The end of November

So another month went by. It's leaving us with a most welcome rain. I took Lulu for a walk outside and she got soaked! she does NOT like getting wet. Right now I took her out again, still raining quite heavily, and we got on the grass and she just sat down and refused to move! she's strange :)

OK here's what happened in November. It was a fairly quiet month for me. As a matter of fact there's not highlights to speak of. Both my daughters got to travel, although it doesn't seem like they had a ton of fun since it was work related. My grandson went to his first school related date.

My friends are all acting strange, Norbert is still obsessed, Jennifer still mourning the break up, and Lolin she's in pretty bad shape, she's in a wheel chair, half paralyzed from a stroke. So in comparison, my life is good :)

Lizzie was here the weekend after her birthday and we had a nice time, and a nice meal at Cha Cha's and at home. She had a birthday the 19th :)

Thanksgiving was just Marvin and I, and since it was dialysis day, we didn't do a lot of celebrating. But I wrote about it already.

So now here are the books I read this month:

Linda Francis Lee - the glass kitchen

Susan Wiggs - Candlelight Christmas

James Patterson - Private L.A.

Emma Straub - The Vacationers

Hester Browne - The Finishing Touches

Marivi Soliven- The Mango Bride

Sarah Strohmeyer - Bubbles Unbound

My favorites were The Mango Bride and The Glass Kitchen


And here are the movies I watched:

Girl on a Bicycle (2013) German

100% Cachemire (2013) French

The One I Love (2014) US

The Hundred Foot Journey (2014) US

St Vincent (2014) Bill Murray US

Le temps de l'aventure (2013) French

Menu degustacio (2013) Catalan

10 items or less (2006) US

Ismael (2013) Catalan

No Swedish movies yet Mia, although The Hundred Foot Journey was directed by a Swede Lasse Hallström
I am so happy that I am getting to watch  some movies in Catalan!!! :)

Until next month!

Another day

This year's Thanksgiving was pretty quiet. Marv had to go to dialysis 1 hour earlier, we took some muffins for the staff as a thank you for taking good care of him. There was hardly any traffic, everything was pretty quiet.

I got back home and since I woke up an hour earlier than usual, I decided to go back to bed, which I did, with Lulu laying on a towel by my feet. When I woke up it was around noon and I was going to take Lulu for a walk, but it was 90 degrees, so I decided it was too hot for both of us. I didn't know what to have for lunch, so I had some camembert-cranberry roll ups from Trader Joe's, I was going to open a bottle of Freixenet but I decided to wait till after I picked up Marv. I was going to bake a chocolate meringue pie, but I didn't have my favorite pie crust from TJ's, I would have sworn I had, so instead I watched a movie in the computer, a Catalan movie with Spanish subtitles !, it was called "Menu degustacio" or in English "Tasting Menu". I enjoyed the movie, the food, the scenery and of course the speaking in Catalan.

By the time it finished it was time to go pick up Marv, again no traffic. We got home and he was tired and had a snack, watched TV and went to nap. I opened my Freixenet and I told him we'd eat earlier because I didn't have much for lunch, so I cooked the roast turkey, made mashed potatoes, and green beans, and baked a frozen mini apple pie from Marie Callenders. We ate around 7PM. Then Lizzie called to wish us a Happy Thanksgiving :) Sandy had sent a Happy Thanksgiving text earlier in the day. I missed them and Tristan. but I'm looking forward to Christmas. Later I took Lulu for a walk around the neighborhood.

Today we had Thai for lunch, pho chicken noodle soup and egg rolls; for dinner I had leftover turkey and Marv had eggs and toast. Not much in the area of leftovers!

I talked to my friend Jennifer and asked her if she could come sometime and help me get the Xmas lights up. After his fall I am not asking Norbert to go up the ladder! I have not seen or talked to him very much lately anyway, although he called me today and he's doing OK, I had invited him for Thanksgiuving but he said he might go to Las Vegas, then decided not to. Whatever.

