Chapter 36

Wow ! I am 36 years old. As Bethany put it, I am closer to 40 than 30 now. It's all good though, I love life. I have had a pretty bumpy life, but seriously, who hasn't?
I have laughed and I have cried. I have loved and I have lost. It is all what life is about. It is all a learning experience. My life is not about how old I am but the things that I have experienced, the things that I have seen and the things that I have done. All this and more is what has shaped me into the woman that I am today. Being strong, loving, independent and strong is what it is all about for me and I don't believe that you can't have it all.

I have the most wonderful man by my side. I had to kiss many, MANY frogs to get to my Prince Charming. It proves that all good things come to those who wait. I also don't think that I would appreciate him as much as I do if I hadn't been through all that I have been through. Just more proof that everything happens for a reason. Of course it helps that we just fit together so perfectly. I never thought that relationships could be this amazing and wonderful until I met Jose. I thought that all relationships involved fighting and hurting each other and learning to live with things. What I have learned instead is that relationships are about trust, respect, understanding and compromise. If you have all that then it really is simple. Don't get me wrong, we have our arguments, our situations and our altercations but we resolve them peacefully and without hurting each other. Since we have met, we have never sworn at each other and we have never puposefully said anything hurtful to each other. If I didn't live it myself, I wouldn't believe it either. It's true though and it wasn't always easy either...lol. We are oppposites and we have had to learn how to deal with each other. I am a talker and he is a spacer. I talk about everything, it makes me feel better, it helps me to understand the situation. He needs space. He likes to think out the whole situation before saying anything and once his thoughts are all together, he comes to me to talk. This hasn't been the easiest thing for me but we compromise. He comes to me now and tells me that things are ok but he just needs to clear his head. I feel better and I wait. If you had told me ten years ago that I would be in a relationship like this, I would have laughed and told you that you were crazy. But it is how things are and I am the luckiest woman on earth to have him.

I have three wonderful children who drive me absolutely insane. Children are so amazing. They are innocent and funny and twisted and deceitful all in one bundle. They make me laugh and they make me cry. Having lost a child, I know how precious they are and what a miracle life is. Being a parent is one of the most thrilling, emotional and frustrating things in the world...lol. I give so much credit to stay at home moms. I know that I am a working woman but that doesn't mean that I love my children any less. I personally, am a better mother because I have time to be myself during the day. I look forward to going home and seeing them. I love how CJ comes running to us when he sees us. I like finding out about Larissa and Nathan's day. I like coming home to wonderful home full of love.

Which leads me to my next thing...we are blessed to be moving into a home that we are in love with. A house that we will call home now. A home that we will fill with love and memories. A new beginning for Jose and I. A new stage in our lives. Always adding to the previous stages that has made our lives whole. Another chapter in our lives and only God knows where this will lead us. All I know is that together and with God's help, there isn't anything that we can't get through.

My faith stands strong ! It has been over two years, maybe even three since I have attended a church or a mass. With that being said, my faith is the strongest that it has ever been. My faith is what has gotten me through some of the most difficult moments in my life. This past year has had it's trials and it is God that carried me through them. It is my faith in God that guides my life.

I can't even begin to list all of my wonderful family and friends that have been a huge part of my life. You have all been there for me through the good times and bad times. You have been there for me through laughter and tears. It is relationships like this that keep me strong and allow me to give back.

So as chapter 35 of my life came to an end, chapter 36 begins. A new chapter to be written in any way that I want. A new chapter that I get to write. Stay tuned, you never know what will happen next !

Can Men Really Be That Dumb?

Ok, so we got the keys last night and picked up dinner on our way home because of lack of time. If I don't see anymore fast food for the rest of the year, it will be too soon ! It was so good to see the house again. I just wanted to take our inflatable mattresses and spend the night there last night. Obviously we didn't do that because it would have been a little crazy...lol.
We ate and I knew that my energy level last night was not going to be what it was the night before and there wasn't going to be any packing going on. With that being said, I knew the huge amt of garbage bags left in the house from cleaning needed to be taken out since it was garbage night. After dinner, I asked Jose if he was going to help me take out the garbage bags upstairs tonight (last night of course) or tomorrow morning (this morning). He asked me what bags? I told him that all the bags in the hall upstairs are all garbage. He said, wow that's a lot of garbage. That was it. So I did my usual things at night and out of frustration, I asked Nathan to come help me take the bags out to the curb...and he did ! With each trip in and out of the house, the screen door slammed and I could Jose sitting on the couch. I finished my nightly routine and headed to bed.
This morning I woke up and went to look outside to see if he had at least taken out the garbage can and recycle bin and to my surprise the garbage bags were gone. I looked up and down the street and realized the garbage truck had not come yet....someone had taken our garbage. I find that disturbing on many levels. I can understand taking furniture or toys but garbage bags? We did have stained and ripped clothes in the bags but it was mixed with food and dirty pull-ups. I guess they will be in for a surprise. Back to my point ! I went upstairs and told Jose that someone had taken our garbage, as weird as that sounds. He looks at me with a worried expression and says to me "you threw my clothes out!" Now I was the one with the confused look. Apparently, Jose had packed some clothes in white garbage bags and placed it in the hall with the white garbage bags full of trash and I took them all out. He says that he thought they were packed bags too. Ok, so I get that part. But last night when I told you all the bags in the hall were garbage, you could have done one of two things. You could have walked upstairs and moved the bag so that nothing like this would happen or you could have simply said to me that you placed clothes bags there too not realizing it was garbage and I would have been more careful. Not to mention that he simply could have helped me last night and this would have been avoided too. So he was pissed and I would have been too but I never would have done such a stupid thing. Are men really that dumb?

