Elizabeth C. Vasquez:  

e I was his 'little princess' before my folks divorced at about 3-4 years old, and I haven't seen him since we moved around so much. Of my many obsessions, I enjoy celebrity reality shows like Celebrity Fit Club, Dancing with the Stars, Surreal Life, Celebrity Apprentice, American Idol, America's Got Talent, etc. Realizing that life doesn't always turn out the way you expect, my biggest surprise is now that I'm in my 40's, I don't think that I look or feel as old as it seemed to me as a child! :-) I remember thinking that 40 was sooo old! lol :) ...In fact, I still get comments from people today who are surprised to learn that I'm 40-ish and have a grown son--I still have my 'mousy' voice and I still look young--for the most part....lol :) ...I got the impression at the 20-Year Reunion for Ysleta (in 2003), when I attended the 3-day event, it seemed that a couple of people thought I 'had some work done'. lol :) ...My secret? I stay out of the sun! lol :) ...Ironic, since I live in the "Sunshine State" (Florida)!!! lol :) If I could improve my home, I'd remodel the kitchen as well as all of the other rooms and add on a screened-in patio (or as they call them here in Florida, a "Florida Room"). My dream home would be large enough to accommodate my every need & desire--here in my tropical paradise! :-). As a parent, what I've learned from my son is that he managed to be born with my artistic gene...he's actually a better artist than I ever was! :-) The teacher that I would like to see again is my choir teacher, Mr. Daniel Sass. He believed in me and my talent and I let him down by not continuing my liberal arts degree in college....I'm still workin' on it Mr. Sass! :-) If I won $100 million, I'd give a couple million of it to my mother, my aunt Rita and my son, then spend the rest on paying off bills, my home mortgage and put the rest into investments and living off of the interest, after touring the globe, of course! Since I never went to a conventional college, I never got to participate in the usual college lifestyle of dorms and Greek sororities....I wanted to be in one of the high school sororities, but I just wasn't that popular, plus, my mom was so strict, she didn't let me do much of anything that took place outside of usual school hours...oh well! :-) To be truly happy, I would be rich, laying in a cabana, on the beach, looking out at the calm, clear blue bay with a delicious drink, complete with an umbrella, and sitting next to me would be a gorgeous hunk catering to my every need...Yeah....that's a nice fantasy, isn't it?! lol :-) My career aspirations would be the perfect job that I truly enjoy, so much so, that I would do it for free if I could! :-) ...Wouldn't you like to know what that is? lol :-) ...I would like to know what that is myself! lol :-) I wonder what happened to my first crush? ....Going all the way back to elementary school (1st grade--Del Norte Heights) ...I remember having a crush on a boy named Anthony Carillo...strangely enough, we met again in Jr. High (Valley View), but there was also another boy with the same name (1 grade older); Tony Carillo, who all the girls had I crush on and I was no exception. There, I also had a crush on Hector Diaz and then Ernesto Esquivel. That's all I remember! :-) I'm sure, looking back, people who knew me in high school probably thought that I was an odd ball...I agree! :-) ...But that's okay...there's nothing wrong with being original! :-) Gosh...I hope I don't still dress like I did 10 or 20 years ago...My body is not the same since childbirth! :-) ...News Flash--Not too many women's bodies go back to what they were before pregnancy! ...Those that do...are just lucky! ...I hate 'em! lol :) I think the weirdest job I ever had would be when I worked as an exotic dancer...or the time I worked as a fantasy line operator....or the time I was a foot model...or the time I tested & sampled ice cream at an ice cream manufacturing plant's lab....or.... It goes on forever! lol :-) I share my home with my son & a new grey kitty who just turned 1 year old now--His name is Kelso (he had a sister named Lori and 2 brothers named Red and Fez...but I couldn't afford to adopt all of them from the ASPCA...Besides, why have more than 2 anyway? ...I don't want to be known as "that cat lady" lol). (In case if you don't know, those are characters from "That 70s Show"). lol :-) ...We love our cute kitty--he actually enjoys playing fetch with all of his jingly balls! lol :) The trophies that I received were in high school, from the various vocal competitions in choir...they were actually medals. That's about it...no bowling leagues or team sports or anything like that..... =) If I had a do-over, I think I would have stood up to my strict mom more instead of allowing her to control so much of my life, keeping me from pursuing opportunities that were offered to me...who knows where I'd be today.... but...I'm not bitter.... not anymore...it's a useless, wasted emotion that can't change anything anyway! :-) ...Since my cousins were also raised in the same way, since our family is of Catholic, Latin/Caribbean descent, our folks raised us all in a very strict way and I couldn't do allot of things that I wanted to do in school--So sorry to those that I had to let down for choir engagements or that time that I couldn't show up for acting competition. ...But back to my cousins, they tell me that I need to get over it and understand that our parents raised us the way they were raised and having the culture clash with America vs. Latin America, we just had to accept that they did only what they knew at the time. So I'm finding peace with it and trying to have a civil relationship with my aging mother today. In 10 years, I hope to be graduated from college with a BS in IT and working in my chosen field---hopefully running my own business would be nice. I'm going to get there by continuing my education--I should be done in a couple of years max. ...If not, then I'll continue to keep plugging away and in the meantime, I'll also continue my other love--Entertainment...Maybe you'll see me on your TV in a commercial or something...you never know...but for now, I'm just an extra these days! :) I think my oldest friend would be Mercedes Sandoval (now she's Mercy Rodriguez). We lived on the same street when we were very young (Kingman St.) --in kindergarten together (Cedar Grove). If neither of us had moved, we would have been Bel-Air High students! =) What about me that would surprise everyone at my high school reunion? ==> I'm not sure really...I think my life, up to now, has been an open book... Maybe that I still have some secrets that I choose to keep to myself! :-) ...I need to keep some things to myself...right? My first job was at Tonka Toys, where I got paid --(I don't remember! ...I know it was more than minimum wage at that time, 'cause I put in allot of overtime) to rivet 2 metal pieces together for the little metal toy trucks they used to make, then I graduated to the next level of dropping larger metal pieces (for the toy dump trucks) into a big tub of tiny rotating metal balls. What I remember most about it is that it was my first job! ...And I think I was pretty lucky landing a decent 1st job! ...Hey, it's factory work...what do expect?! lol :-) A childhood memory that I'll never forget...is when before my folks split, I had a half sister (Yolanda--my father's daughter), who was much older than me so we didn't get to play together much---I remember envying her because she was older and she had more privileges, since I was a little 'pip-squeak'! =) ...But, since I was 'daddy's little girl,' he took me everywhere with him and spoiled me.... Gosh, I miss him sometimes! lol :-) ...I wish I knew where both of them are today...Hopefully, one day I'll find them. :-)