And then today 'Ama and I go out to buy both of them presents. For 'Apa I got una artesan�a de la Virgencita de Guadalupe. Made. By. Hand. It was beautiful, and I knew he'd like it for his altar. Tiffany likes Tinkerbell, so I went for a faerie theme. But not stupid pussy pixies like that Disney bitch; Tiffany is now 17, after all. Tinkerbell can kiss my fat ass. No, I got her a darker, more gothic take on a faerie by getting her a dark shirt with a mythical sprite on a mushroom and a matching necklace of a black and silver faerie holding a blue translucent crystal ball. Mar�a calls me up while 'Ama and I are at the Bargain Bazaar getting the stuff and wonders if I can give her a lift from work. Hadn't seen her in ages, so I agreed. She went with us to Pifas's house to drop off his present (and received a bollo in the process - if you've never had a bollo, you don't know what the fuck you're missing out on! Seriously. Snow cone my ass!) and then went home with us to eat her lunch and talk for a while. Then we all went to Walmart for some pet essentials and dropped Mar�a off at home. Then off we go to the next town over to visit Tiff and drop off her present.

Turns out Tiffo wasn't there; she was out with her boyfriend having dinner. Her mom, Helen, who's my mom's comadre was there, though, and she received us with open arms and bear hugs as usual. I saw Jessie (Tiff's brother. He shook my hand firmly and rather solemnly; he hasn't seen me in a while, is quite a few years older than me, and has always regarded me as a kid. Musta shocked him to see that I've gotten taller than him.), his wife, Iris, and his baby girl, Cassandra. Nadia's two girls, Victoria and Catherine, were also there because their mom was working all day at Luby's.

Boy, have those two girls got energy! Victoria is ten years old; Catherine, eight. They were crawling all over me in no time, tickling each other, trying to discover if I was ticklish, begging me to carry them and wrestle with them and hurl them across the room or make funny faces and tell them jokes (none of which I know would be appropriate for their age group). In just that hour we were at Helen's, they wore me out more than sorting the belt at UPS ever has, I think. They're very sweet innocent girls, curling up to me and making me kiss their boo-boos when our wrestling became too boisterous. I'm more than positive that they bruised my knees all over. Both pouted crossly when I told them I had to go. Catherine especially, clung to me, asking for one more horsey ride, one more airplane spin, one more hug. It seems amazing to me that these are the same girls I used to play "Power Rangers" with when they were mere toddlers. I was always forced to play, I swear! *laugh* Now Toria can play the entire "Jingle Bell Rock" on her armpit! Amazing, honestly, �como vuelan los a�os!

Before we left, Helen thanked me profusely for keeping her granddaughters busy (and away from her) for the time I was there, and I shrugged it off, stating that this is mere practice for a few years down the line, when Angel is their age, and I'm tackling him down, giving him horsey rides. Bruising my knees.