Juarez

I received the following email from one of our leaders for my trip to Mexico, Garold. Hopefully, we will build a house for this family, but there is a lot to get done before we get there for that to happen.



Dear Garold, There are 4 persons in the family. The father is 59 years and he works the night shift in a maquilla. His name is Eustacio Jurado. The mother's name is Catalina Soto and she stays at home and she is 39 years old. The daughters are 14 and 16 years old and they go to high school. They live on the side of the mountain close to the cement plant. It's maybe a 10 minute drive from the mission. There are 2 makeshift rooms on the property. The parents live in a cardboard shack with a roof that I can't describe. The girls sleep in what looks to be the skin of a small truck camper. They are hooked up illegally to the electricty. The water on only in the morning. That's about all I can say , Garold. I truly pray that you will help. God bless you---Frank



A little info, a maquilla is an American factory. Frank is the man who started Community of the Holy Spirit, which is where we stay when we go. If you haven't seen it before, there is a link to his website on the right hand side of my blog. I leave in one week, I'm getting excited. The weather is in the mid 60's this week and is predicted to be that way next week. If it can hold up through the week I'm there, I'll be really happy. Since it snowed on me last year, anything is an improvement. I guess anything better than Iowa weather is an improvement, but at least in Iowa, I have heat.

Things I've learned

A few things I have learned/figured out recently that I thought I would share.

1. The correct time to remove child safety locks on cabinets is the day after you realize that your 2 year old can open them faster than you. Seems to defeat the purpose when the one person you are trying to keep out, is the one person that can get in, effortlessly.

2. No matter how much you think you know about a subject, leave it to Microsoft to "fix" it so you no longer have any idea what is going on.

3. No matter how long you have lived with the cold, -20 still sucks. Freezing snot in your nose isn't as funny at 39 as it was at 12.

4. Along those lines, snow every week that has to be shoveled in temps mentioned above sucks even more.

5. If you make an obscene gesture on the jumbotron at a sporting event, you will be escorted out of the arena, and I'm guessing, asked not to return. I didn't do it, but I saw it done. As funny as it was, probably not appropriate for family entertainment. (but it was still funny)

6. Apparently, if you watch a TV channel via satellite from China, it works best to watch it from your front yard, either squatting down or standing behind the dish in the bushes. Think I'm kidding, see below. This is my neighbors idea of a good afternoon.

Why they can't run a cable from the dish, into the house, I do not know. Perhaps that should be included with the instructions that come with satellite dishes. Below are a few other pictures I took to show you the relation of the dish to their house.

As you can see, they aren't sure when Christmas is over either.

7. I've learned that things can grow on you. I've written about Surge before on this blog. He is starting to grow on me. Here is a really dark picture of Surge with Mason.Speaking of growing on you, I cut open a red pepper tonight, and this is what I found inside.

What the hell is that mutant embryo? Then there was this wormmy thing:

I let Marcy eat that one.

8. When preparing the bath for your 3 boys, do not sit right next to the toilet to check the water if they in turn want to use said toilet. You will need a bath next.

Iowans make me laugh

I need to tell you about one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. Iowa received several inches of snow last night and then the cold followed up. When that much snow falls, it takes the road crews awhile to get the roads clear. The more cars that drive over the snow, the more it packs down, the harder it gets. When enough cars pack it down, it becomes a polished sheet of ice. Now throw in a 4-way stop intersection, and what you get is an afternoon of fun. Right outside my window at work, just such an intersection exists. So the scene was set today for a lot of excitement. We watched for quite sometime before we realized that one of the stop signs had actually all ready been run over and was flat on the ground, this was turning out to be an even more interesting scenario. We watched car after car approach the intersection at an inadvisable speed and either slide to a stop or slide right on through the intersection. There were a bunch of near misses, but no contact. There were several cars that obviously hadn't been down this road before, because they bolted right through the intersection, seeing as how one of the stop signs was missing. There was one particular car, lets call him dumbass, that was coming to the intersection at a high rate of speed, by that I mean 35 to 40. He must have known that there was supposed to be a stop sign, because he made a small effort to stop, but was loosing his battle, sliding all the way through the intersection. At this exact same time, another car, lets call him lucky son of a bitch (LSOB for short), was coming from the street to the right of dumbass. Now dumbass has all ready blown the sign, so he is half way through the intersection when LSOB blows his sign and is heading right for dumbass. There is some sliding and swerving and damn my luck if they don't completely miss each other, by a hair, and continue down their respective roads. You may be saying to yourself, "O.K., that might have been funny, but you said really funny." Just wait, the best part was next. Now dumdass had driven about ten feet from the intersection when he stopped, right in the middle of the road. By now, there were approximately 8 of my coworkers looking on, maybe because I squeal like a girl when the cars almost hit each other and it gets there curiosity. Dumbass opens his door to get out. As he steps out onto the street, his feet slide out and he falls into the street, funny. Now he gets up, only to fall again. He gives it another try and hits the cement again. Everyone watching is laughing so hard, I swear I thought I would piss my pants. I figured, at the least, the whole office heard us and would be running over to see what the commotion was, since my squealing hadn't brought them over earlier. You may be asking yourself, "Why did he get out of the car?" I can tell you that he was finally able to stand on the fourth try and his motive revealed, he gave the other car, which was long gone, the finger. Now you know why I call him dumbass. The sad thing about this story, is its absolutely true, ever damn word of it. God I love Iowa!

