Our New Anahuac

Today we celebrated my boy’s first birtday, Joaquin Tonatiuh (Quiniti) Chavana.  We really didn’t have a party.  We just had immediate family over.  Here he is sitting with his sister Citlali.  Together they make up my almendra.  She’s the dark outside, and he’s the light inside.  We had fun all day long.  You can see my boy might have had a little too much fun and crashed in front of everyone… Hijo, I hate when that happens.

This is the pit that I have been apprenticing on for the ten years of my marriage.  Today we had some res mexicana, pollo, ribs, all kinds of stuff.  I feel for the people who will never taste Lil Papa’s barbecue.  I know that one day I’ll be able to cook on it.  For now, I get to flip tortillas once in a while.  I kind of feel like that white guy on Coming to America, the one who says, “right now I’m on lettuce, then it’s the french fries…and that’s when the BIG bucks start rolling in. ”  Like I said, right now I’m on tortillas, sometimes.   Anyway, my in-laws are more gracious than they have to be.  They spoil us, and we rarely even do much for the party, despite our efforts to help.  At least we got to clean up this time.  Thanks Mima and Lil Papa…

This is the cake that Mrs. Vero Velez, one of the best dual language teachers in the world made for my boy.  By chance it was an exact match for the outfit he had on.  Thanks Cake Lady.  Keep that karaoke mic warm for me.  Below is the talented Rebecca Velez, her daughter, winner of every gymnastic and academic award Bryan, Texas could offer and more.  What a great day, and I even found my Socialism and Man in Cuba pamphlet, the one that I had implied my brother had kept!

The one bad thing?  My 16-year-old sister told me that my habit of wearing my socks to right under where my shorts end is for old people.  Sometimes I wear them to my knees, and that really gets her going.  I had to explain to her that there is a difference between old school and old people.  I also explained to her that the new style of wearing socks below the ankle is effeminate, and I don’t care how hard you claim to be.   She wasn’t buying and called me grandpa socks.

Quiniti Boy I tell 'Em

Familia

Noni The Infamous