Filomena S. "Nena" Garcia died on Wednesday, July 26, 2006, at home with her beloved family after a long and courageous battle with diabetes.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held 10 a.m., Saturday, July 29, 2006, at St. Mary of the Miraculous Medal Catholic Church in Texas City. Burial will follow at Grace Memorial Park in Hitchcock. Visitation will be from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. Friday at Emken-Linton Funeral Home. A Rosary will be recited at 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.

Nena was born July 21, 1929, in Galveston, Texas, to Jim and Esperanza Molleda and was raised by her godparents, Pancho and Lucinda Solis, owners of Bluebird Grocery Store. She graduated from Ball High School and married the love of her life, Edward J. Garcia, Sr., in 1947, in McAllen, Texas.

Our mother, Nena, was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 53 years, Edward J. Garcia Sr.; her parents, Jim and Esperanza Molleda; and her brother, Israel Garza, of California.

Nena has worked for many years at Pick N Pay, Little Chief, Big Chief, and was supervisor at College Park Nursing Home in La Marque until her retirement.

She is survived by her loving sons Eddie J. Garcia, Jr. and his wife Julie, Elias J. Garcia, Sr. and wife Alice and Charles Garcia and wife Shannon; her loving daughters Delores and husband Joe Ortiz, Lucinda and Yolanda G. Carrera of Houston, Texas.

She is also survived by her brothers Juan Lopez of Monterrey, Mexico and Ben Acosta and wife Rita of Galveston; her sister Virginia Rebulioso of California; her sister-in-law Ana-Marie Garza of California; also, her beloved sisters-in-law that she so loved, Emma Garza, Kikie Herrera and Ben, Alice Luna and husband Johnny, and also Maura Balli, Teresa Ruiz, Sara Luna and Paul, Corina Luna and Eula Luna; and her extended family members we so love are Rudolph Garcia, George Garcia, Richard Garcia, Albert Garcia, Angie Steele, Vicki Garcia and Geraldine Garcia.

Her loving grandchildren include, Duane Eddy Garcia, Donnell Garcia, Sr., Nicole Grimm, Frank Carrera III, Fernando Carrera and Fredrick Carrera, Eddie Munoz, Jr., Edmond Munoz, Edwin Munoz, Elisha Munoz and J. R. Rodriguez, Cynthia Burnette, Bonnie Campos, Raquel Edwards, Maria Cayard, Amy Garza, Jason Garcia, Jody Garcia, and Elias J. Garcia, Jr., Crystal Garcia and Taylor Garcia, and the most precious of all---her 35 great-grandchildren.

Pallbearers will be her grandsons: Duane Eddy Garcia, Frank Carrera III, Eddie Munoz, Edmond Munoz, Jason Garcia, and Elias J. Garcia, Jr. Honorary pallbearers are her great-grandsons: Frank Carrera IV, Eddie Munoz III and Donnell Garcia, Jr., all of her grandkids and great-grandkids.

Special thanks to Dr. Kilowich and Dr. Barnum and their staff at UTMB. Also, to LaShawn Ritchie and Jacqueline Marcus and to the staff at A-Med Hospice.


Emken-Linton Funeral Home

Published July 28, 2006

Way back when I first started this blog, I wrote this story:

...April 16, 1974 was also the 27th anniversary of the Texas City explosion. What importance did that particular event have that it warrants a new paragraph, you ask? It was on that day that my grandfather went to work at the port in Texas City. It was on that day that he was among the 3000+ wounded and his brother was among the 600+ dead. That day they sent him to a hospital and he met a nurse there. Being the stud Mexican he was, he must have been hitting on the cute nurse tending to him. They get to talking and come to find out, she was the daughter of a lady his mother knew. The nurse was 10 yrs his younger and she was just a little kid when they first met. He?d drive his mother to her mother?s store in Sugarland. He drove her there because he was a good son and didn?t want her driving by herself (and there was a beer joint next door?)

So they start seeing each other. 27 yrs later their 6th grandchild was born...

Grandma passed away yesterday. Services are this weekend, so after everything is done, I'll come back and post more. I have a lot of thoughts swirling around in my head.

Nothing but good thoughts, though.

Thank you Grandma.

For everything you were.

Here's a new video of Jazz from this past weekend.

