Minnesota Make Out

I want to bring to light something that I think is SICK AND WRONG.  Well, I guess it was already brought to light when this video went viral.  I will admit, it's kind of funny, but it really is disgusting, and it makes me wonder how many parents would go along with this.  HERE you can find the report that CNN did on it, including an interview with the principal.

Watched the videos?  Alright, here I go.  WHAT IN TARNATION?!?!?!  While I wouldn't say that this 'offends' me, it disgusts me.  WHY?!  Why would any parent do that?  I will say, my high school did something kind of similar, but it was a kiss on the cheek.  THAT'S OKAY.  But did you see on the video where one kid and his mom had moved from kissing to ROLLING ON THE FLOOR?!  I definitely think that there are some better ways to get kids 'pepped'.  Go back to the first video and pause it at about :28 or :29 seconds and you'll notice that OMG! THAT MOM IS MAKING HER SON GRAB HER ASS!!!!!  And some of those embraces from father to daughter?  That would make me VERY uncomfortable.  Also, somewhere else I read that this is an ONGOING TRADITION that they do every six years.  Um...what?  A lot of people are actually saying that people offended by the video just need to get a better sense of humor.  What?  What is wrong with people?  Maybe they need a little visit from CPS.

For those of you still looking for a career, I suggest you move to Minnesota and become a therapist, because you'll probably be set for work for the rest of your life.

The Time I Was a Witness...

To a WEDDING!  I love weddings, and I didn't even realize it until today.  And I wasn't a witness to just any old wedding.  The groom was my ex-boyfriend and the bride was my ex-worst enemy.  I KNOW!  I dated him my senior year and it ended kind of bad, but we were still kind of friends.  She was his girlfriend after me.  We didn't know each other, but she had a problem with me for some reason unknown to me.  And that was back when we were you and crazy and she thought she was a chola and I knew I was a bad ass, but I didn't have time for drama because I was too busy being awesome.  Obviously.  She even threatened to jump me, but that was right after we had BOTH found out that we were pregnant, so there was no knock down drag out going on.  We mostly just glared at each other.  (Am I the only one that thinks that the last few sentences sounded REALLY ghetto?)

Anyway, we ended up having to put up with each other because him and Cangrejo grew up in the same little village in El Salvador and they're good friends, plus his sister, Jackie, who she was friends with, was one of my bride's maids.  Over the last year we've become pretty good friends and we go out together about once a month as couples.  Also, their son was born about a month and a half after Isabel, and so when we hang out they get to play together.

At about 4 this afternoon they called us and said they had just decided to get married and asked us to be witnesses.  They were already planning on getting married this month, but for some reason they decided to do it today!  So we met them at the county clerk's office while they were getting their marriage license and then they got hold of a judge.  The judge could do it at 7, so we went to dinner and then went to the little 'chapel'.  The judge had built it himself, and it's adorable.  It kind of looks like a shed, if you just drive past it, except it has a little cement porch and a steeple on top with a little white picket fence in front of it.  Adorable.  It's only 10x12 feet, so inside there's a tiny little space heater, and 6 chairs on either side of the aisle.  At the front there's a white altar with a few vines, some twinkle lights, and some sheer fabric draped on it, plus a little table with the Holy Bible and a ring bearer's pillow.  It's a pretty stinking adorable little place.  The people that came were me and Cangrejo (THE WITNESSES!!!), their son, the bride's parents, and the groom's 2 younger sisters (equipped with a video and digital camera.)  I'll admit, I kind of cried a little, especially when I noticed that the groom was choking back tears.  So the whole thing was short and sweet and fast.  And I got to be a witness.  I don't mean that in some cheesy, grateful for the experience way, either.  I was just excited because now I can say that I've done that, and I felt really important for a few minutes.......alright, I still feel important.

First Snow

We got our first snow the other day.  I'm not a huge fan of winter, and when you grow up in northern Utah, most of your life is winter.  We're talking 7-8 months out of the year.  Snow can start as early as the second week of October (possibly sooner) and it can snow as late as the beginning of May (or June).  I love certain things about winter.  I learned to ski when I was little and then in 9th grade I started boarding.  I love it, but it's kind of expensive so I haven't been in a couple years.  Also, I love Christmas.  I'm that obnoxious person that starts pulling out as much Christmas stuff as they can the minute they get home from trick-or-treating.  I have at least 5 books of piano Christmas music that I play, plus some sheet music.  The point is, I love Christmas, I hate winter.  I should have stayed in Texas.  I would much rather be too hot than too cold.  ANYWAYS.  First snow.  Isabel was around for last winter, but she didn't really care because she was so little.  So when I woke up the other day and saw that it had snowed, I couldn't wait to show her.  Even though I hate winter, there's a little bit of a thrill that comes with the white snow.  So we put her boots on over her pajamas and headed outside.   

She was looking out over our field and she just kept saying "Wow, Mommy, wow wow"

I lifted her up and stood her in it, and she bailed on that idea as fast as she could.

She was extra upset when she realized it stuck to her boots (which are her new favorite things).  She wanted to wipe it off, but she was afraid to touch it.

I think it's safe to say this winter will be interesting.  I think she's too small to go out and play in it, like with snow pants and the whole she-bang, but we'll figure something out I think.

