Last blog of 2010

A holiday recap:

On Christmas Eve, Sandy, Marty and Tristan flew down from Salt Lake to spend Christmas here. I didn't go to pick them up at the airport because I was busy cooking. I made the typical Christmas Eve soup, it has chicken, beef, "pilota" and vegetables. And of course the "galets" or shells. It's served as 2 different courses, first the soup with the shells, and then the platter of vegetables and meats.
Tristan has grown a lot since the last time I saw him, Sandy had a cute new haircut, they all looked well :)

The next day, Christmas, we got up around 8:30, Lizzie and Jeff came by 9:)) and we sat around and opened presents. I think everybody was happy with their gifts. It's hard to remember everything! I put pictures in Facebook, I'm sure everybody that reads this blog has seen them already.

After that, Marvin cooked breakfast and then we all talked and just got together. I started cooking, and they decided to go to the movies, to get out of my way ;) Everybody but Tristan and me, went to see "True Grit". I stayed and cooked canalones, they are good but it takes forever to make them, mincing chicken, rolling them, and making the bechamel, then I also made a roasted chicken with a stuffing my mom used to make with pork, prunes and pine nuts. When they came back from the movies I had fixed a tray of assorted meats and cheeses for starters. For dessert we had a variety of turron, and of course Spanish Cava to drink.
At night, Lizzie and Jeff went back to their hotel, and we all went to bed as well.

The next day, Sunday, Marvin's brother and sisters came over, also Bettie's newly married son Rick and his wife Christina. Now it was Marvin's turn to cook. He made chili, and it was very well received. We had the chili with little dishes of grated cheese, sour cream, etc, with hot rolls, and for dessert, he made pecan pies. We also had chips and dips.


There was an exchange of gifts, and some of us exchanged "white elephant gifts" as well. It was fun. Around 6, they started leaving, back to Burbank, to San Diego, and to the airport where Marty was flying back to Utah.

It was really a very nice Christmas with our daughters and their partners, Tristan, and Marvin's family as well. We are blessed.

On Monday we went to Huntington Beach, it was pretty chilly but nice and sunshiny. We stopped at Paul's diner for dinner. On Tuesday, Sandy and I went to El Torito Grill for lunch, it was Sandy's treat, I had fajitas and a Margarita, of course, and guacamole made table side. Sandy and Tristan were going to go to Disneyland , but they decided because of the holidays, it would be too full, and sure enough, we saw the news and they were saying Disneyland was totally sold out by 10 in the morning and they had to close the gates. I bet a lot of people were disappointed. Wednesday Sandy and I did a little shopping, it was raining most of the day, we had leftovers for lunch and In'n'Out for dinner
And this brings us to Thursday. Marvin and I took Sandy and Tristan to the airport, they left at 2:30. We went back home and it felt so quiet!

Tomorrow we will go out for an early dinner, don't know where yet, I invited Norbert over, but he just got back from Las Vegas and was planning to stay home and go to church. Weather permitting, I will probably welcome the New Year in the Jacuzzi.

Happy New Year to all, and let's make 2011 the best year ever!!!!

A year older, a year wiser

Yesterday was my 67th birthday, and also my last day of school before vacation break. In the morning , the Kindergarten team got together, along with the principal to discuss our student's progress, we do that every two weeks. We take turns bringing breakfast for the team. This time it was Gloria's turn, she's from Cuba but came to the US when she was pretty young. She brought Cuban food, from a famous Cuban bakery called Portos Welcome to Porto's Bakery & Cafe Porto's Bakery. Their food is pretty similar to some Spanish foods, so I really enjoyed it.

The day before, to celebrate my birthday, we went out to lunch to Veracruz, our local Mexican place, they paid for my lunch (chile relleno and chicken taco with rice and beans, and..a Margarita) they also brought me a flan and sang Happy Birthday.

In the afternoon we had a Christmas party in my room, parents were invited too, we decorated Christmas cookies, in the shape of a Christmas tree, they spread frosting on them and added sprinkles, mini marshmallows, m&m's etc. They had fun doing it. After that we set up potato chips, Doritos, Tostitos, veggies, and different kinds of dips.

Just before leaving, they sang happy birthday to me, then we sang some Christmas Carols, and did a book exchange. I didn't have time to open all the presents they gave me, I have 22 students and I go 20 gifts...pretty good! :)

When I got home, Marvin told me my sister had called, since Mia had already called me earlier, I knew it was Nuri. I had also received a yummy box of Godiva chocolates from Sandy :) Nuri called back at 6, and we talked a long time, rather, she talked a long time lol. My friend Lolin also called, and of course I got the Sandy and Tristan and Lizzie's call singing Happy Birthday too. I missed the girls' call because Marvin and I went out to have dinner at El Cholo. They have the best tasting Margaritas. I had beef fajitas, and Marvin had chile colorado.

As we were about to leave, I turned around to get my coat on, and then I saw a jewelry box . It really surprised me because not long ago he had given me a beautiful diamond circle necklace in Big Bear, when we went there four our nephew's wedding, so I was not expecting more jewelry. It was a beautiful ring!!!!! I posted a picture of it in FB.

All in all I had a beautiful and rainy happy birth day :)

December days

It's already December 11, is it just me or does it seem like December days are going by too fast?

One more week of school and then I have 2 1/2 weeks vacation, but it' s going to be a very busy week in Kinder :)

Today Norbert came over to help Marvin put on Xmas lights, they also put some on the patio and it looks very festive! It was a very nice sunny warm day. In the evening we went to Red Robin for dinner. Notice picture of patio Xmas lights complete with a hummingbird feeding :)

Tomorrow I guess I will go and try to overcome my aversion to shopping crowds and do some serious shopping of my own lol. On Wednesday I am going to have my hair colored and cut, another one of my little anxiety inducing endeavors, then next week: JURY DUTY, not fair grrrrr. But then later in the week we will have our girls, their partners and grandson for Christmas, can't get better than that :)

I hope December is full of wonderful things for all of you.

End of November

Well I did it, I wrote every day but the 2 days in San Diego. It's been challenging.

Here's the list of the books I read in November:

Dominick Dunne – Too Much Money
Laurie Frankel – The Atlas of Love
Cathy Holton – Revenge of the Kudzu Debutantes
Cathleen Schine – The 3 Weissmann’s of Westport
Cathy Holton – The Secret Lives of the Kudzu Debutantes
Sue Ann Jaffarian – Corpse on the Cob
Lori Lansens – The wife’s tale

Oh, and just in case you are interested...I got my license :)

Happy Day

Yesterday they had elections in Catalunya, CiU won! That's the one all my family voted for and the one I would have voted for had I been there. It killed the Socialist party that was in power.

So that was good news to me, and today there was "El Clasico" which was the game between Barcelona and Madrid, the great rivals. Madrid spend countless millions of euros getting all the big names for this year, Ronaldo, Kaka, etc...but Barcelona just trashed them 5-0 !!!!! I was in school checking the scores once in a while and when the game finished I applauded and went half bananas which of course made my class go bananas also, we had a good time! :)

Tomorrow I'm taking off to go get my driver's test. I have been doing DMV tests online, and I did pretty well. I just need to really read the questions cuz sometimes they are tricky. I am still worried about my vision test, but I hope it'll be OK.

Just finished watching the movie "Bride and Prejudice", I forgot I had already seen it, but it was fun watching it again, lots of music, Bollywood style and gorgeous costumes.

