Voltron!!!!!

Cairo recently gave me the title of the most awesome mom ever, why?  Because I've introduced him to Voltron.  It all started with a borrowed DVD from my brother, since then Cairo has been obsessed with Voltron. 

"Mom I want a Voltron"

"I'm super sad because I don't have a Voltron"

"When are you going to buy me a Voltron?"

On and on he goes, morning after morning, day after day.  For those of you who don't know a Voltron toy can cost up to $400 bucks.  It's vintage and I'm not buying a $400 toy knowing it will be destroyed within minutes.  The wonderful news is that Voltron was remade by NickToons so I thought "Great! They should have some Voltron toys for sale."  Uh no....I've gone to every store every known to humanity and not a single one has a Voltron Force toy.

Finally my Aunt said "Why don't you tell them they've run out?".  So I took her advise I told him Voltron is MIA in the stores....let me tell you.  It was worse than the day I told him about Jose.  So after that all I heard was

"Mom, now I'm sad about two things. Dad and Voltron"


"I can't believe I don't have a Voltron or my Dad"

So I made it my mission to find this child a Voltron toy for Christmas.  I looked at every online store, Googled night and day and I finally came across a Voltron toy for my monkey on this website....they are sold out.  I had finally given up until one day I mentioned to my co-worker how bummed I was I couldn't find a Voltron toy for Cairo.  He did a Google search and low and behold he found one.  He sent me the link and I bought it right there and then.  Voltron has arrived and is patiently waiting to surprise Cairo on Christmas morning.  Of course I can't tell Cairo that so I've been playing along with his own search for Voltron.  Here is him after day 1 of trying to find Voltron:

Day 2 didn't look any better:

He's given up for now....but I just can't wait for Christmas to get here!!!  I believe I shall be retitled as the Bestest Queen Mom of the world after he opens that last present.

Safely Spooky

Our park district sponsors a yearly event called Safely Spooky.  The idea is to give the kids and adults a safe place where they can hang out for Halloween.  This was our first time participating in the event.  I figured it would be a cool thing to do for Cairo and it would get us out of the house for a bit.  I invited my sister-in-law and she joined us. When we got to the park the line to get into the park wrapped around the entire park.  Look!   Can you see the long ass line?? This park is huge, about the size of two neighborhood blocks and the line almost wrapped around the entire block!

I was a little concerned about Cairo, I wasn't sure if he was going to be freaked our or not.  I spotted some guy with a mask a bloody machete making his way towards us so I told Cairo  "hold my hand" and he goes "why" and I said "just remember it's all fake and not real", so he quickly grabbed my hand, just as the guy was a few feet away.  I was glad the pretend murderer didn't yell at us. Cairo was calm and collected.

We decided to paint our faces like catrinas.  Cairo too.  He didn't have a costume, but we had tons of face paint.  As we walked to the back of the line to get into the park people kept looking at us.  I'm not sure if they were looking at us cuz they thought "oh cool!" or "cheap costume", either way I think it was cool.  Although I wish the paint was better, the stuff we used was too oily and smeared easily.  Here's Cairo, doesn't he look like he's having a good time?

Here are the two of us....yeah he's still having a good time.

So the idea is you walk through the park and they have spooky decorations all around.  There were a doctor couple who were all bloodied up with organs in jars and body parts in hand.  Some prisoner girl who wanted help getting out and this nifty inflatable organ player, it had a rotating dancing couple!!

All along the place there were stands were the kids could get candy, some stands gave out full size candy bars!  Others gave you a piece of gum or starbursts bleh!  It got dark kinda quick and eventually we got to a tent, which was supposed to be a haunted house type tent. Cairo refused to go in...he quickly started to back away.  So he and I walked around it while Auntie went in on her own.  I'm happy to say she survived it.  Further down the road was a haunted grave yard and guess what?  Yep, Cairo refused to go through it so this time Auntie walked around with Cairo while I went through the graveyard/maze alone.  I made it out ok....or did I?

At the end of the whole thing they had 3 fogatas going.  They were huge.  Here's a pic of one, see how excited Cairo looks?

Aaaand here's a pic of Auntie....

Aaaaand here's a pic of me with Cairo.....OMG you can just see the excitement in this kids face.

I tried to get  a good picture but the light from the fogata was just to strong.

Instead of going on a hay ride we sat to eat some burgers and hot chocolate!

AND we found Waldo!!!

All in all Cairo did have a good time, even though he was a party pooper in the pictures.

The customer is always right

You just gotta love Bernie Sanders. He's started this movement of moving your financial accounts from the big banks to smaller community banks or Credit Unions.  The Washington Post recent posted an article about Credit Unions, it's pretty informational and has links to even more information.  The idea is this, big banks like Bank of America are reporting major profits yet at the same time they are going to hit customers with monthly fees in the beginning of the coming year when their customers use their debit cards for purchases. That just sounds so cynical, I mean come on!  It's a great example of how consumers are taken advantage of by big banks and no one seems to care.  Big banks are interested in how much of your money they can take, they are basically taking a slice of your budget pie because they can.

