Ciento Viente

Hi party animals.

Glad to be back in the world of the writing. It's 12:46 and about 29 minutes ago, I was talking to my almost sleeping husband about my disdain for the dishes that were hanging out in the kitchen. I felt a little awkward about letting them sit there over night, since some of them still contained much food. The pile was big and frightening, and I wanted to ignore it. The husband said he'd get to them tomorrow and to relax and go to bed, but since I had a small burst of energy, I felt that if I were to tackle those bad boys tonight, then he can focus on putting them all away tomorrow, and I would not likely have nightmares about them. So I walked to the kitchen, and tried to turn on the little silver radio my sister let me borrow, but I think it's seeing its last days. It would not turn on. I'll check the batteries tomorrow and if that doesn't work, I'll have the husband perform radio surgery. Anyhow, I was not able to be accompanied by the midnight rants of the Coast to Coast programming, which definitely lends itself to being a decent "doing the dishes comrade", so I went solo. I thought of my beat up hands that shower in scalding water for 20-40 minutes at a time each day and wondered if there my come a day that I become that lady who wears yellow plastic gloves while washing. Hmmm.. I doubt that will happen. After a few minutes of my domestic duty, I felt the satisfaction of taking on the task because I knew that tomorrow, or shall I say later, when I wake up, I still have to get ready, shower, make multiple lunches, pack, get kids dressed, make sure they eat, brush, and comb some braids, not to mention other things. So, at least now in the morning, I can do those zillions of things and not have to scoff at the stupid freakin' lame poopy dishes.

And here I am. Happy to be alive amidst all the worldly chaos. Happy that my most frequent complaint about my life actually happens to be the dishes. Happy that even though my kids keep coughing they are here with me and alive. Happy that I can make others happy. Happy you are reading. And happy that I'm about to make the decision to stop writing so I can get to bed before 1:04am.

Glasses?

Can't find my glasses, but I'll write anyway. It's a new year - haven't written much - not even when I've wanted too. I'm kickin myself in the butt for not writing down the many "effie-isms" that have been said lately. I mean, she's way too funny for her own good.

I'll just briefly explain - in list form some new things:

1. My bed is covered in many new pillows. They are very cozy.
2. The bed is also covered with 8 stuffed animals, a ton of change from someone emptying out a piggy bank, and clothes.
3. I'm writing in bed - on my laptop. Probably the first sara the sub blog to ever be written under covers.
4. I've been extremely lazy about doing anything. (probably cuz I'm pregnant)
5. My dishes are done - although the rest of the house looks like a tornado went through it. And to tell you the truth, at this moment, a blog entry and sleep are more important than a mess that I"ll just have to clean and re-clean for the rest of my life.
6. I'm getting bigger by the second. I can feel it.
7. I'm hungry for a full meal about every 2 hours.
8. Still doin the sub thing.
9. Still doin the music thing.
10. I'm so extra dumb busy that it's annoying but my life is so good, I'm gonna say I'd rather it not be any different.

So finally - I got a camera. That to me - besides being pregnant - has been the most exciting thing to happen to me in the last couple of weeks. I forgot the life I used to live behind a viewfinder - and it was always a life with a bit more curiosity, wit, and braver. I have gotten that feeling back. The one you get when you see a picture you want to take, but maybe you're too embarrassed to take it, cuz you don't want anyone to think you're crazy, then you think to yourself "hey, the worst thing that can happen is that they will tell you don't", and so you go on, and just point the camera and do not make eye contact and play dumb. But this doesn't happen often because my subjects are not commonly strangers - but my kids. And the girls never hesitate to pose or smile. And that's awesome.

We've been doing the same old things. Cooking. Driving. Eating. Sleeping. Cleaning. Cooking. Taking to school. Practicing. Homeworking. Not walking. Music classing. And all those things over and over again.

My girls are huge. So big. And so beautiful. They are the most beautiful beautiful little creatures on earth - and they are so excited that a little baby inside my tummy will soon meet them. They can't wait to teach the kid to talk, dance, and have fun. And the baby has been a good incentive for them to be good. As soon as they start to bicker I say. "is that what you wanna show the baby? The baby can hear you - so you better make a good example so the baby won't learn to argue". And they kind of listen, walk up to my belly, rub it, and say "hi baby", and go back to playing.

