Out of the Blue

Today has been all over the place. I was supposed to have lunch with Sandra but she had to cancel because of a forgotten tax appointment. No problemo. I hung out with Hector and we did some shopping for his upcoming snow trip. He found a nice jacket that has a removable liner and a pair of googles that will fit over his glasses. Hector was feeling sleepy due to a busy night at the hospital so I let him sleep while I picked up Tyler.

Tyler and I walked home with S. and her kids on their route home just to take a longer walk. S was lifting her youngest girl (age 2) by the arm and carrying her a few steps while pulling a wagon with her 2 older kids when she heard a pop & A started crying. We tried to console her but she wasn't having any of it. We tried examining her arm but she'd cry every time we touched it. Uh-oh. So I called Hector and he said it was probably nursemaid elbow (dislocated). I sent S on ahead to our house while I handled the rest of the bunch. Poor A...Hector and S are trying to pop her elbow back in but they're not sure. Her husband wasn't home yet and they only have one car so I took S and A to the pediatrician while Hector held the fort down with the remaining 4 children.

We had to wait for about 30 minutes before they were taken into a waiting room and another 30 minutes before they came out. I could hear A scream as the doctor tried to pop her elbow back into place. So now, S has to see if A feels any better tomorrow or they have to do x-rays.

So now I don't feel like cooking so we head to Vince's for their famous spaghetti. This time we didn't bring any Gameboys because I limit them only to weekends now so they brought a plane and Sonic action figure each. When we were seated, Josh fussed a bit because I sat next to Tyler but settled down once the rootbeer arrived. The food service was fast since they weren't too busy and the kids were hungry. Across the aisle an elderly couple was getting up to leave and the woman said,"Your children are so well-behaved. I didn't even know they were there!" I had this stunned look on my face and she insisted that they were indeed good. We agreed with her but maybe she saw them on a good day. She just laughed and talked to Tyler & Josh for a bit. It was a nice feeling to have a stranger compliment my kids and I do admit, they are great kids. I just had to treat them to ice cream for dessert!

To even out the delicious nastiness of Dirt last night, I watched Nanny McPhee too. It was light-headed puffy piece with Colin Firth and Emma Thompson. It's not something that I'll want to watch again and again but I was amused by the movie.

Some movies that I come across channel surfing that I'll watch again and again...
1- Sense and Sensability
2- Ocean's 11
3- Love Actually
4- White Chicks

I can't explain the last movie but I think I'm allowed one guilty pleasure!

Dirt

I started watching Dirt on FX and boy, do they push the envelope! Sex, drugs, celebrities and a schizophrenic photographer who sees talking cats and dead people. I think I'm addicted to this show! This is all your fault, Kat!

Yeah, it's raining while we're nice and cozy inside. We need the rain desperately. Maybe I'll light a fire!

Only Child

I am an only child. I remember growing up wishing I had a sister or brother to play with but divorce stepped into my life so that ended my chances (my mom never remarried). Sure I had friends and all of them had siblings so I'd see the teasing and fighting. But most of the time, I was happy with my only child status.

Hector has a lot of siblings and one comes to mind that doesn't talk or have contact with the family. Another friend has issues with her sister who recently contacted her so they are trying to reconnect. Just this weekend, a good friend's estranged sister messed up and is being called an unfit mother so my friend has taken in her niece and nephew who she hasn't had any contact for 4 years. Those are the examples of family squabbles that really affect us. I'm sure there are many good examples too of close, loving brothers and sisters. I guess I wish that people would forget their pride, arrogance or anger to just reconnect with those family members because life is too short.

Snow Day

Today was snow day (winter fling) at Josh's school. The school hauls in a lot of snow for the kids to play and slide on. There was another area where lots of other activities are held. We did penguin bowling, drank hot chocolate, and "ice skated". The one area Josh refused to do was the snow goo, a mixture of cornstarch and water. He finally played with it when I gave him a spoon. I guess he is just adverse to messy, gooey stuff. It was cool that his teacher gave me an update that Josh is interacting more and saying hello while looking at the person which she attributes to his SMILE program. She said that Josh doesn't obsess as much over doors (opening & closing them) so that is very good. I've hidden the kids' Gameboys because lately they've been fighting over the same games and Josh was always playing. So far, they haven't been missed so they have to find other things to play with.

