Family Road-Trip 2013

We have been visited my Mr. Jack Frost this week. Good thing he came to us when we are home and not on the road. 

For the week of Thanksgiving, I decided to invite myself and my little family to my brother's house in California. Them being the amazing people they are, they said "Sure!" and off we went for a whole week. 

The drive down went by so fast, I believe my excitement made the drive very enjoyable. SW Idaho and SE Oregon are pretty flat and dry and empty.

We drove for what seemed not so long when we came upon a funny named town: Winnemucca. After stretching our limbs and eating a little subway sandwich, we carried on to our southern journey. For many many miles we drove as we listened to music and told the children to quit fighting over whatever they were fighting over, then we saw hints of civilization again. A small city called Sparks came into focus. We thought it was Reno because we could see a few skyscrapers with flashy lights luring people to leave their money on their gambling tables. Sparks is kind of the Jamaica Plains of Boston, the West Valley of Salt Lake or the Meridian of Boise. 

Clowning around

Airborne

He can Fly!

One of the entrances

 










Reno was fun. We stayed in a place called Circus Circus. It was very interesting how people walked around with their little families inside the building with cigarettes in hand. Circus Circus was like a Chuck-E-Cheese with smokers but with lots more lights. My kids had fun for about the 1st 20 minutes. We went up to our room to watch Mrs. Doubtfire and jump on the beds. Shh, don't tell anyone!

Bright Lights in the City

Mi Granuja

This morning, before I drove to work, I went in my boy's room to check on him. I found him sleeping like Michael J. Fox slept in the Back to the Future movies. It was so adorable to see him sleeping so peaceful. I took a picture of this to remember. This scene reminded me of a poem my mom used to hear over and over in her old "consola" in Mexico. It was a vynil record, the big one, it was a series of beautiful spanish poems read by Manuel Bernal. Here is the text of this masterpiece created by Vicente Neira:

La Guaja


Ven acá granuja

¿Dónde andas so guaja?
Hoy te mondo los huesos a palos,
no llores ni huyas por que no te escapas,
yo no sé lo que hacer ya contigo me tienes muy harta,
a ti ya no te valen palabras, a ti ya no te valen razones,
ni riñas, ni encierros, ni golpes, ni nada.
Te dije al marcharme:
levántate pronto y estira esos huesos
y dobla las mantas y enciende la lumbre
y arrima el puchero y enjuaga las ollas
y barra la casa.Y vengo y me encuentro grandísimo pillo,
la lumbre sin brazas,
la puchera sin caldo ni prigue,
la vivienda peor que una cuadra,
la burra sin pienso,
las pilas sin agua.¿Segaste la hierva?
¿Trajiste la paja?
¿Regaste los tiestos?
¿Cerniste la harina?
¿Clavaste la estaca?
¿Comió la cordera?
¿Bebió la lechona?
¿Cogiste los huevos?
¿Mudaste la cabra?¡Hum!
¿Y a ti qué te importa?
¿para qué quieres cansarte?
Si aquí está la burra que todo te lo haga.Te piensas granuja
que al estar tu madre hechita una negra
quemándose el alma,
mientras tu me malgastas el tiempo que da más que lástima,
hecho un ropa suelta...
hecho un rajamantas...
por esas callejas detrás de los perros,
por esos regatos tirando a las ranas,
o cogiendo nidos en las zarzamoras,
que así estás de lindo grandísimo guaja.¿Y ese siete tan guapo en la blusa?
¿Y esos pantalones tan llenos de manchas?
¡Hum!
¡Qué gorra más limpia!
¡qué medias tan majas!
¡qué pelos tan lindos!
qué cuello, qué puños, qué codos, ¡quémangas!
Yo no sé lo que hacer ya contigo, me tienes muy harta.De sobra conoces que somos solitos...
que ya no tenemos quien nos lo ganaba...
que la vida de toditos los pobres es vida de lágrimas...
¡pero ni por esas!
a ti que te dejen roncando en la cama
y te pongan la mesa tres veces
y rueden los días y viva la holganza
¡súbete esos calzones so pillo!
¡átate esos zapatos so randa!
límpiate esos mocos, lávate esa cara
y vete ahora mismo donde no te vea
que me tienes, me tienes muy harta.Te aseguro chiquitín,
te aseguro que esto te se acaba.
Endende mañana ¡a la cola del burro!
Conmigo a la plaza, conmigo al molino,
conmigo a la haza,
a sudar fatigas, a mojarte el alma,
ya verás las penitas que cuesta...
ya verás con que ahogo se gana este pan que tan cómodamentea lo bobo,
¡a lo bobo te zampas!
y ahora ¡a la cama!, ¡a la cama!La aurora se acerca espléndida, diáfana,
lentamente despliegan las nubes su manto de escarcha,
la madre afanosa se tira del lecho
y sus toscos aperos prepara,
que ya espera más ruda que nunca la brega diaria,
cariñosa y tierna se acerca hasta el lecho donde el niñocándido,
tranquilo descansa,
un instante contempla amorosa su faz sonrosada
y después...
con cariño ferviente dando un beso en sus labios exclama:
¿Yo turbar este sueño tan dulce?
no fuera quien soy ni tubiera entrañas...
juega, brinca y destroza hijo mío...
¡tu madre lo gana!

