November Days

I'm back!

Its good to sit down and write down things to share with others. I get so caught up with daily activities, facebook and church activities that I forget that I have this little spot online to write more than just a few sentences.

There is much going on in my life at the moment. A roller coaster of emotions.

October was a good month for me.   A lot of anxiety and worry with doctor appointments and meeting my new spiritual director.  All my medical test are normal, nothing to worry. I am a healthy person, young and thin, just like the doctor told me.

Meeting my spiritual director was amazing.  She is a friend of my dear friend Sister Clare. Her name is also Clare, but she likes to be called Clarita. A wonderful Christian woman, mother, wife and pastor of a church. Yes, who will know that my spiritual director will be a woman of a different denomination. But all is good, she is Christian. A believer of Christ and that's what matters to me.

The two sessions with her were very helpful and awakening.  On our last meeting we talked about my god-daughters soon to be 15th birthday celebration.  I had been thinking of doing something special for my god-daughter that day.  I am her baptismal god-mother and feel I should let her know how much that means to me.

So here are some pictures of that beautiful day.

The event was amazing, very nicely organized, a family event.  The most important part for me was the Mass.  I read one of the readings and my son sang in the choir.  My daughter Marah was "Dama" similar to a bridesmaid. At the reception there was music and the quincenera court, danced a waltz with her and also a surprise dance.

This was  a practice for what we, will go through next year, my own daughter's Quincenera.

October went by and we entered November.  November 1st, we celebrated the feast of all Saints. It was also my nephew's birthday.  November 2, we celebrated the day of the death, "Dia de Muertos"

We visited the cemetery.  As usual we visited my aunt Raquel, then we walked up the hill to visit little Mateo. My friend's grandson that died of cancer.

Last week, I got a call from my aunt that lives in Texas. She said that my biological father, was in the hospital in Utah and that doctors were only giving him 2 months of life. My uncle had to go to Utah, and take my father back to Texas by plane.  I was already prepared to receive this call, however at this time, I was unprepared to be told I only have two months left to see my father.

Thursday he was flown in to El Paso, Texas.  He was taken to a hospital there for further evaluation and a second a opinion.  At the Utah hospital, my father fell and broke his jaw bone.  The doctors at the Texas hospital  made another diagnosis.  He has internal bleeding. They will do anything possible for them. But now they are giving him  a life expectancy of one month.

My sister has to make arrangements at her work and her spouse too. We will be traveling possibly by car.  We are praying for more time.  I wanted my children to meet their grandfather, but at this time is not the best time for them to travel due to school.  My kids get off this Friday.  I'm not sure what to do. Do I take them with me and have them miss a few days off school? Or just leave  on my own and later take them if God permits us more time.

I  ask you all to pray for us. My father's family needs a lot of support at this time. As for my sister and I, well this is the time we will be reunited with our biological father after 20 years. Its a bittersweet moment.  Pray for us too. Thank you. I will try to update you as much as possible.

Frida Kahlo

I have always been intrigued by the life of Frida Kahlo and her art.  I will say that since my high school years.  I felt very much that I looked like Frida.  The uni-brow look.  I had a book long ago of her life, with colorful pictures.  I'm not sure what happened to the book.  Probably lost in one of the drawers or boxes in my mother's house or garage.

I did keep one clipping from the book,  a portrait of Frida from 1938/1939 taken by the photographer Nickolas Muray.

I love this portrait.  Her hairstyle, and red rebozo make her look elegant.   I always kept this picture in a frame in my home.  And for the traditional "Dia de Muertos", I will add it to the altar de muertos.  I felt she was part of my heritage. 

When I read her biography, I was very moved by her story and the suffering she underwent do to her illness and accidents. 

Recently while shopping at a bookstore, and browsing through different sections of the bookstore for a particular book.  I found this book about Frida and her cooking recipes.

It is quite expensive, beyond what I will normally pay for a book.  But I thought it was worth the investment.  I did get a 20 percent discount with my membership. 

The book was written by the daughter of Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo's husband.  Her name is Guadalupe Rivera and co-author's name is Marie-Pierre Colle.

Guadalupe retells how she met Frida, and she talks about her fiestas and her cooking.  The recipes are divided by months.  She gives a little reference to particular feasts of that month and the pictures in the book are taken at Frida Kahlo's house in Mexico.