Celia's waiting for her 2nd tooth to come out. And Effie likes a lot of hair gel to keep her bangs outta her face. They are both so amazing that each time I take a good look at them, I know exactly why I was put on this earth, and I know exactly why I always felt I was destined to do something amazing in this world - and it's because of them. Making those two little girls was EXACTLY what I was born to do. And I'm sure I'll feel the same about "baby #3". He or she is going to be just as wonderful and amazing, and let's all send up the good vibes, prayers, and love that "baby #3" stays safe and gets out of that womb ok, and hopefully not bigger than Effie's whopping 9.8 lbs. Geeeeezzz.

I'll be seeing you readers around as I continue to grow and grow. Bug me and I'll write another blog before another month passes ok.

Yes. New Year. Blog.

Hi people. I was fast asleep in the land of "put my kids to bed and fall asleep with them and scrap your plans of getting anything done while they're asleep", then the phone rang (thankfully) and here I am. So instead of being asleep I can dutifully write the blog I've been meaning to blog for a blong time. Hmm.

And yes - 2010 passed rather quickly I must say without much going on in the world of Sara the Sub, but with some inspiration from my pops and his new blog - I feel like I should go back to the same fervor I once had about writing about my kids and my life. I really should continue- more than anything because this particular blog has been the blog detailing what I've done the past few years considering I no longer keep a journal or diary. So I guess that means I just have to continue to publicly publish the events that occur in the world of... hmmm.. I mean... the life of... as someone else says "me".

I'm good at making lists - but to write a list of the best things of 2010 would require some brain cells containing memory of 2010 and right now it all seems like a big blur. I believe Effie was in school, Celia finished one grade and went to the other, some offspring learned Spanish, I taught, started music jobs, ended music jobs, tried to get a job, didn't get a job, got some other jobs, played at new places, entertained new faces, tied my shoe laces, etc, etc, etc.

No - for reals. I guess a lot did happen. The CD turned out to be a great success. In fact I just got word that a group of elementary school children in Argentina are listening to my CD almost daily - and according to my CDBABY sales, 3 random people from across the United States are listening as well. Ha. I never meant for the CD to go much of anywhere, but I'm proud to say that multiple parents of children who enjoy the CD have told me they are very very tired of listening to it. That must mean - the kids are not.

Nothing particularly changed this year. Besides a zillion friends popping out children - most things stayed the same. Thankfully it was not a year or crisis for the most part. My mom made it through surgery like the tough lady she is. My dad still likes donuts. My sister found a boyfriend and strange enough I kind of do not remember life "before" him much. One day soon after they started dating I saw him chillaxing on my mom's sofa, feet up and all, and I thought to myself, "has this guy always been here and I just didn't notice or what?" The dog he brought into the family has been a nice Horlick addition as well. My kids are now little "masterminders" now that Dave is around which is cool. I became a great-aunt - and my nephew is getting hitched soon. Luckily - all the events that 2010 brought were accompanied with a bit of success and very little failure. In fact - maybe no failure at all.

I'm super happy that 2010 brought a camping trip and at the tail end a small road trip to the desert. Getting away does a lot of good. My kids turned out to be very good at being entertained my books on CD, a Nintendo DS, Strawberry Shortcake coloring books, drawing pictures of "jraguns" (that's how Celia spells dragons), and looking out the window for hours at a time. Which means that since road trip number 1 went well, we will be much more likely to plan road trip number 2 sooner than later.

The holidays turned out to be crazy, and hectic, and all that jazz, and maybe the best part of the new year is being rid of that madness- but we survived and Santa was pretty good to my kids for the most part. Effie was happy she didn't get any of the mud that had been threatened to show up throughout the year.

And along with the music stuff, work stuff, school stuff, cooking, dishes, dishes, dishes, cooking, visiting, walking, sleeping, driving, cleaning, and other regular activities, we made time to change things up a bit, with new friends, play dates with wine (not for the kids), going back to school (Alex), piano lessons, piggy banks, organizing, a yard sale, and no more disneyland passes (to name a few).

But I'll stop here - just so I can post pictures - and hopefully find some inspiration that will bring the blog back a bit more regularly. Thank you for reading last year. Hope you keep with me this year. Thank you for being so awesome. If this year can be even "almost" as good as last year - I'll be ok with that.

Go Go Go!