Windy day

It was really windy today, it came from the north, so it was quite chilly too, but really nothing to complain about.
I finally made it to Trader Joe's, yay! I love that store, It was all set for Christmas and I got the Advent calenbdar for my kindergartners, I also got a Gingerbread Man cookie, it's already baked, about 15 inches tall, and it has everything you need to decorate it. We will do it next month in class when we read The Gingerbread Man book :)
Tonight we went out to eat at Carino's, I had chicken Marsala and it was good, but I think I like Sandy's better!
Random note..I am member of a Facebook group called Cuantos Perello en la red? one of the members, is Ramon Perello, he was born in the same town my paternal grandfather was born, I wrote to him saying maybe we are related.. well we have commented back and forth, he's very nice. We usually write in catalan, sometimes in Spanish, but today he wrote in my wall the following:

Handsome congratulations soon touches, i raise the flight to me. A hug from Catalunya

Your guess is as good as mine, lol.

Another quiet day

Today Marvin went to WW, he lost 2 lbs. I didn't go out at all, a few days ago I went to Trader Joe's, I drove around the parking lot about 8 times, it was packed, with cars turning their blinking lights when they saw somebody on the way to their cars, it was madness. So I left. This is a bad week for shopping, I don't enjoy shopping anyway and with all the people even less. I did a little Amazon.com and it was all right.
We were going out to eat, but decided to leave it for tomorrow, so I worked on Report Cards, and used the Jacuzzi, and read. For dinner I made breakfast: hash browns, eggs and sausage.
I have an appointment for my driving test on Tuesday. I need to read the booklet a little more, but I did fairly well with the online tests.
And so it goes.

Musings

I read Lizzie's blog where she writes that we have never been a "traditional Thanksgiving family". She has a point. It's not in my background, we didn't have Pilgrims and Indians, and I really don't need one day to give thanks for what I have, I thank God every day for all my blessings.
When I came to the States, we had Thanksgiving over at Marvin's parents house. It was not very different from Christmas, only we didn't exchange gifts at Thanksgiving. It usually was us, Mary, Dewey, Bettie, grandpa Moore and the boys, and later one Mart and Verna, Lee, and as the family grew, the grand kids. We had always turkey and dressing and gravy, yams, salad, and pies. Opal made the dressing Marvin likes which we haven't been able to duplicate, she also made great pies.
I remember one year we had Grandpa Moore and Opal and Marshall over for Thanksgiving, it was in Dixon in the apartment that had 2 floors. I remember the dress I wore, Sandy was about 3 years old. I think it went OK :)
When we moved to Idaho, it was just the four of us. We did have turkey and trimmings, and I remember going once to Ralph and Rowena's, and another year to Larry and Casey's. Then the girls grew up, we moved to California and Sandy went to college to Idaho State U. She came home for Christmas and a few times for Thanksgiving too...who can forget our Thanksgiving meal of Chinese food???? When Lizzie started college too she came home sometimes, sometimes she spent it with friends.
And now, they both have their own family, so for the last few years, it's been Marvin and I, and since neither one of us are crazy for turkey, we usually have whatever we like.
Sometimes I feel bad because it is a big American holiday after all, but since we sure are not surrounded by friends and family, it really makes not much sense to make a huge meal with lots of side dishes, pies etc. just for the two of us.
This year, we enjoyed the Jacuzzi, the grilled steaks , and each other :)

Thanksgiving

Another quiet Thanksgiving for Marvin and I. It was a nice sunny day, we went to the Jacuzzi in the morning and saw some hummingbirds feeding, love them!

We decided to have steak instead of the traditional turkey since neither of us are crazy about turkey, Marvin loves the dressing his mom made but we haven't been able to make something remotely like it, so steak it was! I grilled them, while Marvin made potatoes, green beans, rolls, and garlic mayo.

I watched two movies, one of my favorite holiday ones, "Love actually", and one I had never seen before "Elf". Marvin has watched some football but mainly he's been reading a western.

It's a day of giving thanks, we are thankful for our daughters and grandson, and for all our family and friends, and we are thankful for our health, and for having a nice house and a nice life.

Here's a picture of Marvin (with a moustache), me and the girls. Thanksgiving 1972.

I hope you all had a lovely day!

Another day

Southern California people are weenies, they are complained about the cold weather, ha! they should be in Idaho, or Utah, or Sweden! But it is chilly for our area. At 10:00PM the outside temperature is 59 degrees brrrrrr lol
I called Bettie today to find out how her cataract surgery went, she said it went well and she's fine, we chatted for a while. I asked her what was she doing for Thanksgiving, she said they were having breakfast with Christina and Rick, and then she and Lee were going to David and Iris for dinner. She asked me what we were doing and I said Marvin and I were just staying home.
A while later, Iris called us to invite us to her house for Thanksgiving dinner. Very nice of her, but we declined. I still have a cold and neither one of us felt like driving to Burbank.
Tonight we went to El Cholo, we had tortilla soup, tacos and enchiladas, and of course, my Margarita.
Have a good night (or good day) everybody!

Stressed ?

Well yes, there are a few things looming in the horizon that sort of stresses me.
#1 - I have to renew my driver's license. And have an eye test, I worry I may not see it well enough because of my eye problems. I am studying for the written test.
#2 - I have to go on jury duty on December 20th.
#3 - It's getting closer to Christmas time, I have not done any shopping. You all know how I feel about shopping!!!!
#4 - My hair is getting thinner and flatter, yech.
#5 - Report cards!!!!
How's that for starters? And yes I know I like to whine about things that are not really that stressful, and at least I have all this week off to take it easy )

San Diego

I missed writing for 2 days because we went to San Diego. On Saturday morning Marvin went to Weight Watchers and we left as soon as he got back home. I was not feeling too well because of my cold, it was raining pretty hard most of the way down, but the traffic was moving nicely. We got to Lizzie's and left to the Fish Market Restaurant with Dakota too, Jeff got there a little later. We had a very nice lunch, calamari for starters, and we all had fish/sea food. I was not too too hungry because of my cold but enjoyed the food and the company. Dakota mentioned to the waiter that it was Lizzie's birthday and they came singing and bringing a great dessert, it was super good! After lunch, Jeff took Dakota to a friend's house in Coronado, and Marvin Lizzie and I went to my favorite dessert place and got cake slices for all, Lizzie and Marvin had white cheesecake with fruits, Jeff and I had raspberry chocolate cake...yum!!!! Jeff had a house concert in Oceanside, so Marvin and I left after visiting for a while. We checked in at our Hotel http://portovistasd-px.trvlclick.com/ and napped for a while. Later on, we walked down to Little Italy (a couple of blocks from the hotel) and looked for some place to have a light dinner, it was pretty chilly and breezy, and then it started to rain so we went in at the first Restaurant we found called Zucchero, which is a very nice Italian Restaurant with a great bakery http://www.cafezucchero.com/. We both had tortellini chicken soup. We walked back to the hotel and thankfully the rain had stopped.

Sunday morning, we had breakfast at the hotel, and then drove back to Lizzie's. Jeff had a session going on, so Lizzie, Marvin and I went out to lunch at a Philly Steak house. It was very good and we really enjoyed it. We went back to Lizzie's and watched TV and talked and hang around a while. That night, Jeff's Citizen Band was playing at the House of Blues, we had planned on going but my cold was getting worse so we decided not to go. We went back to the hotel and I took some cold medicine and napped, then we went to the hotel roof garden and watched a beautiful sunset. Later on we again walked to Little Italy and went to the Princess Pub http://www.princesspub.com/ for some yummy fish and chips.

