This year I decided to do a scrapbook titled something like, "Top 10 in '10." And while that's not final yet, most of the details are. Each month, from 10th to 10th , I'll scrap the top ten highlights. I think it's a fun way to chronicle what goes on, and even more exciting, at the end of the year I'll have a family scrapbook done.
Because I don't want to leave out these first ten days, the first page will be titled, "Top 10 in '10...so far." Each day I write something down that's noteworthy to document on January 11.
This morning I called my Nina (Godmother) in Tlaquepaque. It was her birthday on the 3rd but just got to talk to her today. J sang Happy Birthday. I could hear her excitement even though I was standing a little ways away from him. They had a small conversation about who was going to travel to see whom. Then they said their respective I love yous and when I got on the phone she commented on how well he spoke; that he's Fabuloso -- fabulous. The smile in her voice was evident.
This beautiful, selfless, 83-year-old woman battling breast cancer always has the power to make my heart soar. Even in her darkest moments -- and there have been many -- there is a resounding optimism that leaves no doubt that she will once again get up, dress up, and show up. I've seen it over and over and over again.
On the day that she told me that her body had been plagued by this horrible disease and that she had opted to just let it be, I was the one that crumbled, and she, like she'd done so many times before, was the one that consoled me. Her words of wisdom, her strength, and her dignity gave me strength and optimism. And in the days that followed when everything brought me to a memory of her and that same strength and optimism were washed away by tears, I had the overwhelming urge to call her so that she could work her magic once again.
Today's conversation was light and fun. She told me that she had talked to my bro for the first time in years a couple of days ago. She said that he was just running in my mom's house to pick up something and had to get back to the kids so it had been a short dialog in which she said something that prompted a hearty and genuine laugh from him. She described listening to that laugh as "La Gloria." It translates into glorious.
She takes nothing for granted. Unfortunately, life has molded and shaped her to not do so, as it does to some degree all of us; however, not all of us embrace it until it's too late. She's not only embraced it, she's tightened the grip and held on while it still matters.
That's what I hope to do with my book. Not every month is going to be filled with marquee moments, yet each day is a blessing and it's within those days where we have to find the even smaller ones, even if it's nothing more than a hearty laugh.
I'm not planning to do a Letterman-style countdown with my Top Ten list, but if I was, hearing her voice today would take the No. 1 spot by a landslide.
PS: When I hung up with her, she sounded like she was crying. I hope we made her as happy as she made me.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Happy New Year
After almost two fabulous weeks of exploring the world, playing wii, and living like rock stars;
(J and M with their gifts on Christmas morning)tons of quality family time;
(The cousins @ AKs on Christmas Day) 
(D and his bros with the kids)
(Tacoma Zoo)
(Mt. Ranier)
plenty of fun;
the obligatory drinking,
eating,
and being merry;
not to mention loads of undone laundry;
and the occasional breaking of the law,
D went back to work, J went back to school, M went back to BabyGym, and all of us went back to reality today. It's always bittersweet; for the last three years D has taken the week between Christmas and New Years off. It's a fun-filled time with lots of lazy days sprinkled in. This year included a trip to Portland with a stay at the Embassy Suites on Christmas Day; a trip to Seattle, if only for M's allergist appointment and dim sum, but punctuated with Zoolights that evening; and a snowy-filled day at Mt. Ranier National Park.
While many people are into their fourth day of resolutions, done with those 72 hours that rid their bodies of whatever toxins were invading them or just getting rid of the soreness the weights inflicted, today is the first day of mine. I'm taking a trip to South Beach for the next couple of weeks and hope to come back with a little less weight in my luggage.
I have a good feeling about this year. Between the 1st and the 3rd we managed to clean out the garage, the front closet, and I put a big dent in the reorganization of the bonus room. And today, after a slow and rocky start, has been great.
For D, today was his first day back to tending to the business of farmers, but his work as a husband and daddy is never-ending.
And we love him for it.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
The Old Man and the Boogey
For the third year in a row, our family has bought a wii for Christmas.
