Life in California

New Year

2012-01-01T19:22:00.000-08:00

So here it is... 2012! Another new year is on us. 2011 flew by so fast. Hopefully, 2012 is a good year. Not really believe in 12/21/12... but we'll see as my husband does believe 2012 will bring many earth changes... but I refuse to believe that and I'm going to live 2012 the best I can.

I'm actually glad Christmas is over too... now, I can breathe and things are coming back to normal. Kids return to school on the 3rd. I'm still unemployed and with a POS of a car. I want to work and earn my own money and with that I would be able to get a brand new car of my choice... not to mention to help pay some bills around the house and not leave all this weight on my husband. The only thing is finding that "perfect" job that will give me the opportunity to work in their company after 11 years of not being in the work world. I think, it's time to find a job and work while my kids are in school.

Well, on December 29th, my oldest turned 11 years old... can't believe how big he is now and soon he will be a teenager! Kids grow so fast and too quick. Then, my youngest one will be 8 years old in June 12th... sigh!

Not much to write. Going to watch "Drugs Inc" on National Geographic... very interesting show. Love it!

Well, hope whoever stops here and read this blog had a great New Year's Eve celebration and wishing you the best in 2012.

Rainbow pancakes

2011-07-13T14:42:00.000-07:00

Well, today I decided to make these "rainbow" pancakes for my kiddos this morning which ended up in a big success. I try to make breakfast fun at times and this was a great idea.

Another tooth out

2011-06-02T19:51:00.000-07:00

Finally, today my 6y/o lost his upper right central tooth. Now, this was a problem because his permanent tooth was coming out but since his baby tooth was still there, it was coming out behind his baby tooth. Big relief that he pulled his tooth out by himself because I was going to take him to the dentist so that he could take that tooth out. I don't know if that tooth is going to be straighten by itself or if my poor boy will need braces? My oldest had a crooked tooth but now it's all straight... hopefully this is the same for my 6y/o.

In another note, I can't believe we're in June already! Time flies! My baby will be turning 7 on June 12th... he told me he wants me to bake him a chocolate cake and to get him balloons. With the balloons, I'm thinking in getting him 7 helium balloons... one that says happy birthday and 6 normal balloons (dark and light green because that's his favorite color). I can't wait for his birthday. I love to celebrate my kids' birthdays.

Also, on the 28th, my mom told me there's going to be a mass dedicated for my aunt Margarita that's going to be 1 year since she passed away from pancreatic cancer. I so hope I'm able to attend because it's going to be like a family reunion. My cousins are coming and one of them I haven't seen her in years that I would like to see her again... when I was in high school, she was the one that I hang out with and we did a lot of bad things LOL... aaah memories. Bad part is that I'm noticing that my car is starting to heat up again and that's very very bad... I'm actually afraid if it heats up again when I'm making line to cross over to the US. Bummer! Wish I have a new car :(.

Can a Saturday be quite boring?

2011-05-07T15:49:00.001-07:00

My answer to that question is... YES! I'm bored out of my mind right now that I'm beginning to feel S-L-E-E-P-Y!... but, no time to take a nap. I'm not used to take naps during the day and I know once I lay on the bed or sofa I won't go to sleep.

Well, earlier wasn't a boring day. The kids and I had a blast having a water balloon fight... we all got soaked... but damn!... my finger hurts because I tied a lot of water balloons LOL. Fun times! But now, I'm bored to death!

Even my writing is boring LOL.

Last day of Winter Vacation

2011-01-02T20:28:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow, school resumes. Winter vacation is over... and I don't know to either be happy or sad. My hubby is returning to work on Tuesday the 4th. Seth does want to return to school but Joel doesn't. I hope Joel doesn't start saying his stomach is hurting in the morning because that's usually what he does when he's back to school after any vacation. Hopefully, everything goes well tomorrow.

Well, it's 8:39pm... Sunday night... and it's freakin' cold!! Fireplace is on but still I'm here in the kitchen writing this on my computer. I'm thinking in going to bed early as I have to get up early tomorrow to make breakfast and get the kids ready for school. We live a little farther from the schools now than before so it's going to take an extra 5 minutes to be in time... so, I have to leave between 8:30-8:35am so that Joel will be in time and not late. I also have to go to the laundromat after dropping the kids at school... ugh! I just can't wait until we are able to get a washer/dryer and do the laundry at home!!

So, I started "A Picture A Day Project" on the 1st... still is the 2nd day but it's kinda fun. I'm posting my pictures on another blog in Blogger (here). I probably do a little description of the picture, what's on my mind, what's happening, etc. Still not sure how that project will go.

I'm cold!! It's 46°F right now @ 8:40pm in Southern California.

1/1/11

2011-01-01T17:28:00.000-08:00

We are all settled down in our new home. We spent Christmas in our new home. It's a good feeling to be living in a house (finally!)... the only bad thing is that this home is very very COLD!! It's 5:30pm and I'm freezing myself. I was used to be barefoot at our previous place and even in shorts in the Winter time but not in here. Now, I'm always wearing either jeans or warm pants... shoes or my warm slippers... and always socks!! We are using the fireplace every single day/night to stay warm and not turn on the furnace (as it's gas)... but in all, we are happy here. I still prefer this weather of cold instead of Summer temperatures above 90's.

Yesterday was my birthday. We didn't do much on New Year's Eve/my birthday. We stayed home. I did went to the grocery store and to get my free birthday drink at Starbucks... but that's about it. We watched Ghost Adventures as the Travel Channel had a marathon and that was a good thing (for me because I'm a huge fan of the GAC LOL!). Going out wasn't an option as it was extremely cold and none of us felt like going out in the cold with kids. Staying home and being warm and comfy was more tempting.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!!

We are moving!

2010-12-04T17:23:00.000-08:00

I should record from now until our moving day. Yes, we are finally moving out after living in this apartment for almost five years. Why we are moving? We are moving into a house... it's a 2-story home with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 car garage, fireplace, huge living room (compared to here), backyard and in a nice neighborhood. We began packing since last week little by little. We still have quite a bit to pack still but it's ok because the moving day will be on December 17th... so we still have 14 days until moving day.

What to do?

2010-10-25T09:53:00.001-07:00

I am undecided. Some time ago, I was thinking in getting a Droid phone and get into the Droid world. Currently, I own an iPhone and I'm with AT&T. The phone that I want is on Sprint network so if I get that Droid, I must ditch AT&T. My worry is that AT&T is a good network and I've never had any problems with it. What if Sprint is not as good as AT&T? What if I'm not happy? Ugh!

The other thing is that that Droid phone I want will cost me around $250 + tax. A new iPod Touch is even less expensive than that Droid phone. I would LOVE to get that new iPod Touch (around $220). I just don't know what to do here. I am happy with AT&T and my iPhone but Sprint is less expensive and I love their unlimited everything for less money a month.

I'll guess, We'll see what I'll end up doing in this week (or next week).

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

You are on Twitter to much!

2010-10-20T18:58:00.000-07:00

I had a funny dream last night. Well, I wouldn’t call it “funny” as it wasn’t really funny but actually interesting. I’m a big fan of Ghost Adventures so my dream had to do with Zak Bagans. Zak came to visit me and I was so excited and I remember I wanted to update my Twitter about Zak visiting me and maybe post a picture or two. I realized, I spend a lot of time on Twitter daily that I dream about updating my Twitter in my dream LOL.

Is this really homework?

2010-09-22T17:20:00.000-07:00

So, I have a 6 yr old that's in Kindergarten this school year... but, I don't like this system his teacher has for homework. Where are the practice letters in the alphabet? Where are the number practices? Where are the sight words practices? Where is the reading everyday for 20 minutes with your child spot? I think his EAK teacher had better homework... he got a packet of what he needed to practice for that week on a Monday and that homework packet was turned in every Friday morning in EAK.

In Kindergarten this year, we got this one paper (double sided)... in one side has some things we can pick and do them and just marked them down as "homework"... looks like a September calendar. We have to turn in this "homework/paper" the last school day of September. I mean, come on!!... "helping make the table before dinner" I don't consider homework type. "Writing only his name" I don't consider homework. I might buy a Kindergarten workbook at Costco and work with him instead. This is frustrating because I can't see him learning important stuff at home with his homework or practicing what he's learning in class. Then, on the other side are four questions... two to ask the child which activity did he enjoyed and why. And, two for the parent to tell which activity the child needed the most help and which one did the child enjoyed the most.

I must add that even my 9 yr old when he was in Kindergarten (same school but different teacher) had REAL and better homework than this. I don't know if this homework system is going to change or stay the same through out the school year. Tomorrow (9/23) is Back to School Night for Kindergarten so I'll see what his teacher has to say. I'm wondering if other parents are in the same boat as I am.

My tongue pierced experience

2010-09-21T11:29:00.000-07:00

Other than my ears, I don’t have anything pierced. I always wanted my tongue pierced, lip, and/or eyebrow. On Monday, September 13, 2010, I decided to go to a Tattoo Piercing place and do it… get my tongue pierced. I searched a place with a good reputation and good piercers until I finally found one.

I won’t lie, I was VERY excited but at the same time I was nervous as hell. The shop looked kinda empty with one tattoo artist and one piercer. There were three girls in front of me (as it was first come first serve thing) so the tattoo guy told me there was like a 15 minutes wait after it could be my turn. I began to fill up some paperwork as you have to be over 18 and show some ID before hand.

One of the girls before me was having her belly button pierced. I thought the three girls were together because they were in the piercer’s room but apparently they weren’t and only the last two girls were together as they were sisters. When one of the girls left, another girl sat on the bed (she was getting her tongue pierced too). I was very nervous that I was walking around the shop but I couldn’t concentrate on one thing nor to calm myself down LOL. The other girl was talking on the phone and checking her sister that was sitting on the bed… she then asked me what was I getting and I told her a tongue piercing. Then she told me, come on in so you can see what you’re getting yourself into LOL. I got behind the counter and into that little room and sat on the stool that was there. Man, the girl that was getting her tongue pierced was extremely nervous, afraid, and got a panic attack. The piercer tried to calm her down but her sister was laughing so much and telling her it wasn’t going to hurt that much. I asked her if she was getting one too but she already had her tongue pierced a week before. I asked her several questions LOL. I was nervous!!

The guy that was doing the piercing was very cool and down to earth… and he was cute too. The girl was ready for her tongue pierced but apparently she was having second thoughts LOL… until her sister changed her mind. Time for the poke! When that needle passed through the girl’s tongue, a HUGE scream and tears came out of her. Man, by that point I started to be MORE nervous but I still wanted this piercing done. I couldn’t believe this girl was screaming so loud. I wasn’t laughing!!… but her sister and the piercer were laughing LOL. Afterwards, she couldn’t talk nor shallow LMAO. Her sister asked her if she wanted to stay and see it done to me so she could feel better but she just wanted to leave and kill her sister for making her do it LOL. It was over for her.

For me, it was just starting. I was very shaken and nervous when I sat on that bed. They guy began to tell me that it’s not THAT bad. He was getting the things ready and I was getting more nervous. I was texting one of my friends to see if I could calm myself a little but didn’t worked LOL. It was time!! I took some Listerine to rinse my mouth, spit it out… the guy cleaned my tongue with a paper towel… then he marked “the spot” on my tongue and told me to close my mouth and swallow. Saw the freakin needle that was gonna do the work and Oi!!!! Guy told me to stick out my tongue… by the way he told me I have a long tongue LOL which is good because it was gonna be more to the inside than usual and it’s less painful. Oh boy… did he said “less painful?” We were ready!! Told me to take a big breath in and then out… THEN he passed that needle through my tongue. I have to say that IT DIDN’T HURT!!! That girl really really exagerated with the tears and her screams… totally!! It was a very quick procedure. I didn’t screamed, nor closed my eyes, nor jumped. The piercing was perfect!! I was very happy afterwards. Also, because of my long tongue, the balls on the bar aren’t close to my teeth… I have to stick out my tongue in order for the top ball to hit my teeth… so I guess that’s a good thing as I heard you can crack some of your teeth.

Now, the only bad thing was the day after. My tongue got swollen and it was extremely sore/painful from the bottom (he did it from the bottom up not top to bottom). Eating was painful so I basically chewed on ice, drank lots of iced water, soups and anything soft or liquid. I stayed away from cheese (as it has bacteria) and spicy food. I didn’t wanted to end up with an infected tongue afterwards so I followed the rules. I brushed my teeth after every little thing I ate and rinsed my mouth with mouthwash… I also used sea salt water to rinse.

After the 3rd day, I could feel my tongue was getting better because the soreness was getting less and I could eat a little more of other things. Today is the 6th day after I’ve got my tongue pierced and it’s back to it’s normal feeling. I’m starting to get used to having the bar in my tongue and to eat normal and anything. I also was able to brush my tongue on the 4th day (if I don’t brush my tongue, I feel like my mouth is dirty).

I had a very good experience in getting my tongue pierced. If someone is thinking in doing this, go to a place where they are professionals and have a very good reputation. I would probably go again there to get my lower lip pierced on the side. I’ve seen places where they don’t do a good job and you end up with damaged nerves in your tongue or the bar won’t go in the hole, etc.

I’m happy to say that I’m officially tongue pierced!

Test

2010-02-02T14:29:00.000-08:00

This is a test. Got this App and I'm trying it out. Just here in the car waiting for Joel to get out of school... almost. I stopped at Albertsons to recycle some bags and I bought ice cream sandwiches for Seth and myself while we wait for Joel.

Well, today I didn't volunteered in Seth's class but I will this Friday.

What else is there to write? Oh, I ordered myself a GAC hoodie yesterday!! I can't wait to wear it and show my GAC support!

