46th Anniversary

Today Marvin and I celebrated our 46th anniversary. It was a very nice day because we were surrounded by our 2 daughters and grandson. We sure enjoyed their company and are so happy we got to spend the day together.
It was a rainy, chilly, windy day. We had breakfast and lay around talking and enjoying each other, then we all went out to eat at Cha Cha's. It was fun. The girls took care of the bill, that was very nice and also gave us a grill pan that Marvin has been wanting and will really be a nice addition to our kitchen :)
At night the girls and I played Scrabble, and I made a pound cake, we also watched the All Star Basketball Saturday, we like the slam dunk portion of it.

In other news, I bought myself an iPad. So far Tristan, Sandy and Lizzie have played with it more than I have and I am sure they know a lot more than I do on how to run it, but I will learn and it's fun!

Marvin was feeling pretty good today and extra happy to be with the family!
Thank you all for making our Anniversary very special.

And happy birthday to Norbert on his 55th birthday too.

A long weekend

Teachers love February, not only is the shortest month of the year, but we have 2 4-day weeks.

This year our Monday off was on Valentine's Day, so we had to celebrate it at school on Friday.

We had a card exchange and also a Dance-A-Thon to raise money for our field trip. It was a busy busy day. I also got a few chocolate hearts from the kiddies, I kept a few and gave the others away.

Marvin had caught a cold and was not feeling great, but on Saturday we asked Norbert to come and help us with a few things, and we also asked him to stay for dinner. It was a great day, weather wise and food wise. We had steak, asparagus, baked potatoes, grilled carrots, salad and apple pie with ice cream. And beer.

Marv and Norbert took all the gutters off, also took down the Xmas lights in the backyard, so that's done :)

Sunday and Monday were pretty quiet, I went to the Jacuzzi a couple of times, also cooked a little bit and went to the grocery store, cleaned/organized a little and of course, played in the computer.

Now back to work tomorrow. I will take Friday off to go to the airport to pick up Sandy and Tristan, and then on Saturday -our Anniversary- Lizzie will come over too :)

Unfortunately the forecast is for rainy weather...but I am sure we will enjoy being together rain or shine :)

Health scare

When I got home from work on Thursday, Marvin seemed a little tired, he took a nap and woke up disoriented and not being able to work, his blood sugar was low, so we ate some dinner (won ton soup) and he felt better but still shaky. I decided to call the school and take Friday off.
Friday morning I checked on him but he was sleeping so I let him sleep, at 10:30 he still was not up so I went to wake him up but I couldn't, he wouldn't respond, he couldn't talk or sit up or know where he was. I called 911 and in 10 minutes the firemen, medics and ambulance came. There were about 8 of them. They asked questions and went to check on him, and said he had a insulin shock caused by low blood sugar -hypoglycemia-. They gave him a shot and in a few minutes he sat up and was able to answer questions. They asked if he wanted to go to the hospital and he said no. But after they left, I decided to take him to ER because he was still shaky.
We waited like 3 hours in the waiting room, he was called a couple of times to check his vitals and also to give some blood. Later on he was checked into a room where we stay for about 5 more hours. They checked him pretty thoroughly and he was discharged to go home by 9:30PM. The doctor told us to check his blood sugar every 4 hours.
When we got home, Lizzie had called saying she would come over, she was on her way. He was feeling better by then. Today Saturday, his blood sugar was OK, I made breakfast and he has a sandwich for lunch and then the 3 of us went to ChaCha's for a (yummy) early dinner.
Mia, that was the reason I wrote in Facebook it had not been a good Friday.
Have a good Superbowl Sunday everybody!

On to February!

Yes I agree with Mia, January just flew by, and here's the last day of the month already!


This month Marvin and I have been working changing his room around a little, I should say..he's been working. He's also been doing a little shopping for a new computer and printer and desk. He seems happy with the purchases, they're awesome :)


School is fine, the children seem to finally start settling down. They are really testing my patience this school year!!!


I have been reading a lot this month, some books I have really enjoyed and some were a disappointment. I will post the list here.


Sandy wrote and said she and Tristan will be coming in April for a few days, I think it'll be nice they are here when Mia is here and I know Lizzie will come up, or we'll go to San Diego during this time. We'll see how everything goes :)


I am posting a picture of me in one of my favorite restaurants in Long Beach, it's so nice to eat overlooking the bay and watching the boats go by. And of course, sipping Margaritas.


