Oh Canada II

... After a rough night (since Ian's still teething), on Wendsday morning we had a fast breakfast then we went to two museums in Cardston where they showed us how a trial was in those days. Alan (Glenn's bro) and Jimmy (his son) were playing the scene as well as other members of the family. Glenn, Nicky (who was scared and hiding behind my legs), Ian and me got to go to Jail just for fun:) We also learned some more about how the Church was estabished in Canada. It was neat to know that Glenn's ancestors had to move from Utah to Cardston to help to establish the Church there. They have always been pioneers. I feel very proud to be part of them. Then we went to a rest home where Grandma Woolf is.We all sang FAMILIES CAN BE TOGETHER FOREVER. She suffers from dementia but she had a good time. We were very blessed when we saw her happy and trying to match up the faces with their right names. It was a very touchy moment for all of us. After that we went to do some ice blocking. Yeah, I know, it sounds like huh?...but this is the thing, some of the family went to buy some ice blocks and brought some towels. We went to a very high hill with grass, we put our bottoms on the towel the towel on top of the ice and the ice in the grass....get the idea? Then we slid down and it was VERY CRAZY AND NEAT. Ian and Nicky slid with me some of the times. Glenn and I had some competitions and of course I WON! The only bad thing was that Glenn and I were sliding with white shorts and since we were sliding in grass with the ice our clothes at the end of the afternoon were a mess. I'm still strugulling with the stains, but since I had lots of fun I don't regret it a bit. After the ice blocking we went to the church to have a nice dinner. We had roast beef, funeral potatoes, lots of salads, lots of diferent desserts, rolls, and more. It was as always a banquete, too bad for me since like I told Glenn what we eat in Canada...stays in my hips. Anyway after that I played with Glenn some basketball and then everything was made ready to have our family talent show. The treat was candy for the participants. We had everything: singers, piano players, flute players, dancers, acrobats (little kids doing somer salts) etc.etc. Ian practiced his little weird eye wink, but he was too tired to do it for all of them. However he did it the last few days and everybody loved it. Nicky practiced a song for her grandma but she ended up singing head, shoulders, knees, and toes with her cousin Katherin and her brother Ian. After the talent show the teenagers were going to play a game named commandos. Since Cardston is a very small town the idea of this game is a bunch of people have to go from a point of the town to another place without being caught by 2 or 3 cars which are supposed to be hunting them. Glenn and I weren't planning on going but they called us to tell us that they needed more people for the game. So our kids were asleep already and my mother in-law offered to take care of the kids while we were on the game. Glenn and I had to dress with dark clothing to not get noticed and of course tennis shoes. Then we divided two groups: one of them were kids from 12 to 16 year old and the other group were the old people (yup I'm the old people). Of course we had 2 young ones, Max and Madison. Anyway it was very exciting while we were hiding and running. Of course not too exciting when in one of my attempts to survive I threw myslef to the grass without noticing a big poop next to me. I was very scared that I was on top of it. Anyway, after more running, we were caught! We laid down on the grass in the dark. Sarah (one of Glenn's cousins who was driving) started yelling names which didn'g belong to any of us. I just remember hearing Spencer (Glenn's cousin), "RUN RUN RUN!" So I ran and hid. I didn't noticed that I was alone, and even though the town is very small I had no clue where to go. I got scared and I was about to yell "PLEASE CATCH ME HERE I AM," but then I saw Max's hair and I ran to ask him where were the others. After more running we were caught. Glenn in his trying to save the team jumped a big gate and was caught first as he ran down the street

Of our team the only survivors were Becky (Spencer's wife) and Heather (Glenn's cousin) and of course the teenagers team was in the goal 15 mintues after the fame started (ours of course took like 45 minutes or more haha, age is after us I guess). Anyway it was very fun to do that. Of course Glenn and I are totally out of shape so next day all our bodies were in pain (mine actually still).

Next day we woke up early again and went to Waterton, a National Park 30 minutes away from Cardston. On the way to Waterton we saw this fields in mustard colors. Glenn told me that when he was a child his sibilings used to tease him a lot. They used to call him "mustard." He never knew why until one of his brothers told him that he was named like that because he was picked up from this fields.Anyway we finally got to get to Waterton...now you need to realize that I'm not a nature lover, but I fell in love with the place. We rode bikes with the kids to go and see the little falls that the place has.The kids also got to see a deer very very close to them. The dear didn't get scared of any of us!Glenn showed me how to throw rocks in the lake in a right way to make them skip.The kids had a blast. The deers were walking like nothing close to people. It was neat seeing in the playground the kids playing and very close to them the deers playing as well. Nicky and Ian of course loved it. After we had another buffete lunch with all the family the guys started a water fight. Glenn of course got wet.It was funny seeing the little kids getting involed in that war. At first they cried since the water was very cold, but then they enjoyed the revenge making everybody else wet. Nicky and Ian were playing with their other cousin trying to catch golfers which by the way are everywhere Ian of course was very tired. So after that Glenn took us to eat some ice cream. I got my favorite,pecan. Nicky got gum flavor Ian Strawberry and Glenn.... got Canadian Moose. Then we went to see the hotel who was specially made for Queen Elizabeth and her royal familyIt has a perfect view of the mountains. After that we went to help around with the preparations for dinner at the chapel. Everything was great: chicken with rice, lots of salads and a variety of desserts. Again we had a buffet. Then Glenn and I wanted to play some basketball but we noticed our bodies very sore from the night before. The funny thing is that we did it again that night. We played commando, but this time we were seekers. We caught 3 kids, but that was all.

