Ten things:
1) I tried out for Jeopardy Tuesday night in an online contestant search. I figured, nothing to lose. I can tell you who shot Bobby Kennedy but can't tell you what I had for breakfast yesterday.

2) We've subscribed to a newsletter called Voice of the Martyrs and it is designed to keep Christians aware of the sufferings of our brothers and sisters around the world. It's not fun to hear about what they are going through for the sake of Christ but awe-inspiring (and challenging) to read about their joyfulness in the midst thereof. Check them out at http://www.persecution.com.

3) My boy's new word is "shoes". Finally, a word that I taught him how to say.

4) I think we have a Tar Heel in the making. My boy has a Carolina board book that has pictures of various Carolina uniquities (is that a word??) such as the Bell Tower, the Davie poplar, etc. Close to the end it's got a page with the alma mater and fight songs. We sing them a lot, so now he'll bring me the book open to that page and yell "Rah, rah, rah!" at the top of his lungs.

5) My 12-year-old cousin Ben plays lacrosse at school and is apparently very good, maybe scholarship material. Dook's lacrosse team isn't getting good press right now, rightly or wrongly. Hoping Ben doesn't choose dook lax.

6) Does anyone else love Mexican queso fresco as much as we do? We use it on everything. My boy eats it in chunks and says "Num num!" (Yum, maybe?)

7) Here's hoping the Senate passes bill 1033, the bill for immigration reform. I read an article in this week's Newsweek in which Sen. Tancredo (Colorado, I think) heard about a high school honor student in his state that couldn't get into college because of his illegal status and subsequently tried to get the student and his family deported. Didn't work. Boo-yah!

8) While we're talking about immigration, what's up with them wanting to build a wall along the border? Who are they kidding? From By the Lake of Sleeping Children: "A group of German delegates attending a multinational conference on immigration in San Diego was taken to the new stretch of fence along the border. They peered through the fence at the Mexicans peering back at them. The hosts, various well-meaning Saviors of the American Way, thought the practical Germans would be impressed with the brilliant engineering of the fence. Imagine their alarm when the TV cameras went on and the German spokesman, visibly distressed, turned away from the border and said into the mike, 'We tore down our wall,' and walked away."

9) You should read the book mentioned in #8. It's written by Luis Alberto Urrea, a Mexican-American writer. It's very enlightening, funny, and in some parts, heartbreaking. By the Lake of Sleeping Children.

10) Tonight is weigh-in night @ Weight Watchers. Last week I'd lost close to 5lbs. Hopefully the downward trend continues.....

Must read

Everyone out there must read this book that I've just finished and am rereading. Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario is one of the best books I've ever read. I who am very pro-immigration and pro-immigrant learned so much reading it, as it addresses the issue of Central American immigrants which I was not as familiar with as I am with the Mexican side. It's tragic in so many ways and puts a human face to this issue that is so divisive. You have to read it. The newspaper installments of the book were Pulitzer Prize winning and I can see why. It should be in the library if you should want to read it. Won't take you long, as it's a page turner.

Update

Quick life update...
1) Today is wedding anniversary #4 for us. We're going to celebrate it on Saturday, at which point my mother is coming to have quality grandson time while we have some couple time. She threatened to take him with her to the Hampton Inn and let him spend the night with her which would let us sleep past 6:30am. That would be as fine an anniversary present as any! To all who have supported us and prayed for us, we say a big thank you and send a big e-hug.

2) My boy now knows how to say "okay". Hubs taught him. Are we seeing a theme in how he learns his words??

3) I went to Weight Watchers last week and it was not pretty. I weighed more last week than I did the day my water broke at 9months pregnant with my boy. BAD!! Tonight is weigh-in night. I hope to be pleasantly surprised. Usually the first couple weeks you lose a fair bit then you slow down...mostly water.

4) Hubs was in an accident this morning. Very fortunately, no one was hurt and there was only minor damage to the other vehicle, none to ours. He got a ticket and was shaken up but I think we'll be alright. God was watching out for him, as He has been known to do for our family.

New words

Boo-boo (after he got one)

Gol! (just like the Mexican soccer announcers say it)

Que hay? (Mexican slang for "what's up?)

Luna (moon)

Light

He also has this flashlight that's shaped like a hippopotamus and when you turn it on the hippo's mouth opens up (light is inside) and it laughs. So now every time Daniel sees a flashlight he does this Beavis-and-Butthead laugh like his hippo does. It is so funny to watch.

We are very much into closing doors. If I open a drawer or a cabinet or the refrigerator, Helpful Daniel is right behind me making sure I don't forget to close it. Often he will do the honors even before I ask. I've taken him to a Mother's Morning Out at one of our local churches recently and he seems to really enjoy it. I ask him if he wants to go see Mrs. Irene and play, he goes for his shoes and runs toward the door and yells "Go! Go!" I guess that means he enjoys himself.

