Tuesday

I am sorry that I have not written a few days. I have been feeling under the weather lately to say the least. Sunday I spent in bed most of the day and Monday my head and throat bothered me and now I am congested and have a headache that won't quit. Add three children, a mother and bf to that and you have someone who is really exhausted.
Nathan has Karate tonight and then Jose and I are going to sit with Taylor's mom, Gina, about her watching CJ. Everyone please keep your fingers crossed that we can afford her somehow because I really don't have a back up plan at the moment. The kids started a new semester in school. Larissa got new classes...she has theatre this semester. Report Cards are supposed to come out tomorrow. The weather here is starting to warm back up to normal temps for this time of year after that ridiculous cold front that came through and brought us snow. I know that I am rambling but I am just trying to quickly catch you all up on anything that I might have missed. I guess you can call this unorganized blogging...lol.
Dalissa...can't wait for you to get here. Bianca...stop beating yourself up, there will be other times...hopefully soon. Mayi...start planning because you know that Bianca needs a push sometimes (lol). I miss you all so much but RI not so much. Well let me head back to work now...my pot pie is almost ready in the oven and then I have to eat...ttyl.

My Best Friend

When you are very young, your best friend changes from month to month, sometimes even week to week or day to day...lol. By the time you hit your pre-teens, you start to realize what true friendship is and that not everyone claiming to be your friend , actually is! As you start to develop true friendships, there is usually one person that is always there for you and always comes to mind first when you want/need to share something. Some people search a lifetime for a friendship like this...wait isn't that a song?! I have been blessed to have so many wonderful true friends throughout my life and lucky enough to have met my best friend at the early age of 15. I didn't know it then, but that friendship would grow into a fabulous lifelong relationship. It is hard to imagine that my daughter, her god-daughter, will be 15 this year and at the same age that we met. She could be developing a lifetime of friendships as we sit here and read this.

We will be celebrating our 20 year anniversary this year. Through these 19+ years, we have been through the good, the bad and the ugly. We have been through everything from births to deaths and from marriage to divorce and everything in between too. We have cried on each other's shoulders and we have laughed until we cried. I think that the strength of our friendship has even amazed us at times.

I sometimes stop and think of other people and their friendships. I wonder if anyone else is as blessed as I am to have the most wonderful best friend of all time. She is a daughter, a sister, a mother, a wife, an aunt, a godmother, a cousin, a friend and most importantly to me....a best friend. We have so many differences. She is the practical one, I act on impulse. She chooses her words, I speak without thinking. She knew in high school what she wanted to be, I still don't know what I want to be. She is a dog person, I am a cat person....lol. Still, with all these differences, we also have many similarities. We both value family and friends in the highest way. We both love to read, not always the same kind of books. We are both loud (Portuguese vs Puerto Rican...watch out). She loves to sing, I can't carry a tune to save my life. And we both like American Idol, not always the same contestants though. The lists go on and on. The most important thing though is that when we don't agree on something, we respect each other's opinions and decisions. We are there for each other regardless of the outcome...good or bad.

I just wanted to dedicate this post to my best friend because I couldn't imagine my life without you. Through our tragedies, we become stronger and closer. It is the hardest thing for me to be so far away at this difficult time in your life. Although I am here for your each and every day on the phone and on the computer, I wish that I could be there with you, for you. I know that this has not effected our relationship. Our lengthy talks have only drawn us together more. So let me just end this by saying....I love you Dala !

Our Snow Day...in NC

Well guys...just wanted to let all of you people still up north know that your prayers have been answered and we too have been cursed with snow. Got woken up at 5am this morning letting me know that they have cancelled school for today. I hung up and ran to the window only to find what us northerner's call "flurries". So here is a pic of my snow day...and yes, that is my crazy mother on the front porch in her bathrobe. See you can all stop being so jealous of the warm weather we have. Oh, I have more pics of our snow on facebook for those of you that are interested.

SNOW !!!

It is supposed to snow here tonight...2-4 inches !!!! Snow in the South?? Who would have thunk? Maybe we brought the cold with us down....lol.

This Weekend

I just wanted to fill you guys in on my weekend. First of all, for those of you that don't know, Jose and I did manage to go on our date night. Hopefully this will be the first of many. We just went out to On the Border but it was nice to be alone and just get all dressed up. We actually have plans for our February date night which we are very excited about...we have been given tickets to go see a Burlesque Show. That should be so much fun. But for our first attempt it was nice. We were back in about two hours and then we just hung out and watched a movie but it was so refreshing and actually allowed us to get in a different frame of mind.

I also took Larissa to the audition at Narroway on Sunday. I think that it went well. She auditioned for dancing and singing. The parents weren't allowed in but she said that after she sang the people were floored at the voice that came out of her. As soon as I know anything, I will let you all know...ttyl.

Mom

Well my mother will be going to Portugal at the end February. I have many mixed emotions about this. It will be nice for our family to spend time together alone. I know how terrible that must sound considering that she is part of our family but I hope that you will all understand what I am really saying. Thing are tough with so many people living under the same house, especially when one of them is my mother. I am blessed to have my mother with me so please don't misunderstand but it doesn't allow me time to miss her or the kids to go to grandma's like in normal families. I know that we are far from normal though. I have diverted enough though...

So she is leaving the end of February for quite some time, she isn't even sure for how long yet. She is going to complete her retirement paperwork and that needs to be done in person and it is a process from what I understand. This, however, will leave us with a little bit more for us to figure out. We will now need a place to send CJ for the days and figure out what Larissa and Nathan will do after school and just so many things that we have been blessed not to have to think about before because she was here. I know that we will get through this. It is just a bump in the road ahead of us. I will keep you all posted on our progress. Larissa's friend Taylor, her mother watches kids in her home and I have been there many times over the summer picking up Taylor and really liked her and the way that she is with children. I think that might be an option but then there is the cost that we have to think about. It appears as though we have just started getting on our feet and now we have an added cost to deal with. That is what parenting is all about though so we will be just fine. Where there is a will, there is a way. If it turns out that CJ gets approved for the preschool because of his speech delay then this won't be for very long anyways.

On a lighter note, it will be nice for my mom to see her other children and grandchildren that she does not get to see often enough. I really can't imagine being in her shoes and so far away from her children. I am happy that she is getting this much deserved time away, and much deserved time with her family. And like I mentioned above...this will give us some much needed space too.

Larissa's 15th Birthday

Ok everyone mark your calendars. I have officially booked Larissa's 15th Birthday party for Sunday November 1, 2009 at the Cranston Portuguese Club off of Elmwood Avenue in Cranston. I have not determined a time yet but since it is Sunday, I am sure it will start in the afternoon so that we have plenty of time to party. For those of you that already have taken out your agendas and started marking this, notice that the day before is Halloween. So yes, we will be in RI for Halloween too. We are really excited about this. Halloween is a Saturday and we will be there. Anyone having a Halloween party? Anyways, I don't have much time today. Just wanted to give you guys that info so that you can all save the date.

Mayi...welcome back to the cold weather. You need to plan a visit to come see your godson. We miss you guys so much.