Si Se Puede

It was the chant I heard as I was driving downtown early this morning. Hundreds of people marched down the sidewalks chanting "Si Se Puede"...."Yes we can". The individuals represented the hispanic population of the community. The young and old were equally represented as they requested the right to be a citizen of the United States.

Today's protest was part of a national movement - The National Day of Action. A protest in response to the push for immigration reform.

I was especially struck by the number of children in the sea of white shirts. Should these children have been in the classroom today? Or, was this education a intimate look into the political realities of our nation.

Once I arrived at my destination (unfortunately in the middle of the protest) I had the opportunity to speak with a few people about the events of the morning. One of the gentleman I spoke to was the construction manager. He explained that without the use of illegal immigrant labor, his current project would have a completion price of over 60 million dollars rather than the estimated 30+ million. True, he is not allowed to directly hire illegal immigrants. But he is not able to control what each of his subcontractors does on the project. Is our economy really ready for such an impact?

True, there are problems with immigration in the US. Is a guest worker program the answer? I don't think so. Is building a wall across the southern US an answer? I don't think so.

Success? Or unrealized potential?

It's late on Sunday evening and I am officially crashing from a long weekend. Too many events for 48 hours. To be honest, my procrastination got the better of me this weekend. Yes, there were many things that had to be done this weekend, but there were also projects that I delayed that ultimately had to be completed in the same period of time.

The end result? A very frazzled Sue.

Did it show? Apparently not. All evening I have been receiving calls from people congratulating me for a fabulous weekend. Honestly, it makes me feel guilty because if I would have finished some projects a few days earlier, it would not have been as stressful. These folks seem to think that I spent hours preparing...Definitely only one side of the picture. Let me say this, I hope this is the last time that I "wing" an entire 45 minute awards presentation...Next time, a little pre-scripting would be healthy for my sanity. Although, the audience had no idea I was relying on my extemp skills. (thank you high school forensics coach!)

I must say that it was the final moments of the awards presentation that made the weekend worthwhile. We were able to honor an outstanding member of the program. The pure joy and delight from his family were definitely worth all of the hours of work. Oh the smiles...

What's your beer personality?

You Are Guinness

You know beer well, and you'll only drink the best beers in the world.Watered down beers disgust you, as do the people who drink them.When you drink, you tend to become a bit of a know it all - especially about subjects you don't know well.But your friends tolerate your drunken ways, because you introduce them to the best beers around.

What's" Your Beer Personality?

The irony is that Guiness is one of my favorite beers....