Bye Bye 2011 - Hello 2012!

I read all the year reviews of Lizzie, Sandy and Mia. So here's mine:

 January: was an OK month. Working at Jersey. Just taking it easy. Went to Kaiser to learn about PD.

 February: It didn't start well,on February 4th I had to call 911 because Marvin had really low sugar (hypoglicemia) and passed out. Had to take him to ER. Feb 18 Sandy and Tristan came down for our Anniversary (46 years). The next day Lizzie came too. We all went to Cha Cha's. I got an iPad. It was great to be all together.

 March: Nothing much going on. My last Kindergarten class was something else. I will not forget my last field trip with them to the farm!

 April: April 4th, Marvin had his catheter inserted for PD. April 13 was Open House, also was the day Mia came to visit. Norbert picked her up.April 15, Mia and I went to school to do the Easter egg hunt. I got called from the office Marvin was in pain and we had to hurry home and I took him to ER. A few days later Norbert took Mia to a beach tour. April 21, Happy 71st Birthday Marvin! Sandy and Tristan are here, they went whale watching with Mia. Mia also cooked Swedish meatballs, Lizzie came the next day. Mia left the 29th. I wish things had been better during her stay.

 May: Celebrated Mother's Day and Day of the Teacher. Thanks for the presents and the love :) A highlight, Barcelona FC won the European championship! I watched the game, soo great! Ended the month with a limo ride with the K kids to Huntington Beach :) Marvin started the cycler.

 June: Retirement Tea for Little Lake. Marvin came and so did my friends from Jersey. Lizzie came over for Father's Day. Last day of school and end of year lunch. I was given presents and books. We had my retirement part at El Cholo. It's hard to retire after so many years, especially because I loved my job and my kids.

 July: It was a good month. Marvin and I went to eat out many times. I had root canal! Tristan came over at the end of the month.

 August: Sandy and Tristan to Disneyland. Marvin to ER August 27th. Peritonitis. He will now be on hemodialysis.

 September: Marvin at the hospital for 2 weeks. After being released, had to rush him to ER the next day. Another week at Kaiser. on the 20th, a visit to his doctor sent him back to ER for his heart. Last week of September was totally emotional.

 October: Another terrible month. October 6, on a visit to urgent care, Marvin fell off his walker while I was pushing it and I was pinned underneath. Back to ER but released after check up. Next week he was feeling pretty bad and on the 13th the ambulance had to come to take him to the hospital. Was diagnosed with an abdominal abscess. He was released Oct. 27th. On the good side, Sandy, Tristan and Marty came down and built a ramp for Marvin in the backyard. Looks good.

 November: Marvin has been doing pretty well, we had Thanksgiving dinner at home with Lizzie and Norbert. From the Claim Jumper.

 December: Marvin has his good and bad days...he's pretty weak after dialysis most of the time. He had a procedure at Kaiser to have a fistula on the 30th. Lizzie came over Christmas Eve, and also Dewey, Mary, Bettie (Lee was sick), Christina and Rick. It was very nice. Today, the last day of 2011, took Marvin to dialysis, cooked salmon for dinner, and then Marvin went to bed. It's almost midnight and here I am writing :)

 This year I have read 90 books.

 Here's hoping for a healthy and happier 2012. Love and thanks to Sandy and Marty for all the help this year, to Lizzie for coming often to visit and helping out, .it's been very appreciated. A special thanks to Norbert, he's been a great help. And Marvin...hang on..things will get better :)

Christmas Eve and day

Nostalgia

When I wrote the blog on my birthday, I wrote about the house where I was born, and on a whim, decided to check Google Earth and check the address. It was bittersweet to see the neighborhood, the houses, the church where I was baptised and had my First Communion... After a while, I decided to check on houses for sale at that neighborhood. Imagine my surprise when I saw that "my" house was for sale! it had some prictures and I have posted one above. It looks different because it's been painted and spruced up, and the ivy and some of the greenery is all gone. It is for sale for 2 million euros!!!! I wish my parents had kept it! lol Here's some black and white pictures of how it looked when I lived there. Even then, it was in a prime neighborhood and it was a really nice house. In one picture Nuri and I are holding our palms on Easter day, in the other one, we are with yaya, my father's mother :)

It's my birthday!

I was born a few minutes after midnight on December 17, 1943. I am now 68 years old.
Here's the earliest picture I can find of myself. It was during my baptism at the Bonanova church. My godparents were my father's brother, Juan (who's holding me in the picture), and my godmother was my mother's sister Carmeta.
 My full name is Maria (maternal grandmother) Josefa (my mother) Carmen (my godmother) Leonor (my maternal godmother)
I was born at home, Passeig Guell 14, in Barcelona. It was a very nice house in a very nice neighborhood. In the house lived my mother and father and my maternal grandmother (yaya), and my sister Nuria.
Because we were very well off at that time, we also had a live in maid and a nanny. We had a car and a chauffeur. My father worked in textiles, I am not sure what his position was exactly.
We lived there until I was 5 years old. I still remember living there. The reason we moved was because my father decided to partner with a friend and sell Spanish wines to South America (that was shortly after WWII). It was supposed to make him and his partner very rich. It didn't work as they had planned, and he lost a lot of money. With no money coming they were not able to keep the help, or the house , which was rented out.
We moved with an aunt of my grandmother, she was a widow with a son Joaquin. They lived in a small house in the country in what is now a hip place called Taxonera. It was a BIG change especially for my mother.
I remember living there and having fun with Nuri and Joaquin, running around the fields and climbing trees. We only stayed there less than a year.
My parents rented an apartment in the area of Putxet. Roca y Batlle B. I lived there until I got married.
And here's my earliest picture, I was a few days old.

