My Heart Hurts

I watched my baby leave for school today.
She ran back home to hug me,
She told me she loves me.

Our world will change today.
My heart hurts.

FRIDAY NIGHT FUN

FRED and BLYTHE

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA

I would like to do a road trip on this one!!

EEK in INK

This was the first place we went.
The walls were painted amazingly,
but the place was really creepy,
the guy was very unfriendly.
 we waited 45 minutes to talk to the
him and he never made time for us.
So, since we were the ONLY
people in the place, we figured
he didn't need the work.
We took our business else were!

DRUMMOND JENTZEN
with
TOP ROCKER TATTOO
http://toprockertat2.com/

 THIS PLACE WAS GREAT 

REALLY FRIENDLY AND HELPFUL. 

Drummond helped Mark turn his idea 

into exactly what he wanted. 

The lick and stick temporary!

THIS IS MARK'S FB ENTRY

My son has my heart! EEK PJ!

TODAYS TODOS

1. PUT DINNER IN THE CROCKPOT
2. WASH BEDDING
3. PULL WEEDS
4. TAKE DONATIONS TO GOODWILL
5. GO TO LIBRARY
6. MAIL INVITES
7. PRINT SON'S PAPERWORK
8. LUNCH DATE WITH MARK
9. DDS APPOINTMENT
10. ORTHO APPOINTMENT
11. CONFIRM VISION APPOINTMENTS
12. SET FOLLOW UP APPOINTMENT

ACT UPON THE MOMENT

Jessette calls me on her way home from work many several days a week, I think it is lovely!!! Today she told me that when she had moved her car for a co-worker earlier today she saw that the "Service Engine Soon" light was off on her dash. This was a huge deal. She has been haunted by this demon light for some time. Knowing full well that it always means big bucks at the repair shop. So my thrilled daughter did the brilliant thing any sensible girl would do.........after work she headed right over to the MVD to have her emissions tested! We chit chatted the entire way. I love hearing about her job, and how she is the only employee who does not speak Spanish, she is the "the token white girl". We both hoped that the MVD wouldn't close before she made her appearance at the Glendale Airpark. I even pulled up the website through Google to find the times. I never found the hours of operation, but they had a nifty, up to the minute "line cam", so you could see how hilarious the line in front of you is. When she got there there was only the white car in front of her (the one I could see on the "line cam"), I never saw her, because they got her right in. She called me right back after they were done testing her car. And she proudly announced that her little car passed emissions! We continued to chit chat as she headed home, only for her to get three miles for the MVD and have the "Service Engine Soon" light come back on!!!! No Kidding!!!!

So as always...my darling daughter, so beautiful and wise, acted upon the moment and made the best of the situation! 

She makes her mommy proud!!!! 

iFOOD

An iSandwich

MONDAY NIGHTS FINAL

KENTUCKY'S Game was good.
Their boys were all freshmen!
I had fun watching it,
I was more than a little
impressed with NCAA.com
They know how to broadcast live!
SUPER JOB!!

TONIGHT'S SUNSET

 Centennial's Field at Sunset

APRIL 9th

 I reread email and texts 

from today's date in 2011.

We have learned so much 

more about each other,

We have grown closer, 

we have faced trials and shared joys,

We have made dreams come true 

and glimpsed our future.

We have always been meant to be together! 

We knew it then, 

just as we know it now . . . .

. . . as always KC, 

you have my heart, 

I love you!

THOUGHT of THE DAY

Our greatest weakness 

lies in giving up. 

The most certain way

 to succeed is 

always to try 

just one more time. 

 Thomas A. Edison 

MY BRACES ARE GONE!!!

The Last Day Of Braces!
Four bands at a time at the end.
Just a week shy of 3 years!

This is ERIKA
I love love love her!!
She and Alison were
the only reasons
I did not kill all
5 orthodontists. 

This is all the stuff that they had in my mouth.
Prior to the xray hardware that is. 

NO MORE BRACES!

SEXY RIGHT!!!!

The Ortho gives each successful
BRACE Graduate a
Treasure Bag.
It reminded me of the "Ladmo Bags"
from when I was little.
I asked Erika why they would give
 kids this stuff, she said
"Job security!"

I came home to this 

on our kitchen white board!

I have brushed my teeth
 6 times today, and 

I have flossed 4 times. 

It is just so nice to be normal again. 

I love the way they feel, 

I love the way they look. 

Next week I get the retainer 

and we start

the bridge work. 

By the end of May

I will be all finished.

I can't wait!!!

HUMBERTO MURRIETTA

I have blogged about the people I work with before. We all agree that we don't love the job or the company, but we love our work family. Today that is even more true than ever before. 

For quite a while now I have been in a pod with all boys. I have missed having women to chit chat with, but I love the boys on my team. Humberto and I have been sitting together for nearly a year. Our chairs collide all day long and we are the 'turn to' person for the other, if there is a question. When there is a lull in service levels it's Humberto I chat with. 