See? We used paper plates as the ice skates, taped them on and let the children skate away. Pretty clever. Joshua mostly ran around instead of sliding but he had lots of fun.

But the best part was the snow area. I put on ski pants, snow boots and a long sleeve shirt on Josh. I packed a jacket in his backpack but we ended up not using it. Today turned out to be very warm which was really nice but most of the kids were sweating. Joshua loved making snowballs and throwing them at the snowman target. There were a couple of people pulling kids around on sleds which Josh got to ride a couple of times. The main attraction was the little hill set up for sliding so of course there was a long line. Once Josh went down the first time, he was hooked. As soon as he was out, he disappeared. When we found him, he had cut in line and was ready to slide down again! That little stinker!

Yeah, Tyler went back to school after missing 2 days of school. Now he is whining about how much homework he has so it just takes him longer. I spend more time trying to get him to work on his stuff and checking on him. It's like pulling teeth. That boy really likes to dig his heels in and fight me every step of the way.

So in November, Hector and I had our 10 year wedding anniversary. Hector had planned a helicopter flight and romantic dinner for that night but Josh got sick that day so we postponed it. We've been busy with holidays etc so now we decided to see if we can go on Valentine's Day. Hector called to tell me that it's all done...we will have a 45-55 minute helicopter rider around LA and then have dinner at The Sky Room. I am so impressed that we're doing it on Valentine's Day which will be like a double whammy. We usually keep Valentine's low key and stay home but we get to go all out this time.

Today I had lunch with my friend Sandra whom I've know for over 10 years. We worked together at the pharmacy and just kept in touch long after we left. I kept in touch with Christmas cards and the occassional birthday party for one of our kids which is really a shame since we are about 7 miles apart. In our last phone call, I said we need to get together for lunch and the stars/planets aligned! Sandra was ready for a little "me" time and so was I....we're already planning other ASAP!!

I found a boxful of photos from the 90's and earlier which makes me wish for a scanner but in the meantime, here are some poor quality pics. This first pic of Hector around 1992 and when he wore contacts, he became a chick magnet!

This pic is our honeymoon in Cancun in 1996. We were here for a week and a tropical storm moved in to stay for our entire trip, It rained every single day and we took this photo on the day we left.

Today, Tyler is looking and feeling a little better. But you can tell he doesn't feel 100% since he's been laying in bed all morning which is unusual and has a lack of appetite (very unusual). We'll see how he does tonight so he can go back to school soon. I've such a slug on the pictures and yesterday would have been a great day for photos in Cucamonga. It was very windy so it was unusually clear and the San Gabriel mountains looked beautiful. Of course, I left my camera at home and had to pick up the boys from their Auntie Loop.

Hector forgot he was 3rd call and actually got called in to work for a couple of hours so he wasn't able to go with me to get the boys. On the way back though I drove to a little Chinese deli that Hector introduced to me about 15 years ago that serves cheap Chinese food. He had been eating there forever and we used to drive 30+ miles just to get a cheap Chinese food fix (don't ask me the name because I still don't know)! We don't make it there very much anymore but I was surprised when I walked in and one of the woman that have worked there forever greeted me like I was a long lost relative. She asked me about the kids and Hector which was really nice of her. I think the last time I walked in there was about a year ago and yet she remembered me. To be honest, this joint is in a primarily Hispanic neighborhood so I must have stood out in her mind. :) But their food is so tasty and did I mention cheap? When I first ate there a 1 entree combo (with fried rice and show mein) was $2.50 and they gave huge portions. About 5 years ago they finally raised their price to a staggering $2.60!! Outrageous. Needless to say, we always bought a few extra combos to feed us the next day. Sigh. I had the extra one for lunch today! :)

So here a couple of pics although I want to get out more and see what I can come up with. I had to buy stamps the other week and usually get the boring old stamps so this time I got some cool ones. These came in a sheet of forty stamps showing the wonders of the US...I like the bright cheery colors. Then there's a pic when the car had ice/frost on it...pretty neat too.

Thank you Luuuuc!

Last night was a very special hockey night for the LA Kings. Luc Robitaille's jersey #20 was retired at Staples Center before the Kings/Coyotes game. Here is a link that summarizes the ceremony and his incredible career. I remember going to a Kings game and Luc scored a hat trick (3 goals in one game). After that, people began throwing in their hats which was just so amazing to witness. Everytime Luc touched the puck, everyone in the stands would yell, "Luuuuc!" and he mentioned in his speech that he heard the fans every time and that would be with him for the rest of his life.

