We are having a funky day in the desert today. A sand storm is blowing our way from Arizona and it makes for ugly skies and super dry skin. I miss the sound of rain 
It’s gritty, it’s dry and it sucks.
It gets in your eyes,
and in your hair it flies.
Don’t open your mouth,
here comes all that damn sand from the south.
Eva Santiago © 2012
Let me turn your moody Monday into a better day Enjoy the laughs!
The American Revolution was a revolution of ideas long before it was a revolution of war.
RE-SPECT = LOOK AGAIN
It is a tough thing to face daily that a loved one is dying right before my eyes. He went from being a man with a spring in his step when I first met him. After more than 2 decades of knowing him, his steps are weighed down with the cares of life. When I first met him his honey colored eyes were alive with hope and now, they are opaque and the light in them significantly dimmed. When I first met him, he had a full hair of beautiful thick, wavy,soft hair. Now his scalp shows through in patches and it feels brittle to my fingertips. A long time ago he never stopped- always wound up tighter than a clock. Now, he needs naps just to stay alive it seems. And they’re not little cat naps; the kind that rejuvenate and nourish the soul. He naps and I fear he’ll one day not wake up at all. He said he wasn’t addicted when we first met. He said he could always quit. Now that she has taken him for good, I see him bound by her oppressive chains and all I can do is weep because there’s nothing else to do for someone who is deep in the clutches and final stages of addiction.
My anger is gone. I used to be so upset at him for not taking care of himself. Now, I have a newfound respect. I’m looking again and I see a dying person who deserves to be treated with something he never ever received in his whole existence- Dignity.
LIFE LONG LEARNERS
Last night my oldest daughter was working on one of her last essays and she said this,” I can’t remember when I started school.” WOW! My job is accomplished here because I set out to make life long learners of my kids and this statement proves to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have accomplished one of my main goals in my home schooling journey. Just think of it, most kids remember their first day of school like this: Johnny with his cute back pack waiting for the dreaded yellow school bus that would take him away to a place where his real learning journey would actually end instead of begin. In the first few years of his life, his parents or main care takers were his main teachers and they allowed him the freedom to explore and learn on his own. Now as he rides the yellow dog he’s about to embark on 12 years of in the box learning where his natural abilities to soak up knowledge like the sponges they are at that age, will be curtailed if not squashed. So today I am a happy, happy teacher knowing that my kids love learning and they will carry that hunger with them to serve them well in their lives.
My daughter then went on to admit that as her home schooling journey wraps up, she will miss it because she can look back at all the ups and downs we’ve faced together and her heart aches because she knows from here on out it’s up to her to make her life the way she wants it. We both teared up
Funny, I told my daughter that on my last day of high school when the last bell rang and all the seniors let out a happy freedom cry, the last thing on my mind was whether I was going to miss 12 years of compulsory education. No way, I told her I was so glad my time was done. And here her sentiment was so different and my heart ached a little.
Today is the 100th day of 2012. That means that you who made New Year’s resolutions have 265 more days to either stick to your resolutions or abandon them already because you know by now, it’s not happening
I am happy to report to you that we have a good future to look forward to in this country. Why am I so sure? How can this Eva person be so certain? My answer comes from a report presented to me today by my oldest daughter who is in her last year of home schooling. Her assignment was to research the 5 candidates who are currently running for the republican party nomination. She did a thorough job too.
Folks, I want to inform you that many of America’s young people are more awake and in tune with the current state of affairs of our country than the average adult. No, they are not naïve because of their youth. They are more fed up about what’s going on than most grown ups. These future leaders of America can’t be bought and I am proud to say I had a hand in molding 4 young minds and preparing them to be citizens in good standing.
The Bible says that like arrows in the hand of a warrior are children born when one is young and that to have your quiver full of them is double the blessing Psalms 127:4-5. Why does the Bible refer to a quiver full of children? Because children are as arrows that need to be guided in the right direction. They need to be pointed at the right target. They need direction and a target. Those of us who took the educating of our kids into out own hands KNOW for a fact that America still has a fighting chance because we are training the future leaders of this country. To all of my fellow home schooling parents out there, I salute you because our hard work is already paying off!
PROTECT THEM AT ALL COSTS!
CAREFUL! Young eyes are watching. We must be so careful with the young souls of our children. I am deeply grieved lately at how kids are losing their innocence at younger ages these days. No matter how hard we try to protect them, and I emphasize protect and NOT overly shelter, there is a difference; they still get exposed to age inappropriate things before their time. My youngest girl asked me the other day to tell her what a certain sexual reference meant. I let her see the shock in my face because I remember her older siblings hadn’t heard of that at her age. So she told me that she had over heard one of her older sister’s friends telling them about her sexual escapaes with her boyfriend. I was very upset. So I had my daughter call her friend and tell her to please refrain from sharing her stories with her when she comes over; my daughter admitted to me that frankly, she was tired of hearing about it too. Folks, our kids will grow up it’s a fact of life. But when my 11 year old tells me she didn’t want to know about certain things yet, well I had to act.
Our children are being bombarded daily with adult material that is too much for their young brains and tender souls to deal with. I thank God I’m able to home school mine so I can keep the onslaught at bay, at least for a little longer than the kids that have to face it everyday in regular school. I wonder what the people of a few generations back would think of all of this that kids have to deal with everyday?
Black and white photography is amazing to me because you can change the whole look and feel of a picture. I think it’s because in color photography, you need less of an imagination because red is red and you don’t question it. Black and white photos leave everything up to the viewer’s imagination and maybe that’s why it seems more in-depth to me.
” The costliness of keeping friends does not lie in what one does for them, but in what one,out of sheer consideration for them, refrains from doing.” – Henrik Ibsen
I posted this up here on a Monday in the hopes it brings a smile to your face since Mondays are rough for lots of people. This child LOVES her churros. The best ones are the ones that every bite you take, melts in your mouth and they are nice and warm, just fresh out of the churro maker. The worst churros are cold ones that have set on a shelf all day and they’ve been marked down :/ You’re better off eating some card board with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top. The little person in this picture claims that churros are cinnamon rolls in stick form. Do you agree or disagree? Get back with me on this poll and I’ll pass on the results to her. Have a GREAT Monday!!!
