First day of school

I just realized I never posted this!

Yesterday was Christian's first day of Pre-K! The whole family (Jordan, R and I) dropped him off at his classroom and he asked me to help him find his seat. He didn't seem fazed at all. I introduced him to the boy next to him (who was on the verge of tears, pobrecito) and told him to show him how to make a snake (they were playing with playdoh). We took a couple of quick pictures and then we stood around for a while. Chris was completely calm and was chatting away with his new neighbor so we waved goodbye and left. I wiped my eyes and sighed as I realized my baby was in "big boy school" now. I was so proud of him because he had started talking to the boy next to him (he's usually super antisocial and won't even play in the playground if there are other kids there).



After school, we had another entourage come to pick him up. Abuela, Ren and I went to get him. When we picked him up, the teacher told me that he cried a little after playground time. My mom asked him why and he said "because I missed my mommy" (tear, so cute).



I asked him what he did in school and he said they played and colored and ate and went outside and slept, but that he didn't want to sleep so he stayed awake. I asked him if he made any new friends and he rattled off a bunch of boy names.



Me: Didn't you make friends with any girls?

C: No, I don't like girls.

Me: Why not?

C: Because they fight.

Me: Girls fight?

C: Yeah! They're always fighting with each other because they all want everything!



This morning, when he woke up he said "I don't want to go to school". Oh boy, starting with that already are we? I got an extra long hug this morning when I dropped him off. I guess he wasn't so unfazed with it this time. Let's see how the rest of the week goes.



Jordan went to the same day care as always, but this time there was no big brother around, so I was concerned about how he would handle the change. The lady said he did fine. He wasn't sad or anything and he didn't even ask for Chris (I guess since he went with us to drop him off, he didn't really wonder where he was).

Happy 2nd Birthday Weekend!

Friday was Jordan's 2nd birthday. We celebrated the whole weekend. On Friday, his Daddy took happymeals, cupcakes and goodie bags to the daycare. That evening we drove to Tampa. The following day we went to Busch Gardens and had lunch with the Sesame Street characters because Jordan is so in love with Elmo lately.

On this trip, we learned that he only likes Elmo (et. al.) from a distance. Ha ha. At least he didn't cry or anything, but he was kind of shy and didn't want to get too close to them. Christian on the other hand took numerous pictures with all the characters. He found it hilarious that he could poke them in the butt and they wouldn't feel it. I can't tell you how many butt poking pictures I got. The cookie monster one was the funniest because his hand practically disappeared in all the fur and it looked like he was sticking his whole hand... um anyway. After lunch, they played in the kids splash zone and it felt soooo good to cool off from the Florida heat.

Our friends (who came with us) then met up with us for the water rides. Chris rode the flume ride and the congo river rapids ride for the first time ever. Needless to say, he loved it. He even went on twice. By that time we were pooped and ready to leave since we had a 5 hour drive back home. Chris was sad because he wanted to ride the Scorpion but Dad wouldn't let him because it goes upside down.

The following day, we invited a couple of friends over for cake and goodies at the house. I figured JJ is still too young to know what's what, so no big party this year. We'll save the crazy effort for when he's old enough to enjoy it. Wow, my little baby is two...how did that sneak up on me?

When it comes to watching SATC, is it ever too much?

I've just spent the last couple of weeks watching the entire DVD series of Sex and the City. Yes, I know, you're probably wondering what cave I came out of since I am just now getting around to watching this....well, aparently, my cave did not have HBO.

I liked seeing all the crazy outfits Carrie wore and all the crazy man-troubles these women had. At times, it reminded me of my short, but turbulent, dating life...sometimes a little too much. I really enjoyed the show and basically had to force myself to stop watching it and go to bed everynight. I laughed, I cried, I loved it.

It's funny because the whole reason why I started watching this is because I went to see the second movie for a friend's birthday party (and then again with another dear friend). Nevermind that I had never watched a single episode before, but there I went (twice!) with popcorn in hand. Poor Amanda had to sit next to me and field all my questions...who's that guy? why did she marry him? why is that woman such a hornball? (Yes, I am that annoying person that asks questions mid movie) I liked the movie without having had seen the show, so I figured the show had to be good.