4 Generations of Crazy

So I may or may not have mentioned before that about a year and a half ago, right after Isabel was born, my grandma got really sick.  She's always been a 'really tough old hag' and I say that out of complete respect.  She'd go out with my grandpa, my dad, and my uncle hunting, and she could out shoot all three of them.  She would take me fishing and spank my butt if I threw a fit about touching the worms or if I complained about being tied to a giant rock or spare tire.  (She didn't want me to drown.) 

This is my grandma, me, and my little brother, having a tailgate picnic during the deer hunt.  I think I was 3 here.

She's had several heart surgeries, the first of which when she was only 45, and other random things that just come with getting older.  Every day for as long as I remember she would get up in the morning, have something light to eat, walk up a hill, and then come home and eat a big healthy breakfast, and when I would go to stay with her, I would have to do the same thing.  "It keeps your heart pumpin'."  So it came as a big surprise to all of us when she was suddenly hospitalized in June 2010.  She had a form of the herpes virus that causes cold sores, but it had moved backwards into her brain and turned into encephalitis.  She was pretty much unconscious for almost 2 months, and we didn't think she would come out of it.  Due to the amount of time she spent in bed, her legs haven't been able to get strength back, and her mind isn't as sharp as it was before, but Grama is still crazy as ever.  She lived 3 hours away in an assisted living home near my uncle, and so when we get the chance we go see her.  We always try to make sure to take pictures when we go.  I went through a time in my life when I didn't fully appreciate her, and I always wondered what it would be like if my grandpa was still around, because he died when I was 4.  My dad likes to joke that Grama would have killed him off by now anyways, and how that might actually be what happened, because Grama didn't want an autopsy done. 

 I know she doesn't have a long time left, but I want Isabel to know about the lady that passed on her crazy to my dad, who then passed it to me, and I'm sure it's going to be an inevitable fate for Isabel.  A short temper, the inability to communicate normal human emotion, OCD, unreasonable reasoning (like voting for Bill Clinton because he has nice hair and that shows character.....), high cholesterol, and so much more.

She doesn't understand anything Cangrejo says, but she thinks he's handsome and so she approves.  I know she's losing it because she says that I'm looking thinner.  One thing that I've always based her crazy on is that she goes by her middle name 'Maurine' because she thinks the name 'Julia' sounds like a floozy.  She was raised in Dingle, Idaho.  Bet you didn't know there was a town by the name of Dingle.  They have raspberries there so there's like.....Dingleberries hahaha.  When she's gone she's going to come back and haunt us because she was born a Bear Laker and they're supposed to die Bear Laker's, but she's spending her time farther North.

Happy Halloween...one day late.

Last Friday my 2 older brothers went to their annual work Halloween party.  They brought their boys to the house and so we painted pumpkins and made s'mores with 6 boys ages 1-11 plus Isabel.  However, before my oldest brother left, we got a picture. 

That's him with the blond wig and the goatee (if you couldn't tell). He was Little Red Riding Hood and my sister-in-law was the Big Bad Wolf.  Seriously, I look forward to Halloween every year just to see what these two are going to dress up as.

Before Isabel went to bed I painted her hand to put it on her pumpkin.  She wasn't really sure what to think about it.

She didn't like me restraining her finger movement when we put it on the pumpkin, either, but by damn, we did it anyways.

Ta-daa!  Here's ME!  No one commented on my last post (thanks, guys) to help me decide which way to paint my face, but a bunch of people on Facebook did, and I ended up actually going with the least popular because I thought it was bad ass.  I didn't do it exactly the same, but whatever.  I still think it rocked, and I only scared two little kids when we went trick-or-treating.  I was worried that it would freak Isabel out, but she actually thought it was pretty funny.

And here's my brujita linda!  (Pretty little witch.)  We went to my friend's store and she found a broom to play with, which was awesome and appropriate, so I took a picture.  Plus, she just looked so damn cute.

Here we are on the front porch :)  My mom took a picture of us almost every year when we were little on the porch for Halloween, so I considered it necessary.  Hopefully next year we can take the picture on our own porch, though.

It was a pretty long night for her.  She didn't really get the whole trick-or-treating thing, but she thought it was awesome that every time someone opened the door they let her grab as much candy as her little hands could, and this girl has enough dum-dums to last until her birthday so we're set.

So, now we're on to November.  I can't believe how fast this year has gone by!  I hope that November is better than the last few months have been.  I'm already working on a bunch of Christmas projects, as of next week I'll be working full time, and hopefully I'll be starting online classes on the 15th.  I can't even tell you how freaking excited I am.  I like studying, is that weird?  For someone that almost didn't graduate and basically got kicked out of school her 2nd trimester of her senior year, I love to learn.  Now that I'm doing it because I want to, I feel really driven and excited and I can't wait to start.  I'll be working a lot because we're hoping to go to California for Christmas and New Years to be with Cangrejo's extended family (whom I've never met) and we've got to save up extra money for gas.  It's gonna be crazy the next couple of months, but I'm looking forward to it!  So, Happy November everyone, be grateful and stuff.

