Dear Tia Masie,

Dear Tia Masie,


I just want you to know that I miss you so much & think of you often!! Every now and then I feel like you are RIGHT THERE, and I can talk to you. It’s such a strong feeling. I know I’m not the only one who misses you. I know your girls miss you tons. I sometimes wonder how their lives would be right now if you were still alive. You left them & us at such an early age. It still seems surreal. I don’t think Beatrice & Alsara would have the addictions they do now if you were still here. You would have kicked their asses!! I think Mandy would still be Mandy….your baby is the only one that really listened to you I guess. LOL!! She’s doing fantabulous!! I’m so proud of her.

I want you to know that I talked to Alsara yesterday and she sounds really really good. Please give her the strength to follow through with this program. Come on Tia…I know you can pull some strings up there.  I’m so happy that she’s helping herself get better, not just for her but for her kids. She did tell me though that she wishes she would have listened to you, and everyone else. You know how Sara is…she really has your spirit, she’s funny, she allows herself to laugh, even in the worst of times. She was laughing and was like, “geesh, I should have listened to my mom, huh? Those drugs killed my brain cells, and I wasn’t even that smart to begin with.” She still has her crazy sense of humor. But I thought you would get a kick out of the whole, “I should have listened to my mom” thing. I thought that was funny. I remember when Kiki first rolled her eyes at me and I wanted to smack them out of her head, I called my mom and told her I was sorry. LOL!!! We live & learn I guess??

I miss you Tia Masie, and I wish you could be there on Saturday for Adrian’s birthday party. Alsara says that they are doing a little birthday party for her. I can’t believe she’s already gonna be 4!!! I think we have to meet her counselor before we go, but I don’t think it will be an issue. I hope not, anyways.

Until we meet again,
Your favorite niece (you all know I was her fave right?) LOL!!
~Rachel

Lent is over, give me my wine!

I gave up wine for Lent, not just wine but all alcohol. I think it's my way of making sure I'm not an alcoholic. Just kidding, just kidding. I know I'm not an alcoholic, but I really enjoy my wine. I love having a glass of wine at the end of the day, after working all day, and running the kids around, and making dinner, and working out. It's like my "me" time. It’s my time to unwind and just relax before I go to bed. I know some of you feel me on this, come on, admit it!! On one particular day during Lent, I was having a VERY ROUGH day. Stress at work, stress at home. I get home, and open my fridge & see a Riesling, just staring back at me.  Beckoning me. I pop the cork and smell the wine. Ahhhhh!!! I wanted to just stick my tongue in the top, just for a little savory taste on my tongue. But I was good….and I stopped myself. I grabbed the keys and yelled for the kids…”come on guys, let’s go get a Blizzard!!” Ice cream truly saved me from sinning that day!!

Maybe next year I’ll give up coffee? Oh wait….I did that one year and my kids made me PROMISE to never do it again.  I guess I was kinda grouchy.

Hope everyone had a great Easter….and yes, I had a glass of wine that night, and last night too.

Cheers!

The Census

I really wanted to make this census a "family event". My kids are old enough to understand now, and Isaiah kept asking me what the census was, so everytime the commercial came on I'd yell, "Isaiah hurry come watch this." They get it...they understand. So one evening when we have not much to do, I pull out the census...we all gather around our coffee table, and I start going through the questions. I'm first, since I'm the QUEEN of the household. So I start answering the questions. How many people live in your household? 3. etc. etc. etc. Is person 1 of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish decent? Yes. Pick one: Mexican American. They also had like Cuban, Puerto Rican, Etc. Ok, so this next questions is where I'm kinda thrown off...and I can't belive I never noticed this in past census's (is that a word?)...anyway next question. What is your race? White, Black, Indian etc. etc. Well I don't see "Latino"...so I search it again?? I look on all the pages...and there is no Latino race?? Seriously?? All these years and I thought Latino was a race, but I guess not! WTF?? So does that mean I'm white?? I decide to take this question to people who really know...I post it on Facebook. :-) One of my friends said that since our ancestors are from Europe (i.e.Spain) we are white. But didn't the Spaniards come and pro-create with the Indians?? Hence, the Mexican race?? So wouldn't I be Mexican Indian. But on the census it asked, after you marked Indian, what tribe you are registered with. Well I know my great great grandma was Indian, but I'm not registered for a tribe. I wonder what a Black Latino would be...like a Cubano maybe?? How about Puerto Ricans...are they white Latinos...or black Latinos??? The best explanation I got on facebook was this. There are 4 races...white, black, red & yellow. But I still don't get it?? So I left it blank...because honestly, I don't know. I'll probably get a phone call, or one of those people will come to my door, since my census was filled out incorrectly. Maybe they will clarify for me. My kids were easy, they are BBC's (beautiful biracial children). So I marked Mexican American...then in race I marked Black. They are Blackxicans. LOL!! New word for ya, right there. That was our census experience. Leaving me all confused.

