Saturday, January 31, 2009

Sticks

I am going to rant for a bit...
Today I put on the maternity pants that I ordered online--b/c we don't have them here!! except at Wal-m@rt. ;(
So, I bought some, obviously I am a slow learner.
Have I forgotten how hard it has been to amass a stash of maternity clothes that are half way decent?
Why in the he!! did I take my whole tub/stash of maternity clothes to the g00dwill last summer? (I was tired of baby stuff, I also gave all of that to a cousin)
You have no idea how I am lamenting the loss of my maternity lev!s--which apparently they do not make anymore!!! AHHHH!!!
So, I put the pants on and ...
Well, my temper was ignited.
The d@mn things were made for people with stick legs.
You know--sticks..no matter what rides atop the sticks..their legs are always sticks.
Well, dear designers of maternity wear, some people have BEyoncees Okay?
Now, my thighs are the only things holding the pants in any position, b/c the crotch of the pants sags!!
We laughed b/c I did (instinctively) exactly what Victor does when he gets mad, and putting on tight clothes or hard dress clothes is one thing that infuriates him, I started to pull at the clothes and I made the Victor mad face (now we know exactly where he got it).
Damn it y'all! It does not pay to be short sighted. Make sure someone is snipped before you lose the maternity stash....
I guess I will go to the G00dwill and see if any of my stuff is still there???
I already bid on some on eb@y--but ebay does not work for me--some eb@y nerd always swoops in at the last minute and pays a penny more and steals my sh!t.

Okay...I am off to take off these god forsaken leg squeezers and get in bed.

Coffee with bullets

*Do y'all watch "wife swap?" There was the meanest guy on there last night. He was so mean to the lady who went to stay at their house! Ugh...I felt so sorry for his wife, and she looked embarrassed! BTW that is a good show. Andy and I watch it--Friday night fun. ;). He thought he was so smart (intelligent), and had such a great "world view"--He need a good a** kickin in my opinion. His poor children were watching their grown father treat another adult as if she were a lesser being...yuck. Now, I am mouthy--But once when I was little, I got my a** beat for calling someone f@t on the bus, and I learned--keep it shut, don't say hurtful things or you might get hurt. Also, becoming an adult has taught me --really we should just be nice to just about everyone--
Do y'all watch that?

**"I ba as hell" Victor has been saying something like this a lot lately. It cracks me up. It is usually after he does something great--like reach something or turn on the lamp or buckle his seat. Well, I was wondering who taught him to say, "I'm bad as hell"? I know some people think it's cute to teach two year olds little sm@rt A$$ things like that to say--but not us. Andy and I just could not figure it out.
Then *ding* I got it. He is saying, "all by myself" Like...I reached that All by myself. :)

***I really want to share the part about cows from the book I read with y'all, but ...I have resisted b/c really you might not want to read it. If I just cannot help myself--well I will put a warning in the title.

****The baby moved yesterday for the first time--that I could feel, vamos.

*****I am going to buy a couple Valentines today. YAY. I love Valentine's DAy. So sweet. I even totally buy into all the comercial crap...conversation hearts, funny cards, etc. I am giving Valentines at school--b/c at Christmas I did nothing for no one. ;). I make home made cards with glitter etc. for my mama, daddy, andy, etc.

PUes, es todo. Have a great Saturday--I'm off to clean the toilet--I wish I had another one to clean (we only have one bathroom).

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Goodie Goodie Gumdrops



Okay, so the store gymbor** has this thing called gymbuck$. At certain times of the year they hand them out, according to how much money any one person spends. Then, at another certain time the folks that have them can redeem them.
For every $50 dollars one spends there is a $25 dollar discount.
I have never gotten gymbuck$, but I can tell you that I have gotten pi$$ed several times when I have been buying $75 dollars worth of irresistable (not spelled right) gear for a sweetie and I hear the sales clerk saying to the customer in front of me, "wow you saved blah blah b/c of your gymbuck$ today"
I have also gotten ill in the store and had attitude about this before (embarrassing).
So, this January I FINALLY got my hands on some of those buck$! Once you are in, you are in apparently. Now, they notify me when I can get some more, and they called me at home to remind me to come and cash them in.
It was definitely worth it.
By this time of the year all those clothes from the one stash we bought in the fall starts to look--rough.
My laundry style does not help much. I am not too concerned with manchas/fading/shrinking etc. It goes in stinky and it comes out smelling good. :)

Anyway--I got a bunch of good stuff for 50 bucks and Elena was so darn cute in this outfit the other day. That is her Hello Kitty tablet/journal under her arm, and she is making her sassy picture pose face BTW.