Monday morning we had breakfast at the hotel, walked around the roof garden and took some pictures, and left to go back home. We took the PCH route, and has a lovely scenic drive home. It was still a little chilly for Southern California but clear and sunny.

It was a really lovely weekend, and a nice way to celebrate Lizzie's Birthday! :)

Happy Birthday Lizzie!

It seems like you are having a very nice day. Can't wait to see you tomorrow.

I, like Sandy, have all next week off, 3 days furlough and 2 days holiday. We all liked it, nobody at school complained, but some of the parents did lol
As usual, it seems that every time before I have a few days off, I catch a cold, and this time has been no exception. I hope I feel better tomorrow going to San Diego. We have a forecast of rain, wind and cold for the weekend so I am a little disappointed about it, but we'll make the best of it :)

SST

School Study Team is is a meeting with teachers, principal, counselors etc for problem children. I had one of those meetings today for 2 of my kinders. The one with ADD is a big problem because he cannot sit still and is always in motion, and he impulsively hugs kids really hard to the point they cry when they see him approaching. He's not on medication, he barely turned 5 and I think it's too early to put him on Ritalin, but I guess it's up to the mother and doctor to decide. The "advice" I was given by the team, is to massage his head and back before recess, before lunch, etc. to calm his energy?!
My other problem kid is very young as well, he's 50 lbs overweight :( and his problem is, well he's way too big and lethargic, he has no interest in learning and the only time he seems happy is when music is playing, he dances up a storm! unfortunately today he fell on another kid while dancing and I had to send him to the school nurse because he was crying and aching all over! The team's "advice"? jump rope with him (say what?) and do push ups daily.
So here are my new teaching duties...massaging one kid, doing push ups with another, oh well!

Almost forgot!

Tonight Jennifer came over to spend the night. We first went to Acapulco, with Marvin too, to have dinner and of course my Margarita :)
When we got home we watched TV and talked and talked (since she's in 2nd grade we don't see so much of each other in school). Anyway she was in my room talking and then we said goodnight just a few minutes ago, and I turned off the computer and was getting ready for bed as well, when I remembered the blog!!
And here I am, just writing a few lines so I don't miss a day, although I will be missing Saturday and Sunday writing because we'll be in San Diego :)

Hmmmm

Much as I've tried, I can't honestly think of anything I could write about today.
I could write about my school day, but nothing unusual happened other than my friend Jennifer coming to my classroom and telling me for the 100th time that she's done with teaching!
I could write about coming home and telling Marvin I felt like waffles tonight and he went to the store and get the fixins for it, and they tasted great.
I could write about enjoying reading Sandy's daily posts.
I could write about being annoyed that rain is forecast for our weekend in San Diego.
I could write about how time goes by so fast....
But I guess I just did write.

Annoying things

We have been testing the kids at school on Math, reading, and writing. One of my kids wrote the following: I go to the park with my mom and dad. A kid in another class wrote: I og to the prk w my brt. Out of a possible 4 points, my kid got 2, the other kid got 3(I had scored mine with a 4)Why? because he wrote phonetically the sounds he heard. I argued that my kid already knew how to write park and with, so he wrote the whole thing. But to no avail.
On a different vein, just before going home, I was looking in my classroom for some work I had prepared for my kids to do tomorrow. The teacher next door came in and asked me what I was looking for, I told her I was looking for some stuff I had prepared, she said, I'll help you look...where did you put it? I went grrrrr if I knew where it was I wouldn't be looking for it!!!!! Then she said, well OK, do you remember what you did with it? At that point i told her to go back to her room pronto!!!!! lol

Sunday

Last day of my mini vacation, it's nice to have a loong weekend, now I'm looking to having all next week off!

It's hard to write every day, Sandy has been good at it, Lizzie tries to catch up by doing 3 posts in 1. By the way, how does one know when is NaBloPoMo or whatever it's called?

On Sundays, we usually have a big breakfast, Marvin brings it home, Denver Omelet, hash browns and bacon. We had a late lunch of croquetas I made yesterday and for dinner it was either tacos, or beef soup I made, we decided on soup,

I have been cleaning some of the drawers in my room, they were over stuffed, I basically rearranged the stuff since I don't like to throw things away. I found an bunch of pictures and I decided to scan them and file them in my expansion drive. Here's one of the pictures, I think is a cute one of the girls in the plane on our way back from Spain, 1988 (I think).

And now...back to work tomorrow :)

Another day

Just another beautiful fall day in California.

Marvin took this picture as we were about to leave for dinner.

We went to El Cholo, love their Margaritas!!!

I hope everybody is having a nice weekend :)

how do you know?

How do you know who's reading your blog? I think Marv, Sandy, Lizzie and Mia are the only ones that read mine. I did get 2 comments from some catalan people one time, and then also one other person saying I had a nice car lol. Very random.
I do read random blogs, and sometimes I comments and sometimes I don't. I don't even have my blog listed in Facebook.

And just because I can't think of anything else to write,

here's a Becquer rime, one of my favorites:

Los suspiros son aire y van al aire.

Las lágrimas son agua y van al mar.

Dime, mujer, cuando el amor se olvida,

¿sabes tú adónde va?

My free translation

Sighs are air, and go to the air

Tears are water, and go to the sea,

Tell me woman, when love is gone,

do you know where it goes?

Veteran's Day

It was nice to have the day off, it was a beautiful California day, nice and warm, a little windy, sunny, beautiful You could see all the mountains in the background, nice.
I decided to go shopping , you all know how much I like to go shopping, but it had to be done :)
I bought some sundries, went to Walmart, and Lowe's and Marshall and Rite Aid. I bought some fall flowers to plant in the backyard, red and white mums, yellow and white daisies, orange and yellow dahlias, and primroses.
Other than that, I just lolled about, watched TV, made croquetas, had In'n'Out for dinner...Marvin emptied the Jacuzzi and filled it again so tomorrow I will soak for a while, my legs have been hurting a little lately and I think that the Jacuzzi will help.
Love you all!

Blue Ribbon

Today it felt like Friday, why? Because we have tomorrow and Friday off (Veteran's Day + 1 furlough day), which makes a 4 day weekend!!!
All teachers had a big smile in their faces.
We also smiled because we were nominated as a National Blue Ribbon School.
Blue Ribbon Schools Program - A federal No Child Left Behind program that celebrates many of America's most successful schools. Its goal is to promote and support the improvement of education in America.
There were 35 schools in California that were nominated -out of over 9400 schools- Our district only has 9 schools and yet, 3 of our schools in the district were nominated. Quite an achievement! (I guess we are better than I thought lol).

Nothing to say?

I feel like Sandy sometimes when I write this blog, nothing much was going on today...woke up, hadbreakfast, go to school, test children on reading, (by the way they had a horrible day, they wore me out), have a working lunch, come home, check mail, read, watch TV, eat (Marvin's excellent chicken and dumplings) and some more TV (watching Glee right now), then some school work and bed.
But...it's a way to keep in touch . I love to read all your posts, it makes me feel closer to all of you.
We all have or should have a few minutes to spare for keeping in touch, even to just say...nothing much was going on today...

