "no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I like you more!" Thank you for caring and being here with me through thick and thin. Thank you for allowing me to be that special witness to your life, and to better yet, to be a part of it. So shall we dance baby? What do you say? As long as you keep the music playing, all I know is that I'm there.

When my personal life is falling in place and the puzzle pieces that are in my life fit so easily, it is not hard to start wishing and wanting the same for everyone around us that we care about and in our case it pretty much means all of you. My wish for you is to feel as good as I do right now and to be able to sing together. A good song from "Queen" that comes to mind would be the one that goes like:

I’ve paid my dues
Time after time
I’ve had my sentence
But committed no crime
And bad mistakes
I’ve made a few
I’ve had my share of sand kicked on my face
But I’ve come through

We are the champions my friend
And we’ll keep on fighting till the end.
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
‘Cause we are the champions
Of the world.

I’ve taken my bows
And my curtain calls
You brought me fame and fortune and everything that goes with it
I thank you all
But it’s been no bed o roses
No pleasure cruise
I consider it a challenge before the whole human race
And I ain’t gonna lose

We are the champions my friend
And we’ll keep on fighting till the end.
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
'Cause we are the champions
Of the world.

~~~~~~~~~~

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Slow Dance

Shortly after my dad passed some five years ago my immediate world was in a state of semi-chaos, mi chica's best friend went through a divorce, my kids were all making their own mistakes, needless to say in those days things were a little stressful and on one New Years Day morning I sat behind the computer and my fingers started typing, and typing and typing. I was letting go, everything I had inside started to come out while at the same time my love for music and dance remained with me.

I wrote so much over the next couple of months that what I wrote could have been put into a small book. Each chapter or episode received a name, what I'm about to share with you is part of that.

The following is just an excerpt of the chapter I named "La Familia":

I believe that the best present we can give each other is ourselves, not the nice things we can buy or the expensive things we can’t, the best present you can give is 100% free. Show up to our weekly celebrations (God know we have enough of those), send an email to say “hi!” or give a call and if you can’t reach the person you are calling don’t feel bad, just leave a message, it’s not so hard. The premise of this is to be in touch and to be a part of each other. If we do this for other people but can’t do it for our family, what’s wrong with that picture? I keep hearing that worst than getting old is getting old alone. That’s why I thank God each and everyday for the greatest gift of all – YOU!

SLOW DANCE

Have you ever watched kids?
On a merry-go-around,
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground
Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night
You better slow down
Don’t dance so fast
Time is short
The music won’t last

Do you run through each day?
On the fly
when you ask, “How are you?”
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed?
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,"Hi"
You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift….
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

Thank you mi chica for sending me this poem, story goes that it was written by a young girl that is terminally ill in a New York hospital. This young girl has or had six months to live, and she wanted to send a letter to everyone telling everyone to live his or her life to the fullest since she never will. She knew that she would never make it to the prom, graduate from high school or have a family of her own. Those are things that most of us have taken for granted, so don’t wait until it’s too late, let’s live in the now and dance it at your own pace.

Mi chica was having a particularly busy month and our emails were getting far and few; she received the email letter and sent it to me, her very next email read as follows:

Ola, Just wanted to say "Hi"!!

You know lately my days are really busy but reading the "slow dance" e-mail got me thinking that we all need to slow down. So with this here I am making sure that I slow down at least to make sure I make time for you and me.... Because you know that there is not time like the present!!

And then she went on to say…

We need to plan a weekend getaway just you and I so, think about it...I love you so mucho, Tu chica!

Now that’s what I’m talking about. I hope you all see now where I get my inspiration from; mi chica is definitely my strength. As Jerry McGuire would say “You complete me”.

Mi chica: I know they get on our nerves sometimes but they are our kids.
Me: No they are your kids
Mi chica: They are not only mine
Me: When they are good they are mine, when they are bad they are yours
Mi chica: See you are a "grouch"
Me: OK maybe just a little
Mi chica: More like a lot
Me: Grrrrrrrrrr.
Mi chica: Don’t get mad
Me: I'm not mad, but sometimes I do get frustrated
Mi chica: We’ll be bored when they are gone

I totally agree with mi chica on that one, truth is that good or bad when the kids our around they are our kids. Not hers, not mine but always and forever OURS.

