So, yesterday, I began my day with a 3 shot Cafe Americano. 3 shots of vital espresso, topped off with about an inch of hades hot water and a splash of half and half. Nothing but the best cream, as I'm not trying to keep off any pounds. This is rocket fuel for me. BUT, having difficulty sleeping the night before, along with a wicked antihistamine hang over, it was just enough to make my eyes appear to be open...and I thought a second helping was in order.
Well, by about 11 a.m., my heart jackhammering, I texted my sisters, Lauren and Sherri; 'Is it possible to O.D. on coffee? If so, I am!'. Lauren hit me back quickly, advising that the only known cure for coffee o.d., is a beer. As tempting as that sounded...it was only 11 a.m. ...and, I was at work. Sherri got back to me and said that it was indeed possible to O.D. on caffeine and that she better not hear that I was stealing adderall from kids. By this time, I was picking the bambini up from school and had to ask Tonio's teacher, Mrs. Schrantz, what adderall was...she told me, it was fashionable these days for ladies to use adderall as an appetite supressant...damnation, what did Sherri mean?? But it all ended well, I still could not sleep last night, I'm sure the late, late effects of too much coffee...I vowed not to do it again...today.
I've got a couple of Kimmy's journal entries to share with you tonight:
October 31st, 2003
Happy Halloween! The kids are so excited to go trick-o-treating. Cody and Autumn are both "Buzz Lightyear" - a super hero type space ranger from the movie Toy Story. Little Antonio will be a lion - a costume I had made for Cody's first Halloween (which Autumn then wore for her first Halloween : ) ) It's a warm day (85), so I hope it cools off for tonite!
November 2nd 2003
Cody lost his 2nd tooth today! Right after church, he pulled it out! It was his top front right tooth. He looks so cute with his little toothless smile. Tonite, the Tooth Fairy comes!
November 15, 2003
Ed and Vi (Pop and Nana) arrived today. They will help us celebrate Antonio's Baptism tomorrow! The weather will be perfect (in the 80's with a light breeze.). The kids are looking forward to showing off our new baby.
November 16, 2003
Antonio was baptized today at St. Frances de Sales church. It was a lovely ceremony performed by Deacon Crockett. Antonio fell asleep early on in the Baptism and slept right through the annointing of the oil and the blessing with the Holy water. What a proud day for Dave and I to have our 3rd child fulfill his First Sacrament in his little life.
Afterwards, we all came back to our home to celebrate with family and friends. Our good friends Shawn and Courtney, catered his celebration with and Italian feast. It was gorgeous and delicious! Complete with a tray of Italian meats and cheeses, 2 types of pesto, rolls, pasta salad, sausage penne pasta, various relish trays and beautifully displayed with mirrors and silver dishes. I cried when I saw what they did for us.
Those who joined the celebration:
Ed and Vi were there, the Williams family (Angie, Mark, Andrea, Mario, Lexy and David Castillo, Janene and Brendon, Kristie, Ross and Trinity Verduzco, Kim, Rashon and Mariah), Shannon, David and Isaiah Conrad, Rose, Neveah and Tyler Chacara, Vito, Rosa, Vito Jr and Vanessa, Joe and Deanna Croce (our Viro's family!), Cheri, Curtis, Megan and James Thelen, Debbie (our neighbor), and, of course, Shawn and Courtney Hoffman. Rosa and Vito made an incredible cake and provided tiramisu and cookies for dessert!
We had a jumping castle for the children and plenty of good moments that will remain with us a lifetime.
Bless you little Antonio.
Kimmy was so sweet, so appreciative of everybody and everything they did, no matter how big or how small - she loved you all...
This morning, after a good 4 hours of sleep, little Autumn, our little Kim, gently shook me awake at the hellish hour of 6:10 a.m. It was time to make the donuts. Well, I made waffles, instead. I planned to jump back into being a part of the kid's classrooms - I used to be there every Thursday, to help the teachers, and I felt it was time to start contributing again. I picked the right day to do that...