Unfortunately, the Kings lost their game. They quickly scored 2 goals in the 1st period but the Coyotes caught up when the Kings' goalie had to leave the game due to dehydration. The new goalie is brand new to the NHL so the Coyotes scored enough to win the game. Boo!

My family has colds and Hector has a sinus infection. Tyler complained of feeling ill yesterday morning but felt better later on. Lupe offered to babysit the kids overnight since we really wanted to go the the retirement ceremony. Poor Tyler got sick at his aunt's house and threw up. He has a fever so he will be staying home tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed that none of us get whatever Tyler has!!

Hooked Up

I forgot to mention that the satellite guy came by earlier this week so we are OFFICIALLY hooked up with HD. We had Tivo in the past which is still wonderful but DirecTv no longer uses them. I still have Tivo in our bedroom but the family room has this new DVR which I believe a man designed because of the weird layout and too many buttons. It was so simple to start using the Tivo and the buttons make much more sense. Oh well...that is progress for you. Anyway, I taped my first HD program The Producers which we watched a couple of nights ago. Wow...the clarity is great! I'm looking forward to some more HD programs like Lost and CSI in the next few weeks.

Opposite Day

TGIF. I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow. Hector's cold developed into a sinus infection and my cold is just limited to my nose which is raw and tender. Hopefully the end is in sight to this nasty virus.

Usually when Josh gets home on the bus, he is usually asleep. I carry him upstairs to our bed and it looks so warm & comfy. Tyler was busy with his Mega Fort so I was able to grab an hour to nap. Hector and Tyler have an inside gag on Fridays that they call Opposite Day. Yes means no and you get the picture. I was thinking of what to make for dinner and opposite day popped into my brain. So I made waffles and bacon for dinner which the kids got a big kick out of it. I'll have to remember this for future Fridays.

Just Another Day

I got my procrastinating self motivated to put away the Christmas tree and ornaments. For those people that really know me, I am a big procrastinator and I think I did pretty good considering I put the tree up by myself and had to take it down too. The kids must have broke an ornament a while back because I got a small cut on my hand while trying to smooth down the branches. A piece of glass was hidden somewhere and ouch! Since I was being productive, I cleaned up a bit in the kids' playroom, mostly the MegaFort which has foam noodles and attachments.
It was so cold this morning and combined with the dew or light rain from yesterday left ice on the top of the Honda. It was trippy. I was looking out the window as I gave the kids their breakfast and saw the top of the truck was white. Hector said he had to scrape off ice off the windshield this morning and there was snow and ice in Malibu. Too weird.
So with all the unusually cold weather going on, I'm getting tired of drinking my morning Diet Pepsi. I'm not a regular coffee drinker, for some reason I tend to drink coffee while on vacation or am extremely tired. We have a coffee maker from Hector's residency days and when he was studying for the board exams but haven't touched it since. This winter I've seen a lot of different single cup coffee/tea/combo machines spring up but they are so much more expensive than your usual coffeemaker plus you have to buy their coffee pods/servings which can add up too. I am hesitant to buy one because what if I buy a machine and that brand goes out of business....where am I supposed to buy my coffee units? Plus if I wait long enough, I will see what machines will stay for the long haul and the prices will drop. On the other hand, I love that warm feeling from holding a hot mug especially since I have a cold. Such a dilemma!

Under the Weather

Ugh, we all have colds. The kids seem to haven't gotten off easy while Hector and I are miserable. I brought in our Honda to the dealer for a service and to check on that weird shifting problem over the weekend. It came back with a clean bill of health so hopefully that will be the end of it. I had to bring in my BMW today to replace a headlight that burned out which kinda blows since I just had it at the dealer last week for a service. And then they had the nerve to try to make me pay for the bulb (I have a full warranty until Jan. 31 which covers everything except tires). I cringe at the thought of what they would charge for a lightbulb! Thankfully they said it was covered so it was all cool. I might have to look into an extended warranty soon if my car falls apart at exactly the 4 year mark. Isn't that what happens when the warranty expires?

