Disregard the fact that my puntuation is nonexistent

Last night i couldn't sleep. Not only was it damn hot, i just couldnt sleep. I went to bed at 0130. at 0300 i gave up and read some email, then went back to bed. At 0410- still awake. finally i got to sleep then something woke me up at around 0730 and guess what ? i have been up ever since. Sheesh. I think when Jennah wakes up i am gonna take them for a walk up to the store to get some lipliner and a can of tiny shrimp. I am going to make Shrimp Louie for dinner.
Could this post be any more boring? I guess I could talk about my period or something. Naaah. Jennah said thank you to me yesterday. Today I am signing up Ayman for general education preschool to go with the special education preschool he also goes to. He is off this week but next week he starts going 4 days a week. I am still trying to decide if i want him evaluated for autism. I am scared of him being labeled for the rest of his life. The special education teachers are not even sure if what is going on with him is autism either- they always talk about "splintered skill sets" he knows all of his abc' colors, numbers, can cross a line at midline, but then some basic things he doesn't do. Or the fact that he repeats things ALOT. 3 1/2 year olds do repeat. I dunno, I guess i am in a mild state of denial. It is just that i have seen so much improvement in the time that he has been in preschool- 6 months that i am at a "wait and see" phase right now. He was only gong 2 days a week. Let's see what the 4 days, and then 5 days starting in August, coupled with the general ed preschool will do for him. I guess. hmmmmph.
ranting, ranting. I have started a multi faceted approach to thinning my fat ass down- eat less, eat more fruit and veggies, less crap, no regular soda, more water and exersise, then if needed dabble in bulimia. I think it will work.
so there you have it rants of a sleep deprived mother of 2....
thanks for taking the time.
ps oh, that kid. he just smoked past me and went into is room, and closed the door. that means poop time. if that kid doesn't turd i am bulking up his gatorade with benefiber.

I am just tired....of everything

I can't believe all the crap that is going on in this country these days.
Rosie O'donell had a good idea. I think I will register as an Independent too.
All these things are creating a perfect distraction for GWB and Co. to run roughshod over the country. Jerks. Yeah, I said it. Whatever.... I don't wanna think anymore, my brain is fried. On that note, I will go and study. I got my test results for my second A&P test- a 94%. I thought I totally bombed, but ended up with the #4 score. Ilamdulillah. This is hard though.
I am out.

Hippity Hoppity, Y'all.

I thought I would finally post some pictures from Easter. Not bad, I am only a couple of days late....I started school on the 29th of March, quit my job, and now here I am, a stay at home mom again, this time a student. I took my first test yesterday, it was on the first six chapters of Anatomy and Physiology. Studying for it kind of sucked, but the test seemed easy. Which worries me. What if I totally blew it? I mean I am no over-achiever to be sure, but I don't want to fail....Eh, I better not stress. It's bad enough I barely got any sleep thinking of the test last night, and questions that I most surely got wrong kept on popping into my head. I had to take an extra Ambien at 2 am because I was wide awake just plexing. Crap, whatever.
We kept finding these bugs in the house, (in addition to the huge Madagascar hissing cockraoches, that is.) they look like ants with wings, just bigger than ants. Ayman would pick them up and put them in the back of his new ATW Mini Radio Flyer and give them rides around the house. I thought the first one was just a one time thing, then we kept on finding them, by my sliding glass door. It turns out it is termites. Fun. Thank god we only rent. I guess they are going to come and spray. At least I don't have to pay for it. God only knows how many of those things Jennah's eaten. Now if we can just get rid of the roaches. I got up at 2 am, and there was a big ass one and a half incher, just kicking it on the counter top. He had Internet Explorer open on my laptop and was surfing roach porn. It was so belligerent it didn't even try to run away when I turned on the light... I think it was ill. I put a line of death around my microwave about 2 weeks ago and have been finding huge sluggish roaches ever since. The can of roach killer says "Kills instantly" I guess that only works for the small ones, because my mom had to spray so much of that stuff on one roach that it died from drowning, not poison. So, I guess the roach killer just makes them die a very slow death. Usually, I find them in their death throes and do away with them. I am sure I will find that guy in a few days, after all of it's children have hatched and have planned their attack on my family. Yuck.
Oh, and by the way, not that this is a Hollywood gossip blog or anything, but Anna Nicole Smith's baby daddy turned out to be Larry Birkhead. You knew it was going to turn out like that. Now they can start work on the Lifetime movie.....
Any hoo, enjoy the pictures and thank you to: Mom , Dad, Alex, Renee, and Gene for all the cool Easter presents for the kids. They are enjoying them alot. Jennah likes to carry around the socks you got her, Auntie Naynay, and she has her gloworm and the teddy bear she got from Grampa in the crib with her.











