My Thoughts On Everything Else

LOL yoda and tentacles

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 02:00:00 +0000

I just have to share a couple of interesting conversations I've had with my, now, 7 almost 8 year old son.

We were in my bedroom, I was folding laundry and he came in asking about our ipad. I asked him where is say it last. He responded by saying "I saw it last on that thing, by the bears, pictures and yoda." I jerked my head up at what he said and asked "yoda?". I looked at where he was pointing and saw he was pointing to my dresser where two teddy bears sat, next to a frame with a couple of pictures and a statue of Buddha.

Late one night, I was watching Bizzare Foods and my son sat next to me as Andrew was about to take a bite out of a BLT (Bacon, Lettuce and Testicles). So I groaned "testicles?" and Cairo repeated "testicles?". I asked him, "Do you know what testicles are?" and he kinda thought about it for a second and say "oh yea, they are octopuses arms." I never laughed so hard in my life! I gave him a hug, kiss and told him I loved him. I of course explained the difference between testicles and tentacles at which point he covered himself up and asked "eww who would eat porrongas?!?!" "Porrongas" is the term grandpa has used to refer to man parts and it just stuck.

I really do love my little monkey boy. I don't know what my life would be like without him and I don't care to know.

OMG...I'm tired.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 02:00:00 +0000

It's been a while since I've posted on this blog. I've actually been working on a 3rd blog :| I know, I know....I don't have time for the other two and now I've got a third. oh well...what can I do?

I've actually been really busy with work and home lately. The only times I've been able to blog about anything has been during my breaks at work but now I've gotten so busy at work that breaks are now as scarce as my time.

I've officially become a soccer mom! I signed up my son for soccer this summer. It's his first time playing the sport and he's ubber excited. We are about three weeks in and we're scheduled to go until the end of August. He's got practice 4 days a week and has a game every week, so that's 5 days a week of soccer!!

He had been signed up for baseball last summer but we quickly realized that was not for him. He was diagnosed with ADHD this spring and now we know why baseball was not working for us. Let me say, soccer has been amazing for him so far. He's a newbie, and you can tell but he's doing much better this summer. He has no time to get bored. In baseball he would literally play with the dirt, his mind would be elsewhere constantly, it was very frustrating. Now with soccer he is constantly on the run doing drills etc... I'm loving it...but I'm tired.

For the last week and a half, DH (dear hubby) has been out of town for work. He's not scheduled to come home for another week and a half....which means I'm on double duty. Now that my son is on summer vacation, it's not as stressful buuuut....we...and by we I mean me...are on the go go go!

Weekdays are the craziest. We are up in the morning, I get us breakfast, prepare my lunch for work, get showered, get his soccer gear together and get us ready to get out the door. He gets dropped off at grandmas or aunties and I head to work. I get out at about 4:30-5pm, call ahead to make sure my son is changed into his soccer cloths. When I get to him I get his shin guards, socks and soccer shoes on him, get his stuff head out the door to get him to practice by 6pm. That's 4 days a week. Practice runs for 2 hours....yes...2 hours. It's not convenient for me to leave him there then go home....by the time I get home, I'd have to be on my way to pick him up again so I just wait for him. We get home by 8:30-9pm, he get's in the shower (very reluctantly every single time), I make him something light to eat...wash dishes from the morning and get him into bed hopefully before 10pm. This is 4 weekdays a week.

The other week day, is pretty much the same thing only we have therapy instead of soccer. Saturday, I try (and have miserably failed) to clean up the house and do laundry and Sunday we go grocery shopping, more laundry and soccer game. I have to admit, there have been some nice upsides to all this madness:

My monkey boy has something to do this summer that is good for him and he enjoys it.
I don't have to cook dinner every night and as a result have lost some weight :)
I exercise during soccer practice...I walk and I walk and I walk...which has contributed to the whole weight loss thing...double bonus!!

So yeah...I'm tired. I don't know how single working parents do it. I have a new found respect for them all, moms and dads.

Easter Cupcakes!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 01:00:00 +0000

This Easter we had dinner over at my parents house. I decided to make Easter cupcakes for dessert. I made about a dozen and a half of vanilla flavored cupcakes.

While they cooled I made a batch of green frosting. I don't make frosting from scratch...unless it's cream cheese frosting. It didn't take much to make green. I used Wiltons ready to use frosting, it's the one I like to use for decorating.

I didn't want make anything elaborate. If I had more time I would have done much more to these little guys, like add flowers or something but it was late and I wanted to go to bed so I said screw it....a nest with eggs should be good enough. So I made a simple "well" for the base of the nests.

Then I used the "grass/hair" tip to make the wells look "nesty" and added some peanut M&Ms.

I got a little silly and started adding grass with the left over frosting then just gave it a rest. They turned out pretty cute. My son loved them. They kinda looked like mountain top nests.

Stuffed Jalapeños...oh my

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Not too long ago I went to a birthday party and the hosts cousin brought stuffed jalapeños. Gordos's cousin came over to where I was sitting with other family wives and handed a plate over with these ginormous jalapeños stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon. I'll be honest I really didn't think I was going to like them, I'm not a fan of cream cheese filled peppers, but these suckers looked so good with that crispy bacon snugly hugging them that I could not refuse. I was amazed at how good they were, I mean the pepper was tender and cheese was soft and gooey and the bacon...oh the bacon just brought it all home! My only regret that day was to not have piled on a plate of those jalapeños and taken some home! I decided I'd take a crack at making them myself.