Next day was an official WALKER FAMILY REUNION. It was just Glenn's sibilings (and their families) invited to spend time together. In the morning we went to take some pictures with Grandma and Grandpa Woolf after that we all went to the temple. It was neat having this experience with them. Then we had lunch at Grandpa Woolf's house. Then we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Walker at the cemeteryWhere also some of Glenn ancestors are. We also visited the place were Glenn's dad was raised, and where he used to play as a child. Nicky opened her eyes wide, and her mouthe, too, when I told her that that was the house were grandpa used to be punished when he wasn't good. Anyway after that, three of Glenn's sibilings with their families and us went to bowl..unfortunetly the place was closed so we couldn't. The kids were so hungry so before dinner they asked me for some of his favorite treats: PICKLES! We had dinner and the cousins had their last chance to play. The moment to say good bye to 2 of Glenn's siblings was hard on Nicky, but she got over it after she saw again her cousin Katherine. The next day Sherri and her boys, as well as Glenn and I, went horse riding (Nicky went to play with her best friend cousin Katherine, while Ian spent time with Grandma and autie Laura). Glenn had promised to take me horse back riding since we were dating...well after lots of patience and 6 years of being together we finally did it He wasn't very excited, but he ended up loving it. We are planning to have it as a hobbie. Max, one of Sherri's boys didn't want to go, but he liked it too. My horse was the best. His name was Freckles and he was just perfect. I have riden a horse before but the last time that I did it it was in 1996. Well I was a little nervous, but then Freckles was the best. He was obedient and when I told him that I wanted to run he ran. When I told him to stop he would do it. It was perfect. On the other hand Glenn's horse which name by the way was Sherry was a glutton; she just wanted to eat all the time. It was also funny the way that they conected to go potty at the same time. haha. After that we came back home and had again an amazing lunch at Grandpa's house. To keep the fun going my dear mother in-law took care of our kids for the rest of the day since Glenn and I were invited by Glenn's cousin Spencer to his father in-law cabin. It was gorgeous. We did the famous 4 wheelers. It was very neat to do this with Spencer and his wife. Glenn and I had lots of fun My learned about that you're never supposed to open your mouth while you are doing it, especially if there are ponds with a crappy smell. We all got our teeth dirty, and also our faces. We were so glad that Becky had all the equipment to not mess up our clothing. We as you have supposed were so tired after that that we went back to Grandpa's house, took a shower, and headed to bed. The next morning was Sunday so we went to church and Ian was the saddest kid on earth. I felt so bad for him. Then after that we went back to Granpa's house and had some snacks. We all took a nap and then we went to Auntie Peggy's house. We had left over family reunion food (with the ones who didn't have to return home). The kids again had a blast. Bethany, one of my new nieces had her b-day the same day. Nicky was upsetd to see her "friend cousin" Max being beting by her cousin Madison. Here is Nicky playing with her cousin Katherine. Ian enjoying the ice cream mmmmIt was late so we went back to grandpa's and laid down our kids. Before that we decided to visit more with Grandpa Woolf. Nicky was being very silly so I decided to take some pictures of her. She asked me to let her take some pictures of us, so I told her if she would sing Grandma song's I'd let her do it, and she did. She sang for grandma twice so after this picture that I took of her She was allowed to take pictures of all of us on grandpa's deck Grandma Sharon and Great grandpa Woolf and of course Granpa Jim was making her laugh with silly faces. He is just the best.After that we made her sleep. Since we were planning to go next day to banf. We went back to Aunt Peggy's and for the first time in my life I had my first s'mores.That cookie with the Canadian chocolate and the marshmallow was just the perfect end of our day. We had so much fun with everybody that night and before we went to sleep Glenn and I decided to save our last day to Canada to spend it with the family. So we cancelled our trip to Banf...and I don't regret it at all. Next day we went in the morning to play mini-golf. Again Nicky and Ian stayed with their Grandparents, apparently they are more cool than us..well they and their cousins. We didn't complain though. Although I thought they would have enjoyed the mini-golf. After that we were planning to do some go-carting, but they weren't open until 3:00 PM. Then we thought about going horse back riding again, but before that we had a nice pic-nick in a nice park in lethbridge (45 minutes from Cardston). Then we decided to go bowling, but to our surpise the place was closed AGAIN. So instead we went to Walmart to buy some souveniers, and a swimming suite for me since I didn't have one and we were planning to go swiming after riding horses. We came back to Cardston and Glenn was told that the owner of the place that rents horses had to go to his son's basketball game, so we couldn't do that. Then it's started raining so we cancelled our visit to the pool. Instead of all that we went to buy some more souveniers for our home. Then we all ate at 6:00 p.m. and we had a family home evening with Sherri and her kids, my in-laws and us. It was neat after that we played "catch the ball." The kids were tired so we laid them down and then Glenn and I went to Aunt Peggy's house. We were invited to spend our last night together. So we played UNO and Catch Phrase. I didn't want to play this last one because it's harder to think in English with an alarm pressuring you, but everybody as always was very patient and supportive with me. They let me skip words and sentence until I felt comfortable with the one that I wanted to describe. It was very surprising for me to see even Calvin and Jake (14 and 15 yrs old) cheering me up and being that patient with their old new auntie Claudia haha. We ended up at home that night very late. So we said good bye to everybody and went back home to pack and have everything ready for the next morning.