What's going on with my blog????

I am not sure what's happening with my computer, or with this blog, or with Google.... But here I am again with the original A Kinder World. I will try again tomorrow and see how it goes :)

November 30 -End of the month

It has been fun writing every day. Good job with it too Sandy!!! And Lizzie, even though you didn't write every day, the posts you wrote were interesting and informative. I also enjoyed your posts Mia.
It is hard to write every day, one runs out of things to say, but it's a good way to keep in touch. I love reading all your blogs. I don't comment on all posts, but read and enjoy each and every one.
So I will make a point to write at least weekly, or whenever I have something to say.
And I will be looking forward to your posts as well :)
Love you all.

November 29 - 1955-56

I was talking to Tristan today, we talked about school, friends, sports, etc. I got to thinking about when I was his age, how teenagers have changed since then. We didn't have computers or cell phones or electronic games, but still we had the same growing pains. It's hard to be a teenager no matter when.
When I was 13, I was going to a private school a couple of blocks from home. It was called Centro de Enseñanza ALBA. There were girls and boys mixed, from 1st grade to
8th grade (well the Spanish equivalent).
I liked a boy named Paco who lived a few houses down from me and attended the same school and the same grade as I. He hated me!!! he threw little rocks at me on the way to school, he would push me and call me names. Everybody said that's because he liked me!
We had a Math teacher who was very young and good looking. All the girls were in love with him. I was his pet student because I was good at Math.
One day, and I don't exactly remember why, Paco got together with my sister Nuri, a friend of hers Montserrat, and a couple of the older boys, among them Luis, Paco's brother. They picked up some dog poop and put it in a box and wrapped it like a present, put a bow on it, and had Paco deliver it to the Math teacher, telling him it was a gift from me, because he was such a good teacher.
Well, let's just say he was not amused. I was called to the Principal's office, and there they were, the principal, the Math teacher, and Paco. I was totally clueless and had no idea why I was called.
When they told me what had happened, I guess they looked at my horrified face and decided I had nothing to do with it. They turned to Paco and grilled him and he cried like a wimp and told them what had happened.
After that, I just couldn't stand Paco anymore, I was the one throwing rocks at him, and he even came to me to apologize, but it didn't help. I was done with him.
I think he was my first puppy love, very one sided and short lived. But I still remember him, he was so good looking!
Paco Marco...are you in Facebook?? :)

November 29 - young teens

I was talking to Tristan today, about school, friends, sports, etc. I

November 28 - Old movies

Lately, I have been watching some old movies. I am enjoying them a lot. Some of them I saw in Spain when I was growing up and is fun to see them in the original language English.
In Spain they dubbed foreign movies, I don't know if they still do. The funny thing is the same person would dub several American actors/actresses, and therefore they all had the same voice. It was quite a discovery when I came to the States and heard the different voices of the different actors lol.
Yesterday I saw the 1958 movie "Houseboat" with Cary Grant and Sophia Loren. When the movie was filmed, she was 24 and Cary was 54.
Another movie I watched was "7 Brides for 7 Brothers". One of the stars was Russ Tamblyn, I met him in Barcelona after the premiere of West Side Story. A couple of years ago I went with Lizzie to Long Beach to a poetry reading, and his daughter Amber Tamblyn was there too. I introduced myself to her and told her I had met her father years ago, she was mildly uninterested but in a nice way:)
I am fixin to watch a movie tonight, maybe a Esther Williams no, the queen of the bathing suits. Or perhaps a Doris Day one.I enjoyed their movies as a teenager.
I am pretty sure all that read this post are too young to remember any of these movies, but they were fun and innocent :)
This post makes me feel old lol

November 27 - Summer day

Today's temperature was 88 degrees at midday. What a beautiful November day! I wore shorts and a Tshirt all day. I went to the garden and watered my plants, the roses are blooming and the hummingbirds were buzzing around (unfortunately so were the wasps)!
Lizzie went back to San Diego today, it was so nice to have her here for a few days!

Only 34 days until 2012!!!!

November 26 - Books are good

I went to the Library today. This month I have read 9 books so far, and the good thing is, I really enjoyed all of them.
There are certain authors I enjoy and some of them are fairly prolific and have written more than 1 book. If my Library doesn't have the books I want, I go online and check them out from the greater Los Angeles line of libraries, and it only takes a couple of days before I get them.
Today I got 4 books, and I think I will enjoy them all as well.
I love reading! I love books! I am the only hold out in the family with no reader although I could get them in my iPad if I was so inclined, but I like to hold a book in my hands when I'm reading at home. I think I might like to read with my iPad if I was traveling, it would be a lot easier than to carry books around.
I am happy we are a family of readers!
I finished reading the book in the picture and Lizzie borrowed it and read it while she was staying here, she just finished it. We both enjoyed it :)

November 25 - The day after

It was a nice day, sunny and mild. Marv and Lizzie went out to do some errands and came home with puffy tacos for lunch.
The afternoon was mellow, watching TV, reading, a little gardening...
Lizzie and I went out to dinner to Carino's, we had a good dinner.
It was a nice day.

