Some of my life back in 2010...

The following entry I wrote in a notebook as events were unfolding. You will see the date of the entry then what I wrote.

July 29, 2010

I´m going crazy. Is this worth the trouble? I guess so. We need the money from the taxes to finish the house and live more comfortably. So I sold the van to pay for my plane ticket- supposedly to go all the way to Oakland. But lo and behold, I get to the airport and they change my flight to Tijuana- becasue my passport is expired. Thier rules are only passport as valid id to travel to the states. They don´t care if I have my CA id or BC- the passport is all they care about. Argh! Oh and the airline refused to cancel my reservation and refund me the money, so I had to take the flight. My fault they say!

So with no time to call home to advise of the situation, I left. Once I got to TJ I called but forgot about the 2hour time difference, so all I could do was leave a message.All I can say is that I felt abandoned. Me myself and I stranded at the airport in a strange city in a foreign country with barely enough money to eat with. The flight arrived at 11pm, which was too late for anyone to send me money. At least I wasn´t the only passenger to spend the night at the airport. I now sport new bruises on my hips, back and butt from the all too comfy airport chairs. I barely slept. The airport should have a special section for those travelers waiting for connections or the bus terminal to open in the morning.

At 7am I called my mom collect because I knew my few dollars would not be enough for a phone call. No help from her. She claims she has $0- can´t send me money or lend me anything. So I give her my BIL´s number to ask him to wire me some money or deposit into my bank account. I call back around 10am and the news is a cousin left So. Cal at 9am to come pick me up. Ok- sounded good. By 3pm- no show. The drive is only 3 hours, so who knows what happened. So by 7:30pm I was fainting with hunger and anxiety. I call one more time. My BIL ended up sending me moneyh. I grab a taxi with the intent to pay as soon as I get the money and get to the bus depot. You´ll never guess what happend. My id was considered an invalid identification. Had to be either a valid drivers liscense or a passport, and of course I had neither. Why? Not everyone has a DL. Makes no sense to me. The only option was to have BIL cancel the transaction and resend it in someone elses name. Ok- I was alone- no one was with me that I knew or trusted. How is this possible?

An angel just happened to be standing in front of me- the taxi driver. He offered to recieve the money in his name. Ok- I know what you are thinking- stranger danger as they say in those kid videos- but it didn´t happen like that. BIL changed the transaction to the taxi drivers name and we went back to pick up the money. Nope. Probably in the morning the change would show up in the computer- it was already 9pm and the store was about to close. As I said before- an angel stood next to me. The taxi driver offered me a place to stay the night- he lived alone with his wife. We would go back to the store at 9am to pick up the money. What wonderful people. Becasue of people like them I keep becoming more enchanted with Mexico and more resolute with my decision 7 months ago to move here.

So night turns to day- we go to the store to pick up the money and - nada. It was still in my name. WTF? Quick message to BIL- PLEASE CANCEL THE TRANS AND RESEND THE MONEY IN HIS NAME. BIL send message back- AGENCY SAYS TRANSFER IS GOOD. TRY AGAIN. SAME CODE. So we try again and still no luck. Another message to BIL- JUST CANCEL THE DAMN TRANS AND DO A NEW ONE AND HURRY PLEASE. So this is where I am now- waiting imposing on strangers who are still true angels. I have been traveling 48 hours now (I left Guanajuato at 2pm Tuesday, arrived in Guadalajara at 8pm, left at 9:30, and got to TJ at 10:30pm.)- stuck in the same place for 40. Praying to help resolve everything and help me continue my journey and thanking God for sending these angels to protect me meanwhile. I am now beginning to comprehend the trust and confidence many of my friends have in God and the Virgen Guadalupe. As soon as I am back in Guanajuato I will do something to honor them. As for the angels, the most I can do is to send some money when I get the taxes as a thank you. This situation could have easily gone in a different direction if it weren´t for the four of them. So first things first- get to my destination, get the tax money, and then send something to my angels, and then go home.

I miss my kids and hubby. I pray that the little guy is being a good boy and that DD is helping like she said she would.

