Memories

10 years ago, I was helping out at a local hispanic church with the ESL classes. I was living on-campus at school and since it was Sunday night, the cafe closed early. I was starving and I wanted real food, not drive-thru, but I didn't want to go by myself(I don't see how people do that...just feels weird). There was a guy whom I had spoken with several times who seemed nice enough, so I asked him if he wanted to go get something to eat with me. He was happy to come along. I drove, since he rode with someone else to church. I figured it was just friends going out for dinner, but since he ended up paying, I guess that made it our first date. We went to Perkin's and sat in the back booth near the bathroom. We talked about his huge family(8 siblings) and his excellent english(he'd only been in the States for 6 months) and my ok spanish and schoolwork. It was a great evening, one we repeated many a Sunday night afterward. Ten years later, he's the best husband I could ask for, the best father of my children I could ask for, and I wouldn't change a thing!

American Girl Club

We've been reading American Girl Books for a while now, so when we heard that our new HSA had an American Girls Club, we had to sign up! Our Princess loves it! They read a book about a certain American girl before the meeting, do a scrapbook page, learn about that American Girl and her time, have a snack, play games, do a craft...

This month is Josefina, a New Mexican girl from the 1800s and we are in charge of craft and snack. So we made horchata, a cinnamon-rice drink, last evening and flan this morning. Our Princess and I decided we would teach our friends to make tissue paper flowers for our craft, a common decoration in Mexico. My best friend made thousands of them for her wedding, but she made them out of white toilet paper, so they were about the size of a real rose, and they decorated the black limousine with them...very pretty.

Memorizing

Our Princess memorized her first poem. I decided that since it would be her first, I wanted it to be a positive experience. So I let her pick it out. It was 7 letters long...seriously. Well, she had it memorized in 5 minutes! And she enjoyed it so much, the next poem she memorized had 17 words, and she had it memorized in about 20 min. I bribed her with her new poem, hoping that a longer poem would be worth a video game or the new Beauty and the Beast DVD. I get to pick this one out, so it will be substantial. Or at least worth $20 in prizes ;0)



TOMMYCATS
by Mary Ann Hoberman

Big
Black
Tommycats
Are never
Never
Mommycats!

Flan

After a four-month hiatus, I figured it would be beneficial to rejoin to blogging community with a recipe...

Flan (Super easy!!)

2 cups evaporated milk*
2 cups sweetened condensed milk *
1 tsp vanilla extract
10 eggs
1/2 cup sugar

Preheat oven 325 degrees
Mix the first four ingredients in a blender. heat the sugar in a med. pan until syrup-like and brown in color, 8-10 min. (keep stirring it, it burns easy)then pour it into a 9x13 baking dish, trying to cover as much of the bottom and a little up the sides as you can(easier said than done). Give the egg mix one or two more pulses, then pour it over the sugar. Place entire baking dish in a larger dish filled halfway up the smaller baking dish with water...careful not to spill water into the flan mixture!
Bake in the oven for 1 hour-1hour 30min...start checking at an hour. it should have light brown color...if you find your oven cooks the top too quickly try covering it with foil next go 'round. When you can put a knife in the middle and it comes out clean, it's done! Let it cool for about 2 hours before trying to do anything else with it(you can take it out of the water dish though)

Now, the tricky part...take a knife around the edges to loosen them, place a larger plate(or a baking pan, but you want something that will pool the syrup to the middle or have a lip to keep it in) on top of the baking dish and flip it over quickly...like I said earlier, tricky...add a sprig of mint and voilà! You have yummy!

*as most cans come in the 14 oz variety, 14oz is approximately 1 1/2 cups...just so that you know and will have enough...I hate it when recipes are non-shopper friendly...I mean really, I'm not going to sit and measure a cup and a half in the store...just tell me to get 2 14 oz cans...

6

Wow...6 years old...that' s 1/3 of her life with us. My baby girl is finally(already?) six! She's a very sweet-natured girl who is quick to help others. She's the one who goes up to others she sees by themselves to talk. At her K5 graduation, her "superlative" was "Everyone's Friend." I couldn't be more proud of her. She loves Josefina, her american girl and to read stories about her. She loves to be crafty and makes cards for everyone. She says she never wants to leave us when she gets older and that she wants to marry her daddy. She never wants to cut her hair, at least until it gets to her feet, because it would hurt to walk on it all the time. She loves to pray and be read to. She plays soccer and sings all of the time. What a blessing she is to our family.

10 months!

