A Day with the Family

A. has been wanting to go to the lake for the longest time now. Finally, this weekend she got her wish. It was a gorgeous day. Nice and hot with a pretty regular wind. Loading up and getting out was a bit of a pain. It was almost as bad as preparing to travel out of the country. Once at the lake, though, we just sat back and relaxed while my dad grilled. Ah. So nice.

See these dirty little feet? That's my nephew. All he wanted was for someone to take him to go play in the water. While he was waiting the forever it took for the big people to get around to finally taking him, he had to content himself with a tiny spot of formerly puddly dirt. :) Boys and mud...

Yeah, the day wasn't bad. Hope your weekend was fun, too!

Los Nubes No Se Van

What a fun-filled night! (Not really.) A pretty bad storm hit Dallas. Actually, it's still hitting it! The lights went out right when we got home. While I was taking care of things in the garage, A. was taking care of Lucky. While A. was in the feed shed, a tree fell on it! Fortunately, it was one of the trees we'd been meaning to cut down. Mother Nature just got to it before I did. Now we'll only need to do a bit of tidying up, picking up pieces of tree and such.

Since it was raining so hard, I was reluctant to open any of the windows so it was warm all night long. However, that didn't stop us from having a movie night hour before the laptop's battery died. Twilight. Although I heard that it wasn't all that, I actually liked the movie pretty well. At least what we saw of it. Great. Now I'm going to have to read the books! :)

After that, I washed dishes by candlelight. It was very relaxing. Then on to studying by candlelight. Maybe Laura Ingalls was used to this sort of thing, but I'm not. It's hard to nod off when you have a candle on the book that can easily set your head afire. Well, it's not hard to nod off, but it's dangerous! Thank God, the lights were on again by morning. Hopefully the rain will ease up a bit by this afternoon. We have fence to mend and tree limbs to move. In addition to the long list of other things that need to be done around the house.

To see the video of the day, click here. It's El Sol No Regresa, by La 5ta Estacion. We're hoping the sun will return soon.

Hygiene Kits for Kids

Sorry for the not-too-good pictures. I took them about 1 a.m. when I really should have been sleeping. Hmm. Maybe I was sleeping when I took them. That explains a bit. Anyhow, this is the special project I mentioned before. A. and I have been working on these bags for about 1 ½ months. The bags are actually hygiene kits for homeless kids and teens helped by SUFK (Stand Up For Kids).

Kids and teens are a cause that’s dear to my heart, whether it's the kids at the neighborhood school or the kids living on the street who are unable to attend school. SUFK goes out and hits the streets, looking for homeless kids, street kids, kids who are at risk. They provide them with food, hygiene kits, and an ear to listen.


What you see in the pic are some of the hygiene kits that my family finished assembling on Memorial Day. They have all the basics that a street kid can use to maintain personal hygiene. Each kit includes a brush, comb, toothpaste, toothbrush, soap, shampoo, etc. As a little extra something, the bags also include comic books that we stumbled across in a local thrift store. All the comics are rated T for teen. (It’s a good thing, too. Some of those books can get a bit racy/violent/bloody!)


What’s the point of this post? My point is… these kids are not on the street because they want to be. They’re out there because they feel they have to. Perhaps they come from abusive homes. Maybe they were kicked out. Maybe they’re second-generation homeless. Can you imagine how hard it must be for them to get from day to day? Every child needs a home. All these children need to be helped so that they can rise above their adversities and break the cycle. They should get to sleep under a safe roof in a warm bed just like the rest of us. They need love and understanding. If I can’t get out there and give them that, at least I can contribute toothbrushes and such.

If you can help in some way, please do so. It doesn’t have to be through Stand Up For Kids. It can be another organization in your area. It doesn’t have to be a monetary donation or a donation of goods. Maybe you can go and serve dinner at a homeless shelter or go and volunteer at a children’s shelter or organization. There are so many young people that need help. There are so many of us who can give it. Why don’t we, however we can? :)

Video of the Day: You Were Meant for Me

Listening to the radio this morning, A. & I heard this song came on. I told her about something that happened forever ago, back in the dark ages, when I was recording this song as the music for friends to hear when they paged me. Yes, paged. On a pager (aka beeper). Those cool little gadget thingys that nobody could live without back in the days before cellphones were affordable for regular people.

This cool pager pic was borrowed from here.

Anyhow, a very dear friend called me while I was recording the song, so I told him to call the beeper & tell me what he thought of it. After calling it, he called me back and asked me if the song was for him. Um, no... Yup, I was a heartbreaker! Anyhow, it was just a good song & I totally adored Jewel. So, here's the song. I hope you enjoy it. And no- it's not dedicated to you.

Video of the Day: What If

It's after midnight and I just finished an exam and a report on something that I haven't even read. Yep, bad. Why this frenzied (non-)scholarship at this late hour? I didn't have time to study today since I spent all day shopping for something that I'd really like to buy. Did I find what I wanted? Yes. Can I afford it? Yes, barely. Should I buy it? I don't know yet.

So, instead of sleeping on it or, at the very least, playing catchup for school... I'm looking at music videos. Is this sensible? Not really. Am I sensible? Not really. Otherwise I wouldn't be scraping pennies together mentally and thinking... what if?

I'm always doing this. It's quite annoying. Sometimes I imagine the scenario so realistically that later on I can't remember if it's really happened or if I only imagined it. Is this a sign of a mental disorder? Please say it isn't!

Anyhow, here's Babyface. Isn't he gorgeous? And so talented. Maybe that's what makes him so gorgeous. Whatever. Anyhow, here's something to watch before you, too, start wondering what if. It's funny the turns that our lives can take. Who knows where we'd be if we'd made different decisions. We'll never know.

Video of the Day: No Te Pido Flores

Woohoo! Today is an early day off because of Memorial Day. Gotta go and hit the dollar stores. I've got some major spending to do. No, not for me. For a special project. I'll show you more later. :) Have a good weekend!!

Definitivo este dolor
que me condena y me lastima
Sera la suerte quien decida
si me mejoro o me domina...

Video of the Day: Angelito

Today's video is due not to a lost love, but to a sad mood. It's okay, I'll get over it in a few hours. But while it's here, I think I'll just watch this video. The music is so sad. And the pictures are so cute. Some of them remind me of Edward Scissorhands. Was he emo? I admit it, I don't know what emo is. Yeah, I know. I'm not cool.