This evening I took Lulu to the park,she's so funny. She got all excited and couldn't wait to get in the truck. When we got to the park she walked around, sniffing everything and enjoying the walk. There were lots of geese and ducks and some other kind of fowls, they were loud and getting in the way. Lulu was totally oblivious to them! as if they were invisible. Didn't stop or look at them, nothing. A woman came by walking a large dog and then she acted really silly, flirty like. Then some kids came by and said what a cute dog and she just almost drooled of happiness. After a while she started pulling me with the leash and started walking really fast towards the pick up, she was in a hurry. We got in and drove home. When we got home she went to drink a gallon of water, then I had to walk her up and down the street till she did her business, right ion the front lawn.

Black Friday? not me. I can't think of anything I would hate more than go shopping on Black Friday!
So much nicer to take a walk in the park.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day

Love you all very much

Fall

I know that comes as no surprise, but it is Fall in Southern California. By this I mean we have warm days and cool nights. The days are short and it gets dark by 4:30PM, but I guess I shouldn't complain about it because it gets a lot darker (and colder) in Sweden.

It will be Thanksgiving in a couple of days. Today we took 2 dozen muffins to the dialysis clinic, to thank the staff for the care they give their patients. Marvin and I are grateful for their professionalism and for making him feel comfortable .

This year it will just be us. He goes to dialysis at 10AM and will be done by 3PM. As you all know, we are not very traditional at Thanksgiving. Sandy is having some of Marty's family over, and Lizzie and Jeff will have some of his family over. I invited Norbert but he's going to Las Vegas.

Of course I had not decided what to have, I just didn't feel like cooking, and we wouldn't go to a Restaurant because is dialysis day. Yesterday we went to Costco, and I found something that is traditional plus it doesn't entail cooking...here it is!

Roast turkey breast with turkey sausage and cornbread stuffing. It's already cooked all it needs is to heat it up. I will make fresh mashed potatoes and green beans and I will bake a chocolate meringue pie, and we also have fruitcake. I will let you know how it comes out :)

I will sign off for today with a picture of one of my rose trees in bloom taken today.

Bye Bye SSR

On Wednesday we sold the SSR. Marvin had been thinking about it for quite a while

 I put a note in Craig's List and also in the SSR Forum advertising it for sale, but we didn't get any takers, so Marvin went to CarMax in Buena Park, and had it evaluated, then came home and we discussed it, he had hoped for a higher evaluation but was satisfied with the offer, and that same afternoon, we took it to CarMax and sold it. That way we avoided trying to deal with private buyers etc. It was a lot easier for us.

There were a few reasons to do it.

We haven't used it very much in the last 2 or 3 years, Marvin took it out a few times to go shopping, or when we went out for lunch. We don't take long trips anymore for obvious reasons. And I was never comfortable driving it, as a matter of fact, I never did drive it.

The insurance is quite high, and so are the repairs, tires etc. It had a couple of scratches that if we didn't fix right away would get worse and/or start rusting.

It took quite a bit of room in the driveway, and it was hard to move the 3 vehicles back and forth. It has been kept outside for the last couple of years, and before that it was in the garage, covered, and not in use.

With both of us not working and retired, selling it helped keep our joint checking balance a bit healthier. It was getting a little tight.

Marvin loved that car, he put quite a few miles in it. He got to take it to Utah a few times, and to San Diego, etc. He enjoyed it fully. As it is now, we still have the pick up and my Mustang, so we are not short of transportation :)

It is what it is. It was Marvin's car, and it was his decision, and he's happy about it :)

On the way to CarMax...bye bye SSR

A book in me (bis)

I didn't have anything to write about, so I decided to "steal" Sandy's subject. Hope she doesn't mind I'm a copycat.