I had a Bank of America checking and two savings accounts.  I closed all of my accounts.  I moved my checking services to a community bank in my area and I could not be happier.  I opened online savings accounts that accumulate more interest than what I was getting with Bank of America. I would recommend for people to do the same.  Imagine what would happen if everyone moved their financial business to local banks and credit unions?  Imagine the impact that would make and message that would send to big corporations?  They have been the boss for far too long and it is time to reclaim the old concept of the customer is always right.

I am a job creator

For a while now every one in the media or in the GOP have been referring to the job creators and how much they need tax breaks.  They are referring to the big corporations who apparently need more incentives to keep their businesses in the U.S. to "create jobs" for Americans.  The thing is that these "job creators" have been having tax breaks for many years now and even though some of these companies are claiming major profits like Bank of America there aren't many jobs being created and more people are in fact being laid off.  Here's an example of what I mean. 

If I had extra cash to spare, I'd buy Dunkin Donuts coffee every single day.  If I had extra cash to spare we'd eat out at least once a week, pizza nights or something.  I had extra cash I'd update my house by in updating the kitchen, the main bathroom, the half bath downstairs, I'd build a family room in the basement after installing a sump pump and having the gutters taken out of the drain, I'd furnish the new family room with a nice flat screen T.V. and furniture.  If I had extra cash I'd take my family on a vacation every year, we'd go camping twice a year.  If I had extra cash I'd buy healthier food from Whole Foods.  If I had extra cash I'd buy my son cloths that fit right and buy new ones as he out grows them.  If I had extra cash I'd upgrade my car to a more gas efficient one.  If I had extra cash I'd buy every one in my family Christmas presents every year, nice ones at that.  I think I alone would keep several people employed and quite possibly cause for a few others to get jobs.  The more I think about what I'd do if I had extra cash in hand the more I think that the GOP and the media has got it all wrong.  We are the job creators, the average people living average lives.  If we had more money to spend, the more stability companies would have and the more employees they would need to meet the demand made by us the consumers. Why doesn't the GOP see that?

We're going to the Circus!!

Being the disorganized  mother I am Cairo arrived late to his first Cub Scouts meeting this week,  UGH I felt horrible, the kids were already finishing up working on their first patch.  So to make it up to him we're going to the circus!  Thanks to Cairo being a Tiger in the Cub Scouts we were offered a deal on Ringling Brothers tickets.  $17 a ticket and there is a pre clinic where the kids can hang out with the circus peeps before the show, how sweet is that??

I had to put it on the credit card though.  I don't have the cash for it now.  As a bonus my cousin and her husband will be here visiting from Mexico and they will be joining us.  I haven't seen them, or any of my family members, in 3 years.  I'm looking forward to seeing them and talking to them.  They will give me a better feel about moving to Monterrey and about getting a job down there, if it comes down to it.

Cairo and the Cub Scouts

This week Cairo and I went to a Cub Scout meet and greet event. It was pretty low key, just a few parents checking in and asking questions.  It all seemed great.  The kids get to do projects, work on badges and go to events.  When I was reading the info and their oaths I have to admit that I was a little concerned at how much God plays a role in the Cub Scouts.  Not so much because my views on God and religion are very different from most but because that is something, in my opinion, that should be handled at home.  Even though I was a little reluctant, Cairo got signed up.  I figure it's a good way to spend quality time with him and I know he's going to have fun, he'll make new friends.  Plus after explaining to Cairo that the Cub Scouts are like the boy version of the Fire Site Girls, well there was no turning back!

I'm really looking forward to the weekly meetings.  I think Cairo is going to enjoy being a cub scout and I really like the idea of having this time that is just "Cairo time".  I'll be able to focus entirely on him, what he's doing and working on stuff together.  At home, even though we do do stuff like watch movies and pop popcorn or go on walks or go to the park on the weekends we really don't do much during the week. It's always a rush rush thing.  We rush home after work/school, we do home work, he watches T.V. while I wash dishes and/or do some laundry.  Then it's shower time for him then bedtime.  What saves me a a ton of time is the fact that we usually have dinner at my moms during the week. Since she picks him up after school for me it's just easier to give in to her offerings of some good Mexican cooking.

Our meetings are Monday nights so they won't get in the way of therapy on Tuesdays and we have our first fundraiser!  We are selling popcorn! Can you say YUM?  Wish us luck!!

Looking for a second job

As crazy as it sounds I am now looking for a second job.  What I currently make at my full time job, although is ok, is not quite cutting my families current needs.  I was very reluctant on making this decision.  Cairo needs me but I need for us to be able to survive, this requires extra moolah.  Kids need stuff, you know like cloths, food, hair cuts, the occasional toy and what I make now doesn't cover those needs.  Shoot, it doesn't cover those needs for myself either.  I've waited long enough and I can no longer ask my family to help me when they need help themselves.  Right now is probably the best time to do so.  The holiday season is upon us and you'd think that every one would be hiring for it.

