Snow is Finally Here!
Posted on 14 February 2007 | No responses
After a few months into winter, we finally got a real taste of snow. Today, we got between 2-5 inches of snow/ice. When we woke up this morning, everything looked so pretty covered in white. It was quite a relaxing day. I enjoyed staying home and doing a little baking. Of course, no one enjoyed going outside to shovel the snow, but it’s a job every one had to do.
Is it discrimination?
Posted on 15 January 2007 | No responses
After trying to register for a class online and being unsuccessful, I decided to take a trip to the local community college. To my surprise, I found out that there was a hold on my account. This hold was based on my background. The registrars office stated that I would have to take the ESL test in order for him to lift the hold so that I could register for a class or I could have to go and talk with one of the counselors. For those of you who don’t know, ESL is “English as a Second Language.” While Spanish is my native language, it is not my primary language anymore. I’ve been in the US for well over 20 plus years. When I went to talk to the counselor, her initial response was that there was nothing she could do and that she thought that was going to have to take the ESL test. I told her that I did not need to take this test and that all I needed was to register for this one particular class to finish my degree. She left the office and when she came back she pulled up the information on the computer and lifted the hold. I wasn’t sure how this happened, but I’ve never experience anything like this before.
…but they are Democrats so it is ok.
Posted on 11 January 2007 | No responses
The title of this article should have been Former Democratic Presidents Carter and Clinton call for ‘A New Baptist Covenant’. Here is a prime example of a political party using religion to further their agenda. The key is in the last paragraph.. “Democrats have made winning over “faith voters” a major election strategy.” Religion should not be a “major election strategy”. I guess the Democrats really don’t understand what it is to be a person of faith.
It is sad really, because one party practices religion and the other uses religion to their own purposes. You also see a hypocrisy here, if these were former Republican Presidents, it would be on the front page of the Washington Post and the ACLU would be filing some kind of law suit.
Back to Work
Posted on 6 January 2007 | No responses
To some people the holidays are finally over. To others, it is just beginning. Today, January 6th, Puerto Rico celebrate the Holiday called Three Kings Day. This is in celebration of when the three magis brought gifts to baby Jesus. Puerto Ricans continue the holiday celebration throughout the month of January.
In the US, the holidays are finally over and it’s back to work. After a nice break, we have to resume our normal schedule. This was a busy week at work. After being gone for almost a week and half, the mail has piled up and the workload has been heavy.
Sick Puppy
Posted on 2 January 2007 | No responses
I took the dog to his vet for a follow up checkup. The vet confirmed from the xrays that the stones were back in his bladder and he would have to have surgery to have them removed. The vet believes that it is struvite stones. The surgery will cost approximately $1300. This is the second time that we’ve had this procedure performed. The last time was in 2004. I wonder if there is a way to have the stones dissolved to prevent him from going under again. I’ve read several articles about remedies to have the stones dissolved so they can be passed but not sure if they work. My next step is to schedule the surgery.
New Year
Posted on 1 January 2007 | No responses
This is the last posting for 2006. On New Year’s Eve, we went to church for worship service that morning and in the evening we went to a friend’s house to welcome the new year. We spend the evening playing sequence and Cranium–the old folks vs the young kids. The old folks did pretty good. We won some and lost some. But overall, the old folks are the Champions. When it got closer to midnight, we turned the TV on and watch the ball drop in New York City. We toasted the New Year with Sparkling Cider. It will be great to see what this new year has in store for us.
Traveling Home
Posted on 29 December 2006 | No responses
We got up Friday and had breakfast. My mom had made us some Rellenos to cook before heading home. We cooked them for lunch and headed home soon thereafter. Our travel home was long, but it always seems to be when you head home. I was looking forward to seeing my dog. We made it home in about 10 hours.
When we got home, I immediately, let the dog outside. He seemed to be going for a while. I kept calling him, but he wouldn’t come. When we finally got him inside, I notice he was acting somewhat different. He kept squatting and leaking some brownish fluid. He seemed to continue to do this, so I took him outside. He seemed like he was trying to go but nothing would come out. I immediately called the vet’s office and took him to a nearby hospital. The took some x-rays and it was just as we suspected. He had stones in his urethra and in his bladder. The vet said that he was partially obstructed and if it wasn’t taken care of he could die. The options he presented was we could have the stones flushed back into his system, and then go in and perform surgery to remove the stones. He had a total of 6 stones. Both procedures were very costly. One would cost $760 and the other $1200. We opted to have the stones flushed back to alleviate the pain so that he could resume normal operation and schedule an appointment with our regular vet. The vet couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t want to have the surgery done since he had to put him to sleep. I felt that the dog was in enough stress during the week during our absence. The flushing of the stones went well and he was done in about 1 hour. It was about 3AM when he was released. It was funny because when he came out of surgery, he was very tired and could bare stand up. I picked him up and took him to the car and when we got home I carried him upstairs into our room and laid him next to my bed and went to sleep.
Christmas Day
Posted on 25 December 2006 | No responses
Christmas day was spent with the family. My sister had an appendectomy and was not able to join us until later on in the day. We had already opened all our gifts on Christmas Eve. We woke up and had our usual Christmas breakfast of Buscuits with Gravy. For dinner, mom made the traditional Puerto Rican dish of pernil, arroz con gandules, and lets not forget the dessert–flan. Everyone was playing with their Christmas gifts and awaiting the next day until they could use their gift cards to buy more stuff.