November 24 - Happy Thanksgiving

We had a nice Thanksgiving day at home.
Lizzie and I prepared some appetizers while Marvin watched football and rested. I made spinach dip, Lizzie made deviled eggs, and we also had some jamon, chorizo and salchichon, and Brie with crackers.
Lizzie organized how to heat everything so it was all ready when we sat down to dinner.
Norbert got here by 4PM, and had some of the appetizers and watched football with Marv. Then we sat down to eat. We had roasted breast of turkey, mashed potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, roasted vegetables, dressing, cranberry orange sauce, gravy, and a big Cesar salad. We drank Cava, and had pumpkin pie and ice cream for dessert.
It was very good and we all felt really full by the time we left the table.
It was a time to say thanks for Marvin's recovery, for our daughters and their partners, our grandson, our family in California, Utah, Spain and Sweden, and our good friends.
Happy Thanksgiving!

November 23 - Wednesday

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, time to give thanks for our many blessings.
Thanksgiving is a very American holiday. For some reason this year I felt like having a typical Thanksgiving meal, and that's what we are having. Since my turkey and dressing culinary skills are somewhat lacking, I ordered a dinner for 4-6 from a nice restaurant(as I already told you in a previous post)
I went to Claim Jumper to get the dinner for tomorrow, with instructions on how to cook/warm/fix the meal. It will be interesting, I am sure everything will taste super good :)
Lizzie will be coming over, she will stay until Sunday. It will be very nice to have her here. Jeff sent a nice note saying he wouldn't be coming but is looking forward to being here for Christmas :) Norbert will be our other guest. He's kind of goofy but a good friend, he keeps on insisting he will put the Christmas lights too, we'll see.
We will be missing Sandy and Tristan and Marty but they are spending Thanksgiving with his family in Pocatello. We were happy to have them here a few weeks ago when they built the awesome ramp.
Whether you celebrate or not, I hope all of my readers have a wonderful Thursday!!!

November 22 - TV shows

I think I like American Idol better than the X Factor. I haven't been watching a lot of it but was watching today, and I didn't care much for it. I also was watching some of Dancing with the Stars, it was the final show. I know Mia likes it so I won't say who won. I haven't been watching The Sing Off at all.
I think I am mostly bored by a lot of shows.
These are the shows I currently watch and enjoy:

The Big Bang Theory
Two and a half men
New Girl
Raising hope
Glee
Saturday Night Live (I've been watching it for 33 years)
The Amazing Race
America's Top Model
Project Runway
and lots of shows from HGTV and The Food Network :)

I may have missed one or two...

November 21 - Monday

Just went grocery shopping. Marvin and I worked in the garage for a little bit..that's about all :)
I wanted to check the Swedish show Mia wrote about, and that's what I got! oh well :)
Let's see, maybe I should write an Haiku or something to make this post a little more hmm literary? OK I will!

Autumn is here
colorufl leaves fall
makes me happy

November 20 -Autumn rain

It has been raining all day, just soft gentle rain, at times it rained quite heavily. It really looked like a Autumn day, I went to drop some books at the library and saw those pretty trees and had to take a picture.
It's been a nice quiet day. At night I felt like cooking and made arroz con pollo, I thought it tasted very good and it looked good too.
I hope your Sunday has been super nice too!

November 20 - Gentle Fall rain

November 19 - Lizzie is 40!!!

Happy Happy Birthday, I hope all your birthdays are wonderful!
I read Lizzie's and Sandy's blogs, and I enjoyed reading them. What a nice way to remember your accomplishments and important events in your life, I am sure the next 40 years will be as blessed and full of wonderful things.
Because almost everything has been said, I decided to make a pictorial of Lizzie at 10, 20, 30 and 40. You are getting better all the time :)
Feliz cumpleanos Elisabeth Nuria Wann Perello!!!

November 18 - just another day

Nothing much has happened today. The plumber came later than they said he would so any things I had planned to do (grocery shopping and library) got put on hold.
Marvin has been walking around pretty well with just the cane, I am so glad he's feeling better :)
Both girls called tonight, Lizzie to say thanks for the Bday card, and Sandy to say she got home all right :)
I am about to order Thanksgiving dinner. I decided I didn't feel like cooking, but for some reason I was craving a traditional Thanksgiving meal, so I will order from The Claim Jumper http://www.claimjumper.com/include/files/HolidayPlatter.pdf
Lizzie will come over and maybe Jeff too, and I invited Norbert since he's not going to Las Vegas this year.

I reread what I wrote yesterday and was surprised at how many typos I made, oh well!

November 17 - Roto Rooter

Our kitchen sink has a tendency to back up, it's been like this for quite a while. If I was dishes, when I finish and drain the sink, it backs up in the other side of the sink a little bit. Well it has been getting progressively worse. I put some Drano in one side and it helped. Then a cpuple of days ago, Marvin put Drano on both sides of the sink, I didn't know about it. So when I ran some water, the whole thing backfired! I was also using the dishwasher at the time. In a matter of minutes there was water all over the kitchen floor. A mess. I didn't know how to turn off or close the pipe, Marvin tried to tell me but then the pipe that connects to the garbage disposal, came out and more water started spilling. I finally got the floor dry and put a big plastic container under the sink to catch any water. I, miracously, finally was able to put the pipe back where it was supposed to go and I was happy I was so clever. It took me a long time, believe me!
So tonight I decided to was a few dishes by hand, and started rinsing them in the sink, and the water was NOT going down, in fact I backed up in the other side and it was nasty!.
So tomorrow we have the roto rooter man coming! I'll be glad to see him!

November 16 - K-Team

Today I went to lunch with my kindergarten teacher friends. It was very nice seeing a lot of the children, they came and hug me (some teachers kept saying, just wave to Mrs. Wann) but noooo, they broke files and run to me..hee hee. I remember when I walked my kids to the cafeteria or something, sometimes we would see a parent or aide, and I would tell them, don't yell or run to them, just wave ;)
Anyway we went to our usual lunch place, Veracruz. It was nice to order a Margarita with my lunch! of course I passed it around and they all took healthy sips from it.
I had 2 tacos de pollo with rice and beans, was good but it really filled me up!
Afterwards I hung around a little and talk to some of my teacher friends, then went home and took a nap.