Free Hugs :)

I've been reading about Juan Mann, a 28 year old Australian man that started the "Free Hugs" movement. It has spread all over the world. You tube has many videos of people from many countries giving free hugs. The videos are of real people. It starts in black and white and changes to color when they start giving, and getting, hugs.

I found it inspirational and lovely and a great idea.
Here's Juan's story if you want to read about it: www.freehugscampaign.org/

This is one of my favorite videos. besides the original one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN8CKwdosjE

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Hugs to all who read this post}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Hug someone today!!!

New chair :)

I have been having a pain in the a$$ for the last couple of weeks, in my outer cheeks so to speak :) I didn't know why, arthritis maybe? Sometimes when I got up it hurt down the back of my legs too. I told Marvin about it then he sat on my computer chair and wondered how I could sit on it for any length of time.

Yes, I sit by the computer a lot, and my chair has lost its softness in the seat part and it is actually flat and hard. I have had it for a few years.

So we went to search for a new chair. We went to Office Max and looked at chairs, and sat on them, and sat again, finally setting on a Fiorello chair. Very similar to the one I had, roomy and comfortable. My rear end is already feeling a lot happier :)

The beach

Beautiful day in Huntington Beach. Went to Acapulco in Long Beach to eat and drink, nad look at the boats in the harbor, then the clouds started forming quickly, and it started to sprinkle. The sky looked awesome and the rain just lasted a few minutes, then the sun came out again and it was all good :)
DST tonight, I am going to bed early because I am tired. Good night!

Happy Hour

I just read my last few posts and they were pretty boring lol, it's hard to write daily when not a lot is going on, but anyway I will keep on writing

Today school was rather trying, the Kindergarten team met with the principal on ways to be more "effective" teachers, la de da!!! We have the highest scores in the District for the last 3 years, and instead of thanks we get a meeting about how to be more effective? My team mates were rather incensed!

So after school, we decided to go to Geezers for Happy Hour. The Kindergarten team was there, then came a 1st grade teacher and her niece, a 2nd grade teacher and a 3rd grade teacher. A little later came a 6th grade teacher, our principal, our secretary, and our ex principal now an assistant superintendent. We had a fun time, we had lots of appetizers, and lots of gigantic Margaritas.

The school day ended on a happy note :)

In the picture: Norma, Jessica, me and Gloria. The Kindergarten team 2010-2011

Fall?or Summer again?

Today is November 4 and I wonder what happened to our Fall? It was hot, 91 degrees. A couple of weeks ago the children stayed inside during recess because of rain, this week they are staying inside because of the heat. At least my classroom is air conditioned so it feels good inside.
Saturday I think I am going to the beach, get my feet wet, and walk around the water's edge. I may even take my bike and ride around a little.

pot roast

Norbert came over today to put the SSR's battery on. It's handy to have a mechanic friend! In exchange, so to speak, Marvin cooked a delicious por roast and brownies and invited Norbert to eat dinner with us.
Did Norbert enjoyed it? well, he had not one, not two, not three, but four servings of the meat, potatoes, carrots and corn. He throughly enjoyed it. And of course, he had a few brownies to top it off.
It was fun :)

Elections

I also voted, by mail. I learned about the candidates and the propositions and voted accordingly, not across party lines.
I am so disappointed with some of the California results, most especially with the Senate race. I wish most of the incumbents had gone bye bye and we were starting fresh, not voting for the same ones that have let California go into bankruptcy and worst. Oh well.

In other news, is again testing time for Kindergarten. It seems all we do is test, with no time for teaching. At least we have 2 days off for Veteran's Day, and the whole week of Thanksgiving off.

We are looking forward to going to San Diego on the 20th for Lizzie's birthday and spending a couple of days at the PortoVista hotel in Little Italy. We went there a couple of years ago and really enjoyed our stay :)

Daily posts

I will also try to post every day.

Some random comments....

-Congratulations to the Giants, I don't understand baseball but hey is the World Series!

-I think Lizzie looked awesome as Janis Joplin. For Halloween I wore my usual fluorescent Jack'O'Lantern shirt, in spite of the ban on Halloween in our public schools.

-I am done with Parent Teacher Conferences, that is a part of teaching I really like, I learn a lot about the children by talking to the parents, very interesting. And they were all very complimentary about me as a teacher, so I was happy :)

-The weather today was gorgeous! 81 degrees, sunshine, blue sky, and a hint of Fall in the evening.

It'll be fun to read daily posts!!!

My October Book List

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Those are the books I read in October.:

Barbara Delinsky – Not My Daughter
Jonathan Kellerman – Deception
Claire Cook –Seven Year Switch
James Patterson – Worst Case
Jennifer Crusie- Getting rid of Bradley
Elin Hildebrand – The Island
Claire Cook – The Wildwater Walking Club

The last two were my favorites :)

A rant and a smile

I am pretty fed up about the direction that Kindergarten is taking, especially in our District. It's all about data, scores, testing. It's NOT about children being children and enjoying their first school experience. I hate talking to the parents and having to tell them their 4 year old child is failing because he doesn't know all the sounds, or cannot write a simple sentence (when they still can't even write their names!).

I am tired about being told we all have to do the same thing, at the same time, in the same way. Experience, creativity and individuality is not appreciated anymore. It's just being a good robot and "do as I say" not "do what's best for the children".

I am actually happy this is my last year of Kindergarten. I never thought I would say it because I really have enjoyed it so much for so many years.

In a different vein, I was surprised to see Tristan in FB asking to be my friend. It was nice he asked all the family to be his friends :) I will enjoy seeing him on FB.

October

What crazy weather! We had the highest temperatures ever in Los Angeles last week, now it is cold and rainy. One day I have the A/C going full blast, the next day we turn on the heat!

Tomorrow Marvin is leaving to Dixon to pick up his sister Mary, and they'll drive to Utah, to spend a few days with the Thompson's, lucky!!! :)

On the way, he wants to stop by the Salt Flats to look at the races, but they may not be on due to rain.

Saturday Lizzie is coming to La Mirada, we'll spend some time together, go to lunch etc, then she'll go to her 20th school reunion. It will be held in Costa Mesa., and come back to spend the night :) The only school reunion I ever went to, was Marvin's 5th? school reunion in Dixon. I wish we had school reunions in Barcelona but we didn't do that, it would have been fun to see how everybody had changed and how they were doing 20 years late.

I don't know if i mentioned it , but I got bit by a bug in the nose or something, and it looks huge! Hopefully it will get better son.

And my class.....they are not getting any better, what a group!!!! I think at the end of the school year I will be super ready to retire lol

I hope everybody is feeling better, and have a good week!!! Love you all.

The Wedding

Saturday morning, Marvin and I went to see the family at their cabin where they were staying. It was a big cabin, really nice. We got directions to the wedding venue and went back to our Inn.

The wedding was outdoors, by the lake shore, at 3:00PM, it was a gorgeous day, a little breezy with wonderful clear blue sky.

There were his and her families and LOTS of friends. 6 bridesmaids and 6 groomsmen, plus best man and maid of honor. The colors were red and black and leopard print. The girls had red dresses with a leopard sash and leopard platform shoes. the boys wore black pants, red vests, leopard print ties, and red tennis shoes. David was one of the groomsmen, Iris was supposed to be one of the bridesmaids, but she didn't come. Rick wore the same but his vest was cream colored and his tennis shoes were black, Christina wore an off white short dress with a short veil.