I read this poem this morning and I was overcome with emotion. I love that my mom loved poetry and this poem reminds me a bit of her. I am grateful that I got to see my boy sleeping ever so peaceful this morning to set me on search of this Spanish literary gem.

3rd Grade, now and then

who is happy to start school? This girl is!

Tomorrow is going to be the first day of the academic school year for my girl. She is going to start 3rd grade. She is very happy to go to school again. She has all her school supplies in her backpack and she is ready to tackle another year of school. I can remember vaguely my 3rd grade of grade school. My teacher's name was 'Maestra Filomena' something like that... She had an ugly first name and she was an ugly teacher in the way of treating us kids. During that time,my mom would comb my hair and would make 2 beyond- tight braids which she securely set in place with lime juice directly from the lime fruit

 Those braids were set for a long time. I mean my hair felt more like a helmet than hair...I write with detail about my hair because this witch of a teacher (FILOMENAAAA) would yank on my braids if I even blinked the wrong way. She also liked to sport her yard stick on my hands, WHACK!!!...dang! I hated school in Mexico..teachers were always mean and I was always hungry...not much has changed with the hunger issue. It was in the 3rd grade also that I got into a fist fight with a young boy named Carlos. I did this to defend my little brother from his bullying. I won that battle pretty  good. Anyhow..I am happy my girl will not have to deal with craziness like i did at her age. FILOMENAAAA! (say in whisper for a more dramatic effect)

Blink Blink Bye Bye Old Year

Noche Buena: Poinsetta's from work

Today is December 28th, 2011 in a couple 3 more days after today and then 2011 will be laid to rest in the beds of history. I have to say: how did it happen? I am still trying to write 2011 and now I probably will when in I should be starting 2012. 
This year brought a few changes with it. We moved to town. It was sad to move from the small town, it was in that place that my boy pretty much began his journey in this world. It was there where my girl started her school career. And for me it was a place with many good people around me. I miss playing basketball on Wednesday nights with my super cool sporty friends. They are super athletes, the kind that go join triathlons, and excercise 2 times or more a day. They are coaches for little kids...I mean, they are movers and shakers. Me, not  so much! I had to sit for a few seconds after each play, picture me on one of those folding chairs, hunched over, index finger up....'give me a sec here!' I am awesomely not in shape, oh well!
Nothing too exciting did happen this year. No new additions to our family, we still have our dog Chachis, she is like a dog to us. Has been with us since the beginning, she continues to be a good little dog, blind as can be, she is still worth her weight in gold, that's normally a little more during this time of year, she gets lots of leftovers and her slim physique, starts to resemble a black watermelon, a cute cuddly one.
All in all, there is a world of possibilities to improve on for the next year, as you can see, the bar was not set high at all for 2011, ok, well, it was not set at all, it's stored away in the garage somewhere, I think I will dust it off and set it out. 

I almost lost her in this sea of red.

Yeah, she was an absolute *angel.

Christmas Eve Dinner: Roast Beef, party potatoes, Tossed Salad, and burnt Rhodes Rolls, move over Martha!

Tio Danny in action

our Christmas Tree

Monday Aug 22nd---FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

My girl has started 2nd grade in a whole new school. The 1st week was rough. She is a bit of a social butterfly but unfortunately she got to experience getting bullied. She has never had to deal with this sort of nonsense. The very 1st day of school she made a little friend in her class, when recess time came around, she tagged along with the new 'friend' only to find out she was going to play with her 'other' friend. My kid, being logical, said, I will play with you guys too...NO, the 2 girls said they had "their own business" when my girl asked "what is business?" the girlies were stumped and couldnt answer. The outside friend (Bullirina) said: "You can't play with us! You are being RUDE! and don't talk to my friend (the girl in the class). My girl told me she was sad and started crying. Welcome to your new school! What brats! I told her to ignore them and play with other nice kids. The week went by and my kid was just not herself. She mentioned more than 3Xs  "I don't want to go to school....the teacher is mean....I want to go back to my old school" I thought nothing of it until Friday when I asked her about her day in school, she replied very quietly "OK" and then she started crying....she told me that Bullirina would tell her everyday to stay away from her friend or else she would beat her up...when my girl tried to stand up her by saying "you can't beat me up, my mom with come and talk to you" she replied,,,"oh yeah, well my dad is going to beat up your mom!" My girl was just a bawling when she was telling me this. I went straight to the phone and called the office. Appearantly, they know about this brat and were going to talk to her.
That phone call was all it took. BullyBrat is no longer tormenting my kid. And according to mykiddo, she even wants to be friendly. I told her she can be friends with whoever she wants but not to let anyone make her feel bad, not to let anyone push her around. We talked about the word "confidence". 2nd week was great, we are currently on week 3...so far so good. I hate bullies!