November 15 - 31-35 years ago

I was cleaning some drawers and found old diaries (I used to keep a daily diary for many years). Since I can't think of anything to write about today, I will succintly write on happenings on November 15, years ago.

Nov. 15, 1976 - Raining, made pea soup. Crocheted Barbie clothes.
Nov. 15, 1977 -Join TOPS (weight loss program). Weigh 178 lbs.
Nov. 15, 1978 -Had my hair cut, $5.50 plus tip.
Nov. 15, 1979 - Buy gifts for Lizzie's birthday:Ken, Barbie furniture, photo album, paint by number kit. She was turning 8 yrs old.
Nov. 15 -1980 - Go to see Sandy's basketball game at West Minico, won 21-20. Marvin sold floater for $2600

We were living in Burley ID during those years. It was cold!

November 14 - Musings about the wedding

I have spent a fairly long amount of time looking at all the pictures of Monica and Xavi's wedding. Some from Aida, some from friends, some from Elvira, and some from Sonia. I think Sonia's pictures were the best ones.
I liked the picture of Nuri and her daughters,and I laughed at the ones of Nuri dancing with Sonia and with some young man, she always likes to dance and have fun lol. I thought Monica looked very happy, I liked her dress especially when she had the shawl over it. Sonia looked very pretty in her outfit with her hat, and Aida looked just like herself, is what I'd expect her to wear, with a matching Nacho. I liked the color of Nuri's outfit but didn't care much for how it was made, I don't think it flattered her, and I am not sure about the shawl, but the main thing is she looked well and happy. Better than I have seen her lately, I think the move is agreeing with her.
I really liked the place where they had the reception, as I said yesterday, I am going to post a photo of it. It's an old Catalan farmhouse, remodeled and made into a restaurant. So pretty :)

November 13 - Nice day

Lizzie and Marvin went out today, to the bank, the Post Office and Stater Brothers. I think is the first time in a long while that Marvin went out to the store, he's doing so much better :) He and Lizziw fixed breakfast, chocolate chip waffles with bacon, nice!
For lunch, Lizzie asked for breaded pork, so I cooked that with asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes. Here's a picture of Marv and Lizzie.
I checked some of the pictures Aida put on Facebook of her mother's wedding, they all look well and happy, I had to laugh at Nuri's dancing and talking up a storm, she has not changed much! I love the place where they had the reception, I will send a picture of it tomorrow.
Thanks Lizzie for a nice visit, and Sandy, enjoy your trip to California :) Love you all.

November 12 -Haircut, Lizzie and Cha Cha

It's time to get a haircut! I had an appointment for 2:30PM
I have been going to the same salon for a couple of years now, my stylist, Lauren, is very good, she's also very nice. Today I got a head and neck massage, aroma therapy and hair therapy, very relaxing, and a hand massage. Lastly I got a haircut. It's very cute I think, not too different from my last one, but my hair feels silky and shiny and smells wonderful :)
After I got home, Lizzie and I went to ChaCha's (her choice) as a pre birthday dinner. We both stuffed ourselves, but it was very good.
It was a nice relaxing rainy day :)

11-11-11 at 11:11PM

I like this date, nothing mcuh happened but it's a cool date.
Went to the doctor again today to talk about setting up surgery for Marvin (fistula)
In other news, the pick line came out today, yay! He also got his last dose of IV antibiotics.
I am feeling a little better but still not 100%.
Really nothing much to talk about :)

November 10 - Good and Bad

The good things: We went to Dr. Crabtree and he removed the drain. Is very good not to have it hanging all the time and draining it daily. Tomorrow should be the last day for the antibiotics IV, but Dr Chiang will call and let us know for sure.

Another good thing, my niece Monica called me, she wanted to personally tell me about her wedding, she sounded happy and nervous. I also talked to her fiance Xavi 9 in catalan no less). He seems like a nice guy and I'm happy for her. She said thank you to the 3 of you that wrote in FB sending good wishes :)

Now for the bad. For the past couple days I've been having a pain in my left side, lower abdomen. I had something like this before and the doctor said it was gas. So I don't know it that's what it is, but it's pretty painful. Yesterday I moved some boxes in the garage and Marvin thinks maybe I pulled a muscle. The other bad thing, is I feel cold and chilly, I turned the temperature up and sleep for an hour after I took Marvin to hemo, and just now I woke up from another hour nap. Probably a cold.

Have a good Veteran's Day. I'm sure you will enjoy the day off!

November 9 - Smoke alarms

We are now the proud owners of 4 smoke alarms, plus 1 gas/monoxide alarm. Not being able to smell much I think it's a good idea.
Today was another beautiful Fall day, sunny and blue skies, with just a hint of coolness in the air.
Norbert, Marvin and I did some work in the garage, every day the pile gets a little higher but I have been throwing away a lot of stuff too. We also filled the birds feeders and in the morning while I was in the Jacuzzi I saw several hummingbirds happily drinking.
Norbert and I went for an early dinner to El Torito, I of course had a Cadillac Margarita, yum!
Tomorrow is back to the doctor, the same one that did the PD surgery, let's hear what he has to say. then Friday we'll go to a different surgeon to see if the pick line is ready to be removed.
In other news, I got an email from Sonia and she confirmed that Nuri sold her apartment in Platja (peluqueria) and got enough to buy a 1 bedroom apartment in La Bisbal. I hope she's happy there :)

November 8 - Spanish family

My cousin Fernando and I email each other a couple of times a year, the other day he sent me a link of Barcelona which I posted in Facebook. It's a beautiful link, check it out :)

http://especiales.lainformacion.com/panoramicas/barcelona/

I wrote him back to thank him and he responded, telling me he had gone to Sonia's Mexican restaurant in San Feliu, and enjoyed it very much. He also wrote he was planning on visiting my mother in La Bisbal, he said she'd be surprised. Well, so was I!

