The holiday weekend went well. My To Do list is complete for the week, and I got to spend time writing to a friend in Arizona afterwards. Today, before the rains came, Mom and I took a walk. She was more like a coach than my mom though. I had hoped to walk in silence, to pray and meditate while walking, but no. Hopefully others won't be like this. I don't mean any of the above negatively. I just mean to say that exercise for me is now a meditative thing, vs a thing that has to be done.

Since the walk, I have still meditated after rehydrating. God is showing me new things. He's showing me that growth happens where you least expect it, and the body and mind are made new when growth happens. Tomorrow I hope to do more growing while working on Spanish with my summer student. I hope to see Harry Potter today, and just settle in to tranquility.

I'll post again Sunday night to talk about the weekends events, and in the meantime, the week is short, so I'll do little posts to fill you in. Laterz!

Today has been good. Acid reflux is still a problem, and I am really trying to get it under control. Lunch had less fat than breakfast, and I just have to keep watching what I eat. The taramisu from Bucca Di Peppo is sooo rich with rum that you can't take more than one bite. Sinful, yet pleasurable. In other news, family is split up during the holiday weekend. My sister and her family are probably at a beach house in Galveston, and my brother and his friends are cleaning out the garage. Whoohoo! Garage sale soon to take place. We could use one too. Since moving here, we've accumulated so much stuff. It's amazing what you can collect in almost 41 years of marriage!

Life is really in the treasures you collect. Sometimes they are hard to part with, but you learn to cope. If Dad finds his bacon press, we'll be in good shape. I'm going to veg out, and rest today. It's supposed to rain through Tuesday here, so sleep may be good after all.

I hope to post more throughout the weekend as we do things around here. Wednesday and Thursday I'll be pretty busy but Friday will be a good day to summarize too. Cheers!

My week started out as fairly routine with babysitting, and preparations for work, but then, changes came that darkened everything. My two exes sent e-mails to me. Fortunately, my dad was around to read them prior to me deleting them. My girlfriends were able to offer support at the time, since it was needed. Things are fairly quiet now, and I keep tabs on my mail to make sure I know who's sending things. The weekend should go well with BBQ and family time. We don't babysit again until Wednesday, and this will give me time to prepare for work Thursday morning. As a former professor once said, I just have to keep on keeping on. I can't let the out of the ordinary trip me up. I hope everyone has a good weekend, and I'll post next week after work to let you know how things are going so far. Hasta luego, y ciao!

This week and the upcoming weekend should go well. Tonight I saw Legends Ball, hosted by Oprah on TV. I identify with most of the women there, the fact that they inspire women everywhere to dream big, and be the greatest women we can be.

Tomorrow I'm going to babysit again, through Wednesday, and spend the rest of the week looking at lesson plan ideas. Memorial Day will probably be BBQ. We always cook out on holidays that aren't as big as Christmas and Easter, so it's a lot of fun.

I hope the week and weekend goes well for everyone, and I'll post again soon. :-)

Thursday Kevin and Cynthia came for lunch, time in the yard to look at flowers, and we looked at the Medtronic website where they have information on Baclofen pumps. It's got good information, on the whole.


Friday Mom and I babysat again for the third time this week. Saturday came, and David and Martin came to see me. We had pizza and peach beer (it tastes like champagne!), played on my computer, I gave the guys their presents, and we headed to the mall, Barnes and Noble, and Borders. At Barnes, I used my gift certificate to get Along Came Polly with Jennifer Aniston. At Borders, I have a membership, so I decided to get Pink, I'm Not Dead. This is a great CD to listen to. She speaks her mind with each song, and I like that.


David will attend AMDA this fall in New York City, and he'll be living on the upper west side of the big apple. He leaves in June, so I got him twist stix, crayons to color his art with, and a Suduko puzzle book. I got Martin the new Depeche Mode CD, and ripped it to iTunes. Gotta love that.

Today, I went to church and lunch with family afterwards. It was great. Torey talked about SEE and boat anchors! SEE stands for Stewardship, Evangelism, and Episcopalian. These things are what make us special, but we have to be careful that we don't overuse these terms too much, thus we may become boat anchors. I came home to see Rumor Has It with Jennifer Aniston on DVD, and we still have two more movies to watch. The guys and I saw Nanny Mc Phee last night too. That is an excellent movie. Emma Thompson wrote such a neat script.

I can't wait to see Prime with Meryl Streep. This one should be a winner too. It's going to be a good next couple of weeks. Music, movies, lesson plans for work, and of course, time with family. My parents had fun at 110 In The Shade. We stayed up till midnight talking, so I'm running on 6 hours of sleep. Oy vey.

I hope this update finds everyone well, and that you are now caught up with the events of my life in Houston, TX. Technically, I am north of Houston, but it's still home. :-) I'll post again soon, probably after June 1 since I'll be busy then with work. Cheers!

