"how to live, not how to cry..."

Tortillas
For all you people out there interested in making tortillas...Don't use a wooden rolling pin. Thin PVC pipe is the way to go. I was helping make tortillas a few weeks ago (using the wooden rolling pin) and mine weren't turning out. I tried the PVC pipe the other lady was using, and WHAM they were beautiful.

I've found that when I mix my thinking in Spanish/English I don't remember the details of what someone said to me. I remember the general idea, but not the quote, which isn't good when you're trying to remember EXACTLY what the person said.

A couple weeks ago it RAINED!!! Only for like 5 minutes, but I stood outside the whole time. I love the way rain smells. and how it was sunshiny while it rained.

She NEEDS help to travel
Well, I'm back "home" for a while. My trip was good. They dropped me off at the airport WITH their son, which was fabulous, b/c he helped me with my suitcases, and was patient while I redistributed stuff to be under the weight limits (I know, I should have done that BEFORE I got to the airport) and then he escorted me to the security line before joining his parents for the car ride back to Mexico. But the funny thing is after two flights and arriving at my destination, the same guys that were in line behind me at San Diego, got to observe my parents holding all my carry on luggage for me while I grabbed my bags off the belt. Maybe they thought I was a special needs passenger or something? hm. :)

Newspapers and Radiation Therapy
We had a great conversation in the car on the way to Cali. David, the helpful one, noticed that his dad hasn't grown back the hair where he got radiation treatment (for cancer). His suggestion, he's 17 and very opinionated, is that girls should go to the doctors and get radiation on their legs so they don't have to shave anymore!!!!! The other thing he shared with me is that girls MY AGE, don't read the newspaper. And that it's weird that I like to read the news. and that YOUNG women shouldn't waste their time reading the news. I couldn't redeem myself. Every woman that I saw with a newspaper that morning had gray hair. He cracks me up. Lydia, age 8, entertained me too, by asking tough questions, and seeing if I could answer them. All those years on the quiz team and watching Jeopardy really paid off!! haha.

Culturally CLUELESS
On the plane ride I met a Persian lady who spoke Farsi who had immigrated to the states. I learned how ignorant culturally I was in just a few sentences. Apparently, not ALL the middle eastern countries have the same culture.
Me- "So have you enjoyed the fact that so many books are being published about the middle east, Kite Runner, Third Cup of Tea, Thousand Splendid Suns? Have you read them and enjoyed the memories?"
Her-"Well, I read them, to learn about their culture."
Me-"You mean, their culture isn't your culture."
Her-"No, no, we're very different. Iran has a better economy than..."
Me- "oh, so you guys are like the United Arab Emirates?"
Her- "No, I'm not an Arab, Iranians are Persians."


Upon arriving at home, I noticed a sweet pair of pants in my closet, that were not mine, and couldn't have been my sister's. Apparently my brother had bought them for a costume (pink and brown plaid, straight wide leg cut) and I wore them the first two days I was back. Thank you for the pants Matt!

Cockroaches or Spiders? hm
My dad insisted that I open my suitcases outside after what had happened with the stow away cockroach when I came home from Costa Rica. But I assured him that we don't have cockroaches where I live. I wonder if I should have taken his advice. I've noticed a lot more spiders than usual in our house, and one thing we DO have in Mexico are spiders ;)

I had a rough week right before I came home. 4 of our kids decided to "run away" (as best you can in 80 degree weather, without bringing water bottles, or extra food, or extra clothes) 3 of them are still with us. They had meetings and one of the girls (the instigator) chose to go back and live with her family. I almost feel like we've missed the chance to redeem her little soul. But I'm sure whatever good we did will impact her someday. But in the couple days before I left, our house was so much more peaceful. Another thing that happened was a water pipe above my room decided to break, leaving me to wet vac at least 10 gallons of water out of my carpet. Somehow all the water in Mexico found ME while I was playing soccer with long legged adolescents (the girls wouldn't play, so we got some guys to play with us. tall guys. young tall guys. BAD IDEA.)

Patient Pomegranate
The pomegranates here are 3 times the size of the pomegranates in our store. They are also 7 times the price. gah! Last week, I decided to take some pomegranate seeds with Payal and I on our little road trip to the Bachelorette party, and I forgot to close the bag. We sat them between us to share. She turned at a corner and there was a sliding/dumping sound. I said, "what was that?" and she said "my phone probably" but it was the pomegranate seeds ALL OVER THE FLOOR of her car. We cleaned that out, but the next day, she found 3 more. She'll probably keep finding them until she gets a new car.

