Fall, Fall, Fall

Another week has flown by. I would have posted earlier (ummm, sure...), but Margarita has been heavily involved with her science fair project until late every night which involves using my laptop because the "family" computer has a dinosaur version of Word (according to her).

Fall Colors

Last Friday Pedro, Guapo, and I went up to the mountains to check on our lovely house that we no longer are able to use due to soccer games, football games, basketball games, swim meets and such. So we decided to take the afternoon and go just for a couple of hours so we didn't miss the leaves (like last year).

It was beau-ti-ful.

Guapo loves this picture that he took; I think I have lion hair:

Remember Quakey? Yes, we still have him.

Fall Sports

After being drug to his siblings organized sporting events for the last year, Pedro has been looking forward to his chance to shine. I finally gave in and signed him up for "PeeWee Soccer". It was a pretty lame program run by college age girls that were more interested in their iPhones than the cute little 4 and 5 year olds (you can feel the enthusiasm in the photos below). But, finally, in their last two practices, instead of playing freeze tag (a critical element of any serious soccer program), they actually had a little scrimmage.

Pedro rocked!

Look at him going in for this goal-and against 2 goalies nonetheless:

So cute.

Fall Grapes

We have great grapes in our backyard. People far and wide (in our neighborhood) talk about the wonderful grapes they've eaten over the years from our yard. Unfortunately, Guapo trimmed them back so far that we only got like 6 this year (we each got one). Fortunately, our neighbor didn't trim his back and therefore had a bumper crop that he had no interest in harvesting.

Here's Guapo picking them (didn't you know grapes grew on trees?)

Just look at these babies:

This is pretty much all we did last weekend:

We made 5 1/2 gallons of juice that is de-li-cious. I am now making grape jelly from the juice. I tell you, I'm a domestic goddess. And, there are still more grapes out there. (Guapo doesn't know it yet, but he's going back up the ladder when he gets home. I'm not letting them go to waste.)

Fall Obsession

I'm still pretty big into my food storage kick these days. I figure it just makes good sense what with food prices constantly on the rise. I'll have you know that today I took a Sharpie and wrote the expiration date so it would be easily visible on each of my 56 boxes of cereal. And then I alphabetized them.

It made me *so* happy.

I hope you're all enjoying your fall and that you have a great weekend. :)

Spring Obsession

No, I don't have Spring Fever.

In fact, quite the opposite.

I have this icky panicky feeling that winter is ending-after 10 years of perpetual summer, I'm not ready for summer to return. And it wasn't exactly what you'd call a satisfying winter here in Colorado, just a handful of snow storms (it is snowing right now as I type-so typical for Colorado-yesterday it was 80 degrees-now it's in the low 30's-tomorrow it will be back up in the 60's). I have this fear that once winter is gone for good-it's won't return.

Anyway, I've realized something about myself-I think I go through the majority of my "obsessive episodes" during the spring.

Let's review: 2006 we were moving from Carmen to Mexico City-moving is always a huge project that lets me obsess to the nth degree for months beforehand.

In 2007 Pedro was born, I went through my Freezer Meal Frenzy and then we had another move-this time to Brazil.

I can't find any major obsessions during the spring of 2008. I did, however start making individual photo "yearbooks" for my three big kids that year-I think that qualifies as slightly obsessive.

In 2009 I went through the Great Photo Frenzy (still painful to think about-what a pain), I was training for a half-marathon, and continued with the photo books.

2010 was the move from Brazil to Colorado-much obsessing took place about our "stuff".

So, the topic of this year's obsessions? First- my big run coming up in less that two weeks. The last two Saturdays my lady friends and I have gone out for double runs- a seven-miler in the morning and a seven-miler in the afternoon. It's not fun but it has definitely increased my confidence that perhaps I can run 25.2 miles in less than a 24 hour period.

Who am I kidding? My heart is throbbing and my palms are sweating just thinking about it. I'm scared, people!

My second, and primary obsession this year is food storage. This is the first place we've lived as "adults" where it is feasible to store a substantial amount of food. So, over the past month I have:

-gotten out my bag sealer and sealed up many a Mylar pouch with flour, sugar, oats, beans, and pasta

-ordered an electric pressure cooker (now I'll be able to cook dried beans in a matter of a half an hour-I know you're jealous)

-ordered whole wheat for long term storage-a scary proposition that will eventually require the purchase of a wheat grinder

-ordered a 55 gallon drum for water along with some 5 gallon boxes

-tried to make homemade yogurt in my crockpot (it was a complete fail-I've got to try again)

-made blueberry muffins using bean puree instead of oil (don't make that face-they were good!)

-taken umpteen trips to Costco trying to get my pantry well stocked

And today (drum roll please...), I made an acceptable loaf of whole wheat bread using powdered milk and a homemade dough enhancer. I can't tell you how excited I am about this. I've tried bread so many times and it always comes out like a big disgusting brick.

Check it out:

Yay! It's soft and chewy and the kids will eat it.

Have a great week.

thoughts on stuff

So they came and took the boxes away on Friday. They arrived at 8:45 while I was still in my pj's and were out by 11:45. When my friend, who was planning on taking my big boys for the afternoon, called at 12:30 to see how things were going and I told her they were gone (please will you still take the kids?) she asked, "Are you sure that was a Brazilian company?" It was very un-Brazilian service-not to be a bratty expat or anything-I'm pretty sure most Brazilians would agree, things don't generally go so smoothly here.