Valentine's Day is getting closer and I can't believe we are in February already! Next thing we'll know, we'll be in the month of June!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sickness Continues

2010-01-21T11:01:00.000-08:00

Oh boy! Joel didn't dodged Seth's bug because he's now sick. Yesterday, he began with a stuffy nose and sneezing. Today, he's puking. I don't understand why this child of mine pukes when he gets a cold/flu. I mean, Seth puked several times too but not like Joel is doing. Also, my hubby is sick too... same stuff... stuffy nose and coughing. So my hubby didn't went to work today and Joel didn't went to school. The only one that went to school was Seth. I am doing ok and hopefully I don't get sick and catch what they are having. I hate being sick and even worst... I hate when my kids get sick. I hope it passes quickly for Joel (and of course, my hubby).

In other news, I finally got my volunteering days and times at Seth's class. I want to be involve in Seth's classroom so I applied to be a Room Parent to help Seth's teacher. So, my days are gonna be Fridays and Tuesdays from 9am to 12pm.

Today's been raining. The 4th storm is passing us right now... lots of wind, rain and even some tornado warnings. Here in Southern California we don't get this much rain... not even in the whole year. We need this rain though. I love the rain and I rather have cold/chilly and rainy days over temperatures above the 95°F.

Sick Sick and Sickness

2010-01-16T08:26:00.000-08:00

Once children start school, they will be sharing lots of germs/viruses and sooner or later they will get sick... sometimes, it will be a simple cold and other times will be a nasty virus that will bring high temperatures, vomiting and diarrhea which is NOT pretty at all and we as parents suffer even more than our kids. Not to mention that we have to be aware of the H1N1 out there too.

My little one, Seth, just started going to school for the very first time on January 4th, 2010... an EAK (early admission to kindergarten) Program. Which is pretty much like Pre-school. Anyway, right now, Seth is sick. On Thursday, he skipped school because I thought it was good for him to stay home instead. He wasn't THAT bad on Thursday so we decided he could return to school on Friday. I also volunteered on Friday for around 3 hrs or so and it was an enjoyable time for me because I met other moms... that was fun and I'm looking forward to do it again. Anyway, last night my poor Seth was having a horrible night... coughing, runny nose, fever and at times some vomiting which was a result for not spitting the phlegms out (I think). His cough was very bad because he was coughing over and over again that no cough syrup was helping at all and he had a fever too. I know that he caught this bug from school because on Friday his teacher told me several kids were coughing just like Seth... so this bug was going around. Now the questions are: is Joel going to get this bug too? If so, when? Could it be possible that Joel could dodge this bug instead?

I really HATE when my kids get sick like this. This is the only thing I hate about public schools... THE GERMS!! But hey, it's life... right? We can't keep our kids in a bubble at home because I think their Immune System needs to build up defenses.

I just hope Joel can skip this bug and not get sick. We'll see what happens. I'm actually making notes and I want to see how many times my kids get sick... so far, this is the 1st sickness for Seth of 2010.

Home and back to "normal"

2009-09-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

Finally on September 26th, Joel got discharged from Children's Hospital. No more hospital. No more sleeping in the hospital. No more McDonald's. No more IV on Joel. I am so thankful that this experience is OVER! Thank you God!! Joel is doing wonderful now. I think (besides the pain of the surgery) Joel's 2nd issue was the IV stuck on his arm and that hurt him while moving. Doctor's orders were to walk walk walk the next day after surgery. Joel gave me so much trouble every morning because he didn't want to get up and walk around. There were three important things the Doctor looks in a patient right before they let them go home... 1)Walk around, 2)No Fever and 3)Appetite. Obviously, the walking and the appetite for Joel were a little hard but at the end he worked on them and passed. When we got home, you could see a difference in Joel... he could move around more freely and he could get on and off his bed so much easier than in the hospital. Now, he was able to laugh a little more without feeling pain.

Today, September 29th, Joel returned to school. Of course, there are some important things Joel needs to avoid for 3-6 weeks and those are strenuous activities such as rough play, bicycle/skateboarding riding, contact sports, and P.E. Talked to the school and his teacher about them and they even made copies of those instructions so that they are aware of it. I'm glad that little by little things are coming back to normal. On October 7th, I'll be taking Joel to his Follow-Up appointment in the afternoon and for the doctor to take off the tapes he has on his tummy (hopefully, it's not too painful for Joel).

My overall view of Children's Hospital

I think Children's Hospital is a really nice hospital for kids. I didn't had a bad experience while I was there. All the nurses and the volunteers were there to help the parents and for the parents to be comfortable while staying there. On Friday (which it was a little late for me), a volunteer came by our room to let me know about some programs the hospital have and mostly was about The Ronald McDonald's House (which is just across the street from the hospital and above the parking lot). That Friday night, I went for Free Dinner at that house. I couldn't believe how beautiful that place is. They have 40 rooms for parents that can't afford hotel while their child is in the hospital and they provide all the necessities for the parents... food, showers, laundry room, etc. and free of charge. I think that is wonderful!! Also, another thing I would've loved to know was that the hospital (and that was in the same floor and close to Joel's room) has a shower place for parents... they just had to ask for towels but you must bring your own shampoo, conditioner, etc. Bummer! I went home to take a shower and knowing that would've saved time and gas.

Also, this hospital is great for kids. There are tons of things for the kids to keep them busy while in the hospital. Joel had his own Wii system and that thing had a lot of games... and besides that, he could watch movies. Bad part was that the room we were in didn't had a tv hooked to cable so we watched movies most of the time. At certain hours of the day, the hospital opens this Play Room where the kids can walk there and play... they have Wii, Xbox, PlayStation, books, movies (dvd's and for vhs), a hockey table, tv's, computers with Internet, and more!! I took Joel several times there so that we can get movies and board games so that we both can pass the time quicker. Everybody was so helpful!! Even before Joel's surgery, a woman came by (I think she is the Social Worker in there/or in that floor) and she explained to Joel why he was having this surgery, where his appendix is, etc. and she did it with this doll that had like a human anatomy from the inside so that Joel could see where his appendix was. She also explained where the nurse was going to take him just before surgery and who he was going to meet there. She also talked about putting him to sleep and what he was going to feel. I think that was very nice of the hospital to do for kids that are going to surgery... that explanation with pictures and with that doll help kids not to get too scare or nervous before their surgery. So, I didn't had a bad experience while there.

The Result of the Sickness

2009-09-24T21:29:00.000-07:00

That tummy ache Joel had Tuesday morning... turned into vomiting almost all day Tuesday. I got very concerned about Joel's health because he couldn't keep anything down and even the Pedialyte was coming up. I was very worry of him being dehydrated. Tuesday night came and Joel wasn't feeling any better and now he was complaining of more stomach aches. By this time, no vomiting and it looked like he didn't felt the "need" to vomit anymore which was a good sign for me. Still, he was complaining of his tummy hurting. The first thing to came in my mind was that maybe Joel's stomach muscles got sore because of all the vomiting he did during the day. He went to bed and I went to bed thinking that it wasn't that big of a deal and his tummy was just sore from throwing up.

Wednesday morning came. My hubby got up around 4ish in the morning to get ready for work. At around 5ish, Joel got up to go to the bathroom and then went to bed. I then got up to go to the bathroom too and when I got out of the bathroom my hubby came to me with a worried face telling me to come see Joel. Gosh, he scared the crap out of me because the first thing in my head was "Oh no, he's throwing up blood now"!!... but that wasn't it. My hubby told me that the pain Joel was having could be his appendix so right there we decided to take Joel to the ER. We got to the ER at around 5:30 in the morning and glad the ER had couple of people waiting and it wasn't a full room; Joel got called quickly. So, Joel got an ultrasound and blood tests done. When the doctor came to let us know what was wrong with him, he said "Appendicitis". Great!! Joel got transfered to Children's Hospital. It was our first time for Joel and me to get in an ambulance... so that part was cool.

Joel got a room right away and we shared the room with two other boys that had surgery (both of them got released today so we have the room for ourselves for now). It was a little difficult for all of us because since Joel was an Add On for surgery, we couldn't get an exact time for his surgery. We got at Children's Hospital at around 11ish in the morning on Wednesday. But, thank goodness for the pain medicine that made Joel feel a little better and was able to sleep. The final hour to get ready for surgery came at 10pm... and probably the surgery began at 10:30 or 10:40. The surgery took an hour. Close to midnight, the doctor/surgeon came to the waiting room and told me that surgery was over and that everything went smoothly and Joel was ok. When Joel woke up from the anesthesia, one of the nurses came for me so that I can be with Joel. It was surprising to see Joel wide awake, talking and eating popsicles which made me very relieved to see him like that. After that, they took him up to his room.

My hubby hasn't gone to work since Wednesday because he's taking care of Seth while I stay here in the hospital with Joel. But Thursday and today, my hubby HAD to stop by his work to take care some of his things... on Thursday he left me Seth here in the hospital because he had a 2 hr meeting. Today (Friday), he had to stop by his work but this time he took Seth with him.

So far, my stay here in Children's Hospital hasn't been a bad experience. Everybody is nice and very helpful... and, they are great with kids. Before Joel going to surgery, a woman came by to say hi to Joel and to explained what was going to happened to Joel in surgery so that he could understand and not be too scared. She explained it with a doll and explained to him about the appendix. Another time, a fireman came by to say hi and to give him some toys (Seth was here too so he got toys too). Everyday, someone comes (besides the doctors and the nurses) to either give the kids something or to tell them that there are Play Rooms around here that are open at certain hours so they can grab movies, use the computers, toys, video games, board games, etc. and not get too bored in their rooms. I think Children's Hospital is great!! Today, I noticed they have a Shower place for parents!!... if I knew that ahead of time, I wouldn't have gone home to take a shower yesterday. Too bad I didn't bring shampoo, conditioner, mousse, etc. to take a shower here tomorrow... ugh! Oh well.

So, the doctor came this morning to check Joel out and it's going to be another day here at the hospital. Hopefully, tomorrow (Saturday)... Joel will be able to go home!!

Sickness

2009-09-22T14:21:00.001-07:00

If only there was a medicine to make it all better. Joel's sick. This morning, he told me he had a tummy ache. I thought he needed to go to the bathroom and that it wasn't that bad. I almost took him to school but thank the heavens I didn't. At around 8ish, he threw up. Had to wash his blanket, pillow, and clothes because they were puked on. Joel then told me he felt a little better (yaay!). I thought, oh good... maybe that's over. Wrong! It is now around 2:35 pm and Joel has threw up like maybe 6 or 7 times... nothing much to throw up because he haven't eaten. I tried to give him a piece of toast but he didn't even finished it half way. I don't know what's wrong with Joel or why he is sick. Seth's fine. I'm fine. I just hate it so much when one of my kids get sick like this. Is like, I would give anything to take their sickness and for me to suffer instead of them. I just hope this is something quick that he catched and it's out of his system soon. Hopefully, Seth doesn't catch it.

Velvet

2009-09-21T12:55:00.000-07:00

Well then, thanks to Diana... I'm hooked on this song now "Velvet by The Big Pink". The repeat mode button is going to be on when I'm driving.

Alive and kicking

2009-08-06T14:52:00.001-07:00

Isn't this nice... I've been neglecting my blog for months. Not good!! I need to come back and update it.

Operation Aloha

2009-05-15T07:41:00.000-07:00

I found out about this Operation Aloha album just yesterday... as my husband hit the play button, I began to listen to "Failure" and I totally felt in love with that song. Thank goodness for good ol' iTunes!! This album was just released May 12th. It's funny that this album was created in Hawaii with friends and some musicians that went to a secluded island in Hawaii... they stayed in a treehouses for 30 days with NO running water, electricity, cell phones, expectations. They had microphones, instruments, and whatevet musical related they can carry... they also drained wine bottles that ended up becoming percussion instruments. It's awesome that they came back with an awesome tan and a this new record.

This Operation Aloha is made up from Maroon 5, Phantom Planet, Gomez, All Spots To Black... a 14-member mix. The album has 14 tracks. I love it!! I do like all sorts of music (with the exception of rap and country 'YUK') and this album is a keeper!! It's music is somewhat like tropical, rock, indie, pop, hawaiian, and it's under alternative.

Season 2 of Ghost Adventures

2009-05-13T12:15:00.000-07:00

I'm excited that there is finally a date for Season 2 of Ghost Adventures. I can't wait!! Ghost Adventures is one of my favorite Paranormal shows out there. Friday, June 5th, at 9 pm Season 2 starts. 26 new episodes (compared to only 8 episodes in Season 1) are coming up and the locations will be the MOST haunted in the world!! So, Ghost Adventures will be securing that 9 pm time-slot with reruns from Season 1 at that time. Thank you Travel Channel!!

Also, I can't wait for that three-part series "Return to Bobby Mackey's" that's going to lead up to Season two of Ghost Adventures. Yep, three episodes are scheduled for May 15th, May 22nd, and May 29th. I can't wait for those either. I'm excited!!

iPhone vs Blackberry?

2009-05-06T11:48:00.000-07:00

I've been an Apple fan since I was in college. I think Apple makes really cool gadgets. I'm a proud owner of an iPod Touch (I love iPods) and I really like the other things the iPod Touch can do (besides music). Now, I'm thinking in getting an iPhone... or a Blackberry? I'm between them two... iPhone or a Blackberry?... which one is better? I must say that I like the Blackberries. My friend has one and she LOVES her Blackberry (and so do I lol). Maybe, I should go for the cheapest? I don't know. The only Blackberry I don't like is the flip one. I don't know what to do. Get the iPhone or the Blackberry?

I'm very familiar in using the iPod Touch... I know where to get those thousands and thousands of Apps the iTunes Store has... easy to get them and to download them right to your iPod Touch/iPhone. The only thing that is missing in the iPod Touch is the phone and the camera... that's all... everything else is the exact thing. Maybe, I should just get the iPhone. Ugh!

IDK!!

May and School Assembly

2009-05-01T09:42:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we're in May already!! Mother's Day (10th) and my mom's birthday (14th) are in May... double the gifts for my mom. We are almost reaching the middle of the year. Then next month, my baby will be turning 5 years old!! Time is flying very fast. Gotta enjoy every minute of it while we can.

Today, Joel will be receiving another award at school (yaaay). The Assembly is at 1 pm so I have to be a little bit before 1 so that I can sit in the front row. :) I don't know if I will be able to video taped the whole assembly so that my husband is able to see it. I'll see what I can do.