The first week I was home I....

...went on a motorcycle ride with my father. and I had this little epiphany moment about all the things that make my home, my home...I live in the land where there is too much water (unlike Mexico) where we have gates on the roads for when the rivers flood, where John Deer tractors are everywhere, it rains, there are multiple roads to get to one destination, the roads are CURVEY...(I should have written the rest down. I don't remember them)

...sat outside in the hot sun and crunched rotten walnuts under my feet until they were black.

...read both Sex God by Bell and Grace (Eventually) by Lamottt (LIBRARY!!!)

...studied Spanish Medical terminology

...got a TB test (I'm clean), and a BCI check (what? no arrest record? crazy!!)

...played my Mom and Dad in scrabble. I think Mom won. She doesn't like the acceptable 2 letter list. She thinks it's cheating.

...watched my Dad cut a pineapple THEN RINSE THE INSIDE part off with water. But cleanliness is very important to him.

...helped with Doan and Kyle's wedding. part of the benefit was being at Doans house early friday morning and eating her mom's cooking for breakfast. I liked putting linens on tables and things, but I really like the way her mom interacts with you. She hits you! tells you what to do! and then she thanks you for it! hugs you! and feeds you! Their wedding was BEAUTIFUL. I should have gone to the Vietnamese ceremony earlier in the morning, I don't know why I didn't go. We had a TEN COURSE meal at the reception after the American style ceremony. Sea Bass, Lobster, Beef, it went on and on! We also had this milky fruit drink with bits of gelatin dropped in it, cut like jagged french fries. There was a fruit plate with fruit I had never seen before, like Longan Berries and maybe Persimmon? But it was good and we ate it! When was the last time you sat and ate dinner for 4.5 hours? yeah. that's what I thought. Maybe it was good we didn't dance a lot afterwards.

...ate sushi twice (soon to be three times!!)

...watched a Wilco, Billy Bragg special about Woody Gutherie with my dad that I got from the LIBRARY.

...listened to Mahila Jackson sing Christmas songs, and Jack Johnson (LIBRARY!)

...went to the Mexican restaurant where I used to work and chatted with a co-worker.

...saw friends who had moved to Florida (Paul and Barb)

...went new clothes shopping for the first time in a year!!!!

...held TWO babies. One named Amelia, the other Isabella.
(My shoulder/arm/cheek are in the photo)


...talked about things I didn't know at the Art Institute, and embarrassed myself. (That's a Renior! -No, No it isn't.) Saw a statue that used to be tarnished that they have since cleaned up! (Oh, the horror! It was prettier tarnished)

While I could probably have seen more people so far, it's been nice to do it gradually. Last time I came home, I was worn out from all the visiting. I've surprisingly gotten to go do a lot of things that were in my routine before. Visiting those places make it feel like home. The little cafe you used to meet your friend in once a week, driving the route you used to take to work, seeing the back roads that helped you meander to your destination so many times.

I am changed, in some ways. I went to the mall the other night, and I didn't even WANT to window shop. It was too overwhelming. I bought what I needed and I left. I used to love to walk through all the stores.

I've also noticed that the more space you have the more things you have. In Mexico, I almost always had all my things in my room. Here I've got two pairs of shoes by the TV. Another 3 pairs in the front room. Tons of stuff on the kitchen table....I'm spreading out all over!


"Thought I was learning how to take
How to bend not how to break
How to live not how to cry, but really
I've been learning how to die"

Loving Jon Foreman's Winter EP. LOVE IT.

(I think I'm forgetting how to cook while I'm home, or maybe I'm just to lazy.)

if only I had a cute way of signing off...

P.S. I missed the snow here. When I arrived it was like 75 degrees. It is cold now. So the first few days I made sure to lay out and keep my tan. I got quite a few comments on how tan I was. Unfortunately, it's gonna fade soon! But it was well worth the energy to get darker before I left Mexico.

"However far away...

However long I stay...
Whatever words I say...

...I will always love you."

L- was telling us tonite that he planted a watermelon seed thinking that it was going to become a tree. And that we should pay him for planting it for us. Well, it didn't. But it certainly grew into a watermelon. I guess we have good soil. It's huge! We have also grown one other watermelon (small) and a cantaloupe. All of these plants grew seemingly accidentally. The kids plant things all the time for the fun of it. I have yet to see carrots grow even though the girls are always putting the tops of them in the ground.

