Embarrassing Moments

I’m having a slow day. Don’t ask me why I’ve come up with is, but I couldn’t think of nothing really to write about…

The following is a list of some true embarrassing moments that I have experienced throughout my life.. There is one that happened quite recently. Can you guess which one?

Having my young daughter, shout out loudly and point out the man dressed as a woman at the grocery store aisle.

Leaving a large wholesale warehouse store holding my son, as he is sobbing uncontrollably, while he is throwing chocolate chip cookies at the other patrons.

Standing in line at the grocery store, and have my under slip I’m wearing fall to my feet.

Walking down the street, and feeling my underwear slip to my knees.

Walking down the street, and having my nylons fall slowly to my ankles.

Finding myself in a parking lot, not knowing where my car is.

Laughing so hard, and actually peeing my pants in public.

Bursting with laughter in the middle of church service.

Hearing the stomach sounds coming out of the older parishioners during church service.

Seeing a lady bug stuck in someone’s big up hair do during church service.

Taking my son to a restroom, who is refusing to stand in the same handicap stall, and having to walk around the store with wet underwear.

Having both of my parents come into a crowded discotec looking for me.

Discovering my parents hiding in the parking lot at night, to check out the guy I was dating.

Walking out of a restroom with toilet paper stuck on my shoe.

Forgetting a co-worker’s name, and thinking they are a client.

Going to the women’s bathroom at the workplace, and stopping in my tracks thinking it’s a man in the restroom, when it’s a woman who looks like a man from behind, and getting caught with that look of shock on my face.

Having to witness your cousin’s wife say to another woman (who is dressed like a man) that she is in the wrong bathroom.

Going to your brother’s wedding, and watching your drunk husband dance non-stop with another female guest at the wedding. (No, I’m no longer married to this one.)

Trying to prevent drunk husband from jumping out of the hotel window, while he is only wearing bikini underwear. (Yeah, same guy—not married to him anymore.)

Answering the front door after playing “make up” with my 5 year old daughter.

Pretending you didn’t hear someone you respect fart in public.

Having unexpected out of town visitors use your bathroom before you could pick up the National Enquirer you left on the bathroom floor, in front of the toilet.

The Importance of Being "Ernest"

Today, I was covering the reception desk for about a hour, and it was pretty uneventful, but I had two clients come to the window, one after the other within 10 minutes time. Both of these young men went by the name of Ernesto. I thought that was a little odd. Then I get a phone call for another client, named Ernest. What are the chances of that anyway? I had no idea that Ernest or Ernesto was such a popular name, did you? I guess it's just something else for me to wonder about...let's just say that it's been an odd week.

You know the saying: "Things happen in threes."

Well, the other day I went to close my mother's door with her keys (3 keys are on the key chain by the way), and when came back home, and it was time to open the door, for the life of me, the keys were GONE. They had disappeared! I have no idea where those keys are. I've looked high and low in the family van---not there. My mother has gone through her purse over and over again, but to no avail. When I got home, I thought I found the keys--but I was wrong--it was my own set of keys to her house--the set that doesn't work. Luckily I was able to get my mom's back door open, otherwise I would have had gone through the window.

Later, that same day I get home, and I'm met at the door by my older son, who is a little frantic. "I think I lost my phone again, mom!" Great. My son has lost or broke at least 3 phones in the last year.

About 15 minutes later, I hear the garage door open, and I see my daughter coming in the garage, with an equally distraught look on her face. Apparently, her look of distraught is the same as her look of relief. She went on to explain how she thought she lost her wallet at the gas station, and she was pretty upset when she couldn't find it, mainly because I had given her my credit card for gas money. She apparenlty thought the poor guy at the gas station misplaced it. Luckily she found her wallet under her seat.

Well, happily, my son eventually found his phone, and my daughter found my wallet and my credit card, but, sadly my mother's set of keys are still gone. Strangely--all of these misplaced items happened within the same hour. Weird.

