Cody & Family

Well this post is a bit of a mix of things that happened from late September throughout October. Cody has been spending more and more time with  me and my family. It makes me super happy that he likes my family and that my family likes him too!

Happy Birthday to Me!

On my birthday, my parents like to celebrate like I'm 3 years old.  No matter how much I try, I just can't escape it. There's the pinata, balloons, goodie bags, presents, cake, and the traditional "mordida! mordida...." that is directly followed by your faced being shoved into the cake.  This year, I shared my birthday with my dad, so it made the occasion even more memorable.  Because it was such a special occasion, it was even more important for me that I share it with Cody. What I was more concerned about was whether Cody would accept my family traditions. I was relieved when Cody was able to participate and feel at home with my family. It added to the specialness of the occasion and I felt like I shared a deeply important part of me with Cody.


2nd Saturday with My Cousins:
Another 2nd Saturday date, this time in October, but with some of my little cousins! Shandell, Laura, and Leo came with us to look at several art pieces. I wanted them to explore the city and Cody wanted to them to explore the arts.  I don't think they were too excited about the night though; they are, after all just kids. I was really hoping that at least Shandell would have an appreciation of it though.  What made the night memorable was that there was a rally going on that evening for Women Take Back The Night. The cool thing about Sacramento is that there is always some kind of protest, march, or rally going on. So, as the group was marching along, we joined them in protesting violence against women. 

"Yes means Yes! 

No! means No! 

However we dress,

 Wherever we go!"

After the march, we took the kids to eat giant pizza slices. I think they really like that part.  Cody and I just want to make kids think, learn, and expand their minds.  I want to expose them to different things so that maybe it'll make them better persons as they grow up.  Cody is really interested in helping kids learn and grow. Together we thought this night would have a positive influence on my cousins, but I guess we just have to find another way of reaching out to them.

October's Litter Clean Up Day:

For our second litter clean up day, I invited my cousins again to accompany Cody and me to clean up trash. Only Leo came, but that was better than none of them.  We all had a fun time cleaning up by the river, but we were sad to find so much trash.  Today's rant, however, focuses on fishermen! They show up to fish and leave their trash on the banks.  They even leave their fishing lines and hooks! It's not just bad for the animals, it's bad for people too! What if you were picking up a rock on the shore and accidentally get a fish hook stuck in your hand or foot?!  Arrgh!

You can only keep a 12 year old's attention for so long, so we took breaks throughout the day to play on swings, wade in the river, and eat our PB&J sandwiches. At one instance, Leo stopped working because he was trying to catch a fish with a rock dangling from a fish line! He may not have a great attention span, but at least he was out with us.  Hopefully, we are making an impact on them after all. Cody and I have also been reading to and with them a few times a week. I hope they are getting something from these activities. 

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer:

I participated in this many years ago with my friend Jamie and I loved it! Ever since then, I have wanted to try it again, but for one reason or another, I just never did....until this year!  I don't want to say that Cody made it possible, because who knows if I would have done it regardless of his company. But I know for sure that his support and enthusiasm for me to finally do it was a big factor in helping me achieve this goal of mine.  I was so excited that I even invited my family. Even though only a few members of my family walked with us, I felt very accomplished and happy for us.  Every interaction that Cody and I have with my family is a chance to show them how good of a person he is and why I love him. 

Trick-or-Treat! 

With all the time we've been spending with my cousins, I was surprised to find that Cody actually wanted to take them trick-or-treating on Halloween. I mean, it's one thing to have kids, but it's a totally different thing to have kids hyped up on sugar running all over the place trying to get as much candy as possible.  And it wasn't just 2 or 3 of my cousins; it was the whole bunch: 8. What was Cody thinking?! Luckily, my aunt and uncle went with us to help us keep an eye on them.  Apart from the crazy of taking my cousins with us, this was our first Halloween together- so I wanted it to be memorable. We had first decided our costumes were going to be of a couple. Something romantic like Romeo an Juliet? No! More like Mario and Luigi. Can you guess who was going to be who? :P  But as the day approached, we got lazy and realized that we dont want to feed the consumerism idea of Halloween (we just didn't have any money to waste), so we just painted our faces. Cody had a cold, so he didn't really dress up.  I did Cody's face- Can you tell what he was?  Phantom of the Opera! At the end of the night, what made it memorable, was the fact that we spent it together.