Calm before the storm

All in all, its been a quiet week. I've been sick with a stomach virus and there was a nasty run in with Pato and the kids earlier in the week, but other than that, everything calm and even. The new batch of spring breakers arrive on Sunday, so that should put an end to that.

We went back out to Las Juntas today for the afternoon. The kids just love it and we use it as their P.E. time. This is my favorite picture of the day. Syl always says, if you don't like the out look, try to the uplook. So I looked up and shot this picture today. I rather like it.



Moxie did a ton of swimming. I thought she would wear herself out after about 20-30 minutes. No. Two hours we played in the water. She finally took her ball over into the sun and laid down. Whew! We only lost one ball this time. Moxie bit a hole in it and it filled with water and sank so deep I couldn't get to it. Poor Moxie was frantic swimming in circles and whining looking for her bally. I felt so bad for her that I trudged back across the river and up the steep rocky hill and down the road back to the car to get her another ball to play with. Good thing I love this dog.















Moxie is a little motor mouth when it comes to two things, tennis balls and agility. I took some rapid fire (as rapid as my camera would let me) shots of Moxie barking and this is what I came up with.













Hahaha. I think they're funny.

Finally, spring is officially here. The goats have started kidding.



With spring comes the brutal sun, heavy rains and taxes. Fortunatly, this year my Mom , being the miracle worker that she is, managed to pull enough stuff together so that I am actually getting a return this year. I thought I would owe close to a thousand. Thanks Mom!

Seven on their own

Pat Benetar once wrote a song called "Hell is for Children"
I think that would have been appropriate background music for tonights quiet drama.

I've been working in a community called San Martin for six years now. During that time I've come to know well a family of seven children who have known more tragedy and pain in their short lives than most people have to face in a lifetime.

When I first came to know these kids, they lived together with their parents in a shack at the bottom of a hill, in abject poverty. The roof leaked. Flies filled their mud floored two room home. The kids bellies were distended by hunger. They wore shoes much too small for their feet. Their clothes, dirty and threadbare, barely kept the mountain air at bay. We would bring them gifts of clothes and toys, only to find their mother had sold them. Both parents are mentally diseased, and their children suffered endlessly at the hands of a cruel mother and an incompetant father.


This is Patricia, she is seven in this picture. The bottoms of her feet are so covered in sores she can hardly walk.


The kids together in front of their parents home.


Fast forward to two years ago. The oldest girl, Carina, was sixteen. The youngest, a boy named Oscar, was only four. Rumor has it, the mother caught the father having sex with one of the girls. No one really knows why for sure why she did it. In a fit of rage, she threw all seven children and her husband out of the house. Later, she repented, and allowed the two boy children and the father back into her home, but the five female children were sent to fend for themselves. With nothing but the clothes on their backs (as their mother had burned all of the childrens clothes and toys after she threw them out) the girls built a small shack for themselves with the help of their uncle. That shack would come at a grave grave price. They girls were living on his land, and had become his personal property. The abuse they escaped at the hands of their parents, was revisted on them by their Uncle.


These children are trapped in their own private hell, in the community of San Martin, Mexico. Future Without Poverty made repairs and improvements to their shack, brought electricity and running water to their home, brought them clothes, shoes and food. We are even bringing these children education, teaching them to read and write so they can get better jobs as they cannot afford to attend school. What we cannot do, is protect them from their own family. These kids are beaten, raped and tormented by their own family, and their is nothing I can do to stop it. Now, the unthinkable has happened.

Lupe, the second oldest daughter, is pregnant by her abuser. Another child will be brought innocently into this brutal life. If there is any mercy, the child will be a boy. She is only sixteen years old. She hides her face when she smiles. She doesn't fully understand where babies come from. She doens't know how this happened to her, or why. She doesn't know how to feed, clothe or protect the child. She's lonely and scared. The rest of the community is talking, dishing out the Christian guilt like shame was something never visited upon them. Lupe has been shunned by her peers.

What can I do in a situation like this? Be her friend, a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on. Bring her vitamins, be certain she sees a doctor. But what of her circumstances? I want nothing more than to take all of these kids far far away from San Martin. Someplace clean and safe, with warm beds and nourishing food and good people to care for them. I doubt these kids believe such a place could exist, and I am beginning to wonder myself. I don't think I've ever felt so helpless.

Hell is for children.

Like Lupe


and her sister Nayeli

If you are the praying type, pray for these kids. Pray for Lupe, of San Martin Mexico. God will know which one you mean.

