I'm glad I'm not a politician

Because I get too emotionally involved, and I'll make decisions based on my emotions. Besides, I have a mental block against political talk.

But I'm constantly faced with one issue. Everyday. An issue that affects my students, my coworkers, and to an extent, my family.

Immigration.

And it slapped me in the face again last night when I went to the movies. I knew it would. We watched Under the Same Moon. So good and highly recommended! It gives you a different perspective on the whole immigration issue; makes it more real.

Many, if not most, of the people at my school are immigrants. Some legal, some not. Of course all the teachers are legal, but for years I've heard the stories of their struggles -- wives separated from husbands, lawyers taking advantage, employers reneging on promises, dreams deferred. Just two weeks ago my friend, Adriana, was telling me her husband wants to go back to Mexico since he hasn't been able to find work or been successful in obtaining the appropriate visa. But she has a job and she makes good money. The first year they were here she was miserable, missing her family, friends, and life in Mexico. Now she's managed to make a life in Texas, but her husband is the one that's miserable. They are such a sweet couple; it's obvious that they are very much in love. And they love the Lord and radiate His love. Which is probably why I was so shocked when she said she told him he could go but she wasn't leaving!

Then there are the students. I'm fairly certain that all of mine were born here in the States. But some of their older siblings weren't and their parents were most certainly not. They come from all over -- Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela, Salvador, Ethiopia, Nigeria. And many of them are not here legally. So when the father of one of my mother's students was arrested outside the school Thursday morning, we were almost certain little Erik wouldn't see his father again for a very long time. It would have been the second time he was caught, so that meant imprisonment. But by some miracle he was released because the charges they arrested him on were not valid.

How can I be relieved that another illegal resident was set free?

Simple. I look into his child's eyes everyday. And I know what those eyes will look like once his father is taken from him.

I've seen how Randy's ready smile has faded a bit since his father was deported back to Honduras several months ago. His teacher has commented on how his performance in school has waned. He's not concentrating or working as hard as before. And he's only just turned six. How do you explain politics to a kindergartener?

I'm not disillusioned. I know that not all the immigrants here illegally are honest, hard-working people. I know there are murderers, drug dealers and rapist here as well. Some of them may also have students at my school. That's a scary thought. But I just wanted to enlighten you a bit, show you the side of immigration that's not scandalous enough to make headlines.

And to further your enlightenment, go see Under the Same Moon:


Finally, I'll leave you with some of my dad's thoughts on the issue:

For the vast majority, undocumented immigrants seek entry into this country in order to work. Most cannot provide for their families in their own poverty-stricken homelands, so they come to America. They are willing to risk their lives and suffer all manner of hardships for an opportunity to provide for their families. Wouldn’t you?

In his Inaugural Address, President John F. Kennedy declared, “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

Millions that have been shackled with the chains of poverty in their own homelands have escaped to America. They seek to free themselves from the shackles of an oppressive condition that would deny them the right to provide for their children. They do not wish us ill, but they will “bear any burden,” and “meet any hardship” simply to acquire relief from the humiliations that come with poverty.

The world is watching and waiting to see how America will solve her immigration issue. It is imperative that we navigate through this human crisis cautiously, and not allow our emotions to convert us into “ugly Americans.”

Thankful Thursdays!

We're stretching today, people, so bare with me!

1. I received my proof of employment yesterday! I was worried they wouldn't get it to me in time because apparently no one in HR opened the email I sent TWO WEEKS AGO. I should have never doubted God's provision. DUH!

2. My grandma gave me a big chunk of change to hold in my savings account so that the British Consulate won't think I'm completely broke. I definitely don't have enough to last a year, but it will hopefully be enough for them for the time being.

3. I got to chat with Debs over the phone on Sunday and got the skinny on her man! Now she's trying to play matchmaker and has sent me pics of potential bachelors she knows. HA!

4. The parent that was arrested in our school parking lot yesterday (yeah, you read that right) was released the same afternoon, thankfully. It was a bogus charge of playing music too loud. We were worried he may get deported, so we're quite thankful this family will not be separated.

