Not much is happening here, my mother doesn’t really want me to post anything on here for personal reasons so I am going to obey her wish. She would still love to hear from all of you so you can reach her perferably 9 or 10 oclock our time. (if it is 10 am in Texas, it is 9 am here…if you live somewhere else, you can do the math) She would really like any emails or letters that you would like to send her.  I will say, she has been laughing more and working harder since I arrived here.  She likes to show off what she can do and she is making amazing progress. She has been depressed about some issues but now that I am here and talking to her about them she feels much better. She can’t wait until she can see Lya and Lorraine, who might come in October for my cousin’s wedding. She cried when she saw Lya’s “first day of school” photos, and spelt that Lya looks alot like Lorraine now. She was right, Lya looks more like Lorraine everyday. I miss the two of them, and my dad sometimes. I just wish that things could have been left in a different manner than they were. Well, here is the number to the main Aguilar house, if you decide to grace my mothers ears with your voice :

011 52 311 213 6167

enjoy

ciao baby

Stephanie

Q:  How can you tell if a car salesman is lying?   A:  His lips are moving.

Q:  What is the difference between a car salesman and a lawyer?   A:  The lawyer might have some ethics.

Q:  What is the difference between a car salesman run over on the highway and a rat run over on that same highway?  A:  There will be skid marks in front of the rat.

 Did you hear the joke about the car salesman who went to heaven?  That IS the joke… 

Dena and I have had a great adventure with a certain as-of-yet-unnamed auto dealership. (If any of you out there are car salesmen, I am not trying to offend you.  It is only that we have just dealt with some that are so quintessentially archetypal that they give all car salesmen bad names.)  Details may be forthcoming, but a word of warning to anyone who might be having to deal with car salesmen in the near future.  Get EVERYTHING in writing  AND have witnesses!!!  There may not be room for a snake in the grass if there is a car salesman around…

But on to Lorena.  I called Mexico last night but was unable to talk to Stephi or Lorena again.  I will try again tonight.  Stephi was spending the night at Lorena’s sister’s (Margarita’s) house, so I don’t know just what is up with that.  She is supposed to stay in the house with Lorena, so I suspect that her lodgings indicate that she is still ill.  Hopefully, all is well, though, and I can give you an update tomorrow. 

Dena posted the following message for Lorena yesterday:  Como estas? Ok, that’s about all I know in Spanish, so we’ll have to change to English. I just wanted to let you know that we are thinking of you and praying for you daily. I know we haven’t stayed in touch, but I think you remember how busy a mother of young children always stays….right? I just signed Sierra and Cody up for soccer, so now I am officially a soccer mom…just like you. Sierra is in Kindergarten now and Cody just started 3rd grade. They both ask about you often and want to know when we can go to Mexico for a visit. We hope that we can do that in the near future, but what we really want is for you to come visit us and see our new (not so new, really) house. You’d love it.

We miss you and love you very much. Remember that you are always in God’s care.

Dena and family

August 26 was Melanie’s birthday – and I missed it even though Dena sent me an email reminding me not to do so.  I am so sorry, Mel.  I love you, and it just seems that I am constantly forgetting something or messing up somewhere.  I can’t believe that that little baby from Seoul could possibly turn into the beautiful woman (and Mommy) that you are – and could have an equally beautiful daughter as is Taylor.  We love you, and we wish you many, many more wonderful birthdays, each better than the last.  I am so blessed to have you in my life.

In the late 1970’s, I was home from college helping Dad till up a garden.  The soil was hard clay, the weather was typical Texas good-gosh-amighty-who-left-the-oven-on hot, and I was as hot and dusty as the weather was.  Dad and I would take turns fighting the tiller until we were almost dead from exhaustion.  Melanie was about four years old, and she was harassing me royally by picking up large, baked clay clods and chunking them at my feet.  

