OMG, I just got an ocular migraine (scintillating scotoma) while posting (right eye).  Still feels weird.  So glad for . . . → Read More: changes in latitudes…]]> I’m a total latitude snob.  Seriously.  I LOVE being warm – my knees don’t ache, my fingers don’t ache and I have no excuses not to exercise.  Swim, bike, run.  Did it all this week.

OMG, I just got an ocular migraine (scintillating scotoma) while posting (right eye).  Still feels weird.  So glad for Google though.

Okay, I guess that wasn’t a TIA but an optical migraine per Dr. Google. Weird, and I still have a headache in that eye…

So I don’t really *do* NY resolutions, but have been wanting to make some changes for a while but just don’t put the energy into doing it. Start of a new year makes it somehow easier though. So, this year, I am going to make the following a priority.

One on one time with the kids. You’d think that since they’re home all day we’d be together all the time but they are just not at all involved. I’m planning to do 1:1 with one kid a week. We have tried this in many forms previously but since the kids all wanted to have time with each parent every week we got bogged down in the details after trying a few times and then dropped it as it became just too hard to manage. So it won’t be “fair” and it won’t be the quantity that they want but it will be better than the nothing of now.

Tell my kids something good about themselves. I am really good at asking if they’ve taken the dog for a walk, done their job, done their math, etc. but not so good at randomly expressing my pride in them (and they are SUCH GREAT KIDS) other than very occasional recognition of stuff they’re doing. So starting with month 1 (Enero) I’ll single each kid out once a day and recognize them for something. Next month, twice. Third month, 3 times, etc. I had a hard time falling asleep last night (as I was planning this) as I was already stockpiling compliments. Geez.

I’ll have to finish this later.

When you’re living in the land of frozeness, how do you decide when to take a shower?  . . . → Read More: the great white nawth]]> Um, maybe this was a bad idea.  I was dreading coming to the Huenited States for a couple reasons.  First the insane frozen freezingness (why oh why, are we visiting in WINTER???) and also the TSA demons.

When you’re living in the land of frozeness, how do you decide when to take a shower?  During the summer we take 2 a day and even in winter we’re swimming or running or cycling so that takes care of the need to shower, but when it is too cold to do anything, how do you decide?  I just can’t justify getting even COLDER with water when I just don’t see a need.

At the rate the rain continues to fall we’re going to need an ark.  Why is it still dark at 6:30 in the morning here?  We have grey sky at 5am and sun at 6, but I’m looking outside at 6:30 pacific time and the sky is black.

You literally cannot drink enough water here.  I know people say they drink a lot of water when they come to the Caribbean, and in the winter we generally slack off the water pounding but here in the frozen great north I cannot drink enough water.  My throat is constantly dry and everything else, lips, skin, etc. is in the same state.  We had super low humidity (65%, 45%) before we left – seriously like DESERT dryness – so I thought I’d be ready for the lack of humidity, but even raining here it is bone dry.

Is it possible to complain and bitch enough about the California frozen north?  I think probably yes.  My folks are in the REAL frozen north, with my sister in Minneapolis so they will now be given the floor for serious complaining.  I’ve been keeping up on the weather at Steve’s blog and it just looks like puffy white stuff to me – I really cannot begin to comprehend weather like that.  My sister is healing well.  She has had her 2nd opinion with a Sarcoma center and while I know she has many chemicals and more surgery in her future, I am confident she has a good team behind her.

My other sister was  a DREAM (as usual) when we arrived.  I had been quite worried about the new “enchanced” TSA “patdowns” where they have been accused (and sued) with squeezing testicles, stroking penises, grabbing labia and bruising breasts all in the name of terrorism.  I was especially worried about the kids and had reservations in place to drive from DFW (our first US landing) to California if TSA pushed their case with the kids.  There were reports that they weren’t being heavy handed with the kids under 12 but I doubt I would have been able to rein in mother bear if they even thought of putting their hands inside my daughter’s underwear (another choice method of theirs).  Luckilly for us they were on their best holiday behavoir (and I also researched ahead of time to find out which terminals and gates to go through at DFW to avoid the CancerPornoscan and as such the risk of TSA oh-so-special sexual assault (AKA “pat down”).