The ceremony was performed by the bride's grandfather. It was a nice ceremony. Rick was escorted by Bettie, and the bride arrived in an old car of Rick's driven by Lee. Her mother was waiting, and she walked her down the aisle (Christina's father was very ill and couldn't be at the wedding).

After repeating the vows, exchanging rings, and having the first kiss, they walked back to the car and they left. Everybody stayed around talking until they got back after having some pictures taken, and then it was family picture time.

Afterwards we all went back to our rooms, Marvin and I had a snack and then at 5:30 we went to the reception which was right across from the Inn where we were staying. There were about 175 people at the reception, it was fun because our table (Marvin and I, Mary and Dewey, and Marilyn and her husband) was right in front of the bridal table. I don't know who made the arrangements but it suited me fine as I had plenty of chances to take pictures and also we were the first to be called to eat -we went by table to the buffet :)

The buffet, with servers, had a choice of tri tip steak or chicken with basil . green beans, mashed potatoes, salad and rolls. Marvin and I chose the chicken. It was tasty. They had a bar but you had to buy your drinks, water and pomegranate juice were at the tables.

After we all ate, there was dancing, and the cutting of the cake. All in all it was a nice wedding, they looked very happy and were very affectionate with each other. Rick's and Christina's friends were rowdy and tattooed, we all had fun!

I will post the wedding album in Facebook.

Big Bear Lake 9-24-10

Today was the day Marvin and I met in Barcelona, 46 years ago. We had a wedding to attend on Saturday and decided to leave on Friday and spend the day in Bear Lake, The weather was beautiful, the lake blue and sparkly. We were staying in a rustic Inn called Nottingham, we had the Little John room. The drive from San Bernardino to Big Bear lake is windy and with great scenery.

After checking in, we went for a walk around the lake, and watched the sunset. After that, we walked to a Restaurant in The Village called The Teddy Bear Inn. I had a chicken pot pie and Marvin had chicken fried steak, it was good. Then we walked to a bakery and I had a really yummy cupcake with chocolate ganache. It was nice walking around there, it's really pretty, surrounded by huge pine trees, and all the stores in The Village were nicely decorated with flowers etc.

Our room was interesting, it had a king size bed and a balcony. We could look down at tables in the patio where they served drinks and food, it was fun.

As we were ready to go to bed, Marvin surprised me with a nice anniversary card, saying he hoped I liked my gift. I said, what gift? and then he gave me a jewelry box with a beautiful diamond circle necklace. I was SURPRISED!!! It is gorgeous.

It was really a very lovely day, love you Marv! :)

My last Kinder class

It is a well known albeit unscientific fact, that you have a good class one year and a bad class the next. Well last year I only had 15 students, they were the nicest, smartest class I had in quite a while, so I should have seen it coming...

This year I have so far 20 children, which means I will have up to 6 more when and if they come during the school year, which means starting from 0 on those ones, not a good thing. Of the 20 I have, 11 are boys and 9 are girls. The boys are something else!!!! wild ones! I don't remember ever having children sitting on the bench during recess from day 1.

We've only had 3 days of school, but it seems like a month. One of my boys went around the tables trying to cut some of the other kids' hair! Another one cried and screamed for his mother for what seemed like hours. I already have 2 couples holding hands and sitting together ALL the time. 8 of them cannot even write their name, and 6 of them are still only 4 years old. I am sure it all will even out eventually :)

This is Labor Day weekend, Marvin and I are just staying home, Norbert went on a month long vacation with his sister, so I'll have to take care of his business while he's gone. On Tuesday is back to school, but Marvin is going to have some skin c removed from his ears, so I have to go pick him up when he's done, so no school for me! The next day, Wednesday, is Back to School Night, so we get to meet the parents and show them around, fun!

I hope you are all having a great weekend!!!

Endless Summer

I have always love surfing, the surfers, the boards, the whole surfing culture has always been very appealing to me. My favorite surfing movie is "Endless Summer", I loved it.

Well...Marvin and I went to Huntington Beach today, went to the beach for a while, and then we stopped in Main Street to get a fish taco and Maui onion rings. We decided to eat while watching the sunset at the pier.

We saw a crowd of people lining up by the pier plaza, many of them carrying surfboards. And there, signing them, were the director of Endless Summer Bruce Brown, with the stars of the movie, and also the original Ruby, yes there is a Ruby, her son started the restaurant chain and named them after her.

I, of course, went right to the front to snap a couple of pictures. It was a bit of a shock to see them as they are now, that is, they are my age lol, but it was also very cool. After the sunset, they showed the movie in a giant screen in the outdoors amphitheater, I would have stayed but it was getting pretty cool and lots fo people,so we left.

And of course, the sunset was awesome!!!!!

Hummingbirds

Marvin and I were sitting in the swing outside, enjoying the early evening, when we saw a hummingbird coming to drink from out feeder. It sat and drank and stayed there a while, I told Marv I'd wish i had my camera, because is rare to catch one drinking. Anyway I went inside to get my camera and when I came outside, it still was there drinking away, so I took a picture when it was about to fly away :)

A couple of days ago, I was in the Jacuzzi when a couple of hummingbirds came to drink from the same feeder. Maybe I finally got the ratio of water to sugar right!!!

Busy week

This was the last week before starting back to work, and it was one of the busiest ones this Summer (besides vacation time). Last weekend, Marvin and I decided to do a through sprucing up of the house and yard. It was already looking pretty good, but Marvin mowed, and trimmed and watered, we got some flowers and put them in hangers, and cleaned the patio etc, so the yard looked great front and back. I deep cleaned both bathrooms, vacuumed, moped, dusted etc etc (fun). Then on Tuesday we had my school get together. I made a yummy pineapple cake, sangria, and bought a couple of rotisserie chickens. We had 10 teachers and 6 children. Everybody brought food and drinks, Margaritas and Coronas, KFC chicken, potato salad, chicken salad, corn, chips and dips, etc. We all had a good time, they stayed for a long time lol, Jessica and Carmen stayed longer and helped me clean up.

The next day, Marvin and I went to Huntington Beach. Norbert went to Lake Powell and asked me to take care of his bills while he was gone, and also water his lawn, he said we could stay at his house if we wanted to go to the beach. So we did. We went to Corona del Mar and to Crystal Cove State Park, we took some snacks and waited for the beautiful sunset. It was a really nice evening. Afterwards we went downtown Huntington Beach to a Mexican Restaurant called El Ranchito, we sat outside and had a nice meal and watched people and of course, had a Margarita. The next day we went to breakfast to Ruby's at the pier, another beautiful day. After that we went back to the house and changed and went to the beach.

On Friday we rested a little and I went to Artika salon to get a haircut, and on Saturday we went to San Diego.

The highway was super busy, it was bumper to bumper for quite a while, it took us about 3 hours to drive down. When we got to Lizzie's we discussed where to go for lunch, Lizzie had made a couple of suggestions and we decided on Carlos Santana's new Restaurant called Maria Maria.Mexican cuisine with a new flair Maria Maria Restaurants

I had a Maria Margarita (delicious!) Gazpacho Blanco and chicken chivichanga. Lizzie had a Cesar's salad and soft steak tacos and a dark Bohemia I think, Marvin had a mixed salad and enchiladas suizas. We had a flan to share for dessert. The restaurant was beautiful, the server was very good and the food was great. Marvin said he would like to go again, and again :)

After that we went to Extraordinary desserts, I had raspberry truffle cake, Marvin had a coconut cake, and Lizzie cheesecake (can't think of the flavor) but as always there were super!