I am assuming he meant Sonia's mother, i.e. Nuri, and if so I wonder if she sold her apartment in Platja and moved to La Bisbal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Bisbal_d%27Empord%C3%A0

Nuri and I keep in touch sporadically, I think I haven't heard from her or she from me since last Christmas or so, but Sonia writes me once in a while and she hasn't mentioned anything about it, so I am just wondering.

In other news, Monica is getting married on Saturday to her long time boyfriend Xavi. I wish them all the best, he seems like a nice man, he and his brother own a popular pizza place in Girona, and they seem to get along well. I am glad she has found a good man :)

November 7 - chocolate pudding

First things first. We went to see the doctor today, she seemed pleased with the progress. We have to go to the surgeon on Thursday and see what he has to say. If all is well, they will take his pick line on Friday, no more home nurses coming every day. They all have been very nice, at the beginning they tried to teach us how to do it ourselves, after a couple of days, they gave up and just kept coming daily.

The days are getting cooler, it's starting to feel like Fall although it will probably get warmer again! at least no snow :)

When we got home , I had a craving for chocolate, I looked in the pantry and found a box of fudge chocolate pudding. It called for 3 cups of milk and I only had 2 cups, so I added 1 cup of half and half (richer and yummier) I also added some semi sweet chocolate pieces for that extra taste. It was YUMMY!!!! I don't want to know how many calories or sugar it had, it just tasted soo good, just what I was craving! It's OK to indulge sometimes :)

November 6 - An update

It's hard to think of stuff to write every day, especially when nothing much is happening (as opposite of too many things going the last few weeks). I am not complaining.
Tomorrow we are going to the doctor to see what she has to say about the abdominal abscess and about continuing the antibiotic treatment. So far we have had a home nurse come daily to give the treatment and it has worked fine.
Marvin is feeling a lot better although he's still feeling weak. He's eating well and walking around with help from the walker. He even stands on his own for a while (he cooked breakfast today).
Norbert will be coming one day this week to installed a couple of smoke alarms and a carbon monoxide alarm, which is required by California law.
Have a good week everybody!

November 6 -

It's hard to write every day. There is not much going on, which is a good thing after too much going on the past few weeks!


Norbert was going to come by and put a smoke alarm and a carbon monoxide alarms as to install them.required by California law. Since my sense of smell is pretty bad, it's a good idea to have smoke alarms -we installed one a long time ago but it never worked). We decided to wait till Wednesday.


Tomorrow we are going to the doctor and see what she has to say about the abdominal abcess

November 5, Attention Deficit Disorder

I just finished reading Sandy's blog, and I reached an obvious conclusion: My husband and daughters are planners and organizers. I am not.
I make lists, and promptly lose them, or misplace them (I find my grocery list as soon as I get back from the store). I spend countless hours looking for things. I try to organize pictures, papers, documents etc. and although I really try, it just doesn't last.
When I worked at Jersey, I organized teaching units by the month, I always started the year knowing where everything was, but after a week or two, everything was upside down, because I never filed papers in the corresponding box and let things accumulate. For instance, If I looked for a Thanksgiving unit, I would find it in January. I of course would then have to create new units, which was good because I didn't like to do the same thing year after year, so maybe...

Because of Marvin being sick, it would be convenient for me to plan and organize. Lizzie told me to get a journal and write basically everything related to his care.
I got a journal, and wrote a few things, and told myself I needed to keep it up.
And I tried.
But I cannot find it.
(Not to worry, I have kept track of the important stuff, like appointments and medication)

I have been told I may have some ADD. Reading this site http://www.livingwithadd.com/ I find that both positive and negative signs describe me pretty well. Especially the completing tasks, organizing and focusing. I also agree with the positive traits.

So that explains it! :)

November 4 - Rain

Rain on the green grass,

Rain on the tree,

Rain on the housetop,

But not on me!

November 3- The Hawk

I was looking out at the backyard this afternoon and saw a bunch of birds flying into the orange tree, it looked like they wanted to hide. Then I went to the kitchen.

Marvin called me to come back and look outside, there was a hawk sitting by the handrail and he had just caught a bird and had him between his claws!

I hurried to take my camera and took a picture from the inside so it's not too clear, but if you click on it and make it bigger you can see the poor little bird :(

The hawk looked at me directly like daring me to do something, when I opened the door, he flew away still clutching the bird.

I have at times seen feathers on the grass and now I know why!

November 2

Another beautiful November day.
Woke up pretty early and was busy all day, but thinking back, I really didn't do much.
I wanted to go in the Jacuzzi but I got sidetracked and forgot all about it.
Where did the day go?
And now, I was ready to scan some pictures, and my scanner decided it doesn't want to work anymore. What to do? Buy a new one or take one of Marvin's? (he has 2).
And that's about it for today.

