I was on the phone last night with my parents as I frequently am (I have this fantastic service that lets anyone in Guatemala call me and for them it is only a local call) and my mom was telling us (my father is on one phone, my mother on another and more often that not, they end up catching up on each other's day with me simply listening. I often need to remind them that I am also on the line) that Nandi (my beautiful 20 year old niece) lost her laptop. she then explained that she did not really loose it. She forgot it in the school where she teaches English. When she came back to retrieve it all she found was the laptop case.
My father went on saying that it was a good lesson and that next time she would be more careful with her things.
My mother didn't agree and I didn't either. I started thinking that I am always forgetting things. I have to say that I have been very lucky in my life (knock on wood) because I am always surrounded by people that "watch over me". I cannot count how many times I have left my purse in park benches, restaurants, movie theaters, etc. Amazingly, I always find it and nothing has ever been missing. (knock on wood once more). I believe I lost at least a dozen sweaters in my childhood and I posses absolutely no sense of direction.
I don't think I am an irresponsible person, I am simply absent minded. The fact that I loose something today does not mean that I will be "more careful" with my things tomorrow. I can say this with a straight face because I have been trying all my life. I now do things like not bringing a purse at all or making lists to make sure I don't forget stuff.
When I think about it, my wonderful beloved mother is 10 times worse and has been all her life. She is a very accomplished business woman who has managed to raise 6 children and run a busy household, yet she is always forgetful an dare I say... a little chaotic.
So, I feel for my niece. I actually think it is a genetic defect that runs in my family. I am not trying to excuse our behaviour. I am simply stating factual history. I guess we can always keep trying to do better and thank God for the people in our life that love us regardless of our flaws.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Do Not Use The Water, I am Taking a Shower!!!!!!
This is what we are used to shouting before stepping into the shower in my house. The kids normally take showers in the evening and I have to make sure that I fill pots with water or wash vegetables, etc. before they step into the bathroom because if while in the shower, anyone else in the house turns any other faucet on, you will instantly get re-invigorated in the form of very, very cold water. In the morning ,this is my normal routine....
ME: "la, la, la, la... oh what a wonderful , nice, hot shower I am taking this morning." "AAHHHGH! PATRICK TURN OFF THE FAUCET!"
Patrick: "Sorry Schatz, I was brushing my teeth".
me: "Oh, O.K..... la, la, la AAAHHHHGH! Patrick, what now?"
Patrick: "I am trying to shave, do you mind?"
me: "Yes I mind. It is freezing, you know!"
Patrick: "Well, suck it up!!!"
... needless to say, I don't suck it up. I blame him for daring to even think of approaching a faucet while I am taking a shower. I blame the piping for not working right. I blame the water for being too cold and then too hot. I blame the bathroom for ...well I blame the bathroom for being ugly. This last one has nothing to do with the water temperature, but I still thought it was important to point out.
We realized this interesting detail about the water flow in our home after we moved in over 4 years ago. A couple of years later we installed a bigger water heater thinking that it would solve the problem... but it did not.
Our contractor Scott, called me this morning and told me that he now figured out why this was happenning. It just so happens that someone along the way (the house is 37 years old) mixed the water lines... the cold line goes to the hot or something like that.
The promising news is that since he found the problem, he will fix it (at least that is the plan)!
You might take normal hot, uninterrupted showers for granted, but for us it will be a huge upgrade.
ME: "la, la, la, la... oh what a wonderful , nice, hot shower I am taking this morning." "AAHHHGH! PATRICK TURN OFF THE FAUCET!"
Patrick: "Sorry Schatz, I was brushing my teeth".
me: "Oh, O.K..... la, la, la AAAHHHHGH! Patrick, what now?"
Patrick: "I am trying to shave, do you mind?"
me: "Yes I mind. It is freezing, you know!"
Patrick: "Well, suck it up!!!"
... needless to say, I don't suck it up. I blame him for daring to even think of approaching a faucet while I am taking a shower. I blame the piping for not working right. I blame the water for being too cold and then too hot. I blame the bathroom for ...well I blame the bathroom for being ugly. This last one has nothing to do with the water temperature, but I still thought it was important to point out.
We realized this interesting detail about the water flow in our home after we moved in over 4 years ago. A couple of years later we installed a bigger water heater thinking that it would solve the problem... but it did not.
Our contractor Scott, called me this morning and told me that he now figured out why this was happenning. It just so happens that someone along the way (the house is 37 years old) mixed the water lines... the cold line goes to the hot or something like that.
The promising news is that since he found the problem, he will fix it (at least that is the plan)!
You might take normal hot, uninterrupted showers for granted, but for us it will be a huge upgrade.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
s
Diego Breaking Boards (hearts will surely come later)
Diego during his "Green-one" karate test. He had broken one the day before, so he was not too worried about it. I surely was. If you don't break your board, you don't get your new belt. Imagine the disappointment. Thank God everything went really well.
