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.

A Little Easier

So we're still settling in I think. And for some reason everything seems a bit easier. Maybe it's that my house was cleaned for me while I was gone. Or maybe because being a music teacher isn't as hard as it was last month. Who knows. But either way. We're back. We're safe. And thank God nobody got a stomach bug or the swine flu.

And it's midnight, and even though the house was clean, and kind of still is, I'm still working on the laundry, listening to Whitney Houston, and picking stickers off the ground.

We found the jackpot of garage sales the other day and ended up with brand new princess costumes for nothing practically, and guess who has been wearing a Minnie dress, with Minnie gloves, and Minnie sparkly shoes, and Minnie ears for a couple days now? hmmm.

The guy selling them was like my twin brother but about 75 years old, and from Mexico City. He's a photographer/music teacher/piano player/singer/sell your junk vendor. It was perty funny. The guy threw in a nice pair of maracas for me for going back to buy the last bigger Minnie dress... just in case Effie is still infatuated in a year, or if the other one ends up in the dryer too long.

And Mexico was amazing. I'm so glad we decided to go, and Celia was in tears in the parking lot of Target yesterday cuz she missed Guadalajara and Mama Celia. For the first couple days Effie kept asking to go home, by car, not airplane, but by the time it was time to go, neither of them wanted to go. Celia said we should just go back in 2 weeks.

Celia's fish Ce-lia pronounced "See-ya" died the day we left. Alayna if you are reading... we need a new beta fish. And Celia saw the fish bowl outside and I did the bad mom thing of lying to her and saying she was asleep. (It was a boy fish, but she always insisted it was a girl). Anyhowz. I told her yesterday she was dead, and all she said was "Do we still have the fishbowl?" So that was easy. I thought she'd be sad on the airplane if I told her before the trip, but I guess she gets it.

Here are some funny things that child said in mexico. And more.

When a Michael Jackson video was on while her great-grandma was watching tv, Celia was eating at the table and whispered to me: "I didn't know my Mama Celia liked Michael Jackson".

She said people in Mexico must love Jesus more cuz they have more churches.

Effie wore a Minnie Mouse Bathing suit 4 days out of 11 on the trip. With little Yellow Snow White shoes. Too Cute.

Celia learned to say "whatever". It's weird.

Someone pointed out that Celia is just as pigeon-toed as I am. I'm sure other people have noticed but have not wanted to openly make fun of us. ha.

Effie can down a whole bottle of Mexican Coke as fast as any expert beer drinker can down a bottle of Pacifico.

Where's Becky??

Well... lots happened, and it was so much fun, and yet so so tiring carrying Effie around all over the place. We got to go to kid's music classes, and buy leather sandals and tons of plastic masks, and best of all..........

I hit the jackpot of bootleg Michael Jackson DVDs. Captain EO. Moonwalker. History. Live in Japan 1987. I am so super excited about these and they actually work, and have spanish subtitles. Mexican piracy has its good-side.

Oh - and that reminds me - I had the weirdest dreams in mexico. One was that I found the husband of my dreams and had to break the news to Alex, but when I realized I was married, I decided to not get a divorce. hahahahhaah. Alex thought it was funny too. hahahaha.. but here's the best one.

My first night there I had a dream I was lying on a bed with Michael Jackson. Now stop it. It wasn't gross. We were clothed. It was like kids hanging out. We were just chilling watching TV, and then I looked straight at the guy and he was wearing sunglasses and a hat, and I told him how lucky I felt to finally have the chance to tell him how much his music meant to me, and then we were singing songs together, and I told him the jams I was never fond of, and it was one of those dreams where you wake up, think it's real, then go back to sleep, and it still goes on, so in the end, I had to break the news to him and tell him he was going to die, and I was all sad, and I woke up and thought that was perty funny too. I can't remember the other ones except the one before the trip about Effie being about 1-inch tall, and me being happy that I could carry her in my pocket.

Ok. This is enough nonsense.. so I'll spare you anymore. It's 12:33am and I have a lot to do still. So good night, I'll see you around, and take it breezy.

quick and dirty

hi. excuse the no caps or bad grammar, but i´m in mexico and they only use pc´s here, and it bugs the crap out of me but i can´t find the at sign, or caps, or shift, or whatever. so deal! cool. i found the exclamation point.

so, we got here fine after a great but long plane ride. celia loved listening to rock and roll on her headphones, and ate the adult pasta meal, saying how delicious it was, and then fell asleep at the end after hours of coloring and bobbing her head to rod stewart probably, and effie was asleep the first hour, and then happy just looking out the window. so that... was great.

and we have been here in guadalajara, walking a lot lot lot, carrying effie way tooo much, eating a lot, eating churros, tortas ahogadas, posole, carne asada, birotes, fresh everything, the works, and paletas de agua de limon, tamarino, guayaba, and chocolate everyday so far, and the girls are eating well, even though the first day effie almost starved herself saying she wanted to wait to eat at home.

and they are chillin watching backyardagans in spanish while alex and i are at the internet cafe thing, with no cafe. and the funniest story to me so far was that we spent our first day on alex´s cousin´s farm, and they have a small home, 2 kids, one 3 years old who played with celia and effie, and a baby who´s 1 who was a dream of a baby, just super chill, and anyway, they have pigs. smelly, and lots of them, and some are huge, like the size of a hippo, i swear. so, about 10 of them are in all seriousness the size of small hippos, about 500 pounds i´d say no joke, and anyway, effie ate a banana and she didn´t finish it, so i asked his cousin, what should i do with the peel and remains ? and she said throw it to the pigs, so i threw it to a big monster pig who freaked and trembled the ground when he jumped for it. scary.

so... a few hours later, after both my kids had napped and blah blah blah, his cousin came and asked me ... sorry about no quotation marks

which one did you feed it to? The BIG one' Well, i think she said a different word, but i thought she said big, and i said yeah. then she said, it´s dead.

oh my god. i thought........ i killed a pig. this is what they eat with. this is thier living. she said.. don´t say a word. i think he choked on the peel. it´s my fault, and don´t say anything. so, i just was sitting there, worried, and sad that i murdered a humongous pig, and she called her dad, and it was just a little wierd. anyway, a little later it turns out, to make this long story short, the pig i fed was still alive and well, cuz dummy me never went to go see which one was dead, and the one who actually died was the only male pig they have who had been good for nothing cuz he hadnt impregnanted a girl pig in a long time, and that morning the male pig actually did his business for the first time in months and months, and died after having relations. hahhahahaha.. the dad who is a vet , knew which one had died, cuz he said he was sick and a good for nothing man, so in the end i was very happy that on my first day in mexico i did not kill a zillion pound oinkster.

i have to go cuz the laundry waits. i miss you all, and will see ya soon!

sara