Karla's Baby?

A few weeks ago my FAVORITE uncle came to visit from New York. We went through our normal routine. My uncle stand at the door and I stand in the hallway and he throws his arms up in the air and yells "KARLA" and I throw my arms up in the air and yell " TIO" and then we meet each other half way and hug. Then we go through something that goes like this.

Tio: "So how are you?"
Karla: " Good"
Karla: " and you, How are you?"
Tio: " Good, How is school, work?"
Karla: " Good, How is everyone?"
Tio: " Good"

So everything is going great, like it normally does when my uncle drops a bomb on me.

Tio: "So when are you coming to pick up your baby?"
Karla: " What?, My Que?"
Tio: (With a HUGE smile on his face) " Your baby"
Karla: " Ah, Tio I don't have children."
Tio: " Yeah, you do. You have a little girl."
Karla: " I do, since when?"
Tio: (laughing) " Since 8 months ago."
Karla: " Ah, Explain"

So my tio explains the whole situation to me. Eight months ago my cousin had a baby, and according to everyone the baby looks more like me then my cousins. So they have all decided that it is my baby and so my uncle would like for me to pick up my child.

That weekend my mother went to New York to visit my grandparents and her first words to me when I picked her up at the airport where " Did you have a baby and not tell me?"

Karla: " What? Ma have you been drinking?"
Mami: " Mira, Don't talk to me that way, and answer my question."
Karla: " No Ma, I did not have a baby. Why do you ask?"
Mami: " Because that little girl is the spitting image of you."

She brought me pictures to prove her point. So here is a picture of "My baby"(on top) and of yours truly as a baby(on the bottom). So you guys get to decide is this my child or is my family in need of an eye exam?

The cat came back.

Hey there blogging buddies, how is everyone?

As you can see I have return from my week in Colorado Springs. My week out of town was an interesting one to say the least.

Some how on Thursday I cut my foot. I washed it out put some Neosporin and a Band-Aid on it and went on my way. On Friday night my foot was swollen, bright red, hot and itchy. So I grab a bag of ice and went to bed. On Saturday I woke up and all the ice had melted, but my foot still looked the same. So I skipped my English class and went to the doctor, who freaked out when he saw my foot and start calling out orders to the nurse. I felt like I was in an episode of E.R.

An hour later after a super-powerful injections of antibiotics and black marker making the area around my infection I was on my way, I stopped by the pharmacy to drop off my prescription. The Doc, said it was ok for me to travel as long as I followed some guidelines, and promise to go to the hospital at the first sign of trouble. So I was able to attend my conference. I am glad I did. Not only did I learn a lot, I was also able to meet some really cool people.

One of the good things about "The Springs" are all the men in uniform out there. There are about three military bases in that area alone. So it is need less to say that no matter where you went in "The Springs" there were always plenty of men in uniform. So to answer your question Reese, yes I worked really hard during my conference :P

Going to Colorado Springs

Well folks here I go again, leaving to yet another city for yet another conference. This time my travels take me to Colorado Springs or "The Springs" as some people like to call it. I will be gone for a week this time, and when I return on Friday night it will be only to prepare myself for the conference I have on Saturday morning. After that I have yet another fun filled week of conferences but those are all here in Denver. I hope everyone has a nice weekend. Happy Easter ! I will see you when I return.

If

During my trip to the Muhammad Ali Center, I watched a movie about his life. During the movie they mention that the following poem is his favorite poem and that he try to live his life by what this poem said. I thought this poem was beautiful, and it affected me in more ways then i can express. I left the poem in its original state, when you get to the end you can change the gender if you like.

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling

Avena Sunday

I have to say that Sunday is one of my favorite days of the week. Why do I love Sunday’s so much? Is it because of Desperate Housewives? Nope, I love that show but that is not the reason I love Sunday’s. I love Sunday’s because they are Avena Sunday’s (Oatmeal Sundays). My abuela use to make oatmeal all the time when I was little, and everytime she comes to visit everyone sits and wait for her to make her famous avena.

Now with her being sick and so far away the duty of making avena has fallen on my mother. All of my aunts know how to make avena, just like mama but none of them do. Mami is the one who gets up early on Sunday morning to make avena. I love helping my mami make avena during this time the house is usually quite (which is weird because there is ALWAYS people over at my house) and it just her and me cook a huge pot of avena. Once mass is over all of my aunts and uncles come over for a typical Dominican breakfast and a cup of Avena.

I know what you are thinking a cup? don’t you mean a bowl Karla? Nope it is a cup. You see my grandmother and now my mother make their avena different then what everyone else is use to. Our avena is more liquefied so that we can drink our oatmeal instead of eating it. Why? You ask, because back when my grandmother was a young mother she had to find a way to feed 18 children and her husband, and seeing as my grandparents were poor the only way to make a small amount of food go a long way was to liquefy it. So ever since then it has become a tradition in our family to drink our oatmeal instead of eating it. In a way it is a good reminder of where we came from.

During breakfast we call my aunts and uncles in New York and (when they are not in NY)my grandparents back in D.R. I always think of Sunday’s as a mini family reunion.

Breakfast is usually followed up with a trip to the local ballpark to watch the guy’s play softball and then we return back to my house for dinner. I love spending Sundays with my family. I find it to be so relaxing. It is a good way to regroup before going back to work the next day.