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Funny Memory

I was washing the dishes when my husband came up behind me and gave me a kiss. He had just finished mowing the lawn and smelled like outside. The smell sparked a memory of my daughter when she was about 3 years old. She had been playing outside with the boys and when she came in I said, "Honey, you smell like wet dog" and she replied very enthusiastically, "Thank you, Mommy!"

Hahahahaha. Kids are so darn cute!

Pet Peeve

OMGosh! I didn't realize how much of a tree hugger I've become until today.

So, side story: My wonderful husband bought me a really expensive and fancy Shark iron that I loved for the three entire weeks that it worked! Poof - out of the blue the fancy electrical control panel started blinking oddly and then the iron refused to heat up. I tried everything including dancing around seductively - nope still cold! I went to the Shark website and tried all of the two troubleshooting ideas!!! I wrote to customer service and aside from the automated "Thank you for emailing Shark," I've yet to receive another contact from this wonderful company.

Which brings me to today; I have about five loads of clothes that need ironing and about five more that I refuse to wash and allow to pile up. I decided to pack up the gang and head to Target to get a "normal" iron. After reading through all of the fancy descriptions "Steam Advantage, Auto off, Anti-slip, Comfort Grip, 360 degree pivot cord, etc." I decided on a regular old Black & Decker that heats up and steams! Growing up my mom had her Proctor & Silex for two decades, so I figured the simpler the better. Unless I am able to afford Rosie from the Jetson's I am not splurging on anymore fancy appliances.

Anyway, back to my pet peeve. So, while checking out I realized that I left my reusable grocery bags in the van. The cashier had already put my iron in the plastic bag when I said "It's okay, just give me the receipt I don't need the bag." Well, instead of just using the plastic bag for the next customer, she just grabbed it (along with five other bags that were attached to it) and threw them all in the trash!!! My jaw dropped and I said "Actually I will take the bag and the five other's you threw out, so that I may recycle them and protect the earth," and then her jaw dropped as she mumbled what sounded like an absurd apology with a roll of the eyes!

Making a Father's Day Carrot Cake...

...for my husband.

He loves, loves, loves my carrot cake, so although it's lots of work - he deserves it.




















That golden delicious apple is part of my secret recipe.
"An apple in a carrot cake?" you may ask, maybe, I reply... h
ehehehe.










Okay, here there are, finally in the oven.









And now they're cooling off and are ready to be iced.
Will be back later to show the finished result.
Now I have to make another mess.
Love making ic
ing from scratch.
Despise the messy confectioner's sugar.
Oh, and don't bother looking at these pictures for hints of my secret rec
ipe,
I kept most of the ingredients out of the camera's view... BOOHAHAHAHA.

Okay, I am back. My cake got it's first layer of icing - the crumb icing and it's chilling in the fridge (hahahaha, no pun intended).










An hour has passed and I have finished icing the cake and putting the nuts on it. It looks so yummy. I cannot wait for him to see it tomorrow. He will be so happy.



















Now I have to go marinate the pernil (roast pork shoulder) for his dinner.

Oh, one more thing - I will share with you one of my secret ingredients,









I use only 100% organic Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract. Yummmmm!

The Boy Saint


Why is it that people underestimate a child's voice - their influence in changing the world?

Children can be wonderful role models and see things with such truthfulness, when their worlds are unaltered. My children teach me daily lessons about humility, love, and patience.

If we would just slow down and pay attention, we would learn so much about how to behave by just modeling the heart of a child.

One hundred and sixty-seven years ago a very special boy was born. His name was, Dominic Savio. Dominic came from a very poor family and was one of ten children. He had a remarkable love for God and it showed in his daily life. He treated those around him with love and respect in the short time that he lived.

By the age of four Dominic knew all his prayers and found great joy in reciting them. He reminded those around him to pray if they ever forgot. When Dominic was five years old he caught the attention of his parish priest by attending daily mass. It was not uncommon for the priest to find Dominic kneeling in front of the church before it was unlocked. The priest found Dominic many times on his knees praying in unbearable heat, under horrible rain, on snowy days, and even on muddy grounds - he was undeterred . Although it was customary for children to do their First Communion at the age of twelve, Dominic was allowed to make his First Communion when he was only seven because of his deep love for Christ. This young boy proved to the priest, and those around him that he not only knew his Catechism, but lived by it.