5. Little Luis, one of my "blessings," is finally learning to read! 'Tis very exciting!

6. The Speech Competition we worked our butts off for the past two weeks was POSTPONED! Now it's not 'til May 13th, which is ok because we'll have time to perfect the kids' speeches now that they have it all perfectly memorized.

7. I love my fuel efficient car, especially these days now that gasoline prices are inching closer to $3.50!

8. Only 24 days until I can take a deep breath and rest easy!

9. I've successfully cut my caffeine consumption in half since MONDAY. I get headaches, but it's nothing I can't live with . . . well, except that first day . . . I kinda passed out as soon as I got home and then couldn't keep any food down the whole night. But I was good as new the next morning!

10. All NEW episodes of all my shows tonight!!! And let me take this moment to say that I'm SO over Henry and I think Betty will be better off with Gio!



Ok, turns out I do have loads to be thankful for. I'm just so darn tired and stressed! I'll try not to let that rob me of my joy . . .

Thankful Thursdays!

1. All the pieces falling into place.

2. Completing my visa app with no problems.

3. The kids catching on to the flow of the speech comp, and them gaining confidence with every recitation.

4. Only 30 instructional days left until the summer. That's actually a bit stressful because there's still SO MUCH I haven't taught my kids!!!

5. What Brandi said Daniel told his little sister after she hit him: "Do not do that again, or satan will be glad!"

6. Hearing more of my students reading more and more everyday. And hearing them help each other learn.

7. The fact that Jim bought Pam an engagement ring two weeks after they started dating! And the fact that they can both laugh over his faux proposals. I heart The Office.

8. Hearing a British accent during my phone interview Tuesday morning . . . even though it was at 6 a.m.

9. Having coworkers that will come in and hold up my arms whenever it gets to be too much. (I have friends that do that too, but at work my colleagues can literally help shoulder the load.)

10. Discovering that God was right when He assured me 2008 would be the year of Restoration.

I'm not the only one

All seems quiet in the blogosphere. At least the sites I visit are. So I don't feel so bad about the lack of posting. I guess I haven't felt much like talking.

Work's been crazy, as usual. In exactly a week we have a speech competition, which was a surprise - it wasn't supposed to happen until May. But all the kids have managed to pull it together. Mostly. Two of the kids I'm coaching are still learning their speeches. YIKES! I know they'll know them by Wednesday. I hope they'll know them well enough. For their sake. I'd hate for them to freeze and forget it all once they get in front of the judges.

I had a phone interview with King's Arms Tuesday morning. Because of the time difference I had to wake up at 5 a.m. so I could get ready for work before the 6 a.m. phone call. It went well, and it was good to voice my reasons for still wanting to go work on project after so long. Of course they still want me to go over, so the interview wasn't too daunting. But I hung up feeling a bit overwhelmed. It will put me in a hard place financially, somewhere I haven't been in a few years now. And since others are involved that makes this decision even more difficult. Makes me wonder if I'm being selfish, foolish, etc. But I keep praying for God to close the door if this isn't His will.

Speaking of King's Arms, I went back and tagged most of the posts from when I was over there in '04. So if you're interested in knowing exactly what I'll be doing for the next year of my life, just click the tag labeled "KA" and scroll down to start reading from the beginning. There's some powerful stuff there.

Ok, 5:30 a.m. has been coming way too early lately, so this is it for my semi-update post. Tomorrow is Thankful Thursday. Yay! But that means I need to decide if I'm going to Waco on Saturday or not. Oi! I don't think I even mentioned it to B&B yet. I guess they'll find out when they read this!

Guess who

just completed her volunteer visa application to work in the UK starting August 20?

Come on, take a guess . . .

Anybody?

Hello?!

It's ME, of course!

Application is complete and electronically submitted, the fee is paid, now all that remains is my appointment at the "Application Support Center" in exactly two Saturdays. Sounds a bit scary, if ya ask me. But I made it this far; I might as well close the gap.

Now let's just pray that the nice people of the British government will overlook the eensy weensy detail of the low funds in my savings account . . .

