Cinco de Mayo

So, I was listening to the radio this morning to hear what the big deal is about this holiday. This website (www.vivacincodemayo.org/history.htm) concludes with:

"Mexicans, you see, never forget who their friends are, and neither do Americans. That's why Cinco de Mayo is such a party -- A party that celebrates freedom and liberty. There are two ideals which Mexicans and Americans have fought shoulder to shoulder to protect, ever since the 5th of May, 1862. VIVA! el CINCO DE MAYO!!"

In light of recent political events, it’s strange to read such a pow-wow of friendship. I read Deb’s blog on May 1st and can’t help but agree. Some of my family is from Mexican descent, and I love them, but those who are ILLEGAL are ILLEGAL!! (disclaimer: mine are legal) =) I’ve never been very good with politics, so I’ll leave that to the professionals…

Anyway, things have started picking up again. Will & I were able to visit some of my old friends this week. Jane & Carel were my mentoring couple a few years ago and it has been my desire to see them again for months… But with everything, well, you understand. We had a very pleasant evening introducing Will to them (and vise versa) over vegetables and meatballs with apple pie for dessert. YUM!

On Wednesday, we went to the Summit House and, much to Will’s pleasure, had prime rib (and much to mine, we had chocolate cheesecake for dessert!). We sat with the Finley’s & the Rigsby’s. It was quite noisy there and hearing each other across the table proved to be quite a challenge at times… Many of the folks from Israel were there, and it was very nice to see many of them again. =)

Will & I have started a new project: painting his house! What a job!! I’ve painted inside houses before, I’ve even done wallpaper, but I’ve never painted the exterior! It was time and boy is it a lot of work!! He fiddled with the paint gun (we went through 2 in one day!), while I cleaned the walls and prepped the house (covering the windows). I’m told that now that the house is prepped, it should be a quick process. Now if only we could get a more useful paint gun…. It will be my full time job this weekend. And, the most entertaining part of it is that this is only the beginning. We still have the back of the house to do, not to mention the roof, etc…. My sister, a home owner, told me once that owning your own house “is like you’re your own plumber, landscaper, etc.” Homeownership does have its responsibilities!!

When we did our last race, I came in slower again than ever before! I was pretty annoyed, but truthfully, could attribute the time to being exhausted (I only had a few hours of sleep and had to be up and out by 5 am!). Also, this week, I finally reached my old running pace on the 1-mile! It was difficult, but I am proud of myself. I even did 11 miles on the stationary bike afterwards!

Our times with the missionaries are curious. They showed up last weekend and said they had to leave in an hour. Then they asked us why we were meeting with them and Will provided a beautiful answer (said much nicer) which boils down to “one of us is wrong”.

I signed up for an independent studies course for next semester and the best part is that I can start on the work now, AND get credit for the fall (without jeopardizing my program!). Theology IV sounds intriguing...

And the Deputy has basically asked me not to call him anymore on my case. I can understand… he said he did as much as he could (more than he should have apparently), but he’s handed it over the detectives. IF they ever get around to it, I’ll have more information for them. He said he felt bad about my dog too…