Casa Alvarez

An Ode to Bad Spelling

2012-02-10T20:27:00.002-06:00

Let it be known that I used to be one of the world's worst spellers. So bad that in a 6th grade spelling bee, my teacher gave me the easiest word and I spelled it wrong. Mammal is not, in fact, spelled mammel. Damn you, schwa and your undeterminable "uh" sound.

Let it also be known that I also was in high rankings for one of the most gullible people on the planet. My mother had no problem convincing me that playing Scrabble on a Friday night was just about the bees' knees when it comes to a wild night. It was not until (too) much later that I found out that she was tricking me into learning to spell.

I am now a pretty darn good speller. In two languages at that. Which is why I probably love (a little too much) all of the spelling mistakes I see around me. People also just don't have the same relationship with spell check that I do, I guess.

Por ejemplo. There's a little store around the corner that sells all sorts of things like furniture, lamps, mirrors, etc. It's called Deyabu. Gosh, why do I feel like I've seen this word before? Oh yeah, I have seen this word before it was just spelled déjà vu when I saw it last.

Or how about this one for you hungry folks. This little place not only has Laounch-to-go where you can get some succulent barbecued quail or rabbit, but you can also get your car washed. That's normal. But, that's not all. If while you dine or your car is being washed, something is found to be failing, you can take it to the auto shop that also doubles as a cock fighting ring. And, as if car washing, quail dining, car fixing and cock fighting weren't enough, you can also get some new plants for your house at the nursery. Much more than laounch-to-go, I'd say.

Maybe your lunch and car wash turned into a wild night at the fights, once you've picked up a plant as a peace offering for your spouse, (which btw I just tried to spell with a c, bad speller in me won't completely die), you'll want to take her out for a drink. If she's a spelling enthusiast like yours truly, her first look at the menu will be to see how this particular restaurant has chosen to spell the drink traditionally known as the Bloody Mary. What will it be? And, yes, I've seen all of these and I'm not inventing. A Bloddy Mary sound good? Or maybe you'd like a Bloody Merry. That sounds pleasant. Or perhaps a Vlodi Mari would be most exotic.

My sister's most favorite bad spelling came in the form of an internet reference from one of my students my first year of teaching. The rule was that the poster had to have a reference. What do any wise fifth graders do in a pickle when they've realized that they may have missed that tiny detail? Why, they shall invent the website themselves. I still do wonder what I'd find if I looked up www.unaitstats.com or www.childlavorinunaitstats.org. If you can't figure it out that would be United States dot com and Child Labor in United States dot org, naturally.

So from one mammel to another, all I can say is that spelling, once you figure out how and embrace the fact that you once couldn't, can bring you much more joy than you could have possibly expected.

Yeah, either that, or you're a nerd like me.

Things I Might Become

2012-02-06T13:55:00.000-06:00

I've decided that there are some things I might become in 2012. Some people may call these resolutions, but since we're already in February and resolutions generally have to be things that are good for you, I have decided they shall be named, Things to Become.

First, I might become one of those people who drinks a coffee and a coke every single day. This coming from the girl who has spent hours a week making all natural baby food, from a girl who still spends hours a week making homemade yogurt, and girl who just recently converted her entire cleaning supply closet to all natural cleaners. (Except bleach and Ajax, because nothing's really ever clean without them). Back to the coffee. I've been drinking decaf since I was pregnant enough to not vomit it all over myself and others. Over share. You don't mind. That means we're at about 2 and a half years of caffeine free. So, since I drink decaf, that means I can have more. Plus, I have a new reusable Starbucks cold beverage cup, and it's getting close to the hot season.

Coca-cola, on the other hand, has just about nothing in it that could remotely be considered good for you. But, let me ask you, have you ever had Mexican Coke? If you've had it out of a glass bottle at a side of the road taco stand, then you, my friend, have drunk the nectar of the gods. I like how Coke changes my perspective on life in general right around 11:34 am when I've just finished the morning round of students and the probability of my giving a few students atomic wedgies from the flag pole are a little too high.

Second, I might become something other than a fifth-grade teacher. I wish that statement meant that I was becoming like a principal, or a yoga instructor, or, I don't know, rich. But, alas, I think I shall turn my sights on another grade. I've been teaching fifth grade for five out of my six years in Mexico, with one year in sixth grade. I can tell you a few things from this experience. I don't like sixth graders. I love fifth graders in August. I don't love fifth graders from April-June. I have had two years of rough groups and rough times and although I love the curriculum, am comfortable, know what I'm doing and have zero desire to pack up my classroom and lug it across the school, it might be time to become a different-grade teacher.

Third, I might not become a hunchback. Not that there's anything wrong with Quasimoto or however you could phonetically or non-phonetically spell that name, but I think it's time to improve my posture. I'm a lump. Gut out, shoulders hunched. It's gross. So, whenever you see me, tell me to stand up straight. If I don't see you a lot, it'll be a nice reminder. If I do see you a lot, expect a sucker punch to the stomach after about reminder number five. Fair warning.

Fourth, I might become a member of a mom group. Now this one is less of a might and more of a plans are already in the works. Anyone who is a parent knows that the job isn't easy. Anyone who has lived in a place other than "home" knows that that's not easy, either. Now put together parenting with a different cultural set of priorities, ideals, remedies, etc and you can get yourself a recipe for parenting disaster or, in my case, CMM, Consistent Mothering Meltdown. I am lucky enough to have a small group of ladies around me in similar parenting situations. Another perk is that they're my friends and I like them and their children. Which, btw, is not easy to find. Either you like the kid and not the parent, or like the parent and the kid's a whiner. Anyway, I've got myself a group of gals and we are going to make this happen. And believe you me, I can't wait.

