Vacation, depression, life.

I was on vacation for the first two weeks of May. I took my daughter to Southern California to visit my aunts and cousins and give Dad some time to rest from being a SAHD and working nights. He is beyond exhausted, he's falling apart to be honest. I don't know how he does it.

My aunts are in their mid 60's and the oldest is actually 75, but they still argue like they are 13! It made for a very stressful couple of weeks at times, but it was so good to see my aunt Lucia and cousin Rob, they are like a mom and a brother to me. Robert has been married for about a year and a half to a wonderful woman, Kristi, and they are working very hard to get ahead. They also have the most adorable chihuahua in the world, Pedro, who is a rescue dog and has the sweetest temperament. Lucia liked him very much.

Here she is with Tia Lucia and Pedro:
If they decide to have kids, I know Rob will be wonderful with them. He's funny and patient and also firm. Here he is feeding the ducks and geese with little Lu:

I got to see my sister and her baby daughter who came down from Vancouver. That was really good. We only went to the beach twice even though we had planned to go every day, but when you're trying to coordinate schedules with multiple people and you have two small kids with you, nothing is ever how you plan it! It was great to have both our daughters together, we gave them baths together and it was so wonderful to see them together that we hope to see each other at least once a year, no matter how hard it is to find the time and money to do it. My sister is working on her PhD which is code for: she's stinking poor.

One the best things about the trip was to see how much Spanish Lucia picked up. I am doing my best to keep it up now that we are home, but I always slip back into English, i am not sure why. But to her it's all the same, she understands and says things in both languages. Makes me very happy.

Here she is talking to Daddy on the phone. We had to call him many times because she missed him so very much. They spend every day together and he's lots of fun, so I understand why it was so hard for her to be away from him:

Now that we are back home she has asked for "Tia" several times, as well as "Hoda" (my sister Manola) and "Mona" (baby Ramona), as well as the dogs. I have to print out pictures of them all to have around the house for her to see.

I was eager to get back home, among other things, because I was going to get the results of my test for ADD. The verdict is no, I don't have it, but my depression is so severe it mimics symptoms like inability to focus, to remember, to get organized, etc. So today I saw my psychiatrist and he upped my Prozac. We will also look at therapy, but not what I call "touchy feely" therapy, rather a more practical kind called Cognitive Behavioral therapy which focuses on the here and now. I hope it works, being depressed is tiring. And that will be an entirely different post!