I am not a cook,  but it will be great if I try some of these recipes at least once or twice a month.  Then I can let you know how they came out.  Any of my followers that love cooking can also try them and we can share comments about them.

This book is going on display in my kitchen.   My sister loves Diego Rivera's art.  She has some in her office and in her kitchen as well.  She has a curtain made of bamboo with a picture of Frida on it.  Now she does not cook at all.  But her kitchen remind me of Mexico style kitchen's.   With old morcajetes, and cookware that belonged to our grandmother.  Her restaurant style art on the walls.  Not that I want to copy her style, but one day I will have my kitchen decorated in a similar way.

From the Archives

This were last year's punkin designs. 

This year we had two punkins too.  I decided to wait until Sunday to buy the punkins because last year we bought them a few weeks before and by halloween night they were already getting spoiled. 

Today Catholics celebrate the all Souls Day.  In Latin America, we say "Dia de los Muertos"

You can read more on this in my post from the archives Here.

Here is my All Saints Feast table.  Notice the big "Divine Mercy"  frame.  It is here in my home, visiting.  A woman lends this to families for a week.  This woman has received many blessings by praying the "Divine Mercy" chaplet and novena.  She now shares this devotion with others by letting families have the "Divine Mercy" in their homes.

 

 

These are the punkins for this year.   I carved both.  I had a little help from my son.  He helped remove all the punkin seeds, that we are going to roast for a treat later.  He also help carve the one in the bottom.  He chose the design. 

Marah chose the design for the top punkin. 

I did not take pictures of the kids costumes.  Marah was a teenage witch.  She wore a witch hat and a cape with her regular clothes.   Julian was Captain Rex from the Star Wars series.  He wore this for two Halloween parties we attended and for the harvest festival at school.  

On Halloween night, Julian wore a long tunic, from an alien costume, but since we did not have the mask he just went trick or treating without one.  Marah went also.  She could not miss the fun.  She knew her brother will not share any candy with her, so she had to go too.

I stayed home to receive the trick or treaters.  I will say about 15 kids came over to our home.  Plus our family kids that totals about 28 kids.   Most of the kids in our neighborhood go to other neighborhoods.  So I am always left with left over candy. 

I will try to visit my aunt at the cemetery today.  She is the only family member in a close by cemetary. My grandparents are in Mexico and my Mother in law.  Those are the only relatives who have passed away in our family.

This is a picture from two years ago.    The ones on the left, are my paternal grandparents.  The ones in the larger frame, are my maternal granparents.  In the smaller frame next to Our lady of Rosary is my aunt Raquel who died of cancer about 26 years ago.   And the one on the end to the right side is my mother in law.  She died in 1993.   I met my husband at the end of 1994, so I did not meet my mother in law.

Children's Day

In Mexico we celebrate this day as the day for the children. Many events are done for the children all over Mexico. I am not sure if they get the day off from school, but it is a day for children to have fun with their parents.

We have not kept this tradition here in the United States, some people still celebrate in their communities our at church activities. A few years ago, we were invited to a family gathering hosted by the couples who have finished their marriage encounter from the diocese of Stockton, California. The theme was a favorite Mexican tv show, called "El Chavo". The program is about a homeless boy that lives inside a barrel, located within a "vecindad". A "vecindad" is like an apartment complex where low income people live and the residents share the patio. This is where Chavo's barrel is, and where the other children of the "vecindad" gather to play. The character's are played by adults dressed in children outfits.

The picture at the beginning of the post, is a picture we took at my nephew's second birthday party. The kids are dressed like some of the characters in the show "El Chavo" . You probably seen coloring books or party supplies at Target or other stores. It has become a popular party theme for Hispanic kids.

I grew up watching "El Chavo" and the other characters played by the producer of this show. They are very funny. Getting back to my original topic, celebrating our children.

Like I said before, we have not kept this tradition alive within my husband's family. We celebrate birthdays, Mother's day, and Father's day, but we never celebrate the actual children's day. But today, husband said, " Go to the store and bring sodas and juice for the party." What party? "We are getting together at my sister's house to celebrate el Dia del Niño (Children's Day in Spanish)", Husband replied.

My children got so happy. This is really something very new to them. But I hope that we keep with the tradition next year and make something very special for them. It will be nice it we had a talent show. We lots of talent among our children. My kids love to sing and dance. At my parents house we are always making our parties talent shows. And my kids love it!

Well, I have some errands to do. Have a beautiful day.