Bucket List

Last night Trevan and I watched the Bucket List.

The theme of this movie has been used over and over again. Someone finds out they are going to die, and all of a sudden their priorities change. They decide to live the life they always dreamed of, but seemed too risky or irresponsible.

These types of movies are suppose to send awakening jolts to our inert systems to get us out of our ruts and into living the lives we were meant to live. Throw caution to the wind and climb mount Everest, visit Egypt, skydive, carpe diem!

However, the majority of us just make excuses for the pathetic lives we live. "Things will be different once I get married, once we have kids, once I get my PhD, once we retire"...the list goes on.

I have been fighting the urge to just survive for quite some time now. I wake up with no purpose and no direction. Some days I just feel like crying, it all seems to hopeless.

Every time I give in to dispair I am reminded of a sermon Trevan preached. The title was "But God", taken from the picture Paul paints in Ephesians about the death and dispair that we were in, But God has set us free.

I have found in these words the will to not just survive, but to let my hair down and go for the life I was meant to live. I am starting my own Bucket List, and I hope to stick to it not just for my sake, but for the sake of the God who has given so much to set me free.

I will keep you posted!

Venus and Serena

I really appreciate these two women, and what they are doing with their lives.

They are classy when on the court, courteous with the media, and seem to keep it real. While some have accused them of not giving enough credit to their competition, they are quite secure in who they are. They believe, along with many others, that if they play their best, no one can beat them. I would argue that even if they are not playing their best they can still beat the majority of people out there.

It was a pleasure to watch Venus defend hers and Serena's work ethic when someone questioned the authenticity of their matches against each other. It was a tasteful answer to a nasty question.

Another thing I appreciate about them is that, unlike a lot of top players these days, Venus and Serena do not look up to their box after every point to get moral support, or to get advice on whether to challenge a call. They just play their game, stay focused, and deal with the consequences of their decisions.

The Wimbledon final on Saturday was really great to watch, even if Serena did a mini-baby-sister-pout after she lost (It is totally fare to hate on siblings that beat you, it's in the Bible I believe). Venus said that she took her job as a big sister very seriously, therefore she did not rub her win in Serena's face. That's really nice of her, I am pretty sure my brother would have made fun of me on the spot. Sibling rivalry is stronger in some families more than in others. I hope the sisters continue playing for many more years.

And for those of you that think they spend too much time away from the tennis courts...Don't hate on a sister's entrepreneurial skills!

Tripping

On my way out of the office yesterday my heal got caught on the cuff of my pants and I fell down a flight of twenty steps. My shoes went flying and ripped up the skin on my left shin.

As I was going down (I swear it felt like I fell in slow motion) I was praying that I would not break anything because I am suppose to be leaving for Switzerland in a month.

Overall it was not pretty or funny at the time, but I have really laughed at the whole situation today. Envisioning myself tumbling down the steps, then trying to look dignified as I picked all the stuff that fell out my purse and put my shoes on while my shin was throbbing is kinda funny. I really tried to pretend like nothing had happened as I limped to my car.

It is really great that nothing serious happened and I will be just fine in a couple days.

On Wimbledon 2008

This has been a great tournament so far. Loving the fact that Djokovic and Sharapova are out. Really happy with the way Gulbis challenged Nadal.

Now if someone can take out Ivanovic it would be just about perfect.

Italian Vogue

There is this really interesting article in today's New York Times on the upcoming issue of Italian Vogue.

The big news is that all the models in the issue are black. I will be definitely buying this issue!

On Multirace

I found this article on multirace people and families in America. It is really fascinating to read some of the comments and be able to nod in agreement with the experiences of other multiracial individuals.

My particularly favorite question I get asked all the time is "What are you?". On any given day, depending on what my hair looks like, I can be mistaken for Indian, Ethiopian, African American, I have even gotten Sudanese and Philippino. When I say Costa Rican, the response is usually a very confused "Really?".

Just to clarify my heritage:

My father is an afro-Costa Rican, whose mother migrated from Jamaica and married a Costa Rican of African/Jamaican ancestry. My mother is an Indian-Belizean, whose family migrated from India to Belize generations before she was born. I was born in Honduras, but am a Costa Rican by ethnicity and an American by nationality (recent development).