November 1

So October was not so great either, but I have high hopes for November. Marvin has been feeling pretty good since he came home from the hospital, plus we are having a nurse coming daily to give him antibiotics with an IV, plus a therapist also came by to give him pointers on doing some exercises to strenghten his legs and arms etc. He's been eating better and is enjoying going outside on the new ramp and breathe in the fresh air :)

Today was a pretty good day, the beautiful weather always makes me happy. I took Marv to dialysis, and after that I went to visit my friends at Jersey. I didn't stay too long but it was nice to see everybody and especially having so many of the kids that had me as a teacher come and hug me and tell me they miss me and wish they were back in kinder :D

I have also kept in touch with many of my exkinderkids in Facebook. I posted some Halloween pictures and they loved them, now I found more and more kids (well they are adults now) wanting to be friends and wanting pictures of them in kinder too.

In the evening I went to the Library, and it was one of those rare days when I found several books I wanted to read, now have to decide which one will be first, they all appeal me a lot!

November 1 is All Saints Day. In Spain they celebrate by going to the cemetery and visiting your dear departed, but is also a day where you eat yummy panellets, and roast chestnuts and just eat a lot of goodies. Here Mexicans also celebrate the day but in a different way, they make "Pan de muertos" which is like a sweet bread. I bought one and I am about to eat some with hot chocolate. Nice way to end the day (although probably the chocolate will keep me up all night) .

October 1

Sooo glad September is over and done with!!!!
Here's to a better October :)

Enjoying Tristan :)

We are enjoying our time with Tristan . He and I have developed a sort of schedule, shower every other day (and yes, the outdoor hosing takes the place of a shower, also the jacuzzi but then he has to wash his hair). Every morning after he wakes up (late) Marvin fixes him breakfast, then is computer/smart phone time. Later he goes outside and waters all the plants, including the tomatoes, and fills the fountains, and even picks some weeds. After that it'll be lunch time, sometimes at home, sometimes out.
In the evening we go outside and he plays basketball, today we shoot balls together, I won 1, he won 1 and we tied the 3rd time :) At night, is back to computer/smart phone/TV, with breaks.
Every so often I call break time and he has to do something like jumping jacks, or wash his face and brush his teeth, or fold clothes or empty the dishwasher etc.


He basically doesn't want to go out much, but he goes with Marvin to the store or to the game place. And of course, we went on Saturday to Huntington Beach. That was a "fun" day. Sooo many people (500.000 were expected) so needless to say we never got very close to the beach or the pier. The plan was to have Norbert drive us in my car to the pier, and then we would call him to pick us up in a couple of hours because parking was all but impossible. In reality, PCH was virtually stopped -bumper to bumper- so we took side streets and everybody else had the same idea. Tristan enjoyed Norbert's driving but I was not as excited!!! They also had fun checking the girls, they both acted like teenagers.
After a long time we turned around and went back to his home and from there to Acapulco to dinner.

We were thinking of going to San Diego on Sunday, but Marvin was feeling pretty weak so we decided he wasn't quite ready for a long drive. But all in all he seems to be doing better

Tomorrow we are having the cement guy coming to lay the foundation for the shed, I also want to go buy some flowers. And then on Wednesday Sandy gets here! :)

My doctor visit

Yesterday I went to the dentist again to get my crown, and also got another one. sigh. Then today I went to my regular doctor for a physical, i had not had one for a while.

He reviewed my diabetes lab tests and everything seems to be OK, my triglycerides are a little high, but the rest is good, including cholesterol. I have also lost some weight so he was happy about it. I also had a tetanus/whooping cough shot. My arm is very sore!

He also froze a couple of things on my face, nothing major just I thought it was ugly. :)

I also drove around Huntington Beach because they are having the US Open of surfing (I asked Tristan if he wanted to go and he said maybe but not today). It was FULL of people, no place to park, they are also having Xgames, so it was very busy.

At home in the afternoon, Tristan helped me water the tomatoes and the plants, then we got silly with the hose and because it was hot and today was shower day, I told him it could take the place of a shower lol. He got very soaked, it was fun!!!

Went shopping today

Early this morning the cycler started to beep, we had another outage! So Marvin had to wait untiul the electricity came back, about an hour later. It ouf course woke us up, it was about 5AM, I didn't go back to sleep because I had a dentist appointment at 9.
At 8:45 I took my Xanax and Marvin took me to the dentist and left me there. So this month dentist =1 root canal and 2 crowns. Fun not.
When I came home, Tristan has just got up. We had lunch and I went to lay down, I was tired!
Later, Marvin and I went to Home Depot and we will have a representative come to advise us on what kind of generator to buy. We really need one because is not fun to be hooked to the cycler and not be able to do anything but wait.
We also bought a tuff shed. It's 6x12. As soon as we get the ground leveled, they will come and install it. We will get a heater a/c combination to keep it at the right temperature because that's where we will keep the dialysis supplies, and other stuff that we need to keep in a closed safe space.
Tomorrow I have an appointment with myt regular doctor, for another round of fun stuff...pap test, mammogram, diabetes updates, blah blah.
And so it goes.

August 1

I haven't been writing much since I posted all my retirement stuff. I have no idea if anybody reads them other than Mia, but at least it helps me keep track of the going ons in my life.

Tristan is visiting us for a couple of weeks and that is always fun for us :) He went shopping with Marvin today, besides a game and some kind of thingie to play the game in the computer, they also got a basketball and a net. Problem is, they don't know how the net goes, so it is only less than half done.

Today we had an electric outage for about 4 hours. I'm glad it was during daytime and not at night when Marvin is in the cycler! We are now thinking of maybe getting a generator...

Tomorrow I go back to the dentist to get my"real crown"and maybe get another one. My teeth are horrible!

