My trip so far....

In 200 words... give or take...

Realizing how green and luscious this place really is... and how small. It seemed huge when I was a kid...
Spending Christmas Day with my Grandparents, Aunt and Uncle, Cousins, and Siblings...
Taking care of wedding details...
Eating acorns with my 10 year old cousin and 22 year old brother and 32 year old sister and then asking our Grandpa whether or not they're poisonous... (they're not and they're not bad either)
Taking care of wedding details...
Carving my first turkey, badly, I don't even like turkey...
Letting my zany-ness take over and keeping my soon to be brother-in-law entertained...
Going to dinner with my family and my beautiful best friend of 13 years, Tara, (who hasn't changed a bit and will probably never age) and her gorgeous and super chubby little baby, Jonas...
Taking care of wedding details...
Helping my sister unmake part of her dress while she works on other pieces of it and hoping and praying it all comes together in time and that she won't be walking down the aisle while we sew her into her dress...
Taking vitamin C and Day-Quil and trying to keep everyone from getting sick too...
Lord of the Rings marathons while we work on wedding details...
And absolutely gorgeous weather... which is making for absolutely gorgeous hair...
Why did I ever leave?

Merry Christmas!

Hello my dearies! I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I'm finally in Orlando!!!! Our flight was long and it was such a relief when we finally landed. I've missed this place so very much. On the way home from the airport, we drove through our old neighborhood and told stories. After an nice long afternoon nap, we surprised my soon to be brother-in-law's family by carolling at their door. We spent a beautiful evening with his amazing family, singing Christmas carols, eating, and getting to know each other. It was really cool to have them share their Colombian Christmas traditions with us as we shared our family traditions with them. Any way, it's 3 am here on Christmas Day and I'm pooped. There's so much to do tomorrow and for the next week, I'll try and keep everyone updated.

Temporary Sign Off

Well my dears,

I've just found out that my internet connection is going to be disconnected tomorrow evening. For the next week and a half, I'll be busy moving, unpacking, and preparing for my trip to Florida. Hopefully I'll have internet again near the first of the year, but there aren't any guarantees. So, farewell for a while, I'll check in as often as I can on borrowed computers. I just wanted to say...

Happy Holidays!

The mounting suspense...

I'll be home in 12 days!

The last time I was home, the air smelled like thick stinky smoke because of drought fires. I'm looking forward to the old familiar Florida smells. I always love the first deep breath when leaving the airport. I live by my sense of smell. I'll be home for 9 days. The only plans we have set in stone so far are my sister's wedding on the 29th and spending time at the beach on Christmas Day. It was a family tradition until we moved away. We'd get up early and open our presents and eat breakfast, then we'd all load up in the family van and drive out to the beach and take a walk. I'm really looking forward to that. I'm also really looking forward to seeing my best friend, Tara, and her new baby, Jonas. She's emailed me pictures and he is GORGEOUS y'all. I'm also going to see my good friend, Rachael, and her little boy. As a matter of fact, I'm going to be staying at Rae's mom's house for a few days while I'm there. There are so many people and places to see, I hope I can fit it all in while I'm there!

In the meantime... I'm going to be up to my eyelashes in paper work. It's not quite as stressful as finals week, but it's a lot of work. I have to do one "progress note" for each child I work with, every time I interact with one of them for more than 15 minutes. I have 8 kids right now and I spent about 8+ hours with them exclusively last week. And I still have to catch on about 4 hours from the week before. Each note contains a narrative of our activity including their behavior and interactions, what my role was, and which of their predetermined goals were met as a result of our activity. Then I have to paste it into a separate database, print it, sign it, and file it. On the flip side, last week was extremely fun. Our "group" for the day on Wednesday was focusing on the skills of teamwork, problem solving, and communication. We baked cookies and set up an artificial Christmas tree. The cookies were easy, but I made the kids figure the tree out on their own. It's one of those trees that you have to assemble a branch at a time, one level at a time. They had to start over a few times, but they figured it out. I was so proud of them. They worked so hard and worked so well together. Then the kids served the cookies to a group of carolers who came to sing to them on Thursday night. I also got to go with them to see the Nutcracker Ballet on Friday night. They LOVED it. I LOVED it. For now, I'm sticking with this job. Even though I need more hours and more money. I love it too much to walk away. And I don't think it's time yet.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights part II

I posted this a year ago or so and I felt that it would be
appropriate to post it again.

Here is some important information that I found that comes from the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 31, it says, "Corporal punishment, punishment by placing in a dark cell, and all cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments shall be completely prohibited as punishments for disciplinary offenses."

