Chinicuila, Michoacan 1967 (Pelicula 8 Milimetros)

Disneyland/Los Angeles trip

We started planning this trip since the beginning of February. Millie's birthday is on March 21st and that was my last day of work before Spring Break. Well, we had a birthday party for her on the Sunday the 23rd and we flew off on the 24th on jetblue from Oakland - cheap fare by the way $44 Oakland to Long Beach. The way back was also $44 but it was on Virgin America from LAX to SFO. 

We landed at Long Beach airport at about 8:30 pm. My nina Emma  picked us up and took us to dinner at shakey's pizza. It was 9:30 at night as we were eating. I knew my healthy eating was going to be over during my vacation. How do I refuse? My nina is like my mom since my mom passed away.

So anyway, Tuesday morning Millie wanted to get into the pool right away. But it was about 60 degrees inside the water, which gets really cold after a while. She eventually got most of herself in while I just wet my feet. Later that day, we went to Redondo Beach to have some fried Tilapia. It was actually pretty good. We played games at the arcades also. 

Then Wednesday came along... that was the big day. THE day to go to Disneyland. We got there around 12 noon. By that time, the lines were already long. To my disappointment It's a Small World was closed!!! It had a big sign that said that it would open during the Holiday season in 2008. WHAAAAAAT??? Ick! That sort of set the scene for a mediocre day at the park. Millie enjoyed the Autopia ride. She enjoyed Finding Nemo and hated Pirates of the Caribbean. We stood in line for ONE hour for the Peter Pan ride. Tinkerbell was not part of the ride and the ride lasted less than 2 minutes. 

This Millie after the Disney experience 

Princess Wishes

A few weeks ago, we started seeing ads for the Disney on Ice Princess Wishes. Alejandro actually commented that we should take our viejita to see it. So on impulse, I went online and got us tickets to to Oakland to see the princess wishes thing. We never told millie anything. Last night was the night of the performance and I told Millie that we were going to watch the Golden State Warriors play basketball. But I told her she could dress up like she wanted. Of course, she chose her purple satin gown with spaghetti straps. She looked so precious. She put on her old beat up Barbie tiara and I pulled her hair back in a stylish ponytail. To finish out the outfit, she put on a bracelet with rhinestones that she won at Chuck E. Cheese. She looked FABULOUS! 

Anyway, when we got to the arena, she was asleep in the car, but we woke her up. She was groggy but started look around and saw lots of little girls all dressed up. Some had their hair done!!! We went to the Will Call window and picked up our tickets, found our seats, which were in the middle of the row (it sucked) but we were pretty close to the stage area. When the princesses came on... Millie was sooooo amazed. There's no game? she asked. Nope, Mija you're going to be watching the princesses skate! She was amazed the whole time. She really believed that these were the actual princesses. It was a beautiful show. 

Rainy Day Blues

The day started pretty normal. It was a little cloudy in the sky. The weatherman said "rain in the PM". So what? They said that yesterday and there was just a sprinkle or two. By the time the end of the school day came, it was POURING rain. Ew! I was already sleepy and tired. So, I called Alejandro to see if he could go pick up Millie. Nope, he's already on his way home. So I took I had to go pick her up. I left work early (around 3:30 pm) because I wanted to beat the traffic. I got to her school, she didn't want to leave because they were about to start drawing. I said "Vamonos, hija, we'll go home and cuddle up and watch a movie." She wasn't having it. Finally after a little more coaxing, I talked her into going home. She was acting a bit babyish while we were walking out of the classroom, so much so that her home room teacher called her on it. 

I just ignored and walked her over to the car. It was still raining pretty steadily at this point. So, I went down to third street to avoid the rush, this usually works. But not today. After 30 minutes in "a vuelta de rueda" traffic, I called Alex and told him that I wanted to take Bart (Bay Area Rapid Transit, sorta like a subway) home. I would park the car and since he was coming into the City again later that evening he  could return to the city on Bart and use my car to get to his soccer game. 

I am so proud of myself for thinking of this solution. I think I would have been stuck in traffic for about another 2 hours - it  was that bad!!! There were high cross-winds on the Bay Bridge and all signs were lit up, cautioning drivers to slow down on the bridge. 

So that's where these pictures come in. When I parked the car, she started whining about being thirsty. Luckily we were right in front of a small convenience store and we went in, she forgot all about her thirst when she saw the huge bag of Gummy Bears. At 1.50 they were cheap enough and they might make the Bart ride a little more bearable. She was already insisting on taking her toys on Bart. At rush hour?  No... I don't think so. 

So after about an hour after calling Alex, we were inside our cozy, warm house. 

Happy Ending after all! 

On the Bart Train 1/31/08

Hmm.. My first blog. Well the reason I set this up is sort of like an online diary, maybe? I guess I want a spot where I can spew out my pet peeves and see if anyone else "out there" shares them with me. 

About me: My name is Julissa Chavez - Usually go by Julie. I am a mother of one beautiful little girl named Emily aka Millie aka Emmy. She's my pride and joy. She will be 5 on March 21, 2008. Where has the time gone? I still want to cuddle her and dress her how I want, but she won't have it.  I  am married to a fabulous guy named Alejandro but I might refer to him as Alex once in a while to avoid the red little squiggles. 

Oh I teach Special Education in the most beautiful school in San Francisco, in my honest opinion. It is covered with murals and the people that work there and study there are fantastic! 

I am hoping to go back to school sometime this summer so I can maintain my credential in line and possibly change to general education in the fall.