Sandoogans' Log

Sami looks uncomfy in the pic but she actually wasn't. She was chatting The Claus' ears away. She had a long Christmas list. Her dad and I had to tell her to cut it short.  We normally send out Christmas cards but have skipped the last couple of years. It's a nice gesture that I do enjoy but for some reason have been lagging on it. Maybe next year we'll do ecards or something. Thanks for taking the time to read my gibberish and comment from time to time. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Home. One of the coolest things someone has said to me by far. I was on set a couple of weeks ago and was chitchatting with one of the actresses. We were joking around a bit and then got to asking each other where we're from. She said she was from Utah and had been living in L.A. for a few years now. I told her I was born and raised in L.A. and her eyes just lit up. "You're a unicorn!!" she yelled, as she pointed at me. I must have looked and sounded like a minion when I said, "Whaaaat?!" Apparently us homegrown Angelenos are a rare breed. She said I was the second one she had ever met. It was pretty funny seeing her geek out. I felt special and really did feel like a unicorn.

Our living room. Our view. It looked better at night. Our bedroom. Our bathing and shower facilities.  Dream sinks. Just in case you weren't sure what this was. Playing for our expensive free drinks. Feeling happy, happy, happy. My view from the restroom as I tinkled. Literally. Our view from the club in the V.I.P section. A few weeks ago Mr. Andrade and I decided to go on semi last minute trip to Vegas. He had been working a lot as of late and was in dire need of a mini get away. We had gotten an email from Mandalay Bay for two complimentary nights and figured what better time than now. I called to book and to our surprise were upgraded to a suite for free. Total score! We were also off to celebrate our new anniversary date (that's a different story) so were pretty stoked.  This was our first solo Vegas trip in awhile. We've slowly begun to get use to our Vegas trips. What I mean by that is that we have different inter

I think I'm one of those very few people who still buy CD's. Don't get me wrong I don't buy all my albums on compact discs. I only buy the ones from artist I truly and deeply love. I still remember walking into Music Plus and buying my first CD. It was the Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dreams album. I was stoked! I listened to that album over and over. I remember staying up till midnight to watch the Disarm video. I was so not let down. These last couple of weeks I've bought two CD's; I bought John Legend's Love in the Future and Kings of Leon's Mechanical Bull . Although I don't spend days and days listening to my albums like before, I still kind of geek out when I remove the wrapping. I also don't pay much attention to booklet anymore. Maybe I should. It would be nice to sing along with the album again.

Sometimes I wish I could share personal stuff on my blog. I mean, I do, but super personal stuff. Sometimes I read people's blog where they totally open up about things that happened in their life. Things that are ridiculously personal. I always admire them for that. I can't imagine sharing some of that stuff with friends and certainly not sharing it on here. I've always thought of myself as an open book but as I've gotten older I've come to realize that is certainly not the case. I open up to some people. Even then I pick and choose who knows what. It's funny how different friends know different aspects of my life. I don't think anyone knows everything. I'm not sure when this started happening but somehow it has. Sometimes I do wish I can totally open up to someone. Just kind let it all out. For some reason I can't. Not sure if it's because I'm scared of being burned, judged or feeling exposed. I know that every time I tell someone a s

Uniform is ready to go. Ready for her big day! She does these poses on her own.  ...and off she goes. I had to hold back my tears.  End of day. Sami looking to see where I was. Me taking pictures. Last week was Sami's first day of pre-k. I can't believe she's already in pre-school! It just seems like yesterday there was a baby rolling around (literally) the living room because she couldn't quite crawl yet. She had to roll to get to wherever she wanted. It was quite cute actually. Sami's first week went as expected. She was excited and I held back tears. I think I would have cried had there not been so many parents around. I would have been a little embarrassed. As I was saying goodbye to Sami, I put my sunglasses on as soon as I felt the waterworks wanting to come. They didn't, thankfully. I drove off feeling sad. It hurt to leave my baby behind. Not literally of course but, you know what I mean. When I picked up Sami she was j

Today is Sami's last day at her Tot Time class. The class isn't officially over yet but she starts pre-school next week and will no longer be able to attend. She was two weeks shy of finishing the class. She's going to miss the graduation party they make the kids moving on to pre-k. That along with a few other things made me sad. She had been with these kids since she was 2 years old. There is one little girl in particular who loves Sami and always greets her as soon as she walks in. As soon as she sees Sami walk in she'll say, "Hi Samantha!" and Sami will walk over to her and they either walk away holding hands or sit down and begin to play. Sigh, I know this is part of her growing up but jeez how it stings. Kaylee, Sami's little greeter. Sami not looking at the camera as usual.  Snack time. Kaylee telling Sami she has to go to her birthday party. Sami doing the same. Getting ready to go.  I bought the kids cupcakes as a g

Sami and her little gifts.  I was going through the pictures in my phone seeing which ones needed to be deleted and found this little gem. This is was one of the many flowers my daughter loves to give me. We were out in West Covina that day waiting for our tires to be rotated and in walks in Sami with this little beauty. I thought it was very sweet. I loved the colors. I immediately gave her a hug and a kiss and she happily skipped away to go outside with her dad. Seeing this pictures makes me a little sad. My baby is growing up. I know it's part of life but it fucken hurts. Soon my baby will be starting pre-school and before I know it Jr. High (or middle school as it's called now, I just hate to do so) and high school. Then she will hate me and I will probably hate her, through that period. Of course, not, literally hate each other but the whole teenage and parent war that goes on in that age. Sometimes I wonder if I'll get lucky and she'll be a good teen.