He answers every call by saying his name in a way that makes it sound like it's a song. He said that his brother and sister have typical American names, but he was named after his dad. I always thought his name fits him perfectly, although I would never say it out-loud, because he hums constantly. Whenever he concentrates he hums. Not really a tune that you would recognize, just a bit of a hum. He isn't conscious of it I don't think. He even does in when he is on the phone with his clients. I did some research years ago, about concentration, and how some people do little things like bite their lip, tongue or even hum when they are concentrating, and this helps them focus. I told Humberto I had researched this, because I have children that are deep thinkers and tongue biters, and he was surprised. He said he thought he was just odd. I told him he was just using more brain power to concentrate, and humming to keep out the rest of the world. I think his name is perfect for him. .

Working so closely, you learn things about your co-workers, even when your co-workers are private people. I have learned that Humberto is very protective of his father, and worries that his sibling will take advantage of him. I have learned that Humberto, like most of us, would also get burned out on making dinners, because menu planning sucks. I also leaned that he is very lonely. I had read an article while waiting at for an appointment, that talked about a loneliness being an epidemic in Americans between aged 40-55. I shared the article with him. I think it only depressed both of us more. 

Humberto started losing weight. He is a thin guy to start with, I figured it was because he was under stress; house repair, family issues and work. Then he stopped eating. He just wasn't feeling well. He kept saying he would go to the doctor, but he just didn't. Then one day he left work early (2/21). I am glad he had taken my cell number, but I didn't have his, so I knew nothing! A day or two later Humberto texted me, he said he would be out of work two weeks. He was seeing a doctor. I texted back, and thanked him, told him I would pass the word to Carolyn (work family), and to please keep me posted. 

March 4th, Humberto let me know he had been put in the hospital with an infection in both lungs. He wasn't sure how long he would be there. Just letting us know. I did't want to pester him too much. I know he likes to stay private. So I would send a text once a week. But when I got back to work after taking a week off for spring break with the kids, and Humberto still wasn't back and no one had heard from him I started to panic. My texts got more frequent, and so did the bosses phone calls.

Sunday March 30th, I got a text from his niece. She let me know he was not doing well. That he misses his work family. That he was still in the hospital, but they were hoping to get him to hospice soon. 

(Hospice....what for????) I thanked his niece and asked her to please keep us posted, and let us know if we could do anything to help.

Connie, my team leader, got the phone call Monday night, that Humberto had passed away. Yesterday our team was pulled into a meeting at 8:30am the next morning so we would all hear the news together. The news was given very nicely, our department manager let us all know. All the team leaders were there. They had a grief counselor on sight for us, we all had time off to digest the information. Funny how a huge conference room suddenly seems so claustrophobic. Watching each one of my associates grieve and cope in their own way was hard. Watching Ronnie was the hardest, it hit him the hardest. He shares our pod, he has a new baby boy. Life is so very precious to Ronnie right now, it was like he was raw. The hardest however, would be Carolyn. She wasn't at work, she was out for a few days. Carolyn and Humberto are very close work family, and she will be crushed. 

This morning 14 of our work family took time off to pay our respect to Humberto. It was not my first funeral by far. But it was the first funeral of a friend. And even though I was told many times that there is really no death, just moving on, I can tell you that my heart is still broken. I kept my composure until I returned from the viewing, the man in the casket did not look like my friend, that made it easier. But the photos of him being played on the screens above, they were him. They showed how fun and real and wonderful he was. That was so hard. Hugging each work family member, letting them know that they are loved, that was emotional. They played "Somewhere over the rainbow", it seemed to fit Humberto. 

I love my work family. 

We had all talked many weeks ago about doing an out of bank activity, Humberto said he just didn't want to go to the movies, but he was okay with anything else. Well the movies would have been far better. 

Humberto will be forever missed. 

INVISIBLE

Crowded Hallways are the loneliest places for outcasts and rebels 
Or anyone who just dares to be different 
And you've been trying for so long 
To find out where your place is 
But in their narrow minds, 
There's no room for anyone who dares to do something different 
Oh, but listen for a minute 

Trust the one who's been where you are wishing 
All it was sticks and stones 
Those words cut deep but they don't mean you're all alone 
You're not invisible 
Hear me out, there's so much more to life 
Than what you're feeling now 
Someday you'll look back on all these days 
And all these pain is gonna be... 
Invisible 
Oh, invisible 

So your confidence is quiet 
To them quiet looks like weakness 
But you don't have to fight it 
Cause you're strong enough to win without the war 
Every heart has a rhythm, 
Let yours beat out so loudly 
That everyone can hear it, yeah, 
Promise you don't need to hide it anymore 
Oh, and never be afraid of doing something different 
Dare to be something more 

Trust the one who's been where you are 
Wishing all it was sticks and stones 
Those words cut deep 
But they don't mean you're all alone 
You're not invisible 
Hear me out, there's so much more this life 
Than what you're feeling now 
Someday you'll look back on all these days 
And all these pain is gonna be... Invisible 
Oh, invisible 

These labels that they give you just 'cause they don't understand 
If you look past this moment, you'll see you've got a friend 
Waving a flag, for who you are, and all you're gonna do 
Yeah, so here's to you and here's to anyone who's ever felt invisible 

Yeah... 
You're not invisible 
Hear me out, there's so much more to life than what you're feeling now 
Yeah, someday you'll look back on all these days and all these pain is gonna be... Invisible 
It'll be invisible