Abuelito

My grandfather passed away. Like his mom, my great grandmother, he had Alzheimer's so he didn't really recognize anyone or anything anymore. In a sense, I feel like the real him, had left us a long long time ago. He was a Doctor in Pharmacy, a college professor, a chemist, a husband, a father, a grandfather, a great grandfather.

I will always remember how beautifully he played the piano (by ear). How he loved to show off his guns (both the literal and figurative ones)...and especially his fascination with the trains. He devoted a whole room in his house to the trains and would often invite me inside to his magical wonderland to watch them go round and round.

I will always remember how he loved boxing, a cold beer, and how he liked to show off his English speaking skills to me. I will forever picture him in his guayabera shirt sitting in his recliner chair.

Papa Quincho, I will miss you, I love you...and I hope they've got model trains in Heaven.

Cheers! To a life well lived.

May you rest in peace.

Stilts, drums and fire balls

You know the bad thing about having Chris sleep in a big boy bed is that he can get out of said bed when he wants to sleep with us. Last night he threw a tantrum because I wouldn't let him come to the "big bed". He eventually showed us who's boss by getting out of his bed and hoping into ours. Although I should have put him back in his bed to discourage such behavior, after fighting with him for an hour, all I really wanted to do was sleep. He stayed in our bed. I think it's time to putup a baby gate at the door.


And now, a tidbit from the "they grow up too quickly" files:

CMan: Mommy?

Me: Yes babe?

CMan: I want an iPod.


So my trip to El Sal was great, but I haven't really had the time or inclination to tell you all about it, so here goes:
On Friday I got there and that night, they had a nice home made dinner waiting for me. Yum. The following day I got to go to the beauty parlor and have my hair and nails done...Aahhh much needed pampering. The wedding was that evening and it was quite lovely. I've never seen so many photographers at a wedding. The bride and groom (my cousin) looked like they were celebrities being hounded by paparazzi.

The reception was at a nice hotel in San Salvador. At first I walked into the wrong wedding and was happily snapping pictures of the cake, when I realized that I didn't really know ANYONE there, so that couldn't be the right wedding. Fortunately this happened within the first 30 seconds after I got there and not after sitting down and eating the meal. Ha ha...that would've been hilarious (wow, this food is good, but who are those two people dressed like a bride and groom...uh...oops wrong wedding).

Once I made it to the correct room, we found out that our table was too small for all the people that were assigned to it, so mid-wedding, they took our table away and gave us a new one. We were stuck all the way at the back, so my mom convinced them to move the table right next to the dance floor...much better. They had a live band that was playing pretty good music and after a while, the bride took the stage and sang 4 songs with her band as well (she sings in a nightclub once in a while). This really got the party started and got some people out of their seats.

The party was in full swing, everyone was having a great time and then things got crazy....the drum players, fire juggler and stilt walkers showed up.

I'm not kidding.

They were passing out wigs and masks and noisemakers and veils and all sorts of fun carnival type things. It was so crazy, I've never seen that at a fancy hotel wedding before (or at any wedding for that matter). It was really fun and I would have participated more if it weren't for the fact that my shoes were killing me and for some reason I felt weird taking my shoes off and dancing with my pantyhose (yes, I know, feeling weird about that amidst stilt walkers really doesn't make sense, but hey, I didn't want to rip my spanx!). I was standing by the dancefloor to see the fireball lady, but I backed off a bit because I was scared that she was going to hit me with one of those fire thingies...she didn't seem to be very careful about looking around to see who was standing close by.

This was only the second wedding that I'd ever been to in El Salvador, so I noticed some differences between it and the weddings that I had been to here. I didn't see a bouquet toss or garter toss happening and the first dance was not really a big deal in the sense that there was no DJ or MC announcing it or anything. The cutting of the cake wasn't a big deal either. I don't think the couple ever cut it or took pictures with it (the hotel staff cut it up and served it)...and well, there's no need to mention the whole circus atmosphere either. It was definitely fun though. The party continued until 5 am (have I ever mentioned that these people like to party?), but I called it a night at around 12 or 1. I heard that after I left there were also mariachis that came later on. Wow, what a night!

The following day, we headed out to the beach house nice and early. On the way there, I noticed an accident on the side of the road. The police were there filing their reports and looking at the car, but there was a clown directing traffic away from the accident lane. Yes my friends, only in El Salvador do the clowns direct traffic and the cops make you laugh.