YAY! :)

Monday, January 26, 2009

Chocolate Milk, or Bath Water?

Today at the grocery store Elena begged for Chocolate milk--yes, the M@ola kind, chock full of chocolate syrup and antibiotic residue and probably a bit of growth hormone.
WE bought her some.
After she ate five bites of supper I let her have about two ounces of it. Victor cleaned his plate and then got the chocolate milk.
Elena was in HEAVEN!
She went over to the window to stare out into the night and drink her chocolate milk....yum.
Then it was bath time.
In the bath tub both children pretended to cook etc. and they both drank small teaspoons of bath water--J&J's bubble bath included.

Ahhh..the places the imagination can take you.
Have y'all read the ingredient list on the back of the bubble bath...lots of chemicals. :)
Yes. I told them to stop after several sips.

I think this next baby is a health nut.
I have been craving ice and cilantro.
WTH?--but good I say, maybe I won't weigh 200lbs when I go to push it out. :).
With both Elena and Victor I wanted tons of Pepsi--gallons, and chocolate Breyer's Ice Cream with Milk, and bacon egg and cheese sandwiches--50lbs anyone?

I hope y'all voted in the contest. Emily is winning so far. ;).

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Update! :)

I probably gave it away in the title of the post, but the update is great news!
Thanks to the fact that I have a super-nice boss who is also approachable etc., I was able to go to meet with him yesterday in a very calm state of mind.
and....

He said yes! :) He said that I should not worry about anything. :) "Take your time with your baby, and when you get back we can certainly honor your request he said."
YAY!
Now, I have to present this idea to my principal and hope he wants me to stay at my same school.
...we'll see.

on cleaning:
Here is a very good mop:
Libman
It has a green stick and a white plastic thing to squeeze it out with that slides, and the mop head can be taken off and washed in the washing machine! :)
Isn't that cool? The mop head is made out of something cool--not heavy rope pieces like old timey mops, and not a sponge (yuck).
I love mine!

Go over to seriously so blessed and pick a winner for that makeover y'all. These are some pitiful stories, and any of those (all of them really) ladies could use some pampering.
It is totally easy--you just click a bubble--you don't have to sign in or anything.
I picked Emily. :)

Alright, have a great Saturday! :)

Friday, January 23, 2009

UB commentary and TGIF

Is anyone else tired of UB being ugly?
I am just a little sick of those bangs hanging in her eyes.
I have known mousy 30 year olds--some might say that I am mousy--this is all relative.
BUT, I do not know many who walk around with their bangs in their eyes.
And the braces, and glasses.
Couldn't they just give her a cute/nerdy haircut?
Change out the glasses?
I know her teeth might not be fixed yet--but couldn't they address that in the story line?
And last night when they "lost her dad"--All Andy and I could think was--Okay this man is probably 60, he probably caught a cab home.

The other parts of the show --still love it! :)
Willemina and her assistant and B's roomate etc.

TGIF--y'all keep your fingers crossed for me.
I am going to talk to the boss today about next year, when I will have three children under four, and I would like to work a four day week.
Just please keep them crossed. If you have negative vibes about it...just forget you read this. ;).
It will be hard to work 80% and still stay at the same school--but I am going to attempt it.
:)
Today I am just going to talk to the boss about it. PUt the bug in his ear.
I am going to the table with absolutely no bargaining power. That is always nice, no?
So basically I will be saying, "don't you just want to do me a favor?"
Let's hope he does. :)
My mental state will be so much better, I believe.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Update on the bug

The stomach virus that Victor and I had eventually went on to affect the following people, and I am sorry, also amazed,
Joel
Two of Joel and Shannon's friends
Elena
Sandra
Nano
Ramses
Lupita
Lupita's brother

That was a strong bug!
We were only at Casa Rojas for ... two hours?
Lupita was not even there--she picked it up from a cousin.