Pick One

I was just going to ask for you to vote on these, but I decided to make it educational.  For Halloween, I'm not dressing up, mostly just because I'm lazy, BUT I'm going to paint my face like a calavera.  I could teach you about them on my own, but I'm feeling lazy and my husband is getting jealous of the computer, so I'm gonna give you a link courtesy of good old wikipedia.  You could also Google it, but you'll mostly find a bunch of stuff about Calavera County in California.  I suggest Google images.  Some of them are pretty.  Until then, vote on these!  Should I paint my face like the flowery, colorful one?  Or the cool, black and red one?  1 or 2?  I'll reveal the winner sometime after Halloween ;)

Now I Know My ABC's

Back in the day when people still used Myspace I was addicted to posting surveys about myself on the bulletin board.  I'm a little bit of a narcissist.  So, when I came across this ABC survey over at MrsPriss, I just couldn't help myself.  Here we go;

A. Age: 20 years 6 months and 5 days......approximately

B. Bed size: Umm....double?  I think that's what it's called.  Whatever it is, it's TOO DAMN SMALL.

C. Chore that you hate: Washing dishes.  I have issues with touching other people's food with bare hands.  Plus I have severe eczema and dermatosis (really dry skin) on my hands and if I have to get my hands wet too many times a day, I'm left in serious pain.

D. Dogs: I prefer big dogs as long as they don't jump up on me.

E. Essential start to your day: Changing a diaper.....

F. Favorite color: purple?  Today it will be purple.

G. Gold or Silver: SILVER or white gold

H. Height: 5’3″

I. Instruments you play: Piano and various percussion instruments

J. Job title: Temp. FML

K. Kids: Isabel Riley.  And as soon as we're out of my parents' house and on our feet, you best believe I'll be popping out another one.

L. Live: Northern Utah?  That's kind of sad.

M. Mother’s name: Lora

N. Nicknames: Joe, JP, J-Pard (that one's my dad's nickname for me...I don't get it either) Guera, Chuchis

O. Overnight hospital stays: Just when Isabel was born.

P. Pet peeves: Grown men that still think it's okay to be getting in fights, other grown men that think it's okay to beat on my friends, people that won't help themselves, Rent-a-Center........and that's just today.

Q. Quote from a movie: "I just feel like I'm excited, and I feel relaxed, and I'm READYYY to PARRRTAYYYYYYY oh, with the best of them, and I'm gonna go down to the riverrrrr!!!! -Bridesmaids

R. Right or left handed: Righty for almost everything.  I'm left handed when I shoot a gun.....because I'm left eyed, apparently.

S. Siblings: 3 brothers.  Riley 19, Mike 32, Vic 33

U. Underwear: Boy shorts or bikini or you know, thong, or whatever haha.  You name it, I own it.  I LOVE underwear.

V. Vegetable you hate: Brocolli, cauliflower, almost every other vegetable......

W. What makes you run late: My husband's hair.....or mine.

X. X-Rays you’ve had: Teeth, wrist, finger, other finger

Y. Yummy food that you make: Salvadoran rice, goulash, and creamy cheesy potato soup.

Z. Zoo animal: Like: Elephants!  Dislike: Snakes and bats...........and I'm afraid of hippos.

I'm a Closet Music Geek

I was totally inspired by Manski Mondays over at Holly Days to tell you about my musical background.  It's not something I talk about a lot, I'm not sure why.

We've had a piano in my house for as long as I remember.  My mom and dad have both played since they were younger, and I have great memories of my mom playing Christmas songs and my dad singing along with them.  When I was really small I started playing around with it, and not banging on the piano like other kids.  We would get home from church and I would try to remember how the songs went that we sang that day, and then I would sit at the piano until dinner time trying to sound them out.  One day, when I was 7, a lady from our ward that teaches piano was visiting my mom and she wanted to see what I had taught myself.  She told my mom that she didn't usually take kids until they turn 8, but that I was already teaching myself bad habits (story\of my life) and that I needed to learn some technique before I got used to 'playing lazy'.

So, for the next 11 years, August-May every Tuesday for half an hour, I would go to Nancy's and she would lecture me.  "You have so much natural ability, if you would just........."  "Curve your fingers."  "Count"  "Don't rush" "Practice every day"  "LEARN YOUR SCALES"  Ladies and gentlemen, I HATE SCALES.  I can do them, thanks to Nancy, but I hate them.

In 7th grade, I joined percussion.  (And you best believe, I was the only one that could do my scales on the xylophone.)  I LOVE percussion.  Honestly, I thought the rest of the band kids were REALLY WEIRD.  For example, the trombone player that ate paper and glue and one day, blew chunks all over the band room.  Then there was this really hot guy (in my opinion) that I had a monster crush on for 3 years, until I finally just gave up.  He was one of the cool ones, cause he was in percussion.  We WERE cool.  Believe me.  We were the ones telling scary stories and playing truth or dare in the back of the bus when we went to band tournaments.  The other kids were like, practicing or reading musical theory books.  Yuck.  AND our percussion ensemble won awards at every event we went to and they never placed.  So.....we win.

After 9th grade I quit band.  I didn't want to spend ALL SUMMER marching around in the heat and I DID NOT want to wear a stupid hat.........and the other kids were weird.

At least I still had piano.  My grandma made me a deal that when she died, she would leave me her piano as long as I took lessons until I was 18.  I would have liked to have quit sooner, because as soon as I got my license and a job (and a boyfriend) I had other things to do.  Grandma is still alive, but I have the piano already.  She moved from her great big house to a little apartment built on to my uncle's the summer after she slipped on ice in her drive way and laid there for who knows how long.  There's not room for the piano there (and she doesn't know how to play, anyway) so I got the baby grand early.

It's the piano my dad learned on.  He plays really well considering that whenever my Grandma gave him a check for the piano teacher, he would tear it up and go fishing.  She also forced him into playing saxophone in the jazz band, but he ended up liking that better than piano.

