From Left to Write - Barracuda and Family

Just finished the book Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas for my online book club, From Left to Write. As a member of From Left to Write I received a free copy of the book for review purposes. We don't actually review the book, instead we write a blog post inspired by something in the book. Barracuda is a novel where former Olympic hopeful Dan destroys his swimming career and his attempt at redemption after prison.

After reading the book I had not one thought about what to write about. I didn't really enjoy reading the book and wondered what I was missing. So I logged into my Goodreads account and read several reviews by different people and realized that several people felt like me about the book, so that made me feel better.

One of the things that I did notice in the story-line is how important family is. In my life I've had several ups and downs. Times when I was so happy I had to share it with someone and times when I was so down and devastated that I needed someone by my side to provide comfort, love and safety and in all those times it has been family.

Whether they were there to teach me right from wrong, like my maternal grandmother who once reprimanded me for tossing the car keys to my mom when she asked for them. My grandmother very sternly advised me that I was being disrespectful and to never throw anything to or at my parents and made me go get the keys from my mother, walk back to her and then walk back to my mother and hand them to her.

Or whether they were there to give me advice about life and the choices we make, like my paternal grandfather who gave me the best advice I've ever received when I was married and torn between ending my marriage to an abusive man or staying for the sake of my children and because of my Catholic faith. My grandfather told me, "Mejor sola que mal acompanda." Better alone than in bad company.

When I got sick with Cancer several years ago, it was my family that was by my side. I remember my brother Fred, when I told him I was going to have surgery he asked me for the date so he could ask his boss for the time off. I told him he didn't have to take the time off, that I would be fine and that my mom and dad, my sister Lisa, my daughter April and my son James would all be there. He said, "Are you kidding? I am going to be there too! Alicia, sometimes you don't wake up from the anesthesia." At the time I thought that was a very depressing thing to hear, but later I realized that if that was going to be my last day on this earth, then the last few minutes would have my brother Fred in it, because he loved me and nothing else mattered more to him that day.

Through all the trials and tribulations that Dan/Danny went through in the book, his family was there to love and support him, even when he didn't appreciate them, when he was downright mean and nasty to them, when he cared only about himself and they were just bit players the in life of Danny, they were still there for them, because family loves you for the rest of your life, no matter what!

        

I Am My Mother and Proud of it!

I've seen the quote above posted on facebook several time by different women and I realize it's true and I'm proud of it. My mom has the wisdom of the ages and if I can be like her in any small way it's ok with me!

It's funny how much we become what our mothers are/were. I was reading a blog post from Arlee at Wrote by Rote, he's doing a great A thru Z Challenge using Music. His letter today was "V" and he chose the song Volare by Dean Martin. I'm listening to the youtube video he posted while I write this and I remember Dean from his movies with Jerry Lewis...what a voice!

Arlee tells of his mother's love of music and how he remembers her stacking a pile of albums on their hi-fi and doing her housework to the sound of music. What a wonderful memory for him. He then asks:

What songs do you associate most with your childhood? Did you have a stay-at-home mom and did she listen to music in the daytime? How old were you when you first began to appreciate music?

My comment to his post has actually turn into a post. I find that happens ALOT and that is why I love reading other bloggers, because they inspire me.

I commented, "Your mom loved music and played it often. My mom wasn't a big fan of music. I rarely remember it being played in our home so I never became a fan of music and even now only listen to it on the radio in the car. I don't have an iPod, I don't download music, I don't buy CD's. But mom loved books and I grew up with a love of reading. Mom loved games so I have every game imaginable. Mom loved puzzles, so I in turn love puzzles, even though now I do them online."

To this day I read all the time. Everyone in my family is a great fan of reading in the bathroom and believe it or not there have been times I've been in other people's bathrooms where there is no reading material and I've read the back of cans of Comet and Ajax, shampoo bottles, Mr Clean and Formula 409! I know my brothers and sister would probably 'fess up to the same thing! Mom taught us that! Well not reading Ajax bottles, but she gave us our love of reading.

Mom loved games, we played Yahtzee, Scrabble, Monopoly, Cards, Pick Up Sticks, Jenga, Cootie, Sorry and so many more! Mom always won, always! Now we look back and think maybe she was a bit of a cheater? We can't prove it, but we still suspect it. Dad would sleep in his recliner and every once in a while when we got too loud and woke him up he would look at us like we were nuts and go right back to sleep, knowing his little family was safe and sound and having fun!

