Woke up Well This Morning...

Lent is over.
I am eating meat, milk, and all the other stuff I wasn't supposed to have for 7 weeks. I did cheat on the dairy part a little, there were times when it just wasn't feasible to do without it, and there were other times when I just needed a bagel and cream cheese to start my day right.

I Eastered with a family from church along with my mom and her new beau who came down to visit. Not sure how I feel about the beau- mom was separated for 3 years and is recently divorced from her 3rd husband of 15 years....for good reason. However, in the past mom has not always been the most...emotionally intelligent or instinctual; hence my sister and I taking on the role of rabid pit bulls protecting mom from slimy predators.

I hate to say it, but I don't hate the guy. Only time will tell if they are meant to be together, but in the meantime I will continue to gnaw on rawhide chew toys in his presence just to let him know his potential fate if he steps out of line...

Worked out at lunch today so I'm feeling really good- energized, positive, and focused. Looking forward to getting the car cleaned after work and going home to relax a little. It's been getting warmer here so I am snapping out of the Seasonal Affective Disorder that afflicts EVERYONE in the northwest from about November to April.

Loving life this week, hope it stays this good.

-TT

Para Mi Gente de Todos Lados

I'm going to do it. I'm going to a march on Friday to support my community members, to stand up for what I believe in, and to be part of the new Civil Rights Movement.

I have been waiting for this since I was a kid, and it's finally here. All the nights I couldn't put down literature and biographies about César Chávez, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Junior, when I ate dinner with Dolores Huerta at my table, when I shouted ¡Sí Se Puede! with the rest of the Mechistas at Portland State...the culmination is here. When I got into screaming matches with my redneck stepdad about the humanity of immigrants, about the desperation that drives people to risk their lives so their children can be born into opportunity...it's no longer a private issue.

I have never stopped loving La Lucha, but I definitely have put it to the side since I came into the corporate world. I am involved with Latino groups at work, but I haven't exactly run into any future revolutionaries in the break room.

I owe them. I owe my great-grandparents. I owe my grandparents. I owe myself to do something worthwhile, to stop talking and start doing. All the nights listening to Kid Frost, Latin Alliance, Another Latin Timebomb, the poder I felt knowing they were Brown and Proud...I have to do this for them. To become who I always wanted to be as a kid...to start the movement, to speed up the motion, to set some fires, and channel my energy to those who need it.

At one time it was illegal for slaves to run away from their master's plantation. At one time it was illegal to be Black and out after 8 pm. At one time it was illegal to marry someone of a different race. At one time it was illegal to hold on to your Indian heritage. At one time it was illegal to drink from certain water fountains, live in certain neighborhoods, and go to certain schools. Question illegality. Question inhumanity. Question racism. Question motive. Got an answer? Keep questioning.

Qué viva la raza humana. Qué viva el espíritu de los oprimidos. Qué siga la lucha. Qué despierte mi gente.

-TT

A little lighthearted entry...

Well I'm a little tired of spilling my soul to Bloggerville, so I'm going to keep it light today.

So...3 of my best friends and I went to the jewelry store on Friday night and picked out matching 'right hand rings' to commemorate our 10 years of friendship (pictured above). I am really excited to purchase a nice piece of jewelry for myself, I have never done it and I would really like to have something that reflects the success I have experienced over the last year. I have received a tremendous amount of support from these women, and I would like to give them the recognition they deserve. We have decided to plan a trip together every year in June starting in 2007. (One of the girls is nursing a newborn right now...not quite the right conditions for perreando en la disco!)

Our 2007 trip will be in Puerto Rico...La Isla del Encanto! I miss it so much there, the carefree days in El Paseo de Diego, mantecados, donas de guayaba, pincho de quien sabe que clase de carne, Pollo Tropical, el coquí, Coronado....todo eso. I cannot wait to go and let my sandunga free once again. Right now I feel like a caged bird.

Once I have my MBA and I can clear my head of the stress, I think things will change for the better....but that's not for quite some time. In the meantime I am focused and driven and have my friends to turn to for support. That's all for today!
-TT

Los Resultados

So I went to have my pelvic ultrasound today and...I have a cyst on my left ovary. In a way I'm relieved that I wasn't just being overly in touch with my body, but on the other hand I'm not sure what happens next. They said it doesn't look serious, but there was no mention of taking it out either. They will send the results to my doctor and I will see her soon to discuss the results. Apparently cysts are really common and a lot of women have them before they ovulate and then they go away. The problem is, I haven't had an actual regla in about 3 months due to the type of birth control I use, (IUD) so I'm not sure if I am ovulating.

I told MMM (Mi Moreno Mortal) and he seemed worried....like maybe I'm not crazy after all! Like maybe when I say I don't feel right I really don't feel right! (He's an "it's all in your head" type) Boy, he probably thought he married a certified nut who he could poo-poo for the rest of our lives....what a let down!

Here on the home front I'm totally betraying my Sicilian heritage and eating spaghetti sauce from a jar (named Siciliana by the way, but I truly doubt the authenticity of it all) and drinking a nice Rioja...which I desperately need after today. Among the cysts, I'm in the midst of hectic event planning at work for an even in Italy which I won't be attending. (talk about lack of motivation!)

That's all for today kids, I have to get back to work. Ciao ciao.
-TT