Las Juntas

I took the kids hiking today out to a place called 'Las Juntas' named for the twin waterfalls. Everyone had a good time including Moxie. When she saw the water she ran splashing right into it. This was her fist time in a river, or any water that flows. She's used to a lake or a swimming pool. She jumped in right above the little waterfalla and was swept over the side to the pool below. She climbed out, shook off and ran to do it again. Crazy dog! Here are some pics, enjoy!

The main waterfall






"Las Juntas" the waterfalls that give the area its name.


This is the one Moxie went over.


A few shots of the River.









Moxie Love!


Otter Dog


Throw the ball! We lost three balls because she couldn't get to them before they were swept down river.






I have tons of the kids but I'm not sure if they would want to be posted in their swimsuites. I'll just post this one, its my favorite from today anyway.

but who will stand up for me?

An insult flies in the face of all things sacred and of course, you have a right to be angry and defensive. It's good that your loved ones stand up for you.

But who is there to stand up for me? I cannot stand up for myself (it isn't allowed)

Will anyone ever, stand up to defend me, against the near constant onslaught of unearned insult?

If I must smile and make nice while taking my beating, can't you?

Why is it that the rules seem to be different for everyone else but me?

Don't feed the federales!

Poor Spooky took a good hit today.




It should have been a walk away case. Each person paying for their own damage and going on from there, but it wasn't to be. I wasn't in the car. This whole happening is my fault because I allowed a sixteen year old to drive my car, up the street, to a friends house. As to who was at fault, we may never know fully. Just the other driver and Meghin, both say they didn't see the other. The other driver had the right of way. Initially, the other driver wanted to just walk away, each paying for his own damage.

Thats when well intentioned parent of one of my other students made things more complicated. She insisted the accident was the other drivers fault. By the time I arrived on the scene, the man was no longer willing to walk away, he was wanting us to pay him more than $2,000 pesos in damages to his vehicle (My car got the worst of the hit)

Great. I don't have that kind of money. Meanwhile, the municiple police show up, but the stretch of road was out of town limits thus out of their jurisdiction. The state police show up and its the same story, this is federal highway. The other driver tells the police to call the federales.

By this time I am near tears. The first thing you learn as a gringo in Mexico, is don't mess with the federales under any circumstances. You will lose. I could just see my car disapearing under a mound of Mexican Tapa Rojo. Glad as I was that this parent was there for my student when she needed someone, she had just made our situation so much worse and didn't even realize it. She kept going on about what was fair and right, where I was more concerned with a reasonable outcome wherein I got to keep my car!

I was desperate to make a deal with this guy and get out of there before the federal police showed up. Meanwhile, the young girl who was driving was understandably unnerved by the inicident and highly emotional. She kept alternating between breaking down into tears and shouting insults at the other driver. Unable to get her to calm down, I sent her home. With her gone, I was able to get my boss on the phone, to talk to the other driver to make a deal.

Pato will fix his car. I will pay for it. He agreed. I just had to take him over to talk to Celia about the details. This whole situation was killing me on a number of levels. First, that I was going to have to come up with money to fix not just one but two cars, and that it was Celia and Pato that were saving my ass on this one.

Unfortunatly, I've been at odds with Celia and Pato since I had to suspend their daughter from school last semester for cheating, excessive tardiness, and disrespect. Suposedly, I was to treat her like I would any other student, and not give her preferential treatment because she was the daughter of my co-workers. That was the idea in theory. In practice, it didn't go over well. They felt I was un-duly harsh on their daughter. (Despite the fact that another student was suspended that day for the same offense) They felt I didn't help her enough. The fact of the matter is, Fani doesn't want to go to school. If she wanted to, she would. I had lifted her suspension and invited her back as a proverbial white flag some months ago. She returned for two weeks then dropped out again. Since the initial suspension, I had no contact with Fani. Her classes those two weeks were taught by completely impartial third parties, who all came to the same independent conclusion about Fani, she skips school, comes late, leaves early, is disrespectful, and isn't serious about studying. Be that as it may, I am still very much the bad guy in the eyes of Celia and Pato. Try as I might, things are still very tense between us. To their credit, they do all their namecalling behind my back, to other people. Sides have been taken, mostly theirs. Feelings have been hurt, mostly mine. But I'm still nice. I help Celia where I can, I am cordial with Pato and their family. But you can feel it, like a hurricane beneath the surface. Its all fake.