I've enjoyed spending time with my son on the weekends.  It's just the two of us until Jose get's back.  The weekends are like a breath of fresh air.  No one criticizing me or trying to take away my role as Cairos mom. If Cairo wants to go to the park we go, we watch movies and eat what we want.  No one meddles in my parenting and Cairo is free to run and play.  All that's missing is Jose, but hopefully that will be fixed soon.

I've debated on how truthful I should be on my applications.  I'm curious of they see that I currently have a full time job if they will over look me to give someone with no job a better chance, I probably would.  Should I put my current salary?  I'm afraid I'll look an Scrooge, you would think with what I make I can pull off all our needs. Sure I can, but just the bare minimum....

Sorry kid, deal with the holes in your shoes.

Hey I got free AC in my jeans!

Sorry bud, we can't eat out...EVER.

Birthday party?  Out where? I think not.

Make that hair cut super short, it's got last till after winter.

You see what I mean?   Sure we have a small roof over our heads and some food to eat but that's about it.  God forbid one of us get's sick, paying that co-pay may mess us up for the rest of the month, especially if we need some sort of prescription meds.  The sad part is that I'm probably doing a lot better than most right now.  There are so many people who don't have jobs and/or don't have a place to sleep.  It shouldn't be this way.

Oh well, I'm on the search for a second job.  So far I've applied at Michaels and Menards and I checked UPS but they are only hiring people for during the day.  So far no one has called me back.  I have a feeling this is going to be a long process and the fact that I already have a job isn't going to help me much.

America....the Great?

The 10th anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks just passed and everyone all over has a aura about them.  Talking about how wonderful our country is and how much they love their country.  You'll see proud Americans cheering as the national anthem is sung with pride all over T.V. and YouTube.  What does it mean to be proud of your country?  Is America really a "great and wonderful nation"?  I was born in this country but I'm also first a generation Mexican-American, yet for some reason seeing all these "proud Americans" gives me a sick feeling in my stomach.  I know it sounds very Un-American and I hate to say it but I don't feel as proud to be American as these people whooping and hollering on T.V. seem to be.

What makes America a great nation?  I tried googling it and found several pages.  Every single page talks about how great America is for business, entertainment, sports etc...  Is that what defines being a great nation?  Big businesses and corporations can make big money here.  Hollywood makes the best damn movies seen all over the world.  Athletes can make millions by playing pro sports.  This is what makes our country great?  

I've had it in my head that what should make a country great is defined by how the country treats it's citizens.  Their education, poverty level, culture, over all health...etc.  I look at my life looking to see how America has benefited my specific life.  I went to a private school K-5th grade...that was all my parents hard earned money that did that.  I did go to public school 6th grade through high school, which is paid out of my parents property taxes, with some help.  I went to college and a large University, paid in full by my parents, myself and husband.  The only time I asked for government help was when I was pregnant with my son.  We didn't have health insurance, I wasn't working and we were barely making it on my husbands income.  My sister-in-law made me apply.  It was the worst feeling ever needing to apply for public aid.  I kept feeling I was taking something away from someone else.  There were more people in more need than me and as soon as I got a full time job with benefits, thanks to a friends referral, I stopped getting the help.  Everything my family has, has been earned with hard work, sweat and tears.  It was not given to us.

Perhaps it is all about perspective.  For those who can afford health care and a great education for their children this is indeed a great nation.  They do not feel the impact of the failed economy.  Those families have the world as their playground and do not know what it is like to suffer or be hungry. They are even above the laws imposed on every one else, they can afford really good attorneys after all.

From what I can tell, for the rest of us America has one of the worst school systems in the world.  Our health care is just about as bad.  Many citizens live in poverty.  A small percent of wealthy citizens control most of the nations money. We have a small percent of the worlds population but the highest that are in prisons.  Our history started with righteousness and genocide.  Racism, bigotry and intolerance is thriving.  Hate and violence is defended by religious text.  As big corporations make millions and billions in profits every year while we have starving children and people losing their homes.  If politicians have their way we will become a very segregated country where education and our freedom will differ all over the country.  I will say that we are one of the safest countries in the world, but quite frankly I attribute that to the fact that we only have two neighbors and we are half way around the world from countries that hate us.  Laws are made to suppress and imprison as many people as possible to give the illusion of safety to the wealthy and naive.

I used to think America was a great nation but now after all that it's doing to separate my family, kill the economy, eliminate the middle class, and imprison minorities...sorry if I don't feel so patriotic. 

Guards arrest that girl!!

This morning was an emotional one.  As I'm driving Cairo to school all he could talk about was his dad.  That in itself was difficult to deal with but then we got to the school yard.

Usually I let Cairo mingle with his classmates while they wait for their teacher. I stand in front of the line while he goes off and talks with his little friends.  Today though one moment he was with a small group of kids then I didn't see him anymore.  I started to walk down the line looking at every child to find him.  It didn't take long, he was in the front of the line with his head down.  I crouched down and asked him what was wrong.  He had tears rolling down his cheeks then he just buried himself in my arms.  I asked him:

 "What happened pappi??"

