roccia incantata

 

aceri persi

tuffiamoci!

Yesterday was awesome! I'm really glad I got to enjoy Barton Springs Pool with you. You looked so good! The whole point of Monday was to make sure your birthday week got off to a great start. I think finding a front parking spot was a good omen. Ya know, come to think of it, I don't think I've ever parked that close during swimming season.

There are just so many things about yesterday that made me so happy. Being in the sun, eating Pulparindo*, having you massage the lotion on my back, seeing you sporting shades, huddling together for warmth in that crazy cold water, pub food & $1.50 margaritas at Sean Patrick's, hanging out on the banks of the San Marcos River until everyone was gone, spotting the moon through all the cloud cover on our cliff. Yeah, man, yeah -_-

I don't know if you noticed, but diving in the pool was another classic example of Aries/Leo. I was thinking about it last night and it may just be my favorite part about yesterday. You had absolutely no qualms about just diving in! Yet there I clung to the wall, terrified of the worst case scenario what-ifs. Just from my perception, you were so patient. You let me get comfortable and try all these different points of entry and still I was scared to jump in. Even after you jumped in and survived, I was hesitant. Not becos of the temperature, but becos I couldn't see the bottom and didn't want to drown. I know that sounds silly, becos there are a million lifeguards there AND those 3 women were a foot away (surely they knew how to swim). But seeing you jump made me want to do it, too. Even though I saw your success, I was still too timid to try. 

I don't know what it was that gave me enough courage to dive in? Maybe I didn't want to get left behind? The more and more I thought about that experience, the more it seemed to parallel our lives. You wrote, "Our marriages were not the same, and neither will our divorces be." You dove in and tested the waters just like you began this process of a divorce. I did reconnoissance of the area to determine where I wanted to enter just like I took time to decide that divorce was a right decision. You made it look so easy to jump in and out of the freezing water just like you made coming to a decision and going through with this divorce look easy. I struggled for a bit to overcome my fear of jumping in to that same freezing water just like I struggled for so long to tell Maund that I wanted a divorce. But through all of this, you were patient. I wouldn't be able to do this without you and I have a feeling that there are so many other things we will learn from each other...soon.

I admire your strength, my darling, and I'm glad to have you in my life. 

Happy 26th Birthday, Love!

*I apologize in advance for probably giving you lead poisoning. Well, that's what the wiki page says. Umm, yeah, Sorry and I Love You :)

aquiloni

Thanks for my first Zilker Kite Festival! 

 

     

mio zio

April 14, 1946 - August 19, 2011

Tomorrow I pay my respects to my Tio Nene.  It takes just under 3 hours to drive to Uvalde, TX and we will be passing through Sabinal.  Oh, how I dread driving through there.  Call it a love/hate relationship, and right now we're broken up and have been for a long time.

The last time I was in Uvalde for a funeral was when my high school sweetheart's father passed away in December 1998.  It'll be the same funeral home, too.  My cousin Lisa said it would be a Catholic mass and we joked about all the physical exertion required during these events.  The standing and sitting, then standing and kneeling, then standing and...well you get the pix.  It's almost like doing holy lunges, which shouldn't hurt as much becos you got you-know-who leading the training.

I saw a video memorial for Tio today and it made me really think about all the time I spent with him.  My absolute favorite memory was visiting Lost Maples with Tio, Tia, Patty and Chiquita.  I must have been 7 or 8 yrs old and had never been there before.  I begged my folks to let me spend the night with Patty the day before and they planned the little hiking trip and round trip to Sabinal to drop me off.  When we took off from Uvalde to Concan, it was a regular drive.  There wasn't anything too exciting about it, until we took a road I had never been on before.  It was windy and the trees were green and and tall and beautiful.  Or maybe it just seemed that way becos it was new.  I remember driving on the side of the hill and thinking we were gonna fall off.  When we got to Lost Maples, we registered and the park ranger asked me and Patty if we wanted to win a prize.  I can just see our eyes light up and agree to the conditions without even knowing what they were.  He gave us each a plastic gift bag with the "Don't Mess With Texas" slogan on both sides and said we had to fill them up with any trash we saw.  At the end of the hike we would turn in what we found and we'd get the prize, which still remained a mystery. We accepted the challenge and were ready for a hike.  I remember how we fought so badly for each scrap of trash we found.  I remember Tio and Tia enjoying the hike.  I remember the streams filled with clean, fresh water inhabited by minnows, fish, all kinds of wildlife! I remember Chiquita getting tired and napping in the shade of a tree along the trail.  Everytime we reached her tree, she would run ahead searching for another spot to lie down until we reached her.  I didn't have to have that much interaction with Tio, but his presence was enough.  He was always the big burly guy and you just always felt safe.