The other day, during my lunch break, I was driving around town, wondering what I should pick up for lunch. I didn't want a big meal, or a sandwich, so I decided to go to Jamba Juice and had a strawberry smoothie. Later that day, Rich comes home, and we started talking about our day, like we usually do, and then he starts telling me about his lunch hour. Apparently, he wasn't too hungry either, so he stopped at the Jamba Juice that day as well, and --- yes, you guessed it --- had a strawberry smoothie. Of course this happened at the same hour--just different cities. Weird.

Not too long ago, I went to one of the drive in car washes, and the guy behind me, stepped out to alert me that my fuel gas door was open. I was very grateful to know this, and I mentioned it to Rich later that day. He looked at me, with disbelief and informed me that the very same thing happened to him that day as well. Weird.

Can someone explain all the weridness to me? Do these things happen just out of coincidence? Is the Earth a little off it's axis, or is it because the strong connection of the people I surround myself with? Is there a guy named Ernest at the Jamba Juice right now making me a strawberry smoothie at this very moment?

I went to the grocery store to get a sandwich. No, the guy who made my sandwich was not named "Ernesto" or "Ernest". I checked his name tag, his name was Carlos. If his name turned out to be Ernest or Ernesto, I don't know what I would have thought. Anyway, I went to buy my sandwich at the register, and the guy there ringing up my sandwich said something very profound. Don't ask me WHY he chose to tell me this, but he said this, word for word: "Sometimes our dreams are windows to our futures." Okay, that was weird as well.

It's Friday - this all that really matters right now. Have a great weekend!

Happy Easter.... Happy Day!

Okay---- Tis the month of April, and I've been meaning to post an entry days ago! See the change of my picture above?

April is a month of birthdays in our family... I was born this month, as well as my sister and my brother, and my brother's daughter who happened to pop out the same day as his birthday. Yes, July was a "hot" month for my parents. No surprise it was their anniversary month as well, so they must have done "it" three times. Okay, may be 4--I had a brother who was born in March too.

Today, this year, my birthday happens to land on Easter, and being a "Coelha", naturally I'm thrilled! Although, Easter to me does involve more than Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies. It's a day to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ--my savior. It's a good day to be alive. I woke up in bed with Rich on my right, and my son Nicholas on my left, with hugs and kisses, and warm wishes coming from both sides--that was pretty awesome.

The weather outside however is pretty dismal looking and it looks like rain. Better now than later. Tomorrow the "tree people" will be coming over to take what is left of the trees that were once in our backyard. Two more trees are coming down tomorrow, and six stumps. I would be lying if I told you that I didn't miss the trees. They gave shade, beauty and privacy. I can now see my neighbors across from me. I can now see them in the kitchen--it's a little weird. Bob the Gnome, who had a home sitting on it's swing on the cherry blossom tree, now sits on our backyard deck. My plastic rabbit and squirrels are sitting in front of my kitchen window, and I swear I thought I saw the rabbit's whiskers move. The real birds and squirrels in the neighborhood are equally confused. I see them coming up to the tree stumps--looking up and down.... Oh well..better things are coming...

The "pool people" will be digging our backyard hopefully by the end of this week. Yes, my childhood dream of having a pool in my backyard is actually coming true! Unbelievable. Hopefully by the time we arrive back from Portugal, it will be completed! I can't wait to drop my luggage at the door and make that big splash into that pool..or maybe I'll go into the hot tub first... Yay! Can't wait!

Until then, looks like we will have a pit of mud in the backyard for awhile. I'm forgetting about plans for the bridal shower for the backyard. I may cover the deck, and have some of it on there...we shall see. Meanwhile, Tania's wedding is keeping me busy with bridal shower favors. I have been to Michaels almost every weekend. My daughter thinks I may be going a little overboard. I'll be posting pictures later.

