Wishing you all the best...

...for 2010!

With good health, money and love, as they say in catalan...salud, amor i pesetas!

Sad news

Saturday was a quieter day, we all got together again and we all went out for dinner at a little Mexican Restaurant in Magna called El Habanero, we all enjoyed the food.
On Sunday, Sandy fixed a wonderful breakfast of bacon and sausages, hash brown potatoes, scrambled eggs and rolls. After a while Jeff went back to their Hotel to nap (his back had been bothering him), and we just hung out and talked, we were planning on going to Costco for lunch, when Lizzie got a call from Jeff saying his sister had called him to say their father had an apparent heart attack and was in the hospital. Jeff's father is a preacher and he lives close to Seattle, Washington. Jeff told Lizzie he was waiting for more news, but they decided to drive to Seattle and go see him. Marvin and I and the girls went to Costco for lunch and then took Lizzie back to the hotel and wished them a good trip to Seattle (868 miles from Salt Lake City, quite a long drive). Shortly after we got home, Lizzie called saying Jeff's father had died. He was only 58 years old. They drove to Idaho and spent the night in Burley, where we used to live, and drove to Washington Monday morning.
May he rest in peace.

December 25 Navidad

It was so nice to have the family together for Christmas.
Lizzie and Jeff came over on Christmas Eve, Sandy cooked a very nice dinner starting with a baked ham, and Mormon potatoes, Marty made Margaritas for all, we all had a very nice evening. On Christmas day I was the last one to wake up, Tristan had to get me up, he was excited! We all opened our gifts by the Christmas tree, we all , including Osi, enjoyed the gifts, and took pictures, and had breakfast.
We had our Christmas dinner around 6PM, Sandy cooked a great rib roast, with mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole (yum), corn, salad, rolls, and cheesecake and ice cream for dessert, of course we toasted with Cava.
It was a wonderful Christmas!
I will post pictures when we get back home.

A Christmas Carol

Last night Sandy, Tristan and I went to Hale Center to watch "A Christmas Carol" http://www.halecentretheatre.org/
We were sitting in row 3 , it is a theater on the round where we had a great view from all angles. It was a really nice play with lots of singing, very well done and we enjoyed it very much. When we came out the whole area outside the theater was snow covered and all trees had lovely twinkling lights, it really felt like Christmas :)
A highlight of today was going to Les Madeleines http://www.les-madeleines.com/, where I bought some of those glorious pastries called Kouing-aman, they are without a doubt the best pastry I have ever eaten, sweet, crunchy, soft, buttery...yummmmmmmmmmmmmm!
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, Sandy and Marty have to work in the morning, Marvin and Tristan and Sandy are going to a basketball shoot around for a while. Lizzie and Jeff will be here sometime too. It will be so nice to spend Christmas all together.

A year older, a year wiser?

Yesterday I turned 66, it seems impossible I am already that age, but here I am not feeling any different inside, but with a few more aches and pains and wrinkles in the outside. I had a very nice day, besides Marvin, I talked to all my favorite people that called to wish me a happy day, my daughters and grandson, my sister in Sweden, and my Hungarian friend. And of course the kids in my class. We had a fun party decorating cookies, singing Xmas carols, and having a book gift exchange. I also got several nice gifts. At night we went to El Cholo for dinner, I really enjoyed the food, the company, and the Margarita :)

Today was the last day of school and we had a pizza party, and more gifts. We had the school party but I didn't go because I had a lot of things to do to get ready for our trip to Utah on Sunday. I was also tired from 2 days of kids parties !

Mia was telling me about the cold weather and snow they are having, here's La Mirada weather tonight in Centigrade, are you jealous? lol

Marvin is feeling better but still has trouble hearing, hopefully his hearing will come back shortly. We are excited about going to Utah and spending Christmas with our daughters and grandson and Marty and Jeff.

Love you all.

Happenings

This has been a different week. On Monday, Jennifer and I went to dinner at Acapulco, Marvin didn't come because he had an earache. Jennifer spent the night here and we had a nice talk , we don't see each other much in school anymore. Tuesday & Wednesday, we had the same people that did our kitchen doing the service area, they put down the same floor as in the kitchen and painted, changed the lights and the faucets for the washer and dryer, they also installed the new washer and dryer. Marvin was still complaining of a sore ear and headaches.
Thursday morning as I was getting ready to go to work, Marvin came to my room looking pale and shaky and asked me to take him to ER, his ears and head hurt a lot and his balance was a little off , he couldn't hear and had some double vision. I called my principal and told her I wouldn't be going today, it was too late to call for a sub, but luckily they found one after all.
The ER for Kaiser is at the new building in Imperial Hwy. It's a huge building and everything is nice and new. The checked him in right away. He had a bad infection in both ears, he prescribed codeine and antibiotics and was released. On the way home, he took some of the codeine and immediately he felt a little better. Then I noticed the lights in the car had come on saying the tires needed air, I was also low in gas. When we got home, Marvin went to bed and I called Norbert, he came soon after and took care of the tires and the gas, then we went to Acapulco. He's leaving to Las Vegas next week so we wished each other a Happy Christmas.
Also this week we had a lot of rain, it is very needed but when it rains people in Los Angeles forget how to drive! I went to do a little shopping today Saturday. That was totally stressful, the rain, the people...lol I am the worse shopper ever!
Marvin is feeling a little better today but is still weak and hurting, I hope he feels better this coming week as we were planning on leaving a week from today. I am afraid I'm coming down with a cold too :(
So here's for better days next week!!!

Family get together

Today Marvin's family came over for dinner and pre Christmas fun :) Dewey, Mary, Bettie and Lee, and David and his son Alexander. Iris couldn't make it, she was looking for an apartment because her mother is coming from Costa Rica and...well too long and complicated to explain here.We decided to have a "white elephant" gift exchange rather than spend a lot of money on things we really didn't need or want especially since the economic situation is not as good as it had been for some of us.

We had hors d'oeuvres, and Marvin cooked pork spareribs, with beans, salad, rolls and custard pie for dessert, very good. He really can cook the tenderest most flavorful ribs! After we ate, we played the game of gift exchange, it was fun, we had enough things so everybody had 2-3 gifts, some were pretty nice, and some were really "white elephants". I ended up with some nice lotion, some air diffuser reeds and a digital timer.

