All Done

I'm all done teaching for the 08-09 school year, and I couldn't be more thrilled! I do still have one more rehearsal and dance to perform, but I feel like a huge weight has been lifted. I'm looking forward to the two vacations I have planned--San Diego and Las Vegas--and a whole lot of relaxing! I want to get our house really clean and organized, so that when our family starts to grow everything will be ready. Chris and I are excited to have biological and adopted children, and we can't wait to start the process! I was contacted today about the orientation schedule for foster/adoptive parents, so we should start that sometime this summer. I'm also hoping that we conceive at some point this summer. Now, that I'm done teaching and taking classes, I should be able to focus on the important things in life: faith, family, friends, fitness, and fun :) Here's to living the life you love and loving the life you live--your BEST life (thanks to Bob and Oprah for those quotes)!!!

Child Witches, Christianity, and The Congo

A couple of nights ago I caught an episode of "Nightline" that horrified me. There is a new movement taking place in the DRC, Africa involving Christians and witches. It sounds ironic, but it isn't. There are "pastors" charging people $50 to cleanse their children of demons. You should know that the average person living in the Congo only makes $100 per year. When a child is "cleansed", they are bitten, have hot wax poured on their bellies, are burned, and the list goes on. The children who can't be saved, are abandoned by their parents. Young girls are especially susceptible to abandonment. I'm not sure why. They are frequently raped while living on the streets, and they have many children who they struggle to feed. Oh, and there was one boy who was so malnourished, because his mother beleived that starvation would remove his demons. Two little boys that were interviewed were so traumatized that they didn't respond when questioned, and they stared off into another worold. So, while these "Christians" are getting rich, tons of children are being abused, tortured, and abandoned on the streets of the DRC. I don't know what to do about this, but it's obvious that something needs to be done to save these kids.

Traveling

Whenever I get on the road, I keep my eyes open for my favorite road sign of all time: Blowing Dust Area. When you're in the desert, everywhere is a blowing dust area. Duh!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Olivia made it! And, she made it one year early! She is almost officially a high school graduate. The funniest thing about this for me is thinking back to my own graduation, and how Olivia was just a rolly-polly eight year old kid :) And now, she's a beautiful young woman who has a lot of dreams for her future. I want every one of them to come true!

When Olivia was born, I wanted her to be a mini version of me. I resented the fact that she wasn't anything like me at times. I did ballet, she played basketball. I LOVED every moment of high school, and she didn't really care for it. I knew that I wanted to be a teacher since 1st grade, Olivia changes her mind about everything all of the time. We're so different, and yet I admire everything that she is. She is really smart. She dreams big! She takes chances, some of which I wish she wouldn't. There isn't anything safe or predictable about Olivia, and I wish I had a little bit more of that quality in myself. Oh, and my favorite quality about Olivia is that she isn't caught up in other people's opoinions of her. She dresses how she wants to, wears her hair how she wants to with no regard for the in-crowd, etc. I was much too caught up in all of that junk.

All in all, my little sister is awesome.

The Soloist

Yesterday afternoon I went to see "The Soloist" with two friends. They didn't really get it. I did. I grew up with my mom telling me stories about the mentally ill patients she worked with at Kino hospital when she was a psychiatric nurse. These were the same stories reflected in the movie. It probably helped that I watched the TV special about Ayers and Lopez prior to watching the movie. Mental illness scares me, because of the control that it takes away from its vicitims. All in all, I wish people would have more compassion for the mentally ill, the homeless, and the gifted. They may not be people that can be easily related to, but they're people.

See "The Soloist" or read it, or both!

this past weekend

Chris and I had a busy and fun-filled weekend. On Friday night, we attended GRHS's presentation of "Cinderella: The Musical", which was surprisingly good. It didn't quite live up to YHS's version of "Hello, Dolly", but it was entertaining nevertheless. Following the show, we went to Laurel's house for poker. We were too late to join in, but we chatted with people, and it was fun to get out. On Saturday morning, we drove to Tucson for JJ and Jennifer's wedding. Before going to the wedding, we went to Verizon to get new phones. Chris got a BlackBerry Storm, and I got a Nokia something or other. They're great! Anyhow, JJ is our friend from high school, and Jennifer and him have been dating for four years. She has to sons, Christopher and Cayden, from a previous relationship. The wedding was held at a beautiful church on the far northwest side of town. It was beautiful! Chris and I watched the sunset at one point. Then, we all ate dinner at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants, La Parilla Suiza, and I got the same thing I always get--bistek tacos. It was so good! SNL was hosted by Justin Timberlake that night, so I tried to stay awake, but I couldn't do it. However, I did see the sequel to "Dick in a Box", which was absolutely hilarious! On Sunday, which was Mom's Day and Chris's 27th b-day, we went to the Blue Willow (another favorite) with my mom and Olivia. It was great. Then, we headed home. Once we got home, we went to Red Lobster for dinner to celebrate Chris's b-day with the gift cards from my mom. I had the most amazing tilapia and shrimp dinner. Wowzers! We rented "Rendition", which was good but way over my head. At the end, I was totally confused. So, all in all, it was a great weekend :)

5/5

Possibly the dumbest question I've ever asked relates to Cinco de Mayo. Drum roll please...

When is Cinco de Mayo?

Yeah, I actually asked Chris and Ari that question a few years ago in an Albertson's in Tucson. And, it took me a second to realize why they thought that was hilarious! Oh my.