She was in the Bridal Extravaganza again and she did GREAT.

Check it out:
http://fcarrera3.buzznet.com/user/video/play/35827/

I'm not sure if I posted this or not, but in October, Jasmine has an audition with Disney, MGM Studios, Nickelodeon and Paramount!

I can't believe it. From her agency, she was chosen along with 4 or 5 other kids. No matter what happens, I'm just so damn proud of her...

Since going back to work after my surgery, I haven't had much time to write anything.

I had a little bit of catching up to do at work, plus the new house thing has kept us kinda busy. On top of that, I started up a membership at the gym Laura goes to. So working out these 24 inch pythons is taking up a bit of my time, too.

The new house is moving along very quickly. I've posted a few pics at my buzznet site, so check 'em out. Basically, they've got the interior painted, the cabinets are in and they finished the tile work this weekend. We still have the carpet, some lighting and the rest of the plumbing.

From what they tell us, we should be moved in by July 31st.

The only thing is, they've had some issues with getting our brick. It seems their original supplier dropped them to be exclusive with some other builder, so they are looking for a new supplier. It's weird because the entire house might be finished before the FIRST brick is even laid!

The other thing is that we got an offer for this house.

They want to move in by July 30th!

We are working on a lease agreement for 2 weeks but after that, if the new house isn't finished, we might have to crash at my brother's place.

Speaking of my brother(s)...

With all this stuff going on with the surgery I forgot to post the biggest announcement. Freddy, Nando and my Mom are getting a new house built ONE BLOCK AWAY from my house!

Freddy'd gone with us to see the new house a few times. We showed him the models and all that stuff. Then, one day he says, "You know what? I can do this..."

He and Laura get to talking about what's all involved in getting a new house built, one thing leads to another, the next thing I know, he's writing a check for the earnest money on HIS OWN HOUSE!

It's gonna be him and mom and Nando's going to stay with him as well.

I'm so, so proud of them.

To come up the way we have and to see them go through their own trials and tribulations, then to see them take this step is nothing short of amazing.

It was awesome, because for 2 weeks, we didn't say anything to Mom about it.

Freddy and Nando wanted to make sure everything was going to be approved and their wouldn't be any kinks.

The day before he had to go to make their selections, we took Mom to see one of the model homes. She'd also been before many times to see the progress on our house, so she just thought we were going again.

When Freddy dropped the bomb on her, she went INSANE.

(We have it all on video and it's fucking hilarious...)

She cried and screamed and cried again. She just could not believe she was getting a new house, too.

It was freakin' awesome.

So they are supposed to be moving in around Christmas time.

They are so excited. And I am, too.

I love having my family close to me and being a block away is going to be great.

I know, I know, what happened to Recovery: Day ??. Not much else to really post. Long story short. I got better.

My throat is still a little tender, but overall, I'm 100%. Last Friday, they took out my stitches, now I'm left with a little bit of a dent where the lump used to be. Now, it just itches.

That's it.

Now let's move on to more IMPORTANT STUFF!

SUPERMAN RETURNS!!


Crap in a hat!
This movie kicked all kinds of Kryptonian ASS!

I was going to post this big ole story about what Superman Returns meant to me. Then I read this post by Nick Piers ( http://thatnickguy.livejournal.com/#item156952 ).

That about summed it up for me.

Superman Returns was amazing. I took Laura and the girls to see it and the look on Jasmine's face was priceless. 6 years old and the girl FELL IN LOVE WITH SUPERMAN. Her jaw DROPPED when Superman flew to the rescue and caught an airplane in the middle of a baseball field.

She buried her face into my shoulder as Lex Luthor and his goons beat the crap out of a weakened Superman on a Kryptonite Island.

She cheered as he lifted that same island and tossed it into space.

She was worried sick as the exhausted Superman fell back to Earth and damn near DIED. But was relieved to see him appear once again at Lois Lane's house.

When the movied ended and Superman flew over the Earth with the Sun shining down on him, she threw her hands in the air and shouted, "THAT WAS AWESOME!!!"

We're going back to see it again on Saturday. This time it will be Frankie's turn to be AMAZED.

Yes, Superman HAS returned.

I love it.

Now a whole NEW GENERATION will believe a man can fly.

Well, I'm still having trouble sleeping.