We left at 7:05 . Before we left I needed to go to the bathroom. Well here is another history. All the kids that had been in Grandpa's Woolf house when they were very little wouldn't let their mom go to the bathroom without them. So to make the mommies feel guitly about leaving them outside of the bathroom they would put their little fingers under the door while saying the word "MOMMY!" Well Ian wasn't the exception...although he didn't put his fingers under the door, they were his toes.Anyway we arrived on time to take our plane which by the way SUCKED AGAIN. We had a delay in Colorado for 90 minutes and then had to wait for 2 horus in Denver. Our pilot made us all sick and Ian was crying all the way back. After landing in Austin we lost luggage so we had to wait for 2 hours more in the airport. My sister and her family were already waiting for us. They were so nice to waited all that time. Then after that we finally got our luggage and spent the night at her house. Glenn and I laid down the kids and visited a bit with my sister and her husband while we were eating dinner CARNE ASADA AND SOME POLLO LOCO made by her husband with an exquisite salsa and some tortillas mmmmm. Anyway after that we went to sleep and slept through all night until 10:40a.m. Then we prepared breakfast and came back to our home at 1:20 p.m. I barely finished with the laundry and it was a good thing that the house was impecable so I didn't have to clean. We went to Golden Corral and put the luggege away. Ian was so excited to see his crib again. I laid him down, and he didn't cry, he just huged his crib and then I was looking at him through the crack of the doorway, and he was so sweet laying face down with his head held up and looking at his toys and kissing his bed. Then I saw Nicky who was "scared," so she was hugging her picture of Jesus (sounds kind of catholic, but this is a picture that the missionaries give to the investigators). Anyway we are back and trying to gain all our strength. We already are planning to go together to inflatable funland with the kids, and bbq someday soon before Glenn's away rotations.

Whewwwwwwwwwwwwww! Now I have the most important of our trips in this my visible journal :)

and now I'm out .

Oh Canada! part I

Well, as everybody knows I wasn't very excited about our trip to Canada because there is never time for our little family to spend together and have fun at the same time. So we left Temple on June 27 to spend the night with my little sister Dina, who by the way lives 30 minutes away from the Austin airport. Well Ian couldn't sleep well that night, so as you can all imagine neither could any of us. So the next day we had to leave very early to get to the airport and we were running late. Of all of us the people in the airport had to check JUST ME, and to make the scene more exciting they had to bring the most masculine female employee to touch all my body...ewww. Anyway after that we took our first flight to Canada. United was our airline and WE HATED IT. If any of you have had the chance to use a mexican airline you should try it, they bring you a whole meal and A WHOLE BOTTLE OF JUICE OR WATER. This airline barely gave us a cup of juice. We just hated it. Anyway we had to stop in Denver for 2 hours. We all were hungry so we bought a few sandwiches at Quiznos, which the cost was the equivalent to a nice dinner for Glenn and me. The kids didn't like the sandwiches and neither did I. It had a lot of onions which made me sick the rest of our trip. Ian to my surprise was very good on the way to Canada. He and Nickey were fascinated everytime that they would look to the window and see the sky so close to them. Anyway we arrived to Canada at 3:00p.m. rented our car, which was very small, the only that I could think of was, "WERE ARE WE GOING TO PUT OUR LUGGAGE?" For some reason the guy couldn't find the key of our small car and in his laziness he decided to give us another car...which by the way WE LOVED! We had lots of space in our trunk, and the kids didn't miss our mini-van at all since they had lots of space. We were supposed to drive for 3 hours to arrive in Cardston, but my honeybunch made it in 2:30 hours during which the kids and I took a nap. When I woke up we saw my mother in-law with uncle Gordon (her brother). She gave us a tour of Grandpa Woolf's house (her dad) and we stayed in the basement for the whole week and a half. The kids got their own room with a pack and play ready for Ian and a bed for Nicky. Glenn and I had another bedroom with a nice full bed. We put everything away as soon as we arrived then my father in-law came back from picking up Laura (Glenn's sister) from the airport. She flew in from Ohio. I was officialy introduced to Grandpa Woolf, which was very neat, too. I know how important he is for everybody and in this little trip I could understand why. He is an amazing and a great man. Full of love for his family, but especially for his wife. Anyway after that we all had dinner and after that the kids were ready to play. It was very neat and convenient to see that Grandpa Woolf's backyard connects to a great playground where the kids could play. After a couple of mosquito bites, we had the chance to meet Uncle Ross and Aunt Peggy (who by the way live a block away from Grandpa). We all were at the playground visiting and getting to know each other more. We all loved that moment, even with the mosquito bites. After that we came back home and to our surprise it was already 9:30 PM and the sun was as bright as noon day. Glenn told me that about Cardston, that 11:00p.m looked more like 7 or 8:00p.m. I didn't believe him but he was right AGAIN! Anyway it was neat for the kids to have blinds and curtains in their room. I layed them down and they fell asleep. We went to Grandpa's deck for a bit to visit more with the family. Next day was Sunday, so we were ready almost on time (their ward started with Relief Society first and the same as us at 9:00a.m.). I recieved a lot of compliments about Nicky (how nice she was with everybody and what a beautiful girl she is, so obedient, etc.). For a moment I wanted to believe it until of course I caught her fighting with her brother. Maybe she is just like that with new people, who knows. Anyway after church the kids played ball with their Grandpa and Auntie Laura played some hymns for the kids. They were trying to help her as you can see. After that we had a nice nap and then we all had dinner. After dinner we were invited to Auntie Peggy's house where we started warming up and meeting some of the members of the family. Nicky was thrilled to meet so many kids and so was Ian. It was very impressive to me and Glenn to see how nice all of them were with our kids, especially because Nicky and Ian were some of the youngest.