longtime no post

I love these beautiful people. Somehow I know they love me too.

Bennett Family Reunion 2011

On Saturday, July 16th, a few of the Bennetts got together at Grandma Barbara Bennett's house for the annual Bennett Family Reunion. When Zach and I got there, we found Grandma sitting in the corner of her favorite sofa, the long one under the mirror. She looked very pretty. She was glowing, her cheeks were even rosy. She sat there as everyone that came, talked and ate. She was holding her right arm, and then she wrapped it with a dry rag. She said it was hurting and it felt really cold. She had a little bit of lunch and then took a long nap in her bedroom. When I took the pictures she was sleeping and then when I wanted to take her picture, the camera's battery died.
Here is what I want to say about Grandma Barbara Bennett. I met her just before I got married and everytime we visited her, she made me feel very welcome. She has been a sweet great-Grandmother to my 2 little monkeys and she is that way with all the children that visit her. This August she will be turning 97 years old. She is a living treasure. I love this great lady. Because of her, I have my little family.

Colleen and Pam smile for the camera....can you tell Colleen is a proud grandma of a gorgeous baby boy? Well she is!

Burke and Zach goofing around and having fun

Burke is a decent guy, he didn't let Zach get a feel for his bossoms.

Chow time: Chicken thighs and drumsticks and chicken tenders for Chester's along with lovely salads, and that sweet coolwhippy salad with the little marshmellows and jello and cottage cheese...oh yeah, and my salsa fresca with cheeeeeeeps.

Most of Burke's and Julie's babies....except for the 2 cute mexicans :) those are mine, all mine!

Uncle Lynn and his bride, Alice and their family.

say cheese!

Phyllis and Larry and Aunt Caroline...these 2 blouses I  thought were so cute, super cute!

Robert pointing at the yummy plate Zachy made..."this here chicken is the best Preston has to offer"

Stay Thirsty My Friends

Discussing the mission and the weather and Zach's videos

Smart idea to set the tables under the shade of those gorgeous big trees. Here's Chris enjoying the shade and the light cool breeze.

Cool Burke and Jaxon

Did Julie want to go outside with the others?

The livingroom was the hangout place for the girls

Burke and Julie's beautiful family just before they left to swim at Downata Springs, FUN!

This was supposed to be the 'silly' shot....not everyone got that memo it seems!

you can add your own caption here.................

This shot was to be the serious one.....good job Zachy!

Granny, here are your granddaughters from Idaho......wish Jackie was here! or is it 'were here'?

We were so happy to see Gramps again. Little Franklin bawled his eyes out when we left. He wanted to take Gramps home

The Traditional "Let's go See the Vacas Shot" They were specially stinky this day. But we thanked them for the milk and then my camera's battery died.

Cherry Blossoms

My mother in law is one of the prettiest ladies I have ever met, that's her among all the flowers of that cherry tree. She and my father in law are currently living in Washington D.C. while they serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They sent us a few pictures of the area, the cherry blossoms are so neat, I can only imagine the aroma....mmmmm.

time travel

I have decided I love looking back into the past. I started indexing. This means digitizing old records such as a censuses, draft cards, etc.. so that they can be easily accessible.
Because someone did this before me, I was able to find out about grandparents and greatgrandparents on both sides of my family. For example, I learned that on the Castro side, my dad's dad was a big wig landowner, el jefe if you will, and everyone around him worked for him. 
I spoke to my sister who lives in Mexico, and has had conversations with a certain older lady who is a cousin of ours. Mari, my sister learned about our grandfather thru this lady, Teresa. She said he was a mean boss as well as a hardworker. That he treated the people as peons, slave-like almost. Dang it! I didnt like hearing this, but there was a reason why he was on top.
As for Magdaleno, his son, my 'father', she said he was lazy, but ever so good at doing business. She said he could trade a piece of metal, junk essentially for a strong horse. I would like to know more about them, I am sure there is a noble, honest, decent person in there somewhere. I would like to know how they came about to be so 'well-to-do".  So for that, I will just keep on digging for answers!

