Ruiz Reunion 2008

The blog was quiet for a little while. It was because Dan, my father and I were on our way to Stockton, CA for the family reunion. It was 4 days of eating, talking, eating, laughing, eating and even more eating.

My dad is the youngest of 11 and when my Uncle Junior turned 60, they turned it into a family reunion as well as a birthday party. They had so much fun that they decided to do it for everyone's 60th. This year was my Uncle Donald's 60th birthday, as well as his vow renewal and Dan's first reunion as part of the family. So of course we had to go. Mom stayed home. She claimed it was because she didn't want Michelle to be home alone for 4 days, but in reality I think it was because she wanted to be home alone for 4 days.
I didn't realize it until afterwards, but in this picture the bottom row is right to left, oldest to youngest while the top row is the opposite - left to right oldest to youngest. My dad is the tallest guy standing and he's directly behind his eldest brother. They all have D names - Domingo ("Jr.") David, Danny, Dante, Douglas, Delano ("Ray,") Dolores, Donald, Delpha, Della and Del (my dad.)

I'll admit that I was not excited about it. It had been 10 years since I had seen all of the family together. (There were reunions, I just didn't go.) I am close to a few cousins and 3 of Dad's siblings, but do not really know the rest of them all that well. I was wary of having to introduce Dan to family members that I did not know. Things worked out though because they all assumed I would not remember their names. Although, maybe I should be insulted...
We stayed with my Uncle Donald - the birthday boy - and his wife and youngest daughter. This is their family group shot because I don't have a shot of the entire Ruiz family on my camera, and this is the only family where I know all of their names. (They are the second smallest family, second only to ours.)

The first night, we missed a dinner at one of my aunt's houses because Dan and I had to work on Thursday. Friday was the vow renewal, held at a local community center. There was awful food, overpriced drinks, loud Mexican music and a lot of drunken dancing. It did not set a good tone for the rest of the weekend. But it was fun to catch up with everyone and to try and link all of them to each other. Mostly so Dan would know how they were related, but also in part to jog my own memory.The next day was the Suns vs. Spurs game, which was a big rivalry. Obviously being from Phoenix, my Dad is a Suns fan. Even has season tickets. Most of his family is from San Antonio, so they were all Spurs fans. We ate pizza and watched the game and even I got into it, which is saying something. Sports and I are like...well, there's no better analogy. Sports and I don't mesh well. The next day was the picnic. Did I mention already that the high was in the 60's all weekend? And that everyone told us it was going to be 80+ and beautiful so we didn't bring jackets? Yeah...I was cold. Luckily my aunt brought a ton of extra sweatshirts, so I snagged one and sat in the sun all day. I felt like someone at an old folks' home. There was more eating and more talking and lots of picture taking. I caught up with the relatives I hadn't had a chance to talk to yet that weekend and Dan was comfortable enough to spend most of the day away from my side, bonding with my male cousins. (Golf claps - that was a huge step!) He was one of 3 white guys at the first function and the only one at the last function that was actually related by marraige. He was day-glo white in a crowd of Mexicans, but he stood his own. I'm so proud of him! And even better, none of my overprotective cousins/uncles threatened to cut him! Not that I really think they would..well, maybe not...
OK, last real informative blog for a little while. No more events until Tartraz's wedding and Mother's Day. Onto frivolous posts!

Busy and Buzzing

The blog was strangely silent for a long while, mostly due to many events happening in a very short time span. But we're back and ready to blog!
March 20th marked my descent into adulthood. I turned the big 2-6. I am officially closer to 30 than 20, which I thought would worry me but hasn't phased me yet. The 20th landed on a Thursday, which does not lend itself to late night partying unless you are young and carefree. And since I am now 26, neither of those adjectives seem to describe me. So, we spent a fairly quiet evening at home with plans to celebrate that weekend. During work, we celebrated with chocolate raspberry cake. Later that day, Dan brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a copy of Enchanted, which I have declared to be my new favorite movie. He then went home to make my favorite dinner, proscuitto bruschetta and lasagna.

