A Tail of Two Lovers

I am clearing out things I have on my work computer and just using this as a place to store things I've written in the past, most of it is unfinished.




Her eyes tantalize me. Those amber-honey jewels watch my everystep when I enter the room. With each step I take, I can feel her eyes follow me. Never wandering off to anything else; she watches me like a lioness watches her prey. Her gaze leaves me only when her curiosity is filled. I want to ask her what she sees in me, but how would she respond? What is she thinking? What is it that she wants from me?

It seems like we’ve shared nine lives together. I can recall when we first met. She came strutting in here with “Whatsherface” acting like she owned the joint. But if there was anyone who could own this place, it would be her. She knows it too. She can’t help but know it. Everyone tells her of her beauty and I can see, when they tell her how damn pretty she is, they dream of her eyes and her lips and wish they were theirs. There have been times that I have been around her, admiring her face, or they way her body contours to fit into any image I can think. But when she’ll finally speaks to me, I am so caught up in my thoughts I can’t even remember my name – it’s like the cat’s got my tongue.

At first when we met she was so standoffish that anytime I would come within a foot of her she would say something nasty to me and take off in the other direction. Throughout all these years, she still hasn’t opened up to me. She’ll say “Hi” in passing, but she’s so sassy and never stays around long enough for me to talk with her, I mean really talk with her. At times it drives me crazy. Crazy enough I can’t control myself!

It always ends up the same with her when we fight. We hit each other with our harshest words, our strongest fists, never taking a moment to consider how life will be afterwards. We only stop when one of us realizes we’ve emptied the salt shaker on the others wounds, neither one of us can cough up the courage to have it any other way. Marley, Marley, Marley…



It must be 100 degrees in here. Where is everyone anyway? They always disappear about this time of the day. When they return everyone is nonchalant, acting like they haven’t been gone for hours. Oblivious to what has taken place here. It is probably better that way. I want to talk to Guy* about what is happening with Marley and me but can he help? Will he even care? He probably won’t. He is so caught up with either “Whatsherface” or that damn talking box that he probably doesn’t even care about my problems. Listen to me feeling sorry for myself. He does care and I know it.

In the mornings before Guy leaves, he brings me breakfast and an iced beverage. He strokes my hair softly before he leaves and wishes me a good day. “Whatsherface” isn’t really as bad as a papercut. Before she leaves she gives me a kiss and tries to talk Guy into taking me with her. She never wins. No matter how she pleads or waves her hands, Guy doesn’t bend with his answer.

Resiliant Mind. Resiliant Body. Resiliant Soul.

When I was around 19 or 20 I spent many a weekend horseback riding in Northern Virginia. It came to fruition because one day I was sharing with a friend of mine, Sonya, my childhood dreams of riding horses and hopefully one day owning horses of my own. Unbeknownst to me Sonya knew of these weekend cowboys who had horses and were looking for people to "stretch them out" and wonderfully enough the stables where the horses lived were a mile away from where I lived. I can not even begin to describe my sheer joy and excitement that I had when Sonya asked if I would be interested in helping her exercise the horses. Without hesitation I agreed, Sonya made some phone calls and we were headed out to meet the horses.

I was so excited to have the opportunity to ride horses especially ride them regularly, that I intentionally played down the fact to Sonya that I had never actually been horse back riding before. In my mind I was totally experienced; there was that time when I was about 6 and my mom put me on the back of a horse at Dr. Iglesias ranch and she led the horse around... I was on its back so technically, I had in fact ridden a horse before. Fortunately, in the make-up of Cecily Garcia, I am a terrible liar and can not hold a secret in any fashion be it of benevolent or malevolent intent. Upon arriving at the stables I confessed to Sonya that I was completely inexperienced. Sonya didn't care and said she'd teach me everything I'd need to know. It was going to be just me and her that day, so I would have plenty of time to learn everything I needed to know.

So there we are preparing the horses for a ride a.k.a. "tacking them up". My horse, his name was Vinnie and he was a very small Arabian horse, all brown who was known to pick on the other horses (biting their butts, trying to eat their food, etc.) and I was in love with him no matter his faults. While preparing the horses, the weekend Cowboys unexpectedly showed up. They wanted to meet the new girl who was going to be working their horses, and guide us on our first ride. Meaning, they were sizing me and my absent horse riding skills up.




We rode western style, on a trail ride, and we started out by walking, then trotting, and within the first 15 minutes we were in a full cantor. There were about 5 of us out that day and the horses followed in a single line, one after the other, mimicking each others moves, adjusting speed and direction based on the lead horse. The horses were flying. We were flying! We were turning corners, ducking under branches, jumping over fallen branches, the wind was whistling past my ears and making my eyes water.