It was a good day. Not only were they out by 11:45, the movers also made a point to tell me that the move went so quickly because I had everything so well organized-thank you very much. And, on top off all that, when we packed out of Mexico for our move to Brazil we had 204 boxes; Friday we had, drum roll please...

100.

Sure, they may have used some bigger boxes, but certainly not all of them were 2X as big. There was some stuff that belonged to the company that we brought from Mexico and that will be staying here in Brazil for the next family-pots and pans, some kitchen appliances, some bedding and towels, storage baskets, tv-trays (thank goodness-I've hated those things since we bought them in Small Town), etc. Then there's all the stuff I have systematically eliminated over the last three years-lots of baby gear (with the exception of Guapo's brother's crib-get ready Abby, it's on its way!), cruddy Christmas and Halloween decorations, clothes, unused toys, some of my treasures, etc, etc.

I feel uber proud to have whittled it down to 100 boxes full of only useful, or cherished, or both, items.

But here's what I've learned about shipments over the last nine years: we will get ourselves all settled and cozy in Colorado and be doing just fine when one day, several months from now, a big truck will show up in front of our house with 100 boxes and I will think, "What am I going to do with all of this stuff? We were doing just fine with the stuff that's already in the house. Where am I going to put it all?"

Happens every time.

I've become much more aware of my "stuff" over the last nine years due to the moving process, the lack of easy access to American stuff in the places we've lived, and the struggles I've "endured" with trying to maintain a stash of my favorite stuff (namely: rash-inducing power shopping, lugging around 70 lb. suitcases and dodging customs agents). Due to this "awareness" I have become much more anti-stuff than I used to be. Basically, I don't want stuff taking up space in my house that is not useful to our family-simple as that.

More stuff=less free space=more clutter=harder to keep clean and orderly

(btw, my goal is to use the word stuff 100 times, in honor of my 100 boxes)

I have mastered stuff removal-I always have a growing pile of stuff in my closet to give away, and I thoroughly enjoy finding new homes for my stuff. But there's another side to this-the intake of stuff into our house. I wouldn't have to be purging all the time if we didn't have so much useless stuff in the house to begin with. The stuff has to come from somewhere.

So, as we move into a house where we hope to live for the indefinite future and will not have the requisite purge every 2-3 years, I will focus more of my energy on the prevention of stuff intake. I've thought of a few areas where I can cut down on intake:

1) Books: we all enjoy reading in our family, and are very excited to use the public library. I will only buy books that I know will be read multiple times. (and, besides the library, my mom always buys all the latest and greatest books-hehehe)

2) Kitchen appliances: I will not be buying a juicer, popcorn popper, George Foreman grill, or electric can opener (I'm sorry, but I am completely prejudice against the electric can opener-I mean, how hard is it to open a can?) or other appliances that I will only use once a year and will take up valuable kitchen space.

3) Sale items: man, am I a sucker for sale items. I will buy something that's not quite what I needed or wanted just because it's on sale; later on I will get rid of it and buy what I initially wanted or needed-and I end up wasting money instead of saving it like I intended. I will try to think clearly before making these kinds of purchases.

4) DVDs: we'll be renting movies and then only purchasing those that we truly love.


5) Promotional Freebies: I don't know how many free water bottles that we received at various activities I got rid of. Or bottles of hotel shampoos-we don't need them! Something in our human nature makes us get really excited when there is free stuff to be had, but I end up tossing most of it in the end. Better to not bring it home in the first place.

So, please share with me your ideas on how to reduce stuff intake as we move back into a very stuff-oriented society.

Busy Doing What?

Do you ever feel like this? Like you're really, really busy, but you have nothing to show for it? That's kind of what my life's been like lately. I'm staying occupied all day long, it's not like I'm sitting watching novelas eating bonbons all day, but I can't really say I'm making a lot of visible progress.

I've been running, practicing piano, finally finishing Team of Rivals (I was crying reading it today while I was getting my hair cut, that was cute), working on some minor organizational projects, playing a little tennis, and being a mom. Which I guess, when I write it out like that, sounds fairly productive, but I just don't feel like I'm accomplishing much. Does that make sense?

My mom sent me a forwarded email almost 4 years ago that has survived many an inbox purging. I'm not a fan of the forward, most of the time I don't even bother reading them (sorry, forward senders), but in this case I did (probably because my mom hardly ever sends forwards) and I can totally relate to it at times (like now) (sorry, I don't know to whom to give credit for this or I would):

"Recently, I was diagnosed with C.A. A. D. D. - Child Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it manifests:

I decide to do the laundry. As I start toward the laundry room, I notice that there are Cheerios all over the floor and my house keys are in the cereal bowl . I decide to pick up the cheerios before I do the laundry. I lay my keys down on the counter, put the cheerios in the trashcan, and notice that the trashcan is full. So, I decide to take out the trash. But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the trash I may as well pay the bills first. I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left, my extra checks are in my desk in the office, so I go to my desk where I find a cup full of juice. I'm going to look for my checks, but first I decideI should put the cup in the refrigerator to keep it cold. As I head toward the kitchen with the cup a plant on the counter catches my eye--it needs to be watered. I set the sippy cup on the counter, and I discover baby wipes that I've been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back, but first I'm going to water the plants. I set the wipes back down, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote, left on the kitchen table. I realize that when I go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the plants. I splash some water on the plant, but most of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back down, get some paper towels and wipe up the spill. Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day: the laundry isn't washed, the bills aren't paid, there is a warm cup of juice sitting on the counter, the plants aren't watered, there is still only one check in my check book, I can't find the remote, I can't find the wipes, and I don't remember what I did with my keys. Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail. Do me a favor, will you? Forward this message, because I don't remember to whom it has been sent. Don't laugh if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!"

