Its Time To Make Time...

I don't understand how someone is who currently unemployed (uh me) does not have time to post on this blog. And when I do have some time its when I'm back in Chicago visiting. Regardless, we're about to end this year I will realistically say it will not be my 2011 New Year's resolution to post daily to this blog. It is my hope by saying that I will do the opposite :) I think if I schedule it I could post once a week.

Now is a time to recap the year just to make up for not doing this entire year. We're all doing well health-wise... sure some of us could lose a few pounds, but overall we're good. The mission we have been pastoring in Playas de Tijuana is going very well. As many of us know, a church has a revolving door. Lots of people can easily come in just as easily as they can go out. I want to say that we have a very strong group of members. Very dedicated people who really have the desire to see the church grow. That's always a plus! But there are some who find the task to be extremely daunting. To sum it up... it is a lot of work. Many times we all spread ourselves thin working in different ministries. Using myself as an example, I am needed to work with the music (singing, selecting songs, setting up practices), cook, teach, counsel, cleanup and misc. office duties. Most importantly be there when the Pastor needs me (my hubby). But I know in the end its for the greater good.

The kiddo is doing very well in school. I'm grateful for his wonderful teacher who has so much patience. I'm proud of his accomplishments and I'm also proud to know he's got some wonderful singing and musical talent. You should hear him play Jolly Old Saint Nicholas on a recorder ;).

As far as immigration goes...our attorney has filed an Advisory Opinion on behalf of Eduardo. We received a draft and it was very well written and of course we're optimistic. We don't expect a response for at least a year but once we do I will inform everyone.

We're also moving to a smaller apartment this year. We made the deposit and we're schedule to move in January 1st. Hopefully we're not too exhausted after the New Year's festivities!

And now we're back in Mexico...

Mentally I tried to prepare myself and Aaron for our inevitable return back home. Spending two weeks with my family is always a lot of fun and sometimes boring. I debated whether or not to write that last part because I know my mom will eventually read it. Hey she (and many others) complain that I never post here so might as well tell the truth. Ha! Ha! The day before I'm supposed to fly back, California and Baja California was hit with an earthquake. I've been through two earthquakes in my life... one in California (way back in the day) while visiting my grandma and one in Chicago. Yes in Chicago. According to my mom she thought our family friend and landlord Joel was doing some kind of construction project on the building. It was sometime in the '80's.

When I finally got a hold of the hubby he said he was driving to someone's house to pray for them. He assumed something was wrong with the car and when he pulled over it still continued to shake. He finally figures out that it was an earthquake when he saw people running out of their houses. Nice. There was another earthquake I think yesterday which I didn't even realize was happening. All I remembered was that I felt my vision was blurred and I thought my blood sugar was too high and that's why I was feeling faint. :)

So I knew there was going to be some setbacks for Aaron when we returned to Chicago. He was so happy to see my parents and sister (and vice versa... I'm just chop liver.) he assumed everything was going back to "normal". I kept reminding him that it was just a visit and we were going back home with Papi. So over the course of two weeks I overheard Aaron say/ask:

"Can I stay with you forever Grandpa?" - Grandpa "Sure!"
"I need two hashbrowns Grandma!" - Grandma "Ok!"
"I'm going to snuggle with Grandma and Grandpa forever!" - Grandma and Grandpa are beaming at point.
"I'm not going home with Papi! I'm staying with Grandma for 100 minutes!"
Me: "Don't you want to go back home with Papi?"
A: "No he can stay with Lulu (the cat) and I'll stay with Grandpa!!"
"Did you bring me McDonald's/Wendy's/Burger King/Pizza Grandma?"
"GRANDMA ... Mommy won't (fill in the blank with any sort of discipline)" ... Grandma "Bridget just let him... "

The boy is spoiled...which is fine, but oh my gosh he's mood swings since we've been back are just terrible. He had a rough week at school and thankfully he's got an understanding teacher and 1 on 1 aid. Since he's got back I noticed he was counting down the days... I assumed he was counting down the days until the weekend but no he was counting down the days "until we go to Grandma's house." I felt bad to tell him that we were not going to my mom's house because it too far and costs money. I did say that it was now my parents turn to come and visit us. He wasn't happy about that. I hope things look up next week.