Christmas Eve
Posted on 25 December 2006 | No responses
We spent the day playing dominoes and making cutout cookies, buckeyes, and chocolate covered pretzels. Instead of making breakfast this morning, I baked the cookies that we were going to decorate later that day. Mitzie and Shirley decorated the cookies throughout the day and made the other Christmas goodies. The girls and their cousin Krystle did some last minute Christmas shopping. I spent the day playing dominoes with my in-laws.
We spent the night eating, playing more dominoes, and basically enjoying everyone’s company. We had a wonderful dinner of ham and arroz con gandules, (rice with chick peas). One of the traditions in the Torres family is to open one present on Christmas Eve, then open the rest on Christmas day. So when we stopped playing dominoes around 11-midnight, we gathered in the living room expecting to open just one present. When we ended around 1:30 am. All the presents were opened in a frenzy, mounds of wrapping paper and boxes strewn around the room.
We have arrived….
Posted on 23 December 2006 | No responses
The trip out here was uneventful. We left around 4 am, got in Indy around 3 pm. Mitzie was happy to see her sisters, and it was good to see Jose and Elsie. We found out when we got to Shirley’s house that Elsie, the oldest sister, was admitted to the hospital for appendicitis. It looks like she will be in the hospital through Christmas.
Leaving Town
Posted on 22 December 2006 | No responses
We are leaving for Indianpolis to spend Christmas with Mitzie’s sister Shirley. I have a 12 hour drive ahead of me in the morning. Thankfully all four of us can drive. Hopefully we won’t run into too much rain on the way out. We have done this drive many times and we can almost do it without thinking.
Most of the presents have been shipped to Shirley’s house. I just have a few things that I need to buy for Mitz, I think we have one more thing to get for Amanda and we are done shopping for Erika is done. I am looking forward to visiting my in-laws, yeah I know weird, but Jose and Elsie are enjoyable to be around and Mitz’s sister’s house is huge. I think everyone will be down in Indy except for Denny Jr. who is still in Japan. Elsie, Mitz’s oldest sister, might not be there, we found out this evening that she was admitted to the hospital in Logansport with a possible appendicitis. Hopefully she can still travel to Indy to spend Christmas with us.
Well I better get to bed, we are planning to leave around 4 am.
Pretty in Pink
Posted on 14 December 2006 | No responses
I was at Target the other day and was noticing how much dog accessories have grown. I think there was three rows of dog stuff. Well for the dog lover, it’s like dog heaven. We notice all the cute clothing outfits that are available for dogs. We wanted to buy one for Bear but couldn’t find a manly one. We ended up buying this pink shirt that had Angel written on the back. When we got home, we immediately had Bear wear it. He looked so funny in it. With all his hair, he looked like a football player with all the shoulder pads. We laughed so hard. When I get the pictures loaded, I’ll share them.
The Love of God
Posted on 16 November 2006 | No responses
It was a really busy week at work. We have been preparing for our Toys for Tots Kickoff Luncheon and now it’s finally here.
This week, we had a situation that happened where people in my office were misquoted. Those quotes were passed along to the press and, of course, the situation became very controversial.
I just wanted to say how disappointed I was with the so-called Christians (or at least those that claim they are Christians but are truly not) on how they handled this situation. They are the ones that give Christians a bad rep, and you know exactly the ones I’m talking about. My view of a true Christian is one who is soft-spoken, is not easy to anger, keeps their emotions in check, does not swear, is forgiving, and shows a Christ-like, loving attitude to those around them. What I found out this week is that there are a lot of fake Christians out there; at least the ones that called the office this week. I cannot tell you the anger, the swearing, and the unforgiveness attitude that came across over the phone and through emails.
The Bible teaches us the fruit of the spirit which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It’s hard for someone to believe that you are a Christian when your attitude does not reflect it. The world is out there watching to catch you in your weak moment. Are you going to be caught off-guard or are you going to allow the love of Christ to shine in you. It was truly embarrasing to be associated with those people who act out of control and, at the same time, claim to be Christians.
Marine Toys for Tots
Posted on 11 November 2006 | No responses
The Marine Toys for Tots is an organization worthy of your support. During this Christmas season, we need to think about those that for whatever reasons are not going to be able to celebrate Christmas. The Marine Toys for Tots has made Christmas possible for thousands of people, but they cannot do it alone. It is through your contributions that they make it possible. This Christmas, I urge you to think of someone else and do a kind thing for them–support the Marine Toys for Tots.
Why we are there.
Posted on 10 November 2006 | No responses
On this Veterans Day, my thoughts go to those that are serving in our military. I think of my two nephew’s that are both in the Air Force. My sister-in-law’s son Denny who is serving in Japan, and my brother’s son Travis who is at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs Colorado.
Of course I am concerned about the war in the middle east, but i am more concerned by the actions of those that are now in power in congress who, mistakenly, think that if we get out we will be ok. They forgot what happened in the late 70’s when president Carter thought that Khomeini was a religious man and would be better than the Shah of Iran. From that decision sprang the hostages in Iran and all of the turmoil that we see in the middle east now.
I read an article from who is the managing editor at The Spectrum at the University at Buffalo. It defines why we are there, to help the people of Iraq and Afganistan out of the clutches of people that hate freedom and to give them a chance for a better future.
To those family and friends that are currently in the military and served in the military, I thank you. There are those that will hate you and protest what you have done, but rest assured that they would be the first to run to you for protection when, not if, we are attacked. Your service to our country is valued by myself and my family.