I call it the Gwera's revenge! :)

Sandra reported that the bug still has not finished making its rounds in Alamance county....
ick...

Holler singing

Let me preface by saying that a critique of the music at the inauguration--is just that, nothing more.
I LOVED THE EVENT --WE COULD NOT BE MORE LUCKY AS A PEOPLE, I THINK.
WE NEED A SMART PRESIDENT IN A MAJOR WAY!!

But...
I did not enjoy Aretha Frankl!n singing, "My Country 'tis of Thee."
As I thought would be the case when I heard she was going to sing, she did what I have started to call, "holler singing"
Holler singing is something I do not understand.
Now, if you remember my Dec. post about mine and Andy's Christmas concert, we frequently holler sing at our concert. This is because we cannot carry the tune without hollering--calling up all the air from the nether regions of our lungs and belting out something like the song.
Somehow I doubt that Aretha Frankl!n needs to holler sing.
Everyone knows that she can carry a tune.

Why do people holler sing?
It sounds terrible. It ruins beautiful music.
So many things about yesterday gave me chills, and made my heart skip beats.
When ARetha sang...it turned my stomach.

She started out, "my count" and then "ry tis of thee"
Couldn't she at least have planned the dramatic breath for the end of the word, "country?" Is there really a need for a dramatic breath on the SECOND SYLLABLE OF A SONG?

Is holler singing meant to:
1. emphasize someone's vocal ability?
2. emphasize the emotion one is feeling in singing a given song?
3. make the song last and last?

When people holler sing their own original music...hey, I say, go for it.
Who knows how the song would sound otherwise?
But don't holler sing "My Country tis of Thee" It just ruins the song.

mkay?
(BEtsy, I am thinking maybe Meredith can help me out with this one) :)

Other commentary:
Those Obama girls are too cute!
When our dear President gave that fabulous speech and then he hugged ole bushie Andy and I both remarked, that bush was probably thinking to himself, "damn he can really make a speech, he's a smart fella, I wish I could make one like that."
We laughed.
I love it that Michelle Obama has a figure---with curves and legs and that she is tall.

The media has beaten this dead horse to a pulp! The media ruins everything.
HOw many times have y'all heard the story about the moving in and out of the stuff in the white house?
Good lord!--I think we need cable. ;).

Or, to stop watching TV. ;).

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Fun in the Snow

Here are some pictures of us in the snow this morning.
We had to go out at 9:45. :) Andy and I are just as excited about playing in the snow as our children are. This is fortunate. If one of us were a grouch about snow our children would not have a parent a piece to put back on the mittens etc.
But with kids, you know, you have to go out in spells, so we came in in about 30 minutes.
The clothes are dry and ready for the next outing.
Right now the wind is blowing about 25 mph and the snow is blowing too, so it is not really comfortable out there.
Victor is not fond of lots of clothes, so I had to take him out and let it snow on his head to convince him that, yes, he would need a hat in the snow. Eventually he even let me put on his hood!
He is sooooooo stubborn! :)
The snow is just so magical.
Andy and I are drinking coffee and watching all the happenings in Washington DC.
It is so exciting.
Andy commented yesterday how different this love fest is than GW's motercade getting egged as he left the inauguration in 2001.
Different indeed.
Robin Roberts has the first interview with Obama tonight. Yay! I love her, she has always been one of my favorites.
Okay, I am off to eat some sort of snack...hmmm what will it beeeee???...

Have fun in the snow to all the NC folks. Bethany, is it snowing there?



Monday, January 19, 2009

I'm lovin it!