The beach house was so nice and relaxing. I got to vegetate in a hammock for a little while and go swimming in the pool. Good thing too, because it was so freaking hot, I thought I was going to melt. During this time, the cicada skins are still on the trees. I love seeing them all over the place because it reminds me of my childhood when my cousin and I would have contests to see who could collect the most.

The following day, it was time to come back. Boohoo. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

More pictures are up on Flickr (check them out over on the sidebar thingy over there --->).

Greetings from Central America

Well, my pirate eye is doing much better and is back to normal. It all started because I was trying to put together the bed rail so that Chris could sleep in the twin bed (instead of the crib, we need to make room for the new tenant). He took the instructions away from me, with the intention of ripping them into itty bitty pieces, so I pulled them away and the rest, as they say, is history.

Anyway, I am in El Salvador for the weekend because my cousin is getting married, so R is holding down the fort. CMan stayed in Miami too. I was just telling my mom that I don't know what to do with myself; I've never really had this much time to just DO nothing and have no one to look after (since the NY trip). It just feels strange. He he.

It's freaking hot here...I'm gonna go find a fan and stand under it. See you in 3 days!

Bunny Pictures and Chimbo Eggs

So here are the bunny pictures that I promised.
On Sunday we went to Amanda and Eric's house to celebrate Eric's birthday and Easter. We had some yummy food and then all the kids went on an Easter Egg hunt. CMan was better at it this year than last. He didn't stop to examine and play with each egg. This time he actually continued to pick more eggs up.

After the egg hunt I brought out my secret stash of Salvadorean chimbo eggs (huevos chimbos) that my mom had made and started smashing them on people's heads. Fortunately for my victims, they aren't as bad as they sound.

Huevos chimbos are hollow eggs that are painted and have confetti in them. They are part of the Holy week traditions in El Salvador and are thrown during the processions. I had trouble finding any articles about them under that name because huevos chimbos is also the name of a candy in Venezuela (and other countries). This blog talks a little about them, and if you know Spanish you can read up on them here. They are really fun, but they make quite a mess; if you don't believe me, just ask Amanda (sorry!). They are also used in Mexico but there they are called cascarones. Under that name, you can find many more articles about the confetti-filled eggs. Here are some instructions on how to make them so you can trick your friends next Easter!

The old picture parade continues

Wow, I'm just a blogging machine these days!


Remember back in this post when I showed you the picture of Chris standing on the porch of the beach house?


Well, I found the one of me standing in almost the same spot...30 years earlier.


How cool is that?


Check it out:

One Little, Two Little, Three...

Thank you for all the good wishes in my previous posts; all is going well so far (cross fingers).

This particular post is over a month late, but it's taken me that long to gather up all the required pictures. I had to go into my parents vault of old and embarassing pictures to aquire these beauties so read on and enjoy.

In El Salvador December 12th is celebrated as "Fiesta de los Indios" (literal translation = party of the Indians or Celebration of the Indians). On this day Our Lady of Guadalupe , the patron saint of Latin America, is venerated to commemorate the account of her appearances to Juan Diego on the hill of Tepeyac near Mexico City from December 9 through December 12, 1531. Even though this event took place in Mexico and has nothing to do with El Salvador, it seems that Salvadoreans like to party and will gladly borrow another country's holiday to do just that.

Juan Diego was an indigenous Mexican, so on this day, children in El Salvador dress up in indigenous costumes and walk with the Virgin of Guadalupe in a procession.

Salvadoreans apparently also like to dress up (see people, I'm not crazy...it's in my roots). Here I am in my Indian outfit holding some mangos.

Not wanting to waste a precious dress-up opportunity, I asked my aunt to send me a little Indian outfit for Cman to wear on December 12th.

Behold the indigenous cuteness:


The only thing missing was the painted on mustache.

Here are some pictures of me and my cousin Camilo (circa 1980?) in El Salvador wearing our little Indian outfits:

I did not fall off the face of the earth

I'm finally back! I guess I got a little lazy with my blog updates while I was away, but then again, it was hard to peel my cousin off the computer and away from his World of Warcraft game.

So, um...here's what we did (I hope I didn't forget anything):

We went to this street festival in a little town where the local people make mini parade floats and decorate them with babies and children. My mom said that they were supposed to represent the innocent children that were killed in biblical times when they were trying to kill baby Jesus. They had tons of street vendors selling yummy stuff. A giant tree decorated with lights and a huge nativity at the foot of said tree. There was a parade of the floats and some dudes dressed with masks and fireworks overhead. It was quite an experience for Christian and I as we had never seen anything like that.