So for today, it's off to church, and boiling eggs. I made two puddings last night, a rabbit cake, cookies, and I'm bringing it all to my sister's house along with a big bag of Hawaiian Bread (sweet Portuguese bread) and lots of wine. My mother is making Alcatra (regional Portuguese dish---like carne asada that she cooks in a clay pot in the oven). There is nothing better than eating Alcatra with sweet bread--believe me.

HAPPY EASTER!

Black birds sitting on the telephone wire..

I remember rainy, cold days where I would look out my window and watch the black birds line up on the telephone wire outside. I would count them, and wonder about them. Where had those birds been to? Why did they enjoy sitting out there on a rainy day? Were they talking amoungst themselves? Did they see me staring out at them? My bedroom window glass was wet, and dewy, so I would proceed to draw on my windows with my fingers. I would draw happy faces to pass my time hoping for the boredom to stop, and then continue to count the black birds sitting there on the wire and wonder about them.

When the rain stopped I would get on my bike and scope the neighborhood for the best puddles I could find. I scoped the neighborhood for the biggest puddles where I could make the biggest splash. The black birds would watch me from their perch and cheer me on until mom or dad would call me inside. Simplier days, simplier times. No computers to blog in, only numerous written journals, and loose binder paper stashed underneath by bed. No cell phones to talk into, just the yellow phone, with the long curly extenstion cord.

Rainy weekends, if my parents would let us, involved taking the bus downtown to watch a movie or the Goodwill where my sister would look desperately for old Monkee records. Suprisingly, I think she collected all of their albums that way. At lunch we would head for the Woolworths across the street from the movie theatre. The store was full of the aroma of moth balls, intermingled with the scent of french fries from the store's cafeteria. There was also a few questionable and colorful people inside as well-especially on a rainy day. This all made the place more exciting. I remember seeing The Rainbow Lady taking a break from dancing in front of the Cooper House in line holding a large box of red vine licorice-my favorite. I wondered what else me and the Rainbow Lady had in common. Of course we bought our candy at Woolworths and hid it in our pockets when we entered the theatre. The theatre was big, and I tried not to stare at the ceilings at the painted Roman looking women holding jars. No naked men on the ceiling, just women, but Richard Gere, and his naked scene on the big screen made up for it.

It's raining outside, and for some reason, the rain and the birds outside are reminding me of these simplier times and simplier days where the biggest worry was if I would be able to pass my math test next week, or what I should wear for school the next day. I remember laying on my bed at night, with the window open, watching the curtains billow softly hearing the rain tap at my window. If I listened quietly enough, I could hear the sound of seals crying in a distance near the wharf, and a cow in the distance mooing softly. The familiar sound of my father's car arriving in front of the house, and the sound of the door, told me that all was now safe and quiet.

February Recap!

I realize I only made one blog entry for the whole month of February, but to my defense, it was a short month.




Okay, this is not a good excuse, I know. I feel actually guilty for admitting this to you. It’s the same feeling I get when I am sitting down on a Sunday, realizing that I missed going to church. Oops. Well, here are the highlights from the month of February that I forgot to mention:



Nicholas lost his first baby tooth! Yes, it finally happened! We were wondering when our six year old would finally loose a baby tooth. Nicholas was preoccupied by the thought of actually losing a tooth out of his mouth, thinking it would hurt and the blood that might be involved, but surprisingly to him, (and to us) it came out quite easily with low amounts of blood shed. It immediately went into a sandwich baggy, and underneath Nick’s pillow that evening. Yes, the tooth fairy did arrive and leave some cold hard cash that went directly into Nick’s piggy bank the following morning.



The concert that Lizzy and I had been anticipating to attend since the month of September of last year, that was cancelled due to a case of influenza for both Elton John and Billy Joel finally got rescheduled in February! Lizzy and I finally got to see the two perform live, and I can truly say, it was the best concert I’ve ever attended. We laughed, we cried, we sang… It was a great night!