Isabel and Diego- 2008 Calendar
We started giving calendars of the kids to our family in 2003 or 2004 (I can't remember). A couple of years ago we simply did not have the time to go through all the pictures and perform the great "calendar task". We thought, "Oh well, I guess there will be no calendar this year and that will be that". Wrong! Both Patrick's family and mine complained and demanded a calendar.
We gave in an finally created one that starts in April.
Now that has become the new tradition. We always give the calendars starting in April which actually has a couple of advantages from your normal January through December variety.
There is first of all the originality aspect. The end of the year is already swamped with things to do and this project always takes longer than anticipated. My favorite reason why giving the calendars in Spring is a good idea is that we have found them for sale. I guess calendars are not in big demand in March and we are more than happy to take advantage of that.
Well, I just ordered this year's run and wanted to share the pictures with you. These are the finalists...
For some reason this thing only let me upload 4 pictures, I will make new posts with the rest...
We gave in an finally created one that starts in April.
Now that has become the new tradition. We always give the calendars starting in April which actually has a couple of advantages from your normal January through December variety.
There is first of all the originality aspect. The end of the year is already swamped with things to do and this project always takes longer than anticipated. My favorite reason why giving the calendars in Spring is a good idea is that we have found them for sale. I guess calendars are not in big demand in March and we are more than happy to take advantage of that.
Well, I just ordered this year's run and wanted to share the pictures with you. These are the finalists...
For some reason this thing only let me upload 4 pictures, I will make new posts with the rest...
Friday, February 29, 2008
The Future Holds Dust and Sand
After two years of talking about it, we are actually going to remodel our bathrooms. We have made everyone we know sick with our bathroom planning conversations and honestly I, myself, cannot hear about it anymore.
I think I am dreaming when I go into the kids' bathroom and see that it has been demolished. At this point, the actual rennovation has to happen, right?
We have been waiting for sooooooooo long, that all the construction nightmares that people talk about, I will welcome with open arms.
I am so excited!!!!!
I am getting a new closet out of the deal, the kids are getting a nice, spacious jetted spa and a slightly bigger bathroom. My environmentally conscious better half insisted on "dual flush toilets" (you press one button for #1 and the water consumption is just 0.9 gpf, you press the bigger button for #2 and it delivers a 1.6 gpf) (gpf=gallons per flush). When he was trying to "sell" this toilet to me, I looked at him with great big eyes (well, at least as much as I can open them, which granted, is not much at all) and a light bulb went on in my mind. "Ohhh, so that's why in your parents' home there are 2 buttons to flush" I never knew. No one ever explained this system to me. I always pressed one, I don't know which one." I feel so stupid! For 15 years I have visited bathrooms in Europe and I never had a clue about the two flushers. Wow, I feel enlightened!
Anyway, I went off subject.... back to our beautiful soon to be remodeled bathrooms...
Right now, Patrick and I share a sink and I cannot wait to be able to brush my teeth without waiting in line or blow dry my hair without sharing the space with a man shaving. Did I mention the walk-in shower with a glass block wall; the "car wash" style shower panel with 6 body jets and the heated tile floor? Yep, we are getting those too. In my mind both bathrooms are just gorgeous. I truly do hope the reality will be the same.
After all this wonderful mess, the nicest part of our home will, by far, be the bathrooms so don't be surprised if we invite you for tea and cake in the bathtub.
So, that is the dusty part of the news. For the sandy part, we are just so happy to announce that we are going to Guatemala for Easter (a whole two wonderful, fantastic weeks). One of those weeks we will spend in my sister's beach house. I cannot wait! There is too many exciting things happenning! Life is good!
I think I am dreaming when I go into the kids' bathroom and see that it has been demolished. At this point, the actual rennovation has to happen, right?
We have been waiting for sooooooooo long, that all the construction nightmares that people talk about, I will welcome with open arms.
I am so excited!!!!!
I am getting a new closet out of the deal, the kids are getting a nice, spacious jetted spa and a slightly bigger bathroom. My environmentally conscious better half insisted on "dual flush toilets" (you press one button for #1 and the water consumption is just 0.9 gpf, you press the bigger button for #2 and it delivers a 1.6 gpf) (gpf=gallons per flush). When he was trying to "sell" this toilet to me, I looked at him with great big eyes (well, at least as much as I can open them, which granted, is not much at all) and a light bulb went on in my mind. "Ohhh, so that's why in your parents' home there are 2 buttons to flush" I never knew. No one ever explained this system to me. I always pressed one, I don't know which one." I feel so stupid! For 15 years I have visited bathrooms in Europe and I never had a clue about the two flushers. Wow, I feel enlightened!
Anyway, I went off subject.... back to our beautiful soon to be remodeled bathrooms...