Well, at least now I can go to bed tonight knowing that I at least blogged today!

Random Catch-Up Post

Where to begin?

December's here and things are crazy, as things tend to be in December. We leave two weeks from this very moment (yay!). I apologize for not only being a bad blogger, but also being a bad blogger friend.

Guapo's traveling the whole next week, so I'll be free to spend guilt-free time on the Internet at night.

But, for the time being a quick review of recent happenings.

Who Will Be My Next Top-Babysitter?

Ok, how weird is this?

This year's winner of America's next t0p model is a girl who lives three doors down from my parents house and who sometimes babysits my kids when we're there. I'm not a fan of most reality shows, so my mom had to keep me updated. Not that she watches America's Next T0p Model or anything (no offense if you love the show), she just hears the occasional neighborhood gossip.

She called last week and told me I'd better find a new babysitter because she probably won't be needing the money anymore. (and since young girls + money + fame doesn't often yield great results, I probably will want to find someone a little less famous)

Her little sister and Margarita always play together when we're in Colorado. It's pretty funny, because her sister is a total tomboy and has inspired many of Margarita's *interesting* fashion choices (black socks, plaid shorts, converse sneakers).

Thanksgiving Success

Not only did I bring Thanksgiving cheer to Julio's 3rd grade class, I spent 7 hours in a un-air-conditioned kitchen on a 90 degree day making my first-ever solo Thanksgiving meal. It all turned out very nicely, including the homemade rolls and pumpkin pie. I kind of feel like a grown up now.

(don't mind my funky hair and my wet shirt. I'm pretty sure that it's dishwater and not sweat, but I'm not entirely sure, probably a mixture)

Some special Thanksgiving art:

My Niece (and her mom and dad) Came for a Visit

Isn't she cute? And such a good baby. Almost makes me want to have another...almost. (the little guy there on the left does a pretty good job at outweighing baby cuteness most of the time. This photo is deceiving.)

Piano Recital

I had my second adult piano recital on Saturday night. It was held at the apartment of the older lady I mentioned after my last recital. She had invited 20+ of her closest friends including her entire computer class and some guy she had met in the line at the bank 2 days earlier (not joking). I walked in and saw all of those people cramped into a little apartment and I just about turned right around and walked back out.

But, I did ok despite my visibly trembling fingers. I made it through both my songs with minor errors and what was good was that I kept going on when I messed up which I normally have trouble with. I played "Old French Song" by Tchaikovsky and "Fur Elise" by Beethoven (the entire thing, thank you very much).

Now I'm recital-free until at least April or May.


Tennis

Despite my awesome new tennis outfit, I got smoked by a 60+ year old lady on Tuesday. Pretty depressing.

I guess I'd better stick to 12 year old boys.

I've got lots of random Christmas tidbits too, but I'd better save those for my next post.

Question

What do you do with your old Christmas cards people send you with photos? I hate throwing them away, but I've got quite a stack here and I'm in one of my organizing moods.

Any creative suggestions, or do I just shred them?

My One Goal-Free Activity

Our weekend was fun and uneventful so I won't bore you with the details. It's always nice to get out of the big bad city and let the kids run amok. I think our friends are still our friends despite our slightly rambunctious children. And, my favorite British word of the weekend, which I once knew but somehow forgot, was "nutter" as in, "That guy is such a nutter."

I've been a little busier than normal because I've loaded myself down with extra-curricular activities. I've got:

1. 4 children
2. Book club
3. Piano
4. Photography (it's time to finally learn how to use the camera I got for Christmas last year)
5. Running
6. Tennis

I'm a goal-oriented person; all of my activities are done with some end-point in mind. For example, I want my kids grow up to be normal, contributing members of society. I hope I can someday play piano in front of people (other than these people). I would like to take nice photos of my family and the cool places we visit at some point. I enjoy competing in running races and bettering my times, and, by reading lots of different kinds of books I hope to broaden my horizons.

The exception to this rule is tennis.

Now, I've been taking tennis lessons off and on over the last 6 1/2 years. The last time I played regularly was my first year in Small Town, Mexico. So, that was 4 years ago. I'm taking it up once again. I have one group lesson with Ballerina Girl and a couple of other ladies, and one private lesson each week.

I have no aspirations in tennis. I'm not even really interested in tennis. The US Open? I get bored watching it. I don't know who the tennis players are, past or present (well, except for Venus and Serena. But I don't know who's older or a better player, I only know their names). To be honest, I don't even really know how to score tennis. Games? Matches? Advantage? Whatever.

I just like taking lessons.

Oh, and I love the clothes.