I am in a bit of a hurry cuz it's already 12:39am. I put the girls to bed around 7:45pm, and then I had set my alarm to get me up at 8:35pm. I woke up VERY hesitantly and dragged myself over to where Alex was and told him there was no way I could stay awake, and that in the morning I'd do all the things that I wanted to do. He said ok, then I went to check my email, and I got a second wind! GREAT. Good thing I did because since I re-woke up at 8:35pm, I have:

1) washed dishes twice
2) eaten tres leches cake once
3) had a cup of coffee
4) went grocery shopping
5) made a veggie platter for a party
6) made salsa for the week
7) made beans for tomorrow
8) folded laundry
9) listened to a podcast of "this american life"
10) cut up a pineapple and a watermelon for tomorrow
11) checked facebook
12) questioned my new haircut
13) almost finished writing a blog

Wow. I bet I even forgot to write something... or not. Anyhow... so all is good in my hood. It's been awhile since I've written and each day my kids get funnier and funnier. Today we went back to Vincent Lugo Park - (super duper tool as Effie would say - yes tool instead of cool) - and we did the usual jump on dinosaurs and sit in the rocket ship. When we were playing - Celia wanted to play "President and Vice President". So she was President and Effie was VP, but Effie kept insisting she was the "Wife's President", cuz that's how she understood her role. What a cookie head.

That kid is so funny, that I'm so bummed that I don't video tape her every move and word. She's amazing. Celia is equally amazing, just not as funny. She, on the other hand has gotten into being a first grader, but is such a little perfectionist that it's getting tricky around here. I won't get into detail, but let's just say homework can take a long time and we use up lots of erasers.

This is the first week in months and months and months that every remote in our house - the Wii remote, the DVD player remote, and the TV remote all have batteries. This may not be a big deal to you, but it's a big change for me. Before that, and for months we had only 2 very weak batteries that barely even allowed the Wii to function, and we had to swap them out of each remote anytime we had to use a different device. It was annoying and lame, and glory be to the heavens, we have batteries again. Not that I ever get a chance to see much anyway, but it is something I felt very important to share to whoever in the world decided to read this.

And since now it is 12:49am, I'm gonna go now. I'll try to keep up with you all, and good luck with all the holiday madness that starts to ensue starting next week. I'm gonna try to keep it on the DL.

Hace Mucho

Hace mucho, means "it's been awhile".

Each and every day that I'm with my little Effie, (or should I say "big" Effie), and Celia, and Alex, I think about how much I could share with you. There have been so many wonderful moments in the past month that have made me feel like the luckiest person alive.

It's been quite an adjustment going back to work. It's also been quite hectic, crazy, emotional and eye opening.
Alex is back in school which has been an adjustment in its own. But between working at the high school almost daily, continuing with music classes, taking kids to school, teaching at daycares, cooking, cleaning, putting gas in the cars, doing never ending loads of laundry, waking kids up, putting kids to bed, reading stories, grading papers, writing curriculum, trying to get a foot in the door, and the most difficult task of them all: packing lunches - it's been ... well, I can't say easy, or hard, but I'd say.... a little bit crazy.

Earlier this school year, we lost a friend and a co-worker. Dallas Russell was the first math teacher I ever had that helped me actually "get" algebra. He used to chant "This is where the fun starts", and when he would, Vicky, Mary, Brian, and I would chant along, wiggle in our seats, and get to work. I remember vividly, drinking Snapples in his class and asking questions, while my buddies didn't fare as well. That was in 1996. Since I continued to work at the high school where I graduated from, Mr. Russell and I became friends. I remember on a few occasions sitting across from him while eating lunch at a little Vietnamese restaurant thinking: "I'm sitting across from Mr. Russell", practically in awe. His presence was always about 300 percent above everyone else. His huge stature, his stutter, his overbearing bear hugs, his high fives, and his encouragement was beyond unique.

Mr. Russell was a real buddy to my buddy, and x-boss, x-History teacher Mr. Blackford. Together, they both made it to Celia's baptism, and it wasn't until I had kids that Mr. Russell really connected with me. He told me more than any other person how SPECIAL these moments were. The moments when the children are young. When they love you more than you can ever imagine. When they depend on your every move. He constantly told me to cherish them. Whenever he'd see Alex he'd practically pick him up. And Alex is a big guy, so to see this huge teacher hug and lift my husband was always funny. But it wasn't just a hug. He connected with us in a different way as parents, and I'm glad he did. I started this blog to write about my girls. I'm glad I can look back and remember those silly, sad, happy, and always beautiful moments of my children as babies. I'm grateful that Mr. Russell told me to cherish those moments, because I still do, and always will.