Dominic was a wonderful role model to those around him. As an older child he attended an all boys' school run by another saint, John Bosco, a wonderful teacher and priest. Under John Bosco's wing Dominic grew. However, St. John Bosco later wrote in his biography of Saint Dominic Savio, of many circumstances where he, himself, learned lessons from the boy. For example, one day John Bosco walked in on Dominic as he kneeled praying and overheard him say, "Oh my God, I really mean it! I want to die before I ever commit a single mortal sin! Death but not sin!" The boy was praying so hard that he was unaware that he was speaking out loud and unaware that John Bosco was listening.

Dominic was an amazing boy and although he knew poverty all to well, he always helped those who were less fortunate then him. Dominic's greatest virtue though, was the purity of his heart. He tried very hard to never let his eyes wander. He always asked God "Let me die before I ever commit a single sin against Chastity!" I truly believe that Dominic would be so sad to see how unchaste today's youngsters are. Dominic's reply to those who asked why he never let his eyes wandered was a simple one, "I'm saving them to look at my Blessed Mother." How simple and beautiful. How different would our world be if we could all think and conduct ourselves like this child?

What I've written are just a few accounts of the many things that Dominic did while he was on earth. The point of this entry is that many people underestimate or dismiss the virtues in a child's heart and think that they are too young to make a difference, when in fact the opposite is true. Children have the purest of hearts and are born to us with a blank slate. We write on the slates of their lives everyday. We can altered this purity very easily and this is why we must take the responsibility that God has bestowed upon us very seriously.

Motherhood

Why is it that a mom can stomach almost anything when it comes to her children?

For instance, the other night after I finally sat down to rest my feet and read a book that I've been longing for all week, I hear my name being called. Now it wasn't your regular "Mom I need a cup of water" or "Mom can I have another hug?" Oh no, this was a mom-I-really-need-you-or-I-am-going-to-die, type of mom. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, my book was tossed, my cape was don on and I was flying up the stairs. The stench hit me even before I reached the room. Ugh, what's worst then poop? VOMIT! My twelve year old was awakened to vomiting! He was fine before he went to bed?! Why? WHY? WHY? WAHHHHH! It was all over his bed, on the floor, some on the wall! For a minute I thought I needed to call my priest to perform an exorcism. It was horrible. The worst part was that for a split nano-second (right before sympathy kicked in) I was angry about the mess. What a horrible mom. My poor guy is sick and all I can think about is how terrible it's going to be to clean up this mess. However, my maternal instincts kicked in and I scooped my big guy up and helped him to the bathroom. Yes, mother's have superhero strength under extreme circumstances. I learned in my anatomy and physiology class that this is your sympathetic system in action. Boy, was my sympathetic system in full gear. I think my body even stopped my bladder from producing pee. I was in maniac-I-want-these-germs-and-this-stench-out-of-my-house-immediately mode. After my son showered, and I made him a comfy make shift bed on the floor of my room - careful not to wake my sound asleep husband from his blissful state of ignorance and deep sleep, I then tackled the mess. I mixed a concoction of essential oils (cloves, lemon, eucalyptus, and rosemary) to disinfect. Shoot, it worked in the 15th century to avoid getting the plague, so it should work on vomit! I had to toss the sheets. Better to spend $15 at Walmart for a new set then to have to put that in my machine! Funny how a pair of Walmart sheets can easily replace ones from Bed, Bath, and Beyond under extreme duress. I am not one to throw things out easily, but trust me, this was something NO ONE should see. Hazmat would want nothing to do with this! Like a mad animal I cleaned until the room was squeaky and smelling fresh. After going to war with my son's room, I fell into bed exhausted, forgetting the wonderful book that I had longed to read all week.

Little things that make me happy...

... my entryway












...my homemade chocolate and peanut butter cookies












...my children's creativity































...Chucky, my son's hamster










...among many other things!

A New Dog


















There once was a man named Noodle

He had a small labradoodle
She bit his toe
As he shouted "Oh No!"
And now he wants a pink poodle

-Tristan Torres
(12 years old)

Analog Television

Today is the end of analog television. I don't know why it brings me such sadness. I guess a part of my childhood will die today. Memories of my siblings, friends, and I watching "Different Strokes," "Gillian's Island," "The Brady Bunch," "Little House on the Prairie," and shows like "What's Happening," have flooded my thoughts. Even Spanish programs have undulate those thoughts. Shows like "Cacucomicos, Iris Chacon, and El Chapulin Cororado."

