Author: Xiomara Spadafora

I am just another woman in the world, but I have several jobs: my son's mom, my husband's wife, my mother's daughter, and my friends' friend. While living my jobs I find the things I want to write about.
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October: Breast Cancer Awareness Month

When the mammogram was over I asked the technician if I could take one of the little ribbons. She looked at me and adamantly said:
When the mammogram was over I asked the technician if I could take one of the little pink ribbons. She looked at me and adamantly said: “You earned it!“

On September 8th I had the pleasure of experiencing the “waffle maker” for the first time in my life. Two weeks before my son’s first day pre-kindergartner, I felt a small lump, the size of an almond, in the area above my right breast while I was drying after taking a shower. Immediately, my stomach churned.

My son was riding his scooter–his way of transportation around the house these days–outside my bathroom, and I could hear him laughing while I tried to swallow the storm of tears that were enveloping my eyes. I put on my make up with the hands of a maracas player’s pulse–some how I didn’t end up looking like a fright mask–and drove my baby to his first day of VPK.  Continue reading “October: Breast Cancer Awareness Month”

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Youth Soccer Deams

If I was a coach, I would already be in a straight jacket. It's nerve wrecking.!
If I was a coach, I would already be in a straight jacket. It’s nerve wrecking.!

Last Saturday was my son’s first U5 (Under 5 years old) soccer game. He has already had two practices, but I was not allowed to go. In the past, I morphed into Mama Bear after a bigger kid kicked my three year-old baby in the back with his cleats.

For this reason, my husband fears that my mug shot may, one day, be broadcast on the local news, so we made a deal: he will take him to the practices,  and I will go only on game days.

There were at least 1000 people coming and going at the fields. Every where I looked, it was an ocean of little blue shorts and bright green or white jerseys moving from side to side like schools of fishes. There is nothing more entertaining than seeing the soccer ball move in one direction, and 12 pairs of short legs move in the opposite.  Continue reading “Youth Soccer Deams”

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Don’t Change, Exchange!

Rusty changed his status, from King of the House, to nap pillow when Sasha arrived.

This past Labor Day weekend was the rainiest holiday of the year. My poor pups, Rusty and Sasha, stared at me for four days hoping to resume their afternoon walks.

Every time they saw me putting on my running shoes, they started wagging their tails, hopeful, only to realize that the walk was just for me on the treadmill. I could just hear their muffled complaints: “Why does she like walking on that thing? There is  no pee to sniff!”  Continue reading “Don’t Change, Exchange!”

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Patience? Who has time for that!

If cutting stars and hearts out of a sandwich for my son's preschool lunch isn't patience, I don't know what is.
If cutting stars and hearts out of a sandwich for my son’s preschool lunch isn’t patience, I don’t know what is.

Last week was a very important week for two reasons: my son started pre-kindergarten and yours truly started working–outside of the home–once again. From the moment my son was born, all I wanted was to be with him and for him. My husband and I decided early on that he would be our only offspring, so I didn’t want to miss anything, not a smile, not a cry, not a burp!

Staying at home, was the toughest job I have ever had. There are no bosses, no co-workers, and no clear job description. I was in charge of everything, and my performance was assessed, every day, by the toughest examiner: myself.

Continue reading “Patience? Who has time for that!”

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First Day of School

Spady is the family nickname used by the men of this family for generations
“Spady” is the nickname that the men in my husband’s family have used for generations, all the way back in Italy.

This past Monday was my son’s first day of VPK school (Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten), and regardless of how much I planned that morning, once again I ran out the door like a chicken without its head pushing my little guy in the car like a suitcase in a trunk.

On our way to his preschool, my son saw me driving with only one hand on the steering wheel and suddenly yelled at me, “Mommy, put both hands on the wheel or we are going to crash!” I looked at him through the review mirror thinking, “When did he grow up so much to be giving me unsolicited advice?” I told him that we were not going to crash, but still put my other hand on the wheel. It’s like I have two husbands!  Continue reading “First Day of School”

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“What is a yute?”

Xiomara Spadafora Naturalization
Welcome to the United States of America. Please, be ready to show your invitation.

Do you remember the movie My Cousin Vinny from 1992 and the exchange between the main character, Vinny Gambini, and Judge Haller at the trial?

Judge Chamberlain Haller: Uh… did you say ‘yutes’?

Vinny Gambini: Yeah, two yutes.

Judge Chamberlain Haller: What is a yute?

Vinny Gambini: [sigh] Oh, excuse me, your honor… [exaggerated] Two YOUTHS.

Although Gamibini and Judge Haller were both American, one could say that they were immigrants from different countries, because people from New York and Alabama are so different based on distinction of accent or food preferences.  Continue reading ““What is a yute?””

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Who said it’s too late?

LOGO SPADAFORA
It’s never too late to finish the sentence “when I grow up…“

Dear reader, I am proud and pleased to present to you the launching of my own literary website xiomaraspadafora.com

Designed and hosted by Opium Atelier, it is the accomplishment of one of the goals I set for my life five years ago. If you are a procrastinator like me, you can understand how important this is and how much determination and perseverance it required.  Continue reading “Who said it’s too late?”

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Never turn your back

The only things which didn't survived my absence were the front door plants.
The only victims in my absence were the front door plants.

The time to go home arrived last Monday, and once again I cried in the airplane–after crying at my mom’s house and at the gate of our flight—when I saw a Colombian flag waving in the air through the window during take off. You would think that after 10 years of living abroad it gets easier; it doesn’t. Actually, it gets harder because the older I get, my heart grows bigger and I love my mother and my family even more.

Another love that grows when I am away from my country, is the love for the small things that add to daily life; especially the love for the beauty salons and the help around the house. Even though I can’t see myself living in Colombia anytime soon, I know that I will grow old there. I already told my husband that we are retiring in my home country, because I am not willing to see myself in gray hair or vacuuming our house.  Continue reading “Never turn your back”

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I promise not to change

The only thing I am willing to change is the imperfection that Photoshop can fix.
The only things I am willing to change are the imperfections that photo editors can fix.

Last Friday my husband landed in Bogotá, and with his arrival, the last week of our vacation in Colombia started. When I picked him up at the airport I asked how his layover in Panama City went. “No problems baby“, he answered completely relaxed as he landed 30 minutes before schedule.

Do you want to know my experience? No AC at the concourse where our connection gate was, an hour delay to board, and last but not least, a 30 minute wait inside the airplane with my cranky and sleepy four year old. The line of aircrafts on the runway looked like a Wal-Mart on Black Friday! Anyways, my hubby made it safe and sound; my son got his wrestling buddy back, and I got my soul mate as well.  Continue reading “I promise not to change”

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More than BFFs

Lifetime friendship is the most valuable treasure and the cheapest to nurture.
Lifetime friendship is the most valuable treasure and it only costs coins of sincerity.

Being only child taught me early on that I had to be emotionally independent and face the challenges in life without “second opinions”. Although, my mom’s siblings were almost my own–they were still in school and living with my grandmother, my mom, and me while I grew up–I was still flying solo most of the time.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed my solitude. I played with dolls, read books, and imagined having conversations with fictional characters that were everywhere all the time –don’t worry; I am not a schizophrenic, though my husband would beg to differ!  Continue reading “More than BFFs”