What happened to my little girl?

Last Wednesday I took KeAndra to get her drivers permit. It is something she HAS to have before she starts the actual class. We only have a 3 day window to get it, and it's only betwee 5pm-7pm. We couldn't do it Tuesday, and we couldn't do it Thursday because of other appointments...so it had to be Wednesday...no matter what!!! I hurry and rush home after work, I run inside the house, grab her letter thingy that says she's a student, grab her birth certificate, make sure I have her social security card...and then I run back out the door. Oops, I forgot my daughter, I run back inside and yell, "Come on Kiki...let's go & make sure you have your student ID". She saunters (yes saunters - bcuz teenagers are on their own time) into the living room, and again I look at her and say, "you have your ID right?". "YES mom, (I think she mentally rolled her eyes at me), I have my ID". Ok...let's go. We get in the car, and once again I say, "you got your ID right?". "OMG, yes mom...I have my ID, relax." So I say, "ok...well let me see it." Eyes definetly roll this time, and she pulls it out and says, SEE!!!. Ok, just making sure. :-) Some of you may wonder why I keep asking, but as a mother of a teenager daughter, they THINK they do things, and really they don't. Or they SWEAR they grabbed something, but really they didn't. Or they KNOW they set something somewhere, and really it's somewhere else. I've had instances where we've headed down the road and all of sudden she yells, "OMG turn around, I forgot such-and-such." Then of cousre I say, "well I told you to grab it."...then she says, "I know, but I THINK I left it on my bed." And they think I nag....geez. I nag for a reason dammit!!!!

Everything goes without incident. We get to the DMV, pull our number, wait about 30 seconds (not a big line tonight), then our number get's called and we head to the counter. We give him everything he asks for. Then he asks my daugter, "are you a citizen of the United States." I answer and say, "yes..she is". He politely says, "I have to ask her ma'am, and she has to answer the question. Are you a citizen of the United States" Of course she answered yes...but I'm kinda taken aback by the comment. Seriously...I can't answer for her anymore? It was almost like the feeling I got when I didn't have to wipe her butt anymore, when I opened the door and she said, "mommy you don't have to help me anymore, I'm a big girl now." Seriously...you don't need me anymore? WOW, my baby is growing up!!! She's a big girl now. :-(

Beware because this may start getting a little mushy. So as I'm standing there looking at her, I can't help but notice how much of a young woman she is now. She's my height now. She no longer has those chubby cheeks. The baby fat has turned into curves...it's so weird looking at her like that. Trying to see the young woman, instead of the baby. I think of everything she's accomplished, and her future dreams she's shared with me. Where did the time go??? I can still look at her and see my first born, my baby girl. And I don't care what anyone says...she's always going to be my Kikity Wikity and everytime I look at her I'll remember her chubby face and her cute little afro puff. Love you baby girl.

What's with the Colors?

So today my all knowing teenage daughter asked me why we celebrate St. Patrick's Day, we're not even Irish?? First I told her, well the Irish celebrate Cinco De Mayo and their not Mexican...teehee. We're "of Latina descent, BTW", and then I told her I think it's some sort of religious holiday, ya know SAINT Patrick. And all knowing teenage daugher said, "well then why does everyone just get really drunk?" She kinda threw me off. So I decided to research it...and get back with her.

