Just like Christmas...Gone in a Flash.

My friend Mary said it best. "Just like Christmas. We look forward to Tony coming home for so long...then he's gone is a flash! :( "

On Wed. Forth Yeer had a show at Beat Kitchen (great food...great venue) with The Wanderers and The Blind Staggers (Damien's band). They got in at 9am in order for Tony to spend some time with family and friends. In true Tony fashion he was so excited to be coming home, that he hadn't slept in 24 hours and wasn't planning on it either. After visiting all morning, he finally took a nap so he could play that evening.

Damien's drummer Sara couldn't make the show so he had to put together musicians to play his music. It was definitely different than the CD but those guys playing and Laura singing....WOW.

I had to borrow a camcorder (something else to put on my list of need to buy) but I'm missing the cable thingy that connects from the camcorder to the computer. I will be getting one this week and then posting the best ones. They look great on the camcorder, hopefully it looks and sounds that good once I download.

Laura was recordered but the sound and quality isn't that great. But something is something.




Once his show was over, Damien called Tony up on stage to play with him.
Even though it wasn't planned and they haven't played together in awhile, it was fantastic to see them together again. It was wonderful to hear the crowd singing along but when Damien told Tony that is was the most fun he had all night....well this Mom cried buckets.

Brother-Sister Love; Photobooth Proof

So.... maybe it's because they share a love for music by Lucero,


Maybe it's because they are adults now and embrace the brother-sister bond,


Or maybe it's because it was 2am and they were both really drunk.


Anjelika's birthday present from Damien and Emilie this year was a Lucero show at Metro, and a night out partying at Smartbar and at Gingerman. Emilie ended up leaving early. With the joys of motherhood come the fact that you can't hang like you use to. At this stage in Desi's life, she is tired earlier and partytime isn't what it use to be either.
Before Lucero went on they ran into Damien's old grade school buddy who happen to be out with his little sister too. Then after the show they headed downstairs to Smartbar where they ended up meeting and talking to Ben the singer/guitar player in the band. Damien spoke with him for awhile and Anjelika is convinced that he is her brother's man crush.

So between Lucero, Gingerman and Smartbar, they bonded. They shared the love.

And at 6am I awoke to my darling daughter eating a sandwich and smiling from ear to ear in a drunken stupor. She had just gotten in and wanted to let me know that Damien was able to get out of the cab without falling onto the sidewalk. She made sure he got home okay.

Awww, how sweet.....they DO look out for each other.

Googling In Search of Tony

I came across this in my quest to find pictures of Tony with the band. The guy that posted it even said he had tons of pics from the show. Naturally I followed the link only to find that his myspace page is private. Now let me explain the issues I have with this. First off...I want to SEE my baby boy. Secondly....private??? WTF???? You want to make your page private, thats fine, but then you shouldn't be able to be nosey and view others at will. Now I could have added him as a friend, but I figured he would think I was some creepy old hag that was trying to befriend him. So I called Laura (who at this moment is out in Denver visiting Tony) to let her know about the pictures and maybe she could befriend this guy. But oh the sweetie was way ahead of me. She not only did she know about it but she had already befriended said guy AND dowloaded all the pics with Tony. I'm not posting all of them (there are alot) but here are some.

In viewing all these band pictures, I realized a few things....I see my son is doing what he loves and is where he is suppose to be at this time in his life. Missing him like crazy but it warmed my heart when the first picture I opened was this...

Then these....

He's What???

Last week was Desi's birthday. I can't believe he is two. We can now hear actual words instead of just grunts and groans. My favs so far??? "What?" ( with hand gestures included..totally his dad), "Pees" (please) and of course hearing him say "Mima".

Last Sunday I made chocolate chip cupcakes so we stopped by and gave him a cupcake and his remote control car. He LOVES cars! When he is here he falls asleep with his hotwheels in his hands.

Today the whole family was here, minus Tony of course. I decided to do a kids themed dinner with mini burgers, pigs in a blanket, pepperbellys, and chips n dip. I made a sad looking cake ( it drooped but tasted good)and decorated it by making it a bilingual cake. Due to the fact I was craving chocolate, I also made fudge brownies.


And as always in this house the evening had to end with some music. This time, the next generation chimed in.

Whadaya Mean I Can't Tell Anyone???

I'm on my way home from work and talking to Tony on my cell, when he tells me some BIG..I mean HUGE news.
Then adds....."Please don't tell anyone yet." Huh???
Do you not know who you are talking to?
And just like that, he tells me he has to let me go cause he is on his way to practice.

Quickly I call him back to get the ok to tell his dad. He laughs and gives me the ok and says he is only telling his siblings and Laura till everything is in place.

I so suck at keeping big news in.

I pounce on David as soon as I walked in the door. In typical verbal diahrrea form, out spills this fantastic news. His reaction?? "Oh cool."
THAT'S IT???
God I hate laid back people sometimes.

So now I have all this amazing info and I'm busting to tell the world...and I can't...I PROMISED.
Shit this so sux!

If I give a hint..it's not really blabbing is it???

Music and a certain well known station..