I like having the instructor hit balls back and forth with me. If I can learn hit the ball a little harder and aim a little better, I'll be happy. That's it; that's as far as I want to take tennis in my life. I don't really want to even learn to serve because that would make me more prepared to play in an actual game with other people.

What has this taught me about myself? I have learned that, it may be possible, that because I have no goals related to tennis, I completely enjoy it. I love going to my lessons, wearing the cute clothes, and feeling like I've gotten a good workout, with no strings attached.

This realization is kind of freaking me out; now I'm thinking I should have some more goal-free activities-maybe I'd be happier. :)

"If You Would Have Told Me 10 Years Ago..."

I love the non-normalness of my life (generally speaking). I love that I find myself in situations that I never would have dreamed up for myself in my younger years.

I remember the first time that happened after we started our overseas adventure-we had recently arrived in Venezuela. I was out in Guapo's car by myself, jamming to some Spanish tunes, driving on a freeway in Caracas and all of a sudden it just hit me like a ton of bricks-"Hey, look at me, I'm driving around in SOUTH AMERICA. Who would have thought?"

These moments happen with less frequency now as I'm a little more accustomed to being in unusual situations, but I had one on Saturday night.



My piano "recital".

I was sitting there thinking, "Here I am, in this little apartment in the middle of a huge city in Brazil, surrounded by only Brazilians, playing my remedial piano pieces. How odd."

I was the second youngest in the group. The lady right behind me to my left turned 80 the day before. She was talking about her French lessons and her watercolor classes she's taking right now (at least I think that's what she was talking about, it was all in Portuguese). How cool is that? I hope when I'm 80 I'm still looking for new things to learn and do. She also kicked all of our butts on the piano (and seemed to enjoy doing so I might add), but, she has had a little more time to practice than me.



This guy was a hoot. He was probably around 70 and was our last performer. There was nothing my teacher could do to get the guy to stop playing the keyboard until finally she said we all had to leave because she had another engagement.

One thing I've noticed about Brazilians (at least the ones where we live) is that it seems to me that they are very interested in learning throughout their lives, not only when they are young. They always seem to be taking courses or classes or workshops to learn something new. What a fantastic characteristic.

Anyway, if you would have told me 10 years ago I'd be sitting in Rio, with a bunch of old Brazilians playing piano, I never would have believed it. I love that about life. And I love that I have no idea where I'll be or what I'll be doing in 10 more years.

I just hope there's a Target there. :)

I'm So Glad That's Over With

I did it!

I ran and finished the half-marathon today. I am so relieved I don't have to worry about it anymore (until next year, right Janice?).

Here I am right before the race, cold and nervous as can be:

Here I am taking off:



I started at the head of the pack which was a Bad Idea because I was getting passed right and left for almost the entire race. Next time-I'm going all the way to the rear so I can at least feel like a winner as I cruise past the slow pokes.

And here I am after the first five miles:



In the picture, you can see that I'm messing with my long sleeve shirt that I have tied around my waste. I pulled it off and threw it to my mom and then proceeded to step right into the circled pothole. Amazingly enough, I didn't twist anything and so was able to continue on my "merry" way (the thought did occur to me that had I twisted something I would have a valid excuse for quitting early).

I felt pretty good (on and off) from mile 4 through mile 11 and then things got really uncomfortable. It felt like one of those dreams where you want to run, you need to run, but you can't run because your legs won't work right, or maybe they are enveloped in a quicksand like material (I hate that dream). My mind so badly wanted to run fast so I could just be done with it, but my body had given all it had and so could only move at what felt like a snail's pace.

But, I finished, and that's the important thing. I ran it in 1:57.30 which isn't as good as I did 7 years ago, but still better than I did 5 and 6 years ago (I should hope so since 6 years ago I was less than 3 months post-partum with Juan Carlos-crazy, huh?).

I crossed the finish line and made it to the first piece of shade I could find and camped it:



My mom finally helped me up and we walked around a bit. I was walking kind of funny, as you can see in this lovely shot:



Ouch! Sadly, things haven't improved with time-I am hobbling around like a little old lady tonight and can barely make it down steps. (It didn't stop me from going shopping tonight, though) I'll spare you the details of the various areas of chafing I've got going on right now.

A HUGE thanks to my mom-without her I don't think I would have done it. I was in complete denial the night before that I was actually going to do it, so she, being the real runner in the family, got all my gear ready, packed a bag of any and all supplies that I may possibly need before, during and after the race, and then went out to the store at 9 pm to get my pre-and post-race snacks. She got up at the crack of dawn to drive me up there and then found me at three different places during the race to cheer me on. Then she came out and ran the last mile with me.

Isn't she a good mommy? Even if she does wears her shirt backwards (like I said, it was really early when we left the house) :)

Thanks so much for all of your well wishes.

Growing Pains

Pedro wants to be a big kid, not a baby.

He doesn't want to sleep in his pack n' play on this vacation. So, I've let him try to sleep with the big kids a couple of times. Last night, once things were quiet (after at least an hour of Pedro's silly talk), I went down to make sure everyone was actually asleep and this is what I found:




That's Margarita sleeping on top of him while his head hangs off the side of the cushion. Comfy, eh?

Speaking of pain, my race is in the morning. Today was my last and favorite day of training:



Wish me luck, I think it's going to be ugly. I'll report tomorrow. If I finish, that is, if I don't, I won't be around for a while. :)

How I Organize My Kids' School Stuff

I have merged ideas from several different people to come up with the best way to keep my kids' school work well organized. Since it's the end of the school year, and I just finished the 5-step process, I'll show you how I do it.

