Winds Of Change

Things changed dramatically around here last week for a couple of reasons.

First... There's a new member to the family. But we'll talk about her, later. Right now I'd like to discuss a dramatic change that I've made to my look. I know what you're probably saying: Why mess with a good thing? Well... I think you're going to like the change. So far, I've heard no complaints.

I've had this head brace on for a little over 3 weeks and my parents haven't been able to settle on a design to put on it yet. I mean, come on... if I gotta have this thing on my head for the next 3 months, I want it to look sharp. It needs to be colorful and it needs to capture a little bit of my personality. The totally obvious thing to do would be to litter my head brace with the sports decals of my Daddy's favorite teams back in Texas. But to his credit, even Daddy felt that going in that direction would be too easy and, worse still, very un-creative. So we decided to go with something that would make me happy. We decided to go with one of my 3 favorite things in the world. Out of all the toys in my toy box I love 3 things more than anything.

1) Monkeys
2) Cars
3) Robots

We decided to go with the killer-robots theme...

Domo Arigato, Mr Roboto.
Domo..Domo.
Domo...Domo.

Esteban Joel, Colombian Robot Boy checks his oil before proceeding forward on his dangerous top secret mission... Mmmm, it feels about a quart low.

Well, hello yourself there pretty lady... Yes I am single and yes this is my car.

What's that? Oh... well thank you... you're not so bad looking yourself, there senorita. Let me ask you one question, however... how did you know my name?

Why are you laughing? No, seriously... how did you know my name? Because it's been happening all day and it's starting to creep me out.

Check out my Stairway To Heaven air guitar.

There's a Lady who's sure, all that glitters is gold...

Which brings us to the real star of this post. Folks... meet Gia Arambula. She's Padrino Poncho and Madrina Michele's brand new baby girl. She was born on Labor Day (September 6th, 2010), which if you think about it, is about as ironic as me being born on the 4th of July. Mommy says that the true irony is in the fact that Padrino Poncho and Daddy are now both absolutely gaga over their kids and they fought off becoming parents for so long. They are both in their 40's and if Daddy were here with me he'd make a point of specifying that they are in their early 40's. Ok, Daddy... whatever makes you feel better, but the 4th floor is still the 4th floor no matter how close you're standing to the elevator that just brought you there.

If you'll look closely at the photo on the right, you'll see a perfect example of nature and her protective instincts.

We see a mommy...

2 babies...

And a fierce, stone-cold killer of a guard dog that's ready to rip my face off if I get any closer to Baby Gia. Just look at they way he's looking at me. Stupid Pepe Lepe. Daddy says the last time he saw an expression like that was when he and Mommy went to Puerto Rico together and tried to explain to Abuelo Papo and Abuelita Angie all of the practical reasons that they had for moving-in together before they were married... but that's a story for another time.

Madrina Michele tells a great story about their wedding day here in Miami. It was supposed to be an outdoor wedding by a fancy pool in a luxurious hotel on Miami Beach. But because there was a hurricane hitting Miami on that very same weekend, they had to move the wedding indoors. Padrino Poncho starts to panic a little bit and begins looking for a sign that this wedding is meant to be. He figured that maybe the hurricane was trying to tell him something... but what?

He decided that what he needed was a sign. He wanted something that would indicate that he is doing the right thing. But what? What sign could there possibly be out there that would prove to him that he and Madrina Michele were meant to be married that weekend? It was then that Daddy informed him that the name of the hurricane that was hitting Miami on their wedding day was... Hurricane Michelle.

Both of them stared at Padrino Poncho waiting for it to sink in... Uh, yeah he finally said. But the hurricane spells her name with 2 Ls instead of just 1. It's not the same thing at all.

Geez... I guess she married him for his body, huh?

Padrino Poncho jokingly said to Daddy that no man will ever so much as lay a finger on his daughter while he is alive.

Look, Padrino Poncho... I'm touching her... I'm laying a finger on her... Ooooh I'm so scared of you.

KILLER ROBOTS FEAR NO MAN!

This is Madrina Michele's Mommy. Her name is Carmen and she's from Spain. She's also a part-time hypnotist.... just look into her eyes...

You are getting veeeeeeery sleepy...