(Grandma Sharon, Savanna and Adam (second cousin)playing with Ian.

(part of the cousins)

Savanna (who is 7) made sure that Nicky as well as Ian were included in all the kids games. All of them were wonderful. Being without of the stress of how our children were we could visit and I had the chance to meet more of this new extended family that I have now...and let me tell you something: I LOVE IT! Each one of them was so nice to us. They have such incredible hearts and souls. So close to the gosspel without losing the fun of life. Just wonderful. Next day was Monday and we just used that day to relax so we went to the pool (Savanna helping Nicky in the pool)

and met there with part of the family you know to let the kids warm up for the rest of the week. Of course we also enjoyed the great weather.

Everybody arrived on Tuesday, July 1st: Canada's Indepence day. So officialy the family reunion got started at 4:30p.m. Before that the ones that were there already went to Raymond, another small town about 45 minutes away from were we were. They had a parade. It was very neat to see everybody, even the little kids, riding their horses, bikes, 4 wheelers, etc. While they were doing all this they were thorwing candies to everybody. It was funny to hear Nicky screaming to all of them"THROW ME MORE CANDY! THROW ME A SUCKER!" We loved every single moment. After that we went to have lunch with my father-law's family. Every year after their parade they get together at a Great Uncle's Glenn house (brother of Grandpa Walker) and they had a big lunch and trampolines for the kids and even a snake which by the way Ian loved. We got the chance to get to know more about each other. It was amazing to see that many people and weird to see that we all are relatives. The lunch was over as soon as it started to rain. So we went back to Cardston where we took a short nap and got prepared for the official Woolf family reunion. My mother in-law and all her siblings asked permission to use the church, so we all ate and after that we got to talk to everybody and introduce ourselves. Half of the group (including us) went to the pool and the other half stayed at the chapel playing some basketball while the little kids played with all kinds of toys that the family and church provided to them.

(Nicky and second cousin Katie)

(the guys playing basket ball)

After that we waited until 11:00p.m to go to Powerhouse Hill where the town was celebrating. We all went to see the fireworks. Nicky and Ian were so excited to see them. It was very neat. We had a great view. After that we all headed back to our places to have some rest since the next day was planned to be a day full of fun...

Grandma Sharon, Grandpa Jim, Glenn, Laura (sis), Harumi

and Misa (sister in-law and niece)

(Uncle Paul, Katheryn, Nicky, Rigdon watching the fireworks)
Me and my baby

One more day...

