A family wedding — family obligations

Paloma CruzMy brother-in-law’s youngest sister got married recently. Unfortunately, I have to confess that I don’t really like my brother-in-law’s siblings. We don’t get along. It probably has something to do with the fact that they’re awful to my sister. Or maybe I just don’t like them.

For some strange reason, probably family obligation or something, I was invited to the wedding… and to the bridal shower… and the bachelorette party. I didn’t go to the pre-wedding events, and I had decided that I wasn’t going to go to the wedding either. I had already decided. But I went anyway.

What can I say? I’m a jellyfish.

I didn’t go to the wedding for the bride or the groom, neither of whom I care about in the slightest. (Was that harsh?) I went to the wedding because my broth-in-law was giving away the bride.

And so I went to the wedding.

And now I have my regular several posts coming your way about the different things I noticed about the experience. Because, as you may have imagined, nothing with my family is truly ordinary, not even a trip to a wedding.

But maybe that’s just my opinion.

my truck was broken into

Paloma CruzMy truck was broken into last night. And I think I might have heard when it happened. I did hear an alarm go off in the late evening. But I live in a very residential area, and, honestly, I keep forgetting that the truck has an alarm. So I ignored it.

I own two vehicles: one mini-SUV red Chevy and one teal-colored Ford Explorer. Since my apartment building only gives me one parking space, I keep one vehicle at my sister’s place (parked on the street) rather than parking one on the street here. I know that it just isn’t safe to leave something parked outside here. Look what happened to the truck I parked in a gated parking garage.

Every week or so, I switch out vehicles and drive one while the other remains parked, Yesterday I switched cars when I dropped off my Mother from spending the weekend at my apartment… after three weeks without switching out.

Last night my truck was broken into.

This morning I was drinking tea and reading my email, getting ready to start my day. My landlord called me, really early for a call from the landlord, and told me that one of my neighbors had noticed that my car window was broken. He suggested I check it out.

I put on some jeans and a tee (over my sports top) and headed down. Sure enough, the driver side window was been smashed in. I couldn’t see any other damage, but there was a lot of glass everywhere.

I came back to my apartment to look up the non-emergency number for the Houston Police Department, to call my office to let them know I wouldn’t be coming, and to look up my insurance information.

Amongst all that I sent a text to friends and family about what happened.

I spent all day on this. Multiple phone calls from my insurance agency which resulted in a closed claim because the cost of the window isn’t going to be more than my deductible. Police took my report over the phone, without sending anyone, because we’re not even making the pretense that there’s a chance this guy will get caught.

My brother came through for me today, coming to clean up my truck (he borrowed our brother-in-law’s portable vacuum). He went with me to drop off my truck to the mechanic’s. He drove me to my sister’s place to pick up my other vehicle.

I’m shaken, I will admit. All the thief took was about 75 cents and my car charger. He broke the driver’s side window, and didn’t even steal my stereo. And for that I get to deal with the insurance and police, pay to have the truck repaired and cleaned, and now am concerned about the safety of where I live. Lovely.

But I have the money to pay for the repairs. And, if it had been worse, I have insurance on the vehicle. I have a boss that just let me take the day to deal with this even though it was a major inconvenience. And he didn’t even make me feel guilty about it. And I have a brother who came through for me, a sister who volunteered herself and her husband to help out. I own another car, so I don’t have to rent one. I have family and friends who all checked up on me throughout the day.

I hate that I’m having to concentrate on the good things, but that’s what I’m doing. A few years ago, this would have been a catastrophic event. I would have had to borrow the money, rent a car or beg for rides, and it would have knocked me sideways. That’s not the case any more. And I am grateful for that.

Daily log — June 24

Paloma CruzI stepped on the scale for the first time in a very very long time. No good news.

8 AM — breakfast was a crunchy peanut butter sandwich on white bread accompanied by hot tea.

10 AM — no midmorning snack today. I didn’t pack anything.

11:30 AM — lunch was a lot of food at Maggiano’s for a luncheon.

3 PM — no midafternoon snack today. I didn’t pack anything.

7 PM — I had dinner at the House of Pies. It’s the second time this week.

Dinner was an event, a get-together with my mother, my brother and his new girlfriend. Have I mentioned that I don’t really know if I like her yet?

{{Written on my iPhone}}

Daily Log — June 23

Paloma CruzI need to start counting calories and actually dieting. Keeping track of what I’m eating is a good start, though.

8 AM — breakfast was one chicken tamal with green Tabasco sauce and hot tea.

10 AM — midmorning snack was a banana. A very yummy banana.

12:30 PM — lunch was the rest of the leftover chicken tamales. Three of them, I think. Also with green Tabasco sauce and a large bottle of water.

3 PM — midafternoon snack was a Granny Smith apple, beautiful and tart.

8 PM — dinner was homemade chicken in peanut sauce. I made enough for several days, ate some today and put the rest in the freezer.

{{Written on my iPhone}}

Daily Log — June 22

Paloma CruzI am trying to get back on track with at least blogging my food. Here goes nothing.

7:30 AM — half a peanut butter sandwich and hot tea.

Midmorning snack — I didn’t have anything for midmorning snack.

11:30 AM — lunch wad a visit to a salad bar, which means a very bad salad… plus bread.

7 PM — Dinner was leftovers from the dinner at my sister’s a few days ago. Basically, chicken and beef kabobs with A1 sauce.

{{Written on my iPhone}}