"We DID IT!" - (as Dora would say)

We did it. We made it through Christmas. I don't know how, but it came and went. If I got you a gift, you were one of the lucky ones, and if you didn't, well, maybe you were even luckier considering some of the presents I gave out. But either way, Merry Christmas, even though it's over. I love you.

And now onto bigger and better things, cuz 2008 is almost gone. You know, I'm into the New Year's stuff. My husband is no where near as nostalgic and sentimental as I am, although he is a little, but on New Year's I always think about sleep-overs with the Aguileras (my brother's kids), my sister's New Year's trilogies, driving around Los Angeles with random friends I no longer see, Muriel's Wedding, false resolutions, and no resolutions. I'm looking forward to 2009. I can't wait to get a new calendar for my fridge. That way I can maybe organize in 09.

By the way. It's one of those days/nights when I know that all I've been thinking about lately is how much I've wanted to write, and still have no idea what to say. So I think I'll make a list. There's been so much happening. - and you know what? I've kept a journal since the 4th grade, and since I've been writing this blog I haven't written a page in my journal. So I better write at least a little about what's been going on so that I can remember or look back when I'm 73. k?

1. I taught Effie how to say "wassup fool". It's so cute. (don't tell Alex)
2. Santa made it to our house.
3. I decided that in the near future I want a dishwasher.
4. We got a sidewalk around our garage.
5. Celia can't stop singing "you're never fully dressed without a smile".
6. Effie is so freaking cute I can't stand it!
7. We had an after x-mas brunch for homies.
8. Never made it back to the light festival.
9. It's been cold.
10. We got a x-mas tree (and it may not last as long as last year's)
11. Went to the aquarium with Ari.
12. Got a double jogger stroller.
13. Sent x-mas cards to 100 people.
14. Realized this list is super boring so I'll stop now.

Ok, ok. I know. That was lame. Whateva. At least I'll be able to know in many years from now when I read this blog, (if the internet survives that long) how boring things were around here. Ok, ok. Boring ain't the right term. NOTHING is boring around here. Just ask Ari who spent 3 hours with me and my kids. They NEVER shut up. They are constantly screaming something, or mamamamamama, or dadadadadada, or "know what? know what? know what?", or "peeze? Peeze?? uppie! uppie!", or singing "Cruella De Ville" in Spanish. It's insanity at all times when the children are awake. For reals. And even more insanity if they are awake and my husband is hanging out with them. The screaming and jumping and hiding and yelling, and laughing and painting and drilling is at full force. I let Effie go outside to hangout with Alex in the garage today and she came back inside, and her white outfit turned to blue, and she was holding a 10X12 inch piece of wood with different nails and screws and hooks hanging from it, and yes painted blue, because Alex taught her how to use the drill gun.

Then... when Effie was taking her nap, I did dishes while Celia took her turn in the garage with Alex. You know what they did? They found I don't know what kind of cables and wires, and hooked up the crappy cd player we have to 2 different amps, one huge bass amp, and another large keyboard amplifier and made stereo sound for Celia to hook up a microphone so she could sing along with cds. So the whole time I was washing dishes, I couldn't see Celia or Alex, but I could HEAR (very loudly - and I'm sure the entire bottom half of our street could too) Celia and Alex singing Alvin and the Chipmunk christmas duets, that "Let's Get Together" song from the Parent Trap, and lots of Mary Poppins. It was SO loud. I mean, I'm surprised the cops didn't come. In fact, it's been awhile since cops came to our door, so it should be about time for a visit. (for more info on why cops have come to our house on 3 occasions in the past 5 years, remind me and I can blog about it some day.) There is really never a dull moment around here.

I'm gonna go now. There IS a lot to say. I DO want to say Happy New Year to all my friends. Thanks for reading. Thanks for the comments. Thanks for all the great Christmas gifts you gave my children. You all are the best.

God Bless my Heart

I know you know that the dishes have become a constant theme here. So, go ahead and roll your eyes, cuz I just have to mention them again. Last night, I was feeling real sick. I got sicky, it sucks, but whatever - so I said to Alex:

"I'm so angry".

"What's the matter Sara?"

"I can't go to bed with all those dishes in the sink. I just can't. But I'm gonna cry. I feel so sick, I just need to sleep."