We watched a lot of college games, Florida vs Alabama and Texas vs Nebraska. I guess the title game for best college team will be in Pasadena December 7 between the winners Texas and Alabama. Boise State had a great season, they were undefeated and hopefully they'll get to play in a bowl.

Alexander has grown a lot, he's very energetic! Mary and Dewey are staying the night. And poor Emily too of course. It was nice seeing everybody.

Why I was crying in Facebook :)

On the last day of November, Monday the 30th, I tended my resignation from LLCSD. The incentive given by the District was too good to pass, and I had been thinking of retiring this year or next anyway. Kindergarten is getting to be too much about reading and writing and pushing pushing the children, it's all about scores and tests. There really is not a lot of fun anymore, although I try to keep some of the "old" kindergarten feeling alive for the kids.
I already had some thoughts in mind about things to do in retirement at least for the first couple of years.
Well...today the superintendent of personnel called me at school to tell me there were not enough teachers wanting to retire this year, and he had to rescind my resignation.
Which means, I have to work an extra year (2010-11)in order to have my 25 years of service and thus retire with an adequate monthly income.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!! :)

Day 30

Back to work today. Nothing much happened, parents were happy to bring the kids to school :)
Well the month is over and I wrote every day. It sure doesn't seem like tomorrow is the 1st day of December. I guess if I was in Sweden it would feel more like December lol, but I guess I will keep my Southern California weather, thank you.
Maybe we will have a white Christmas in Utah, it will be fun to be there with Sandy and her family and Lizzie and Jeff :)
By the way, Messi won the Balon d'Or as best player in Europe, of course he's a Barsa player .
But even better than Messi is Tristan being in the Honor Roll, way to go!!!!!
Love you all.

Day 29

The highlight of my day was El Clasico, the game between Barcelona and Madrid. They are arch rivals in soccer, and in everything else. Soccer is the only game where I have a slight idea of what goes on. I remember my father and later with Nuri's boyfriend Jordi (now her ex husband) watching the games on Sunday afternoons, we -mom, grandma, Nuri and I- were "forbidden" to make any comments or talk too loudly over matters other than what was going on. My father and Jordi would yell, curse, stand up and clap or moan in disgust according on how the game was going. if Barsa won all was well, he would give me money to go get ice cream for all, but if they lost....we all made ourselves scarce, we all went to out rooms and try to stay away from his path. Many a time I thought he would have a heart attack the way his face would get all red and almost purple with excitement, especially when playing against Real Madrid. He was a member of the club and sometimes he would go see the game at the stadium with my uncles, on a few occasions he would take me too.

I have been following how Barcelona was doing on and off during my life in the States, it was hard to keep up since at first neither the papers nor the TV would say anything about soccer. Now I can watch it in direct on TV and it's awesome. I must say, when the Swede Ibrahimovic kicked the only goal of the game, I stood up and clapped hands madly, and again when the game was over. Last year, Barcelona won the European cup, the Liga, and the King's cup and they are considered as the best team in the world. Tuesday they are going to give the Balon D'Or (sort of the soccer Oscar) to the best player, out of the 10 finalists, 5 are from the Barcelona team, with Messi the odds on favorite to win.

Visca el Barsa!!!!!

Day 28

I've been working doing report cards, also went to a couple stores, and bought me 2 tops. Marv went to weight watchers in the morning and got his 5 lbs loss star, way to go Marv!

Tonight I made a typical catalan dinner, croquetas, tortilla de patatas y cebolla and pa amb tomaquet. Like Lizzie said, many times, the simpler the better.

It was nice talking to Lizzie today and to know she and Jeff will be joining us for Christmas in Utah! :)

I also talked to my sis-in-law Mary, they are having Christmas in Dixon. Bettie and Lee and their 2 boys, plus Iris and Alexander and Cristina, Rick's girlfriend.

She also said, Lee and the boys remodeled her kitchen while Bettie was in Dixon, as a surprise! That was nice of them, and it was about time, that kitchen was a mess. I guess is not quite finished yet but I am sure it will be much much better, I am so happy for her.

Mary and Dewey are coming to Burbank the 3rd, and they will come and stay with us for a night or two. They are coming to bring the presents and get theirs ,

I invited them and Bettie and family to come to dinner Saturday or Sunday (they are leaving on the 7th) and au lieu of presents, I suggested we do a white elephant exchange, she thought it was a good idea, and will let me know after she talks to Bettie .

I am watching now the USC-UCLA game, it looks like USC might win. My principal and Jessica and her husbands are tailgating at the game, they are all rabid USC fans.

Tomorrow is El Clasico, Madrid-Barcelona, in Barcelona. I am going to follow it closely, I hope Barsa kicks Madrid's butt!!!!!

Day 27

I woke up thinking it was Saturday. Having a week off has been restful, but today I had to start working on the report cards,
I also went shopping on black Friday, ha ha ha...actually I did go to Trader Joe's and got some eggs and butter. I almost went to Target to get a table lamp, but I didn't even stop when I saw all the people going in and out. I'll get it some other day.
I'm proud of me and Sandy, we have posted every day, only 3 more days to go. I can't say my posts have been very interesting every day, but hey..I did it! :)

Thanksgiving

It was a quiet Thanksgiving for Marvin and I. I did cook, a stuffed capon just like my mom made, only hers was better :), we had green beans, brussels sprouts, mashed sweet potatoes, and rolls. Marvin is doing very well sticking to his points. We also had cava to drink, Marv had a quarter of a cup, I had about 4 glasses. For dessert, we had the cuban goodies and for me also fruitcake.

It was nice talking to Sandy and knowing her meal for 14 had gone without a hitch and they had a good time, they were also going to see the Utah Jazz afterwards. I hope Lizzie had a good time at the House of pancakes, with Jeff and his family.