I really miss percussion.  I miss it a LOT.  Playing the marimba was definitely my favorite.  It's almost the same as the xylophone, but it's sound is much more......Latin?  Maybe that's why I liked it so much.  Honestly, if I was given the chance to play marimba again, whether it be for an orchestra or band or for ANYTHING I would take it in a heartbeat.

This is why.  It's so damn fun!  I played this song in 9th grade, and now Carmen is my favorite opera.

The kid in the video used wooden mallets which is PERFECT for this song, but they also have yarn mallets and rubber mallets.  

So, there you go.  Deep down inside, I'm kind of a music geek.

Blog Stalk, quitting job, stuff like that...

It's time for Blog Stalk Friday again over at Rockin' Mama so go link up and then check out some other blogs! You can also link up your Twitter, Facebook, or whatever else you want.

In other news.....I know I've been kind of MIA recently.....I don't have any good excuses except that I'm reading 'The Help' and so whenever I get a spare minute I READ.  So far it's fantastic, FYI, and ya'll should read it.  When they make a book into a movie, I always try to read the book before I see the movie because (depending on the book) you find out what's going on in the characters' minds instead of just hearing what they're saying on screen.  ALSO, just something else to throw in here, I am a Harry Potter freak and if you haven't read the books there is no way you can fully appreciate the movies, so don't tell me that you do.  Anyway, I'm really looking forward to finishing this book and then seeing the movie :)

Last Monday (as in not Monday this week, but the one before) I gave my 2 weeks notice at work.  I'm really upset.  I LOVE my job, but they won't give me more than 19 hours a week and there's no benefits.  I'm just not making enough money, not to mention I spend a good portion of my check every month on gas to get to work.  It's completely on the other side of the Valley.  I cannot express how freaked out I am about this.  I know the girl that's taking my place, and she's a great girl, and she's smart, and I know that she'll care about the kids, but they're MY kids.  For the majority, I know their individual little quirks and how to get around them to make them get motivated to go to class or to get their work done.  I check all of their grades every week and keep track of what it is that they need to get caught up on.  For my students that don't speak English, I feel as though they rely on me because I'm the link between them and their teachers.  I make sure copies get made of the class materials in Spanish so that they can do the work and get credit for it.  I'm helping teach these kids an ENTIRE LANGUAGE.  Let me tell you what, you don't realize how absolutely ridiculous the English language is until you try to teach it to someone.  Like why choose and lose sound the same instead of choose and loose.  I spent 15 minutes on that the other day.  I'm just worried that some of these kids are going to get pushed aside and not get taken care of.  They KNOW that I care about them, and that's not something they get a lot from people.  They know that even though they can trust me and come to me with their problems I WILL NOT take any of their shit.  UGH anyways.  I'm getting upset and starting to freak out again.

Hopefully, I'll have more stuff coming soon.  I have some stuff up my sleeve ;)

My Genius Husband

This last week has been absolutely NUTS!  Mostly thanks to my genius husband.....

He's wasn't winking at the camera!  His eye was swollen shut!  It was kind of blue and purple too, but since his skin is so dark it doesn't really show up on camera.

Tuesday at work they called me to the office over the intercom.  The secretary told me that my mom was at the hospital with my husband and that I needed to call them.  Duh, I needed to call them!  So I call my mom, I can here Cangrejo MOANING in the background and all I really understood was that he drove the 4-wheeler to my mom's work and he crashed and they were in the emergency room.  Fantastic.

So I get to the hospital and his face is all bloody and his eye is GINORMOUS and he keeps mumbling about how it hurts and he keeps asking me for Isabel.

This is what happened:  He had the day off from work and he got bored so he thought it would be a good idea to go on a 4-wheeler ride.  (Now let me make this clear...our 4-wheeler isn't like one of those little, light, sporty ones that are made for like sand dunes, and trick riding, and stuff like that.  It's a Honda 4x4 Rancher, so it's really heavy duty.  Heavy duty like, my dad uses it to haul dead animals out of the mountains and to plow sometimes up to 5 feet of snow.)  Turns out, it wasn't such a fabulous idea!  He was going up a hill of dirt and the wheeler didn't make it and flipped backwards on top of him (not wearing a helmet).  One side of the handlebars hit him in the eye and the other side hit him in the chest causing the handlebar to BEND IN HALF.  He said he thinks he passed out for a few minutes and when he woke up there was blood GUSHING OUT OF HIS FACE!  He couldn't see out of one eye so OBVIOUSLY he starts freaking out because he thinks that his eye has fallen out of his head.  So thank goodness for adrenaline he somehow flips the 4-wheeler back over and drives it about a mile back to the house.  He tries calling me and my mom on our cell phones and neither one of us answer.  He went to my aunt's house next door and no one was home, so what does he do?  He gets BACK ON THE 4-WHEELER AND DRIVES 2 MILES TO MY MOM'S WORK.  He had to go on the highway to get there.  So he gets to my mom's work (she works at an elementary school) but he couldn't remember what room she was in.  His English is no bueno, but he goes to the office and asked for my mom by name.  So the secretary (who is a really scary lady) called to my mom's room and told her to come to the office.  Picture this: Hispanic man, one eye swollen shut, clothing torn, blood all over his face, can't really speak English, and this lady gets an attitude with him asking "How exactly do you know her?  Why do you need to talk to her?"  My mom gets to the office and he hugs her.  My mom tells her that he's her son-in-law and the lady suddenly changes her attitude, "Oh, would you like me to call 911?"  Uhh.....no thanks.