Sit up straight, Shan.

And last, but most certainly not least, I might use 2012 to become a dryer owner. Mother Nature, if she reads my blog, is probably gasping right now at my display of sheer lack of environmental mindedness. But, Mother Nature, if she does read this, go take a look at a few extreme laundry posts and maybe get your act together before judging. Becoming a dryer owner is pending access to available financial resources. And by that I mean, would it be weird to start a fund?

See, not resolutions? Not once did I say that I am going to exercise every day and eat only raw foods and buy organic. But, if they do sell organic coke, I could maybe get on board if it tasted just right.

A Few Things

2012-02-04T14:23:00.000-06:00

A few things have become apparent lately. Like, it's become apparent that maybe I'm not really a blogger anymore. Here's how that happened.

I got a BlackBerry.

That means I now have a facebook and email machine wherever I go. That, in turn, means that I don't really need to turn on the computer as often. The not turning on the computer severely diminishes the guilt felt when noticing how many of my other friends have posted in the time lapsed between my last ramble.

But, here's the thing, it has also become apparent that my friends on facebook are either one of two extremes and that makes reading facebook a little exhausting. With 2012 bringing with it elections in my two countries and, according to the Mayas, the end of the world as we know it, I'm finding it apparent that I need to find something other than the fb to occupy my time.

Since you all loooooove to read the most purposeful and life-bringing musings that I have to offer, I think I shall turn my attention back on blogging.

You are welcome.

Sometimes you can have it all

2011-12-26T20:20:00.002-06:00

...and sometimes you can't.

That has kind of been the holidays for me this year. For some reason, even though there has been so many great things happening around me, I've just found the holidays very lackluster and even, dare I say, disappointing.

Here goes.

Thanksgiving. I had that fabulous idea of going to Seattle for Thanksgiving. 8 days sounds really good on paper. But, when you live it with a non-sleeping, teething toddler in the worst stage of separation anxiety, you have just turned an 8 day vacation into 8 days of motherhood hell. Don't get me wrong. I absolutely loved seeing my family and a few close friends, but it really just reminds me how much I miss my other home. I miss how I feel going to church. I miss the conversations with my sisters and best friends. I miss watching my nephews grow up. And, as much as I love my little girl and would go to the end of the universe and back for her, she didn't give me a second's rest or break nor did the people who miss watching her grow up get to enjoy time spent with her.

December. Work and home have just been challenging. I won't say terrible or bad, although sometimes I would like to find the nearest bridge and take a plunge, but I digress. My students are challenging and I'm yet to see the fruits of my labor. AV, like I mentioned is magnet baby and is attracted to all things me. She has also decided that cribs are overrated. Why sleep in a box when you can stretch out in Mommy and Daddy's bed. Why go back to sleep when you can scream bloody murder and wake the whole neighborhood? So, with challenging days and challenging nights and me being a person who thinks 10 hours of sleep a night is just an okay night, I was left really drained and ready for some Christmas traditions.

Enter Christmas cookies. Seriously, it's like I don't even read my own blog (I'm probably the one who reads it the most. Weirdo.) Why do I attempt to bake? I know it leads to disaster. I know it does. The Hickey family is full of Christmas cookie baking maniacs. That's all there is to it. We get together one Saturday in mid December and bake. and bake. and bake. We're talking like at least 6 or 8 different kinds at a minimum of 2 dozen a pop. Lots o' cookies. So, why wouldn't I just half some of those recipes and do it on my own? My cookies turned out disastrous. And that might be an understatement. I had to put an entire tray under water and soak them all night because not a one of them was going to come off the tray of its own accord or even the gentle (or not so) nudging of the bigass barbeque spatula. That night was my Christmas meltdown. Ramon came home to find me sobbing over a tray of what would have been thumbprint cookies. They were likened more to pancakes and I was a mess. All I could say was, "I just want it to be Christmas."

I turned off the oven, left the kitchen a mess and went to bed at 8:45. In my long winter's nap, it occurred to me to stop trying to make Mexico Christmas like Seattle Christmas. It's too warm, it's too sunny; it's to Spanish-y. It's just not going to happen. Why not enjoy what Mexi-Navidad has to offer and celebrate the fact that I can do one without the other. So, on the 24th, we went to mass at 8:00, had dinner at 10:00 and AV went to bed at midnight on the ride home. She was amazing (until about 2:00 when occupy mommy-daddy bed reared its ugly head). Christmas morning we were up at 7:00 opening presents, like we should (according to me). I made eggs and sausage and cinnamon rolls and we had our friends over for Christmas brunch. We spent the day together as a family and it was just fine.

The word that has been coming to my mind the past few days is ABUNDANCE. It's what I have such a challenge recognizing. The abundance of blessings in our family. Abundance of health considering two weeks ago we weren't sure if Ramon's aunt would still be with us for Christmas, and now she is not only still with us but is out of the hospital and on the road to recovery. Abundance of joy that we have a beautiful and healthy child who loves us and who we love. Abundance of wealth as we spend our first of many Christmas mornings in our own home with food on our table, clothes on our backs, and presents under the tree.

Although, Christmas wasn't "Christmas" as I know it or expected it to be, it has brought me to a greater reflection of what I need to spend my time and energy creating. I need to create an atmosphere around me that recognizes the abundance of blessing that are showered on our family, both immediate and extended, every single moment of every single day.

With that, I don't exactly know how to give the holiday salutation. For me, it wasn't especially "merry" nor was it as joyous as it should have been. What I can hope for is this, for all of you, a year of abundant blessings for you and yours.

Cheers.

Making Minnie

2011-10-29T21:45:00.007-05:00

Minnie Mouse.