I give thanks for my husband, our daughters and grandson, my sister(s), and all the rest of family and friends. May we count our blessings and be thankful every day.

day 25

I went to have my bone scan, after Marv and I went to have lunch at the Cuban Restaurant, I had a medianoche sandwich (ham and pork roast and cheese on cuban bread) Cubans sure like their pork. The place was jumping, I didn't know there were so many cubans around here. I even saw and talked to the mother of children I had in my class eons ago, she was buying cuban treats to take to her work. I also bought a mango dessert for tomorrow.
This morning I put an ad in Craig's list, we wanted to give away our 38 inch Toshiba TV that worked perfectly but was sooo big, and also the futon. In a matter of minutes I got lots of answers, they all wanted the TV, or the futon, or the TV and the futon. We gave the TV to a single mother with a 10 yr old son, she said her 24 yr old TV had quit working. She brought an older man to help her because I told her the TV was way heavy and we couldn't help her carry it.
I am not sure the TV will get to her house in one piece. The back of her SUV was full of empty cans and plastic bottles they probably collected to sell, and they threw a blanket over it, and they basically put the TV face down on top of it. I hope it works for them, she was very grateful. The futon went to a younger couple that lived not too far from us. She had pink hair, at least she and her husband came prepared, with a pickup and rope to tie the futon down. They also were very thankful, she said they had been looking for one for a long time .
It was nice to be of help to some people that otherwise could not have afforded the TV or the futon.

Day 24

This morning Marvin and I went to Kaiser, where he had some blood drawn and I made an appointment for a bone density scan for tomorrow.
Afterwards we drove to Downey, to a Cuban Restaurant-Bakery, where I bought some empanadas,meat pastries, and mango cake. Marvin was very good and only had a sugar free fruit brulee pastry. Cuban pastries are quite similar to the ones in Spain, and I enjoyed them a lot.
In the afternoon I went to the library and got a bunch of books, some in Spanish. At home I started working on report cards, but my heart wasn't in it, so maybe tomorrow lol.
Lovely weather again, the roses are blooming and the tomatoes we picked are sweet and juicy!

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 ;)

Day 16

The house looks emptier without the girls and Tristan here.I sure enjoyed them while they were here.
I laughed reading Sandy's blog talking about the Utah weather. Today it got a lot warmer than when she was here, it was 80 degrees around noon. It's cool in the morning and night but was very warm during the day.
Today one third of my class was missing, and since I only have 15 kids, that means I had a great total of 10 children! I was the envy of the whole school!
There's really not a lot more to say. Next holiday in the USA is Thanksgiving, Sandy is having a houseful of people, and Lizzie I am sure will enjoy her pancakes ;) Marvin and I are still not sure what we'll do, we are not too big on turkey so we'll see.
See you tomorrow on the blog!

Day 15

It has been so nice having the girls and Tristan over, Lizzie left this morning back to San Diego, and Sandy and Tristan will be leaving early tomorrow morning.

Marvin made breakfast in the morning, and shortly after, Lizzie left. It was a lovely sunny day today and we all went outside for a while, Sandy to read, and I checked the flowers, roses are blooming, and took a picture of our last tomato crop, they did better than I thought (see picture) for the middle of November. Sandy and I had some "pa amb tomaquet" using one of our tomatoes, very good.

For dinner we went to Panda Inn, a favorite of Tristan, he kept on saying he likes the chinese style, and he sure enjoyed eating his Phoenix chicken with chopstick(s).

We watched The Amazing Race, and I thought of Mia because it took place in Sweden and in Estonia. It was fun!

So back to school tomorrow, and looking forward to Christmas when we will go to Utah and hopefully Lizzie and Jeff will be there as well :)

day 14

Did I say is very nice to have the two girls and Tristan over today? :)
In the morning, Sandy and Marvin went to Weight Watchers, and Marv enrolled in the program! good for him. Sandy went to the gym afterwards.
Lizzie got here by 11, and later on, we went to lunch at Lizarran, just us women. http://www.lizarran-ca.com/ We had an array of tapas, and I had some sangria that was yummy, we had a really nice time!
In the afternoon we just chatted and hung around, and later we all went to dinner at El Cholo. Again we had a very lovely dinner, and because it was close to Lizzie's birthday, we had the waiters coming to sing Happy Birthday, complete with giving her a Mexican hat to have her picture taken.
It was really a lovely day, good food, good company!!!! :)

Friday the 13th

Today was a pleasant enough day. On Fridays I have a more relaxed curriculum for the kiddies, more play, more letting them be what they are: little children. They enjoyed the extra recess, the watching a Clifford movie, the playing with blocks and Legos. But it was also time to learn to add, and write from dictation. They did extremely well, I am proud of them.
During lunch time by myself, I felt a pang of regret about not going to Disneyland. It is funny because had I gone, I would have gone like after work and mainly to see the fireworks etc, and by that time they were already almost on their way back.
Reading Sandy's blog, I can see that Tristan may have got some of my impatience, I cannot stand to be on line! many times I have left halfway because I just couldn't stand it any longer.
Lizzie finally decided not to come up tonight but will be here tomorrow. It'll be nice to have both girls here.

Day 12

It is now 11:00PM, it is raining rather heavily and I was surprised since rain had not been in the forecast. Sandy and Tristan are going to Disneyland tomorrow, I hope the weather is a lot better tomorrow.
I finally decided not to go, my toes have been giving me some problems lately, maybe because of a new pair of shoes, and I have blisters in 4 toes! I was thinking of maybe just going later to see the fireworks and the fastasmic show but I am not sure is worth the $72 entry, also Tristan enjoys going to the park with his mother and sometimes I am a bit of a drag :Þ
Lizzie has not decided if she will go to Disneyland after work, is a long drive and after working all day, she may be too tired, but if she doesn't come Friday she will come up Saturday :)
And now I guess it's bedtime!

Day 11

Veteran's Day, no school. We all woke up late, Sandy went to the gym for a while. Later Marvin and Tristan went shopping, and Sandy and I stayed around the house and talked.I miss talking to both my girls. When the boys came back, the four of us went down to Huntington Beach and ran around the beach a little bit, it was close to sunset and the day was a overcast and a little chilly.
You cannot come to Southern California from Utah and not go to the ocean!!!!
We drove to Seal Beach and had an early dinner at Joe's Crab Shack which was enjoyed by all. Tristan had, surprise!, mac and cheese, Sandy had crabcakes with a salad, Marvin has crawfish done 2 ways, I had calamari and clam chowder. Marvin and Sandy also had crab dip.
Tonight we are just sitting around watching TV. And back to work tomorrow.

