Since I Have the Time

Hi Friends.
I made it.
We did it.
We had a birthday party the same day I had to work, and 100 people exactly made it through the gate in the backyard to join us. So if you made it, thanks for coming, and I hope you had as much fun as Celia and Effie. There were no meltdowns, no tears, (except when Effie begged to fall asleep with the biggest tootsie roll known to mankind), thanks to you the clean up was manageable, and we all ate enough.

The adults taking over the jumper is always a fun time. I think jumpers may just become mandatory for parties in which we can not afford a 12 piece live band. ?? Why not.

And.... the days are crazy.. but for some reason now that the party of the year is over, I feel chill. I can think straighter. I don't have little details about plastic forks and appetizers on my mind, and all I have to do now is try to manage thank you cards.

Effie has become my new dishwashing partner by the way. She's good at it too. All I need is a chair for her to stand on, a good amount of soap, and I just pass her the non-glass - non-sharp - eating utensils. She just scrubs, and ends up taking a scrubber to her arms and body, but it's all good. Now that I know she can manage to stay there next to me for the 20 plus minutes it takes me to do a load of dishes, it means I don't have to save them for when she's asleep. And Celia is always down to dry - but she can't reach the cabinets, so I put em away. Fair enough.

She still isn't that into getting to school though. She likes to say "I'm too tired for school mom, but I'm not too tired to stay home with you and Dad today." Everyday she surprises me lots of new spanish vocabulary. It's pretty exciting really that she's finally getting it. And Effie likes speaking spanish too. Her favorite word is "rosa" and she loves to answer "Si, mama" to everything I say to her.

The little rosey cakes just woke up from bed right now with a nasty fever. Damn flu season. I took her to the kitchen to hit up the over the counter Mexican meds I've been stashing, but no luck. She didn't want any. Not even Grape Tylenol with sugar. To make matters worse she's wearing the biggest, fluffiest, most uncomfortable looking Minnie costume as pajamas tonight. I couldn't convince the child out of it, so I thought I'd change her in her sleep, but because of the sickey, she's not asleep deep enough to do that. She keeps saying "Not off my Minnie Tostume! It mies pajamas mommmm!"

Poor thing. Just when I was feeling good about everything starting to chill out, she has to get sick. Yuk. Poor baby. Well, I guess that means chicken soup for lunch tomorrow.

As usual I just wanted to check in with you friends out there. Take care. Lets hope Effie recovers as quickly as Celia did from her bug last week. Be good and THANK you all for all your help at the party, for all of Celia's beautiful gifts, and for spending time with us. I'm a glutton for punishment when it comes to parties but in the end it's always always worth it.

Toe Still Hurts.

And 2 weeks of Kindergarten down already. Can you believe it.

I'm assuming it's going well for my first born because:

1. She doesn't complain.
2. She doesn't hesitate to leave in the morning.
3. Always has a smile after-school.

She has said the day is long, and she prefers staying home all day with mom and dad, but hey, if we were your parents, you'd say the same thing, so who can blame her?

And Effie... is so cute. I'm gonna have to start posting video, cuz she is the most beautiful funny thing I have ever seen in my whole life. She is still wearing her Minnie Bathing Suit, or Snow White Dress almost everyday. She always says: mom - did you wash mys minnie bayding suits? You washed it? Fors me? Oh, tank yous moms. So cute.

Today Celia said: "do you remember those people who came to our house to visit Earth? Remember - they stayed in my room, and came from Mexico to visit Earth? And we took them to the bus stop?"

That was funny. She was talking about guests we had from Mexico earlier this year, and how they visited California - but it was too funny to me that she didn't realize Mexico was also on the same Planet as California. hahahaha.

And since I last wrote - I've gotten busier and busier and busier and busier. I have 5 Music Classes to teach each week - not including 3 extra Piano classes on Saturdays. Back at the Arts High School 3 days a week, and trying to plan a birthday party.

Oh - We'll be at Disneyland on Tuesday after 2pm if anyone wants to join us. It's Celia's bday, and we are looking forward to getting back there. It's been a long 2 weeks without Disneyland. Ha.

And besides being busy - it's nice to be outside again, after the fire madness has subsided. And it wasn't too hot today so we got to walk. And my dumb stubbed toe still hurts, but was ok enough to begin walking again - so now I feel like a normal human. Did you go outside today? Well, it was NICE.... I must say. We took the girls out to ride bikes and scooters in front of Hoover High School, and it was mighty lovely.

Last night I made it to the New Bev at Midnight to see Breakin 2 -Electric Boogaloo. I won't write about it, cuz the name and title of the movie alone must make it obvious that I had an amazing time.

I just wanted to write to check in - and let you know that we are surviving Kindergarten the best we can. The hardest part is getting the kid out in the morning on time, and getting up so darn early, but it's proven to be good for all of us. I think.

Adios Amiguitos.

