One of my favorite Christmas carols

....that seems as appropriate now as it did when first written in 1862. The 4th & 5th stanzas aren't usually sung.

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along th' unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound the carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn, the households born
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

So it's been forever...I know.

Jesus: Since the buffalo that he used to feed have all been sold, he has had to adjust to actually punching a time card at the start and end of each work day. He misses the buffalo but has made the adjustment quite well and the folks at the main office now get to see what a truly hard worker he is. He has also enjoyed showing off his birthday present -- lots of new clothes from my mom that look really good on him. And he knows it. :P

BethAnn: Nothing new here. Same old weekend job. I've been sick with a head cold -- nothing serious, just enough to make me not want to go anywhere. I will also be enjoying my Christmas present from my mom & stepdad: a membership subscription to AWHONN, the national association for OB/GYN/Neonatal nurses.

Daniel: By far the most exciting member of our family. Wakes up every morning bounding out of bed and shoving our bedroom door wide open and yelling "MOMMY! PLAY!" Their preschool is out for Christmas right now; he missed their Christmas program and the last day due to an illness that his PNP thinks could have been strep or bronchitis. He's on Amoxil (aka "yummy medicine") and Albuterol (aka "yucky medicine") and seems to be doing better. He also has greatly enjoyed Christmas presents from Yaya & Pappy. A Tickle Me Elmo, several books, Elmo slippers, a Thomas the train tote box to carry either train paraphernalia or matchbox cars, and a loaner flashlight from my mother.

His newest thing is to use one of his toys -- preferable an Elmo (one of the many he has) or his flashlight -- to hit his talking teddybear. At which point he growls in a crescendoing voice "Elmo!!" (or "flashlight!", as the case may be) and takes the offending character to a spot in the hall designated as the time-out chair. He stands watch until said toy has completed its stay in time-out, then picks it up, gives it a hug/kiss, and it may return to playing as long as it can be a "good boy." I think it is a great way for him to remember the consequences of certain actions without him being the one in time-out.

If we don't meet in cyber-space before then, have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year. Or as they say south of the border, "Felíz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo!"

Pearl Harbor Day

I don't want to say "Happy Pearl Harbor Day" because it wasn't a happy day 65 years ago. But I do want to thank all the men and women who were there and lived through it for their courage and heroism. Really, today is an opportunity to thank all everyone who has served in the military, especially in a time of war, for your sacrifice. It's because of you that my family and I take for granted living in a free country. So to people like my stepdad and my grandpa, I am honored to share US citizenship with people like you.

Stylin'

Life Update

So what's new in Guevaraland.....

Daniel has learned what a triangle is, as that's the shape they learned last month at school. We were sitting eating tortilla chips and he broke off a little piece, studied it for a minute and said, "Fiangle." Took us a minute to figure it out but when we did, our jaws dropped open in amazement. Also, if I ask him for a kiss and he says no (happens a lot...Papa ALWAYS gets kisses), he tells me to cry. "Cry, Mama. Cry!"

At school the 2 year old class is practicing their Christmas program song...."hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah, PRAISE YE THE LORD!" So we hear that a lot at home now too. Christmas program is 12/18 at 7pm.

I am considering dropping my hours back at work. Only a little bit, but every little bit I can be w/ my family helps. The only problem is, right now I'm considered fulltime. If I dropped back to 3/4 time (36 hrs/pay period) the health insurance rates are ridiculously high. Everything else remains affordable but that is the kicker, as we will have our whole family on my insurance as of the new year. Just some ramblings.

Most of our Christmas shopping was done online this year. I LOVE Overstock.com. Nice things, cheap prices, free shipping. What's not to love??

Dear hubby is also having some issues at work, although I don't feel at liberty to post them here until some are resolved. But if those of you who pray will pray for him, we all would appreciate it.

...pray for peace, people everywhere.

Play us a song, you're the guitar man

Mr. Serious

On the Phone Again

Daniel plays drums with Uncle John

Go to this website to see Daniel and his uncle (he calls him Tio) (Spanish for uncle) playing drums together:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CJ9TAiIaAI

Thanksgiving

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We spent most of ours driving! Sunday we drove up to Ocean City, MD to spend some time with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents, who are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in December. Tuesday we came home, slept in our own beds for the night, and went to Salisbury (NC) to spend the night there, eat Thanksgiving dinner at my dad's house, and come back to Rocky Mount Thursday. We forgot to take our camera to Maryland so I will have to wait for someone else to send me some pics of our time there.

However, we remembered to take it with us to Salisbury and boy am I glad. Probably the highlight of the day was watching my 17-year-old brother let Daniel play his (John's) very nice drums. He even sent home a practice pad for Daniel to use!

New Meaning to "Wearing a Diaper"

Thank you, Peele

That's what Daniel told his pediatric nurse practitioner, Mrs. Louise Peele, after she saw him today. Being the kindly soul that she is, she just laughed.

He will also love the Augmentin she put him on. He LOVES to take medicine.

Venting post

Please feel free to skip this post, as I am only venting because I am ill about something that happened today. So there, you have been duly warned!

I called the doctor's office where I take my boy for his checkups etc. which happens to be the clinic where I used to work until I started working at Wakemed. He is a little sick, nothing serious but I want to catch it before it has the chance to become serious, esp. since we are going out of town Saturday. So I called the clinic and when I spoke with the front office staff who answered the phone I explained that my son was a little sick, I wanted to know if he could be seen today and if I could talk to a nurse about it. Now, since I used to work there I know the procedure for that is that the staff pulls that patient's chart, takes down the complaint and a phone number and the nurse calls the patient (or the parent) back. Instead, she transfers me directly to speak to a nurse.

When the nurse picks up, I explain the situation all over again and ask if it's possible for my son to be seen today. This is not a nurse I have worked with. She was hired in the time since I've been gone. Instead of asking me what his symptoms were, she flat out told me, "Her schedule is full today and she won't be able to see you." Oh really? She told you that? I doubt it. Mrs. Peele (that's who sees him) is known for seeing her patients no matter what. I tried another tack and asked if there was a time I could bring him in that would be better. Her response was "Maam, like I said, her schedule is full today. You can bring him in as a walk-in tomorrow." Not great customer service.

My problem, however, is not that my boy couldn't be seen today. It is the way the situation was handled. This nurse did not ask me what his symptoms were. She did not volunteer to ask Mrs. Peele if he could be seen. She took it upon herself to make that decision, and that is not how you do things. Fortunately, it is something that can wait til tomorrow. And fortunately, I know enough about health and illness to recognize when something can wait or when he needs to be taken to the hospital. But what if I were a parent with a low level of health knowledge being told to wait til tomorrow and bring him in? What if I had been told that when my son has symptoms of meningitis and she didn't bother to ask?? That is the whole reason why you triage people and let the provider make the call. You don't make that decision yourself. I came about this close to calling back and talking with her supervisor. I may still do it when I take him in tomorrow.

This scenario would be a lot different had it gone like this: I call and even if the front office staff doesn't pull my son's chart, I tell the nurse he's sick and I would like to know if I can bring him in. She tells me, "Mrs. Peele's schedule is full today and I can't promise you that we can see him. Please tell me what's going on; I'll talk with her and give you a call back." I tell her that he's got a wet cough, a little decreased appetite, no fever, no runny nose, no complaints that his ear hurts. We hang up and she talks with Mrs. Peele who says to bring him in. Or she talks with Mrs. Peele who says that her schedule is indeed too full but she could see him tomorrow. She calls me back to let me know. Either way, the decision has been made by the provider, and I know that she has at least asked.

Right now I am mad as a hornet. I realize a) that there are wars and famines going on and this is not nearly as tragic; and b) my child is not gravely ill and can indeed wait til tomorrow. But when you are a nurse you do not go beyond the scope of that and make decisions that aren't yours to make. And if you have to tell someone they or their child can't be seen today, you at least do it nicely.

Venting done.

Saturday mornings as I am coming home from work and getting ready to sleep, my boy and Papa are getting ready for boys' day out on the town. One of their favorite stops is the park, where they walk around the lake and feed the duckies...rather, Papa feeds them and the wee one chases them. However, he is never too busy to stop and ham it up for the photographer.

Papa's hat & Dinosaur PJs

As Hubs was getting ready to take Wee One outside to play soccer yesterday afternoon, he accidentally put one of his (Wee One's) on the wrong foot. He says, "Look, man, I put your shoe on the wrong foot!" To which the wee one responds "Silly Papa!"

My boy in PJs

People I know who are pregnant:
Friend & former roommate Naomi (#3)
Friend & former neighbor Wendy (#2)
Our niece Ana Bertha with #2 (#1 is 6 months old.) (!)
Friends at work: Susie, Alicia, Suzanne, Carol, Jennifer, and probably several more that I've left out.
NOT ME. (at least not now, anyway.)

