away from home

Almost backed out but decided to take the trip last minute. Packed the night before and had three backseat drivers this year. Was thinking about boarding them but decided that the price to have them with us was cheaper. Besides Sadie loves the beach and it would be Lucy's first time. Have you ever traveled with three four legged babies? They sleep most of the way and the only part that is challenging is when you stop for that pit stop. They are confused and don't know if it's safe to go.

Sadie

It always rains on us as we drive to our destination. Nothing major this time. I actually like when it rains, it cools the drive. We arrived late so the only thing we were able to do tonight was go out for dinner. Ate at this place called cap'n Roy's seafood and Mexican but I really wouldn't recommend it. It was our first time there and we didn't like the service either. But we have to try a new place every time we come. Rained again. The smell of rain with the wind blowing next to the beach is a very relaxing feeling. Don't know what tomorrow holds, just know that I'm with great company.


it includes a fumi salad, my fumi salad had ramen noodles

The only thing I can tell you is that if the opportunity comes to go out and leave everything behind for a few days, do it. Even I need a break from the city and people. One of my favorite things is not knowing what people will come across my path.

Anti Trump Rally

I wonder at times if  some of us really know the meaning if Labor Day? What I remember about this day is barbecues and having the day off from school, but as you get older you realize that as an adult you will have to work on the day that contradicts itself. Labor Day is for the laborer. A day to appreciate the hard work one does. Who actually gets this day off? I want to take this moment to thank all the working class of America. Thank you for working hard as you do. I'm sorry we don't get much appreciation, or in my case when my managers think I'm stupid or as I'm told by some of the people I help, "just do my job". But luckily I just happen to be off this Labor Day.

Dallas City Hall September 7, 2015

Went to an Anti Trump Rally today. This should tell you if I'm for him or against him. When you vote for a president you vote for someone that will always represent you. So in my case why would I want an ignorant man filled with hate to represent me. He doesn't even know me, and dislikes me because I'm a woman, doesn't like me because I'm a daughter of Mexican immigrants, and being LGBT just puts the icing to the cake. If you are a single parent he also hates you. If you are an African American he also hates you.  My partner is white from German descent and I feel like he also attacks her because she is with me. How can you stand with someone with so much hate. He represents you.  IT was a peaceful rally, no one got hurt. Just proves we are not criminals. We had people from El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Honduras, Mexico, along with others trying to make our voice be heard. The only way to do so is by voting. Our Anti Trump Rally was to get people involved by hearing us loud and clear at the voting booths. If you think it doesn't effect you, think again.

a child holding a drawing he made to say no to Donald Trump

I think it's a lack of not educating yourself on the issues or what you say about yourself when you are asked if you voted. You reply by saying, "no, what for?" just be honest to yourself and say that you don't know because you just live life thinking you are not affected by it.  

I know who I stand behind, who I'm voting for, do you?

If you think like Trump then you are against me. I don't have room in my life with all the bullshit in this world and hate is just part of it.

wearing a crown to lunch

Had a birthday in the family but hadn't had time to get together to celebrate. Finally we just decided to take one hour of our busy lives to celebrate a special occasion. It's hard having a birthday in the summer time. Kids are out of school so you think that maybe an outdoor party is great but if there isn't a pool involved you have hot guests, we crossed that out. We decided to have an indoor party but the time was off, so again we postponed.

What did we end up doing, you may ask?

Woke up to finish wrapping her gift and frosted cupcakes that I made last night. Told my sisters that we should just meet up for lunch. That we were going to go ahead and celebrate on lunch. We chose chick-fil-a . When we got there we set two tables together. Erica brought balloons and tied them to our birthday girls chair. We finally sat down to celebrate Maggie's birthday. Made her day our little princess. We treated it just as special as it was meant to be. Took us almost two hours from eating to opening presents. Did I mention we all had crowns. That it was a tea slash princess party inside a chick-fil-a. Yes we had all kinds of looks but that didn't matter because it was our little girl's party. While opening presents two perfect strangers wished Maggie a happy birthday by giving her a dollar. Not only that but she even passed two police officers that wished our little girl a Happy Birthday. I hope that it was as memorable to her as it was to me. I keep referring to her as ours, not because she is our little child, but because she is our little niece.

