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Recap and plans

I took the day off yesterday. I needed a day off. I have been at work for so many hours in the last month. Some days with shareholders till 8:00 pm. Sigh. It pained me to take the day. I hate missing. But I did. I did it for myself and I did it for my husband, who also took the day.

Thursday night was uneventful, however I got the much needed sleep that I have been missing out on.

Grandma

Friday morning called grandma and made a meeting for 2:30. I was going to take her to Social Security to help her realize no one is taking money from her. She thinks one of my Tia's is siphoning money from her account. I just wanted a 3rd party (SS) to explain that since my Step-grandpa died her accounts have changed. Since I did not have to be there till 2:30, my husband I made breakfast, Chile Verde and pork and eggs. When then showered up and took off. We went to the market, Jo-Ann's Fabrics to pick up some Meringue powder and sparkle gel frosting for the Calaveras. I asked them if they carried Alexander Henry Fabric (Folklorico series), but sadly they do not carry any of his fabric. We then went to target for toiletries and over to home depot for more marigolds. While there we picked up some textured spray paint and staples for my staple gun. Today was shopping day for the last minute pieces for my alter.

We returned home and then I took off for my grandmas. Before I left my dad called and told me she was looking for me. I arrived to find out that my Tia took her SS card and License in order to pick up her meds... oh. So I sat and we talked.

She told me about a Mexican American girl in her Spanish class in High School that did not speak a lick of Spanish. She explained how the teacher got so mad when the girl did not say the words with the proper accent. The teacher held them in until this student got the sentence right. My grandmother said she was crying because she was trying so hard. The class became mad and this and the teacher felt the frustration of the students and let them out. She then continued to talk about how she learned Spanish. Both her parents spoke Spanish.

She pauses. She looks at her bandage on her arm. She tugs at it for a moment. Wanders off in her thoughts and then comes back to the conversation. *Sigh* at this moment she reminds me of her mom, my Great Grandma. My great grandma used to do the same. It's been almost two years since Great Grandma died.

Then she tells me about a teacher that used to come to the house when my uncle was in 3rd grade to help him with Spanish. She would practice the vocabulary with him. Or maybe it was English. The circles of the stories confuse me. It was Spanish. The only problem is that it did not stick. She said he had a hard time with the language.

She knew her sister in law when they were 11 years old. They used to play in the same neighborhood. There where two girls that knew her sister law to be and they used to pick on my grandma. My grandma would chase them down the street and they would run away after calling her names. Finally on day my grandma hid in bush as one of them walked by. She popped out and said "what did you call me yesterday?" The little girl went running and my grandmother got a push in. Now she's in her 80's and has run into these "mean" girls. They attend church with my Auntie (Grandma's sister-in-law) and my grandma says she remembers them, however she does not think they remember her.

She talked about the "kid" that killed my step-grandpa. He was on his way (drunk) to buy more beer. He is 20 or 21 years of age. No license with priors. she teared up. She talked about court and how they are going to put together a jury trial. She talked about how his family sits apart from ours. She wants to talk to the first responding police officer. She wants to know if he was awake, if he had any last words.

The conversation then turned to my husband. She stated that she is happy I have someone like him. She does not have to worry about me. We take care of each other very well. We laughed at the fact that in the morning I run out the door with my husband handing me my egg burrito and coffee in the morning. Every morning. She said, "I have never experienced that". She smiled with happiness in her eyes. What a life. She has always been the one hand off the food.


One Tia dislikes babysitting her grandchild because she's done raising babies. My grandmother told me this with a laugh. She laughs for a good reason. My grandmother babysat all four of her kids and raised on after he was kicked out of the house ( by the step dad). We both laughed at the irony.

She broke her wrist. She fell down outside and fractured her wrist. Why doesn't the family ever tell me these things. I finally ask what happened. I thought the bandage was to keep her from scratching her skin ( a problem she takes meds for). But there was what appeared to be a cast under the bandage. She was surprised no one told me. She fell outside. She said she was thankful it was not both her arms. She then told me about a time she fell when she was little. A wire went through her pinkie finger. She went running to her father and the face he made sent my grandmother into giggles as she tried to explain the face. He was horrified. She ended up pulling it out herself because he was so shocked by it. She continued to giggle.



I then went to the market to pick up dinner and sugar for sugar skulls.



Two ten pound bags

One cup of sugar per tsp of Meringue powder and tsp of water.

Mix dry ingredients before adding water.

the knead till it feel like soft beach sand.

My husband gave these molds to me as a gift last year. I love them. He purchased them from Mexican sugar skull.com


By this morning I was already on my 3rd batch. I hope to have 6 batches done by Sunday night.

We're using a CD rack to dry and harden the skulls. This way we can save our counter space and keep the kitties away.