He had a demeanor that other teachers envied. I heard many times, teachers saying they wished they could have just an ounce of his personality that made the students love him. Many just wanted a little of that to rub off on them to feel what he had. We could never walk down the hall together without one student after another acknowledging him. He really was extraordinary.
One day, probably 10 years ago on a lunch date with Blackford and Mr. Russell, he made us stop at the not-entirely abandoned jail on San Fernando Road near the 5 and 110 freeway. We walked in, went up to the roof to see the helicopter landing, then to an old gym. In the gym were some old time cholo types, practicing boxing, and there went Mr. Russell, hugging and high five-ing every guy in the place. Years before on his way to work, Mr. Russell would stop by that gym to work out. It was a special place to him, and meant more to him than the other 15 gyms he had membership to. He was SO happy to be there. He was SO happy to share that moment of his past. He was SO happy to show how he could bench press a zillion pounds. To me he was indestructible. I always wondered what those old cholos in there thought when they saw me, a scrawny young girl, tagging along with a middle-aged Okie, and an ex-pro football playing teacher. Although we were an odd trio, Mr. Russell never ceased to surprise me, or do something to share his happiness. We really miss him, just as thousands of his old friends and students do. Anyone who knew him had a story, and I wanted to take the time to share one too, because I don't want to forget him. I don't want anyone to forget him. I think teachers should strive to be as passionate to their students as he was. I thank him for inspiring me to be a teacher too, and showing me how to do my job and connect with students at the same time. I always bothered him for never letting me sub in his class. The man was never absent. He never missed a day. Now I wish I would have never asked him that, because now he's gone, and I did have to sub for his class a couple weeks ago. But I bet he was watching down on me - chanting for me to be the champ. I tackled some Trigonometry that day, and actually taught the kids, having never even looked at a Trig problem in my life. Maybe he just knew I'd be able to handle it.

I'll save the next posts to mention my lovely little ladies who are more darling and dazzling than ever. I hope all you readers are well, happy, and healthy. Be good. And be patient cuz I'll write more soon. :)

Super New Day

Wow. I have to make the font all big so I can see what I'm writing. But yes Gabino - I'll order the damn glasses as soon as I can!

After a few weeks - I have my lap-y top-y as I call it - back. I'm very glad. It looks good, it's fixed, and now I don't have to wait in line to check email around here.

Summer vacation- sadly - is over. No more waking up late, daily walks, cooking 3 meals every day with some ease. No more watching Celia read comic books for extra extra long periods of time. No more Effie and Celia fighting all the time. No more swimming- (at least for now). No more having my big girl with us all day long. That, definitely is the worst part.

So the institution of school has taken away my baby. A friend of mine told me that she keeps asking her daughter if she likes school - and she always says "yes". She is hoping one day she won't like it anymore so she can keep her home and home school her. I totally understand where she is coming from. I guess it goes back to "there are 'baby people' and 'not baby people', and where many moms find relief in taking their kids to school each day to have their time alone - or to work - or do what they gotta do, I personally do not. Even though my big girl is happy, I'm not too thrilled. Don't get me wrong. She's in a great place, a great school, and has an amazing teacher. But that's just it. She's not with me. With us. With her sister. And it all seems down hill from here. In fact, we are seriously considering keeping Effie another year before starting Kindergarten even if the cut off date is after her birthday. We just can't bear to throw her into the system already. Boo Boo Boo. Ok. Enough complaining. It's all good.

The past few weeks things have crossed my mind and I wanted to remember them. One thing that was perty rad was our anniversary. Alex and I got to go out with friends to the Hollywood Bowl and saw Chromeo and Chemical Brothers. It was like that post I wrote about back in the day about UB40. It was one of those nights, out in the world when you realize you are not alone, trapped in your house, in your bubble of family. There are actually a bunch of crazy drinking and smoking lunatics in the thousands who like to dance in the dark to electronic music in the company of thousands of other loonies. I myself can not claim to be a crazy drinking lunatic. However, I will say that I am a very happy mother who was very happy to be out without her children watching the thousands of people, whether they were crazy drinking and smoking people or just semi-normal peeps like me. Wait.. did I just say I was normal? Hmmmm... that's something to think about.