This is the third time (or so) that I've biked at night, and I absolutely love it. I was trying to think of a good metaphor for our night sky down here, but everything that came through my head has already been said about the night sky. I'm torn between biking down the roads with street lamps and biking down the roads that don't have light so I can see the stars better.

I thought it was fall here and got out my down comforter and all that jazz, but it's not. I was tricked with just a few days of cold. The kids went swimming yesterday, and it was so hot outside I was sweating. It smells fresh at night, a hot summer night. I breathe it in deep and try to hold that feeling in, so I can take it with me to the land of snow. It will warm my toes after the novelty of cold has warmed off. But I am SOOOO excited to see snow. THIS EXCITED. and babies. my friends babies.

C-- shoplifted the other day. But not really. and the grocery store knows us, we are there spending the same amount of money in one trip as a Mexican family makes in one month. I ran out to the car to get something I'd forgotten, when C-- followed me out there with a baggy of garlic salt in her hand asking me if that was the right thing to buy. I shooed her back into the grocery store, while lecturing her :) The security guard just smiled at us.

I wrapped 23 presents today, and that was just for my immediate Mexican family. I still need to figure out 2 gifts. It was a little overwhelming!

We played soccer on Monday and 55 minutes in, my team finally scored a goal. It was great. My team had a lot of perseverance. We had 14 kids at the field, and they were ALL ours. I guess that's a benefit of having a big family, instant team games. no neighbor kids needed!

One of the little girls, 10, let a teenager cut her bangs without asking if it was all right, and I told her she should always ask permission for hair cuts. Then on Friday I came home with my hair cut and she noticed and said to me, "Did you ask Mom before you did that??"

Two of my kids don't like to brush their teeth before they are actually leaving the house to go somewhere, so it can be gross in the morning if I don't intervene. I ask them EVERY MORNING about brushing their teeth when they get up, and I'm generally good about it for myself as well. On Monday I was cooking breakfast, and had gotten caught up in the yumminess and hadn't brushed my teeth, and right afterwards one of my big offenders asked me to read a book to her (C goes to school in the afternoon) so I started reading it to her, still in my jamas with coffee breath and everything. 3 sentences in she's all "fuuuu-chi" (which is what the kids say when they think something stinks) and "go brush your teeth!" I think she enjoyed having the chance to be the boss.

I'm home Sunday night. Not that I'm counting or anything. Save me some snow!!

Can I have some tortillas??

We called the police.

A couple months ago, one of the kids was outside and saw this pickup (which in Spanish is pickup) parking at our neighbors and loading stuff into his truck.
She thought it was strange, but I don’t think anything was done about it because we don’t know them.
About a month ago the people that live in that house stopped by and told us they had been robbed. They don’t live there all the time, and the police had a suspect in mind, and would we call the police if we saw something suspicious again, and take down license plates and such.
My children became vigilantes, with paper and pen they would sit outside waiting for their chance to execute justice on evildoers. And I trusted them.
A week later my kids come running in the kitchen yelling, they’re robbing that house, someone’s there robbing it.
I said “Did you see what car is there? Did you write down the license plate number?”
They said, “but the robber is there NOW!”
So I gave them my phone to call the police.
Oh boy.
They were prompt, a police truck came by with THE OWNER.
My first thought was, wow, the owner is going to get to confront these people face to face.
But then I felt sheepish, suddenly realizing the trespasser was THE OWNER. And there wasn’t a burglar there.
My blushing cheeks spit out some incoherent Spanish that meant “well, at least you know we are serious about keeping an eye on the property for you”
I think the worst part was when I had to admit letting my children call the police, as the police accused the kids of ¨prank calling” them. YES! An adult thought this all through.
I don’t ever want to see those neighbors again.

My two kids who are learning Spanish b/c they came from a home that spoke an indigenous language say…”contugo” instead of “contigo” and called pancakes, tortillas. Them: Can I have some of those ”tortillas” you’re making??
Me: No, but you can have some “panqueques.”

I bought some peaches last week. 25 since we have 23 people living in our household.
Luis did the favor of counting them for me after a few children had enjoyed their peach.
32! I was like, hm. I didn’t even buy 32 peaches, maybe you should count them again. 22 this time. He said “There were 32 here a minute ago.” And acted like he hadn’t even made a mistake. Then he started telling me about James and the Giant peach. I said, “oh, did you like that book?” and he was all confused and said, “book?” and proudly informed me that “it’s a MOVIE. A really good movie. Have you seen it?”
We really grew up in two different worlds.

