5 inches long

The baby is about 5 inches long. That's about as long as this frog instrument. The size of a very large petunia blossom.

The baby weighs as much as a morning dove.

Drugs are bad M'kay

We've all heard this mantra from adults, government, and yes, Nancy Reagan. But let's make a decision to not use illegal substances until they are legal, regulated, and taxed.

There are probably 10-100 or so readers of this blog, most of them have probably tried pot and other illegal drugs in their lives. If we all choose not to use this stuff, a huge financial incentive for drug lords will vanish.

The recent uptick in violence at the Mexico/US boarder shows the kind of people we support when we light a joint. We support kidnappers, mass-rapists, and torturers. We support the corrupt Mexican police, child slavery, and other horrors that we never see but cheerfully fund.

I remember driving around several sheet-covered bodies with new sneakers peaking out, during my life in Los Angeles. These kids ran drug deals for older drug lords. Kids are used because their jail sentences would be less harsh. Taking drugs kills kids.



Save your money. Save your health. Save lives, M'kay?

Housing help?

We are trying to sell our condo. Please pray for us.

I wrote to my Washington DC representatives. So far, I've only heard back from Barney Frank. His rep, Lisa, agreed that families like ours, buying larger homes, are exactly the types of people who will help the economy get going again. She also said that there are no pieces of legislation that could help us, since we are current on all bills. She said that "if Countrywide drags its feet answering you, should you have a buyer, please contact the Congressman's office. We can call them. This can be very helpful."

The Obama administration is allowing citizens to submit questions. I was going to contribute one, but there were already many people who had submitted questions that were similar. There is outrage among our people about responsibility and home ownership. Some of them were...

"Why do I need to fall behind in payments before I get help?"
"Why do banks still approve people for mortgages that they cannot afford. We were approved for $450,000 and we know we can only afford $230,000"
"Where is the help for people who have been current with their payments, but are underwater?"

Let's see what happens. The first order of business to to stop people from becoming homeless. Help for our family will be in phase two, getting the economy rolling again.

Baby Timeline

Happy Spring!

The seasons roughly correspond to the trimesters of my pregnancy. The baby was conceived around the Winter Solstice. Spring marks the beginning of trimester #2, and the end of June will be the beginning of trimester #3.

The baby is due on September 20, 2009. (the Autumnal Equinox)

Right now, the baby is about the size of this little chick! He/she is about 3 inches long, cute, and precious.

Hello!

Our little one is healthy, and there is almost no chance of a chromosomal abnormality! Hurrah! There are pictures. Here is our baby waving "hello".

I think he/she has Tyrone's hands. I think we have a pianist on our hands! I also think he/she has my Dad's profile. Hmmmmmm

Here's a nice profile.

Gran Torino

Ty and I are surprised that this wasn't nominated for Best Film in 2008. Gran Torino is a masterpiece! The characters are well-developed, and more than 5 have a distinct arc in the story. We could not keep our eyes off this. Even my pregnancy bladder didn't call me away!



A few notes:

• Virtually every racial slang for an Asian is used in this movie. It's offensive, but compelling. Any young person easily influenced by such language should not see this picture.
• The film is very Pro-Catholic. This was a nice surprise.
• If you are squeemish or easily upset about rape scenes and the like, go to the bathroom when Sue comes home. You'll feel this build in your gut, just be warned. (1 minute should do it)

Enjoy!