Two years ago they were the IT item of the season, people were waiting in line to get them only to walk away empty-handed. I happened to be at Target a couple of days before Christmas and two of the guys working there were talking about how they had just gotten two in. I had them dig one out of the boxes and bought one for D. He was excited about it for a couple of days until he decided he didn't have time to play and we returned it!
Last year, PK was already working for Nintendo and we could get a small break on the price. I, once again, decided to buy one for D because he had showed some interest in it. I was smart enough to give him a coupon for it instead of the actual machine in the box. He never had P get it for him. Again, no time to play.
This year, it was his idea to get a refurbished one at a great price from P. It was Js gift from Mommy and Daddy, and this time, it's been opened and set up. J loves it and because D has been off all week, there's been a lot of playing going on.
A couple of nights ago, the whole family was going to go upstairs and play. While they were waiting for me to show up, D and J were playing bowling. I have to say that J is pretty good for a little guy and apparently he wants to call people out about it. At one of Ds turns, he said, "Come on, Old Man." We have no idea where he got the idea to call him Old Man, but it's in his arsenal of intimidation tactics.
Golf was next and this time all three of us played. We're all pretty bad. Even D who is a "real golfer" had some problems, but we continued on our three-hole journey. We all had some "boogeys" in our game. As a matter of fact, most of our holes were boogeys. There was no shame in Js game...he kept saying, "Oh, I got a boogie," like it was a good thing.
I don't know why I think this is so funny. It just is. It's the type of priceless stuff one day the Old Man and his even Older Lady will talk about with each other and laugh about. We'll tell J and M about it once or twice; maybe three times; maybe 300. We'll bore them to death with the same stories told over and over and over again. A lifetime of laughter (or yawns depending on who you ask) over one moment in time.
Two years ago they were the IT item of the season, people were waiting in line to get them only to walk away empty-handed. I happened to be at Target a couple of days before Christmas and two of the guys working there were talking about how they had just gotten two in. I had them dig one out of the boxes and bought one for D. He was excited about it for a couple of days until he decided he didn't have time to play and we returned it!
Last year, PK was already working for Nintendo and we could get a small break on the price. I, once again, decided to buy one for D because he had showed some interest in it. I was smart enough to give him a coupon for it instead of the actual machine in the box. He never had P get it for him. Again, no time to play.
This year, it was his idea to get a refurbished one at a great price from P. It was Js gift from Mommy and Daddy, and this time, it's been opened and set up. J loves it and because D has been off all week, there's been a lot of playing going on.
A couple of nights ago, the whole family was going to go upstairs and play. While they were waiting for me to show up, D and J were playing bowling. I have to say that J is pretty good for a little guy and apparently he wants to call people out about it. At one of Ds turns, he said, "Come on, Old Man." We have no idea where he got the idea to call him Old Man, but it's in his arsenal of intimidation tactics.
Golf was next and this time all three of us played. We're all pretty bad. Even D who is a "real golfer" had some problems, but we continued on our three-hole journey. We all had some "boogeys" in our game. As a matter of fact, most of our holes were boogeys. There was no shame in Js game...he kept saying, "Oh, I got a boogie," like it was a good thing.
I don't know why I think this is so funny. It just is. It's the type of priceless stuff one day the Old Man and his even Older Lady will talk about with each other and laugh about. We'll tell J and M about it once or twice; maybe three times; maybe 300. We'll bore them to death with the same stories told over and over and over again. A lifetime of laughter (or yawns depending on who you ask) over one moment in time.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
A Magical Evening
Santa came early this year. Nine days early to be exact. It was the strangest thing, but Santa was at our house last night. Unlike other years, he wasn't sneaking in through the chimney. He just showed up in our family room. Unlike other years, he wasn't wearing his bright red suit; however, he did have his Santa hat and a Gap t-shirt and jeans to go with it. He looked a little shorter and a lot thinner. And, he was missing his front teeth. I guess all those cookies finally caught up with him.
(He was gracious enough to take a picture with Daddy)
Also missing was the huge sack full of toys that he throws over his shoulder. This year it was replaced with a small paper sack. The cool thing about it was that no matter how big a gift was, he could keep it hidden inside the small bag until it was time to see what it was.
