Lickety Split Cleaning Service: May 2007

Sister Monica

That's her on your left. My sister @ her first holy communion, back in the day. She is 9 years older than me, and without a doubt, the best big sister a girl like me could ever have. She calls me Baby! My sister is the kinda woman that will give you a thousand dollars to put a new roof on your mother's house, without you even having to ask. And if you happen to be cleaning out the garage with her and are thinking what dirty task needs to be done next, you can be sure to look over at her and she's On It. Thoroughly. She's got more balls than our brothers! But she tempers that with a sentimental heart. G. lived with her in Hot Springs, Arkansas for his whole sophomore year of high school, his Favourite relative by a landslide. I've been thinkin about her a whole lot lately and I haven't told her about this blog. G. and I talked about it and he said she would Love it (especially since I HATE talking on the phone!) We don't really chat all that much. We got that kinda thing going where she knows what's in my heart and I know what's in hers. Sometimes I worry about her getting lonely over there but her and my mom talk all the time. Plus, she comes home almost every year. There isn't anything she wouldn't do for our mother. It's a sweet role reversal in that the mom is the spoiled one

. And one of her coolest cool qualities is that she is Tough. Feirce. She will KICK your ASS if you cross her. Literally...I've seen her do it. That's my big sister Monica & I love her. And she loves me. She built that deck for my mom, she was in charge, so I just helped.

Monie, if you're reading this, knowing what today is: this is how I chose to honor him. Don't be sad, okay?

I love you.

The BIRTHDAY BUS

This gorgeous view is ours everyday but especially beautiful to both Pop-Pops and I on his birthday.

And then my birthday boy fell asleep on the

birthday busride home.

Pop-Pops! Otter Pops & Tater Tots Party!

The hors d'oeuvres: delish....the company was a delight, so I'd say Pop-pops little soiree was a hit!

We musta sang Happy Birthday at least 16 times, in English...In Spanish: me once, Nana once, then we did a duet!

Pop-pops was one happy birthdayed 2 year old. He was so giddy he twirled his guests goodbye

SOMEBODY @ our house turns 2 To-day!!!!

Shall we go to the Barber Shop or go on the BUS the bus the bus!?? Which one will Pop-pops choose? More later. I gotta go get some
Ballooooooons!!!

This Weird-Ass picture Cared Pop-pops!

he forgets the "s". When I put this pic up on the screen, my brave Pop-pops asks if he's "Cared?" Looks at it some more...."cared??" It's just Nana in broad daylight holding up that shirt we made for her. Creepy.

Coming Clean about some Wack inner dialogue and Mother's Day Didn't Suck as much as it usually does.

I'm cleaning out this sweet little spot. Wood from Lickety Split Wood Service turned into a planter/pants filled w/spider plants. I remember learning somewhere that Spider Plants oxygenate like crazy with their trendles of reaching/falling green goodness. So here's that wacky inner-dialogue I was having:
"This dried up old bark has Got To go...eww but it's in the area where this tree's clitoris should be ...no... that's further in the crotch area, so it's Not like I'm circumcising it's clit...eww...sad. like those girls in Egypt...yuck. No, it's not like that. This bark is more on the outer parts so it's like I'm giving it a bikini wax...exfoliating. Yeah, that's better. Oh, yeah! that looks good. "

Back in February some chick named Corey called me from The Loading Dock, a really cool cafe bistro art gallery place. I had taken some funky little ladders to see if they wanted to sell them or show them or I don't know how to do stuff like that. Deep inside my delusions of grandeur, I thought I would impress them so much (plus I went to St. Mary's with one of the owners) they would give me my own show and I could invite my family for the cheese and the wine part of my dream. Well, Corey was putting on a "Spring Fair" and wanted to know if I was interested in participating. I paid $20 to set my artsy fartsy up in the fucking parking lot with a buncha other "crafters". Everytime people passed that little spot of my soul laid out on the table for sale (just $25!) they would read the above sign and a genuine smile would cross their face. Then they would walk on. I packed up Every item I came with. Not one thing sold. And I was Out twenty bucks.

The Bus! The BUS, the bus the bus the bus....

