Alberto and I are enjoying his first vacation this year together, from May 19 through May 28. We don't have much extra money right now, since I am not working yet, so we haven't gone anywhere really special, but we have had a good time nonetheless.

We had a scare last week with Alberto's job. His boss´ boss is completely nuts, and she has had 3 people removed from her department this past year, only one of which deserved it. For some reason she has had it out for Alberto lately, probably because he doesn't stay late every single day (because he has finished all of his work). Well last week she (Sandra) came down to the office and asked his boss (Salomon) for some bank reconciliations, and they weren't finished. This is Alberto's responsibility, but in January when Alberto was doing the work of three positions, Salomon told him to give him the papers and he would do the reconciliations. But he never did them. However he didn't tell Sandra this right away, and let her think it was Alberto's fault. Sandra exploded and called Personnel right away to have Alberto's position taken away from him. This means he would be sent back to the clinic where he worked previously as a cleaning person. Obviously going to a position cleaning a clinic isn't ideal for an accountant, but especially because he would earn half his current salary. For us this means a lot because his current salary is $700 a month and we are barely making it through some pay periods with his current salary.

Fortunately one of Alberto's coworkers told us about it the same day that it happened, so the next day Alberto went into work to try to sort it all out. He talked to the head of the Seguro´s personnel in all of Quéretaro (Jaime) and explained what had happened. Praise God that Jaime told Alberto not to worry about it, that if Salomon had said he was going to do the statements, he should have done them and that Salomon should stand up to Sandra. Either way, Jaime is the person with ultimate responsibility in removing Alberto from his position, and he told Beto not to worry, that he would stop this, and that when another opportunity comes up, they will help him get out of that office.

God´s blessings never cease to amaze me because we prayed so much that this would turn out ok, and it did. We knew that God never makes mistakes and if it this was happening, there was a reason. We think we have found our reason because another position for more pay and better hours has already came up, and Alberto will hopefully move to it soon. His future boss is actually someone who he mentored in his office. She came into the position he was in before, and he had to teach her how to do his job (even while knowing it meant he was going to be moved out of a job he liked). She appreciated his professionalism and saw how well he did his work, that when she moved to a higher position in another area and was looking for an accountant, she immediately called Alberto. God is great!!

Yesterday (Sunday 5/25/03) we went to Dolores Hidalgo with Alberto´s parents. This is about the 3rd time we have made the trip with them, and we always have a great time. It is about an hour and a half from Querétaro, and is where the Mexican fight for independence from Spain got its start in 1810. The priest Miguel Hidalgo delivered his famous Grito (Cry for Freedom) from the Parroquia of Dolores in downtown Dolores Hidalgo. Today it is known for its ceramic pieces (as shown in the picture with Alberto and myself). On the way back from Dolores, we stopped in San Miguel to eat lunch at Pollo Feliz (kinda like KFC) but it was really full so we got it to go and ate in the car outside of an OXXO. While in San Miguel, we also took Beto´s parents by the bed and breakfast where we stayed on our honeymoon. It is called Villa del Lago and is beautiful, clean and very economical ($66 a night). To see more of the hotel, visit their webpage at >a href=http://www.villadellago.com">http://www.villadellago.com/ Unfortunately and oddly enough no one was at the bed and breakfast and so we couldn't show them the inside of it which is absolutely gorgeous. (P.S. We stayed in the Drunken Moon Suite which was beautiful and very clean.)