Ugh, then today... we will be out of water from 11am to 12pm. Maintenance is going to be working on something that they need to shut the water off. So that means... I have to get in the shower NOW (it's already 10am here). I also need to finish washing the dishes before I leave to the assembly.

Another cool and quick note. One of my bff is planning in getting a Mac... it seems she wants a 17" MacBook Pro (woohoo). My husband gave me an Aluminum MacBook for our 10th wedding anniversary and I told her that maybe my husband could get her one for a lower price because Apple gives him good discounts on their stuff. Sooo, I asked my husband and he said yes he can... so that's so cool and I'm super excited for her. I can't wait for her to get her Mac. I totally LOVE Macs.

Swine Flu

2009-04-29T13:23:00.000-07:00

Is the Swine Flu something to be very concerned about? Or... is it just another 'normal' flu? I've heard there was an outbreak of the Swine Flu in 1976... so, it's not new stuff. For me, it does concerns me. I have two kids and I do care about their healths. Thankfully, the schools in our District remain open and safe for our children to attend. This is the time to practice good hygiene skills... ensuring that we all wash our hands frequently and for at least 20 seconds at a time, cover our cough to prevent the spread of germs, and sneeze with a tissue or into our sleeve.

Now, there was an incident in one of our local schools that children became sick and that school was closed for couple of days. It was confirmed later that the kids were sick with the normal seasonal flu and not Swine Flu (thank goodness). School was re-opened.

I think this is kinda scary. It's spreading. There's been 159 deaths in Mexico... 7 of those deaths have been confirmed from Swine Flu... and the rest of them are suspicious. There's been one death in the United States caused by it... an almost 2 year child. Then, there are 2,498 possible cases and 19 confirmed in Mexico. The United States has 68 cases confirmed, 14 in New Zealand, 13 in Canada, 5 in Great Britain, 4 in Spain, 3 in Germany, 2 in Israel, and 1 in Austria. Scary?... I think so. California alone has 14 cases confirmed.

Living in Southern California and close to Mexico is a little bit more scary as many people cross the border daily. I have family in Mexico (Baja). I have a cousin that lives in Mexico City... and worst, my mom lives over there.

This is a good site to go and read about what's going on... http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu.

A trip to Mexico

2009-04-16T21:21:00.000-07:00

The kids and I are taking a little trip to Mexico (Tijuana Baja California) tomorrow. We are visiting my mom so we are going to stay for two days and we'll be coming back on Sunday morning. I was going to leave this morning but since we had a Maintenance Inspection in our Unit... well, I couldn't go. Then, my mom was going to meet my nephew, Tavo, this afternoon so that she can make an appointment at the DMV to renew her Driver's License and my nephew was going to go with her... or she was going to renew it (not sure which one was).

So, my hubby had to take the tint off my car from the side windows... that totally blows!! There is a law in Mexico that it's illegal to have tinted windows in cars now and it doesn't matter if the license plate of the car is from the United States or not... it's still illegal. The only time you can get away with it is if you buy a new car like an SUV, minivan, or a pick up truck that came with tinted windows from the factory... that's the only way the Mexican Police will let you go without a ticket. Oh well!! My mom lives in Mexico so I gotta do what I need to do so that I can still go visit her. I don't understand why she doesn't come to the States and live here instead. My mom is a US Citizen and she is entitled to live in this side. But I guess, she doesn't want to because she owns a house in Mexico and if she comes here... she will be renting.

I'm watching Hell's Kitchen right now. I can't believe Robert had to leave because of his health issues. I liked Robert.

Earth Hour 2009

2009-04-07T08:17:00.000-07:00

I keep forgetting to post about the results of Earth Hour. But, we had fun on that night for that hour of darkness. The kids were excited and Joel was counting the time until 8:30... and boy, he was bugging me about it LOL. Funny!! Sooo, the kids and I played Gin and my hubby decided to listen to his iPod. Couple of my friends also got involved in participating and it was nice to hear about it.

We are really looking forward to next year's Earth Hour!!

Earth Hour

2009-03-25T10:55:00.000-07:00

What will you be doing this Saturday night from 8:30 to 9:30 pm? Will you be voting Earth? On March 28 you can Vote Earth by switching off your lights for one hour. Or, you can vote global warming by leaving your lights on. The results of the election are being presented at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009. They want one billion votes for Earth, to tell world leaders that we have to take action against global warming.

They need the world to take action on Global Warming. And you can start here. So, are you in?

I'm happy to say that we are voting earth this Saturday. It's only one hour. Easy!! Lots of cool stuff you can do in the dark LOL.

What the heck?

2009-03-19T15:20:00.000-07:00

It's very difficult for me to say ~No~ or to that ~No thank you; not interested~ and close the door to people asking for something. I got a knock on my door early this afternoon and it was a young guy. Boy, he was talking so fast that I could barely keep up with him. Ok. I'm all up to helping people when I can and when I have extra money. These type of people talk to fast and (thank goodness I knew about them before) they just want to suck you in and earn those "points" they want for supposedly take a trip somewhere in the world (this guy wanted a trip to Spain). No thank you!! These people knock on your door, start talking about what they are doing, the points they get, suck you in to sign for some magazines for 2 or 3 years... and the magazines are even MORE expensive than when you buy the subscription in those little papers the magazines have inside. I mean, they don't even ask ~are you interested?~. Noooo!!! They just ask for your name and write it on their little paper paystub and tell you they just need a hard surface so they can write more comfortably. At that point, I told him I was broke and I only had $5+ in my wallet (which is true). He then asked if I had a checkbook... no I don't!! Credit Card... no I don't!! So, he said thank you and left. Phew!! Wish I knew who he was before opening the door and start listening to what he had to say... which by the way, it was getting close to the time I needed to leave to go pick up Joel from school. I only opened the door because he looked like the maintenance guy around here. And, he was really nice but all vendors are nice.

Talking about vendors, a guy named Felipe was supposed to call me yesterday in the morning about the car but he never did. I blanked out when he called on Monday morning and I totally forgot to give him my husband's work number. But, like my husband says "if it's mean to be it will be". So, no worries.

St. Patrick's Day came and went. I made the kids green cupcakes which they loved!! And to top it off, they asked for green milk too LOL. That day, when I went to pick up Joel from school, it was so cute to see a lot of green in the kids... even silly hats, socks, and green jewelry. Everybody was in the St. Patrick's spirit. What's the next fun holiday coming?... Easter!!!

Decades

2009-03-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

My latest favorite song right now. Decades V2 from Assemblage 23. I can't stop listening to it!

Daylight Saving Time

2009-03-09T13:14:00.000-07:00

This DST has taken an hour away from me this morning. I was waken up by Joel telling me it was already 7:20 in the morning. Great! I usually got up around 6ish (sometimes even 5:30) and today I wanted to keep sleeping. Ugh!! I still feel so tired and sleepy and I feel like I didn't had enough sleep. Joy!! Coffee didn't do squat for me. I might stop by Circle K and get a cup of their strong coffee and see if that wakes me up before I head out to pick up Joel from school in a little bit.

A trip to Starbucks

2009-03-07T07:12:00.000-08:00

I love Starbucks! I love their coffee, their flavored ones, their frappuccinos, and it doesn't matter if it's a cold one or a hot one... I love them all!! Not to long ago, we didn't had a local Starbucks around here. I had to drive around 12 miles to buy coffee at Starbucks and that Starbucks was inside a grocery store. But then, our community decided to open a big chain grocery store around here so a little mall was created and in there was a new Starbucks. Oh yeah!! Heaven for me. What's the best thing to relax? Free WiFi, Starbucks, and a tall (or grande) flavored coffee.

So yesterday, I decided to stopped by Starbucks after picking up Joel from school and just take a little drive to Starbucks. As these photos show, we're surrounded by mountains and beautiful nature views.

Civilization ahead

My kids got some French pastry and an apple juice. I got my favorite... a hot caramel macchiato.

iDracula game

2009-03-05T13:10:00.000-08:00

The other day, I decided to browse around the App Store through my iPod and came across this iDracula App for the iPhone/iPod Touch. I'm a big fan of vampires so almost anything that is related to vampires, or dracula, I'm there. At first, I wasn't too sure in buying this iDracula game but Joel ended up brainwashing me lol. So, I bought the game for $0.99 (which said it was on special?). To my surprise, that game is totally awesome!! The graphics are super, the game play, and even the music!! I think it's worth the $0.99... I don't know for how much longer it will be on special.

It's just amazing how Apple came out with such fun gadgets like the iPhone and the iPod Touch.

March already?

2009-03-01T14:13:00.000-08:00

I can't believe we are in March already. From now on, I'll see Summer in the distance. Lately, we've been having some warm/hot weather over here; thanks to that high pressure. Yesterday, we got close to the 80's. Today, we're in the mid 80's. Perfect weather to be at the beach or take a dip in the pool. We have all the windows open right now, so this wonderful breeze is getting in and it feels so good.

So in this month, there is this exhibition called "Body Worlds & the Brain" in our local Natural History Museum opening in March 5th. Some years ago, this exhibition came to San Diego but I didn't had the chance to see it. Two of my cousins went and they said it was an amazing experience. I love things like this... science, human physiology, etc. Tickets are a little high if we can't go in an off peak day but I'll try to go.

Body Worlds

It's Valentine's Day!!

2009-02-14T12:21:00.000-08:00

Another Valentine's!! Made a little fun Valentine's breakfast for everybody this morning... heart shaped pancakes (the kids loved them). I was too lazy to take pictures 'tho. Gave everybody their little Valentine's gifts (chocolates) and my dear husband gave me mine too. Aawww!! Nothing really major is planned for later on today. We're just enjoying Valentine's as a family indoors for the moment. It's supposed to rain later today but it's sunny outside right now with some clouds around.

Yesterday, it was Joel's Valentine party at his classroom. I actually was able to go and help around. I didn't told Joel anything that I was going to help in his classroom because I wanted to be a surprise for him... and it was a big surprise and he LOVED it. It was nice that I was able to take Seth with me because... usually, no siblings are allowed when you go to volunteer in the classroom... except on parties. So, yaaay... Seth was able to have a little fun too. I had fun too!! Just wish I could do this more often.

Speaking of Seth, next week (if it's not raining) I'm going to several PreSchools and see how much they charged for Seth and see if he can get in. In June, Seth will be turning 5... so in January 2010, Seth will be well qualify to attend the EAK. So, we want him to have a little heads up before he enters the EAK. Hopefully, he can start soon. I'm actually going to Lakeside to see if we can put him in the same PreSchool Joel went when he was 4... it's a little far but worth it. We'll see what happens and how much they are gonna be.

Talked to my mom this morning to wish her a Happy Valentine's. Mom is doing good.. my aunt Vita and uncle Nacho from Oxnard are there for the weekend. Mom, aunt Vita, and uncle Nacho went to Sycuan Casino yesterday. Mom said she lost $140; bummer!! Today, my cousin April is getting married in beautiful Coronado... hopefully, it won't rain when they have the ceremony because it's gonna be out in the open. The ceremony is supposed to be at 3 pm.

I actually want to go to Target to buy some Playtex bottles for Agustina. She is due to having her baby boy (Carlos Daniel) next month. I just can't believe she's almost done with her pregnancy. Seems like it was yesterday when I found out she was 12 weeks pregnant and saw her 1st ultrasound of her little bean. Angela is going to be a Big Sister. I LOVE Angela and Agustina so I'll see if I'm able to get her more baby stuff. I can't wait to meet her little boy. I'm going to Mexico probably next weekend.

It's Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T13:09:00.000-08:00

It's been cold here in California. It really is Winter time now. Temperature is in the high 50's... but as always, no snow here. We do have snow in our local mountains but we haven't gone there yet. Today is Christmas Eve. We are expecting rain. Everybody here is sick with a cold bug. Joel was the first one to get sick... then Seth and I... and now my dear husband is sick. What a way to spend Christmas with all of us sick *sigh*. Not really sure if we are going to my mom's tomorrow. My hubby tells me to go after Christmas... but we'll see tomorrow.

Today, I'll be baking some sugar cookies for the kids and for "Santa". If it's not raining, I'll take the kids out to spread some of that Reindeer Food on the lawn. This year, we didn't bought a lot of presents for the kids and I only bought the necessary presents for my family. Hopefully, my kids are grateful for what they got. Times are tough!! Speaking about tough times, we are in need of looking for another place to live. We have until January 30th to find a place (hopefully a house this time). We don't really want to sign the lease for another 12 months here. If we end up signing it, the rent is going to stay the same (no increase! yaay!). We haven't found a place though.

The other day, I got a wonderful surprise from my hubby. You see, several years ago, my hubby had to cut my rings off because I just couldn't get them out of my finger... and my finger was turning colors. Felt sad afterwards because I didn't had no wedding rings to wear. So, one day, my husband snooped around my things and found my rings... he found somebody that was able to fix them and it was a wonderful surprise. It was supposed to be my birthday present but he couldn't resist so he gave me my birthday present early. Now, I'm not feeling naked at all and I'm happy that I can wear my rings again.

Before

After

Deadmau5

2008-11-22T13:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I just got the Random Album Title from Deadmau5 that was released last month. I must say that this new album is AWESOME!! I LOVE IT!! Wish I could see him live one day. I am enjoying the music since I got my hands on it. Joel Zimmerman is the best DJ there is!!

We got them!!

2008-11-14T09:20:00.000-08:00

I'm excited!! We got our TAPS tshirts yesterday!! Joel wanted to wear his at school today and I had to take a picture of him... he was so happy LOL. Those tshirts are soo soft!! I'm definitely buying one for my hubby for Christmas (maybe two) and another one for me LOL. I didn't get the skull one and that's what I want to get. I got a woman's black one with the TAPS logo in front and some ghost behind the TAPS' letters (COOL!). I can't wait to wear it and maybe take a pic too.

While taking this picture, I told Joel "Welcome to the paranormal society" and he laugh LOL.