July 30

Finally! After two days, I am now waiting for the Greyhound bus to get here. I now have two new friends- the taxi driver and his wife. The nicest people I will ever meet. They took me under their wings for two days, fed me, and gave me a place to sleep. The wife was grateful for some female company. She doesn´t work. Her husband works the night shift driving taxis from the airport. It was wonderful to chat with her. She hails from Ciapas. He hails from Sinaloa. She is skinny, not too much, but slightly smaller than I am now, and my height. He is slightly taller than she is and heavy set- sort of like dh had been a few years ago. But both of them have good souls. Pray that God watches over them always. We exchanged information. I will send him some extra money once I get it- as a thank you. And I told them they are welcome to come and visit us in GTO whenever they want to!

I marvel at the daily occurences in my life. I am gettin gused to taking it one day at a time. Its an incredible adventure this thing called life. But I doo look to the future every now and then. I can´t wait to get home to my family.

Since I wrote this I had a few more crazy things happen to me while away from my family. I ended up spending a month sleeping on the couch in my BIL´s place while I waited to be able to do my taxes. I had to get new copies of my w2´s which took about a week, then it took another week to wait on an appointment to do the taxes, then another two weeks until the money finally was direct deposited into my bank account. By that time I was sooo annoyed with being away, I didn´t even take the time to purchase some important things that I should have purchased- like printer ink. The day the money was in my bank account I immediatly purchased my Greyhound ticket for the next evening. I was able to procure some clothes, thanks to a good friend. I also was able to purchase some jewelry cheap to re-sell here. That´s about it.

Yes, I am back to posting!!

This blog is once again active! I apologize for not posting anything since 2009... life got in the way, I lost track of time... I also had completely forgot my email and log-in password for the account this was linked to before.

So how did I get this back you are wondering?? By simply doing something I have been dreading for years- CLEAN UP!!! HAHAHA!

If you happened to find this blog now, and are wondering why there is such a long gap between posts, that is why.

So much has happened since June of 2009, which is when I last posted on here. Life really threw a curve-ball and knocked me unconscious, so to speak, for a good long time. Since I thought I had lost this blog and the other's on this old account, I started a new blog.  I won't bore you with re-posting anything, but if you want to catch up a little with me, here's the lowdown of what happened to me and my family since my last post here...
http://dailyramblingmom.blogspot.com/2011/12/im-sure-that-by-now-you-know-someone.html

I am keeping the new blog. I like what I've done with it, and I like the topics that I've written about. So this blog will still be my venting hole. The Daily Rambling Mom blog will now be more geared towards immigration issues and my online endeavors. At least, that's what I would like to do with it, now that I have this again! ;o)

A bit of humor makes things easier...

A friend posted this on CafeMom today. I thought it was soooo funny!!! And so horribly right- I've dealt with both types of weddings in the past.

I hope you enjoy reading this!


White Wedding vs. Mexican Wedding

WHITES: Send out invitations.
MEXICANS: Send out maps.

WHITES: Receive their invitations 3 months in advance.
MEXICANS: Find out about the wedding 1 week before.

WHITES : Have seven Bridesmaids.
MEXICANS: Have seventy Padrinos.

WHITES: RSVP their invitation.
MEXICANS: Show up with three car loads.

WHITES: Go to the wedding AND the reception.
MEXICANS: Just go to the reception.

WHITES: Have elegant food.
MEXICANS: Have arroz, frijoles and birria.

WHITES: Order the cake from a bakery.
MEXICANS: Have their cake done by la senora down the street.

WHITES: Eat the food and cake.
MEXICANS: Eat the food and cake....... AND take some home para manana

WHITES: At the reception, they drink wine
MEXICANS: At the reception they drink Coors, Budweiser, Bud Light, Bud Ice, Corona , Tecate, Pacifico, Casadores, Patron, Presidente, 20 Jose Cuervo Gusano's, Reposado, etc...

WHITES: Relatives get drunk and pass out.
MEXICANS: Get drunk, shed a few tears and start singing to Vicente
Fernandez songs, fight ... then pass out.

WHITES: Dance at the party ... YEAH RIGHT!!!
MEXICANS: Dance at the party to Nortenas, Rancheras, Reggaeton, Rap, Old school, Oldies, House, and anything the D.J. plays

WHITES: Party ends at midnight.
MEXICANS: Party ends when the COPS show up at the banquet hall but
continue at someone's house afterwards for menudo 'til 6:00 a.m.