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Just So You All Know

I was supposed to be the rock that you could stand on
Stronger than an old oak tree
But all you ever wanted was the one thing
I never let you see -
The tender side of me
I tried to be a mountain, solid and strong
All it took was your leaving to know I was wrong

A man ain't made of stone
A man ain't made of steel
The way I feel right now
I thought I'd never feel
Sometimes all it takes
Is facing the night alone
And that's when you know
A man ain't made of stone

In this world of mine
There was no room for weakness
I covered every crack in the wall
But there ain't no way that I can keep this secret
Cos when you go like Jerico I fall
You thought I wouldn't shatter
Would I even care?
But there's more to what I'm made of
Than this broken heart can bare

A man ain't made of stone
A man ain't made of steel
The way I feel right now
I thought I'd never feel
Sometimes all it takes
Is facing the night alone
And that's when you know
A man ain't made of stone

Sometimes all it takes
Is facing the night alone
And that's when you know
A man ain't made of stone

That's when you know
A man ain't made of stone

"Randy Travis"

The beauty about songs is that there's a song out there that one can identify given a moment in time. I have always liked this Randy Travis song but today it takes on a whole new meaning, I think it pretty much sums things up on my current state of mind.

I will be the first to admit that I am not made of stone, actually everyone that knows me will attest that in fact I am a softie but the reason I am writing this is because I see the concern all of you have for me and I want to make it clear that although I may be a softie I am not brittle and I will not crumble into a million pieces.

Mi chica continues to be my strength and will probably show me the way as I face the future. A huge amount of her will always be with me wherever I go and I doubt very much she will ever be phased out of my life, just looking at both Michelle and Nichole is like looking at her.

There are too many challenges to overcome, there are too many things in my immediate future that I need to take care of, there's plenty to keep me busy. Heck, even learning how to use a phone is a top priority now, after all she was my lifeline and the one constant connection to the outside world. Yep, I'll be busy, I'll be pretty occupied so I ask you not to worry or fear for me. I truly am at peace because I know she is at peace, I am OK because I know she is OK.

Now, all the constant company my son, my daughters, my in laws, my family, and even the "virtual" company from all of you my blogger friends is something that I can very easily get used to, so I warn you not to spoil me or you will create a monster. This is your one and only fair warning. Should you chose to spoil me then live with the consequences.

The other day my nephew-in-law a.k.a. Franklin asked me if I was overwhelmed with all the people around me, the house was full, there were people in the front yard, in the house, and in the backyard, yes I really had a full house. At first I had to think about it but I decided right away that given the alternative, I didn't mind at all to be surrounded by so many people. When I saw how full the church was for her service, when I saw how full the house was with all her family and friends it made me realize the big impact she had on peoples lives and it was a loud and clear to me that her love was unconditional, that her friendship was worth more than gold, that her guidance was always unselfish, that in a nut shell her life made sense.

Yes, I am sad, yes I'll probably be lonely, yes I miss her like crazy, yes the house feels empty, but I also want to make it real clear that although I am not made out of stone, and I do tend to be a softy I too will be OK because I truly know that now she is OK sitting up there with God and probably now sharing her expertise with the angels.

*DISCLAIMER -- You've been warned, now let me assure you that I don't mind one bit being spoiled, so should you choose to do so I will gladly accept it.


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Love Disco Style

"Dude, I'm telling you there's a girl standing right there and you have not danced all night, go and ask her to dance." Is what I told my friend "Cyclone". It was about an hour away to closing time and cyclone being the shyest guy in our group did not ask her to dance. The song ended and one of my all time favorite disco songs started playing.

Well fool your loss, I will ask her.

Love Disco Style
Love Disco Style
Love Disco Style
Love Disco Style

Oh, Baby You Know
You Know I Love You
But I Wanna Know
I Wanna Know
If You Love Me Too

And Take Me Into Your Paradise
Of Love, Baby Tonight...

That my friends is how one Joe Cool met his chica. Dancing to the Erotic Drum Band's Love Disco Style at the Copacabana in El Sereno, California some 31 years ago. Not only did we dance that song but we danced the next, and the next and then the next until it was closing time.

"Here's my number in case you would like to call me", I kept hearing from my friends that when they asked girls for their phone number they gave them fake ones. So, I figured if she wants to she will call.