I started by working the Scholastic book fair, in the library, from 8-10. Mrs. Saldana, the librarian, always takes great care of me. Starting me off with bottled water, a bagel and a banana (she knows I need help eating healthy!). Patti, who works the front desk at Cottonwood, brought me down a cappuccino, as I had slits for eyes again. Mrs. Schrantz, brought Tonio by to do some shopping and to hang out with me while I sold books on my day off from selling books...Kim and I worked many book fairs together. During slow times, we would walk the shelves and see if there were any we wanted to surprise the kids with...or, find one that we remembered from childhood. She usually rang the register, while I straightened the books and helped the kids make selections. It was fun for us. And we'd always grab a stack of the books teachers had requested and have fun finding the books and buying them for our kid's teachers. Tonio and I got a chance to do that together today.
Next, I headed to Autumn's classroom to help Mrs. Rudzena grade papers and file paperwork. Mrs. Rudzena has been such a positive influence on Autumn. She got straight A's again on her last report card. I enjoy helping in her classroom, to watch her teaching style and see the children respond to her - she is incredible. We got great news this week, that Mrs. Rudzena received a promotion, moving up to 6th grade next year - so Autumn can have her again next year and stay at Cottonwood!!
Here's another great benefit of having volunteered today: FREE LUNCH! They had a Mexican buffett set up to celebrate Ms. Bryson's winning Principal of the Year and I filled a plate of chimi's and all of the fixin's!!
Then, I went to Antonio's classroom and helped Mrs. Schrantz with a book project she is developing to help the kids learn about different genres. Again, talk about a positive influence on Tonio - these two teachers have salvaged what was a devastating situation and helped Autumn and Antonio adjust on their new journey and excel in the classroom, while being made to feel like they mattered...
When school was over, I dropped Tonio by the library, where Mrs. Saldana helped make sure he got his homework done, stopped to tell Mrs. Montes 'I don't know how you guys do it...I need a nap' (her belly is getting bigger!), picked up Aut and drove over to Desert Willow to pick up Lexy...Where we got to see Cody's alegbra teacher, Mrs. Lopez and her 4 week old baby - a cute little peanut!
We drove back to Cottonwood for Ms. Bryson's 'Principal of the Year' celebration to eat cake, cake, cake and lemonade. Ok, we were all O.D.'ing on cake today! I got to sit with Mrs. Rienstra (Aut's third grade teacher), also pregnant, and let her know that her belly was beginning to show, too! There must be something in the water over there...
The kids were given balloons at the celebration. On the way home, Autumn asked if they could let them go when we go home. I said 'Sure, if you'd like to'. I heard Autumn say to Lexy and Antonio; 'We could make a wish when we let them go...like we did at my Mama's funeral.'. And they did, they did let them fly when we got home - running down the sidewalk, straining to keep their balloons in sight - and knowing, with their children's hearts, that their wish would come true...
Soon, it was time to make dinner for the bambini's...what else? Pasta.
Oh, forgot! Yesterday, a visitor came to Cottonwood:
Tonight, was skate night, at Skate Country, and, after our pasta, we went there to skate, meeting up with Janene, Bryson and Kason, and hanging out with Annette and Kirk Perrini. Tonio and Bryson had a lot of fun skating, as did Lexy and Autumn. It was a good turnout.
Mario, Andrea and Breanna stopped over later to pick up Lexy and I finally got the bambini in bed around 10. A fun night.
Here's some more randomness:
What did we learn? You can O.D. on coffee, although it is not an unpleasant sensation -and I was able to harness this tidal wave of energy in a productive manner. Mrs. Bryson is the best principal in all of Arizona, which became a state in 1912 -same year as the house I grew up in was built - we will celebrate our centennial next year! A treed racoon will stay a treed racoon, despite the best efforts of 'animal control', who, apparently, had no control, until nightfall - being strictly nocturnal. Cake is good, cake is your friend.
And, of course, Kimmy was an angel - is an angel - and continues to inspire us daily....
Love,
Dave
No comments:
Post a Comment