It was pure exhilaration! I remember my heart racing, my adrenaline pumping, and I was smiling. I was taking a mental snapshot of that moment in my life. I was living my dream and in love with every passing second, when the next thing I know I am flying through the air! As we were turning a corner the horse riding behind me came up to close to Vinnie, who was apparently very sensitive about the other horses being to close to his rear, so he started bucking. I wasn't expecting the motion, nor did I know how to ride, so I flew off of him and landed in the forest shrubbery on my butt.

During my time in the air, the rest of the crew came to a screeching halt and when I looked up there were 9 sets of eyes looking at me, awaiting my response. My heart was in my stomach, my stomach was in my throat, and my ego was crushed. I was horrified when I looked up and saw everyone staring at me and my horse standing there, riderless. Every reaction in my body was to burst out in tears. I was afraid. I was scared. I was hurt...and worst of all I had to get back on that horse, we were miles from the ranch!

It was silent, everyone was staring at me waiting for my next move. I was a mess. I was having so much fun, I wanted to keep riding but I was scared. But I wanted to do this since I was a little girl, how could I give up? And give up so easily? I stood up, relieved that nothing was broken, dusted the grass, leaves, and twigs off of me and went back to Vinnie. I looked into his dark brown eyes and mounted him. The lead cowboy yelled, "Let's go!" and we were off, as though nothing had happened.

I think about that moment in time and that experience almost daily. When someone crushes me on the mats and I feel shattered. When someone says they don't think I can, I wonder if they are right. But there is something that I know and I know this in my core, without a shadow of a doubt, I don't give up. I won't give up. I will have what I want no matter how tough it might be to achieve my goals.

By the way through my horseback riding experience, I was bucked off by another horse, bitten by another, and walked on by yet another (I have the scars to prove this) and I still have a dream that I will have at least one horse before I retire. Also, Vinnie ruled but he is probably glue somewhere.


Glendale Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, La Crescenta Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Pasadena Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Burbank Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Glendale MMA, La Crescenta MMA, Pasadena MMA, Burbank MMA, Los Angeles MMA

PS I am still beyond stoked to train at M3 Fight and Fitness!

I feel like a race horse in the stalls waiting for the gates to open, on all accounts.

Greetings earthlings and martians alike! I am going to try this thing we call "Blogging" out and see how it goes. In my opinion, blogging is quite vain...it's like writing thoughts down with the expectation that people care about what is going on in my world and want to take time out of their day to read what is going on in my day. At the end of the day we all know that it, my thoughts, will be sent to the vast nothingness of the internet under the pretense of a "blog".

So here it is folks entry #1.

I am pretty stoked about several new decisions in my life. I have decided to sell my house, move from the East Coast to the West Coast and train for competing in the 2011 Pan Ams. I am also entertaining the idea of opening up my own business, but I think that may be too aggressive of me at this time. I am completely thrilled about all of these decisions.

I will be leaving Richmond and Richmond Brazilian Jiu Jitsu between March 15 and May 15 of this year. I will be moving to the Glendale,La Crescenta, Pasadena, Burbank, LA, area and will be training at Rudy's academy, M3 Fight and Fitness. While moving I am going to be training for the 2011 Pan Ams, trying to lose some weight, sell my house and take care of my two puppies.

The best part is that none of this feels like work. All of the goals I have between now and May are goals that are enabling me to be exactly what I am, the happiest Celery of all time!

Glendale Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, La Crescenta Muay Thai, Pasadena UFC, Burbank Mixed Martial Arts, LA Submission Grappling

To Those Who Oppose Health Care Reform

I want you to know why I support Health Care Reform

I have a friend, who has worked her entire life to be successful and have the American Dream. She is married, has two beautiful children. Her and her husband have respectable jobs and work 50+ hours a week. A few years ago they were planning their vacation, when their youngest child didn't want to go to school because he "hurt". After tests, they discovered he had childhood leukemia. Fast forward three years. I am at lunch with said friend catching up with her, trying to take her mind off of her daily troubles and the known, but never discussed constant gloom wondering if she will lose her son. During lunch, she gets a phone call and excuses herself, later to come back to lunch on the brink of tears saying "well they can try but I have nothing for them to get" - she was being sued over medical bills she couldn't pay because some treatment wasn't covered under the insurance company - the treatment that was contributing to saving her sons life. We also learned that her house was days away from foreclosure.