This morning when I staggered into the living room and cut on the TV, the weather just happened to be on.
The weather lady said, "it is going to snow tomorrow we should expect 3-6 inches."
Just like that.
Now, usually we hear something like, "it might snow." or, "we might see a couple flurries." or "you never know we might get a dusting of the white stuff."
People just don't commit to snow here--even less than in the piedmont--this is a different climate/growing zone.
Soooo....I thought..Is this the local channel?
Yes. It was.

Then, while ago while I was cooking soup the phone rang and the school announcement came on that said, "even though tomorrow is a work day, teachers stay at home."
This is great!

This also tells me that the powers that be around here have some sense in their heads.
I mean I have always thought it was so dumb to expect people to go out and test their ovaries and wreck their cars to get to work. I mean who am I fooling?--I can drive in snow--as a matter of fact, no one can--in places where it snows all the time THEY PLOW THE SNOW AND ICE OFF OF THE ROAD!! :)
So kudos to the powers that be.
I would not have been there anyway, probably--I do not make enough money in one day to fix a totaled car, and one should always be logical about money, seriously.

Now, let's see if we get a glimpse of some of the white stuff...I love snow days!! God I do!! :)

Sunday, January 18, 2009

on a lighter note...

Here are some pictures! :)





Why do things that are scanned in come out so small for me?
A day off tomorrow is going to be wonderful...yippie!
The new news was a BIG suprise for us--more on that later.
Off to the cama...

Saturday, January 17, 2009

A little tidbit...

This is just a snippet out of the book that I am reading --The Omnivore's Dilemna. It is not a direct quote, I am going to re-tell what the author told in the book.
Pigs on a pig growing factory farm:
The piglet is weaned at one week old--I would usually nurse for months--three or four.
So, since the piglet did not get weaned according to any natural rule it lives its entire life with an oral fixation--which industry pigs would remedy by chewing on the tail of the pig in front of them (sort of like a teat maybe).
This is a problem for the pig producer b/c a chewed on tail could introduce infection.
Remedy to the problem--cut off all the piglets' tails to a nub at birth.
Why a nub and not just a nothing?
B/c the nub that is left is super-sensitive so this leaves the pig furiously defending itself if another pig attempts to chew on it.

Anyone want some barbeque or bacon?

I do damnit! and now i cannot eat it. this is so disturbing to me--that this is how we treat the animals we eat.
BTW--cows and chickens are treated equally as terribly--but those aren't even my favorites to eat.

Solutions to this issue: look for people who have animal farms and process their own meats. It will be much healthier for you!!! for example the lady who goes to the saxapahaw farmer's market. Morgan and Melissa, I bet ya'll have some there too.
REad these books: The one i posted about earlier--and in this post
and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
and the skinny bitch diet (this one is so to the point that you can read it at barnes and No-no in a little while)
Grow a garden. Had one when I was little--am I have one again.
Find a deer hunter and learn to like venison (this is a personal mission for next winter)
My daddy hunts Turkeys--they are hard to get so you usually only get one a season.

Or, just keep eating what you are, and ignore this. I just cannot.
Although I would not blame the person who could for doing so.

Good night--I am off to count sheep (actually, I will probably count pigs in a tractor trailer truck sticking their snouts through to breathe some traffic pollution on I-85/40 on the way to a slaughter house.)
Sweet dreams. :)

how sick?

Very.

A monster bug hit our house. Victor was bitten first. He vomited and had diarhea for five or six days and acted like he felt awful. (which for an almost two-year old that means he really felt bad)
Then, it was my turn.
I have been sick since TUESDAY! Usually a stomach bug lasts a day, right? 24 hour bug.
No. My stomach is pure mush. My entire GI tract.

So I have been reading. First I finished La Reina del Sur. A sappy novel that my mama bought for me for christmas about a Mexican lady who becomes a shipping queen in the south of Spain. It was good. Written by a Spaniard.
It really made me think about drugs and gangs and Mexico and all that.
Then I got to start on a little gem that Bethany sent to me. :)
The Omnivore's dilemna.
This one is good ...very good.

However it will make you want to not eat pork anymore unless it comes from that lady who sells it at the Saxapahaw farmer's market--or someone like her.