You start out with your basic 3 ingredients: cream cheese, bacon and jalapeños:

Cut open the jalapeños, clean out the seeds:

It's about a tablespoon of cream cheese per pepper. Oh and please oh PLEASE wear some gloves if you're gonna try this. I made the mistake of not wearing any and OMG did my hands burn for hours...no kidding!!

Put the haves together and wrap some bacon around them:

Stick them in the oven at 350 degrees and wait for the bacon to crisp and the peppers to get soft:

They are ready to be eaten! My husband really liked these. I had never eaten jalapeños like this before. I would like to make them again soon....but I need to make sure I have gloves this time!!

Conchas Mexicanas

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Some time ago Gordo had a taste for pan dulce, conchas to be specific. We headed out to our local panaderia to get some and he was content....but then this image of conchas I had seen online had popped into my head. It was fuzzy at first but then yes, it all became clear...I remembered Leslie made conchas with Girlchef and I decided that I should give making conchas a try. I decided to use Girlchefs recipe for conchas first, depending on how my skills work out with these then I'll try Leslies They turned out pretty good, I must say.

I started with mixing the dough. At first it looked pretty crappy:

But then it looked pretty when I set up for the first rise:

The sugar topping came out nice. I didn't want to jinx myself so I left it all in one color:

Assembly was not so bad. I actually like doing it:

They were beautiful when they came out of the oven:

I will be trying to make these again. I really want to make them in a rainbow of colors :D

Abortion - I just have to talk about it

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 12 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I know this is a hot topic and there are tons of views on both sides of this highly controversial issue. I just feel like I need to say something on the topic. I have to admit, I considered having an abortion at one time in my life. I was still an undergrad getting my degree, Jose and I had just started our lives together and we were not at all ready to be parents, not emotionally or financially. I didn't have insurance at the time. Planned Parenthood was my life saver for check ups and birth control. I had made an appointment to get my prescription and as always they had me take a pregnancy test before they gave me the prescription. To my surprise it came out positive. I couldn't believe it, I had just had my period several weeks before. When I got home and told Jose he was in shock too. We talked about our options, we were not ready to bring a child into this world and since it was so early, and truthfully we ignorant to how developed the fetus was, we thought it would be best to have an abortion. I made the appointment to see a Dr. at Planned Parenthood. I remember being scared, I had never thought I would find myself in the position to make such a decision. I had always thought I would never give up a pregnancy. Before given the pill that would cause me to expel the tiny cells growing in my body I had an ultra sound done, it was required. To my surprise, and relief, my uterus was empty, no cells were growing inside me. As it turned out the period I had experienced weeks ago was a miscarriage.

It wasn't until years later I became pregnant again, this time I was out of school. We were still not 100% financially stable but were much better off than before. I did not think, at all, to give up this pregnancy. When I went for the first ultrasound, which happened, at least a week or two after testing positive I was extatic to hear the little heart beat beating away strong. Hearing that heart beat for the first time and seeing my child on the monitor made me reflect on that decision I had made years ago. Even though I had not gone through the process I became disappointed with myself of what I was willing to do and I promised to never, ever consider making that same decision again.

The fact that I was able to prevent getting pregnant for several years by using birth control provided to me, for free, through Planned Parenthood made me see there is no reason why so many women have abortions or why other women can not prevent unwanted pregnancies. Planned Parenthood helps many women get the care they need. They help women prevent pregnancies they can not afford to have or want and get the care they need.

Even though I feel this way about myself I am very strongly Pro-CHOICE. I may not ever consider having an abortion in the future but I have no right to force my choice on to others. By no means do I agree with the perpetual abortionist. Those women who have an abortion every year, maybe more than once a year. And if the mothers life is in danger or if there is something reasonably wrong with the fetus (i.e. it is a mass that will not survive after birth), then the mother has a right to choose. For the record, I've never been raped. Nor do I wish to experience it but I would like to think that if I resulted in being pregnant after a rape, I would hope to be able to emotionally overcome the trauma and recognize that child as a part of me BUT I do not know how I would feel in that instance and I should be allowed to choose for myself on what should be done.

The fact that some politicians feel that girls and women should ‘Make The Best Out Of A Bad Situation’ if they are raped is just mind boggling. How can a man who has never been raped and will probably never be raped understand a woman who has? Wasting tax payer money for arguments on whether or not employers should cover birth control in their health insurance and not even have a single woman on the panel to discuss it just shows that the men in our government, specifically the GOP, have very little consideration for women's needs and rights. They have have passed bills in states to de-fund Planned Parenthood making it even harder for women, who otherwise have no other options, to get the care they need. What the bloody hell is going on with this country? Who the hell decided women can not make decisions for themselves about their bodies? What kills me, it's not only men but women in politics who are in favor of all of this. WTF? Did they lose their uterus's when they took office?

What we need is to have a better sexual education program. One that works at informing our young people (both boys and girls) about the consequences and responsibilities that come with having sex. One that deters women from using abortion as a birth control method. One that get's birth control to sexually active women of every social/economical class who need it and educates them on the uses and how to be responsible with their own bodies. The thing is, these programs exist and maybe instead of de-funding groups like Planned Parenthood, the government should work with them and other groups to improve these programs to reach and educate more people. If people were more educated on their sexual health and had access to birth control there would be no abortion debate/controversy. If politicians and the people who back them continue to think the way they do now, it will never end. Ignorance is not the way to resolved our societies issues, neither is restricting the lives of others.

Gordos Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000

For the first time ever we celebrated Jose's birthday. He's not big on doing that, hence the lack of celebrations. This time around, considering everything he'd gone through the past year, we decided to at least have family over. His brother, sister and cousin with their families came over and my family did too. We had an awesome time. Jose's brother-in-law (Jose's sisters husband) made chicharones, which were OMG good. I made some frijoles a la charra, Jose's sister made rice and we had some aguas frescas. The food was good.