But overall, I'm feeling a lot better. It's just my throat and tongue that bother me the most. If I don't drink enough fluids, it dries out and feels real thick and heavy.

I went to the doctor yesterday. He removed my bandages and said the stitches will come out on Friday. I was supposed to have my appointment on Monday, but wasn't able to make it.

Monday morning we had one of the worse rain storms to hit Houston in the last 5 years. And that last storm was Tropical Storm Allison! This wasn't a Tropical Storm, Tropical Depression or anything, it was a regular old rain storm that SAT on our asses for THREE FUCKIN' DAYS.

It started Saturday and rained off and on all through the weekend.

Then Monday morning around 3am (I know it was 3 because I was awake...) it started raining again. No big deal. Lighting, thunder, rain. Then on the 5am news they said there was flooding on Edgebrook and other areas around South Houston and Pasadena.

Again, no big deal. Edgebrook ALWAYS floods when it rains for more than 10 minutes, but I decided to take a look at the back yard. An hour before, I went to my room to get Laura's phone off the charger so I could play Solitaire. Now it was 5am and the back yard looked pretty wet.

"Damn, they weren't bullshittin'..." I thought to myself.

I looked out the front window and saw water ON MY PORCH!

"What the fu...?"

I opened the front door to find my entire front yard FLOODED and the water was about 3 inches below my doorstep!

My room used to be the garage, so it sits a good foot below the rest of the house. I rushed back to the laundry room, turned on the light and saw it was half covered in water! It was just over an hour since I'd went in there to get Laura's phone and now it was flooded...

I woke Laura up to help me get stuff off the floor. Bottom drawers, boxes, laundry baskets, etc.

Sadly, it was too late for about 60 of my comic books.
I had about 5 bags of unread stuff I'd gotten at CAPE on Free Comic Book Day, as well as a few Graphic Novels.

All soaked. All ruined...

By 6:30, that area of the house was ankle deep and the water was now kissing the lip of my doorstep. I woke Ashley and Frankie up and had them help us get the rest of the rooms prepped. I knew, without a doubt, that within an hour, the rest of the house was going to be flooded.

We disconnected the computer, took all the bottom drawers to the tops of the dressers, put all the stuff on the closet floors in plastic trash bags, prayed and waited.

While we waited, I rolled up my pants and walked around the neighborhood.



From my front door step to the neighbor across the street's door step, was one big lake of water. All we could do was look across the street to each other with a helpless look that only said, "DAMN."

I noticed the water was getting very close to getting into my car as well. So, I backed it up and parked it on top of the new speed bump the put on my street 2 weeks ago. Fuck it if the car was in the middle of the street, I wasn't about to have a flooded car, too!

Then the rain started to let up.

It was only by God's will, that the water didn't go farther than where it sat.

Then by 10 am, the water began to recede and by noon, I could see my driveway again.

Tripped out.

I think I saw on the news that in the 4 - 6 hours of raining, it dumped about 13 inches of rain.

People were all pissed off about the city's drainage and why we haven't done anything to improve it since Tropical Storm Allison, but come on. How the fuck do you drain THAT MUCH water?

I don't blame anyone.

It's just one of those freak things that happens.

A lot of people got it a HELL of a lot worse than we did. I WILL NOT complain one bit.

But I tell you, it was the weirdest thing to hear them say on the news that "South Houston is in a State of Emergency"...

So here I am, laid up on the couch enjoying a game of Texas Hold'em.



That's an ice pack around my neck. And that's my "nasty spit cup" there behind me. As well as Jim Mahfood's One Page Filler Man Graphic Novel.

Here's a close up of the bandage behind my ear.



I have an appointment tomorrow to have the bandage changed. It's weird, because I don't even know big the incision was. The doctor told Laura that my tonsils "were rotten".

We don't really know what that means, but I guess it was a good thing to get rid of them, huh?

4:15 am and I can't sleep for shit.

My head was throbbing so bad. However, my throat isn't hurting as bad right now. I'm actually able to swallow without having to force myself (Jesus, that sounds so nasty. If the fellas from work read this, I'll NEVER hear the end of it...)

I was just so sick of laying around, so I got up and walked around a little. Trying to get the blood flowing. It's helped a little. After about 30 minutes, the throbbing went away.

