Friday, July 13th, 2012

Remember July? Well, there was another Friday the 13th in July 2012. I have determined to document all of my Friday-the-13ths since they are always such extraordinary and lucky days. So here was the one last month:

It might not have been so fun (or lucky!) for my sixteen-year-old son, Lucas, who got his wisdom teeth out that day. 

Here's Lucas on his 16th birthday (last May) with his grandma and me. Isn't he cute?

Lucas Isaac Gamboa

6''2", 185 lbs, Taurus, auburn hair, brown eyes, favorite color: blue, favorite food: In n Out double-double, favorite past time:  playing mindless video games.

I have found (from observing all six of my children plus my own experience) that when a person is still under the influence of  drugs after having had their wisdom teeth removed, they are either very happy and silly, or else the complete opposite--angry and belligerent. Lucas was the latter. This is really funny because he is generally very relaxed, easy-going, and not easily agitated.

However, the drugs made him sort of grumpy. Here's a pic of him right after the surgery:

And here's a little clip of him while I try to coax him to wake up and open his eyes. I was instructed to do this by the nurse...just so you know I wasn't trying to be mean (despite what Lucas may think).

I suppose this isn't that exciting. But if you know or are related to Lucas, it's somewhat entertaining.

Anyway, we stopped at Juice It Up and got his free smoothie while he grumbled at me the whole time. He got really upset and slammed his hand on the dashboard of the car when he realized that it was 9:00. (I don't know why--it wasn't like he had something else to do.)  He complained that the nurses were lying and didn't know what they were talking about when I told him what we had been instructed to do. ("How do they know? They're lying!") And when we got to the smoothie place, he stumbled and almost fell to the ground while trying to walk, so I made him wait in the car. (He is pretty big, and I there was no way I could catch him if he went all the way down.) That really ticked him off, as he mentions in the next video. He was just belligerent, which was also funny because he asked me what belligerent means and got angry when I didn't define it for him right away. ("I'll look it up if you don't tell me!" he slurred as his drugged fingers fumbled with his cell phone.)

So here he is after the drugs had worn down a bit, we sat at the kitchen table, he drank his smoothie, and began telling me what he remembered about the oral surgery:

I cut off the video because I was afraid he was going to choke on his pills.

Anyway, this story has a happy ending because he slept all day, swelled up a little (ok, a LOT), ate lots of scrambled eggs, pudding, and ice cream, and healed up just fine. Here's a pic of the puffy cheeks:

It's not really that puffy, but he sure did not want me to take a picture. And I doubt he wanted it posted on my blog either, so this may be a temporary post!

Anyway, it was a memorable Friday the 13th, although not so much for Lucas because he doesn't remember much of it at all. But thanks to pics, video, and of course, this blog, it is now documented forever. I love you, Luc!!

Another Friday the 13th!

I have not posted in a long time because I had this little distraction called Getting My Bachelor's Degree, but now I'm back (translated: no homework until next semester)!! But I did have a super duper day in April; in case you don't remember, there was a Friday the 13th in April, and you know what that means...

Yes!! A Friday the 13th! One of my Lucky Days!

So now I will blog about my wonderful day on Friday, April the 13th. From now on I will be sure to document all my Friday the 13ths or maybe only post a blog on Friday the 13ths....unless something really cool happens, or I just feel like posting a cute pic of my adorable grandchildren.... (insert cute pic here)

Anyway,

My day went something like this:

1. No school today but I had to be in court at 8am. Not fun. I'm not even going to post a pic or say more about that. I will say that I do not like courtrooms.

2. It started to rain. Plus it was a 6-mile run day. Since Hector, Marcus, and I are training for our annual half marathon in June, we had a schedule to keep. And Friday the 13th was the Six Mile Day. Hector had to work, so Marcus and I went out and did it. It didn't occur to me that I would be documenting this day, so I didn't take any pics. But we ran on one of my favorite trails, Euclid Avenue in Upland, which normally looks something like this:



Except minus the grass. It is such a beautiful run, even without grass and even in the rain.
Now picture me running in the rain....looking something like this:

Ok, so I probably looked more like this:

 

Anyway, Marcus and I ran our little hearts out and our little legs off. I know 6 miles is nothing to some of my Amazing Ultra Marathon Runner Friends, but it was not super easy. And Marcus is quite fast, but he stayed with me for most of the run, so I appreciate his pity.



3. After the refreshing run, I took a shower and got ready for the part of the day that made it, you know,

Friday the 13th-ish! The Fun! The Highlight of the day! Un jour heureux! Pura alegría! Замечательно!

I drove to Los Angeles to meet my dear friend since kindergarten, Diana. The rain had subsided by then, so the drive wasn't bad. And for the first time, I went to the office where she works. It is in downtown L.A., and her company must make a gazillion dollars a year, because it was beautiful.

Anyway, I was Diana's guest to..........

The Laker Game!!

We had dinner at LA Live (yummy!) and then we took our seats at the Laker game.
If you remember, Kobe did not play due to a bruised shin (whatever!), but it was still a great game.
  

Here we are, each of us, courtside, before the game:

Don't we look happy? It was a big night for a couple of old ladies!!

Here's some pics I took of Kobe and the bunch.

Seriously, Kobe, it would have been nice if you had played.  But you still looked nice in your suit.

And now for a few shots of my favorite Laker...El Guapo, Mi Novio, El Hombre:

 Look at the concentration as he focuses on the next rebound....

 






He had a super awesome game.  I don't know what his stats were, but I'm sure they were good. Probably like a Triple Double or something.

This is definitely my favorite shot, if you know what I mean. (Hector said I could say that so it's ok.)

Wait a minute! This post started out as a documentation of my super-terrific Friday the 13th, and it ended up being some sort of Cougar-type homage to Pau Gasol. Not sure how that happened. Sorry.

But the moral of the story is, it was a great day!! All my Friday the 13ths are!! 
I am sooo looking forward to July......





 P.S. 
Yesterday I graduated from the University of La Verne with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Social Science, Magna Cum Laude. It was a bigger deal than I thought it would be.
If you do Instagram, I posted a pic of what it looked like to graduate, from my perspective. 

Here's a pic with my mom, after the ceremony:

And here are the men in my life that I love, love, love:

And my two best girlfriends, who are extremely smart:

So that's it! Now I am a college grad. Thank you, awesome family, dear friends, inspiring co-workers, and dedicated professors, for being there every step of the way. It took much longer than it should have, but it's done! As Camille put it, "lots of people go to college for 20 years.  They're called doctors." ha ha.