Thankful Thursdays!

1. Our last Family Night was tonight! Yay!!! The best part was we didn't have to plan ANYTHING - a free trip to the Children's Museum!

2. Crossing off something from my "Majorly Daunting and Oppressing To Do List" everyday this week. Yay for being responsible and proactive!

3. My public school students wanting to say a prayer before they ate their lunch in our classroom today.

4. The week quickly passing.

5. Trusting that God will work out the details of our upcoming speech competition - the one that was supposed to take place in MAY but turns out is APRIL 23. YIKES! (You can pray for the 6 little ones participating. I'm not sure they even understand what they're getting themselves into - they're only 5, 6 & 7! And tomorrow I'm going to have to change one of the girl's speeches and pray she learns it all in less than two weeks. Oi!)

6. A new episode of The Office tonight. FINALLY!

7. DVR to recored the aforementioned episode since I was at the museum.

8. The British government making applying for visas so much easier than before! Yay for user friendly websites and online apps!

9. Airfare to London during peak season dropping from $2,000 to $1,000. Can we get below (or at least around) $800, please?!

10. Grace to finally talk to my principal about my plans for next year and her SUPPORT and BLESSING in my endeavor! She thanked me, THANKED ME, for telling her now, since she's making plans for next year. You don't understand what a miracle this is, people! God can do some amazing stuff!!!

The silly things I say

"You can get your shoe out of the trash now."

"No sweetie, it's not pick on tree; it's pecan tree. And it's mockingbird, not monkeybird."

"That's not how you wear your shirt!"

"I don't believe you have the audacity to (insert misbehavior here; for example "step out of line")."

"That was a rhetorical question."

"Rule #1: Lift the toilet seat and don't drop pee anywhere! The girls don't want to sit on that!"

"Adam is a boy; so you say he, not she."

"I don't know what it is . . . just eat it . . ."

"Be careful around my computer. Unless you have $1200 to buy me a new one if you break it!"

"Abel, did you pooh on yourself again?!"

Thankful Thursdays!

1. Caffeine

2. Triscuit Thin Crisps

3. Pasta & Brown Rice (not necessarily the 2 eaten together)

4. 3 scoops of ice cream with a cup of hot coffee poured over it. Mmmm...

5. Girl Scout Cookies (yeah, I know, I know, they're not SB friendly. Whatev.)

(Hmm . . . I'm sensing a theme here . . . )

6. Perfecting my Carne Guisada recipe.

7. Caffeine (Yeah, I know I said that one already; I've been exhausted all week and it's the only thing that's kept me partially awake.)

8. Being able to hold Parent Conferences in Spanish.

9. Hanging out with my little cousins last weekend while their momma was having baby Benjamin.

10. 39 days left of school!!!

Thankful Thursdays!

What's that you say? It's not Thursday?
Well, it still is for me!

1. The life cycle of a plant -- it reminds you that something MUST die and be buried before new life springs forth.

2. My science fair project. Specifically, the midnight revelation I had as I typed up the experiment's results, "The plant found its way through the maze, around all obstructions, on its way toward the light."

3. The curvy Toyota emblem on my steering wheel. I like to trace the ovals as I'm sitting in traffic.

4. An AMAZING teachers aide who not only went back to work to pick up the camera I forgot since I was doing a million things for a million people (I couldn't go back because it would have taken up nearly 2 hours since I live so far out), she also dropped it off for developing. And when it wasn't ready when I went this morning she went to get it for me. AND when it wasn't ready when she went to get it, she stayed and waited 30 minutes until it finally was! Hmm . . . Mental note to self, stay away from the CVS on Beechnut . . .

5. A roll of film being developed for FREE since 1-hour photo turned into 13-hour photo!

6. Grace to find EVERYTHING I googled last night in minimal time!

7. A brief artistic outlet; even if it was just a science fair poster.

8. Book of a Thousand Days -- The latest retold Grimm fairytale I'm reading by Shannon Hale. So far so good!

9. Coming home and not having to cook. Although I love cooking, I've been exhausted lately.

10. Jumping on the trampoline prior to a naughty midnight snack. Even though I spent most of the time rolling around laughing rather than jumping since I couldn't pull it together to get upright. Until Bird, my brother NOT an actual feathered beast, fell on me. Then I just laid sprawled out on the verge of consciousness while he and Brandi continued jumping and laughing.

