Baby's First Passport

We will be going to Costa Rica in December to visit Lucas' family. His mother, older sister and younger brother live there. Since it's Gaby's first international trip, she never had a need for a passport until now. Saturday we finally went to apply for it, considering the fact that we fly in 5 weeks, we are cutting it close. According to the US Department of State, it is now taking about 3 weeks for the application to be processed. I sure hope they are right. The applying part was easy enough. I took Gaby to the CVS pharmacy to take her pictures and downloaded the application from the website. Our local post office is an acceptance site, so we didn't have to go far. Since Gabs is an infant both parents had to present. The ID's needed were, her certified birth certificate and our driver's license. We got there and the clerk had us sign the application which needs to be signed on site. She made copies of our license but the original certificate was to be mailed with the application (will be mailed back to us). We paid by check, $60 application fee (made out to US Department of State) and $25 processing fee (made to post office). I found out that I could have taken the pictures there for a $15 fee ($7.99 at CVS). Next year I will have to go through a similar process for myself, my passport will be expiring in July. I can't wait because the one I have has a terrible, now 10 year old, picture. I hope that the passport will be used to go to Brazil (if I don't get to go before it expires!). Can't believe I haven't been there in almost 10 years!!!

Daddy's Birthday

Tuesday was Lucas' birthday. Between voting, work and a doctor's appointment it was not possible to truly celebrate the occasion. That night had baked salmon (his favorite) for dinner and bought a peice of cake at Shoprite. I also called his two best friends to schedule a lunch for Sunday. Unfortunately Wilson could not make it but Jose came with his wife and two children. I made lasagna and tres leches (Lucas' favorite cake). We had lunch and sang happy birthday. First we sang in English and Spanish. Finally I sang it in Portuguese. It was interesting that the minute I started "parabens" Gaby started clapping but she had not done that with the other languages. That is because when teaching her to clap I always sang happy birthday to her in Portuguese. Now, everytime she hears it, she claps on cue...hehe That afternoon, Carolina (Jose's wife) and I took the kids to the playground a couple of blocks from our place. I went down the slide and on the swing with Gabs. The kids had a great time!

Yes we can...and we did!

I placed my vote at 6am yesterday morning. I have never been as proud to be an American as I am today. I am grateful for the privilege of being part of this historical election. Despite the fact that the need for change is so apparent, I was still afraid that once again the polls would be wrong and that we would have to suffer another four years of ill administration. I thank God that this was not the case! It was a beautiful acceptance speech. Obama showed composure, dignity and humility. He confirmed what many of us have known but others have doubted...that he is ready to be the president of the United States. I see in him a leader with a heart as well as a conscious. His election marks the beginning of a new era in American politics. The election of Barack Obama proves that dreams do come true.

"I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

That day has come!

On TRACK

Last Saturday was Red Ribbon & my On TRACK girls had the opportunity to perform before a good size audience. Ryan, the dance instructor, was not going to be able to make it to the event but in the end showed up. It was quite a surprise for the girls...they were thrilled! The time finally came for them to perfom, I was so excited! It almost felt like I was the one going up :-) I couldn't hold back the tears as I watched them "do their thang". We've been through so much drama these last 6 weeks and they pulled it off beautifully! I am so proud of them and the work that we've done together.

Red Ribbon Day

Red Ribbon week honors the memory of USDEA Agent, Enrique Camarena and others, who lost their lives in the fight against drugs. It is a nationwide campaign to raise drug awareness. Prevention Links, the organization I work for, is the host for the main event in Union County, NJ. The 10th annual Red Ribbon Day will be this Saturday at Nomahegan Park in Cranford. It is an all day, fun-filled family event. Activities include a countywide parade, rock wall climbing, face painting, helicopter landings, award ceremony, and performances. The main performance will be by the On TRACK kids. This is the group of kids I work with.On TRACK is one of our agency's youth program and the one I am personally in charge of. It stands for Teens Reaching Artistic Creativity & Knowledge of Self. It's A weekly after School & Summer Program designed to build each child’s internal assets and foster the development of healthy life-skill while integrating creative arts activities as means to help each child tap into his/her unique talents. The program is funded by the Union County Youth Services Commission.

The group I am currently working with is composed 7 very dedicated 12 year-old girls. We hired a hip-hop dance instructor who has been working with them for the past 6 weeks. In this little time they learned the moves and will be dancing to "I Believe I Can" by Yolanda Adams. It is on the "Honey" soundtrack. If you read the lyrics you'll see that it is the perfect song for this program. I am very proud of the girls and can't wait to see them perfom tomorrow!

Preparing for the GRE

I will finally start my GRE preparation. For my international readers, the Graduate Record Examination is a standardized test required for admission for many graduate schools in the US (some other countries as well). There is a General Test and various Subject Tests. Most graduate programs require the general one. This exam measures verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and critical thinking and analytical writing skills. From what I understand, the material tested is not particularly difficult, but, as with all Standardized exams, time constraint is everyone's problem. I can't say I'm a terrible test taker. I definitely get very nervous, but if I know the material I can get myself under control. I know people whose minds go blank or they get sick to their stomach, even though they know the material.

When it comes to my performance on the GRE, my main concern is the math section. I am one of those "I can't do math" people. Rationally, I know I can learn math if I put enough effort into it. The problem is that after years of telling myself "I can't", it's ingrained in my subconscious. I know that the first step in my GRE math preparation is to change my belief system in regards to my math abilities.

In that spirit, this morning before work (I don't start until 1pm on Thursdays) Gaby & I finally made our way to the Kearny Public Library. I'm ashamed to say that I've been living here for months & only now did get my card. My first thought as I walked in, "God I miss Rutgers". After getting over how small & cramped the place was, I found the math section. I took out 6 books, including a GRE prep, an algebra textbook (algebra is my math monster), and a conquering math anxiety book. The other 3 are also math books but will probably not be used. For some reason I have a difficult time taking out few books from the library. It becomes a problem when I miss the due date & end up paying fines for books I never opened.

I can't see myself going back to school until Gaby is at least two, so I won't be taking the test until sometime next year. I figure by then she'll be a more independent (she'll be walking!) & I'll have a little more time. I'll also have been in the workforce for a while and it will be easier for me to change my work schedule to accommodate my classes.

Ana Rebeka Andrade

Wednesday my friend Patricia and I went to Ana's wake. It was difficult being there and seeing her family distraught by the tragedy. It was closed casket. Knowing why it had to be closed saddened me, but I couldn't help the feeling relief when I realized I would not see her. It was a night of mixed emotions. I was happy to see many people I had not seen in years but sad that it happened under those circumstances. I had thought my emotions were under control but the wake brought it all gushing back. I couldn't help the tears. At home I couldn't sleep and I was having a hard time being alone. At every idle moment, my mind wondered back to it all. I felt despair. Despair in knowing my friend had died a terrible death. Despair in knowing that, so many times, I had disregarded the urge to see her and that, in this life time, I would not have that opportunity again. I felt a great sense of loss. A feeling that I had felt weeks before, when I thought about her but now intensified to the 1000th power. In Portuguese, we have a word... saudade. That's what I felt. Saudade of the good times we had together. Saudade of our many conversations and laughter. Saudade of all the moments that could have been but never were. After nights of lost sleep & even nightmares, I made the decision to honor my friend by laying to rest all what-ifs and simply cherishing the years we were in each other's lives and those wonderful memories.