We, of course, also had some desert. I made my Gordo a cake. I had been contemplating on what kind of cake I should make for him. All kinds of images came to mind, jailbird cake (yeah I know it's not funny but that's what came to my sarcastic mind), construction cake...but then it hit me..."I know! I'll make him a pool table cake!" He's really good and playing pool. I found out the hard way several years ago :) Well here is it. Not to toot my own horn but I'm kinda surprised at how well it turned out.

I made a cream cheese filling, it was really good. I don't like using frosting as a filing. I like using cream cheese or strawberry jelly or something else.

I'm going to be an Auntie!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 23:00:00 +0000

About a week or so ago I called by sister-in-law (my brothers wife), I don't remember why I called her but our conversation went something like this:

MeL Hey!
SIL: What are you doing after work today?
Me: umm....I was thinking of stopping by mom and dads for a bit. Why?
SIL: So you are going?
Me: Yeeaa I think so.
SIL: You are sure you are going?
Me: Yea, why?
SIL: Ok we're gonna be there too. *click*

She sounded kinda weird and the whole conversation was weird so of course I called Jose:

Jose: Jello!
Me: Gordo, I just talked to Ester and she sounded funny.
Jose: Ok
Me: No, really *explained the conversation I just had with her*
Jose: hhmmmm that does sound suspicious, maybe she's up to something?
Me: This is what I'm saying!
Jose: Well I'm calling Chris *my brother* so he can pick up Cairo, it's raining.
Me: ok, bye
Jose: bye

Five minutes later *riiiing*

Me: Gordo?
Jose: I just talked to Chris, he's picking up Cairo
Me: Did he say anything?
Jose: Nothing, but he did say they didn't have car seats for the monkies *the kids my SIL babysits* and that we're meeting at your moms.
Me: hmmm ok

*BEEP - my SIL on the other line*

Me: I gotta go it's her!
Jose: ok bye

*switch*

Me: Hello?
SIL: Hey, I have to tell you something.
Me: ok, what's up?
SIL: I'm pregnant
Me: What?!?!
SIL: yeah I went to the Dr. and I took a test, it came out positive

*pause - replaying what Jose said about the car seats, she wouldn't take them without car seats*

Me: I don't believe you...you're messing with me
SIL: I'm serious, I took a test!

She's crying the whole time and then it sinks in...

Me: OMG!! How? I mean I know how but why? I mean GREAT!! but how?

She started explaining how she hadn't been feeling well and she left the kids with my brother while she went to the clinic for an hour to take the test. It came out positive and she was planning on telling us at my parents house but since my brother was going to see Jose, he wasn't going to be able to hold back so she decided to call back.

Before I get yelled at for sounding like a total 'B' on the phone I have to explain. My SIL had lost a precious baby over 4 years ago, my niece only lived for 2 weeks before she passed. My SIL had developed preclampsia which made her go into an emergency 'C' at 5 months. It was a very difficult time for all of us but especially my SIL and brother. Shortly after that she was told it was a total fluke she got pregnant in the first place and she had a 1% chance of ever getting pregnant again. I totally apologized for not believing her and of course I am eternally happy for them both, in fact I hope they have twins but I am so looking forward to being an Auntie!!! I can't wait for Cairo to have a cousin from my side of the family! (It's just my brother and myself) I'm super excited and can't wait to meet my little niece or nephew!!!

The broken heal

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:29:00 +0000

So back in late November my aunt came out from Mexico, she tagged along with my mom and she spent a good two weeks here. We had lots of fun going all over the damn place. We walked around downtown Chicago, went to the ChristKindleMarket, checked out the Art Institute of Chicago and shopped till we dropped. She even went with me to see Jose.

About a week into the fun fest tragedy struck. It was a Sunday night, I remember it so clearly...we were all at moms house. Just after 7pm, and I know this because Once Upon a Time had just started and Ester and I were in the living room watching. Chris and my aunt had gone to the back yard when we heard it. The thump, thump, thump that sounded far but close along with some yelling. Ester and I shot up and ran to the back of the house to the kitchen where we ran into Cairo who was running into the house. He said "She fell, she hit herself!" So I ran out the back door and there she was on the ground, it was mom. I jumped down the stairs and called for Chris. She couldn't get up and the ambulance was on it's way. She had fallen from the top stair down 7 steps to the cement at the bottom. She managed to flip in the process, hitting her back on the stairs and landing face forward on the cement. Of course the only one to witness this was Cairo.

After being at the E.R. all night, several doctor appointments, x-rays, CT scans and the such, the prognosis was a broken heal bone. Thank God the woman likes to eat cheese and yogurt! My biggest concern was she'd have a broken back or hip. Considering she's in her 60's and took quite a fall she came out of it with one broken bone. I've seen others her age with broken ankles from just stepping the wrong way and twisting their foot. She was on a cast for a month and just now she's starting to put pressure on her foot.

Thankfully my aunt was around when it first happened. She helped take care of mom. After she left my sister-in-law and I juggled helping her out. My dad finally stepped in after he got annoyed having us over all the time. Now that she's started taking baby steps, I've warned her. She's not allowed to attempt flying any more. She said she will leave that for the birds.

Voltron!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 02:00:00 +0000

Cairo recently gave me the title of the most awesome mom ever, why? Because I've introduced him to Voltron. It all started with a borrowed DVD from my brother, since then Cairo has been obsessed with Voltron.

