Happily Ever After

I watched Beauty and the Beast tonight. I do love a fairy tale. Fairy tales, in general, look at the world through rose-colored glasses, but Beauty and the Beast lends a mystery to the magic of love that always leaves me thinking. What is the real message? Are fairy tales as good as they make you feel? Am I wasting my time yearning for a happy ending where none exist?

Tonight, I have some theories about the truth. My Grandma always said T.V. was a waste of time. The truth is I adore a romantic movie. Don't jump to conclusions though, Grandma was right. Let me explain, if I can.

Fairy tales begin with the innocent, good girl who is lives and thrives on hope of a better future, in spite of the evil that has enslaved her. She is so kind that she has many loyal friends. One day, she accidently catches a glimpse of the wonderful man that will transform her world. The evil one wants to harm her and stop her from being happy with her dream "prince". The girl is so clever, strong and beautiful that her prince comes to save her and they live happily ever after.

You can insert any fairy tale girl into this basic story line: Belle, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty or even Ariel or Barbie. Isn't that interesting? You can put anyone in a fairy tale. A fairy tale is the lie that this world sells to girls. The prince in the story is the lie that the world sells to boys. "Be strong, handsome and smart and you will win the heart of your princess. You can protect her and make her happy for the rest of your blissful,successful lives.

In plain language,"you are a good girl, but your parents and anyone who makes demands of you, good or bad are making you do things you don't want to do. Just keep dreaming and you will find your prince. He will love you and make you happy, but only if you are beautiful, clever and strong." (Recognize these? "You can be anything you want to be." "Go after your dreams" "Don't let anyone stand in your way.")

The results of believing the lies are sad. A woman spends too much time and money on make-up, jewelry and the spa(anything for beauty) to impress a hunk of a guy who is doing the same thing. The lovely couple finds "true love and prepares to live happily ever after". At some point, or at many points in time, reality is slapping them both in the face. The truth is that the better future is an illusion that no one will ever, ever achieve. Money, things, fame, and not even "true love", will ever bring happiness to anyone. You can never be clever enough, beautiful enough or strong enough to win happiness.

The truth has the same romantic feeling as the lie. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)That sounds like a classic story book opening, doesn't it? The difference is that those words are the truth. The first princess was Eve and her prince was Adam, but their true love was Jesus. He can make you happy too.

Supper and now Lunch

We ate the red cabbages for supper that we grew in our flowerbed. I have never harvested red cabbages before and they grew fairly large in my front yard. I planted some in my back yard and they are so tiny that I haven't even picked them. I sauted the big ones though, added tortillas, eggs and mushrooms and topped them off with ketchup. They were delicious. I wasn't going to cook at all, but I was hungry. Elena gave me a box of raisins, but that just made me more hungry.
That happened on Thursday and I was distracted and didn't post, so here I am on Sabbath. Now, we are going to eat Spaghetti and Veggies with Pineapple and Vanilla Ice cream for dessert. This picture is not mine, but this is how I hope our food will look.


Buckets of rain poured on the church during the sermon. When we went outside the puddles were being reflected by the most beautiful sunshine. Happy Sabbath! (see Exodus 20: 7-11)

Soapy Air planes?

I am 17 weeks pregnant and my baby weighs as much as a bar of soap. He or she is 6 inches long and his/her width is about the palm of my hand. 23 weeks to go!

The girls and I are ready for the Navy Base air show on Sunday. We hit Wal-mart to grab new hats, sunglasses, umbrellas and lip gloss. Raul is ready, but he never has to get ready, he just is. We like to stay all day to soak up the sun, people, food and airplanes. I think I even enjoy all the waiting in line to get in and leave in our car. It gives us time to talk as a family and just enjoy doing nothing.

Happy Spring Break!

The pizza in my freezer just fell out and attacked me for the last time. We are eating it right now!

We are enjoying Spring Break. Monday, we had a wonderfully, refreshing thunderstorm.

Tuesday, we played on the playground at Bonita Lakes. Wednesday, we saw baby ducks at

Highland park. Then, today, we walked our dog all over our neighborhood. What will we do

tomorrow? What have you done and what are you doing tomorrow?

4:58 AM-I think I went to bed too early

When your cold is better, but not gone, and you are awake anyway, you can pester your husband and get locked out of your room or you can go write a blog. My cold is not bugging me too badly and I already pestered my husband, so here I am. There is no lock on my bedroom door, so I am O.K. on that front too.

Winter has been cold. Ice and snow have graced my yard recently. However, the grass is green again and the daffodils and green peas are blooming next to the half-mature cabbages and spinach. My favorite morning was when the bumblebees discovered the clover blooming.

My dad is fully recovered from heart surgery and can ride his motorcycle to pester the neighbor's dogs and their owners. Or is it the other way around? Just who is pestering who? Imagine a quiet afternoon lounging on your front lawn. Then a big and noisy red motorcycle zooms across your line of vision. The tantalizing monstrosity does not politely sniff your tree, it just barks and runs. Why is it so excited?

You rude object, wait for me! Explain yourself and let's play. I can help you, if you just slow down.