Jennah first Easter egg hunt. Observe the dress with matching hair kerchief.













Ayman with his all terrain egg-hauler/bug transport. Thanks Gene.












Jennah was wiped out from the days activities when we got her home so I put her down, she was asleep before I got out of the room, so of course, I had to take a picture of it.

Goodbye, Grampa.

My Grampas funeral was today. Here is the obituary that appeared in a local paper. I will miss him so much. A phrase from one of my favorite movies, Forrest Gump: That's all I have to say about that.


ARTHUR J. GARCIA NOV. 24, 1928 - FEB. 24, 2007 Arthur Garcia, 78, passed away Saturday, February 24, 2007 in his home after a short battle with cancer. He was born on November 24, 1928 in Turlock, California. He graduated from Rustic Grammar School and Manteca High School, after which he farmed sweet potatoes with his brother and father. Later, he worked for the Manteca Post Office, and Lou's Termite Control from which he retired. He was a member of the YMI with St. Anthony's Parish, and was active in The Boy Scouts of America with his sons. More recently he was a member of the Men of the Sacred Heart at St. Patricks Catholic Church in Ripon, where he and his wife, Donna, were active members. Mr. Garcia, beloved husband of Donna Garcia, loving father of Cynthia Smedley, of Stockton, Dennis Garcia of French Camp, Gary Garcia of Modesto, James Garcia of Manteca, and Brian Garcia of Ripon, as well as Michael Smedley of Stockton whom he thought of as his son. He was also a loving stepfather to George Azevedo, Jr of Stockton and Kathleen Riley of Manteca. He leaves many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and will be sorely missed by all. Mr. Garcia was very active in his church, and loved nothing better than to spend time at home with his family around him. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Barbara Garcia and son Mathew, and stepson, Cliff Corder, as well as his parents, Frank and Mamie Garcia of Manteca, brother Frank Garcia, Jr., sisters Dorothy Mendes, Mary Von der Heide, Adeline Dice, and Florence Gomes. He was the loving brother of Madeline Azevedo and Eleanor Andrada. The Rosary will be recited Wednesday, February 28, 2007,at 9:30 a.m. with services following at St. Patricks Catholic Church, 19399 E. Hwy. 120, in Ripon, CA. Friends are invited to attend a gathering in the Church Social Hall. Donations are requested in lieu of flowers to the St. Patricks Church Building Fund, or the Hospice of San Joaquin. 3888 Pacific Avenue, Stockton, CA 95204 www.hospicesj.org

Sad Day.

Well, sad news today, about 2 weeks after finding out my Grampa had cancer, he has passed away. He was so sweet and kind, and I will miss him soooo much. It sucks to be so far away at a time like this. It is weird, and I really don't want to sound kooky, but here goes. This whole time he has been sick, I haven't dreamt about him. Except for last night. When I got the email from my Mom that he passed away, I knew what it was going to say before I opened it. Sure enough, there it was.

I love you, and will miss you Grampa.

Apartment exterior, Lessons learned, and Huh?

Here is the outside of the apartment building. It is nice, the only real drawback I can see is that there is no elevator. It would suck to live any higher up than the second floor.
















Lesson Learned: Living in Egypt with a new car is not worth it. It will look like crap in like 2 days, observe the above picture. This Kia Rio was new and in great condition when we got it. Last night we made the 7 mile trip to Nasr City (no relation) to deliver some stuff to some dudes fiance. Anyhoo, being as how everyone drives however the hell they want here, some taxi driver made a left turn in front of us from the extreme right hand lane. He was driving the same direction we were, two lanes over to the right, and he made a left hand turn, in front of us. Not to make generalizations, but this is why middle-eastern people are cab drivers when they come to the US. (and this is not rude; i personally know 2 people right off the top of my head that are cab drivers in San Francisco that came from Egypt as recently as 5 years ago.) If you had a regular ole drivers license in Egypt, and you actually drove here, you can drive anywhere. Seriously, it explains so much. That is why they tend to drive so insane. I had a friend from Egypt, the same friend who introduced me to my husband. We used to ride to work together. The first few times I rode with him i was totally white knuckling it. Made lanes where there were none he drove too fast, he swerved in and out of traffic. Now that I have sen the driving here it is so clear as to why he drove so badly. Everyone here does. You have too. Hell, most people don't even use their headlights at night because, "there is enough light on the street." Rant concluded.