 He didn't respond and I asked him again.

Then he responded "She yelled at me".

I immediately thought "Who was the bitch that yelled at my baby?!?!?", so I asked "Who did pappi?".

"The girl over there"  I turned and wanted to growl like lioness protecting her cub, it was another first grader, so I held back the growl.

"What did she say to you?"

"She said to get in line"

Of course, I relaxed at this but my instinct was to yell out "Guards arrest that girl!!"

I held my cuddly cub until his teacher came out. She asked what had happened so I explained.  Cairo had tears just rolling down his cheeks and was holding on to me. I'm sure he was upset but now he was also embarrassed. Even the teachers heart broke, she asked him if he wanted to go with her while holding out her hand. He said yes and took it.

I did my best to explain to him that some kids just want to be bosses and tell other kids what to do but all we can do is ignore them and we shouldn't let them get to us.  That's easier said than done.  Cairo is not one for confrontations, he can't handle them and I can't handle having little monkeys, that barely learned how to wipe their own butts, pushing him around. What is a parent to do?

Transformers Cake!!!!

Cairo's birthday was earlier this week.  My chunka munka turned 6 and even though Jose is not here right now we tried to not bring the birthday boy down.  My brother in law offered to have a cook out for Cairo at his home and how could I say no?  I said sure, but I'm bringing the cake.  So I made Cairos birthday cake and here is how it went.

I didn't take pictures of the process of baking the cake because quite frankly I'm not that talented to bake a cake made from scratch.  I bought a couple boxes of Duncan Hines French Vanilla Cake Mix and just followed the instructions.

Here is the bottom layer of the cake with the well:

I filled the well with cream cheese frosting.  It's basically whipped cream cheese with sugar:

Added the top layer and ready to frost:

Finished frosting.  Normally I would be upset about the crumbs but since this cake is getting Transformed I didn't care all too much.  I think I need to find some other none stick spray or some other way of lining the pans.  I keep getting this thin cake skin that comes off and makes the cake crumbly when I frost it:

The last few times I've made cakes (I'll post pictures later) I've colored the frosting.  This time I left it white because I decided to try Duff's Cake Graffiti I used the blue and silver.  I really liked the silver, it's totally metallic, I want to make a car cake or something.  This is how it turned out:

I made some buildings out of the extra cake batter, I colored them a gray color.  They looked purple in the kitchen but when I brought them out into the sunlight they were really gray:

I figured the buildings needed some windows, doors and green foliage and I added the "Happy Birthday Cairo!".  I tried to make the letters look Transformery and they kinda grew as I wrote them but I'm ok with how they came out:

I made some blue frosting for the swirlys at the bottom:

Cairo wanted stars lining the top:

I bought some transformers to add as toppers and wah-lah!! :

We tore into that cake, you can kinda see the cream cheese filling:

Cairo seemed to have liked it very much, check out his new Mohawk hair cut:

I was really nervous about making this cake, but I'm really glad I did. Cairo really liked it.  The height of the cake prevented me from covering it while it was in the fridge. I thought the frosting was going to dry out and get hard but I was pleasantly surprised, it was soft and the cake was still moist also...double bonus!  Next time I will make a larger cake.  This cake was enough for 9 adults and 4 kids, I'm glad there was enough for every one, it was a pretty close call though.

Conversations with a 5 year old

On our way to a friends house:

Cairo: Mom, where are we going?
Me: Bertins house.
Cairo: Oh. *pause* Do you even know how to get to Adans house?
Me: Um...no.  We're not going to Adans house.
Cairo: Whose Adan?

I turn and look at my sister-in-law in the passenger side:
Me: Did that just happen?
Sis: Yes.

***
An hour and a half after breakfast:

Cairo: Now can I have something to eat?
Me: You can have a granola bar from the pantry.

He pitter patters to the pantry.

Cairo: I can't see it!!!!
Me: What do you mean you can't see it?
Cairo: I can't see it cuz I don't want it!!!

We give each other a long look.

Cairo: Can I have one of those? *Pointing to my attain bars*
Me: No.
Cairo: What are they for?
Me: They make your pansity feel full so you don't eat later.

He looks at me like "why wouldn't you want to eat later?", head tilt and every thing.

Cairo: Can I have chocolate?

***

Driving to an appointment:

Cairo:  Mom am I a part of you?
Me: Yes a part of me and papi.
Cairo: Oh I get it! So when you die you will keep living in me because I am a part of you and you are a part of me!
Me: Umm yeah that's a good way of looking at it.

This was one of those jaw dropping moments where I didn't know what to say but was shocked at the words coming out his mouth.