Ana is obsessed. A day does not go by without many conversations about Mickey, Minnie and their friends. I use this to my advantage most days by getting AV to eat, do, pick up, etc just about anything because, well, Mickey Mouse would want her to.

Halloween. A holiday where parents take complete and total advantage of the fact that we have utter wardrobe control for a very short period of time. Child, you will wear what I say you'll wear. No questions asked.

Enter "The plan." Now, when it comes to Ramon and me, I am just about 99% of the time the ideas person. Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I come up with pretty stellar ideas. But, when it comes to fabrication and general follow-through, I lose some awesome points. Step in, Ramon. And you will see why.

It could be why I love him. It could also be why I hate him.

The mission that we chose to accept as any doting and unknowing first-time parent would, was to turn one tutu (my idea), one meter of red polka dot fabric (that I bought), and one piece of black foamy (I have no idea what we call this product in English. I only assume it's called foamy. I learned this word in Mexico.) into one Minnie Mouse costume (Enter Ramon).

This was the beginning. I gave myself bonus points for knowing that I should measure something, probably use a pencil and have all of my materials in the same place. That is about where my self-crediting ends.

I feebly attempted to bring my ideas to fruition. My husband very generously let me fail miserably. I think mostly because he was interested to see what disastrous confection I would create. The result was not, in fact, a Minnie Mouse skirt, but is a very nicely hand-stitched red polka dot square that could morph easily into a quite dashing sleeve. I don't understand how it happened really.

So, Ramon offered a suggestion. Why don't you cut two equal pieces and then all you have to do is sew the two pieces together. Sounded intriguing. I tried that idea. It was worse than my first attempt. At least my first attempt was able to be un-sewn and used again. My second attempt was nearing complete and total disaster land. The good thing about this was that I found it hysterical. If you don't have a sense of humor, you don't have anything, right? The other funny part is that I really thought that I would be able to do it. Kind of like how I think I should be able to paint like Bob Ross, or paint the nails on my right hand.

So, I let the architect take over. Ramon quickly fashioned a compass (like the tool that makes circles not the tool that tells where North is) out of a pencil, a needle and a piece of string. He went on to make a pattern out of old newspaper consisting to two perfect concentric circles. Then he spent approximately 12 minutes cutting out those perfect circles. He used every single needle and pin possible to perfectly attach his pattern to the fabric and then spent approximately 20 minutes cutting the fabric without one single string or messed up cut. (Not something I could claim as a success) Then he let me sew it together. What a guy.

He went further, though. He glued and wrapped, centimeters at a time, a purple headband, so that it could become a polka dot headband. He made perfect ears and glued them on. He sewed little white buttons on her leotard.

I made the bow. I think I'm going to write that again. I made the bow. Feel free to tell me how awesome it is.

And her little face made it all worth it. My little Minnie. I love every little inch of her.

"Sorry"

2011-10-11T21:10:00.002-05:00

I don't know how or why over a month has passed since I shared with you my disasters in the kitchen. Actually, I do know how. The deal is this, when it comes to either spending time blogging or spending time vegging with my husband or child, the latter always wins. It may also have something to do with the fact that my computer is not so much a computer anymore as it is a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse machine. Ah, the joys of an 18-month Mickey-obsessed munchkin.

So, to sum it up, I'll say "Sorry." I put sorry in quotes not so much to quote my own speech but to seamlessly lead myself into what I will bless your eyes with today. The use of quotes in Mexico. Or should I say the "use" of quotes in Mexico. Or better, the use of "quotes" in Mexico. Or, best yet, the use of quotes in "Mexico."

I love it. Love it!

I usually find it both amusing and accurate.

Case in point. At school this year, the staff has been gifted with a special parking lot. And by parking lot, I mean that we may use a small portion of the soccer field from 7 am until 2:30 pm. The sign outside the grass with some crookedy spray painted lines and illegible numbers reads: "Estacionamiento" para personal. Translation: "Parking Lot" for staff. See what I mean? Both amusing and accurate. It's not so much a parking lot as it is a "parking lot."

We now live in the grand pueblo of Cuautlancingo, Puebla. Home of the Volkswagen plant, a haven where no pot hole or speed bump will be turned away, and where the tricked out lights of the three-wheeled cart taxis can confuse even the most experienced Mexican driver into believing that a UFO is heading straight their way on a dark road. But, I digress. Around the corner from our house is a little shack (and by shack, I mean shack) that sells Birria "de res." Birria is a spicy soupy broth with shredded beef. So delicious. However, I don't know exactly how I feel about it being made from "beef." "Beef" like cow? Or "beef" like there might be some roadkill in there?

How about this one? Tiendita "Harry's." Now is it Harry's store? Was it once his store and is no longer? Do we just call him "Harry" but it's really not his name? I don't know, but I'm intrigued.

I also love when you go into "Harry's" store (if that is your real name) and there's a sign on the counter that reads. Please pay with "change." "Gracias." From "Harry." Now, what is "change?" Shall I pay "Harry" by paying it forward and making a difference? Or is "Harry" now mocking me with some sarcastic "Gracias?" Does the real Harry even care if I pay with change or is it some Big Brother speaking as "Harry."

Weird. Funny. Another reason to love it here.

"Thanks" for reading.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2011-09-03T13:23:00.003-05:00

AKA, Nasty brown volcanoes.

AKA, One more reason I shouldn't bake.

I don't know when I will learn that either baking at high altitude is not something I'm good at, or just baking in general is not something I'm good at. Either way. Disaster in the kitchen once again.

Ramon's birthday was August 18th. Being the loving, creative, and oh so good looking, wife that I am, I thought that I would put my creativity to work in the kitchen and make him a red velvet cake. Then I realized that I don't have round cake pans. I have everything, except that. So, I decided, oh how adorable would cupcakes be? Right? Wrong.