Protection of all Persons From Torture
U.N. Declaration on the Protection of all Persons From Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment of Prisoners

Article 2: Any act of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is an offense to human dignity and shall be condemned as a denial of the purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and as a violation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Article 4: Each State shall, in accordance with the provisions of this declaration, take effective measures to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment from being practised within its jurisdiction.
Article 8: Any person who alleges that he has been subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment by, or at the instigation of, a public official shall have the right to complain to, and have his case impartially examined by, the competent authorities of the State concerned.
Article 9: Wherever there is reasonable grounds to believe that an act of torture has been committed, the competent authorities of the State concerned shall promptly proceed to an impartial investigation even if there has been no formal complaint..

Dick Cheney is the Anti-Christ.

Tricks and treats... SMELL MY FEETS

Why is it so very hard to find the perfect gold shoes? I'm going nuts ya'll! All that I ask is that they be gold wedges, at least 3" tall and reasonably comfortable since I'm going to be doing a lot of dancing. I would even be extremely happy if I could find the perfect turquoise or teal wedges. What's the deal? There are some online, but I'm not in the mood to deal with slow shipping or them potentially not fitting or not getting here when I need them. The rest of my outfit for my sister's wedding is complete... and super sassy. I'm totally crushing on a pair of JLo shoes called the Vanessa because they're turquoise and gold and tall and sexy, but I don't know about the quality and I can't smell them online. Yes, I smell shoes before I buy them. Not for stinky odours, for quality. If I was a little less self possessed, I'd probably give them a good chew as well. Instead, I twist them bend them and generally make sales people cringe. I've had good luck with Zappos so far, but this is a big deal and I don't have much time to get the perfect shoes and can't risk any disasters. I'm really happy that this is the biggest drama in my life right now. The lack of perfect gold shoes. It doesn't get much better than this.

Strange Bedfellow

I'm going to be sharing a room with an 8 inch fish that looks a lot like this one. He has more color and prettier markings than the one in the picture. I feed him 3 times a day when I'm there and just found out that these fish (Red Tiger Oscars) actually like to be touched. I don't think this fish is gonna get that lucky. He doesn't even have a name. My brother left him at my mom's house and he would be in the spare bedroom if there was any way that I could move his freaking enormous tank by myself. It takes up most of one of my walls. It looks like we're gonna be roommates for a while. He's quiet, but he poops a lot and the massive pump for the massive tank is really loud and the sound of running water makes me have to get up to go pee in the middle of the night (a first for me). My mom forgets to feed him, so he practically jumps out of his tank when I show up because he knows he's gonna get some proper grub. I swear he's looking at me when I take my clothes off so I always turn my back to him. Yeah, seriously. It's a fish. A no-name fish who gives me the eye.

Momentum

I love the fall. There's an energy that moves me forward. No matter where I am in my life, I'm always energized and refreshed as soon as the weather cools down. I can feel a change coming. I half expect myself to be worried by or afraid of change, but I never am when it comes right down to it. Something wonderful this way comes. I need to post a thank you to a friend. I won't say who and I won't say why. Maybe it's all of you and maybe it's just because. I won't tell. But thank you indeed. Without even knowing it, you've given me a push in the right direction. Just the push I've needed. I wasn't aware I was waiting for it. And now I'm going to move forward on the momentum you've created for me without Knowing. So again, thank you.

Friday Night

Tonight I watched "Annie" with 8 kids while 84,000 corn dogs cooked in the oven. The three rooms in the Children's Center that I oversee looked like a tornado had whipped through. Every single toy was off the shelves and on the floor. I had kids playing monopoly and computer games in one room, legos and trucks in another, and 3 little girls staring at the tv screen in awe in yet another. It was the first time they'd seen "Annie" and they were obviously in love. I fed them all corn dogs and strawberry ice cream until they were laying in a heap on the floor and then I pulled out my huge candy tub and let them have at it. They were so wired that clean up was remarkably fast once their mothers showed up to get them.
A local salon offered to close their doors for 3 hours tonight and one of my co-workers piled all the women in a huge van and took them over there for haircuts and massages and manicures. They came back beaming and beautiful. Some of the ladies had gotten such drastic makeovers that their kids were speechless. It was a good night. I drove my co-worker, Viva, home and went in her house to say goodnight to her 3 little boys ages 5, 6, and 7. She has the funniest kids, I absolutely love them. They're my three little Samoan boyfriends. They draw me pictures and ask me out all the time. The only one still awake was her 5 year old who needed a pep talk about monsters. Our conversation sounded like this:

Me: So, are you afraid of the dark?
Danny: No way!
Me: Good. Because I really am and one of us has to be the brave one.
Danny: What!? Are you afraid of monsters?
Me: No way man. I don't let those suckers mess with me.
Danny: What do you do?
Me: I say, 'Hey sucker! Nobody invited you. Get outta my room! I'm trying to sleep!'
Danny: Does it work?
Me: Every time. Every body knows monsters are sissies.
Danny: Oh! Ok.

Life is good ya'll.

Word.