It was a very enjoyable time. The drive back was a lot better although quite busy again.

Today Sunday, we just had a lazy day, I went to the Jacuzzi in the morning, and Marvin fixed yummy catfish for dinner.

And Monday..back to work, to start testing kindergarten children, gaaah!

Tomorrow Tristan starts 7th grade. I think is the 2nd time I haven't been there on his first day of school, I hope he has a great experience :)

Friday the 13th

My cactus is blooming again :)

I haven't been doing much of anything since coming back from vacation. Just relaxing and sleeping late, etc. It's been good just to take it easy. The weather has been great too.
Tomorrow Saturday, Marvin and I were going to go to San Diego and spend the day with Lizzie and Jeff, but she called this afternoon to let me know they were both feeling sick (they had a birthday party for Dakota, and one of her friends came down with something and they caught it too). So hopefully we can go next Saturday. We were both looking forward to it. Get well Lizzie!
Tuesday, I am having a get together with my friends from Jersey School, so far there's about 12 coming, probably more. It's a potluck BYOB type of thing, they are bringing their kids too. I will buy a couple of chickens from Juan Pollo, will make a pineapple cake, and sangria. Oh and the Jacuzzi will be there to enjoy too. It should be fun.
Norbert is leaving this Sunday to Lake Powell, with his boat and camper. He's going to be gone for about 15 days, he asked me to go a couple of times to water his lawn and pay bills. He also said we could stay there a couple days if we want to, so Marvin and I will go on Wednesday or Thursday, and enjoy Huntington Beach. We want to go to Crystal Cove at sunset time too. it should be gorgeous. Then have dinner and spend the night there .
The week of the 23rd, I have to go to work and test the kindergarten children, school will begin August 30th, I think....my last year, I still have mixed feelings about it.
Have a good weekend everybody!

The Wild Wild West!

Awesome storm clouds

Sandy has written about the trip which was awesome, I am just going to write some observations...

1.- I really enjoyed the trip more than I thought I would.

2.- Marvin knows a lot about the history of the West. I think he enjoyed seeing the places he had only read about.

3.- Nevada and Utah were HOT! Most of the time we were in Utah it was in the 3 digit mark. The hottest? St George Utah at 115F!!! I don't do well in the heat, it makes me tired.

4.- Wyoming is the 50th State in population. Miles and miles of (empty) land. We crossed it from one end to the other. There's a lot more antelopes than people in Wyoming.

5.- It was fun traveling with Sandy and Tristan. Sandy is very well organized, a good navigator and helper. Tristan was a good trooper :)

6.- We visited 3 forts in Wyoming: Fort Bridger, Ford Fetterman, and Fort Laramie. Their history were very interesting.

7.- Many of the scenic vistas were awesome!

8.- I was totally surprised at the beauty of the Black Hills of South Dakota, I was expecting something quite different.

9.- The Crazy Horse Monument was great, but not much is done with it. It'll be a long time before they finish it.

10. -Mt. Rushmore was awe inspiring. I cried during the lighting ceremony. There were hundreds of people (and many veterans in the stage) saying the Pledge of Allegiance. and singing patriotic songs.

11. -The train ride from Keystoine to Hill City was fun!

12.- Deadwood was great. I really liked the setting and the history. Mt. Moriah was very interesting.

13.- We had good weather throughout the trip but for the storm around Laramie on the way back. I made a change of route because it scared me! (top picture)

14.- It was a very nice trip, we did and saw a lot in a few days. Bad thing, Marvin got sick (the flu?) when we got back to Utah.

15.- I got to eat a Kouing-aman, love that pastry! Salt Lake City has a lot of nice areas.

16.- I lost 6 lbs in this trip. A lot of walking, and not too many snacks, yay!

17.- It's nice to be back home :)

World Champions!

A recap of last weekend.

On Saturday Lizzie and Jeff came by en route to Altadena where Berkley Hart had a gig, Lizzie stayed with us and Jeff left, then we went to have a late lunch at El Torito, after that we drove to Altadena to The Gallery to watch the show. It was as usual, a very good show, Tristan, Marvin and I enjoyed it a lot.

Saturday was also a big happening day in Barcelona. There was a very big march (1,100.000 people marched) to protest Spain's taking back a lot of the catalan autonomy.

On Sunday morning, Jeff and Lizzie came to watch the final of the World Cup with us. I was in Facebook and chatted a little with Danniel :) They came with the game already started, Tristan got pretty involved with it too. Marvin fixed some appetizers and BBQ some bratwurst and we had lunch while watching the game. I got a bit antsy watching it, and was in the kitchen when Iniesta scored the winning goal!We were all happy Spain won, they deserved it, the Dutch played dirty. I was extra happy because 8 of the Spanish players were Barcelona players!!!

After the game, Lizzie and Jeff drove back to San Diego. I'm very glad they came!

Today we didn't do much, just hang around. Tomorrow I invited Norbert to come for a BBQ. I will also go to see if I can find a bike to buy :)

And then on Thursday we'll be Leaving to Utah, and on Monday we'll start our Mt. Rushmore trip. I will be sure to take plenty of pictures!!!! Happy Summer everybody :)

My 4th of July

In a nutshell, I did nothing lol. I was supposed to go watch the fireworks at the beach in HB, but Norbert called to tell me it was so packed, so many cars, so many people, that he didn't feel comfortable going, so I stayed home. I went to the supermarket to get me a steak or something, but it was so crowded I couldn't even park, so I ended up making a potato omelette. Then I went outside in the front porch and the neighbors at either side of me had some small fireworks displays, but the ones across the street had some awesome ones! they fired about 15 up in the air, one right after the other, they were great and I enjoyed them. Unfortunately right then a police car drove by and gave them a $1000.00 fine for shooting up illegal fireworks, oh well!
Today I was cleaning around the house, getting it ready for Marvin and Tristan. It's been a long month by myself. I met Norbert at El Torito for a late lunch and had very good fajitas grandes with a cadillac margarita. It was all good.
The weather so far has been rather cool, unlike Sweden lol. I have enjoyed the nice cool weather.
I had written in this blog about calling Nuri on the phone a few days ago, but then I deleted the post :) All is well.
Tomorrow is Holland vs Uruguay, go Holland! and Wednesday is Germany vs Spain, I guess you can guess who I will be rooting for!
Random comment: I think I will buy me a bike.

A post

Hello everybody!
It seems like June has not been a very "bloggy" month for any of us. So I decided to write before the month ended and just share what has been happening.
First of all, I have lived most of the month as a "single girl" because Marvin's trip to Utah has gone on longer than expected. When he gets back, he will be bringing Tristan with him, so it's all good. I missed him.
I was really busy for the first weeks of the month because it was the end of the school year, which meant testing, parties, projects and programs. That kept me very busy.
After that, it's been just taking it easy and doing not much of anything. I have gone out to have lunch with my friend Norbert a few times, and also have gone to the beach a couple of times. I have cleaned closets and cooked once in a while. Last weekend, Lizzie came to spend a weekend and we had a nice time shopping and talking.
I have been watching a lot of soccer matches, tomorrow is Spain vs Portugal, it should be a good game. My prediction is that Brasil and/or Argentina will be in the final, hopefully Spain will be the other, but Germany is also very strong, so we'll see...Go Spain!
I went to the eye doctor today and I am extremely pleased to report that my eyes and vision are doing much better. It has been about 3 years since I started having problems with my vision, I had extremely dry eyes which was affecting my cornea, my right eye was very blurry and it was itchy all the time, very unpleasant. Since I started with the prescribed eye drops my vision has improved a lot. I am very happy :)
Now I am looking forward to have Marvin back and Tristan, and thinking about our vacation. It seems we may be going to Mt Rushmore...cool!
Y'all take care.

