weekly post

As I listened to the news this last week and heard about the tragedy that happened when the man went into the school and killed children and teachers, I was really bothered. Every time I think about it I just feel sick. I want to write about it but I really don't know what to say. I feel lots of emotion one minute I am mad at the man for what he did then the next I feel sorry for him and his family cause I know they are hurting too. I feel sorry for the families that lost someone and I am amazed that some of them are already saying they forgive the man for what he did. I guess that shouldn't really amaze me because history is full of stories of people doing great things when they face some horrible tragedies. Christmas always makes me feel closer to family but this year I feel a sort of love towards people I don't even know.  I am thankful for the good people out there that deal with a tragedy in such a good way and try to make this world a better place.

weekly post

The hardest thing about writing is finding something to write about. Writing is a skill that you can develop but sometimes it is hard when you have no passion on what you're writing about. In athletics you may have passion for the game but you have to go to practice which most of the time sucks. Paychecks are nice but the work can seem pointless or lame. So here I am just going through the motions because I know that it has to be done but the expression just isn't there. I sat here for a while trying to think of something but I guess it's just one of those days. I wish I could come up with something that I really want to write about but on the days I just can't think of anything there is no joy there is no fun it's just work. Hopefully I can get this post done so I can get a good grade and maybe next week I will have something to write about.

weekly post

This last weekend I had the opportunity to go to Valley for a basketball tournament. At the end they gave out awards to some of the players. I received one of the awards which was cool and all but once I thought about it basketball is a team sport and without your team you can't do anything. The team is what makes things possible, even though I was excited that I got this award and that I was recognized there were many other who could and should get some of the credit. It helped me realize that I wouldn't be anywhere in life without people helping me on my way.  Without my family helping me and supporting me in the activities I am involved in, without the teachers and coaches that teach me and without friends and teammates there would be no awards. So thanks to all who play a part in others lives so they can have success.  Thanks for those that could and should have part of the credit. I hope that I can always remember throughout my life to recognize and appreciate the many people who had helped me in my successes and could and should get credit. Thank you, thank you, and thank you.   

weekly post

Basketball season has begun again and I continue to learn lessons for life from basketball. From basketball I have found that the greatest learning experiences are from mistakes or looking back on regrets. Like in basketball you don't learn as much from the games you win or the games you play really good in. You learn more from the games in which you made lots of mistakes.  Because of the loss and the regrets about how you played you look back and think of what you should have done differently. You also learn when you have hard times in the games because then you know what you need to work on. It is the same in life; the experiences you learn the most from are from the regrets or the hard times you had. You may not learn your lesson right away or during the hard time in your life but when you do learn your lesson it will make you a stronger person. Just like if you work and grow from your mistakes in basketball you will become a better player or a stronger player.

Nov. 11 weekly post

Being the youngest of ten children, I have found that there are many advantages. For one I am spoiled; I usually get what I want. The remote control is at my disposal. :) I have very few chores. I have eaten out more than any of my other family members. Unfortunately it also has it disadvantage. When my eight older brothers come home and start to tell stories of their youth I know new rules are about to be created. The stories may be funny but the consequence for me are not fun. My parents have created a rule for almost everything. They are suspicious about anyone and everyone I might spend time with. They seem to worry whenever I am out of their sight. It's a good thing I love them because of their love for me they don't let me get to far away from them. When you are the oldest in your family you need to think about what you're doing because those who follow will probable suffer the consequence more than you will. I love my sibling to death but man do I wish they didn't do so many stupid things growing up. Than I wouldn't have so many rules.

weekly post

It is funny how things change over the years. Like Halloween, back in the day it was trick for a treat. The person would do a trick to get a treat. In another place they called it trick or treat. So if you didn't give them some kind of treat they would do some kind of prank or trick on you.  Treats were usually homemade or were homegrown fruit. Costumes would hide the identity of the prankster and it could be blamed on demons, devils, or some other evil ghoul.  Now there is no trick to it; we dress up in commercial costumes and get commercial treats.  Children still say trick or treat but really it is just give me a treat. Things are always changing with more knowledge or with how lazy people are becoming and with the creativity of the individuals who commercialize holidays for financial gain.  No matter what the cause the world is changing. Everything changes from generation to generation but this Halloween I had the opportunity to listen to some of the stories and traditions that my parents had. It was interesting to me how different we do things now. In school and even in my family.  Traditions are changing and those traditions that existed in many small isolated communities and in many families are disappearing.  I guess that is progress but in a way it seems sad. 