As previously mentioned, Rich and I attended our first, live Nascar race! We flew into Los Angeles, and had a nice stay at the Hilton there. It was a more fun experience than I originally anticipated, and although Rich really enjoyed it to, I don’t think he would trade his recliner chair view at the big screen T.V. for an eagle eye view at the race track. We won’t be going to Fontana again anytime soon, but possibly Phoenix or Vegas if the opportunity is there. It was a cold and rainy weekend, but it was fun to be away for awhile, and the kids did not miss us at all. Word was Nicholas was having too much fun playing video games on the big screen and singing karaoke with Lizzy’s friends, and Andrew was enjoying his sister’s homemade hamburgers she and her boyfriend barbecued in the backyard. Yes, there are benefits having older children with younger aged siblings.

A Weekend of Nascar!

A Weekend of Nascar…

February 20th & 21st…. Fontana, California



My husband likes watching Nascar auto racing. May be I should say he loves it. He waits in anticipation every year when February comes around, and dreads November when Nascar season comes to an end. He isn’t a Nascar fanatic or anything. He doesn’t wear Nascar gear– wear—like the race jackets, or own a Dale Earnhardt Jr. beach towel or anything---no, nothing like that. He does own a Mark Martin (his favorite driver) hat and a Nascar shirt. He just enjoys watching Nascar on T.V. He likes watching the race cars go around, and around on the track, and a race isn’t a race without a crash or two. He had never seen a Nascar race in person—only from a reclining chair, so last Christmas I got him tickets to finally see an actually race, in person.



With much anticipation, we ventured over to Fontana Raceway from our hotel near LAX, in our rented Hybrid/Nissan. (That was quite an experience in itself. It took us awhile to realize that the car engine was running---it’s sooo quiet!) We only had tickets for Sunday’s race, but since we were there, and it wasn’t raining (rain was predicted for Sunday’s race) we decided to head on over just in case of the possibility Sunday’s race is rained out. After a 45 minute drive to the raceway, we got out of our car, and we could immediately hear the cars. Yes, we got there a little late, and it was general admission only. We bought our tickets almost half off from a friendly looking guy selling tickets from his wind breaker.



As soon as we got into the stands, the smell of diesel and rubber hits you in the face almost immediately. Surprisingly, after awhile, the smell goes unnoticeable. Oh, and yes, we got our ear plugs. They helped some, but as we quickly realized, it is really hard to have a conversation with someone during a race. Rich and I used hand signals pretty much the entire time. The bloody mary’s that they were selling behind the stands were pretty tasty. It was freezing out there, and it really helped warm you up. The big names of Nascar were not racing that day, but there was Danica Patrick in her Go Daddy car. Of course she looked like a Barbie doll walking away in the far off distance, but so did all the race car drivers. They are all pretty much already short to start with-you have to be in short stature to fit in those cars to begin with.




I was warned about some of the characters I may see at the race way… One of my boss lady friends told me about the area, and had a first account of another supervisor who had a daughter who used to sell beer in the stands wearing only a string bikini. The weather was pretty cold, so I didn’t see any bikini clad girls walking up the stands with cups of warm beer, but I did see a few characters that looked like they just crawled from the woodwork. We noticed a lot of men with beards. Not short, groomed ones, but long beards—think of Santa. There were also a few people who have course looked a little rough around the edges... Let’s just say, it wasn’t the same crowd you would see at an Elton John/Billy Joel concert. (That’s another bog entry in itself.) I saw a lot of people wearing serious NASCAR gear. You could tell that many of them got new NASCAR racing jackets for Christmas, and they were proudly wearing them for the first time. They all looked like they came out of a NASCAR gear catalogue.