Plus, there's a 24 hour Sanford and Son Marathon on TVLAND. Thank God for Red Foxx...

And dig this. I found it while surfing the internet...


As seen on Break.com

I'll go into more details on the actually surgery later.

For now I just want to document what's going on NOW.

It's been almost exactly 24 hours since I got home. They let me come home later in the evening because I did very well in recovery.

But my throat is hurting like a SUMBITCH. I have this nasty ass spit cup next to me because it hurts so much to swallow. Ice and cold water helps, but I tell you, it's like trying to put down barb wire.

And when I'm not trying to swallow barb wire, the back of my head aches. I have this huge bandage behind my ear, so I really can't turn my head.

I've found it helps to sleep sitting up. Because it keeps the pressure off the back of my head. But, I'm only able to sleep for an hour to an hour and a half.

And poor Laura.

I'll say it here and now.

I have THE BEST WIFE in the HISTORY of WIVES. She slept in the living room with me last night checking on me every hour on the hour. She made sure I had plenty of ice water, a full ice pack for my neck and medicine every time I was supposed to have it.

She never reads this damn blog unless I ask her to, but if by some chance she reads this:

I love you, Laura.

Thank you for taking care of me like the big baby I am.

And the kids.

They've been so great, too.

Ashley has been helping Laura with the kids, Frankie slept with me on the couch and Jasmine tells me to let her know if I ever need anything.

Angie?

Angie is Angie.

Earlier today I went to use the restroom (all that ice water has me pissing like a racehorse!) So I'm in there handling my business, when I hear a slight rustling in behind the shower curtain. I was barely able to catch the curtain from swinging open to Angie's "BOO!!"

I have no idea how long she'd been hiding in the shower, but it couldn't have been long, because she was just in the kitchen when I was in there!

So there I am, trying to hold the shower curtain closed, trying to piss at the same time and trying my best not to crack up laughing because my throat hurts so damn bad.

After I finished, I motioned to Laura to get her daughter. Of course, she got after her and put her in time out.

But damn, that shit was funny...

So today I had my Pre-Opt appointment.

This time around everything is running on all cylinders. So we are go for launch this Friday at 8 am.

Laura and the kids went with me to my appointment and when I went to register at the hospital. She's trying not to show it too much, but I know Laura is worried.

I'm just glad to finally get this over with.

It's been so damn nerve racking. Mainly because it's really not THAT serious. Still, I think the word "SURGERY" is what freaks us out. "TISSUE MASS EXTRACTION" is a little freaky, too.

Dr. Owens said the total procedures will take about 2 hours. We asked him if I'll be staying the night, or if I'll be able to leave afterwards.

He says I'll probably be staying the night. Just depends, I guess, and we'll know once everything is said and done.

Too bad this all goes down on Father's Day weekend.

Not really how I'd like to spend the day with the kids, but I don't care. As long as I'm spending the day with them, that's all that matters to me...

A couple of weeks ago, Freddy called me to tell let me know he got 3 tickets to the Texans' All-Access Event. Because we are now season ticket holders, we were going to get to go. It's a day where season ticket holders get to meet the players, coaches, as well as tour the locker room and training facilities.

My first response was "HELL YEAH!"

But then I thought, "man, Frankie would love to go to this."

So I called Freddy back and asked him if he minded taking Frankie instead. It would completely blown his mind and could possibly be a once in a lifetime experience. Of course Freddy didn't mind.

Then I found out that Nando wasn't going to use his ticket afterall. So it was on like Donkey Kong for the three of us!

We got there at around 11am and walked table to table to see who was signing autographs. Once we made our way around, we stopped off at Jamaal Cook's table. He's the new Full Back replacing Moran Norris.



From there we found were Running Back Dominick Davis was signing and quickly got in line. Freddy and Frankie made it around to the other side of the stadium and found were David Carr was signing.

But just our luck, they cut the line off about 10 yards in front of Freddy because the line had gotten too long. Then, just as I was about to make it to the chained off area, Dominick left.

In his place came Seth Payne, not what we'd hoped for, but it was all good.



While I was in line, we saw about 3 or 4 other players heading to the back. I told Frankie to run over and get his stuff signed. He got his hat and Mini-Helmet signed by all of them!