My Toe Hurts

Celia made it through her first day of Kindergarten with absolutely no instruction in English.
It was a little uneventful in that she was supposed to start Monday, but due to the fires school was then canceled on Tuesday, and then on Wednesday.... so by the time Thursday rolled around - we just got her up, gave her some milk and toast by request, put a special note with a drawing of Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl in her Tinkerbell Lunch Bag, and sent her off. She got a picture with her new buddy Hudson before school, gave me a hug, hugged her teacher Senorita Carbajal, then sat on the rug. That was it.

At home, Effie wanted to be with her sister, but decided to play Super Friends with mom and dad. She told me she wanted her friends to play in the "haladustis". (The Hall of Justice) Too cute. Too cute. Oh Effie.

We picked up Celia who was wearing her new Kindergarten hat that said "Bravo! Mi Primer Dia De Kinder!" Too cute. She didn't say much except that she liked Senorita "Carnaval" instead of "Carbajal", and that Hudson could still see without his glasses.
First thing I did was check her lunch, and as suspected - it was all there. It took about 2 hours before she confessed to having a "hot dog on a stick". I still don't get why she forgot her lunch bag in the room. She said she was too shy to take it, so all I can imagine is some lunch person feeling sorry for my kid with no food and giving her a lunch tray in the cafeteria. I only wish I could have been there to watch. She said she ate the whole thing, while she ate her leftover grapes, carrots, and crackers in the car.

Just thought I'd give you all the update. In fact, I want it on record, because I believe the internet may exist in 20 years so Celia and Effie can go back and read it for themselves. I promise to report more soon. Can't wait to play Super Friends again with Rosey Cakes, and see what Celia comes up with tomorrow.

I'm ALIVE!

So so so many things have been happening!! We've been so busy. It's weird -because of the fires we've been spending a lot of time here at home, but we have made it to the Getty, (thanks to Lucena for her lovely class!) - Disneyland 3 times this month already, no beach, the zoo on a hot day with Becky and got another monster snow cone that the bees kept eating with us on a day Shaq was there. I wonder if Shaq got a big snow cone too?

And it's been crazy - to say the least. My music classes are goodz - nothing real new to report - but if you wanna come - please do! I'm just busy with that stuff. By next week I'll have 5 classes, and it's cool.

We got Celia a violin for her birthday. If any of you wanna buy her a week or month of lessons for her birthday - let me know! (hint) We are looking into getting lessons for her, and applying for scholarships, so I'll keep you posted with that. It's very exciting.

And Effie is too young for Tiny Tots - so until January! But we don't care cuz that means we HAVE OUR BABY all to ourselves! It will be so nice to finally have some Effie-time considering she's the second and we've never had her without Celia around for the most part. I think she's gonna miss her big sister a lot when she's in school, but I'm sure we will keep the little lady busy. By the way.... she's SOOOOOOOO cute.

We had our anniversary last Saturday - number 6 to be exact... and it was.... fun! I stubbed my toe in the morning, (and for some reason today I'm hobbling around like a nimrod) - then work was crappy, then Effie took a too late nap, then we made a gift of a 1/2 gallon of super hot chile for a friends' housewarming that ended up all over Alex, me, the front seat of the Jeep, and the fancy calligraphed card I made them, and it was hot, but it was funny, so we made dinner for my kids and ourselves, and had a fancy date watching the fires from the roof of the Edwards Alhambra Parking lot, and ate some fancy candy and had a fancy coffee. It was a wonderful $9 date. Thanks pops.

And it's funny to go to Disneyland so often, cuz if you go and end up there 5 days later it seems like you never left. The girls have a great time - and all the rides make them happy, but for some reason the Tiki Room has its spell. Last week when we were there Celia goes "Maaooomm. I want to LIVE here at Disneyland"
I asked her why and she said "Because it's SOOOOO great."

Geez.. what have we done to her? Then this week when we went she just stared at the birds and said "Disneyland is SOOOO magical". hahahah.. Whatacutey.
And you should see Effie dancing pretending to be a totem pole. I highly recommend to anyone to accompany my children on the tiki room before they die. It's lovely.

And the bday party is coming up - for those of you who tune in - mark your calendar for September 19th - here at my house. Bring your own beer. Times are tough. However, bring your jumping shoes, and as noted on the invitation you will soon receive: "Dress Fancy". Celia requested that "Girls wear dresses - and boys wear shirts". So if any of you boys out there thought about wearing something other than a shirt - don't. Of course it's optional - but why not?

As soon as the smoke clears Celia will start Kindergarten - in Spanish - so stay posted. She'll only have 15 minutes of instruction in English a day, so I'm sure some interesting stores will evolve within the next upcoming weeks.
Miss you kids. Love you guys. Hope you are all happy and healthy and enjoying September. I am. Take care.

Poy-Sun

So. Last night - or the other night, Effie - who always is playing "someone", like Minnie, or a Fraggle, said "Mom - lets play Red Fraggle. She's going to a party." So we start to play, and have a party, and have cake, then Effie says "Time fa Dinna!" and I say "what's for dinner?" and she says "Poy-Sun!".

That was weird. I didn't know she knew about poison, but it must have something to do with Snow White's apple. And she is convinced Snow White is gonna sit next to her when we go to the El Capitan to see it next month.