Both my daughters are excellent writers, my youngest one is a poet and has had many of her poems published. I also marvel at their posts, they are descriptive, witty, just great. I am sure either one of them could write a book if they put their mind to it, and have the patience, the discipline, the drive and the time to do it.

I was a pretty good writer, in Spanish. In English, even though I am a teacher, I still have problems with my grammar and my sentences -only thing I excel at is my spelling and vocabulary- But I look at "A book in me" differently , I know I wouldn't be able to sit down and write a book of fiction. However I think that I'd like a ghostwriter to write about my life but in a fictionalized way, I think I have had a lot of different experiences that would make a pretty interesting reading. A lot of things you already may know, and a lot of things you don't, both from my life in Spain and in the USA.

It's not going to happen, but I have to confess I wrote an outline a few years ago, during one of my boring school meetings, and I kept refining it and adding to it. Nothing came out of it and I have no idea what happened to the outline. Maybe one day I will find it :)


Today I didn't do much (surprise!) but my rose trees in the front yard are blooming, and it made me happy! And I am looking forward to seeing LIzzie tomorrow, that makes me happy too :)

Happy Birthday Lizzie!

Happy Birthday baby!!!

I

I love you :)

Mama

Daily posting

OK, i decided I find it extremely hard to write a post every day. It's not because I don't have the time. Believe me, I do have a lot of time. It's just that I don't know what to write, since everyday is pretty much the same.

Today Marvin went to run a lot of errands. I just stayed home all day, I tried to think of things to do and nothing sounded good enough to put some effort into it thus I did nothing much. I woke up with a big pain going from my groin to my toes, it was hard to walk or stay straight or lay down, it was painful. I think it must have been a nerve or something. I took an Ibuprofen and went back to bed, an hour later I was good as new :)

I made chicken soup from scratch, very easy, finely dice carrots, celery, onions (2 parts onions to 1 part carrots and 1 part celery) I sautee the veggies till they were lightly caramelized. I added some chicken breast cut in small pieces and added chicken broth, salt and pepper. I let it simmer for an hour or so, then I added little pasta stars (reminded me of my childhood) and voila, a pretty tasty and comforting chicken soup,

Then I finished cleaning the guest room, and gathered all the clothes and shoes and stuffI will be giving away to charity. I took Lulu out for a short walk around the neighborhood, and that's about it.

For dinner we had rib steak (yesterday we had grilled steak with all i oli) and we had a whole steak left. Marvin said he liked it better today. We had green beans with almonds, and sauteed boiled potatoes. And of course, for me, more all i oli.

Now trying to decide whether to watch a movie, or do some PSP...No Swedish movies yet Mia! ;)

Good night or good day to all of you.

Neighbors

We have lived in this house for 30 years. We have lived in this street longer than any other neighbors. We had all kinds of different people in the neighborhood, it used to be all "anglos" but now as in everywhere else, there's different ethnicities. Anglos, Mexican, Korean, black, El Salvadorians, and I am not sure what else.

To our right, there's a couple with a son and 2 daughters, and two big dogs they keep in the backyard and one of them won't stop barking! They are a nice family, and we get along well together. A few years ago they remodeled their house and added a floor, it was a very trying time for us, the noise, the dust, terrible! but now it is very nice and well kept. Next to them is an older Korean couple, with a son and a daughter, I think. I've never talked to them.

To our left, there's a young couple with a little boy and a baby girl. They are super nice.

Across from us, there's 3 houses that have seen a lot of movement in the past 3 years. Front left, there lived a nice old widowed lady, after she died earlier this year, this young black couple bought the house. They are both teachers, they are not around very much and I hardly see them.

Right in front of us there have been a couple of weird owners. I went with Sandy to look at the house one time, and he used to sell clothes in their garage until the police put a stop to it. They sold the house to a nice looking man. That was very entertaining! He had all kind of expensive cars, lots of sexy looking girls coming and going, etc. And then we had all the police raids, complete with helicopters, it was like a TV show, I think we had police activity 5 or 6 times. A couple of months ago he sold the house to a family from El Salvador, I think there's 4 adult and 2 children and a chihuahua. They are nice people.