Things I love:
When Hubs gets home from work early.
Being able to put my cold feet on him when we get in bed.
Watching Hubs & Wee One play cars.
When I do something for Wee One & he says, "Thank you Mama."
Snuggling with my boy at bedtime.
Green tea. (decaf, with Splenda)
Watching "Prison Break."
The fact that no more Republicans or Democrats will be calling our house clamoring for our vote. At least not til 2007/08.
Listening to Hubs talk about his mom. (died when he was young.)
Going to work & realizing I'm in the nursery.
The fact that I only go to work 2 nights a week.
Realizing that God knows what I really need even though I've asked for something different. (like when I prayed for our first pregnancy to be twins...)
My husband's feet.
Watching "The Return of the King."
Watching anything having to do with LOTR, for that matter.
Hot soup/tea on a rainy night.
When Hubs really likes something I've made for dinner.
Watching my wee one sleep.

One for fun & one for serious

First the serious: An article I found in a monthly newsletter that I subscribe to from "The Voice of the Martyrs," which features articles about Christians around the world who are persecuted for their faith. From the founder Richard Wurmbrand:

The Unreasonableness of God
"I shared and viewed the sufferings of many fellow prisoners in an underground Communist prison. What intrigued us most was that we did not obtain from heaven what it was obviously reasonable to expect: a slight improvement in our situation, food to quiet our hunger, and abatement of our cruel torture. We did not get what we expected because heaven is not -- humanly speaking -- reasonable.

Jesus said, "There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance." (Lk. 15:7) This is surely not reasonable.

Nowhere does the Bible speak about the reasonableness of God, according to man's reasoning, but rather about His foolishness (I Cor 1:25). He is unreasonable as are the thoughts of little children. Christ became a child and recommended that we become as children too.

Was it reasonable to sacrifice the unique Son of God for witless, dirty, dumb sheep? I have asked many shepherds what they would do if they saw a wolf. They all replied, "We would run for our lives." No man dies for sheep. Yet Jesus did. He died for beings worse than sheep -- for those who denied and betrayed Him, for those who demanded His crucifixion. He died for His killers, for all who blaspheme and hate God.

Do not be surprised if you fail to get from God what you might reasonably expect. If He were truly reasonable, He would never listen to the prayers of people like us, nor would we have salvation. Rather, God loves to the point of folly.

If you are in the sad situation of experiencing neither His reason, nor His mad love, you might consider the fact that in the parable of the ninety and nine, only the lost sheep had sure proof of His love and concern. The others could reasonable say they were neglected and abandoned. Those who are faithful should simply be glad that others experience His love to folly.

While in solitary confinement, I waited for years for God to come to my aid. In solitary we were happy about His mad love even in moments we were not its recipients.

Do not count on reasonableness in heaven and you will never be disappointed. Count only on the fact that there is One who loves you to such folly that He died for you. In response, forget about sweet reason and let yourself fall madly in love with Him.


For fun, from Reader's Digest: "From television shows to sports events, everything seems to have a sponsor. In an effort to make sure that no person or historical event is without a backer, The Washington Post asked its readers to come up with logical patrons for some historical events and life stories.

The Strom Thurmond Story, brought to you by Pop Secret
The Life of Captain Kidd brought to you by IHOP
The Success of Jeb Bush, sponsored by Hasbro."

Now, didn't at least one of those make you smile??

Pictures forthcoming in the next day or two...

Random tidbits

My boy got bitten today at preschool. While it worries me that the bite may get infected (human mouths are rather nasty), I know it could just as easily have been him biting someone else. It's just the age. So he's on some antibiotics just in case. The bite is on his ear. It looks more like a papercut and less like Mike Tyson's artwork. Here's hoping...(see what you have to look forward to, Travis family??)


Can I just say that I love "Prison Break"?? Not like I love God or my husband or my child, but it has become a staple in our house. It's kind of like our date night, only we never leave the house. Fortunately Wee One's bedtime is around 7:30. :) If you haven't seen any episodes, I'd check out season 1 first, although you could probably figure a lot of it out anyway. I find myself rooting for these guys even though they are criminals because the show puts a human face on them. Not that I hope they get away with things, but I find myself hoping they can make something good of themselves. I hope there are more PB junkies out there.

I voted early today. Although one's voting preferences are one's own business, I am open about the fact that I voted mostly Democrat today. I don't believe that just because you are an evangelical Southern Baptist such as myself, that you have to belong to any one party. (I'm unaffiliated, in case you were wondering. I can't buy into either side completely.) There are churches that would preach that if you are a Christian you have to be a Republican. Hello?? What matters is a new creation!!

Wee One's new phrases: "Mama eating, baby eating." (at lunch yesterday); "Outside tricycle." I was rubbing my eye the other day & he said "Mama eye hurt?" And with Hubs: "Bañarnos!" (let's take a bath). He picks up on EVERYTHING! Am I ever glad we don't swear!

We are thinking of selling our house & moving into a slightly bigger one if the Lord would provide us with one. We are rapidly outgrowing ours and if we were to have another child (not an impossibility within the next few years) we would like to have more space for him/her and all the accompanying paraphernalia. For those of you who pray, please keep this in your prayers.

LOTR quote: "Very handy in a tight spot these lads, despite the fact they're dead." Gimli the dwarf

You will notice that LOTR is a recurring theme for me...I guess there could be worse things. The movies were so awesome but without the books there would be no movie. Tolkien was a genius! For those of you who have not seen the extended versions of the movies, I strongly recommend it. It's like having kids...just like I don't know how we did anything before we had one, I don't know how I watched the other movies without the extended/new scenes. Hubs continually reminds me that no part of LOTR actually happened.

At the farm

To kill a morning and enrich our lives, my boy and I went to the Fisher Farm in Red Oak this morning. For those of you who haven't heard of Red Oak, don't feel bad. It's about the size of my thumbnail. Here are some photos chronicling the morning...





In this one, he's kissing the cow. Ewww, E. Coli!!



Fortunately he didn't kiss this one.

Happy boy

In the tub

...kind of.

LOTR and God

"You are soldiers of Gondor. No matter what comes through that gate, you will stand your ground." - Gandalf the White

Compare with:
"Therefore put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."
Ephesians 6:13

Maybe family?

So I'm going to Harris Teeter today after working out at Curves (love it) and I hand the guy my check...he sees our last name & says, "Isn't that the same last name as the guy who always wears the beret? Are you related to him?" I think he was talking about this guy:

I don't know if we're related since Che is dead and he's probably not wearing his beret anymore. But we do know that as Che made his way up through Latin America & over to Cuba, he stayed a while in Veracruz which is where Hubs is from. And he did have at least one child while there. Distant cousins?? Probably not. But the thought is fascinating...

While I don't agree with everything Che said and/or did, I do have respect for what originally motivated him.

Bonus points for anyone who can name who Che helped overthrow to put Castro in power in Cuba. Without looking it up.

Dialogue 10-11-06

(Wee One and I are outside playing chase around the house.)

(Wee One catches me.)

Me: I love you! Can I have a kiss?

Him: [big kiss on the lips]

Me: Thank you!

Him: Welcome!

Hope everybody liked the birth pics. They are among our favorites. All day yesterday he ran around shouting "Birthday cake! Birthday cake!"

I bought him a huge singing balloon yesterday for his birthday. You have to hit it to make it sing a birthday song...so I'm trying to show him how it works and I say, "It will sing if you hit it. Hit it, buddy!" I could see the wheels turning in his little mind..."But I'm not supposed to hit...." Finally after I explained that time out is not for when we hit balloons, he had (and continues to have) a blast with it.

I continue to be amazed by the reaction of the Amish community to the shooting in their schoolhouse & the killing of 5 of their girls. I don't consider myself a violent person nor even capable of doing much harm....unless someone threatened or hurt my child. Then you better hope the police find you before I do. But in watching this story play out in the news, I see these people who are obeying Christ's command to turn the other cheek. And they are as a result a far better Christian witness to the world than my revenge-seeking would be.

10-10-04

10-10-04

10-10-04

T-minus...

....18 hours and 58 minutes until my boy's 2! That is hard to believe. I will try to find, scan, & post some pictures from that day. The first 2 shouldn't be hard; posting will be a challenge for me, the non-techno wizard.

Now in the 21st century

We have bought a digital camera, so now we have to show off some new pics...

For Miles & Brooklynne

At the request of my abovementioned friends, here is the recipe for picadas, aka sopes that Hubs & I made last week. I didn't use measuring cups or anything so if this is a little nonspecific please forgive me.

Ingredients:
Maseca brand corn meal mix
Warm water
1- 1.5 lb chicken for every 3-4 people (or any other meat)
Cooked pinto beans
Shredded lettuce
Salsa (homemade tastes best but you can use store-bought)
Mexican queso fresco cheese (can find at any Mexican store and some American grocery stores)

It is easiest to make the tortillas ahead of time & reheat them when it's dinnertime. Some Mexican stores may sell them premade but we don't know of any around here. Anyway...for the tortillas you will need the cornmeal mix & warm water.

