Christmas in So Cal - A Surprise Gift
We decided a few months ago to celebrate Christmas with my family in So Cal a few weeks early for a few reasons. First, the plane tickets were cheaper and we were NOT going to drive 8 hours with a 3-month-old in the car. I imagine 8 hours would've quickly turned into 10+ hours. Secondly, my family was doing Tamale Day.
Every year since I can remember, we all get together and make a ton of tamales. I don't know if it's like a Mexican thing or what, but we used to do it at my grandma's and then when she got too tired of doing it, my aunt took over. We actually haven't been to a Tamale Day since Brian and I have been together for one reason or another so it was nice to get together with everyone and introduce both Brian and Allie to a family tradition.
The part that usually takes the longest is spreading the masa. Usually all the cousins sit around my aunt's table and chat and spread while the aunt's fill and wrap the tamales. It's quite the assembly line. I actually did take pictures but they got erased and I'll explain why...
We arrived at my aunt and uncle's house around 9 and I distinctly remember dropping my phone on the street when I got out of the car and then throwing it in the diaper bag before walking into the house. I had to feed Allie right away so as I was feeding her, I looked for my phone and couldn't find it. I figured I wasn't digging deep enough so I forgot about it for awhile.
A little while later, I wanted to Instagram about Tamale Day so I started looking for my phone. I emptied out the diaper bag, checked all the sofa cushions, retraced my steps and could not find it anywhere. I called it from Brian's phone and it went straight to voicemail, which was very weird because I KNOW I had turned it on once we landed and it had 50% battery life left. So I thought someone had stolen it, natch. I really thought I had dropped it on the street and forgotten to throw it in the bag and then someone had walked by and taken it.
I started to panic and got my cousins and aunt involved. We looked all over the house and even went back out to the car to check the seats and the trunk, just in case. Then I started to think about all the pictures and videos of Allie that I had on my phone and started to get really sad. Brian just told me that it had to be somewhere, I didn't need my phone since I was with family, and we would look for it again before we left.
Eventually my sister and her husband showed up and I told her I lost my phone. She patted me encouragingly on the shoulder and said it would be ok. I snarled at her.
Then my mom showed up and was there for about 10 minutes when she came up to me in the living room and said "What would you give me if I told you I found your phone?" I immediately freaked out asking where she'd found it and a huge wave of relief swept over me. But what she produced from behind her back was a small wrapped box. I was confused. Why would she wrap my phone before giving it back to me?
I started to open it and saw a new iPhone. My phone is a 3G (literally like one of the first iPhone's ever made) so I started crying. Don't ask me why. Hormones I suppose. My sister and her husband had gotten it for me as a birthday/Christmas present.
She informed me that it was a 4S and I think my response through sobbing and tears was "So I can talk to Siri now?" She laughed and hugged me. I cried some more. I showed Brian who then informed me that he had hidden my phone earlier because he knew it was going to be disconnected so the new one could be set up. That one did not go over well with my aunt who had been helping me look but I think by the end of the day she forgave him.
So I took some pictures with my new phone but unfortunately, when I got home and hooked it up to my computer, it erased all of the pictures I had taken. It was just a few of tamale day which would've been saved had I Instagramed about it right away but I didn't.
It's okay, I told Siri about it and she was very encouraging, asking me if I wanted to do a search on my problem.
More stories to come...
Every year since I can remember, we all get together and make a ton of tamales. I don't know if it's like a Mexican thing or what, but we used to do it at my grandma's and then when she got too tired of doing it, my aunt took over. We actually haven't been to a Tamale Day since Brian and I have been together for one reason or another so it was nice to get together with everyone and introduce both Brian and Allie to a family tradition.
The part that usually takes the longest is spreading the masa. Usually all the cousins sit around my aunt's table and chat and spread while the aunt's fill and wrap the tamales. It's quite the assembly line. I actually did take pictures but they got erased and I'll explain why...
We arrived at my aunt and uncle's house around 9 and I distinctly remember dropping my phone on the street when I got out of the car and then throwing it in the diaper bag before walking into the house. I had to feed Allie right away so as I was feeding her, I looked for my phone and couldn't find it. I figured I wasn't digging deep enough so I forgot about it for awhile.
A little while later, I wanted to Instagram about Tamale Day so I started looking for my phone. I emptied out the diaper bag, checked all the sofa cushions, retraced my steps and could not find it anywhere. I called it from Brian's phone and it went straight to voicemail, which was very weird because I KNOW I had turned it on once we landed and it had 50% battery life left. So I thought someone had stolen it, natch. I really thought I had dropped it on the street and forgotten to throw it in the bag and then someone had walked by and taken it.
I started to panic and got my cousins and aunt involved. We looked all over the house and even went back out to the car to check the seats and the trunk, just in case. Then I started to think about all the pictures and videos of Allie that I had on my phone and started to get really sad. Brian just told me that it had to be somewhere, I didn't need my phone since I was with family, and we would look for it again before we left.
Eventually my sister and her husband showed up and I told her I lost my phone. She patted me encouragingly on the shoulder and said it would be ok. I snarled at her.
Then my mom showed up and was there for about 10 minutes when she came up to me in the living room and said "What would you give me if I told you I found your phone?" I immediately freaked out asking where she'd found it and a huge wave of relief swept over me. But what she produced from behind her back was a small wrapped box. I was confused. Why would she wrap my phone before giving it back to me?
I started to open it and saw a new iPhone. My phone is a 3G (literally like one of the first iPhone's ever made) so I started crying. Don't ask me why. Hormones I suppose. My sister and her husband had gotten it for me as a birthday/Christmas present.
She informed me that it was a 4S and I think my response through sobbing and tears was "So I can talk to Siri now?" She laughed and hugged me. I cried some more. I showed Brian who then informed me that he had hidden my phone earlier because he knew it was going to be disconnected so the new one could be set up. That one did not go over well with my aunt who had been helping me look but I think by the end of the day she forgave him.
So I took some pictures with my new phone but unfortunately, when I got home and hooked it up to my computer, it erased all of the pictures I had taken. It was just a few of tamale day which would've been saved had I Instagramed about it right away but I didn't.
It's okay, I told Siri about it and she was very encouraging, asking me if I wanted to do a search on my problem.
More stories to come...