So Amanda lent me her DVD's and I was off on my Big marathon. Of course now, I'm worried that after spending so many evenings with Carrie and the girls, I'm going to feel lost without them. I had a little routine going there: put the kids to bed, grab a snack and watch one or two (or 3 or 4) episodes all cozy in bed. OMG what will I do now that I don't have my nightly date with Carrie and Big (or Aiden/Berger/Petrovsky)?

I know, I'll go watch the first movie...

Jordan Bieber!

Facebook, Twitter (et al.): Social Catalysts or Social Hindrances?

These days there are many people flocking to Facebook, Twitter and all the other online social networking sites to (re)connect with others. Personally, I really enjoy these sites (specifically FB). I enjoy catching up with (and finding) long lost friends and making new friends. I like that it facilitates get-togethers, new friendship connections and makes us more social. Some people though, do not share my opinion, they feel that FB (et al.) does not, in fact make us more social, but actually, impedes us from becoming so by keeping us trapped behind a computer, thus lowering our human interaction to strictly electronic means.

Here is one argument (names/details have been edited to protect the innocent/guilty):

Social: adjective
1) Pertaining to, devoted to, or characterized by friendly companionship or relations
2) Living or disposed to live in companionship with others in community, rather than isolation
3) Of or pertaining to human society
4) Of or pertaining to the life, welfare, and relations of human beings in community.

Now...with that being known...when you put this definition together with a computer, email, tweets, images, posts...how in the hell is that social? You are taking the very essence of being social and you are throwing it away. It’s nearly an oxymoron.

Most (not all) foolios and idiots who have MySpace and Facebook and Twitter...are folks who completely hide behind a computer. They spend their lives on a website. They are the very antithesis of the word social. There is no human contact. No shaking of the hands, no face to face.

Its funny...I nearly crack myself up every night when I see people with 300 or 500 or 1000 friends...its so hilarious as most people won't even go through life speaking to 100 people...let alone 500. You know what is also funny...all those people who are social networking addicts...usually socialize with the same people that they actually interact with. Is the crazy or what?

The same 10 friends that you see at work, school, neighborhood...are the same 10 people you network with on Facebook. What a waste. Maybe once in a blue moon your reconnect with someone you haven't seen in a long time.

But most of the time it’s just the same folks over and over again. It’s laughable and totally against what being social is.

So...of course I'm not anti-social. I interact with hundreds of folks everyday. Actually seeing them and meeting with them and human physical contact with them. Much more satisfying than wanting to know what some person you've never met...a million miles away...is doing.

Having a few people to keep in touch with, family members, people to help you out in events…that what? Maybe totals about 50 people? Maybe less, maybe more? What about the other hundreds of people that you never keep in touch with?

And, I’m not above anyone. I’m just not a tool that follows trends. Oh…everyone is FBooking…let me do it too. Hey, everyone owns an iphone, let me own it too. Hey, everyone this, let me do it too. I like to go against the grain. And hey, I’m not one to
totally rule out networking on the computer. I’ve shared my blogs with people; I’m in multiple fantasy football leagues with people I don’t know. The part I don’t like is just that FB has become this monster of a thing that is out of control. Of course, you can do what you want…but when you start hearing stories about busting your wife cheating on you in FB, stalking and killing people through FB, posting false information about people on FB, having someone hack your FB account. I mean…yeah sure, only a small percentage in the grand scheme of things…but still possible.

FB is such a waste of time and productivity also. Just surfing, seeing what their ex is doing, seeing how bad or good someone looks…blah, blah. All doing this during work hours. The fact that you spend more time on your job, than in your home…and you spend those hours looking at FB…it’s a waste. Of course, on your own time…no problem.

