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Emma's Opening Day was today. WooHoo, it was fun! She is only 8 but she is getting so good. For those who don't know, I played softball from age 7 through High School. I even played for a traveling team for about 4 years. My life was non-stop softball for a long time. I got distracted in high school and lost focus (I also had a shitty varsity coach.) Anyway, I hung up my cleats after graduation and have only played a handful of rec games since then. I didn't realize how much I loved that freaking game until, well, today.
Emma has been playing since she was 6, and it has been a learning experience for all of us (esp Beto, who was also a die-hard in his youth. In fact, he was drafted by the Yankees). This last fall, Beto joined up with a few other dads and started coaching. Because the softball complex was under construction in the Fall, they only had a few games. The guys got together again this Spring and put together a kickass team. Emma has really come into her own this season. She is aggressive, competitive and WAY more talented than Beto and I ever were at age 8. As much as I loved playing, I love watching her play even more. I am well on my way to becoming one of those crazy softball moms!
Today she played shortstop and made some amazing defensive plays but her bat is where it's at. She went 3 for 3 with 2 HR, a single and 7 RBI. Here is a video of her single. That's Beto in the background cheering on #4!

My Little Litmus Test

Last night I stayed up late to listen to DumbAss Jason Mesnick (AKA The Bachelor) try to defend his asshole moves on Jimmy Kimmel Live. I don't have much to say about that. He's a douchebag and I hope he gets what he deserves. I can't believe I wasted so much of my life watching that garbage. Anyway, on to my point. New Kids on the Block (you know, NKOTB) were also on the show last night. Here's a video in case you missed it:


The sheer horror of watching grown white men do synchronized dancing reminded me that I have always been repulsed by these NKOTB. In fact, I once got into a MAJOR disagreement with a few of my teammates on my traveling softball team (actually, I made them cry) because I told them how much NKOTB sucked. Last night I got to thinking: there is no middle ground here. You either love (and always have loved) NKOTB or you loathe (and always have loathed) them. I'm pretty sure that I can't really be close to anyone who is a lover of the NKOTB. It's sort of like cats for me. I don't like cats. I don't mesh with "cat people". I always have a little "aha" moment when I realize that some person whom I don't connect with declares their love of cats. We just don't click and we never will. So prove me right, dear friends, and tell me that you all are haters of the NKOTB. Don't let me down.

Sunday Funday!

We had an awesome Sunday. However, I misplaced my camera. Seriously, WTF? I cannot for the life of my children remember where I left it. So, here are some fantastic google images to portray our day. By the way, if you are ever looking for some nasty porn, just google anything with the word "mom". GROSS! I had to wash my eyes out with bleach so you should REALLY appreciate this post.

We went to church again today. It was nice for Emma, Ava and I but Vinny didn't handle the nursery very well again. He didn't cry when we left him but when Beto went to check on him about 15 minutes later, he was crying really hard. So, Beto took him out and thus began our second stay in the "comfort room", which I've decided is code for freak gathering. No, I'm not here for a playdate. I don't want to talk to you about breastfeeding. I just want to listen. It got so annoying that Beto decided to take Vinny out to the car to wait. I got to sit quietly alone to listen the the rest of the sermon, which was fantastic. The minister talked about Henry David Thoreau, Gandhi and Martin Luther King, JR and Soulforce, an organization that fights for the freedom of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from religious and political oppression. Yay, we know this is one of my favorite issues. We finished by singing "We Shall Overcome". The girls' lessons in their age-group classes were about tolerance and curiosity. So, I'll admit I am enjoying the church thing. Unfortunately, since Vinny won't do the nursery (we knew it was risky because it is during nap time), he and Beto will be staying home while I take the girls to church. We'll try again in a few months.
After church, we decided to go to Costco. OMG, what a nightmare. Apparently everyone and their 18 kids goes to Costco on Sunday. Thankfully, it was after 12 so we had no problem getting our weekly supplies. Sorry kids, we didn't have enough money for those organic snacks you like :( Maybe next time.
After a nice little nap, I got dressed to take the kids to the park. For some reason, my super controlling husband MADE me change my clothes. WHATEVER!

So, I got into something "more appropriate" and walked the kids down to the park. Notice how perfectly my outfit coordinates with my stroller. I'm hot like that (ps googling "hot mom with stroller" is how I found the above image, as well as many others that were way to nasty to post-barf).

At the park, I ran into one of my neighbors. We chit-chatted while we pushed our kids on the swings. It looked a lot like this:
And it was going well until her two year old had the nerve to touch Ava's scooter. The hippopotamus came out and so I'm sure they will never talk to us again :(

And then the perfect ending:
Sunday Funday.

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 :)