Next day, my friends are all in my room talking about the night before. Well, I said I did meet this girl last night, but truthfully I can't remember is she was pretty or ugly or so so. I did however gave her my number but I doubt she'll call. My friend "Fish" immediately said, "She was pretty guey" (guey = fool). "You think?" I said, "Dude, trust me, she was" said fish.

Ring, ring, ring, ring, --
Me: Hello
Her: Hi
Me: Is this who I think this is?
Her: Well, I don't know... I hope so.
(Everybody out, go home, I'll talk to you all tomorrow.)
Me: I am glad you called.
Her: Me too.

Tell me how many people are as lucky as I was to find such treasure and of all places at the disco.

At the Copa (CO) Copacabana
Music and passion were always in fashion
At the Copa... We fell in love.

For the next couple of years the Copa was our place and ours was a love, a Love Disco Style. OK, eventually we threw Salsa in the mix, but that would be another story. During our 31 years together we never stopped dancing.

I just thought you all would like to know how we met.

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Mi Chica My Love

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Santa Must Be a Fellon

All through the month I've been having the Christmas Spirit and have been loving every minute of it. Certainly since we started our Bible Studies with my sister I've been seeing things from a different perspective. The true meaning of Christmas is alive and well but the commercialization of the season tries hard to over power it.

I remember growing up in Los Angeles, every year during Christmas Broadway boulevard in downtown L.A. was lit with colorful lights. Whittier boulevard was lit as well, cruising this famous place during December really got you in a Christmas mood, and just like those two streets there were many more throughout the city that also expressed with those beautiful displays of lights that we were celebrating something grand.

Now as a society we are losing respect for each other's customs and beliefs and in a world that demands political correctness people are not practicing some of these customs because of the risk of being sued for offending someone else. A principal at a local high school here in Phoenix banned any and everything Christmas related on campus and in the school, he simply didn't want to offend anyone.

Today a friend of mine from our car club was escorted out from an annual Christmas event called Glendale Glitters in the city of Glendale, Arizona. His crime was to be dressed as Santa Claus, yes you read it right, he dressed as Santa Claus and was kicked out of a Christmas event. Glendale Glitters is not an indoors event, it happens in the streets of Glendale.

As I was store hopping today I saw a few cars with these little reindeer antlers on their windows, I also saw a car with a red fuzzy ball tied to its grill, yes this car was impersonating Rudolph, I also saw a biker riding on a full dresser Harley dressed completely as Santa Claus. I truly hope cops won't start stopping people for daring to celebrate something we have been celebrating for centuries, something every body of every religion and of every part of the world knows as Christmas because for some odd reason to some is "offensive".

Because the Christmas season brings happiness to my heart and because I love my fellow man I wish a Merry Christmas to all and to all a Happy New Year. And if this simple warm wish of goodness and kindness offends anybody out there, believe me when I say that it's not my intention at all. Stop the insanity before it's too late and let future generations live and enjoy what for generations has been a beautiful custom.

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Update On Mi Chica

I haven't been here commenting lately but with mi chica not feeling so good and having to rush her to the hospital things have been a little crazy. I normally don't blog a lot about the down times, I've concentrated more on our family gatherings and the good times but it's good to let friends know about what's going on.

Other than having high blood pressure and high cholesterol which she has been taking medicine forever, mi chica has always been pretty healthy, or at least as healthy as a smoker can be. The beginning of 2009 brought new health issues to her that she was not expecting. At first all the doctors said she had vertigo, then it was something else, eventually it was decided she suffers from migraine headaches.

All throughout the year she has been fighting these headaches, for a few months she wasn't even allowed to drive as the medicine she was prescribed would make her drowsy. Thanks to a few guardian angel friends that would come and pick her up she was able to go to work although many times I was called to go pick her up.

Eventually she started driving once again and was even able to drive herself home when the pains started. We sorta got used to the situation and adapted to it but this past Sunday while watching Christmas movies and without much warning she started feeling dizzy and had an upset stomach that eventually made her pass out. Passing out wasn't really a part of the routine so off to the hospital we went.

As soon as she told the doctors that she suffers form migraines they said that what just had happened was migraine related, I wonder if she had said she had vertigo they would have said oh it's vertigo related. It's frustrating because it doesn't seem that they (the doctors) really look for a diagnosis. So after a three hour stay in the emergency wing we were being sent home. "Follow up with your doctor" is all they said.