Two things were always on our dining room table growing up. One one side was my mom's sewing machine. She was and is a Master Seamstress! She would make matching dresses for me, my sister and one for her! She would make doll clothes. She even sewed the Cheerleader Outfits for me and my fellow Cheerleaders in high school one year. We looked like dolls in our very unique Blue and Gold Cheerleader outfits!

The thing on the other side of the dining room table growing up was a big piece of plywood with a jigsaw puzzle on it. Mom always had a puzzle going. She would buy most of them at yard sales. We loved to spend quiet time in the evening just sitting there eating a little snack and working on the puzzle with mom. My favorite time was when we would start a new puzzle and she would divide up the pieces in the top and bottom of the box and then give one to me to pick out the edge pieces as we always built the frame first, then divided up the remaining pieces by color.

I shocked a friend recently when I told him that I wasn't a big fan of music and that growing up we never listened to music. He was stunned and said, "I can't imagine a house with no music. Music is the life of a house!" I told him, "Well I can't imagine a house without books, that was what brought life and other worlds and culture and opened up the world to us!" And that is what my mother taught me.

What's your favorite memory as a child with your mother? or your Father? Was music a big part of your world growing up? Or were you more bookish like me? I'd love to know!


      

Books Read in 2009

Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book. ~Author Unknown

1. Faith of My Fathers ~ John McCain
2. Bitter Grounds ~ Sandra Benitez

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. ~Groucho Marx

3. Twilight ~ Stephanie Meyer
4. New Moon ~ Stephanie Meyer
5. Eclipse ~ Stepanie Meyer
6. Breaking Dawn ~ Stephanie Meyer

I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. ~Anna Quindlen, "Enough Bookshelves," New York Times, 7 August 1991

7. Odd Thomas ~ Dean Koontz
8. The Disappearance of Lyndsey Barratt ~ John Wilson
9. The Wedding ~ Nicholas Sparks

Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it. ~P.J. O'Rourke

10. A Day To Pick Your Own Cotton ~ Michael Phillips
11. The Color of Your Skin Ain't the Color of Your Heart ~ Michael Phillips

A good book should leave you... slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it. ~William Styron, interview, Writers at Work, 1958

12. Mrs. Kimble ~ Jennifer Haigh
13. A Million Little Pieces ~ James Frey

My test of a good novel is dreading to begin the last chapter. ~Thomas Helm

14. Good in Bed ~ Jennifer Weiner
15. At First Sight ~ Nicholas Sparks
16. rising ~ Darnella Ford

You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend. ~Paul Sweeney

17. Duplicate Keys ~ Jane Smiley
18. Icy Sparks ~ Gwyn Hyman Rubio

Lord! when you sell a man a book you don't sell just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life. Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night - there's all heaven and earth in a book, a real book. ~Christopher Morley

19. The Nanny Diaries ~ Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus
20. Promise Not To Tell ~ Jennifer McMahon
21. Lovely Bones ~ Alice Sebold

The smallest bookstore still contains more ideas of worth than have been presented in the entire history of television. ~Andrew Ross

22. Lost and Found ~ Carolyn Parkhurst
23. Losing It ~ Valerie Bertinelli
24. I know this much is true ~ Wally Lamb

A house without books is like a room without windows. ~Heinrich Mann

I'm starting 2010 by reading a book my sweet daughter April gave me for Christmas.
It's Julie & Julia by Julie Powell.

What are you reading in the New Year?

Uncle Sam wanted Me! Well he wanted my money anyway!

Today I'm a good American...I filed my income taxes. Which means I paid taxes, even though I'm getting a refund "Thank God!". As with anything painful, if you can see the humor in it you can get through it; and I'm a firm believer in the silver lining concept. So here's some deep and some are funny quotes that make you think and put tax time into perspective. Enjoy!