First issue. Apparently you need like 2 tablespoons of red food coloring. Apparently in one of those boxes of colors, the whole, entire, every last drop of the little squeeze bottle, only adds up to about 3/4 of a tablespoon. Apparently this is not enough for the cupcakes to turn red. They just turn like a turdy color of brown. De-lish.

Second issue. Apparently even if you use a high altitude recipe, that does not, in fact, give you a recipe for success. The batter tasted delicious, albeit ugly. The cupcakes went into the oven and started rising beautifully. Oh, I finally did it! was my overly eager thought. I walked away. Maybe that's the problem. Because, when I came back, I found volcanoes. What had once risen had now sunk. What's that phrase, the greater the height the harder the fall? I don't know, but that's what it looked like.

I kind of, and I use kind of verrrrrry loosely, saved them by filling them up with lots and lots of cream cheese frosting.

Now, Ramon is no stranger to my baking disasters. He usually responds in good husbandly form with something like, "No, honey, It tastes great." This time he calmly asked me, "When you bake, do you follow what the recipe says to do?" If it weren't his birthday, there might have been blood.

As I reflected (I say reflected. You say fumed. Semantics.) on his comment, I thought to myself. If no recipe recipe works wonders with chocolate chip cookies, then maybe that's the real problem. God is telling me to not conform myself to the measuring system of this world, but to make my own way!

I tried with muffins. It worked. They're delicious. I may never use recipes again.

Or, I might just start buying baked goods...

Economy...my way.

2011-08-16T20:02:00.003-05:00

Man. Have you been on Facebook these days? Since I can't stay awake for much more than 10 minutes of the nightly news, I have resorted to using the good ol' fb as my source for news. Did you know that there is a Starbuck's secret menu? I didn't until like 5 minutes ago.

But, not the point.

If you're like me, which is both awesome and terrifying, then you also have a pretty clear division in the political opinion part of your fb crowd. I'm talking some serious Right-ers and some serious Left-ers. I especially like it when the righters and the lefters post at the same time. It's interesting to see just how similar and different the arguments are.

Here's what I have noticed.

1. Everybody recognizes that our country needs to make some changes. If you don't see this as a reality, then you are a dodo brain.

2. No one has a good enough answer for how to get there.

Here is my logic. I have no research to support it because I'm just not that kind of girl. I likes my opinions and I'ma keep 'em.

1. If you make more money, you should pay more taxes. I don't care if you are a trillionaire, a billionaire, a thousandaire, or a hundredaire like me. If we all pay the same percentage, that's just fair.

2. Right-ers, please stop saying that the Left-ers are just bleeding heart, Robin Hood-like, edging up to Comunist, steal from the rich to give to the poor, can't understand reason, Godless, conservative haters. It's exhausting.

3. Left-ers, please stop saying that the Right-ers are religious, money-grubbing, selfish, can't understand if it hit them in the head, poor people are poor because they want to be, people haters. It's exhausting.

Our country was founded both on Christian principles and the ideal of freedom to make our own decisions. So, therefore, as a country, we should uphold those universal values (as in serve the most in need, protect life, liberty, and the persuit of happiness, yada, yada, yada) as well as make and take responsibility for our decisions.

I really honestly, truly believe that if we had a balanced budget before, we can have a balanced budget again without sacrificing either our national security or the needs of the the weakest members of our society.

Is it going to take work? Yep. Is it going to take sacrifice? Yep.

I won't ever pretend to know what it's like to run a country. Mostly because I hate that the people who run our country a lot of times pretend to know what it's like to run a classroom. But that's neither here nor there.

What is here and there is this:

1. We should never ever take for granted that we can say ANYTHING we want to about our country.

2. With that great gift, I would put on my Santa list that people would use that gift with respect.

3. Vote. We're the ones who decide who we let make our decisions.

4. Be thoughtful. The Lefters are not always right or always wrong. The Righters are not always right or always wrong. Think things through, people, pleeeeeease.

So, that's what I think. I don't expect to get a million shares or reposts, but I put my drop in the bucket.

Kerplunk.

Another Rain Story

2011-08-13T12:16:00.004-05:00

Are rain stories getting old? Cuz if they are, maybe stop reading right now.

Yesterday was another rain storm. Like, the heavens opened up and decided to send down all of the hail and rain that they could find up there.

AV and I were inside, which I wrongly assumed meant that we were safe from the wrath of the sky. Not so.

We stared out the window at the hail coming down for a while, because, that is somehow mesmerizing and interesting to a 1 year old. Toys? Meh. Rain? Killer. When we found our way back to the living room, we found with it, water.

Water. Everywhere.

I don't know if because the rain was coming down sideways it came pouring in from under the door. I don't know if it came out of the drain in the bathroom. All I know is that there was water in my living room. And that's not right.

Agua, said AV. Thanks, kiddo. I'd noticed.

Damage control. Crisis mode. Operation Remove Agua from the Living Room. I started pushing furniture out of the way and squigee-ing as much agua as possible out the door. Unfortunately Operation RAFTLR coincided with AV's Operation Grab Mommy's Leg and Scream like Crazy.

AV's op was successful. Mine? Let's just say I'm preparing my official report on what went wrong and why. On the top of my list of errors? crying to a one-year-old about the rug being wet. Second on the list? Lack of control over tears when related to water. Seriously. I'm starting to think I may have some sort of syndrome. Rain Tear Syndrome.

Then, we looked in the back yard. Hey there, Noah. Need a place to float your Ark? Because, my back hard had a good 4 inches of standing water.

Agua, said AV. Yep, you've got that down, sweet girl. You know it and identify it in all its forms. So smart.