At the end of the hike we went back to the ranger station, bags bursting at the seams, ready to collect our prizes.  We were proudly presented with 2 large, shiny "Don't Mess With Texas" buttons.  I remember feeling kinda bummed, but still proud of my prize.  Only recently did I realize Patty and I were free Mexican child labor. But I wouldn't trade that memory for the world!

Tio was also the one to teach me how to swim under water.  I remember Patty and I wading in the river at Garner State Park around 07:00 or 08:00, listening to Tio instruct us how NOT to breathe underwater.  He taught us in small increments and by lunch time we were pruney, had bloodshot eyes, but guess what, we knew how to swim underwater.  We always, Always, ALWAYS woke up early to get to Garner early to get the good spots.  Then we'd just camp out ALL day.  I miss those times.  I think those were my happiest: at Garner State Park, my family, Patty's family, Sandy's family, BBQ, swimming from sunrise to sunset.  

Why do ham and cheese sandwiches taste so good when you're in the water or have been in there all day???

l'ultima giornata d'estate

It seemed to be getting colder and you could feel autumn kickin' in.  But as luck would have it, Texas would be experiencing hotter weather which opened up the opportunity for a final tubing trip of the season!

Our tubing trips always render excitement and mishaps and they've come to an end for the year.  Until next summer!

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nei suoi occhi

SEPTEMBER 11, 2007 entry taken from my previous blog

"Ugh, there's no parking," she sighed. She was wondering why there were so many people, when usually it was rather calm at this time. She drove around the block and eventually found a spot near the library. With picnic and blanket in hand, she proceeded to the park eyeing the perfect spot.

It was one of those moments where you see what you want and hope no one else has noticed your discovery. The kind of moment where the closer you get, the more you envision someone else swooping in and stealing your desire. Okay, maybe that's too psychotic, but someone out there understands that feeling.

Things were going well; low humidity, nice breeze, a sense of excitement in the air. The conductor stepped up to announce the evening's pieces. Today's show consisted of the audience's big band picks. This evening proved to be promising.

The show kicked off with a timeless crowd pleaser, In the Mood as recorded by the Glenn Miller Orchestra followed by String of Pearls.

Still no sign of him.

By now she was trying her hardest to focus on the music; but in the back of her mind she was kicking herself for getting her hopes up. It was too good to be true. Was he really planning on showing up or had he backed out? Did he in fact show up and discover that he wasn't too keen on what he saw?

"He's not coming," she thought to herself. She could feel her level of self confidence quickly diminish as Here's That Rainy Day began to play. What is it about that trumpet that helps put things into perspective? Or maybe it's the sultry voice of the singer, executing each not to perfection. The emotions of that song were so real, one could touch them. And yet, it obviously was interpreted differently by the different groups of people at the park. You have your couples in love, your new families enjoying the classics, your swingin' singles enjoying the people watching, the college kids who need extra credit, and…her.

Niente. Nulla.

Alone, silent and becoming more and more discouraged with each note, she popped open the basket. She sighed, "Well there's no sense in lettin' this go to waste." How else can one enjoy Begin the Beguine than with a salad that would have looked sadder had she waited any longer? But then the music started picking up and the classic 1930's piece filled the air with a fabulous drum beat. Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing) by Louis Prima sure helped to pick her spirits up and put a little bounce in her mood. And I just have to say that that's the glory of music…it can pick you up when you're down. A minute and a half into the song, the drums caused her hands to mimic their beat and her shoulders to sway from side to side. For those brief five minutes, she was lost in the past. During days where mostly everything seemed less complicated than today's world.

She envisioned herself in a dimly lit dancehall with paper stars hanging down from the ceiling and Christmas lights decorating every inch. The band was clearly visible on the stage and in hearing the music she couldn't help but get excited. What must it have been like to experience history in the making? She pictured seeing the people around her get up and create a whole new genre of dance and moves to fuel the emotion met through this song. A new era of music was being born and transformed before her eyes. And even if it was just a fantasy, she couldn't help but deny this beautiful scent that enveloped her.

"I must have a truly great imagination," she thought. She was transported to a wonderful time in music. And that's when Tommy Dorsey's I'm Gettin' Sentimental Over You began to play.

In opening her eyes, she discovered the source of the scent and a hand asking for hers.

She was shocked!

She was surprised and in looking for an answer…

she found it in his eyes.

She grabbed his hand, he smiled that familiar smile, and he escorted her to the grassy dance floor. Not a word was said between the pair, but they danced heart to heart with an occasional twirl. They stared into each other's eyes intensely and she could tell he was apologizing for being late.

Come Fly With Me played and the dancing didn't stop there.

"Hi, I'm Albert. I never expected ime zemra to be so beautiful. Forgive me, zemër?"

"Po, Of course. You're finally here, what else could I ask for?"

They didn't need complicated words to fill their conversation. Years of communication had brought them to this point. This was the moment they were waiting for. To finally have the chance to hold on to the one they had been dreaming about. It was pure luck that his work had him visit Austin for the weekend becos Lord knows she had been trying to save for a flight to Lund.

