I Earned it I deserve it and I Want it!!

Running for my $$$

Today I have officially arrived at my goal and I am officially a senior citizen.  Now I can receive the social security check that I have earned in the many years that I have worked.  Never mind that most of the money will probably go to help pay for all my aches & pains lol.

I earned it I deserve it and I Want it!! 

SSI

 

Never ever did I expect to reach this age.  Iin my mind I don't feel a day over 30.  I remember when I was a teenager I thought anyone over 30 was old.   God forbid if we knew anyone who was 50 yrs old, they were soooo old.  We can't even imagine ourselves at that age,  how little do we know that the years go by faster after your 20 and we can't stop them hahaha.  Our desire as teenagers is to become adults or be older so that we can do or go places where kids can't enter.   I always imagined myself traveling with a spectacular career and driving a 'Mustang car'  lolol.  Well I finally got my car but its 11yrs now old haha,   so why wouldn't I get old?

  

The Fallen Tree

There is one special Marine who I would like to honor on this day and his name is Adrian Ramirez.   He is a family friend serving his country in Afghanistan.   I pray that God will keep His hand on Adrian until he comes home.  I am thankful also for all the men and women serving their country and sacrificing their own welfare to keep us safe.  We must pray for them every day and  ask God to bring them home safe.


This day will always be remembered not only because of its obvious meaning but because on this day strong winds ripped off  part of a tree in the island  in our pond.  


These Santa Ana winds come every year during this month,  but I don't remember them being as strong in the past.  We have been having summer weather even though it is already November with  a couple of days of rain and cold nights.   The tree which was very big and beautiful with many branches now looks very bare and empty.  Its leaves had started to fall off and change colors, hopefully my husband is right and it will grow back.  
 

As  I look out my window I thank God for giving us this beautiful view of all He has created for us to enjoy. .

                                                                   The fallen tree

Happy Birthday Miss Daisy

Saturday was beautiful, breezy and cool with the sun shining bright all day until late afternoon when it got cloudy with a hint of rain which newscasters kept predicting.  The outside heaters were lit up and my son-in-law got the fire pit going.  

My daughter decided that since Daisy had a huge party last year for her 13th birthday with about 100 people, this year the family would celebrate her birthday at Disneyland and take a few of her friends for her to hang out with.  Those plans didn't materialize for several reasons, so I decided that we would have an impromptu  birthday party.   It was a small family affair with some of my sisters-in-law who came bringing  some of their kids and a few grandkids.  Daisy invited the friends who were supposed to spend the day with her anyway and they all hung out together playing games and going for a walk.  

We decided to have cupcakes instead of buying or making a cake, that way everyone could get their own or as many as they wanted.  They were so cute with yummy butter frosting  topped with Lady Bug pickets.   I bought her a small cake anyway, after all whats a party with no cake?   haha.   What are grandma's for?  My daughter found and bought the biggest and cutest lady bug balloon that fit right in with the theme of her party.  

Everyone had fun, fellowship and ate lots of good food.  As it got later it also got so cold that we were all forced to take the party inside.  Daisy opened several presents and received gift cards, and now that I think about it she also got some money but never revealed the amount.  


Fourteen years ago this little angel who I nick named Daisy was born and wove herself into our hearts.  Daisy is vivacious  and dorky at times but always fun loving and always willing to help others.   She is a good student getting good grades and is in the AVID program in school.   She loves the Lord and is very involved with the youth group and is in the church choir.   Daisy has always been a good little girl and now she is a very respectful young lady who is nice to everybody.   Her Tata loves her very much and spoils her, as for me I'm not prejudiced but I think she's beautiful cute and pretty.


                                               ♥ HAPPY  14TH BIRTHDAY DAISY ♥

I AM A VEGETARIAN

Yes I am on a diet!!  I finally decided to say it out loud so the walls can hear me ' I need to lose weight'.

One day while looking at myself  in the mirror I saw how out of control my weight was and I realized I was in big trouble.  Sooooo......right then & there I decided to do something drastic, like lose the excess baggage I've been carrying around for the past ten years.

It has  been three months since I took my last sip of soda or coffee.  My coffee cup was large so I felt that putting  2/3 big table spoons of sugar was ok ( who was I fooling?) hahaha.  I am an admitted sodaholic addicted to drinking at least one six pack a day by myself.   Although I did drink lots of water, I must not forget to include the big glasses of iced tea or pink lemonades I would consume whenever I ate at a restaurant.