The buckets floating around the backyard. Now, that was a sight. Thank the Lord the rain dissipated because if it had started coming in the back door, I don't think I would have survived to tell the tale.

After the follow up Operation Clean Up went off relatively successfully, I rewarded myself with Operation Double Margarita.

All is well.

One of Those Days.

2011-07-28T19:56:00.003-05:00

Today has been one of those Mexico days. Or maybe one of those Mom of a one-year-old days. Or maybe a combination of the two.

Wanna know why?

I'm starting to get one of two feelings. Either having a one-year-old can be a royal pain. Or I'm not a very good mom. Either way, AV is having major trouble being satisfied or appeased by anything I do. There are only a very few things I can do right, right now. They are these:

1. Make bubbles in a bucket.

2. Feed her Jello.

And that's about it. If I stop making bubbles or choose to try to feed her something nutritious, there is a long, long, long time of crying, moaning, screaming, laying down, running around. And it's quite possible that the crying, etc isn't just AV.

There have to be more things that please her. There HAVE to be. Bubbles and Tina (aka Gelatina en espanol) That's it??? Those two things are what lead me to believe that maybe I'm just not that great of a mom. How is it possible that I can keep 50 5th graders at least somewhat entertained for 6 hours, but I cannot entertain my own child?

Are there parenting books that I should be reading? Are there foods that are magical? Should I just let her play with the stupid bucket and one inch of water and a few squirts of soap and a couple clothes pegs all the livelong day even if it's raining out?

Now, about rain. I've talked about before, but seriously. Rain has made me cry more than weather ever should. My mom gets here tomorrow and we're planning a weekend out and about which means that the clothes needed to be washed today. But since the Clothesline Snafu of 2011, I can only do one load a day. Well, today, I pressed my luck. I tempted fate and Mother Nature. And I lost. Well, AV's clothes lost. Now, the Lord only knows when those clothes will get dry. It's quite possible that they will hang on that broken clothesline until we're back on Monday, and then they'll get washed again. Lame.

Speaking of lame. Mexico City's car circulation laws. Now, those are lame. If you know me, you know that I am a friend of the environment. I recycle even though it means driving my recycling across town. I don't feel goofy taking my bags to the grocery store. I don't mind showering quickly to save water. Whatev, you get the picture. We want to go into the city tomorrow because Ramon has to go for work anyway, and then head to the airport to get my mom. This will save us time, money, energy, and be a fun way to spend the day. But, I can't drive my car in Mexico City until 11 am and Ramon has to be where he needs to be by 10. What this means for the Alvarez Familia is this. Ramon has to get up super early, take a taxi across town, take a bus to Mexico City, take another taxi to where he needs to be, Ana and I have to drive to the bus station later, take the bus to the airport, Ramon has to take another taxi to the airport to meet us and then Ramon, my mom, AV and I will have to buy tickets and ride the bus back to Puebla, then drive home. Not only will our environmental impact be much greater, the financial impact will go from around 40 bucks total to over 100.

Today has made me want to scream quite a few times. I may, just may, have not been the most patient, loving mother to my little AV. I may, just may, have found myself sitting on the kitchen floor crying. And, btw, complaining is so obnoxious that I really don't even want to press publish on this post.

Sorry, better luck tomorrow. Silver lining? My mom will be here tomorrow. Yes, yes she will.

Extreme Laundry

2011-07-19T12:24:00.002-05:00

Usually my extreme laundry posts are about how I turn my living room, dining room, any other room possible into a makeshift clothes rack because the once sun shiny day has morphed into the thunderstorm from hell.

Not this time. Nope. Today my extreme laundry takes the form of whiny baby, meets almost entirely hung up load of laundry meets clothes line breaks.

It was not my finest hour.

You see, patience and I are not known to be on the friendliest of terms. Frustration and me, on the other hand, best buds. Throw in a baby on her last leg before a much needed nap, and you've got yourself the makings of a disaster.

I had the entire load hung. I was just missing the socks. When Pop. Everything is now in the grass. Baby starts screaming. I just about flip my lid. We all fall apart.

Step 1. Put baby to bed. Eliminating one frustration factor will make second frustration factor slightly less obnoxious.

Step 2. Decide that when there is enough money in savings, it will be withdrawn and invested in a dryer thus, eliminating frustration factor.

Step 3. Take picture with fancy dancy new BlackBerry and send to husband with the caption, "The clothesline just broke." Not as though he can do anything about it from his office, but just to prepare him for what's to come this evening.

Step 4. Decide I will fix it myself, darnit. Planning conversation with husband when he inevitably asks what I did to break it. I'm the queen of one-sided conversations, in fact I have one going right now with the phone company, too.

Step 5. Eat my own thoughts and feel terrible when husband's response is, "Hmm, I must not have put it in right. I'll check it tonight." Feel like an idiot for starting imaginary fight, focus energy on phone company convo.

Step 6. Eat 2 chocolates to alter mood and access problem-solving capabilities.

Step 7. Utilize still functioning part of the clothes line and successfully hang up load of laundry.

Step 8. Blog about my own ridiculous self.

Step 9. Try not to scream as I see clouds heading our direction...

Rain

2011-07-12T19:48:00.004-05:00

I'm from Washington. I know rain. I get rain. Rain and I are like bff.

I feel this way about Washington rain. Puebla rain, on the other hand, can shove it. Maybe those are strong words, but I'm a strong girl.

So, let me tell you about my day. The day greeted us with bright sun, birds chirping, and all the hopes in the world for a gorgeous July day. When, I ask, when will I learn that sun in the morning means nothing? Very slow learning curve on this one.

AV and I played with the umbrella outside in the sun, because AV doesn't do toys. She plays with limes and spoons and umbrellas, apparently.

