Happy Memorial Day

Hello Everyone,

Today I am cleaning up my room. I have a lot of papers with my name and address to shred, but my damn shredder broke. I still have stuff to give to Goodwill. I also threw out a lot of stuff. Feels pretty good. I still have to go through all my financial statements.

I've been watching TV programs about Veteran soldiers as well as the Japanese Internment camps.

I want to take this entry to acknowlege the men and women that have fought for our country. Because they stood up and fought, people like me don't have to. Because they volunteered, I can choose whether I want to go and fight or not. I also think that the wives of our servicemen deserve credit because they are giving them their full support, raising their children while the men are away and never know if they'll see their husbands or get the dreaded visit.

If I had to, I would join the military. But, since I have a choice, I chose to not to. I love living a free life here in the United States without having to worry about going hungry, getting killed, or being told how to live my life like others in third world countries do.

A lot of people may be against Bush's policies and war in general. But I don't think any of that anger should ever be taken out on our soldiers. It angers me when I see people protesting against our men and women in the service. Those people in the service are the reason why they have the freedom to protest in the first place. They should be respected and supported. I also think that their benefits for serving should be increased and never cut. Politicians that cut their benefits in the name of budget don't realize that they are shooting themselves in the foot. If servicemen and women didn't serve, the politicians themselves would be forced to go and fight.

But I do think that Americans in general are more appreciative of the people that do serve our country. I think September 11th had something to do with it.

While I was watching the documentary about the Japanese Internment camps, it was hard to realize that the USA is guilty of such a thing. There are a lot of dispicable things that our government did. I don't think that the Japanese that lived in the camps talk about their experiences enough. When I was studying history in high school, there was only 1-2 pages in the whole book that talked about it. I've seen an exhibit about it in a museum, but I think that there should be a whole museum dedicatedto them.

My friend Henry served in the Marine Corps and works in a veterans hospital. I wanted to acknowledge him as well. He knows what it means to serve our country. This entry is dedicated to him.

Elie Wiesel on Oprah

Hello there my lovelies,

On Wednesday I watched Oprah. She made a trip to Poland to meet with Elie Wiesel and take a tour of Auschwitz. It was a beautiful show, but heartwrenching to watch. She and Wiesel walked arm in arm while he recounted the horrors he personally experienced.

The part that moved me the most was when he brought her to the pile of shoes. The pile was huge. Of course they are decaying because they are over 60 years old, but you could still see shoes with personality. I saw poor shoes, and elegant shoes. The camera zoomed in on a pair of red shoes that looked like it belonged to a dancer full of dreams. And they were just lying there in a pile with the other shoes, waiting for its owner to return. But the part that was harder to watch was when the camera zoomed in on the pile of baby shoes and baby clothes. I realized that people had to take the clothes and shoes off these babies. One has to be full of hatred to take it out on infants and take the clothes off their backs.

 I've seen a lot of horrible images on film and pictures regarding the Holocaust,of people starving and dying. But seeing Elie Wiesel talk about the shoes and clothes just hit me harder. I remember when I visited the Holocaust museum in Washington D.C. as well as Mauthausen in Austria. Seeing physical objects that were there just made it all real to me.

I still would like to see the Anne Frank museum in Amsterdam one day. I used to read her book in school, and I felt like I could relate to her. But it wasn't until I visited Mauthausen last year that I realized just how courageous she was. I also realized that she so wise and beyond her years. As she was being locked up with her family only to later be deported, she still chose to believe that humans are inherently good.

I should have made the trip to Amsterdam while I was living in Barcelona. The trip woulda been a helluva lot cheaper then than it would be now. But I was broke at the time. One day when I get myself out of my financial mess, that will be on the top of my list.

Ciao for now.

Random Thoughts on a Saturday

Hello there my lovelies,

Well, I am glad that the weekend here. I just cleaned out my storage unit and I am glad that $50 won't get taken out of my checking every month anymore. I also feel relieved that I got rid of a lot of stuff I simply don't need.