The boys have a new habit, so I wanted to see if anyone else has had this happen or have heard of it. The boys have decided that when we give them their new clothes to wear, that they won't take off their old underwear and socks, they just add them to the collection they are all ready wearing. This becomes bothersome when you try to have them put on their shoes, and they no longer fit. Makiah went to church Saturday night with three pairs of underwear, plus his pajama bottoms. I didn't know this until he told me that his underwear was too tight. I said "What size is the pair you have on?" When he pulled the waistband down for me to see, I saw the other pairs and then he told me about the pajamas. Now, not to be out done, Mason set a new record with 5 pairs of underwear, and three pairs of socks, just to top it off. I explained to them, that although they are putting on new, clean underwear, the clean underwear is on the old underwear, not on their bodies. I had to explain to Mason that he has been wearing the same underwear for 5 days. I'm not sure when the last bath was, so I don't know if he was putting dirty ones back on, getting more from the drawer (which I know he has done with socks) or if it has been 5 days between bathes. Regardless, 5 pairs of underwear. Ever heard of that?

So we got a Wii for Christmas. If you haven't tried it yet, you have to give it a try, it's awesome. Anyone you talk to about it will tell you that they have played the bowling game, and I'm guessing if they are over 30 years old, they will tell you it's their favorite. You might wonder why, if you haven't played it, but I'll tell you that it is so realistic, it's scary. The pins kick like real bowling and if they are rolling around, they still have the potential to knock down pins. One of the best things about it is, since you don't actually have to throw a heavy ball, anyone can do it. Makiah has actually bowled a 185 and I'm sure he couldn't do that for real, even with a light ball. We play it as a family and the boys and I play almost every night. I can't play the games that Mason likes, too much spinning and running around. There are so many hidden and combination things that you have to figure out, I don't have the patience to try. Mason figures it out and would play forever if we let him. Marcy and I bowled the other night with our friend Michelle and I was happy to see that Marcy has an unusual bowling "style." First, she holds the Wii controller to her face, actually touching her face with it. That might not sound that funny, but when you see it, it is. It reminds me of Robert on Everybody Loves Raymond. He always touched his chin with his food before he ate it. Then, she runs up to actually bowl and then the best part, she does a hop and a kind of skip. It has to be the most unique style ever. I'm pretty sure nobody in the PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) does it that way. If they did, I would be their number one fan. I did the boxing a few weeks back and I might as well tell you, because Makiah blabs it all over, he knocked me out. I tried it again a few nights later and Marcy knocked me out. I quit. Michelle said I fight like a girl, and I'm guessing since I lost, it wasn't a lesbian girl. I'm guessing I fight like a prissy, pink dress wearing, wet finger nails girl. That ain't good. I'm waiting until everyone is gone to try it in private. Maybe I can figure out how to do it instead of turning it into a slap fight, that I suck at. Most of the time when Makiah is fighting, he isn't even looking at the TV screen. He's looking at the floor or is facing the wrong way. Maybe my Mii is blind. A Mii is your character that you make yourself. I made mine bald, tall and not as skinny as he used to be(truth hurts).

We are in the process of making summer vacation plans with the family. Brian and Mindy told us over Christmas that they were thinking of going to North Carolina to visit our sisters and I don't know if they invited us or if Marcy invited us, but the women agreed that it would be a good idea for us to go as well, without consulting me. Don't get me wrong, I want to see my sisters, but my kids can't make the trip to Altoona, 20 minutes tops, without asking if we're there yet. We went to Mt. Pleasant to visit the in-laws in between Christmas and New Years, about 2 1/2 hours, and they made it to Altoona before they started asking. Now imagine 2 full days of driving. I know my dad is laughing his ass off, because I did that to him and he used to get so pissed. I remember not understanding why he got pissed when I asked. I mean every five minutes on a 8 hour drive is reasonable, right? Now I know, it is not. If I had hair, I would have pulled it out on the last trip. We are renting a house and I think we have narrowed it down to one. It has 6 bedrooms, a pool, a pool table, a volleyball court and a, sort of, view of the ocean. My brother Steve and his girl friend, who I haven't met yet, my niece Sonya and her husband Nathan and their two kids, my niece Chastity, my two sisters, plus my 5 and Brian's 6, all in one house for a week. That is 20 people in one house. This will be nuts but I'm so excited to have my family together without a funeral to go to, that I can hardly wait. I always have a great time with this group, they were in Iowa a few years back. I never laugh as much as I do when we are all together. Plus, my kids have never seen the ocean, so I'm really excited to see how they react to that. I hope this is a vacation that they remember for the rest of their life, and because it was fun, not because it was the time dad flipped out and ran from the car screaming in the middle of Kentucky, never to be seen again.

I'm preparing for my trip to Juarez again, I leave Feb. 9th. I know everyone that is going except 3 people, and I'm sure one of them will be my room mate in El Paso. I keep a journal every time I go, so I'll transfer that to my blog when I get back. I'm taking my digital camera this year and I'm determined to do a better job taking pictures. I really want to catch the depth of the poverty there, but also so the genius of the people and the absolute love and happiness that I see every time I go. It is one of the most relaxing weeks of my year, but one of the hardest to get ready for the hardest to end. I'll try to work on Christmas pictures this weekend and get them posted. I still have to figure out how to get the digital videos we have on the blog as well, so stay tuned.