Day 10

The highlight of the day was going to the airport and picking up Sandy and Tristan. They both are looking great, it was so nice to see them :)
We went to In'n'Out for take home hamburgers and fries, then watched some TV and talked a little. They liked the kitchen, and I hope they will sleep well in the sofa bed.
Tomorrow is Veteran's Day and I have no school which is great. I am not sure yet what the plans are for the day.
Thursday I have to work, we are still testing and the tests are due on Friday. Friday they want to go to Disneyland, I was thinking about taking the day off and going, but is too long a day for me and for some reason the toes in both my feet are hurting today.
Is nice having them here, I hope Lizzie can find some time to join us this weekend :)
Now..good night!

Day 9

I was working with my PSP and I just noticed it was 11:30 so i thought I'd better write a little bit before the day is over.
Marvin and I are looking forward to seeing Sandy and Tristan tomorrow :)
Today has been a rather uneventful day so I will just send the tag I did a little while ago. I wish I could send animated tags. Mia had sent animations, maybe she can tell me how to do it :)
Besos.

Day 8

Sunday is usually a stay at homne day. Marvin gets breakfast in the morning (Denver omelette, hash browns and bacon), we read the newspaper and just take it easy. Since Sandy and Tristan will be coming on Tuesday :) we did some cleaning, put things away, etc.
It was again a beautiful Fall day, and we spent some time outside, I made a pepper ristra and we hung it in the porch to dry. We also picked a fairly good size tomato from our hanging baskets, probably one of the last ones of the season.
Here's a nice view of the garden today.

Day 7

And so I went to the hair salon. Lauren my hairdresser is a very nice person, she listened to what I had to say and really took her time with me. After dying my hair (maybe a little too dark, but is very lustrous) she washed it and gave me a long scalp, neck and ear massage. It felt great. She also gave me a mini facial. I felt totally relaxed, then it was haircut time. I told her to do what she thought would look well for me, something easy for me to take care of, it came out very nice, she didn't cut too much but layered it and now it has a nice shape. I was happy with it. I even bought some Aveda products like voluminizing tonic. As I was leaving, she surprised me by giving me a hug and a kiss :) By the way, one of my ex Kindergarten kids works there as a trainee. she asked me if I was Mrs. Wann, I said yes and she said you were my teacher in Kindergarten lol
Afterwards I went to my favorite store Trader's Joe and then home. Marvin said my hair looked nice. For dinner, we went to Acapulco.
It was a very nice day.

Day 6

At school, today was collaboration day. That means all members of a grade team and the principal, get together and discuss the progress of the students. In Kinder, we meet from 9:00AM to 10:30AM. The teachers take turns to bring breakfast on collaboration day. Two weeks ago it was my turn, since I couldn't decide what I wanted to bring, Marvin got it for me: fresh fruit tray, brie cheese spread, croissants, I also got some cream cheese and bagels. Today was Norma's turn, she brought McDonald's breakfasts, it was OK.
Tomorrow is my hair appointment day, I am sort of anxious. I hope I'd like it :)
Have a good weekend everybody, and I hope you all will feel better!

Day 5

I had nothing much to write about today, but after talking to Lizzie and reading Sandy's blog, I will write about hmmm..life?
My thoughts are, life is what you make of it. Sometimes we don't see the little things that make us happy because we are too involved in the big picture, in the routine, the day to day rote. What we want out of life is also tempered by our circumstances, our families, we must however make time for ourselves and fulfill our own needs as well.
I most of the time look at the bright side of life. I just reread what I wrote and I am not sure it makes much sense, plus it makes me think too much.
However, I want to say that I have discovered, well actually I always knew but maybe didn't say it out loud, that I have all kinds of hmmm..quirkiness that may be annoying to others and it sometimes annoys me too, although I tend to laugh it off. Case in point. My fear or dislike of going to have my hair done. I keep on trying different salons and I'm never satisfied, I have gone to high end and to Fantastic Sam's and everything in between. Part of the problem is I cannot verbalize what it is I want. The other part of the problem is that I don't know what I want. (How about the fact that Nuri used to have a hair salon, would that be a factor too?)
So, I just have made an appointment to have my hair colored and cut on Saturday at 11:30AM ARTIKA HairSpa
That's where I went last time (in April lol).
One of these days I will write about my indecisiveness about retirement. That will take a couple of pages lol, so be prepared. Goodnight now, I'm going to watch Project Runway....one of life's little pleasures.
(Picture of my hair right now, will take one Saturday)

Day 4

Wednesday is a short day, the kids go home at 1:30 but we have to stay until 3. I pleaded sickness (cough, cough) and left early. We have 2 full weeks of testing the little children: Math which is writing numbers to 20, making patterns, simple addition, days of the week, and shape recognition. For Language Arts we ahve to test them on letters names, letter sounds, reading high frequency words (25), reading (level 2), writing at least a sentence, and penmanship. I am lucky I have only 15 kids because every test has to be done one by one. The challenge is giving the other 14 kids something to do so they don't interrupt constantly! It all takes a loooong time and we all (teachers and kids) get frustrated and cranky.

There's way too much emphasis on testing, most especially in Kindergarten, I just don't think they should be given so many tests. I have 3 children that are still 4 years old (one of them is turning 5 tomorrow), let them be children I say :)

Day 3

I went back to school today, my sub yesterday only had 11 children, there's a lot of flu around the school. One kid in the next K room got viral meningitis, and one in my room had head lice. Fun!!! Notes were sent home notifying the parents of all K children. I can feel tomorrow there will be a lot of absences!
I feel better but still cough a bit and took a long nap when I got home. Marv cooked catfish and it was very good.
Good night!

Day 2

Today November 2 is called "dia de todos los santos" in Spain, and is a holiday. People go to the cemetery and make a party of it, in a way. The whole family goes and take flowers and eat and drink. An honor their dear departed.

What I miss of this day, is the typical food we eat, in Catalunya we ate "panellets" They are little round cookies like little balls, most are made with marzipan. My favorite one was the one studded with pinenuts. I am craving them :)

May all my family and friends that have left this world rest in peace.

Daily Blogging

OK I will try to write something every day. Not much to say for today, been in and out of bed all day. Outside was a fantastic day, but because the DST it gets dark way too soon.