Finally Dad told her, “Melanie, Mike is working!  Don’t throw things at his feet while he is working.  We have to get this garden tilled!”  She quietly acquiesced, and I stopped having to worry about having one of my feet amputated by a clay missile.  I fought the tiller some more until I was again blinded by sweat and almost overcome by heat.  Dad took over the tiller once again as I stood exhausted, bent over with my hands on my knees and my head hanging, huffing and puffing super-heated-dust-laden air, trying to keep from passing out.

At that moment, WHAM; a clod only slightly smaller than the state of Rhode Island smashed my right foot.  Melanie laughed delightedly as I screeched and hollered in agony, holding my injured right foot in my hands as I danced around like a whirling dervish on my left foot.

Dad killed the tiller and turned accusingly to Melanie, asking, “Melanie, what did I just say to you about not throwing things at Mike’s feet?”  Melanie looked up at Dad innocently and said, “But he wasn’t working!  He was just standing there!”

Ah, memories, Melanie.  Because it might embarrass you for me to post it here on the blog, I won’t even mention the time that same summer that I was playing with you on the Bluff Dale School playground and you told me you urgently needed to go to the bathroom.  I hoisted you up onto my shoulders, jumped on my bike, and began pedaling furiously toward home.  And we almost made it, didn’t we?  We almost made it – before my shirt, my pants, my undies, and EVEN MY SOCKS got DRENCHED even though it wasn’t a very hot day.  Lucky for you that I am so thoughtful as not to mention that little incident here…

We love you, Melanie.  I pray that you have a huge number of birthdays…

Gina, sorry that Stephanie left for Mexico before you got to talk to her.  I will tell her that you are trying to get in touch with her.  She will love to hear from you.

Thank you all for your support.  We love you.  Lorena apparently continues to improve daily.

Stephi and Lorena, I tried calling you at least twenty times both at 9:00 p.m. and at 10:00 p.m. your time to no avail.  I consistently got only a busy signal (instead of the “all circuits are currently busy” or the incomprehensible recording we sometimes reach.).  Either someone there was on the phone a LOT, the phone was off the hook, or the phone was malfunctioning.  Anyway, I wanted you to know that I tried repeatedly, and I will try again tonight to reach you at the same times unless you email me otherwise.  I will check my email this evening before I try to call.

Stephi, please update us here to let us know how you and Mom are doing.  You know how important that is to all of us.  Lorena, please spell to Stephi so that she can speak for you on here, and please communicate with us.  We need that, as well.  Stephi, Susan and Chris (and others) can help you post pictuers of yourselves as well.  I love you both — as do many, many people.  We need to hear from you.

It is HOT here still — with no rain.  Fire is a palpable threat, and we are starting to lose trees all over the country (which will only add to the fire danger.)  We desperately need rain — and relief from this heat…

Sunday night:  I have tried to call Lorena and Steph several times again tonight — just now to discover that I had left this posting on private instead of making it public as I had intended to.  (I had lost some posts lately because I had not saved them — and tragedy struck.)  As a result of the post being on private, Stephi had not gotten word that I would be calling tonight.  Duh….  Anyway, I will try again now…

[Stephi, you have my permission to read this entry to Mom or not.] 

Steph called me last night crying and asking to come home.  She was having a tough go of it.  She had not been feeling good here for the last few days, and I suspected that she was getting sick.  Lorena’s sister Angie picked Steph up from the airport in Pto. Vallarta — and took her by a doctor on the way home who prescribed Steph some medicine.  Given the choice of pills or shot, she  followed in her father’s footsteps and chose pills. 

Many in the family were incredulous that she would choose slow pills over fast (but penetrating) shot — and apparently she was having the opportunity to justify her choice repeatedly.  She said that the pills looked like horse pills, so they were cut in two, “leaving razor sharp edges that cut my throat.”  [I had to laugh at that.]  She is used to talking to her friends constantly, and that  is no longer an option, so she was feeling very isolated and lonely.  She is becoming reacquainted with her Mexican relatives who will tend to be VERY protective of her.  ["I had the choice all day of either staying in bed or of sitting in the kitchen eating hot soup."]  Everyone is trying to speak only Spanish to her, and she is feeling much too bad to appreciate her language learning opportunity.