weekly post :)

This last week I had the opportunity to go to witches night out. It is where a bunch of women dress up as a witch and win prizes. This year their theme was "Clue." So you go around asking the people on your list for a clue. (It was kind of like the board game) At first I didn't know if I wanted to participate in the games. There was a bunch of people there for the corn maze and other activities that were going on. A lot of the people that were not in the witches night would stare at us or try to joke around with us. That was weird to me but whatever. All the other witches; okay not really, my sisters were getting in to it and would cackle and try to scare some of the people. They would also randomly go dance with people on the dancing flour! (Got to love them). Any way, goofing off, cackling, and trying to scare people I don't even know is way out of my comfort zone. With a little pressure from my sisters I finally cackled like a witch (I wasn't very good), but when I started to come out of my shell a little bit and participating in the game I didn't care that the people were giving me funny looks. I started to joke around with my sisters and worried less about what other might think. That lead me to having fun and really enjoyed the witches night out. It taught me to not worry about  what others think. Being intimidated by people you don't know and who don't care about you is such a waste.

Theme Essay

         These are three different stories on three different things with different people in each. What do they have in common? Well, the theme. The first story I am going to talk about is called “Domingo” by Oscar Casares. It is about an old man who is working hard to provide for his wife. Domingo had to move away from his wife to work after his only child died on his watch. They tried everything they could to save her but it just wasn’t enough. So now he does yard work and sends the money to his wife. The second story is “Chango” which is also by Oscar Casares. It is about a man named Bony.  Bony finds a dead monkey head in his front yard and it reminds him of his best friend that died in a car crash. He tries to keep the monkey head but his parents make him, get rid of it. Unable to cope with the loss of his friend he lives with his parents and drinks beer all day long. Finally the last story is called “Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs” by Chitra Divakaruni. This story is about a young lady who moves into her Aunt and Uncle’s house. Her Aunt and Uncle had an arranged marriage. She soon finds out that her Aunts husband is abusive and he even hit her Aunt in front of her. He quickly apologizes and the Aunt just forgives and forgets. Now what common theme can these three stories possibly have? Everyone has problems in their life, but it is the way you deal with the problem that makes the difference and who you will become.
         Domingo has many problems or trials in his life. First of all he always wanted kids, then he finally got a little girl. “How then could the child have been taken from them so quickly?” (Domingo, Casares, 80)  He took his eyes off her for a minute and she fell into the fire pit and died. That would be so terrible, to try to have children then you are blessed with one and she dies at such a young age, but as I said before it is the way you deal with your trials that make the difference. “Sometimes he bought beer and drank...but he tried not to do that anymore because it was too difficult for him to stop after two or three beers.”(Domingo, Casares, 79) Domingo could have turned to drinking, he could have given up in life, but he didn’t and that's what made him who he was. Many people try to drink their problems away but he chose not to because he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to stop. He knew if he drank he wouldn’t be able to work and without working there wouldn’t be any money to send to his wife. “He had worked hard to provide for his family.”(Domingo, Casares, 85)  Even though he has lost so much he still does his best and works hard so he can provide for his wife back home.  
         Bony like the other story lost someone close to him. “He didn’t know how to make sense of his friend dying. Bony hadn’t been doing much except hanging out and partying. So why did God take Mando and not him?” (Chango, Casares, 54) He was never much of anything but after his friend died he stopped working and drank more and more alcohol. The way he was dealing with the trial in his life was leading him nowhere in life.  He is an older man still living with his parents. “Bony sat on the porch the rest of the afternoon...the beer was cold what more did he need. Right?”(Chango, Casares, 60) Everyday it is the same he sits outside drinking beer. The way he dealt with the hard times in his life made him who he is now, a lazy alcoholic. “He was just living. That’s the best explanation he could give. Living”(Chango, Casares, 67) Yeah he was living alright, living with his parents drinking beer all day. Thinking to himself why his friend had to die, why couldn’t it of been him? If he would've dealt with his problem differently it would’ve made the difference in his life and changed who he was. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, he needed to move on and make the best out of the life he had.
         The next story is a little different than the rest. Nobody dies, so that is good news, but they still have problems in their life. “When the back of his hand catches Aunt Pratima across the mouth. I flinch as if his knuckles had made that thwacking bone sound against my own flesh.” (Divakaruni, 53) Her Uncle is beating her Aunt right in front of her, and what does her Aunt do?  She forgets it even happens. She pretends that her husband didn’t do anything and that her life is perfect.  Doing that has made her who she is. Not dealing with her problem, acting as if she didn’t just get hit across the face, is going to get her nowhere. It’s the way you deal with your problems that makes the difference. “Where the pavements are silver and the roofs all gold.” (Divakaruni, 56) Nobody's life is perfect so everyone has problems they will have to face.  Sooner or later you have to decide how you will deal with the problems. You can’t keep running away from them.  She thought by moving to America it would be like perfect silver pavement and golden roofs, but you will have problems wherever you go in life. Your problems won't just go away, you need to deal with them.
      In Conclusion, the way you deal with your problems shapes who you are or who you will become. You can face the problem like Domingo, You can try to escape your problems like Bony or you can try to ignore or pretend the problem doesn’t exist like Aunt Pratima.  The way you chose to deal with your trials will make the difference in your life, if it be good or bad. The decision is yours.