No school today! Josh and I slept in a little (Tyler had a sleepover at grandma's). Once Tyler got home, we headed over to Ariana's place for a playdate. The kids had a great time playing with a big remote crane, watching Pokemon movies and messing around with Floam. Tyler has been obsessed with Floam because the commercials are on all the time. It is slightly smelly with a weird texture and doesn't seem as fun as Playdoh. Hopefully this experience will dampen the Floam craze. Update: I just asked Tyler if he liked the Floam and he is still very enthusiastic about it. Sigh.

Home Again

This morning we woke up and got ready for a romp in the snow. We pile in the car and Hector turns on the car but the gear shift won't budge. He tries again but the shifter still is stuck. The funny think is that the light showed the car is in drive but the shifter was in the park position. Our friend Dan and his kids are waiting for us but we're stuck! After a few minutes we tell Dan to go ahead because we have to call a tow truck which really bummed Tyler out. We call AAA and also Lupe to drive us home. The tow truck driver arrives but he can't do anything since the car won't shift to neutral! Finally Hector calls the dealer where we bought our car which is still under warranty. After being switched around, Hector talks to someone who knows what is going on. He finds a switch on the steering column and it releases the shifter. Phew! The guy said it was a freak thing but we will take it in to have it checked out because the warranty expires next month! Hector drives the truck home while the kids and I ride with Lupe. Our snow day was cancelled but we're safe at home.

Cucamonga

We just checked into the Hilton Garden Inn in Cucamonga for an overnight stay. We'll be a bit closer to Wrightwood which is about an hour away. We decided to skip Big Bear because it's a 2 hour drive on a winding mountainous road and it takes only one incident to back the drive up. This Hilton has an indoor pool which is a huge plus for the kids who are literally bouncing around with anticipation. We called He-man to let him know we wouldn't be making it up to Big Bear tomorrow and found out that the cabin's pipes are frozen! Ugh, I'm so glad we didn't stay up there...it is freezing here in Cucamonga and it is about 7 degrees in Big Bear! It's a really big cold snap for California! I can hear the wind howling outside as I type. Brrr...I think it's time for me to soak in the jacuzzi.

Pictures

I've been kinda lagging on the pics so here is the latest...a pic of my console table from Pottery Barn which was on sale. Cool beans. I'm desperately trying to control clutter and it's a constant struggle!

Here are our new chairs and stools for the island. I decided to go with a contrasting color since it would be difficult to match the cabinet color. So that's it for now...it's going to rain today so I want to have a nice cozy fire.

Fan Day

Last night, Hector and I went to Staples for a Meet the Players event for the LA Kings. We had a great time although we didn't meet any players (the lines were too long). The best part was touring the locker room, seeing the inner structure of Staples Center and walking out to center ice to pose with the Zambonis.



I thought the locker room would be a lot bigger and it was sorta plain and no frills. Each player had their gear and jockstraps! Some of players had new looking, bright white jockstraps while some players had some pretty nasty looking & stained ones.

Too bad the time went by so quickly but it was very cool to hang out with the Kings.

Summer in January

The last couple of days has been unusally warm here; yesterday was around 80 degrees and this morning is heating up too. Then we expect the weather to get much cooler with some rain on Thursday and Friday. Why such an interest in the weather? We're planning to drive up to Big Bear this weekend which should mean some new fresh snow for the kids to play in but also big crowds with the holiday weekend too. He-man and She-ra rented a cabin for the weekend and we were invited to stay up there. What they failed to communicate is that they invited several people also like She-ra's sisters (two),her friend (and guest), us (four) and Dan with his kids (four). Okay, this is a small cabin (1 bedroom loft and 1 bathroom). I don't think this arrangement will work. I can understand inviting people but the number of people has to at least fit comfortably otherwise, rent a bigger cabin! So I am willingly withdrawing us and Dan's family from the mix. Unfortunately because of the 3 day weekend, many of the places are booked or want a minimum of 2 nights which we can't do because Hector has to go back to work. I'll leave it up to Hector because I've done planning for groups and it's not fun. It forces me to be very organized & stressed out. This all happened very last minute and I'm already in charge of planning a Mammoth ski trip in March so I had to pass this off. If we have to stay in a hotel off the mountain, that's fine with me.