I got her calmed down, but I am to call again tonight.  Hopefully, things will be going better for her.  And, hopefully, Lorena can start communicating with some of you through Stephanie.  [Lorena has not been receiving the blog, by the way, so Stephi should perform a huge service in that regard...]  Her Mexican relatives love her and want what is best for her, but it is going to be a difficult  road to travel.  Please pray for her, for us, and for Lorena (that she doesn’t catch whatever Stephi has.)  We love you all…

And I love you, Toughie!!!  Hang in there, Darlin’!!!

This portion of today’s blog is just for grins.  I think.  Chronic troublemaker kgeverett started this whole mess with her posting today in which she took vicious umbrage at the movie Barnyard because it featured a “daddy cow” [voice by Sam Elliott] complete with an udder.  I found her attack to be mildly amusing, so, after I had finally picked myself up off the floor and caught my breath, I posted a comment to the effect that it was obvious that she was going to milk that gaffe for all it was worth, that such a thing on a bull would be an “udder” waste, that she obviously knows her bull, and various “udder” similarly inspiring banalities and inanities. 

However, I then got to thinking.  I have been around cattle all my life, and I have more than enough hours for a biology degree, but I don’t know if bulls have nipples or not.  Surely they do.  They must.  And as for udders, what would the effects of feeding them large amounts of hormones be?  (The bulls.  Not the udders…) 

My poor tortured mind, at this point, reeling from the realization that it had chanced upon a most insidious and unholy conspiracy to destroy our youth, spiraled off into the roiling vortex of warped mascots.  No wonder our children are so confused.  No  wonder MTV represents the most complex thought processes of which they are capable.  No wonder they cannot understand a concept as simple as “No”!!!  No wonder their song lyrics are garbled gobbledygook or are screamed at 2573 decibels so that one’s eardrums implode before the words can be heard.  Our poor, unfortunate children want desperately to say something, but they have nothing to say because they are so confused by Daddy Cows and bulls with udders.  (And surely Richard Simmons has to figure in here somewhere.)

Not only do our innocent, impressionable children watch movies starring Daddy Cows with udders, but academia itself perpetrates miseducation, even as it ties our children’s minds into complex Gordian-knotted pretzels and cottage cheese (which reminds me that I haven’t had lunch yet.)  But back to my thesis…   

Schools, in fact, may be the very worst perpetrators of this virulently destructive assault.  By “schools”, I am indicting everyone from K through12 and all the way on up through Z.  Even the revered and hallowed halls of our most prestigious universities reverberate with this insidious indoctrination which, in turn, is picked up rabidly by our media and forced upon us in ways that Orwell’s Big Brother, Orwell himself, or even Orwell’s little brother could never have been able to foresee or to comprehend.  This intellectual poison fills our airways, and it spews forth from our televisions and radios.  It saturates our newspapers and magazines and oozes through our eyes and ears to make Swiss cheese of our minds.  (Darn, I’m hungry!)  In fact, this contagion is so pervasive that one usually cannot even hold a conversation with any sort of sports fan without being exposed.

Not only is this infection endemic in our schools, but it is rampantly and with brutally efficiennt, enforced brainwashing sessions (code named “Pep Rallies”) forced on our children at raucous reeducation centers (code named “Gyms”) where their hearing is permanently damaged, they lose educational opportunities, and they are forced to squander their time, even as their minds are turned to mush.  (I MUST get some lunch!)  To add insult to injury, our children are punished if they don’t scream these confusing conundrums loudly enough to deafen the child standing in front of them.  How do you cheer for the Lady Stallions while maintaining a grip on reality???  