Pour about 3-4 cups of Maseca into bowl & mix with warm water until the consistency is a little more watery than Play-doh but not like wet sand at the beach. Roll the dough between your hands so they're about the size of baseballs. Then either use a tortilla press (you can find them at Mexican stores) or you can press them by hand until they're about 1/2 inch thick and (if you're handpressing them) at least semi-round. Place them on a heated & greased (cooking spray is fine) griddle on medium-high heat until both sides are starting to turn golden brown & crack a little bit. When they've cooled a little pinch up the edges so it looks like there's a little wall running all the way around the tortilla. This is the base of the dish and the most labor-intensive part. If you make them ahead, you will need to reheat them on the griddle with just a little canola oil & then sprinkle them with a little salt when they're warm.

Put the pintos on to cook about 2 hours before you want to use them. For picadas I used about 1.5 cups of pinto beans & put them in a pot with boiling water to simmer over medium heat for 2 hrs. Add salt to taste but not until the end of cooking or the beans will be hard as a rock. I learned that the hard way. When they're done (they'll be really soft), drain most of the water out & use a potato masher to mash them up until they have lumpy mashed-potato consistency.

You can use any kind of meat but chicken is the easiest (and I am all about the easy way). It's best to have about a pound of chicken for 3-4 people. Boil the chicken until it's cooked through then shred it. For extra flavor put a whole garlic clove in the water while you cook the chicken then salt it to taste afterward.

Should you decide to make homemade salsa you'll need:
4-5 ripe Roma tomatoes
about 1/8-1/4 of an onion, diced
1-2 jalapeño peppers (or more if you like real spicy)
1-2 tablespoons cilantro (optional)

Boil peppers and tomatoes together until tomatoes start to split open. Then put all ingredients in blender & blend until smooth. Add salt to taste.

So when you are done, you will have:
(from bottom to top)
Tortilla, beans, meat, lettuce, salsa, & crumbled queso fresco.

Moral of the story: Do this in an afternoon when you have LOTS of time to spare.

New words

Aragorn, "handsome boy!" (referring to himself, not Aragorn), Elvis (my screensaver), cellphone, T-Bone & Cleo (both characters from Clifford the Big Red Dog), música, Junior, finished, acabó (finished). Also, on a LOTR theme, every time we watch the movie (which is about once or twice a month) he calls the Orcs "stinky."

You can tell he's Mexican-American child. His idea of opposites are "hot!" and "uuuy, frio!"

We love to pray also. He bows his head, folds his hands, and goes "Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Amen."

Reminder

Work has been absolutely insane...this weekend postpartum was full, labor & delivery was full, triage was full, and we had people laboring in wheelchairs because there were no beds to put them in. That's bad.

I had a rather unique group of patients. All were very nice people but most of them had issues, health or otherwise. So I spent all 24 hours of my two shifts running from one room to another helping mothers or their babies or both. No time for even lunch (breakfast?? I work nights). I ended up staying after my shift ended to catch up on documenting. So needless to say I was not in the best of moods getting in the car to go home. God knew that and assisted me in choosing a CD that had the words that I really needed to hear:

This is my Father's world
And to my listening ears
All nature sings and round me rings
The music of the spheres
This is my Father's world
The birds their carols raise
The morning light, the lily white
Declare their Maker's praise.

This is my Father's world
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees of skies and seas
His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world
O let me ne'er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong
God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father's world
Why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King, let the Heavens ring,
God reigns, let the earth be glad!

Now, this is probably not the best way to sway people from one side to the other. But the guy on the left does have a point.


Opinions/thoughts/comments welcome.

Fun Quote

Found on my desk calendar for today:

"America's health system is second only to Japan...Canada, Sweden, Great Britain...well, all of Europe. But you can thank your lucky stars we don't live in Paraguay!"
-- Homer Simpson

Lots of news

1) My boy got a smiley-face on his behavior chart today at school! (Last week he was in time out several times for hitting.) His teacher said he did "excellent." I stopped by to peek in on him and they were in music class....all holding little jingle bell instruments & marching around the room to "Father Abraham." Adorable! We want another one so bad we could taste it but the time isn't quite right.

2) Conversation between me and a patient of mine Saturday night. This lady is a member of a country whose women are known for coming to the US just to have their babies here.
Patient: Are you going to give me a diaper bag before I leave?
Me: Yes.
Her: What else are you going to give me?
Me: That's about it.
Her: What about a car seat?
Me: You're responsible for that.
Her: But I do not have one. I need one. I want you to give me a carseat before I go home.

Ok people, the hospital social worker is not your mama. If you can make it to the US from another continent, you can afford a carseat. And how long have you known you were pregnant?? (Meanwhile just down the hall there's a little Hispanic family in which the father works 6 days a week to provide, and he wouldn't dream of asking for a handout.)

3) Last night I tried my hand at making one of our favorite Mexican dishes called sopes or picadas. We had previously bought them at a restaurant but it was far away & the customer service was crappy. So we tried it out. They came out pretty well, although I will do a few things differently next time.

4) Congratulations to Miles and Brooklynne Travis, who welcomed Halleigh Jane into the world this past Sunday at 2:51am. She is an awfully pretty little girl!

I am married to the greatest dad in the whole world. While taking Wee One to his room for night-night last night, I stepped on part of a set of letters that spell out his name but they've got wheels & are magnetically connected so it's really a train, I guess. (which he of course loves.) Anyway, the angle was just right to break the wooden axle to which the wheels were connected. Instead of just letting it go & relaxing for the rest of the evening, my husband went out to the utility room, got out his microtools, whittled the broken pieces down, glued the axle back together, & reassembled the train car for his little boy. Maybe all dads do that, but I haven't seen it.

They also play this game, similar to hide&seek but not really. Here is a transcript of same:
Wee One: High chair!
Hubs: High chair, have you seen Wee One?
WO: No?
H: No?
(Wee One runs off to find something else to ask)
WO: Movie! *(Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit game)
H: Movie, have you seen Daniel?
WO: No?
H: No?
(off to find something else)
WO: Jirafa! (Giraffe)
H: Jirafa, have you seen Daniel?
WO: No?
H: No?
And on, and on, and on...
It is really funny to watch. One of these days when we get a video camera, we will record & post it. One of these days when we join the 21st century...

My baby started preschool!!!!!!!!!!!! And apart from the initial separation anxiety, he loves it. They play, draw, paint, go outside, and learn letters/numbers/colors. (most of these he knew anyway, if I must comment.) Every Monday & Wednesday night before he goes to bed, I tell him he's going to get up the next day & go to school. So Tuesday & Thursday mornings he wakes up & says "School? Teacher?" And he enjoys the treat he gets at the end of the day if he hasn't been put in time-out. So far he's gotten all smiley-faces on his behavior chart. He looks so grown up marching into the building like he owns it. They grow up way too fast!!

Work has been absolutely insane the last few weeks. Labor & Delivery (hereinafter referred to as L&D) has been overflowing which means mother/baby and nursery have been overflowing too. I wondered aloud to myself last weekend, "What happened 9 months ago to make it so bad now?" Then I realized....so, on behalf of OB nurses everywhere, please, people, find a new way to celebrate the holiday season!!

Latest words

Shower, teacher, county (a word that he finds hysterically funny...I don't know why), school, fold (when he helps fold clothes), sockies, finished, hair, posa (mariposa = butterfly), Lupe (Hubs' sister Guadalupe), tia/tio (aunt/uncle).

So the other day I go in his room and find him standing in the doorway of his closet with a pair of pants that have fallen off the hanger onto the floor. He's trying frantically to put on the pants over his clothes that are already on. I say, "Son, what are you doing?" "Shorts, Mama, shorts!"

By default, the word "movie" in my boy's vocabulary means "Lord of the Rings." The other day we were at our neighbor Debbie's house (who, by the way, is his absolute favorite person outside the family) and she had a trinket box with an image of Gollum on it and ny boy's eyes get real big & he turns to me and says "Movie, Mama!"

Hubs had a rough day at work today...part of his job, as you might well know, is that before going to cut grass, he goes to the buffalo ranch that his boss owns to feed their buffalo. One of the females was trying to give birth but the calf was stuck so he & his supervisor were trying to help her out a little and give him a tug. They couldn't do it so they called the vet who came out and for a while they all tried but they couldn't get him out. When Jesus went out there yesterday she was there, so she had been there at least 24 hours trying. Anyway, they had to euthanize her because the calf died at some point during all this. So he didn't enjoy watching that. I wouldn't either.

Sad to hear about the Crocodile Hunter. After handling cobras and black mambas and 20-foot crocodiles, a stingray is what killed him.