He still hated the nanny, but this time, there was no biting involved. It was a different girl, but he still didn't like her.

We went to the mall...ALOT...and did a little redecorating.

We only got to go to the beach one time (plus he got sick that one time). We went to our family's beach house which I found out is about 40 years old. I took a picture of Chris standing on the porch of that house because there is also a picture of me standing there and I wanted to compare them. Now if only I could find my picture...

We went to the park. It was on a mountaintop and very beautiful. They had food vendors and swings and a basketball court and a clown. The clown was a bit scary, but he was selling balloon animals for 25 cents. Cman loves balloons, so he was willing to put up with the clown.

We visited my grandfather at the nursing home. My grandmother feels bad about his condition (Alzheimer's) and him being there, but the other guests told us that he smacks the nurses on the butt and shows off his muscles. It sounds like he's having a grand ole time.

We went to the country club for lunch and Cman played on the swings and on the little slide. They have two pools there, but unfortunately the weather was a bit chilly (72 degrees...hey, that's cold by El Salvador's standards).

We played cards....alot.

We took Chris to El Mundo Feliz (Happy World) which has tons of little kiddie rides. My parents used to take me there when I was a little kid, so that should tell you how long it's been there. They had these puppets that would dance when you put a coin in. I saw them and they looked very familiar to me. My mom said they were the same ones from when I was young. Damn, those are some old puppets.

My cousin Camila gave us a ballet performance in the living room.

I went to the movies several times (The Game Plan, Enchanted, I am Legend).

I didn't gain any weight while I was over there. I guess it had to do with the fact that I was sick for about 5 days and after that I didn't really feel like eating much. That made up for the eat-fest that went on towards the end of my trip.

Fortunately there were no tremors while I was over there, although the lights did go out once. Chris had a ball walking around with the flashlight.

Amazingly enough, I didn't get eaten by mosquitoes, but poor Cman did on the last night we were there. He only has about 8 bites though. I usually end up with about 100 and I don't even have one.

We were supposed to come back on Sunday, but just as we sat at the gate waiting to board the plane, they informed us that the flight had been cancelled. They gave us our luggage back and sent us to hotels/our homes. I can't quite express how annoying that was. The next day we were placed on a 6:30am flight which meant we had to be there 3 hours earlier. My grandmother lives 45 minutes away from the airport. Go ahead, do the math and figure out what time we had to wake up. He didn't sleep on the ride to the airport, but he did sleep at the gate for 30 minutes, which meant he didn't sleep a wink in the airplane. What fun. I don't think I'll be doing that again anytime soon.

In prego news, I still don't have any morning sickness. I'm supposedly 8 weeks today. I only feel slightly queasy once in a while if I haven't had something to eat, but it's hardly noticeable. I have my first doc's appt tomorrow, so we'll see what's up. I called the office and they said that they don't do ultrasounds on the first visit. That sucks. I had already had two by this time when I was prego with Cman. What can I say, I'm a worry wart...I need the reassurance.

Check out my flickr badge on the right to see more pictures.

Greetings from El Salvador

I've been here for 8 days now and I've been nasty sick with a cold for three of those days. I have no morning sickness though (6 weeks, 2 days), so ever the pessimist, I naturally assume the worst (I need to stop hanging out in those TTC/pregnancy forums). I will update on my adventures thusfar at another time, but for now it's time to make resolutions. Ok, but before making new resolutions, let's see how I did with last year's:

CLAUDIA'S RESOLUTIONS FOR 2007 (in no particular order):
1. Fit into my clothes (check, somewhat)
2. Get more exercise into my daily life (at least 3 times a week) (check, somewhat)
3. Organize my bed/scrap/playroom/office...ok, the whole freaking house (I had a yard sale and donated everything that didn't sell. I organized the playroom, so check, kind of)
4. Get somewhat caught up on my scrapping (I'm a year behind)...NO CHECK
5. Give Christian a sibling (almost check...technically)
6. Convince Ren that it's time for child #2 (check)
7. Eat out less/eat less junk food (by less I mean not every freaking day)...(check, somewhat)
8. Drink more water and less soda (check...yay)
9. Take a cooking class (ha ha, no check)
10. Save money by not spending it on useless crap (no check)

7 out of 10, nor bad.

CHRISTIAN'S RESOLUTIONS FOR 2007 (in no particular order)
Get molars (check)
Use a spoon (check)
Don't scream during bathtime (almost had a check, but now he's doing it again)
Climb (check)
Run (check)
Talk (somewhat check)
Stop putting everything in my mouth (check)
Stop throwing things (NO CHECK)
Reduce my violent tendencies (smacking, scratching, hitting, biting)...(check)
Learn my numbers (somewhat check)

8 out of 10, once again, I was beat by a toddler.