That's all I'm saying..lips are now sealed.

Christmas Day

Ever since I was born, we celebrated Christmas Eve and it started around 9pm. On that evening we had extended family and friends over for a traditional Cuban Christmas meal that consisted of roasted pork, black beans and rice, yucca, and tomato with avacado salad. Dessert was flan, guayava with cream cheese and turron. After dinner my mom and my aunts would wash dishes, then serve dessert. Once we were done, it was on to opening gifts. There were so many people at our house and so many presents that you could hardly walk into the living room. The gifts took up half the room. At least that's how I remember it. I got the pictures to prove it! HA. My mom would call out peoples names and you stacked your presents till there was nothing under the tree. Then she would go around the room, one present at a time, so everyone could see what the others had gotten. My cousin and I would see who had the highest stack between us.

It would be pretty late and since I'm an only child, as is my cousin...we were sent to bed to await Santa's arrival. We would force ourselves to sleep, not because we weren't tired, but we were just too excited. Sometime in the middle of the night or should I say some ungodly time after 1 or 2 am... we would be woken up to my mom squealing ( my mom was into Christmas as much as we were) that Santa had just left the building. Santa had one up on Elvis in our house.
We then would jump out of bed to see even more gifts. Mind you, it was just the 2 of us, but by the amount of toys, you would think there were more like 6 kids in that house. My cousin had one side and I had the other. Plus you could tell who's was who's because he was a boy and he got the cool stuff I always wanted but I was a girl. Its was the 60's.

It was sensory overload. You see... when we walked into our living room it looked like we walked into a toy store. Our toy store. You mix in the gifts that we had just opened few hours ago to the Santa stuff..well..hence the sensory overload.
Everyone would go home by the time the birds were chirping (if it were summer or not a winter in Chicago) and my dad, mom, grandmother and I would finally go to bed. I was always up really early ( I had napped, remember?) playing with toys and the day was to relax. If my mom didn't take me to midnight mass on Christmas Ever we would go in the morning after breakfast. She would hardly sleep either.

The year I learned there was no Santa ( my dad confirmed what all the other kids at school told me and ridiculed me for..I was 11) was not only the end of Christmas as I knew it but it ruined it for my mom as well. As I said, I'm an only child, my innocence gone and with it went my mom's enthusiasm for Christmas. That was till Damien came along.

David's holiday traditions were totally different than mine. So we compromised. He is the youngest of 5, so the whole Santa thing went out the window for him early in life. He just couldn't believe that I held on to my belief in Santa for that long. Nor could he believe there were so many presents for just one child. Though he did see the pictures. I know the word spoiled was used a lot. I say jealousy.

The compromise??? In the early days we had to hit up my MIL's house, then my aunts( my mom an dad had divorced and my grandmother went to live with her daughters), then my mom's house. That's 3 full dinners and gift opening..Then to our house put Damien to bed to then set up Santa stuff. Santa came in the morning and the gifts were unwrapped, because Santa didn't wrap his presents. But there would still be the sensory overload, because the presents that he had already seen were there with the new stuff Santa brought. David thought it was bad to wake up kids in the middle of the night.
As Damien got older and Tony and Anjelika came along, (we also moved first to Florida then California) Christmas Eve was at my house and my mom would sleep over so she could still be a part of Santa. God she loved Christmas! I would combine the food David grew up with and also mine and I would spend all day cooking a huge feast. Till the year I decided to only cook Cuban food since that's what everyone ate. Christmas day was recoup day, pajama day, eat leftovers and watch the kids play.

Today....my aunts don't celebrate Christmas since my grandmother and dad died. My MIL moved out of state, David's siblings are scattered, and my mom passed away. It is just the immediate family. There still is Santa for Tony and Anjelika. The way they see it Damien had Santa till he got married soooo since he is just about 6 years older than Tony...they have a few more Santa years to go. This year they didn't expect it.
But Santa did come..meager but he came. Anjelika got underwear and socks, 2 t-shirts, necklace and a painting I did for her. Tony got 2 shirts and a toiletry travel bag so he can carry that stuff while he is on tour. I had it full with stuff, and a small painting I made for him too.

Damien and Emilie have followed suit with the sensory overload.....This year we gave them their space and didn't stop by on Christmas morning. After all they did the same thing we did many years ago and travelled to 3 homes then leave late to then set up Santa.

And though we weren't there, Emilie was thoughtful and sent me this....
It let us have a glimpse into Desi's Santa morning






Following the family tradition. He is an artist and a musician.

Tony's Farewell Benefit

Better known as keep Tony from being another starving musician in Denver.

It turned out to be a big..I mean HUGE party. Thank God it was held at a bar. I couldn't fit that many people in my basement.
There were posters up of Tony through the years. He even said it felt like a memorial.

That's hubby by some of the posters

The boy stayed sober.(Even though from 9pm to 2 am we went through 4 kegs and I have no idea about the mixed drinks.)He was overwhelmed at how many people came and seeing how many people were contributing to the Keep Tony Fed Fund.

In his words..."I am humbled"

Coalition of the Thrilling played first. Tony and Damien together...and as Damien so eloquently put it..The band that broke up their musical collaboration.