Rare Visitors

We got some visitors at my dads house.  Let's just say they're related somehow and depending on what the future holds, I'll reveal how they're related.  They...let's call them Kit and Kat...came over during the day on a Friday.  It just so happens I was there because of some crazy stomach virus, my brother was there because he had the day off and my sister-in-law was there cuz she needed to use the computer.  Everyone was there, my parents, us and Cairo.  I'm not sure that they wanted to see us all considering the timing but we were all there none the less,on the defensive and speculations were flying like bees in a flower garden.

"What do you think they want?"

"You think they want money"

"It's just weird after all this time"

"It's just them two?"

"Maybe someone died?"

It turned out to be a pleasant experience....until we got into politics AND religion.  I could tell that both were very Christian but I was not quite sure what branch they fell under.   Still don't know but I smelled fundi and I didn't like it.

Let me make it clear, I'm all about tolerance and productive dialogue.  I have no problem with sharing notes and comments and being all peaceful but as long as I don't try to convert you and you don't try to convert me, we'll get along just dandy!  These ladies were not into converting but they were into some weird stuff, in my opinion.  We started with politics....generally agreeing with each other I'd say about 80-90% of the time but then the comment was made how children should be allowed to pray in school when they wanted to and that the word "God" should be kept in the pledge of allegiance and part of the oath people need to take in court.

I believe in God, but that doesn't mean every one does.  Plus, my views of God may be very different than others and I'm ok with that.  I'm not ok, on the other hand, with people telling me what view of God I should have and that Religion needs to part of our government.  Sorry, but I agree with the separation of church and state.  No religion has any right to mess with our laws and our laws has no business messing with peoples right to their own faith.

Needless to say the discussion got heated.   They stated how it's because of Jesus Christ that we have Easter and Christmas.  (really?  It's not because Christians made up holidays around pagan holidays to easily convert pagans to Christianity?) What blew mind was when one said "I know some people with money and they're Jewish, you know not even American"....WTH???  Not only were they ignorant of other religions but I was surprised at the their ignorance of their own religion.  It was at this point that I decided to shut my mouth because I knew there would be a lynching.  Then one said, you should never talk about religion or politics at  a party.  Over all we peacefully said our good byes with hugs, but I'd be surprised if they came around again any time soon.  The whole time everyone else watched, it was me and them and even though my dad tried to get into the conversation his knowledge is narrow and limited and kept him on the side lines.

Looking back I think I should have said what I thought, like" you can be Jewish and American! Jesus was a Jew!"  "Those holidays have pagan roots and have nothing to do with Jesus!"  "If I knew I was going to die tomorrow I would not become wicked and go on a killing spree!" Yes, the last thing they said was God doesn't let us know when we're going to die because if he did we'd all give in to our wickedness and sin then ask for forgiveness the day before.

Till next time, I suppose.  

Baby Lightening Bug!!

I found this cute little thing on my door I just had to share:

You probably can't tell by looking at it but it's super small, about a third the size of a full grown lighting bug.

Americas middle class doomed

This article got my attention, it basically states that the U.S. middle class is systematically being eliminated.  This is of no surprise to some but I feel that most Americans in the U.S. are in denial to what is happening to them.  The last time I took the train in to work I had this weird feeling of being part of a herd of cattle.  Seriously there were easily 50 people getting off the train and we were funneling ourselves up the stairs to reach street level so we can all hurry to our jobs.  Granted maybe some were not going to work but I'm sure a large part of us were.  


The rich get richer while the poor get poorer...it's the story of the peoples lives in the states.  People risk their lives to come here for the "American Dream", that dream they are longing for is not for everyone.  The working class has to work, we have no choice about it.  If we don't work then we don't survive and our children don't survive.  We our bound by our need to get food on the table a roof over our heads and the desire to give our children more than what we had.  Our homes are owed to banks and our childrens education depends on how much we can promise to pay back.  The corporations we work for get richer while we barely make ends meet much less accomplish financial freedom.  As we work to pay for what we need we are also required to work for a period of years or until a certain age before we can "retire".  When we are finally able to retire we are too tired and can't afford to do much with our new found free time.  We are essentially self supported slaves.  Freedom, peace of mind and the "American Dream" is for the rich not the rest of us. 


Let's face it, big corporations only care about themselves and the bottom line.  They don't care about their employees or their families, as long as the labor is cheap it means more money for them.  It sucks really.  We have no say, or do we?  They say that every time we make a purchase it is essentially a vote.  If that is the case then I'm voting American.  By American I mean the continent not just the U.S. of A.  I'll admit I try hard to only by American or Mexican when I go to the grocery store.  If the fruit or vegetable comes from another continent, I'm not buying and I try to buy local.  There was a time I needed garlic but all they had was garlic from CHINA (yup China), so I didn't buy garlic.  I waited and waited and waited.  I waited a couple months, then I got sick and really needed that garlic...so I gave in an bought China grown garlic.  When it comes to other products though.  It's super hard to do.  This weekend was my first attempt to buy an American made gift for a birthday party.  Almost every single item of clothing at target is made in Indonesia or Malaysia.  Every single toy I grabbed was made in China.  I got excited when I saw a shirt made in Mexico but it didn't have a tag and it was only one piece of clothing.  I had to give in, toy made in China it is.