Monday she still couldn't go to work so she stayed home and we had a fairy uneventful day, Tuesday however after I came home from work she called me to the office, she was trying to log on the computer and her left hand got numb and she couldn't move some of her fingers. I massaged it a bit and eventually (some 30 minutes later) the feeling came back, not completely but for the most part except this time she looked at her arm and kindda panicked because she noticed her veins were getting darker almost black.

That was the deciding point, five minutes later we were in a super packed hospital, just to be taken in took about two hours. She was asked why she was there and she explained about the numbness etc. etc. and then she told them about how her veins were getting black. The doctor concerned looked at her arm and immediately said, ummm are these the black veins your are talking about, looks more like tape outline to me, the nurse cleaned her arm with a piece of cotton soaked in alcohol and presto black veins were gone.

Ha, ha, the joke was on us... or was it? The tape from the IV from Sunday night didn't completely washed off therefore brought us in but as you know God works in mysterious ways. She was to be admitted except there was an influx of sick people. The hospital started sending many of them to Thunderbird Hospital as there were no available beds, Thunderbird got full as well so they started sending them to Good Sam Hospital. So, at around 7:00 am an ambulance transported her to Good Sam, where she was admitted in the transition area immediately.

It wasn't until around 6:00 p.m. that she was finally moved to a room. We are hoping she will be released tomorrow, they have done an MRI, cat scans, eco or echo tests and many more things. The MRI showed that she in fact had suffered a mini stroke and they told us that it was good we had gone in to emergency. Thank God for tape residue that looked like black veins.

Now they are finally looking into other areas other than the headaches. We believe in the power of prayer and I know that God has been listening to all of you out there. No matter how small you think your prayer may be God will listen to it so keep them coming.

I'll give you another update soon. Love ya all.

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Just For Fun

This is a cute idea. Copy this note, ask your child (In this case my child is 25 years old --- lol) the questions and write them down exactly how they respond. Leave me a comment if you have done this, I’d love to hear the answers!

1. What is something Dad always says to you? How about... Hi my baby! Or Hi Princess!

2. What makes Dad happy? Me of course! :)

3. What makes Dad sad? Dad is to cheerful to be upset but I would say maybe if his kids disappoint him.

4. How does your Dad make you laugh? Dancing. He does it out of nowhere and usually it's the funniest moves. Now I know where I must get that from. But when isn't he making me laugh?

5. What was your Dad like as a child? The same as he is now... Loving, Making people happy, Dancing, Silly

6. How old is your Dad? Half a Century!

7. How tall is your Dad? Not very tall

8. What is his favorite thing to do? Play with his Grandkids... and Karaoke... and Blog... and Love Me!

9. What does your Dad do when you’re not around? Rest! Haha!

10. If your Dad becomes famous, what will it be for? Singing!

11. What is your Dad really good at? Dancing

12. What is your Dad not very good at? Enunciating

13. What does your Dad do for her job? Email me and blog... Just kidding! He's a warehouse manager.

14. What is your Dad’s favorite food? Tacos! Of any kind... meats, eggs, beans.

15. What makes you proud of your Dad? He's the most AMAZING man I know. He just has so much love and everything about him is positive. Seriously he's like the best person ever.

16. If your Dad were a cartoon character, who would she be? Joe Cool!

17. What do you and your Dad do together? Anything... he loves spending time with us. Me and my Dad are both very creative so anything that has to do with creating, designing, DIY stuff.

18. How are you and your Dad the same? I keep saying him and I are like twins... just ask my Mom. We're both spoiled :) We're both lazy. We both love to sleep and eat. We love to take pictures. We like sight seeing and having lots of family time. I mean I can go on and on.

19. How are you and your Dad different? Well we're not the same person for one... but I have to say my Dad thinks through all his decision and choices where as I sometimes forget that... Haha!