Ok so how about this year's resolutions...

CLAUDIA'S RESOLUTIONS FOR 2008:
1. Stop wasting money on crap
2. Put more money in savings
3. Don't gain 42 pounds like I did when I was prego with Christian
4. Force Encourage Christian to learn to play by himself
5. Organize my house
6. Definitely need to catch up on my scrapping now

For some reason I can't think of that many resolutions right now...maybe it's cause I feel like crap.

CHRISTIAN'S RESOLUTIONS FOR 2008:
1. Eat my food
2. Learn to play by myself
3. Stop screaming at bathtime
4. Gain weight
5. Grow 2 inches so I can ride the rides at the fair
6. Stop kicking mom in the stomach (my mom seems to think this is very important)
7. Learn my colors
8. Learn to use a regular cup without spilling it all over myself

That's all folks. Update coming up when I feel better.

Beach bums

After 22 months, I finally took my child to Miami Beach. Yes, I know, it's crazy to live so close and never go, but I'm not really a beach person. I hate having to park so far away. I hate all the crap you have to take with you (times 2 with a toddler) and lug all the way down to the shore. I hate having the sand get all up in my nether regions. I hate the sand sticking all over me when I get out of the water. I hate having to pack up all the crap I brought and lug it back to the car that is now 200 degrees. I hate having all that sand in my car afterwards... you get the point right?

The last time Chris went to the beach was in El Salvador and he absolutely hated it. He screamed and wouldn't get in the water (not even in his little inflatable pool). He didn't even want to touch the sand much less play with it. This time was much different though. He loved the water and kept trying to taste it (like he does in the pool). When he realized how nasty it was he made a funny face. The sand was fun for him too, but at first he didn't like that it was sticking to him (I hear you little man). Once he got over it though he had a great time shoveling sand into the pail and dumping water all over himself.

After our romp in the water we headed back to the shelter. Thank god there was shelter otherwise it would have been unbearable. This weekend was the hottest weekend of the year. I haven't been to Miami Beach in years...leave it to me to go THAT weekend. The reason we went is that a Salvadorean group that my parents belong to was having a picnic. They lured me out of my cave with promises of steak, elotes locos (crazy corn), and loteria de Atiquizaya (raunchy Salvadorean bingo..yes, we're a bunch of classy folks). Unfortunately there was no crazy corn* when I got there, but I did win the first bingo game (I won 5 bucks) so I forgave them for their oversight.

Oh and by the way...watching Shark Week on Discovery Channel for a whole week and then heading out to the beach...not a good idea.

In other, more dramatic news, I had my first ambulance ride on Thursday night (that seems to be a recurrent theme this year, perhaps I'll buy an ambulance ornament for my tree that says 2007 on it). On Thursday night at around 9:30, I went to the Urgent Care Center because I was having bad abdominal pains and they weren't going away. At the UCC they gave me Xrays and a morphine injection for pain. The Xrays didn't show anything and the morphine didn't help the pain, so they took me via ambulance to Baptist hospital ER. There, they gave me an IV, drew blood, did an ultrasound, a CAT scan and I was seen by a doctor. Twelve hours later, they still couldn't find anything wrong with me (good I guess). The pain lasted for 5 hours and left as quickly as it came. I ended up leaving the hospital around noon. What a mission! Fortunately, I'm OK though; all my tests came out negative. I have to see a GI doctor to find out what the heck it could've been (probably trapped gas if you ask me) though.

And that my friends wraps up my weekend activities roster. How was your weekend?


*elotes locos/crazy corn: a Salvadorean food: sweet ear of corn roasted in its husk, then rolled in mayonnaise, mild cheese and thick cream (can also have mustard and a black sauce containing lea & perrins, tamarind and God knows what else) Yum!

Nostalgic

I recently came upon a blog that features digital photography from El Salvador. The photographer's name is Miguel Angel. Simply stated, the man's pictures are beautiful. His sunsets and landscapes make me want to be there relaxing in a hammock under a tree. The quirky pictures of clowns, crafts and baked goods remind me of my precious country that I've left behind.

Maybe it's because I'm from there, or perhaps it's because I'm way too sentimental, but tears were rolling down my face as I scrolled through his archives. He not only captures the essence and beauty of my little country's landscapes, but also of it's people.

