CASA Court Appointed Special Advocates

Learn more at http://www.casaoc.org

I recently heard about the CASA program. I signed up, and I must say they have a lot of requirements. Mandatory training various hours a week and beating traffic to arrive on time to every 6pm meeting. The trainings were worth it, even if they were three times a week. 

The following information was a simple copy & paste procedure directly from the website performed by me....Enjoy!

Court Appointed Special Advocates of Orange County is a non-profit organization serving our county’s most severely abused, abandoned and neglected children through the recruitment and training of volunteers who advocate for their best interests.

If you have a heart and are able to drive.... sign up and give back to these children. Give them an opportunity to have some sort of stability. All you have to do is sign up for CASA training and then you will be assigned to a case. I signed up with my best friend from high school. 

                                       

For the love of Pre-School

My Pre-School Teaching Years

Our Future!

 Children love to learn and they don't even know it! When they participate or simply observe, low and behold they are learning. Do not disturb children at work! Playing with play dough increases fine motor skills, which they will need in order to write their name on all that HW they will have in elementary school (or like me for the rest of their lives). Well with the advancement of technology maybe they won't need to write anything anymore, that's a different topic. When they stack blocks they learn about gravity and spatial awareness. When they play on the playground and look at flowers and pull them out, they are learning about science and the world around them. Fascinating! 

So you may wonder why I blurred out the little angel faces above.

 Here is a simple answer: I work with millionaires and celebrity children. 

The little blonde is Shiloh, Angelina and Prad Pitt's kid. The little Hispanic is one JLo's twins, her brother was going potty. Okay not really, for the privacy of the little turkeys I must blur their faces. Here we are on a hot summer day! I had probably checked the children for lice earlier, hence the pony tail. We received several boxes of strawberries from a local vendor. I took a couple boxes to class and we had some for snack and lunch. I froze the rest and on a hot summer day we took out a blender and made the yummiest strawberry smoothies! We had to wash out hands various time, they pick their noses and scratch their little booties in the blink of an eye!

Family of Origin

My family… Why? Because if you understand them a bit you’ll understand why I’m destined to be the next president. I’ve been around them for 24+ years, so clearly they have helped in my personal formation. I've made a couple family trees and genograms. I thought I was so unique and different.... no way, i'm bits and pieces of my family. Migrating from Mexico to the United States, falling in love and tying the knot.
 I'm living their "American Dream!"

Here we are at my parents silver wedding…25 years (September 10, 2014 ). 

*I am a procrastinator….this is why I am not the President of the United States….you can get a sense of that by the following: The day of my parents vow renewal ceremony… I was scramming around looking for my dress, heels, and jewelry! I ended up with a bargain ……..$67 for everything (of course I used coupons)! That’s a whole different topic!

I'm the oldest unicorn, I learned to play the keyboard and sorta sing without blowing out any ear drums. My brother decided to take on instruments when he saw me struggling to learn the drums and now he practically hogs all the instruments! My sister went a slightly different route, she plays the ukulele. She requested a ukulele for Christmas and low and behold she mastered that tiny guitar! She is a also a pretty darn good singer… She doesn’t know that yet. But chances are she is better than me and you combined. Oh and my parents are Pastors in a small church.  That's a whole different blog in itself! 

I have a dream....

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I’m leading Away from this and to a more literal definition of what it means to have a dream. The majority of us dream, day dream, fantasize, and have nightmares. Some believe dreams happen from eating too much before bed, God speaking to you, or your mind trying to make sense of everything. Maybe I’m a nerd, or at least aspire to be one. When I wake up I try to recall any dream(s) I had and I try to find the root of the dream. Perhaps the dream was simply about unconscious insecurities, a silent fear, or the days residue. Regardless of, I want to know! Specially when I dream about things that are deemed unmentionable for now. I have been keeping a dream journal and now my dreams make so much more sense. When I wake up... write down my dreams and other relevant information. I look forward to dreaming every night now, even those embarrassing naked dreams have a reason behind their existence. I am such a nut! Maybe i'll start sharing some dreams here and you can help me analyze them!

Sleep Paralysis: Being awake in your nightmares

Sleep Paralysis: It is believed to be a result of disrupted REM sleep, which is normally characterized by complete muscle atonia that prevents individuals from acting out their dreams.

Being awake in your nightmares! I hate this! My body freezes and I can’t move… Something is in my room and I can’t say or do anything. Eyes piercing at me and I can’t scream for help, I’m awake and trapped! When I finally manage to scream I wake up terrified unsure if what I experienced was in my mind or in fact real.

A couple months ago I went to Mexico and while lying in bed I saw something coming close to me. I couldn't move, my body was frozen in fear and I saw a person coming closer to my face and I was terrified. I tried to scream but the i couldn't make out a sounds... I was finally able to yell and my cousins came running into my room. They said the same thing happens to their brother all the time or anyone that sleeps in his room.

4 out of every 10 people may have sleep paralysis.
Possible factors:

• Lack of sleep
• Sleep schedule that changes
• Mental conditions such as stress or bipolar disorder
• Sleeping on the back
• Other sleep problems such as narcolepsy or nighttime leg cramps
• Use of certain medications
• Substance abuse