So - how are you friends and family? Are you ok? Good? Happy? I hope so. This whole "September" thing is like I mentioned also before in another blog. September is always our New Year. School starts. Work begins. Classes get rolling. Activities increase. And I seem to function a tad bit better under the pressure of having to organize my time and juggle a zillion things to do. I may function better in a way, but I still have dishes to wash, laundry to fold, and a ton of crap in my house that I feel like throwing out a window. But the girls would get mad at me if I did that. They have a very difficult time parting with things. Ahhh.. things. To me.. they are just things.

So today I got to hear a lecture 3 times about college essays and I realized why I did NOT get into any of the colleges I applied to. Probably because my essays were compiled of a bunch of phoney baloney that was as boring and as uninteresting as can be. If I could go back... I'd probably re-write the essays and talk about something I actually liked at the time. Like Faith No More, or babysitting babies, or my Maverick. Who knows. But I'm only mentioning that, because I get now - that what I love - is what I have always loved. Kids. I can't believe that I didn't realize that my calling in life was to be a mom. I knew I always wanted a family, and again as I have mentioned before I prayed that God would not call me to be a nun. And I only mention this because every single day since I have had kids - not a day has passed that I don't stare and get lost - even if just for a second as I watch my little girls in amazement. Somehow - I created little humans, and I made the most amazing little creatures I have ever met in my life. They are so talented and funny and nice and sweet. Not a day passes that my kids don't give me "love eyes". Not a day passes that Celia doesn't hug me as if she may never see me again. And not a day passes without me telling Effie how much I love her, then she responds "but I lub you da best". They are my sweet little angels and I love them to pieces more than anything anything ever. And the worst part of all this wonderful wonderful stuff, is that they are growing up. I just passed by Effie sleeping and she's a giant. A big baby giant. Celia is still her teeny self, but nonetheless they are big and it is depressing. I'm sure they will grow up to be just as sweet and nice, but this magical part of having kids and raising babies into little ladies with pierced ears is finite. What a bummer.

But I don't want to end with the word bummer. So I'll end by saying - happy September friends. Make the most of your day, and I'll try to too. :)

Randoms

My piano teacher used to write in a little notebook when she’d come for my lessons. She had a different color fine point pen called a “Le Pen”, and in the book she’d write the page number of the songs I had to practice. I can clearly see in my head her handwriting, how she wrote with her almost-old hands with always beautifully manicured fingers. My favorite color was the hot pink “Le Pen”. Her handwriting was a half cursive half printing style and her lettering was teeny tiny.

Celia started piano lessons on top of her violin lessons. In return for those lessons – I give her piano teacher’s son a lesson. I keep thinking of how I’d love to get a set of “Le Pen’s” and a notebook so that the young boy will too grow that affinity for pens. But I haven’t done so yet. However, I do have a new planner, and bought a set of “Precise” Pilot Extra Fine pens to mark all the important things I have to do. And unfortunately they are getting put to much use.

I thought summer would be relaxing. And in a way – it has been. We don’t get up till after 8am each morning. We have pancakes almost every day. We’ve taken a walk – or even two walks a day for over a month now – and the girls and I turn into “The Flash Family” and we even run. Almost every day we take the same route. In the mornings we go through the alley ways around here – and see what new plants are growing along the walls and fences. In the evening we take Kenneth Road – walk about a mile then up and back around to the house. Effie loves walking on small walls and counts her steps, then says how many points she made. Celia loves to race and always gets second place because 2nd is the best – and 1st is the worst. It’s a relief that I don’t have to carry anyone anymore. Because now at least – the walks are quite pleasant. And back to the summer stuff. It’s been one day after another of play dates, outings for the ladies with the people who love them almost as much as I do, cooking every meal, and being unorganized.

Ok. I’m writing more of what I started two days ago. So this is Part 2. I just put away 9 shoes. That means there is 1 laying around somewhere. I always pick up shoes. Everywhere I look there is a pair of shoes. I didn’t even know we had so many shoes. Apparently we do. Most of the shoes I pick up from around the house are very small, glittery, and fancy. Must mean they do not belong to Alex, although that would be cool if he wore shoes like that.

And it’s late. While I waste time on facebook, I know I should be cleaning up. I should be getting ready for the myriad of things I have to do this week. But whatever.

And I’m tired. So I’ll go now.