20. How do you know your Dad loves you? Because I am the apple of his eye... he tells me ALL THE TIME!

21. Where is your Dad’s favorite place to go? Manny's to karaoke? Or maybe Hobby Lobby cuz I love going there with him.

Michelle, these made me laugh. But I'm not lazy atl all. lol

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Mi Chica

On Sunday night while watching Christmas movies and almost towards the end of the one we were watching mi chica asked for a small brake as she wasn't feeling too good, the next minutes happened too quick and to tell you the truth they were blurry at best. Mi chica had gone to the rest room, the next thing I heard was a faint "Joe" and the next thing we know is I'm rushing her to the hospital. Her blood pressure went so low that she even passed out. I know it wasn't a good feeling for her poor thing but it wasn't a good feeling for me either. Trust me, acting like a chicken with no head is no fun.

With all the medication she takes, it seems when she starts with a new one which she did the day before something always happens. While at the hospital the medication she was given made her feel cold inside, so no matter how many covers we put on her she would still be cold. After a cat scan and the medication her blood pressure returned to a "normal" level and after making sure she could walk without getting dizzy she was released.

It was a nice feeling to see her in her bed under the covers feeling all nice and warm and resting like nothing had happened. In one way or another she has been fighting migraines all year long, it has not been a good year for her. I pray that next year is not as bumpy as this one was, and if you are up to it don't be shy and join me, I have always know that the power of prayer is very strong.

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La Guadalupana

La Virgen de Guadalupe a National Symbol

The key figure in acceptance of the Catholic religion by the indigenous peoples of Mexico was the Virgin of Guadalupe, whose story goes back to 1531, just twelve years after Hernan Cortes first set foot on Mexican soil. On December 12, 1531, as the story goes, a poor Indian named Juan Diego was walking along in a desolate area north of Mexico City, seeking water for his uncle. Suddenly, on a hillside, he saw a vision of a beautiful woman, who directed him to a spring of fresh, cool water. A few days later, in the same spot, the vision appeared again to Juan Diego. This time, she instructed him to go to Mexico City to tell the high church officials to build a church in her name on that site. Of course, the ecclesiastical officials did not believe the poor Indian. Why would the Virgin Mary appear to someone so lowly? They asked for proof. When Juan Diego returned to the hillside and the Virgin appeared again, he asked her for a sign. Suddenly he saw some beautiful red roses, even though roses do not normally bloom in that area in December. He gathered them into his rough Indian tilma (blanket) and took them to Mexico City. When he opened his tilma for the high church officials, they fell to their knees in veneration and amazement. There, imprinted on the humble Indian blanket of Juan Diego, was the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, exactly as Juan Diego had seen her. It is said that the image is so perfect in detail that one sees in the pupil of the Virgin's eye the image of Juan Diego.

Today, thousands of devout Catholics make pilgrimages each year to the huge Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe, in the northern part of Mexico City, to view from a discrete distance the image of the Virgin imprinted on Juan Diego's blanket and to worship with Catholics from around the world. Pilgrims may also worship at a small shrine on the very hillside where Juan Diego first saw the vision.

Rich and poor alike venerate the Virgin of Guadalupe. One can see her image in small shrines in humble homes in the most remote villages. Her image can also be found in virtually every cathedral and church in Mexico, as well as in parochial schools, businesses, markets, buses, taxis, and many homes. December 12, the day of Virgin of Guadalupe, is an official national holiday, observed with pilgrimages, processions, special masses, fiestas, and Indian dances in front of some churches. In a sense, the Virgin of Guadalupe represents the essence of Mexico, the fusion of two cultures, Catholic Spain and indigenous Mexico. http://literacynet.org/lp/hperspectives/guadalupe.html

Watching "Las mañanitas a la Virgen" in Univision I couldn't help but be amazed and mesmerized at how us Mexicans deposit so much faith in our Virge of Guadalupe. It was said that at the Shrine of our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City 90,000 people passed in front of her altar per hour. On this day more than a million people make heir way to the shrine and to her. "La Morenita" as she is called by many is our liaison to get our petitions to her son Jesus Christ.

Ever since I was a little kid I have been faithful to her and have asked her for too many favors, luckily for me she never gets tired of listening. Today is a special day indeed.

Viva la Virgen de Guadalupe!

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As I Reflect on This Year

Well what do you know winter decided to show up here in Phoenix after all, for a moment there I thought I would be able to wear shorts all the way to the end of the year but apparently that won’t be the case. I am a light weight when it comes to being cold which is one of the main reasons I love Phoenix so much so when the temperature drops anywhere below 60 degrees to me it’s already too cold. Then again this is Phoenix, which also means that we may be surprised by hot weather next week. It could happen you know, one day it's cold then the next is hot.