Here's my book list:

JANUARY 2011
Nancy Thayer – Moon Shell Beach I liked

Alissa Valdes-Rodriguez – The husband habit Not liked
Sophie Kinsella – Mini Shopaholic Was OK
Jennifer Crusie – Maybe this time Was OK
Sarah Addison Allen – Garden Spells Loved it
Karen Quinn – The Ivy Chronicles I liked
Terry McMillan – Getting to Happy Was OK
Ann Mah – kitchen Chinese Loved it

Long weekend

Yesterday was MLK's holiday, which gave us a much needed long weekend. The weather has been beautiful lately, very balmy and sunny. I went shopping on Saturday and bought another hummingbird feeder, a little porcelain frog that will measure rainfall, and a pretty glasss sun catcher/wind chime. Marvin and I sat outside and watched the hummingbirds drinking and the birds taking baths in the water fountain, it was nice and peaceful. I also decided to get in the Jacuzzi for a while. Later that day we went out to dinner to a new place for us, called Cha Cha in Brea http://www.chachasbrea.com/. We mainly had tapas/appetizers, fries with allioli, flautas, tortilla soup, and calamari. And of course a great Margarita!
On Sunday we just stayed around the house until Lizzie came over in the evening. I made croquetas and macaroni and cheese and we all watched The Golden Globes.
Monday we had a light lunch of tuna empanadas, and later the 3 of us went to Kaiser Hospital. Marvin had an appointment to learn about PD or peritoneal dialysis. The nurse explained everything very thoroughly and answered all the questions we had. We were glad that Lizzie was able to come to the meeting. I think this is the way we will choose, because most everything can be done at home. It will signify some changes in the house and in our life style, but all in all I am sure it will be manageable, Marvin is very good at following procedures.
After leaving the hospital, we decided to go eat to Acapulco, and surprise! Acapulco is no more, the place we used to go is closed. So we went to El Cholo. Lizzie had the Burrito Dorado, and said she won't have it anymore lol, my flautas were OK but not great, I like the tortilla soup and Marvin had it. Next time I will stick to tortilla soup and Margarita combo.
When we got back home, Lizzie drove back to San Diego . All in all it was a productive weekend.

And so it goes...

I started back to work on the 4th. It sure was hard to wake up at 6:30 again, I got spoiled sleeping late during my vacation :)
On the 5th, we got the tests results for Marvin, it showed his kidney function had dropped from 23% to 14%, not good news. In the plus side, he's feeling well. We went to the doctor on Monday (I took off work) and the consensus is he will start dialysis eventually, but he wants to have another test in about 6 weeks to see how the kidney is doing, hopefully it will stay steady :)
The 6th was the day of the 3 Wise Men. I felt like getting something, Marvin and I went to El Cholo, and then to Best Buy where I bought myself a wireless illuminated keyboard. It's really cool.
On Saturday, Norbert came over to help us take off the lights around the front of the house. We decided to leave the backyard lights on, I enjoy being in the Jacuzzi with the lights blinking, very festive. I know Mia will like them too. Afterwards the three of us went to El Torito for an early dinner. For some reason, Norbert brought us a bunch of green beans, potatoes, garlic and onions, so we invited him over for dinner the next day.
Sunday, Marvin cooked a roast and added all the vegetables, and also made a pineapple upside down cake. Norbert ate and ate making little noises of approval as he ate lol. The man enjoys a home cooked meal!
And so it goes...

2011

I thought it would be fun to post a picture of me and my daughters, and one of Nuri and her daughters, I couldn't find one of Mia and her 3 sons, so here's one of Mia and two of her sons.

I just changed my blog's look, not sure if I like it yet, we'll see.

Yesterday, the first day of 2011, was a very lazy day. We just rested. I went to the store and got a few things for dinner, I made breaded pork and mashed potatoes, also got some peach nectar and drank a few Bellinis, very good!

Today it has been raining most of the evening, at times quite heavily. Marvin went to get breakfast, Denver omelet, bacon, biscuits and gravy. In the afternoon, I put away the Christmas decorations, but I am leaving my pretty tree up until January 6th.

We went out to dinner to Johnny Rebs, I had a super yummy Cajun sausage with peppers and onions, and Brunswick stew. Marvin had some pulled pork with collard greens. When we went out it has really raining hard, we got pretty soaked! When I got home I had some hot chocolate to warm up .

I have enjoyed reading all the blogs, good job with them!

And here's the list of the books I read in December.

That makes a big total of 86 books that I read in 2010 :)

McLaughlin & Kraus – Nanny Returns
*Faye Kellerman – The Garden of Eden
Jennifer Weiner – Fly Away Home
Lauren Weisberger – Last night at Chateau Marmont
Nancy Thayer – Beachcombers
Nancy Thayer - Hot Flash Holidays