What I learned today

I got to see "Who do You Think YOu ARe" on NBC tonight.  The featured celebrity was Rosie O'Donell. I learned that her mom passed away when Rosie was only 10 yrs. old. All I knew about this lady was that she is a comedian, she's done a couple of movies, she had a talk show, and that she has been pretty controversial. The controversial part of her maybe has to do with the fact that she was left without a mommy at a very tender age. We see famous people on tv get put thru the toilet by the media, the gossip shows, and those ridiculous tacky magazines by the checkout stand in the grocery stores.
This is what I learned from Ms. O'Donnell: No matter who you are, there's always an unknown history behind the person. We can't judge people from just looking at their 'shell'.
  I did not know that Ireland had a famine in the 1800's. And that the poorest of the poor were placed in warehouse-like shelters, where the families were separated. This was the case with O'Donnell's ancestors and for some reason, some benefactors allowed them to be sent to Canada. Basically they were rescued from death because, people who lived in these shelters died from disease and hunger.
I thought about how there are so many nations currently who suffer from oppression, or poverty, war or whatever. Every country has had their struggles, just like every person in the planet has their own battles, but somehow, if there is a willing spirit, or a willing people,  there will always be a triumphant story to tell. Well, I am so sleepy and I am sure this is not making much sense, so I will revise tomorrow and make the necessary changes. g'nite mates!

I am willing to bet this is the way many a bloggers start their blogs: "It's been such a long time since I last wrote..." So I wont do that, but it's kind of true. Lots of good things have been happening here. I like to write things that the children do that make me smile. I have to say I have some funny kids, not to mention cuter than I dont know what.

The older kid is a girl, and she likes to show that she is older by offering her words of wisdom. This here line made me fall to the ground laughing:

"Franklin, everyone makes mistakes, ok? even me" Well, who knew that my 'perfect' little monkey princess made mistakes? that was news to me! I was thinking she would say "Everyone makes mistakes, even the Bishop" someone that in her little mind seemed perfect in behavior and lifestyle....so I guess it's good that she feels that way about herself.

A few days before that, my honest son, stared at my face as if he were studying it. He was sitting on my lap. And after a few seconds, he looks me straight in the eyes and with a serious tone, he say "Mama, you have a big nose!"

These guys are funny. I do have a big nose and it works perfectly. I told him  "Thanks Franklin!" he responded: "you velcom momma!"

The ninos at a furniture store acting "perfect", yeah right!

Feeling Nostalgia

It's nearly midnight, tomorrow will be Christmas Eve. These last few days have been very enlightening to me. I have come in contact with a family member that has opened a small window to the many many other family members I have not met. Maybe as a kid I saw them. But, really I don't know them. They are the family of my lovely mother. I believe every person is an entire world of history. I am sure these individuals are not perfect, nevertheless, I am intrigued with the idea of me being a part of them; in other words, we come from the same people, mainly our Grandparents, Julio Paramo and Soledad Gutierrez.

Julio Paramo

Soledad Gutierrez

I saw a few pictures of some of my mom's siblings. I can see a lot of resemblance to my mom. It would be very interesting to get to know their stories. To know of their triumphs, and of the lessons they've learned in life. I believe the story of our family, of Irene's family is that of epic novel, but who knows, perhaps each one of her siblings has an equally intriguing story. The point here is that I feel like I've found a little lost treasure in finding these people. I feel like I am part of something bigger. Like I belong to a bigger group, other than just my beloved brothers and sisters and my amazing mother. Thank you Carolina Gonzales Paramo for sharing with me the family I never knew I had.

Pablo Paramo

Irene Paramo, mi madre hermosa.

Elena Paramo, a very pretty lady

Isabel Paramo: Very Kind, and Positive

Luz Paramo: que bonito nombre

Luis Paramo, el cuate de mi hermano Gustavo

Teresa Paramo, la bebe de la casa



It's important to note that there are 2 more relatives whose pictures I don't have now: Guadalupe and Carlos. The picture of my mom was taken a long time ago. I love this picture of her because she is surrounded by her flower garden, and she's wearing a flowery blouse. She's got herself a greenthumb. She loves flowers and plants. And finally I just took a shot of me, right after posting this piece. I wanted to see how I look while I'm nostalgic, and here I am....time for bed.

imagine a cloud above my head, as I think of what I just wrote, like in the comic strips..think think think think.




Aqui esta la Tia Guadalupe, que bonita sonrisa.

This is our grandmother, Soledad in her later years. I saw her when she was 72 years old. She was very sweet and gentle with us. My mom loved to pamper her. In this picture, she did her hair and put on a little bit of make-up. She even did her nails. Good memories.