The wedding and Mother's Day went very well this past weekend, and now, I'm getting ready for friends Thursday, a job fair Friday, and more friends Saturday. It should be loads of fun. The rest of May is going to be busy too, as I prepare more lesson plans for tutoring. I'll try and post again this Sunday with a new update, and again next week. Ciao! :-)

It's going to be a good weekend. My good friend from high school and college is getting married Saturday, and after the wedding, we celebrate Mother's Day as a family with Mom. Everything else in life is going well too. I hope everyone has a good weekend, and I'll post again sometime next week to talk about other plans I have with friends. We're just kicking off summer, and loving it! :-)

So far, the day has been bizzare. I'm doing stuff around the house, and all of a sudden, the power blows. Yes, I am quoting RENT, but that's as simple as you can get really. After waiting 20 minutes, I ate fast, fearing the power would blow again. Other than that, I'm just here. Things should greatly improve by tonight when I attempt to make dinner.

Two days to go till the folks get back from Florida. Let's hope all goes as planned until then. Life is like a relationship...it's unpredictable.--Jamie Foxx. Unpredictable happens to be a favorite song of mine. More on great music later. I must get back to the chores.


I hope everyone is having a good day, and I'll post again tonight when all settles here. :-)

Today I got a very sweet letter from my assistant priest to say goodbye. Granted, he has a lot to do before the move to Colorado, but he said that we will see each other again since it's about us being connected by God. I'm going to spend the week in prayer, for him, his family, and this new move. I'll also be praying for Abby, that I hear from her soon, and again for Rachel's wedding before going. A final dose of prayer, not to be left behind, is for Emily on her opening night of Cosi fan tutte which is the same day as the wedding. What a weekend it will be.


So far, everything is going well around the house. The kitties are being good, and I had leftover Italian for lunch. Now I'm going to try and get some other things done, and plan dinner. I hope my friends are well this Sunday, and I'll post again this week with little house updates. Cheers!

Changes are in the air...our assistant priest has gotten a call to serve in Colorado, and will leave on Pentecost Sunday, the same Sunday that my former choir director leaves for retirement. Deciding who to go say goodbye to is going to be difficult, but I'm sure that either way, we will be with the two of them in spirit. Today has been busy. I cleaned out my Yahoo inbox. Most of the mail was junk, and I kept all of the good letters. Now I'm watching the Kentucky Derby, getting ready to go grocery shopping, and have dinner with the family before they leave for Florida tomorrow on business. They'll be home Wednesday. The friend of mine that I hoped to hear from by now still hasn't replied to my letters. I hope she's okay. All you can do is pray when you don't know the whereabouts of someone. So I will. Ciao!

Tonight, I got a sign...from above. It showed me that I have CP for a reason. My parents and I headed to Olive Garden for dinner, and this time, it was different. While we waited outside to be seated, a family arrived, with a son who looked to be about 13, in a special wheelchair. He looked great. My parents noticed, so I quietly commented over dinner, that he wasn't as severe as my friend Mark was, but more mild to moderate. His speech was flawless.


Our waitress reminded me of one of my close friends. She had a great personality, was very friendly, and her voice was what reminded me of this friend of mine. It's been a good night so far. Dinner was excellent. Mom and Dad had chicken Capreci, and I had the Portobello Mushroom stuffed ravioli. After dinner, we split a Taramisu three ways.


What does this all tell me? Regardless of how people see me with CP, I'm still a wonderful person. Restaurants, stores, and other public places are usually where people like myself and this young boy get looks, and comments behind the back. But not tonight. Tonight was a night where we could just be with our families and relax.


I know this night has to end. But the simple message of love your neighbor as yourself, well, it held true. And it will never end. Loving my neighbor as myself means, with the CP, and everything in between. I just thought I'd share some insight tonight, to allow you to see what kind of a person I am becoming in my 30s. The CP will be with me until I am with God. May it get me everywhere I need to go in this life, with God's help.


People always want to comment to me about how far I've come. About how there are people in worse shape than myself. I already know all of this. What matters to me most at this point in life, is where I am here and now. Those that are worse off, well, somehow they manage to live full lives too. I pray for them all the time. And I pray that all of my accomplishments bear some importance in life too. The past ones are right where they should be. The ones in the present are still forming. And the future ones have yet to be formed.


I know there may not be tomorrow. Which is why I focus on today. As I head back to my dance floor at home, I am reminded that today is all I have. And it's all I need.

Today I was inspired to do two things...dance, and keep writing about those experiences. The article that I got from Emily in the NY Times was both moving and true for me, which led to tears of joy and pain at the same time. Now I get to keep dancing, even before surgery, in fact, as a preparation for it. Dance is great for cardio, as well as the rest of the body. And because New York has it all, I hope the article about this tiny ballet class makes its way into the hearts of some people so we can have a class like that here in Houston, TX.


When I was little, I danced ballet with another student with CP. Our teacher, Kathy Hooper, saw potential in us, even though we couldn't walk well on our own, and required assistance. Today I still require some, but it's not too bad. I just remember putting everything else on the back burner to dance then, and again in college at Friday Afternoon Theatre. Performances from monologues to dance could be done at this open forum, and I was able to put the pain on hold to move in ways that no one else can.