Meanwhile, My young student who wrecked the car has similar feelings towards Celia. I sent her home to stay. I was at the school with the other driver and Celia when she walked in with her friends. Celia made a remark about her driving and I had to physically pull the student off of Celia. She exploded like any hotheaded teenager already under pressure would have. I appologized to Celia and the other driver multiple times. Yet another situation where my kids embarrassed the hell out of me. (I still haven't found out which of the kids decided to throw their poopy toilet paper on the ground in the downstairs bathroom when they found there was no trashcan in there, intead of finding a trashcan and disposing of it properly. My boss walked in on that one and I could have died from embarrassment!) I sent my students home again, made my appologies and sealed the deal about the cars.

It has not been a good day. This situation with Celia and Pato has got to be resolved at some point. We can't continue to work in a pressure cooker like this.

Meanwhile, I have to come up with the money to fix this guys car.(My own car will probably be getting the plastic bag treatment at least for now) Roughly two hundred U.S. Dollars is the estimate. Might as well be two thousand. I have no one to borrow from and no reserves. I already owe more people more money than I think I will be able to make in my lifetime (at this rate anyway). I will be in the States two months over the summer. I need to get a good paying job during that time. I'm looking at boarding kennels that may need seasonal help. Anyone else have any ideas, I'm all ears.

Amazing how far a little appreciation goes

Well my bosses visit went well.

He gave he students a good talking to this morning regarding recent misdeeds. I've felt a little overwhelmed by these kids recently. I can't get them to come to class on time, do their homework, pay their fees, clean up after themselves, or not do drugs in the school. For pities sake you would think we were in the U.S.

I told my boss, and I believe this, the problem is right now we have the wrong population of students. We need to get back to our roots, go out to the communities where they are BEGGING for schooling and teach the kids there. These kids want it, but not badly enough to really exert themselves to get it.

So we are going to graduate these kids that really want the diploma, then go fully subsidized community classroom. These kids we will be targetting can't afford to pay for any sort of schooling, so we will be seeking sponsors from the U.S. I'm very excited as I believe this is where we are truly needed.

The kids we have now, while they have less and work more than most kids in the U.S. are quite frankly spoiled and lack motivation. Maybe Syl inspired something in them today, but I really doubt it. The one that needed to hear it most wasn't even there.

In any case, I feel empowered by it. He laid down the law. Now they know, any further incidence means expulsion, no ifs, ands or buts.

Meanwhile, he said two things during the talk that made me feel much better about everything in general. First, he thanked me for doing the work I am doing. Sometimes, its just good to hear. I'm not ashamed to admit I need occassional reassurance or I start questioning myself. Second, he told the kids that I could be used elsewhere, and I believe him. For once, I'm not questioning my place in the organization. I know I am needed, as long as I have the passion, there will be work for me here.

So nothing is really any better than it was before, but I feel better, and that makes a big difference.

Anyway, back to work!

Fish Farm Progress

Well we've worked three full days now on the fish farm and have made some progress. We have the frame completely up, and the drain installed and the floor poured. We just have to run some pipe from the river and mortor the walls, then build the chicken coop.
I forgot to bring my camera again today,but others have promised to send me pics. As I have to continue on with classes I won't get to help out anymore on this project. But I did alot, and have the sore muscles, blisters and ripped up hands to prove it!

If anyone wants to invest in a worthy cause, try the "buy Rachael some decent work gloves so she doesn't tear her hands to shreds when she does a community service project" foundation. My hands are hamburger from tying wire. Everytime I bend my knuckles the wounds break open and bleed, making tying something of an adventure.

My boss comes in town tonight for just under a day, EEP! For some reason I am anxious as hell right now. My heart is pounding.

We don't have any money, as per usual. I had celery for dinner. Seriously. I know every non-profit goes through the lean years before it really hits its stride, but come on, this lifestyle really wears on me sometimes. Every now and then, I miss KNOWING that when I turn a faucet on, water will come out. I miss carpet. I miss grocery stores and fast food. I miss Ice cream, alot, but I think its because its that time of the month. I miss being able to wash and dry all my laundry in one day. I miss my cats and my family. Just once, I'd like to turn off the lights not worried about rats! and I'm Really tired of a certain level of attitude from certain team members.

At the same time. Texas doesn't have these amazing trails and streams to walk Moxie and get away from the maddness. Texas doesn't have my kids either, or the communities I work in. Texas never made me feel as happy or fulfilled. So it's a fair trade really.