After some morning fun in the sun, she took a nice nap and after lunch I decided it would be a grand idea to go to the park and to Costco. So, across town we went. The moment we got out of the car there was a giant, black, ominous cloud heading our way. I should have just put her back in and gone home there and then, but, I tell you, I'm really slow on this learning curve thing. So, we took one swing and about 3 slides, looked at some peacocks and called it good. We rushed over to Costco got our things, and a hotdog, so maybe not SO rushed, but whatev. And, then we buckled in for the ride home.

Driving straight into the eye of the storm. I kid you not. Sprinkles, showers, rain, pelting rain, can't see anything rain. All in a matter of a mile.

At this point, I'm chatting AV up, "Wow. This is quite a storm, bug. Wow. That's a lot of rain. Wooo."

As I take the left turn at the end of one road onto another, we pull out into, not a street, but a river. No, actually, I'll call it a creek since, what was in store was a river. We continue through the rapidly rising creek also known as Blvd Forjadores, and turn right onto the street that takes us home. Great, I'm thinking, it's totally clear. Right? Wrong.

There should have been a sign that said "Cross the railroad tracks and die." I did cross them. And I stopped. Stared. Disbelief. Honest to goodness, I am not lying when I tell you there were honest to goodness, white water rapids heading our direction. The busses' wheels were covered. It was up and over the sidewalks. The waves were rocking the car. I'm not exaggerating. Really, I promise, I'm not.

I checked on AV. Zonked out. Great, now I'm alone with my terror. Should I wait? Should I turn around? Should I drive through? Should we get out and swim?

Now, I find rain in Puebla terrifyingly hysterical. Terrifying, because, I don't want to be stuck in a river with a CRV and a one-year old. Hysterical because I think, Lord Almighty, where did you get all of this water in just one hour? How is that possible?

I made the executive decision as captain of the CRV to turn around and park the car. Good idea, I collected myself and made a plan. I would not be driving through the white water rapids otherwise known as Avenida Mexico-Puebla. I decided I would turn around and go the creek road to the freeway and come in the other side. Good plan.

Now, I made that happen with little to no hyperventilation. Until I got on the freeway. Why do semis show up when you're already on the brink of heart attack? Now, I'm driving behind a semi through enormous lakes, hydroplaning through patches here and there.

Safely exit, look up into the heavens and what to my wondering eyes should appear? Blue sky.

How does that happen????

PS. We made it home safely.

Talking

2011-07-09T12:35:00.004-05:00

Miss AV is talking up a storm. I have no other reference point to prove that her talking can be defined as a storm, but it's a lot more than I was expecting for her age. And, she's my kid and everything she does is amazing.

I feel like she's extra amazing since she's learning two languages and seems to be doing it quickly and effortlessly.

Here's what she says.

Agua. Agua for juice, agua for water, agua for rain, agua for the shower. If it's liquid, it's agua.

Ah ya. She copies Abuela whose phrase of choice is 'Ah, ya.' Like ah, ok. or something of the sort.

Apple. She loves them.

Baby and Bebe. She likes babies, as long as they are not near or being touched by me. Jealous, much?

Bio Bio. Birdie. The sound and the name. Birds are cool in her book.

Buh bye. When the shower gets turned off, she says Byebye Agua. Spanglish from the beginning. Me gusta.

Buggy. She knows what a fly is and is fascinated by them. She also knows her nickname.

Daddy. Make him swoon? Yes, she does.

Ellie. The elephant on Pocoyo and the elephant on the mirror in the car.

Fuchi. It means gross and she says it, makes faces and waves her hand while getting her diaper changed. Fuchi caca. Nice, AV.

Gigi. My mom's grandma name. She knows Gigi is in the phone, in the computer and in pictures. apparently Gigi is also Pops because a man with a goatee and a bald head came on tv and she pointed and said, "Gigi."

Hi. Just like me, same tone, same inflection. Nice.

Hola.

Iago. There's a boy in the neighborhood named Santiago. She is in love. Santiago was holding her hand when she took a face plant into the concrete. Now she says, Iago, owee.

Juice. When she wants to, not always. Sometimes she'll even go so far as to say Apple juice. But, why go through all the effort when she gets what she needs by saying Agua.

Mama. Mommy. She can say that as much as her little heart desires in my book.

Melon. Fruit. If it's not an apple or a papaya, it's got to be a melon.

Limones. Mones are any fruit that is green. Green apples, kiwis, plums, which aren't green but they're small and round so that'll do, oh yeah, and limes. They are mones and love to be held, carried and hid in places.

Moño. Which is the bow in her hair or the bow on her shoes or the bow on her shirt or pants or wherever. My girl is a girlie-girl. Yes, she is.

Oh, No. When she knows she shouldn't do something. Or when she's being a pill. I think I will start hearing this more and more over the next few months and years.

Papaya. If it's orange or a fruit and not an apple or a mone, it's a papaya.

Please. Also a word of choice, which is great except for when it's screamed at me and followed by tears because even though she asked nicely, the answer is still no. Sorry, Ana. Even if you do say

Beeee, you cannot play with knives. Nice try, though.

Thank you. Not used quite as much as I'd like, but we'll get there.

Tia. Ramon's sister is on her list of favorite people. So much so, that Abuelo is now tia, too.

Ven. Come here.

Voy. I'm going.

Zoom. Helicopters go zoom. I don't blame her for choosing zoom instead of helicopter.

I know I'll press post and think of a bunch of other words she says, but, I think you and I are both done with my parent bragging for the day...

Baby #2

2011-07-01T10:05:00.002-05:00

Bet I really piqued your interest with that title, huh?