WHITES: Wake up the next morning NOT WANTING another beer.
MEXICANS: Wake up the next morning DRINKING another beer to cure the hang-over.

We have to move.

Well, this sucks. We have to move. :'O(

Saturday I opened the front door to find a note from the apartment manager. It was a 60 day notice to quit. Boo hoo.

In a way, I'm a bit glad that we are being forced to leave. Hopefully this means no more strangers showing up in my house, or gang members, and no more people sleeping in my living room.

But I don't want to be in this situation of having to move anymore. ARGH! Where will we go? GRR.


ETA- This was a draft saved on 6/1/09, so I am publishing this with that date, even though I am finally publishing it on 3/11/12. :o) It just makes sense to me for future reference as well. 

When did I loose control?

Somewhere, I've seem to have lost control. I don't know who my husband is. I don't even know if I ever knew who he was. All I can remember is that he is a good man, wanting to do good and help people, and an amazing father.

Lately he's befriended people that make me wonder if I got something wrong somewhere along the line. He brings these people to my house, allows them to stay over, and introduces me to them. Most of these people I feel are good people as well, just they are in really bad places right now. I just can't allow the stuff they do to penetrate into my household. Is that wrong? My hubby wants to help them, but I don't know how he can.

He's starting to act like a teenager again, sort of like he was when we first got together. I'm trying to make positive changes in my life to help my family, but I'm not sure if he even understands what I am trying to do. When these people are here, I put on a face that I'm always happy or just down to earth. But honestly, I am not happy. I want to be. I ask him to have them leave early because of the kids, but he just says I can't. I don't understand why. He gets mad at me when I ask that. But I tell him to think of his kids.

I can hear some of the people outside right now. I want to be friends with most of them, but their lifestyle doesn't fit into mine. How can I be friends with people who are complete opposites of me? Just thinking about that makes me feel sick to my stomach. I can't please my husband, and I can't please everyone else either.

When did I loose that sense of control?

Gabriel Isaiah- Born September 15, 2008

Well, I'm about 8 months late on this birth announcement, LOL! I've been dedicating my time to Gabriel, and my other two as well.

SO....

Gabriel Isaiah was born September 15, 2008 at 1:45 am. He weighed 9lbs 7 oz, and measured 21 inches!

His birth story is something that we'll treasure forever!

I had been anticipating his birth for quite a number of days, thinking that he would come about 2-3 weeks early since my daughter was 2 weeks early. As each day passed, I started to worry that I would be one of those women who would go past the due date! A friend of mine was due 3 days before me, and ended up a week overdue with her third. Another friend had been about two weeks overdue with her fifth! So I was starting to panic.

On Sunday, September 14, I called my dad. I hadn't spoken to him in a few months, so I had to call and say hi. We discussed a variety of things, but one topic stood out: when would I actually go into labor. My dad's birthday is September 20, and he said he wouldn't mind sharing his birthday with his grandson, lol! Well, about 1/3 of the way through the phone call, I started feeling a bit strange. Then the strangeness turned into a feeling of "pop" and then a bit of trickling. I cut our conversation short, saying that I had to go cook dinner, but that I would call him later in the week. Well, as soon as I got off the phone I said to my kids and to my SIL, "I think my water just broke!" It was a strange feeling. With my other two, I never had my water break until I was nearly fully dilated. So I call my husband and told him to hurry his butt home becasue I needed to go into the hospital. He thought I was joking and told me to call him back after I talk to the doctor, but I told him, "Just get your butt home NOW!!" As soon as I hung up with him, I called my doctor. Well, I called the nursing line at the hospital. The nurse that spoke to me said that if I thought my water had broken then I should come in to be checked. By the time I had my bag put together with the essentials (pj's for me and baby, blankets for baby, toothbrush, toothpaste, pads...) DH finally showed up. The kids were going crazy, jumping up and down saying "It's time!!! IT'S TIME!!" He still was not convinced. I said, "No rush. I still don't feel contractions close enough to worry, but I still need to go and be checked."