"Sara - look at me. Go to bed NOW and I promise to do the dishes in the morning."

"You swear?"

"I swear."

So, fine, I went to bed. Alone - cuz Effie and Celia were sleeping in thier room for once, and I slept real good.

Do you think this will end with me saying that he didn't do the dishes? Well, you are right. But he WAS going to. We woke up, played with the girls, Alex gave Effie cereal, Celia was deeply offended because she said I tried to make her a "Big Girl" by sleeping alone in her bed, and she was so upset that I left her and Effie alone over there, but anyway I saw the dishes and said:


"Oh yeah - you're supposed to do these".

"Ok."

Then I remembered why I always do the dishes. Cuz he does them with the utmost precision and care and what it takes me 20 minutes to do, it would take him about 3 1/2 hours. So I said,

"You - take care of Effie and Celia, and I will gladly do these dishes."

"No. I'll do them, cuz I don't want you getting on my case for saying I was gonna do them. I have to stick to my word."

"No, no, no. I won't get on your case. Do me a favor and DON'T do them."

So I did them in about 11 minutes. Washed. Dried. And put away. End of story.

And yeah, having kids is hard. And difficult. And crazy. But when you are sick it is like one hundred times more difficult and everything is annoying, and I feel totally inadequate as a human and mother. But I think I feel better, so tomorrow better be better.

On another note. Celia said something funny the other day. And if you don't know her, she says everything in a very proper manner. I mean, with a british accent and all.

Alex was about to give Celia and Effie a gummy worm, or something (cuz if you don't know already, Alex only gives them sweets and candy. He never offers them fruit, cuz he knows they REALLY like it when he gives them treats) and he was saying:

"Who likes gummy worms?"

"I DO!" They both said.

"Who LOVES candy?"

"I do!" They said again.

Then he said: "Ok. But if you want these gummy worms you have to promise to be good"

So Celia said for herself, and Effie real loud:

"Weeeee Promise! God bless our hearts!"

Then Alex and I were silent, and looked at Celia in a curious way. God bless our hearts? What? That was wierd, and I started laughing, and Alex said - don't laugh at her. Then when Celia noticed that I was laughing at her, she started her little nervous laugh and corrected herself.

"Oh, oh dear. I mean...... CROSS OUR HEARTS!"

Hahahaha. I thought it was so funny. I had no idea what she was tryinig to say, but she really seemed to mean that she wanted God to bless her. But she meant to say, cross our hearts and hope to die for her promise. Get it?

Anway, and anyhow, here comes Santa Claus. Only 2 more days and the show is over. Hope you enjoy yourselves, hope you have a great Christmas. I love you. I miss you. Have a great day.

Spent

If you are looking for a funny "sara" blog entry, just close the page and go back to reading wikipedia or the news or whatever you do online. Cuz there's nothing funny in me tonight. Really, I can't think of anything funny. I'm trying. I really am. I mean, Effie peeing on the bed all over Alex's new pants, or pooping in the bathtub is just not funny enough material for me today.

I'm just spent. I'm tired, and for days I've literally been nervous about writing a new blog entry, cuz I just don't know what to write about. I mean, the week has gone by without any major issues. Nothing too hilarious has happened. I'm still stuck on being a "baby person", cuz every minute that goes by, my desire for my kids to never grow up gets stronger and stronger. I'm definitely gonna try to be a good mama, who lets her kids you know, leave the nest and all, but I just like them as babies.

If you know me, you know we do the family bed thing. Celia has a bed, likes it, wants to sleep in it, but Effie won't sleep without her so I have to put Effie to bed with Celia next to her, so I do it in my bed. And besides, I like having my little bed warmers with me. Effie gave me about 53 kisses on my forehead before she fell asleep tonight and kept saying... "Eigghhhtt ..... naaaaiiinneee...... TENNNNNNN!". It was so cute. And to hear her talk was almost making me cry. I'm so proud of my little, cute, sweet, Effie goo goos. Too cute. I mean.... way cute.

Celia is funny too. Right before bed, after having:

Eaten dinner (which happened at the kitchen table for once)
Watched 20 minutes of Piglet's Big Movie. (yuk - don't tell Celia I don't like it)
Fed them cookies and milk
Cleaned up spilled Yakult from the floor that went un-noticed till the night
Put their pajamas on
Convinced both of them to brush
read

she ate her vitamins, took her sip of water and let me turn off the light. Then after being quiet for about 10 minutes she got up, and said she had to make her wish.
So she went to the window, opened the curtain and said.