Front right, there was an older couple that had lived in the neighborhood almost as long as us. Last month they decided to move to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren. They sold the house to 2 brothers from Iowa. One of them was an Army Ranger, and teaches college now, the other brother likes motorcycles, they have an old pitbull. It seems like they are going to remodel their garage and set it up to work on motorcycles. There's always 2 or 3 motorcycles around, they are noisy and there's a lot of noise while they are remodeling. I feel bad for the Salvadorian family. This street is residential and, I wonder if somebody is going to complain about it.

I'll keep you posted.

Nothing much going on

Quiet day.

Late lunch at Lucille's BBQ in Cerritos, very good!

Welcome back Lizzie :)

Ready to watch a movie

Nothing much going on today. I was planning on doing some shopping, but other than going to Sam's and get some stuff I needed for the house, well I also went to Target, but bought nothing. In case you forgot, I am 100% allergic to shopping.

This month I've been watching a few different movies, one French, one German, one Spanish, last one I watched was "The One I Love"(2014) quite interesting. Right now I'm getting ready to watch a movie I've been wanting to see for a while. The girls saw it and they both liked it. It's "The Hundred Foot Journey".

So until tomorrow, sleep well or have a nice day :)

Lots of pictures

I think I missed writing every day by half an hour,oh well.

I went to the scrapbooking meeting, all I did was organize pictures. I have lots and lots of pictures!!!! For one hour all I had time to do was put together some of Lizzie's pictures from High School and College, and some other miscellaneous pictures of her.

We only meet for an hour once a month, really there's not much time to organize, let alone start scrap booking. Next time I will sort Sandy's HS and college pictures.

Then there's tons of T's.

And old old pictures from my family.

And pictures of me before and after US.

And Marv's pictures from his farming days.

And pictures of our dogs, our houses, our cars.

And..and..

I may have to start scanning.

My first impressions

Marvin and I didn't have 90 days to know each other. We met in September 1964, while he was on leave from the US Army, he stayed in Barcelona for a week or so, we wrote to each other, then he came back in December, he stayed a couple of weeks, during that time he asked my father for my hand in marriage (sounds so old fashioned!) and gave me some money, I think $100 to buy a wedding ring since he didn't have enough time to go shopping with me. We kept on writing letters and exchanging pictures etc, and then he came in February for about 10 days, and on the 19th we got married. Shortly after he went back to the States, and sent me  an airplane ticket Barcelona-San Francisco. I went to the US in April 1965.

We didn't have computers in 1965, but I talked to my dad about San Francisco and California since he had been there. I had no idea where Dixon was, other than it was close to San Francisco, and that made me happy because it was the time when the hippies were in SF with flowers in their hair etc. and I thought it would be fun!

Marvin came to pick me up at the SF airport, it was night time so I didn't get to see much of the surroundings. We drove to Dixon and went to his parent's house. His parents were up waiting but his brother and sisters were sleep. I remember Mary coming to the living room, half sleep said hi and went back to bed. I was tired and hungry so we didn't stay there very long, his parents didn't say much, I am sure I talked a lot but I doubt they understood what I was saying. Then we drove to the house we were going to live in for a while, we rented it, but it was for sale.

The next day we drove around Dixon and it was a very rural small town, with not a lot of amenities, like cafes, restaurants, etc. It surprised me there were no people walking around, just cars driving by. I remember Marvin buying some donuts the first morning, I had never had donuts before and they were tasty. I liked a lot of the new foods, hamburgers, big steaks, etc. I remember thinking onion rings were calamari and was disappointed they were not, but I got to really like onion rings too :)

On May 15, Marvin's parents gave us a wedding shower. That was very nice of them, and I got to meet a lot of the family and friends. Here's a picture of Marv and I opening presents.