So we all made it quite easily, getting up at 2:30 am, driven to the airport by our lovely neighbor, waiting for INS to clear Jesse to fly (we all have FM3s except him and lost his FMM) and sleeping through the flight.  Kilo presented no problems at all and American treated us well.

After landing in DFW we had to recheck our luggage and go through customs and immigration.  Normally, US Customs and Immigration are staffed with the most sour of the sourpusses.  Seriously it seems like a national crime for these guys to smile or act like humans.  However, we got an older lovely gentleman for Immigration who had lived in the Bahamas with his family and totally understood what a “stockup” trip was and why were were traveling so incredibly light.  I also had the kids hide Kilo (the dog) as much as possible as all our paperwork was in Spanish and while we were perfectly legal and had jumped through both Mexican and US hoops, it would just have been easier if we didn’t have to deal with the dog issue.  So he was in his carrier and Pike’s winter jacket flopped perfectly over the carrier making our entry just a smidge easier.

Our SF-bound flight split us up into 3 groups of 2.  Ellen and I were seated next to one of the thousands of soldiers who had come through Immigration and Customs at the same time we did and he was dead tired.  She was not willing to give up her window seat to this guy but after we took off Jesse and Sissy kindly changed places with us so the solider AND Ellen could have window seats (and he was able to sleep much easier next to the bulkhead).  I was happy to see that Jesse was able to separate our shared vitriol for the war from the soldiers fighting it.

When Jamie and the kids had gone north to celebrate Maca’s 100th with her they stocked up on jackets but upon arrival at SFO my sister met us with TWO SUITCASES full of hats and gloves and more warm clothes besides BUCKETS of food and water.  I have to say I wasn’t surprised at all.  She is such a caring and loving person.  Thus fortified with warm clothing and most excellent food in our bellies we headed to her home.

The house was still under construction but they now have a basement that can be reached from the INSIDE of the house (the stairs were fashioned by my brother the day we arrived) and it is really coming together.  You really can’t get a good feel for their progress except in person.

Jamie dragged me out for a bike ride about a week after we arrived and if I was not already completely and utterly frozen, I was on the downhill of that ride.  I vowed never to leave the comfort of a heated room again, but he got more layers and a baclava to wear under my helmet and the day after Christmas, with knickers and tights on the bottom and 4 layers + windjacket and baclava on top I was not frozen and actually enjoyed the ride.  It was up and then 13 minutes down.  I enjoyed the up much more than the down but am ready to go again.

And a good thing as I’ve shocked myself at the kilos I’ve packed on in a short week’s time.  I cannot believe the abandon I’ve used to attack mounds of cookies and candy and my belly firmly presents FIRST now.  So to the hills I must take in the hopes of holding off more holiday damage.

We’re here until just after the new year and just beginning to acclimate – we’ve already switched over to Pacific time and it is going to be incredibly hard going back to Central for we night owls, especially Jesse who gets up at 5:30 am for school.  My folks come back from frozen Minnesota tonight so this will have to be the last hurrah for my bitching about the weather.  (but dayum it is COLD here!)

A LOT has been happening but I’m not going to try to recreate, I’ll just try to forge ahead. I’ve been riding with Jamie and the pilrgims are now out in force. I tried . . . → Read More: backasswards]]> It’s that time of year again, the time of year I update the blog. Apparently I only update alternate months.

A LOT has been happening but I’m not going to try to recreate, I’ll just try to forge ahead. I’ve been riding with Jamie and the pilrgims are now out in force. I tried taking pictures my last bike ride but the camera seriously sucks and I pretty much got nothing. As long as you’re directly in front of the camera you’re good but everything else is unidentifiable. Maybe I can figure out a setting or something.

