We are fast approaching September 11th. I was living in Salt Lake City in 2001 on this date in history. My brother Danny and I had just gotten back from Washington; we went to go be with our older brother, and little brothers, our older brother got married the Saturday Sept. 7th, 2001. September 11th, 2001 was a dark day in the whole world.
 It's important to me to remember that day; the way I felt during the days that followed. I was very fortunate to have my brother living with me during that time, he was a great source of strength, also I had many good loving caring and honest friends during that time. Eventhough something horrendous had occurred, there seemed to be a spirit of love and friendship everywhere I went. People seemed more compasionate.
I hope that we all learn to be a better people. A better world.

conversations

As we drove into work this morning, my 7yr. old was telling me about her 1st day of 1st grade. She said there was a little boy, who shall remain nameless here, you know, to protect his identity, this little kid sat by my girl and he looked right at her face and said: "you're pretty" I am sure m'girl smiled; who doesnt like hearing these flattering words as a young lady? then he proceeded to tell her: "you want to come to my house after school?".....whoa! was my reaction...when my girl told him no, because she didnt even know him that good, he said "if you go on a date with me I will give you a dollar". She still said no, but they became good buddies in the 1st grade.
Hey, I never had that good luck in school with boys!

Some of my Favorite Things

I saw this lovely post on my friend Gail's blog. She lists a few of her favorite things. So here I go.



************MY FAVORITES****************

• To get us started off in this list are the expressions on my kids faces. Everyday they make me laugh. They amaze me in how smart they can be and also how much they are a part of me. What a blessing they are to me. I love the whole rest of my family. I am so happy to know that I belong to a very big group of wonderful people.

• FOOD is perhaps my favorite thing in the world. I love to eat good food. I like trying new things, but in the end my biggest love, when it comes to food would have to be my "frijoles de la olla", tortillas de maiz, and chiles to spice up the life.



• FLOWER GARDENS, there's something so fulfilling about seeing beauty come out of the ground to color your surroundings. Love it!

• Basketball, I like you because when I play you, I have fun and dont even realize I am running back and forth as fast as I can. And after about an hour I look like ran a marathon.

• I love a clean house. Is my house clean? No! But I still love a clean house. Nothing better than a clean fresh house to rest your tired body in....ahhh!

• A clean house that smells good is also a great thing. So I like to have good smells in my house.

• A full tank of gas. I really like that. The thought of being stranded without gasoline in the middle of nowehere is a bit terrifying for me.

• I am mad about SUDOKU! I like to do a puzzle almost every night. I am working out my brain muscles, now if only I could be crazy about working out my gut's muscles.

• I love to see kind people in action because it inspires me to try a little harder to make someone else's life more meaningful. Kindness is contagious, I really believe that!

• For the last 2 or 3 years I have come to know the power of coupons! I love to stock up on stuff we need at about a third or less the cost of the product. I love my coupons!!!



• And to end this post I will list a few t.v. shows that I love...

There's something heartwarming in discovering big talent...the auditions are also hilarious!

I'd like to solve the puzzle Pat! "I kick butt at Wheel of Fortune!"

Now, this is more like it, a real family...not like all the super fancy rich, problem free stereotypical sit-com families of the past.

This show is sooooo funny! Who's with me on this one?

And Finally one of the funniest movies of all time, Three Amigos! I love quoting lines from this movie. And others but this one is on the top 5.

Fun day at the Park

 We had a great day at the park on Saturday, temperature was about 55 degrees Farenheit, the following Tuesday we were blessed with a snow/ice storm. I am glad we went to the park when the weather was kind.

The Saturday before Valentine's Day (2-12-11) Boise was blessed with a beautiful sunny day. I took advantage of this gorgeous weather to take the little monkeys to the park to feed the duckies. We had a blast playing all over the park. The park has an over abundance of geese in the pond, there are a few ducks there, so we mostly feed giant geese. Bella spent most of the time running away from geese, I told her to shoo them away, and all they did was move their long necks back for about 3 seconds, then they were back to begging for bread pieces. When we were done with the bread we walked over the the awesome playground where the kids climbed on all the games there. Then we went over the bridge to the wooden house and finally over to the lake to throw rocks in the Boise River. What a fun day.