In my findings I found that it started as more of a Catholic holiday (geez...I'm Catholic & didn't even know that)...anywho...Little Ole Patrick was not even Irish AT ALL..he was kidnapped by some Irish Raiders and was a slave. He escaped and went back to Britian and became a Priest. After that he went back to Ireland to save the Irish...and he used the Shamrock in his teaching, "Father, Son, Holy Spirit". That was a light bulb moment for sure!!! March 17th is the day St. Patrick died. St. Patrick's day is pretty much always celebrated on March 17th...unless it's like on Easter or Holy week...or something like that. Then they change the date. That's the short version of St. Patrick.

So now the drinking part...apparently the good ole Irish decided that St. Patricks day (which is always during the Lenton season), would be excluded from Lent festivities...It would be a "free day"...meaning you can drink alchohol. Yay to the Irish for that one!! Green Beers for everyone!!!

Oh yeah...ok so speaking of the colors, I told both of my kids to wear green so they don't get pinched. But if they wanted to be kissed then wear red. LOL!! Hormonal teenage son said, "Cool...did you wash my red shirt?" Uh, Hello Mister...YOU WILL NOT BE WEARING A RED SHIRT...YOU ARE ONLY 13!!!! That was just a figure of speech people...I was just telling him what the differant colors meant, I wasn't telling him to wear red!!! So green pretty much represents the Shamrock...but who came up with this whole red thing???

Here's a little tip for ya....use blue food coloring to make your beer green!! I learned that in my research too!!!

Twilight Mom

I admit it. I'm a Twilight mom. I have this weird fascination with Vampires. Before Twlight was even thought of I read all the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice....I love Lestat...he's so witty. The Vampire Chronicles are definetly not love stories the way the Twilight saga is. Anyhoo, back to my Vampire fascination...I loved The Lost Boys and probably watched it 80,000 times. I think my VCR player even ate the tape at one time and I had to go buy a new one. I'm addicted. Even the Blade series, I just had to watch!! So at first when my daughter brought Twilight home, I thought to myself...Nah, I'm not gonna read them, no one compares to Lestat. Then one day she had it laying around...and there was already talk about the movie coming out. Of course she just HAD to go on opening night when it came out. Well, I'm not one to watch a movie before I read the book. I HAVE to read before I watch...I like to compare and then look down my nose at those non-readers and say, "The book is WAY better!"

So I picked up the book, looked around to make sure no one was watching...I felt like I was cheating on Lestat or something. I read the first few pages and I was hooked. Literally hooked. For 2 weeks my poor kids had to fight for my attention. I read in the bathrooom...I read before breakfast....while I was making dinner...I read after dinner....I read on my breaks at work....I even read at stop lights!!! I finished all 4 books in less that 2 weeks. I hungered for more. So I re-read...at a slower pace, ya know, incase I missed anything. I wonder if they have like an AA group for Twilight addicts. Hello, my name is Rachel and I'm a Twilight addict.

So I'm a Twlight crazed addict, at least I can admit it, right?? Who cares if I made my kids go to school after staying up until 2 in the morning watching the midnight showing of Twilight & New Moon...they didn't mind it. So yesterday when a teaser trailer was released for Eclipse, I got all excited!!! I raced home, logged onto YouTube, and saw this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k33DEEI-15c

Come on...seriously???

Blogging

I've always wondered what the deal with blogging was...why people blogged. Who cares what you do...then I started reading some blogs and I would go back everyday. Some are funny, some are inspirational, some i can relate to. I guess more than anything it's a good way to pass your time and read about other people's lives. It's helps you realize that your's actually isn't so bad. LOL!! So I've decided to try my hand at blogging...mostly just to remember all my memories. You know, I'm getting older...what if I stop remembering things. I want a place to be able to go back and say..."Oh yeah, member when we did this??....you member??" LOL!! Very George Lopez, I know. So here's a toast to my blogging world...too bad I really can't toast myself...I gave up alcohol for Lent!!! Can you perform a toast with coffee??? Ready.....set....go......