And now..here's my book list for July:

Mary Kay Andrews – Summer Rental
Sue Ann Jaffarian – Double dead
Katie Fforde – Restoring Grace
Claire Cook – Best Staged Plans
Zoey Dean – How to teach filthy rich girls
Jonathan Kellerman – Mystery
Jeanne Ray – Eat Cake
Katie Fforde – Practically Perfect

I had never read Katie Ffordfe, typical chick lit but entertaining, she's very English, I enjoy trying to guess what some of the stuff she writes about is...marmite? :)

End of Year lunch - June 16

Every year, on the last day of school, teachers and staff at Jersey go out to lunch. For the past 3 years we have gone to BJ's in Downey, we get a buffet just for us, with all the pizzas we can eat, plus salads, fettuccine Alfredo and dessert. We had like 8 different kinds of pizza, and they kept coming! The drinks are also very good.
This year, because of my retirement, the lunch was mostly about me, again :) I got free drinks too which is always nice.

To begin with, our principal read a book about starting a new path...It's a children's book but it really applied to me and my retirement. I really couldn't hear too well but I know she was pretty emotional about it, wiping away tears as she was reading. She gave me the book at the end and a big hug.
The pizzas started coming, and as the guest of honor, I started the line. The food was very good and there were tons of it, I didn't care much for the fettuccine, but the salad and pizza was very good. We had a very good time.
I was given a scrapbook, and a yearbook. I passed it around so everybody could sign it. The scrapbook is really super nice with lots of pictures and a letter or a note from each teacher.

Janice put the scrapbook together and she gave a speech with memories and anecdotes about when she first met me (her oldest boy started Kindergarten on my first year at Jersey, but he was not in my classroom). She got emotional too, and since I couldn't really hear what she was saying and I was drinking my mojito, I remained dry eyed :). In the picture, Monica is showing the scrapbook to Sonia, the secretary.

The classified staff (cooks, supervisors, etc) got together and made me a cool apron, hand painted by one of the supervisors. It said "Wann in a Million" and had one kid pulling my shirt, and cartoonish drawings of all the staff, and they all signed their names. It was really nice!!!!

And here is my mojito and a slice of pizza.

When we all had finished eating and drinking, and before we left. I was presented with a card and a $100.00 bill, earlier on I also got a Nikon digital camera. I thanked everybody and just had time to take one last picture with my Kindergarten team :)

Norma, me, Jessica and Gloria

...And that's it for my retirement festivities....I also got a card from Mary and Dewey, and a couple of cards from some District friends.

It's been a great 26 years. I never thought of it as work, I didn't care much for all the meetings sand rules and regulations, but I enjoyed all my classes, and all the kids I have taught through the years. . I will miss the kids, the hugs from the kids, the teachers, the parents, the gifts, and the school....and, darn it! I finally got emotional writing this.................

Last day of school - June 15

gifts and cards from my students

#1 retiree


Last picture of my last class

Jennifer and Jessica cried all through the presentation

Miranda presented me with a beautiful bouquet of roses

At Jersey School, the school day begins with all the classes gathered outside and doing The Pledge of Allegiance together. This is also the time for some announcements from the Principal, etc. Usually the Kindergarten classes are not present, because we do the Pledge in our own classrooms.

Since I am not crazy about surprises, I had tricked my friend Jessica into telling me that they were planning on doing something with the whole school on my last day.

So, on the last day we got an announcement thru the intercom, saying that ALL classes should gather outside, including Kindergarten. Aha! no surprises for me!

After the Pledge of Allegiance, the principal gave a speech about what a special day it was, because Mrs. Wann was retiring after 26 years teaching Kindergarten and Jersey School wouldn't be the same without me etc. Shje presented me with a rosette that said #1 retiree, and with a facsimile of a plaque that will be placed above the kindergarten playground water fountain, celebrating my 26 years as a Kindergarten teacher. Then all the Kindergarten children started singing a song (which I learned in Idaho) called Skidamarink , some of the kids in other grades knew the song too and sang along, also some of the teachers...the song ended with all the kids pointing at me and saying I love you.

When we went back to our classrooms, my room mother had set up a display of presents the kids had given me, and I got a little emotional reading all the cards I got. When it was time to go home, I gave the children their Kindergarten diplomas and hugged every kid of my very last Kindergarten class. ............Adios!

My Retirement Dinner

Pineapple coconut Margarita

My long time aide and some teachers. Jessica and I have worked together for 25 years!

Giving some kind of speech lol

Monday, June 6, at El Cholo.

We had decided it would be only for Jersey School, even though some of my old principals, and other teachers friends had asked about having a dinner for me, I preferred just to be with the Jersey bunch.

Marvin and I got at the restaurant and most everybody was already there. My friend Jennifer couldn't make it because she was out of State, in Washington, but most of the teachers and other staff were there.

I have to say I had pretty much fun. As a surprise, they invited my aide Martha Flores. She had worked with me in kinder for about 12 years, she had retired 11 years ago, so it had been a long time since we had seen each other, she looked exactly the same! :)

We took a lot of pictures and there was a lot of drinking and much laughter (many people told me they had not laugh as much for a long time). I didn't get any gifts because they were not ready lol, but they bought me several drinks,of course Margaritas, and pina coladas.

We all had dinner there, a taco and salad buffet, and of course another big cake from Porto's!

I was glad that Marvin could make it, I think he had a good time too :)

End of school year picnic, Friday June 10

After the retirement Tea, and the dinner at El Cholo, the next thing was the Kindergarten picnic. The 5 kindergarten classes invited all parents to the picnic, we the teachers got pizza, chips and drinks for the kids, the parents each brought potluck to share.