Facebook creates a false impression of an active social life. But of course, it’s an illusion. It’s smoke and mirrors. When you see hundreds of photos and comments of “friends” tends to make people believe that these people actually care for you…but then can you even count on your fingers how many times you actually meet up with people for a pizza or a movie? Facebook sucks ass for single people…old flames may still haunt you. You can say that Facebook is a nice way of stalking. People can get jealous and envious of others. Kids lose focus and just spend hours upon hours with FB either on their computers or their phones. Grades start to dwindle. To me, Facebook should be more like a nice blog that you occasionally visit to read the latest information on something. But, most everyone is so engulfed by Facebook…that it takes over any moment of free time they may have. I mean, when you start to think that if you work 9 hours a day, and spend 4 hours on Facebook, then you go home, and are on Facebook, and then before you go to sleep, you are Facebooking and then you sleep and wake up again to do everything over…come on dude. Facebook is the devil.

My reply to this argument:

Thanks to Facebook I’ve found lots of people that I had lost touch with. Perhaps the friendship fizzled and it was time to move on, but perhaps not. Perhaps I just like knowing where they are and having them there where I can talk to them at a moments notice. Perhaps it’s great to have a little/big network of friends that I can count on to help me with all my silly voting contests. Perhaps it’s easier for me to keep in touch with my family from El Salvador this way. Perhaps I like to know, hey, whatever happened to so and so. I don’t like to burn bridges, just because someone is now my acquaintance and not my best friend anymore, that doesn’t mean that a networking opportunity might not come up where we would require each other’s help/input. Just cause someone is not that close of a friend anymore, doesn’t mean I don’t like to say hi once in a while or commiserate with them when their kid is acting up, or check out their cool vacation photos. And what's wrong with being/making friends with people half way across the globe?

I have planned, found out about, and attended activities, meetings, and get-togethers (OMG actual face to face human interaction so scary, cause God knows I don’t ever do any of that) through Facebook. These included both old friends that I hadn’t seen in years and new people that I met at these events. If someone wants to be a hermit and hide behind their computer, well, then they don’t need Facebook to do that. If someone wants to use Facebook to keep a rapport going with old friends and acquaintances, then that’s fabulous. If someone wants to use Facebook as a platform to help arrange events and meet other people, (thus making them more social in real life too…yes, it’s possible, believe it or not) then that’s great too. If someone wants to just use it to talk to the same 10 people that they talk to every day, then good for them, who am I to tell them not to? Facebook (et al.), like many other things in life, is what you make of it.

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So tell me, readers, what say you? Do you use Facebook, Twitter, etc? Are those sites social enablers or do you believe that they are inherently evil, bad for us, and turn us into hermits?

Gym Fail

I returned to the gym today after a long period of laziness. I entered through the doors with a smile on my face, ever so proud of myself for finally coming back. Suddenly I was reminded of the fact that I had to have my ID to get in. Aw crap. OK, no problem I figured since they allow you one freebie per month. Unfortunately, in my long absence, their rules had changed and the person at the counter pointed to the lovely little sign and rubbed it in my face that I could not enter without a picture ID. I offered to recite my entire personal information file including but not limited to my social, address, pet name and underwear color if necessary, but alas, the (insert expletive of choice) would not budge. No picture I.D., no entrance. No tickey, no laundry. Yeah, I get it.

I left and ventured far and away to go get my ID and then came back (wasted 20 minutes of my precious work out time). As I strolled in, this time with a not so friendly look on my face, I walked past the counter and flashed her my I.D. (you need to show it to them and then swipe it at the turnstile) conveniently placing it behind my middle finger (yes, I'm a big baby, so what).

I was feeling like quite a bad ass for giving the bird when I suddenly came up on the turnstile and my I.D. wouldn't work. I swiped it. Swiped it again. and again. Losing more and more of my edge with every swipe. The person at the counter finally felt sorry for me and pressed the button to let me in, right at the same moment that I pushed on the bar and then pulled back, which caused the bar to become stuck half way. Which I then had to squeeze through (instantly reminding me of why I was there in the first place) while looking like a total dork. Yeah.

Whatever snarkiness was achieved with the flashing of the bird was suddenly lost by looking like a trapped bird on the turnstile.

Gym Bird = FAIL

Go ahead, you may point and laugh now.