1) The "Special Place"

Throughout the year, I have ONE place for each kid that I keep all of their school work. This keeps me from having to decide on a daily basis what to keep and what to toss; I just take the work out of their backpack, maybe remove something really special to hang on the fridge, and put the rest in the "special place". In our house right now, I have enough drawers to give each kid their own, so the "special place" is currently "The Drawer".




2) The Sorting

At the end of the year, I go through The Drawer and sort out the things I want to keep. It's much easier to trash stuff when I can see that there are 15 similar pieces of work-I don't feel so attached to each one. I try to choose things that show the child's development during the year. My favorite pieces, I scan so that I will always have a copy, and so I can include them in their yearly digital scrapbooks. Sometimes, if I'm in psycho-organizing mood, I laminate all of the stuff, but this year I'm out of the lamination materials, so that will have to be a project for another day.



3) The Beloved Box

It's a hand-dandy plastic box that are made for legal-size hanging folders. Each kid gets his or her own box.




4) The Folder and Labels

Each school year gets a folder. On the label, I put the grade, the school year (2008-09), where we are living at the time, and the teacher's name. Sure, I may be able to remember this stuff for a few years, but over time, with 4 different kids and numerous different schools and teachers, I am sure I will forget. I put the school work in the folder along with report cards and class pictures and any other odds and ends from the year.



5) The Big Folder

Over-sized art stuff goes into one of these babies (each kid has his or her own), making sure everything is labeled with a name and date.





That's it.

And I'm happy to report I now have empty drawers again, ready for the next school year! (And yes, Janice, this makes me so happy, it deserves an exclamation point. :) )

Have a great weekend.

(One week from right now I'll be in Colorado, drinking milk. Maybe in Target. No, drinking milk in Target would be weird. Maybe I'll be drinking Dr. Pepper in Target, that would make more sense since I will have just gotten off of an all-night flight. Ahhhhhhh, I can't wait.)

3 Weeks, 5 Hours, 32 Minutes (But Who's Counting?)

Just that long until I leave for home. I feel like a little kid who physically cannot wait any longer. So, what do I do when I feel that way? Make myself insanely busy with projects. So here's a quick update on my life:

Kids

Margarita arrived without incident from Knoxville Monday morning. It's so nice to have a complete family again. It's been a 4 days now and Juan Carlos keeps saying, "I'm so glad she's home." So cute.

Along with getting her home (which was the biggest prize), I also got lots of goodies from my mom. The most important goody was a big box of Tide. I'm sure it will only last a couple of weeks as the maid just can't accept the power of concentrated soap and uses way to much, but at least I have it for now. Pedro got enough diapers to last him til we leave enabling me to fulfill my strange goal of never buying a diaper here. I guess that's where Margarita gets it from. And some new American candy, of which I am partaking even as I type this post.

The end of the year is crazy; we've got 3 music programs, portfolio sharings, 2 graduations (kinder and 5th grade), and who knows how many other things before it's all said and done with.

Running

I had my worst long run to date this week.

I was supposed to run 1 hour and 45 minute. Guapo was out of town so I had to wait until the maid got here which put me leaving 30 minutes later than normal. When I started my run at 7 am, it was already 82 degrees out, not a cloud in the sky. Not good. I had to take a break after 1 hour 25 minutes and if you know me, you know that's not like me. I rather be sick or injure myself than quit a run early (stupid, I know, but true). I made an exception this time because I really started to worry that I was about to have heat stroke or something so I stopped and sat down for a few minutes and then started again, DETERMINED to finish.

I only made it 10 more minutes at which point my body utterly refused to go on.

I spent the rest of the day feeling like crap. And, now I'm worrying about next week's run. :(

Organizing

I think I have some kind of organizing sickness.

Is that a thing?

Not like obsessive compulsiveness, because I'm not like this all the time. A couple of times a year I get in this mood and it's like I am only happy if I am organizing something. Last night, I was slightly stressed out (probably from trying to organize with 4 kids at home) so Guapo offered to bathe the kids and get them ready for bed while I "relaxed". So what do I do? Sit and watch TV, or read a book, or get online? No. I snuck downstairs and organized 3 drawers and a little cupboard that had been bothering me all day. Today I organized all of the pens, pencils, markers, colored pencils into their own designated holders. That will last all of 10 minutes.

In the last week I have:

-sorted through all the kids clothes and shoes
-sorted through all the school work from this year
-scanned important documents and special school work
-cleaned all closets out
-organized toys and games
-gone through all medicines, sunscreens and bug sprays looking for expired products
-gotten rid of all cruddy looking picture frames
-gotten rid of all old magazines

Agggh! I'm driving myself insane. I lay in bed at night and think of what I want to organize the next day. I think there's something wrong with me.

Photo Book Project

(An extension of the organizing problem)

Last year I made a goal of making a photo book for each kid for each school year. They loved getting their book last year and look at them often. But, it is pretty time consuming to find all relevant pictures of each kid from the last year. And, I finally finished a book from our Christmas trip.