I also want to thank the people at the Irving chick-fil-a  for not kicking us out after having us take up part of their busiest time, and by having our three year old have specially made cupcake crumbles on the floor.

Randomness only works when you have the right people involved.

a man of the law

I know I look like I am not strong, I know that it may seem as if I am not smart. I hold back, not because I like to, but because I want it to be as if looks are deceiving. I want you to be surprised when I open my mouth and fight back with words that you can't comprehend. I want you to think for a second and wonder that I didn't have it in me. I come from a background that has been fighting the fight not only for me but for the people before me. I walk in the alleys of the dark streets not because I'm a want to be bad ass but because that is where I find my adventures. I walk on the dark side of town not because I know how to fight but because those are my roots. That's what helped me not walk down the streets afraid. I always walk with my head held high not because the world owes me anything but because I deserve to walk with out fear. I am a woman, of Mexican roots, that started learning English at eight years old, born here in Dallas, city to a great Texas state. I've lived life with scares but today was a little different.

in an alley in Deep Ellum, TX.

Today when I caught what seemed to be just a regular guy in a lie he threatened me. I've been threatened before and it hadn't bothered me it comes with my line of work. I don't get scared when a drug addict or thief threatens me. It's comical. But today was different. He took out his wallet and showed me his badge. He told me he was a man of the law. I stood my ground and it made him more mad. I was by myself and didn't think much of it but then it hit me. If something would have escalated it would have been my word against his. You tend to side with the law, right?

I treat everyone I come across equally. That's where people seem to forget that it doesn't matter how you live your life and perceive it to be, it can be taken away. And that one person that you shamed will one day shame you.

feeling empty

I don't think about it I think because she is always by my side. Everywhere I am , she is. Everywhere I want to be,  she follows. I don't ever think about her not being anywhere but by my side.

I love to explore take those small adventurous new places and things that we do.

A couples of friends have told us to go to Turner Falls that we would love it. It's a small trip and that we would enjoy it. I have seen photos of their adventures to this sunny waters place but have yet to go.

One friend came to me and said I miss my husband. I know she does. I miss how we used to go everywhere together. How he would love to take us to small trips. Like the time he took me to Turner Falls. I miss him so much. I miss him at home. It gets so lonely. I know. I don't know what to do to not miss him. And I know she tries her best to hold those tears back.

What do I tell her? People want to be comforted someway but there really isn't a way to do that. Nothing I can tell her will make it better. She doesn't want to think about replacing that empty hole that she feels. She just wants it to get better. It's been a couple of months that he has been gone and she tries to cope but I know she feels alone.

I don't think about missing her I always want her to be with me. So what exactly do I tell her? What would you like to be told to you, if anything, just let me be.      

Lana what happened?

It's Saturday morning and I didn't plan anything because we wanted to save all our energy to go to the Lana del Rey concert. I bought the tickets in December and surprised Heather with the gift. A friend asked her, "hey, does Gabriela know you are in love with Lana"? Heather said yeah. We have listened to her cd in the car at least three times a week. If there were new songs that had emerged we wouldn't know of them. You either love Lana or you don't. Her music is listed under pop but I think it needs a different kind of category. It's the type of music that can make you get lost in time and makes you wander into a different era. At least that's my version.

We arrived late. Took the shortcut through the back of the arena. I've been through the neighborhood enough to know, to beat the car hold up on the highway, there is a faster way to get there. Even though we got there late the show hadn't started. The band Hole was to be the opening act. Lead singer Courtney Love. That's another reason we didn't want to be there on time because we didn't want to see her perform. But to our surprise she came on and late. She wasn't getting a reaction from the audience. She did try but just couldn't get to them. When she came out they cheered thinking it was Lana. The show was sold out and believe me the lawn was full. We wondered if it would go on but it said rain or shine. We bought ponchos and took an umbrella. We waited patiently seated on our neat sheet. When the band stopped playing it appeared as if the stage was being re arranged for the next performer.

fans wearing their flower crowns

Over an hour passed and some were already past drunk and others passed taking selfies, but still the skies were clear of rain. When an automated voice recording came on to tell us that the concert was going to be postponed due to weather. It mentioned a tornado and to take shelter. To proceed to leave and go to our cars. People started turning to their neighboring partner and asked if they heard correctly. We decided to wait and sit back down I think, because it felt like a joke. Others were ranting upset words. I don't blame them. We waited months and were over prepared to see our performer. Some drove from out of state. The audience mostly consisted of the younger crowd but there were adults as well. When some had to phone their parents to come get them it was more of a surprise. My first reaction was to ask questions, but they had closed the guest services. It's like they used all this free time to close up shop and then tell us the concert had been postponed. A guy asked when was the last call for alcohol and the hawker said ten. It was coincidentally ten minutes till ten.

