Finally . . .

moved into our new home. Getting settled and not so settled . . . if you know what I mean!?! We also got a dog . . . the cutest little Chihuahua and Terrier mix you could ever lay eyes on! She looks like a golden lab puppy! However, she won't sit still long enough to take her photo! UGH! Savage she is not! We named her Fish! Nina's idea . . . enough said.

I plan to post pics of our new abode and Fish, if she stays still long enough, soon, so stay posted! :)

Jason is doing really well with the new therapist! He's still employed and we are all so grateful about that. He survived the massive layoffs and early retirement buyouts! He is now in charge of cleaning the doctors' lounge and keeping it stocked so he works all by himself. Perfect for him and he seems to love it. All is good in his world! :)

Nina is now working . . . what is considered full time . . . at Pub 50 as a bartender! No more late nights at CiCi's as a barmaid and I cannot tell you how happy I am about that! We have our moments, but the good thing about that is that . . . well . . . we haven't killed each other! Otherwise I would not be on here updating you! lol We really should play it safer because we obviously have lots of places to hide the body! Nina briefly dated a Lamesa police officer and he regaled us with stories of dead bodies he found in our neighborhood. He comforted us with the knowledge that these folks were all killed somewhere else and only dumped near here! :( I question if that was meant to comfort us?

As for my miserable or not miserable situation . . . well, I chose for the longest time to be miserable without him, but he wormed his way back into my life with . . . of course . . . promises of lots of beautiful things. And he has the most beautiful things to say to me . . . well, of course he does! He's 58 years old! He has had a lot of practice! :) But things seem to be not much different and above all else, I want to be number 1 in whomever I chose to share my time and life with. Because he would be number 1 in mine!

Finally, after moving, I turned . . . gasp . . . I almost told you! ;) Needless to say, I had a birthday and here are some pics I want to share with you.

This is me with my two OLDER sisters, Eva on the left and Lilly on the right. They do not like for me to always point out that they are older, but please, like as if I can hide that? lol ;) I had never noticed before now . . . how much we look alike! Aren't my sisters lucky?!? YES, THEY ARE! lol


Here are the usual hosts! Lilly and Clyde. What would our family do without them? I love them for letting me stay with them as long as I did when I first came back to Lubbock and all the support that they provide our family.


Here is Clyde at his attempt of a "sexy" pose. He stated that it was an imitation of Joe Cartwright from Bonanza. He actually thought I knew what show he was talking about! As if I would have ever heard of such a show at my age! lol ;)


Finally, I invited all the guys from the office, which of there are 7! Kelly was the only "gringo" . . . well from the office, anyway . . . to show up! lol He stayed quite awhile too and I was ever so touched by his attendance.


As you can see it was rather well attended. I loved that so many folks were there! I like to think that they attended because of the love they have for me and not because of the free food! lol


This is a birthday cake one of Nina's friends, Mando, bought for me! Isn't it the cutest? He stated he couldn't figure out which bug to buy for me, but that he thought the ladybug was fitting of me! He didn't even know that red is one of my favorite colors!


This is my brother, Manual, and his wife, Priscilla, and their daughter, Anastasia.


This is my only single brother Jimmy, my brother-in-law, Richard, Eva's husband and Juan, my niece, Frances', live-in boyfriend. And watch out single ladies! My brother is picky! If you do not have a car, a job or a house, please no need to apply! ;)

This is my sister Eva with her grandbaby, one of the newer additions to the family. She's such a proud granny! lol


Here is my nephew, Jesse and April, parents of one of the newest additions to the family. OK, and April is one of the other "gringos" to attend, but she wasn't from the office. She's part of the family!


This is my great-nephew, Freddy, III. I do not understand why he insists on calling me Aunt Ema when I have told him many times to call me Great Aunt Ema! lol


Finally, remember the forgotten birthday cake from 2007? Well, this year, it was not forgotten and my sister Eva commissioned this masterpiece for my birthday celebration. First, ok, my name was misspelled. Secondly, can you tell what it is? Well, if you post your guess as to what it is . . . by . . . let's say November 1st, I will put all the correct answers in a cup and have Nina draw a name . . . and I will send out a grab bag of papercrafting goodies! If you post a link to your blog back to my blog and let me know the link in your post, I will enter your name twice! I'm giving a longer period than usual, because since my long absence I have lost a lot of readers! :( But I hope to be back in full swing soon and I thought this would be a great way to get started again. Do not forget to let me know in your post how to get back to you if you are the winner!

Oh, and lest I forget, I made out like a bandit as well! I received a sleep shirt, a pretty white sweater, a stationary set and pumpkin-scented candles in orange jars! Plus, $160! I haven't spent it yet. I keep losing weight and am saving it to buy myself some clothes when I hit a plateau again. Which I hope is soon because I am running out of stuff to wear! lol For those that are interested, I will not tell you what I weigh, but I will tell you how much I have lost since last November . . . at last weigh in, 55 pounds! Amazing right?!? Just think, all I did was give up bread, sodas, flour tortillas, sweets, sugar in my coffee, drink non-fat milk, and just a few weeks ago added exercise to my plan. I'm up to 45 minutes at walking speed of 3MPH. I went from a size 26 to a size 16 or 18, depending on the cut. And the most important thing of all . . . I do not deprive myself and I do not make people accomodate my new eating habits. Life is too short to not enjoy dessert first! ;)

***Disclaimer: Please do not be offended by my use of the term "gringo." We use it and I have used it just now with love and affection and do not mean to offend anyone by it.***