We ordered Thai to go, pineapple rice, kai koowah, and pork satay. It was good.

Now watching the Big Race, then back to bed.

And here's a picture of our new sofa bed :)

Happy Halloween! Marvin and I spent the day in bed, we both have a cold, or is it the flu? We turned off the lights at night so we wouldn't get trick or treaters since we didn't feel well enough to go out or to "treat" the goblins.

Did any of you get dressed for work? What did Tristan chose to be this year?

Don't forget to change the clock back one hour tomorrow. I think in Europe DST was last week.

By the way, today was a totally gorgeous Fall day, in the high 70's and sunny. No snow for us.... ;)

OK, back to bed. Hope your day was fun!

Weekend in Encinitas

This weekend we went to Encinitas, Berkley Hart had a show Saturday night which we have seen already twice, called "O Berkley Where Hart Thou?" It is a great show with music and fun, and it just seems to get better every time.

Marvin and I stayed in a great little Bed & Breakfast called Moonlight Inn. We were upgraded to a suite, it had a queen bed and a single bed, and a full bath with tub and shower. We had a nice view of the waterfall from our room and we fell sleep with the sound of water running, very tranquil. The beds were super comfortable, and in the morning they served a wonderful breakfast of freshly baked croissants, eggs, yogurt and a plate of fresh fruit, cantaloupe, strawberries, grapes and honeydew. Yummy.

On arrival to the B&B and after resting for a while, we went out for lunch to a funky restaurant called "El Callejon", Marvin had cochinita pibil, and I had chicken tacos with guacamole. After lunch, we put the top down in the SSR and cruised down the coast to Del Mar. It was such a lovely day, the sky and the ocean were deep blue, the temperature was about 75 degrees, gorgeous day.

The show started at 8:00 and we left the Inn to meet Jennifer, my friend from school. We got to the venue and Lizzie was there to welcome us. Jeff's mother and step dad were also there from Florida, also Jeff's grandfather. We had good second row seats and met a few of the performing artists. They all told us how wonderful Lizzie is, as if we didn't know that already :) She did a great job or organizing and getting things ready.

The show was great, Dakota Berkley and Miranda Hart sang with their respective fathers who couldn't be prouder, they did a nice job. We sang along to a couple of songs, and the grand finale had us all standing up singing "You are my Sunshine". Everybody enjoyed the show very much.

On Sunday, Marvin and I drove to San Diego via La Jolla, again with the top down, and visited with Lizzie for a while. She was a little tired because she stayed up cleaning after the show was over. Soon after we went back home.

It was a very enjoyable weekend.

Changing rooms

I think I already wrote we were thinking about changing the "office/futon" room into a "study/bedroom". What I had not thought about is all the work it entails. Marvin and I have been working moving stuff around, oak furniture is heavy and we seem to have lots of it too!
So far we have moved Marvin's desk and file cabinets into his bedroom. We had to move some of the other furniture around, and it will go into the other room. We had decided to get a sofa bed rather than an actual bed because most of the time nobody will be sleeping there, and that way it will be just like a sitting room and it will be easy to convert when we have guests :) We went out looking at furniture stores and found one we both like, it's corduroy sort of light brown and converts into a full side bed, it's pretty comfortable, Marvin said he can see himself sitting there reading. We would also have to move bookshelves around etc etc. And also we have a little dilemma...will the sofa fit through the door?
I'll keep you posted.
On to a different subject. I have read 55 books since January 1, pretty good eh?
I have read 2 books lately written by Catalan authors, the setting is Barcelona. One is called "The Gaudi Key" is sort of similar to the Dan Brown books of Templars and knights etc. but the central figure is the Sagrada Familia and works of Gaudi, so I enjoyed that part http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/e/martin-esteban/gaudi-key.htm.
The other book is called "The Angel's Game" which is a prequel to "The Shadow of the Wind" http://www.carlosruizzafon.co.uk/
That's all for today, have a good night everybody :)

My Kinder Team

It seems like every year my Kindergarten team changes. This year besides Gloria and Norma, we have Jessica (I worked with her in kinder several years ago) and her partner Dani, who is 6 month pregnant. They share a classroom, Jessica works in the morning and Dani in the afternoon.

We had a fun Back to School night. All the parents (but one) of the kids in my class were in attendance. Today the super intendent came to visit our school, he visited every room and he was very complimentary about the way my class looked. Wish I could say the same about my 15 kiddies's behavior lol.

Such a small class and such a great difference in skills. One boy can read fluently at level 6 and he already can read 72 of the 100 high frequency words they need to know by the end of kinder. The other extreme, is a boy that cannot write or recognize his name, and can't tell the difference between letters and numbers.

I was thinking the other day, that since I became a kindergarten teacher at Jersey School, I have taught about 700 children. And I am not counting Idaho...

I am now teaching the children of some of my students. Fun!

Hello Autumn!

Summer is over and is back to the work routine. We had Back to School day on Wednesday and it went very well, I put some pictures of my class in Facebook, as you can see, I changed things around a little, I get bored with the same thing all the time. My friend Jennifer came to spend the night Wednesday and Thursday, it was fun to chat with her and catch up.
Marvin went to San Diego last Sunday to help Lizzie with her truck and spent the night there. On Friday I went with Marvin to Kaiser where we had some more surgery done, it went well but he has a black eye now, and his lip is puffy. Saturday I went to Huntington Beach to water Norbert's lawn and pay some of his bills. Then I went shopping, yes shopping, fun! not.
We are still working on putting things back in the kitchen, it takes a while to have everything exactly as we ant it. But we are really liking it, is nice to have the extra space too.
Tonight we talked to Tristan for a long time while Sandy and Marty went to The Killers concert, he was bored he said. He's such a great kid!
Well this has been a little random but I felt like writing before the month was over :) Have a great week everybody!

It's finished!!!

Finally the kitchen is all done, all is left are just a few tweaks here and there, some curtains and accessories, but the main thing is finished. Now comes the putting things back in the cabinets, drawers etc. , this will take some time. I really think it looks good :)

We've been having a lot of eating out and take out, so now we can go back to our regular routine. Today Marvin is grilling pork ribs, to go with gratin potatoes and southwest salad.

School is going well, still 15 kids, not too bad lol. Next week is our Back to School meeting with parents, our new K team is working out OK, although I would much rather have Jennifer back.