Right now, Patrick and I share a sink and I cannot wait to be able to brush my teeth without waiting in line or blow dry my hair without sharing the space with a man shaving. Did I mention the walk-in shower with a glass block wall; the "car wash" style shower panel with 6 body jets and the heated tile floor? Yep, we are getting those too. In my mind both bathrooms are just gorgeous. I truly do hope the reality will be the same.
After all this wonderful mess, the nicest part of our home will, by far, be the bathrooms so don't be surprised if we invite you for tea and cake in the bathtub.
So, that is the dusty part of the news. For the sandy part, we are just so happy to announce that we are going to Guatemala for Easter (a whole two wonderful, fantastic weeks). One of those weeks we will spend in my sister's beach house. I cannot wait! There is too many exciting things happenning! Life is good!
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
My Perfect Heaven
I am currently reading a book recommended by my boss. It is called "The Lovely Bones" (the name of the author escapes me). It is about a 15 year old girl who is savagedly killed. The story is not so much about her, but rather about her family, their grief and how they find love and a new "normal" in their lives. I am not even half way through it, so I cannot review it yet.
There is one concept in the book that caught my attention and that seemed fun to explore...
This girl goes to heaven, but in this book, heaven is not one place. Each inidvidual person has a different heaven filled with anything and everything they liked while alive.
I starting thinking about how my heaven would be...
The first real problem I see is that the people you love are not with you anymore, but if I think about it, it is my heaven so I say everyone I have ever liked, would be there. It is my rules anyway...
My heaven would be a beautiful city with nice huge parks. The weather would be mild and all days would be sunny. The sky would not be totally blue, you would see those big puffy fat clouds. You could see a volcano or two far away in the background (close enough to admire, but far away enough not to have to go climb it).
There would be people around, but it would not be overly crowded. I would work in my heaven. Doing nothing does not seem appealing to me. I obviously would not over do it. I would take long leisurely lunches and many, many long weekends.
My children would be the happiest, most well rounded kids ever. Their Spanish would be flawless and I would always approve of their friends and all of their friend's parents would be our good close friends as well. We would all get together on weekends to have parties with dancing, drinking and great food.
My friends and family would not always agree with everything I say, but we would all appreciate the others' point of view and we would constantly learn from one another.
All days would be good hair days. No one would ever be overweight and I would not need a "boob-job" simply because, well, you know... they would be naturally perfect.
The term "house work" would not exist. As soon as you would take your clothes off, they would magically be nicely washed and ironed back in your closet. In my heaven, Patrick would do all the cooking because he likes it and he would also have lots of time. Right after dinner, all the cleanup would instantly be done, so we could have more quality time together.
I love watching my tv shows so they would be around, but commercials would not exist.
Planes would not be necessary because we would all use tele-trasportation to move around.
I am sure I am missing a lot of stuff... oh well, I have to now work hard in making sure that many, many, many years from now I will get my chance to be in my heaven. What would your heaven be like?
There is one concept in the book that caught my attention and that seemed fun to explore...
This girl goes to heaven, but in this book, heaven is not one place. Each inidvidual person has a different heaven filled with anything and everything they liked while alive.
I starting thinking about how my heaven would be...
The first real problem I see is that the people you love are not with you anymore, but if I think about it, it is my heaven so I say everyone I have ever liked, would be there. It is my rules anyway...
My heaven would be a beautiful city with nice huge parks. The weather would be mild and all days would be sunny. The sky would not be totally blue, you would see those big puffy fat clouds. You could see a volcano or two far away in the background (close enough to admire, but far away enough not to have to go climb it).
There would be people around, but it would not be overly crowded. I would work in my heaven. Doing nothing does not seem appealing to me. I obviously would not over do it. I would take long leisurely lunches and many, many long weekends.
My children would be the happiest, most well rounded kids ever. Their Spanish would be flawless and I would always approve of their friends and all of their friend's parents would be our good close friends as well. We would all get together on weekends to have parties with dancing, drinking and great food.
My friends and family would not always agree with everything I say, but we would all appreciate the others' point of view and we would constantly learn from one another.
All days would be good hair days. No one would ever be overweight and I would not need a "boob-job" simply because, well, you know... they would be naturally perfect.
The term "house work" would not exist. As soon as you would take your clothes off, they would magically be nicely washed and ironed back in your closet. In my heaven, Patrick would do all the cooking because he likes it and he would also have lots of time. Right after dinner, all the cleanup would instantly be done, so we could have more quality time together.
I love watching my tv shows so they would be around, but commercials would not exist.
Planes would not be necessary because we would all use tele-trasportation to move around.
I am sure I am missing a lot of stuff... oh well, I have to now work hard in making sure that many, many, many years from now I will get my chance to be in my heaven. What would your heaven be like?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