Tomorrow is going to be the big day. Glenn has to drive to Waco to take his step 2. After he comes home we'll be going to my sister's in Austin and on Saturday we'll be flying to Canada.
I found another way to manipulate my daughter. Before every time that she didn't want to share or be good, I threatened her with the classic, "I'LL THROW AWAY ALL YOUR TOYS..TO THE GARBAGE." After this magic sentence she'd transform herself in the best girl ever. Well that doesn't work anymore, since she heard one of her friends telling his mom, "I WISH YOU WEREN'T MY MOM." Of course after Nicky heard that and seeing the result of that sentence (his mom pleasing him), she tried to do the same to me. But you see I haven't found my patience yet, so when she told me that, she noticed that that kind of argument wasn't going to work on me... "MAMA I WISH I COULD HAVE ANOTHER MOM INSTEAD." When I heard this I was dealing at the same time with Ian and cooking...so I turned my head and answered her "OH REALLY? LIKE THE NEIGHBOR? WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE HER AS A MOM, BECAUSE IF YOU WANT I CAN TAKE YOU THERE RIGHT NOW." She was looking at me so scared and shaking her head and I kept telling her, "DO YOU THINK I'M NOT A GOOD MOM TO YOU, EVEN THOUGH I COOK FOR YOU, I CLEAN THE HOUSE, I GET WORRIED FOR YOU EVERYDAY, I READ YOU STORIES, I MADE YOUR FAVORITE DESSERT, OR MAYBE I SHOULD STOP BUYING YOU TOYS! THAT PROBABLY IS THE PROBLEM! IF I'M NOT A GOOD MOM , IF THAT IS NOT ENOUGH NICKY, YOU CAN GO AHEAD AND FIND YOURSELF ANOTHER MOM." She came to me and hugged me and said that she loved me. She was crying at the time. After that she was the best daughter ever..for the next couple of hours. 3 days ago she has realized that we're going to see her granparents and cousins, etc. She's counting the hours for that time to come. But everytime that she disobeys or she gets into trouble with Ian, another threat comes to my mind: "IF YOU DON'T OBEY WE MIGHT HAVE TO CANCEL THAT TRIP." Magic sentence...it works everytime. I'm going to milk it until we come back from our trip.
I hate being that way, but it seems that that is the only thing that works with her. Anyway, Ian well, he is too little, but he learns from seeing her, which is good. Hopefully I won't have to threaten him, too in the future...Am I doing all this wrong? I don't know. I don't even know if I'm already screwing up their lifes. I hope not, but I just don't know how to have discipline. They know I love them and I take care of them but I just hate spoiled children...and I don't want to have spoiled children, either.

Getting ready for our trip.

We are planning to attend Glenn's family reunion. Nicky is the most excited about it, especially because Mason's grandma came to visit him. She asked me, "When am I going to see my grandma?" So I told her this weekend we were going to spend time with them and also her cousins. She ran upstairs and saw a picture of the last family reunion (right when Glenn and I were enganged). So she asked me about all of them. She got very focused on her cousin Emily. She keeps telling me that she is going to play with all of them, and she kept giving kisses to her Grandma and Grandpa. Ian was looking at her kind of confusedly, especially when he just kisses the pictures if Glenn, Nicky, himself or myself are in it. Since I won't take care of the Jaffers until we come back, I'm planning on doing a major cleaning of the apartment tomorrow. I do this so when we come back everything will be shiny and clean.
On other subject: Glenn is getting ready for his Step 2 exam. I can tell he is very stressed about this exam. He needs to do better than the first time. Otherwise in interviews they might think that he just had some luck on the Step 1 exam. He's been going to study everyday since he got out of school. He leaves at 10:00 and comes back at midnight or 1:00 am. It's crazy and I'm waiting for the time to be done with this. I know it's not that it's going to be easier at work, but at least he won't have to feel the presure of more tests or anything like that. I rember that feeling when you have an important test. Nauseas, insomnia, anguish etc.etc.etc. It was a nightmare...oh gosh I'm so glad I'm not the one who has to take it. Dealing with the kids is hard, but a test were all your future life depends on is way harder; especially if there are more people already depending on you. When I think about all this I feel so bad that there is sometimes I'm very moody with poor Glenn. I mean it's not that he is having a party at school or anything like that. I ask God to help me to be more supportive and comprehensive, but ...I'm still a human and there are sometimes when I'm complaining, that's when I have to call my mother or my best friends in Monterrey, they always hear me and help me to understand him and remember what it was like being in college.
To be totally honest I was very mad at Glenn for having this trip to Canada, not because I didn't want to go, but because we haven't had the time to spend together as a family. I even had to skip lots of activities at church because I need more time for ourselves as a family. Just the four of us, spending a good time together. The kids miss him so much, and they ask me constantly for him. Even Ian points at his pictures and asks me with his beautiful hands sticking out, "Where is Daddy?" Glenn and I think he's very funny and smart for doing that, but at the same time it breaks my heart because he is too little to understand. Nicky at least knows and everytime that we drive close to the hospital she tells me, "Daddy is in the hospital because daddy wants to be a doctor." So she gets it. Anyway I have heard tales about the fourth year. Like it's wonderful, and so family friendly, and it's like having a family again etc.etc.etc. So far they are just tales. But I have the hope that after Glenn's auditions at other hospitals I will see if them come true.
Coming back to Canada subject: I'm happy that we are going, don't get me wrong. I just feel that our family needs more space, especially for the kids. Glenn and I are thinking that perhaps we'll spend just 4 days with all the family and then the rest of the time just driving around Canada and getting to know more places. It could be fun, but we'll see. If everything turns out well who knows maybe we will decide to stay all the vacaction there with the family.
On another subject and coming back to my last phone marketing calls. Well I think I went too far last time. Although it wasn't a telemarketer calling, I was trying to call one of my BF in Monterrey. She just got married. I was trying to scare her a little bit first. And then you know when I laughed she was going to recognize me and said something typical of her, "YOU ARE SO DUMM YOU REALLY SCARED ME!" or something like that. Anyway it was last Saturday when I called her. She is a lawyer and a teacher at the same time. Her husband and her are very busy people so I was expecting the answering machine, but to my surprise I heard a "hello." I started with my joke: "HOW DARE YOU NOT ANSWER ME BEFORE," then she told me..."WELL I WAS A LITTLE BUSY" (me) - " OH, STOP DOING BAD THINGS WITH YOUR HUSBAND IN THE ROOM. YOU ARE NOT A NEWLYWEED ANYMORE! YOU ARE SUCH A NAUGHTY GIRL, THINKING ABOUT THAT" (then of course I wanted to laugh until...) (other person yelling at me). "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME THIS? TELL ME YOUR NAME! WHO DO YOU WANT TO TALK TO?" Of course that scared the crap out of me and with a very shy voice I said, "I'M SORRY, BUT I'M LOOKING FOR YOVANA" (then the Misses told me) "YOU DIALED THE WRONG NUMBER." (me) "I'M SO SORRY. I WAS TRYING TO PLAY A JOKE ON ONE OF MY BF WHO JUST GOT MARRIED. I'M SORRY" (in that very moment I wanted just to hang up the phone until...) (the women on the other line was laughing) "DON'T WORRY! HAHAHA I UNDERSTAND THAT SHE DOESN'T LIVE HERE. HONEY I HOPE YOU CAN TALK TO HER GOD BLESS YOU SWEETHEART". Of course after all that I had to leave a good impression if that was possible. So I said, "Oh please, I'm so sorry. Again, thank you so much for understanding. Likewise and have a wonderful day" (well at least for the rest of the day after the phone call). Then I called Yovana right away, of course forgetting about making a joke I waited until I heard her voice. "SORRY WE MISSED YOUR CALL, PLEASE LIVE YOUR NAME AND NUMBER AND WE WILL GET BACK TO YOU AS SOON AS WE CAN THANKS" And of course that was the right number with the answering machine, just the way that it has been for the last 2 years.
Anyway, my babe just called me and he is coming home early today...well it's almost 11:00p.m. But it's earlier than other times. So I'm going to cut off just like that.
I'm out.