I honestly think that if we want to keep our economy going and we want to help the Americas we need to start demanding that we want American made products.  I would much rather buy something that was made/grown on the same continent as were I live than from across the world.  So I'm going to make an honest effort to do this.  I don't know how well this is going to go but I'm gonna try.  My first choice is made in the U.S.A., second will be hecho en Mexico third will be any country on our side of the world.  If I were living in Mexico I think I would do the same thing.  Buy Mexican first then American.  If we all tried to do that wouldn't that demand change?  Wouldn't corporations have no choice but to start producing closer to home?  Wouldn't that help the economy in the U.S and Mexico?  Wouldn't making Mexicos economy better create more jobs and lessening the need for dangerous migration to the U.S.?  If people had better options would they seek violent jobs with the cartels?  I would hope not.


I believe that people are willing to do the right thing if it's in their grasp.  I would like to think that these people joining violent groups for the good pay would rather do honest work.  The Cartels pay well, the highest start pay I read was 48,000 pesos a month, that's almost 4,400 dollars a month.  That's a lot of money even in the U.S.

OMG SPIDERS!!!!!

I have to admit it, I'm scared of creepy crawlys..... especially the eight legged variety.  They really freak me out.  Since we've been in the house I've seen easily 4 or 5 different kinds of spiders eeekk!!!!

My dad was nice enough to buy me some veneno to spray all over the place.  I had postponed it because it's been raining.  Well last night I found an ant search party on my kitchen counter and I had no choice but to open fire on them.  I kinda got a little out of control and started spraying in the basement O.o That was a BIG mistake.  Spiders came out of no where!

I shrieked.

I sprayed.

I ran.

In the morning I checked to see if there were any casualties, all I saw was a few clumps of dark mass.  No I didn't take any pictures, I was too busy watching my back.  I made an executive decision.  I will seek a professional or ask someone to finish off the spray, and by someone I mean my dad or my sister-in-law, because lord knows my brother, although physically a giant is a chicken when it comes to bugs.

Local Rep BS

My local rep is a Republican, his name is Dan Lipinski.  For once I thought I'm going to contact this guy and voice my opinion about two things: 1. Drug Regulation and 2. Immigration

I sent two different notes on his handy dandy, send Lipiniski a message form found on his site.  The first was for drug regulation....I selected I wanted a response.  Minutes later I got a response:

"Dear Friend:

Thank you for contacting me regarding federal restrictions on the use of marijuana. I appreciate hearing your views on this issue.

As you may know, the federal government currently classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, meaning that it currently has no accepted medical use in the United States, is highly addictive, and lacks required safety standards. In recent years, however, many have revisited the controversial subject of legalizing marijuana. Today, a number of states permit the medical use of marijuana, and more states are looking into adopting similar laws. In addition, several pieces of legislation have been introduced in the U.S. Congress seeking to legalize medical marijuana. These bills argue that marijuana use should not be under the jurisdiction of the federal government, and instead should be determined by individual state governments.

I believe we should certainly do more to help those suffering from devastating illnesses such as AIDS and cancer. However, I am reluctant to support the legalization of marijuana without stringent regulations on its distribution and use. Marijuana can be a harmful drug, especially when used by young people, and proper enforcement mechanisms would have to be enacted in any loosening of marijuana laws.

I understand your concerns and appreciate your insights. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future regarding this or any other matter of concern. Additionally, I invite you to visit my website at www.lipinski.house.gov to learn more about my work at home and in Washington as well as to sign up for E-newsletters.

Sincerely,

DANIEL W. LIPINSKI
Member of Congress"

In my second note, which described what my family is going through with immigration and all,  I stated that I would like for him to support immigration reform of course has not gotten a response.....Interesting.

Cairo in stealth mode

My son is 5 years old and thinks it's hilarious to pop out of places and scare me.  He goes as far as trying to be very ninja like and creeps his way to the right position.


Usually when I'm on my bed checking stuff out on my laptop he'll crawl his way to the edge of the bed, climb onto the bed and will get as close as inches from from my face, all completely "unnoticed" mind you, and "scare" the daylights out of me.  He just rolls over laughing while I pretend to be terrified.


I just had to recreate one of the last times he was stealthy at my parents house. 

Imagine him wearing a bright yellow shirt:

I love my baby!

I'm a pissed American

Back in the day when I was young and stupid I didn't care about what was going on in the world.  Heck, all I cared about was finishing school and going out with friends on the weekend.  Life changed that though.  Now the more I try to be informed the more I get pissed.   I had this image of the US as this great place where dreams come true and people do the right thing for the sake of justice for all.

