Adventures in Gastroenteritis

It's that time of the summer once again. One minute, the kids are healthy. The next, they're not.

Lucia was hospitalized for gastroenteritis, a development which gastroenteritis itself came to rue. Our little darling bended the illness to her will, and got a whole day's worth of television in the bargain.

Vengefully, the loathsome inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract migrated to our darling Carmen.

Nonetheless, there is much to be thankful for. Forewarned is forearmed. We know what the enemy is, and how to combat it. We replace vital fluids constantly. We cover ourselves in prayer.

Gastroenteritis won't know what hit it.

Related articles

• Fact Sheet on Gastroenteritis (brighthub.com)

A New Look!

One of my favorite verses from the Bible comes from Proverbs 4:23, which reminds me "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."

And so, as I digest the wonderful events of the past two weeks, allow me to welcome you to the new look of my blog with pictures of those whom I guard with all vigilance.

Juan

Manuel

Lucia

Carmen

I would have loved to post a picture of my wife, Tina, but I am so "damned in a fair wife" the inevitable comparison to the Moor of Shakespearean lore would merely draw unseemly attention to my honored state.

Peace!

My Girls!

I don't think I've ever wrote about the sublime sense of surrender I feel every time I am roused from slumber by my girls.


Lucia is a force of nature. She is adorable, intelligent, and very much aware of the attractive traits, both physical and otherwise, that she possesses in abundance. When she wakes me up, it is like being surprised by the warm, lapping tongue of the sun, as it greets me through the slotted blinds.


Carmen, on the other hand, is like the soft, comforting pitter-patter of a gentle spring shower. Carmen is a subtle, beautiful wonder. While perfectly capable of carrying a discussion through her gurgling exclamations of joy, she prefers to discourse with her eyes. And before you know it, you're in love. Again.

I would say it doesn't get any better than this, but that would be a lie. Every time they wake me up, I experience my daughters' love as if it were the first time.

A Geek is Born? Flight of Dragons!

Most people start the year by making resolutions they have no intention of keeping. My family, on the other hand, began the new year by greeting, with cheerful resolution, a lovely little gift that we have every intention of keeping. Little Carmen Amparo Zamora Borra already has quite a substantial following on Facebook, as news of her birth was greeted with a spontaneous outpouring of joy last seen when the Red Sox finally ended their pennant drought in 2004.

And while Carmen Amparo's arrival was not accompanied by a total lunar eclipse (a poignant moment which many Red Sox fans recount, with sacramental solemnity, whenever they talk of the night in which they finally overcame the Curse of the Bambino) it was distinguished by my re-discovery of a classic epic fantasy movie that sustained me during my childhood:



Interestingly enough, whenever I think of my kids' futures, I always end up praying that the formative experiences of their youth would be cooler than mine. As a thin, devastatingly handsome, and brilliant young 3rd grader, I was often the object of scorn and derision from my less gifted contemporaries. A retreat into epic fantasy was the only way I could conceal my nascent gifts until the time comes when I could reveal myself in my startling splendor and take my rightful place as...

Well, let's just say that a retreat into fantasy was less an option than a categorical imperative. I pray that Carmen will enjoy entertainment as lovingly crafted, and substantial as that John Ritter movie, The Flight of Dragons.