"Mom I want a Voltron"

"I'm super sad because I don't have a Voltron"

"When are you going to buy me a Voltron?"

On and on he goes, morning after morning, day after day. For those of you who don't know a Voltron toy can cost up to $400 bucks. It's vintage and I'm not buying a $400 toy knowing it will be destroyed within minutes. The wonderful news is that Voltron was remade by NickToons so I thought "Great! They should have some Voltron toys for sale." Uh no....I've gone to every store every known to humanity and not a single one has a Voltron Force toy.

Finally my Aunt said "Why don't you tell them they've run out?". So I took her advise I told him Voltron is MIA in the stores....let me tell you. It was worse than the day I told him about Jose. So after that all I heard was

"Mom, now I'm sad about two things. Dad and Voltron"

"I can't believe I don't have a Voltron or my Dad"

So I made it my mission to find this child a Voltron toy for Christmas. I looked at every online store, Googled night and day and I finally came across a Voltron toy for my monkey on this website....they are sold out. I had finally given up until one day I mentioned to my co-worker how bummed I was I couldn't find a Voltron toy for Cairo. He did a Google search and low and behold he found one. He sent me the link and I bought it right there and then. Voltron has arrived and is patiently waiting to surprise Cairo on Christmas morning. Of course I can't tell Cairo that so I've been playing along with his own search for Voltron. Here is him after day 1 of trying to find Voltron:

Day 2 didn't look any better:

He's given up for now....but I just can't wait for Christmas to get here!!! I believe I shall be retitled as the Bestest Queen Mom of the world after he opens that last present.

Safely Spooky

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 23:00:00 +0000

Our park district sponsors a yearly event called Safely Spooky. The idea is to give the kids and adults a safe place where they can hang out for Halloween. This was our first time participating in the event. I figured it would be a cool thing to do for Cairo and it would get us out of the house for a bit. I invited my sister-in-law and she joined us. When we got to the park the line to get into the park wrapped around the entire park. Look! Can you see the long ass line?? This park is huge, about the size of two neighborhood blocks and the line almost wrapped around the entire block!

I was a little concerned about Cairo, I wasn't sure if he was going to be freaked our or not. I spotted some guy with a mask a bloody machete making his way towards us so I told Cairo "hold my hand" and he goes "why" and I said "just remember it's all fake and not real", so he quickly grabbed my hand, just as the guy was a few feet away. I was glad the pretend murderer didn't yell at us. Cairo was calm and collected.

We decided to paint our faces like catrinas. Cairo too. He didn't have a costume, but we had tons of face paint. As we walked to the back of the line to get into the park people kept looking at us. I'm not sure if they were looking at us cuz they thought "oh cool!" or "cheap costume", either way I think it was cool. Although I wish the paint was better, the stuff we used was too oily and smeared easily. Here's Cairo, doesn't he look like he's having a good time?

Here are the two of us....yeah he's still having a good time.

So the idea is you walk through the park and they have spooky decorations all around. There were a doctor couple who were all bloodied up with organs in jars and body parts in hand. Some prisoner girl who wanted help getting out and this nifty inflatable organ player, it had a rotating dancing couple!!

All along the place there were stands were the kids could get candy, some stands gave out full size candy bars! Others gave you a piece of gum or starbursts bleh! It got dark kinda quick and eventually we got to a tent, which was supposed to be a haunted house type tent. Cairo refused to go in...he quickly started to back away. So he and I walked around it while Auntie went in on her own. I'm happy to say she survived it. Further down the road was a haunted grave yard and guess what? Yep, Cairo refused to go through it so this time Auntie walked around with Cairo while I went through the graveyard/maze alone. I made it out ok....or did I?

At the end of the whole thing they had 3 fogatas going. They were huge. Here's a pic of one, see how excited Cairo looks?

Aaaand here's a pic of Auntie....

Aaaaand here's a pic of me with Cairo.....OMG you can just see the excitement in this kids face.

I tried to get a good picture but the light from the fogata was just to strong.

Instead of going on a hay ride we sat to eat some burgers and hot chocolate!

AND we found Waldo!!!

All in all Cairo did have a good time, even though he was a party pooper in the pictures.

The customer is always right

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 02:43:00 +0000

You just gotta love Bernie Sanders. He's started this movement of moving your financial accounts from the big banks to smaller community banks or Credit Unions. The Washington Post recent posted an article about Credit Unions, it's pretty informational and has links to even more information. The idea is this, big banks like Bank of America are reporting major profits yet at the same time they are going to hit customers with monthly fees in the beginning of the coming year when their customers use their debit cards for purchases. That just sounds so cynical, I mean come on! It's a great example of how consumers are taken advantage of by big banks and no one seems to care. Big banks are interested in how much of your money they can take, they are basically taking a slice of your budget pie because they can.

I had a Bank of America checking and two savings accounts. I closed all of my accounts. I moved my checking services to a community bank in my area and I could not be happier. I opened online savings accounts that accumulate more interest than what I was getting with Bank of America. I would recommend for people to do the same. Imagine what would happen if everyone moved their financial business to local banks and credit unions? Imagine the impact that would make and message that would send to big corporations? They have been the boss for far too long and it is time to reclaim the old concept of the customer is always right.

I am a job creator

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 02:14:00 +0000

For a while now every one in the media or in the GOP have been referring to the job creators and how much they need tax breaks. They are referring to the big corporations who apparently need more incentives to keep their businesses in the U.S. to "create jobs" for Americans. The thing is that these "job creators" have been having tax breaks for many years now and even though some of these companies are claiming major profits like Bank of America there aren't many jobs being created and more people are in fact being laid off. Here's an example of what I mean.