Huh?
This is a picture of a restaurant in the marketplace. It is called Watermelon. If you click on the picture you can see that it also says underneath the name, Watermelon, "The Real Taste of China" OK, Is it just me? What in Gods name does a watermelon have to do with China? Please, if Iam missing something let me know. Feel free to comment.....

The Curse of the Pharoah

Doesn't that sound so dramatic? It isn't really. If I was in Mexico, this post would be called "Montezumas Revenge" Yes, folks, I got travellers diarrhea. With the vomiting. Which is really a keen bonus. Yesterday at approximately 330 am I woke up with an ominous rumbling in my gut and narrowly made it to the toilet to enjoy about a 15 minute emptying of the bowels. From there on out, it was in the bathroom every 1/2 hour, then at around 0600, I started harfing. Luckily for me though Egypt, as I stated earlier is 24/7 for the most part. The pharmacy near us delivers 24 hours. All you have to do is call them and tell them what is wrong with you. No pesky doctor middleman writing you a prescription. They got here in 15 minutes, and with the help of my Ambien, I slept through most of this 24 hours of unpleasantness.

Bathtime for babies

Amr gave the kids a bath tonight and I got to take some pictures of the action. Ayman likes to pour water over Jennahs head. She doesn't seem to mind. Now, pour water over his head, and he has a mini hissy. I guess she is just cool like that. We are slowly getting over all the sickness here, but I swear, I was getting sick all over again last night. But, that could have been due to the fact that i only got to sleep for two hours after I got off of work yesterday. Being a mom on 2 hours sleep sucks big time. I miss my mommy. She lets me come to her house on Mondays and she will watch the kids while I catch a nap. It totally helps. She is in Cabo this week so I was out of luck. Yesterday, I even had the kids sleeping at the same time, but when I went to sleep I was so nervous that Jennah was going to wake up, that I couldn't sleep. How stupid is that? Oh and you know what else sucks? After a 16 month reprieve, Aunt Flo has finally come to visit again. That depresses me. I feel like if I was just breastfeeding a little more, she wouldn't have come back yet. And of course she couldn't come visit on one of the two nights I called in sick for work, no no no no. She had to come when I was at work and caught completely unawares. we can say she came unannounced, I mean like, seriously unannounced. I mean, I used to kind of feel her coming. Not this time. Oh well. What can ya do? It had to happen some time. It was good run.

A taste of my own medicine.

When I was little my mom and dad hated to give me medicine, particularly Pepto Bismol, because I would chuck it right back up. My memories of these occasions are slightly different than theirs, however. I can remember telling my mom one night when I had an upset stomach, that I wouldn't take the Pepto because it "makes me throw up." I specifically said this. She made me take the vile stuff and
seconds later pink bismuth and vomit.

Hello, I told you I would barf it up.

Needless to say, I am reminded of this constantly. Well, my son is a good medicine taker. You bring it to him, he takes it.

Not last night.

Every once in a while he will refuse the medicine, and we have to do it "Daddys way" which is to say, we hold him down and force him to swallow it. Last night he was majorly cranky and we had to use this method. So, all together it is 2 tsp of medicine. The first tsp got swallowed with not too much resistance. But the second.... well the second was a different story. He cacked, and finally gagged on it so much we had to raise him up where he promptly yacked on my (freshly washed, from earlier in the week when he got poo on it, ) bed sheet.

Man did his hurl reek. He had pizza earlier in the evening, just cheese of course but, ewwww.

Back in the wash went the sheet.

And that ladies and gentlemen, is a parents revenge in a tiny little nutshell.

Please enjoy, Mom and Dad.

Ughh.

I hate this. We are all sick. Jennah, Ayman, Amr and myself. It sucks to be sick and take care of two sick kids. Amr has been a great help though. He goes to work early and comes home early in the afternoon to help out. He is getting sick now too though so, i am going to have to call in to work for a couple of days. taking care of the kids when they are ill is no fun when you are by yourself. Anyhoo, that is that. I am sick and tired, literally. Must. Go. Sleep.

Here is something that sucks.