Not this past weekend, but the weekend before I watched a 23-week (meaning born at 23 weeks....way too early) triplet die. I was just helping get his parents (who were on our floor) over to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. That was not an experience I'd like to repeat. Watching his mom tell his dad, "No, you hold him first. He's your only son," made me grateful beyond measure for the 23-month old hurricane that lives in my house, that he's healthy, that I still have him around. I am forever telling the nurses in that unit that I couldn't do their job in a million years and now I know for sure! And I could go home and go back to my normal life, but what about that family? They lost another one of the triplets a few minutes later. Not just one child that has died, but two. I cannot imagine. I can't wait for Heaven where things like this never happen.

On a brighter note...my boy starts preschool Thursday. We went to orientation today and he checked it all out. It seems to his liking. He will be one of the younger ones (if not the youngest) in the class..he beat the cutoff deadline by 5 days. But I think he will like it.

My boy was sitting in his highchair the other day with a sippy cup of milk and one of water. The cups happen to stack on top of each other if you position them just right so he was trying to get them the way he wanted them...I look over to him and he's got them all balanced, he takes his hand away and says, "Cool!"

Placing the blame

...So the other day my boy & I are looking at his toddler Bible that has the major stories in it, Moses, Joseph, Jonah, Zacchaeus, Easter, etc. My boy has been working on a piece of apple in his mouth for about half an hour when all of a sudden he decides to spit it out down the front of his (nice) shirt. I'm cleaning it up and saying, "I've got to clean up apple pieces that somebody has spit all over himself. You don't happen to know who that would be, would you?" He thought about it a second...then looked down at the picture in his Bible, looked at me, and said, "Jesus?"

I found this article on the ABC News website...my first thought was, 'Sounds like Chapel Hill to me!'

BLUFFTON, S.C. Aug 10, 2006 (AP)— Customers in a bakery for a Bible study saw a different kind of buns Wednesday morning. A drunken teen came into the Atlanta Bread Co. shortly after it opened, used the bathroom in a storage closet, then walked out of the bakery naked, Bluffton Police Department spokesman Mike Creason said.
"He was sitting on the curb with no clothes on when the police showed up," Creason said.
Julius Daukus, 17, of Columbia, was charged with indecent exposure, police said.
The teen had apparently been drinking while visiting some friends at a nearby home and wandered off, Creason said.
Daukus was confused when police arrived. "He was calm, just sitting on the curb," Creason said. "He didn't know where he was."
Employees at the store said the Bible study regulars just shook their heads at what happened.
Information from: Bluffton Today, http://www.blufftontoday.com

New words

My boy has learned how to say Coach K...so I had to balance yin and yang and teach him how to say "Roy."

Life Lessons

...that I am learning from "Lord of the Rings." Hubs thinks it's a little silly that I find it so fascinating but I just can't help it. I think Tolkien, although he himself said it was not an allegory of anything, did an excellent job of making a commentary on human nature, as well numerous allegories that I as a Christ-follower can learn from.

When I first read the books several years ago, I thought Gandalf was the principal Christ figure, always showing up at the right time with just what is necessary. Now I realize that he is one of several, and not the main one. Aragorn, Frodo, and Sam are Christ figures too. I love it when Sam tells Frodo, "I can't carry the ring for you, but I can carry you." That is what Christ does for us, when we see only one set of footprints in the sand. And though I am late in seeing the last 2 movies (the first I saw in the theater) I am no less appreciative of them. They follow the books quite exactly, and the cinematography is amazing. The casting was awesome too; each of the characters was like I pictured them in the movies.

Some life lessons I've learned from LOTR (though more will surely be forthcoming):
1) Choose your traveling companions very carefully.
2) We all really, really need our friends.
3) Even when you're in a crisis, you still need to have fun (Legolas & Gimli seeing who could get more Orcs at Helm's Deep)
4) Also from Legolas & Gimli....When you get to know someone different from yourself, you just might make a new friend.
5) Sometimes you need a lady to do what no man can. (Eowyn & the Witch-king of Angmar)
6) Behind every Gollum there is a Smeagol with a story.
7) No matter what, keep trying.
8) People whom we do not always agree with still have a reason for being in our lives.

I'm sure the list will grow longer as I keep reading the books and re-watching the movies. I'm only beginning rereading "The Two Towers".

My boy's new words: "tata" (pata, Spanish for paw or foot), pretty, play, home, coming, me, orange, blue, goodbye, goodnight, bravo, Debbie (our neighbor).

Disturbing statistic

While reading an article on the ABC news website, I read a statistic that really bugs me. In 2005, Americans spent $2.5 billion on grooming and boarding for their pets. $2.5 billion!! Could you imagine what good could be done for people with that money?? How many people could be fed, how many kids could be vaccinated, how many months' worth of vitamins could that get, how many Bibles could be sent to Asia, the list goes on and on. We as a nation will spend this much on our pets but when it comes to tithing at church or supporting missionaries, or other forms of generosity, we tend to get all hot and bothered. I realize this is not everyone but I think folks in India or Cambodia or Honduras (or pick any developing country) would be amazed at that statistic, if not a little upset by it.

News

There is a lot of news to write about...less from our home and more from around the world. We are all fine. At Hubs' request, I'm trying my hand at sun-drying our peppers from the garden; we'll see what turns out. I've also yet to can the tomatoes, although I have the recipe from an expert canner. In other news...

1. Mel Gibson's DUI.
I don't have a problem with alcohol per se, but I do have a problem with it being abused. And it's illegal to drive drunk. You'd think that with all Mr. Gibson's millions, he could afford a designated driver. Having said that, I respect the way he has stood up and taken responsibility for his actions. He has not made excuses and has admitted that he has a problem and is seeking help. And although I am not Jewish, it seems to me that he is truly sorry for saying what he said about Jews and is seeking a path to healing wounds caused by those remarks. I'm sure his words fell harder on Jewish ears than on mine, but the words in his statement leave (in my mind) a lot of room for healing on both sides. To read the statement he released, go to http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=2260807.

2. Fidel Castro's surgery
Again, this is a subject in which I personally have no vested interest, but I do try to follow affairs in Latin America so as to be at least semi- well-rounded. For one, I think it's high time that Cubans from top to bottom in Cuba realize that "el viejo" will not be around forever. He is a mortal just like the rest of us, although he has in his tenure made himself seem larger-than-life. Second, it seems to me that once something does happen to him, the Cubans in Miami who are so happy that he's ill will probably not go back to Cuba. Anyway, I truly think that Cuba will be best run by Cubans in Cuba, not Cubans who've lived in Miami for 40 years, nor their children. I'm not saying that you can't have pride in your roots and want the best for the land of your ancestry. That would be like asking my husband to deny Mexico. Not going to happen. I'm just saying that things that work in America may not work in a country ruled by a Communist dictator for 47 years.

3. Heat Wave
I don't know about where you are, but it is HOT here in our corner!!! My boy and I went out this AM for a walk just before 9am and we could only last 15min. We normally last at least twice or thrice that, walking at a pretty good pace. Well, me walking. Daniel's being chauffered in the stroller. It is s'posed to get up to about 100 degrees today with a heat index of 105-110. I am praying all day for my husband's safety as well as that of those who are constructing, paving, picking, roofing, or otherwise doing outside things.

I got a full body massage today for an hour. It was awesome and I highly recommend it. Very relaxing and painful in a good way.

My boy spent 3 nights at Yaya's house being pampered and spoiled. Meanwhile Mom & Papi got things done...painting the livingroom. While I was working, Hubs painted the hallway and cleaned the carpets and kitchen. What a guy! Anyway, we both like the way it all looks.

Also, while I had the TV to myself for a few hours, I watched the last 2 LOTR movies back-to-back.....awesome!! I want to go back and read the books again.

Joke

I hope this is not plagiarism in any way. I did not make this joke up, someone else who is unknown to me did. My friend Kristy emailed it to me and I thought it worth sharing!

Church Phone
A man in Topeka, Kansas, decided to write a book about churches
around the country. He started by flying to San Francisco, and started
working east from there. Going to a very large church, he began taking
photographs and making notes.

He spotted a golden telephone on the vestibule wall, and was
intrigued with a sign which read, "$10,000! per minute."

Seeking out the pastor, he asked about the phone and the sign. The
pastor answered that the golden phone is, in fact, a direct line to
Heaven, and if he pays the price, he can talk directly to God.

The man thanked the pastor and continued on his way.

As he continued to visit churches in Seattle, Salt Lake City,
Denver, Chicago, Milwaukee, and around the United States, he found more
such phones, with the same sign, and the same explanation from each
pastor.

Finally, the man arrived in the lovely state of North Carolina.
Upon entering a church, behold: he saw the usual golden telephone. But
THIS time, the sig n read: "Calls: 25 cents"!

Fascinated, the man asked to speak with the pastor.

"Reverend, I have been in cities all across the country and in
each church I have found this golden telephone, and have been told it is
a direct line to Heaven, and that I could use it to talk to God..