He leaned in and softly sang in her ear:

"…That's why darling, it's incredible

that someone so unforgettable

thinks that I am

unforgettable too."

They kissed and her heart beat so fast, she knew this is what she wanted. The thought of him slipping through her fingers was intangible. How could she go about her normal routine after having introduced him into the equation? It would be near impossible, but these are the sacrifices one sometimes makes.

They continued talking that evening, well into the wee hours of the morning. This dream was near its end, and the mood amongst them grew somber.

"I have to finish packing, zemra."

"e di," she sighed.

After saying their farewells, he reminded her that this was only the beginning and there was definitely more to come. She sensed he spoke the truth becos she saw it in his eyes. But of course you can only imagine that the drive between his hotel and her house was the longest drive ever. Funny, but it seemed to be longer than the trip between Texas and Sweden. Filled with such heaviness, she didn't know what to do but cry.

____________________________

It was difficult to drive through her tears and her heart breaking. But as she drove up, there was a bouquet on her doorstep filled with gerberas, roses, and button mums. And tucked neatly away was an envelope addressed to her. The card simply read…

të dua shumë zemra ime

and behind that a one-way ticket with her name on it.

She frantically dialed the hotel.

"Room 625…please be there, please be there, please be there…" she muttered.

The phone continued to ring in his room.

"Po?"

"edhe unë ty!"

il giorno perfetto

OCTOBER 20, 2006 entry taken from my previous blog

Today was looking rather good for me. I woke up at 6:30, went for a jog, got home and showered, then headed out to Wal-Mart for an oil change. Now being that I'm a broke ass, all I ended up getting was a protective covering for my iPod.

Once my vehicle was ready I drove home and got online to research how to renew my driver license. At that point I came to find out that the server was down and I was unable to renew online. I did however manage to find what I thought at the time to be helpful phone numbers for TX DPS. WRONG! I found out through the telephone system that I was ineligible for phone renewal. So I had no choice but to call the DL office for more info. I ended up holding for a good 30 mins before talking to a person, but that was only after calling 4 other numbers. AND as courteous as the gentleman on the phone was in offering the DPS website, so that I could look up all their FAQs and info on DL offices, I couldn't have cared less. Do you really think I enjoy being on hold for half an hour instead of easily connecting online??? Think about it, son. I wouldn't be calling if I had the choice of easy online access.

There was no way around it; I had to go down to the office in person. Little did I know that the DPS office takes up a whole city block. So guess where I end up parking? Yep, you guessed it...on the opposite end. I sign in, fill out my app, grab a ticket and BAM!...I see it: "We accept payment in cash, check, or money order.---No Credit Cards!" So as I turn in my app, I ask, "I'm guessing No Credit Cards applies to debit cards?" Then the receptionist starts pointing out some places w/ ATMs and throws in w/ a chuckle, "You got time. They ain't gonna be callin' your number anytime soon." As if this little experience isn't going bad enough, the first ATM I hit denies my transaction 2x which forces me to go to the next block.

I finally get back to the office, take a seat and proceed to watch Chappelle's Show on my kick ass 60 gig Video iPod for the next 2hrs. And it's always a great feeling once your number gets called. You feel like a celebrity becos everyone absolutely hates you for getting called. That's becos they know, they still have to sit in that shitty waiting room until those red lights configure their number. At that point, they gain their freedom from that uncomfortable setting.

So I walk up to Counter 5 and find a sweet older, wiser face staring back at me. She's grinning from ear to ear and I find comfort in her smile. We take a quick little vision test, I hand over my old DL and WHAM! She busts out w/ a perplexed look on her face. She motions for someone to come over and help (but no one can) and says, "There's an alarm on your record, come back in a week."

I went blank at that point. I don't really remember what happened after that.

I asked what the problem was, but she didn't know.

I asked if there's another department I needed to go to, but she didn't know.

I asked if there was a phone number to speak w/ someone about my record, but

SHE DIDN'T KNOW!

I couldn't get mad at her becos it wasn't her fault. After all, she said, "it's still okay; your DL doesn't expire till 8/4/06." I didn't have the heart to tell the senile broad that 8/4/06 had come and gone. So I walked out of there wanting to scream, but I contained it till I got to the car and blared my "Rock Out w/ Your Cock Out" playlist located conveniently on ...you guessed it...my iPod!

Once at home, I waited for Maund to get out of work and to my surprise, the boy brought over Chick-Fil-A....don't ya just love it? And then to add injury to insult, we tried to fill the Brita pitcher w/ water only to find out there was none. The water was off.

Crazy thing is Maund got so pissed that he ended up calling the leasing office 9x through the course of 2hrs. They finally called him back to say that they were working on the prob.

So lemme update you: it is now 22:06---No Water and No Driver License.

What a perfect ending to a perfect day...