But still, I'm hungry, my fingers are bleeding, and I started today so I guess I'm entitled to a certain amount of grumbling.

The circle of life.

I'm so excited. Tomorrow we start the Flor del Campo fish farm project. Our consuting director s down from Virginia to oversee everything and I got to spend the day picking his brain about all sorts of things. This is how the fish farm is going to work.

A 20ft cement tank, 4 ft deep. Water piped in directly from the local river, with total changeoever every four days. Build over the top of the tank, is a large chicken house, with a slant wire floor. We will feed the chickens, the chickens will spill feed and defecate, all into the water. This will in turn feed the fish and the algea and phyto plankton/zooplankton that the fisth will eat. The fish will also eliminate in the water, and the water as it is cycled out of the tank will go to irrigate local farmland. To produce the feed, to feed the chickens. Its the circle of life, isn't it glorious!



The best part is, the fish farm is projected to bring in $500-$1000 (U.S. Dollars) a month initially in profit to the community. That is a small fortune in this area. And it will only grow from their.

We are going to start with Tilapia, then add Trout. Once we have the tilapia going, we can use the refuse from the fileting process to dry and mix with soy and alfalfa to make our own trout food (much cheaper than buying it pre-made). Finally, we want to use solar heaters and build a tank to raise large shrimp! The fish will be sold market fresh, or smoked. This little project ensures everyone in the community a job and an income. This is just the beginning. Several other communities across the state in and in other states are watching Flor, success means an end to poverty for more than just this one community.

When I get bogged down in the inane details and drudgery of this everyday life in Mexico, I sometimes lose sight of the big picture. I am a part of something so much bigger. This project is just what I needed to recharge my enthusiasm for this work.

So, we went to price chickens today, and they were just so cute!
The brown one is Thunder, and the White one is Lightning. Tom thinks they are both Roosters, so we may have a problem. But I'm hoping one is a hen. Come on Lightning, make with the eggs!



Finally, today is Thurstons third birthday. I'm sure he is celebrating by wreaking havoc or destroying something. The big galoot! He's ornery and he breaks things and he picks fights with the other cats but you just have to love him! As Mom always says, even baby Monsters need love.

Give an centimeter, take a kilometer (Keeping it metric)

I am a really laid back person. I get along with everyone. I don't have fights with my friends, I don't squabble with my room mates, and by God, I'm a nice person. Probably too nice. I'm very giving. I like to be helpful. In my life I have known many people who have seen that generous nature and taken full advantage of it. It happens alot. I'm too nice. I'm a freakin human doormat is what I am. But I'm tired of it, you know. I'm tired. So now is my time to stand up and say, no. No, Madam, I will not do your job for you while you take all the credit and talk shit about me behind my back. I have work to do too, you know. I am a very busy person. Running this school takes hours and hours of planning and preparation. There simply not enough hours in the day for me to do my job, and be your personal slave too. So get over yourself. Get off your lazy, lying ass and do it yourself! While you are at it. Quit coming over here, eating my food, running up our phone bill and taking up the computers during school hours. You are, hands down, the most inconsiderate person I know. I've tried, Lord knows I've tried to be nice to you, to ignore your rudenss, your backstabbing and you lies, to work together for the sake of the cause. But I don't even think you really believe in the cause. I think the only cause you believe in is your cause, the youcause. Poor poor you. Get over yourself. You and your lying daughter both. Someday, the world will see you both for who you really are, and I hope you get back every ounce of suffering you have ever put off on anyone else.

So kindly, F*ck off, jerks!

Huffing

I caught two of my students huffing paint today. I kept smelling fumes. I thought at first they must be painting at the construction site next door. For several days this went on. Each time I would get up and check on the kids, but they all seemed innocently engaged in something legal, so I chalked it up to the construction site. Today, I caught them red handed.

I was shocked to say the least. I mean, you always think you've taught them better than that, that they are smarter than that, then they go and suprise you by doing something so stupid. I told them as much. I made them hand over their paraphenalia and come downstairs so Nikko could participate in the impending lecture.

I told them that their behavior both shocked and frightened me. Huffing kills hundreds of teens every year in the United States, no telling how many in Mexico as I doubt that sort of thing gets recorded. I told them about how limiting oxygen to the brain can leave you with irreversable brain damage. I told them I didn't want to lose them, and that this had to stop.