Books & Movies

Rented "Walk the Line" the other night. I watched it, Hubs didn't. I thought Joaquin Phoenix & Reese Witherspoon were really good; Witherspoon definitely deserved the Oscar she won. My boy liked all the guitar strumming, and clapped along with the guys during the scene at Folsom.

Also, I got some books that I'd ordered from Amazon, and they are definitely worth reading. One is called "Dead in their Tracks", writing the story of immigrants crossing the US-Mexico border -- from their viewpoints and from Border Patrol's. The author actually crossed through the most dangerous part of the AZ desert with 4 Mexican guys to see what they go through to get here. (See if you would be willing to risk all that for your family.) It is really good; he includes pictures of the bodies/bones of folks who've died crossing. Although disturbing, it's worth knowing and caring about. Makes the point that these are human beings. The 2nd book, "Coyotes" is along a similar vein, except the author pretends to be Mexican and travels with his group across the border and all over the US and Mexico. In his preface he writes, "To get to know Mexicans you need to speak their language, be willing to put up with living conditions less comfortable than our own, and especially if you look and were raised as differently from them as I was, you need to believe in the subversive idea that a human is a human, and that human beings everywhere, with a little effort, can come to understand and even like each other." The last book is called "Enrique's Journey", a true story about a teenage Honduran boy whose mother left him to go work in the US and his journey on freight trains through Guatemala, Mexico, and the US to find her. Reading it as a mother, it has had a hugely profound imp63act. As you can +te6l6l, +I'm getting help typing here. Better go for now.

When I Get Where I'm Going

This is a country song by Brad Paisley & Dolly Parton that I really like. Without the music it's not quite as good but they lyrics are still moving:

When I get where I'm going
On the far side of the sky
The first thing that I'm gonna do
Is spread my wings and fly
I'm gonna land beside the Lion
Run my fingers through His mane
Or I might find out what it's like
To ride a drop of rain

Yeah when I get where I'm going
There'll be only happy tears
I will shed the sins and struggles
I have carried all these years
I'll leave my heart wide open
I will love and have no fear
Yeah when I get where I'm going
Don't cry for me down here.

I'm gonna walk with my granddaddy
And he'll match me step for step
And I'll tell him how I've missed him
Every minute since he left
And then I'll hug his neck

Yeah when I get where I'm going
There'll be only happy tears.
I will shed the sins and struggles
I have carried all these years.
I'll leave my heart wide open
I will love and have no fear
Yeah when I get where I'm going
Don't cry for me down here.

So much pain and so much sadness
In this world we stumble through
So many questions I can't answer
So much work to do...
But when I get where I'm going
And I see my Maker's face
I'll stand forever in the light
Of His amazing grace...

New words

Knee and wheel. I find it so amazing how my boy decides which words are worth learning.

Dilemma

Ok, so when I went to go pick up supper tonight I was faced with what continues to be for me a moral/spiritual dilemma...the folks with the "will work for food" signs. I am always torn. On the one hand, I feel like if folks really wanted to work, there are jobs out there to be had. Not the best jobs, but work nonetheless. Mr. David Rose of Nash County might be able to use some folks to pick sweet potatoes or tobacco on one of his many acres of farmland. We support local charities that give a hand up to people who need it. I myself have spent many a night volunteering in homeless shelters and know that a lot of these folks are decent people. I know that most Americans (ourselves included) are one or two paychecks away from homelessness. But I am not going to give my money to be spent possibly on alcohol or worse when there are jobs out there to be had. On the other hand, what if, as Hebrews says, in giving money to these guys, we are entertaining angels without knowing it? Jesus was pretty much broke also and I'm sure there were plenty of folks who wondered as He was preaching and healing why he didn't go get a "real" job. I don't know if there is an easy answer to the situation.

We've started painting our room and it looks really good. One wall is dark aqua and the other 3 are going to be more turquoise. Bought bed linens in beige (like the sand at the beach since we are going w/ a beach theme here) and aqua and I must say it looks pretty cool so far. We're going to hold off on Dan the Man's room for a while just to see what he really gets/stays interested in. Right now I don't think he really cares what's on the walls in his room.

I know Possum and everyone else has posted a list of Oscar choices but you know what? We haven't seen any of these movies and may not even watch the Oscars. So there.

Latest Wonder Child Trick:

Ask him in Spanish if he's sleepy. He'll respond with the biggest fake yawn you've ever seen, exposing all his 12 teeth but most prominently the front two which Hubs calls rabbit teeth.

Also: we're considering redoing our bedroom & Daniel's room. Here's where we need help. We want to redo our room in tropical colors -- not the current yellow and NOT PINK -- perhaps a warm teal or light green. Wonder Child's room we're thinking about redoing in Blue's Clues or Clifford since he is such a fan of dogs. So we're thinking of repainting the walls in there Carolina blue with maybe an accent wall in a slightly darker shade. NOT dook blue, ok? If any of my friends or enemies with a flair for decorating have any tips or hints, we'd appreciate them, ok?