• “I am proud to be paying taxes in the United States. The only thing is – I could be just as proud for half the money.” — Arthur Godfrey
• Ever wonder why the IRS calls it Form 1040? Because for every $50 that you earn, you get 10 and they get 40 ~ Anonymous
• I just filled out my income tax forms. Who says you can't get killed by a blank? ~ Milton Berle
• The tax collector must love poor people, he's creating so many of them. ~ Bill Vaughan
• The only difference between a taxman and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. -- Mark Twain
• Worried about an IRS audit? Avoid what's called a red flag. That's something the IRS always looks for. For example, say you have some money left in your bank account after paying taxes. That's a red flag. -- Jay Leno
• Congress can raise taxes because it can persuade a sizable fraction of the populace that somebody else will pay. -- Milton Friedman
• The difference between death and taxes is death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets. -- Will Rogers
• Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors... and miss. -- Robert A. Heinlein
• There's nothing wrong with the younger generation that becoming taxpayers won't cure. -- Dan Bennett
• The only thing that hurts more than paying an income tax is not having to pay an income tax. -- Lord Thomas Robert Dewar

I guess when it comes right down to it, in today's economy the last quote really hits home for me. It hurts to pay taxes on my income, but it would be even worse to have no income at all.

Reflections from a Mother's Heart

It's been a while since I've done a post from "Reflections from a Mother's Heart". I have quite a few posts that I'm working on, but I have to download the pictures from my camera, so I thought I would just do a Reflections post today and get myself warmed up to do the others, so here goes.

The topic in the book today is...Where did your father go to work everyday and what did he do?

For as far back as I can remember my dad has been a farmer, farm hand, foreman, farm supervisor, tractor driver, mechanic, jack of all trades. My earliest memory of his work is when he worked in Eloy, Arizona for a man named Cecil or as he and my mom said it "Seeso". I don't know the name of the ranch but I know my dad grew cotton and hay. I know that he took me to work with him sometimes and Seeso used to call me Guerra. I remember that Seeso was very short and very light skinned and very fat and I liked him, he was always nice to me and I liked that he called me Guerra, he was also very Guerro.

I know that my dad worked very hard and left very, very early every morning to go to work. We were always asleep when he left and when we were little...up until I started school he would make a special breakfast drink called a "Ponche" which consisted of milk, raw egg, sugar and cinnamon. He would mix it up real good (when I make it now, I put it in the blender, but I know we didn't have a blender way back then) and he would warm it up (without a microwave) and he would put it in a bottle for me and my little sister before he would go off to work. That way he would buy my mom a little extra sleeping time as we would drink our warm little Ponche bottle and not wake up hungry as soon as he left. Now I know that you're probably wondering about why we didn't die of ecoli, drinking raw egg, but I have a theory about it that I call simply "God loves little Mexican children". More about that later.

I know that my dad left and did whatever he did at the ranch or the shop and then he would come home in the morning when my mom had us all "up and at'em" and she would fix him breakfast, this was usually around 6 or 7am. Then he would ride off in his truck again to return when it was lunchtime. He would have his lunch, grab a quick nap while we crawled around on his legs while he slept and then he was off again.

Sometimes, depending on how close he was working, we would see him off and on through the day until he came home, usually at about 6pm and he would have dinner and fall asleep. He worked hard and came home pretty tired.

One thing about my dad that I didn't know then, but I do know now is that he had a pretty bad temper and he was very sensitive about what people said about him, or how he perceived people thought about him, and I'm talking about people at work. His boss or a coworker could say something in all innocence and my dad would take offense to it and quit. He would go home and tell my mom, "Well I quit" and she would commence with the packing. Once I started school I would come home at least once a school year to see a U-Haul trailer parked in front of the house. I would hand my books to someone in my class and tell them with tears in my eyes that I wasn't coming back anymore and to please tell my teacher goodbye and give her my schoolbooks. And that would be that in that school.

Let me run down the list of schools I went to:

I started 1st grade (because at that time there was no kindergarten) at:

Eloy, Arizona, then

Toltec, Arizona, then

Harquahala, Arizona, then

Yuma, Arizona, then

Poston, Arizona, then

Calipatria, California and came to end up in

Shafter, California.

Now I could be wrong about that rundown, I seem to remember there might have been other schools, so I reserve the right to edit!

All I can say about my dad is that he lived and worked for us, his family. My mom tells a story of my dad stopping after work one day to buy himself his usual can of beer and I had just been born and he realized right then that by buying himself beer he was taking away from me. He realized that with the money he was spending for beer my mom could buy me a dress or something else I needed and he quit buying his daily beer.

My dad is still alive, and he's not in the best of health both physical and mentally. Especially mentally. I don't know if it's early stages of Alzheimer's or dementia or just paranoia or schizophrenia, heck I really don't know so how can I label it. But I know the brain my dad is living with right now is not the brain of the man that lived his life for me. I have to remind myself of that a lot because I do get angry with him because he does and says hurtful things right now, but I know that I am who I am today because of him. My children are Americans because of him. I survived being a single mother because of him. I have pride in myself because of him.