So my mom took him to the hospital, they got hold of me, and I got there.

They came to get him for a CT scan and x-rays of his chest.  Want to know something really funny?  I can only share this because 1-he doesn't read my blog and 2-even if he did he couldn't understand it anyways.  They injected him with some liquid when they did the CT scan.  The nurse explained to him that he would get a sensation like jumping into a jacuzzi and that it might feel like he wet his pants, but not to worry, because he wouldn't.  So they injected and he told me that his body was getting really warm and then all of a sudden he exclaims "AY! MIS HUEVOS!"  Which roughly translates to "OH! MY BALLS!"  I would have completely lost it at this point, but he was genuinely freaking out so I had to just try to calm him down.  I'm cracking up now just thinking about it.  SO we were there a while longer while the looked at the CT scan and then they sent us home with a pain prescription and an antibiotic (because he hadn't had a tetanus shot in like 8 years).  

Now get this, we had been home for TWO HOURS and the hospital called to inform us that they FORGOT to take x-rays of his chest and we needed to go back right away.  He had a CHEST CONTUSION and they FORGOT to take an X-RAY of his CHEST.  So we took him back to the freakin hospital and they took x-rays of his chest.  Says there's nothing wrong (thank goodness) and not to be alarmed if he coughs up blood for a few days (which he did.)

Thursday we went to a PLASTIC SURGEON (OMG I never thought I would go to talk to a plastic surgeon about anything).  Here's the low down.  Usually, you break the bone that's under your eye.  My talented husband broke the bone that's in between his eye socket and his nasal cavity and the muscle that moves his eye is in the place where the bone is supposed to be.  Fabulous.  If they operated they could do damage to other muscles and his eyelids could go all droopy SO we're hoping it will heal itself up.  Until then, we have to go back to the plastic surgeon once a week to check on progress and he's out of work for a while because he can't get dust in his eye or do to much heavy lifting.  Hey, doctor, this shit is gonna be expensive!  So yesterday I gave my 2 weeks notice :(  As bad as I don't want to be a temp and work in a factory, I'll be making more than double what I'm making now.  Poop.  At least he'll be home and I won't have to pay a babysitter :)

Spanish Friday

I decided to participate in Spanish Friday over at Latinaish today!  I know yesterday I said I would vlog, but then I didn't put any make-up on today, and I didn't feel like broadcasting my plain old face.  HOWEVER, I did upload some pictures for you.  (Not of me.)

Cuando me casè con este Salvadoreño guapo tambien me casè con una cultura maravillosa.  Una cultura en que la gente me acceptan con los brazos abiertos y una plata llena de comida rica!

When I married this good-looking Salvadoran, I also married into a marvelous culture.  A culture in which the people accept me with open arms and a plate full of good food!

Hablando de comida, hoy fui con mi esposo a la unica pupuseria cerca de donde vivimos.  El otro dìa yo tratè de hacer pupusas para el y salieron algo mal.  Cuando uno va allà te hacen sentir como parte de la familia entonces me siento mal educada cuando no quito mi propio plato de la mesa.  Tienen ''En dios confiamos'' pintado en una de las paredes.  Los dueños del restaurante son una pareja bien amable.  El señor pica las verduras y lava los platos y la señora prepara toda la comida ella sola.  Parece que tienen unos setenta años pero allì estan trabajando juntos todos los dìas.

Speaking of food, today I went with my husband to the only 'pupuseria' near where we live.  The other day I tried to make pupusas for him, and they came out kind of bad.  When you go there they always make you feel like part of the family, and so I feel like I have bad manners when I don't clear my plate from the table.  They have ''En dios confiamos" (In God we trust) painted on one of the walls.  The owners of the restaurant are a very friendly couple.  The man cuts vegetables and washes dishes and the lady prepares all of the food by herself.  I think they're about seventy years old (maybe older...) but there they are, working together, every day.

Blog Stalk Friday

Only 4 hours until Blog Stalk Friday over at Rockin' Mama!  Go link up and meet some awesome knew people.  

Vlog coming tomorrow! Let's just say I am WAY glad that September is over because it has been one hell of a month.  I'm not gonna get 9 posts this month (BOO) because I've been taking care of my husband.  He spent Tuesday afternoon in the emergency room.  More on that tomorrow.

Sad Day

I really wanted to do a vlog for you guys yesterday or today, but last night I got some pretty rotten news.  One of my very good friends passed away.  He was in the Marines and was stationed in Hawaii.

I've never experienced a feeling like this.  I feel.....helpless?  I'm not sure that's the right word.  I'm planning on doing a longer post about him.  Some sort of a tribute.  But I can't tonight.  My head won't let me.  I'm still kind of in shock and I can't really get all of my thoughts together.  For now, I'm just trying to calm myself down and pray for his family. . .and I don't really pray.  I can't begin to imagine how they must be feeling.  He was an amazing guy, and he will always be remembered.  Love you always, Sammy boy.

This is he and I about 2 years ago.  He was home on leave and was nice enough to take my pregnant ass out to lunch so we could catch up.

Furry Balls

I for real heard this conversation today. . . . .In my very own home :

Dad to Mom : Have you seen my little furry balls?

Mom : What furry balls?