Let me clarify this revelation in regard to my thesis.  I was aware, for example, of being regaled in the past by legendary tales of certain sports teams in my area of Texas.  I had never thought of the insidious implications of what I had heard until kgeverett tipped me off to the REAL danger to America involved in this seemingly innocuous activity.  for example, I had often heard of the exploits of the Lady Lumberjacks.  Perhaps I had wondered about what happened to the Lumberjills, but when I thought of such  things, I was usually more preoccupied with trying to continue to tread water until help arrived or of trying to slow the bleeding using direct pressure until the ambulance reached me.  Did it really matter that the Lady Steers were leading their division?  Sure, my mind reeled and my head ached at the visual image produced by the name, but I had never really thought of the full implications of that name upon our society, specifically upon our most vulnerable population, our children.

Kgverett’s tirade changed all that.  I decided to do some checking.  Consider the following press release excerpt I found from the Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, NC, home of the JCSU Golden Bulls:  

Lady Steers  --  379,000 hits

Lady Rams -- 719,000 hits

Lady Bucks --  5,420,000 hits

Lady Stallions -- 1,580,000 hits

Lady Broncos --  480,000 hits  (My Spanish says that this just doesn't work for females.)

Lady Ganders  [16,400 hits].  Ganderettes had only one hit, that of the Gander (Newfoundland) HS Figure Skating team.  [I would like to propose a newspaper headline:  "Lady Ganders (or Ganderettes) Goose Opponents."  Considering the inordinate fear that geese instill in young (and old), I think these teams might well have a psychological advantage over any Lions, Tigers, or Bears.  (Oh, my!!!)]

Lady Lumberjacks –  287,000 hits

Lumberjills — 748 hits

Lady Cowboys — 2,970,000 hits

Lady Redmen  –  28,500 hits.  [I kid you not!!!  What an auspicious event a battle between the Lady Cowboys and the Lady Redmen would be!!!  I might even scalp tickets for that!!!]

Lady Braves  –  972,000 hits

Lady Vikings  –  1,720,000 hits  [I guess it does sound more ominous than the Viking Ladies would.]

Lady Chieftains  –  279,000 hits

Lady Warriors  –  65,400 hits

Not only were there Lady Jacks — 1,730,000 hits — but some were NOT references to diminutions of “Lumberjack.”  Who chose the Jack to be the mascot?  I mean, a jack is a male ass.  [I know the ass is renowned for being hard working, durable, strong, dependable, intelligent, self sufficient, stubborn and all the other attributes that Lorena tends to give to me, so I have always taken it as a compliment from her.]  But I also know that here at Stephenville, we say, “Once a Yellowjacket, always a Yellowjacket.”  With that in mind, who wants to go through life known to be an ass???  Wonder how their recruitment goes…

[The Lady Jacks search produced an invaluable bit of knowledge, though.  I am not a sports fan, but I might even be induced to travel a great distance to see the Lady Tetons take on the MSU Bottineau Lady Jacks at the Well.  The Lady Tetons.  Now THERE is a visual image I can live with!!!  I am sure the Lady Tetons probably play to a packed gym at every game...  How much easier can a job be than to be the PR person for the Lady Tetons???  [I must confess a bias here,  though, for the visual image produced by Teton men is disconcerting, at best...]

And let’s not forget the Lady Papooses of Cheraw HS (SC).  Of course, the men there ARE the Papooses.  Now THAT is intimidating!!!

Stallionettes –  494 hits

Ramettes — 119,000 hits

Bullettes –  723

Buckettes –  2570 hits  [However, my favorite listing is not school related.  Instead it consists of the fans of Gregg Rainwater, ergo the Rainwater Buckettes...  (Pardon me.  The sound you just heard was me gagging...)  However, for example, Buckeye Central HS (Ohio) does feature the Buckettes.  Hopefully, they do not have an all girls' choir that goes by that name,  as in "They can't carry a tune in the Buckettes..."]

Interestingly, the Drakeshire Lanes Bowling League (Farmington Hills, MI) features the Drakettes.  (To be successful, I must assume that they have their ducks in a row…)  I didn’t find any Lady Drakes, but, apparently, Sir Francis did.  Good for him!

