Authentic Mexican?

Authentic Mexican?
Originally uploaded by riblet.

I filled out my Census form! It wasnt as tedious as I thought it would be, but whenever I have to fill out some kind of government form which asks me to disclose my ethnicity or race, I always get so confused. A lot of forms ask first if you are either Latino/Hispanic or not Latino/Hispanic. I'm Mexican-American and so I check that box. But then when it asks you to fill in race, most forms only give you four choices: White, Black, Asian or Native American. That's a tough question. It nearly PARALYZES me with indecision. What to do? Focus! Don't freak out. While I don't identify as White, I have to check the box. Something in between like "Brown" would do just fine. Just a suggestion.

Flash forward

Flash forward
Originally uploaded by riblet.

LOMG! That means: Lost OMG! I can't wait until next week's show. It's finally getting really, really good, but I'm so afraid that I'll be left with so many more questions at the end. Does anyone else think that crazy Claire has sort of an orange glow? Is that part of her "sickness?" Or is that a bad trip to the tanning booths?

Check out this flash forward of Ira. Here's what he'll look like in about 60 years, should you run into him at Rite-Aid, shopping for soluble fiber supplements and mommy's prescriptions.

Change of season

mom and baby roo
Originally uploaded by bugbiteme.

It seems essential to say that today is my mom's birthday. She would have been 62. 62 seems so young and it's so unfair that she's gone already. There are real effers that live to 100. Like I said, it's unfair.

Can we talk about work? I have a new-ish job. I floated from one unnamed public agency (UPA) to another. The new UPA is a much better working environment. My morale is much higher now that I do not have to check in with someone before I use the bathroom. Most of my day is spent editing text and doing fairly simple admin work. I do my tasks quickly and I try not to let on that I can do much, much more for much, much less. Lunchtimes are awesome. I love being downtown. When the weather is nice, I eat in view of the Capitol building. The gardens and trees are blowing up right now. It's springtime in Sacramento! I've been riding the light rail to work, which is not bad so far. I haven't really been bothered by anyone (unless you count the fellow commuter who wanted a dollar and the other woman who wanted to use my phone to call her friend, um no and no) and the trains have been on time more or less. I commute during peak hours, so it's been kind of crowded. I can never find a seat, but there's usually a handle to hold. Overall, it's better than when I was working in Natomas. And every day, I remind myself I'm doing it for Ira. Do you know he can name the 7 continents!? Amazing. That school will have him ready for Harvard School of Dental Medicine in no time.

This kid has it better than I did in so many ways. Like, right now, we're waiting for his passport. Really. We'll need it for a family trip to Mazatlan in a couple of months. I didn't get my passport until I was married! Man, Ira's going to be so stoked on Mexico. Quesadillas for every meal!

Catch the red eye

Ugh. Do you know what sucks? This awesomely awful case of pink eye I've had for a month. And yes, I know where it comes from. Ira was exposed to it at preschool, then I got it. Then it went away and then I became reinfected at least three more times over the past few weeks. The worst part is that I cannot wear my contacts while I'm on the anti-biotics, only glasses. But here's the deal: I cannot stand my glasses! In them, I feel so unlike myself. Also, I made the horrible mistake of getting transition lenses on my last prescription. I thought they'd come in handy since I didn't want to spring for prescription sunglasses. The problem is that the transition lenses remain a very faint shade of gray indoors, which makes my brain totally batty.

So if you've seen me in glasses recently, you know that someone touched poop and then touched something else and then Ira touched that thing, touched his eyes, then I touched him and touched MY eyes and that's how I ended up having to throw away tons of expensive make up.