Goofy kids by the river

Me and my Boy

The girl pretending to fish

This guy loves to throw rocks in the river

a leer

The name Paramo is a very unique last name, at least for me. I have never heard of "Paramo's" like you hear of "Martinez", "Garcias", "Smiths", "Jones", among many common surnames. That is why when I heard there was a book out there in the literary world titled "PedroParamo", I became instantly interested. You see I am a Paramo, because of my mom's family. A hard working, very religious, traditional family from Nayarit Mexico. I read the book in english and finished it, it confused me with the back and forth of time changing to the past, the present, the future.

I am succumbing to the advise of my younger brother Elias, (Nacho) to give Pedro Paramo another shot. I started re reading it in spanish last night and I must say it is pretty dang intriguing. It's as if I am hearing my grandparents talk. The story so far reminds me of the infamous don Magdaleno, aka, who should have been my father. The old days of Mexico. There is a line in there from the mother of the main character (who is the son of Pedro Paramo) just before she died, she made her son promise her that he would go search for his father and..."Demand from him that which is ours, that which he was supposed to give to me and never did, make him pay big for abandoning us" (that's my translation, when I find my english copy I will write the proper translation). That kind of demand would be possible in today's times in the U.S. not so much in Mexico, no such thing as "child support" back then in Mexico, and I would even go on a limb and say that even now. I am going to read this skinny book in less than a week. It's smooth reading in spanish.

Don Juan Rulfo quien escribio "Pedro Paramo"

parenthood

Sometimes I just stare at my kids. I cant believe how time flies. I came upon old babies pictures of both the princess monkey and the angel-monkey boy. They are huge now. Franklin is almost (cross my fingers) fully potty trained. Bella will be starting 1st grade in a few weeks. I feel so super fortunate to be a mom. This realization makes me appreciate my mother more.

mi guapeton

Bella on a mountain road

comtemplating lifeH.S. MusicalQue cara, valgame los cielos!

Hoarding

Last night I decided to watch tv after I put the kids in bed. I was flipping thru the guide and saw a show titled: "Hoarders-Buried Alive" I started watching and I was so intrigued I watched 2 episodes back to back. One good thing about the show is that it instantly motivated me to pick up after my little piggies. I can see how people would be addicted to 'stuff ' as to fill a void in their lives.  Very very intriguing. It was also interesting to see how someone could be so super attached to something as simple as an old piece of newspaper from 3 years ago. I have also known of people who are so super duper organized they freak out if the closet is not perfectly color coordinated. I guess if given a choice between these two disorders I would choose the latter. Anyway. Just thought that show was interesting and educational.
**note*** I was going to post a picture of a hoarder's place (from the internet) but felt wrong about it. Just watch the show. It's pretty jaw-dropping to see. However, they are just people with holes in their souls. Who am I to judge? Nobody. That's who I am.

Last Sunday evening we had a 'fireside' for the youth in the which we discussed education. Education eventually turned into knowledge. We saw a super old video from YouTube titled: The Power of Ten. It took a look at our surroundings by going away from us 10times out each time. It's hard to describe, I will try to put the video in here if possible. It went away as far as we know it...it all looked like darkness. a total complete emptiness. Then, back to earth it went into the the human body to the smallest particle that makes up what we are. I have been thinking a lot about that this whole week and with that little bit of knowledge I am very much at peace with myself. In the mornings when I drag myself out of bed to go walking (6am), stars still in the sky, I think to myself "Self, can you see you are part of something great?" the response of course is yes! Anyway, this is more for me and my crazy thoughts. For sure it is a re-affirment of my beliefs. A couple of weeks back, when I had to speak in front of all those ladies about me being courageous, another lady spoke about obtaining education. She said something that stands true to me now: "the more I learn the more I know less". There is so much out there to get discovered.
The End.

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's. I really dont understand this holiday...what are we celebrating?

I just read about a girl who when at home, she hears noises (paranormal type activities). She is pregnant at the moment and has a little girl about 18 months old. She wrote she was folding clothes and felt the presence of a little kid right by her. When she looked around she saw no one but kept feeling the same presence. Then she said, from the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a little kid standing in the doorway, but when she looked again, no one was there. Her little girl had been napping in another part of the house. Then, at night, her and her husband found a toy in the middle of the floor singing.....no one was around the toy. This is quite freaky. I dont want any of that happening at my place, specially this week. Thankfully, the haunted friends have a very good attitude towards this incident. They have name the child ghost "Rockwell" I can picture the child looking like the painting of Norman Rockwell, very sweet and innocent.....I hope the ghost is all that.....boooooooooohooooooooooooooo.