I found a smattering of teams named Tigresses and Lionesses, but they did not even begin to approach the numbers commanded by Lady Lions and Lady Tigers. 

My mother, by the way, was a Lady Bulldog, before she became a Lady Tiger…

I love “Lady Volunteers.”  Why do they need the distinction at all?

Thank goodness there were no hits for “Lady Boars” or “Boarettes.”  But  there is still time…

Of course, at MIT, the men are Beavers — and proud of it — so I guess there is justice after all…

However, there were some additional dividends to this research.  Consider the following statements, for example:

*    ”Nearly half of British employees think they are not paid enough, and women are even more dissatisfied with their wages, according to a survey on Thursday.” [financialexpress.com]

*    ”I want the President to look across the country and find the best man, woman, or minority that he can find.” — Trent Lott, speaking on the replacement search for the open Supreme Court slot.

See the effect this insidious assault is having???  (And see what you have done, Mrs. Everett???) 

Stephi is in Mexico.  I called last night about 11:00 p.m. (when I got home) to see how her trip had gone.  I was talking to Lorena and her nurse Miguel on the speaker phone when Stephanie first walked into the house.  Lorena started laughing and crying LOUDLY — and all of us ended up boo-hooing.  Lorena was obviously VERY happy and filled with emotion at seeing Stephanie.  This will be good for both of them.  I will post more later.  We love you all.  Lorena’s miracle continues…

Michael and the girls one last time here in Stephenville.  We are going crazy running around here trying to get Stephi packed and ready to go tomorrow.  We have to be at the airport at 1:00 p.m., so we will try to leave here around 10:00 a.m. just to be sure.  I will go in to school to help line the substitute out, and then it will be off to the races.

This evening, the three girls and I went to dinner together and had a wonderful last-in-this-part-of-our-lives time.  I am continually amazed at the wonderful girls Lorena produced, and I am indescribably proud of them.  Of course, the evening was completely zany.  I don’t know where the girls get their wacky, off-the-wall humor — but it is hilarious.  It is almost as funny as watching the waiter try to flirt with them (to no avail — to his great disappointment.)

The cell phone stays busy with folks calling to wish Stephi goodbye and to pass along last minute info to her.  I am going to miss that little stinker badly.  I think I may have pulled some muscles tonight hugging all of them and telling them how much I love them.  They have always been close, and Lya wants us to come by the junior high school tomorrow before we leave so she can tell Steph bye one last time.

We called Lorena last night and had a good conversation.  Roberto was our moderator, and, as always, he was wonderful.  Lorena was spelling stuff for Steph to take to her, so we hung up the phone and called back ten minutes later.  Lorena, however, still had not spelled … because a mouse had been seen running under her big therapy bed, so everyone had been trying to evict it.  As Roberto relayed the description of the frantic chase to me, Lorena laughed happily in the background.  I am sure it was the most excitement she had had in a long time, and she obviously enjoyed it immensely.

We received the following message from Silvia Powledge today: 

Querida Lorena:
Soy Silvia, tu amiga argentina de los viejos tiempos; la que iba atomar
clases contigo desde Granbury. Yo me acuerdo siempre de aquellos
tiempos cuando nos encontábamos en tu casa o en mi casa para cenar, cuando
Rainey, Anthony y Andrew eran chicos y jugaban juntos. Te acuerdas?
Tantos buenos momentos que pasamos juntos!
Te quiero hacer saber que en todos estos años me acordé siempre de vos
aunque perdí el contacto por todas mis mudanzas. Traté de llamarte por
teléfono, pero alquien había cambiado en tu número de teléfono y no
pude hasta que un día decidí buscarlos en internet y los volví a
encontrar!!
El resto ya lo sabes…Sigo el blog sempre…No te escribí antes porque
no me dí cuenta de que te podía mandar e-mails por este medio.

