Welcome Ricky

Ricky Martin is a homo! It is a new day for Ricky and his family, since yesterday he publicly acknowledged (for the first time) that he is a gay man. Welcome Ricky! Living out and proud as a gay man in this world is challenging at times and thrilling always, and we wish you the best.

Bed of Magic Light

Paxten was a jaundice baby, and she had to spend the first few days of her life sleeping in this bed of magic blue light! I had never seen such a contraption, and so I thought I'd share these photos. My mom said I was a jaundice baby too, but back then the doctor told her to put me in the sunlight for a few hours a day, which is much less exciting then sleeping on a blue light bed.

Celebrate Life!

Since we needed to be in two places at once this week, my husband and I had to divide and conquer. I stayed in Dallas to welcome our newest niece, Paxten, into this world, and he flew to San Francisco to say goodbye to our beloved great Aunt P. at her memorial service. It was an odd dynamic since we were both celebrating life this week in two different forms. In our culture we celebrate life the most at the beginning (birth) and at the end (death) and we felt both of those emotions this week.

I think I want to try and celebrate life more often (every day) in my life. Hooray for life!

Welcome Paxten!

Welcome to the world Paxten! On Wednesday, March 24, 2010 my brother and his wife gave birth to their second daughter. WooHoo, Presley has a younger sister! I was holding her within the first hour of her life on earth and it was spectacular; it gives me such hope for the future!

Amazon River Cruise

I stumbled onto an advertisement for this "amazing luxury river cruise vacation in Peru" and it made me think of Aunt P. She went solo on an Amazon river cruise not that long ago, and she said it was wonderful experience. I think this would be a fun vacation especially if you could afford to have friends and family rent the whole boat.

I'm adding this to our list of trips to take before we die: an Amazon River Cruise...

Chinese River Dolphin

Did you know the Chinese River Dolphin was a freshwater dolphin found only in the Yangtze River in China? And it is believed to be extinct after a 2006 survey in China to locate the endangered dolphin found no evidence of its survival. We did this. Human actions caused the death of this mammal. Over fishing, pollution of the river, and killing of dolphins (accidental and intentional) led to the dolphins' extinction.

I am embarrassed for all mankind. We can do better. We need to honor and protect all creatures of this earth.

"You are 29 going on 50. Bor-ing."

We had a great weekend. We cleaned out the garage; we worked in the yard; we got our tax stuff in order; we walked the dog; we went to the gym; we did loads of laundry. To us this was a nice, relaxing, productive weekend that took advantage of the BEAUTIFUL weather.

However, our neighborhood is home to Dallas' annual Greenville Avenue St. Patrick's Day parade and day-long drunkfest. Some people tailgate in their front lawns, while other people party in the streets. It is a fun event full of lots of beer, illegal parking, and all-American rowdiness.

When I gave my weekend update at work and told of the fun things we did with our weekend (see above) instead of partying in our 'hood there was mild disgust amongst my peers. I heard things like: "but you live there?!" and "you declined your parties?" and finally one guy said to me "you are 29 going on 50. Bor-ing."

Catholics forgot to ask: WWJD?

The above image is the full page ad in the Sunday's Denver Post opposing the recent decision by The Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic School to expel two children because they have lesbian parents. (Click to enlarge the image.) And read more here and here.

Jennifer Aniston's Home

After seeing her spectacular home on the pages of Architectural Digest I like Jennifer Aniston even more. If I had her millions I might create a home similar to hers; it has such a peaceful-glamorous tone to it. I like it.

I'm too old for MTV

I spent this morning drinking coffee and yelling at the television. My husband kept asking why I was watching MTV's 16 and Pregnant's "Chelsea" episode. I don't know? I couldn't stop watching it. I just was flabbergasted at the lack of wisdom in Chelsea's life as she tried to hang on to the immature father of her baby. He was a child. He wasn't ready to be an adult.

Dear High School Girls of the World,

You do not need a man in your life. You are a young, independent, strong soon-to-be woman of the this world, and you do not need a man.

Sincerely,

Me

PS - Before you have sex make sure you watch the 1988 movie For Keeps.

Alex Lambert

My favorite guy on this season of American Idol was Alex Lambert, and he got voted off last night. He didn't even make it to the top 12. You got it wrong America.

You Must Go to College

I just learned that my company requires our receptionist to have a college degree. This isn't a complicated job; this is a typical receptionist job. It's a sit-up-front-and-smile-and-answer-the-phones-if-the-executive-assistants-are-away kind of job. We need to hire a new receptionist and, surprisingly, we received a stack of resumes from women with degrees. In twenty years it's going to be impossible for people without degrees to support their families if they can't get these types of office jobs. Young people HAVE to go to college nowadays. Have to.

Women at Work

I've been thinking about the cover story of this Economist magazine all year long. You can now read the article online here. In short, women will soon be the majority of the American workforce. Really? There will be more women in the workforce than men!? I can't help but wonder what's the point of men? Women can do it all from growing babies to bringing home the paycheck.

Baby Talk

We're seriously talking about babies in our house. And by "seriously" I mean that babies are in our five year plan. According to our research, in the United States of America surrogacy cost anywhere between $75K to $100K. (Surrogacy is defined as our sperm, an egg from one female, and the womb of another female.) Also according to our research, adopting an infant in Texas will cost us anywhere from $20K to $30K and that's only if we're ever picked by a birth mother. The third option on our radar is traveling to India and doing surrogacy over there, which cost around $25K. (Read this article about Indian surrogacy if you're interested.)

We are not wealthy men. We are two well educated working professionals. It's not like we have an extra $100K in our bank account; however, with proper planning we could spend the $25K required to bring home a baby from India. I'm worried about exploiting the poor Indian population; however, the agencies tell us the $8K the Indian women get paid to carry the baby is a life-changing amount of money.

We're still talking about all the risks involved with each option because we're on the very beginning of the baby process...

Radio Lab Love

I am such a fan of WNYC's show Radio Lab. You can listen to most of their shows here. Radio Lab takes one topic and then explores that topic for an hour with multiple stories. It's entertainment and it makes you think about the world. I love to be entertained. I love to think.

Connected

I just realized that At&T is making a fortune off of us. My husband and I both have iPhones, which are for our personal calls, texts, and emails. My employer and his employer also provide us each a Blackberry. At home we have AT&T U-verse for Internet, television and a landline. Together we have four mobile phones, one landline, Internet service, and television service from at&t. Why are we not at&t VIPs?!

Cake!

On Saturday we celebrated my husband's father's birthday! Presley was there and she enjoyed seeing Yaya and Papa and eating Yaya's famously addictive "Granny's Chocolate Cake"!

Let's play Rugby!

I am the newest fan of the Melbourne Storms! This photo makes me want to play rugby. Or at least watch more rugby.

I like spinach nuggets. (No, really!)

After reading Eating Animals I have become a more selective meat eater in this world. I have one day a week where I do not eat meat. I am always on the hunt for meatless alternatives to my diet. I like spinach, which means I really like these spinach nuggets. If you like spinach, then you should try spinach nuggets too. Compared to chicken nuggets it's healthier, it's kinder, and it's lower in calories.

Proud Brother!

I am so proud of my brother. He ran the Cowtown Marathon this weekend in Fort Worth, Texas. His time was excellent at 4 hours and 11 minutes. Injury prevented him four other times from running a marathon. This was his fifth time to train for and the first time to run in a marathon. I admire his tenacity. It reminds me what they taught us growing up: never, ever, ever give up!