What did she do to be in this situation? How could this have happened to her? She did everything she was supposed to do, how could this be? Why does she have to chose between her home and her sons treatment? Why on top of everything else does she have to worry about being sued when she should just be focused on taking care of her family?

Someone who opposes health care reform, explain this to me. Explain to me how this could be different if it happened to me, or to you.

I want you to know why I support Health Care Reform

I have a friend, who has spent his days working towards the American Dream - owning his own business. I didn't know him before he started his own business, but I have known him for years. He is a good man, and when I say good - I mean that with 100% conviction. He has a level head on his shoulders, performs work for charity, and elevates his friends in helping them to achieve their dreams. My friend is in constant pain from a slipped disk in his back. He is in his mid-thirty's and sometimes is forced to use a cane to walk around. There are days he can not make it in to work because he literally can not get out of bed because he is in an exorbitant amount of pain. When he does come to work, he is very careful with his walk and is slow to move about. He does not move like a thirty-something. When I've asked him why he doesn't go get it fixed, he says to me he can't afford the surgery. Mind you, he has been to the doctor's - they have treated him with cortizone shots, etc. and they tell him he needs surgery. But if he has the surgery which he can not afford, than he also can not do the work that pays for his business.

For those of you who oppose Health Care Reform, please tell me what did he do wrong? Explain to me how this can be different for me or you should we have this situation?

I want you to know why I support Health Care Reform.

I have a friend who is self employed. He actually works three or four different jobs and does so, so that he can pursue his life-long dreams and ambition in music. When he was 11 years old he became sick and was put in the hospital, they later determined that he had Type 1 Diabetes. For those of you who don't know the difference, Type 1 Diabetes is when your body just does not produce insulin. It wasn't his diet, he wasn't obese - his body just didn't produce insulin. Type 2 is brought on because of a persons diet and exercise, or lack thereof. Because he has had diabetes, insurance companies consider this a "pre-existing" condition and IF they were to carry him, he month insurance premium would have been around $700 a month. I think that is a lot of money, and would assume most people would as well.

I ask you again, for those of you who oppose Health Care Reform, please tell me what did he do wrong? Explain this to me.

I want you to know why I support Health Care Reform.

I have a friend, more like a family member. Who's husband died and he was the sole provider. He provided her income and the means to meet her health insurance needs. He died and now she is left to her fixed means of income. She is 75. She now goes to a free clinic to seek health care. In this free clinic she is just one number in many, she is not a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother or a friend. She is just one number. When she goes to get her medication filled, it is not $5.00 it is $100s of dollars for a months worth of medication. Her medication often costs her $300-400 a month. Again, she is on a fixed income. How does this happen? Why does this happen? She and her husband lived to do what is right for their family. They extended their gratitude beyond their family to impact, for the better, lives of others. And now, should something happen to her, she would be treated in a less than optimal hospital, having to share her room with many, and be treated again as one in a million, vs. the one who needs critical attention.

I ask again, no...this time I beg those who oppose Health Care Reform, what did she do wrong?

As for myself. I am gainfully employed. I work 45-50 hours a week, if not more. I have my own home, I pay a premium for health insurance. I am accident prone. The bill for my injuries in 2008 topped out around $3000.00 out of pocket expenses. This is on top of the $200 I pay each month for health insurance. This year, I pay about $250 a month for health insurance, but I hesitate to go to the doctor. I have recently been sick and the expense has cost me well over $100.00, and that was just the flu. Thankfully, I am employed and I am getting paid while I rest up to go back to work healthy. But what if, what if I didn't have the $100.00 or I was self-employed. What if I didn't have just the flu but something more serious? How much would it cost me to be ill? Why should I be worried about expenses while I am ill?

I guess I am a socialist. Maybe a communist. Maybe a traitor to my country. I feel like I am an American and proud of it. But according to those who Oppose Health Care Reform, I am a socialist on my way to communist and I should put myself in the category of a Hitler supporter.

Someone, please explain this to me.

Nothing of True Importance I Just Miss My Friend

I wrote this 9/30/2003 to my childhood best friend Nicky, just to make her laugh and smile. As such, I laughed and smiled.

N eat and fun

I laugh a lot when we get caught

C hasing each other with markers and tape

K idding around with dance and song

Y es we play, we cry, and we laugh

A nd when times get boring

N ever look to far

D reams will become a reality

C hasing butterflies or guys

E ating tortas or 2 cheesburgers and 2 fries for $2 bucks

C arefully applying just a little bit of make up

I magining our future lives

L oving one another through the toughest of times

Y es, we are sisters, unconditional friends