He opens a window into the hearts of those he photographs and enables you to look into their souls. I see worry, pain, tiredness and struggle in their faces and it saddens me that they have to work so hard to make a living and survive.

It's times like these that I reflect on how lucky I am. Why did I get all the opportunities that I've had? Why me and not them? I'm no better than they are.

You can see more of his pictures here. When you get to the bottom of the page, click on "entradas antiguas" to see his previous entries.

Holy Moly

Christian's baptism/christening (what's the difference anyway?...please enlighten me if you know) was on January 2nd. We had the whole affair done while we were in El Salvador on vacation because almost my entire family lives there and the ones that don't were there on vacation, so how convenient was that?

I haven't gotten the pictures from my sisters yet (they took lots of pictures), so we'll have to make due with what I got from my uncle and from my camera (which wasn't much since I was holding the child and nobody thought to grab my camera and take pictures with it).

The ceremony was in a small church only minutes away from my grandmother's house (in San Salvador everything is "only minutes away"), very convenient. Friends and family were gathered outside and then made their way into the church as the 11 o'clock hour approached. My mom had gone to the place where the reception was going to be held, so she almost missed the baptism because the priest started 5 minutes before 11 am!

The priest said a couple of kind words and then called the parents and godparents up to the altar. My two sisters and their husbands served as the godparents. First he anointed Christian with some oils on his chest. I thought for sure that Christian was going to whack the priest across the face or shoo his arm away, so I held on to his little arm. Fortunately, he didn't feel the need to hit him at that moment, so all was well. He asked us all to pledge our faith and then took us over to the baptismal area. Mind you, Chris hates having water poured on his head even during bath time, so once again, I was a little fretful of what was going to happen when the priest poured the water over his head. Amazingly enough though, nothing happened. He didn't even wince or make a peep. Wow.

After that we went back to the front of the altar for more anointments and once again he let the priest bless him without any protest. All was going well until the priest brought out the hood that goes over his head. Chris HATES having things put on his head (hats, antlers, water, hoods, ..you name it). It all went downhill from there. At that very moment, he decided he didn't want to be carried anymore. He wanted to walk down the altar steps and take a stroll around the church. Seeing as how the ceremony wasn't over, I couldn't really let him do that. He was wiggling and squirming everywhere and throwing a tantrum...I was afraid the church would revoke his new "membership" with the way he was acting. The priest was trying to say some closing words and handed the microphone to Christian so he could play with it. Wouldn't you know it my son whacked the microphone away as if to say "get this crap out of my face". Classic. We got it on video too, so we can preserve it for all time. Lovely.

By the time the ceremony actually WAS over he had had it. There was no way we could get a decent family picture up by the altar. In every picture he's either crying or fighting or looking somewhere else or pointing or hitting or biting someone. Ah...my little angel. Fortunately when we got outside, he calmed down and behaved well for the rest of the event.

The party afterwards was at the country club which was right across the street from the church (ah...the convenience continues). We had almost 50 friends and family members in attendance and it was nice to see a lot of people that I don't get to see all the time. My cousin's girlfriend Gracia sang a beautiful song for us and we had a DJ playing some nice music. My mom hates seeing an empty dance floor, so she got up to dance to kick things off. After a little while, my mom had everyone cutting a rug. It was really fun to see all these people in the middle of the day partying like it were midnight. Those Salvadoreans sure know how to drink party! When the alcohol started to wear off music was toned down, everyone gathered for a delicious buffet and some yummy cake.

The event went wonderfully and I think everyone had a good time. Christian took a much-needed nap in the middle of it all and had a great time being the center of attention and playing with his aunt and uncle. I'm happy that we (I) decided to baptize him in El Salvador. It was wonderful to be able to share Christian's first sacrament with my family over there since I don't get to seem them as often as I would like.

When we got back to grandma's house mommy Christian opened his gifts and got lots of nice presents: a bathrobe, a children's bible, two charms, a painting, two ceramic figurines, several outfits, toy blocks, gift certificates, and much more (that I can't remember right now). The following day we were on a flight back home and it was quite the bittersweet moment. I was happy to finally be getting back to my (and Christian's) routine, but at the same time, I was sad to leave everyone behind. Christian's first trip to El Salvador went wonderfully and I'm especially thankful that none of us got sick with the Hershey squirts while we were over there. The trip was fun and uneventful (except for the tremor we felt....another first for Ren and Chris), which is just how you want a trip with a toddler to be. Hopefully it's only the first of many visits that we will be paying to my home country.