11. Going to bed at 10:00 on a Friday night. Lame? Probably. But I don't care. I'm excited!

12. A new season that brings new life: The wildflowers that have suddenly popped up on the banks of the ravine along the neighborhood walking trail. Dozen of butterflies fluttering amongst them. The smell of the lemon tree blossoms. Flowers coming back to life in the garden. No more fall allergies that somehow creep up in the winter from time to time!

My beloved spoke and said to me, "Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me.
See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.
Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.
The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me."
~Song of Solomon 2:10-11

12 a.m. & still awake

But I'm doing something I love, so I don't mind.

Being creative to put together my class's science fair project. It doesn't look like much so far:



but give me another hour at least.

I work best under pressure.

These are keeping me awake:



The coffee in the mug provides constant caffeine, of course. And the water in the tumbler induces constant visits to the bathroom. Hmm . . . that's probably TMI but it's past midnight - what do you expect???

************
UPDATE: Need to get ready for work but here's a pic of the almost final product, as promised:



I'll take proper pictures w/ my digital camera when I have the whole display up. Lord only knows when I'll actually get around to uploading the pics . . .

Oh, and this is basically the experiment we did.

2 Prayer Requests

1. My "Aunt Dani" is just about ready to have her baby. She and Thinkling Blo should be going to the hospital tonight (if they're not there already). So if you can, please say a prayer for them. Sounds like he may need it more than her, though; she's rather chill. ;o) And my grandma could use a prayer or two as she takes care of the FOUR kids left at home.
***UPDATE: As of this morning (03.27) they haven't made it to the hospital; still playing the waiting game.


2. Our music teacher, Mr. Moses, lost his parents a few weekends ago. It's very sad. They owned a neighborhood store and his father was robbed and beaten to death. The next morning his wife passed as well; she had been sick for awhile. Please pray for him and his family. Even though a few weeks have passed I'm sure the pain's still raw. I saw him yesterday for the first time and as I hugged him and gave him my condolences I nearly lost it and he was rather emotional as well.
There have been a lot of deaths so far this year. It's very sobering.

Quote of the Week

"I miss my teacher.

But sometimes you've just gotta move on."

-6 year-old Kaiya after saying a quick hello to her Kindergarten teacher


How wise is THAT?!
More than I can say when thinking of everything I've grow to miss!

Dancing

While I'm working on Report Cards at one table and my mom is working on her grade book at another, my dad is sitting in the living room, working on his computer, with Dancing with the Stars on t.v. Hmm . . .

He's free to change the station, put in a movie, play some music. But he said he'll leave it on for us, even though HE was the one booing the judges when they gave Steve Guttenberg low scores.

He never ceases to amaze me!

I enjoyed the season premiere last week, esp since I had plenty of time to watch it. In the past sometimes I voted, sometimes I didn't. And I don't know how I'd vote this year. There are some dancers I really like who are with duds. Then there are some awesome "stars" with dancers I'm meh about. But how sad is it that I know the dancers by now and was even bummed when one or two weren't cast this season? Silly, I know.

Ok, enough procrastination!

Mounting Pressure

I've thoroughly enjoyed Spring Break -- I've lost myself in a couple of Shannon Hale's books, which I love Love LOVED! I may have to do a review of Princess Academy one of these days since it's fresh on my mind. I love her writing style and genre. If ever I become a writer it's the genre that I'd want to write - suspended somewhere between childhood and adulthood. Hmm, that would be Teen, wouldn't it . . . interesting . . .

Anywho, the week has passed way too quickly and as much as I would love to continue reading out by the pool, it's time to return to reality. Yet I can't help but realize that I may have left reality, but reality didn't leave me. It's an ever-present creature crouching in the back of my mind. I can lose myself in a well-told story but as soon as the book closes or the t.v. is silenced or my prayer is prayed, I feel the eyes of that creature bore into my brain. And boy does it hurt!

