The year so far...

Oh my, how time flies. I wish I could update this more regularly. I'd like to promise myself that I will update this weekly or monthly, but I hate empty promises to myself. This year has been wonderful to the Rojo family. I cannot complain, we have truly been blessed with lots of work and lots of health. That being said, I just lost my job last week and the girls have been sick for the past two weeks. I know, it kind of contradicts my last sentence, but the job loss and the sicknesses are so temorary compared to the permanent happiness I feel when I am with my beautiful wife and girls. I was laid off on Friday last week. Huge surprise. Huge. I have some great leads though, and I think the future is bright. I gotta wear shades. Tami finished second grade tis year and is looking forward to being a third grader. I remember when I was going to be a third grader at Del Cerro Elementary. My teacher was Mrs Amstead and the main reason I was looking forward to the third grade was that as a third grader you are priveledged enough to ride your bike to school. I was stoked. There is no way in this day and age that I would even contemplate letting my third grader ride her bike to school alone. She can ride her bike to school when she's a student in college. Maybe. We'll see. Earlier this month, I completed my second ultramarathon. It was a 33 mile race in the mountains in Big Bear, Ca. I finished in a little over 8 hrs. The altitude about did me in. I was exhausted by the time the race was over. I was so sore! I had to get in my car and drive home right away though, because I had work the next morning. It was so much fun, it definitely was not my last ultra. I may try to do a 50 miler next year...
Guaci continues to work at the mall and is doing quite well. They have offered her leadership positions several times but they are asking her to work crazy hours. She is more dedicated to her family than she is her job so she has turned them down every time. Arianna is learning to read this year and is doing so well. She will be in kindergarten next year and will be a reading machine! I'm so proud of my little girls. The Rojos Rock!
*Also, we had to put our beloved dog Tara down. She had so many tumors on her body and was in a lot of pain. She was the best dog I've ever had. She will be missed. Big time.

Summers over...

Well summer is gone and the cold weather has started creeping in. I like the cold weather for about two weeks and then I'm ready for summer again. I feel the same whenever summer arrives though. It's hot for about two weeks and then I'm ready for some cooler temperatures. I guess I'm never satisfied with the weather. Guaci's brother was here for a couple of weeks in September. We all really enjoyed his visit an look forward to her parents and older sister Ani arriving next month. We just moved to Henderson, NV at the end of August, and I also started working for Whiting-Turner again. I had lost my position with them last summer due to lack of projects in the area but now I am with them again. I hope this will last at least until I am done with my schooling. Speaking of schooling, my oldest daughter Tami started 2nd grade this year and I am taking Hospitality Managment classes at CSN. Guaci started working for Ann Taylor Loft here in Las Vegas recently and they love her there. Of course they do, she is a selling machine! I'm so proud of her!

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Has it really been two months since my last post?

A lot has happened since my last post...hmmm, how to go about filling in two months of activity. Here goes: I got laid off at the end of March, and have not been back to work yet, so if you read this and you're hiring, call me. Unemployment sucks! I turned 33 May 4th. I seem to get these crazy gray hairs right on my sideburns. Both sides. May be time to ditch the burns. We pulled Tami out of traditional public school in January. She started Virtual Academy and is doing great! She is learning so much with this system, which is kinda online, kinda homeschool. She does have a teacher, Mrs Brown that she sees every now and again for progress conferences and assessments. Tami is learning things that I dont think I learned about until I was in Jr. High! She can talk to you about DaVinci, Picasso, the Trojan War, you name it, she's so smart. I'm amazed at how much she is learning and retaining! Guaci is her "Coach" which means she guides Tami through all of her lessons and helps her with her homework etc. Guaci is doing an awesome job. Even Arianna participates in some of the lessons and is learning as well. She loves to do the science projects and art. I started to run a lot recently and was planning on doing my first ultra marathon which was going to be the "Running with the Devil" 50 miler at the end of June, but doe to some circumstances beyond my control, I will not be participating. I do look forward to the E.T. Full Moon Midnight 51K in August which is a thirty one mile race starting at midnight that goes along the "Extraterrestrial Highway". This is near area 51 and there have been several supposed UFO sightings. The runners wear neon glownecklaces because it starts at midnight. My parents came to visit last weekend. They were here for a few hours only though. They were passing through on their way back from a family reunion in Utah. We went to lunch at one of my favorite mexican restaurants here in Vegas, called Lindo Michoacan. It was nice to see them. When they left though, Arianna got mad. "You just got here!" she yelled. They had to get back to California though, but we hope to see them again soon. Today I went and spoke to a counselor at CSN to see how many more classes I need until I can transfer to UNLV. My major is Hospitality Management and I've been slowly plugging along for a long time but I came to the decision that I need to stop plugging along and really tighten the belt to get it done. I was happy to find out that I may be able to transfer to UNLV by this time next year with an AA in Hospitality Mgmt as well as a General AA degree. I will enter UNLV as a junior. I'm going to check into also getting degrees in Spanish and International business. My dream job would be to work for an international hotel chain like Hilton or Marriott and work for them in Spain.

Our new dog

Her name is Tara. Tara is the name of the goddess of fertility for the Guanches of the Canary Islands, where Guaci is from. Guanches were the aboriginal inhabitants of the canary islands before they were conquered by the Spaniards in the 1400s. There are no descendents of the Guanches, because rather than being captured and forced into slavery by the Spaniards, they would climb to the highest cliffs on the islands and throw themselves off to their death. The irony of the name "Tara" for our dog is that she is fixed. Ha Ha We found Tara through Craigslist and were skeptical when it said in the ad that not only was she was free to a good home, but she also was housebroken, trained, spayed, and has had all of her shots. Apparently, the couple that gave her away were working too much and didn't have time to even take her for a walk some days. We were the first people to call about her so we piled in the car to go have a look. Well, the ad was 100% accurate so we brought her home with us. She is pretty much the best dog ever. She loves the girls, the girls love her and she loves going on long walks.

Night at the park

Yesterday, we took the girls to the park just before dark to wear them out so that they would go to bed at a decent hour. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. This time it did!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!