(Let me give a shout out to Ming-Ming, you oughta appreciate this one.)
A couple things, really.
First: My job. I got an email from the woman who writes the schedule at work. She informed me that I would have to work on the fourth of July, even though it is a Tuesday. She told me I had to work it because I didn't work on Memorial day, and because it was in our union contract (it isn't by the way, I read it last night.). Well, let me say right now, F&*% that. I didn't work on Memorial Day because I am on a shortened schedule as of late, due to the birth of my daughter. I had to sign a paper saying I would come back to work 3 days a week starting July 1. So I only work on Fridays and Saturdays. Usually I work Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That is what I signed on for in December of 2004. Weekends only. So Labor Day, and Memorial Day are on Mondays, big deal....Last summer I worked on the fourth of July AND Memorial Day, as a favor to the dingbat that was writing the schedule then. How soon we forget. They don't have a problem with that right? I also worked on Xmas Eve and day, New Years Eve and day, because, hello, they fell on the weekend. Did I complain? No. That is what I signed up for. So I guess this is where I call for Union intervention. I know I pay them 16 dollars a pay period for something. So the boss can suck it. I am not working. She can put that in her pipe and smoke it. She also informed me that I will be having trouble with the other holidays that fall on Monday as well. No I won't. So there.
The other thing is, I defragmented my computer and got rid of a whole bunch of crap. Now, when I went to open Mozilla today, I have a different homepage, all of my bookmarks are gone and when I go to the sites I used to frequent I have to put in all of my passwords over again. That sucks big time. Jerks.

What the Hell, People?

I was just watching Nightline and they had a story about how a marine unit wiped out three families in Iraq, for no good reason. They were comparing this incident to the My Lai Massacre of 1968. This really sickens me on so many levels. I do not support this war, and never have. My uncle had to spend some time in Iraq with his National Guard unit, and I will say that I support him and respect the job he had to do there. I do not respect the reason we are there or the President that sent him. I think it is becoming more and more of a quagmire everyday. The Commandant of the Marine Corps, Michael W. Hagee, had to fly in to Iraq this week to remind soldiers of the danger of becoming "indifferent to the loss of a human life" .
I feel bad that these soldiers and sailors are even in a position where they have to be reminded of such a thing. They should not be there. Now that they are the stress of the combat situation is turning them into animals. I am not excusing this barbaric behavior. I love Marines. I was a hospital corpsman stationed on a Marine Corps base for my entire service in the Navy. I respect these guys, and the very hard jobs that they have to do. It just disturbs me that this is happening. The kicker here as well, is that this cannot be the only time that this has happened. You just know that it has happened before, and the unit had: A.) no questions asked, B.) some smart folks who made it look justified, and or C.) CO's who did not give a rats ass. (just call'em insurgents!). I think we will be hearing about more of these incidents as this ridiculous war goes on. I am just not looking forward to it. Sorry in advance to any military member I offend. I do have a right to voice my opinion, and needless loss of life hurts everyone. Take it up with the Commander in Chief if you have a problem.

Fair Winds and Following Seas....

Lee Anne Wong of Top Chef.
I was very disturbed by last evenings' Top Chef. That Dave made it to Vegas, leaving down to Lee Anne and Tiffani (beeeeaaatch) and since Lee Annes dish was too busy, she got eliminated. She should have been going to the final round. Dave consistently f-ed up his dishes and was called out for being the worst, almost being eliminated more than once. Lee Anne was not like this and was very professional. Let's just say I am disgusted. At least that jerk Steven got eliminated though, so I am convinced there is a God.

A Rebuttal To My Previous Post....

My cousin read my blog and had this rebuttal. I thought I would post it in the interest of fairness.

"Yes Cassie for your info I do read your blog and if that is how you feel about me well no sweat off my brow. And also for your info I did not have a bunion I had a bone spur so get your facts correct .And since were being so blunt I don't call your kid for his birthday well I have a kid too, goes both ways. And as far as all the Holidays go those were things that did come up and what is it to you anyways Our so called Family Christmas isn't Christmas it's all about who brings the good gifts. Lets get real about what a family Chritsmas means, to me it means getting together having a dinner and just enjoying each other. But with our family it just isn't that way. And I know for a fact that all of you talk about me and My Dad I've known that for years but I just go and play the game you all do, be nice to there face, talk about them when they leave. It's been this way in our family all of my life and let's be honest with each other you and I have never seen eye to eye. I don't really care what any of you think about me because I will live my life anyway I want. And if I don't want to attend a Family function ,well that is my right. Well like you quoted in your long ass letter about me I feel so much better to get this off my chest"

*****Cass here, wanting to add that I have never talked trash on Alicias dad. The man has a good heart, and can fight his own battles. I am hoping anyone who reads this, that is in my family, will allow Alicia and I to have our own differences and not jump in. Thanks.*****

So I Am A Bitch....It Is MY Blog, Isn't It?