Huge earthquake drill planned

2008-11-12T18:39:00.000-08:00

What is being billed as the largest earthquake drill in U.S. history is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 10:00 am (PDT).

An estimated 5.1 million people in Southern California are expected to participate, including more than 400,000 here in San Diego County.

At 10 am, in response to an imaginary quake, people will be advised to "drop, cover, and hold"... get to the floor immediately, move under a sturdy piece of furniture if possible and hold onto it.

The drill is part of the "Great Southern CA Shakeout," a simulation of a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on the southern end of the San Andreas fault, which would have widespread regional impacts. The shakeout was organized by the Earthquake Country Alliance.

More than 100 local schools and 100 businesses have signed up to take part in the drill, and organizers would like individuals and families also to rehearse their responses during a quake.

These preparedness drills are designed to test emergency responders' ability to deal with the impacts of a major earthquake.

We signed up for this drill and we are ready for it tomorrow.

Beach Trip

2008-10-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

So, I took the kids to the beach today. It was fun but tiring. I wasn't able to relax and soak up the sun lol. I had to keep my eyes on the kids and specially on Seth. Boy, my kids LOVE the beach. I wasn't expecting getting soaked but that's how we ended up... soaked and with sand everywhere!!

SIO (Scripps Institute of Oceanography) Pier

One of my favorite places to be is in La Jolla. La Jolla beaches are just wonderful and one of the beaches has white sand. There were lots of people in the beaches... surfing, kayaking, snorkling, diving, and just getting wet.

Pelicans and seagulls place
(boy, that sure stank!)

Isn't this a beautiful scenery?

This is the beach that has white sand. Those rocks to the left is a little tie pool where you can see some great sea critters. People dive or snorkel from this beach. We have the best underwater park here and it's a reserved.

I just love it here!

There are also these caves
(I think they are man made?)

There's kayaking classes

We also saw some sea lions

This is an art museum and it catched my attention because of kayaks and boats up there.

The close up

We ended up stopping at the drive thru in McDonald's on Pacific Beach for the kids (and myself) on our way home. We had a wonderful time and can't wait to do this again. We got home right when my hubby was returning from work. The kids got in the shower right away because they had sand everywhere. I had to take a shower myself because I too needed another shower lol. Now, I'm so tired and sleepy that I think I'm going to bed early today.

Ghost Adventures

2008-10-24T23:17:00.000-07:00

I LOVE ghost stories, ghost shows, and ghost investigations. The Travel Channel has this show on Fridays named "Ghost Adventures". OMG, that's an awesome show!! I love that show!! This show is different from Ghost Hunters and Paranormal State. In this show, these three 'cute' guys get locked in places that are supposedly haunted by spirits. They have captured in video... apparitions, shadows moving, moving objects, voices, screams, and even one of them has been scratched on the back while filming. This is awesome!! I do believe in spirits and in bad spirits and these guys can capture proof of that. Besides their show, they also have live chat at 8 pm where people can ask them questions and they can explain more in detailed happenings of their investigations.

I must say that this is one of my favorite ghost shows now (besides Ghost Hunters). Something that I will be looking forward to watch every Friday night.

Birthdays at Disneyland

2008-10-18T17:49:00.001-07:00

Have you registered your birthday at Disneyland yet? What about your children's birthdays? You get a free admission to the park (in CA or FL) on your birthday in 2009!! I think it's really cool and you can sign up for extra surprises on your birthday too. Registration began on September 18th, 2008... but I don't know until when the registration ends. So if you haven't done it yet, do so!! I think little kids would like to spend their birthday in the happiest place on earth... Disneyland; I know my kids would like that and so do I.

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

2008-10-15T19:35:00.000-07:00

October 15th is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Everyone is invited to light a candle at 7 pm, any time zone, and all over the world. If everyone lights a candle at 7 pm and keeps it burning for at least one hour, there will be a continuous wave of light over the entire world on 10/15.

My candle is burning and it will burn for at least two hours tonight. So, my candle burns in loving memory of those babies.

Videos and Fires

2008-10-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally was able to upload my videos from our trip to the Fire Station. Pretty neat!! I love how those police dogs do their 'job'. This German Shepherd dog's name is Alto... he is 5 years old and he came from Denmark. Alto receives commands in Danish from his officer/handler. It's pretty cool to see this type of action up close.

This next one is even better. Alto was inside the police car while this demonstration was taking place. Then all of a sudden, Alto came out running from the police car to 'attack' the 'suspect' and help the officer. This was very cool seeing this dog in action doing that; too bad I didn't captured that moment when he came out from the car.

In another news, yep... it's fire season here so right now, we have two fires going on. One fire is the Juliet Fire and the other one is the Shockey Fire. The Shockey Fire is just East from us and that one is 50% contained. The Juliet Fire is only 20% contained and it's just north west from us. I must say that brush fires/wildfires are so scary and heart pounding. Hopefully, the percents of getting contained keep increasing quickly today.

Trip to the Fire Station

2008-10-13T11:28:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we went to the Fire Station. Every year in October, the fire house has an open house. Inside, there are a lot of interesting, educational, and fun things to do. This time, we walked to the Fire Station because it's like a block away from home. It's so fun for the kids and very educational for the grown ups. Once again, Joel made a "practice" call to 911, packed a suitcase with the necessities in an event of a wildfire evacuation (this was a timed one), met Smokey the Bear and Sparky the dog, and went to an interactive [and very educational] demonstration about fires. It was just so fun!! Seth was a little shy to do the 911 call but he did packed that suitcase and did very good.

There was this sweet lady making balloons with figures. My kids loved the swords.

They were able to get inside a fire truck. Cool!!

Inside the back of a Highway Patrol car.

The best part was that there was this cute and awesome little town that had signs, cross walks, traffic lights, etc. The kids were able to get into these cool looking little white cars and "drive". The kids had to obey the traffic lights.

Waiting for the green light to go.

Had to stop and fill it up with expensive gas (lol).

We were there for almost the four hours at the Fire Station. Lots to do and see. There was food too and all for $0.50 (hot dogs, sodas, water, and popcorn).

More pictures...

Firefighters' living room

They have a really nice big kitchen.

Three refrigerators in there.

I think this picture was really neat!

Our community Fire Station [Ladder 17].

Flag

Walking back home.

It was a fun Saturday for all of us and we are looking forward to the next year one.

The Midnight Meat Train

2008-10-11T22:49:00.000-07:00

After a fun and busy day today, I decided to end it up with one of my favorite type of movies... a horror-thriller-suspense movie. Little did I knew... this movie was going to be in my list of favorites from Clive Barker. My husband is a fan of Clive Barker and he has lots of books from him and even couple of them signed by the one and only ---> Clive Barker. If you like bloodly, thriller, suspense, horror, and freaky movies... this is one of them. Definitely, a must see movie if you are into that stuff. Candyman, Hellraiser, Nightbreed, and Lord of Illusions are some of his movies. I so love movies like this one and there are not a lot of movies that I end up saying that was an awesome movie to see and to own.

Yes, I am freaky. Yes, I am weird. Yes, I love bloody-killing-torturing-horror-thriller movies. I am on top of my seat bitting my nails, jumping, and talking to the tv/movie like the people in the movie are going to hear me lol. So yeah, loved this movie!!!

Road to Nowhere

2008-10-04T13:59:00.000-07:00

Seth and I decided to take a little 'road trip' to nowhere on Friday. This is the road to go to Starbucks close to where we live.

When we came back home, Seth wanted to go the playground so bad so I decided to get a big towel and have a little picnic outside. The weather was beautiful and it wasn't that hot outside. It was wonderful to be outside under a tree and getting that nice breeze.

My sweet Seth

In another news... our "sweet & wonderful" next door neighbors are STILL here. What a bunch of loosers!! They were supposed to be out of here by the 1st and it's already the 4th. I truly can not stand those people. The office manager just came by yesterday to leave them a note on their door. Rent is due on the 1st so they are just eating flies and not leaving. I don't understand 'tho. These people almost emptied their apartment and they are still here. They also have another place to live... so, why aren't they leaving? But, I can not wait 'til this people get the hell out of here.

October Already?

2008-10-01T10:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I can't believe we are in October now. Seems like the months are going so fast and before we know it... we'll be celebrating Christmas and then the New Year. Wow!! But, I'm so glad we are in October. October is one of my favorite months. I love all that Halloween stuff. I'm so excited about Halloween Eve and Halloween day. Joel is also very excited about Halloween. Did I mentioned that this year I'm going to be dressing up as the Grim Reaper??? Yah!! I can't wait. I'm painting my face and I need to do a practice painting before Halloween day.

Oh my goodness, we are sizzling here with this heat lately. These last two days we've been in the three-digits; ugh!! We need a break from this heat. The scary part is that we have entered the Wildfire Season... so we're gonna be having winds and dry heat; joy!! Hopefully, we can dodge a wildfire this season.

On a happier note, OUR NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS ARE MOVING AWAY!!! Thank to the heavens for that!!!! Peace after they are gone!!! I can not say how happy my hubby and I are. No more Hillbillies next door. No more blasting music in the middle of the night. No more drunks on our steps yelling and making noise in the early morning. No more police cars coming over because of them. No more crap in our balconies. No more cigarette butts all over our balconies. And the best part... I will be able to open our living room windows and our door FINALLY. I didn't left them open because these people smoke like pipes and they do it just outside on the steps so their smoke blows right inside so that's why I keep those two things close... besides, they are extremely nosy so I don't like people looking inside; ugh. They are pretty annoying people and very inconsiderate. Hopefully, we'll get nice and ONE family next door. So thankfully, we are not going to be dealing with this anymore ---> Love Thy Neighbor.

Also, yesterday (September 30th) was the 29th year Anniversary of my father's death. I was talking to my mom yesterday and she reminded me of that. Sad!! 29 years ago, my father was arguing with a neighbor and he collapsed right there on our driveway and died of a heart attack/HBP. Not a pretty sight and not even for a child to see.

Weekend

2008-09-12T21:01:00.000-07:00

Well, the weekend is here. I'm not sure if I'm going to visit my mom this weekend. I talked to my mom this week and I told her I was going this weekend. Next weekend, my uncle from Oxnard is going to Mexico to stay with my mom... so I can't go on that weekend because now the kids and I stay in that big guest room and so does my uncle and my aunt. I told my hubby today about going but he didn't said anything to me. I also need to take the green car because my car has all three back windows with super dark tint and I don't want to get pulled over nor get a ticket. Hopefully, I will be able to go with the kids tomorrow and be back home on Sunday in the afternoon.

So yesterday it was Back to School Night at Joel's school. Joel really wanted to go so I took him with me while Seth stayed with my hubby at home. Gosh, I felt so bad when I left because Seth started crying and he wouldn't let me go. My poor Seth!! :-( But I couldn't take him. Even the kids weren't allowed inside... only the teacher and the parents. Mrs. N. set up crayons and papers just outside their classroom for the kids to draw and play while we were inside. Mrs. N. looks like a very nice teacher and I like the way she's teaching the kids. I want to help in the class but with take-at-home-papers... so I'll be stopping by her class next week. This year, Laura's little boy (Baltazar) is in Joel's class... he was in the same class in Kindergarten with Joel and that's how I met Laura; she's so nice and so is her husband. We talked after BTSN was over for a little bit. I wasn't paying attention at the time and I told my hubby it was going to be quick... from 6 to 6:15 pm. But I ended up getting home at 7. I also want to get Joel a school hoodie but I only had $7 with me and the hoodie was $25. I only got Joel a water bottle he wanted that has the name of his school and the mascot (an eagle). I'm also joining the PTA.

Well, yesterday was the 7th year anniversary of 9/11. Sad. My hubby and I watched the History Channel with some clips of what happened on that day. It was so sad and we kinda re-lived the day yesterday. I think that day is something we are going to remember always. I remember that day. Joel was 8 months old. My hubby and I were staying at my mom's for a while because we were having some financial problems. We left the beach house, sold some things like the bed, the couch/sofa, and our big dinning table and we put the rest of our things in a storage. My hubby woke up in his usual time at 5 am to get ready to go to work and he woke me up telling me something was happening and that the US was under attack. I got pissed at him because he woke me up but after a while I got up and saw what was happening. Horror!! I saw the 2nd plane hit the second tower. My hubby decided he was still going to work and cross the border, so he left but it was impossible to cross to the US. The border crossing got closed for several minutes on 9/11 and my hubby returned home by noon. We watched the news coverage all day and the next day.

Two weeks at school

2008-09-05T15:53:00.000-07:00

And, it's the end of the 2nd week since school started again for my Joel. I survived the kids being sick last week... Joel with vomiting and then both of my kids with runny nose; ugh! Thank God that's almost over. So grateful that Joel is in an only 2nd grade class and not a mix class with 1st and 2nd graders. We [parents] received our first 'Nifty Notes' from room 19 on Wednesday. I'm glad Mrs N. is putting the Wish List for her class in the Nifty Notes newsletter every Wednesday. This time, they need stickers, glue sticks, disposable cameras, a medium binder, clips, and printer labels. I went to Costco on Wednesday and I would've been happy to get something for that wish list; now I have to wait 'til next week to do so.

Well, Back to School Night is back and it's going to be on September 11th at 6 pm. Hopefully, my dear husband will be home by that time so that I can leave Seth with him so that Joel and I can attend this 'event'. This year, I'm giving my time to help Joel's teacher and her class with some work-at-home projects and papers. Wish I could actually be a room parent this year but I can't work well and do my job if I take Seth with me... besides, I can't bring siblings to class.

Ugh, it's been sizzling hot these past several days over here. Mid to high 90's. I so can't wait for a little cold and chilly weather. I HATE the heat!! I used to love Summers but now I hate them so much. And still, chilly and cold days are not here until December and if we are lucky they could come in late November.