"Star light........ Star bright..........First star.............. I seeeeee tonight!"
"I wish I may...... I wish i might.... have the wish... I wish tonight."

"I wish for my mom and Effie to have a good night's rest full of love. And I wish that Santa will come down my chimney and bring my present. "

"Amen."

Alex was still awake and said "Hey what about your dad?"

Then she said ...

"And I wish for Alex to have a good day tomorrow".

Fair enough. My kids are so sweet I can't stand it. Of course, there are many times throughout the day that I have to use all the power within me to not freak out and scream at them, but overall, THANK JESUS! PLEASE SPARE ME WHEN THEY TURN 14!!!!

Really, really, I have to say it's been a rather boring week for us. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm gonna do about Holiday madness, and I've been spending more than enough time thinking about other people's issues when I should just stop and pay the bills and send out my Christmas cards. My problem is I'm a metiche. (look it up if you don't know what that means)

For some reason though, hearing about other people's things, problems, success, issues, whatever, always helps me put my own crap into perspective. And all this and that, has led me to think a lot about 3 things.

Once again, don't take my advice. I don't want to be responsible for any of your bad decision making.

But those 3 things are:

1. You can't chose your circumstances, but you can chose how you deal with them.

2. Stop waiting. Waiting is for suckers. If there is something you should do, or want to do - just do it now. There's never a better time, and it's not gonna get any easier tomorrow.

3. There's only so much time between now and when you're gonna die. Face it. You're gonna be dead, it's a fact - so just think about what you might wanna do between now and then.

WIth that said. Have a great day. Smile. Give someone you like a kiss today. Even if you don't like them, give em a kiss. If you see a hot guy at the McDonald's drive thru window, just give him a little wink. (this is an inside joke between me and Alex. I don't expect you do get it) Do it for me. Have a great Tuesday. Good night.

Baby People

Some people are baby people. Some people are not. You just are or aren't.

I am.

Being a baby person doesn't mean you wanna have a million babies, it just means you like them.

Baby people notice babies when they are in the room, like at a restaurant, or store.

Non-baby people could really care less if a tiny, cute, sweety wittle baby is there.

I don't think non-baby people are bad at all, don't get me wrong, I just don't understand them cuz I'm very much into babies.

In fact - when I was a kid, I'd sit in my bed and make wishes that I would wake up in the morning as a baby.
I knew even back then how good they have it.

I'd also pray to God that the calling to become a nun would never shine down on me, cuz I more than anything wanted to have a baby of my own one day. When nuns would talk to us at CCD about getting "the call" from God, I'd get so nervous. I thought that at any time or moment that "call" might come. Well, God obviously answered my prayers.

I even thought the rapture or end of the world would come before I could ever kiss a boy, but God heard my prayers on that one too I guess, obviously. Ha.

Anyway. As a baby person, I knew all the babies on my block. I'd babysit for free. I just couldn't resist playing with a funny, smiley baby.

I thought for some time that after having kids I wasn't a baby person anymore. When I'd see other babies, I was so busy with my own I didn't pay them much attention. In fact, I even thought I liked other people's babies as a kid more than my own. (Now I say this in fun, but there's a little truth to it). Babysitting other people's kids was in no way, shape, or form anything like having your own kid, and not to mention pushing the suckers out. And since I've had kids, on a daily basis, it's a struggle to even get time in to play with them. I mean, as a babysitter, or a baby-person, you just get to smile at them, make goo goo faces, play, have fun, read books, whatever. But as a mommy-baby-person, you can do all that fun stuff, but- you ALSO have to wash the dishes, wash the clothes, wash the towels, clean the floors, wipe the counters, clean the toilets, pick up toys, make the bed, make the breakfast, make the lunch, make the snacks, make the dinner, plan the outings, pack for the outings, go on the outings, come home from the outings, clean up after the outings, put things away, do EVERYTHING. So, in the end, it doesn't matter when you have kids if you were a baby person or not, cuz the responsibilities that come hand in hand with mommy life can really take a lot outta you.