As I reflect on this troubled year and what it brought to many, I realize how blessed I am to have a job and to still have to a certain extent the peace of mind that comes with being employed. Yes we did lose certain benefits that we were used to but trust me that was an easy adjustment compared to the alternative.

Moving forward to the new decade clearly the one with for 2010 is for things to pick up and for the economy to start stabilizing in some way, we all know it won't happen overnight but it is up to us to start making things happen, together let's get those wheels of progress moving again.

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Weekend Update

So, I've been away for a couple of days from bloggin', no I haven't been lazy, no I am not stopping, yes my laptop does not want to connect to the Internet and I don't know why. We think it is the router that stopped working for some odd reason. So, with that said know that I have to wait until mi chica let's me use hers to post.

Last Friday we went to Manny's for karaoke as we normally do on Friday, we had fun but in the process of having fun we got our butts frozen. It was cold. Diego went with us and poor thing was freezing too but I covered him up with two sweaters and a fleece cover and he was loving it. So far I have only repeated two songs this season and I have a little fan base. Ha, ha, karaoke fame is going to my head.

Saturday I spent the morning at my mom's and put her Christmas tree up and hung the lights on the roof of her house. Of course she cooked a delicious lunch for me before I went out to hang the lights. Then in the afternoon we went to my sister in law's to celebrate her daughter's (my goddaughter)nine birthday. The theme was the 70's and Disco, so it was nothing but Disco music. Wow, that brought back some memories, you may have read in a previous post that I was a Disco Kid. Humm, those were the days.

On Sunday my daughters and grand kids spent the day with us. I decided to bring out the old VHS tapes and found the movie "Hook" I wanted to introduce this movie to the grand kids but we all winded up watching it. It was pretty fun, that movie is timeless.

So, yesterday as I was typing this it started raining storming. I had not seen rain fall this hard before, it was very windy too and the lights started to flicker, then the Internet went out so I had to finish this today.

It's cold, it's rainy and it's beginning to look a lot like Chritmas. If it keeps snowing in Flagstaff we may have an early snow trip again next year. Can't wait.

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Green Eggs and Thanksgiving Ham

I do not like green eggs and ham
I do not like them Sam-I-An
And I won't eat them here nor there
I won't eat them anywhere
I do not like green eggs and ham
I do not like them Sam-I-Am...

Wait... bite, bite, chew, bite, swallow

I do, I do
I do like green eggs and ham
I do like them Sam-I-Am

Last Sunday for breakfast mi chica cooked some eggs with green salsa, she also happened to use some ham left over from Thanksgiving. I finish my portion and got up to make me another taco, at the same time mi chica was about to sit down to start eating. She doesn't like ham and very rarely tastes it so when I looked at her plate the food against the background of the table and the plate looked very green. Keep in mind it was green salsa to begin with. So I started laughing and I said if your plate would have some ham I would recite "Green Eggs and Ham". She got up and chopped some ham and added it to her plate. Of course I had to take a picture and told her, "You know I'll be blogging about this, right?".

After I snapped the shot she proceeded to make me a taco with all the ham. Because I do like green eggs and ham, I do like them Sam I am.

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As Christmas Nears

Our Thanksgiving celebration was really nice, it is a wonderful feeling to be surrounded by all my family and even a few friends. The rest of my family got together at my sister's but my little family core is already too large and too loud, with seven grand kids many of them under the age of five things can get chaotic fairly fast.

Thanksgiving is the day set aside from the year to reflect and to give thanks for what we have, for what we accomplished, for what we love. These days the Thanksgiving Celebration is being overshadowed by the commercialization of Christmas, but truth be told, there are many of us wanting to extend the Christmas season just a little longer. After all, Christmas does bring the best in most people, aside the never ending amounts of food, and the ever present commercials and ads, people tend to be nicer that they would normally be during the rest of the year.

Thanksgiving being a special day all on its own has come to be the kick off to the Christmas Season. Most of us will start assembling Christmas trees the very next day. Mi chica and I decided on a real tree this year so we will wait until December to get it but the Christmas decorations went up the Friday after Thanksgiving. I am already in that warm fuzzy feeling associated with Christmas.