Speaking of gifts, he didn't disappoint. He gave M a rattle and Daddy a dog. For me he brought a glass which apparently was to replace a broken bottle of wine?? I don't remember breaking a bottle of wine, but if Santa can see you when you're sleeping and he knows when you're awake, then he must know that I broke a bottle of wine. And I can't argue with that. He must also know that some of the bulbs in our house were out and so he decided to help Daddy out because his next gift was just that: light bulbs. Iced tea was up next. Daddy, once again, was the lucky recipient of Santa's wonderful concoction. Finally there were Santa hats for M and me. And just like that, he was gone.
Later that night I was flipping through channels, and because there was no Law and Order on, I settled for Tinkerbell. I'm pretty sure that up until then I didn't know her story. I always remembered her as Peter Pan's sidekick. The day after Disney on Ice, however, I Googled her to find out more. And last night there she was on TV, so I tuned in. J walks down a few minutes later to say goodnight and as soon as he realized it was on, ran upstairs and fibbed to Daddy that I wanted to chill with him and watch Tinkerbell. D was confused, came down, and agreed to let him stay up until 9pm. I didn't think he would last that long but we snuggled under the Snuggie anyway.
To my surprise, 9 rolled around and he was still interested. We negotiated with Daddy and because there was only 25 minutes left he said it was okay to watch until the end.
It was a cute story and a wonderful night. If you would have told me I was going to let my kid stay up until 9:30 on a school night to watch Tinkerbell with me, I would have laughed. Yet it was par for the course on an evening that was strange, magical, and filled with fantasy. Santa must have had some Pixy Dust hidden in that sack of his.
(He was gracious enough to take a picture with Daddy)Also missing was the huge sack full of toys that he throws over his shoulder. This year it was replaced with a small paper sack. The cool thing about it was that no matter how big a gift was, he could keep it hidden inside the small bag until it was time to see what it was.
Speaking of gifts, he didn't disappoint. He gave M a rattle and Daddy a dog. For me he brought a glass which apparently was to replace a broken bottle of wine?? I don't remember breaking a bottle of wine, but if Santa can see you when you're sleeping and he knows when you're awake, then he must know that I broke a bottle of wine. And I can't argue with that. He must also know that some of the bulbs in our house were out and so he decided to help Daddy out because his next gift was just that: light bulbs. Iced tea was up next. Daddy, once again, was the lucky recipient of Santa's wonderful concoction. Finally there were Santa hats for M and me. And just like that, he was gone.
Later that night I was flipping through channels, and because there was no Law and Order on, I settled for Tinkerbell. I'm pretty sure that up until then I didn't know her story. I always remembered her as Peter Pan's sidekick. The day after Disney on Ice, however, I Googled her to find out more. And last night there she was on TV, so I tuned in. J walks down a few minutes later to say goodnight and as soon as he realized it was on, ran upstairs and fibbed to Daddy that I wanted to chill with him and watch Tinkerbell. D was confused, came down, and agreed to let him stay up until 9pm. I didn't think he would last that long but we snuggled under the Snuggie anyway.
To my surprise, 9 rolled around and he was still interested. We negotiated with Daddy and because there was only 25 minutes left he said it was okay to watch until the end.
It was a cute story and a wonderful night. If you would have told me I was going to let my kid stay up until 9:30 on a school night to watch Tinkerbell with me, I would have laughed. Yet it was par for the course on an evening that was strange, magical, and filled with fantasy. Santa must have had some Pixy Dust hidden in that sack of his.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Rich in Thanks or Thanks for Riches?
Thanks to my pal Lacey and her great ideas, I decided to do a Thankful Turkey for J this year. We made a body and each day we added a feather telling what we were thankful for that day.
On Day One, J was thankful for playing computer games. That came about because I used it as an example when I told him about our new project. For a couple of days there it seemed like it was a fruitless effort because they didn't get much deeper than that. Computer games made it in there twice, playing with his toys was another entry. And then, one day he said "Daddy." He's right up there with computer games and made it twice. Another day it was "Being Healthy" and once, after taking him to Disney on Ice, "Spending the Day with Mommy."