So on Wednesday Jesse brings home a permission slip to go to the COP 16 climate change conference in Cancun. I was SERIOUSLY impressed and also confronted again with how D.I.F.F.E.R.E.N.T. it is here. I have never had a kid in school in the US, but I doubt you’d get a permission slip on a Wednesday for a field trip on a Friday. So I signed the slip and figured that was that. They were going to have 1/2 class on Friday and head up after that. I was really quite impressed that the school got either an invitation or passed security to get the kids in, but whatever, and I put it out of my mind. Thursday at midday I get a phone call from Jesse asking if we can drive a van full of kids to the conference. We figure it out and I decide to take the day off work and email the principal if we need any ID or anything. No answer. So I show up at school around 10 and load up the van with 10 kids (and get the cell numbers for 3 of them) and off we head. Where specifically are we going? Well, we’re not sure. At least *I* am not sure. I am given VERY rough directions – after the airport and before the MacDonalds. Okay.

So I figure we’ll figure it out and off the road we go. The other vehicles taking students are still at the school. I do have the principal’s phone number and figure if I get really lost I’ll call him. About 5 km south of the Cancun airport we come across the location of the summit. It is very obvious – riot police, military, army, lots of guns, lots of security, military checkpoints, one lane of the highway closed, barriers along the side of the carretera – but we’re still south of the airport and my “directions”. So I keep going. At about the airport one of the girls asks if I know where we’re going and I admit I’m clueless but I’ll probably figure something out. And after the airport and the pretty school and just before MacDonalds I do find it.

Just like I figured I would.

One of the exhibits was Willy Souza and the film was knock-you-on-your-ass spectacular (which shouldn’t take away from the fact that the theatre was a parking lot and you were already sitting on asphalt). Check out a video I found – this was part of the movie.

Willy Souza

I started this post a few days ago and maybe I’ll have time to update it later, but for now this will have to do.

We’re the backasswards family – most people take their Christmas vacations at the beach (Emerald Coast, Pacific Coast, Caribbean here in Mexico) but we’re going NAWTH to freeze our collective asses off in the Huenited States. I’ve been PSTD with visions of TSA goons in my head and I’m hoping for the best. At worst we’ll fly to Dallas and drive to SF. See ya on the flip side.

Since Cardinal Roger Mahony has admitted to mistake after mistake for the way he handled the clergy abuse crisis in the archdiocese of Los Angeles, I would like to offer the following options that could be considered if a cardinal, bishop or other high-ranking Catholic official is called upon to make . . . → Read More: sage advice]]> By Mike Ference

Since Cardinal Roger Mahony has admitted to mistake after mistake for the way he handled the clergy abuse crisis in the archdiocese of Los Angeles, I would like to offer the following options that could be considered if a cardinal, bishop or other high-ranking Catholic official is called upon to make similar decisions regarding clergy abuse in the future.

1. Try contacting the president of the local Hell’s Angels, Pagans or other motorcycle group, although some of the fellows are pretty tough characters, my bet is that they would offer better advice than how the clergy abuse scandal could have and should have been handled.
2. Contact local drug dealers, used car salesmen and loan sharks. I admit that these guys may have some faults, but even these guys have a warm spot in their hearts for children.
3. Contact the local town drunkards, homeless people and other folks we all tend to shy away from, again, even on their worst days, these folks would have a better way to handle the problems that Mahony erred so terribly on.
4. Contact international terrorists groups such as, Al-Queda, Cosa Nostra, or any group with a reputation for doing things their own way. Again, even if you quiz these guys on a day they get out of the wrong side of the bed, usually, they are in favor of protecting children.
5. Contact your favorite rock ‘n roll band, heavy metal band or any band that is on a drinking and drug binge. Their advice should prove to be better than what was decided by Mahony
6. Contact a Catholic Bishop or cardinal from any of the 195 diocese in the United States and whatever their advice is, do just the opposite.
7. Contact any attorney who has ever made a dime off the Catholic church and do just the opposite of what they suggest.
8. A random sampling of convicted felons should offer better choices than the ones made by Mahony.
9. Construct a spinning wheel with the following option: do anything except follow the guidelines set forth by Cardinal Roger Mahony. Spin the wheel. It should land on the only option that was described. Follow the directions.
10. Ask witchdoctors, voodoo doctors or any member of the fake religions out there that do not adhere to the teachings of the Catholic Church and then follow their advice.