Sami trying to decide what book she wants. Story time. Sami seemed to be interested in this story. The Carpenters Showcase. The  other half of The Carpenters show case. Summer is here and we are officially blocked from Disneyland (we have the cheapy pass). Now with no Disney till mid-August we had to come up with other ideas to keep Sami busy and entertained. Mr. A suggested the library. At first I was a little skeptical because Sami isn't exactly the quiet type. She has yet to learn the difference between her indoor and outdoor voice. Truth be told I still have trouble differing from the two myself. I said what the heck and decided to give it a shot. I ended up going to Downey library because the South Gate one is closed at the time due to some remodeling. Not that I mind going to Downey they have The Carpenters showcase. I always love staring at it and going over every little detail. I love The Carpenters. Reminds me of my cousins and I playing

Sami's Gummy Bear Ice Cream. Sami feeling super cool with her kid's pack. Sami and her nina. Sami is not impressed.  Sami being Sami Before I was a parent and I went to the movies I use to hate to hear kids cry and whine. If it was a kid's movie it was totally understandable. I mean, it is a kid's movie. Anything other than that I found unacceptable and totally inconsiderate of the parents. I know it sounds harsh but I speak the truth. When Sami was born my views had not changed. Being a parent did not stop me getting annoyed by screaming kid's. I might have been slightly more tolerant. Who am I kidding? My views were exactly the same. Which is why we never took Sami to the movie theater. We took her to the drive-in once. That was a close as it got. I refused to take her the movie theater because I refused to be THAT parent. Last week I finally decided to give it a shot. I was a little skeptical and scared because I wasn't sure how she

We had a man down in the beginning of our trip. Luckily help was close by. Poor Julian was so startled. The medic was doing his best to help him relax.  Some of the riders from this trip. Jessie and Albert. I've known Albert since Jr. High. Pretty crazy. What are they looking at?  It was nice to see my old stomping grounds. I miss this place. Home. My favorite picture. I absolutely love it.  This past Sunday I did my third CicLAvia. I wasn't sure if I was going to go but I'm so glad I did. Each trip to CicLAvia has been with different people. Each time just as memorable and enjoyable. Originally Mr. Andrade and I were going to ride this one together. We both love Downtown L.A and the Miracle Mile area. Unfortunately he had to work so wasn't able to make it.  I was a little bummed when I found out Mr. A was not going to be riding with me. At first I didn't want to go but ended up having a change of heart last minute. I look fo

This little medley totally reminds me of when Mr. A and I were starting to hang out and I started getting feelings for him. I remember listening to this song over and over. Lord knows I'm a big fan of the repeat button and I was sure putting it to use with this song. I remember listening to it and getting a big ol' smile. I'd start to kind of daydream. I'm not sure if I ever told Mr. A about this song and my thoughts. He's not too keen on romance so he'd probably shrug it off. I do know however, that I added this song in a mixed CD I made him. I doubt he made the connection but at least I knew he was listening to it too. Listening to this song now still makes me daydream. Maybe, I should say reminisce about how I would play the song over and over and get that cheesy smile on my face. Truth be told I still get that same smile.

Tamale Ninja I was organizing my pictures and came across this little gem. This was from Christmas last year. We spent it with Mr. Andrade's family and as is tradition on his side (and most Mexican families), 10,000 tamales were to be made. I might be exaggerating on the numbers a little but I'm sure not by much. Mr. A's mom decided it would be a good time to get Sami started on learning how to make tamales. She actually did fairly well. Her tamales were tiny but she got the gist of it. This was a shot of Sami thinking she was all bad after making her first tamale.

One of my favorite skits. Seriously one of the best shows. Ever. I'm actually considering getting a Battlestar tattoo. True story. I think it's fair to say this an accurate reenactment of Mr. Andrade and I. Screaming and all.

Sometimes I still get scared. Sometimes I still question my choices. My heart tells me yes and my mind makes me question everything. I guess the good thing is, my mind has yet to tell me no. 

Mr. A helping Sami with the Hello Kitty bike. Looks like we have a winner! The new bati-bici. A close up of the new addition.   Sami also picked her bell.  Mr. A getting her prepped for a short bike ride. His   Hers    Treksters    Sami and is all set to ride. Is officially what my family has become. Not because of Star Trek although that would be equally as cool. There is no hope for Mr. Andrade but I can still mold Sami into a Trekkie. Anyway, that's beside the point. The reason I call my family Treksters is because Sami has officially become part of Trek family! She outgrew her  tricycle  (pretty quickly might I add) so it was finally time to move her up to a big kid bike. It was bittersweet seeing my kid leaving her old bike behind. I have to admit though, it was pretty exciting seeing her pick a new one. Mr. Andrade and I have had our own Treks for quite sometime now and I absolutely love them! I have no idea why but I love Treks. Ma