by UnknownMami on July 29, 2010
Family. I have family on the brain.
My husband’s aunt came to visit and we met her for the first time. When I say “we”, I am including my husband. He had never met this aunt before. The story is long and not mine to tell and it was started by my husband’s grandfather (whom my husband has never met).
What I would like to share is that there is something beautiful, courageous, and authentic about a woman reaching out to siblings and extended family and risking rejection because of poor choices her father made. There is also healing and growth in embracing each other and accepting each other as family once and for all.
Family. Sometimes we are born into it and sometimes someone steps in and becomes family.
There is a man that I am biologically related to. He is technically my “father”, he is also a stranger to me. Oh sure, I’ve talked to him, I know what he looks like, but I do not “know” him, I can not claim him as mine. Then there is another man that came into my life when I was already 18 years old and slowly worked his way into my life and heart. I’ve never lived with this other man, I got to know him through my mother because she lives with him. This other man filled a space I never even knew was vacant. He loves me the way I imagine a father loves his daughter. He introduces me as his daughter. He comes through for me EVERY SINGLE TIME I need him to.
Family. My family.
My family used to mean my mother, my brother, and me. Now “my” family means my daughter, my husband, and me. Of course I have family that extends beyond those I hold nearest and dearest, but I will protect “my” family even if it means protecting them from family.
Family. I’m happy I let some “family” go. I’m happy with the family I’ve made. I’m loved by those that have accepted me as family. Family means more to me now than it ever has.
by UnknownMami on July 28, 2010
Reading did not come easily to me. We moved around a lot when I was a child, which means I switched schools a lot. I knew the alphabet, I knew the sounds letters made, and I knew some words by sight, but most words were a jumble of letters that I could not decipher. Somehow I missed the lesson where it was announced that the sounds the letters made could be strung together. I remember the shame of being the tallest kid in first grade and being sent to the kindergarten class for reading. It was embarrassing, but it was a gift because that is where I finally learned to read.
One day, I was sitting in that kindergarten class towering over all the smaller children, we had been given a list of 3 letter words. Once we had figured out what each word was, we were to go to the teacher and read it and he would check it off as correct. One of the words was “pig”. I went up to the teacher and told him the word was “big”. He said, “No” and sent me back to try again. Well, I kept going back and insisting that the word was “big”. Big was one of the words I had memorized and I figured that since “pig” looked so much like “big” that it must be the same and that the teacher was wrong. The teacher eventually looked at me and said, “No, the word is not big. Sound it out!”
Sound it out?! I had never heard of such a thing. Sound it out! “You mean the letters?”, I asked. He nodded his head and I stood there sounding out “p-i-g” until I said it fast enough that it sounded like a word. That’s the day that a whole new world opened up for me. There was no stopping me after that. That same school year I went from being sent to the kindergarten class for reading to being sent to the third grade class because I had gotten so good.
Books helped me through so many difficult moments in my childhood. They provided a safe place to escape and explore, to relax and imagine.
These memories resurfaced for me because I was sent the “young adult” book “Amigas: Fifteen Candles” created by Jane Startz, written by Veronica Chambers, and inspired by Jennifer Lopez.
In order to truly “get into” the book I flashed back to my early teen years where I would love to read these sort of light, fun, escapist type books. They were a welcome distraction in a childhood that was not always placid.
“Amigas : Fifteen Candles” is the first in a new series for young adults. Great literature it is not, but it’s not meant to be. As a teenager, I would have enjoyed reading serialized books like “Sweet Valley High” that had Latino characters and mentioned things like quinceañeras. The book is peppered with Spanish, but you don’t have to know Spanish to understand it. It’s also about Latino characters, but you don’t have to be Latino to enjoy it. I’d say it would be a fun, quick, summer read for a tween or early teen.
by UnknownMami on July 24, 2010
I saw this random log in the park that someone seems to have transformed into some kind of an animal. Do you see the eye and mouth?
I showed you mine, now you show me yours.
Share your city/town/suburb/you name it! If you link up, please link back or post the Sundays In My City button either in your post or sidebar to let people know that other bloggers are sharing their communities too. Happy trails!
Let’s travel the world together!
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by UnknownMami on July 23, 2010
For someone who is under-employed I sure have been working a lot. As many of you know, the contract for my work from home job was not renewed and my husband is currently laid off (he’ll be going back to work next month). Since he is able to take care of Put Pie, I have been picking up extra shifts at my work outside the home job. I’m grateful for the work, but I’m sooo tired and I have had no time to blog. So if I haven’t been around, please forgive my absence. Mami’s got to get paid, y’all!
My camera drowned!!! I do not have a fancy camera, I have an inexpensive point and shoot, but I love the darned thing and this week I was responsible for its drowning. This is what my good friend and constant companion looks like. Isn’t she cute? 
She was in my purse where she always is and I put in a very large bottle of water in there too because I like to stay hydrated, but apparently the bottle was not shut all the way and my camera went for a swim. My camera is not designed to go swimming. She is now drying out on my counter and I am hoping that she will recuperate, but the prognosis is not good. She has condensation in places that should be dry as a bone. Send her positive thoughts or send me a new camera if you can.
Awhile back I won a giveaway from Vino Bodega and this is the lovely bracelet that I got:
(Please excuse the quality I had to use my phone since my camera drowned.)
I love it! I’ve already worn it 3 times.
I also won an $80 gift card to CSNStores.com from The Fifty Factor. I’ve already thanked her for it in a previous post, but I wanted to share what I ended up getting. It took me forever to decide because the possibilities were endless. Here’s what I finally picked:
Yup, I got a pair of red clogs! I was going to get something practical that the whole family could use and then I was feeling really down because I have no money to spend on fun stuff and I decided that I should just treat myself. I’ve always wanted red clogs and now I have them. Thank you, Joanna! Oh and the best part? They look fantastic with the paper bag I wear over my head.
Also, Joanna is hosting another giveaway for an $80 gift card to CSNStores.com. Click on the link to enter.
And that’s all she wrote!
Have a great weekend!
I Comment Therefore I Am
by UnknownMami on July 26, 2010
Welcome to another edition of I Comment Therefore I Am, where I put together a post from comments I’ve left on other blogs. Below are some of my favorite posts from the previous week and what they inspired me to say.
Write Away featured an “I Comment Therefore I Am” post in which she shared a comment she made about what mothers are called by their offspring in different parts of the world, which led me to write…
Doreen has been going through some tough times lately. Fortunately, there is the wonderful fact that she is expecting the release of her book. She is having mixed feelings because her book is about the true story of her brother’s murder. I had to respond to what she wrote because I think she needs to re-frame her perspective. I start off by quoting her…
This is not a comment, but a shout out: if you enjoy the comment sections of blogs go visit lisleman’s new blog, I can’t blog , where it’s all about the comments. There is only one post and all the action happens in the comments section.
That’s it for this edition of I Comment Therefore I Am.
Do you give good comment? Wanna play along? Go forth, spread the comment love, and turn it into a post (I keep a draft post open while I read blogs throughout the week). Recycle, reuse, and reduce my friends; it’s the wave of the future.
Oh and feel free to comment on my comments otherwise how will I know that you exist.
If you play along please link back and/or post the button below. Spread the love, spread the love! You can grab the button code from my sidebar.
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