Month: March 2019

I just finished a heart wrenching part of my book. I am currently reading:

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As I read, I began to cry. As tears started welling in my eyes, I am mediately thought of my students. When I taught reading in a classroom adjacent to the cafeteria, once the bell rang and I would make the announcement, “Have a good rest of the day, learn lots of stuff!” as the students began filing out of my classroom. As my classroom emptied, I would grab my book and begin reading. I always kept my book close and liked to read in between classes because it was always a good thing to have my kids catch me reading and I could get a few pages read between each class.

Depending on the book I was reading, and I know this happened at least a couple of times, my eyes would well with tears and sometimes would fall out and stream down my cheeks. Once the second bell would ring, I would close my book and wipe my eyes.

As I would do this and begin my class, multiple students would ask be quite concerned, “Are you okay, Miss?! I would smile and chuckle a little and say to all of them, “Yes. Kids, you know you are reading good writing when it evokes emotion from you!” then I would tell them that I was reading a REALLY good book!

The bookmarks I used back then we’re return envelopes for junk mail credit card offers or something. The kids who sat close to me would notice that and ask about it. I would tell them that I just needed something to keep my place in the book. I would tell them that I didn’t have a bookmark so that’s what I used.

One student and I talked about those cute little monster bookmarks where it is folded paper to look like a monster is biting the corner of the page. I told her they were really cute and she told me that a teacher from the elementary school had taught her class how to make them. She told me that she wanted to make me one. She asked what color I wanted it and what color eyes the monster should have. I told her that I would like a purple monster with blue eyes. Class started and I forgot about that conversation.

A couple weeks later, she grabbed my book and attached the monster bookmark to the page I had marked with my envelope. I was extremely touched! It was the cutest bookmark I had seen! I looked at it and flipped it over to the back and she had even written my name on it! It said, “Ms. Ríos.” I used that bookmark for a very long time! Over time, it loosened and I have since lost it. I was really sad when that happened and I hope that somehow it’s in a book of mine somewhere.

I have always made a big deal out of my birthday! I remember one year, I had to be 25 when I went out to eat with people for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That was a really good birthday! For another birthday, a friend called me and I was out to eat with my Mom for dinner. We went to Red Robin’s. He asked me where I was and told me that he would come join us. Then he asked who was there. I told him it was, “Just me and my Mom. You know, the two primary players in today’s events.” Another year, I had an impromptu birthday dinner with my brother and his family at Red Robin’s.

I thought about what I would do for my birthday this year. I wasn’t sure because I rarely leave my house and I can’t go out to eat because my motorized wheelchair chair is higher than regular tables at restaurants. I did, however, place an order at Dairy Queen for an ice cream cake. I absolutely LOVE mint chocolate chip ice cream cake!

When Sean came home from school on my birthday, he picked up the cake from Dairy Queen and told me he was going to pick up Red Robin’s to bring home to eat. I finally have gotten back onto my strict no carb, no sugar diet with the fermented young coconut water Kiefer. BUT, it WAS my birthday so all bets were off!

Sean picked me up a guacamole burger with mozzarella cheese and no onions or tomatoes with a bun! I had fries on the side. When he brought it home, I opened up the container and I just looked at it. He got some ketchup for the fries and just like Lindsay Lohan in Freaky Friday, I dipped my fry in ketchup and I heard the, “Hallelujah Chorus!” I opted not to get a chocolate shake because I was going to have birthday cake and I didn’t want to overdo the sugar and send myself into shock or get sick.

My Mom and Sean picked up my candles. There were A LOT candles on my cake! It was worth every carb! My birthday cake was worth every gram of sugar! I was pretty proud of myself that my birthday was the first day of the year that I had either carbs or sugar. I do really have to monitor that because I am in a wheelchair all day and can’t move by myself so it’s SUPER easy to pack on the pounds! My knee injury was proof of that! But, it WAS my birthday dinner! And it was DELICIOUS! “YUM!”

*And you have to sing that, “YUM!” like the commercial because I guess Red Robin’s is the sponsored restaurant for my birthday.!

Last night, as Sean was shaving, I told him that I was going to wake him up singing this because it’s my birthday:

He walked out of the bathroom with shaving cream on his face and told me that as much as he is excited for me for my birthday, if I sang that at 6:30 in the morning, he may not be too receptive to hear it! I laughed and decided that I wouldn’t sing it that early in the morning.

I opened my eyes this morning and I knew that there was NO WAY that I would be able to muster up enough strength to sing that! Just after Sean got out of the shower and was in his room, he wished me a happy birthday and I responded with the weak, “Thanks!”

When my Mom came over, she was talking about a bunch of things and as she bent over to unplug my wheelchair, she stood up straight, gasped, and started singing me Happy Birthday! I smiled as I laid in bed and we create tried to shake some jazz hands by my ears.

As I sat in my living room trying to wake up, the birthday witches started to pour in! I received texts, phone calls, messages on Facebook, and emails, I even have opened my Twitter profile about 10 times just to see the balloons! As I became less groggy, I begin to get excited! I hope I thanked everyone! I think I did but they really started pouring in! My mom laughed at all the alerts she was hearing and every time I would smile. I showed her a post about my birthday last year and it had my two favorite birthday videos:

I’ve already told my brother, Dave, that, “Today’s MY day!”

And of course I had to show her the Grand Chawhee Clip from “All Dogs Go to Heaven.”

I ALWAYS reference those clips when it’s mine or someone else’s birthday! So much so, that Sean wanted to do something after school a few days before his birthday and before he waited for my answer, he let me know that soon it would be, “The Grand Chawhee’s Birthday!” I laughed and let him do whatever he wanted to do after school because I thought it was funny that he made a reference that I constantly do because I love birthdays! At least I’m consistent!

I had difficulty falling to sleep yesterday night because it was raining and that made my body and ESPECIALLY my knee hurt a whole lot! When I awakened this morning, I didn’t even know it was daylight savings. As I was waiting for my Mom to come by, my knee popped out! It’s been one year, 10 months, and nine days since my surgery and I can’t believe that I am still dealing with this!

So, as my Mom gets to my house and gets me into my wheelchair before I ask her to pull my ankle up and so she slowly raised my right foot up as I put the back of my chair down until I heard the loudest crack I have heard to date as it popped back into place. Surprisingly, I didn’t cry at the pain but I groaned and closed my eyes.

Sean was up and watching the Pistons when my Mom started saying it. It was either Sean or I who asked the time and she looked at the clock on my stove and asked, “Do you want the real time or the pretend time?” Sean was confused by that question and looked at his phone to get the answer. I told him how my Mom asked that question every day for two weeks that we were in Texas and in a different time zone.

I think I was about seven years old then and so I just answered with, “Pretend.” The, “Real” time was the time that it was in our normal time zone. Sean tried explaining to her that there is only real time but I stopped him and told him that she has been doing it for almost 30 years. She’s not going to change it now. Hi guess that daylight savings time really only affected me when I worked and had to get up at a certain time but now, since I don’t, it really doesn’t matter. That really sucks if/when you think about it!

I’ve seen this commercial so many times recently and it makes me laugh EVERY SINGLE TIME that kid asks Amy if she wants a potpourri.

I searched YouTube to find that commercial to post it because it makes me laugh so much but all I could find was this one. It’s probably from another take that I have not seen before but I like hearing her say that potpourri comes from nature and then she tastes it!