Piano

Did I mention I started taking piano lessons again? I have the greatest teacher here- I just love her. She has several adult students and holds a "recital" for them every 2 months. My first one is in two weeks. I loathe playing in front of other people, but I will do it because I really want to get better.

So, there you have it. That's what I'm up to and why I haven't been posting more. I'm trying to keep myself so busy that the next three weeks fly by and before I know it, I'll be drinking cold, fresh milk and visiting Target twice a day.

Why Tuesday Is the New Monday

Isn't the "X is the new Y" phrase totally over used and cliche now? Well, sorry, but I never really got sick of it since I wasn't living in the States when the whole thing started-and speaking of the which, did it all start because of that line in Devil Wears Prada, or had it started before that?

Anyway, back to why Tuesday is the "new Monday". It's not really the new "Monday" because I've never been a person who dislikes Monday; when I was a kid I didn't dreaded school the way some people did (Guapo) and now I like it because my kids go back to school and I get a little peace and quiet around here (sorry kids, just being honest).

But then, my little cliche phrase wouldn't have worked had I used some day other than Monday, right?

My blog and the fates have chosen thus far not to interfere with my half-marathon training.

And so I continue...

I don't really follow a training program per say-too rigid and then if I don't do as well as I had intended to, at least I can find comfort in telling myself, "well, had I had a training program perhaps..."

My program includes 4 days of running:

1 long run (each on 5-10 minutes longer than the previous week)
1 fast run
1 uphill run
1 normal run

Tuesday is the designated Long Run day. I never take the kids to school on Tuesday because Pedro has his swim class-so I've been getting up earlier and earlier (not my forte) each Tuesday to finish in time to watch him swim.

Here was my course today:



10. 5 miles in 90 minutes and, no, I wasn't drunk (or swimming) as the line may suggest.

I don't really mind the actual run-it's just how crappy I feel the rest of the day-tired, achy and a little grouchy. The sad thing is, no matter how much I train here at sea level there's not much I can do to prepare for the 10,500 ft of altitude that I'll face on race day. I'm considering running with some cotton up my nose to reduce the amount of oxygen available.

At least I am 7 (well, 6 1/2 now) days away from 95 minutes.

Unless my blog curses me first...(please?)

Do I Dare Mention It?

Am I superstitious?

I have to admit I'm a little afraid of my blog. Sometimes it curses me-like the thing last week with Margarita having the goal to not miss a single day of school. I know I already harped about this but she made it all the way from August 2nd when she started school until the day after I posted that without missing school. That's eight months! Then I mention it on my blog and she gets sick? I mean, isn't that weird?

And last year, I let it be known via my blog that I was going to run a 1/2 marathon. Then at the height of my training the 192-hour flu hit and left me with just 3 weeks to build back up to 13 miles. I think not.

So, I'm doing it again. I am starting to train for a 1/2 marathon in June in Colorado. "The Slacker Half Marathon" to be exact, which is quite an oxymoron if you ask me. I've got a little more than 2 months to get in shape. I haven't run one now since Juan Carlos (now 6 yrs old) was just a baby. I think it's about time.

It's also helpful that we have a wedding two weeks later (yay for Guapo's sister!) and why that motivates me to get in shape (it's not like it's my wedding), I don't know, but it does.

So, blog, whatcha going to do about it?

(Why am I mentioning this at all if I am, in fact, superstitious? Two reasons. 1) I have nothing else to blog about and Easter's over. And 2) because I'm nervous about actually having to run it-so if there are any "forces" out there that prefer that I not, I'm cool with that. It's better than just being plain lazy.)

Odds and Ends

Broken Streak-The Blog Strikes Again

Poor Margarita, the day after I blog about her goal of not missing even one day of school this year, she comes down with a fever and can't go. :(

Best Apple Cake Ever

I love apple cake. I have serious issues when it comes to making pie crusts, so I have to assuage my love of apples and cinnamon with cake instead of pie. I have tons of recipes (well, so really only 5) and am always trying to find the best one.

The Search Is Over.

I will be throwing out all other apple cake recipes the next time I organize my recipes. This baby is the bomb of apple cakes. Don't let the spring form pan scare you off (they don't scare you? Hmmm, I guess that's just me)-it is so worth the uneasiness I feel about using it.

1 3/4 c sugar, divided
1 t vanilla
2 large eggs
1/2 c softened butter
6 oz cream cheese
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 1/2 c flour
1/4 t salt
2 1/2 t cinnamon
3 large granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced

Preheat oven to 350. Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, butter, vanilla and cream cheese at medium speed until well blended (about 4 min). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture beating at low speed until well blended. Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Combine half of this mixture with the apples in a bowl, and then stir into the batter. pour batter into an 8 or 9 inch spring form pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour until cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Cool completely before serving (good luck with that! We can never wait-I think it's better warm anyway)


Looking for a Good Book?

In my last few months of reading, I have read two books that I thoroughly enjoyed. They are both books I bought for my book club; the first I was a little embarrassed to introduce to the group-the storyline is so...gruesome and sounds so awful-but it had so many good reviews on Amazon (4 1/2 stars and an unusually large number of reviews-372) that I ordered it anyway. After seeing that it hadn't been checked out after a couple of meetings I decided to give it a try (truth be told, I was feeling just a tad insecure in my role as The Book Buyer).

The book is, "The Hunger Games" by Suzzanne Colins.