Then we went back to Carr's table, hoping we get the same luck. We didn't...



That's about as close as we got...

After that, we found short lines and got autographs from DE Anthony Weaver, OLB DeMeco Ryans (this years #2 pick behind Mario Williams) and WR Derick Armstrong.


(Click Images to Enlarge)

On our way out, we toured the training facilities, cafeteria and locker room.

It was so awesome to see Frankie sitting inside David Carr and Mario Williams' LOCKER!




We took a few more pictures (all of which can be found at http://fcarrera3.buzznet.com ) and made our way out to the front. As we exited the locker room area, we saw a small crown around Marlon Greenwood. Frankie ran over and got his autograph, too. We waited around to see if anyone else would be returning to the locker room.

As we stood around waiting, Freddy saw a kid knock over a sign that said "Texans Locker Room."

Without going into a bunch of details, that sign now sits proudly in Freddy's living room...

Overall, we had a GREAT time (and a BUNCH of good laughs).

Sept. 1899


It was just a few months until the turn of the new century.

Pops, having come to Texas from Mexico, was stubborn and stuck in his ways. Being the oldest son, I felt obligated to stay at the ranch with him, it was all I'd ever known.

My youngest brother Fred, was the baby. Strong as an ox and damn near just as big, but still the baby nonetheless. He did whatever me and Pops told him to do and did it well. I'm sure he had ambitions to do more, from all the times I caught him daydreaming, but he was raised to be obedient by Pops and would never leave. Just on guilt alone...

But Fernando was another story.

The same way Fred was as strong as an ox, Nando was as stubborn as a mule.

He had no desire what so ever to be a cowboy and made it know every day he spent on that "God Damn Ranch" (as he used to put it). Two days after his 17th birthday, he up and split.

Pops was pissed.

I was pissed, too. Not because he left, but because I didn't have the courage to do what he did. Walk away from everything you've ever known, to be what he WANTED to be, not what someone told him he was SUPPOSED to be.

Years went by and times got tough. We struggled to make ends meet in this new century. The old ways Pops raised us on just weren't cutting it anymore. The harder we tried to hold on to those ways, the harder those ways were kicking the shit out of us.

Not a day went by that I didn't think, "I know I need to go to him, but DAMNIT, it will be the LAST thing I'll ever do. I'd rather struggle, then to go crawlin' to my YOUNGER brother for help."

Finally, I knew I didn't have a choice.

I swallowed my pride, packed a few things and headed for the door.

Imagine my surprise, as I opened the door, to find Nando standing there on the porch.

Our eyes locked for what seemed an eternity. Then he looked away, I knew right then and there, that it took just as much from him to swallow HIS pride as it did me to swallow mine.

"Where you headed?" he asked as he turned to look at what used to be a beautiful ranch. "You finally get tired of all this shit?"

"No. What the hell brought you back here?"

Silence. For someone who never knew how to shut his mouth, I couldn't believe he didn't have anything to say. It was the same silence I recognized everytime he did something to get himself in trouble.

"God dammit, what the fuck did you do now?"

Before he could answer, Pops came from around back. His eyes lit up the minute he saw his long lost flaco. Pops dropped the tools in his hands (Pops was forever building something...) and wrapped his big strong arms around Nando's skinny frame.

"MIJO! AY, MIJO, COMO ESTES CABRONE?!"

Fred came rushing out, shaking the front porch as he ran across to greet him with a bear hug of his own.

"Fern! Son of a bitch! How the fuck you been?!"

"Hey man, watch your damn mouth, dude. Pops is standing right there."

"Sorry, Pops, sorry. Fern! Son of a bitch! How the fuck you been?!"

"Fred!"

"Ease up, Cowgirl. Just because you think you run everything, doesn't mean you do. I'm good, man. I'm good. Thought it was time to drop in and visit."

"Fuck yeah! It's about fuckin' time, you skinny bitch! Come inside, come inside."

We locked eyes one more time and he quickly looked away. He might have them fooled, but I knew there was more to this visit...

***

There's a lot more to this story. Someday, I'll get around to finishing it.

That picture was taken in Phoenix, Arizona about 6 or 7 years ago. Freddy was graduating from the school he went to out there and we all went up to see him.

He'd taken us to all these great places in his new home town and we took that picture in some old west type place outside of Phoenix.