If I had extra cash to spare, I'd buy Dunkin Donuts coffee every single day. If I had extra cash to spare we'd eat out at least once a week, pizza nights or something. I had extra cash I'd update my house by in updating the kitchen, the main bathroom, the half bath downstairs, I'd build a family room in the basement after installing a sump pump and having the gutters taken out of the drain, I'd furnish the new family room with a nice flat screen T.V. and furniture. If I had extra cash I'd take my family on a vacation every year, we'd go camping twice a year. If I had extra cash I'd buy healthier food from Whole Foods. If I had extra cash I'd buy my son cloths that fit right and buy new ones as he out grows them. If I had extra cash I'd upgrade my car to a more gas efficient one. If I had extra cash I'd buy every one in my family Christmas presents every year, nice ones at that. I think I alone would keep several people employed and quite possibly cause for a few others to get jobs. The more I think about what I'd do if I had extra cash in hand the more I think that the GOP and the media has got it all wrong. We are the job creators, the average people living average lives. If we had more money to spend, the more stability companies would have and the more employees they would need to meet the demand made by us the consumers. Why doesn't the GOP see that?

We're going to the Circus!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:37:00 +0000

Being the disorganized mother I am Cairo arrived late to his first Cub Scouts meeting this week, UGH I felt horrible, the kids were already finishing up working on their first patch. So to make it up to him we're going to the circus! Thanks to Cairo being a Tiger in the Cub Scouts we were offered a deal on Ringling Brothers tickets. $17 a ticket and there is a pre clinic where the kids can hang out with the circus peeps before the show, how sweet is that??

I had to put it on the credit card though. I don't have the cash for it now. As a bonus my cousin and her husband will be here visiting from Mexico and they will be joining us. I haven't seen them, or any of my family members, in 3 years. I'm looking forward to seeing them and talking to them. They will give me a better feel about moving to Monterrey and about getting a job down there, if it comes down to it.

Cairo and the Cub Scouts

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 23:00:00 +0000

This week Cairo and I went to a Cub Scout meet and greet event. It was pretty low key, just a few parents checking in and asking questions. It all seemed great. The kids get to do projects, work on badges and go to events. When I was reading the info and their oaths I have to admit that I was a little concerned at how much God plays a role in the Cub Scouts. Not so much because my views on God and religion are very different from most but because that is something, in my opinion, that should be handled at home. Even though I was a little reluctant, Cairo got signed up. I figure it's a good way to spend quality time with him and I know he's going to have fun, he'll make new friends. Plus after explaining to Cairo that the Cub Scouts are like the boy version of the Fire Site Girls, well there was no turning back!

I'm really looking forward to the weekly meetings. I think Cairo is going to enjoy being a cub scout and I really like the idea of having this time that is just "Cairo time". I'll be able to focus entirely on him, what he's doing and working on stuff together. At home, even though we do do stuff like watch movies and pop popcorn or go on walks or go to the park on the weekends we really don't do much during the week. It's always a rush rush thing. We rush home after work/school, we do home work, he watches T.V. while I wash dishes and/or do some laundry. Then it's shower time for him then bedtime. What saves me a a ton of time is the fact that we usually have dinner at my moms during the week. Since she picks him up after school for me it's just easier to give in to her offerings of some good Mexican cooking.

Our meetings are Monday nights so they won't get in the way of therapy on Tuesdays and we have our first fundraiser! We are selling popcorn! Can you say YUM? Wish us luck!!

Looking for a second job

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 23:00:00 +0000

As crazy as it sounds I am now looking for a second job. What I currently make at my full time job, although is ok, is not quite cutting my families current needs. I was very reluctant on making this decision. Cairo needs me but I need for us to be able to survive, this requires extra moolah. Kids need stuff, you know like cloths, food, hair cuts, the occasional toy and what I make now doesn't cover those needs. Shoot, it doesn't cover those needs for myself either. I've waited long enough and I can no longer ask my family to help me when they need help themselves. Right now is probably the best time to do so. The holiday season is upon us and you'd think that every one would be hiring for it.

I've enjoyed spending time with my son on the weekends. It's just the two of us until Jose get's back. The weekends are like a breath of fresh air. No one criticizing me or trying to take away my role as Cairos mom. If Cairo wants to go to the park we go, we watch movies and eat what we want. No one meddles in my parenting and Cairo is free to run and play. All that's missing is Jose, but hopefully that will be fixed soon.

I've debated on how truthful I should be on my applications. I'm curious of they see that I currently have a full time job if they will over look me to give someone with no job a better chance, I probably would. Should I put my current salary? I'm afraid I'll look an Scrooge, you would think with what I make I can pull off all our needs. Sure I can, but just the bare minimum....

Sorry kid, deal with the holes in your shoes.

Hey I got free AC in my jeans!

Sorry bud, we can't eat out...EVER.

Birthday party? Out where? I think not.

Make that hair cut super short, it's got last till after winter.

You see what I mean? Sure we have a small roof over our heads and some food to eat but that's about it. God forbid one of us get's sick, paying that co-pay may mess us up for the rest of the month, especially if we need some sort of prescription meds. The sad part is that I'm probably doing a lot better than most right now. There are so many people who don't have jobs and/or don't have a place to sleep. It shouldn't be this way.

Oh well, I'm on the search for a second job. So far I've applied at Michaels and Menards and I checked UPS but they are only hiring people for during the day. So far no one has called me back. I have a feeling this is going to be a long process and the fact that I already have a job isn't going to help me much.

