Fourth of July 2014

This 4th of July was very different from last year.  My dad passed away on July 4th and at night we were at his wake at the funeral home.  This year I was with Don, Carlos and Titi at a very large outdoor party at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood.  We had a nice time.  There were lots of food trucks and we had Mexican tacos.  I had the vegetarian ones and they were delicious.  The kids ate at the casino's food court.  The fireworks were great and then we stayed at the DJ's stage.  Don went to the other stage to listen to different kind of music.  Carlos loved being there.  He wants to be a DJ, among other things, when he grows up, and he already has a collection of lights that he uses to put on shows at home.

 

Band Camp concert

On Thursday, Titi had her Band Camp final concert.  It was so great to see her play in front of lots of people and be comfortable about it.  She seemed to really enjoy being part of the band. Mema came to see her play and then Don and Titi drove her home.

2013

I missed posting in 2013.  So many things happened since I last wrote.  The main thing was my dad getting very sick in early June.  We had just arrived in Guatemala when Angel called Mimi to tell him my dad had to be taken to the hospital again.  He was in bad shape.  I was not sure of what to do.  I did not want to leave Don and the kids in Guatemala. Fortunately, we were able to Skype with Angel and we saw dad.  Mimi had rented a house in Coatepec and my dad was there with Angel and Emmita.  I flew as soon as I came back to the USA and stayed there for 20 days.  I was fortunate to be there during my dad's last days. We were able to give him the best care we could. Lots of family visited daily and gave my dad and us support and love. I feel so lucky to have lots of extended family and I want to be closer to them in 2014.

Paul also passed away in June.  Tere's dad also died in 2013.  It was a sad year for all of us.

They year was also full of cats and more cats.  We trapped and spayed and neutered more cats and we also added more to our house.  Bobby, the cat that I found living on a drainage tube on the side of the road.  He was probably dumped there.  Nobody was looking for him.  He was already neutered and declawed so we could kept him.  Star, the little scared girl from the neighbors' garden.  Three other little kittens that gave us so much joy.  Hopefully Mimi and Luke will adopt Buttercup and Astro and those two babies will never have to worry about living outside. 

April 2013

Life is still very hectic and I never have enough hours in the day to do all the things I want to do.  I just came back from Mexico and I am trying to catch up on housework and emails.  It has been 3 months since my dad had surgery to correct a blockage on his intestines.  He is now able to eat but he is still recovering.  He is frail and is still very skinny.  He says he does not feel like eating but I saw him eat well when I was there.  He ate a lot and he seemed to enjoy the food. 

Don took very good care of Carlos and Titi and all the cats.  We are taking care of many cats and now we are feeding a raccoon too.  He is hurt and is not able to use one of his legs (arms?) so he cannot hunt for food.  He is very cute and I hope he is going to get better soon.  Today I found him taking a nap on top of the wall/fence.  I thought he was sick but he woke up when I called Princess.  She was on top of a tree and she came to see me.  I also had Big Boy, Comet, Big Mamma and the new black cat.  I need to catch the black cat to have him neutered or spayed and then I will release him back there.

Titi is playing softball and the season is going to end in early May.  She has gotten better but she still has to practice more during the week.  She is going to play for her school next year and I am sure she is going to do very well.

Carlos is so tall now!  He has grown a lot and his voice is deeper.  He is happy to be finished with the FCAT exams. 

Don's birthday is on Thursday but we are going to celebrate over the weekend.  Titi has a game that day so we won't be able to go to dinner.  Nobody is in the mood to really celebrate since Paul is sick.  We all feel so bad for him and everybody in the family.  We hope he will feel better soon.

Titi's present

Titi is very excited!  Last night she designed some Nike shoes online and we bought them for her for Hannukah.

Photos from November

Titi was asking me how come I don't post here anymore.  I am going to try to post at least photos every month.

 

Titi played flag football for a couple of months and she loved it.  She was very good at pulling flags.  One time, she pulled 8 flags during a game and all the parents were cheering for her.  She was the only girl in the team and everybody loved her.  Her team finished the season undefeated and then went on to win the super bowl.  They never lost a game, they killed the other team every single time. 

 

 



 

Another exciting thing is watching our little kittens grow.  We have 8 cats now!  It sounds crazy but they were all homeless and nobody else wanted to do anything so we brought them into our back patio.  Don is allergic to cats so they cannot be inside.  The 3 smaller kittens sleep in the cabana bathroom. They have lots of toys and room to play.  We need to build them a shelter for the cold.  For now, the sleep under the table.  I put some tarps and it stays warmer under there. Titi and I have so much fun putting the babies to sleep.  They are the cutest things and they purr so loudly. Carlos also loves to spend time with the cats.  Don does not touch them but one of them, Thunder, loves him.  When Don goes into the patio, Thunder runs to him and starts hugging his leg and rubbing his head on Don's feet.

 

 

 

Our sweet Ruby. 

 

This is the smallest of all our cats.  Titi named him Licky because he loves to lick our hands.  He seems to have been the runt of the litter.  He is smaller than the other two but he purrs the loudest.  We adore him!

When I was catless

Back in early May, when I was catless, I did not know how cute kittens could be.  I did not know how much you can love an animal.  I did not know that cats have very distinct personalities. I did not know that I would not mind getting up early to feed them. I did not know I would not mind spending hours stroking their fur and petting them.  I did not know so many things.....