But in 20 other churches, the cost was $10,000 per minute. Your
sign says 25 cents per call. Why is that?

(I just love this part!)

The pastor, smiling benignly, replied: "Son, you're in the South
now and it's a local call.

Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity

That was the verdict handed down today for Andrea Yates. For those who don't remember she was the mother who drowned her five kids in the bathtub a few years back. Although only she, the children, and God really know what happened, I believe in my heart that that is the right verdict. Having been through postpartum depression and having been suicidal myself, I believe there is a fine line between postpartum depression and psychosis. Do I think it's ok to drown your children? Absolutely not!! But do I see the recipe that led up to it? Absolutely. One day when I was doing some patient teaching about pp depression/psychosis, I brought this example up and the baby's dad said, "That woman was crazy!" And I said to him, "That woman was ill and needed help." It is only due to the grace of God and a really supportive circle of friends, family, and coworkers *and God* that I'm alive today. I'm don't think Andrea Yates had that to help her through her mental illness.

In lighter news, we are repainting our livingroom, and boy did it need it! It looks so good. It went from a pale yellow to an aqua turquoise color, the color that the ocean looks when you see a postcard from the Caribbean. So to go with that theme, I'm looking for some either pictures or prints of Mexican/Caribbean things to decorate with. I've ordered a Diego Rivera print called "Girl with Sunflowers" so far and I think I'm going to get some more of his stuff because, although the man's lifestyle left much to be desired, he was a great painter with an ability to capture the essence of Mexico. Anyway, we're both happy with how our "new room" looks.

New words: Mexico, Lola (stroller), toe, shorts, and zebra AKA "horsie".

A quick few words of advice to my friends Miles and Brooklynne who are expecting their first baby Oct. 8: 1) You don't need all the Increase Your Baby's IQ toys & stuff that's advertised. Just wearing a different shirt every day, playing a little music, and talking to the baby will be enough the first 4-8 weeks. Then you can get more things little by little. It gets to be too much real fast. 2) Sleep when Baby Girl Travis sleeps! 3) You can't spoil her by holding her too much!! She is only this little once and it flies by, so enjoy her!!! Ok, enough of my parent soliloquy. As my uncle Jerry tells me, free advice is usually worth what you pay for it.

Cool song part 2

One of my other favorite songs on that CD is this one:

O come and mourn with me a while
O come near to the Savior's side
O come together let us mourn,
Jesus our Lord is crucified.

Seven times he spoke
Seven words of love
And all three hours His silence cried
For mercy on the souls of man,
Jesus our Lord is crucified.
O love of God, O sin of man
In this dread act your strength is tried
And victory remains with love
Jesus our Lord is crucified.

O break, O break hard heart of mine
My weak self-love and guilty pride
His Pilate and His Judas were
Jesus our Lord is crucified.
O love of God, O sin of man
In this dread act your strength is tried
And victory remains with love
Jesus our Lord is crucified.

A broken heart, a fount of tears
Ask and they will not be denied
A broken heart love's cradle is
Jesus our Lord is crucified
O love of God, O sin of man
In this dread act your strength is tried
And victory remains with love
Jesus our Lord is crucified.

This is a really cool CD...One of my favorite songs is "Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder." Here are the lyrics, courtesy of the CD insert.

Let us love and sing and wonder
Let us praise the Savior's name
He has hushed the law's loud thunder
He has quenched Mount Sinai's flame

Let us love the Lord who bought us
Pitied us when enemies
Called us by his grace and taught us
Gave us ears and gave us eyes.
He has washed us with his blood
He has washed us with his blood
He has washed us with his blood
He presents our souls to God.

Let us wonder grace and justice
Join and point to mercy's store
When through grace in Christ our trust is
Justice smiles and asks no more
He who washed us with his blood
He who washed us with his blood
He who washed us with his blood
Has secured our way to God.

Let us praise and join the chorus
Of the saints enthroned on high
Here they trusted him before us
Now their praises fill the sky
He has washed us with his blood
He has washed us with his blood
He has washed us with his blood
He will bring us home to God.

Weird!!

I found this on the ABC news website. Just so you know, it is a kitten.

For this and other strange (creepy!) animal oddities, visit abcnews.com.

Under the category of Things That Make You Go Hmmm:
A bumper sticker I saw yesterday in the Target parking lot -- "Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, especially if you are crispy and go well with ketchup."

We watched "The Diary of a Mad Black Woman" last night after my boy was asleep and it is really good. Funny! The beginning is bad, just because there is a wife whose husband treats her like...well, "crap" is putting it nicely. It is a great story about forgiveness and ultimately the power of God to change lives, I think.

New words: ear (as he stuffs a cotton ball in it), "coomee" (excuse me, used as he's trying to shove you out of his way), "noodle" (from Mr. Noodle on Sesame St.).

Who is your favorite LOTR character? (If you don't know what LOTR stands for, you probably don't have one.) My neighbor Debbie and I agree on Strider/Aragorn. Polls are now open.

Ending with a quote from "The Return of the King": "Yet it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule."

I think Tolkien, who I believe was a Christian, had a quite nice way of putting things and I found this poem in "The Fellowship of the Ring" (Part 1 of the LOTR trilogy):

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost;
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.


In other news, my boy went to the dentist today and very much enjoyed the new toothbrush and the "Cars" sticker that he got. Mom didn't enjoy the news that he will likely be a candidate for braces at around 11-12 years old because of the shape of his lower jaw. But no cavities!!

I tried to find more raspberries at Food Lion but they were all crappy-looking. So I guess we'll have to bite the bullet and buy our fruits at least at the Teeter.

If the word "breast" or "breastfeeding" bothers you, stop here. Otherwise, keep reading. There was a segment on Good Morning America on public breastfeeding, whether people like it or not. As an OB nurse and a 15-month breastfeeder I have to weigh in.

1) There are definite advantages to breastfeeding, too many to name in one paragraph. So why aren't we encouraging more women to do it? I realize that there are mothers who can't at all or who can't breastfeed exclusively, but shouldn't we encourage those who can to do it? We encourage people to stop smoking, don't we? Why wouldn't we as a nation and a society do as much as possible to encourage other healthy habits?

2) Women can pose nearly naked in Cosmo or Hot Rod and unfortunately not too many people get in an uproar, but let a lady in public start nursing her child and she gets all kinds of nasty looks, if not comments. How hypocritical is that?

3) This country does not do nearly enough to promote it, beginning with 12 week maternity leaves for those who are fortunate enough to even get that. Most of the rest of the developed world gets at least 6 months, which is the length of time that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding...meaning nothing else, no juice, no cereal, nothing.

4) Most moms who would nurse in public do it discreetly, at least the ones I know. But don't even think about suggesting that we go in the bathroom to do it. You don't eat your lunch in there (at least I hope not) and neither will our kids.

5) Even though I firmly believe in breastfeeding, I don't make nasty comments when I see you buy or feed your child formula because I know you've probably made your choice based on what works for you. So please don't criticize me for discreetly nursing my child in public, ok?

6) Breastfeeding saved my tail (and my sanity probably) when my boy was 7 weeks old and we took the train to see Yaya and the train got stuck on the tracks behind another disabled train. We were delayed for quite a while. Can you imagine the most non-triumphant (channeling Bill & Ted) scenario had we run out of formula??

Just had to vent.

Mine

My boy's latest word. So now everything belongs to him.

We've discovered that he loves raspberries, which if no one else is happy about, his Finnish Aunties Kirsi & Maiju will be happy to hear. I wish our camera were working to have taken a picture of him stuffing 7 of them in his little mouth when he realized his Hubs was coming so he (Hubs) wouldn't get any.

Also, I wanted to include some song lyrics that Hubs & I both like, by one of our favorite Christian artists, Jesus Adrian Romero: (sung in Spanish) (translation included) It sounds a lot better sung than written but the lyrics are still meaningful.

Qué sería de mí si no me hubieras alcanzado?
Dónde estaría hoy si no me hubieras perdonado?
Tendría un vacío en mi corazón
Vagaría sin rumbo, sin dirección
Si no fuera por tu gracia y por tu amor.

What would be of me if You had not reached me?
Where would I be today if You had not forgiven me?
I would have an empty space in my heart
I'd be wandering with no goal, no direction
If it weren't for Your grace and Your love.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c3RoM3y1rs

Sigh of relief

Mexico's presidency went to Felipe Calderón by 0.5%, although his opponent has promised to take the dispute to court. In any case, under Mexican law, a president has to be named by Sept. 6. Mr. Calderón seems to have more backbone than current President Fox but not so much bravado that he shoots himself in the foot. However, I still think it worthwhile to share a saying that I found in the Spanish-language newspaper a few months back: "Politicians are like socks. The one on the right and the one on the left both smell like the same thing."