Sunday’s race was a lot more exciting. We went to the sports store Saturday night and got ourselves some spectator cushions to sit on, and rain slickers for just in case. We also rented serious looking NASCAR ear sets, and the hand held broad band, so we could see the statistics, hear the race car drivers, and see them race on a little screen. All the big names were there, including my husband’s favorite racer, Mark Martin. I must admit, he is my favorite too. You have to give credit when it’s due----the oldest racer out there who really stood his ground for the whole race. Of course Dale Earnhardt Jr. was there, and Jimmy Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya….etc.. Andy Garcia was there to start the race, as well as the members of Styx who performed for a short time behind the stands, David Austin, pro-wrestler, now movie star (haha), members of the Blue Angels, who flew over the stands afterwards, after the prayer was said, and the national anthem was sang quite beautifully by country star singer, Katharine McPhee. Afterwards, sky divers jumped out carrying American flags. It was all a very patriotic affair. There were even more bearded men, and rough type looking people at Sunday’s race, but I must admit, I didn’t look much prettier wearing my plastic rain poncho, and my husbands black windbreaker. I think I looked pretty scary too. Did I mention that the bloody mary’s were quite good as well?

All in all it was a fun, memorable weekend. I’m not saying that I’m a die hard Nascar fan now, but it was fun to share the experience with my husband—his first Nascar race. There aren’t very many first time experiences we have shared together-we have known each other only 10 years, and it was nice to share a 1st time experience. Of course, it was just fun just being away alone for awhile. I could have gone fishing and still had a good time. My only regret is not having bought the tickets for the following weekend race in Las Vegas, but it may get rained out anyway, so I’m not going to ponder over it. May be next year?

I know Rich had a good time, but was a little disappointed as well. You just can’t see a race as well as you can in front of a big screen. Also, there were no real crashes either. Crashing cars are the best part of a race! I’ve come to the conclusion winning a race is dependent on many things-including strategy and just pure luck… Kyle Busch won the first race-almost stealing it from Joey Logano who held in first place almost for the entire time, and due to a yellow flag, and a lucky pit stop, Jimmy Johnson, won yet again in Sunday’s race.

Just Me And My Imaginary Friend...

Last night, my older son come down stairs while I was in the kitchen, and asked me:

“How do you say, ‘Would you like to be my girlfriend’ in Portuguese?”

Should I worry?

I asked him why he wanted to know this, and his reply was the following:

“Well ma, if I’m going to Portugal this summer, I need to do know these things.”

Okay, for some reason I don’t buy this explanation at all. My son is 15, and not much of the “Casanova” type. He must be up to something. I know there is a girl he likes at school, he must be trying to impress her or someone. Well I told him what to say, and after a few times he got the words fairly correct:

“Gostavas de ser minha namorada?”

If you are a woman you would ask this:

“Gostavas de ser meu namorado?”

Translated: Would you like to be my girlfriend/boyfriend?

Oh to be 15 again… Sigh. I remember distinctly being 15 on vacation in the Azores. It was bit of a culture shock in some ways. I would hear this: “Queres ser meu amor?” Translated to be: “Do you want to be my love?” I thought it was so corny at the time. I don't want my son saying this to a girl..no matter if she understands or not! Imagine walking down a crowded street in a middle of a festival and hear this from an array of men-some young, some old (yuck) some cute, some not so cute--nevertheless strangers. Oh and sometimes getting pinched if you are close enough. Yeah…pinched! It was quite shocking for me—I was not used to that kind of attention. Oh, and sometimes, you would hear in a somewhat thick accent: “Hi, sugar.” What?! When was calling someone “sugar” hip? Back in 1972, maybe, but 1981?! Never! How so out-dated was that line! I was so turned off by that kind of behavior that it would get me mad, and give out glares of disgust in their direction—which only made them want to follow me and call me “sugar” more. Guys over there were not shy to show their affections. During street bullfights, some would come directly to my window. This was a little too close for comfort for me. If I saw them coming my way, I would quickly run away from the window and hide. Once I shut a window shutter right in this guy’s face. Sure, I felt badly afterwards, but I was a bit shy back then, and soft spoken to people I didn't know well. If you know me well enough, you know this is true.

So, I don’t know what my son is up to. But, I am including the following today in my blog. Andrew’s main interest is his music, and I know some of you don’t have Facebook accounts, I thought you may want to hear my son sing some of his own music… So here goes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y-4T8hL4Mg

Copy and paste to hear him sing!