I met some of the family, my favorites were Ruth and Monk (they gave us a drink when we went to visit), and their sons Larry and Doug. Larry was in High School and was nice looking and fairly close to my age, he was 18 and I was 21. One of the things that surprised me about Dixon, is there were no young people, it seems after high school they either moved, joined the army or got married.

I really don't remember too much about the first couple of months. It was hard for me to be with his parents because they were nice people but they never said much of anything, or asked me about where I was from, or about my family etc. It was quite a change from my family. Also they were Baptist and didn't drink and I didn't like to have cool aid with my meals at their house.
 I remember a conversation I had with Marshall shortly after I arrived. He told me when Marvin wrote that  he was going to marry a girl from Spain, he went to his pastor and after praying and talking things over with Opal, they decided they would accept Marvin's decision. I didn't make me feel really welcome.

Marvin's grandfather was by far my very favorite person. He was amazing and he was so nice to me, he came to visit me when I was alone at home and asked me about my family and said he understood I might miss them a lot, he would bring an Atlas and asked me to show him where Barcelona was, and asked me about my school, and my job, and my feelings. He told me stories about being young in Oklahoma when it was a territory. I loved him.


I missed my family a lot, and my friends and my city. I wish we had skype then like they do now. All those 90 days fiances talk often with their families. That would have been wonderful.

90 days

I think I must have written about this TV show a while back, maybe not. Anyway if I did, here I go again.Sorry if it's a repeat :)

It's a reality TV show in TLC on Sundays and it's called "90 Days Fiance" it follows foreign men or women who have a visa that allows them 90 days to decide whether to tie the knot in the U.S. -- or say goodbye. I started watching it because it's the same situation that Norbert and Crista are in. I got him watching it too.

This is the second season, it follows a 41 yr old woman from Illinois and her fiance a 26 yr old man from Tunisia. The 2nd couple she's from Illinois, and he's from Nicaragua. The 3rd couple he's from Florida, she's from Brasil, the 4th couple he's from Pennsylvania she's from South Africa, the 5th couple he's from California, she's from Colombia, the 6th couple he's from Washington and she's from the Phillipines


This is a link if you'd like to see how they look like http://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/90-day-fiance/videos/meet-season-2-couples.htm

As I said, I started watching it because of Norbert's situation, but I find myself thinking about when I first came to the States, of course it was a different with me because coming to live in the US was not my main priority, but there's a lot of similar situations in the show that I experienced.

I think I may expand on it in my next blog entry :)

Old Pictures

Sandy posted some pictures of T and his date for Sadie Hawkins day. They look happy and I hope they had a great time.

That got me to thinking about Sandy and Lizzie going to SH Day when they were in High School. I know they both went, 11th or 12th grade, I don't remember, maybe both. So I got my box(es) of pictures and of course they were poorly organized. I had several envelopes with Sandy written on them and several more with Lizzie written on them, but inside there were pictures spanning years, and some other pictures that didn't belong. I found a picture of Sandy and an unknown boy, maybe she remembers his name. I couldn't find one of Lizzie, just many pictures from the different proms she went to, but I'm sure there's some SH too, cuz I remember even how she looked that day.

It's a lucky thing that Wednesday I am going to my scrapbooking meeting and maybe I will get at least some pictures organized :)

Here's Sandy's Sadie Hawkins picture

9N

Tomorrow Sunday, is November 9. It's the day that Catalans are going to vote to become an Independent country from Spain.

The Spanish Government has not authorized the vote/referendum, and it has done everything possible to stop it, but the Catalan government is going ahead with it, even though it won't really make a difference since it won't be legal. It will however show which way Catalans are leaning. And hopefully it will send some signs to the Madrid government that there has to be a change.

I know if my father was alive he would vote 100% for Independence, so would most of my family. My cousin Fernando is pretty involved in the whole process and will keep me posted. I will be watching Barcelona TV (http://www.btv.cat/) and see how it's going. There's some neo nazi groups that still think Franco is their leader, and they have threatened to disrupt the proceedings. Also the Spanish government is sending a lot of police and armored trucks towards Barcelona.


The Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and other politicians in Madrid have consistently made it clear that any attempt by Catalans to vote on independence tomorrow will be illegal. Despite this, the Catalan government, led by Artur Mas, has decided to press ahead with what they are calling a public consultation. A Spanish Government declaration on Tuesday claimed that even this watered down, symbolic vote should not be allowed to happen. The consternation in Catalonia resulted in, amongst other things, a social media campaign urging collective action.

Since then, one hashtag in particular has become more prominent on Twitter - #cassolada. At 10pm each night since Tuesday, people have protested with pans on their balconies. Making as much noise as possible. Tomorrow though, the pans will be replaced with pens.

VISCA CATALUNYA

hot warm cool cool warm HOT

Yes, that's Southern California weather. It's been a hot Summer, and so far a quite warm/hot Fall. And then we had ONE (1) day of rain. It was soooo nice, especially because after that we had a couple of days of semi cool weather -Marv even lit up the fireplace, and I put a light blanket on my bed- he even turned on the heater for a couple of hours. And then, hot again! Today was 92 degrees, back to A/C full blast. I hope we get some more warm/cool weather, like in the mid 70's which is my ideal temperature. We'll see.

Still working on my closets. Other than sweatshirts, most of my clothes are good for all (California) seasons. But as I said before, it's good to go thru things and keep and discard as needed.

In the afternoon, Marv and I went to the Italian grocery store, where I purchased some prosciuttini and chorizo salami, and then we had a late lunch at El Cholo. Chips and salsa and guacamole, tortilla soup for me and sopa de albondigas for Marv. And of course, a Margarita :)

So, how was your day?

This happens to me every so often :)

Blah

Today it's been a sort of blah day.

I didn't do anything worth writing about.

Had leftovers for dinner for Marv, I made french toast for me with the Hawaiian bread.

So I guess for my readers that live in cold snowy weather (not yet I hope) here's a tip I read in FB that may come in handy, although I imagine if it's in FB you all have read it already.

And now, goodnight!

Lunch with friends

Once in a while I like to go to my old school and have lunch with my friends, namely the Kindergarten team.

After talking to several of the teachers and staff, the K team and I went to Veracruz. We have been going there for years, and everybody knows our name. The owner is a good looking man from Ecuador, he's in his late 30's and pretty nice looking and super friendly. He and I have this thing going about soccer, he calls me Barcelona, he's a big fan, but he teases me saying things like Viva Real Madrid grrr. Today he said he had not seen me around too much at the Restaurant since I retired, but he seems me around La Mirada, he lives close to Biola. I told him since we are practically neighbors, could I have a discount? he said no, but I'll give you something. So he left and came back with a shot of tequila, complete with lime and salt. Drink, lick and suck, and so I did.

Let me tell you it got to my head right away. I only drink tequila in Margaritas but not by itself. It was a good thing I was not driving!

Here's a picture of my teacher friends. You all know them or at least heard of them. Gloria lost her oldest son this summer from a heart attack. Jennifer broke up (again) with her on and off idiot boyfriend. Maybe this time she's learned her lesson. Norma told me her oldest son got his driver's license and graduated from HS this year, he's going to Cerritos College. Her husband is opening a little drive in Downey, specializing in chicken wings. She's somewhat apprehensive about it but I hope it works for them.

I had a good time :)

November 4

Yes, I voted too. By mail. It's so much easier and you really have time to read and learn about candidates, propositions etc. I think I can call myself an informed voter. So far some of the results I agree with , and some I don't. But at least I did my part. I wish I could do it on Nov 9 as well.

Today was a beautiful day but I didn't do much. The rain really helped the garden, my geraniums have grown so much, they are big and green. Not a lot of flowers but when they bloom they'll be amazing. Geraniums seem to grow perfectly in my garden, there are so many varieties and colors, and they are so easy to grow.