Marketing for fun!

I'm just so tired of receiving phone calls from marketing. I've tried everything but they keep calling. We have tried everything. The problem is not that they call every single day. The problem is that they call in the worst moment. When the kids are napping, or when they are about to go to sleep, or very early in the morning.

Being a Spanish speaker worked. I've told them that I didn't speak English at all thinking of course they will stop calling us. I was totally wrong. Now they started to call me IN SPANISH!

Being crative I already started to speak Claudiaish to them. That way they just don't have anybody with this language. It's funny when I say hello and they start talking about ALL THE THINGS THAT I WON, BUT THEY JUST NEED TO KNOW IF I HAVE CREDIT CARD OR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER, ETC. As soon as they tell me this I start speaking Claudialand languange, which is something between baby gibberish, Spanish, English, and more gibberish. That way they just get very confused and start asking me if there is somebody who speaks English haha. It's funny when they talk to each other to say SHE DOESN'T GET IT! haha.

STUPID SCORPIONS!

No seriously...what is their purpose in life? I might be very ignorant, but I just hate them so much. My son had been stung for an escorpion today. I was so scared. I was downstairs when I heard Ian cry, and Nicky was calling me to tell me that he was crying. That's weird because she normally dosen't want to tell me when he cries since she is normally to blame. Anyway, I ran upstairs and I saw him scratching the back of his head, and I thought, "he probably bumped his head." So I went to hug him and then I saw the scorpion. I killed it with all my strength. Ian stopped crying, but he kept scraching his head. Luckily Glenn decided that he could study today at home so he called the doctor and they told us to take him to the emergency room. So I took Ian with me and Nicky stayed with Glenn. Ian and I didn't come back until 11:00 p.m. He was so tired my poor little baby. The doctor just gave him benadryl. He was actually behaving pretty normally. At the end the doctor told me that most of the scorpions in Texas aren't poisonous, which made me feel relieved. However I told Nicky and Ian if they ever see one of those they have to call me or kill it with a shoe but never ever touch them or play with them because they are very dangerous. Nicky gave another look at the dead body to make sure that she would recognize the bug next time.

Last year we had the same strugule with scorpions. So pet control came every Wednesday. Tomorrow I'll go to ask them to start coming again. I'm so glad that at least pet control will come to help us from now 'till the problem is solved.

Where did my patience go?