I don't know what I'm saying anymore.

It's not that I don't want to go back to work tomorrow. I do. I miss my friends and students. It's the stress at work that I don't want to go back to. Report Cards. Black History program revisited. Science Fair. Returned Test Scores. Graduation Prep. Awards Ceremony. Speech Competition. Next Year's Plans.

No wonder I feel more and more ill with each minute that passes.

And instead of finishing my Report Cards I'm blogging. 'Cause blogging always helps, right?

Technology soapbox

As a kid who grew up with a non-wireless VCR remote control (that had 4 buttons on it), I have to ask this question. Now that technology has more than exploded and we seemed to have fine-tuned the information superhighway of the internet, what's with all this recent mass migration? In terms of keeping in touch with friends, the metaphorical watering hole keeps moving around at a mind-boggling rate.

First, email was the thing, so I learned how to reply and mass-forward. Then IM was in, so I learned how to LOL and ROFL, BTW. :"> :D 8-) Then this thing called blogs came along, so people flocked to Blogger, but only until they discovered myspace. Either way, I've blogged and waited for Comments and gotten random messages from people -- some very nice and others not so nice.

Now the tumbleweeds seem to be blowing through myspace and I discover that it's because the herd has migrated to Facebook -- which, quite frankly, is very nice because I see even more friends there whose real faces I haven't seen in ages.

Yet I still use my myspace and Blogger blogs, sometimes log in to IM, and have 4 email addresses. But there are usually trickles of communication at these spots, I'm guessing because they aren't the latest thing anymore.

It is nice, however, to have as many options as possible to keep in touch with people. But must we only utilize just one all the time?

I have a DVD player and a few DVDs (even though I've heard that's not the latest home entertainment thing anymore), but most of my favorite movies are on VHS tapes, so I usually just watch those. And I've got lots of CDs but even more audio tapes, and yes (because there's a tape player in my car), I usually listen to music this way because, well, I enjoy setting my driving to music. But I'm not going to buy a CD changer for my car just so I can keep up with the latest thing, and I'm not gonna toss my dozens of videotapes out my apartment window. In general, as long as the tapes play movies and music without any problems, I am content with what I've got.

But sometimes life just gets so noisy, and I like to either read a book in the evening or sing out loud while I'm driving alone. Either way, I'm content and entertained (without adding to my electric bill or depleting my car battery).

My point is that I think the purpose of technology is to provide us with a range of options to get things done efficiently, whether it's talking to a friend or enjoying a movie. So, this weary web traveler has one request: can we please just settle down in one spot? :) whether on Blogger, myspace, or Facebook?

In the meantime, there are a couple of friends that I'd like to sit down and write to -- and send it via good, old-fashioned snail mail. :D LOL!

Blog apologies and consumer update

My apologies for taking so long to post another blog entry. I recently got the internet hooked up here at home after 6 months without it. (And high-speed internet is much easier to work with than dial-up, by the way.)

June will mark the 3rd year of my Wal-Mart boycott, which has now become a complete boycott (since I allowed my Sam's Club membership to expire and I doubt I'll ever download anymore music from Walmart.com). I am happy to report that I still haven't gone broke or hungry and that, at this point, I plan to coninue the boycott indefinitely.

And yes, I do realize that most of America still shops there. I sat aghast from the other side of the street around the Christmas holidays at the line of vehicles who were no doubt waiting to turn into Wal-Mart in Irving. When I went to visit my parents in South Texas at Thanksgiving, my dad said that he went to their Wal-Mart around 5:30 AM that Friday to buy a laptop, but the brand he wanted was already sold out.

