Mostly For Shannon

It's been a LONG time since I have flat ironed my hair. Shannon (a friend from work) was asking me about it recently. She says she has curly hair, too. You'd never guess since she has really pretty, long, straight hair. So, I'm thinking "Okay, this hairstyle I've had for like ever is getting boring." As part of "WHOLE NEW LOOK 2009", I decided to try it again today. Well, it looks better than I remember (I think the overwhelming number of grays are actually starting to affect the overall texture) but I'm not sure I actually like it. I also discovered (remembered is more acurate) that I suck at taking pictures of myself. You know how some people are just gifted with the perfect-arm-length-from-face-to-capture-really-cute-shots of themselves? Yeah, I don't have that. No matter how I hold the damn camera, either my chin or my forehead look enormous. After trying about 40 times, I decided ya'll would have to live with some mirror shots. So here. Take a good look and then vote. I can't promise that I will abide by the results of the vote, but I'll think about it. I decided to let you vote in the comments, so that you can vote anonymously, if you choose. The choices are:

1. Meh, either way is fine.
2. Grow up, straight hair is more mature.
3. For the love of God, please don't make us look at that obnoxious sticky curly hair anymore.
4. I like your curly hair, it's part of who you are.
5. I'm too nice to tell you the truth.

Since I had the camera out I decided to take a couple pics of my more skinny ass. I lost another 2 pounds and am now at a weight I haven't been at in over 2 years. WOOHOO!! These are my fat pants! They were actually falling off. I had to roll them over the top to keep them up. I won't be wearing them again. BYEBYE FAT PANTS!!! (oh and there's some shadowing there over my belly, so look real close :)

Church

After several weeks of "prior committments" and lame excuses, we actually got up early this morning and went to the Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church. It wasn't half bad. We were warmly welcomed and given a quick tour. The service started with the lighting of the Chalice, which is a symbol of religious freedom. Then some young children lit the 4 peace candles for "peace in my heart, peace in my church, peace in the world" and something else I can't recall. After about 20 minutes, Ava and Emma went out with all of the other kids to their religious education classes. Beto and I enjoyed a sermon about finding "indelible moments of grace". It was way more philosophical than religious. We thought it was nice. The largest majority of the congregation were white middle-aged hippies and Beto was quick to point out that there weren't any other Mexicans. I had to contain my laughter when I said "oh, come on, you know the mexicans will never leave the Catholic Church!!". It was a little more crunchy than he generally likes but it felt very safe. The kids loved their classes and can't wait to go back. So, we will give it a few more tries and see how it goes. Regardless of what we thought about it, it was nice to get out as a family and do something peaceful.

Afterward we went to Chuy's for beer and some bomb-ass Mexican food :))

Jumping Jacks

I have been doing the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred DVD. The girls are obsessed with it. Every time I put on my shoes to get started, here they come wanting to join in. However, it generally leads to "I'M THE GREEN GIRL" "NO AVA, YOU ALWAYS GET TO BE HER!" "MOM, EMMA WON'T LET ME BE THE GREEN GIRL!!!!" "THAT'S IT! GO UPSTAIRS BOTH OF YOU!!!" Ah, zen. Anyway, tonight I started my workout after Emma went to bed. Ava got to join me and there was no fighting over who could be the green girl. As we were getting started Ava said "Mom, do you want to be the red girl or the black girl (they are identified by the color of their clothes). You can't be the green girl becasue I'm the green girl." I picked black, in case you are wondering. Here is Ava doing her most awesome move. Note the incredibly appropriate shoes she specifically donned to workout :))

Martinez, Party of Four

I have come to realize that I am indeed insane. This week, I had the bright idea to schedule Ava and Vinny together for their wellness (AKA immunization) visits. I have been a mother for eight and a half years. I should know better than to think that I had enough magic to pull off the soothing/straight-jacket-choke hold during immunizations for TWO children by myself. Ava, the super-awesome reading 42#, 42inch 90th percentile 4 year old, decided that she would go first to "show Vinny how brave" she could be. She was brave. She sat quietly as the first needle approached her little thigh. Then............all hell broke lose. She started screaming as the nurse jabbed in the vax. Then I had to sort-of restrain her hands and distract her for the second shot, all the while holding Vinny, who has become incredibly strong and does not like to be held. The second shot was an MMR which burns like a mofo. So, of course she started the hippopotamus. She just kept screaming "I'M NOT BRAVE" and any attempt on my part to reassure her that she was, in fact, brave only increased the decibel of the hippopotamus. The hippopotamus scares Vinny so he was already screaming before I even got into position to restrain him for his two shots. I put him on my lap and got ready. As soon as the first needle struck, he flung his head back and gave me a little fat lip. Vinny, the non-verbal going to speech therapy, 24#, 35 inch, off the chart for height 19 month old, only cried for a few seconds. We high-tailed it out of there and went to get some lollys to make us feel better. Oh the drama.

So, since that was SO MUCH FUN, I went ahead and kept the dental appointements I made back in NOVEMBER for myself, Emma and Ava for today at 12:45. You know, when my husband is at work, which means I had to take Vinny, too. I was so anxious about it turning into a three-ring circus that I probably could have used some xanax. But, since I was driving (and I don't have a prescription for xanax) I just drank a few cups of coffee instead. (Notice the pattern of poor decision making?) Lucky for everyone (or maybe just highly intuitive of my kids who must have recognized that if mommy lost it today she was going to go away and live in a special hospital for a few weeks) my children were absolute angels for the entire THREE HOURS that we were at the dentist. I went first, while Emma quietly did her homework in the waiting room and Ava and Vinny watched Dora on the TV in the exam room. While I was getting my deep cleaning, they called Emma back. She went alone into the chair on the opposite side of the partition from me. I didn't hear a peep out of her. Then Ava went when Emma was finished, while I took Vinny to the waiting room to walk around a bit. It was her first time going to the dentist and every time I went back to check on her, she said "Mom, I'm fine. Just wait for me out there." I got several compliments on their behavior and cuteness from the doctor, staff and other patients. Which reminds me, someone recently told me that because I don't spank my kids, they are probably brats. When I replied as nicely as I could muster that no, they were actually well-behaved, she said "To you maybe, but other people probably think they are brats." Nope, you're wrong. Neener-neener.

As their reward for being so well-behaved, we took them to Freddy's for custard. They are such great kids :)



**Oh, and a quick shout-out to Dawn and Beth. I picked up this new background and the bookshelf from your blogs :)