44 years ago today

On Sunday, June 5, 1966, our first daughter was born at 9:30PM at the Intercommunity Hospital in Fairfield, California. She weighed 7 lbs 9 ozs and was 19 inches long. She had curly red hair and brown eyes. She was a healthy beautiful baby, and everything went well.

I was very lucky to have my mother with me, because I had no idea on how to take care of a baby. I was 21 years old. We had discussed bottle vs breast feeding and we decided to do the later. Si I started the breast feeding routine and I had no idea how it worked, my mother kept saying the baby was still hungry after feeding and that I didn't do it long enough, and told me to check with the doctor. So during my next check up Dr Wallace told me the baby had lost weight since birth! I was crushed, He asked me to feed her right then and there, and weighed her before and after and she didn't gain an ounce, so he told me we better put her in the bottle. After having a check up myself, they found out I had a tooth infection that affected my breast milk, thus the poor baby wasn't getting much nourishment. After being in the bottle (boy was she happy to drink it!) she gained weight and all was well.

She was a very good baby but with a red head temper!

Her full name is Sandra Kay, but we always called her Sandy. For her baptism, the Catholic father said they were not "Saints" names, so for baptism purposes, her name became Alexandra Catherine.

Here are some facts from the day she was born: Lyndon B Johnson was the President of the US

The Vietnam War was going on. Average Cost of new house $14,200.00 Average Income per year $6,900.00 Average cost of a new car $2,650.00 Gas per Gallon 32 cents .

Oscar to best movie "The Sound of Music". World Series Baltimore d. LA Dodgers (4-0)
NBA Championship Boston d. LA Lakers (4-3). Grammy “King of the Road,” Roger Miller.

Sandy is a wonderful daughter, sister, wife and mother. She married Marty Thompson in 1993 and became the mother of Tristan in 1998. I love you Sandy!!!! :)

...of gardens and fountains

Marvin has been working really hard the past few weeks, to make our front and back yard beautiful. I think it looks great! First we had the sidewalk from the driveway to the house front widened, then we took the bricks out and he put some decorative landscaping blocks instead, they are heavy, each block weighs 4 lbs! and put some decorative bark on top of the ground. Then he took everything off the area by the driveway, and planted lavender bushes. Looks really nice. He also worked in other areas of the front lawn. We also bought another crape myrtle tree, this one is watermelon red. I hope both myrtles bloom this summer :)

He also worked in the backyard, we got some pepper plants, and my strawberry plant is doing great. Saturday we went to Home Depot and bought a fountain. Marvin made a nice area where the old fountain was, and pout some bricks in a nice pattern and that's where we put the fountain today. It's really nice!

I put some pictures in Facebook, be sure to check the album called My Garden :) I am putting here a couple of pictures too.

In other news, just 15 days for the end of school, it went fast. Marvin will be going to Utah next month for Sandy's birthday and to spend a few days there and see Tristan play soccer.

Happy Birthday to Marty on his 49th birthday today.

May happenings

It seems everybody in my blog world has decided to take a break. Kudos to Sandy, she was the latest poster. I guess it must be the month of May...the weather is nicer, and the outdoors beckon.

Marvin has finished the front of the planter, with the new sidewalk it looks really nice. I will take a picture tomorrow and post it. By the way, he seems to enjoy Facebook, and is getting quite a few friends :)

School is fine, only about a month to go (school is out June 17). The kids did very well this year, they all are good readers/writers. I'm proud of them. One sad note...one of my very first kindergartners, he's now 28, whom I remember very well in a negative way, has become my very first, and I hope last, student that will be going to death row for killing a friend...wow. I knew he was in gangs and had been in jail many times (I had his niece in my class last year, and I still talk to his mother). In the good side, many many of my ex students are now working and leading good lives, some are in college, some are married with children of their own -almost every year now I have in my class children from my old students, that's cool.

This Sunday is Mother's Day in the US. Marv and I will be going down to San Diego and have lunch with Lizzie, it's been a while since we were there, I am looking forward to it. Sandy and family are going to Pocatello, I think Tristan will stay there for a while during his break from school.

The picture above is in honor of mi mama :)

Viva Las Vegas - long post

If you have read Sandy's blog, and I know you have, you already know more or less what we did. But here's my take: After a very nice time in Death Valley, we arrived at the Excalibur on Friday morning, our room was in the 13th floor! Lizzie said she thought hotels didn't have floor 13 anymore, and Sandy was surprised I stayed in the 13th floor. I guess I am not as superstitious as I used to be!

The room was OK, not too fancy but good enough, we all were in the same floor just 2 rooms away from each other. Lizzie was lucky to have a pillow top bed, the rest of us had the regular coiled ones. Like Sandy said, it was funny they got to Vegas from Salt Lake and San Diego almost at the same time, and also got back home within a few minutes of each other.

As it was already a little late, we all went to eat at the Excalibur buffet, after that we gambled a little and rested a while, then we went to have a drink, gambled a little, and to bed.

Saturday morning we had Krispy Kremes for breakfast, then we all went to City Center and looked around a bit, very high class stores, beautiful surroundings and a wonderful scent inside the covered mall. After that we walked to Planet Hollywood Casino, formerly The Aladdin, and had lunch at a Mexican Restaurant. The girls paid for the lunch for Marvin's birthday :)

After that we walked back to Excalibur. As usual the sidewalks were crowded and the people rude. They always seem to be in a hurry! When we got back to our room, I had a huge blister in my left foot and it was sore, Marvin also had a few blisters, I guess we are not used to looooong walks!

At night we all went to The Tournament of Kings. We were in the Spain side, of course, and it was quite entertaining. The entrance fee, thanks Sandy, included dinner which consisted of a very tasty tomato soup, a whole Cornish game hen with potatoes and broccoli, and pastries for dessert, it also included drinks. There was no silverware so we had to eat with our hands.

After the show was over, we all drove to Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas to see the lights and sounds street show. It was nice because it featured the music of The Doors, we all sang to it.

When we got back to Excalibur, The Thompsons went to the Faire but it closed shortly after.

Marvin, Marty and I hung around for a while playing the slot machines, but lady luck was not on our side!

In the morning we all went to have breakfast, and right after that they all left. Marvin and I stayed for an extra day. He and I went to New York New York for lunch, and later we went to Mandalay Bay for an early dinner. I wanted to go to a famous chef restaurant, so I chose the Border Grill. The owners are Top Chefs and had a TV cooking show too. Well, neither Marvin nor I were impressed with the food, and the price was way too high! oh well it was fun anyway.

We left Las Vegas Monday morning, and on the way home, we stopped in my favorite M Resort, where I went directly to the Baby Cakes Bakery and bought enough pastries to last me for a couple of days. The highlight was a chocolate eclair. Just thinking of it makes my mouth water and my tummy rumbled with happiness. You all need to taste it if you want a taste of Nirvana :)

All in all we had a great vacation time, I enjoyed seeing everything and celebrating Marvin's birthday with our daughters and grandson, and Marty.