Also thought it worthwhile to share this article from "Qué Pasa", the Triangle area's Spanish newspaper from April 2006 that I've kept for some reason. To summarize the article, the majority of police in Honduras pay a war tax to local gang members as the only way they can assure their (the police's) family's safety, the two major gangs being the Mara Salvatrucha and the 18th Streeters. And 24 of the 298 towns in Honduras have never even had working police officers! Is it any wonder that people are coming to the US instead of putting up with that??

Mexican politics

Mexico held its presidential elections this past Sunday. Vicente Fox's election in 2000 broke a 71-year dynasty rule by the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) that was known for its corruption and nepotism (sounds a lot like dook basketball...)

Anyway, the two frontrunners, Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the PRD (Revolutionary Democratic Party) and Felipe Calderón of the PAN (National Action Party, also the party of Vicente Fox) are pretty much in a dead heat after the first recount. The numbers have Calderón leading by 0.3% with 99.2% of the votes recounted, so I guess technically it's still anyone's game. And we thought Florida in 2000 was bad!

Who do I think would make the better president? Well, I don't know where each of them stands on everything but I do tend to favor moderation in general. Seeing as how Lopez Obrador is on the extreme end of the left wing and Calderón is much more in the center I have to hold with Calderon. I think Calderon will do much more good for Mexican citizens living in the US. Lopez Obrador seems to me to be a scaled back version of Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's president (who is right in line behind Kim Jong Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in my list of Nutjob World Leaders) and I don't think he's so great for Mexico's future.

Jerry Springer

Or so it seems some nights at work. Honestly, I think they ought to make it a little harder for people to have babies. I'm glad I'm not an obstetrician, or I would've lost my license a long time ago for tying tubes of people who have no business having any more babies without telling them what I did. You've got to have a license to hunt, drive, and fish, but you can bring a 4lb 9oz crack-addicted baby into this world that you have no intention of ever caring for? NOT RIGHT!!! If you were to put crack in the kid's bottle after he's born, that's child abuse, but you can do essentially the same thing to him while he's in the womb and that's ok?? I realize that Daddy has something to do with this as well, but often he's stupider and a worse parent that Mom. WHY DO WE ALLOW THESE PEOPLE TO REPRODUCE??

My boy has decided that the only way to watch soccer is in Spanish. Saturday while I was sleeping he asked Hubs to turn on the World Cup ("Gol, Papa") so he turned it on to ABC which gets better reception than Univision and that did NOT go over well. "WAAAAAHHHH, Gol!" As soon as my perceptive husband changed the channel to Univision, the waaaahhing stopped. He does have a point. Nothing beats the commentators who can make the word "GOL!" last a full two minutes, no matter which team scores.

We're getting a new washer Wednesday. Finally had to break down & buy a new one, as the repair on the old one lasted about 3 days, then it just absolutely refused to do anything at all. Of course this happens with clothes still in it and it's half full of water.

Happy Birthday to a Mr. Samuel Buerhle who turns 2 today, and to his father who turns 30 tomorrow.

To show how behind the times we are, our neighbors across the street lent us a couple movies, one of which was "Shrek" which we hadn't ever seen all the way through. Not the best I've ever seen but it was cute. Welcome to 7 years ago!!

Home from the beach

Well, we made it, and we had a blast! (Wee One and Hubs rested. Mom did not. I think that's pretty much the way it's going to be.) We went down Friday, stayed til Sunday, and made the most of every moment! We stayed at the Hidden Treasure Inn in Kure Beach. Very cute little place, privately owned and made us feel like we were really at the beach. The efficiency that we stayed in had a bedroom w/ a queen bed (occupied by my boy and his father) and a living space with a twin bed that doubled as a couch for watching TV (occupied by yours truly). Our door opened onto a big porch and looked out over a neatly manicured (fenced-in) front yard replete with a hammock, grill, picnic table, and pool (fenced in within the fence). And lots of pretty flowers. (I sound like a travel brochure.) Not bad for an Internet find and $125/night. Oh, and 3 blocks away from the beach.

Some highlights:
1) The beach, of course: My mother and grandmother were sure Wee One would be afraid of the water. Not so. He made sand castles w/ Hubs for about 90 seconds and was off like a flash into the water (with us right behind him of course). Loved getting splashed, loved the big waves, and when a big one would knock him down, he got right back up and signed "more." Did not want to leave.

2) The NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher: For about the first 10 minutes he loved the fish, then it got old. Plus he had a stinky diaper that was discovered early on and so we were trying to get in and get out, as we had forgotten to pack diapers. (I know, how could you possibly forget diapers for a toddler...). Plus he was getting tired. However, he thoroughly enjoyed the steering wheel on the little machine where you put in a penny & it spits out a design of a fish or the aquarium or whatever. So the next time you wonder where your state tax dollars are going, there's your answer.

3) The pool: We spent by far more time in the pool (covered in sunscreen of course) (at least the boys) than anywhere else. My boy thought the little floaty toys were great until we took him out to kick his feet in the water & that was it. No more floaties. He actually did really well and seemed to understand (with parental instruction and handholding of course) how to behave himself around the water.

4) Marina and Lucy: Nancy's (the inn owner) dogs. Marina is a dachschund (?) mix puppy who ran circles around my boy barking the entire time with him in the middle giggling his head off. Lucy is a 15-year-old German shepherd who was not very playful due to her age but still provided my boy with something to bark at for a while.

For parents and prospective parents who plan on taking their children to the beach: I highly recommend Huggies Little Swimmers or the like over swim trunks. One, they are disposable. Two, they contain any pee or poo that a little one would decide to make.

Of all the NC beaches out there that we've been to, Kure is still the favorite. Commercial enough to have a Food Lion within short distance but not so much that the beachfront is spoiled.

Hark the Sound

My child has sat at this computer and listened an audio stream of "Hark the Sound" about 10 times now. Each times it ends he looks up at me & signs "more". He wants to hear it again. I guess there are worse things a child could want to hear. We don't teach him the ending I learned at Carolina. He just says "rah rah rah" at the end. That's safe.

Happy boy

Immigration (good one, I promise)

I found this letter to the editor in this Sunday's edition of the Raleigh paper, written by a Muslim immigrant and thought it worth posting:

"Illegal immigration is a daunting issue that does not go away. As an American by choice and not by birth, I have the privilege of seeing both sides.

The public perception of an immigrant, enhanced by media, is a fellow who is here earning good wages, not paying taxes, and being a burden on our schools and health care.

Let us not forget that hearly 80 percent of all the Nobel laureates in the 20th century were immigrants who chose to come to America and become US citizens. America has greatly benefited by the constant infusion of brilliant, motivated, and idealistic immigrants to its shores.

Many immigrants who come here do not come for a job, a proverbial brick house with two-car garage and beach place. We come to America because this country remains the last haven for the lovers of freedom and seekers of liberty. We come to America because of the attraction of the supremacy of rule of law and not kings, shahs, ayatollahs and dictators.

Since the dawn of neolithic man people have immigrated to improve their lot. Remember America is itself an immigrant nation.

I hope Congress engages in a dispassionate, reflective, and altrustic debate on this critical issue to examine all arguments and produce laws that are fair, just, and generous."

Vacation!!!

World Cup soccer and vacation all at the same time!! I don't know what to do with myself. I'm more than ready after a couple stressful nights at work. In other news....

1. New words: Poobah (football...the real football) in honor of World Cup; Mommy; tucha (motorcycle...you figure that one out); and boy.

2. Washing machine is fixed!! Was it worth the $152 we spent? I don't know. Guess it beats buying a new one.

3. I'm struggling right now with being involved in a ministry at church. I'm not free on weekends due to my work schedule and am tired during the week trying to catch up. And I really want to use that time to be with my family. My pastor wants me (and I would love to do it) to help with our church's summer ministry in the migrant camps, since migrant farmworkers have a special place in my heart and I kind of have the background to do it. But I'm struggling with finding the time and the motivation, even though it's something that sounds like I would like to do. I was doing my devotions the other day (My Utmost for His Highest) and Oswald says that it's not about what makes me comfortable (the path is narrow and rough and few find it). He's right. But my flesh & spirit are at extreme odds with one another. Which makes me all the more want to do it. I know what Paul meant when he said "The thing I want to do, I do not do, but the thing I do not want to do, that I do."

4. USA is behind the Czech Republic 2-0 right now. Things do not look good. That's part of why we're pulling for Mexico!

5. One of my boy's favorite stuffed animals is a creature named Moomi that my Finnish friend Kirsi gave him when he was just a couple months old. He loves that thing and it absolutely has to be in his bed at bedtime or he won't sleep. The other night as Hubs was tucking him into bed (they usually cuddle in the bed for a bit before Wee One gets into his own bed) Daniel saw my teddy bear. (full disclosure: I'm 27 and sleep with a teddy bear my husband gave me when we were first dating.) He pointed to it and said "Moomi Mamá?" Never let it be said that anything slips past him.