Summer is almost gone, the Autumnal equinox is just around the corner, I hope that means cooler days, we had a very hot August and September, but it seems to start cooling down a little bit.

I will post some more kitchen pictures in Facebook.

Have a great week!!!

Back to work

School started early this year, September 2. I only have 15 children in my class, so far. That's the smallest class ever for me, and I like it! We only had 3 days of school, and then the long Labor Day weekend. Back to the grind tomorrow.

On other news, our neighbors Patty and Leon moved out also on September 2, and the same day, the new neighbors moved in. They are a young couple with no children. I already met the husband but not the wife.

The kitchen is not yet finished. Hopefully they can finish it tomorrow. They need to finish painting, I'd like the gray to be a little darker, maybe it will be with the next coat of paint. They need to hook up the stove top, change the hinges in the cabinets and put the knobs on. So far it looks very nice. I will certainly take pictures when is all finished :)

Marvin is planning on going to Utah on Thursday for a couple of weeks, if the kitchen is all finished.

The fires around Los Angeles seem to be under control, and today was a most wonderful bright sunny day!

And I agree with Sandy, every week should be a 4 day work week :)

More stuff

Here you can see part of the floor and the finished granite counter top

The kitchen is progressing along nicely. Today they installed the floor, looks good :) All it needs now is finishing the cabinets, putting on the stove top, placing the refrigerator back and painting!

On Tuesday, Marvin and I both went to the optometrist, Marvin's glasses were old, so he'll get new ones for computer work. My right eye is still very blurry, I have a staph infection in the eyelids so the doctor gave me some ointment and directions to take care of it.

Today I went to have the always entertaining mammogram lol. Other than that, I didn't do much of anything, just enjoying my last vacation weekend.

Our next door neighbors are moving on September 2nd, I hope the new neighbors are as nice and trouble free as they were.

Have a great weekend everyone!!!!

Just stuff

First, a kitchen update. When they came to install the granite on Saturday, Marvin noticed it was not the right color, we chose "blue pearl" and what they brought looked a lot more like "gray pearl", we were not happy because it looked too dark. The installers were not happy, they kept on saying there's different dimensions and tones to blue pearl however it really looked nothing like the one we wanted. Later on they called us to go to El Monte to the granite warehouse and choose the slabs we wanted color wise. Marvin and I drove there and looked at all the granite (we needed 5 slabs) and even though we didn't see any exactly like the one we originally chose, we chose some that was similar, just not as blue.

Now the granite and the sink are in place and it looks great, the porch is also finished.

In other news, on Sunday we had Marvin's family over to celebrate Bettie and Lee's 40th Anniversary. It was a challenge to organize it without a functioning kitchen, but it all worked very well. We were happy Lizzie came too :) I think they all had a good time. As usual Marvin did a great job deciding on the food and getting things ready.

I also started back to work this week. School begins September 2, but we had to test the new kindergarten children prior to assign them to the classrooms. We also needed to get the classrooms ready. It's hard to wake up early lol. This year we have another new Kindergarten team. It seems like every year we get someone different!

This is now

Wednesday is the day when they are going to start working on the kitchen. We had been talking about remodeling for a long time, and the time is here. We are not going to have a full remodel way toooo much money), we are going to keep the kitchen cabinets, but get a new sink, dishwasher, new floor and paint, and granite countertops. We are also getting another kitchen cabinet that will stretch to the far wall thus giving us more counter space.

Marvin and I have spent all day moving things from the kitchen to boxes etc. of course we need to take everything out of the kitchen, that's a lot of work! Tomorrow I have to go to work but I will try to get home right after lunch anf finish things off. By the way, that means eating for a couple oif weeks lol.

We are also going to have the front porch redone, it had come apart and now we don't have a porch ocver.

Happily Marvin's surgery went well and he's feeling fine. He's going back the 20th to get his stitches removed.

Memorials etc.

On Saturday I went to a Memorial Service for the mother of one of the staff members in my school. I had met the lady once at a school Christmas party at her house. She died at 83 of Lou Gehrig's disease, she was born in Scotland, moved to Canada, and lived most of her adult life in California.

I have to tell you when the Scottish piper came down the aisle, I had a meltdown! I just cried and cried, it was interesting. I am a crier by nature, but this was way over. I was seated in the family row and I think most people thought I was like a long lost daughter or something.

I think what happened is I was mourning my mother . I never went to her funeral and maybe this memorial service (complete with family members talking about her and a slide show) did bring me closure.

Nice day

Lavender Farm in Mona, Utah

Today I woke up by 10. We had a repairman come to fix the oven, then Marvin went to do some errands while I had a danish for breakfast . Later I went to the movies to see "Julie $ Julia" it was the first day and it was full house! I enjoyed the movie, Meryl Streep does a great Julia Child. Is there any character she cannot do???

After the movie I went shopping for school clothes, and all I ended up with is a nice top. I don't like to try clothes on but still I felt I wanted something new.

At home, I kept on cleaning the drawers in my chest of drawers 12 down and 3 to go! then I will work on the closet. It just has to be done. Prior to going to Utah, I went through boxes of old clothes and shoes and had a few boxes to give to Goodwill. I guess I am in a cleaning mood.

At night, Marvin made BLT's and I had a Estrella Damm beer -the beer brewed in Barcelona- available at World Market. Yum I had missed that taste.

In the night, under a full moon, I had a relaxing time in the Jacuzzi. Even when the days are hot, it really cools nicely in the evening, and it was great!

Trip to Utah

We are back from our Utah trip. Is always nice to be back home, but I sure miss Tristan and Sandy, Marty and Osi, the new family addition. I wish we had had more time to get to play with her!

We did some fun things while in Utah, especially the Thanksgiving Gardens, it was so awesome, I loved it! I also enjoyed Taggart Grill in Morgan. great food and beautiful surroundings. And of course having my first pastry at Madeleine's yummy. I also enjoyed all the restaurants we went to and the meals we had there and at home. I love food!!!! Sandy also bought 2 books and let me read them first, I enjoyed them both very much, ones was Julia Julie by Julie Powell and the other Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner.