Those were such simple and good times. We had no remote control in the early days. If we wanted to watch something else, we simply got up and turned the top knob. Yes, I said the top knob! If we lost the signal, we would volunteer someone who grudgingly got up to mess with the bunny ears, while we all shouted "You got it! Stay still! Don't move!" The person would stand there dumbfounded, "DON'T MOVE? What do you mean, don't move!" You come and do it then!" Ah, those were the good ole days. Simplicity had a different meaning. Things were actually simple. There was no fighting about what we were going to watch because we only had about nine channels to choose from: Channel 2 (CBS), Channel 4 (NBC), Channel 5 (not yet FOX), Channel 7 (ABC), Channel 11 (WPIX), Channel 13 (PBS), Channel 41 (Univision), Channel 47 (Telemundo), and one more which I can't remember. If there was arguing, it consisted of who was going to be Ginger and who would be Maryann or who could sit on the comfy loveseat and who had to sit on the uncomfortable couch with the plastic still on it. Yup, in the early days my mom still had plastic on some of the furniture. Her reason? "So it looks nice cuando visista comes over."

So good-bye analog television! My children will never know what it is for channels to end. They will never experience a bunch of colorful stripes on the television with a loud piercing sound which indicated that the channel was off the air. They will never know the joy of watching re-runs because you just didn't care - TV was that cool. They will never correlate bunny ears, wired hangers, or fuzzy static to television.

Indeed, the end of a wonderul era sadly ends today.

Before I can love another

Born to uncertainty
Trying to make sense out of it, but falling short
Feeling insecure
Wanting love
Wanting acceptance
Confusion, a part of life
Head feeling heavy, about to explode
Swirling
Swirling
Many questions
No answers
Or maybe too many answers
Need to sort through life's entanglements
Need to deal with the past in order to fix the future
Must face demons; mine and others
Put things to rest
Go down that road and never face back
Need silence in my head
Contentment in my soul
My heart is open
My heart is vulnerable
I love too much
Or maybe I love too wrong
Must choose wisely
Weed out the bad...
...must love myself before I can love another


*To my wonderful friend who wears her heart on her sleeve. I pray that you put some demons to rest and find your life partner; someone who will love and appreciate the goodness in your soul.

Dug this one up


















I Found this picture the other day. This is a pop art painting I did that sold at a PTA auction a few years ago.

Hmmm, I wonder where it hangs today?

The Truth

She follows me throughout the day
Consumes my thoughts
Holds me captive in what ifs
I secretly imagine that I am her
She is who I would never be
She is who I could never be
I must occupy my time
Must not think
Must not go there
She holds the mirror to my face
I strive, but fall short
I pretend
I laugh, but inside I cry
I pretend
I love, but not fully
I pretend
I fool many, but not myself
I need distractions
Cannot fool myself
Would love to fool myself
So I pretend
I am high and mighty
I pretend
I am beautiful, pretty, talented
I am exhausted, but must continue pretending

I avoid her because she cannot be fooled...

...because with her I am stripped naked, she sees the truth, and I can no longer pretend

* This poem is written for someone who is very troubled and lost

Happy Birthday Cathy! Love you!


A little humor

Scary

Can I tell you! Last night sucked so bad. I went to class and afterward had to drive home during one of the worst storms we've seen in a while. I couldn't even see my windshield. It was raining and hailing really hard. On my way home there were many little accidents and cars with their emergency lights on. None of the traffic lights were working b/c of all the lighting and thunder, so it was pretty scary driving through intersections. At one point I pulled over and hung out at a CVS store b/c it was so bad out there. Other people had the same idea b/c there was a group in the store waiting for the storm to pass or at least calm down. While all us strays were in CVS the lights went out. Lighting was touching all around us. One lady asked if we were in the middle of a hurricane b/c it was so bad. When it seemed a bit better I made a run for it, got in my car and drove home. It got really terrible again while I was driving. Lighting was landing so near that I thought I could be struck at any minute. The wind was so strong that tree parts where falling on my car and all around me. While driving I prayed for myself, my classmates, and any other unlucky person caught in the storm. When I finally got home, I was never so happy.

Back to school...

Yup, my break is official over.

Tonight I begin taking Chemistry for Nursing.

I normally look forward to school, but I am dragging... not looking forward to this class.

Hopefully, it will be better than I think.
Daisypath - Personal picture

Weather

 
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