Nathan is 12!

I can't believe that Nathan is 12. Where has the time gone? I remember Larissa at this age and looking at Nathan and feeling like it was so far away for him. I must be getting old...lol.

My Nathan. My only child born on his due date ! He has been through so much but he is such a trooper. He is my artistic one, even though he doesn't realize his own talent. He is my shy one...ok, my shyest one. He is still my little man !

His party was Sunday and he had a blast. I was a little worried about so many people not being able to come but his friends were there and he had a wonderful time. I took pics ! I can't wait to share them with you all. They had a blast playing in the park and then the paddleboats too. Next year he will be an official teenager...oh my goodness. I can't even begin to think about that. It's too far away anyways (lol).

Getting Closer

I can't believe how fast time is going by. In six days we are going to get the keys ! The electric, sewer, water & gas are already set up to end at the current house and start at the new one. All the finalization is really making it feel so real. The kids have still not seen it yet, well except for CJ. CJ keeps asking when we are moving to the new house...lol.

Tonight, Jose and I are going out for some much needed couple time. A friend of ours won a vip party at Howl at the Moon and we are going. It has been a long time since we have made time for some fun. To add to that, Jaime and I are going to celbrate our birthdays tonight too. Her birthday is actually Sunday.

Sunday we will have some down time too because that is Nathan's 12th Birthday party. We are having it at the same place that we had Larissa's party but outdoors. The kids are all going to go on the paddleboats and they can run around and have fun too. I hope that Nathan has a great time because he deserves it after all he has been through.

As most of you know, or should know, my birthday is around the corner too. I get my birthday off of work so I am going to go discharge Nathan from his current school and enroll him in the new school He will be starting on the 26th at the new school and he is excited. I will probably go do some things at the new house too and then we are going out to eat at Razzoo's.

A little further away are two more things...in 34 days Jose will be heading to RI for a mini vacation and his brother's graduation from PC. Way to go Alex ! And shortly after that, in 49 days, Didi will be coming to see our new place. So we have a lot to look forward to in such a little time. Keep us in your prayers because we still have a lot of work to do. Talk to you all later !

Hump Day

I thought that the weeks would drag since I am anticipating our big move but they have been going rather quickly. As a matter of fact, I don't know where this week has gone already. There are 8 days until we go get the keys to the new home and 17 days until our big move. And right smack in the middle of the two is my birthday. I feel so happy to have so many blessings right now. It is so easy to let the days go by without being thankful. It is so easy to complain about what you don't like in your life but I am making it a priority to be thankful.

The packing has continued. Once again, I can't believe that we have accumulated so much crap in the two years that we have been here. Actually it is still amazing me how much crap we brought from RI that is still in boxes. We spent last weekend going through the garage. See the is the problem with having a big house and a big garage. You never really go through what you have because it's not in your way, it's just somewhere out of the way. I am really looking foward to a slightly smaller house that will allow to think of everything that we bring into it and think about each purchase we want to make.

Jose and I are both having withdrawls from the house...lol. I think that I am going to call Melissa (our landlord) and see if we can go by this weekend. We want to see the progress and of course, just see it again. We might even take Larissa and Nathan with us this time. This weekend is going to fly by because we are so busy. We have plans Friday night to go to Howl at the Moon with good friends (a couples night that is long overdue!)and then there is Nathan's birthday on Saturday and his party on Sunday. I have a feeling that I will back here on Monday saying "where did my weekend go?".