Quick Spanish lesson for my readers:
Pickup truck = /pik` up/
Sink= /siŋk’/

That new girl is already gone. Luckily she has a family that wants the best for her, unlike our other children.

I have a phone interview with a company that does interpretation/translation. We'll see. We went back an hour today, so now I'm an hour different than California, until next weekend when the U.S. falls back. Leave it to me to schedule a flight on a time change day. Hopefully everything will go smoothly.

“If living is giving...

... I’m ready, I’m willing” -"I'm willing" by Ben Lee

So I’ve started preparing myself for the possibility of medical translating, I have at least 200 terms that I’d like to learn this week, and then a 62 page Anatomy and Physiology glossary that has terms in Spanish/English as well as little explanations of the words (because I don’t know some of these ENGLISH words…duodenum, cecum etc.) If I can teach myself then I could get certified without taking classes. But I’m going to have to make some free time sacrifices. (I’d rather not translate medically, but it seems like the biggest need, and it’ll be much easier for me to understand medicine than the legal system.)

“it feels like we’ve already waited too long…”

I have 2nd Chronicles left to read and I’ll have finished the whole Bible. I didn’t think I’d finish till December, but this is perfect timing, because this week is the holiday where Jews celebrate finishing their yearly cycle of reading the Torah.

(my girls are singing The Macarena in the next room, that’s so 10 years ago ☺ )

Someone gave Johanne Dolce and Gabana’s “the one” and it smells SOO good. I have another favorite scent to add to my list of Armani Mania and CK Euphoria.

So the other day we played soccer in the street (normal) we also put pretty big rocks out to mark the goals (normal) We forgot to clean up the rocks and they were still there the next day. Surprise! Unfortunately an irate neighbor talked to one of the children about it, but they also talked to the child about all the tires “we” leave in the middle of the road (which we don’t, they get rolled down the hill by people walking)

Permission slips?? Nah. While I was playing soccer with a few of the kids that didn’t have school we saw a swarm of uniformed children going from their school to the beach, It was my 7th graders school, and I had no idea they were going to the beach. Apparently it was gym day.

When they are interested in checking if pants or a skirt will fit, many Mexicans will just put their forearm inside the waistband. My daughters don’t realize this method doesn’t always work. Last night C—took one of my skirts to wear to J—‘s party and I told her that it wouldn’t fit, but it fit her forearm, so she tried to put it on. DISASTER.

I’m sure other mothers get used to this gradually, but I can’t get it through my head to get ready BEFORE my children. I plan on spending a normal amount of time getting pretty, but it’s impossible b/c instead of only worrying about myself I am dispensing advice and helping find that elusive skirt that everyone knows is clean but can’t find, and watching my girls try on different outfits, and being asked to help with hair and nails but then I realize it’s too late and start saying things like, I don’t care, you do what you think looks best, I’m sure that’ll be just find, ask your sister to help you with that, etc.

There is this cactus looking fruit here that we like to eat, that I used to eat in Chile also. My houseparents would always say “be careful, don’t get the prickly parts in your fingers” except that I couldn’t see any prickly parts and was genuinely confused or thought they were joking. Now I’ve learned my lesson. I put a bunch in a bag grocery shopping (and here they say the same thing about the NON-EXISTENT prickly parts) so I touched the top and bottom, but not the sides which is where it looks like they cut the cactus spikes off. I was wrong. The tops and bottoms are where the invisible little spikes are. Ouch.

So this guy said “Hello” to me in the grocery store b/c he wanted to cut (he had 3 things, I had 234857 things) Except I wasn’t expecting him to speak English, since he looked Mexican and we are IN Mexico. So I just stood there racking my brain what “hello” meant in Spanish and why it had any relevance in the grocery line…thread?? Ice??…no clue. We ended up having a nice little conversation that I’m sure confused the cashier. It confuses me just trying to remember it b/c we were making the decision about who would go first in English and the Cashier had no idea whose products were whose, nor who he should be ringing up since he didn’t speak English. It was a scene out of a comedy. At the end of it all, C—my child who always claims EVERYONE as her friend (people we pass on the road, people in advertisements, people in movies) said to me “Did you like meeting my friend?” Instead of arguing with her, or asking when she met him, or how she knows him I just gave up and said. “Yes, he was nice.”

Today one of my children had a worksheet to help him know when to use b or v, since many Spanish speakers mix them up when spelling. At the top of his paper for the instructions, he had written “5 beces cada palabra” which should have said “5 veces cada palabra” How ironic that he didn’t copy the instructions right!!!

