CityofCyn

Laying Granny to Rest…

Posted by CynCity on January 27th, 2012

My dad isn’t a family man. He hasn’t been very involved with this three daughters and he doesn’t really keep in touch with the rest of his family either. Because of his distance we haven’t been nearly as close to his side of the family. I on the other hand, am very family oriented. I have found my relatives on my dad’s side on Facebook and keep in pretty regular contact. Social media makes it so easy so there really is no excuse.

On 1/18 my cousin in Texas hit me up on FB with a message that said call me ASAP, grandma died this morning. I immediately contacted my 2 sisters and we began making arrangements to travel. Even though we hadn’t seen granny in years, we wanted to be there to say goodbye. My sister and I called my dad to check in figuring he would be devastated by the loss of his mother. We called him and discovered he was in the hospital having just had prostate surgery (he didn’t tell anyone). As we spoke it became apparent he hadn’t yet heard about his mom. I got the honor of breaking the news that his mommy had passed. He is in such infrequent contact with his family that they couldn’t find the number to call him so he didn’t even know yet. He took it relatively well and chatted with us like normal but over the next few days of talking to him, he sounded progressively worse. He begin to sound very bad when his doctor would not clear him to travel to bury his mom.

My sisters, niece and honey got in a mini van and made the 24 hour trip to Beaumont, TX. It was by far the best decision we ever made. It’s a little sad to say but that was the best funeral I’ve ever been to. Granny had beaten cancer but then she began to get sick and was almost bed ridden. My aunts and uncle lovingly took care of her every day. She stopped eating and they took her to the doctor. He wanted to put in a feeding tube. My uncle asked her if she wanted the tube and she said no. She was ready to go home. She told him it was going to be ok, smiled, and passed away in the doctors office. Granny made the choice, was at peace and had no fear about where she was going. How sad can you be about that? Granny passed away on her own terms at the age of 89 and it was my extreme pleasure to be there to celebrate her life. It was even more special that the only 3 Johnson girls were able to be there to represent my father. We spoke to him many times throughout the trip and called him from the church to keep him updated and in the loop. The preacher gave an awesome eulogy and I was so happy my grandmother was at peace.

It was an amazing time of bonding, love and laughter with a little bit of tears mixed in. My honey became an instant member of the Johnson family and it was so good to see him get him some fatherly love and advice from my uncle. Honey was also a pall bearer, an amazing escort and he took care of us and made sure we made it to Texas and back safely. It was so sweet of him to step right in, sacrifice a few days at work and do what needed to be done. We got to hang with our cousins, EAT and I must admit as a little girl who has always longed for her daddy it felt awesome to be among my daddy’s people. We were welcomed with open arms and we felt like we came home when we arrived. We had an absolute blast in Texas and if the stars continue to align we will be there again very shortly.

Granny had a definite purpose for us even in her death. She brought us all much closer and I think our lives will never be the same. I can’t begin to thank her enough. Stay tuned to see what granny had in store for us all….

Besos ♥,

CynCity

Home Bittersweet Home

Posted by CynCity on January 23rd, 2012

3 1/2 days, over 3000 miles, a funeral, hanging with the fam, and lots of sister and honey bonding time later we are here at Norms at home having breakfast.

We are home! We made it in about 20 hours thanks to Honey driving most of the way. All the way we saw signs that we took as hints that Texas is where we need to be.

As glad as we are to be home and as incredibly thankful as we are to have traveled there and back safely and without incident, we are missing Texas and thinking of moving there is in all our minds.

Besos ♥,

CynCity

Howdy from Texas

Posted by CynCity on January 22nd, 2012

I’m on the 10W leaving Houston and headed towards San Antonio on our way home from Texas.

My grandmother, my dad’s mom, passed away and the Johnson girls immediately got on the road. We were going anyway but when we learned that didn’t couldn’t make it, it was even more important that we go and represent him.