Week post #5

Here it is fall. I love fall as the leafs start to change colors there seems to be so much beauty all around. My brothers however can't and don't see the beauty that I see. The reason for that is they are color blind because my excitement of the colors of the leafs, I try to explain to them how beautiful it is. But how can you explain a color that someone has never seen or can't see? As we ride though the mountains we may be in the same car but we are in different world. I can't understand what they see and they can't understand what I see. I think that is how it is in life. Even though you may be going to the same school as someone you may not know or understand what they are going through or how they see things. Even though they may try to explain it to you, if you have never been through anything like that you can't really understand and appreciate what they are going through. That reminds me of an old Indian saying my dad quotes "Never judge a man until you have walked a mile in their moccasins." So don't judge because you may not be seeing the same thing they are seeing.

Weekly Post # 4

You know when people say "You don't know how much you miss something until it's gone." Well that statement is so true. Even though that what I miss isn't something it is my family. I never realized how much I miss them until this year because this year I am the only child left at home. This week I had a lot of my family member's home including a lot of my nieces and nephews. Now looking around the house I see it covered in garbage, toys, food, and everything else you can think of. Even seeing this huge mess I still wish they all of them could of stayed longer. There is never a dull moment when my family is home. They have only been gone for a few hours and the house already seems quiet and lonely. Almost always when my family comes i lose my bedroom and have to sleep on the floor. Sacrifice of space, privacy, a place at the table, quiet, and time to myself and is a small price to pay for the fun and love I feel when I get with my family. Now that I got my bed back and everything else I would give it up in a heartbeat if they could stay longer.

Respose paper on Woman Hollering Creek

       The story begins with Cleofilas remembering her life before her marriage and how happy she was. She got married and moved to Texas, and was curious about the story of the creek behind the house.  With one child and another on the way her husband begins beating her and she realizes that her life isn't like she always dreamed of. She goes to the doctor and they notice her bruises. The doctor made arrangements to help her escape.  A women named Felice would take her back home. "Felice was like no women she'd ever met." (paragraph 82) That observation is a compliment because its a good thing to be different, Felice is independent and strong and last of all it gives Cleofilas confidence that she can make it on her own.  
            Felice is like no women she ever met meaning she is different and being different is a good thing. When I say different I mean that she is comfortable with who she is. She is confident and isn't afraid to be herself. For example, in the story when Felice just meat Cleofilas and was driving back home she "opened her mouth and let out a yell as loud as a mariachi." (paragraph 77) She later explained that when ever she crossed the Women Hollering Creek she would yell. Even though she just meat Cleofilas she wasn't afraid to be herself and didn't care what Cleofilas would think of her.
           Another reason why Felice is like no other women Cleofilas has ever met is because Felice is independent and strong. "Everything about this women, this Felice, amazed Cleofilas. The fact that she drove a pickup. A pickup mind you, but when Cleofilas asked if it was her husband's, she said she didn't have a husband. The pickup was hers. She herself had chosen it. She herself was paying for it." (paragraph 80) That right there is a perfect example of Felice being independent and strong. It shows Cleofilas that she takes care of herself and that she is doing just fine without a husband. 
           The last reason why that is a compliment is that Felice gave Cleofilas the confidence she needed to make it. Seeing that Felice doesn't have a husband and that she is different than most women showed her that she also could be different and can make it without her husband. Cleofilas had been inhibited in her life by her concern for what others would think about her or how they would react to what she did.
          In Conclusion, when Cleofilas said that "Felice was like no women she'd ever met." She meant it as a compliment.  She admired Felice's inhibition.  She admired her self confidence.  She admired how she was comfortable being herself.  Cleofilas admired Felice  because she showed the strength that she had lacked in her own life and Felice gave her the courage and confidence that she needed to make it on her own.  
          