I had a couple problems while I was there too, first THE HEAT! as Sandy said, I am getting older pfffft and can't stand the heat as much, which is true, then I had a huge pain in my big toe, I thought it was gout but maybe arthritis, but let me tell you, it was painful! luckily it only lasted 2-3 days. I also got bitten by something while I was outside in the porch, a bite in the arm, a bite in the lip, go figure, Marvin spent a lot of time in the porch and nothing bothered him lol. Also because of the heat, my dry eyes grot drier, sometimes they were terribly blurry. Last but not least, I bumped my leg while getting on the bathtub, I kid you not, I got a dent. It hurt. In a word, I am klutzy!

In the way to Sandy's home, we stopped in Beaver, that's where the inventor of TV was born and also Butch Cassidy was born there. We stayed in the crappiest Motel ever. Tristan didn't like it at all and neither did we.

In the way back, we made reservations to a new hotel casino in Las Vegas. Beautiful hotel, great big room and bathroom, beautiful amenities but......horrible pillows lol. I couldn't fall sleep. Marvin says I am like the Princess and the Pea ;)

So we got home in La Mirada, and after 100+ degrees days in Utah and Las Vegas, I was looking forward cooler temperatures , and guess what? it was 100 here too!!!!!

Thanks Marvin for a nice trip, you are a great driver!

A day in the beach

We decided to go to Huntington Beach today. We are going to Utah in a couple of days so I figured he needed to see the ocean before we left. He growled a little because he just loves to play Nintendo while watching TV or being in the computer while looking at a movie. But I said no excuses, beach here we come!
Once we got there, he really enjoyed himself looking for shells and jumping the waves. I think he was pretty glad we went. The weather was nice, the water was cool, we had fun!

The picture

For some reason, it didn't show in the previous post.

...and Family

Last weekend we had the great and rare pleasure of getting together at home with our 2 daughters and grandson. The girls wrote about it and I don't have a lot to add other than we had a very enjoyable time together :)
I am very proud of my daughters and my grandson. Tristan is staying with us for a few days before we take him back to Utah for the beginning of his school, 6th grade already!
Toda we went to see the new Harry Potter movie. We got there early anticipating big lines, but we chose the best matinee time and we just got in without waiting. Once inside we read our books until the movie started. The movie was long, 2 1/2 hours, but quite entertaining. I am not a big fan of Harry Potter but I enjoyed the movie although I was a tad lost. Tristan made up for me since he is obssessed (his words) about Harry!
It is such a pleasure for us to hang out with Tristan!!! :)

Friends

I was thinking about some of the friends I've had that have meant something to me at different times of my life...
I am talking about non blood related friendships.
As a teen, my best friend was Isabel (yes, Lizzie was named after her). We went to school together, we double dated, we talked on the phone for hours. We both liked "foreigners" more than Spaniards for dating, especially we liked American, and coincidentally, we both married guys from Oklahoma. We kept in touch while we both lived in the US, and we both had 2 children (2 boys in her case).
Unfortunately our friendship came to a close for unknown reasons.
Another long lasting friendship of sorts, is Lolin. We have known each other for over 50 years. It's more of one sided friendship, her life is fraught with drama, her family is very dysfunctional, but I seem to be a calming influence on her, so it endures.
Once I got married, my best friend was Sue. She was a friend when I first came to the States and we had fun together, she was married to one of Marvin's best friends Larry. In Idaho, my best friends friends were Araceli (a Spaniard-Argentinian), Myrta and Rosa, we all went to Idaho State together to become teachers. We had many fun times, especially when we spent a crazy Summer in Pocatello!
In California, my best friend in school is Jennifer. In spite of our age difference, we enjoy each other a lot .
But my all time best friend is Norbert. We met at Idaho State University 28 years ago today. We have been best friends ever since. He moved to California from Idaho, and some years late so did I. Through the years we have helped each other in many different ways, we can depend on each other. We enjoy each other's company. I know we'll always be friends :)

...and now, my MJ turn

I watched the spectacle that was the Michael Jackson Memorial. It actually was not as gaudy as I thought it would be. Some pretty emotional moments, some of the speakers seemed to speak from the heart, and singers sang with feeling. I was not too crazy about all the civil liberties/political speeches, I am not a fan of Al Sharpton, et al, but I guess it was to be expected. Even our esteemed President had his say, and Maya Angelou wrote a poem for the occasion...

Now, I am one of the few that think he was not a child molester. There is not enough room or time to discuss it here, but I have my own opinion about it.

He was a troubled and talented man, I still have some LP's of him, his music lives on. And so does the myth.

Happy Independence Day

Weekend in San Diego

School is finally over. Lizzie and Jeff invited us to attend Jeff's Citizen Band CD release party at Brick by Brick in San Diego. It was a nice day to spend Father's Day!

First we stopped by Lizzie's house and we went out to lunch, we were going to a very popuylar BBQ place called Phil's but there were so many people we decided not to stay. We ended up at The Olive Garden where we had a very nice lunch. A funny thing happened, our server had finished his shift, and we got a new server. After we finished our meal, we waited and waited for the server to come and give us the bill, finally I got up and called a waitress and told her we had been waiting and it seemed like they had forgotten about us. shortly after the server came with aspologies, and told us we could have a drink or dessert on the house to make up for the delay. We chose not to. A few minutes later, the manager came, very apologetic, and said the meal was on the house, and to please excuse the delay and next time he promised we would have the best of service. All in all it was nice to enjoy a free meal :)

After lunch, we checked in at a cool hotel called Porto Vista, in the Little Italy area of San Diego. We went by Extraordinary desserts and bought some yummy cake, and then took a nap and got ready for the party.

The show was great, a lot of very excited people digging the music, we saw a lot of friends we had met in other Jeff's shows. We really enjoyed the vibe and the music.

After a very good night sleep (great beds), we woke up and had breakfast at The Glass Door restaurant of the hotel, with a great view of San Diego and the harbor. After check out we went by Lizzie's and she told us Jeff had a flat tire in his pick up and had left his pick up at the venue, we called AAA and went back to Brick by Brick and waited for the tow truck.

And then we drove back home. We drove the SSR and the weather was beautiful and we sure had a really enjoyable weekend.

Counting the days...