Now, I realize that's not the case.  The people who are in power now and make decisions for the whole don't care about doing the right thing.  They only seem to care about the bottom line, not matter the costs no matter the causalities as long as they are on top that is how they vote.  Laws based on fears are unjust laws.  Laws based on ignorance are unjust laws.  How is it that this "great" and "wonderful" country has gotten to this very ugly place where it is more important to kill small business for the sake of large corporations?  How is it that it's ok to attack women and their decisions?  Why is it that lobbyists have more decision making power than the millions of Americans in this country?  What about taking care of "interests" in other countries makes more sense than taking care of our interests at home?  How is it that in this day and age we are still plagued with racism and religious intolerance?

All of this done while hiding behind the US Constitution, our founding fathers must be rolling in their graves and for what?  So that they can have the best of the best in the short time they have on this earth.  Let's face it, no one lives forever, laws are put in place so that the rich stay rich, they die and whomever is affected negatively by their horrible decisions will be left to suffer, well as long as they live life to the fullest who cares right?

The laws in this country are made to keep the lower classes low and the higher class rich.  They are made to keep minority voices quiet.  The more I see this, more crazies I see running for office the more I question how proud I am to be an American.  Dramatic change will come, I don't know if it will be a good thing or not but I do know who will be responsible in either case.  It will fall on those decision makes and the change will come from the majority.  The majority will either cease to exist or we will unite, rise and fight for positive change.  I'm rooting for positive change but at this point, anything can happen.

2012 Election Lumes

First off I'd like to say that I don't side with any particular political group.  I like to look into all candidates first and I vote for who agrees with mostly with me and my views.  This is now especially true because of recent events. 

Some months ago I stared to look up who had declared him or her self as a Presidential runner for 2012 and I looked them over.  I have to say that I was not impressed by many and the only one that had stood out.  His view on immigration, drugs, womens rights etc...were dead on with my own or at least closer than the others.  I remember thinking, damn if this guy wins things would really change around here, but I didn't think for some odd reason that he'd make it so I let it be.

As time went on the Latino vote has become a very hot topic.  The Latino vote as determined the presidency but with this huge hot topic of immigration raging on it's become of significant importance this time around.  Some say that we should not vote for Obama because he's fallen short of his promises on immigration, I agree but what's the alternative?  Sorry, but the alternatives are looking pretty bleak.  Some Republicans want to build up a wall similar to the wall of China between the US and Mexico.  Others are giving a green light to commit crimes against the undocumented, like rape. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I'm not saying that democrats are any better, ignoring immigration, continuing wars, ignoring drug reform, cutting taxes for the rich, but they don't seem so far off their rockers as these bozos.

Tonight the Republicans will be having their first "official" debate, amongst themselves.  Everyone's invited except for one, Gary Johnson.  There's controversy as to why he's being barred from CNN's hosted debate. Remember that one guy that I mentioned above?  Well that's him and he's a Republican. Apparently he's got a decent track record, he did good when he was Governor of New Mexico and his views align with my own.

My point is this.  Now that election season is lurking I think we should make an effort to think out side the box.  Look at every candidate regardless of party and vote for who we think is the best for us.  The republicans have a long list of wackos with few exceptions, the odds of the kind of republican that is going be on the final ballot does not look good.  I know the democrats are going to bring forward their top contender, my focus will be to make sure that the republican one is not of their majority wacko group.  Let's face it, elections don't always end how we want them.  For me, I'm going to focus on reducing the level of crazy on the Republican ballot, if there's an off chance that a Republican wins the presidency then hopefully we won't be turning the clock back to the 1800's.

What's your race?

Earlier today my son had to register for 1st grade...not very happy about my baby growing up so fast but it had to be done right?  When I filled out his application there were was a survey type of thing that was required by the  the state.  It asked what ethnicity we were, so I checked off Hispanic then it asked our race.  The options went something like, as in not exactly like, this with some descriptions to help:

• Native American (Some thing to the effect of Native to North, South or Central America indigenous native tribe or member of community)
• African American (self explanatory)
• Asian (self explanatory)
• White (Something to the effect of European decent)

uuuhhhmmmm where the hell does that leave us Mexican-Americans?  My first instinct was to select Native American.  I sure in heck didn't wanna pick "white".  I'm sure if you go far enough into my family tree you'll find a Spaniard....too bad Spain is in Europe...but I got some mixed native blood in me too. Technically I'm Mestizo so what the hell was I supposed to pick?  None of their definitions applied to me......at all.  So you know what I did?  I picked both Native American and White.  Based on their descriptions that's what made sense.  

BTW why do they give a flying monkeys butt what my ancestors were?  I mean how far back do they want me to check?  Asians are Asians, African Americans are African Americans, White is White, Native Americans are Native Americans, why can't they have Brown or Mestizo or something else that would better describe who I am?  At some point your gonna find a Native American who hooked up with a Spaniard and not necessarily willingly.  I've had this conversation with my good old friend Fuzzy (you know who you are Fuzzy) and according to him I should pick White when it comes to census.  My people, regardless of how far back you go, are natives to North America does that mean I should pick Native American? If they want to know my color then they need to add Brown as an option.