Weekend recap

The kids' winter break is almost over and it's back to school on Monday. I kinda bit off more than I can chew by trying to cut Tyler's hair myself. Yikes...thank goodness, Tyler is not vain. I finally had to admit that I can't cut hair and had Hector take Tyler to the barber to fix the mess I created. Now Tyler looks like a Marine recruit which is A LOT better than the look of rats chewing on Tyler's hair. :)
Saturday: I went to see Kat to deliver a Christmas present from a mutual friend. I took Josh with me and he jumped right into the M & M's bowl. I got to visit with Kat and her parents for a bit then I had to pry Josh away from the chocolate. He was really upset about that but settled down in the car. Our friend Dan came over with his 3 kids. We all had dinner at Vince's which was a party of 8 (3 adults and 5 kids). The spaghetti and garlic bread was flowing and everyone was having a great time. back at our house, we took out the Wii where we played bowling, baseball and boxing until our arms ached. Dan and his kids stayed the night so Tyler was thrilled. He asked if he could sleep with I. (Dan's youngest daughter) which was so cute and innocent but we had to say no.
Sunday: Our sleepover night came to an end. The boys went to Sunday school then off to Grandma's to play. I took advantage to look at furniture specifically sideboard tables. There is a furniture store near our house that I've always been curious about so today was the day I went inside. They had a lot of beautiful pieces but it wasn't my style. I remember a table I saw at Pottery Barn so I went to our nearest one and bought it. Yay! They had it in stock so we took it home and it looks great.

Something's weird...

today I am surprisingly efficient. Although I had a late start, I dropped the kids off at my mom's for a bit. Hector had today off so we went to Lamps Plus to get one more light fixture for the kitchen. We were hungry so I phone in an order for a torpedo (for Hector) and hero (for me) sandwich at Guiliano's. We were about 3 blocks away so I told Hector to stop at a furniture store to kill the 15 minutes we had to wait for our food. We walk in and the salesman shows me the counter height chairs and stools. BAM! I ordered 3 chairs and 2 stools for the kitchen. Done. They should arrive in 2 weeks.
Next on my list, wash my filthy kitchen windows. After all those weeks of construction, the windows were dirty inside and out. I got out the hose, removed the screens and washed away the grime. I can finally see clearly. I put a few things away and get the kids. Tonight we are watching Glenn (Tyler's friend) because we gave Kings hockey tickets to his parents. Boy that was an experience! The boys were very exuberent and boistrous to put it mildly. While they were playing video games, I attempted to hang the kitchen curtains but the rods I got are a tad too small. I bought the 24-48 inch rod for our 48 inch window but I need the next size up. Argh. I don't have the receipt anymore so hopefully the store won't give me a hard time exchanging them. Man, and I was on a roll!

Float On

I am a native southern Californian and today was the first day I went to see the Rose Parade floats up close. I remember going to the Rose Parade early one morning when I was about 8 years old and that was my only time. Not much stands out in my mind from that experience and I'm not really a parade person but this year I thought it would be cool to go see the floats up close. Hector didn't have to go in to work until 5pm so we went to east LA to get some pozole and tamales for an early lunch. We didn't know where exactly the floats were kept but we eventually got there. Too bad that we didn't have more time because there were 47 (?) floats and plenty of people milling about trying to take pictures. It was like a fair or carnival with plenty of booths selling kettle korn, funnel cakes and burritos so the kids were very happy. Hector was like the Pied Piper with a big bag of kettle korn and our 2 boys following him wherever he went. I was happy taking pictures but we saw only about 15 floats before we had to turn around to head home. I'm tempted to go back and spend all day there to absorb everything...maybe next year.

Back It Up

Tonight I decided to back up all my photos of 2006. My Canon takes great pictures but each picture averages 3MB. I loaded my files to DVD then loaded them on another computer that has a 120GB hard drive. My computer is thanking me for freeing up 10GB of space. So here's to a new year of more photos!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! We spent the last day of 2006 just hanging out at home then went to the park for a bit. Tyler brought his rocket that He-man gave him for Christmas. The box said it was ready to go but it required assembly which took Hector some time. The gate to the school was open so that's where we set up the lauch. We had our countdown and that rocket was amazing. I didn't know that it would go so high and so fast! The kids had a great time.


Meanwhile, I was trying out my new lens. The telephoto lens lets me stay far enough away for Josh to do his own thing to get some candid shots. I had lots of fun playing with my camera so maybe I'll try again today.