A Beautiful Day . . .

Christmas is in the air -- it makes me smile.

We (my honey and I) took a ride to Riverside today and walked around the Mission Inn area. Bought flowers, apples and cinnamon bread for tomorrow's coffee at the Farmer's Market. Browsed the antique stores and gift shops. I loved all the Christmas decorations already in abundance throughout every shop. Everyone is preparing for the "Festival of Lights" which will be held on Friday, November 27 at 6:15 and continue trough January 3rd (got the little flyer :). It was such a nice day.

A day with my mom . . .

Spend the day with my mom today -- dr. appt., beautiful fall flowers to my dad at the cemetery, shopping and lunch.

My mom took me to this store called Win-co up in the high desert. It was pretty amazing to say the least. Good prices and so much variety. I know we have one or at least a couple down here in the valley, so I'm going to take my daughter there to shop for our Thanksgiving dinner.

We had a nice time together, lots of good conversation -- we miss my sister and this was evident in all our conversations. My mom is a very strong person . . . Sometimes I don't know how she does it.

I read other blogs and lots of them are happy blogs with children and families. I hope to get there eventually.

I look forward to Thanksgiving and having my kids home. They are always such a joy. This will be my "happy" day. :)

Thanksgiving?

Funny how Thanksgiving is around the corner, yet I see Christmas things everywhere. I'm not complaining -- I'm ok with Christmas specials already so that we can start shopping, but my gosh -- I feel like everything is being lumped together. Hubby and I went to the mall in search of a little momento (like a favor for their table setting) for each of our children meaningful to giving Thanks and especially being thankful to them for being here for me and for each other during this past difficult year. Lo and behold the Thanksgiving aisle at Hallmark's had been reduced to a few small end shelves and Christmas was in abundance. What to do, where to go? Hmmmm....

Upon leaving, sitting right in the middle of the mall was Santa Claus!! Wow!!

I just thought the whole scenario was funny. We barely have left Halloween, Thanksgiving is about two weeks away and Santa is already here. :)

I think I'll go buy my Butterball turkey and look at fall leaves falling from our tree. Oh, and put out our Fall wreath!!!

A very nice birthday . . .

Today was my birthday . . . I woke up this morning and thought of my sister and how she always called me first thing in the morning to wish me a happy birthday. And . . . she always took me to lunch at Denny's. If we couldn't make Denny's she would bring lunch to me at my work. She always remembered my birthday. I felt sad, and as I got up my husband said, "Happy Birthday, making coffee?" Yes. Went downstairs and on the table was a beautiful box with a note next to it. It was from my husband. He had written a lovely happy birthday note and in the box was a gift set of Chanel No. 5. I was so excited. I have wanted this perfume for so long. Absolutely love it! Ran back upstairs, he pretended to be asleep, but was listening for me the whole time. I gave him a big hug & kiss. So sweet!!!

Received a lot of happy birthday calls from family and friends. Later on my son and his sweet little girlfriend made a chocolate cake for me. It was delicious!!!! They also gave me Nicholas Sparks' new book "The Last Song," and the card they gave me was so endearing. I am so blessed.

And because of my son being sick with the swine flu our older two children said they would wait until the weekend just in case -- precautions :).

My birthday has come and gone. It has been nice.

Flu in our family...

So my vacation has started out busy by buying a car for our youngest son and coming home to find him sick. Took him to the emergency room last night because his fever was 102.8 degrees and his heart was beating so fast. The nurse recommended we bring him in because of his asthma. Here we go -- put him in the back seat of his new car, his sweet little girlfriend in the front with me and we were off. Upon arriving at Kaiser, we were ushered into the room with lots of beds and he was immediately diagnosed (after a few questions, pressing here and there and the condition of his body) with the H1N1-better known as the swine flu. They quickly hooked him up with an IV for fluids and nutrients since he was very dehydrated and given medicine to help with the nausea plus help him sleep. He fell asleep so quickly. It was good to see him sleeping -- he had had a bad night the night before. We got home at about 2:30 - 3:00 this a.m. I was so tired. Thank God for his little girlfriend -- she was so helpful and attentive to our son. I could not have done it without her.

This morning he woke up refreshed and rested. I was so happy to see him like that. He doesn't remember a whole lot about last night. The doctor told us we brought him in early enough for them to treat him and send him home. He can't go to school or work for at least 7 days. But that's ok. I'm just so glad he's better. What a scare!

And now I'm exhuasted. Going to watch a little bit of t.v. and go to sleep.

Thank you Lord for all you do for us.

Dia de Los Muertos

These are some of the pictures of my daughter's alter in honor of our loved ones who have passed away. She has made an alter for "Dia de los Muertos" for many years and has recently been invited to display it at the museum in Riverside, CA. She is so creative in the way she sets it up adding to it and displaying it in a different way every year. This year, however. my sister was included. It was one of those moments that I had to be strong.

She decorates her alter with sugar skulls, candles, pictures, flowers and some of their favorite foods.

In the foreground is the Pan de Muerto. Up above is the Pan de huevo. The sugar skulls are made by her and decorated by all of us. We get together every Halloween night, order pizza, and decorate the sugar skulls in preparation of this event.

In our culture, "Dia de los Muertos" or All Saints Day is an opportunity to honor our loved ones who have died -- we dedicate this time to them. Thank you, mija, your alter was beautiful and so meaningful. I'm so proud of you.

Contemplation...

Sometimes I wonder about life and it's many ups and downs. Often when I am driving home, my thinking turns to my sister and how much I miss her. We used to laugh a lot. I think sometimes I would bother her, but I knew she loved me. She liked me bothering her. I want to call her to hear her voice again. I never thought that I would lose her -- it was beyond my comprehension. I remember the first time she told me that she had cancer. I told her I didn't understand. She said, "What is it that you don't understand?" I couldn't explain to her what I couldn't understand. It was not comprehensible. We thought she was in remission after the first year, but then it came back with such force that the second time she told me, my husband and I were on our way to the beach to celebrate my birthday. We were on the freeway when she called and told me it was back. She had not been feeling well for a couple of months and I already knew when she told me, but had hoped it was not that damn cancer again. She said she was sorry to call me on my birthday to give me such sad news, but thought I would want to know. We did not go to the beach.

Many memories flow back into my mind -- songs I hear, commercials on tv. I never used to watch commercials before -- it was always the time I did dishes, laundry, school work - but when I started staying with her we watched so many commercials -- I got a kick out of them and would laugh out loud which would make her shake her head "Aiii Gloria" she would say. "Oops sorry!"

This last Monday my daughter made her alter for "Dia de los Muertos" for the museum in Riverside. This is the second year she has participated. It is a beautiful cultural event. She has always done an alter for All Saints Day but now shows it along with so many others. This year she included my sister which gave me the saddest feeling because I miss her so-- and it touched my heart to see how much my daughter loved her nina (Godmother).

I know my sister is in a good place with my dad, my little sister and brother, my brother-in-law, grandma, and our compadre, but I sure do miss her. I've heard of people talking about a "new normal" and at first I thought that it was a dumb notion, but as time passes, I get it. It is a "new" normal without my sister in it. I feel like I inch along looking for a semblance of happiness and I find it with my husband and children, with my kids at school, with my brothers and sisters, and with my friends. I keep trying and I keep living. God bless us all. Please keep us in your prayers, especially my mama.