To this day, it's always been one of my favorite pictures. They let us pick out our clothes and props. It amazes me how much we each fit the role we dressed up as.

Dad, the "Mexican Bandito". Me and Freddy, his sons, the "Young Cowboys". And Nando, the "Old West Con Man".

Mom has this picture hanging in on her wall and I asked her if I could get a copy of it. The story I just wrote is what I think those 4 guys would have been like back then. The way it goes in my head is this:

Nando, the "Old West Con Man", got himself into some BIG TIME trouble. The kind of trouble that only your family can get you out of.

That's the picture the "Carrera Boys of the Old West" took just before going to handle some business...

Sunday, Angie was in her very first Pageant!



She won Best Theme, which isn't bad for her first time out the gate. Jasmine was also in the Strawberry Festival Pageant on Saturday. She won Duchess (4th place) and Most Beautiful.


(Click image for more pictures)

I'll post pictures as soon as possible, but here is a video of little Miss Angie!

http://fcarrera3.buzznet.com/user/video/play/18448/

Here's another one:

http://fcarrera3.buzznet.com/user/video/play/18450/

And here's one of her dancing with Stitch!

http://fcarrera3.buzznet.com/user/video/play/18452/

I got this email from my cousin Chris:

"To our family and friends I just wanted to take a minute and share something with you all. My daughter once again scored perfect on her TAKS test. She was perfect on the year. She scored perfect on her reading test and now her math. I am so proud of her.
-Chris"



That's so awesome!
Not only is her Dad proud of her, we all are!!

Have a great summer, Lexy! You've earned it!!

This girl is freakin' crazy.

I had to write this before going to bed, because this girl will one day grow up to be one of the great defense attorneys EVER. (And note, this is just a sample of what she's like. She does shit like this ALL the time...)

I'm watching the Astros game, eating some left over Buffalo Wings.

Angie had just finished eating dinner, washed her hands and was getting ready for bed, when she walked by me eating on the couch. Taking a second glance, she looked back and saw me eating.

"Hey! I want one of 'doze."

"No, mija. You just finished eating 2 bowls of spaghetti. Now go to bed."

"Gi' me one of 'doze."

"Nu-uh. You just washed your hands and you are going to get yourself all dirty again. Now get ready for bed."

"Gi' me one of 'doze firs."

"I said NO, now go to bed."

"I said GI'. Me. One." (Looking Serious as hell.)

"Girl, you better go to bed. Now."

"Luut. (That's how she says LOOK. Luut.) Juz gi' me one an' doze and I'll leab you a-known."

"Man. I'm not playing with you. Go to you room." (It was all I could do to keep from laughing.)

"Do you wan' me to cwy?"

I didn't know if I should take that as a threat or a warning. So I gave her a wing.

And I cracked up laughing.

"Wha' are you laffing at?"

"You, man. You're crazy."

"I not cwazy. Thither's cwazy..."

And she walked off with her prize.


("Leab me a-known. I'm bizzy.")

Check it out!

Plus,
I posted some pics of Jasmine and the kids from that last job Jasmine did at the George R Brown Convention Center. Laura went to pick up some new comp cards to day and they gave her THREE CHECKS!

It was unexpected and will go STRAIGHT to her savings account.


(Click the image for more pics!)

http://www.break.com/index/tetriswindows.html

Awesome...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CsJ0zkdyTTg&search=Guns%20n%20Roses

It's Slash (from Guns N Roses) Playing the theme to The Godfather.

Bad. Ass.

Check it out.

(Click the picture for more pics)

Last Thursday, I went to the Zoo with Jasmine and her Kindergarten class as a chaperone.

I love doing this stuff with the kids. It gives me a chance to meet the kids my kids hang out with on a day to day basis. And they are a great bunch of kids.



My little group consisted of Jasmine, Alexis, and Jimmy Tran.



Jimmy Tran is a trip. That little dude had me cracking UP the whole day! Just the little comments he makes and conversations we had.

For example,
we went to the reptile exhibit on our way back to the buses. As we went by each animal, I'd read what was on the display card for them.

"This is...the South American Tree Frog. This one is...the African Booty Scratcher." Etc, Etc. Half the time they weren't listening to me anyways and were off to the next animal before I could explain the one we were looking at.

