Happy New Year's Everyone

I am hoping that everyone has had a wonderful holiday with their loved ones. I know that Lala & I have enjoyed these holidays {since Thanksgiving} with my Godmother, Godsister & their family. Spending the holidays with them has been lots of fun, full of laughter, smiles, & the best of all unforgettable. Thank you is just not enough for everything {now I'm crying} these words just seem so simple for such a grand moment. They will never know how much I appreciate the love & welcome that they have show me & Lala.

Today we will end the New Year together & with a bang. Eating, drinking, laughing & remember the good old days. Of course, I'll be taking lots of pictures & we'll be outside with the firecrackers....yes, Vivian & I know that they are illegal :-)

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL..............................

Toys for Tots

Sundays is church day because Lala has to be in attendance as part of her Communion class. Just like college, attendance is a huge part of your grade & I refused to have this girl fail & make me have to go through this another year. Especially since Communion class is a 2 year program.

But anyway, the point of this blog. Sunday we went to mass especially since her teacher, Nancy stessed the on Saturday that she had to attend on Sunday. So Sunday ugly morning, due to the sleet from the early hours of the morning we headed down to church; walking on the street due to the ice on the sidewalk. Mass was actually full of people & kids more than usual. I was being rude {forgive me Jesus}, was texting Vivian {Godsister} about our Christmas Eve plans. Lord knows I am sorry but I had to speak to her about Christmas Eve & Day plans. With Vivian you have to catch her when you catch her because if not, you'll be trying for a full days.

Again, back to the story... so after church the Father Freddy asked all the parents to please escort there kids to the basement & that their was a surprise waiting for all the kids that are 12 & younger. Everyone got on line to be escorted into a room filled with breakfast, gifts, the Marines & Santa Claus. I've always heard about Toys for Tots but never been to one of their events. All the kids were excited to see Santa & enjoy breakfast; seeing all the toys was liking walking into Toys R'Us. No cheap toys, all the toys that are in style & know the kids will love, all the kids were to pick out 3 toys of their choice.

The Marines were cool, they were passing out the gifts to the kids & telling them about what they & asking the kids what they wanted to be when they grow up & if they were naughty or nice this year. The kids also took pictures with Santa & the Marines. Lala got a diary, 3 Barbie's and a game trivia {her teacher gave her this one}. She was happy with the gifts, she even gave one her Barbie's to her cousin because she already has it.
I love my daughter for that, for thinking of someone other then herself. She knew she had the Barbie but she still took it, said thank you & told me to give it to Jita {her cousin} because she already one.

All in all, it was a nice day even though you know some people were ghetto & trying to go back in & get more toys for their families & friends. But the Marines aren't stupid, they took your ticket & stamped your hand once you were done. You also got escorted to the door, by means of helping your kids with their gifts. Nice touch.

Thank you Toys for Tots & the Marines for all the hard work & the smiles you bring to people on Christmas. Will have pictures after Christmas is over, since Lala asked me to wrapped them even though she knows what she got.

New Cell Phone

so yesterday I got my new cell phone from T-Mobile, it's the Sidekick LX & it's in navy blue.
so far it looks cool & I like it, the real test come after a few weeks & we'll really see how well it works. Vincent got me the Blackberry Pearl & I hated it. you can name every problem & I had it with that damn phone. not a month went by that I was not on the phone with T-Mobile & telling them how much I hate their phone. about 2 months ago, they sent out an email informing all the Blackberry users that they have upgraded their software & that they have fixed all the problems that users were having with the phone.

we uploaded the new software & thank God my phone was fixed. after that I didn't have any problems, but I hated the phone so much that Vincent felt bad & got me the Sidekick LX. so far, I still hate T-Mobile & as for the new phone....only time will tell. i still have problems with the damn Blackberry because not all the numbers were able to save onto the SIM Card so I couldn't import half of the numbers & information. so last night I was up till after midnight entering information. I have to call T-Mobile again & see what we can do about getting all the pictures off the device memory from the Blackberry & onto the Sidekick.

anyway, that is my drama for now on my cell phone.