Dad : You know, the furry balls that you squeeze with your fists and you roll 'em around.

Mom : What?!

Dad : You know, the ones for my upper arm exercises.


And that's when I realized that my dad WASN'T being a freaking pervert.

Oh, and my mom didn't know where they were.  Just in case you were wondering how the story ended.

How I Learned Spanish Pt. 1

People always ask me how I learned to speak Spanish, and sometime, somewhere, while I just sat there going "Uhhhhh....." someone answered for me, "en las calles"-in the streets.  That sounded like a pretty good answer so now that's what I usually tell people, accompanied by a shrug of my shoulders.  I realize that's kind of vague, so.....I guess I'll put the whole story here!  And then when people ask me, I can direct them here.  Yay.

We'll start at what I think is the beginning.  It doesn't really have anything to do with speaking Spanish, but it led up to it sooo.......here we go.

It all started back in 9th grade.  I was kind of racist in the sense that I was afraid of anyone that wasn't white.  Mostly men.  I don't really know why.  This is partly why I now believe the whole thing about 'people are afraid of what they're not familiar with', because that's pretty much how it was.  According to the 2010 census, about 95% of the town that I live in was white.  And I'm guessing that's gone down from whatever the percentage was 20 years ago when I was born.  When I was in elementary school 3 Hispanic kids rode my bus and I was afraid of them.  (One of them is now my very best friend.)  Anyways, I'm getting off track.  Point is, I was kinda racist, now I'm not.

Back to 9th grade, I had drifted away from the girls that I had been friends with since I was a little girl.  I felt like they were prettier and skinnier than me, and boys liked them, but not me.  (Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but they really were skinnier.  I couldn't share clothes like the rest of them.)  Boys probably didn't like me because I knew that I was smarter than them and I talked down to them.  I had a crush on this boy, and he didn't like me because I was better at percussion than him.  Ugh, off track again.

So I got new friends.  It didn't matter if they were better looking or skinnier or anything, because I felt like it didn't matter to them.

Meet Tori-Half black, half white, but adopted by white people.  Soo.....see how I justified in my 14 year old mind why it was 'okay' for me to be friends with her?

Meet Dotta-Half Hispanic, half white, but doesn't speak Spanish and neither does anyone in her family.  (See the justification again.)

Let me say this, if the me today met the me back then, I would bitch slap my silly self.

Anyway, we were pretty punk.  We hung out with 'skater boys' and listened to stuff with face melting guitar solos and some screaming.  Some people were afraid of us (which was weird, but invigorating).  Dotta would say things that made people angry and then expect Tori and I to defend her.

Tori played bass guitar and I 'played' the drums.  She had some guy friends a year older than us that wanted to start a band and guess what they were missing!  That's right, a bass guitar player and a drummer.  Tori convinced me to go check it out.  So, we went to the lead guitarist's house.

Long story a little bit shorter, I was afraid of him for like the first day (cause he was Hispanic) and then for every day after that for like 2 years (or maybe more) I was infatuated.  This is where the Spanish language comes in, and I'm ending Part 1 of How I Learned Spanish.  In Part 2 I'll introduce you to George.

Take THAT writer's block!

I'm having serious writers block.  I've had it for a long time.  And it's pissing me off.  So let's see how this goes.....

I went running last Thursday.  It's the first strenuous activity I've done since before I was pregnant.  That was 2 years ago, and I'm paying for it.  Ever since Friday I've had like weird, awful, contraction like pains all around my stomach, and my legs feel.........swollen?  But they're not?  I don't really know, but I can't go up or down stairs or sit down without.......whimpering?  Yeah, I guess you could call it that.

Uhh......yesterday I froze 114 ears worth of corn OFF the cob, which is definitely not as wonderful as corn on the cob, but I guess it will do.  It took me like 5 hours and I only got like 15 quarts of corn.  And I gave 2 quarts away because, well, I'm a good person like that.

OH!  I had a nail appointment yesterday with a 10 year old haha.  She did a pretty good job, and it was definitely worth my 2 dollars.  She even gave me a punch card and my 5th appointment is FREE.  She was ridiculously professional, for a 10 year old.

I'm watching the original version of the movie Arthur.  It's different, but it's still pretty funny.  I still love Russel Brand and it's kind of weird that the original Hobson was a man, but I'll get over it, because I've decided that I love Liza Minnelli.

Wellllll, I shouldn't really be blogging because I have to make 10 or 12 (I haven't decided yet) soft baby blocks before Saturday because I have two baby showers to attend.  I'll put pics up because they are fabulous.  Maybe a tutorial???  Hmmm.......I've never done one.  But if you want a tutorial, leave a comment and let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Peace out for now, bitches.

Blog Stalk Friday

Happy September everyone.  I guess.  I have a lot to say, but I'm to lazy to write it.  (Seems like that happens a lot doesn't it?)  So I'll just be linking up over at Rockin Mama's for Blog Stalk Friday.  Check it out.

WTF Wednesday

So I'm sure that I'm not the only one that thinks of a billion things every day to blog about and then you forget about all of them when you're actually in front of the computer.  And believe me, working at a high school, there's a lot of potential blog material!  Today, I can actually remember something.

First, let me just say, today I saw a history teacher teaching about the 13 original colonies, and he/she spelled Connecticut wrong.  (She left out the middle c) and then he/she spelled Williams wrong (left out the second i) was kind of surprised, just because I think he/she's been teaching for probably at least like 15 years, and you would think that those words would pop up enough over 15 years in U.S. History and Government classes that you could spell them.  And he/she teaches English, so you know, spelling and stuff.....