I think a lot of the crappy customer service might have something to do with the actual Wal-Mart you visit. The store in South Texas that I described above, according to my mom, has excellent, speedy customer service. My friend Holly suggested that I visit a Wal-Mart store near the North Dallas Tollway and said it was a nice one. And my friend Lydia told me about an insurance nightmare she went through when her vehicle had a run-in with a Wal-Mart shopping cart. But unfortunately, she couldn't leave a Comment as usual because a couple of spammers (on my blog at another website) took over my last Wal-Mart blog post there with a browser-hijacker thing or something. Frankly, I think that just goes to show how low in the population that Wal-Mart caters to.

But really, Wal-Mart, enough with the TV ads. People are gonna keep frequenting your stores. I, however -- along with an ever-growing number of folks -- will not.

Thanks again for reading. :)

Easter

by George Herbert

Rise, heart, thy lord is risen. Sing his praise
Without delays,
Who takes thee by the hand, that thou likewise
With him may'st rise:
That, as his death calcinèd thee to dust,
His life may make thee gold, and, much more, just.

Awake, my lute, and struggle for thy part
With all thy art,
The cross taught all wood to resound his name
Who bore the same.
His stretchèd sinews taught all strings what key
Is best to celebrate this most high day.

Consort, both heart and lute, and twist a song
Pleasant and long;
Or, since all music is but three parts vied
And multiplied
Oh let thy blessèd Spirit bear a part,
And make up our defects with his sweet art.

Good Friday

Good Friday

by George Herbert

O my chief good,
How shall I measure out thy blood?
How shall I count what thee befell,
And each grief tell?

Shall I thy woes
Number according to thy foes?
Or, since one star show'd thy first breath,
Shall all thy death?

Or shall each leaf,
Which falls in Autumn, score a grief?
Or cannot leaves, but fruit be sign
Of the true vine?

Then let each hour
Of my whole life one grief devour:
That thy distress through all may run,
And be my sun.

Or rather let
My several sins their sorrows get;
That as each beast his cure doth know,
Each sin may so.

Since blood is fittest, Lord to write
Thy sorrows in, and bloody fight;
My heart hath store, write there, where in
One box doth lie both ink and sin:

That when sin spies so many foes,
Thy whips, thy nails, thy wounds, thy woes
All come to lodge there, sin may say,
'No room for me', and fly away.

Sin being gone, oh fill the place,
And keep possession with thy grace;
Lest sin take courage and return,
And all the writings blot or burn.


*********************************************

In this new season, I have no lofty words to share; no wisdom to impart.
My heart grieves for it's sad state: Apathy. Indecision. Restlessness. Selfishness.
Over the past 40 days I've done very little to reflect, to intercede, to cultivate.
The small sacrifice I have made seems meager and inadequate.
What can come from such an act? From sacrifice with no great follow through?
My finite mind thinks, "Very little."
But my spirit must look beyond and trust.
Trust that those prayers prayed in secret were heard.
Trust that the grace I've always experienced does not run dry.
Trust that this is the Year of Restoration.
For me, for my family, for my friends.

Thankful Thursday!

1. A beautifully restful Spring Break! Soooooo not ready for it to be over. :o(

2. Not being picked for Jury Duty! And being able to read a WHOLE BOOK while I waited!

3. Knocking off lots from my To Do List this week.

4. Getting to stay home on a rainy day and read and laze on the couch.

5. Green Smoothies

6. Paying off debt.

7. Fun at Dave & Busters and winning prizes!

8. Another trip to Waco this weekend.

9. Easter & Surveying the Wondrous Cross.

10. Repentance and Redemption

11. The beginning of a new season - a season of renewal and rebirth

I need to stop being lazy!

But I can't help it!!!

I should actually be going to bed, but after 5 days off from work I've reverted back to my night owl ways -- up half the night, sleep half the day. Which is not bueno when I have JURY DUTY at 8 a.m. AND it's DOWNTOWN. That's over 23 miles from my house, people! And TRAFFIC. And PARKING. And PAYING for parking. Oi!

I'm praying I don't get picked and get to go home early. I have way too much to do still! I've been so lazy I haven't done any school work. That's what I need to finish before we go to Waco Friday night 'cause I don't want to rush back to finish late Monday. Oi!

Great, now I'm getting a stress headache . . . it's time for bed!