Then we got to a small exhibit that was empty. I said, "This one is called the....European Invisible Snake."

This peaked Jimmy's interest BIGTIME.

"European INVISIBLE snake? Really?"

"Yeah, says it right here."

"Wowwww...it's really invisible?"

"Yep." This caught Jasmine's attention and she came over to the window.

"Look, Jasmine! It's a European Invisible Snake!"

"Invisible Snake? Really?"

"Mr. Frank. How do you know it's there?"

"You have to look at where it's been. See where the ground its pushed down a little right there? That's where it's at."

"I SEE IT! Jasmine! Do you see it?! I SEE IT!"

"Where?! Where?! I don't see anything!"

"Right THERE! I SEE IT! Wow!"

"Man, I don't see anything..."

"That's because it's INVISIBLE. But you can see where it's AT. Mr. Frank, how do they catch an Invisible Snake if you can't see it?"

Damn! He almost got me!

"Well, from what I've read, they lay out food for the snake to eat as bait. Like mice, small birds, stuff like that. When they see that the bait is being eaten, it starts to disappear into its mouth, they throw a net on it. Then they just have to feel around on the net until they feel it and that' s when they know they have it."

"Wow. That's so cool." And Jimmy stood there a few more minutes admiring the European Invisible Snake.

What really got me was on our way back to the bus, his teacher asked him, "What was one of the favorite animals you saw today, Jimmy?"

He replied, "The European Invisible Snake!"

"The European Invisible Snake? Really."

"Yeah! It was AWESOME. But you can't see it, you just have to look at where it's at. To catch one, they lay out food for the snake to eat as bait. Like mice, small birds, stuff like that. When they see that the bait is being eaten, it starts to disappear into its mouth, they throw a net on it. Then they just have to feel around on the net until they feel it and that' s when they know they have it." (Who'd'a'thunk the kid was really listening?!)

"Really," she said looking at me. "That's very interesting."

Later on the bus, one of the other Dad's said, "Hey Jimmy. Tell me more about that Invisible Snake!"

It was funny as hell...

I had a really good time with Jazz and her little friends. She was so excited about going and I know she had a good time, too. I think because she's seen me go with Frankie and Ashley on field trips to the Museum, Space Center, and stuff. She wanted me to go somewhere with her.

(But to be honest? I just like going places FOR FREE!)

Saturday, probably one of the coolest things anyone has ever done for me happened.

The crew at work gave me a get well/birthday gift.

They were going to give it to me after my surgery to keep me busy during my recovery, but since it got postponed, they gave it to me as an early birthday present.

I opened the box to find a...toaster.

"Wow. Uhm...thanks ya'll. This was...nice. Thanks everyone."

"It's a new toaster for you new house!" exclaimed Aaron.

I thought to myself, "Someone must have opened a new bank account or something and got a free toaster. What the hell?"

"Yeah. It'll look great in the new kitchen. Thanks, man."

But everyone kept looking at me with eager anticipation.

Feeling awkward as hell, I opened the toaster box to see this "great new toaster."

But when I opened the box, I found another, slightly smaller gift. Another co-worker, Rola, busted out laughing.

Now I was completely confused. "Okay, these fools are doing the old, present within a present within a present routine." I thought to myself. So I played along, opening the smaller gift, expecting another smaller gift.

No, this gift was the real deal.

These crazy fools chipped in a bought me a PSP!!!

I was stunned.

Floored, son. In a state of utter disbelief. Shocked. Amazed. Touched.

Stunned.

I couldn't believe they did that. I was at a loss for words.

They were all cracking up laughing.

It truly was the kindest gesture I've ever experienced in all my years of management. Aaron put his arm on my shoulders and said, "Now you are complete. You and your PSP can go golfing together, go for walks in the park and take a ride in the tunnel of love!" (Referring to last year's 24 Hour Comic.)

Awesome.

Simply Awesome.

I spent Saturday night playing with my new toy until about 1am. Today, I bought a wireless router, so I can get on the internet with HAL 2000 (my PSP's nickname.)

This thing IS the Terminator. And will most definitely bring about the Judgment Day.

http://fcarrera3.buzznet.com/user/video

Posted a few new videos from my phone today.

Check 'em out.