This post is NOT about how I am pregnant with baby #2, but it's more about how I am nowhere near even the remote side of interested in growing my family.

It seems so strange to me. When I got married I wanted to have 4 kids. Now, just barely two years into it, I can honestly tell you that if I didn't have another baby, I wouldn't be upset about that. Which makes me wonder, is there something wrong with me?

My good friend whose baby is 5 minutes younger than AV is expecting. A coworker with an 18 month old is 4 months pregnant. I know all sorts of people who are on for baby #2 or 3 or more and are like gung-ho (is that how you spell that?) about babies.

To which I think,

1. Like, it seems like we just started sleeping all night again. Except for the part that we now have stairs in our house and I wake up like 4 times a night thinking that AV has Houdini-ly escaped from her crib, opened her door and fallen down said stairs.

2. Buying and changing two different sizes of diapers? No thanks.

3. What do you do with the sleeping situation? Two cribs? Put them together in one? Seriously, baby #1 is like real small for a big person bed. Where do you put the next one?

4. Two high chairs? Where are you going to put them to eat?

I know that I do want AV to have a brother or a sister. Though, I would really love it to be a sister since putting a boy in pink dresses and hair bows wouldn't really fly. I just think that it might be a realllllllllll long time before that happens.

Maybe it's because I thought that I would be like magically wealthy and be at home and have all of my needs and wants met by some money/time fairy. Or maybe I just assumed I would be better at balancing life with a job, a family and a washing machine but no dryer. I don't know.

But for now, if you're looking for baby news, click on someone else's blog. Sorry.

Re-Start

2011-06-29T11:01:00.002-05:00

I think it's time to press the restart button on this blog. I'm pressing F5 right now. And, yes, that is probably the extent of my knowledge when it comes to short keys on the computer.

There's so much to tell. There are so many moments that the blogging world has missed because of my busy-ness or laziness or whatever ness has left me disconnected.

Big news since the last time we were together.

1. We have a new house. It's awesome. It's ours. I don't have to move for like 20 years, which makes me so happy, I could explode.

2. School's out for summer. At least the kids are gone, and, for me, that's enough. They were done with me. I was done with them. We were ready. We said goodbye with a round of musical chairs and my darling students GROSSLY underestimated the power behind an almost 27 year-old mother of one's hips...that don't lie. I bounced quite a few right out of their chairs. Take no mercy. Letting the kids win is for losers.

3. It's almost my birthday and almost our 2 year anniversary. I'm officially going to be in my late-twenties. So far, I don't have any wrinkles and I still just have like one gray hair that likes to pop up here and there, so I'm okay with another birthday. I'm more okay with cake and presents, though. No big plans for our anniversary, yet. Maybe a nice dinner at our new dining room table. Fine by me.

Okay. Now, here's the deal. I don't want this blog to become a diary of boring posts about lameness. I want it to have spark, spangles, and any other exciting word that begins with sp-. So, I need you to tell me what you like to see posts about and I will do my best to make that happen.

Until then, peace out.

Mexican Things

2011-05-25T17:04:00.005-05:00

There are so many things to love about Mexico.

Unfortunately, there are just too many people, both Mexican and non, who seem to relish in what I can only define as B-ing and M-ing. You know what the B stands for, and the M isn't a bad word, but the title just looks better that way.

I think for one of the first times in my albeit short history here, I can honestly say that I am super satisfied with life. Maybe it's because a lot of things have been going my way and a lot of our dreams are coming to fruition. But, maybe, just maybe, it's because my outlook on life is becoming much more positive.

There are still a lot of things that bother me and make me uncomfortable.

For example, it bothers me and makes me uncomfortable to see people rummaging through the garbage to find food that's still good enough to eat and cans and glass that are clean enough to sell. But, I'm happy that makes me uncomfortable, because if it didn't, it would mean that I have accepted poverty and injustice as normal goingson.

It makes me uncomfortable to see families with the nanny in a uniform pushing the stroller and carrying the bags and attending to the children. While I respect that employment as an accepted norm for a certain echalon of society, I won't let myself feel comfortable with seeing people pretend like that incredibly important individual who is working her tail off for minor compensation, is invisible. Not okay.

On the other hand, every day there is something more to love about this place. Things that make me smile and let me know that it might just all work out in the end. So, we're moving, right? I know I haven't told you, we're in the last hurdles to getting ourselves into our own home and I don't want to really share until I have keys in hand. Anyway, so we're moving and that means boxes and newspaper. I went to the newspaper stand. And by newpaper stand, I mean the 3 ft by 10 ft corregated metal box that's at the corner with a tiny old lady inside. I thought, "Why buy today's newspaper, if I'm not going to read it. I'll ask for yesterday's newspaper and maybe I'll get a deal." (Because, the definition of thrifty is why pay 10 pesos, when you can pay 8?) The aforementioned tiny old lady smiled at me and then asked, "Oh, do you want to buy the newspaper by the kilo?" Yes. Yes, I do. Where else could I go and by 3 newspapers for 6 pesos and have it sold to me by its weight.

I love you, Mexico.

Plus, the guy at Starbuck's and one of the police officers at school know me by name. That just tells me that for some people I've become a household name. That just tells me, that I maybe, just maybe, have a home here.

And you know what? Sometimes little things like that are enough.

Mother of the Year

2011-05-15T20:14:00.005-05:00

Just about every day I do something that gets me one step closer to the Mother of the Year award. And by one step closer, I really mean one step closer to the end of the line.

Why, you ask? Well, I wouldn't start a post if I weren't ready to delight you with a little diddy on my parenting.

Do you want the gross one or the funny one first?