I will say more later...i am off to change a diaper and investigate the dangerous thing that Victor has. He has taken to draggin chairs around the house to access all areas and do whatever he wants. ;).

Monday, January 12, 2009

Weekend

Ahhhh....What a great weekend!
Yay, Yay, Yay...and so on.
We went to Burlington to stay with our friends Shannon and Joel and Carter.
They were in the process of building a house when we left, and we got to stay in the new house!! :)
The house is bright purple and built in the style of an old farm house with porches and tin roof etc.
Inside it felt like a loft/mountain cabin.
It is so cool and cute--I don't even have words to describe it.
I don't have pictures either b/c I forgot the camera! ha!

They also run this home off of solar power, which when produced in excess gets sold back to D^ke Po^^er. Cool, no?
They have a little gadget on the wall to indicate what is going on with the power situation.
The heat comes up from the floor from pipes that have hot water in them.

This is just a bad a$$ house. Now, it took a lot of planning. If I tried to list all of the special things about the house--I would forget some.
But, I will say that with Shannon's excellent cooking and Joel's stone/wood fired pizza oven...we felt like we were at some kind of retreat.

It was wonderful to visit with Betsy and her husband Wayne who is great! I love my Bets. She used to console me after my anger management breakdowns at work. HA! She would also remind me weekly that she was sure I had ADD. :) So cute and funny, Betsy.

Also exciting: Getting some new shoes. I have been wearing the same pair to work since Elena was a baby! My feet were hurting.
Going memory chasing--seeing our beloved house in Graham...ahhh and our sweet, cute house in Durham...ahhhh...
(the ladies that bought the Graham house are apparently lovers of big dogs--which I hope bark all the time b/c the SOB that lives beside them is an SOB :).

Two other very important visits:
Abue and Sandra and Nano y todos alla. Ay que gente bien sweet! WE visited a while, saw all the babies hugged talked. Les hecho de menos un monton!
Chet y Jennifer. We love you too! We were so excited to see their new home--Lyla and Shawn's former house.
So, we went to see them and all these memories came rushing back--of partying my crazy a$$ off con lyla on this little front porch...good lord--the wine that we drank..awww!

It was just a great visit. Something that we will do more often. Time slips away, and before you know it you have been in the pueblo for seven months sin visitar a nadie, sin ver a un edificio grande, sin ir de compras, sin comer sushi, sin visitar a los queridos amigos.
Next, it is their turn to visit us. :)

We got home yesterday in the evening at 5:30. Perfect timing. BAthed the babies and off to bed--but not before Victor vomited and had to have his entire crib re-dressed. He is getting better--ay que stomach bug.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

UB commentary

After having taken a break from watching U.B, I returned to my favorite show tonight for the first time in ---ohhh...8 weeks?
Well turns out I had not missed a thing.
UB had just started at the magazine editor training tonight, when I left off she had just been accepted into the program.
I am thinking that her family is acting ridiculous.
It is true that no one will support you like your family will--but I think it is also true that other people you meet during your life might understand you better than your family.
for example, horseradish friend always understands my locura
Shannon always understands my deep thoughts (SNL style y'all)
Sissy understands my need to have someone say reasonable sh** when no one else will (they will just listen to my locura and not tell me that I am being a dumba$$. :)
Yes, my family will always support me.
In this case I do not think UB's fam. understands what she is going for.
When that girl took Betty's phone--i got so d!mn mad a b for being an idiot.

I guess that is all the commentary--it was good to get back to fantasy land (I had ditched UB for the end of the survivor season--sad but true)


Oh--and one more thing...after cleaning the rugs for the first time in 6 months--Victor came down with the throw ups today--and well, you know..so sad.
Super clean rugs are just not meant for folks with toddlers anyway.
Okay--I am off to read others' blogs. :)
Have great weekends!