Lego Indiana Jones

2008-08-31T18:12:00.000-07:00

I LOVE video games and I love playing them with my kids or by myself. One cool game is the Lego Indiana Jones The Original Adventures. Man, that game is awesome!! I know it's an E-10 game and Joel is 7... but I know he likes Adventure games and this game is quite an adventurous one. Besides being an adventure game, it's quite humorous too. What's best is that it's also a two-player game so you can team up with somebody and go for an adventure. So, I got it for Joel and he's loving it and I know I'll be playing it too. It reminds me of the Tomb Raider games because it looks mysterious, you're trying to find things to go forward in the game, do puzzles, lots of creepy crawlers, and you jump once in a while when you are surprised by something. Even the background music is good and creepy. Loved it!!

Wellness and Changes

2008-08-29T10:00:00.000-07:00

After Joel being sick on Tuesday with vomiting, he finally returned to school yesterday [Thursday]. I was so relieved to see Joel becoming his normal self on Wednesday and his appetite returning. I don't know what made him sick but it looked like it was only a stomach bug. Glad it wasn't anything more serious like Rotavirus.

So, Joel started the 2nd Grade this year. On Friday the 22nd, the school posted the class schedules for this year. My husband and I were wondering why Joel was in a 1st & 2nd Grade classroom instead of an only 2nd Grade class. Didn't really had the chance to talk to Joel's teachers until yesterday. I got a call from the Principal and she told me Joel was going to be changing teachers and classrooms to an all 2nd Grade class only. Then later that day, Joel's current teacher calls me to let me know about the change. I was happy!! I then asked her about why they put 1st and 2nd Grade class in a same classroom... she told me it was because of the changes in the last minute about kids that are registered then moved away at the last minute so they have to rearrange the classes and the students again. Finally, there was a teacher available to take these 2nd Graders (yaay!). So starting on Tuesday, the Principal is going to take these 2nd Graders to a little tour to their new classroom and to meet their new teacher. This year, Joel's going to have only one teacher. Hope all works out well and she's a good teacher.

Labor Day is this Monday!! Many people see Labor Day as the end of Summer... but Summer is not officially over until September 21st. The first day of Fall is September 22nd. In a way, I am happy Summer is coming to an end because I don't like hot days... I just can't stand having temperatures over 95° in the Summer time. Still, cool weather for us doesn't come until the end of November [if we are lucky] or December. Warm days are still September, October, and sometimes November. I just can't wait for some cool weather and some rainy days too.

Dance

2008-08-28T12:54:00.000-07:00

Love it!!

School starts soon

2008-08-23T11:50:00.001-07:00

Joel gets back to school this Monday... the 25th. He only has today and tomorrow to relax and play. All this week we made him go to bed at 8 o'clock so that he starts getting used to the schedule again. Hopefully, on Monday I won't get up late. I'll be putting the alarm clock on just to be on the safe side and get up early before the boys do.

The school just posted the class lists yesterday after 4 pm. My dear husband went to check them out yesterday evening and told me Joel is in Room 2. Which confuse me because I remember the school said rooms 1 through 4 are used for the 1st Graders only. So I have to check that myself today. DH didn't told me who's Joel's teacher is and if Johnny (our little trouble maker of a next door neighbor) is going to be in Joel's class again (hoping he is NOT!!).

Well, Joel is not THAT excited about returning to school but I am. I'll be getting some relaxing time and alone time with Seth and that's a good thing because I can work better with Seth on his speech, ABC's, and writing. Seth needs to improve his speech before attending Preschool which is in January 5, 2009.

Hoping for a good school year for all of us!!

A powerful blender

2008-08-23T11:30:00.000-07:00

So yesterday, my dear husband was watching The History Channel 'Modern Marbles' and he calls me just before the show it's at the end. I was amazed to see this powerful blender called The Blendtec Total Blender. Man, that is a powerful blender that we would like to have. I think for a $400 blender that blends awesome, it's worth the money. I sure want it!!!

Christian the Lion

2008-07-22T09:44:00.001-07:00

I saw this video and it's just an amazing story. Loved it!!!!

Unity

2008-06-08T14:58:00.000-07:00

I dreamed I stood in a studio and watched two sculptors there. The clay they used was a young child's mind and they fashioned it with one.

One was a teacher - the tools she used were books, music, and art. The other, a parent, who worked with a guiding hand, and a gentle and loving heart.

Day after day the teacher toiled, with touch that was deft, for sure. While the parent labored by her side and polished and smoothed it pure.

And when at last their task was done, they were proud of what they had wrought. For the things they molded into the child could never be sold nor bought.

And each agreed they would have failed if they had worked alone. For behind the parents stood the school, and behind the teacher, the home.

Twice in a week!

2008-06-06T21:20:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Joel lost his 5th tooth this morning!! Joel has lost two teeth in a week!! This morning, he lost one of his top teeth (the last bunny tooth lol). He is really toothless!! He also has ANOTHER tooth loose at the bottom. So, another visit from the Tooth Fairy tonight. Joel gets all excited when a tooth falls... he wanted to go to school even earlier today. In Joel's class, everytime someone lose a tooth, they put your name on the wall with this funny little poster of a tooth and the teacher writes the date when the tooth came off... they give the toothless child this sticker that says "I lost a tooth" lol and talk about teeth for a few minutes. I think it's really cute when they do things like that and make the toothless child feel special.

Took some pictures of Joel this morning just before we left to school.

He had his tooth on his hand

A close up of my Toothless Child!!

Once again... I need to see where we are at with the dates.

* First tooth that came off - April 20, 2007 *
* Second tooth that came off - July 10, 2007 *
* Third tooth that came off - May 11, 2008 *
* Fourth tooth that came off - June 2, 2008 *
* Fifth tooth that came off - June 6, 2008 *

In another different news... my hubby will start working at the Institute on Monday the 9th!! FINALLY!! He met with Manpower agency yesterday... and OMGosh, he told me his pay is not going to be $25/hr... it's going to be $29/hr!! I so want a job that pays that amount of money an hour!! He also went for that job interview at Genzyme and it went really well. At Genzyme, he will be traveling (IF he gets hired there) to vendors to see if their products are good enough for Genzyme to buy. Interesting!! Things are starting to look up right for us. We had times that we had it bad... but at the end, it ends up in a good way. Today, Genzyme called looking for my hubby to schedule a 2nd interview for Monday... so that's good news!!

It's a JD weekend for us... so JD came over this evening. My hubby and JD went out when Joel and Seth were taking a bath at around 7ish. I will probably take Joel to the movies this weekend. I have two free movie tickets to the AMC Theaters since April 18th and I want to use them (they don't have an expiration date 'tho). So I'll see what happens this weekend. Joel wants to see "Kung Fu Panda" and so do I.

Toothless

2008-06-02T17:03:00.000-07:00

Joel's 4th tooth feel off this afternoon. Looks like the Tooth Fairy is coming for a visit tonight. Joel was so excited when that tooth fell off... and he didn't felt a thing!! He also has two other teeth lose.

Joel's toothless mug shot!

So lets see how things are going...

* First tooth that came off - April 20, 2007
* Second tooth that came off - July 10, 2007
* Third tooth that came off - May 11, 2008
* Fourth tooth that came off - June 2, 2008

Also today, we FINALLY went to our appointment this morning to get our passports!! We finally did it!! It's done!! Papers are on their way. Now, we wait and see when we receive those passports. Passport Cards are a new thing and the Government started printing them either on May or starting this month (June)... so we don't know exactly when we will receive them. The normal passport books get delivered in around two weeks (and they say four to six weeks). So, we'll see how long does it takes. I'm just happy that we finally did this thing. I could be visiting my mom this Summer!!!! My hubby didn't applied for his because they didn't accepted his birth certificate from the hospital... they told him they need a birth certificate that has the city's seal on it. Hubby needs to call some place in Arizona to see where he can get it and he's not doing that now (he was born in Ganado, AZ).

Anyway, I think for three passport cards wasn't as much as I was actually expecting it to be... total was $161.05.
* $45 for the pictures (3 sets at $15 each)
* $75 for three passports cards ($25 each)
* $40 for the fee the Post Office charges for the passports and must be paid by check or MO (don't know why).
* $1.05 for the MO

Love Thy Neighbor

2008-06-01T17:38:00.000-07:00

Do we really need to follow this? Because I'm not following this at all. I wish our next door neighbors WOULD MOVE!! I wish our next door neighbors could be EVICTED!! I am so freakin' tired of their BS. They make me so freakin' angry that I would like to go out there and yell to their f***ing faces to "SHUT THE F OFF" and tell them to go live in the Ghetto where they belong!!

Seriously, these people have no clue how to behave like normal and descent people. They fight, get drunk, keep partying after 2 am (which one of the complex' rules is TO NOT make to much noise after 10 pm)... and these idiots are out there getting drunk, screaming to each other, getting into fights with their Significant Others. These are grown up people with children!! Idiots!! Slamming doors that make the whole building shake... hitting the doors with his fist just because he's drunk and angry at something. I mean, WTF!! There were times in the past that my kids have been woken up because they are fighting and hitting the walls in the middle of the night/AM.

Do I like living here? Yes I do... it's a very nice complex and neighborhood. Do I hate the neighbors? Not everyone... only the NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS... they are IDIOTS!! I keep to myself and I don't talk to them nor I'm friendly to them. I hate them!! These people are the ONLY ones who do this kind of stuff... none of the other neighbors in our side do this or behave like idiots. Can I put some kind of magic potion outside their door so they move? I wish it was that simple. Things will be so much better and brighter if those Hillbillies move out... ugh, so tired of their shit!

I guess, the only person I don't dislike from that Idiot Clan is Mother Mary... she's nice. And the funny thing is that Mary doesn't live next door... she just signed the papers for her daughter and husband to live there. More people [family] live in that apartment... ugh! Stupid people!! Ooooh, I can go on and on about what push my buttons but this is all I will write.

These people should be E-V-I-C-T-E-D!!!!!!!

School bus transportation

2008-05-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

There will be no more free rides in those school buses. In the new school year 2008/2009 there will be a charging fee for school bus transportation. This was done reluctantly, but was a necessary action given the dismal outlook for education funding in the state budget.

School districts are not required to provide school bus transportation. The costs of transportation have risen so dramatically over the past few years that many school districts have eliminated transportation entirely as school funding has gotten more and more problematic. This year, the budget outlook for the next school year is catastrophic and charging a fee for transportation will allow the school to maintain that service and keep other programs which are more directly related to children's education.

We (the parents) are going to be able to pay bus fees at our school office starting on August 18, 2008 when the offices open for the new school year. We can also pay bus fees at the District Office throughout the entire month of August. The school will be selling annual passes good for the entire school year, semi-annual passes, monthly passes, and daily tickets. If my child rides the bus only one-way, to or from school, the fee for a pass will be half the round trip fee.

Of course, for those families who qualify for the National School Lunch Free and Reduced Price Lunch program will not be charged a fee. In order to qualify for this program, we (the parents) must submit proof of income and various other documents required by the federal government. Which I think now we WILL qualify.

It's just weird to know that to ride the bus we will have to pay and the fees are just... fees. Just, look at the prices!

Daily tickets - $1 each way
Monthly - $40 average depending on the number of school days in the month.
Semester Pass - $170 ($0.94 per ride)
Full Year - $323 ($0.90 per ride)

Now, if I have a second child (or more)

Semester Pass - $150 ($0.83 per ride)
Full Year - $300 ($0.83 per ride)

Charging fees is not something anyone wants to do, but it is the best alternative in these tight budget times. What is there to do?... to go with the flow I think.

Scrapbooking

2008-05-26T14:39:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I played some more on the scrapbook thing and I created another one. There's a lot of options and designs. I'm still new at this so I don't know how to do many things but it's cool to play around with the pictures and then come up with something.

Coloring

2008-05-24T08:49:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, I decided that it was time to colored my hair after almost six months of not retouching it. Black-blue coloring is just a HUGE mess!! I do tell myself that next time, I will try a different "lighter" color but I keep buying the same color lol. Then yesterday, I TRIED to put some red streaks (and use the last of the red coloring) and the color didn't stayed. The red coloring I got some time ago, the lady in the beauty store told me that red dye was for dark colored hair and that I didn't needed to lighten my hair in order to use it. So, I got the red coloring and some 30 cream developer but no red color on my hair at all. Maybe next time, I'll try a different brand and a liquid one instead of cream (I don't like the cream coloring that much).

This time, I wanted to talk to the lady in the beauty store and asked about the streak color and maybe she could recomend another good one and give me some tips. But, dear Joel wanted to go to the bathroom so bad that I didn't had the chance to look around the store and get more things besides my hair coloring.

This is the one I used for the streaks. Didn't work!!

Break from the heat

2008-05-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

Today was a wonderful and beautiful day. We finally got a break from that horrible Heat Wave that was among us over the weekend and yesterday. There was no need to turn the fans on today like we did in the past several days.

Tomorrow, is Open House at Joel's school from 6 to 7:30 pm. There's also going to be an Art Show and a Book Fair. Joel wants to get a book so we're stopping by the Book Fair to get him a book.

Then on Friday, May 30th from 5 to 8 pm, there's going to be a special event called "A Night Under the Stars" and it's going to take place at the Viejas Outlet Center Park. Hopefully, we will be able to go and have a little fun under the stars. The thing that caught my attention was that some teachers are going to be Scooping some ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery and Joel got all excited about it. Of course, Cold Stone Creamery is generously donating a portion of the proceeds back to the PTA and the school.

Today, I uploaded some new pictures I have and shared them to my two sister-in-laws... Cathi and Sue. While I was uploading them, I realized there was some scrapbooking stuff so I started playing with it and this is what I did...

I HAVE to stop here because my two little monsters are driving me crazy and it's already bathtime for the both of them and then bed time.

A hot weekend

2008-05-18T22:14:00.000-07:00

Boy, this weekend was a hot weekend. High 90's and low 100's; and to think Summer is not officially here yet. I can only imagine how hot Summer is going to be. Yikes!! Hopefully, we will get a little break from this Heat Wave we are having after tomorrow [Monday].

We didn't do much this weekend because of the horrible heat and hot sun. We stayed indoors keeping ourselves cool. Today, I filled the bathtub with cool water and the kids took a dip and played in the water for a little while to cool themselves off. I, on the other hand, took a shower at around 8ish at night... after my shower, I felt so refreshed and cool. Not to mention that my hair smells wonderful!!!! ;-)

It's Mother's Day today!