Ok, I am sorry. I guess I have just had enough of the bullsh*t. I am sure more than one person can relate to what I am gonna say and, probably more than one person will say "why does she let it bother her?" So here goes.

I have a cousin. I won't put her name up here but all my family knows who I am talking about. Hell, she might even visit this blog. I mean there is a link from our family website to this one, right here. Anywho, this cousin is a flake and it really pisses me off. I mean, ok, here: We all hate family obligations sometimes. But that is what they are. OBLIGATIONS. This one gets out of them everyt time it seems. In the last three years she has made it to our families' Xmas once. Yes, once. We have had family Xmas the Sunday before Xmas for years now so everyone can make it. You know when it is coming an entire year in advance. If you have a calendar you can look at it. The Sunday before Christmas. It isn't hard. For Xmas of 2003, she said she had Traffic School. Traffic School people!What traffic school is held on a Sunday? Before Xmas? When my aunt and I asked her daughter where she was, the reply was, "my mom cut her finger and couldn't come." Do you smell the bullsh*t? I sure do; and it gets better. Here is a list of her most recent excuses, in her own words taken from the family website we have. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

This post was regarding the Thanksgiving and Xmas holidays this year:

Felicia Barcia - Nov 7, 2005 Edit | Delete | Viewers | Reply to this item
"Happy holidays to everyone so glad to hear Uncle Ryan coming home what a great present for us all. Kaylie (her daughter) spends Thanksgiving every year for the past 6 years with Jon's family. And as for Bill and I we will not be attending and of the Holidays this year. On Nov 18th I will be having Surgery on my foot I will be off work for a few months. But the doctor said for the first 6 weeks I have to stay off of my foot and no driving. Grandma and Grandpa already know because Kaylie and I went out to see them and take there Birthday cards to them. Bill is having his Mom, brother and stepdad here at our house for Thanksgiving and is making the whole dinner. As far as I know My dad and Jan will have Kaylie for Christmas I haven't talked to them in awhile. I wish everyone well and to have a great Thanksgiving please give Uncle Ryan a great big hug for me.Happy Holidays to all. P.S, Bill and I went out to see my mom in South Dakota and we had a layover in Denver while we were sitting there Bill noticed this women walking by it was mimi from the Drew Carey show if any watches that. And then all of a sudden we look up and it was Drew Carey walking by so I got to shake his hand and meet him he was real nice I thought it was kinda cool so I thought I'd share that with all of you love you all"

(OK, I understand her not coming to thanksgiving. But Xmas? a month later? She had a bunion shaved down for goodness sakes. Oh and By the way, that uncle she is talking about just came back from a tour in Iraq, but no problem. And I am so glad she could share with us that tidbit about Drew Carey.)

This post was regarding an invitation to our other cousins 13th birthday:

Felicia Barcia- Jan 11, 2006 Edit | Delete | Viewers | Reply to this item
"Well I wish Lynnie a Happy birthday but I am still on crutches and Kaylie (her daughters') Best friends B-day is on the 19th so Kaylie will be going with her and her parents up to there cabin in Twain Hart and going skiing so Lynnie I hope you have a nice B-day."

(Gee, big surprise there. Oh, and still milking the MINOR surgery angle.)

And finally, regarding my baby shower:

Felicia Barcia - Feb 7, 2006 Edit | Delete | Viewers | Reply to this item
"Cassie sorry I will not be able to make the shower we have already had plans for that weekend. Good luck with the baby"

So there you have it. I am not necessarily mad that she can't come to my shower although she used almost the same exact excuse last time I had a baby shower, and didn't bother to RSVP or wish my son Happy birthday, it just really rubs me wrong. This is just a sampling. She has only had a computer for like a year and a half.
We have had the website for like, 4 years. Ok, I dunno, what my point is. I am sure if I babble here a little more I might find one though. One time when she cancelled on Xmas The night before mind you, ( I think she just doesn't want to spend the money on gifts) I let her have it. I spoke for no one but myself. Well, she got on the horn and had people so pissed that a couple set of Aunts and Uncles weren't going to come. These people talk a gangload of sh*t about her too, but when it comes right down too it, say nothing. So I have learned to keep my mouth shut. Ok, so this isn't exactly keeping my mouth shut, anyone who doesn't like it can just suck it, and quit reading, cuz this is my blog, Y'all.
Whew, I think I feel better now.
Crisis averted.