BUT TONIGHT, that baby person in me came back. I was so damn happy about it that I had to write about it. Even after having done all those things I listed above and more, and playing school, watching some cartoons, playing polly pockets, playing store, and dealing with whining, non-sharers, and screaming on many different occasions, I remembered why I WAS a baby person. CUZ THEY ARE SO FREAKING CUTE I CAN'T STAND IT!!!!!

Effie is just cute ALL the time. Today, after not having said more than 2 syllables that made sense she said to me "I don't like it". It was so CUTE. It made me so proud. And, she peed on the potty twice today. So cute. And when I put her to bed tonight, she hugged and kissed me about a hundred times, and while I read her the most boring book in the world "Bambi's Scratch and Sniff Adventure", she laughed so much you would've thought she was listening to Sam Kinison. And... her dad was at work while I was putting her to bed, and her and Celia were still awake in the dark but falling asleep and she reached over me and grabbed Celia's hand and said "Le-la... (her word for Celia). Le-la! ....Le-la! ...Da da? Oohh.. Da da work. Effie Sad." Then Celia said, "It's ok Effie, he'll be home in a little bit". I mean, how cute is that?

And earlier, when it was time for bed, Celia had already tucked herself in, and in her arms she had her little baby, "baby Neece". Here was our conversation.

"Mom. Can you please wrap up baby Neece like a baby in the hospital?"
"Sure".

She tucked herself under the covers real good, then pretended to be asleep.

"Here's your baby", I said.
Celia opened her eyes real bright and opened her mouth real big and said,

"Ohh, Miss Hospitaler! Thank you SOOOOO much! My baby is BEAUTIFUL!"

I tried not to laugh too hard and said,

"You're welcome. Congratulations. She's just fine. I checked her heart, her eyes, and her ears, and she's very healthy."

"Oh thank you! Her dad will be so happy!"

"Oh", I said, "Who is her father?"

"My boyfriend..... ahh... I mean my HUSBAND." (I swear, she DID say this)

"And what is your husband's name?"

"Well, there was my boyfriend before, but he died. My husband is ..... (then she whispered in a very coy voice) .... Chris-to-pher- Ro-bin."

Now, if you are a baby person, you may appreciate or even like this story, and if you're not, well, I hope you got something out of it either way. I mean, how can you resist something like this? Too cute. I'm so lucky, and I dread the day puberty strikes. I'm gonna make a wish tonight to God that my kids will be babies forever. Good night friends. Check in next week.

9 days

Man. I'm still blind and all this is blurry - so excuse any typos.

I'll put "getting new glasses" on my list of things to do before I die.

Anyway, it's been 9 days I believe since the last blog entry. Sorry to keep you all waiting. Hi Brooke. I haven't seen you in so long! And Anonymous, how's it going? It was good to see your dorky face on Wednesday night.

Too many things to write about. Such little time. Too much mush in my brain. Such little organization.

Ok - no more nonsense.

Let me begin with tonight. Tonight made me think quite a bit about what my neighbor told me the other night. I've told people this already, but in case I didn't tell you - I'll just write the conversation down. She doesn't read my blog (I think), and if she did, I'm sure she'd give me her permission. And she is quite a bubbly character, so please read it to yourself and over exaggerate her part in your mind.

"Hey Sara! How ARE you?"
"I'm good - how are you?"
"Great! I saw you going out with your friend the other night! Where'd you go?"
"I went to a bar, to check it out, cuz we may go there for my birthday."
"HOW FUN! You are SO lucky!"
"Well, I didn't even drink really."
"Who cares! When you go out without your kids, even hanging on a street corner is fun!"

Now the conversation continued, and in my head I was saying "Well, I wouldn't take it so far as to want to hang out on street corners when my kids are not with me". But I just may as well be in the same boat as her, cuz tonight I willingly, and eagerly jumped at the chance to drive for 3 hours in horrific traffic to LAX cuz I knew I could have some time to myself. HA HA HA. I'm such a nerd.

And Alex, (my husband, in case you don't know him) sometimes wakes up while I'm on the computer doodling away, sometimes reading news, chatting with old friends I never see but hung out with in elementary school, looking up 70's Toyota's on criagslist, and he comes in the rooms and says "What are you doing". "It's so late. Come to bed". Then I say slowly, "I'm just on the computer", or if I'm in the kitchen washing dishes I say " I'm just cleaning this house". Then he says , "Oh... I thought you were talking to your other family in Israel".