2008-05-11T14:55:00.000-07:00

My mother keeps a garden,
a garden of the heart.
She plants all the good things
that give my life its start.

She turns me to the sunshine
and encourages me to dream.
Fostering and nurturing
the seeds of self-esteem.

And when the winds and rains come,
she protects me just enough -
But not too much - she knows I need
to stand up strong and tough.

Her constant good example
teaches me right from wrong -
Markers for my pathway
that will last a lifetime long.

I am my mother's garden.
I am her legacy -
And I hope today she feels the love
reflected back from me.

Happy Mother's Day
I love you!!

Western Days

2008-05-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

Today is the day... today is Western Days at Joel's school. We got a bunch of tickets, four dinner tickets, and two tickets for rock climbing for the kids. Joel is very excited about today and he can't wait to go. It's the exact thing as the Spring Fling when Joel was in Kindergarten... but in Western style. I'm not sure if my hubby wants to go... but if he doesn't want to go, I will be taking the kids for some Friday fun. I was going to bake a cake yesterday for the Cake Walk but then I changed my mind; my cake decorations are not that good lol... so I backed out.

So yah, it's Friday. The weather seems nice today... not to hot and not to cold. The pool is open again (yaaay!). They were painting the rails and now we got some new chairs and lounge chairs out there. Now, I need to see if I can buy a new swimsuit for myself. The green swimsuit I have (back when I was 130 lbs) is just... not fitting me right. Blah! That's a two piece one (not exactly a bikini I might say) and I want a one piece swimsuit.

My hubby went fishing this morning and he just got back. FINALLY, he brought some fish back... 5 trouts!! We're having fish this weekend!! Yum!!

Well, talked to my mom the other day and she gave me bad news... Regina got out of her house and she ran to the busy street and she got hit by a car and died. My mom is missing her and she said she's no longer getting any pets again!! It's to painful for her when they die. Besides, she was telling me Regina was a handful. My kids are going to miss her a lot. I don't think Seth quite understands that Regina is not going to be there the next time we go to my mom's. My kids used to adored that doggy... they loved to play and run with her. Regina is going to be missed. So sad!!

Just a Mom?

2008-05-01T09:47:00.000-07:00

A woman, renewing her driver's license at the County Clerk's Office, was asked by the woman recorder to state her occupation.

She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.

"What I mean is," explained the recorder, "do you have a job or are you just a ...?"

"Of course I have a job," snapped the woman. "I'm a Mom."

"We don't list 'Mom' as an occupation, 'housewife' covers it," said the recorder emphatically.

I forgot all about her story until one day, I found myself in the same situation, this time at our own Town Hall. The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised, efficient, and possessed of high sounding title like, "Official Interrogator" or "Town Registrar."

"What is your occupation?" she probed.

What made me say it? I do not know. The words simply popped out. "I'm a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations."

The clerk paused, ball-point pen frozen in midair and looked up as though she had not heard right.

I repeated the title slowly emphasizing the most significant words. Then, I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written, in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.

"Might I ask," said the clerk with new interest, "just what you do in your field?"

Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply, "I have a continuing program of research (what mother doesn't), in the laboratory and in the field, (normally I would have said indoors and out). I'm working for my Masters (first the Lord and then the whole family), and already have four credits (all boys). Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities, (any mother care to disagree?) and I often work 14 hours a day (24 is more like it). But, the job is more challenging than most run-on-the-mill careers and the rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money."

There was an increasing note of respect in the Clerk's voice as she completed the form, stood up, and personally ushered me to the door.

As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants -- ages 17, 7, and 3. Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model (a 6 month old baby), in the child development program, testing out a new vocal pattern. I felt I had scored a beat on bureaucracy! And, I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to mankind than "just another Mom."

Motherhood!!

What a glorious career!! Especially when there's a title on the door.

Does this make Grandmothers "Senior Research Associates in the Field of Child Development and Human Relations"... and, Great Grandmothers "Executive Senior Research Associates?" I think so!!!!

I also think it makes Aunts "Associate Research Assistants."

Heat Wave

2008-04-27T16:58:00.000-07:00

It's been a hot weekend over here. I don't like hot days like these. Pool and ocean were in my mind... aaaah, to get refreshed by some cool water is just an awesome feeling. Right now, my weather bug says it's 90°F, our local weather site says it's 87°F... and truly, I think we hit the low 100's or high 90's. Blah!! Did I mentioned I HATE hot days? It's just past 5 pm... so the day is starting to cool down a little... but still... it's hot outside. Didn't go to the beach because of that shark attack that happened yesterday. The beaches between Del Mar and Cardiff by the Sea were closed... yet, some surfers went surfing and didn't cared much about that shark attack incident. I feel so bad for that 66 year old doctor that was killed by the shark.

Didn't do the wash today. It was too hot to be doing the wash lol. So, I decided to go to the laundromat tomorrow morning. Ugh, and to think that I have ironing to do also... my hubby's shirts!! :-/ Why can he buy shirts that don't need to be ironed? My hubby and his shirts.

We truly had one crazy weather here. Besides the hot temperatures, we had very strong winds. I was a little worry when I heard about some wildfires going on... one was in Ramona that got contained, the other was in Sierra Madre near Pasadena, and the other one was here in San Diego (Sorrento Valley)... I think the one in San Diego is 90% contained the last time I heard.

Last night, my hubby and I decided to go to the casino. It was a JD's weekend... so JD stayed home with the kiddos while my hubby and I took off for some night fun. Both of us did terrible... but, it was fun. My feet hurt right at the end. Gosh, my hubby put a $10 ticket on this video poker machine and I was just praying for him to finish!!! Those $10 took a lot of time to get rid of lol... he was playing for like 40 freakin' minutes winning and losing. At that time, I just wanted to come home, take off my flip flops, put my PJ's on, and relax. JD and I ended up watching a movie (I forgot the name of the movie). On Saturday, we watched AVP Requiem and Resident Evil Extinction. Loved AVP Requiem!!

Indiana?

2008-04-22T16:22:00.001-07:00

Indiana is in our future. After this big change that happened this past Friday (4/18/08), there is a big possibility that we could be moving to Indiana either this Summer or next Spring '09. Am I happy about it? Yes & No. I know that the housing over there are so cheap. My hubby and I were looking online for houses and some apartments and boy they are so cheap compared to here!! My SIL, Cathi, lives in Indiana... so she got a little excited there when my hubby told her we could be moving to Indiana. Then, my other SIL, Sue, that lives in Washington DC was also excited about the news. Sue is planning in moving to Indiana (Bloomington) sooner or later (she's also a Teacher).

But, what to do what to do?! Things are just in the air. We're actually thinking we could open our own business up there in Bloomington. Still unsure!! Who knows, we could just end up staying here or move up to Indiana. Long drive I must add!! There's also a big chance that we could go to Bloomington this Summer for a week, or two, to check things out and for me to open my eyes and see if I would like living in Indiana. Big change for me 'tho. We're going to take the long way... drive!! That would be awesome!! See the cities, farms, or whatever is in between CA and IN. Hopefully, I can use a laptop to record all the adventures.

Popcorn

2008-04-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard of the Crazy Frog? I've never knew it existed until one of my dear friends kept sending me these videos through YouTube. Most of the time I ignored them until one day I decided to check them out... boy was I totally dragged into that Crazy Frog, the music/beat, and that special touch. Did I mention he's naked from the waist down?... you can see his "thing" LOL. I searched this "Annoying Thing" over the Internet to see who was it's creator and looks like it's been around for years. I thought there were these cartoons about him... nope. Only music and some short music videos of him.

Well, now my kids are all crazy about Crazy Frog's music. I bought several songs through iTunes so that I could burn a darn CD for them. Now, I'm driving while listening to that CD... and let me tell you, I like the songs lol... my favorite is Popcorn!! The other day, Joel told me he wanted his own iPod (go figure!)... my hubby and I told him iPods are not cheap and my hubby asked him "what are you gonna listen?"... Joel's response was "Crazy Frog's music". Hmm!!

Popcorn video
There's also a Crazy Frog Christmas CD... my favorite song: "Last Christmas". I am so guilty for listening to this kind of music... but I LOVE the beat!! :-P

And, we are still having problems with the Internet connection. Sooo annoying!!

Can it get any worse?

2008-04-13T14:51:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how hot it is today!! We're like a couple of degrees away from reaching the three digits here!! The pool sounds so refreshing right now but I just can't go for a swim with the kids. My hubby went to the Swap Meet this morning and he came out with more CDs and more cool movies. I love bargains! Went to the laundromat after my hubby came back from the Swap Meet. I was done with the laundry at noon and then I stopped by the grocery store to get the stuff I need so that I can make my hubby some chicken enchiladas tomorrow for dinner (he LOVES my chicken enchiladas).

Last night, I watched "The Grudge 2"... loved the movie!! I can say that this movie is way better than the 1st one. Then at around midnight, the movie "Dahmer" started. I think I watched an hour of that movie until I gave in to sleep. Would like to watch that movie again. That Dahmer movie is about Jeffrey Dahmer and it just tells his story how he was... WOW!! Chilling stuff!! Later today, my hubby and I are going to watch "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"... it's with Johnny Depp (I like him a lot!!), Benicio Del Toro, Cameron Diaz, Christina Ricci, and some other cool actors. I haven't seen this movie and it's like a 1998 movie or something... so it's not a new movie.

In another not so good note... for the last several days, life is not getting any easier.

1st. It was our Internet connection. It wasn't working right at all. Got online and everything was peachy and surfing on the net... and then all of a sudden, no connection. Grrrr!! Give me a break!! Thank goodness, my hubby didn't got rid of a cable modem he bought some time ago when the connection got crapy like it is now. So, he put that new cable modem up and so far so good. Hopefully, the connection, line, or modem won't fail from now on.

2nd. Yesterday, one of our bathroom's toilet is not flushing right... it doesn't flush!! Looks like it is like it was months ago and when I thought Seth flushed something in the toilet and that's why it was backing up and nothing going down. Ugh!! I've been using the plunger since yesterday and it still not flushing.

3rd. Seth definitely has the cough Joel had couple of weeks ago. Seth is feeling horrible!! He's been crying, whining, and telling me his chest hurts from all that coughing :-(. My poor baby!! Seth usually gets sicker than Joel when he passes those bugs to Seth. It took Joel around a week to get rid of the cough... that means, Seth's gonna be suffering for quite a while. He doesn't want to eat, he doesn't want to play, he doesn't want to be bothered (or annoyed by Joel), and he's basically crying every time he coughs. I don't think there's a miracle syrup of medicine to ease with the coughing. I have that Delsym medicine but it just doesn't work. And to top it off, the kids and I still don't have medical insurance. My hubby was going to take care of that today but the servers at his new job are getting an update (or some work on) so he can't login to do what he has to do to add us.

What a lovely Sunday!!

Windy

2008-04-12T08:25:00.000-07:00

It's an extremely windy day today. It feels weird 'tho. These type of winds remind me when the bad fires started... same exact powerful wind and sound. Brings bad memories. Other than the wind, today is going to be another hot day... in the low 90's. Now that's not good... powerful winds and a hot day; hmm.

My poor Seth woke up last night with a bad cough... so bad that he puked. Had to changed sheets in the middle of the night. Thankfully, he went back to sleep. This morning, he seems fine and being his own little devil self... but the nasty cough Joel had now Seth has it. Isn't it wonderful... siblings sharing those nasty bugs. I've never seen a day where one of my kids gets sick and the other doesn't. How lucky they are!! Ugh!!

Yesterday, I went to see that house that's for sale. It's a one-story home, 3 bedrooms, and two-full bathrooms. Price for that home is... $595,000!! Expensive but beautiful!! I really fell in love with that home. It's even in this cul-de-sac area just across the street where we live now. There's maybe 10 or 15 beautiful homes like that in that little area. I actually take the kids trick-or-treating there. I wish we could get that house. I love this area a lot and I wouldn't mind getting a house here.

This is the home

It has a 3-car garage space

The kitchen

The living room

Another view of the living room

It also has a little backyard... big enough for me to have a little get-together with the family and fun enough for the kids. Aaaw, beautiful home. But, this is just like dreaming 'cause there is no way we could get it. Sad but true. :-(

Well, in other news, my hubby got paid yesterday... but only for one week. He wasn't supposed to get paid yesterday but on the 18th... but some woman from HR called him and told him to go over there and pick up his check. Sweet!! It's only for one week but we can't wait to see how much a two-weeks check's gonna look like on a regular payday. My hubby was telling me it's hard to let go something good... even if he doesn't like the job. Boy, wish I had a job like that lol... be this important person lol. Even the President of the company offered him to be the head of the IT department (whoa!!)... he told him to think about it this weekend. I asked him to get me a job there in one of the labs lol... seriously, I would LOVE to be part of that Pharmaceutical's cult and "Their Family".

Friday, I'm in love!

2008-04-11T13:08:00.000-07:00

Just like one of the songs from The Cure... "Friday, I'm in Love". That's how I feel today... in love with the weather. It's a beautiful day today!! It's sunny, warm (in the high 80's), and it's a little windy but nice. I opened the windows in my home and I love how the breeze feels going through the open windows. I had a late noon breakfast today... which is like lunch now. Just killing time before I need to go and pick up Joel from school. I'm also waiting for that FedEx guy to knock on my door... my hubby's order from Bass Pro Shops is going to arrive today. So hopefully, I will be here when he comes and not when I'm out picking up Joel from school.

Our Internet connection is been having some problems since yesterday... it disconnects often. I hate when that happens!! So hopefully, my connection doesn't go away while I'm updating here.

I'm not sure what we are going to do this weekend. I don't think much... just chillin'. JD's not coming over this weekend... so it's my hubby, the kids, and I this weekend. I know that I'm going to the store to look for some cute earrings for my swap momma. But, I have no idea what's with the #1 and #3 earrings lol. I'm hoping in getting myself a wallet 'cause the one I have sucks and it's so ugly... I need a new wallet.