It was SUPER hot here 2 weeks ago, too hot to go outside, so hot I wore shorts in a public place!...bad idea!! Then last week, it got crazy cold. But this week has been pleasant. Maybe 70s? I still can jog outside in shorts and a tank. In the mornings it’s cold and foggy, so it’s hard to get out of a bed with a cozy down comforter. I took two of the dogs jogging with me, but I run slow. Luckily they stopped and marked their territory a lot and barked at a few horses.

The new girl is doing well. The first few days she didn’t show any emotion. She cried several times this weekend, but she’s becoming much more outgoing, which is good b/c I had to keep inviting her to eat and hang out and stuff, and I’m not used to holding their hands like that. You can’t be passive in this house. We’re all elbows! Also, her favorite foods are lasagna, pizza, hamburger, etc. foods we don't have very often. I'm not sure she's "Mexican" :)

One of the women I know, who I don’t think is a Christian is going through some hard stuff right now, partially b/c she’s friends with us Christians. Pray for her if you think about it. I don’t to write too many details.

Today we had a bunch of food/candy/stuff donated. It was like Christmas, except more exciting!!!!

Kids always come home talking about a birthday party where they had Cake and Jello. When we make a party, one of the main questions is which kind of jello should we have??? Jello takes ice creams place in special occasions. It took me a while to notice.

I’ll be home in 2 weeks. When do you wanna get together?? Let me know, PLEASE!
I will have my U.S. cell phone. I`m sure you have the current number.

P.S. This is a sweet song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQi-gR_txdk It could be a love song if you take out the last line about Jesus. This is one of the guys we saw in concert.

we'll see.

Sooooooo. We might get a new girl today. We have a meeting with the mom at 1:30. She's 13 and really really likes boys. I think the plan would be to have her short term, we'll see what happens.

Today I sent in an app for a translating/interpreting company for while I'm home. I would prefer to interpret. we'll see.

I'll be home in 2.5 weeks. gotta get my act together.

Our kids schools always ask us to buy the right art supplies the day before art. Even the private school that costs a fee every month. Even though education seems important to the Mexican govt (they provide notebooks, workbooks for every subject, and free education for adults) we still have to pay to clean the school yard, make raffles to raise money, or even stand at the stop lights in each nearby town asking for money from passing motorists.

Even though we go grocery shopping 40 minutes south of here my girls always run into people they know. ALWAYS.

I've figured out why I don't understand C-- sometimes. Not only does she have a speech impediment b/c she can't hear herself talk well, but she also gives arbitrary nicknames to people, and then doesn't explain who it is. For example, there is a girl that helps at our house sometimes, C-- calls her "yellow" because she has blond hair instead of her name. I can't believe it took me 11 months to figure that out. we'll see if I can understand her more from now on.

Food is so healing, I think. The last few breakfasts I've been sitting with the kids and out of no where they begin telling me things I already know, but they don't know that I know. Like "my dad was hitting me and then they brought me here." I'm glad they are getting things off their chest, but I don't know how to respond to it.

I discovered Google Reader the other day for all the blogs I read that are seemingly unconnected. I love having a subscription list for them now. fabulous. There are probably a lot of cool features with it, we'll see if I learn to use them all.

I feel permanently disjointed, when my brain is all in one piece, maybe my entries will be in one piece.

we'll see.

star struck...

(I was interested in writing some emails and doing some job research today...just a temp job while I'm home for Nov/Dec, but the kids keep talking to me, and I can't really hide from them. I am the adult available! my brain is beginning to fry. 13 days the Manzanos were gone! They come home fingers crossed* tonite.)

This weekend was my 16 year old's birthday!


We got to go see Alex Campos in concert. There were a jillion people there, but we got there 4 hours early, and in Mexican time, that was probably more like 5 hours early because it didn't get crazy crowded until 9ish. Alex had a piece in his ear, presumably to hear his own voice singing/the other instruments, but it was RED and super obvious. My daughter who is deaf is embarrassed of her hearing aides, so I pointed it out, that he had a "hearing aide" too. No, she told me. That's so he can hear the piano and guitar.

After the show my girls took photos with a bunch of the touring band members. I tried not to take away from their excitement, but it was midnight, and cold, and I surprisingly wanted to go home!