Yes, the presents and the food is a nice and important part of the Christmas season but I prefer the part where people warm up to each other. Goodwill, compassion, and most importantly love are the least expensive and yet the most important gifts we can give each other.

I am so looking forward to the remaining days of the year. I am ready and willing to share them and enjoy them to the max, and you all are invited. Be a part of my Christmas, and allow me to be a part of yours, that will be the best gift.

How about you? Are you ready to find out about the reason for the season?

Fifteen stockings hanging this year. Next year three more will be added.
Mi chica loves to set her table. It looks different every year.
Some very cozy pillows.
Yes people, I believe in Santa!
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Garage Cleaning

Garage Cleaning Phase I -- Check!

Disaster zone! And a lot of stuff was out already since the guys moved out.
Yeah, this was the biggest project I had for my vacation and Phase I was done on Tuesday. I would have advance a little more but mi chica got sick and I had to go pick her up.

In any case, we can now park all three cars and my bike inside once again, and now it's just a matter of getting rid of more stuff by process of eliminations and a little of "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe". At least the pre-cleaning allowed me to find the boxes mi chica needed to start decorating the house and make it feel Christmasy. (More on that on a future post.)

The goal is to have the garage as empty as I can possibly have it. No more using it as a storage place for stuff that will most likely sit there for ever and ever amen. For now I am happy but not satisfied with the immediate results. I think I will use my Saturday mornings to continue sorting out what's in there and trashing/giving away what needs to be trashed or what can be recycled and reused.

What a mess! Where to start? Where to start?
Here is the before.
And here is the after.
Now you know why I had no frames in my house walls. They were all out in the garage.
With this image I tell you that I am officially tired and have a backache.
So, what do you think? It does look good in there now, doesn't it? Next week I'll be starting Phase II, but until then continue having a great Thanksgiving weekend.

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Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, we set one day out of the year for this but giving thanks should actually be a daily ritual, there has to be something everyday for which we are thankful for. The air that we breathe, the world that we live in, the freedom we have, but most importantly the gift of being alive. What a concept, being alive, definitely something worthy enough to be thankful on a daily basis. Thank you dear God for giving us that precious gift.

Yet on our daily routines there has to be many other things worthy of our thanks. How about, thanks for the best wife I can have, the most loving mom, the greatest family in town, three wonderful kids that are not so young anymore, and seven precious grand kids. Thanks for my health, my food, my friends, my job, my house, my car, my bike, the things that matter and the ones that don't.

I can probably sit here and think of an infinite list of things I am thankful for, life is too short to not be thankful, and for every "bad" that we can encounter just be thankful that you didn't get a "worse".

"Thank you" is such an easy phrase but to some to hard to express. Find it, use it, mean it, embrace it, love it, who knows it may just be contagious.

So from me to all of you out there. I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and hope that you will spend it with the ones you love.

So once in every year we throng
Upon a day apart,
To praise the Lord with feast and song
In thankfulness of heart.
~Arthur Guiterman, The First Thanksgiving

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A Family Collage

This is what happens when I take vacation time off and have no money to go anywhere.
I had been wanting to put a collage of frames together and last Saturday I thought I would start. Ha! Once I started I could not stop, I already had some frames put together and had them put away not really knowing where to put them so I decided to use a wall in the hall that proved to be just the perfect size.

I used twelve pictures that mean a lot to me and that in fact tell a story. Well isn't that what pictures do? Pictures tell a story and trigger lot of memories.

The top left corner and the bottom right corner images are of my daughter Nikki. Nikki is a great makeup artist, on the top image she put on heavy makeup and then added some stars to her cheeks, while on the bottom image she turned a picture of herself into a vector image which gives the cartoony look.

The second picture has my brother in law and mi chica celebrating a birthday when they were kids. This is a wonderful picture and it shows how pretty mi chica was when she was little. Right below there is picture of Diego and I sporting our cool sun shades and looking cool as ever.

The following picture I had it made last year and gave it to mi chica as a Christmas present. The collage has all of our seven grand kids in it. It will have to be updated next year as we will have three more making it ten for 2010.

Next, my daughter Nikki drew Diego when he was one year old, it was his first Christmas and he was wearing his Christmas outfit. I don't know why my daughter doesn't draw more often, she can do it beautifully and has a lot of talent.