Unfortunately, I took only this photo of him cooking. By that time, he was basically done with the appetizer. I was hungry, it smelled yummy, and my camera was quickly abandoned in favor of food. But in case you were wondering, it was delish. We filled up on appetizers and saved the lasagna for future lunches/dinners.
That weekend, we gathered with some old friends to celebrate. It was fun to see all of them again. We haven't been together like that in over 4 years. We started at TGI Fridays for dinner with. Then took a trip to Bevmo which was an amazing place. I'm not a big drinker, but even Dan and I were amazed. We returned home for drinks and had quite the little bar going, especially since only a few of us drink. I had a rather large cherry martini, which is my favorite, and nursed that all night. Oh yeah. I'm a party animal. Dan and the others had a fair amount to drink. I'd even say Dan was slightly drunk by the end of the night.


Easter was spent with the Klick side, feasting on large amounts of food and celebrating my birthday even more. They got me a mint chocolate ice cream cake, which is one of my favorite desserts. (Hersheys with almonds is my absolute favorite, in case you were wondering what goodies to surprise me with.)
That week, we left for Ohio. Amy's gymnastics team was competing in the MAC championships and we were going to do our best to yell and scream and basically distract her while she competed. Never understood why there was cheering in gymnastics. Anyway, we fell in love with the town and the house prices and I told Dan that if he didn't let me move there and live in a big Cape Cod home, it was obvious he didn't love me.
...still in AZ. So he must not love me.

It was an awesome vacation and action packed. We decorated their locker room to surprise them. Every gymnast's family decorated a posted to hang up. We found the world's best BBQ place and brought home a quart of the sauce. I tried to drink it, Dan stifled my freedom. We fell in love with Sheetz convenience stores and discovered that "warm" in Ohio was 45 degrees. It was a great break from the work week and so neat to see where Amy lives.

It also helps that they won first place. Go KSU Flashes!

Happy Birthday Amy!

Taken by Tom Cammett, originally uploaded by Klick Here.

It's my little sister's birthday. She turns the big 2-2 today. It's so weird, realizing that my little sis has not only been old enough to legally drink for a year, but that she's also about to graduate college.

Highlights About Amy

- She is spastic. High strung. Whole lotta energy. She's a gymnast at Kent State University in Ohio, which means she willing throws herself at inanimate objects.
-She's a psychology major. If you knew her, you'd think this was funny.
-She's about 5'2" but for some reason seems even shorter than that when you're standing next to her. She is also mistaken for a 16-year-old fairly frequently. While it ticks her off now, she'll love that in 15 years.
- She's 4 years younger than me. We weren't very close in grade school because we only went to the same school for one year. But we get along much better now. I haven't had to pull her hair in years.
-She hates bugs. Some of our favorite stories of her involve her abandoning her car on the side of the road because there was a spider in it, or trying to use bug spray on the entire exterior of her house.
- She can laugh at herself, which is good because she can be a pretty big klutz.
-She's adopted and dyed her hair for my wedding so she would look more like the rest of the family. (Note: I did not have a Bridezilla moment. She decided to dye it herself.)
- She's so tiny that she wears jeans from the kids' clothing section. This makes me hate her. (Joking... Kinda.)
-She's been dating her wrestler boyfriend, Kurt, for longer than Dan and I have known each other. And total side note, but Kurt stole my birthday present idea for her, which means I have less than 24 hours to think of something else. Stupid Kurt.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Amy! We hope it is fun and memorable and that you get lots of goodies! (And hopefully you go somewhere other than Sheetz for dinner tonight.)

Love,
Sara and Dan

Loves her.

My almost-niece is comic gold. Her name is Sierah and she is currently being tamed by my best friend Jesika and her hubby Jim. Throw newcomer Allan into the mix and they are a living sitcom. Sierah is 2 and a half, Allan is almost 3 months and Jess and Jim are 24. They act like they're 12 sometimes though.