Last night feels like such a big blurr. It seems as though I got nothing done but in actuality, I got a few things done. I took Nathan to boyscouts, got my nails done, caught up with Ilga, got gas in the car, picked up dinner and took more pics of Larissa's bedroom set for a woman who is interested in buying it from us. So all in all, it wasn't a bad night. I feel as though it was such a waste because I didn't get any packing done but the rest was actually nice. Yes, running around doing things is a rest for me...what has my life come to...lol !

So that is all for today. Just wanted to take a minute and share my thoughts with you all. Hope everyone is having a good week !

Got My Tire Fixed at Lunch Today !

I just want to start by saying that quite a few years back when I bought my green couches, I had quite a story because it was as if they sent the three stooges to deliver the couches. If I can find that story that I sent you all, I will have to post it here. This is not about my couches but it is just as funny !

We got a flat tire last night on our way home from picking up CJ. Jose put the donut on and since I am the one who takes the car, I planned to take it and it get it fixed today at lunch. The donut was in bad shape so we needed to repair it quickly.

Today during lunch I went to a place down the street from my job. You know one of those whole in the wall places with used tires that is in/out quickly...or so I thought.

I pull up with the donut on the car and the guy asks me, "what do you need?". I point to the tire and tell him that I need a tire. He asks, "do you know what size it is?". I walk over to the car and read the size to him from the tire...something that he could have and should have done himself. By this time, I didn't have a warm and fuzzy feeling about this place but I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt...not sure why ! He returns and tells me that they have a tire. I already knew this because I had called ahead to check and to get a price so that I could have the money. Soooo, he proceeds to by jacking up the car. While he is getting the lugg remover, I go into the trunk and take out the flat tire and roll it over to him. He asks me "what's that?" and I tell him that it's my tire. I am not kidding, this is serious, he really asked me that ! He asks me, "what do you want me to do with that?" I say "put it on my car!". I was starting to really get worked up now. He looks at me with a very puzzled look on his face and says, "so you want me to take this one off (pointing to the donut on the car) and put that one on (pointing to my flat tire)?". I say "NO! I want you to take the donut off, fix my flat and then put it on the car, it's flat and that is whwy I am here to buy a new one!" I was really starting to think that I was on candid camera. Is this guy for real? But wait, it's not over.

He walks over to take the donut off. I reach into the car to get the lock for the luggs. He grabs it, looks at it and says that he doesn't need it and places it on the ground. I stand there just waiting for him to realize that he needs it. He tries and tries and finally calls over another guy, who clearly knows more about changing a tire then he does...which doesn't take much. He tells the other man that he can't get my luggs off and the man tells him that is because he needs the lock for them. The idiot looks at me and asks for the lock. I point to the lock on the ground "that is the lock on the ground that you said you didn't need". I didn't know if I wanted to cry or laugh at this point. Using the lock was another adventure all together. He had to call over the other guy again for help. Can I just tell you that I could have done it faster myself but maybe that is because I have had 100 too many flat tires in my lifetime. :o)

Anyhoo...he finally takes my donut off. Amen ! He takes my flat tire into the back to replace the tire....you know, the whole reason why I am there in the first place ! I mean, everything that he has done until now I could have done myself. Shoot ! All he's done so far is take my donut off, my kids could have done that ! Changing the tires should have taken 5 minutes but of course, you know that it didn't. He had no clue was he was doing. He didn't know how to lock the rim in place, he didn't know how to take the tire off or how to put the new one on.

Now I understand that this was probably his first day on the job. I know the feeling of learning something new and it being your first day. Thing is that he was a rugged looking man that was my age if not older. You mean to tell me that he has never changed a tire or at least seen one changed?!

So he manages to put the changed tire back on the car while I put the donut in the trunk. Yeah, I was already pretty dirty by now anyways. Once again, he struggled with using the lock to put the luggs back on but got it with some help from the other man. I paid, he handed me the lock and I drove off praying that my tire didn't fall off on my way back to work. I did make it back to work and so far everything seems fine. I hope that we can make it home !

So 45 minutes and $33 later, I have my tire fixed and a story to go with it. Have I just been punked??????

Happy April Fools Day !

I am keeping it short and sweet today. It's April ! Happy April Fools Day to everyone. So many wonderful things about April. It is in the high 80's today and tomorrow so our weather is definately nice right now. There is so much to look forward to and so much to do. Have a great day and talk to you all tomorrow.

Here is a little FYI...It was 16 years ago today that I found out I was pregnant with Larissa. As you can imagine, nobody believed me. Funnier story is that my sister-in-law used being pregnant as an April fools joke before I made my announcement but the joke was on her because as it turned out...she really was pregnant ! Larissa and Derrick born 3 months apart due to Larissa being early and Derrick being late...lol !