I read this story on ABC News' website. The subject is a young man from the Dominican Republic, recently graduated as Princeton's salutatorian, who came to the US on a visa at age 4 with his mother and they overstayed their visas, thus turning him into an "illegal immigrant." (As if any human being is illegal.) He has been invited to study at Oxford but if he leaves the country he will not be able to return for 10 years under current law. His lawyer has petitioned for a waiver but so far nothing. A spokes person for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (largely anti-immigration) says that "you can't make exceptions for people who break the law just because someone is a genius." I both agree and disagree with that. On the one hand, my husband is in my eyes no less deserving of a green card just because he didn't graduate from an Ivy League school and doesn't speak Latin (this other fellow gave his salutatory address in Latin). On the other hand, why would we work so hard to keep this fellow from legalizing?? He has lived here the majority of his life, speaks English, has an education, is assimilated, and is probably going to benefit our country as well as his own. This is one of the things I see wrong with our immigration system. This guy can't become legal because of a decision that he did not make 18 years ago, but people can come to our country legally to fly planes into the WTC?? Not right. Linked above is the story.

World Cup Mania part 2

These are two of our favorite soccer players, Ronaldinho of Brazil and Jared Borgetti of Mexico. They both have great talent, and while there is a lot of hype surrounding Ronaldinho, he is a pretty neat guy, a kind of rags-to-riches story from Brazil's slums. He has also actively campaigned for intervention in Darfur. Jared is a forward for Mexico and also plays in England. Talented but not flashy, and not hotheaded like Cuauhtémoc Blanco (who, fortunately, was not selected to play for Mexico this year, although very talented). Let's say Cuauhtemoc is like a Porsche whereas Jared is like my Toyota Corolla, that still gets me from A to B without being obnoxious. Enough talk. Here are our picks for teams that will advance through the 1st round. A "J" denotes Hubs' picks, a "B" denote's mine. Wee One picks anyone who will score a "Gooooooooool!" (one of his favorite words)

Group A: Germany & Poland (J)
Germany & Costa Rica (B)
Group B: Sweden & Trinidad/Tobago (J)
England & T/T (B) *apologies to our Paraguayan pastor*
Group C: Ivory Coast & Argentina (J & B) *we hate to agree with my former Argentine boss on anything but Argentina's good*
Group D: Portugal & Angola (J)
Portugal & Mexico (B)
Group E: Italy & USA (J)
Italy & Czech Rep. (B)
Group F: Brazil & Japan (J)
Brazil & Croatia (B)
Group G: France & S. Korea (J & B)
Group H: Spain & Saudi Arabia (J)
Spain & Ukraine (B)

New words

Chile (as in the pepper), tomate (tomato), now, up, help, cow. We live life a mile a minute that's for sure.

World Cup countdown: 2 days. Countdown to Mexico's 1st game: 4 days. (Vs. Iran 6/11/06 @ 6pm).

Beach countdown: 9 days!!!

Coach Kommercial

As many of you know, I'm reading my book (finally got it) called "To Hate Like This Is To Be Happy Forever" by Will Blythe, third-generation Carolina graduate/fanatic. While the language is not always um, G-rated, or even PG, any graduate of Carolina or dook will certainly understand and find funny its content. I highly recommend it for a low-stress read. Anyway, I was playing around on the Web, and found the following cartoon on Marshall Benbow's blog, Marshall being a 4-years-ahead-of-me Carolina grad. So thanks to Miles who has a link to Marshall's blog, and thanks to Marshall for posting such a fine piece of cartoon art. Oh, and make sure you have the volume turned on.
http://www.newsobserver.com/content/multimedia/sports/coachkommercial/

The book I ordered got here, and it is really really good. You might not want to spend money on a new one but definitely see if it's at the library.

New words: jugo (juice) and Hugo (his Mexican cousin who calls him 'Pelón', meaning 'baldy'), and ya (already or finished). Please don't, as my mother does, worry that the child isn't going to speak English! I really think it's because Spanish sounds are easier to pronounce. He understands English perfectly and will repeat you when you say stuff. He just chooses to have most of his words in Spanish.

World Cup Mania

We in our town are excited about the World Cup, especially since it's only 8 days away!!! I think it's much more fun than the Olympics simply bc the focus is on soccer only and not 45 other sports.

In case you were wondering, although we hope the USA does well, we really pull harder for Mexico. Not because either of us anti-American but because a World Cup win would mean a lot more for Mexico than it would for the US. Soccer is becoming popular here but people in Mexico are rabid about it.

Ahhhh. We are now in the 21st century. We have high-speed internet now, and it is wonderful. Setting it up was less difficult than figuring out which set of setup instructions to follow!

My boy's latest words: leche (milk), cheese, (comes out "chee", close enough), boy, Ernie (of Sesame St. fame), and bye-bye. He loves me to sing the "Journey to Ernie" song from the show. He signs "more" when he wants me to sing it again. Usually he just wants to hear me do Ernie's laugh. He thinks that's real funny. So I do it. Over. And over. And over.

Memorial Day

I know it was a couple days ago but my stepdad sent me an ecard which was sent to him by one of his daughters and, even apart from what she said in it, brought tears to my eyes. For those who don't know, my stepdad fought in the South Pacific in WWII for 4 years and is a hero to everyone who knows him, including me. He, however, told me once that the real heroes are those who didn't come back and get to live all these great years that he has been given. Anyway, for those of you who want, I'm posting a link to the e-card (you may have to copy and paste). And it works best when the volume is turned up.
http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=ED44080971

Travels

Found a cool quote. I don't know the guy who made it, but I of course think it's true. "The trained nurse has become one of the great blessings of humanity, taking a place beside the physician and the priest, and not inferior to either in her mission."

Our Memorial Day was great: we took off at 8:40 from our place and got to Durham to visit with our friends the Buerhles (after all this time I'm still not sure if the name is spelled right) so Wee One could play with their 22-month-old and maybe Mom and Dad might get a little hang out time with some friends. We stayed for about an hour, as Wee One was hungry and that was only the first stop on our mini-vacation. To their kiddo, Wee One was "the boy", and to Daniel, their baby was "niña". Sam also called Hubs "the man." I guess Jesus is "the man". :) Visit www.burlyfamily.blogspot.com for a cute picture of the boys playing the piano.

Next stop: Pittsboro, where our niece (Hubs' side) who just had her first baby lives with her baby's dad, and her brother and sister (also our niece and nephew). They're all in their 20s, by the way. Anyway, the baby is adorable and looks just like his Dad. He's got a head full of jet black hair and we didn't take any pictures. Wee One was very sweet with the baby except the one time when he tried to hit him with a plastic hanger. (Jealous of Mom's attention) But he gave him lots of kisses and called him "niña" also.

My boy is also cutting 4 canine teeth at once, the a/c was out at our niece's house, and it was at least 90 degrees in that place. So he was not the happiest of campers. Last night his temp was 102 but fortunately that has seemed to abate thanks to God, A/C, Tylenol, and Motrin. He's feeling much better today.

Haven't gotten my book yet. Anxiously awaiting.

I have just been on Amazon.com and ordered a book that I hope will be an enjoyable read. I've heard good things about it. "To Hate Like This Is To Be Happy Forever" about the Carolina-dook rivalry. Will let you know when I finish what it was like. If it's that good I may not be able to wait til the end.

I heard this song on the radio today and it made me cry...for only about the 100th time that I've heard it. Country music has a reputation for being about "I was drunk the day my mom got out of prison" (the "perfect country song") but there is the occasional song of substance, or at least something sweet, such as this one. I can't remember how the whole thing goes but the chorus is like this:

Let them be little
Cause they're only that way for a while
Give them hope, give them praise
Give them love every day
Let them cry, let them giggle
Let them sleep in the middle
And let them be little.

In other news, Daniel has learned how to say "yes" and "no" in Spanish and English. He does a lot better with no, as you can imagine. Everything is "no," especially when Jesus asks him if he likes dinner. I guess it's his own little way of sticking it to The Man.

Remember how I asked everyone to pray for my little brother and reconnecting with him? My relationship with my dad and stepmother has been tenuous at best for the last few years over somethings that were said about me (commented about in the entry that I later deleted). Anyway, the other night my stepmother called...out of nowhere! But she asked for forgiveness and said she realized that things weren't what she thought they were when they said what they said those years back. So I am going to try and reconnect with them. It will be slow going as you can't just jump right in as if nothing's happened, because it has, and it hurt. I think it probably hurt both sides, as we are all human beings. I thought and prayed about it and these are the conclusions I came to: 1) I would not want my dad or stepmother to go to their graves and me have unresolved issues. I would carry that with me for the rest of my life and I don't want that. 2) If they come to me, ask for forgiveness, want to see me and my family and I say yes and later there is another falling out, then I can deal with that and its consequences. I'm a big girl. But if I say no and have nothing more to do w/ them, and they were sincere, I will have to answer for that one day. I'd rather be on the side of grace, since Christ did (and does) that for me. 3) It's not up to me to judge motives here. What is up to me is how I react to what's presented. 4) I was studying the outline of our pastor's sermon the other day (on unity) and there were verses in there that had to be from the Lord that kind of confirmed what I had been thinking:

"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you many have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you...Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace."
Still, any prayers would be appreciated, as we have tentative plans to get together in late June after Fathers' Day.