So there you have it!

The Things I do for Love

This weekend Trevan and I drove up to Maryland in order to attend, not one, but two baseball games on two consecutive days. Yes, it was Trevan's idea.

Trevan really loves going to baseball games, so I agreed to go with him to the Nats vs. Brewers game on Sunday (Nats won!!! Go Nats), then the Orioles vd. Yankees game on Monday.

The Sunday game was great. We went with Trevan's cousin Kim, and her fiancé Paul. We were all rooting for the Nats, so it was great to have them win in the bottom of the ninth.

Unfortunately, Trevan is an Orioles fan and I am a Yankees fan, so the Monday game was a bit less fun because the Yankees loss, and I had to endure Trevan being extra loud about the Orioles winning.

All things considered, it was a great weekend and I have the sun-burn to prove it.

French Open

Tennis is back! The French Open starts this Sunday and drama is definitely in the forecast at this point.

With Henin's retirement, the field seems open for Sharapova to clench her first French Open title.

The drama on the men's side is even bigger. Flashy, new-comer Djokavic, and three-time French Open champion Nadal ended up on the same side of the draw, which leaves #1 Federer with little competition to make it to the finals. With rumors circulating that Nadal is not in top-shape, this seems to be the year for Federer to finally win the French tittle for the first time.

But I am not buying into the hype. I love Federer, and I sincerely wish I am wrong on this, but he has had a less-than-stellar season so far, and I don't really see Nadal folding and giving up the chance at a fourth consecutive French Open tittle.

I pick Nadal to win this one.

More Venting

You must read Maureen Dowd's Op-Ed pieces on the New York Times. The past two have been especially informative as to why I cannot abide Hillary any longer.

This comment in particular got me to renounce my Christianity just long enough to wish this particular voter went to the really hot place below. Sorry Lord, he is your child too.

"The story quoted Victoria Switzer, a retired social studies teacher, who
could take only one night on an Obama phone bank in the nearly all-white
Susquehanna County, Pa.: “One caller, Switzer remembers, said he couldn’t
possibly vote for Obama and concluded: ‘Hang that darky from a
tree!’ ”

These are the kinds of people that Hillary is happily pursuing. Sorry, but as a self-respecting black person I cannot possibly care any less for the woman, and if she ends up on a ballot I will not vote. Thanks Hillary for ruining what was once a primary process full of possibilities.

She Does NOT Speak for Me!

I am really tired of women groups posting these ridiculous ads in which they claim that Hillary Clinton represents and speaks for all women. I am a woman, and I most definitely do not want her speaking for me.

We are all entitled to our opinions, and my opinion is decidedly anti-Hillary. She is not the kind of woman I look-up to as a role model. Staying in a presidential race that you have already lost is not being a fighter, it is being selfish and desperate. If she was the kind of woman I look-up to, she would have left the race with dignity a long time ago, and had gone to work for the nominee. She would have bargained for women to have higher positions in Obama's cabinet, and would have championed equality for all.

Instead she has stooped to the shameless politics of attack, distortion, and even turning on the water works if it will give her the votes. I am sorry, but I could never look-up to her. She might have accomplished a lot in her life, but that is not the kind of woman I want to run this country.

We are true to ourselves not when we act like men and gain position for it, but when we act like women and gain respect from others.

Green Thumb - Thumbs Down

Ok, I admit it. I have not been posting pictures of the progress of my plants growing because the cilantro plant has been dead for about two weeks now, and the basil plant has not grown past a half inch...I told you this was a bad idea.

Instead of trying to grow my own plants I have decided to cheat. I went out and bought a basil plant that is already full-grown, and got specific instructions as to how to keep it alive for the rest of the summer. Let's see how that works.

On the other hand, my orchid is doing well. We have had five new blossoms since we got the plant. Some of the older flowers are dying off, but that is totally normal, so I have not killed that plant!!! I have the claim the victories I have.

She's Retired?

This piece of news has totally shocked me... Justine Henin is leaving tennis? That is so unbelievable I cannot even explain how confused I am.

It makes sense to leave while you are at the top of the game, but still, she is so good. I guess there are more important things in life after all!