I could NOT put this book down. I took it with me on my little trip to Argentina last month and I read the entire flight (not what I had planned on doing since I rarely fly without children-I was thinking more of a nice long nap), and then I kid you not, I was reading every time I stopped moving, no matter how briefly, in the airport (waiting in the immigration line, waiting for my bag, waiting in line to use the cash machine, waiting for the taxi to pull up, etc, etc.).

The story line is not something that would normally attract me: a futuristic world where the central government requires yearly of each of its outlying "rebellious" provinces, one male and one female youth to compete in a nationally broadcasted reality-show where they fight to the death until one victor remains. Awful, huh? I know, it just sounds hor-rib-le.

But, I loved it. Romance, action, bravery, perseverance, friendship, loyalty.

Loved.it.

The second book is, "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett.



It is set in the Mississippi during the 1960's and is told from the perspective of three different women: two black women who work as maids in white households and a white woman recently returned from college with hopes becoming a writer who struggles to fit in to her old life. She comes up with a plan to write a book that tells the personal stories of several maids that she knows. You can imagine that it's not easy to find even one maid who is willing to risk her job, or possibly her life, to share such stories in a book that could be read by their employers. She eventually finds 12 who are willing and writes her book, at a very heavy price for both her and for the women she interviews. But, along with the struggles and losses, there is also triumph of the human spirit-and that's why I loved it so much.

I think I'm drawn to books that involve issues of domestic help since I have lived in countries where it is commonplace, and have had domestic help the last eight years. This book really made me think about what some women give up to have their "freedom" from the mundane-ness of child rearing-the chance to be there consistently for their children in the simplest of moments-to give a hug, wipe a nose, or read a story before nap time. It made me glad I've never employed someone solely as a nanny-sure, I like to have a maid that is capable to babysit here and there when I have to be out-but I have never wanted someone else to be in charge of my kids. A lot of people do that here.

Anyway... two good books.

The Current Bain of My Existence

Library books.

I feel like I am in a constant state of searching. The three older kids are each allowed to check out 3 books, 1 DVD, 1 video and 1 magazine at a time. That's a potential of 15 different objects in my home at any one time that must be returned at some point to the school. There is always something lost...

And that's about it from here...

It's No April Fool's Day Joke-I'm Back

Ok. My photo situation is finally somewhat under control.

I haven't obsessed like that in I don't know how long. I have been dreaming about photos every night and working on my little "project", that felt like at least a part-time job, incessantly.

Here's what I did:

1) Scanned, divided, cropped, named, dated, and organized HUNDREDS of snapshots from pre-digital days.

2) Scanned or downloaded all professionally taken photos including ALL school photos, both individual and class photos.

3) Imported all the digital photos stored on our PC-this includes photos from our first digital camera-purchased in mid-1998 until I got my laptop 3 years ago-on to my laptop so I could have all of our photos in my photoshop organizer. These were in pretty sloppy shape, so it involved a lot of looking through each folder looking for misplaced or duplicate photos.

4) Went through all my emails looking for ones with photos that I wanted to keep, and that were big enough worth keeping.

5) Went through all of our CD's and DVD's that that people have given us with photos of various activities, and downloaded, organized, and named each file.

6) Backed up all of these photos in at least 3 different places.

And now I never want to take another picture again in my life. Kidding, kidding.

So has life stood still during the madness? Of course not, life has been busy.

Highlights include:


1) After a grueling 24 hour labor, my sister delivered a sweet little baby girl.

2) Margarita's Destination Imagination Team won their country finals challenge, enabling them to travel to Tennessee for the Global Finals where she will represent Brazil (Is this situation comical to anyone else? My American daughter will travel to the States and be, as far as anyone there is concerned, a Brazilian.).

3) Pedro split his chin one night last week around 8:00 pm when the kids were all ready for bed and Guapo was out of town (of course). I had to load all four kids into a cab to go to our pediatrician's friend who is a plastic surgeon. Although he needed it, he didn't want to put him through the trauma of stitching him up so he taped and glued him up (with the very same products that I have in my first-aid kit) and charged me $250.00.

Pedro had peeled everything off by the next morning.

Oh well, it's pretty far under his chin and he's a boy, right?

Sorry, I'd show you photos of all three events, but at this moment, I don't have it in me to download anymore photos and mess with my perfect organized photo files.

Maybe tomorrow. I promise I'll be a better blog friend in April. :)

Don't Mind Me, I'm Just Obsessing

Guapo and I have been married almost 13 years now. We have lived in 3 American states, 4 countries, 3 houses, and 6 apartments. The average time we spend in any one place has been 23.67 months. The shortest time we have stayed in one place was Houma, Louisiana (10 months), and the longest has been in Caracas, Venezuela (2 years, 8 months) and even there we lived in 2 different apartments. This blog, which I have now had for just over 3 years, has covered our time in 3 different places (Small Town, Mexico, Mexico City and here in Brazil).

I, in my humble opinion, am an expert mover. It doesn't freak me out-from most places we've lived I've looked forward to it (Washington, DC being the one exception. Well, and Caracas after I visited Small Town). And, since we've now been here in Brazil for 21 months- we are quickly approaching the 23.67 month average time and that means I am gearing up for a move.

But, we recently found out we are staying put for a while longer which I'm fine with-the kids are happy, and it's not a bad place to live.