I forgot to mention that last week I saw a mother duck walk her little duckling babies across a busy road. Luckily there wasn't a lot of traffic so a lady in her car positioned her car by them so no one would run them over. Those ducklings were so little, cute and fuzzy and had absolutely no clue that they could've been smashed by a careless driver. I thought that it was really nice of the lady to look out for those helpless ducks.

I love birdies. I think I get that from my mother. What's also adorable is when I see quail scurry across the cement sidewalk. There are a lot of different birds by my job. Sometimes I like to watch them hop around or see them shake their feathers.

Work has been busy as usual. We lost both of our assistant managers. One moved and the other quit. Plus, we still have no car prep to clean our cars. So therefore, we are still washing our own cars and have a smaller staff.

On another note, I am happy that the weekend is here and that I don't have to work on Memorial Day. I am still getting rid of stuff and going through my financial statements. I am going through financial hell right now, so I will be using this weekend to try and straighten things out. I also hope to use the weekend to work out and practice my dance routines.

Anyways, that's all for now. I am kinda distracted right now, so I am gonna go for now. I will write more later. Ciao.

The Difference Between Girls and Women.--How I Fit in

Girls leave their schedule wide-open and wait for a guy to call and make plans. Grown women make their own plans and nicely tell the guy to get in where he fits in.  I am a grown woman.

Girls want to control the man in their life.
Grown women know that if he's truly hers, he doesn't need controlling. Grown woman

Girls check you for not calling them.
Grown women are too busy to realize you hadn't. Still a girl here.

Girls try to put a man 'on lock' by using sex.
Grown women know that it's the sex of the mental kind that makes a man want to 'lock' you down. Definitely a woman here.

Girls are afraid to be alone.
Grown women revel in it-- using it as a time for personal growth. Becoming a grown woman.

Girls ignore the good guys.
Grown women ignore the bad guys. I'll just say that I am a teenager here.

Girls worry about not being pretty and/or good enough for their man.
Grown women know that they are pretty and/or good enough for any man. Still a girl here.

Girls try to monopolize all their man's time (i.e, don't want him hanging with his friends).
Grown women realize that a little bit of space makes the 'together time' even more special -- and goes to hang with her own friends! Totally a grown woman.

Girls think a guy crying is weak.
Grown women offer their shoulder and a tissue. Grown woman.

Girls want to be spoiled and 'tell' their man so.
Grown women 'show' him and make him comfortable enough to reciprocate without fear of losing his 'manhood'. Definite woman.

Girls get hurt by one man and make all men pay for it.
Grown women know that it was just one man. Grown woman.

Girls fall in love, chase aimlessly after the object of their affection, ignoring all 'signs'.
Grown women know that sometimes the one you love, doesn't always love you back-- and move on, without bitterness. Becoming a grown woman

Girls will read this and get an attitude.
Grown women will read this and pass it on to other Grown women.

Cleaning up

Hello there my lovelies,

I just gotta update this more than once a week. I've been cleaning up and getting rid of a lot of stuff. Basically, I had a storage unit full of stuff, and I can't afford to keep storing all that stuff every month. My rent is expensive enough and I have a separate mailbox for my mail. So I decided to take all my stuff out and store it in my room. But of course to make it all fit I had to do some serious spring cleaning.

I shredded old bills, threw out boxes of magazines and donated all the clothes and shoes I haven't worn in years. I am still getting rid of stuff. I'm a sentimental person and I like to keep stuff, but I realized that I can't keep letting stuff pile up. Organizing my stuff kinda makes me feel like I am taking control of my life. I need that right now.

While I was going through stuff I looked through my old photo albums that I made, my old photos that I took, old letters that people sent to me, my yearbooks, yada yada yada. It brought back a lot of old memories. I am glad I kept all that stuff. It makes me see how far I've come along.

Anyways, I am gonna get back to organizing. I could write about all the drama at work but I'll spare y'all for now.

Ciao Ciao.