Well, our little nicho is now 10 months old. He finally has begun to crawl in his little army man way. It's funny, he hasn't started to pull himself up yet. By this time with both the girls, we'd had to lower the crib mattress...it's still at the highest level. He has the leg strength to stand, just not the balance or the arm strength to pull himself up. Now that he crawls like a commando, maybe he'll develop that arm strength. He loves his Papa and starts jumping as soon as we see him. He likes to watch Fútbol with his daddy and eat beans and tortillas. He loves fresh greenbeans. He doesn't hesitate to go after my cell phone if left within reach. He is very ticklish!

Heavy Heart

Immigration...it's a tough subject to talk about as it brings very harsh feelings on both sides of the table. It's difficult for me to talk about, but I believe there needs to be more pertinent information out there. The media distorts it, the left says it's a race issue, the right a security issue, but it is not a black-and-white issue. There are so many shades of grey, many of them sitting next to your children at school, church, or on the playground.

It is hardest for me because I am a Patriot. I love America and everything it stands for. As a daughter of a legal immigrant and a Retired USN Sailor I fly my flag with pride. I also understand heritage and not forgetting what(and often who) was left behind. I understand that our country is vulnerable (though not for reasons the government would have you believe) and we don't want another 9/11. There are steps that do need to be taken, and there is also overkill. I believe there need to be laws and those laws need to be obeyed. But there also needs to be mercy.

I married a man who came here legally, but was not legal when we married. I did not marry him for that reason, I married him because he was (and still is) a great man of God who would sacrifice a great many things to provide for his family(both here and in el Salvador). My husband did not receive his "papers" because he married me. Contrary to popular opinion, marrying a US citizen does not magically give you a green card. It doesn't even give you a visa to visit. They say there is one available for the spouse of US citizens, but (there's always a but) only if you meet certain requirements. It's a gamble. If you came into this country without an I-94 (also known as an entry visa) then you are required to return to your country of origin to receive your visa. You are almost always denied the first time(go figure) but then with the second you might get it. Sometimes, however, you get an ambassador's aide who is having a bad day and says no to everyone. This is what happened to my in-laws. We tried the legal route to bring them here for our wedding, even going so far as to have my father sponser them during their visit. They were both denied.

US Embassy San Salvador

The only reason my husband was able to work here during the six years it took for him to get a permanent resident card due to our marriage is because of an earthquake that occurred 11 months before we were married. We were married almost a year before he received permission to work and therefore to get a drivers' license. I remember getting up to drive him 40 miles round trip to work before being in class at 8. Yep, we were definitely honeymooners! To date, El Salvador is one of only Eight countries granted TPS, and this is given only to those who were on American soil when a government-approved disaster occurred in their home country.

Immigration is a mess. Changing the name didn't help. Don't get me wrong. I am thankful for and pray for the border patrol agents we have working and risking their lives to keep us safe. I just truly believe that if you are following the laws of the land and keeping your nose clean, why shouldn't you be welcome? Why not go after the drug dealers and murderers and those caught while DUI? Why go after the group of hardworking men and women who bother no one but those who are too lazy to try to get and do the same job? Now I know there are those of you legalists that say that the law was broken when they came here in the first place and that is true. You can see why this is a difficult issue for me as a Christian and an American. To see friends struggle to provide with the threat of deportation over their heads.

One friend came to the US with her two sons, through the desert. One of her sons has Down's syndrome. She came because she knew this was the best place for him. In her country he would never have a chance to go to school. He would never be self-sufficient. He would sit at home all day with no positive development or, worse, be put in an asylum. She would never have learned to reach him as she was taught here in the US. She doesn't receive Medicaid for him. She has worked hard during her time here and has said that she has no regrets for the sacrifices she made to provide her son with the best she could. Too bad some of what she provided wasn't her's to offer.

I hear stories of people who came to this country illegally that would make you cry. I hear about families being torn apart because dad is illegal and mom isn't. Or because Mom and Dad are illegal and little Juan isn't. One lady in our church will finally get her papers, but only because her husband died at the hands of an American. Another won't get his(easily anyway, we are praying for a miracle) because he was caught at the border and released, then they sent his court date to the wrong address. He has been married for the last 8 years to an American Citizen. They have two children. If he is caught, he gets mandatory deportation with refusal to return for 10 years. They are working to overturn this, but who knows? It's in God's hands. I could go on and on, which I am sure you are thinking I already am. I got yelled at on facebook the other day that if it were my house that got broken into or my family that was killed, I would feel differently. I don't think so, but maybe I would...but no more than if it were a US citizen. Evil is evil, no matter what country it is from.