Happy 70th Birthday Marvin!

Spring Break 2010

We just got back from our trip to Death Valley and Las Vegas. We had a great time!

I will write a little about Death Valley now and more about the trip in the coming days.

I had never been in Death Valley and found it so very interesting and scenic. We spent the first night in a town called Tenopa, it was right in the middle of nowhere, not far from the old Spanish trail Our room was right next to the hot springs, and I bathed there at night, it was great! Next to our building, there was a Bistro with gourmet food which is very unusual to find in such a secluded area, the chef owner used to have a Zagat rated restaurant in Las Vegas and graduated first in the New York Culinary Institute, but I guess he decided to get away from it all and open a bistro right in the Hot Springs area.

After checking in, we drove around to an oasis in the middle of the desert called China Farm. Again,m it was totally unexpected, it was really way deep in a canyon, surrounded by mountains and desert. We took some pictures and looked around, after that we started on our Death Valley trek.

It's hard to describe all the sights, so I will just write about some of my favorite spots. The first one, was the beautiful valleys full of desert flowers, which is very rare for Death Valley, but they had lots of rain this year and flowers bloomed abundantly although they won't last very long. The lowest point in the US, 282 feet below sea level, was very interesting too, as far as the eyes can see is a dry lake with some moisture in some parts because of the rain, but in general it was an arid, dry, amazing landscape.

I was a little disappointed in the sunset, I was looking forward to a gorgeous desert sunset, but without a cloud in the sky, the sun settled behind the mountains without much fanfare!

On our way back to our Hot Springs "resort", we stopped for dinner at a cafe in Shoshone, they were about to close and we just had a sandwich.

One of the most beautiful sights, was the absolutely gorgeous, beautiful, amazing desert skies. I have never seen so many stars, so close up and bright, we sat outside our room just looking at the sky. As I looked up, I saw the most brilliant shooting star..I made a wish...

NaPoWriMo #1

Just thought I will post something for Poetry Month :)

When I look at myself

in a mirror

I don't see me

-as I am-

but as I was.

To iPad or not to iPad, that is the question!

This lovely morning, Marvin and I went to Lowe's to buy some lavender plants, after that we went to Michael's since I had to buy some frames. We were talking about iPad and I told Marv maybe I'd like one, he said Best Buy has Apple stuff so we went there to look at them. I thought there would be a lot of people wanting to buy it, but there were only a few trying it to see how it worked. So I played with it for a little while and decided to buy one. I asked if they had any left and they said they had lots of them available. After talking to the clerk for a while I found out you cannot connect it to the Internet yet, it will only work in places with wi-fi, he said it'll be a couple of months before it can have regular Internet connection, so I decided to wait a while.
Back home, somewhat later, we were getting ready to go have dinner at Acapulco. We had been reading some more about iPad, and I said I should have bought one this morning! so we decided to go back to Best Buy to get one, and of course, they were out of them!!!!
So I guess I'll wait and read some more about it, and then buy it...or not! LOL
Any thoughts?

sickly weekend

Kindergarten had our 100 objects day on Friday and we displayed everything in the playground, it was fun and lots of parents came to see the display. I was not feeling too well, I have had a cold most of the week and it never went away, so I have spent most of the weekend at home, in bed, with Marvin doing all the cooking and cleaning (of course he does most of the cooking even when I feel OK)!
I won't be going to work tomorrow, maybe I can get rid of this cold. But I have to go to the eye doctor at 3:30, let's see if my dry eyes are improving.
Also this weekend Marvin and I made reservations in Death Valley, where we will stay for a couple of days on our way to Vegas. I've never been in Death Valley, and I am curious to see it, it features the lowest, driest, and hottest locations in North America. Will make sure to take lots of pictures :)

March 19

Today Tristan turned 12, Happy Birthday!!! I love you and wish I had been there with you!!!!

Today is also my Saint Day, St Joseph, it's also Father's Day in Spain and a holiday. We celebrated it big time since my mother and I both share the same name, and also because of Father's Day. All the family got together and brought us gifts. My grandmother made platters and platters of crema catalana, which is the typical dessert for the day of San Jose.

I feel the earth move...

We had a minor earthquake (4.4) at 4:04AM. It woke me up with a rumbling noise and a jolt, and I thought earthquake and jumped off the bed. The epicenter was pretty close to La Mirada, in Pico Rivera.
Thankfully there were no casualties, or damage, other than a few things thrown around. Nothing at home.
I went back to bed and slept a couple hours longer. When I got to work, my little kindergartners were all excited about it, they even said they understood about the drills we have at school every so often :)
Tonight, Jennifer and I went to dinner at Acapulco, and she is staying overnight.
Lizzie is going to Austin Texas with Jeff tomorrow for a few days. I know they will enjoy the time there.
Tttttthat's all folks!!!

A Perfect day (weather wise)

A day like today is the reason I love living in California. The sky was deep blue with no smog, it was a little breezy, the temperature was 74 F which is my favorite. The flowers are blooming, the birds are chirping and all is good :)

I went to the Jacuzzi for a while and it was just great!

I hope your day was just as pleasant, albeit a little colder for Utah and Sweden!

Distinguished School

A California Distinguished School is an award given by the California State Board of Education to public schools within the state that best represent exemplary and quality educational programs.

We are a very small school district (about 5,000 students K-8), but we have the distinction of having 3 schools achieve Distinguished School awards. My school, Jersey Elementary also got California Business for Education Excellence Honor Roll School for 2007, 2008, and 2009.

Today we had people from the State and the District observing and evaluating us to validate the title of Distinguished School. We all were in our very best behavior, and the people were super impressed with all the educational programs going on in the school. At the end of the meeting we were told we were heads above any other district of the same size and culture as ours. They were very impressed and wanted to take some of our ideas to implement in other school districts around California.

I didn't quite realized we were that good lol, but according to test results and evaluation we are on the top layer of California schools! Quite impressive :)

So congratulations to Jersey School on this award!

A night out

Yesterday Lizzie came over to spend the night, and maybe go to a show in Long Beach. When she was here, we decided to go to the show which was at the Basement Lounge in Long Beach.http://www.basementloungelb.com/ Every day of the week they have different shows/activities. On Wednesdays they have The Lightbulb Radio Hour http://lightbulbmouth.com . We got there around 8:00PM and looked around, Lizzie knew the host, Derrik Brown, and co host Mindy Nettifee. They are also well known poets/performers.
They all asked Lizzie if she would read some of her poetry but she didn't bring any, I wish she had because she is head above the ones that performed in "Open Mike". After that there was a little break and then the show started. First to perform was the featured musician Caroline Movement, I really enjoyed it, it was a man playing guitar and singing with another man doing a really cool beat on drums. After he sang, he joined the host for an interview, which was fun. The next performer was Amber Tamblyn, she had a TV show called Joan of Arcadia, and has been in several movies, like The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Her father is Russ Tamblyn, a dancer and actor who's been in many movies, probably best known for West Side Story (the leader of the Jets). I told Amber I had met her father at the premiere of the movie in Barcelona in 1961. She thought it was cool. She read some of her poetry and also did a freak dance which was fun, that girl can shimmy! The last of the performers was a poetry slam group called The Aerosol Love Letter Campaign.
It was a very nice evening, very entertaining. Lizzie is going to try to book herself and Jeff for one of the shows, I think that'll be awesome :)