I have been so busy is not even funny! the last days of school are the hardest.the kids sense school is almost over and they act like crazy people, in all grade levels! It's exhausting! We are done with all the testing, still working on report cards, Monday the picnic at the park, Tuesday the Kindergarten promotion and performance, and finally on Thursday it's "Have a good Summer, kids". I surely will miss them -for about 10 seconds lol.

Then it's clean up time, more fun...not! I am dreading it, putting things away, getting rid of stuff that I haven't used in years. I am not good at it, I tend to save everything and I even get attached to useless things.

So wish me luck!

We are the Champions!!!!

I just had to post this. Today Barcelona soccer team became the European champions by defeating Manchester united 2-0. I watched part of it in my class online and I was clapping hands a whooping it out and the kids got in the mood too . I told them if Barsa won we'd have a party tomorrow :)

In other news, Marv and I went to talk to the retirement counselor. After talking things with Marvin we decided for sure I will be working next year, with a chance of going another year if everything is well. We'll see. Because I changed careeers (so to speak) at 38, I don't have as many years of service as other teachers that become teachers in their 20's.

After seeing the counselor, we went to Acapulco's Happy Hour to celebrate my team's victory with 2 Margaritas, and chips and salsa. Ole!

Memorial Day Weekend

It was nice having 3 days off!!! Marvin and I just finished having BBQ hamburgers with potato salad, all made by him, was delicious :) It's been a lazy day. Yesterday we had Norbert over for BBQ ribs, we ate outside it was nice and cool. Marvin made appetizers (salami, cheese, dips, etc) then dinner was BBQ ribs, yum, asparagus, and beans, for dessert we had strawberries and raspberries.
Norbert brought a lot of plants from his house, geraniums, roses and amaryllis. I am not sure why he brought them, he's not one much for plants and stuff, he likes his grass green and that's about it. We had a good time eating, drinking and talking.
I hope you all had a really nice Memorial Day Holiday. Of course is not celebrated in Sweden but I am sure Mia did something fun too!

Just posting :)

I was looking at all the family blogs and there certainly seems to be a total lack of postings all around. Therefore I take it upon myself to keep the ball rolling.
I just finished watching American Idol, tomorrow they choose a winner, I say "they" because there's no way I'm going to vote for either one. I really like Adam, he was fun to watch and has a great voice and personality, Kris is cute and sings OK, but nothing extraordinary.
I also watched the final of Dancing with the Stars, the little gymnast girl won, good for her, she acted like she won another gold medal.

On a different subject, is nice to have Marvin home,he's been working on the garden, and also cooking :) I was a little tired of my cooking by now lol. He enjoyed his time in Utah of course, but it's always nice to be back home.
Only one more month before school is out! can't believe how fast the year has gone, especially the last couple of months. This year I had a great evaluation, well I always do hee hee, and my kids have really done very well. I still miss Jennifer as my partner in K, but I guess I have to get used to my new team (yawn).
OK that's about it. I hope this little bit of no news will inspire you all to write!!!!!

Earthquake

Around 8:30PM I was watching Survivor and also doing some PSP, when things started shakign up. I got up and went to stand by the door frame. The chairs in the living room were swinging a little and so was the lamp. It lasted about 8 seconds. It was a 5.0 earthquake centered close to Long Beach. Norbert called me and he felt it too. It's such a weird feeling! My principal, who is expecting a baby any minute now, told me she felt it and felt contractions right after :)
I don't think it was felt all the way in San Diego, was it Lizzie?
Luckily no damages were reported.

An observation :)

This is a PS to my haircut post.
My hair is sort of like a boomerang. No matter what Hair Salon I go, or who cuts or styles it, the very next day it reverts to its usual form.

"THE" haircut

Most of you that read my blog know I have a little phobia about hair salons, I just simply cannot find anybody that gives me a haircut I like. I realize the problem lays with me, not the stylist. I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that Nuri was a hair stylist. Truth is, basically since I got to the US I have not been fond of going to the beauty shop, or hair salon, or whatever you want to call it.
I had very nice hair, brown, wavy and thick, now, because of getting older and medications I'm taking, my hair is thinner and has not much body, or wave to it. So I decided a haircut was in order.
Enter Artika, the Salon, http://www.artikahairspa.net/ in uptown Whittier, great reviews, it sounded good so I decided to give it a try. Made an appointment today at 5:00PM
When I went in, all the stations were busy, which is a good sign, but I had a 30m wait before my stylist finished with her previous client. While waiting, I was offered tea, coffee, bottled water or a glass of wine, it was nice to relax after a rather hectic day in Kindergarten (Moms and Muffins).
Finally my stilyst Lauren came by and apologized for the delay and sat with me in front of a full lenght mirror (yikes) and asked me what I was looking for, I explained about my thinning hair etc. I said I wanted a modern cut, but easy to take care since I usually just shampoo and blow dry. Then we went to the room where she washed my hair and gave me a full 30m scalp and head massage. That was very nice, felt great! then we went back to the chair by the big mirror and proceeded to cut my hair, she took her time since I was her last client. She said she would give me an easy to care for short hairdo, with a clean, modern style, low maintenance, with multiple layers for body and to best cover my thinning spots, blah blah. She used scissors and razor and cut on the bias, she said she'd give me wisps of hair around my face that would look very feminine and cute (I cringed). Then she explained how to style it, I could just shampoo and blow dry, just to be sure to use some volumizer shampoo, and then how to style it using a round brush.
End result: Good haircut I like the way it shows in the back, although the thin spots are still there. And I still have "wings".
I will let you know how it feels/look after a few shampoos :)

Day of the Teacher

Just a day like any other day basically. No big fireworks as far as the school is concerned. Now some of my kids brought me gifts, see picture, I got a nice purse, a pair of dress gray pants!, hand and body lotion from Victoria's Secret, spray cologne, 2 big bouquet of flowers, 2 gift cards (to Subway and the Cheesecake Factory), a very cute magnet, and a framed picture of a kid with his 2 little sisters. Oh and a promise from the other kids to bring something tomorrow lol. They also made me a journal page titled "My teacher" they had to write about me and draw a picture of me. One wrote...My teacher is beautiful and she is cool and I like her cuz she is cool :) they were all very cute.
After school, the District had a party at the Clark State, I couldn't find a place to park, so I went home. I made tortilla soup for dinner.