HAPPY FATHER' DAY RODNEY

and. . . .

morty

victor

david

and tad!

it always makes me laugh to think about my little brothers as dads. but here they. one the father of an 8-year old girl and the other a father of 3 toddlers!! my boys and i celebrated rodney with one of his favorite things. . . . desert! rodney requested a pie from the pampered chef cook book. he had also requested the cook book when i attended a pampered chef party a while back. so. . . tom and i hopped to it. we "baked" this pie just for our #1 dad. he always gets an A for effort.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MORTY

so morty turned 33!! yeah he's usually in bed by 9pm nowa-days. but we had a GREAT time saturday night.

While I was Gone by Sue Miller

If ever you were in the mood to run away from yourself, While I Was Gone is the book you'd want to turn to. Sue Miller writes a great story of what we all dream of at one point or another. "What would happen, if I just left all this behind and started over". To most, it's just a fantasy; nothing we'll ever really do.

Sue Miller's main character is Joanne. Your regular middle-aged mother. The thing with mom's though is that they lived a life before they became mothers and Joanne really lived! In fact, I was sort of jealous of the bold decisions she made and actually followed through with them. Yes, I was jealous of a fictional character! One of the reason I envied her was because she was able to make a decision to change and follow though with it at 100% without second guessing herself or going back or changing her mind or wimping out half way though. That takes a lot of will power and bravery.

A main theme of While I was Gone is the very defined stopping and starting points in life. Joanne made all her life changes at an event in her life. Once something happened then she would make a life change. A real life example would be graduating from high school. However, all of Joanne's moments of change are little less. . . ordinary. And one event is down right tragic.

It took me a while to understand Jo. To get where she was coming from because at first she came off as really self-centered. So, I kept putting the book down only to start it over again a week later. Finally, by chapter three, I was hooked! I just had to know what happens to Jo, to Leshia Stead and everyone else in the book. This is Oprah recommended reading and as usual Oprah does not disappoint.

Across a Hundred Mountains by Reyna Grande

Althought not technically based on a true story. The story told here is one hundred percent true and happends everyday at the U.S. border. My heart breaks for this reality because America cannot allow an open border. Mexico is failing it's citizens, so America is a tempting solution from poverty, violance and other ailments that plaque the country.

The book follows a man who takes a giant risk. He leaves his family in Mexico to go work in America. The family holds on to the hope of a better life when hope is all that they have.

The author's style of writing was questionable while reading the book. I had to keep re-reading previous chapters to fully understand what was happening in other chapters. However, once you get to the end it ALL makes sense. The story comes together. At the end, I was really greatfully for the odd style and questionalbe arrangment. Without it, it would have been too much sadness at one time.

Unfortunaly, I have no first had education or knowledge of illegal immigration. I was raised 4th generation American. However, because I am Mexican American, I take this story to heart. Reyna Grande herself has a great story that she shares with her readers at the end of the book. I am really glad I had a chance to read her work. It was really eye-opening.

toby's birthday (continued). . .

thanks a million to everyone who came to tobias' birthday party. he's sorry he was in a bad moon. we figured out that he was just still HUNGRY. he came home and ate an entire plate of mac&cheese! then. . . . he had sooo much fun opening all his gifts.

Thanks again family and friends!!