America....the Great?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:00:00 +0000

The 10th anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks just passed and everyone all over has a aura about them. Talking about how wonderful our country is and how much they love their country. You'll see proud Americans cheering as the national anthem is sung with pride all over T.V. and YouTube. What does it mean to be proud of your country? Is America really a "great and wonderful nation"? I was born in this country but I'm also first a generation Mexican-American, yet for some reason seeing all these "proud Americans" gives me a sick feeling in my stomach. I know it sounds very Un-American and I hate to say it but I don't feel as proud to be American as these people whooping and hollering on T.V. seem to be.

What makes America a great nation? I tried googling it and found several pages. Every single page talks about how great America is for business, entertainment, sports etc... Is that what defines being a great nation? Big businesses and corporations can make big money here. Hollywood makes the best damn movies seen all over the world. Athletes can make millions by playing pro sports. This is what makes our country great?

I've had it in my head that what should make a country great is defined by how the country treats it's citizens. Their education, poverty level, culture, over all health...etc. I look at my life looking to see how America has benefited my specific life. I went to a private school K-5th grade...that was all my parents hard earned money that did that. I did go to public school 6th grade through high school, which is paid out of my parents property taxes, with some help. I went to college and a large University, paid in full by my parents, myself and husband. The only time I asked for government help was when I was pregnant with my son. We didn't have health insurance, I wasn't working and we were barely making it on my husbands income. My sister-in-law made me apply. It was the worst feeling ever needing to apply for public aid. I kept feeling I was taking something away from someone else. There were more people in more need than me and as soon as I got a full time job with benefits, thanks to a friends referral, I stopped getting the help. Everything my family has, has been earned with hard work, sweat and tears. It was not given to us.

Perhaps it is all about perspective. For those who can afford health care and a great education for their children this is indeed a great nation. They do not feel the impact of the failed economy. Those families have the world as their playground and do not know what it is like to suffer or be hungry. They are even above the laws imposed on every one else, they can afford really good attorneys after all.

From what I can tell, for the rest of us America has one of the worst school systems in the world. Our health care is just about as bad. Many citizens live in poverty. A small percent of wealthy citizens control most of the nations money. We have a small percent of the worlds population but the highest that are in prisons. Our history started with righteousness and genocide. Racism, bigotry and intolerance is thriving. Hate and violence is defended by religious text. As big corporations make millions and billions in profits every year while we have starving children and people losing their homes. If politicians have their way we will become a very segregated country where education and our freedom will differ all over the country. I will say that we are one of the safest countries in the world, but quite frankly I attribute that to the fact that we only have two neighbors and we are half way around the world from countries that hate us. Laws are made to suppress and imprison as many people as possible to give the illusion of safety to the wealthy and naive.

I used to think America was a great nation but now after all that it's doing to separate my family, kill the economy, eliminate the middle class, and imprison minorities...sorry if I don't feel so patriotic.

Guards arrest that girl!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 23:00:00 +0000

This morning was an emotional one. As I'm driving Cairo to school all he could talk about was his dad. That in itself was difficult to deal with but then we got to the school yard.

Usually I let Cairo mingle with his classmates while they wait for their teacher. I stand in front of the line while he goes off and talks with his little friends. Today though one moment he was with a small group of kids then I didn't see him anymore. I started to walk down the line looking at every child to find him. It didn't take long, he was in the front of the line with his head down. I crouched down and asked him what was wrong. He had tears rolling down his cheeks then he just buried himself in my arms. I asked him:

"What happened pappi??"

He didn't respond and I asked him again.

Then he responded "She yelled at me".

I immediately thought "Who was the bitch that yelled at my baby?!?!?", so I asked "Who did pappi?".

"The girl over there" I turned and wanted to growl like lioness protecting her cub, it was another first grader, so I held back the growl.

"What did she say to you?"

"She said to get in line"

Of course, I relaxed at this but my instinct was to yell out "Guards arrest that girl!!"

I held my cuddly cub until his teacher came out. She asked what had happened so I explained. Cairo had tears just rolling down his cheeks and was holding on to me. I'm sure he was upset but now he was also embarrassed. Even the teachers heart broke, she asked him if he wanted to go with her while holding out her hand. He said yes and took it.

I did my best to explain to him that some kids just want to be bosses and tell other kids what to do but all we can do is ignore them and we shouldn't let them get to us. That's easier said than done. Cairo is not one for confrontations, he can't handle them and I can't handle having little monkeys, that barely learned how to wipe their own butts, pushing him around. What is a parent to do?

Transformers Cake!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 20:29:00 +0000

Cairo's birthday was earlier this week. My chunka munka turned 6 and even though Jose is not here right now we tried to not bring the birthday boy down. My brother in law offered to have a cook out for Cairo at his home and how could I say no? I said sure, but I'm bringing the cake. So I made Cairos birthday cake and here is how it went.

I didn't take pictures of the process of baking the cake because quite frankly I'm not that talented to bake a cake made from scratch. I bought a couple boxes of Duncan Hines French Vanilla Cake Mix and just followed the instructions.