So the other thing that I'm like WTF?! at, is what's going on in Georgia with education.  I don't remember all the details, but there are a bunch of educators being accused of cheating on state tests.  We're not talking students here, we're talking teachers and principals.  So far, 82 of them have confessed.  Some people are even saying that teachers would have parties where they would get together and change answers on students' tests so that they would score better.  One principal retired after accusations of ordering his teachers to do so.

Why are they doing this?

Because according to No Child Left Behind, all schools need to have 100% of their students testing at a proficient level by 2015 or the school will get shut down.  (Don't go crazy if I'm getting facts wrong, I'm not claiming to be an expert on this, I'm just stating what I remember from hearing on the news.)

Also, the amount of government funding a school receives, are based on test scores.  A large majority of the educators being accused of this cheating, work for districts in some of the poorest parts of Atlanta.  Obviously, these schools aren't going to have a ton of money to work with, and they're not getting a lot of help from funding because of test scores.

This same thing is going on in several other states.

Obviously, there's a huge problem here.  I take that back, there are SEVERAL huge problems here.  Now, I'm already not a huge fan of standardized testing anyways, but that's a whole other rant for another day, but I have some questions about these problems.
1-What is going on in the classroom that makes it so the students are not able to perform 'proficiently'. (The way the teachers are teaching? Not having the funding to get the resources needed to learn? Is attendance maybe an issue there?)
2-Why do kids that are maybe not as smart as other (kids below 'proficient') deserve any less funding than the ones that are testing proficient or above? (Um.....isn't this where the whole 'all men created equal' thing comes in?  Oh, wait, most of our country doesn't believe in that anymore.)
3-Okay, so the teachers are trying to get funding and not get their schools shut down and keep their jobs, but really?  Cheating???  What's THAT teaching your students?  Cheating on a state test is a federal offense and so by cheating, they're putting themselves in danger of a conviction and jail time.  How's that for losing your job?(And probably your teaching license)

Alright, I just had to get the off my chest.  Happier blog coming soon.

Oh, P.S. I need $2000 by the end of September and I'm more than willing to accept donations *wink*.  More to come on that bull shit soon.  Or in a couple months.  I don't really know yet.

Kickin' It Old School

So the other day Cangrejo and I went to my Grama's house to help her clean her garage.  We're kind of using it as storage for the stuff we don't have room for/don't need while we're living in my parents basement, so we figure it's only fair that we keep our shit organized.  So Grama and I started going through pictures :)  I love me some old pictures.  I don't know why but I love hearing stories about 'the olden days' and about when my Grama was little and stuff like that.  I'm a sucker for that shit.  ANYWAY we found some pretty darn interesting pictures.

This is a baby picture of MY MAMA!  It looks like Isabel's long lost twin, right?!

Here's the pic a little bit closer

 You can't see the little kids faces really, but it's my Grama Bonnie, her brother (can't remember his name) and her sister Mae sitting on the car that her family had in front of the house that they lived in during the depression.  This is somewhere in Colorado.

And what kind of post would this be without a picture of ME!  This is me (about a year old I think) with my brothers Mike (in the back) and Vic (next to me).  I think Vic would have been about 14 in this picture and Mike was 13.  Their sweaters are fabulous.  So are their glasses.  Let me tell you how different my 2 older brothers are!  There's an endless list of their differences, for example, Mike would probably KILL ME if he knew I was putting this on the internet for the world to see ;)  Vic probably wouldn't care.  But they love me (they show it in COMPLETELY different ways) appx 2-3 years after this picture was taken they bought me my first bike :)  It was purple and white with flowers.

Photo time!

This post came out longer than expected.  I probably should have split it into 2 posts, but I'm feeling abnoxious sooo.......here we go.

So I realize I never posted anything about Jenny's quinceñera.....probably because like, 3 days after we took of for Colorado and then ended up in Texas for a while.  SO I don't really feel like writing a bunch about something that happened so long ago, but I'm going to post some pictures because, um, hi, we looked fabulous.

My beautiful babies ♥

I realize I'm standing funny but, like I said, fabulous. . . . .except for the weird tan lines.

This is Jenny's brother and Cangrejo's friend from El Salvador..........okay, and my ex, but we won't get into that today.

Sha-zam!

Last week we drove 3 hours to go to a family picnic with my grama at the assisted living place that she lives at.  We took pictures.

Due to the attractiveness of this photo, I've decided to take up cigar smoking.  Or even just letting an unlit one hanging out of my mouth.  I think it will be cheaper that way.

And then Isabel started being all sorts of adorable.

And playing peek-a-boo.

And some other cute stuff.

And some more.

Awww hugging her daddy ♥

And they fell asleep on the way home :)

Big smiles :)

Oh, and my dad gave Cangrejo Twizzler titties when he fell asleep hahaha.

Love Me

Oh, heyyyy!  I didn't tell you all last night that I joined Twitter!  Find me, follow me, love me here.  I used to have one, and then I never used it.  But I think I'll use this one.   

AND 

I dyed my hair black.....

This is before.....

And AFTER!  Sha-zam!

Yeah.  I did my eyebrows too that's why my skin looks purpleish because this picture was taken like RIGHT AFTER I washed that junk out.  But a person CANNOT have black hair and blonde eyebrows.  The end.

