Tim's Place in Albuquerque, NM

I am sitting here watching the CBS Evening News and just saw such an inspiring story! Tim Harris is a young man born with Down Syndrome. He was born to goodly parents who wanted him to be as successful in life as his brothers and able to take care of himself when they are gone. They have helped him accomplish many things in his 25 years. He has won many medals with Special Olympics, graduated from high school, attended Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell where he received certificates in food service and office skills, lives on his own, and last year his parents helped him open his own restaurant, Tim's Place: Serving Breakfast, Lunch & Hugs, at 8050 Academy NE in Albuquerque, NM. He is the hug giver and has a hug counter in the restaurant (today's official count ~ 18,561 hugs served). If I could eat lunch there I would have his Out to Lunch Shredded Beef Burrito served with papitas and calabacitas, garnished with lettuce, tomato, hugged with red or green chile. Sounds good to me! As far as his parents know, Tim is the only person with Down Syndrome that owns and operates their own restaurant. Tim says his heroes are his parents. Here is the link ... http://timsplaceabq.com Not only was his story featured on the CBS Evening News but also in the May 21, 2012 issue of People Magazine. I will have to go to the library and ask to see the issue.

Some Good News For Fighters of Forest Fires in New Mexico

So far the Little Bear fire has burned over 37,000 acres of the Lincoln National Forest and burned at least 224 homes.  As of tonight, I think this is day 6 of the fire, it is about 35% contained.  My niece is somehow, thankfully, one of the lucky ones and her home is not only unharmed but she was allowed to go back home about 4 days after being evacuated.  The greatest thing so far is no one has been seriously injured.  The second greatest thing re: the two wildfires in NM this month is that 

President Obama  signed a bill into law Wednesday that cuts the red tape for fighting those wildfires. It will allow the forest service to waive a 30 day waiting period and buy seven new air tankers to dump suppressants on fires in the west. The forest service is upping its existing fleet to 17.... according to this article http://www.krqe.com/dpp/weather/wildfires/crews-attack-little-bear-fire-from-all-angles  In my book there is no braver person than any fire fighter, and anything that helps with these terrifying wildfires is just pretty darn good news. The wildfires have just been horrible but there are few things to be grateful for ... additional planes, homes that were untouched, and a caring community to aide those 500 or so still in shelters or with friends in Ruidoso, NM and don't have any news yet of the status of their homes.