Oh, and when I felt my water break it was about 6:30pm. DH arrived at the house by 7:15, and we were out the door by 7:30. At that time, contractions were about every 15-20 minutes. Before that, I had been experiencing contractions on and off for two months, so I was pretty much ready for them. We stopped for gas and snacks for the kids on the way, and arrived at the hospital a little after 8pm.

By the time I checked in, I was feeling contractions a bit closer. About ever 10-12 minutes. The nurse checked me with a little alkaline strip to check for amniotic fluids. The test came out positive which meant that, yes, my water had indeed broke. I was given two options. One, go home and wait and come back when my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart; or two, stay. I was afraid that I wouldn't get back in time, so I said "Stay!" Because my water had broken, the midwife asked if she could put me on pitossin to try and help speed things up. I didn't know that you run the risk of infection once your water breaks before hard labor starts. I agreed, and she started me on a very low dosage of pitossin. I don't know how low it was, but it was enough to get those contractions from every 10-12 minutes to every 2-4 within an hour!

Then they started to get intense. At 11pm I was bouncing on the birthing ball, starting to feel some pain from the contractions, so I called for the midwife. "I need something to take the edge off," I told her. I was determined to go completely natural, but at this point I had to have something to ease my pain. Not eliminate it completely, mind you, but ease it to a tolerable level again. BUt because I wanted some pain medication, the midwife had to check to see how dilated I was. I hadn't been checked at all before this moment because of the risk of infection. I was suprised to find out that I was already at 7cm!! So from 6:30 when my water broke to a little after 11pm, I went from who knows what to 7cm. DH had no clue what to think, and asked if that meant he could still go home and rest before it was time. HA. I had to explain to him, and the nurse and the midwife had to explain again immedieatly after me, that going from 7 to complete could be anywhere from 30 minutes to 8 hours, and you never know because each woman and each pregnancy is so different. He assumed that everyone was the same. Whatever. lol.

I was glad I got some pain meds. After that, they really got intense. Both kids were sleeping on the couches in the room by midnight. But they didn't get much time to sleep because a little after 1am...

I grabbed DH's hand and said, "It's time, I need to push!" It was surreal. I cannot honestly recall DS#1's birth or DD's birth in such detail. I had the urge to push, and the midwife just said, OK then start pushing, as she calmly started to gown up and get ready. I wouldn't do anything until she was ready and sitting at the foot of my bed. As soon as she was there, I said "Now!" 5-8 pushes later, Gabriel is born!! The whole time I'm pushing, DD has my hand and is saying "Keep up the good work mom, you can do it, keep up what you are doing, don't stop!" Ok. She's not even 9 at this point. DS#1 just says, "go mom, go!" He's a month away from turning 11. DH was trying not to pass out from lack of sleep!

I am so grateful that my kids were allowed to play an active role in bringing thier little brother into the world. They will forever remember this day, and have said many times since, that they appreciate me more because they now understand what I went through to have them. But more than that, they have an attatchment to thier younger brother that I never experienced.

And now, it's off to bed to nurse Gabriel!!

#$*#%$ Apartment manager!!

Do you think this guy is in his right to do this??

Ok, today my kids were outside the apartment playing. My son was playing soccer, well just passing the ball back and forth with his friends, and my daughter had been riding her bike with her friends. Well, about 6:30 my son comes inside and tells me that the manager just took his soccer ball away, told him that he can no longer play outside, and threw his sister's bike, along with three other bikes, into the garbage.

WHAT??

So I asked the kids to calm down and explain to me what they were doing when the manager came by. My daughter had just set her bike down, propped against the fence of the building to get something inside her friends house when the manager came by. My son saw the manager pick up her bike, and the other bikes, and toss them into the garbage bin. Then the manager told my son to hand over the soccer ball, and then he drove off with his ball.

I called the police to file a report. Of course, a police officer called me back and said that he couldn't do anything because the apartment complex was a privately owned area, and that the manager was in his right to do whatever he felt was necessary if any apartment rules were being broken. One of my neighbors also called the police and the officer ended up coming out to the apartments. We were told that basically, the police have no jurisdiction over the apartment complex because it is a privately owned property, and that the resident manager has the right to do whatever he wanted to because he was the person in charge of the property.

