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 :)