Teaching, loving, and living life one precious moment at a time!

Bus 2 in front of us! The view from my seat! As I write this, I am on a coach bus with 51 students on my way to see the play "In the time of the Butterflies"at El Repertorio Español, 138th East 27th Street, New York, NY 10016 .  The second bus holds 39 students and my two coworkers! Words can not describe how excited I am to know that we did it! Listening to the kids talk on the bus about how excited they are and how they hope they enjoy themselves, I can only take the brief moment and exhale knowing that this is for them. All of the hard work, planning, and worrying paid off. I close my eyes and thank God for giving me the ability to put a trip like this together for my students. Plato montañero de La Pollera Colorada II en Queens, NY Thank you to everyone who helped and to those who doubted... Yeah, I rock! After the play we did dinner! Yummy! Yummy! For my tummy! is all I can say! The meal completed the day. The ride back was even more fun. The play was am...

I swear I can't make this stuff up! I haven't laughed this hard in a long time... A student asked me today if "T.S.S." stays with you forever. I ask him what T.S.S. is... He says that it's the sickness you can get from using tampons. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, from using tampons. I was like, "HUH? Why do you want to know?" He responds with, "Because so and so was talking about it and I Want to be EDUCATED." Yes, he said EDUCATED! Now, I have no idea what TSS stands for. Tampon Super Stuck? Another student says, "GOOGLE it". So, I did. TSS = Toxic Shock Syndrome. I proceed to read the information on the webpage to them and stutter when I go to the read the word "vagina". Yes, now I have to explain to my all of my students, as now the whole class is listening, what TSS is, how it can develop and what could be expected if you get the desease. This now has turned into a conversation about tampons, how I don't like to us...

As a teacher you learn to listen to some things and ignore others. No, not from adults (although...) more from students. Today was an example on how getting to know your students and making them feel confortable can be a lot of fun. I say this all the time, but the BEST and most AMAZING part of my job are the kids! As I'm writing this I'm remembering the conversations that are had around my desk at the end of the day and I can not help but giggle at the fact that my kids are so funny as well as very inappropriate at times; but that's what makes it fun. That's what makes it ok! They are confortable enough around me to have the conversations that others would either wince at or give detentions for, and that means so much. It humbles me and makes me proud to  know that they can be THEMSELVES in front of me. It makes them real, it makes them true, and it makes them (not in a weird way!) mine!  Those of you who know teenagers can attest to the fact of how skeptical t...

Today I got a tattoo! Yup! I did it. My choice, my decision, and I'm OK with it. The story behind it is that my husband and I had talked about doing this a long time ago and out of respect for my mother we held off on it. Let me rewind... I grew up in a very Christian home with very old school beliefs. I'm not saying the beliefs are wrong, I'm saying they are old school and misconstrued. I'm not one to debate religion as I believe that it is a personal choice. I do have to say that I am very comfortable with my relationship with Yah and what I believe to be true. My mother raised me to do what I feel is right for me and that is what I did. I've always said that I am who I am and do what I do to please Yah and myself, and I do. I am in love with my tattoo and wouldn't change my decision for the world. Would my mother agree, probably not, but I'm OK with that. Would she be angry with me? Probably and that's why we waited. She's been gone for almost...

Feliz navidad and Happy New Year! Harmony and I My heart... Two weeks off are the best! I slept in, went to bed really late, ate, drank, wore pajamas for 24 hours straight, showered when I wanted, dressed when I wanted and if I wanted, played with my kids, watched movies, and made videos with my kids. I blogged, "Facebooked", and "Instagramed", and Tweeted about all of them. I listened to music, danced, sang, and blogged some more. I shopped, traveled, and shopped some more. I rode a horse, and fell off a horse. I registered for my LAST semester of classes!!! Pinterest recipes...  cookies, cakes, coquito...  I made coquito, flan, 200,000 cookies, a snow globe cake and new Pinterest recipes that turned out very yummy! I house hunted for the perfect house... That one I'm still working on... I spent time with family, new friends, old friend and met Harmony for the first time (that was the BEST!). I wore short sleeves and no jacket one day and win...

Driving home today really sucked! Sometimes I wonder why I live in this area... It's not that it's not pretty, or romantic, or whimsical; it's the fact that it's cold, wet, slippery and just sucky. I don't enjoy being cold or wet. I don't enjoy sliding all over the road and scaring myself half to death as I slowly slide into the middle of oncoming traffic. I don't enjoy having to clean off the windows of the car and having the snow fly into my face and down my neck. It's just not cool! LOL! Well, yeah it is, but not in the figurative way. If I could sit in the house by the window all day sipping hot coffee and reading, then I would love the snow.  It is beautiful to admire, but through clear, clean glass and thick insulated walls. To be able to Watch each snowflake fall from the heavens is an amazing thing. To wonder and imagine each snowflake begin designed and created by Yah is truly awe inspiring. I tend to close my eyes and imagine mami sitting n...

This one is bilingual!  Happy New Year 2015! As another year comes to a close I can not help to reminisce about the many things that 2014 left in its place; the culmination of 2 semester of school, another year doing the job that I love, and a couple of trips that changed my life. I have made new friends, walked away from old ones and have been fortunate enough to do all of this with the most amazing husband and children by my side. We had a few scares as well but I know in my heart of hearts that Yah has a plan. His plan is perfect and I will believe in Him. As the New Year makes its grand entrance, I can only wait in sheer delight and anxious desperation to see what 2015 has in store for us. The new house, the wedding of one of my best friends, my masters degree, 20 years of marriage, and 19 years of motherhood are just some of the milestones that are in the process of being established as I type. I am grateful to Yah for letting me enjoy every single moment of my life a...