I asked them why they did it? Were they bored (I could certainly find them something to do) Were they seeking a high? (Because a good run, or excercise of any kind will give them a high without the negative side effects) Or were they trying to escape reality somehow? I harped on this point a little bit. If something was bothering them, or hurting them, getting high wasn't going to make it go away. The high fades, the pain returns. It would do them both better to talk about whats going on. I care, I'm here to listen. Talking about things heals the wounds. Huffing isn't going to solve anything, it will just make things worse. I couldn't think of any other reasons why they might do such a thing, as I am not a teenage boy and therefore, don't think like one. This is something I had no desire to do when I was a kid so I really have no idea where this stuff comes from.

After our talk, they both looked ashamed and embarrassed, sorry that they got caught, not sorry that they did it. One of them was still denying actually doing the huffing while a ring of yellow paint still clung to his lips. I was at a loss. I let them go as it was time for class to begin. They both took off, and didn't attend afternoon classes.

I'm fresh out of ideas on how to cope with these kids sometimes. They get plenty of drug education. They know the dangers. For some reason, I can't convince them, that bad things can, in fact, happen to them. They all think they have some kind of super hero strength, they think they will live forever. How can I speak to them in a language they can understand and relate to?

So what are my options? Go talk to their parents? I hate doing that because they both have single working mothers, who are already doing the best that they can, and have admitted to me openly that they can't control their boys. I also don't want the boys to lose the confindence the boys have in me. I want them to come and talk to me when they are upset (Instead of doing something stupid and dangerous like huffing). But they can't think I'm going to go to their parents over every little thing. We made that mistake last semester. It did absolutely no good to talk to parents about behavior problems at school. I could suspend them, but really what purpose would that serve? At least if they are in class they are engaged in something positive and not on the street with nothing better to do than experiement with drugs. I feel really strongly that I need to address the underlying problem but I don't know what it is!

The boys did come back to the school about an hour ago and talk to me. They wanted to know if they were trouble, I told them they weren't. I was just worried about their wellbeing. They both assured me it would never happen again. That they wanted to stay in school and do something with their lives. They didn't want to disapoint themselves, their families or me. They both appologized and we hugged on it. I guess I can only hope they mean what they say.

Sometimes I think kids do things, just to see if anyone cares?

Rachael and Moxie the Intrepid Trail Mutt tackle the mountain trails of Mazamitla!

Moxie and took a long walk today. We got adventurous, veering off our usual route to explore some new trails! Enjoy the pics!

The trail head


Some of the most beautiful country you will ever see!


Moxie is ready to go!


Silly girl!


More trail


Pines as far as the eye can see!


Up up up we go!


Moxie the intrepid trail mutt waits for her slow human to catch up


Finally, we reach the top!


The view is breathtaking!






I'm laying on my belly in a foot of itchy pine needles on teh downside of the mountain for these shots.






Heading back down


Saw some beautiful flowers






Moxie stops to check her "map"


"We should go this way!"


Moxie gets the zoomies!


Back to the main road


In other news, lots of exciting things happening at the school. We are developing an expansion plan to include more communities. We've put up an add for teachers. I hope we get some good ones!

Taking the Long Way Around

I don't normally post lyrics, but I so closely identify with this song that I had to share it. It's off the Dixie chicks new grammy award winning album, "Taking the Long Way" The whole album is fantastic by the way. I highly recommend!


Taking the Long Way Around - Dixie Chicks


My friends from high school
Married their high school boyfriends
Moved into houses in the same ZIP codes
Where their parents live

But I, I could never follow
No I, I could never follow

I hit the highway in a pink RV with stars on the ceiling
Lived like a gypsy
Six strong hands on the steering wheel

I've been a long time gone now
Maybe someday, someday I'm gonna settle down
But I've always found my way somehow

By taking the long way
Taking the long way around
Taking the long way
Taking the long way around

I met the queen of whatever
Drank with the Irish and smoked with the hippies
Moved with the shakers
Wouldn't kiss all the asses that they told me to

No I, I could never follow
No I, I could never follow

It's been two long years now
Since the top of the world came crashing down
And I'm getting' it back on the road now

But I'm taking the long way
Taking the long way around
I'm taking the long way
Taking the long way around
The long
The long way around

Well, I fought with a stranger and I met myself
I opened my mouth and I heard myself
It can get pretty lonely when you show yourself
Guess I could have made it easier on myself

But I, I could never follow
No I, I could never follow

Well, I never seem to do it like anybody else
Maybe someday, someday I'm gonna settle down
If you ever want to find me I can still be found

Taking the long way
Taking the long way around
Taking the long way
Taking the long way around

I'm back

Well I decided to just pull my head out of the sand, roll over and piss like the good little submissive that I am, take another beating that I don't deserve, and just move on.