---

Whenever Sierah does something really well or learns something new, Jim tells her to give a high five. She now responds with "POUND IT!" and clenches her little hand into a fist. Mercy on you if you do not correctly pound it within 2 seconds. She will give you a withering look like you are the 2-year-old and she is the adult. The much smarter adult. With designer clothing bought off the discount rack at Marshalls.

----

Jess has been calling Allan "Fussbutt" because he whines whenever he is naked. This probably shouldn't be a term used around a 2-year-old because Sierah immediately began calling Allan "Fussbutt" as well. When she tired of the 8 letter name, she began calling him "Butt."

Sierah: Butt!

Jess: Sierah, you can't call Allan a butt. You have to think of another nickname for him.

Sierah: *thinking hard* VAGINA!

Race for the Cure

Dan's mom is one of the nicest women I have ever met. Including me, and that's saying something.
She was diagnosed with breast cancer a few weeks ago. The prognosis is great-they caught it early and have been thorough with treatment. She's the type of woman who doesn't feel sorry for herself. She's considering this a hurdle that she has to get past, shake off and then move on with her life. She's definitely a lot braver than I could ever be.
This news coincidentally enough came around Breast Cancer Awareness month. I have always heard news reports of Race for the Cure, but never paid much attention to it. Breast cancer was always a disease that I assumed would never effect me or anyone I knew.

This was a wake up call that breast cancer hits quickly, fiercely and without any warning.

Dan and I decided to walk in the Race for the Cure on October 14th. We're not doing any fundraising this year since it's so close. But next year I will be well prepared to start my donation pleas months in advance.

If any of you would like to join us, let me know. We're planning on car pooling with some others who have joined in. It's only a 5k walk, so it will give you a chance to gossip, enjoy the (hopefully) cooler weather as well as raise awareness and support for a very worthy cause.

I Do Not Claim Them

My family is loveable. If you're one of us. If you are an outsider/innocent bystander, you will think we are weird. I pity Dan, since he willingly married into the family.

My parents celebrated their 31st wedding anniversary on Sunday. Actual phone conversation between my mother and I regarding the festivities:

Mom: I've been awake since 5.
Me: Why? It's Sunday.
Mom: We gathered all the picture frames in the house so we can give some away, change some of the pictures and dust them all of course.
Me: Okay...
Mom: Guess how many we have.
Me: Um, 150?
Mom: How many does Dan guess?
Me: I dunno, hang on. (I proceed to ask Dan, who gives me a funny look since he is playing his game and was obviously rudely interrupted.) He says 80.
Mom: 320
Me: You're joking.
Mom: Nope, 320. I counted.
Me: I think I'm impressed.
Mom: Your father just asked me why on Earth I counted.
Me: Yeah, especially since it's your anniversary. Is this how you guys celebrate? You need a new hobby.
Mom: Well, technically we had pie.

Conversations with Mom

Mom: I hate bumper stickers.
Me: Why?
Mom: They're stupid. "Be nice to your children. They pick your retirement home." That's just stupid.
Me: That one's kinda true.
Mom: You'd put me in a home?
Me: You'd get free cable.
Mom: So do prisoners. You want me to live like a prisoner?
Me: Wouldn't you feel the same way if you were forced to stay in your own home by yourself? At least at a home you could make friends.
Mom: Would your father be there?
Me: Mom, Dad is getting so forgetful he practically has one foot in a home as it is.
Mom: Which foot?
Me: *silence*
Mom: Hello? I asked "which foot?"
Me: I heard you. But I don't get it.
Mom: Is it his left or right?
Me: Um...his left?
Mom: Then it's just not right.
Me: You know, I get my sense of humor from you and I get yelled at for my stupid jokes.
Mom: Does this mean I'm going to live in an awful retirement home?
Me: No, it means you're living with Amy.
Mom: Dammit.

Mom: What are you doing?
Me: Debating making myself a PB&J sandwich or just having What Thins instead.
Mom: Do you want some butter?
Me:...pardon? Why would I want butter?
Mom: I don't know. But we have extra that I won't use.
Me: You live 40 minutes away from me. Buying butter would be cheaper than the gas to get there and back.
Mom: So do you want the butter? We have extra butter.