Next up..Tony and Laura...Little Sister and the Bullies

Bob was the MC and kept the crowd going and asking people to join in on the 3 raffles that night.

Then Road Crew came on. Tony and Damien's most successful endeavor.

By the crowds reaction..you would have thought you were at an arena watching some famous rock band
There are over 500 pictures taken..Obviously not posting them all.. But here are a few favs.

Tony leaves Wednesday.....with enough money that he's saved and from the wonderful people that came out and gave their support as well as their hard earned cash.

To all of you..thank you from the bottom of my heart

Family and Friends

Last night was Tony's last show with Laura. Even though it was far from home, they had alot of friends and family there to support them and see Tony play for the last time. Correction..last time with Laura and this band. It was a 60's extravaganza. The Mustangs were the headliners and they have a good size following. People were dreesed up as hippies and there was tons of peace, love, and togetherness all around.

We had a blast. Even my two 70 something dear aunts came . Which really surprised Tony and Laura considering they didn't go on till 9 pm. Not sure what impressed them more... they raved all night about Tony's playing, the fact that he wrote what they played, and Laura's voice. I think they were the biggest fans last night

Tony playing the last few songs with the new guitar player...Phil

Playing with the Mustangs later in the night..

And the last chord as a Little Sister and the Bullies...

He is Leaving...It's His Time

Tony was born always in a hurry for...everything.
He is the one with the biggest zest for life out of all of us.
He is my original whirlwind. Constant motion, talking fast to make sure he would get everything in before he could be interrupted, in your face, and the center of attention.

When David taught him to play guitar.. that was IT. He was playing it ALL the time.
After awhile it got on my nerves. He would be talking to you while playing..even slept with it a few times.
As he grew, I would tell him to stop playing for a minute so I could___________(whatever).
He would put the guitar down and say to me.." Mom when VH1 does a Behind the Music on me, I'm going to say how my mom would always tell me to stop playing my guitar" or " I guess you don't want me to buy you a mansion when I grow up"

Dreams.....

The past few months I have watched my son become anxious and uncertain. He was quiet and distant. He had planned on moving to Denver but he was still uncertain. He was having problems with Laura, Worried about money..worried bout Laura..worried about leaving his job....worried about Laura.
I wanted to fix it.
But I couldn't.
It was all on him.

He made his decision.... He is leaving...November
Laura is still behing him.
His boss is 100% behind him and even thinking of ways for him to work for them in Denver.
Laura and her mom are throwing a benefit for Tony so he doesn't worry about money.
Anjelika moved in on Sept 1 to help with rent.
Mom and Dad are always there.

Because deep inside, he knows he will never be happy or make anyone else happy unless he persues his passion.

A Proud Moment

Busy weekend...48 hours just isn't enough time to cram in everything you HAVE to do and everything you WANT to do on your days off of work. And cram I did. I cleaned up the house, ran around shopping for groceries and misc. stuff, Anjelika's car broke down and had to wait for a ride, worked on 3 projects simultaneously, visited with some friends, babysat, went to park, made dinner, cleaned up again and went to a neighborhood block party. WHEW!

the tricycle race



Damien teaching Desi how to play drums

Thrilled he is allowed to play REAL drums

Little Sister and the Bullies
(Tony and Laura are next to each other)

The proud moment??? Well that didn't come from me or David.

After Tony and Laura finished their set, Mr. Ling, the organizer, took the mike to thank them for playing. He announced how Tony was only about 11-12 yrs. old when he had seen Tony play ( he is a music teacher at the Catholic school by us) and asked him to play at his wedding over 10 yrs ago. He said he was amazing back then and how he still kills on a guitar. He then gave Tony a big bear hug. Now that's a picture I wish someone had taken.

The wonderful Mr Ling playing a mean violin

Catching up

Wow, its been a long time since I posted....
The whole reason to start this blog was making time for myself. Which I have but somehow this went by the wayside. I love reading blogs. I read emails and read my blogs before heading off to work in the morning. But I've been working alot of overtime in order to put it into the "Tony's getting married" fund. More on that later.
Baby girl turned 21 with a blow out party.

Damien made the flyers

Her friends from Denver, Forth Yeer Freshman surprised her by being the headlining band. http://www.myspace.com/forthyeerfreshman
It took a year to plan since they tour and we wanted to surprise her.
She knew they were touring but had no idea they were coming. She thought they were in Indiana that night. So when they came in asking for directions to Indiana, she jumped all over them.

Tony and Damien played http://www.myspace.com/roadcrew13
Damien's new band http://www.myspace.com/pressgang3

and Tony and Laura...http://www.myspace.com/littlesisterthebullies.

we all had a great time.

I've been spending time with my favorite little man...

I've been making some new art

There's more but I keep forgetting to take pics until after I send stuff out.

That puter bag I wanted in an earlier post??? Got it after valentines Day.

And now my laptop took a dump. I've been on DH's puter which is super slow and playing phone tag with Dell.
Worked on new stuff that took me in some ways in a different direction.
But thats a post all on it own.