Thoughts on sleeping in

I suppose I wouldn’t be alone in saying I love weekends with all heart and soul, yet hate Mondays with all I have. It’s interesting how Friday mornings somehow are easier to handle than the rest of the weeks. I mean, I say to myself: it’s Friday!! Tomorrow I won’t have to get up early!! And then, fast forward to Sunday morning and I’m telling myself, ‘sleep in as much as you can, because tomorrow is Monday and you have to get up early for the rest of the week!!’ So yes, I am definitely NOT a morning person. That itself should convince me to go to bed earlier so the waking up would be easier, but sad to say, as with all non-morning persons, the night is our turf. We don’t want to go to bed early; it would feel like a violation of free time and life itself.
Why then all these sad thoughts about getting up early and all fantasizing about sleeping in? You got it! I’m forcing my eyes to stay open this lovely morning while here at in my computer at work. No, it’s not like I went to bed in the wee hours of the morning. I went to bed at the usual time, but it’s just that…Well, if I were offered a penny for every extra minute I try to sleep I wouldn’t be surprised to find myself a billionaire in a few short years.
  But I have good news! In a few weeks my schedule changes and I’ll be working nights. That’s right, I got a new job!! I’m sooo excited, it’s a full time position in a bigger hospital and it pays better. My life is full of blessings and this is one of them. I still can’t believe I got this job, everyone said it was so impossible to get in. To start with, to be a translator  in Parkland Memorial Hospital, (my new job), you have to take a three hour test and pass with at least an 80% in each of the three sections. Yes, they scared me and told me it was only 10% of people that pass this test. But hurray, and thank God, I passed!! So I’m excited about starting this new chapter and starting this new job, and….not having to get up early each day!!!! Yes, it’s not a huge deal…but I assure you, it’s something to look forward to every day of the remaining two weeks at work!
 
Wedding planning, you must be asking yourselves. CRYSTAL how is your wedding planning coming along!!??? That’s the question I get almost every day from loving friends, family and coworkers, and I have to say, it has come very smoothly along. I’ve heard of ‘Bridezillas’ and so many stories of stressful wedding planning but to tell you the truth I have not been stressed for a moment. And I am glad to say all the major things are all taken care of. Ok, I’m not gonna say I won’t somehow along the way freak out and have a stressful moment, but so far it’s been very smooth. And only small things remain to be done, because it’s all planned really, reserved, and ..ok….there are some small details that if they went wrong I might switch from peaceful, relaxed bride, to bridezilla. Let’s hope it doesn’t happen. It’s an exciting time, it’s been a lot of fun to plan and I hope it turns out to be a wonderful day. 
 
Anyway, I think I’ve run out of thoughts for the day and I might as well go back to considering how attractive getting a little nap right about now sounds.

I hear wedding bells in the distance

Wedding planning. Sounds fun, exciting, even exhilarating. And don’t get me wrong- it is!! Well, for the first few weeks, at least… After having traveled to Colombia to look at places for a wedding, being sick all the while there, and still having to get up at early to continue on the relentless hunt, when every day on that “vacation” rains, and no one is cooperative in terms of negotiation for the wedding venue, and every place you look at won’t reserve a year in advance or guarantee the place six months in advance, When the car you depend on  to get everywhere breaks down and your suitcases never arrived in the airplane and the “vacation” is almost over and still they’re not there… somewhere along the way it stops being so much excitement and unbridled fun..
Well, basically that describes my “vacation’ to Colombia. Allow me to explain.
When I got engaged last month…(oh yes, to those who didn’t get the memo, I’m ENGAGED!!!) I decided, or rather, ‘we’ (I keep forgetting that now it’s probably gonna be more ‘we’ than ‘me’ from now on out) ok we decided we wanted the wedding to be in Colombia. Reasons? Expenses, and guests, to be precise. Basically, we could have a very nice wedding over there for much less ($$) and all my family could come while so could his, they could all travel, get to know the wonderful country, and all my best friends are in South America, so the maid of honor and bridesmaids all there etc. It was a brilliant idea, to be sure, and so I decided to pool my restricted vacation time from work and take a quick trip down there to look at places. I could only afford a week off, in other words that’s the only time off available I had. So I merrily bought my ticket with Delta, never dreaming what a nightmare Delta could turn out to be, and gladly I packed my bags and got on the plane. To make an endlessly long story short, they never landed in time for my next connection flight in Atlanta, ended up leaving me stranded in said airport for 24 hours ‘till the next flight to Bogota’, and had it not been for my thoughtful fiancée who booked me a hotel online so I could take a shuttle and rest for the night, I would’ve probably lost it… Having missed my second connecting flight in Colombia, things weren’t really looking that hopeful. That is, until my wonderful fiancée called me and after hearing my despairing voice decided to book the next flight to Atlanta and join me the next day on the trip to Colombia. At this point, of course, my tears dried up and the semblance of a smile lit my face once  more.  
We arrived safely in Colombia the next night, and all things looked better.
AS soon as we arrived to my parent’s home then, the wedding planning started. Of course I ended up sick like I related above, suitcase never arrived, all the places we tried to get for the wedding were a total mess of complications, and I was ready to throw the towel when we found a wedding planner and our troubles seemed done with. All things then being taken care of, we happily returned to the states- and dare I mention I have NEVER before in my life been so happy to be back. I suppose it was because I had a miserable time and I even lost my voice over there due to that malicious cold. Ben however, had the time of his life, and at least for that I’m grateful.
So… Are we done with the wedding planning?? Pardon the expression, but, hell no! apparently, it has just begun. Because, you see, due to several complications and traveling issues with various (groom side of the family) guests,  we decided to cancel having the wedding over there.
So, yes, my dear people, the wedding will be in beautiful Fort Worth. Ah, but the planning has but begun. The endless hunting for the right church or chapel, and the reception place is just begun. And the most exciting part of it, (sarcastically speaking), is that almost all places are already booked for next year. So here we go. But it’s still fun. Visualizing yourself in that white dress walking down that aisle in that beautiful chapel- until , reality check, it’s prohibitively expensive to even think about booking… or, no, not really. One gets married only once in a lifetime. So, let’s hope all goes well, and next year, well- let’s just say there will be a new Mr. and Mrs. Batiste  forming a family and we will all want you to enjoy the moment with us.
So those be my thoughts wedding-wise for today. I’m afraid I must now get on the phone again for the thousandth time to see if we can still get that Robert Carr chapel for the wedding…wait!? Was I not supposed publicize that?? Oh well.Too late!!
Ps- comments are appreciated