Here is the bottom layer of the cake with the well:

I filled the well with cream cheese frosting. It's basically whipped cream cheese with sugar:

Added the top layer and ready to frost:

Finished frosting. Normally I would be upset about the crumbs but since this cake is getting Transformed I didn't care all too much. I think I need to find some other none stick spray or some other way of lining the pans. I keep getting this thin cake skin that comes off and makes the cake crumbly when I frost it:

The last few times I've made cakes (I'll post pictures later) I've colored the frosting. This time I left it white because I decided to try Duff's Cake Graffiti I used the blue and silver. I really liked the silver, it's totally metallic, I want to make a car cake or something. This is how it turned out:

I made some buildings out of the extra cake batter, I colored them a gray color. They looked purple in the kitchen but when I brought them out into the sunlight they were really gray:

I figured the buildings needed some windows, doors and green foliage and I added the "Happy Birthday Cairo!". I tried to make the letters look Transformery and they kinda grew as I wrote them but I'm ok with how they came out:

I made some blue frosting for the swirlys at the bottom:

Cairo wanted stars lining the top:

I bought some transformers to add as toppers and wah-lah!! :

We tore into that cake, you can kinda see the cream cheese filling:

Cairo seemed to have liked it very much, check out his new Mohawk hair cut:

I was really nervous about making this cake, but I'm really glad I did. Cairo really liked it. The height of the cake prevented me from covering it while it was in the fridge. I thought the frosting was going to dry out and get hard but I was pleasantly surprised, it was soft and the cake was still moist also...double bonus! Next time I will make a larger cake. This cake was enough for 9 adults and 4 kids, I'm glad there was enough for every one, it was a pretty close call though.

Conversations with a 5 year old

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:00:00 +0000

On our way to a friends house:

Cairo: Mom, where are we going?
Me: Bertins house.
Cairo: Oh. *pause* Do you even know how to get to Adans house?
Me: Um...no. We're not going to Adans house.
Cairo: Whose Adan?

I turn and look at my sister-in-law in the passenger side:
Me: Did that just happen?
Sis: Yes.

***
An hour and a half after breakfast:

Cairo: Now can I have something to eat?
Me: You can have a granola bar from the pantry.

He pitter patters to the pantry.

Cairo: I can't see it!!!!
Me: What do you mean you can't see it?
Cairo: I can't see it cuz I don't want it!!!

We give each other a long look.

Cairo: Can I have one of those? *Pointing to my attain bars*
Me: No.
Cairo: What are they for?
Me: They make your pansity feel full so you don't eat later.

He looks at me like "why wouldn't you want to eat later?", head tilt and every thing.

Cairo: Can I have chocolate?

***

Driving to an appointment:

Cairo: Mom am I a part of you?
Me: Yes a part of me and papi.
Cairo: Oh I get it! So when you die you will keep living in me because I am a part of you and you are a part of me!
Me: Umm yeah that's a good way of looking at it.

This was one of those jaw dropping moments where I didn't know what to say but was shocked at the words coming out his mouth.

Rare Visitors

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0000

We got some visitors at my dads house. Let's just say they're related somehow and depending on what the future holds, I'll reveal how they're related. They...let's call them Kit and Kat...came over during the day on a Friday. It just so happens I was there because of some crazy stomach virus, my brother was there because he had the day off and my sister-in-law was there cuz she needed to use the computer. Everyone was there, my parents, us and Cairo. I'm not sure that they wanted to see us all considering the timing but we were all there none the less,on the defensive and speculations were flying like bees in a flower garden.

"What do you think they want?"

"You think they want money"

"It's just weird after all this time"

"It's just them two?"

"Maybe someone died?"

It turned out to be a pleasant experience....until we got into politics AND religion. I could tell that both were very Christian but I was not quite sure what branch they fell under. Still don't know but I smelled fundi and I didn't like it.

Let me make it clear, I'm all about tolerance and productive dialogue. I have no problem with sharing notes and comments and being all peaceful but as long as I don't try to convert you and you don't try to convert me, we'll get along just dandy! These ladies were not into converting but they were into some weird stuff, in my opinion. We started with politics....generally agreeing with each other I'd say about 80-90% of the time but then the comment was made how children should be allowed to pray in school when they wanted to and that the word "God" should be kept in the pledge of allegiance and part of the oath people need to take in court.

I believe in God, but that doesn't mean every one does. Plus, my views of God may be very different than others and I'm ok with that. I'm not ok, on the other hand, with people telling me what view of God I should have and that Religion needs to part of our government. Sorry, but I agree with the separation of church and state. No religion has any right to mess with our laws and our laws has no business messing with peoples right to their own faith.

Needless to say the discussion got heated. They stated how it's because of Jesus Christ that we have Easter and Christmas. (really? It's not because Christians made up holidays around pagan holidays to easily convert pagans to Christianity?) What blew mind was when one said "I know some people with money and they're Jewish, you know not even American"....WTH??? Not only were they ignorant of other religions but I was surprised at the their ignorance of their own religion. It was at this point that I decided to shut my mouth because I knew there would be a lynching. Then one said, you should never talk about religion or politics at a party. Over all we peacefully said our good byes with hugs, but I'd be surprised if they came around again any time soon. The whole time everyone else watched, it was me and them and even though my dad tried to get into the conversation his knowledge is narrow and limited and kept him on the side lines.

Looking back I think I should have said what I thought, like" you can be Jewish and American! Jesus was a Jew!" "Those holidays have pagan roots and have nothing to do with Jesus!" "If I knew I was going to die tomorrow I would not become wicked and go on a killing spree!" Yes, the last thing they said was God doesn't let us know when we're going to die because if he did we'd all give in to our wickedness and sin then ask for forgiveness the day before.

Till next time, I suppose.

Baby Lightening Bug!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 03:06:00 +0000

I found this cute little thing on my door I just had to share:

You probably can't tell by looking at it but it's super small, about a third the size of a full grown lighting bug.

Americas middle class doomed

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 23:00:00 +0000

This article got my attention, it basically states that the U.S. middle class is systematically being eliminated. This is of no surprise to some but I feel that most Americans in the U.S. are in denial to what is happening to them. The last time I took the train in to work I had this weird feeling of being part of a herd of cattle. Seriously there were easily 50 people getting off the train and we were funneling ourselves up the stairs to reach street level so we can all hurry to our jobs. Granted maybe some were not going to work but I'm sure a large part of us were.

