Confessions of a Blogaholic

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone. This year, there were so many things to be thankful for. Our Thanksgiving dinner was small this year. And although it was smaller than most years, it was very nice. My mom and my older sister, my brother-in-law and family, my niece and great nephew, my dear friend Karen and her daughter Tatum and Mr and Mrs. Warga . Mr. and Mrs Warga also celebrated their 50 th anniversary earlier in the week, how awesome is that? We had a great time with everyone. I did my cooking for the year 2009. I made Henry and all the works. Sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, Mexican macaroni and cheese, corn, green beans, dinner rolls, and all of the appetizers. My sister made her traditional cranberry mold and my sister-in-law Wendy brought the pies and cakes. We had some vino and champagne and the conversations were delightful. The kids had a few rounds of Karaoke and had a blast. Thank you to my family and friends for join...

After much anticipation, the day finally arrived. On the eve of my birthday and the release of New Moon I held a little party. It really wasn't a big gathering. I had a few friends over and some family. Most of the people there, were the ones that didn't think I was crazy for being so obsessed with this book series. Some are just as obsessed as me. Initially I was going to have a larger group of people, but then I realized that the tickets for the movie had sold out, and I wanted everyone that went to my party to be able to see the movie as well. It was going to be a sit down dinner, and at the last minute it ended up being very informal. We realized that Harkins Cine Capri was going to sell tickets to Twilight prior to showing New Moon. We needed to get our bodies down there as soon as possible. As you can imagine, the hype for New Moon was twice as big then for Twilight. There were a lot of people at the Twilight premiere, but not like New Moon. A lot of new fans ...

City #2 in preparation for Nationals in NYC. Tempe Dance Academy had an amazing weekend overall in Los Angeles. A lot more kids competed in L.A. then in Mobile. It is closer to Phoenix at least. If I recall correctly, 99% of the numbers scored a Platinum. They won a Critics Choice in the Junior and Teen division. A lot of overall high scores and awards. All in all, they all did amazing. One of the dances that did well, was Steam Heat. It was choreographed by Holly, and it was so good. I had not really seen it, so I was very excited about it. I think it stands a very good chance of making it into the Junior Gala at Nationals. Let's keep our fingers crossed. Next city, Chicago for the Company kids. Holly and Dana are trying to convince me to go...Buddy???? Steam Heat kids accepting The Critics Choice with Holly and Joe Lanteri Amber and Kassie with Tony Testa. Tony is the Hip Hop teacher for NYCDA. Tony was one of the assistant choreographers for Michael Jackson's This is it to...

There is nothing like Disneyland during the holidays. I absolutely LOVE it! The decorations are breathtaking. Every detail is perfect. The tree on Mainstreet the castle with the snow, the Mickey wreaths throughout the park. Even the cotton candy is white like snow with red and green sugar sprinkled on it. The caramel apples are in the shape of a snowman wearing a Mickey hat of course. The parade with Mickey and Minnie ice skating and Santa with his reindeer. Small World with all of it's lights. Ohhh if I could only live there. This trip, while planned, did not initially include a trip to Disneyland. It was a trip for another one of Kai's competitions. She had a competition in Burbank on the 14 th and 15 th . After talking to my friend Cristina, she and I decided that we would go a day early and go to Disneyland. It wasn't until after that planning that we realized that it would be the first day of the Holiday season at the park. We were even more excited. Cristina'...

Nachito , Nacho, Nones, Chito , Gordito All of the above are nicknames given to Nachito . And there again, not his name. His real name is Ignacio Fernando Lopez Romo . He was named after his two paternal grandparents. A very strong Hispanic name I would say. Had we stayed in Douglas, this name would not be an issue. It would be pronounced correctly and no one would think that he was named after the movie Nacho Libre . At a birthday party, people wouldn't question the many names that he is called, they would just know. They would understand that Nacho and Nachito are names for Ignacio just like Bob and Bobby are to Robert. They would know that Chito , Gordito and even Nones are just nick names that us Hispanics give our kids. Not just one, but many. Every family member gives each kid a different one. Buddy for instance is Pelacho on his mom's side and Chavita on his Dad's side, Sal to his friends, and well Buddy to us. I of course picked Ignacio in honor of my dad. M...

to celebrate my Birthday and the release of New Moon. Remember this post back in June? It's that time already. Time to hand out the formal invitations. I've had to reprint them a few times due to changing the date. I'm a little behind on finishing decorations and finishing my "Dazzling" New Moon shirt. This week I will be quite busy trying to finish it all. In the end, it should be a fun night. And the best part will be seeing the movie at midnight. Front of invitation Closer look at "Edwards" heart. Invitation opened up. Left side Soundtrack and right invitation.

Frogs and snails and puppy- dog tails', that's what little boys are made of. Ten years ago today, I was blessed with the addition of a little boy. It was no secret that I was nervous about having a son. I was more of the "Sugar and Spice and everything nice" kind of mom. The pink, the lace, the frill. Not so much the blue, the denim, the no frill. I was anxious for my sonogram appointment to find out just what sex my second child would be. We had not planned on a second child. After Kai was born, we had decided to just have the one. God had other plans for us. For that appointment, I went by myself. Buddy was working in New Mexico and no one was available to go with me. It was very apparent that it was a boy. The sonogram tech told me immediately. I was silent, as many emotions ran through my head. Happiness, sadness, excitement, nervousness. Too many to process by myself. Before I called Buddy or anyone else for that matter, I sat by myself in the courtyard...

Nachito had an amazing time at his 10th Birthday party!! Most of his classmates joined him, along with family and friends. The kids had a blast as they moved from jumper to jumper. It was all very organized, and the party hosts were super nice. After all of the fun, the kids gathered for some pizza, cake and ice cream. He opened gifts and they wrote everything down for me. No clean up, no mess! I have to say that was a success!!! Maybe next year, he will seek Pump It Up again...

When and how did November get here so fast? It's not that I'm complaining, it does happen to be my favorite month of the year. It just got here too fast. Like a whirlwind actually. I guess I'm just trying to make excuses for why I've been such a bad friend, relative and blogger. October was a blur. So much happening and I was overwhelmed. And that makes me sad, because I really, really love to blog and to read blogs. It's very good for the soul. Lately I haven't had much inspiration to write, or to blog. I have been so busy at work that I am feeling overworked and frustrated. My desk is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I dig and move things around, but I wonder how much I really get done. At the end of the day, the stack has moved nowhere and my paper and e-mail in boxes are still full. : 0 I get home and I'm more stressed out than before and unfortunately my family pays the price. I snap at them instead of the people I really should be snapping...