A Random moment of Colombian Patriotism

Colombians are very patriotic people. And I guess it’s because we have a lot to be proud of, even though some bad reputation worldwide has tarnished our good name!! Either way, almost every Colombian I have met is fiercely proud of his country and culture. And I had been telling that to my American boyfriend but I guess it didn’t completely sink in till last Sunday. We were driving along interstate 20, via Dallas, and I was driving while my bf was in the passenger seat. Of course, being the patriotic Colombian that I am, I have a Colombian flag hanging from the rear view mirror in my car. Anyway, we passed a huge pickup truck with a trailer in tow- and guess what: he had a sticker of Colombia on his back window, so I thought, how cool! Another Colombian!
My fellow countryman, however, was a bit more enthusiastic when as he passed me and glanced over, suddenly seeing my Colombian flag.. He slowed down till we were side by side, and started blowing the horn, like 3 times and waving wildly at us with a wide smile on his face! I obviously responded with more honking and waving.. it was an awesome feeling of patriotism right there… I mean, when do you randomly drive past another proud Colombian? And much more, when he unashamedly goes overboard trying to bond with you while driving on the highway just because you happen to be from the same wonderful country, and you are so proud you actually feel the world just stop there for a minute??
Oh it was priceless. You know what was also priceless?? The look of utter embarrassment on my bf’s face. I’m guessing he will never underestimate Colombians again. He didn’t think it had been cool no matter how over excited I was for the rest of the trip. “Colombians are definitely out there”, he muttered to himself.. no matter. I absolutely loved every second of it!!

As I was driving to work this morning, in the hectic hours of traffic, where everyone tries to get to the workplace in time, I was no exception. I kept looking at my watch, determining how many more minutes I had left before I would be officially late for work. Traffic was a bit heavy, but nonetheless moving along, one of the advantages of living in Ft Worth, where traffic is not half as bad as it is in Dallas. As I was coming into the final bridge before taking the street to my office, a new white cobalt Chevrolet was driving along slowly, blocking the way. I finally managed to pass the slow driver, and as is my custom, out of curiosity peek to see who is driving at such a slow pace and blocking the lane! Well, not surprisingly, it was a dear old lady, who apparently has not retired yet. I passed her and kept going my way. Very soon we were in the turning lanes and traffic slows down when someone has to make a left , and, remember, the old lady in the white cobalt is right behind me since I passed her a minute ago. Well, it so happens that I also had to make a left so I stopped to do so, when apparently, Mrs. Unretired driver decided she was also late for work, and maybe decided to hit the gas pedal and make up for lost time. Unfortunately, the streets were still with sand that was put out when it snowed in Christmas, so she must have hit some of that because her car slided right almost into mine. The result: a very near miss of an accident, almost hitting my car in the rear end, but thankfully at the last minute she was able to maneuver out of the tight spot and keep going at my right, and, yes, she looked at me with a most frightened and apologetic face.. I don’t know what was more funny- my scare at almost being hit, or the panicked expression on the poor old lady’s face as she looked at me from her passing vehicle. Well, It made my day.