The rich get richer while the poor get poorer...it's the story of the peoples lives in the states. People risk their lives to come here for the "American Dream", that dream they are longing for is not for everyone. The working class has to work, we have no choice about it. If we don't work then we don't survive and our children don't survive. We our bound by our need to get food on the table a roof over our heads and the desire to give our children more than what we had. Our homes are owed to banks and our childrens education depends on how much we can promise to pay back. The corporations we work for get richer while we barely make ends meet much less accomplish financial freedom. As we work to pay for what we need we are also required to work for a period of years or until a certain age before we can "retire". When we are finally able to retire we are too tired and can't afford to do much with our new found free time. We are essentially self supported slaves. Freedom, peace of mind and the "American Dream" is for the rich not the rest of us.

Let's face it, big corporations only care about themselves and the bottom line. They don't care about their employees or their families, as long as the labor is cheap it means more money for them. It sucks really. We have no say, or do we? They say that every time we make a purchase it is essentially a vote. If that is the case then I'm voting American. By American I mean the continent not just the U.S. of A. I'll admit I try hard to only by American or Mexican when I go to the grocery store. If the fruit or vegetable comes from another continent, I'm not buying and I try to buy local. There was a time I needed garlic but all they had was garlic from CHINA (yup China), so I didn't buy garlic. I waited and waited and waited. I waited a couple months, then I got sick and really needed that garlic...so I gave in an bought China grown garlic. When it comes to other products though. It's super hard to do. This weekend was my first attempt to buy an American made gift for a birthday party. Almost every single item of clothing at target is made in Indonesia or Malaysia. Every single toy I grabbed was made in China. I got excited when I saw a shirt made in Mexico but it didn't have a tag and it was only one piece of clothing. I had to give in, toy made in China it is.

I honestly think that if we want to keep our economy going and we want to help the Americas we need to start demanding that we want American made products. I would much rather buy something that was made/grown on the same continent as were I live than from across the world. So I'm going to make an honest effort to do this. I don't know how well this is going to go but I'm gonna try. My first choice is made in the U.S.A., second will be hecho en Mexico third will be any country on our side of the world. If I were living in Mexico I think I would do the same thing. Buy Mexican first then American. If we all tried to do that wouldn't that demand change? Wouldn't corporations have no choice but to start producing closer to home? Wouldn't that help the economy in the U.S and Mexico? Wouldn't making Mexicos economy better create more jobs and lessening the need for dangerous migration to the U.S.? If people had better options would they seek violent jobs with the cartels? I would hope not.

I believe that people are willing to do the right thing if it's in their grasp. I would like to think that these people joining violent groups for the good pay would rather do honest work. The Cartels pay well, the highest start pay I read was 48,000 pesos a month, that's almost 4,400 dollars a month. That's a lot of money even in the U.S.

OMG SPIDERS!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 02:12:00 +0000

I have to admit it, I'm scared of creepy crawlys..... especially the eight legged variety. They really freak me out. Since we've been in the house I've seen easily 4 or 5 different kinds of spiders eeekk!!!!

My dad was nice enough to buy me some veneno to spray all over the place. I had postponed it because it's been raining. Well last night I found an ant search party on my kitchen counter and I had no choice but to open fire on them. I kinda got a little out of control and started spraying in the basement O.o That was a BIG mistake. Spiders came out of no where!

I shrieked.

I sprayed.

I ran.

In the morning I checked to see if there were any casualties, all I saw was a few clumps of dark mass. No I didn't take any pictures, I was too busy watching my back. I made an executive decision. I will seek a professional or ask someone to finish off the spray, and by someone I mean my dad or my sister-in-law, because lord knows my brother, although physically a giant is a chicken when it comes to bugs.

Local Rep BS

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 14:00:00 +0000

My local rep is a Republican, his name is Dan Lipinski. For once I thought I'm going to contact this guy and voice my opinion about two things: 1. Drug Regulation and 2. Immigration

I sent two different notes on his handy dandy, send Lipiniski a message form found on his site. The first was for drug regulation....I selected I wanted a response. Minutes later I got a response:

"Dear Friend:

Thank you for contacting me regarding federal restrictions on the use of marijuana. I appreciate hearing your views on this issue.

As you may know, the federal government currently classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, meaning that it currently has no accepted medical use in the United States, is highly addictive, and lacks required safety standards. In recent years, however, many have revisited the controversial subject of legalizing marijuana. Today, a number of states permit the medical use of marijuana, and more states are looking into adopting similar laws. In addition, several pieces of legislation have been introduced in the U.S. Congress seeking to legalize medical marijuana. These bills argue that marijuana use should not be under the jurisdiction of the federal government, and instead should be determined by individual state governments.

I believe we should certainly do more to help those suffering from devastating illnesses such as AIDS and cancer. However, I am reluctant to support the legalization of marijuana without stringent regulations on its distribution and use. Marijuana can be a harmful drug, especially when used by young people, and proper enforcement mechanisms would have to be enacted in any loosening of marijuana laws.

I understand your concerns and appreciate your insights. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future regarding this or any other matter of concern. Additionally, I invite you to visit my website at www.lipinski.house.gov to learn more about my work at home and in Washington as well as to sign up for E-newsletters.

Sincerely,

DANIEL W. LIPINSKI
Member of Congress"

In my second note, which described what my family is going through with immigration and all, I stated that I would like for him to support immigration reform of course has not gotten a response.....Interesting.