Why do parents reward their children with candy or food?   Eating when we are happy or sad is also a habit that I was guilty of.  Weight creeps up on us through the years until one day as I did,  took a good look and realized the day had come...........it wasn't too late yet so I had to hurry and repair the problem I created within myself.   My intake of food was incredible, portions were getting bigger and the places where we chose to eat were the kind that served as much as you can eat.

In August I decided to stop drinking soda and any other sweet drinks, and after 3 weeks the results were wonderful and I was so proud of myself.  I didn't care if anyone else noticed because I saw a difference in the way my clothes fit which was so exciting.  Thats when I decided to stop eating sugar.   That meant no cakes, candies, ice cream, donuts, etc etc.

Was this hard one might ask?  Of course, after years of eating and drinking whateva, my body went into withdrawls.  The headaches were atrocious while my mouth watered at the sight of all I had given up, but as all things came to an end all the symptoms did too.  Yippeee I was sugar free!!

After researching some information from my friend Nancy who is a Vegan, I understood what she had been trying to tell me.  Eating meat created many physical problems (for me anyway) and was also the cause of weight gain.  Yeap I gave up meat!  After coming to this decision I in so many words become a vegetarian.  This allows you to eat fish and chicken unlike Vegans who do not eat ANY meat.  Eating healthy is a lot of drama, especially when you have to watch each and every morsel of food that goes into your mouth, but as the days go by its getting easier.  I make sure everything I eat is healthy and I drink lots of water.

Will I become Vegan?  I think so..............eventually, but right now I just want to lose this excess cargo I carry around everyday.  What I eat now is satisfying so I can wait to take that final step.   I have a fantastic family who are very supportive.  They make sure that I eat healthy food while they root for me.  My wonderful husband has joined me on this diet of mine and he has also lost about 35lbs just by staying away from soda.  For the most part even though he will eat a cookie or two and satisfies his sweet tooth he eats whatever I do and is also trying to stay away from meat.

My feet were in such terrible shape swollen and grotesque making it hard for me to walk without a cane.  My mother was a diabetic so everyone assumed  I was too. Now my feet are back to normal (but still look grotesque in color) and each morning I walk about 3 miles. My daughter or my husband come along too so that I won't walk by myself.

Soon I will reach my goal and I'll have done it to save myself and enjoy the rest of the years that God gives me by living a nice long healthy life.

The Pomegranate Tree

  This has been such a busy month that I forgot to write on my blog again.  It wasn't until my daughter was decorating for the Halloween/Thanksgiving holidays that I realized that its almost November!  The days are going by so fast maybe its a blessing  because I don't really know how Im going to handle the holidays this year without my mom ~sigh~.

Today all the men in my life decided to work around the plantation before the next rain fall, even my son Paul came to wash his clothes and is now busy at work (he got trapped haha).  Its such a beautiful day its hard to believe that rain is on the way again. Fall is finally in the air and leaves on the trees are changing colors or falling off, and because we had rain last week everything is green and colorful.

My husband came in the house a while ago with a bag full of pomegranates, they are so big and beautiful.  He opened one and ate the whole thing while ahhing away lol.  I don't care for them after tasting one when I was a kid, I just think they are pretty and make for a great decoration for Thanksgiving.  I had him take them over to Tiffany's house so she can put them out for decoration.  While shopping at Ralphs mkt the other day I noticed they had some for sale at two for $6.00!  An idea suddenly came to me that maybe I should open up a stand outside saying   'POMEGRANATES for SALE'   and see how many people stop.   After all thats what people do when they sell lemonade from lemons off their trees....hmmm I could do that too since we have many lemon trees lol.  


When we moved here this tree was one among many that were in need of water and looked like it was dying.  M husband and son pulled out many dead trees and stumps but left this one after I cried and cried that we needed it.  We had a persimmon tree that unawares to me my husband pulled out and Tiffany and I were so upset.  Now its giving fruit that is so gorgeous hubby even likes it.

Yard Sale

 Has anyone ever had an impromptu yard sale?  We did today!!   My daddy decided to put a sign at the end of the street about 9:30am, never imagining the crowds that were going to swarm to his sale. 

