It's your amigo, Arturo Jiminez.  I know it's been a long time since I last wrote, but summer vacation (and school) got the better of me; time slipped right through my fingers.  Hope you understand.

Brr, is it ever muy frio here in Tejas!  WOW!!  Temps plummeting from the sixties/seventies into the twenties and thirties!  A true blue norther, thanks to the Arctic Plunge that came screaming through here around noon!  We may get some light freezing precipitation tonight.  Hope not, 'cause I have school tomorrow!  I absolutely hate to miss school!!

I just got home from school about a half hour ago.  Glad I take the bus; it was really cold standing there at the bus stop waiting for the bus after classes let out!  Ai-yi-yi!!  Glad I dressed up warm; knew it was gonna get colder, so I didn't wanna be caught off guard, y'know??

I am real proud of mi mami y papi.  They've both been working at Golden Corral now for six months, since July.  It's now February.  Papi is a dishwasher; as for mami, she was a server, but they put her behind the counter; she's real good with people.  She's making more money than she was when she was serving, but she misses talking with the customers on a regular basis; she can't visit them as much becuase she's too busy taking their money and getting them their drinks and such.

Papi, meanwhile, enjoys the kitchen work.  He's always been a very hard worker.  His English is not that good, so he feels more comfortable being behind the scenes.  Mami and me, we try our best to help papi with his English, but it is still muy deficil for him.

We had a good Christmas.  We went to Dallas to visit papi's brother, Diego.  Diego had just gotten out of the hospital (he has multiple sclerosis and other health problems), so the Christmas celebration we had was low-key.  Didn't want to cause any more stress for Tio Diego.  Diego is doing much better now, but he's trying to get on disability.  It's a long, hard, frustrating process; he's been trying now for over three years.

The stupid gringos at the disability evaluation place keep saying he's not disabled ENOUGH.  Come on! You mean, really??  The guy can't work.  He cannot walk for long trips; he uses a power scooter or a wheelchair to get around (arm crutches for short, short trips), and he gets tired fast.  He also has diabetes, high blood pressure, and congestive heart failure.  He's a medical mess!

Now it's fixin' to be Valentine's Day.  Where did the time go so fast??  Seems like only yesterday it was Thanksgiving or even Christmas!!

Mi primo Ruben's wife had their baby last month.  A litlte boy.  They named him Antonio Roverto Javier Escondido Ramos.  (Name's bigger than he is! LOL)  Little Antonio weighed less than three pounds: he' still in the NICU at the hospital; he is doing better, but they won't release him until he reaches five pounds.  He weighs four pounds and six ounces, so maybe in a week or two, he will finally be able to go home with his parents.  He's a real cute little guy!

Ruben is the proud daddy.  I saw him last week, and he walks around, hands jammed into the pockets of his jeans, and his chest stuck out like a banty rooster.  I am happy for him; I pray things continue to improve for their little boy!

Well, I gotta get crackin' on my homework, so I gotta run.  I have homework for English and Science.  They're both due Friday.  I will write in here again; hopefully I won't wait six months to do it again!  (I have always bene bad at writing letters or in my journal; now you know why.)  Take care and may God bless you always!

~Arturo. ;)