Tonight we went to see the movie "Ponyo" with Becky. It was good. And after we were talking about the movie "Up", and I asked her - "Did you like the movie Up?", and then Effie said - "I like da mooby Down".

That was funny.

And the reason I wanted to write about Poison today, was because I had a little chat with Poison Control.

So, you know I have a zillion things to do, that I don't always get done, like the stupid dishes that seem to pile up to the sky by the late afternoon, or the laundry that crowds my house - and I had ALL the laundry done, so I decided to wash the blankets and sheets, and pillow cases yadda yadda yadda, and so Alex dried them, and put em in a basket and left that basket on the bed. While the girls were playing Justice League in the bathtub, I decided to put on the fresh sheets. I picked up the laundry basket and had my hands grabbing onto the sides of the basket. Not where the handles are, but in the crevices on the sides. Anyhow, I feel something with my right ring finger, thinking its a piece of fussy lint that had accumulated, but wondered why it felt a little moist.

I didn't move my finger, but as I moved the basket, I decided to put it down, and throw away the little piece of dusty, moist, lint that was on my finger, so I kinda use my finger to scoop it up, then I take a look.

THERE WAS A FREAKIN DEAD BLACK WIDOW ON MY FINGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


So, I screamed like a lunatic and said " A F@#$(*&$@$%N BLACK WIDOW!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

Considering how many we see outside, and sometimes near the doors and windows, it was bound to happen to someone around here. I did a good spray a few months ago that made them either go away, die, or hide better, so I hadn't seen one in awhile. Anyhow, the one I killed and its babies made a little home under the sides of the laundry basket and must have gotten there the night I accidentally left the backdoor wide open and the empty laundry basket next to the door, or something stupid like that.

Anyway - I flicked that little sucker into the air, and ran to the bathroom to rinse off the venom I thought was going to kill me right then and there, then I had to recount what happened about 4 times to Alex who was trying to make sense of it, and my hand and finger hurt real bad, and I know it was psycho-somatic, and I didn't want to over-react, so we did a little online research and read that a black widow bite can go un-noticed - so I called poison control and realized I would live. To make this particular long and lame story short, I was fine, it didn't bite me, and I'm proof that you can kill a black widow with your bare hand without a care in the world. But don't go and try it ok?

It just happened to be the grossest thing that ever happened to me next to getting stung by a stupid bee on my eyelid and looking like Quasimoto for 2 days during Summer Camp 1987. Yuk. Yuk. Yuk. I hate poy-sun.

And the summer is not quite over for us. I hope to see some of you soon. Be good. Take care, and check your laundry baskets.

For Cathie

Cathie made a 30 Second video of my Celia. Enjoy

It's been a year... I think.

Well, I feel like I started this blog a few months ago, but looking back I realize now that it has been more than a year. Hmm. Time does fly.

And at the moment I'm dealing with the butterflies in a big way. Every time I think about Celia going to Kindergarden and leaving us without her for more than 5 hours a day it makes me feel knots in my tummy. Ugg. But I'm sure she'll be fine, and maybe I'll be like my neighbor who said that once she stopped the initial crying after her kids started school, she got home and jumped for joy cuz she finally had free time. Ha. I wouldn't doubt it, but either way, I'm a little sadness more than anything because my baby isn't a baby anymore.

Summer sure has escaped us... or at least it's trying to, and I feel like I haven't seen anyone besides Becky, the Marinos, Luis, and Cathie. Everyone else has been hiding I guess, and the Q's haven't had enough parties.

But even though I haven't seen everyone... since we got back from GDL we've been acting like true Californians. We made it to the Aquarium, a Dodger Game, a Spark's game at Staples, the Zoo twice, and to the Hollywood Bowl. And remember last year when I wrote about UB40? Well, this year was just as good. You may not know Toots and the Maytals - but I do, and they played the Reggae show at the Bowl the other day, and once again, being in the crowd of thousands, listening to a singer whose voice only got better in last 30 years is too much fun. I'm glad I got to hang with my friends and listen to some beautiful music with my Alejandro too.

I feel like the funny has gone from the blog - but don't worry- it'll come back -but I can't get over my kids every day when they do things that crack me up. (I just can't remember the funny things at the end of the day!) Effie's face alone is the cutest thing in the world, and she makes me melt numerous times a day. She tays da tooest tings in da world. Like: I wants more tookies. I wants to sits on yours laps. Wares my sisters? Lela, tan I peese have yours chotate milks? She's so cute. At least she's still a baby, and I can keep her in my grasp for a couple more years.

I'll still keep you kids posted on the funnies. I'm too busy right now. I have some extra classes going on, and I'm working on a NEW BLOG - so don't abandon sara the sub, but bookmark the other cuz I'll be working on that too. And YES I'm GOING TO SEE PEE WEE HERMAN ON NOVEMBER 29th. This will make up for the life experience missed by not going to Michael Jackson's funeral. After having talked to MJ in my dream, I'm able to move on - and my other favorite person in the world - Paul Reubens, is making my dreams come true. I can't WAIT! Buy tickets and Join us - 5pm Nov. 29th at the Henry Fonda theatre. I heard it's gonna be PG-13.

Take care friends.