The next night we saw the opening act again, Gerardo Mejia, perform at a local church. Yes we saw him twice in one weekend, but he was pretty good, and I only took my big girls to the concert. The second time we saw him, Joanne and I took all THIRTEEN kids to church. That was CRAZY. I don't ever want to do that again. We got to talk to Gerardo after he rapped his life away, I talked to him about Kentucky- He'd made a joke about it during his testimony "There are no Latinos in KY", and I LOVED that there was someone in Mexico making a joke that probably only I understood. The girls took pictures with him while I waited in the car.



(did you know how impossible it is to type an entry when every 30 seconds someone asks you "when are we eating dinner?" "who is cooking dinner?" "can we have chips while we wait?" "when are Mom and Dad getting home?" "so and so is making fun of me" "can I come out of my room yet?" "please can I listen to your music" "she wants to get me wet" gah. They are very dramatic about being hungry, and very literal about "well, you said we could LATER")

We have a couple children that think they need your undivided attention ALL the time. Do you know what makes them uncomfortable?? Public concerts. Everybody is focused on the performer! She ended up beginning a conversation with strangers by us, and manipulating the conversation so they'd ask her questions about herself. Then she made it very dramatic..."I wanna leave" "no I wanna stay" trying to get me to ask her what she wanted to do. Then she went and was taking someone's hat from them and hiding it, and putting her cookies in their pocket (one bite taken out of each) for their reaction. And then she made sure I knew all the silly things she was doing. Luckily I only had one child with me like that and not any others. When we are at home they need to continually be "helping" you do whatever you are doing, but really it makes you accomplish things slower.

We get a lot of people stopping by for help, food, clothes, applications for house builds, etc. As much as I love putting people in the right direction, I'm sometimes grouchy about being interrupted from whatever I'm doing to talk to these strangers. There are no "work" hours here. Today a man and his wife came, and actually knocked the door- instead of shouting "good day" from across the dirt road. It was a pleasant surprise as they gave US a gift! Tomatoes. I almost had the urge to invite them in for coffee even though I was on my way out the door.

One of our supporters sent down Starbucks beans and I've had a lot of fun grinding them and drinking TOO MUCH coffee. I don't nearly drink this much coffee when its not a fancy bean. I'm sure it's all in my head.

Today I tried making salsa with one of my "helping" children. I started to do it myself, but then she took over, then I said, "how am I supposed to learn if you're the one doing all the work?" She let me finish it, and it turned out good. Maybe I can make you some salsa while I'm home? (and hopefully tortillas too!)

Yesterday we were up late doing hmk b/c my kids said "our hmks easy, we just have to draw our house." I should have asked more questions, b/c when bedtime came it turned into "we have to draw maps of our house with every piece of furniture in them"

I enjoy watching the older children showing the younger ones how to play. They were jump roping this week, and even reading to each other.

I'm really looking fwd to a rest.

sigh.

by the way. I think ya'll should guess Gerardo's age.

feeling lazy, and tired.

...but the kids are still up, and I just don't feel right about going to bed with them all still up. Although I might do it.

So right now E-- is running around with a plastic purple bowl on her head telling the dog she's going to feed it. His head is like attached to her hip, and he's even RUNNING after her. This is the dog that lays and sleeps ALL. DAY. LONG. It's so funny, to see him being excited, and she's just hilarious too.

I've noticed that the children here don't do math drills. By that I mean a paper with 30 of the same problems on it. Usually their hmk is 2 pages of story problems, but we still spend most of our time counting on our fingers, or writing out the multiples to figure out the question.

Joanne is cooking like a crazy woman! She has helped with dinner, every night (I think) this week. At least it's felt like every night. Today she made cinnamon roles and breadsticks, and helped me decide how much of what to throw in the soup and chop the vegetables. That's half of my sanity for the week. I swear.

So we're going to be headed to an Alex Campos concert where they are expecting like 25,000 people. My town and surrounding communities are only about 10,000 people. It seems that people are coming from 5 hours north of us, and 5 hours south of us. They printed up 15,000 tickets but they were all out at the beginning of the week. Somehow, someone found me and my girls tickets. I'm excited, but also don't like chaos. and it's probably the biggest show I've ever been too. AND this is Mexico and nothing is ever clearly marked like lines or whatever.

I'm so tired, that apparently my children told Ben to pick them up early from school today b/c they had Mass ( @ private Catholic school) But I didn't hear it, or remember it even when I was sitting with everyone at breakfast. So when I saw all these kids at 12:30 I was SOOOO confused. I was all "I should call Ben, he's thinks he's picking you guys up at 1:30." One of them told me his principal brought them home, but really Ben had remembered, unlike me.

and I'm out... like 80's hair styles.