Sigues en mis plegarias y espero que nos podamos volver a encontrar
algún día….
Un beso y un abrazo grande….

Silvia Powledge

Marty Graves recently sent the following message: 

You folks have probably seen these,
but Nony sent them to me, and I don’t want this blog to become too
maudlin or sentimental.  Most importantly, I know that Lorena
hasn’t seen it….  We can sure use the laughs…

They walk among us!!!

Some guy bought a new fridge for his house. To get rid of his old fridge, he
put it in his front yard and hung a sign on it saying: “Free to good home.
You want it, you take it.” For three days the fridge sat there without
even one person looking twice at it. He eventually decided that people were too
untrusting of this deal. It looked to good to be true, so he changed the sign
to read: “Fridge for sale $50.” The next day someone stole it.
Caution… They Walk Among Us!
====================
One day I was walking down the beach with some friends when someone
shouted….”Look at that dead bird!” Someone looked up at the sky and
said…”where???” They walk among us!!
====================

 While looking at a house, my brother asked the real estate
agent which direction was north because, he explained, he didn’t want the sun
waking him up every morning. She asked, “Does the sun rise in the
north?” When my brother explained that the sun rises in the east, and has
for sometime, she shook her head and said, “Oh, I don’t keep up with that
stuff.” They Walk Among Us!!

 ====================

 I used to work in technical support for a 24/7 call center.
One day I got a call from an individual who asked what hours the call center
was open. I told him, “The number you dialed is open 24 hours a day, 7
days a week.” He responded, “Is that Eastern or Pacific time?”
Wanting to end the call quickly, I said, “Uh, Pacific” . . They Walk Among
Us!!!

 ====================

 My colleague and I were eating our lunch in our cafeteria,
when we overheard one of the administrative assistants talking about the
sunburn she got on her weekend drive to the shore. She drove down in a
convertible, but “didn’t think she’d get sunburned because the car was
moving”. They Walk Among Us!!!!

 ====================

 My sister has a lifesaving tool in her car it’s designed to
cut through a seat belt if she gets trapped. She keeps it in the trunk… They
Walk Among Us!!!!!

 ====================

 My friends and I were on a beer run and noticed that the
cases were discounted 10%. Since it was a big party, we bought 2 cases. The
cashier multiplied 2 times 10% and gave us a 20% discount…. They Walk Among
Us!!!!!!

 ====================

 I was hanging out with a friend when we saw a woman with a
nose ring attached to an earring by a chain. My friend said, “Wouldn’t the
chain rip out every time she turned her head?” I explained that a person’s
nose and ear remain the same distance apart no matter which way the head is
turned… They Walk Among Us!!!!!!!

 ====================

 I couldn’t find my luggage at the airport baggage area. So I
went to the lost luggage office and told the woman there that my bags never showed
up. She smiled and told me not to worry because she was a trained professional
and I was in good hands. “Now,” she asked me, “has your plane
arrived yet?”.. They Walk Among Us!!!!!!!!

 ====================

 While working at a pizza parlor I observed a man ordering a
small pizza to go. He appeared to be alone and the cook asked him if he would
like it cut into 4 pieces or 6. He thought about it for some time before
responding. “Just cut it into 4 pieces; I don’t think I’m hungry enough to
eat 6 pieces.

 ====================

 They walk among us, AND
reproduce!

******************************************************
******************************************************
From the mouths of babes….

NUDITY
I was driving with my three young children one warm summer evening when
a Woman in the convertible ahead of us stood up and waved. She was 

stark naked! As I was
reeling from the shock, I heard my 5-year-old shout from the back seat,
"Mom! That lady isn't wearing a seat belt!

HONESTY
My son  Zachary, 4, came screaming out of the bathroom to tell me he'd

dropped his  toothbrush in the toilet. So I fished it out and threw it
in the garbage.  Zachary stood there thinking for a moment, then ran to my
bathroom and came out with my toothbrush. He held it up and said with a
charming little smile,”We better throw this one out too then, 'cause it fell in
the toilet a few days ago.