On a different note, for those who care, our livingroom floor got vacuumed today for the first time in like 2 weeks.

Retro Wee One & Papa

...from last summer when they were surely the coolest dudes in the neighborhood.

I just had to post this because it falls under the category of "you've got to be kidding." A citizen panel in Oregon says that its state legislators shouldn't show up to work drunk. Well duh! If a nurse (or police officer or McDonald's french fry cooker or whoever) can't show up drunk, one would dare to hope that someone who's making laws for a state or country shouldn't be able to either. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1992236

Musings on baseball & motherhood

When, oh when, will it ever change?? The Cubbies are next to last in the NL Central, 10 1/2 games out..they shoulda never kept that guy with his goat out of Wrigley. We'll always have 1908.

In honor of my friends Miles and Brooklynne finding out their baby is going to be a girl, my boy now knows how to say girl. It comes out more like "goal" but he tries. "A" for effort. He also says "how" (house), cahkee (car keys), ball, and tee-kee (stinky). It's true, once they start talking, they don't stop.

Wee One woke up at 5:50 this AM. 5:50!!! Even the sun has better sense than to be up then! And of course, the second he opens his eyes he has to know where we are. So at 5:50, we hear "Mamá! Papá!" and are thusly awakened. We tried to get him to go back to sleep; nothing doing. So he is at Mother's Morning Out while I attempt to get at least something productive done. (Laundry, not blogging.)

My boy already has his own fashion style, and far be it for me to squelch it. We got dressed today to go to MMO and I put him in a pair of bluejeans and a lime green tshirt. I asked him to go get his Elmo shoes thinking he'd run for his tennis shoes; wrong. He got the red slip on Elmo shoes from his grandmother. Not exactly a match with lime green. But far be it for me to put any other shoes on the child. Of course, he would look adorable in a burlap sack.

McDonald's and America

It isn't every time that you go to McDonald's that you see something moving enough to blog about. But today was different. Before I tell you, let me say that we are not in there every day. We just wanted to get something for Jesus before he went back to work after visiting the chiropractor.

Anyway, as we pulled in the parking lot we saw a man in combat fatigues walking across the parking lot into Mickey D's. I'd say maybe early to mid-40s, nice looking, African-American. Hubs pointed him out and we thought no more of it. I went in to get our order (to go) and saw him waiting for his order to be ready. It was at that point that I saw an older white guy, probably old enough to have himself served in WWII or Korea although I don't know that he did, turn to him and ask him if he was "in the service", as he put it. The soldier answered yes, at which point the older man looked him square in the eye, took his hand, and said "Thanks. I appreciate it," and walked away It was enough to make me teary eyed standing there waiting for my order. I myself thanked him as well but felt like what I said fell way short after watching that exchange.

I have a special spot in my heart for folks who serve our country, whether or not I agree with any particular conflict that they're engaged in. We owe all the ones serving honorably a huge debt of gratitude.

Move Over Pelé!

Newest words

"Kway" (train), "een-ya" (niña) (little girl), and "sky".

Mothers Day (late)

I found this in an editorial column of Sunday's Raleigh N&O and thought I would share it for Mother's Day:

"The text for today's Mother's Day homily comes from an unlikely source: page233 of Will Blythe's 'To Hate Like This Is To Be Happy Forever'. Actually, this is a poor choice of titles, implying this is just another book about what is reputed to be the fiercest college sports feud in America: the Duke vs. Carolina basketball rivalry.

Blythe's book is much more than that. Through vivid writing rich in smiles, humor, and penetrating interviews, the obsessed Carolina grad and former literary editor of Esquire probes the depths of the human condition as revealed through the medium of the nation's sports mania. Blythe does his homework: hanging out with players from both schools, visiting recruits in their homes, interviewing former players, and even infiltrating the camps of Kryzyzewskiville. All in building his case that Duke is the most hated basketball dynasty in America.

A highlight of the volume is the long-awaited and lengthy interview with the primary target of his dislike, Coach K himself. It was during the interview that Blythe experienced an epiphany: the realization that the man might be human after all.

Coach K recalled the time when his mother, before she died in 1996, asked, 'Mike, how did it all happen?', referring to his success and all the championships. When he replied 'Because of you,' she said, 'C'mon, c'mon.'

'She's the reason I'm not afraid to lose,' the coach told Blythe. 'That's because I always had her...And you know what she wanted from me? Nothing.'

As the coach turned his face away, Blythe saw the tears, and his own eyes filled as he recalled his own mother. And he thought, 'Here was the man who had come to represent everything on earth I loathed...and we were woo-wooing about our mothers...Man, this hatred gig was tough.'

Good mothers are like that. Their love is all powerful, melting away the icy crust of hate and causing grown men to cry in memory of them."

So, to my own mother, Happy Mothers Day Mom. I love you bunches.
(And Go Heels!)

Red Hot Chili Peppers

I found a cool website pretty much by accident today; www.weareamericaalliance.org It's an immigrant organization that basically encourages people to contact senators etc. like many others but is also encouraging 1 million Latinos to register to vote. Fewer Hispanics are registered to vote than any other ethnic group in America; of course some of that is due to immigration status (permanent residents cannot vote), but even those who could vote don't in many cases. Anyway, I thought it was worth visiting.

Daniel's new word: cooba (school bus)

We went out tonight for Mother's Day, since May 10 is Mother's Day in Mexico and I'll be half-asleep Sunday. And I was absolved from doing any housework today. I did, however, have to make a trip to the Teeter for trash bags, milk, bananas, and a Mountain Dew.

We are getting some chili peppers in on our chili pepper plants that Jesus is cultivating in our backyard. Still waiting on the beans, peas, and tomatoes. My husband is the only human alive I know that is resourceful enough to dry out seeds from veggies we buy at the store and plant them and actually make them grow!

"The Da Vinci Code" the movie : to see or not to see??

Today in my devotional I ran across this very encouraging piece of Scripture, and since it says to encourage one another with these words, here they are: "And now, brothers and sisters, I want you to know what will happen to the Christians who have died so you will not be full of sorrow like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus comes, God will bring back with Jesus all the Christians who have died. I can tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not rise to meet Him ahead of those who are in their graves. For the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven with a commanding shout, with the call of the archangel and with teh trumpet call of God. First, all the Christians who ahve died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with Him forever. So comfort and encourage each other with these words." 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

My boy's newest words: balloon, goggy (doggie)

Hubs caught Wee One's cold...funny how Wee One was running and playing while he had (still had) his and Hubs was just barely able to pry himself out of bed to go to work today!

Have you heard about that computer game going around? It's called "Border Patrol" (does not have anything to do with the real US Border Patrol) and basically the point is to shoot as many Mexicans crossing the border as possible. You get extra points for shooting "breeders" (pregnant women with small children). Replete with blood spurting out of their bodies and all Now everyone has an opinion, of that I'm well aware, but that is sick. I hope the people who invented it and are sending it around aren't the same white Southern Baptists populating the pews of Eastern NC. Fortunately, the people who would actually find pleasure in something like that are in the minority, regardless of their stance on immigration.

Having an almost 19-month-old is so much fun, if trying at times. He loves to help and will pick things up off the floor for me, will hand me stuff, and will help me sweep the floor. The one thing he's not crazy about is the vacuum cleaner while it's turned on. When it's off he drives it all over the house. The other thing he's currently crazy about is having the Mexican flag draped over his face/body and then having you call out, "Mexican flag, have you seen Wee One? I can't find him anywhere, Mexican flag!" Little by little he works his way out from under it laughing hysterically the whole time thinking he's the master of disguise. It is so cute! BTW, this is not disrespectful to the Mexican flag. Jesus has assured me that there aren't any laws about stepping on the flag or letting it touch the floor etc.

In above cute picture, Wee One is helping Hubs wash the car and got surprised when the hose suddenly got turned on him. ("Who wants to drink from the water hose??" Sorry, couldn't resist a little UHF humor...)

Eph 6:18

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."

This was the verse that our pastor used as the base for his sermon last Sunday on prayer. He usually emails the powerpoint presentation to me as I'm not always in church due to my work schedule. As I was going studying it this AM and making the notes from the sermon the Spirit really convicted me that I'm not doing this as I should be. Especially the "pray on all occasions" and the "be alert" part. I think praying on all occasions helps one be alert, actually. So I wanted to share this with y'all hoping that it would encourage/challenge you as it did me.