Have a good night sand a good day tomorrow :)

Election Day

Tomorrow is Election Day, go out and vote.

I don't much care to write here about politics because everybody in the family has a different leaning. I guess I would define myself as an independent with conservative fiscal tendencies and socially liberal for the most part. I don't like the far right or the far left. And I don't like the way California is going and I hope there will be some changes made.

I grew up under a dictatorship with Franco, and I didn't like it at all. But Spain is not doing well with Socialism, lots of unemployment, there's a lot of dissatisfaction with the current government. I am a Catalan, and on November 9, there was to be a referendum (like Scotland had) where Catalans would vote for or against Independence from Spain. Unlike UK, where they let the Scottish people have their voice heard, the Spanish government has forbidden the catalan people their right to vote for Catalan Independence. There will be some voting going on anyway and I am not sure what will happen. We will see. I hope it will be peaceful.

Daily Posting

Since the girls are going to try to write daily, so will I.

Today was a really nice bright blue day, fresh air a little breeze in the low 70's. I like that although i wish we had some more rain. We also "fall back" for DST, it seems not too many people like it, but it is what it is! The day was so clear that you could see Catalina Island from the pier really well.

I decided to do some Fall Cleaning, which means I bring boxes with "winter" clothes from the shed and wash them and then I put the "summer" clothes away. Most of the clothes I have are "all season" but is a good way of checking and discarding (and yes, I am discarding!)

I found a clever costume somebody used for Halloween, easy and fun:

I've been taking Lulu out a lot, she always does her business outside when I take her out. I do it after she eats, after she drinks, and about every hour or so. And still...I got so mad at her tonight, she peed under the dining room table and on the carpet as well!!!! I moped right away, and chastised her and I am not liking her very much at this time. I give her a treat everytime she does it outside and praise her etc. She was very good for the first 2 weeks and now we are back to her doing as she pleases. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

I think that's it for today. I will try again tomorrow :)

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October recap

October was a pretty good month. We even had some legitimaste fall days among the usual hot weather, and we ended the month with rain!

There was a full eclipse of the moon October 8, and I stayed up to watch it and it was awesome.
I went to the beach a couple of times and I am planning to go at least a couple of times a month, it's so beautiful and relaxing.
I went to Jersey School for a visit, and as always I am gratified to see that the kids remember me and come and hug me and ask me when I'm comiung back :)

My friend Norbert is doing OK, but as usual still not sure of what to do next. Obviously he will go along with the plans of bringing his fiancee to the States, a little too late to back up.
My teacher friend broke up with her useless boyfriend yet again. I wonder if she'll ever learn and gain some self respect. She says this time is for good. We'll see.

Lizzie came to visit the 24th and brought me a huge slice of my favorite cake, yum. We has a nice visit, we always enjoy our daughter's visits :)

We got a new floor for the dining room and carpet for the living room and hallway. It looks good and so far Lulu is keeping her distance :)

Sandy got a new car and T got his driver's license, and just sent me a text with his awesome grades!!! He's a great kid.


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


Ruth Reichl - Delicious!

Haywood Smith - Queen Bee Goes Home Again

Susan Wiggs - Return to Willow Lake

Susan Elizabeth Phillips - Heroes are my Weakness

Susan Wiggs - Summer by the sea

Ferenc Mate - A Vineyard in Tuscany

JoJo Moyes - One plus One


And the movies I watched:


Lucia y el sexo (2001) Spain

This Is Where I Leave You (2014)

Deux jours, une nuit (2014) French

Wish I was Here (2014)

Hocus Pocus (2006)

Walking on Sunshine (2014) UK

Carmina o Revienta (2012) Spain

The Food Guide to Love (2013) Irish

Avis de Mistral (2014) -Our Summer in Provence-French


Looking foirward to a great November!