I've been taking care of The Jaffers for the last week, and I mean the whole week. By the time that the weekend arrived I was about to hit everybody against the wall to have a little bit of order in my house. Good think I didn't do it. :) But seriously, between them and my kids I was thinking about the bad mom that I am and the ways I should improve. Of course everybody has lost their tempter once in a while, but in my case...well you see it's very clear in my patriarcal blessing that I have pacience as a gift, but it's also ovbious that I CAN'T FIND IT. It's supposed to be easier for me at least that is what I thought until last Sunday. Brother Jaffers was giving a talk about patience and it was one of those times when you just have to pick up all that you can because I was really needing that talk (especially because that day I was also taking care of one of the Jaffers). Anyway, I felt much better after his talk because as I said in my patriarcal blessing it said that patience is one of my gifts. I though that would mean that I just have it. I didn't have to fight for it or anything like that. But man I was wrong...again. I finally know that patience is something that I still need to work on and improve. It will be my challenge. I guess taking care of the Jaffers or my kids or anybody kids, or holding on with my husband's schedule, or living in this place, or waiting for a better time in life, or learning the language, or improving in my calling all this and more requires LOTS OF PATIENCE. Now I know I'm not the best and I still have lots to improve, and I'm still looking for my patience, but at least I know that somewere inside of me it does exist, and it will help me through all my life.
To improve this gift that I have I'll try to be more postive in my daily duties. I'll try to focus on all the blessings that I do have and not on the blessings that I'm waiting for. They will come with time. Now that doesn't mean that I'm going to be perfect, but at least I'm going to do my best to try and improve my patience. Perhaps sometime soon I'll find it.

At the Zoo!

We went to the Zoo last Friday. The kids had a ball. My friend Robyn invited us. So it was very nice going with her and her kids. Even though we had gone to the Zoo (Waco) before, I think this time was even more enjoyble because it was practically empty. Were did the people go? I have no idea, but the kids were so happy to get into the reptiles rooms, or the acuarium etc.

After the zoo Robyn was very nice invited us dinner also. Today I took Mason to the park with Nicky. They dropped him off at 10:30 a.m and I took him home at 5:45p. Nicky misses her old friend J. After we left Mason's house she was asking me to go and visit her friend J., but then she remembered he's not here. It's sad, she is looking for a new best friend. Today at Chick fill-A she was asking a girl if she would be her new BEST FRIEND. Of course by the time that she had to go, she asked me again, "Mom, why isn't Jay here?" Anyway, I thought that would be a closed chapter, since she hadn't mention his name for ages. Glenn and I when we refers about The Hobbs in front of the kids we say just their incials. The H. , or little G (for Grant) or just el Jota (in Spanish J it's pronaounce Jota) anyway, I hope she can get over it when we are in Canada, with her cousins.

Talking about Nicky, I'm so happy for her. She is making a lot of progress with the languanges, which I thought would never happen. It's so nice to hear her talk, well most of the time. She has being asking me for her Christmas presents already. She wants a Car and a Computer. What a girl. I'm already saving some money for that but, I'm debating. We won't know where we are going to live, and a car...well it's to add more space to the truck that we are going to rent. The computer, I guess I could deal with it. There is not day that she doesn't mention this subject. Mom maybe later I can have my car and my computer." At least I know that she sticks to her petitions. I remember when she was asking me for her princess castle. She was the happiest girl on earth. I'm trying to explaing to her about the gift cards. So maybe Santa could bring instead of a car a gift card with enough credit to buy a car at Wal Mart? I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's the only thing that I can think of without struggling with the packing etc.etc.etc.

However it's not that she is not going to get the present. I just don't want to add more to the collection of "WE WON'T TAKE THIS WITH US, TOO MUCH SPACE." I'll see what I'll do.

For Ian I'm already thinking about buying him a table for all his trains and and tracks, but still, ANOTHER TABLE TO PACK? I know we are barely in June and I'm already thinking about Christmas. Well I guess I have too much free time.

Changing subjects, I'm getting very bored with not having a hobbie anymore. I finished the Harry Potter books last month. I loved it. I wouldn't read it again this year, but perhaps next. I'm trying to find a new book to read, but I'm so disconnected. Glenn was about to buy me Twilight, but I'm not sure if I want to read that book. It's just that I'm scared that it's going to be like the Hunchback of Notre Dame that had disastrous endings. I'm the kind that thinks it's worth it if everybody is happy at the end.

Good bye!

Our good friends The Hobbs moved to Tuscon. It was very sad, and Nicky looked a little bit sad when they said goodbye. I already explained to her that even though she won't be seeing Jay or Lindsay again, they can always live in her heart and remember them. I feel sad that they are gone for good. We are definitely going to miss them so much. She is a great girl, a great friend, always positive, and a warrior indeed. Ron is a great guy and I'm sure he'll be a great doctor. Jay and Grant are wonderful great kids. (Morning right before they left Temple Tx.) (Nicky, Ian, Jay, and Grant's last slumber party. Poor Ian, Glenn thinks that he looks like Snape would have looked as a child LOL!)