We're getting somewhere I thought. And then we ran out of feathers so we stopped a week or so into it. (Note to self: make enough feathers the first day or you may never get back to doing them later on.)
Anyway, I was happy with the results especially when he showed interest after the feathers were gone and asked if we could continue it through the Christmas season.
A couple of days ago, though, he and D were having a discussion where socioeconomics became the topic. D asked him if he knew what poor was. His answer was that it's when you don't have money. That prompted the next question of where he thought we sat on the financial totem pole. We, of course, are "wich." D tells him we aren't wich and he asks, "So are we poor?"
My question is, Did we create a monster here? I don't think that he's a spoiled kid. We don't buy him everything he wants, he knows he doesn't get something each time we go to the store. I thought we were doing okay in that department.
I want my child to appreciate the things that he gets, to realize that his many toys and games and clothes come with two price tags -- the one that tells you how many dollars you will need to take it home and the one of hard work and dedication that the person giving it to him has gone through to get it into his hands.
I want him to understand that not everyone is as lucky as he is. Each year the moms' group adopts a family and I try to pick a child his age for him to buy a gift. I've explained to him that not all parents have enough money to get gifts for their kids so they have to rely on Santa. I told him we're lucky we have a little bit of money left to be able to help out the parents so that their kids too will have a nice Christmas. Two years ago we got a train, last year we got Barbies for a little girl, and this year a Transformer for a six-year-old boy. He didn't come with me to get it because of timing issues, but he was well aware that we were getting it and I showed him what we got when he got home from school. He said it was "cool."
I don't know if he grasps the meaning of this, but he was telling M the other day pretty much the same story I told him. "M, we're lucky because we have a little bit of money to buy a gift for some kids. Their mommy and daddy don't have a lot of money, but we can help."
I hope that's a start in the right direction but I think I have my work cut out for me.
On Day One, J was thankful for playing computer games. That came about because I used it as an example when I told him about our new project. For a couple of days there it seemed like it was a fruitless effort because they didn't get much deeper than that. Computer games made it in there twice, playing with his toys was another entry. And then, one day he said "Daddy." He's right up there with computer games and made it twice. Another day it was "Being Healthy" and once, after taking him to Disney on Ice, "Spending the Day with Mommy."
We're getting somewhere I thought. And then we ran out of feathers so we stopped a week or so into it. (Note to self: make enough feathers the first day or you may never get back to doing them later on.)
Anyway, I was happy with the results especially when he showed interest after the feathers were gone and asked if we could continue it through the Christmas season.
A couple of days ago, though, he and D were having a discussion where socioeconomics became the topic. D asked him if he knew what poor was. His answer was that it's when you don't have money. That prompted the next question of where he thought we sat on the financial totem pole. We, of course, are "wich." D tells him we aren't wich and he asks, "So are we poor?"
My question is, Did we create a monster here? I don't think that he's a spoiled kid. We don't buy him everything he wants, he knows he doesn't get something each time we go to the store. I thought we were doing okay in that department.
I want my child to appreciate the things that he gets, to realize that his many toys and games and clothes come with two price tags -- the one that tells you how many dollars you will need to take it home and the one of hard work and dedication that the person giving it to him has gone through to get it into his hands.
I want him to understand that not everyone is as lucky as he is. Each year the moms' group adopts a family and I try to pick a child his age for him to buy a gift. I've explained to him that not all parents have enough money to get gifts for their kids so they have to rely on Santa. I told him we're lucky we have a little bit of money left to be able to help out the parents so that their kids too will have a nice Christmas. Two years ago we got a train, last year we got Barbies for a little girl, and this year a Transformer for a six-year-old boy. He didn't come with me to get it because of timing issues, but he was well aware that we were getting it and I showed him what we got when he got home from school. He said it was "cool."
I don't know if he grasps the meaning of this, but he was telling M the other day pretty much the same story I told him. "M, we're lucky because we have a little bit of money to buy a gift for some kids. Their mommy and daddy don't have a lot of money, but we can help."
I hope that's a start in the right direction but I think I have my work cut out for me.
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