Yes, my dad went to work everyday and he did something at that place he called the ranch everyday...but his real work, his paycheck is us...his kids and grand kids. I once read this poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson and when I did I thought...someday, when my dad passes this is what I want in his memorial cards because this is what my dad was...

To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch… to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!”
–- Ralph Waldo Emerson

You are and will always be a success dad, because I have breathed easier because you lived.

Some facts about ME, cause in my world, it really is ALL ABOUT ME!

There's this little questionnaire going around right now on several of the blogs I read and it's a series of questions you have to answer about your husband. Well since I don't have one of those, and I didn't want to be left out of anything current going on in the blogosphere I thought I would address the questions to me and answer them. I mean who knows me better than me?

Ok, here we go.

1. Alicia is sitting in front of the tv, what is on the screen?
The truth is that it's off, just a blank screen. I don't have cable and there's nothing to watch on Sundays. I did just finish watching Monk on HULU.com though.

2. You're out to eat what kind of dressing does Alicia get on her salad?
I like ranch, but it does depend on what kind of salad. If it's like a Chinese chicken salad, then I like the Chinese chicken salad type of dressing. If it's like a taco salad, then usually salsa is the dressing, although sometimes you can get a really good cilantro-lime dressing as well.

3. What's one food Alicia doesn't like?
That would have to be mushrooms. I can't stand the way they smell or the texture. I've even tried stuffed mushrooms and you just can't hide that disgusting taste. The strange thing is that my mom who dislikes pretty much all veggies just loves mushrooms, go figure.

4. You go out to the bar, what does Alicia order?
Usually a Corona Beer with lime in a salted glass, kinda like a poor women's margarita. But it does depend on what I'm eating and/or doing. If I'm having Mexican food, I do enjoy a margarita, but if I need to get my rhythm going before dancing, then definitely a Long Island Ice tea with a shot!

5. Where did Alicia go to high school?
I went to Calipatria High School in Calipatria, California. Go HORNETS!

6. What size shoe does Alicia wear?
A size 6 1/2, really. But I love that line in Steel Magnolia's where Truvy says, "I usually wear a 6, but a 7 feels so good, I'll buy an 8."

7. If Alicia was to collect anything, what would it be?
A few years back I did start collecting bears, all kinds of bears, ceramic, cloth, pictures, dishes, etc. I'm just waiting for spring so I can have a huge yard sale. I really don't have one particular thing I want to collect because pretty much I just want EVERYTHING. In fact I have an "IWANNA" post coming up here in the near future.

8. What is Alicia's favorite type of sandwich?
I really love my fried ham sandwiches with avocado, but my tuna with minced jalapeno is pretty good too.

9. What would Alicia eat every day if she could?
What else? Chips and Salsa, Chips and Salsa!

10. What is Alicia's favorite cereal?
I'm a simple woman of simple tastes, I love Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, they're Grrrrreeeaaaatttttttt!!!!!!!!

11. What would Alicia never wear?
Probably a Halloween costume in the workplace. That one comes to mind because my current coworkers want to dress up this year and I've never dressed up and never wanted too.

12. What is Alicia's favorite sports team?
Dallas Cowboy's Baby!!! Oh Yeah! Even though they did lose today :-(

13. Who will Alicia vote for?
I'm a Republican and I am really for the McCain-Palin ticket! No one is perfect I know, but McCain's war record and love of his country speaks volumes to me.

14. Who is Alicia's best friend?
You've heard the saying, "You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family". Well the best thing is when your best friend is also family...my beautiful, wonderful, generous, loving, funny, bighearted sister Lisa!

15. What is something you do that you wish you wouldn't do?
I guess it would be speaking without thinking...and that's not really true because I do think about what I'm going to say, it's just that some things are better left unsaid, but by then I've already said them!

16. How many states has Alicia lived in?
Arizona and California only.

17. What is Alicia's heritage?
Mexican American, although I prefer American Mexican.

18. You bake Alicia a cake for her birthday; what kind of cake?
Again, I'm a simple woman with simple tastes. My fav cake is white with white frosting. But I do love me some Carrot cake, mmmmmmm.

19. Did Alicia play sports in high school?
Funny but I was just talking to my cousin Robert about this today. I played Volleyball, Softball and a little Tennis.