However. My subconscious mind doesn't care that we're staying-it's entered into my Hyper-Organizational Mode, where I usually fixating on one or two areas and work feverishly until it's done.

This year's obsession?

Digitizing, organizing, and storing all of our photos.

Sounds easy right? I mean, we've had a digital camera for the last 10 years or so-so it can't be that many photos to take care of. Wrong. Pre-marriage college days, wedding pictures, Margarita's birth and first year, professional photos (some of which are in frames), photos that people have given me-both actual photos and emails with photos that I have been saving in my inbox for YEARS! Yikes!!!

And the scanning them-ugggh-so boring and time consuming. Whereas before I wasn't that concerned with backing everything up-now that I've invested a couple of weeks of my life to this project I have two separate external hard drives, I'm backing them up to an online storage site (which took an entire week of uploading!), and now I'm considering also backing them all up on dvds. Why? That's how I am when I'm obsessing-overkill!

So, I'm still around, just a little preoccupied. I need to blog about Margarita's birthday, Pedro (my just turned 2 year old) correctly using the phrase, "What the heck?" and a few other things-so hopefully (for my blog's sake, and Guapo's sake) I'll be done with my photo craze in a few days.

A Somewhat Happier Post

Things are going ok here.

Repair Update

The hot water heater guy finally showed up today after not having hot water since Friday and it appears that the problem has something to do with the hot/cold water valves for the washing machine (it's not all automatic here like it is in the States, if I want to wash my clothes in hot water, I have to turn the hot water knob on). I guess if they are both on, it kills the heater? So, I don't know-maybe it is working, sort-of? We'll see if I can figure out the secret to getting hot water, otherwise that guy's going to be coming back again.

The washer guy STILL hasn't shown up. The billing people however DID show up at Guapo's office demanding payment for the parts and labor which was interesting. They were pretty ticked when he wouldn't pay up. (me sighing and shaking my head. sometimes I just don't get it.)

Someone's supposed to come tomorrow to fix it. I'll believe it when I see it.

And, for the time being, we're giving up the dream of having a working land-line or in-house phone on our second level where we spend all of our time. So, if the building starts on fire and they are trying to call us from below, I guess we're just out of luck. (Note to self: give my cell number to the guards... )

Luckily all the problems I have are just annoying. We are all healthy and relatively happy, so I don't have that much to complain about.

Projects

I finished piecing the quilt for my brother's baby:



Pretty cute, eh? Once again, I would like to try to machine quilt, but I am too afraid to ruin it, so I will hand quilt it-it just takes so much time!

Random Thoughts:

I don't want to forget that the other day Juan Carlos (5 yrs) was eating a piece of cantaloupe and he said to me, "Here mom, you can have the rest of my antelope, I'm done." How cute is that?

It is so hot here right now I feel like I am back in Small Town, Mexico. I constantly have sweat dripping down my face. We don't have central AC, just window units that can't quite keep up with the heat. Sometimes when I start feeling hot, I have to go into a room where it's not on and then return to the original room to get a little relief.

I'm glad Valentine's Day is almost here-I'm getting sick of this background.

That's it from here!

Vacation Update and Quilt

Wow. What a lame blogger I have been. It's just that this has been the best vacation we've had in a long time and I've just been enjoying relaxing and having fun.

We went to Utah for 10 days and finally got some snow.

We skied:

We tubed:

We played:

We spent 4 days in one house with 12 adults and 13 kids and no one fought (well, maybe there were a few kid brawls, but nothing out of the ordinary) and no one got sick. Amazing! Guapo headed back to Brazil a week ago and I stayed on at my in-laws for a few more days for some extra snow time and quality time with Guapo's folks.

I got to have a mini "bloggers-convention" with my friends Janice and Diane. We actually went to high school together, so I'm not sure it really counts as a blogger event, but they both blog, so I'm going to say that it does count seeing how I miss out on all other blogging events living in Brazil. Janice got take out from Cafe Rio and it was de-licious.



Thursday I made my first ever flight alone with the 4 kids. My mother-in-law came through security with me and played with the kids until it was time to board which helped immensely. And we got to curb-side check, and we only had 4 bags, and there was no line in security, and the flight was only an hour-so it was pretty easy. And pretty much not representational of the flight I am facing on Wednesday back to Brazil (no curb-side check-in, at least 8 bags, 12 1/2 hours of flight time, and for some reason I am almost always selected for the extra security check). Oh well.

My sister had her baby shower yesterday (which I might add was larger than my wedding), and I gave her the quilt I was frantically working on the first part of December. So now I can show you:



Here's a close up of one of the dresses:



I was pretty proud of myself because although I followed a pattern, I thought up and, with Margarita's help, designed the applique dresses. (creativeness is not one of my strengths)

We've got 2 1/2 days left which means it's time to finish up my shopping. You can bet I'll be hitting Target at least five times before Wednesday afternoon.

Mystery Solved (sort-of)

Well, within 5 minutes of her being here this morning, my maid found the missing fabric.

The funny thing is is that she found it in a place I know I looked at least twice and Guapo looked once (behind the sofa in the living room).

???

I'm not even going to try to figure it out. I don't even care at this point. I'm sure you don't either.

And, I ended up using the new fabric anyway.

End of the uninteresting story.