Day 23

Today I finished reading "La sombra del viento" in Spanish, I like to read books in the original language whenever possible. I can only read 100% well in Catalan, Spanish and English. I really enjoyed the book, I know the girls have read it too, but because the events take place in Barcelona, I could visualize where it was happening. It is a strange book, like a book within a book within a book, there are so many stories, so much going on. I think the author is an excellent writer, I loved reading it in Spanish. I read the prequel of this book, called "The Angel's Game" in English. The translator, who is the daughter of the poet Robert Graves, did a great job of translating, but reading it in Spanish was so much more meaningful to me.

Day 22

Today has been a totally lazy day, I have done absolutely nothing. Slept late, then Marvin brought breakfast, denver omelette, hash browns, and bacon. Later, I spent sometime in the Jacuzzi, it felt really good. Also picked the last tomato crop of the year, and proceeded to make pa amb tomaquet for lunch.

That's about it, I was so lazy I didn't even want to go to the Thai place for dinner like Marvin suggested, so we ended up eating leftovers and that was fine with me. Did I mention I also took a nap? lol

Tonight I watched The Amazing Race and The American Musci Awards, and the final of The Next Iron Chef. And that's my Sunday!!! :)

Day 21

Today I went to Huntington Beach, Norbert showed me the changes he's made in his yard, and his new toy, some hydraulic something or other to move his toys around. He's leaving tomorrow towards Las Vegas, he's taking the dirt bike and the quad and will go running around in the mountains and of course, having Thanksgiving with his sister.

We went to lunch to Acapulco in Long Beach, it was a very nice day so we ate outside, overlooking the harbor. We had fajitas grandes (steak, shrimp and chicken) and I had a yummy Mango Margarita with a shot of Grand Marnier.

After lunch we went to Seal Beach, the sea was calm and blue, many people were walking around enjoying the nice weather.

A highlight: I found a wonderful Vietnamese-French bakery in HB called Kiaawa. I have long been searching for a bakery that has the type of confections I like. I am not very fond of your typical supermarket bakery goods. This place was a feast for the senses, the smells were great (at least Norbert thought so), everything in the place was a feast for the eyes, the displays were exquisite, the cakes were works or art. I chose 3 petit fours -a layered chocolate, a mango mousse, and an orange creme brulee, delicious!!! I also got some miniature croissants, a mini ham and cheese brioche , and a savory bun.

It was a nice day :)

Day 20

Last day of school , we have all next week off thanks to budget cuts, but nobody is complaining. We have had 2 intensive weeks of testings, assessments, evaluations etc, and all the teachers were stressed and tired, we all embraced the extra days off. By the way, it must be true the economy is bad, this is the first year I have not received any presents from my students for Thanksgiving, boo hoo!! Our school fundraiser was also the lowest we've had in many years.
I have no plans for the week, other than resting, doing report cards, getting the papers ready for our retirement meeting on the 30th, etc. Marvin and I were thinking about spending some days off somewhere, but during the holidays everything is full and more expensive, so we decided to stay home.
We went to dinner with my friend Jennifer last night at Acapulco, and she spent the night over, it was nice chatting with her because we don't see so much of each other during school time. Tomorrow I am going to Huntington Beach to have lunch with Norbert, where to? Acapulco! lol
Have a great weekend everybody!

38 years ago today...

Friday, November 19, 1971, at 11:12PM, Elisabeth Nuria was born at St Benedict's Hospital in Jerome, Idaho. Weighing in at 8lbs 11ozs and 21 1/2 inches long. Hazel eyes and light brown hair.
The doctor that delivered her was Dr James Scheel.
The delivery went well, and she was a beautiful healthy baby. But there was a problem, my uterus wouldn't contract and I was bleeding a lot. I wanted to go back to my room and call my parents in Barcelona, because my dad was leaving on a trip to Hungary that same day and I knew they were waiting for me to call. Finally they took me to my room and her proud daddy left to go home to Sandy (my in laws came to Idaho and were taking care of her). The baby was sound sleep, when I called home, my dad was just about ready to leave for his trip and was overjoyed to know he had another grand daughter, then I talked to my mom, I cried, I missed them.
Then it was time to go to sleep, they gave me an IV and some medication to try to make my uterus go back to normal as I was still bleeding a lot. Lights out, everything was quiet....a little later I woke up and needed to go to the bathroom, I was half sleep and didn't realize I had an IV. I jumped out of bed and the IV crashed on top of me, the nurse came running and saw me laying on the floor sort of dazed and confused.
In the morning, all was well and the doctor said we could go home Sunday morning (photo above). Marvin and Sandy came to pick us up, and Sandy held the baby in her arms all the way home :)
At the beginning we called her Isabel, later on my dad started calling her Lizzie and it stuck. She was a very good baby. Her very first outing was to a pizza place in Twin Falls, ID, where we met out friends Casey and Larry. She started walking at 9 months.
Just for fun, here are some facts of they year she was born: President was Richard Nixon, Pablo Neruda won the Nobel prize in literature, Bridge Over Troubled Waters was song of the year. Median household income in the US was 10,000.00. gas was .40 a gallon, median price of a house was 25,000.00
She has grown to be an exceptional woman and poet, and I wish all the best for her now and always. I love you Lizzie!!!!!

Day 18

Today at school we had the test results, my Kinder class was the best in reading and writing but second best in Math. I am pretty proud of the kiddies, they did well.
There has not been a lot of going on today, so I will go and cook something for my lunch tomorrow.
By the way, the girls seemed to enjoy the patatas Bravas we had at Lizarran, so here's a recipe for them, it's easy.......enjoy!
http://spanishfood.about.com/od/tapas/r/patatasbravas.htm

Day 17

Is hard to write every day lol, nothing much is happening, is just another day. Work, lunch, teach, test, home, TV, dinner yummy pot roast Marv cooked, very tender), computer, bedtime. One cannot have exciting days all the time!
Well let's see, my friend Jennifer called me and we'll go out to dinner on Thursday after school, I'll be sure to have a Margarita in honor of Lizzie's birthday!...I will go to Huntington Beach on Saturday and have lunch with Norbert.
Sonia sent me a link to a hotel in Platja where she would like to have her wedding on 10-10-10. Will it happen? I don't know. I hope it does if this is what she wants.
Just watching Dancing with the Stars, they are down to 3 stars now, Mya (she's the better dancer of the 3 stars left),Donny Osmond and Kelly Osbourne.
I've been having a pain in my right shoulder the last 3-4 days, is hard to lift my arm above my head and I am afraid it might be arthritis, but I hope not. I just took a motrin and hopefully it'll feel better :)
This has really been a random post, sorry about it. I will try to be more entertaining tomorrow, but I am not promising anything ;)