I had never had a pet before and I thought I was never going to have one.  My brothers and sisters had pets when I was growing up but I did not care for them at all and most of the time I wish they were gone.  I especially had a horrible time when my sister had mice as pets.  I would had moved out if I had had a place to go.  When I met Don, I was happy to know he did not have pets and he did not care for them.  He was allergic to cats and dogs and I thought I was too so we never considered having one.  We did have beta fish but after seeing a couple of them die, we decided we could not go through the same again. I always thought that people were crazy for choosing to be responsible of another being.  Who needed to complicate their life with a needy pet?

Then, we met Lovee. She was a skinny black cat that was kind of friendly.  We could not touch her but she would not mind to get close to us. She started to come around and Don had the great idea to start feeding her. He went with Carlos or Titi and got her a big bag of food.  That was our big mistake.  Then other cats started coming.  I think the next one was Stripes, a very handsome tabby cat.  Then, Shadow, who we think is Lovee's sister.  Then we met a huge black cat that seemed menacing at the beginning and then we discovered he was the sweetest thing, scared of everything, even his shadow.  He jumps and runs if anybody moves.  He hates sudden and loud noises.  We named him Diamond.  And then there is Big Face or Fat Albert, a not very nice looking tabby cat.  He has a very funny face and is huge.  We don't particularly like him but he does not come every day so we tolerate him when he is here.

We noticed that Lovee seemed pregnant but we did not do anything and she had her 4 beautiful kittens in our backyard.  There was a hole made by an armadillo and she used it as her nest.  Don discovered 4 bright pairs of blue eyes staring at him from that hole.  Carlos called them and 2 kittens came to him, a black one and a gray one.  The other two were not friendly.  One was kind of aggressive and would hiss at us and the other one was a scared one.  She would go into the hole or behind her brother as soon as she saw us.  When I read that feral cats needed to get used to people as soon as possible, we decided to keep the two friendly ones to make sure they would be domesticated and then we could find homes for them. 

In the meantime, we realized we had a huge problem in our hands.  People started noticing all these cats coming to our house and started making comments.  I learned that people hate people who feed feral cats.  I also learned it was illegal and we could be fined.  I rented a trap and started catching and sterilizing the older cats.  First it was Diamond, then Stripes and then without wanting, we catched the two little kittens that were still in the hole.  I took them to the clinic to see if they could do something and they were spayed and neutered as well.  The aggressive one turned to be a boy and the scared one a girl.  The people at the clinic said they were true feral cats and there was nothing we could do for them but to release them and care for them if we could.  Luckily I did not listen and as soon as we got home I released them into separate bathrooms to care for them during their recovery.  Well, the aggressive one turned to be a needy little cat who wanted to be held and stroked all the time.  The scared one had a harder time letting us touch her but once we did she liked it and then she would cry to ask to be held.  I spent many hours talking and stroking the cute little babies.

Happy Birthday Grandpa

Today is grandpa's 90th birthday!!  We are so happy to celebrate such a special birthday.  Unfortunately, I was not able to go out to dinner with them.  I had to work until 4 and by the time I got home, Carlos and Titi were very eager to go out and play with some of the kids.  Don said they had a really nice time.  Irving looks great!

Good bye elementary school

Titi had a wonderful time in 5th grade.  She finished the year with a lot of success.  She got 3 awards from her teachers.  We did not know it was going to happen but she was called back to the stage 3 times to receive the awards.  We were so proud of her. We are going to miss Sunrise Park. It was a wonderful school for Carlos and Titi.  We loved all the teachers and administration.

 

Titi's birthday

Titi wanted to spend her birthday at Disney so we made reservations at Animal Kingdom Lodge.  She loved the weekend.  She had a pirate makeover.  It was really good and she loved all the attention she got with the eyes' makeup.

February 2012

February was a very busy month for us and especially for Titi.  She participated in the Samaritans Club at her school and they were featured on one of the local channels.  They only interviewed 3 kids but we could see Titi on the video.  We were excited to see her on TV!   She also has been having Chorus rehearsals on Tuesdays so I have to pick her from school, which is not always easy since I have to leave work at a specific time but it is worth it.  She lovs to be part of it.  Her teacher invited her to participate in something called "Spotlight of Young Musicians" and Titi is going to be part of the elementary school chorus that will perform at the Kravis Center in May.  Rehearsals will start in March.

Another exciting thing was that Titi's soccer team made it into the playoffs.  They were in almost last place of the regular season.  I think they placed in 7th place but once the playoffs started, they got better every time they played.  They beated 3 teams and then played against the Gold team, the only undefeated team up to that time.  Titi's team, the Champagne team, played hard but they lost 1-0.  Then, they won another game and went to the finals, against the Gold team. Everybody thought the Gold team was going to win and they were going to end the season and the championship undefeated but Titi's game won!  We were super excited!  Titi played defense and she had to cover a girl that was very tall.  Titi did not even reach her shoulder! The division is for under 12 years old at August 1st, 2011 so some girls that were 11 at that time, they had turned 12 already. Titi is still 10 and not very tall so it was interesting to see the little ones play against the tall girls.  We had two older girls that were very good and helped the team win.  Alissa and Ashlyn.  Titi loved playing with both.