Leaving was another story. Cars were at a stand still. We ended up staying inside our car for another hour before we could actually start to leave. People had her music playing on their stereos. We heard all her songs from others playing them as we headed to our car. It was a musical riot. People were mad. I was more upset at the fact that there had been no rain, not even after we left. They had claimed it was due to weather, but come to find out, she had never made it to the venue. I think that version made more sense. The fact that she was delayed and couldn't arrive on time for a sold out arena. I wonder if they would have told us before would we all have still stayed to watch Courtney. I wonder if they didn't tell us so that they could make their alcohol sales and lawn chair rentals. I do believe an apology is owed. I called the box office but haven't heard back. But I'm probably not the only one that left a voicemail. It's not a bad voicemail just me needing a question answered. A lot of people wore their flower crown and dressed their part for the night, just to have it postponed without telling us what really happened. I know I've had experiences with things back firing, but for us to sit there like we could have had better things to do. For the artist to not have shown up was just really rude.

I'm not the one in love with you Lana but if this offends you then just write a song about it.

Tia

I know it's like a poof going on in your head but I don't remember when was the last time Spanish mothers shared American mothers day on the same day. I'm Mexican I tell my mother Feliz Dia de Las Madres on the tenth in south and central America. It's funny at times when she tells me but I'm in America so I get two presents. One on the tenth and one on the Sunday it is celebrated here. I'm lucky to have my mom still with us. she doesn't like to take photos so I have to sneak one in there at times. My mother is the friendliest person that I know. She has a way with showing her smile and making strangers into friends. The word mom means something different to everyone. When I hear mom all that comes to mind is her cooking. How she always wants to cook for you. She spends the most of her time in the kitchen cooking. She prepares food just in case her daughters swing by. How her grays show more and more and she wishes she still had the strength to look young. So she does what everyone does today well just about, color their hair. My mom has lived through some hard times and if she wanted to she would tell us her stories but I think she doesn't because she herself tries to forget. One of our child hood memories of my mother was when we lived in Oak Cliff. She would invite our tia over and they would go in the back yard and make donuts for all of us. I remember we'd along with our cousins look forward to us playing while they would make a batch. I love my mother dearly just wish our bond was stronger than what she knows it could be.


my sweet mother

I ran across an ad in a child's magazine. Don't know why I read them when I see one It's not like I could relate because then I think about all the time lost just wondering, the what if. I didn't know there is a group called M.E.N.D that helps mothers with the loss of a child. That today being mothers day some mothers are without their child. I have a friend that lost her child this week and how do you comfort her knowing the pain has to be unbearable. Mothers day can be filled with joy just as much as it can be filled with sadness. With the help of social media we give thanks by showing others the gifts that are given to us but some have lost a mother already or their child. Cherish the small things that come your way. Be it a flower from the backyard to the flowers from the store.

one day they will hold each other

I am blessed to have my sisters in my life to have wished me a happy mothers day today even though I haven't been given that gift. Got a giggling video of my nephew wishing us happy mothers day.....happy mothers day to the best tia in the world. I also got a surprise hand made flower bouquet made with the picture of my first born on it. She has become very creative thanks to this pinterest
.

it's me and my sisters with my mother and one of our furry babies (Sadie)

On mothers day I wish my partner a happy mothers day because she cares for all our furry babies. She tends to them in ways you would when babies get sick. Because believe it or not they do get into situations that have consequences later. I ended buying her the Big Eyes movie, haven't seen it yet but she is my artist.

To all the friends and family that have wished us a wonderful happy mothers day, thank you. Thank you for including us on this special day. One of our friends said happy future mothers day, who knows by then we'd celebrate happy mothers day to a bottle feeder with diaper changing baby and our flea bathers one day.

With this said I give all the mothers and furry mothers a Happy rainy yet beautiful day Mothers Day today.