Something else- Before I called the police, I called and left a message on the manager's cell phone. I said I wanted to talk to him immediately because I was upset and I wanted to know what had happened. 20 minutes after I called him, and about 5 minutes after I called the police, he drives up to the building. I said, "Sorry, but I actually don't think I should talk to you right now because I am so mad at what has happened, and I have already called the police." He just said "ok fine" and then peeled off- and by peeled off I mean drove away going well over the posted speed limit of 10mph.

I mentioned that to the police officer, and he just shrugged and said that he cannot enforce the speed limit on private property. Ok, and this police is a traffic officer. I'm not fully understanding this at all.

First of all, there has been an ongoing problem with this particular manager. I've lived in this apartment for over 2 years now and have not had one personal dispute with the manager until this very day. I have many hispanic friends that live here as well, but they all have had many disputes with the manager over the last few years. The main problem is that the manager has been extremely disrespectful and often times downright abusive in dealing with kids. These last couple of months the manager has suddenly decided to drive or walk around the complex and tell the kids they are not allowed to play outside. My son has complained to me on numerous occasions that the manager told him to go inside. My friends have also told me that the manager has done the same to thier children. Children need to be outside, riding thier bikes, playing tag, etc, not inside becoming couch potatoes. The apartment complex has no play ground for the children. On the side of the complex where I live there are signs posted that say "Caution- children at play" On the side of the complex where the manager lives there is a sign that says "no skateboarding, rollerblading, bicycle riding, etc" There is no sign whatsoever that says that on this end of the complex. Our complex is basically divided into to areas, with two separate entrances and exits. In between each area is the office, pool, and tennis court. The only way to get from one area to the other is to walk.

Well, when the police officer arrived to talk to me and my neighbor who also called the police, he seemed annoyed that we called him for a civil problem. We walked him to the apartment manager's apartment and the officer briefly talked to the manager to fnd out what happened. The manager told him he has repeatedly told everyone to not block the common areas with the bikes, and that he has had way to many problems with bikes being left laying around, seemingly abandoned. He claimed that my daughter's bike and the others were blocking the driveway. He also claims that the fire department has been out multiple times for inspections recently and has given the manager multiple warnings about blocked fire acess, etc due to tennants bikes and other stuff. It's supposed to be in our contract that we cannot block common areas, cannot leave items in the breezeway of the buildings, etc. Ok I understand that. But the bicycles were not blocking the driveway and were not in anyway left haphazardly in the path that people need to walk, and were certainly not left abandonded.

Now with the case of my son and the soccer ball- the manager told the officer that the boys were hitting the cars with the soccer ball. Did he just insinuate that the boys were doing that on purpose and that is why he took the ball away from them? I'd understand if that was the case. However, shouldn't I have been notified immediately by the manager if my kids were doing something wrong? My kids would never purposely hit a car with the ball. When I asked my son about that he said they were just playing and the ball had accidentally hit one car at the same time the manager was throwing the bicycles into the garbage. You play with a ball, soccer or anything else, and of course the ball won't always stay where you want it to go, and could hit a car or someone. Everyone knows that.

Now the manger also told the officer that in our contract/lease it states that children must be supervised while they are outside. He actually said that in a different manner, which the officer interpreted that the kids are not allowed outside ever unless an adult is with them at all times. Umm, ok. You can supervise your kids from your apartment. You don't need to be watching them like a hawk or be standing there where they are playing or following them wherever they go to play. I can hear my kids and know where they are and know what they are doing. They can hear me from the apartment if I call them. I can see out my bedroom window what they are doing. I can stand on my balcony and watch them do stuff. My kids are not left alone with no parental supervision whatsoever. I am a responsible parent. Now, some of the other kids on the other hand are not supervised whatsoever. In fact, thier parents assume without actually getting my consent that I am watching their kids for them.

Oh I am so mad still, and it's been 3 hours since this all started. I've called the landlord and tenant dispute office and the property managment office and left messages. I will be calling them back in the morning to talk to someone before they can call me back.

If I go into labor tomorrow or this evening, then the manager will have to pay my bills for me since it is his fault. I can't even think anymore about this and cannot keep writing because I'm so angry.