Americans & Their Political Choices

Whenever election season comes around, whether it be local, state or federal elections there is this rumbling every where you go.

"What do you think about so-and-so?" "I don't like that he took a picture of his penis." "She's such an air head dontchaknow". "So-and-so talks pretty good" "What about that other guy?"

It goes on and on.  What gets me is that are people who refuse to look and what the politician has done, represents, is against or for.  They vote entirely based on political party.  *confused look* really? *rubbing forehead* seriously? YES


Why the hell do people base their votes on political party?  They are doing an injustice not only to themselves but to other people.  They are giving power to people like Mr. FatHead...ahem...Fattman who gave the green light to rape undocumented women.  Regardless if a women is undocumented or not, she should not fear reporting it to police.  What's worse is that for this particular politician it is more important to crack down on undocumented people than to crack down on criminals that are actually committing violent crimes. huh?  You mean to tell me that it is more important to arrest a person who has not committed a violent crime against anyone than to track down a criminal who has raped someone?  I don't care on what side of the issue you're on, there is something significantly wrong with that.

Political parties should be null and void.  They should not be listed on the ballot and people should be encouraged to actually do their homework before the vote someone into power.  One would think that made sense....I'm sure there is someone out there who will beg to differ.  People it's ok to vote for someone that you agree with...really it is.  

Yay For Illinois!!

June 1st marked a very important day in history for Illinois and gay couples in the state.  Illinois passed a law that allowed for civil unions.  I'm not gonna lie, when I heard this on the news I thought to myself "Don't we already have Civil Unions in IL?"  As in Union Local Number blah, type of union. LOL yeah it took me a while to figure it out, in my defense I had just woken up, I was very sleepy and very excited I beat my son to the TV, usually he wins and it's all about Arthur, Martha and George.

Congrats IL for standing up and doing the right thing.  I'm not gay but I've always been for civil unions.  The idea that it's a threat to marriages is load of donkey poo.  Many gay couples have since been unionized and I doubt there is a single straight marriage that is in jeopardy as a result.  It's very good to see a positive thing in the middle of a very rocky time.

War on Drugs = MEGA FAIL

So last week the Global Commission on Drug Policy  published their report on the "War on Drugs" that's been going on for the past, what? 50 years?  It's been getting a lot of attention in case you haven't noticed.  I've been reading up on all the hub bub and there are tons and tons of people, including several current leaders who disagree with the report.  I read the report and this is my .02 on the subject.

• In the last 4 years there have easily been well over *40,000 deaths and disappearances* in Mexico, ever since Mr. Presidente decided he was going clean up the dirt in the Mother land.  Not to mention all the other casualties in the rest of world related to drug lords removing threats or collecting debt or settling scores, drug over doses, deaths resulting in low quality drugs etc... 
• Drug use in America is rampant and it's not *EVER* going away.  Roughly out of our lovely population of 300 Million there are *20 Million regular drug users in the US*.
• Recreational drugs are a multi-billion dollar business that is not getting taxed.
• Anyone, including *children* have access to these drugs.  Reality is that drug dealers don't care who they sell to as long as they get paid.
• Our prison systems are saturated with thousands of none violent drug offenders, which is costing taxpayers *millions* every year.

I don't know about you but it looks like drugs is winning the war and the rest of us are getting the short end of the stick.  If recreational drugs were regulated, like alcohol is regulated, there should be a mass shift to what is   going on not only in our neighborhoods but all over the world.  Regulation would mean:

• Drug cartels would lose their power and in turn the violence all over the world and in our streets would end.
• The government would be generating a new revenue from the tax paid on recreational drugs.
• Recreational drugs would *not* be readily accessible to children because age limits would be in place as they are for alcohol.
• Regulation would mean that the processing of these drugs would be supervised and deaths resulting from over dose or contamination would be greatly reduced.
• Money saved from supporting none violent drug offenders can be used to support drug rehab programs that work.

Maybe it's just me but it looks like the pros out weigh the cons.  Now I've read all the comments made by people are against regulation...here are some:

1. "Drugs will be even more accessible to teens" - uh no, they'll have less access because then they'll be carded before they can puff puff give, if anything we'll have a bunch of pissed teens on our hands.
2. "Everyone is gong to run out and we'll have a bunch of high people causing havoc" -  really?  Are you saying that if drugs were legal you'd go get high then try to break into someones house?  I didn't think so.
3. "It just won't work" - There are many countries that have similar systems in place and they are doing well, read the report that's what it's there for.
4. "Drugs will be uncontrollable" - Regulation would mean that they will be controlled, right now the government obviously has no control over drugs or they would have won the war a long time ago!

What boggles my mind is why are the "formers" all about speaking the truth about the silliness but the currents are ignoring the reality of what is going on?  Why are current leaders even willing to talk about the issue??  I mean really, current policy obviously hasn't been working and quite frankly the deaths and destroyed lives are not worth it in my opinion. This needs a totally different approach.

I say legalize, regulate and set up some free re-hab.