OPINIONS
On the first day of school, a first-grader handed his teacher a Note from
his mother. The note read, "The opinions expressed by this child are
not necessarily those of his parents."

KETCHUP
A woman was trying hard to get the ketchup to come out of the jar.
During her struggle the phone rang so she asked her 4-year-old daughter to
answer the phone. "It's the minister, Mommy," the child said to her
mother. Then she added, "Mommy can't come to the phone to talk to you
right now. She's hitting the bottle."

MORE NUDITY
A little boy got lost at the YMCA and found himself in the women's
locker room. When he was spotted, the room burst into shrieks, with ladies
grabbing towels and running for cover. The little boy watched in amazement
and then asked, "What's the matter haven't you ever seen a little boy
before?"

ELDERLY
While working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly
shut-ins, I used to take my 4-year-old daughter on my after noon rounds. 
The various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and
wheelchairs, unfailingly intrigued her. One day I found her staring at a
pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the
inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered,
"The  tooth fairy will never believe this!"

DRESS-UP
A little girl was watching her parents dress for a party. When she saw
her dad donning his tuxedo, she warned, "Daddy, you shouldn’t wear
that suit." "And why not, darling?" "You know that it always
gives you a headache the next morning."

DEATH
While walking along the sidewalk in  front of his church, our minister
heard the intoning of a prayer that nearly  made his collar wilt.
Apparently, his 5-year-old son and his playmates had  found a dead robin.
Feeling that proper burial should be performed, they had secured a small
box and cotton batting, then dug a hole and made ready for the disposal of
the deceased. The minister's son was chosen to say the appropriate prayers
and with sonorous dignity intoned his version of what he thought his
Father always said: "Glory be unto the Faaaather, and unto the Sonnn
... and into the hole he
gooooes."

SCHOOL
A little girl had just finished her first week of school. "I'm just
wasting my time," she said to her mother. "I can't read, I can't
write and they won't let me talk!"

BIBLE
A little boy opened the big family bible. He was fascinated as he
fingered through the old pages. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible.
He picked up the object and looked at it. What he saw was an old leaf that
had been pressed in between the pages. "Mama, look what I
found", the boy called out." What have you got there,
dear?" With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered,
"I think it's Adam's underwear!"

Have a wonderful day!!!  Thank you for your prayers and support...

Lorena’s birthday, September 5,
is coming up, and I wanted to give everyone a reminder.  The snail
mail address is to the left here in her general information.  You
may obviously send greeting via comments on this blog.  Or her
email is thomaslorena@hotmail.com.  Stephi will be there with her
this year, so, for the first time since 2003, she will have one of us
there with her on her birthday.  Equally importantly, Stephi will
be able to communicate your well-wishes directly to Lorena — and get a
response on here.  This is going to be much better for everyone
involved.  Please let her know that you are thinking of her and
praying for her.  Thanks again…

Rainey
and Stephi:  two of my favorite Mexican/Americans.  Thank God
these two have so much of their mother in them; they are so much
tougher than I am.  This pic was taken before prom last
spring.  Now Stephi will miss her senior prom because she will be
staying with Lorena in Mexico.  I am incredibly proud of these two
young ladies. 

Michael in Stephenville on yet another HOT day.  We are forecast to hit 105F again today, and
it has been almost a year since we had a real rain.  We have had a few showers with minimal
rainfall, but, by and large, we have had no precipitation at all.  Most of our lawn is gone, and the huge
sycamore tree in the back yard will probably not recover.  (All of our Stephenville water is supplied by
wells, and sometimes it seems as if it would be cheaper just to buy barrels of
crude oil and pour on our lawns than to irrigate.)  We are much drier now than we were last fall
when so much of Texas and Oklahoma burned, so we are all collectively
holding our breaths, praying that we get some rain before the fires begin
again.  I am so ready for this heat to
end.  Our lows at night have been in the
80’s for the last few weeks, with high temperatures in the 100’s..