I’ve been insanely bizzy. Thus my last post. I’m guessing most of the 2 people still reading think I spend my days lounging on the beach, sending the dog to . . . → Read More: hopalog CODE BLUE]]> I’ve got RT on board, ER working the patient and Neurology on standby. I think we just might be able to resurrect this baby.

I’ve been insanely bizzy. Thus my last post. I’m guessing most of the 2 people still reading think I spend my days lounging on the beach, sending the dog to dig up some turtle eggs for breakfast while the kids/slaves run back and forth from the beach to the palapa bringing me ice cold bonbons.

I have been seriously struggling, trying to figure out a solution for Jesse’s need for companionship with kids his age and after many false starts we discovered school. Go figure. He has been simply an AWFUL student with me but (and this can be typical) in the hands of another he shines. But I’m getting ahead of myself. There are a number of options here, mainly due to the high Euro population here, and we have 2 Waldorf schools (1 is really Waldorf, the other is really not), 1 Montessori, 1 expat party school and various other traditional Mexican schools. We decided we really wanted him to have a lot more English (at least in the beginning) to help him pave the way from ZERO school to FULL TIME school. I am really happy with the one we chose, El Papalote. By US standards he should be in 11th grade but here you get 6 years of primary, 3 years of secondary and 3 years of preparatory. This particular school runs 7 years of primary in addition to 3 and 3 of secundaria and prepa. To take advantage of the high amount of English in secondary, we are starting him in 2nd of secondary with a move to 1st of prepa by the end of the year. It seems the amount of English is low in primary, high(er) in secundaria and lower again in prepa. He is taking English, Art, History, French (in Spanish), Spanish, Physics, Math, Music, Ethics and maybe more that I can’t remember. His English, Ethics and History classes are in English. French is in Spanish but is very elementary and all the students are really at the same level so it isn’t as hard as it could be. He is doing his own math program (Teaching Textbooks) as he can’t hope to follow what is going on in class. Physics seems elementary now so we’ll see how that goes. I am surprised at how much he is picking up in class though and he is participating even in the Spanish language ones. He’ll get a classmate to translate for him if the teacher speaks no English at all or use English (in Physics he answered a question “gravity” in English as he had no idea of how to say it in Spanish and it was understood) and hopes for the best. At least he is understanding enough to participate.

So Ellen has really been wanting to go to school also (we tried Ak Lu’um last year but it wasn’t what she wanted) so we tried her at El Papalote but it is just TOO hard for her. Math class had word problems on the board (she would have gotten them in English) but she guessed one was an addition problem but had no clue on the other. So she is very discouraged and I doubt will be going back. It is a shame because she really craves the interaction with the kids but she was in tears from frustration each day – completely and utterly lost. She is supposed to have 1/2 day English but I doubt the kids of her age have the capability to do 1/2 day English so it becomes a full day of Spanish. Still not sure what we’ll do there. I might see if she can do 1/2 days for a while until her Spanish improves.

So Pike and Sissy are very happy at home – Pike tried out Jesse’s school one day but he was surprised to find he does a higher quality of work (and more work) at home than the school does. I’m not surprised at all. That boy is a real information absorbing sponge.

In the moments I’m not running, recovering from injury, swimming or working I’m obsessing about the curricula for Pike, Sissy (and maybe) Ellen. I’ve got Pike’s all but completely decided but LA, Science, and Spanish are all totally up in the air for Sissy. I ordered some stuff that should arrive in a week or so but have the opportunity to send some to people coming down the first week of October so I really need to get on the ball.

Finally, we’re still very up in the air about our US trip. We had originally planned to go to WI for Maca’s 100th bday and then MN afterward to visit with Michelle et al. but that would entail 2 weeks out of school for Jesse and really very little time with her kids as they would be in school most of that time too. So I then thought we’d have just Jamie go to WI for Maca’s bday and we’d all go to CA for Xmas. Then this am, Jamie says he thinks we all need to go to WI for Maca’s 100th. So who knows.