Bottom left, mi chica's sister in law had a and old 5 X 7 family picture and we borrowed it. I had it enlarged to an 8 X 10 framed it and gave it to mi chica, she really loved the way it came out. The tiny frame has a picture of my dad when he was young. Pretty cool picture too. And right below my dad there's another drawing. This one was done by my little sister and it has my son when he was about six years old with ET. First time he watched that movie he was afraid but like every other child he eventually fell in love with the little extra terrestrial. My son is now 31 years old so this drawing has to be at least 25 years old.

Diego is in the next picture and right above him a picture of my three kids. Last but not least a picture of my mother in law on her wedding day. My mother in law left way too soon but I am sure she is one of those shinning stars above that has blessed mi chica and I with such a wonderful family.

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My Mom's Portrait

If you are getting bored with the current theme on my posts just let me know, I don't know that I'll change it but at least I'll know what's on your mind.

My family knows it all too well but some of you my readers already found out that after nine years of living in this house I had no frames and no art hanging on my walls. There is one frame in my room that has my first three grand kids and a big nice frame mi chica bought when we first moved in, but other than that I had nothing so I am pretty excited these days as I am finally hanging stuff that means something to me and that is not mass produced and store bought.

Mi chica pretty much has left it all to me and she is pretty much in tune with what I am putting up so even though this is only the beginning I think I have enough to give you guys a virtual expo of what my walls are looking like thus far.

First is my mom's portrait. This portrait is not painted but burned in a piece of leather. It was done by a Mexican artist but unfortunately I don't have her name, she happened to be a customer of a dry cleaners business where my mom worked for a while. My mom had it folded and put away in an old suitcase and had had it for many years before I pleaded and begged for her to let me have it.

When I used to live in L.A. I worked for seven years for a lighting store at the Pacific Design Center in Beverly Hills and walking through all those showrooms with state of the art furniture and stuff always gave me ideas of what I would like. A salesman at the store and dear friend of ours was an art connoisseur and avid collector and when I showed him the portrait of my mom he knew exactly where to take it for me and how to have it framed. I knew nothing so I totally agreed with his advice and expertise.

The piece of leather then was mounted into a white backing without being cut or altered in any way, shape, or form and a lucite box was custom built to house it. The box is made of a very strong acrylic material and there's a space between the piece of leather and the acrylic. I remember asking him if it would get scratched over time, he said probably but it will have to be a very long time. It has now been over 25 years since the portrait was framed and three weeks ago I cleaned the frame before I hung it on the wall and it looked as if I had just picked it up from the framer. I now know he knew what he was talking about.

The custom work was very pricey for a then 22-year old warehouse employee even considering that it was specially priced for my friend but it was totally worth it. This frame is still going to be with us for a long, long time and I don't have to fear it is going to fall appart anytime soon.


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My Friday

Took Friday off as the beginning of my vacation and spent it with mi chica. The day started with an 8:00 a.m. appointment with the doctor, we got there on time and in less than a rooster sings we were out. She had another appointment with another doctor but that was at 10:00 a.m. So she took me to breakfast at Mimi's Cafe.

I had never been there but let me tell you I really dig this place, the athmosphere was great, the place is awesome, the decor kept me looking at every wall (collecting lots of ideas) and the food was affordable and best of all it was very good. I know I'll be going back soon.

We finished with just enough time to make it to her appointment. There the wait was longer but once inside it only took like five minutes. So, now we are done and we are fed so what to do, I know let's go to my favorite store Khol's, I really like this store and always find clothes I like. Today everything and I mean everything in the store was on sale, I bought two jackets I had seen before but thought were expensive at half price, how awesome is that?

Mi chica bought a bunch of other things all at great prices, and great savings. We finally got home at past 1:00 p.m. Oh but not before stopping at Wally World for a few items. There I found out I don't know how to use the self pay machines, so I will only use those when I go by myself to keep practicing.

In the afternoon we went to Manny's for dinner and karaoke but took three of the grankids and that was not a good idea. That's OK we learn as we go. lol

So, I'll be off all next week and I'm sure I'll be working around the house. Cleaning the garage is the biggest priority and I'm sure I'll be blogging about the before and after. So stay tunned.

Tomorrow is Sindi and Chir's baby shower, so that will be another nice family gathering we'll be having so stay tunned for that too.

Have a terrific weekend.

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