We had of course lots of parents, and all the kids, the swimming pool was open and all children that brought swimwear got into the (kids) pool. It was a typical June day, so it was rather cool in the morning and overcast, but by the time they got into the pool the sun was shining.

After the pool, it was lunch time and we all had plenty to eat. Many different kinds of salad, green, macaroni, crab, potato, pasta etc. Also fried chicken, tamales, all kinds of chips and side dishes too. And of course, desserts: fruit, cheesecake, cupcakes etc.

Our principal and her husband were there too, as parents of a kindergarten kid.

Towards the end, the brother of one of the kids came out to perform some magic tricks. All the kids sat down and were amazed by the (very simple) tricks.

Afterwards, the principal asked all the parents to come around and told them about my retirement. Most everybody knew already, but it still got applause. Then my room mother came to me and gave me a hug and made a little speech about how glad they were that I was their children's teacher on my last year, she then gave me a huge framed picture of me and my class, and all the children had signed their names. I was also given a beautiful cake.

I said thank you and that's about it, Monica and my co teachers were laughing because they knew I don't like to make speeches at those times. But all in all, it was very nice :)

Fireworks and My June Book List :)

My school district is trying to raise funds by selling fireworks, they did it last year and it went very well. Schools take turns having people come to sell the fireworks. Today was Jersey and Cresson's turn. I didn't go last year but I volunteered this year, from 1PM to 4PM. The fireworks stand (a big one) was right in front of the school district office.
When i got there, the teachers working the 11-1 shift were getting ready to leave. I worked with Becky, Jessica and Carmen. The principal of Cresson was there too (I had her son in my Kinder a while back and she's a good friend). There are two big mulberry trees in front of the office, so we had chairs and sat in the shade, when we saw people coming we would get up and sell fireworks. It was pretty fun, even one of my kinder kids came with his family (Julio!) I sold about $300 worth, there was not a lot of people coming, the next 2 days will be a lot more. But still we made quite a bit of money, rather the District did!
Our principal Monica came too and she brought us lunch (chicken tacos), then later we were going to play Scrabble, but I left at 4:30.
All in all it was pretty fun!!!

JUNE

Elizabeth Adler – It All began in Monte Carlo
James Patterson – Cross Fire
Kim Gruenenfelder - There's Cake in My Future
J. Kaufman K. Mack – Literacy and Longing in L.A.
Liza Palmer – Conversations with the fat girl
Sarah-Kate Linch – Dolci di love
Jane Green – Promises to keep

On vacation time

Marvin with Lizzie's new car on Father's Day

I haven't written lately because I am on vacation. I guess it will be a looong vacation since that's what retirement is, according to what I am told.

I think I'm finally OK with it, it's rather freeing to know I won't have to worry about getting ready for 30 children, doing mountains of paperwork, testing etc. But I am sure I will miss lots of things too.

As I said before, I am happy my friend Jennifer is going to be in room 202. I spent many days cleaning and organizing, throwing tons of stuff away, and still the classroom is full! Lizzie was a big help, she got a ton of stuff done, thanks!

I am also going to sign up to be a substitute teacher, but just for Kinder and 1st grade, and just at Jersey School. I am also planning on volunteering some days when I feel like doing something other than lay around and sit in the Jacuzzi with a drink.

Marvin and I went to train for the cycler last Friday, and he's been doing it every night since. It is working OK, it takes a while to get used to it, but when he gets up in the morning, he's good to go for the rest of the day :)

I haven't done much since school ended. We've gone out to eat a couple of times, we have been working in the garden, gone to the store, etc. Basically being lazy.

I want to write about all my retirement "parties", not only to entertain you ;) but to keep a record of it. I already wrote about the retirement Tea given by the District. I will write about the dinner at El Cholo, the picnic at the park, then the last days of school, and finally the end of the year lunch. Many of the pictures I have already posted in Facebook.

You all take care! Love you.

Retirement Tea

Today at 3:15 PM, my school district had a Retirement Tea for the 12 retiring teachers, including me. The event was held at the Clarke Estate. They had finger sandwiches, chicken salad, fruit salad, cookies, and of course, tea.

They introduced all the retirees and we in turn introduced the people that came with us. I introduced Marvin, and friends from school, including the principal, Monica, and Jennifer, Jessica, Gloria, Carmen, Becky, Veronica, Albert and Dennis.

They gave us a gift bag with a nice personalized clock engraved with our name and years of service, and a box of See's chocolate truffles. We also got a certificate (more pictures in Facebook).

It was a nice event, even though I usually don't enjoy this type of things, especially when I am one of the honorees lol. The superintendent introduced me as the original Jersey Girl. Now they are calling me Snookie Wann lol.

In the evening, Marvin and I went to Islands for dinner :)

On Monday night the school is having a "retirement"dinner for me at El Cholo. Will let you know how that goes :)

Books I read in May :)

Forgot to post it yesterday :)

Susan Elizabeth Phillips – Call me irresistible
Joseph Wambough – Hollywood Hills
Jen Lancaster – If You Were Here
Darien Gee – Friendship Bread
Patrick Somerville – The Cradle
Mark Childress – Georgia Bottoms
Liza Palmer – Seeing me naked

I liked The Cradle and Seeing me naked best, but I enjoyed them all. Not too crazy about If You Were Here. :)

Lunch at the beach :)

I went on a limo ride with 9 kids and the school secretary, to Ruby's in Huntington Beach. It was a quick trip, so quick in fact that we had to eat the lunch in the limo going back to school.

The kids enjoyed watching the huge waves and the flock of pelicans flying overhead. It was a beautiful day, a little windy, but we all enjoyed it a lot.

That's the way to have lunch while "working: :)