I’m also wondering why we’re still here and not on the road traveling but that’s neither here nor there.

04something. It MUST be too early to get up. Toss and turn for a while then get up. 04something. I had planned to get up at 6am (sleep in an hour) so back to bed. Try to . . . → Read More: laid back life]]> So I’ve been pretty damn busy. Right now I’m supposed to be working but there you go.

04something. It MUST be too early to get up. Toss and turn for a while then get up. 04something. I had planned to get up at 6am (sleep in an hour) so back to bed. Try to go back to sleep. Think it must be AT LEAST 0530 by now so get up. 0508. Sigh. Get up and put in about 1-1/2 hour’s worth of work. Get ready for a run. Warm up, visit public bathrooms (to not wake family with toilet flushing) and head out for run (after walk warmup and stretching) just as clock moves from 0659 to 0700. Pretty good run. Six miles and I was zoning out so many times (sleeping on my feet) it wasn’t funny. Calf seems to be back with me again. Stretch on beach after run and marvel at the calm seas. It was just a couple days ago that I couldn’t swim because the seas were so rough. 6.1 miles running in 64 minutes. Run through so many scenarios WRT the kids and school and curricula to get during the run it isn’t funny.

Worry about Jesse’s Spanish project today but decide that I gave him advice and now it is his choice to follow it or go his own way and stop worrying about his project. It needs to be owned by him. Check work – nothing so no rush for shower. 0830 Take shower and notice that Jamie apparently got up and is out on his bike now. Check on Ellen a few times – still sleeping.

0830ish or so notice Ellen is awake – still nothing much for one client so download some work from other client. Ellen eventually comes into office and works on handwriting while I work on one client.

0900ish make cawfee and throw away old cold crap. Keep working and directing Ellen (and spelling words for her ocassionally).

0930 Ellen wants some of Jesse’s paper (she’s still working) so I send her upstairs to see if he’ll share some (and also wake him if necessary as I’m still worrying about him and his damn project).

1000 2nd client pops in with a shitload of work. Download it and finish up with 1st client.

1030 get some breakfast (had 1/4 waffle and Cytomax on beach during stretching) of oatmeal (sweet not salty today) and fish. Start working on 2nd client. Jesse comes down to get phone and arrange meet up with schoolmates for project. Sheesh! Finally! Check on 92L and Igor. Don’t like the look of 92L. Get to werk damnit! 1045 Pike takes Kilo for walk and takes my watch.

1215 time for a break and check on the kids and get my watch back so I can put today’s run in Daily Mile. Jamie working in kitchen. Start girls on math. Get Pike started on English and remind Jesse about math. Go over girl’s work and keep directing them.

1230 back to work and keep working with girls’ math studies.

1300 Girls take a quick break then Ellen to copywork and writing. Sissy finished with Maths and mini Soduko. Starts copywork and phonics. I keep trying to work.

1330 Girls memorizing poem, go over Pike’s writing assignment (summary of Writer’s Almanac). Go over common and proper nouns and have girls have girls narrate story.

1400 start girls on art lesson – color wheel and opposite colors. keep trying to work.

1430 get ready to head out for a swim – girls occupied with Art and boys doing whatever boys do, Jamie cooking. Crystal clear water – kept getting distracted looking for baracuda and tortuga and marveling at tropical fish and only did 4 laps (1200 yd).

Back home by 1515ish, shower, check boys’ math and girls’ art and get food.

1535 back to work, eating and feedback to Sissy on her art – Ellen done with hers.

1550 kicked girls out of office to play on the beach. Poor dears. What a horrible life.

1645 omg I need a cawfee IV. Dying of tiredness here. Still have 11 more reports to go. Sigh. Walk around. Try to find Jesse to remind him to walk the dog. Remind kids to do their chores.

1900 OMG SO DONE with work. 3 more reports to go. DYING here.

1923 DONE!!! Now I have about an hour with the family and then to bed. This is probably a very typical day.