Monday, January 5, 2009

Partial makeover (Thanks Bethany!) y a funny

Okay this could be long, but it won't.
Thank you Bethany for helping me out with the do-over.
I am not sure it will stay this way. I am not liking the way the title looks--little, and i need some color at the top. I could not figure out headers.
:)
But I will...
Now, here is the funny part.
This is an admission of something that Andy and I did recently.
First, you must know that we have always bought yard-sale stuff/gotten free stuff (from stuff other peoples' kids don't want)/not bought a lot. --Especially not the really great stuff that makes kids into brats--like trampolines, battery powered everythings to ride in the yard on (have y'all seen these in Toys r ^s?), do i need to go on?
So, when my sister and her children and husband came at Christmas lily walked in with a magical, shiny pink rectangle (I know this is what Elena was thinking) that had a game on it...hmm hmm AKA a nintendo d$. Elena fell in love!
Lily is a great big cousin so of course Elena was allowed to venture to the Barbie ranch as much as she liked.
So after they left E expressed her interest in acquiring a "game" --Andy and I tried to get her to want a cheaper, three-year old "game" like a le@pster.
No, she said, "I want a D$" NOt in a bratty way, as I do not tolerate much brattiness.
What do you think Andy and I did within two days of this request?
Well....
Of course, we took the cutie pie sweet thang to the video gamer store (where the most endearing nerdy guy worked) to buy her a shiny, pink magic rectangle! Damn, Y'all!
We bought a quarium game (aquarium) and now elena has set up two sea turtles in a nice living space and she watches them, she calls this her, "minja turtles movie"

After we bought this Andy and I both had BIG TIME buyer's remorse! Yikes we thought!
But no, I am learning that sometimes your child should get the shiny, pink magic rectangle--just b/c.

PS--I am the little girl who never got an easy-bake oven damn it! I know there are lots of us around. AND-RE: the video gamer store guy- I have a special place for nerds --now that i just read that Oscar book. AND, the parents are also enjoying the aquarium game (I bet andy is tending to the seahorses as we speak).
;).

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Child's Play? & Special Delivery

When I worked part time, and we lived in Graham I had lots of time to play with Elena. Victor did not play yet then, exactly. Of course he played in the baby way, but not --pretend etc. The other night it was almost bed time and we had a spur of the moment play session. Now, my favorite thing to play is little people. I have projected this onto my children by buying them little people stuff. I was amazed that sometime b/t last summer and me working my a** off all this school year Victor has learned how to play! :) He loves little people. The other night we played with the animals and the barn and the house and after a while they had to all go to bed--it was so absolutely cute and precious to me! sigh...
Then we got out the flashlight and cut off the light so that we could see them all sleeping in the barn.
The part Victor set up all on his own was the picnic. He set up the table and put all the people in chairs and even made sound effects!
Here are some pictures of a little people set up. Now, this is not the original. This one is from when Victor and I played yesterday.



Re: the special delivery
Each year my family and Isabel and Maria in Spain-the Lanzas family--exchange presents.
It is fun! This has mostly been upheld b/c of my mama who is incredibly thoughtful and sentimental. Over time, though, we have all gotten so excited about it! :)
We put a lot of thought into what we can send to one another that is 1. small 2. from NC or from sevilla, respectively and 3. would be yummy or useful.
This year the box arrived on Friday--So today we went over to my Mama's and enjoyed opening packages from spain, and reading the great letters that Maria writes.
my children got great books and candy that they love and they each got a cute bag (kids love bags...)
I got a license plate--hee hee gracias Isabel! :) no sabia que lo ibas a poder encontrar..
Y una bolsa que me gusta un monton--que bien guay, Isabel, otro great pick! :)
Here are some pictures of that.
Oh y una de las fotos es de marzapan. They sent us candy y uno de los turrones se devorro en, vamos, cinco minutitos??
One of the things they always send is turrones--turron (A giant candy bar) These are in all the stores there at Christmas time.
Chocolate and almonds--que yummy!
I am not talking one almond every two bites either--i mean medio almonds medio chocolate.

Pics:





The letter this year included somber news about how crappy things are in Spain right now.
Things are expensive, and there are no jobs!
...To which my dad responded, "And it is going to be that way here, soon."
I believe him.