Well, my hubby has survived two weeks at the Pharmaceuticals!! Today is payday for him so we are actually going to see how much difference is compared to what he got at the Institute.

There's a house for rent just in front of Joel's school. It's not a real pretty house but it's a house. I'm wondering how much they are asking for the rent. I have to stop by and see. Then, there's a house for sale just across the street... those type of houses that I would love to live in (better yet, to own one someday)... but I'm guessing they are asking more than $400,000 for that house.

Tuesday things

2008-04-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

Good Tuesday morning. It's a cloudy and chilly morning today. No signs of the sun at all. I'm sitting here and writing with a warm cup of coffee... yum!! Gotta love my coffee in the mornings!! Well, I'm happy to say that today... I am feeling much better than yesterday. I have to say that my hubby did noticed my sadness and he asked me what was wrong. I didn't exactly told him why was I feeling blue... no need to be feeling down and depressed about it. Today is another new day. So, I'm going to try my best to ignore those feelings of sadness and disappointment; and I know they will come up sooner or later today.

My hubby wished he wouldn't had accepted the job... it's even worse than the one he had at the Institute. The people are wonderful... the place is awesome... the Pharmaceutical really takes good care of it's workers... but the position/work stinks big time. My hubby's not sure until when he's going to take it. But, we'll see. I just need to prepare myself for the worse... and maybe move away from California. But, whatever it will be... we can handle it and we will make it.

We received a letter yesterday from my SIL (the one that lives in Indiana). She was telling us that she would be happy to see what kind of jobs are over there for my hubby... and that we are welcome to stay with them if we decide to go out there to look for places to live. I know it's going to be a big step for me going from California to living in Indiana... huge jump!! I'm not used to the snow and I'm used to living in this California weather... it's beautiful beaches, the surf, it's mountains, and all that California fun. I will miss CA 'tho... and A LOT. Specially my mom!! But, we'll see what happens.

In a cool note, my SIL told us that Robin (his son) is going to be in an upcoming movie with Sean Penn. Sean Penn is going to be playing San Francisco's old mayor - Harvey Milk. Robin's going to be playing this character... a disgruntled labor union Joe. How exciting!! I'm sure we will definitely see this movie when it comes out. I then started making fun of my hubby LOL... because my hubby was an extra on the movie Jurassic Park 2... that little part where they filmed Downtown San Diego (gas station). It always cracks me up lol. My hubby running away from the big dino lol. It's fun to be an "extra" in a big movie. Like when Titanic was filming... I remember driving with my ex-bf to Rosarito beach just to take a peek of the Titanic... it was so cool to see that. They were also looking for a lot of extras on that time. Cool!!

Friday it is

2008-04-04T15:52:00.000-07:00

Well, my hubby's 1st week at his new job is almost over... he survived!! This time, my hubby really looks like this important executive person in a company... dressing professional and carrying his laptop to work and home (I still haven't 'played' with that new laptop lol). Poor hubby, this new job at the Pharmaceuticals is very different from the Institute... lots of work and lots of meetings to go to. I just hope he survives. I would LOVE to work in that Pharmaceutical company either at one of it's labs or in the vivarium. Aaaah, I just miss working in a lab.

So yesterday, my hubby gave me that Starbucks gift card his work gave him the other day. Frappuccinos and flavored coffees here I go lol. Screw the calories!! I LOVE Starbucks!! I'm glad my hubby doesn't like Starbucks lol.

I got a birthday party invitation yesterday from my friend Paty. She's doing a birthday party for his soon-to-be 2 yr old, Nathan, at this pizza place next Saturday the 12th. I'm going to emailed my other friend, Martha, to see if she's going also. There's a high possibility that I might go. My kids could have a fun time there eating pizza and playing... fun stuff for the kids. Also, a great opportunity to see my friends (which I haven't seen in quite some time now).

JD's coming this evening to stay with us for the weekend. I hope the brings cool movies to watch. Speaking of movies, I totally forgot about the two free movie tickets my hubby gave me that I still have. I want to take Joel to see that "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who" movie. Hopefully, I can take him this weekend or next weekend. I have to use those free tickets before they expire... which I don't know if they expire and when.

I need to keep updating this blog often. It's fun!!

9th Anniversary

2008-04-01T18:34:00.000-07:00

9 years ago, I was in Las Vegas with Scot trying to get out things together and get married later in the day. We had the opportunity to stay in the beautiful hotel and casino of the Bellagio. We got married later in that day 9 years ago in a beautiful chapel. We stayed in Las Vegas for 4 days. We picked April 1st because we actually were foolish to be getting married that quickly. Looking back all these years, I don't regret any single thing. I'm very happy with my life, with my husband, and with our little family. I don't think I will change a thing if I had the power to do it.

Happy 9th Wedding Anniversary!!

Scot went to pick up JD so he can come over and babysit the kids... while Scot and I can go out for a little Anniversary fun... meaning, out for dinner and to the casino lol. My hubby got home like around 3ish from his 2nd orientation at his new job in the Pharmaceuticals and surprised me with some flowers... 9 roses for our nine years together (that was very sweet). He gave me an early anniversary present... an iPod Touch. I gave him an anniversary card and a Bass Pro Shops gift card so he can go crazy shopping in there. I didn't want to buy him a regular gift card visa/mc 'cause I want him to use that gift FOR HIM and not on us or me. So, he was happy with my little gifts.

I must end this here. It's almost 7 pm and the kids dinner is done (the timer just went off) and my hubby is due to come back with JD any minute now.

Boy, I need to update this blog of mine more often ;-).

Rainy & Cloudy Day

2007-10-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

It's been quite awhile since I last updated my blog. Once again, here I am... updating it. Finally, we got some rainy weather today... cloudy, chilly, and rainy. I love these kind of days. I love staying home and listening to the rain fall and hitting the windows and the roof... such a relaxing day.

My hubby went grocery shopping this morning... so we got our groceries for the next week (yaay!).

I went to my mom's this past weekend with the kids. I actually went on a Friday after picking up Joel from school. We had a great time!! My mom has this adorable puppy that's one month old... I forgot her name 'tho. The new puppy is Regina's sister (Regina's 7 months old). The only problem is that Regina doesn't like the new puppy and they need to keep them separate. The puppy's going to be there for a short period of time until she's able to take the vaccines and Agustina's hubby is crossing her to the US to give her to some family members of him... they just want to cross her the legal way with her vaccination record (kinda like a dog's passport lol).

I really got sick on Monday. God!! I don't remember when was the last time I got this sick like that. I woke up with chills, the feeling of throwing up, very tired, I just wanted to lay in bed, I lost my appetite, headache, aches & pains in my whole body, and I felt I was going to faint every time I had to do something. That day, I was in bed the whole day. Had the strength to take care of the kids and take Joel to school... then go to the store to get necessities that couldn't wait. When I came back, I had to lay down... Seth wanted to play playstation so I let him played and I went to bed; thank goodness!! Seth then came to the bedroom and stayed with me playing and watching tv... he then felt asleep with me. When my hubby came home, he bought me some medicine to take and thank God for him that he let me rest and he just took charge and took care of the kids and dinner. The next day, I was feeling A LOT better; thank God!! I was able to function a little normal and I could finally eat something. My sickness only lasted for one day.

On Tuesday/Wednesday, Joel got something in his left eye that it swolled up and it was red... it wasn't Pink Eye nor Sty. Thank goodness his eye is getting a lot better and the swelling is going down. Joel went to school as normal and I'm happy the school didn't called me telling me I have to pick him up :).

3 pounds lost!

2007-08-06T12:46:00.000-07:00

I only lost 3 pounds on my first week on my weight loss plan. I know I could've done way better than 3 pounds (I've done it before). All I know is that this is the start of my 2nd week and I hope I do good and I stay on the plan.

Not much to update 'tho.

The bug

2007-08-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was really a day for me. I DO NOT LIKE BUGS at all. I can stand little bugs like spiders, bees, lady bugs and all of those that are not creepy looking. But, when it comes to roaches, beetles, and all those creepy and yuky looking bugs... I can't stand them and I get into a panic mode when I see one. I DON'T LIKE BUGS!!

So yesterday, I was in the bedroom and all of a sudden Joel comes into the bedroom with a scared face saying to me "there's something in the kitchen" LOL. I was like "huh, whatcha talking about boy?" I asked him what it was and he just couldn't exactly tell me what it was. Dear God, my mind was thinking all sorts of things like... is it a snake?... is it a lizard?... is it a BUG?... what the hell it could be that scared the crap out of Joel? Joel stayed on the bed while I go for inspection; slowly to not scared "the thing". I couldn't see nothing at first. Then, all of a sudden, this HUGE bug comes flying towards me. ARGH!!! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT???? I ran to the living room like a child LMAO. But truly, I was in a panic. I DO NOT LIKE BUGS!! This thing was flying all over the kitchen and part of the dinning room. I wanted to get the broom but the dang thing wouldn't let me. I was afraid that IT could land on my hair LOL... like that freakin' June Bug that landed once in my hair. I wanted to screamed but at the same time I didn't wanted because I didn't wanted to scared Joel even more... he was scared enough of the thing to begin with; LOL. Geeeze, my heart was beating soo fast and hard. I had to do something. I finally got a hold of the ants Raid and when the bug was hitting things (which sounded soo loud when it hit things 'eeeeeek') it fell into the sink and then came out flying again. It was horrible LOL. It then saw the kitchen window and he wanted to get out... I then sprayed him with the ants Raid and I think I used all of it; LOL. I just wanted to make sure it got killed. I didn't wanted that thing inside my home. I DO NOT LIKE BUGS!!!

Finally, the bug was in it's last minutes of it's life. I got the courage to grabbed it with the twizzers LOL. It looked like a huge flying roach to me but at the same time it looked like a beetle. I was afraid it could be a roach... I DON'T LIKE ROACHES either. I went online in search for some pictures to compared it to some roaches. Looked similar but it also looked like a beetle. It's antenas were different as the roaches'. I saved it so that my hubby could take a look at it and then confirm what it was. My hubby got home and he saw the thing and he just told me "IT WAS A BEETLE"... thank goodness!!! No roach!!! LOL!!! Man, I hate bugs!! I have no idea how that thing got inside. Hopefully, it won't happen again with another yuky bug like that. Yeah, now I laugh about the incident but it wasn't funny at the time that I wanted to do something; LMAO. It would've been soo hilarious if someone would've video taped me in action with the bug. LOL. Joel even was scared after it was dead LOL... I grabbed the beetle with the tweezers and it fell to the floor and Joel was with me... I screamed when it fell and Joel screamed too and runned to the bedroom again LMAO.

I do not want to experience anything like this again. Did I mentioned that I HATE BUGS??

Fun weekend!

2007-07-30T14:31:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a fun one. On Friday, I took Joel to see The Simpsons Movie. Since my hubby took two days off from work (Thursday & Friday), I asked my hubby if he could stay home with Seth while I took Joel to the movies to see The Simpsons Movie. My wonderful hubby said "yes!" So, Joel and I went to the 12:05 pm showing. We had a great time. It was yrs since I last went to the movies... I paid $15 for the both of us (and to think it was a discount LOL). Then, Joel wanted some popcorn, soda, candy, etc... so I bought him what he wanted. And, that day, I didn't had no breakfast so I was starving when I got to the movies and I HAD to get something to eat for myself. But in all, it was worth it. It's sad that I don't do this often... go to the movies 'cause it's fun!!

After the movies, we walked through the mall. We went into the Game Shop store to see what kind of video games they had. They have awesome ones but I didn't bought any; I was short in money. But, I really wanted to buy Tomb Raider Anniversary for myself ($30) but I was a good girl and I was able to control myself LOL. Joel wanted me to buy him Jak 2. I also was interested in getting that Spongebob game and the Cars game for the Playstation... yet, I did control myself. Joel rode the Merry Go Round ($2) and I just loved how happy he was. I truly love to see those smiling faces in my kids' faces. Priceless!! After our little walk through the mall, I stopped by the Starbucks to get myself one last taste of it's famous Fraps... I bought a Strawberries & Cream Frap; it was yumy!!

Then yesterday, I took the kids to the playground; to the one that's not where we live. I wanted to take the kids out and to finish my picture taking for the scavenger hunt. We all had a great time at the park/playground. The community was having some sort of art fair 'cause there were a lot of little art booths and this big air slide for the kids. We arrived just a little before that art fair was over. I love this picture of Seth... soo happy and enjoying coming down from the slide :). Love it!!

And, today... I began my journey to lose 23 lbs. I will see how long it takes me to lose 23 lbs. So far so good; I might say. I'm about to prepare my lunch which is ground turkey with carrots & squash, rice, and a cup of peas. I already had my breakfast (a strawberry smoothie) and my mid afternoon snack (two scrambled egg whites with veggies and 1/2 cup of cooked oatmeal). I'm doing wonderful on my water intake. I'm supposed to drink 12 cups of water (8 oz each) a day and I already drank 6 cups of water. I thought this was going to be hard for me 'cause I'm not that used to drinking that amount of water a day... but I'm doing good. Hopefully, I do good this time.

I also stepped on the scale this morning to see where I was. I weight 173 lbs!! Boy, that's a lot!! I haven't taken my measurements because I couldn't find the measuring tape (I need to find it 'tho). I also haven't taken a picture of myself in my current weight... which is something I need to do also so that I can keep track of the changes in my body and how I look... to compare each picture. Lots to do.

Now on theaters ... The Simpsons Movie!

2007-07-27T09:29:00.000-07:00

I am soo excited!! I'm taking Joel to the movies today to see The Simpsons Movie!! Joel and I are very very excited. The last time I actually went to the movies was when I took Joel to see Ice Age 2... that's like years ago LOL. My hubby took two days off from work... so today, he can stay home with Seth while Joel and I go to the movies (sweeeeet!!). I'm going to leave close to Seth's nap time so that he doesn't give my hubby to much trouble :-Þ.