P.S.......Look at my cute baby.

She's hood.  And she's FINALLY a walking machine!

There's a first time for everything!!!!

Okay, people, let's get down to business!


......................


I GOT MY FIRST BLOG AWARD!!!  Um, yeah, kind of excited about it.  Special thanks to Destiny over at ★Rockin' Mama★ for giving me my FIRST BLOG AWARD EVER!!!

People, I'm kind of a nerd, and I love awards, and it's been a while since I got any kind of one.  So, you know, freak out...and whatever.  I for real did a happy dance when I found out and my husband considered divorce..

Ta-daa!!!!  The Versatile Blogger Award.  BIG SMILES!

The Rules after accepting the Versatile Blogger Award are:

• Thank the person who gave you the award & link back to them in your post.

• Share 7 things about yourself.

• Pass this award along to 15 recently discovered blogs.

So here are 7 things about myself:

1 - I failed Spanish class in 6th grade, and now I would say that I am proficient in the language.

2 - I got an award in a Dutch Oven Cook-Off when I was 12 for an amazing Apple Cobbler.

3 - My first job was when I was 15 and it was at a chocolate factory.  Best. Job. Ever.

4 - If I had someone to cut out patterns and material for me, I could design, pin, and sew all day long.

5 - One time, I ate 16 roasted marshmallows in about 3 hours.  Half of them were in the form of s'mores, and I didn't get sick to my stomach.

6 - From about 7th to 11th grade I went through what I like to call my 'Punk' stage.  My entire wardrobe was 

black, I wore a spiked belt, and I played the drums in a shitty band.

7 - In 6th grade I sold pictures of my older brother for money because all of my friends thought he looked like Josh Hartnett.

Ezzy Languzzi

La Cabrona

Life in the Pitts

Mexico Mommy

Notes From Sandrah

Sara's Organized Chaos

Canadian Chica in Cancun

Absolutely Narcissism

I realize I only did 8.....whoops.  Here's the thing, I don't follow like, TONS of blogs, and a bunch of them I follow have already received this award.

Blog Swap!

Okay so I'm participating in a blog swap over at 20Something Bloggers and I got this cool swap buddy named Amanda.  I think she rocks because she loves Harry Potter and she lives in New York.  So read her entry and check her out!!! (Oh and I'll post the link to my post over at her blog when it's up.....I haven't e-mailed it to her yet...)  *Here's the link for my post over on her blog*

Ladies and Gentlemen, without further ado, I present to you, Amanda Lucci!

Hi! I'm Amanda (www.amandalucci.com), and as part of 20Something Bloggers' blog swap I'm infiltrating Josie's blog today. 20SB asked us to write about our summer, and I can't think of any summer in my life that changed me more than this one. 

As a journalist, I had always dreamed of moving to New York City after college and starting a fabulous career, but up until literally two weeks before graduation I thought my dream would have to wait. I applied for, I kid you not, like 100 different jobs and internships. With this economy the way it is, let me tell you from experience that the people on the news aren't kidding when they say the job market sucks. It's really, really bad out there. Luckily, the stars aligned and pigs flew and just as I was about to accept defeat, I was offered an internship at a Manhattan-based startup.

So, two days after graduation, I boarded an early-morning flight to La Guardia. I'll admit, I was terrified. I was planning on living with my boyfriend, but with my last minute moving plans we had not solidified a living situation. We ended up living like vagabonds for the first two weeks — I crashed in a friend's vacant bunk at NYU, apartment-sat for a former coworker in Williamsburg and met some interesting insects at a hole-in-the-wall hotel in Chinatown. We eventually decided to sublease from a schoolteacher in Bedford-Stuyvesant, which is not exactly the most thriving neighborhood in Brooklyn (let me put it this way:Jay-Z grew up in the projects two blocks away from us).

We've now been living in New York for almost two months, and though it hasn't exactly been the glamorous city life Carrie Bradshaw made me think I was going to have — think lots of nights spent building rat traps and coming up with 100 different ways to make chicken stir-fry — I can't imagine spending my summer any other way.

I did experience a lot of new and interesting things. I appeased my inner nerd at all the fabulous art museums, saw a Broadway musical and celebrated the legalization of same-sex marriage from one of the most historic places in the LGBT movement. I'm also seeing some of my favorite musicians in concert, eating at great restaurants and doing a lot of shopping — my wallet is shrinking, but my to-do list is still bigger than ever!

This is the first fall since my toddlerhood that I won't be going back to school, so I decided there's no reason to leave the city just yet when there's so much more I want to explore. I went ahead and signed a one-year lease on a fantastic apartment in a much younger, livelier part of Brooklyn, and am working on getting set up at my next internship. A lot of people told me in the beginning that I was crazy to just hop on a plane with no real plan, but I found that the best way to learn was by making mistakes and having no choice but to fix them. Moving to New York on two weeks notice was the biggest, craziest, most exciting thing I've ever done, and I am thankful every day that I took the chance. Like they say, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. I might not know what exactly the future holds for me yet, but I do know where I want to be, and I'm willing to live out of a suitcase, get spider bites and live paycheck-to-paycheck until I get it.

Did you have an awe-inspiring, life-affirming, mess-making and/or lesson-learning experience this summer? I'd love to hear about it.. visit me at amandalucci.com or talk to me at @alucci on Twitter :)