20. What could Alicia spend hours doing?
Besides talking? Just kidding. I guess it would either be sleeping or online reading blogs.

My Creative Mind

I posted a few days ago about how my energy is coming back and a few details about my surgery, which I still have to complete. But I noticed that it was getting harder and harder for me to blog as my mind was just a blank. I couldn't think of anything creative or interesting to blog about (not that all my prior blogs are all that interesting and creative...lol).

But the last few days I've had lots of thoughts pop into my mind about future blogs. Today I was checking out a website called Etsy.com and I remembered how when I bought my house I wanted to put a saying over the doorway from the living room into the kitchen, so I found some I like and that's what this post is about. See...it's not that creative or interesting...but it is to me :-)

These are not in any particular order. I was going to organize them into the ones I want in the doorway, the ones I want in my bedroom, the ones I want in the kitchen, but NAH...that's really too much work and I'm kind of half devoting my brain right now to watching The Ellen Show!

I like these two for my sister's laundry room more than I like it for mine because I don't do laundry very often since it's just me. She, on the other hand, has a big, sweaty husband and two smelly boys, so she does a TON of laundry! I mean like very day, a couple times a day! She only knows two rooms in her house, the laundry room and the kitchen!

Those were cute huh? And very appropriate for her. Ok, most of these are self explanatory, so I'll just roll with them and only comment on the ones I feel are too deep for you to comprehend :-)


Ok, I'll comment on this one because I think this one is a keeper for putting it over the entry door into my kitchen from the living room. This is me...I love being at home. There is no where else on earth I would rather be. I love my home. I love to just sit there and enjoy my home. Sometimes when I leave for work I stand at the door and just look back one more time and think to myself...I love my house!

I'll comment on this one also because I'm trying to do my kitchen in a grapey, wine type of theme. I don't really care for wine, but a lot of things you can buy for your kitchen that have grapes also have wine and vice versa. It would be much more appropriate for me if it said, "I like to cook with Corona and occasionally... I even put it in the food." Hmmmm, they can custom make these to say whatever you want. I think that's what I'm going to do! I know it doesn't go with the grapey, wine kind of theme, but it works better for me. I guess I'm just a little more ghetto.

These next ones are sooooooooooo cool! Because anyone who knows me knows I love shopping, and I love shoes!

I like this one for the wall in my bedroom because my sister gave me a soap dispenser for my birthday that says, "Sing like no one is listening". See...I love to sing and I think I even have a pretty decent voice, and God has given me the gift of remembering the lyrics to every song I hear. I don't ever remember the name of the song or the artist, but I remember the lyrics and I love to sing while I'm cooking or cleaning house. My kids though hate it. They hate when I sing in the car and even more so when I sing at home. I keep telling them that someday when I'm gone they're going to wish they could hear me sing just one more time (they don't see it that way).

This next one is one that kind of matches the one about singing above, but I really want to put this on the wall above my kichen sink. It pretty much tells my kids, na nee, na nee, naa naa! :-P

I'll comment on this one, because I would love to put this one on a wall in my living room between my two little black shelves that I place Knickknack's and pictures on. I love putting up pictures of family and friends and there are people that like that sort of stuff and think it's great and then there are those people that think it's just more crap to clean, dust catchers, chincherio! But this saying says exactly why I love to display photos!

And that's it. I just got a call from my sister and I guess we're going to do a "Friday Night" tonight. We haven't done one in a long time due to my surgery and the weather and a few other obligations that we have had. So I'm off to drink wine coolers and eat guacamole and we're going to watch Kevin Costner in "The Guardian"!

Some favorite quotes

I have always loved quotes, especially in school when I had to write papers. Starting a paper with a quote was a "catcher" and sure to impress almost any teacher. Here are a few of my favorites:

• "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."


• "He who dies with the most toys is, nonetheless, still dead."


• "No day is so bad it can't be fixed with a nap."


• "Some people exist just to annoy me!"


• "If I could wish for one thing, it would be to have nothing to wish for."


• "Men are taught to apologize for their weaknesses, women for their strengths"


• "To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice."


• "Integrity is doing the right thing, even if nobody is watching."


• "We do not remember days...we remember moments."

I have another favorite, one that I want to someday paint over the door into my dining room, but my sister Lisa is guardian on that one and she always forgets to email it back to me.

Lisa, send it!