As I innocently walked outside ready to go for my daily morning walk, I came to a dead stop when I saw 10 people coming up the drive way, and cars/trucks pulling up the curbs.  As I turned to look for my dad who was busily pulling stuff' out of boxes and throwing them on the ground as fast as he could and trying to put more items on A table...one table.  Oh my word I couldn't believe my eyes.   Then I went into shock and I almost had an attack when 5/6 people came out of dads studio apt after letting  them in to look at the refrigerator and couch he wants to sell.   I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw more people walking around our back yard coming toward the front gate!!   How can anyone just walk into someones back yard, and walk around as if they belong there, what a Nerve!   Of course no one bought either item or anything else. 

I am not against anyone trying to find a good deal at these sales because I do it myself, but when the price is at rock bottom already and they want you to lower the price...........GO HOME!     I don't understand why people are so rude.  

Thank God my aunt Mary came to help because it was hard to keep up with all the people that kept coming.  Finally at  2:OO pm I decided I'd had enough when all the people traffic slowed down and the gnats trying to go up my nose and my ears, not to mention all the rude people.  Daddy did not want to close so he stayed by himself while my aunt and I went to eat at Taco Joe's restaurant.

I guess Im just a glutton for misery because tomorrow I'll be staying home from church to help daddy with his  yard sale. 

"The Lord is pleased with those who worship Him and trust His love." Ps 147:11..............so I am trusting that God will smile down on us because Im leaving it all in His hands..

The will of God

Wow can't believe its been so long since I posted on this blog.  There is so much going on with all my grandchildren, and around the plantation that I need to start blogging again.

Today is four months since my mother passed, my heart is still shattered in a million pieces and I know it will never heal completely because a part of it is gone forever.   Even tho in my mind I  know God took her because He saw how much she was suffering, in my heart I still needed my mother here for ME!   I don't think its selfish to feel that way, no matter how old I am I'll always miss her. The numbness is going away but there are some days that everything I see or hear  reminds me of  her.  I will continue to be there for my dad because I can't even imagine how he feels now that he's alone after 63 years.  Jesus hold my hand as I travel this road until I see your face.


Fantastic news the plantation is minus what I called the Wicked Tree in the front yard.  One of the men from our church came with his machinery and pulled it out of the ground and presto it was gone.  This tree which came supposedly from Guatalamala was tall and huge with  big ugly fat thorns sticking out.  In the spring beautiful pink flowers would bloom from this tree.  Its roots were huge and protruding from the ground making it impossible for grass to grow so our front yard always looked terrible. I was so happy to see it gone and called everyone I knew that had a fireplace to come and get some fire wood.  LOL

~ My grandchildren are the bomb haha.~   Each one has their own personality and they are my grandkids  ~  Im so proud of them.   There is never a day without so much tweeny drama ♥

Barbie is beautiful and so grown up, she's going to start working to help pay for insurance on the car she will be getting soon.  Now that she can drive all she needs is her license.............wooohooo!  On top of all that she is running for Homecoming Queen at her school......my oh my where did the yrs go?  I still remember the  lil baby in a car seat on the back seat of her daddys car cruising the streets of  Fontana and  Rialto.  I better stop because Im tearing up.

Sweet lil Monica how I love you.  Still so beautiful and full of surprises, the child is so confused about life.  We all learn as we grow I just hope she makes the right choices.  Too bad we don't realize how great our parents really are when we are in our teen dilema's 'chuckle'

My two munchkins who are probably the ones responsible for keeping me young (hahaha) have grown so much I don't even recognize them sometimes.  Dino my prince is so beyond his years, but yet such a baby in so many ways.  He'll be in high school next year!!!  He is the youngest of my grandkids, and very talented in music, he can sing really well but just like boys he says he doesn't.  He is also smarter than he lets on BUT  he can also be a BRAT, then I have to beat him with kisses hahaha♥

My lil Daisy is Miss Fashionista, she looks like she walked out of a magazine with all the mod clothes she wears.  She can make an ugly dress look beautiful.  Such flair but yet around me she's still my lil girl who still loves to sit on my lap n cuddle (I have told her she'll be my lil Daisy even when she's a grandma) ....which makes me very happy and makes her laugh.  These two are well grounded, love the Lord, living for God and are involved in all church youth activities.

Michael who is my oldest grandson got all the cousins together after 3 years of not seeing each other and took them for a day of  fun fun fun.  I was very happy that he dropped in to see us too, because I've missed him very much.   His birthday on Oct 13 brought many memories of a blue eyed baby born 23 yrs ago and the realization that he's not a lil boy anymore, he's all grown up.   Wheww where do the years go?