He's convinced I have this 2nd life or something. It's kind of funny, and sometimes I erase the history on the computer just cuz I'm embarassed about how many times I may have refreshed myspace or facebook, or some ridiculous "mommy" blog that I wouldn't want to admit to reading. Anyway.

Next matter of business:

Have you ever gone to the light festival at Griffith Park? Now, waiting 2 hours in line can make you despise it entirely cuz it's not exactly mind blowing, but for the past 5 years or so, we always take a cruise through it when there's no wait, and it's fun. Last year, we'd drive through and the kids would be put to sleep by the slow ride and the Nat King Cole Christmas lullabies they play. This year, temporarily, they are not letting you drive, probably cuz of the stupid traffic. Anyway ( I like to say Anyway), we went tonight and we had our ups and downs.

When we got there, we parked at the zoo, and Effie thought we were going to the zoo. She was a little disappointed it was closed.

In the parking lot, a dad in the car across from me was yelling at his kids to get the f-*k out of the car. Good thing I was wearing my Raiders sweatshirt and Cortez shoes, cuz I was mad-doggin that guy and wanted to look real bad and tough, cuz what a JERK he was being. Then he hit one of his kids on the head and the kid LITERALLY hid UNDER a car from him. Man. Some dads suck.

Anyway, besides that, it was SO nice outside. Walking the light festival is like the coolest thing EVER. Those Christmas lullabies, or Neal Diamond's "Coming to America" blasts in your ears, and hundreds of Los Angelinos are just outside walking around. I don't think there's a place in LA besides Disneyland or the Americana where you see families walking around at night. And here, people were on dates, with their dogs, walking with their kids, taking a jog, or alone, and it was just sooo nice. I think I already used nice as an adjective. It was sooo wonderful. There.

And to continue, despite it being so wonderful and nice, some thoughts started going through my head.

Those thoughts included:

"This is a LONG walk, we should have brought a stroller"
"It's too late. Someone's gonna get mad and want me to carry them the whole way"
"We shouldn't walk the whole thing, cuz it may be too much for my tired kids"
"It's too cold."
"Celia is gonna have to pee and she doesn't like port-o-potties"
"We should have left the stuffed puppy, the santa hats, the camera, the tiara, and the purse in the car, cuz when it comes time to carry the kids, it's gonna be a bitch to carry everything else too."

Wow, you would have thought we were going to the beach considering all my pessimism.

To my surprise it was fine. Celia was dancing, walking, running, skipping, having fun, etc, etc, etc.

Effie was walking, having fun, running after Celia, holding hands, talking to the lights, etc, etc, etc.

I even saw a kid throwing a tantrum and was elated that my kids were so good and thought that the mom would be jealous that my kids were so cute and so well behaved.

Then we got all the way to the end. Effie wanted to be carried. No problem. I was just so happy to be out walking for a change.

Then Celia wanted to be carried. No problem, Alex was ready.

Then Celia's boots kept falling off.

Then Celia started freaking out.

Then either Alex or I kept dropping the hats, dog, tiara, or something.

Then Celia said her dad was being mad at her.

Then Celia reminded us while crying her brains out that when she is sad, big people are supposed to be happy to take care of the sad kid.

Then I carried Celia.

Then Celia was fine.

Then Effie freaked cuz she wanted ME to carry her.

Then other parents were looking at US probably glad that it wasn't THEIR kids freaking out.

(It was still a LONG walk back by this point)

Then I tried carrying both of them.

Then we switched crying kids around for the remainder of the light festival.

You can just imagine. It was now ME with crying kids thinking about all those pessimistic thoughts and how I should have stuck to my instinct and only made the kids walk a short distance and go back early before our luck ran out.

Well......in the end it was all good, cuz niether Alex or I lost our cool, we were happy to be out, at least Celia never had to pee, and they both chilled out by the end. Celia stopped crying and let her Dad carry her, and both of them were asleep in the car before we left the parking lot.

I don't care how insane it got. I'm going back tomorrow night. Wanna join us? Gimme a call. I promise to take strollers so none of us have to carry my kids. Good night.