Fiesta de la Gringa

Had dinner with my boss and a client on Friday night at Richardson's Canal House. We had a glass of wine on the patio and watched the boats go by. Later we went into the pub for Kobe Beef burgers. This is the second time I had one of their burgers and the second time I was sick to my stomach afterward. The fat content must rival that of the entire Friendly's menu -- the only other restaurant that makes me ill with every visit. On the plus side, at least they serve alcohol at Richardson's. Next time: salad.

Saturday was spent at swimming, Little League, buying new camouflage crocs for Son #1 and shopping for red, white and blue gifts to celebrate Juana becoming an American citizen! Nothing says "congratulations" like cheap goods made in China. I heart USA socks. A red t-shirt bedazzled with fireworks. Statue of Liberty sunglasses. And three strands (i.e., red, white and blue) of Mardi Gras-like beads.

On Sunday, we had a picnic for Juana and her family on the beach complete with American food: turkey, chips, hotdogs in baked beans, fruit salad, chocolate chip cookies, cherry pie and frozen custard. I even made potato salad!! Me!!

Juana told us that her husband said he would take her to the movies to celebrate her new citizenship and she replied, "I'm a gringa now. I can take myself to the movies."

Finally, last night Son #2 and I went to Walking with Dinosaurs. He loved it. He pre-empted the announcer with every dinosaur that entered the arena (e.g., "Here comes ankylosaurus" or "That's a brachiosaurus") and knew whatever period we were entering when the last ended (i.e., "This should be the cretaceous period"). So I'm thinking that he didn't actually learn anything about dinosaurs that he didn't already know but seeing 40' high reptiles thunder around and attack each other was pretty darned thrilling. My advice to other parents: save your $100 and put it toward Disney. You can get an entire day in a theme park for the same price -- not just an hour-long show. Oh well. At least he'll remember it for . . . what, a week?

Futbol Americano

Juana, our beautiful cleaning lady at work, recently moved her family out of one of the worst areas of our city to an apartment complex in the burbs. Her kids switched schools and are thriving. There's a cafeteria with a million and one choices for lunch. They've made tons of friends, have been invited to birthday parties and, for the first time in their lives, can play outside. It's a world of difference.

The other night, her oldest son (who is ~12 years old) came home and announced that he wanted to play football.

Juana was visibly shocked when recounting this story to us. "What do I do? Football is for gringos!"