Maxine Monday

Well, Monday has come and gone and this post has been in the works since then. Work has been extremely busy and with me leaving out of town on Friday, I'm trying to get as much done as possible. So here she is...

Maxine in all her glory...

So... as I get ready to fly home to El Paso and see my family, I figured Maxine had the perfect wisdom for the upcoming event. I love my family, they are a bit on the nutty side, but they are mine! All mine!! As you can tell by the picture, it's an old one(then again we are all old) lol...), the picture was taken in 2004. Mom , my brothers and sister, as well as myself have aged. In fact, aging is the reason why we are headed to El Paso, my brother on the far right is turning the big 50!!! A milestone!! LOL!!! Yea... they are all a bit on the nutty side, but I wouldn't take them any other way! Besides, they have their baby sister that is just as nutty or nuttier at that!

El Paso has it's history... I wouldn't go back home to live, but I do have some good memories back there and of course, my mom, my sister and two brothers. I am extremely looking forward to this trip though for more reasons than the obvious, seeing family.... my whole family gets to meet PC for the first time ever! It will be a family reunion and that is what makes the trip even better.

I know for me, it's home, it's where my roots are, but there's something about Hell Paso that just keeps me from going back for good. When I went through my first divorce, I remember mom calling me and telling me to consider moving back home... it hurt me to have to tell her that I couldn't do it. I had "nothing" to go back to. I wasn't trying to be disrespectful, but the economy in El Paso is not going anywhere, so much that I tell PC, it's like going back in time, every time I visit. The music doesn't change, the styles and fashion doesn't change, nothing changes, at least I don't see it. I could not find a job that pays me what I get paid here in the Houston area. My sister advised me against going back, she knew I had a better chance in doing something better with myself here in Houston than in El Paso, and I can say that she was right.

I remember driving every year to go see family. A tradition? Just something that was? I don't know, but I remember corralling all three kids out of bed at 5 am in to the van and heading out for the 12 - 13 hour drive. In saying that, it brings to mind of a picture of my daughter asleep in the back seat of the van while we are in-route to El Paso. We'd pack an ice chest with sandwiches, drinks and snacks. Magazines, games, books, Cd's, CD player for each kid, blankets, pillows and suitcases. All set, ready to go... yea... I remember!

I also remember making pit stops along the way to and from El Paso, images of the kids taking a break on the side of the road, especially an image of my daughter in diapers (as it was hot). OK, so even an image of me comes to mind... goofing off on the side of the road as we took a break! The picture posted at right, I'm wearing a shirt that says "El Paso Bound". The playfulness and silliness of me acting like an El Paso DIVA was just a way of letting go of some stress from the long ride home.

I get an image of my 26 year old, in 2005, (at the age of 24) playing "Air Guitar" and his brother taking a picture. That was the year that I took Albert, "Prince Albert", to leave him with my mom. That was a hard trip for me... Giving him up that is. I had Prince Albert since he was a puppy and it killed me to leave him in a cage for 10 hours at a time while I was at work. He was definitely a wonderful dog! Was very well behaved and very loving. Always could communicate with me when he had to go for a walk, although at times, he abused his gorgeous little "innocent" look. He use to always sit right by his leash and just wait patiently until we gave in and took him for a breath of fresh air. I think I even have a picture of him doing just that. Hmmmmm, more digging of pictures forthcoming... It will definitely be good to see him again. He always remembers me, and sleeps with me when I visit. Mom always tells him that I'm "Momma #1"... See you soon Prince Albert. I have to confess that mom was a bit upset when she learned that I had named him Albert though! You see, that was my dads' name. I had to explain that he wasn't named after Dad. To this day, I don't think I've convinced her of that. She has renamed him to "Pee Wee", one of our past dogs. Personally, I don't like it, so I still call him Albert, of course with mom screaming at me at the same time. lol...

That trip was definitely a memorable one, I had someone very special to come back to... Little did I know then how far that meeting for "one" beer would go.

We will most likely make a trip to Scenic Drive, maybe do a night run up there on Friday night,(Make it a bit of a romantic run... hehehe...) and Fort Bliss Cemetery (to pay my respects to Dad)

More to come as I reminisce. Pictures too...