absolutely me

Some months ago, I decided to cut Diggy's hair. I was thinking that his haircut costs more than any of our family members', so I thought it would be a good idea to cut his hair by myself and save a few buckaroes. Of course, I bought the hairclip machine, and went ahead and tried to cut it. But it wouldn't go in! His hair was so thick, or my patience so thin, that that didn't work out. SO, not deterred by this minor inconvenience, I got my handy dandy scissors, and off I went to cut his hair... This was a DISASTER! Poor Diggy Boy looked soooo bad, and on top of it, he looked ashamed! I swear, he had this horribible look of degradation, I felt so bad. So, I let his hair grow, and I took him to the groomers, after all. And this is him afterwards... Now, two days after this haircut, he was SHIVERING! Everytime I saw him, he was shaking, the poor little thing! He'd get on the couch, shake, in his kennel, shake. So, against my better judgement, Cesar and I went to...

I can't resist showing just a little peak of our March kit (with Tracie's permission, of course). This is part of one of my DT projects, you'll be able to see them all on our website starting March 1st. I really am loving this kit, can't stop saying that! Connor is such a sweet boy. He loves playing with his sister's Littlest Pet Shop and the set of cars that my sister gave him for Christmas (Thanks, Hilda!) The remote is his fascination. I guess it's a guy thing, who knows. And he has discovered COCA COLA, he loves it. He dove into my crop room's garbage can and found a couple of empty coke cups from McDonalds. He grabbed them and started trying to drink some from either cup, he really tried. In the end, he settled for licking the straw. There's only paper in the garbage, so I was not even concerned, just flashing the darn camera like crazy and laughing. Life is good. Love my kids, love my hubby. Hope all is well with you, too!

Well, it seems like Socorro will be released tomorrow! I am so happy for her, but I think I will miss her dearly! She really has been such a sweet companion for almost two weeks now, I really have grown to love her. Today, she reminded me why I think so highly of her, and why I came out with the best part in this deal. We were sitting down, waiting for lunch to be served (today it was late), and Nancy came to sit to our table. Now, Nancy is really in ver, very bad shape. She can't talk, she can't go to the bathroom on her own, and she cries and shrieks as she tries to escape everytime she sees a door open. I feel a lot of compassion for her, but I have to admit, I was pretty concerned that her crying would depress Socorro, and being as it is that she will be released tomorrow, I didn't want her to have a relapse. As Nancy starts crying, Socorro starts patting her hand, and saying "No cry, no cry. You goot, you goot". She turns to me and asks me, "Is she in pa...

As it turns out, the hospital personnel thought Socorro needed an interpreter for a little bit longer, probably for the whole time she's hospitalized, so I have been blessed with looking after her and some other elderly that are hospitalized with her. It's been a different kind of assignment, because I interpret very, very little. Most of the hours that I spend there I am helping out in whatever capacity I can, from helping her get dressed, changing Enrique's food, singing with Tracy, joking with Beverly. Emotionally, this has been a bit taxing. I've been feeling pretty tired when I get home, since they have extended my hours, and I'm basically spending the whole day with them. It's hard to see so much suffering. My heart weeps at times. I really appreciate the comments about my last post, you are all so kind, but I am not a very special person, far from it, really. It's just mere empathy that any human being would feel for her or his brother or sister whe...

Yesterday, today and tomorrow, I was offered a interpreting job at a geriatric unit at a hospital. It was a strange job in a sense. I was supposed to interpret for the patient at her doctor's appointment, but the meeting was very brief. Instead, I really went to give some company to this beautiful 94 year old woman named Socorro, and my heart was so filled with love and compassion for her, even though I barely know her. She's living in a far away world, in Franco's (the dictator) 1930 Spain, and her dad is a prisioner of the civil war because of his catholicism. And the Virgin of Perpetual Help (Virgen del Perpetuo Socorro, hence her name) is a miraculous and blessed company to her and her family. It was bittersweet yesterday morning when I spent some hours with her. Her mind is lost somewhere in time, as she was scared in a unit with many other elderly man and women that she doesn't understand, since they don't speak her language. But funnily enough, today she has ...

Yesterday {FINALLY}, we finished painting, rearanging and cleanning our remodel project!!! YAY Riordans!!!! Our good friend Michael came to install the light fixture in the family room, and our good friend Sean came over and actually connected it to the switch (it's a complicated dimmer that Brian loved...) And this is the final result... Then, in Nicole's little corner in our {new} family room, we have her Wall of Words!!! She can read almost all of them!!! YAY Nicole!!!! Finally... All this week, I've been pretty sick with a nasty, NASTY cold, AGAIN. It feels like I've been sick since December! But in any event, today I went to an assignment in St. Charles, and I found a NEW Scrapbook Store!!!! YAY!!!! It's called One Stop Crop Shop , and it's PRETTY neat! The have the stuff that you don't find at Archivers and Joann, pretty neat little companies, like Scribble Scrabble , Scrappy Cake , Stamping Station , and some others a little bit more known, like Quic...