I just got off the phone after a wonderful, powerful,
emotional conversation with Lorena.  Roberto was our moderator, and he is an
incredible nurse.  I will never be able
to repay Lorena’s caregivers for what they have done for her.  (Poor Roberto is extremely discomfited being
caught in the middle of our personal and emotional talks, so I get to tease him
that nursing school never prepared him for this.  He just laughs and apologizes.  He truly is an angel working in Lorena’s
life.)  Lorena is doing well, and
obviously her therapy is rewarding her marvelously.  (Carlos will forever be one of my
heroes.).  I was on the phone with Lorena
for over an hour, and we communicated more (and cried more) than we have for a
long, long time.  I desperately want to
hear her talk again, and I would gladly forfeit my own life if it would restore
her again.  But her improvement is
continuing, so I am elated by, and profoundly thankful for, each small step of
her progress. 

I have complained on here quite often of the frustration of
not receiving itemized bills for her care, so I asked her today if the status
quo is better for us (not being able to deduct her care costs from our taxes),
or if it would be better to deduct her costs. 
Lorena indicated that it is best for us to continue as we have
been.  She is the smartest person I know,
so you will not see any more whining about this issue on this blog.  (Do not misunderstand me.  I am an American, so not only will I complain
unceasingly on here about a myriad of things, but I will do so fervently
because that is one of the primary obligations of being a US citizen…) 

Communications with Lorena should improve remarkably.  Stephi is being tasked with reading this blog
and your comments to Lorena daily – and responding.  Furthermore, I have requested that Lorena
start communicating directly with you folks. 
I know it will be difficult and tiring for her (and will require much of
Steph), but it will be wonderful therapy for Lorena, and it would benefit both
her and you, especially those friends and family out there who have been unable
to maintain close contact with her.  [I
mentioned several of you by name today and reminded Lorena of how important it
is for both parties that YOU be able to communicate directly with HER – and she
cried heartbreakingly.  I hope you are
happy for making her cry, Jerome and Ruth and family, Bill and Kay and family, Nony
and Duane, Holly and Wade, Marty and Jim, Ana and Terry, Alice
and Sheila, Chanchai, Homer and Angel, Herb and Marion, and all the rest of you folks.  She loves you, and she needs that connection
with you again.]

I think it will be great to have Stephi down there with
Lorena.  It will be difficult for Stephi,
for me, and for Rainey and Lya because our girls are so close, but it will be
best for all of us concerned. 

I just want to thank all of you who travel on this arduous
journey with us.  I was amazed at how
many of you stuck with me during my hiatus from this forum.  Life has been hard this summer for many
reasons.  I am continually amazed anew at
how many WONDERFUL friends we have – and I am thankful for you beyond measure.  I am equally amazed at how many Xanga friends
we have gained, with several of you becoming very dear to me.  I know that there are many others who follow
our travails, and I would really like to welcome you.  This blog has hits worldwide, and I thank you
all.  (Someone in the Ukraine has
been a regular reader.  Please identify
yourself so you can become one of us. 
You are welcome anytime.) 

[By the way, can anyone explain our counter???  Before my blogging hiatus, the huge number of
hits this blog had amazed me and gave me incentive to plug on.  I now return to find a few hundred hits.  I am confused.  (Of course, I am ALWAYS confused, but you
know what I mean…)  Can anyone explain
this so that this idiot can understand?  ]

Several of you have asked how I like my new teaching
assignment.  I think it is going to prove
to be a real blessing at just the right time. 
I needed a change, and I think this was the change I needed.  I have great students.  The majority of them are young mothers who
are ACUTELY aware of the importance of that high school diploma now that they
are forced into the adult world – and they are intensely motivated.  It is going to be a good year. 

Thank you all again. 
Lorena’s miracle continues.  To
God be the glory.  Please pray for us all.