Okay, I am off to drink tons of water, and play with kiddies, also George Stepha..whatever is doing a year in review, and I love him..so bye

Saturday, January 3, 2009

A Saturday story

This is a story about a good friend of mine.
Sandra and her family moved to Burlington when she was about eight. She had two brothers and a sister, later her mother had another daughter, but when they came to the US they were four children and two parents.
Sandra grew up in Burlington.
All of her family lives there. When I say all, I mean aunts, uncles, cousins --everyone--hasta los abuelos vinieron hacen unos anyos.
There is no one left on the ranchito in Mexico.
Sandra met Efrain who happened to be from the same place in Mexico as her.
Her mother remembered him when he was a little boy.
Efrain happened to end up in Burlington after leaving Mexico with his brothers when he was really young--no parents went with them, and living in Chicago etc.
He had a rough time of it, I think.
Efrain came to the US illegally.
Sandra and her family, as time passed, were all in the US legally. Sandra and her family almost all have become citizens as well.
So, Sandra, in all her smartness, decided to get Efrain's papers. When she decided this they were married and had a child.
One would think, oh easy, he is married to a US citizen--get some papers, no problem, but that is not how it works anymore.
So they applied and then they had to go to Juarez to the consulate so that Efrain coudl present himself in front of someone etc.--
This happened last February.
Despite being naturally pesimistic, like me, that is probably why we get along so well, Sandra was a bit optimistic in this case.
We were all hoping that after a short stay in Mexico they would just all come back.
But no. Efrain was told that as a punishment for having come to the US illegally in the first place he had to go there and stay until they (folks at consulate) told him he could re-enter the US with papers this time.
Meanwhile Sandra had to move back in with her parents.
She could not afford to save money and pay rent in an apt. too.
She has traveled to see Efrain several times and she has taken their child to see his dad.
But no word on the legal papers.... no word, y no word.
She is there now.
They have a house there.
Efrain sent her pictures of him this summer, planting corn with a plow and a mule.
His family makes spanish tile out of clay on their land (the kind you see on roofs), so that is what he has been doing.
So, the latest word from Sandra is that if he does not some notice of what is going to happen by May, she is going to just move back there.
She misses her husband.
She is tired of her son not being with his dad.
Sandra and Damian are US citizens, and one time when she went to Mexico some official decided to give her hell about whether or not she had a visa to stay there, (she is no longer a Mexican you see).
So Sandra will go back. She will eat meat one time a week. She will drink soda one time a week. She will walk everywhere. She will wash clothes in a creek or something. Things will be very different for her.
Sandra said she would NEVER go back to Mexico.
Her mother told her to never say never.
I think her mother would love to go back to her house there. Whenever Angela would go back to Mexico for a visit she always came back looking refreshed and younger. :)
Keep you fingers crossed for them.
I always wonder, where is Efrain's , "paperwork"???

I am off to play blocks! :)

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Happy New Year!

How did you celebrate?

I was in dreamland. Snuggled in con Elena.
Here are some of the more exciting New Year's Adventures I have had:

1997 In London con mi amiga Avril
One year in Atlanta con Andy y amigos
2001 In Seattle on our honeymoon--that was a really fun one
2003 In Madrid with Andy --we had no money and the food was all outrageously priced in all the bars--we drank about a gallon of Cava I think and I was too passed out to go out to ring in the New Year--we must have gone in to pee or something --into our hotel--Andy went back out and got kissed in la plaza del sol (or at least that is what he reported to me..hmm hmm. :) The next morning we found a whole stash of Euros tucked away that we should have been spending the night before.
Everyone was wearing these green Santa Claus hats.??
In Miami in 2004 with Lyla and Andy in Mary's yard--we did not leave the yard, but we did not need to. ;).
2005 in Savannah. I was huge and pregnant, but that was a fun place to be on New Year's Eve.

Since babies, we have been in the house every year I think. But that is fine.
:)

Book update: That book I reported on is actually first published in English. It is a good book! :)
Check it out. The brief wondrous life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz

Have a great day today, the first day of 2009! :)

Spot on!

Spot is our family's chihuahua.  He is what we call, "an evil dictator/stuffed animal come to life".  Sometimes, after he has ...