Weekly Post

This week I both had to and got to clip my dog's hair. I have two Shih-Tzus and if you don't cut their hair it will grow extremely long and can cause problems for the dogs. Even though it is good for them and it will be better for them in the long run they will fight you, try to get away and whine through the whole process. I thought about that in my own life as well as others. How often do we try to get away or whine when doing something that is good for us? For example some people including me will do anything to not have to go to school or when we do go to school we complain about the assignments not recognizing the benefit of what is being learned. School is a good thing it will be better for us in the long run but yet we are just like the dog trying to fight something that is good for us.  If the dog wouldn't try to get away or whine it would be much smoother and faster to cut its hair. The same goes for us if we don't complain and just get through it, school or whatever you are fighting will go much smoother and faster. So why do we fight and complain about things that are going to help us and are good for us in our life?

Weekly Post On What I Learned

Sometimes you learn something you already knew but have never really thought about it before.  That is what happened to me this week.   I am sure I already knew these things but because of what happened to me this week it really hit me.  Don’t sweat the small stuff; do not sweat over the little things in life. Stressing and worrying about every little thing that goes wrong can really wear you out. Nobody is perfect all you can do is do your best. There will be times where you get behind in life or things aren't going the way you want them to go, but all you can do is try to get though it and stay positive. If you freak out or start to panic over the little things in your life your life will become so much more stressful and it will make you unhappy. So just don't sweat the little thing that has already happened in your life. Smile and try to make it better! If you can't make it better move on and try not to make that same mistake again. If something has already happened it is over because you can't change the past. So move on and hope for the best because you can still shape the future.  

Response Paper

           In the story "Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs"  by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni it says "And now it all makes sense that the beauty and the pain should be part of each other." (56) If you look around in life you can see that that statement has a lot of truth.  If you don't experience the pain and get though it in life you wont experience the beauty in life. So it does make sense that beauty and pain should go together.
          There is no good times or beautiful times without pain. Looking back at the story it talks about her Aunt and Uncle and the ruff patch they are going though in their marriage. It shows that there is hard times in life but as long as you work though them and get past the painful time, beautiful and happy times will come. Plus if there weren't any bad times we wouldn't know what a good time was or in other words if there wasn't any painful times we wouldn't know what a beautiful times we have. 
           "The snow falls on them, chill, stinging all the way to the bone. But after a while the excruciating pain fades." (56) At the end of the story she holds her hands out in the snow until they stop hurting from the cold. Than she can gaze at the beautiful sight of her hands completely covered in snow. That also shows that beauty and pain should go together. If she didn't get though the pain and continue to hold her hands out, than she would of never experienced the beautiful sight of her hand covered in snow. So in life if we don't stay positive and work though the hard times we will never experience the beauty in life. Getting though the hard times will make it all worth it when you are going though the beautiful times in life. 
          Right before she notices that pain and beauty go together she plays back of the memory of her Uncles, "scraped knuckles, arcing though the air to knock aunt's head sideways." (56) They had beautiful times before this but now its pain. But they work together and forgive each other and it becomes a endless cycle in life beauty then pain, then pain then beauty again. That is why beauty and pain should and are part of each other. When you endure pain it will magnify the beauty.
           In conclusion, pain and beauty do go together and if you learn how to get though the painful times you will have a better life. Just like the Uncle and Aunt learned how to forgive each other. Sometimes you will miss out on some beautiful times if you don't stay positive and get though the hard times but no matter how hard you try you will go though painful times and beautiful time because it is an endless cycle.  
          