My most memorable performances were done to Hands by Jewel, and Seasons Of Love from the RENT soundtrack. By the end, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. And I dedicated those dances to some special theatre friends. They were able bodied, but like the little girls in the article, I was able to seek support from them. That made dancing worthwhile.


I still dance, post college too, but for a smaller audience. Today you'll hear songs like Believe by Cher, Hung Up by Madonna, and Dance Without Sleeping by Melissa Etheridge. That song, in a nutshell, is my inspiration.


I must tip my hat to Brent, Jerry, and Emily for seeing potiential in me still, years later. You're the greatest friends a dancer and writer could ever have, and for that, I thank you. May my work continue to inspire you, no matter what I do. Now it's back to the dance floor...I feel like moving again. :-)

Today I have discovered something new about my writing. I've been doing this for years in the literal sense, and now, I'm about to take my work to the next level. Now that I'm able to speak three languages, I plan on publishing my plays in all three. Spanish and French are two of the most popular languages, so I figured what the heck, why not go for it? I say this with a smile, because my gifts are being put to good use. My language skills and writing are both very strong. And I'm glad God has granted me the chance to use both.


I e-mailed one of my mentors from theatre today, to let her know that my work is here in my blog. It's just too expensive to try and print out the work and mail it in. The exception of course will be Stages when they post how to submit scripts for artists. I love what they have done with the webiste since having looked at it recently.


There's always something new to discover when I work with languages. And when I put my writing skills to the test, it's full circle. *does happy dance* I hope that whatever your gifts are, that you use them to the fullest, and enjoy life in the process. Happy Friday! :-)

I've discovered over the years that it helps to keep things simple. Whether it's mealtime, sleep, or getting lesson plans ready, simplifying everything just works out well. If I chew little bites at a time, I won't get overwhelmed. This also includes chores around the house. One thing at a time. One day at a time. Like I told Cynthia during prayertime at Backyard Burger, I could die tomorrow, and only have today to reflect on. This is why I only focus on the here and now. Yesterday was then, and today is still today. Tomorrow has yet to be made. Just words of wisdom from someone who knows what a busy life can entail. Breaking things down also gives me a great sense of peace, and a greater since of accomplishment. This is all God's will for my life. Simple.

It's nice to have this blog along with my other one...more people can keep in touch with me if they choose to do so. Today is a day of rest. I've noticed how patterns of life change once weekends arrive...there is little time for weekly activities in a weekend. Spanish studies are going well. I've kept in touch with two friends from college who happen to be from Venezuela if I need extra guidance. It's nice to have a global perspective on life this way.


I've been looking over my lesson plans, and think things will go well with the picture book, tape recorder, and of course, M&Ms. One must always have a treat to offer along with other rewards. The first session is always ice breaking and such, but that's good. It gives me a chance to know my student better. I'm off to decide what part of the book to start with...I'll post again later to give you a behind the scenes peek. :-)

This week I've tried experimenting with MS Word on Blogger, and I like the fact that my fonts can still be read. I've also been converting CD tracks to MP3 format. It's nice to have more music for the iPod. I'm also getting caught up on Spanish, which is always a good thing. My lesson plans are going well. For the rest of the week and on into the weekend, I plan to really work hard, and get my plans finalized for tutoring. The whole process makes me happy, and in turn, will hopefully make my students happy.


My other hope is that I start to feel better physically. It's not illness, but lots of other things combined that are making my life somewhat difficult right now. I'll post more about that later. For now, it's back to the books. Ciao!

The last couple of days have been pretty good. I did some shopping with family, e-mailed friends, and got replies back. The best letters came from New York and Greece. One of my friends in New York keeps up with me frequently, which is great considering her schedule of opera rehearsals and such. I found the letter from Greece to be cheerful too. A former professor of mine is visiting family there, and will be back at the university in the fall to teach again. Her top 3 languages are French, Greek, and English, and I have memories of studying all three under her.


My family is doing well this week too. Health issues are getting better, and that's always a plus. My acid reflux is kind of out of control at the moment, but I'm getting to where I can stand the pain now. After babysitting, I'm going to play with my iPod more, and see what other songs I want to convert to MP3 and wav files. I thank my friend Martin for giving me a link to the software in my e-mail. Now I can take any CD I own, and make it compatible for the iPod. This will come in handy for road trips this summer, or for anything else I have coming up where I'll want to take music along.


This weekend will be a quiet one as my parents pack for Florida. I've learned to take life one day at a time around here. It's nice when you can view life from that perspective. I hope everyone is doing well, and I'll post again soon. Keeping up with two journals is actually fun. There are things in this one that aren't in the other for various reasons. But it's still neat to play around and see what kinds of things I can do.


More later...I'm going to work on Spanish now. The cool thing is, I am getting to where I can do more translating than I used to. Fun!