I’ll have to tell you about how I get here and the amazing time we’ve had on this trip but I’ll probably do that in a few posts. Honey is driving, I’m co piloting and my sisters and niece are asleep in the back. We’ve had so much fun and we cried while we said goodbye. Investigating a move to Texas is first on the agenda when we return.

In about 22 more hours we will be back in California and I’m totally bummed about it. I want to stay. There is something so special about being in the company of and feeling the love from my dads family. Honey was right at home and my uncle and cousins absolutely adored him.

I’m gonna try and stay awake but I’ll post pictures and tell the story of our trip when I return. XOXOX, Cyn

Besos ♥,

CynCity

I’m Sprung!

Posted by CynCity on January 10th, 2012

I am so in love! Like head over heels it’s all I can think about love. I’m at work and I cannot wait until I can get home and back to my love.

Let me introduce you….

I live in the desert. Lots of dusty and poorly constructed apartment buildings that allow dust in over the door jambs and window sills. I’m constantly dusting. This weekend I spent all of Sunday on my hands and knees cleaning my white baseboards. It’s not pretty. I can clean my floors and turn around and see spots everywhere. And water?? Dust sticks to it and leaves a little black ring, and this happens often because I hate to towel dry after my shower. I air and drip dry all over the house.

I should be ashamed of these floors but I’m not. This is from Sunday after cleaning all day and moving boxes and stuff around:

The Vac-Then-Steam does exactly what it says. It can vacuum hardwood/tile to get up all the dust and loose dirt. The vacuum in a tad noisy, but hey- it’s a vacuum. Then you attach a cleaning pad and pour in some water. 30 seconds later you have hot steam and you can clean your floors. While steaming there is a low humming sound but it’s not too loud. I cleaned while talking on the phone and didn’t have any problems hearing. The Vac-Then-Steam cleans very well and because of the hot steams it disinfects and kills germ. Totally awesome in the bathroom and kitchen where the germs lurk. Now we can have clean feet and clean white socks again. It’s a pretty small unit and doesn’t take up a ton of space. I totally love the Vac-Then-Steam and it was well worth it’s purchase price. I can quickly and easily clean my floors daily if I choose to. I’m sold, now I think I want a steam cleaner for my tile counters. I’m not a neat freak but I love to clean and this is right up my alley! If you have a lot of floors to clean, I highly recommend the Shark Vac-then-Steam.

Here are my floors after:

Besos ♥,

CynCity

2011 in Review

Posted by CynCity on January 4th, 2012

Everyone else is doing them so I figured I’d do mine too!

2011 was one hell of a year. I shed a million tears but also had some really good moments. It ended way better than I expected but you know God always comes through. You’d think I’d be done doubting and getting scared. How silly am I to be surprised when God answers my prayers and gives me exactly what I asked for?

JANUARY
I started grad school. Best part of it all is my job is paying for it all. Even books. Disneyland and lunch with my sister courtesy of my job!

FEBRUARY
Despite being on break I went to the Eric Roberson show with my honey.

MARCH
My puppy Chase got hit by a car and died. I sometimes feel as if his destiny was fulfilled. Chase came from another mommy who loved him dearly at a time when I really needed him. He was my comfort through some lonely depressing times. When he got hit I called honey and he rushed over. We became closer that day and he’s been pretty much around ever since.

APRIL
We did the Relay for Life in Rancho Cucamonga to raise money for cancer research, to honor those loved we’ve lost, and to celebrate the survivors.

MAY
Vegas trip with the honey. I also did the Revlon Run/Walk for women. It was my first 5k but it was so packed that I ended up walking it.

JUNE
My students awarded me with the Golden Brick at their annual awards banquet. It was the highest honor of the night.

JULY
Honey and I went to the Flypoet 10th anniversary showcase with Steve and Sekou, Thea Monyee, Lalah Hathaway and Kenny Lattimore.

SEPTEMBER
Sade concert with my honey.

NOVEMBER
I turned 33. Dinner with honey and my family.

DECEMBER
Awesome first Christmas and holiday break together in our home.
Met my baby cousin’s fiancé and another little cousin got engaged.

Besos ♥,