                                                                                                       

What I learned this week

 I learned that blogging is way more difficult than I expected. Writing to an unknown audience makes me very uncomfortable. Knowing that anyone at anytime can read what I write and judge what I have to say makes me think twice before I post it on my blog. I tend to be a private individual and don't ever talk to strangers. Now being assigned to do a weekly blog of what I learned with a minimum of two hundred words is putting me out of my comfort zone. It is driving me crazy that I don't know who I am writing to or their reaction of what I am saying will be. Learning about myself may be the most important lesson learn while doing this project. Knowing my insecurity and how to deal with my feeling of inadequacy in a public way is very frightening to me. I don't like to write things that others will see. I would never be good at graffiti, just saying because I wouldn't want anybody to read it. But here I am writing in my blog all for a good grade. Oh the power for that little letter "A". Yikes! What if I get a "B".

A Rewarding Experience

Life isn’t fair but to avoid all that isn’t fair in life we would miss out on its most rewarding experiences.  In life, love, laugh, learn, lament and labor, or lose the experience.

It all started with the life of a puppy but it wasn’t any normal puppy. He was a black and white Shih Tzu, with a white tipped tail. When the puppy was first born he was about the size of a medium size pear.  This puppy was born with a cleft palate. We didn’t notice right away but after the first day you could tell that something was wrong with it. It was skin and bones and much smaller than the rest of the litter. As we inspected him you could see that the top of his lip was gone and because of that he couldn’t nurse from its mom. We talked about our options and what we were going to do with this puppy. After a while I volunteered to provide whatever care it needed to help it live.  

I soon learned that his condition could only be corrected by surgery and without surgery he would never be able to nurse.  To make matters worse it would cost too much for the surgery to make that an option. With further study I found that you could feed it baby formula with a dropper ever two to three hours. So that’s what I did ever three hours day or night I would go feed that puppy. I learned how to sacrifice my time and sleep for the puppy so it could live. After a while I learned easier ways to feed it with the dropper so it didn’t take as long and I also learned that it was easier to keep the puppy in my room at night so I could hear him when he was getting hungry. I tried to stay positive and by doing that I noticed how much better everything is when you learn how to look on the positive side of life.  As time went on it was clear to see that my learning and labor were making a huge difference in the life of the puppy.     
With time my learning and labor seemed like nothing because my labor became a labor of love. When I got home from school the puppy would follow me everywhere. When he was about four weeks old in order for him to eat I would have to wet the dry crusty dog food so it would get soft and gooey. Then I would smash it up with a fork so it would be all soupy. When I was all done it would look like someone ate some gram crackers than vomited it back up. When I put his food down I would have to stay there or he would stop eating and follow me or start to whine.  Even though he could eat without me he still wanted me there. He also liked to play with me more then with the other puppies.  He had the cutest personality and was always wagging his tail. No matter what was going on he could always make me laugh. The way he would have to eat his food or when it got up his nose and snort, which happened a lot. Even how he would prance around in the grass would make me smile. Even though it was harder for him or wasn’t fair he was the happiest puppy and always wanted to play.

Of course the time came when we would give all the puppies away to family and friends. I tried to convince my parents to keep him but they already promised my aunt’s friend that her family can take the puppy by the end of the week.  Even though I loved him and didn’t want to give him away I knew I had to. Since that has happened I have looked at people in my life and the trials or problems they are going through and the experiences they would have missed out if they didn’t stay positive.  Looking back on my experience I am glad I had the chance to take care and create a bond with this little puppy. What a loss it would have been if I hadn’t taken the opportunity to have this experience; I would have missed out on a life changing memory.  Through this experience I learned that life isn’t fair. It wasn’t fair for the puppy to have a cleft palate or to take a puppy away from a little girl, aka me. Everybody knows that life isn’t fair but if you look on the positive side you will be able to love, learn, labor, laugh and in the hard times lament which adds to the quality of the life we live.