I chose this life. I need to live it, and live with it. It means I can't have a life outside of my "professional" life, so be it. I don't care anymore.

Meanwhile. I'm back in Mexico, back to the grind. I have lots to do which is good. I may be getting rid of a fly in the ointment which is even better. It will be good to be back to something closer to the equivilent of normal for me.

And at least I will always have animals to fall back on.

Moxie is thrilled to be home. She missed the kids. She spent all last night and today just going from one person to the next catching up on her lovins! She is such a joy. One bright spot in a sometimes dismal world.

This valentines day is perhaps the first one ever, that I am not pining away for a man for whatever reason. I made valentines from me and Mox for all the kids and the two teachers too. We had a little party, then went over to the DIF to serve a special lunch to the seniors in the community. They had a huge turn out, I bet there were 100 guests! We served Tamales and Atole. It seemed a big success. Everyone had a smile on their face. Even the kids seemed to enjoy it. So I don't have a boyfriend, and I'm not with the man that I love on Valentines day. I have so much love in my life, so many people to share it with, that it just doesn't matter. I sent valentines to James and gave Mom hers before I left. Mom left one for me in my backpack. Moxie thinks every day is valentines day, and the kids all made me homemade valentines and gave them to me this morning. So sweet. I missed them as much as Moxie did.

Well, Hi ho, hi ho.....

Seeking position as a pooper scooper

No, really. I just want a nice quiet job where I can work with animals and shovel their crap all day, because I'm tired of shoveling human shit.

I want out of the people business for a while.

So seriously, any of my doggy community friends, if there is a kennel, or a day care or something that is hiring, let me know. College degree be damned. Give me a muck bucket and minimum wage and leave me to the animals. At least there I'll be respected.

Post from Moxie

Visit Moxie's Dogster Blog for her latest diary entry. She has become quite the little typist.

Just to set the record straight.

Just who do you think you are dealing with here?

I am a determined person. I work hard. I try to always do the right thing. When given the choice, I always take the high road. I care about people. I hurt when they are hurting. I work to make it better. I do my part to incite change. I'm a kind person. I put others before myself. I won't give up because things aren't going my way. I believe there cannot be change without sacrifice. I give more than lip service to my beliefs. I love and I love deeply. When the going gets tough, I get tougher. I never turn my back on my family, or my friends. I will always be there, when I am needed. I believe in a brighter future for our world, and our children. I will not close my eyes in the face of injustice. I will not walk away from a fight, just because I cannot win. If it is right, if it is just, it is my battle to the end, win or lose. I bend but I won't break. I won't compromise if it means settling for anything less than the right thing. I don't trust you just because you shook my hand. My trust must be earned. My respect is automatic, but can be lost.

I get tired. I have feelings, and I hurt sometimes. I have scars so deep I don't know where they begin or if they end. I have issues, we all do. I'm working on mine, how about you? I am lonely much of the time. I can't stand bullshiters and backstabers. I don't have time for fair weather friendships. I will not be your doormat. I will not give, when I cannot also take. Not anymore. I don't make promises that I don't intend to keep. There is no such thing as a small promise. I don't go out much, I don't like crowds. I don't waste my time on liars, cheaters and thugs. I will not be intimidated, or taken for a fool. I don't think there is any room in this world for hatred. I pledge to keep my mind open, but my heart guarded.

I am not a pretty face, an easy lay, a free ride, a target, a prize, a piece of flesh. I am a person, a good person. I have dreams, emotions, desires. I'm not a genius but I'm pretty smart. I like to laugh. Sometimes you even catch me humming a little tune, or dancing a step or two. I have my ups and downs, my highs and lows. I love teaching. It thrills me to help others learn about the world. I love Mexico, mountains, long walks and puppy dogs. I am a human being, and I have a right to be alive. I have a right to my dignity. You should respect me automatically, as a fellow human being. My life is mine to live. I live it with purpose. I have my share of shame, let me have my pride too. I don't believe it's my place to judge you, nor is it your place to judge me. You are entitled to your opinion, but don't expect it to affect how I live my life.

I am not going to bend over and take it anymore. I will stand and fight. I will fight with everything I have.

More Moxie

I promise, a real post is on the way, until then, feast your eyes on gorgeous Moxie.
Moxie if Dog of the Month for February on Ruffdogs! She's so proud of herself!