It's close to 10:30 in the morning right now. My hubby took off to the grocery store, so I'm waiting on him so that I can take a shower and be ready later. I'm hungry. Gotta go. I'll update later.

Pictures!

2007-07-23T13:09:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite pictures. I love my mom's front garden and it can cleary be seen in this picture. So anyway, another day... another week... another day in the month of July. Today is a cloudy day but a hot one... in the low 90's. I have the fans on and I would like to turn on the AC.

So, I decided to work on loosing 20 lbs. Of course, I want to lose more than 20 lbs... I will be happy if I lose 40 or 50 pounds. It's just sad how fat I've got through these years and after having the kids... it's really not a pretty sight compared to what I've looked "after I got married". My hubby really quit smoking and I think it's my turn to work on something that will make me feel better about myself and that it will make me look better too. I know it's going to be extremely hard but I KNOW I can do it.

Anyway, here are more pictures from last week when I was at my mom's:

Joel and Angela
They say they are bf & gf (lol)

Seth doing a tantrum
This is where Angela and her mom (Agustina) lives
Where my Grandma used to live

Seth throwing a toy to Regina (my mom's puppy)

Angela
I love this little girl soo freakin' much

Half of Regina (lol)

Talked to my mom this weekend to see how everything was. I saw my uncle Nacho when I was at my mom's. He was going home to Oxnard on Sunday morning. I don't remember the day when my cousin Ma.Elena called my mom telling her that Lizeth (her daughter) was taken to the hospital because her blood pressure went low... she was 8 months pregnant with her 2nd daughter. Lizeth did had her baby because my cousin JM (Ma.Elena's brother) came over to my mom's house on Saturday and he told my mom about it. Hope everything is going ok with Lizeth and her new baby girl.

I want to go to the store... yet, I feel lazy and I want to stay home. I don't really need anything important 'tho. Maybe I'll go before the weekend is here.

I'm back!!

2007-07-19T15:40:00.000-07:00

Whew, it's good to be back home :)... always!! Everything's clean and everything it's all put away in their right space/drawer. I got home like around 1ish (pm) today. I left my mom's like around 10ish... at 10:16am I was making line at the border... and at exactly 11am I crossed over. All was good :).

And OMG, somebody got busted when I was at the border and ready to cross. There was this car with Mexican license plates and a Custom dog was sniffing this guy's car trunk... it's tires... and under the car. I then saw the guy getting cuffed and taken away by Customs. Wow!! And the dog was still like hyper and still sniffing that car. It was soo interesting watching that.

Soo anyway, after the above show, I stopped at Walmart to get Seth's a late birthday present that I had my eye on but at that time I didn't had enough money to buy it. Sooo, this time I did bought it... it's a Tonka crane truck and he loves it. We also ate inside Walmart in it's McDonald's. My kids were happy with their Happy Meals and their toys. I ended up buying some stuff at Walmart that I didn't really needed LOL... but, it's ok.

I'm in need for a phone card... my cell's airtime will expired this coming Sunday so I need to buy a phone card and filled my phone so that I can get the rollover money and I have like $50 in there. I stopped at Vons and they were out of the $25 cards (Walmart was out of those too). So I need to buy one tomorrow. I'm gonna go to the Rite-Aid & the market that we have close by to see if they have it and if not... I then need to drive all the way to El Cajon to see if Target has them. I totally do not want to drive to Santee if I can't find one at the El Cajon Target; ugh!!

Oh man, I had a horrible incident on Monday when I was going to my mom's. I stopped by the Target in El Cajon to buy Angela her video game and buy the galon of milk for my mom. On my way back to my car, I opened the door... Joel got in to his seat... and then I sat Seth in his seat and began to buckled him up. Then, I realized the stupid key for the alarm was missing!!... without that little key I can not turn on the car!! I FREAKED OUT!! I felt like crying... I felt like asking someone if they know how to handle this and do something... I felt like really calling the cops for help. I was stranded and I couldn't just call my hubby to let him know my situation. Joel got scared and he began to cry... he wanted to leave... he wanted to go to his Grandma's house. So, we looked under the car... on the street... we went inside Target looking at the floor... and we found nothing. Ugh!! It was hot and I was soo worry. I have an extra one but it was at home. But, thank to God the key was just hidding it self in Seth's seatbelt on the carseat. I thank God soo many many times for this. I was soo thankful that little key was inside the car and not somewhere else where somebody could've taken it. This is the 2nd time this has happened. My mom was telling me that it would be a good idea to hide the 2nd copy I have somewhere inside my car where only I (and my hubby) will know where it is if something like this ever happens again.

My hubby called me on Tuesday with wonderful news. He was telling me that a well known company e-mailed him telling him that they are interested for an interview. I haven't seen my hubby yet but I can't wait to see him and ask him what happened or if he has some new and good news about that job or his coming interview. My hubby was all excited 'cause he knows this company is a good company known all around the world. I just hope for good luck because we really need some of that good luck around here.

I have some pictures but I will put them on in my next entry. I'm tired right now and I don't want to download nothing at the moment LOL. Then, my hubby's due to be home in any minute now.

Leaving today

2007-07-16T07:19:00.000-07:00

So today's the day!! The kids and I are heading to my mom's... we're heading to Mexico (Baja). I really can't wait to see my mom, my family, and the friends that I will be able to see while I'm there. I'm taking the kids' kiddie pool over there and I think I'm going to leave it at my mom's. Hopefully, we can leave not too late. I have to stop by the bank to cashed a check and then stop by Target to get Angela her video game(s) and to buy a gallon of milk for my mom. It's close to 7:30 in the morning and I still need to take a shower, pack my clothes... and that's about it. I already packed the kids' clothes yesterday. I hope I don't forget anything.

Things to take
1. Camera
2. Video camera (and it's cables)
3. Extra batteries (just in case)
4. Movies for the kids
5. Homemade movies for my mom
6. Cell phone

That's about it for the extra things I want to take. Just a little note for me LOL. Told my hubby I will be coming back on Thursday the 19th. BUT, I could always change my mind and come back on the 20th instead; hmm!! I guess, it all depends.

Before I leave, I wanted to stop by and write about our weekend. Our weekend was a fun one. My hubby and I decided to go to Cuyamaca on Saturday. The boys were soo happy to be able to go fishing (specially Joel). We went first to Santa Ysabel to stop at Dudley's Bakery to get some bread for us and for my mom. Buy 3 get the 4th one free; awesome!! We ended up getting 2 jalapeno breads, 1 cheddar cheese bread, and the free one was the dates, raisins, and nuts bread. I'm giving my mom a jalapeno bread... she likes jalapeno so I think she's gonna love this bread. After Santa Ysabel, we stopped by Julian on our way back to get some goodies at Julian's Cider Mill. We got candy and chocolates :).

After Julian, we finally were back at Cuyamaca. We stayed there for quite a while... maybe for an hour or two. The kids had a lot of fun. I was happy watching my kids' smiles and watching my hubby do his favorite thing in the world... fishing!! The only bad part of that trip was that Joel got car sick on our way to Santa Ysabel. I knew he was going to get sick... he always does :(. I don't know what I can give him to ease his nausea/vomiting while traveling... I know he feels horrible 'cause getting car sick is not fun at all. Poor Joel!! But, I was happy that he had fun. Both of my kids got sunburned too LOL. I forgot to put some sunblock on them (ops!!).

This is what Joel caught instead of a fish LOL... a crab fish(?) or whatever it is called. That looks more like a shrimp to me. My hubby got soo excited when Joel catched it LOL... he was like "oh, I can use it for bait" LOL. It was fun!! Joel didn't want to get near that thing and Gabi got scared. Man, I should've taken my video camera to taped the kids' scary faces LMAO. Oh well, maybe next time I will take my video camera. My hubby ended up letting that thing go. I wanted to touch it. The thing didn't want to let go that worm. I wonder if those things taste like shrimp? Now, I'm craving some shrimp cocktail.

Ok, I spent more time writing than getting ready. It's almost 8am and I REALLY need to take a shower and get ready... and get the kids ready too.

Oh, and I almost forgot... my wish is getting answered. I'LL BE GETTING A MAC!!! Yaaay!! My hubby asked me yesterday if I want that Mac and of course I said "yes I do!" to him. He was saying to me that he made a deal with this person where he buys the Macs for the Institute and he said that he's going to get me the 20-inch that costs $1,500 for $900!! I'm soo happy!!! I can't really wait for My Mac!! He's getting me an iMac (finally!!). I won't be cussing and trying to throw this stupid PC over the window anymore... I HATE PC's!! Also, my hubby was thinking that he's going to ask JD's mom is she wants to buy our current PC for him... JD loves this PC. We'll see what happens over the week. Hope it all turns out ok :).

G2G!!

My little vent today

2007-07-13T13:42:00.000-07:00

I just had to vent about this. The computer!! I don't remember how many times I just wanted (and want to) throw this stupid computer through the window. I really really REALLY hate PC's. In my experience, PC's are just crap. I don't know why my hubby decided switching from Macintosh to a PC. This PC we have it's a really nice & powerful one... heck, you can even add a 2nd monitor and work as if we had two computers. BUT, this computer has given me soo many headaches... from freezing and getting stuck to it's stupid OS. I miss having a friendly Mac. I miss having an easy computer. I want a Mac; darn it!! Macs are more expensive but they really are worth it.

Ok, now that I got rid of my vent. I can now type happily LOL.

Yesterday, I went out with the kids. Too bad I can't post some pictures right now because the damn computer is having some picture issues (ggrr!). So, I took them out to lunch to eat at their favorite place... McDonald's. I didn't end up going to the McDonald's at Los Coches but instead I took them at the one in Viejas... it's closer to home :). Of course, the one at Viejas doesn't have a playground but the scenery, the shops, the fountains, and everything at Viejas is soo pretty. We had our lunch outside in the food court. It was fun because we could see the water jets/show and kids having a wet fun in there. Too bad my kids weren't prepare to get wet on that day. But, they both enjoyed watching.

So today is Friday the 13th. I'm not a superstitious person... so I don't believe in today's date. My hubby called me from work this morning to just let me know what day it is and to not go out LOL. I was planning in just drive around to finish some of those pictures I need for the Scavenger Hunt... but then, naaah.

Yaaay!! I'm going to my mom's this coming Monday the 16th and I will be coming back home on Thursday the 19th (or maybe Friday the 20th LOL). I'm taking the kiddie pool down there and just leave it at my mom's. Hopefully, it will be warm enough for my kids and Angela to get in the pool and have some Summer time fun :). I really can't wait to see their happy faces when that pool is ready and has water. Definetly Joel and Angela are gonna have a blast. I also can't wait to see my mom; I miss her!! I'll see who else I'm gonna be seing while I'm down there. The only part I hate is the packing, getting ready to leave (with kids is just nuts), and coming back... boy, that border line is just crazy. I don't know until when I will be able to get a SENTRI card so that I can avoid long lines coming back. Oh yeah, and we need to get those passports too... that's going to be like $400 or close to that amount. Then, $15 for each passport photo!? Geeze!! We are not rich people.

Anywho, tomorrow there's a big possibility that we're going to Santa Ysabel and maybe get some of that delicious bread from Dudley's Bakery. I want to give my mom a loaf of that Jalapeno Bread. And for us, to get some of that delicious sweet bread that has dates, raisins, and nuts... boy, that bread is mega yumy!! The only part that worries me is Joel getting car sick... this child tends to get car sick. I hope he survives and doesn't puke in the car. I hope my hubby takes the shorter road and not the looong road. The way to Santa Ysabel is just too curvy with lots of ups and down hills... very bad for my poor Joel. Then, the way my hubby drives... too fast and that will make Joel feel even worse :(. Hope for the best tomorrow if we go 'tho.

Just a Tuesday

2007-07-10T13:36:00.000-07:00

Why is it that kids are soo messy? I picked up Seth's mess twice this morning and now this is how it looks like again. Toys all over the room!! I tell him to pick up his mess and he just runs LOL. Poor Joel, sometimes he ends up cleaning up after Seth's mess. I'm also tired of the toy box my kids have. It's not a real toy box... it's just a regular plastic box with a cover. I really hate that box!! I want to get the kids a real toy box... maybe a Spongebob toy box that I've seen at the KB Toys store... that would be a great one for starters. Hopefully, I can buy them that toy box before the end of this year and I'm going to be soo happy to be throwing away this plastic toy box soon.

Anyway, we've been having good weather. Not blazzing hot days (yaay!). It's soo comfortable inside and out (80's). Yesterday, we had a warning for some thunderstorms but we didn't had them. It would've been sweet if we did... I love thunderstorms!! But, we did get some drizzle this morning :).

I'm hoping for no major wildfires to start close to where we live this Summer/Fall. Fires really scare me and I wouldn't like to experience something like that.

UPDATE!!
2:37 pm

Joel lost his 2nd tooth today!! I am soo excited it finally came off!! I was on the computer when he came to me and just said "mommy, I think the tooth is ready to come off"... which meant he wanted me to try and take it out with a string. So, we went to the kitchen and got ready and on the 2nd try the tooth was off. Joel and I got super excited!! So, the Tooth Fairy is coming for a visit tonight. Joel keeps going to the bathroom to see himself in the mirrow LOL. Cute!! Aaah, my little boy is growing up fast :(.

One more try

2007-07-09T12:09:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my little world. Welcome to my own little space in this huge Internet world where I can write about my life... my special things... my boring days... my bussy & chaotic life (lol)... my anything I want to write space. I love to write and why not keeping an up-to-date blog?

I am a mom of two little boys ages 6 (Joel) and 3 (Seth). I've been married for 8 years now to a wonderful man. Of course, the marriage life is not always pink with flowers... we have had our ups and downs. Being married is great and having kids is even greater. We live in Southern California. I love living here... yet my husband doesn't. My husband would love to move out of California and into another state... he says to me that there are other beautiful places to live and cheaper. Living in CA is expensive (I know)... the rent is expensive and buying a house is ridiculously expensive. So, buying a house is out of the question. Buying a house in another state is possible. Our future is uncertain for now.