Yesterday, Pop-pops had wanderlust

so we left behind Nipomo's peaceful pastures

and we rode his beloved bus....

All the way to the seaside!

daytrippin'

Mister Poppity Pops under the Pier

Pop-pops
the Fearless Explorer
Makes a Discovery

Hey, you wanna know what's written @ The End of the Pismo Pier?

Just one more thing about G. & Scholarships

I want you guys to get Good And TIRED of congratulating him.
He got one from eQuality Scholarships.... The LGBQS que sabe que....His math teacher took him to San Francisco to the award ceremony. Her daughter goes to Berkley so she got to visit and Mrs. Kandel has gone to bat for G. so many times with letters and encouragements, he asked her to the dinner and ceremony. When he left for the weekend, Nana said, "Oh...mijo went to a Gay Thing? I didn't know that."
This award was for $5,000 - yes Five Thousand Smackers! Woo hoo.
It Pays to be Gay! To get it, he was interviewed over the phone by the scholarship judge givers of the monies. Me & Pop-pops kinda overheard most of the conversation as we were nodding off....G. was being sure to say, "Yes" instead of yeah and schmoozing without being schmoozy...plus he was talking very articulately about that thingie he did @ the Capitol. Evidently, some bills got passed committee ( not quite laws yet ) and G. was part of That Movement...hate crimes being prevented and such. Advocacy. I have a dream/rainbow flag flying/stand up stuff.
I think he deserved the scholarship, but then again I'm always very surprised (i mean pissed) when he doesn't get one. Plus I'm going to go ahead and come clean about something here. I think G. should run for President, that's how great I think he is. Call me delusional, I don't give a fuck. And so, with that: our Scholarship Tally is rising/up to $10,850.
Yay! Brother!!! And it's only $20,000 a year to go to San Francisco State University. Yay! Expensive Ass Higher Education!!!

Aahh My Happy College Bound Camper

Mo' Money Mo' Money

A toast to G.! He just called to tell me he won a $750 scholarship. Last week he called on his 10 o'clock brake to tell me he won the Nipomo High School Arts scholarship for $500. He's going to get there, Que la fregada!

addendum:

last night G. got home from his friend Bandrew's house (Andrew + he's in the band /not to be confused with Smart Ass Andrew) He TORE into a letter from SFSU....not only were these extremely perceptive staff/audition judges accepting G. into the classical music department but they enjoyed his "excellent performance audition" and offered him $4600 in scholarship money. I was expecting acceptance: the four THOUSAND six hundred dollars was puro icing on the cake.

I really like watching G. jump up & down and wave his arms all about & almost hit his head on the ceiling.

meanwhile Happy (in a different way) Tuesday carries on quietly kicking ass (still!) in her room. She was carefully spraying heavily diluted instant coffee onto her journal entries to give them an aged look. Calling out that she was Happy for her Brother.

Sometimes, when Pop-pops wakes up from a deep sleep, the first thing he says is, "Yay! Brother!"

Manifesting Happy

So Happy says to me, "Mom...manifest. Manifesting?" I knew exactly what she meant so I just nodded and smiled....She went on to explain to her classmate Tess that when she first got the assignment, she (Happy) had thought this photo shoot up in her head, First. Then decided on a location, went out and got the 1940's attire and so we were all there. Because she had manifested it. Since she was six she's known about the word and has since learned the very idea....It was at that point that I dropped all my notions of an anti-war agenda. And I felt deliciously grown-up...This wasn't about me. Happy's dad said Happy is just a girl learning about History.
But that didn't stop me from wearing my WAR SUX (because it does!) shirt to the military camp. No siree.

Make Love Not War

Happy Representz

On My Yahoo page, I have an NPR Sunday edition hooked up as a favorite. I don't even bother with the old newspaper anymore....So there's this article about how Latino Veterans of WWII don't get any national attention. They got the Windtalkers and the Japanese being put in camps and for some reason Mexicans aren't in any PBS specials. Well, here is Happy, in a photo of what I think might have really happened. If her dad was going off to war for real, I'm sure this is the picture I would get. Only Happy would be crying.