We had fun with them last year, and seeing them moving made me think about our next year: Moving for good to I don't know where. New friends, new neighborhood. Even if we stay here, I know everything will be different. It makes me nervous but exited at the same time when I think about it. Anyway I'm just going to try to embrace this moment in our lives. It's hard, but I don't think it will be the hardest. Medical school is a big of a challenge, but I've heard that residency is worse, so we'll see.

I went to eat with a friend today. Talking with her made me realize that our situation is unique. Our husbands are always busy, busy, busy. So we actually need to be mother and father at the same time. I'm trying to think in ways that I can get Glenn to be more involed in our kids' lives. With this kind of life that we live it's hard to do it...

(a few days later)...Well I wrote the things above a long time ago. Since then. Nicky is doing better about the Hobbs' move. She "talks" to Lindsay on her cellphone toy once in a while. It's always the same "Lindsay you found me!" conversation, so I'm starting to think that she misses her more than she misses Jay. Anyway. we were planning on going to Monterrey last weekend, but we couldn't. I'm so glad that we didn't go since on Monday I had the worst headache in history. I've had the same headache since then. If I don't get better tomorrow I might have to go to the doctor on friday. We'll see.

On another subject, I got a new calling at church. I'm the intructor for 8-10 years old kids. Well I'm not very happy about it. I think there is a lot of responsability, and with my poor English it's difficult. I'm starting to think that I might quit. I might start going to the Spanish branch by myself since the branch is so small and doesn't have a primary. I told Glenn I was going to try. But...you see it is not that I'm scared of the calling, I'm scared of the calling IN ANOTHER WHOLE LANGUAGE. I just don't feel really prepared yet for something like that.

In moments like this is when I really want to quit everything. When I feel that I could do better if it weren't for the language. There are 3 HUGE reasons that stop me. At least Glenn told me that he would look at the possilility of coming back to Monterrey Mx. after residency if everything works out well. Of course maybe by then I'll be finishing law school here, so it might mean that I'd have to start ALL OVER AGAIN. So we'll see what happens. It's just that I feel very confortable with everything until big responsibilities in Church appear (like giving talks, having a new calling, talk to the sisterhood. etc,etc,etc.) I just hate doing that in another languange. Going to a Spanish ward...well that would be the right solution IF WE WEREN'T IN TEMPLE!.

It' s nice taking this off my chest. I'll do my best. But if I feel that I'm not progresing well, I might just talk to the bishop about my feelings.

In other things: We are planning to go to Canada in a couple of weeks. After Glenn's Step 2 to be precise. Nicky and Ian will have the chance to see most of Glenn's mom's side of the family, which is great! I'm excited for this little trip. It will be relaxing mmmm or maybe not exactly realxing but at least we'll see another landscape. I'm getting dizzy again, so I'll stop now.

Flashbacks from the past!

It's funny the way fashion has changed throuhout time. I definitely don't feel related to the 80's, but the 90's, my goodness that was my time. Fashion today, I think, will be less embarrassing in the future than the fashion of decades past. At least I don't see how my child is going to be embarrassed for wearing jeans or nice dresses. The appearance of today's fashion is definitely more clean and classy. I'm bringing this up because for some reason I forgot about the way that I used to dress in high school...uh, that was an embarrassment. You see in Mexico there are just 2 or 3 years of your life when you can actually can dress the way you want, and they happen to be during high school. There should be like a law against being able to choose your own fashion during that time, though, so people like me who try to be normal later on in life wouldn't feel ashamed of that time of our lives. College was fine, though, since I had to dress like an attorney.

For some reason in my high school years I was so in love with the band "4 NON BLONDES." But I mean SO IN LOVE. I was such a fan of them. I even bought one of those ridiculous hats like the singer and a pair of boots. I still remember my mom's face when she saw them, she was in shock. My older brother didn't believe it when he saw me using them to go to high school. He totally thought I was crazy....and I guess I was. I hate them for not stopping me. At school, since all my classmates had the same poor taste for clothing that I had, they thought it was so cool, they were asking me where I bought them. In a blink of an eye most of the girls were wearing the same boots (not that I started that fashion at school, at least I don't want to think I did so I can feel less ashamed for that matter). Anyway It was a crazy time. By the end of my 4th semester of high school I was a little more normal. Something that I learnd about those boots: they should make all the missionaries buy them for their time on the mission. They are so durable! I had them all throughout high school. They never had holes or anything; they were leather and I used to love them so much. I stopped using them A LONG TIME AGO (thanks goodness), but I still remember that I had them in my closet a little bit before I got married. Wow! What a long time! Anyway as I was saying I was looking and listening to that band on Youtube, and it just brought back so many memories from high school. I want to go through my albums and rip off the pictures haha. I guess it doesn't look that bad when most of the people are wearing the same kind of style, but it's so depressing to remember now. I always make fun of my sister because she used to dress with the gloves (like madonna) and the hair...oh, my goodness! I still can't believe that the 80's existed. Well, I guess my children will say the same when they flip thorugh my albums.