P.S.
Missy Mey, I believe I will look into a mini tree for Lala's room. Muchas gracias for the idea..

Where Is The Tree?

so my daughter has been asking this question for quite sometime & my response has been the same & will be the same for awhile. "we don't need a tree cause we will be spending the holidays in DR with Abuelita." I refuse to buy a tree for one year when I have officially decided that we will spend the holidays with Mommy in DR, or in Worcester w/Mister {Dad}, or with my Godmother/Godsister.

I do decorate the door and put up lights around the window & decorate a corner in which the gifts will go but I will not buy a tree. my mother says that I am just lazy...I am a huge fan of putting the tree up & decorating but I have always hated taken it down & then having to put everything in its place. Lala has opted for a "real tree" {pine trees} but I cannot stand the smell of pine. It makes my nose itch & really not in the mood to be sneezing while @ home trying to relax.

So I have started buying gifts & hope to be done with all the shopping by the 22nd. I always start shopping early cause their is just not enough hours in a day to do everything. Especially if you have to be running around the City with an 8 year old. Always wanting to eat, go to the bathroom, touching, bringing things up too you to buy & let's not get into taking her into Toys' R Us. Last night, I told Vincent {her father} that he needs to go & buy her gifts without me cause I really didn't want to step into that store after hours. So he is going early on Friday morning to shop then take the gifts to my house & hide them under the bed. Once she's asleep, I'll be able to wrap them & this year most of her gifts are going to be under the name "Lisa". Reason being is that when she sees her name on a gift, she stays near the gifts & starts shaking, guessing, & begging to open. Not in the mood.

So next year, I hope to be spending the holidays in DR again. Parties are non-stop for a whole week day & night. A Christmas Eve dinner is crazy because last year I was invited to so many houses that I felt bad just spending 30 mins. in each house. I told Mommy that we should have Christmas dinner @ her house & invite the family over. She looked @ me like I had 10 heads, not my fault that she has 12 brothers & sisters & they have family. We will cross our fingers & pray that she changes her mind. I think we should do it @ my Grandmother's house but we will have to see.

As for the tree, I will be buying one this year but it's not for me. It's to ship to DR for my mother's house. For now, Lala will have to enjoy the tree @ Rockefeller Center & @ my Godmother's & Godsister's house since we will be spending the Christmas & my Godmother's & New Year's @ my Godsister's.

What to Write, What to Write

Work has been busing due to our 12/1 deadline. of course half the people started their application as early as October but of course, everyone likes waiting for the last minute.
and to expect the unexpected, the payment system & the online application system crashed. everyone had trouble submitting their applications & paying their fees.
has they submitted their shit in in time, we would not have had 400 emails from over the weekend informing us on something that we found out on Monday morning. let's not forget the phone calls with all the panics & attitudes.

they will be alright & their is nothing that i can do to help them. the associate director & the administrative coordinator got back to all the emails yesterday. they had to inform everyone what they can do-hopefully they got the response they wanted.

CHRISTMAS IS COMING & i have to finish my shopping & soon. i have to mail my brother & my niece their gifts, almost done with Lala's gift, still don't know what to get Rodney {older brother} & my parents aren't in the country so their gift will be put on hold till they arrive back in the states. since my parents are in DR, they don't celebrate Christmas instead they celebrate the 3 Kings; which is on the 6th of Jan. i will ship their gifts out sometime in January even if it's after the date.
since my parents are out of the country {don't think i spend it alone}, i have spent Thanksgiving with my Godmother's family. they are my second family..my Godsister & i have been together since Pre-K also the longest friendship. thanksgiving @ my godsister's was a hoot & we plan on celebrating Christmas & New Year's together. Vivian {godsister} loves to remind me that since i am alone & have no family that Lala & i should not be alone. the funny thing is the way she says it...you would think that she was being a bitch & rude but actually she isn't. she just doesn't know how to rephrase it, so now it has become a joke between us when she reminds me about being alone during the holidays. love the girl to pieces.

i am doing plenty of overtime this month & next cause having a little extra cash is never a bad thing. Saturday I came in for 3 hours & for the reminder of the week, I will do an hour extra & then another 3 hrs. on Sunday.