I'm going with gross. So, I was changing AV's diaper, which, if you read the Frijoles post, then you can imagine, is pretty gross. Ana is in the super awesome stage where she like really really wants to grab the diaper. So, while I was cleaning her up, she did one of those one-year-old quick as a lightening bolt moves and started poking at the contents of her diaper. To which, I responded with the appropriate parental response of "Oh, Ana, that's disgusting. Don't do that. Yuck-Yucks, Fuchi, EEEEEWWWWW." I, then, proceeded to wash her hand. To which, she responded by putting her (now clean) fingers in her mouth and saying "Aaaahh" with great satisfaction.

Nice, AV.

Now, I make all her baby food, right? Which is easy considering it mostly involves boiling beans. But, since that Frijoles post, I decided that the her repetoire needed to broaden. For her own good, and because, let's be honest, I can't afford as many diapers as she'll need on a bean-diet. So, I made her next fave, spinach. My kid's weird. I know. Have you met her parents?

Anyway...

Later, we were in the kitchen and I was washing the dishes. It kind of, well, slipped my mind that the pan had water in it from steaming spinach. (Now cool, for all of you now concerned about her safety and well-being) So, you know when you grab something expecting it to be one weight and then it ends up being full of green spinach water? Well, what happened was that green spinach water went flying. I, being the one in charge of moving said pan with said spinach water, reacted with cat-like reflexes (because cat-like reflexes is the best way to describe me) and missed all of the spillage.

AV? Not so lucky.

Green spinach water came splashing down all over her. Being the Mother of the Year that I am, I, of course, immediately exploded into hysterics at Spinach Water Baby who was also in hysterics, but the bad kind. I did pick her up, comfort her, dry a little spinach water out of her hair and change her clothes....eventually. But, man, I had a good laugh first.

When can I expect my trophy?

Frijoles

2011-05-07T20:04:00.004-05:00

My mexi-baby loves beans.

She has never met a bean that she hasn't loved and then devoured. She eats beans for every meal. And I am being completely and totally serious. Whole beans, blended beans, refried beans, canned beans, homemade beans, with salt, without salt. If it's a bean, AV loves it.

She eats beans and eggs for breakfast. Don't bother trying to give her eggs on their own. She knows the difference. She'll have a few bites of oatmeal. She might nibble on some toast or Cheerios. But, when the beans come out she gets real serious about eating.

Lunch, beans and rice. Maybe the occasional spinach puree here and there. She might tolerate some carrots, squash, corn kernals, peas, etc, but only as long as they are mixed in with the beans.

Dinner, more beans. Tonight found us sitting on the kitchen floor because, well, when it's 6:00 and she's wearing only a diaper, her hair is going every which way, she's got fewer clean spots than dirty spots all over her body and has been going from zero to pitching a fit about 5 times in 20 minutes, you just make the executive decision that we don't need bibs or highchairs right now. What we need are beans. Cold beans in a tupperware, bubble wand in one hand, beans in the other. AV decided to share some beans with me, I got a mouthful of bubbly tasting black beans. De-lish. Thanks, darling.

I guess it could be worse. She could be addicted to chicken nuggets or candy or, I don't know, drugs. I suppose there are worse things than a food that is high in protein, fiber, folic acid, iron, and other minerals. I concede that she could probably love a food that was may more expensive or difficult to prepare, but she doesn't. She loves herself some beans. More power to her.

Things I forget.

2011-04-29T20:11:00.004-05:00

AV and I just spent a fabulous 10 days in Bellevue. It is so nice to be at my other home where people are jumping at the possibility of spoiling us, spending time with us and making our time will spent. Though, living away from there makes me realize some things that I forget about the Seattle area and its people.

For one, sun = hot. Now that I live in a place where I can pretty much gaurantee that I'm going to see the sun at least 355 days, if not more, I forget how precious a commodity it is to Seattlites. Sun means we're eating outside, even if that means that we need to dry off all the lawn chairs and table and have goosebumps while eating. The sun's out, dangit and we're NOT going to waste a single minute of it.

On that same note, it can be sun = hot one day and you can wake up the very next day to the crappiest, dreariest, ugliest rainy day. It kind of makes you wonder if the day before even really existed. Was that yellow thing in the sky real or was it just Washington's version of an oasis?

Pedestrians are like, totally something you have to consider when operating a motor vehicle. Wait, what? You no longer have to dash out praying that the driver 500 meters, excuse me feet, won't take you stepping into the street as a signal to speed up. You just have to glance at the street and someone's already stopped to let you pass. Crosswalk? What's that? You don't need no stinking crosswalk. Cross wherever you please. EVERYONE will stop, and give you the "hey there, neighbor" wave. Amazing.

I really love my family. This isn't so much something that I forget than it is something I put in the back of my mind. I have a seriously kick-booty fam. My nephews are incredible. They are the perfect combination of silly, friendly, spunky, tricky and trouble-maker. It makes every moment interesting. I love that AV was so interested in her cousins. She loved following Liam around. She patted, and by patted I mean stuck her hands on Connor and Sawyer's faces. She loved all their toys and how they didn't even mind her being just a tad needy. And by a tad needy, I mean that I now need a vacation from my vacation.

Church can be lively, uplifting and fun. Now, I'm not saying that Mass isn't Mass in other places. I'm just saying that there is so much positive energy at St. Louise. Everyone seems so happy to be there and makes it a place where everyone else can feel the same way. Whenever I go, I leave with a happy heart. AV loved it, too. She danced all through Mass, clapped for the baptisms, and is learning how to make the sign of the cross. Just a couple pats on the tummy for now, but she's getting it. Going there reminds me why I drag myself to church Sunday after Sunday.

Going home reminds me most of all, just how blessed I am to have two places to call home.

I'm one now!

2011-03-31T19:35:00.002-06:00

Otherwise known as, the day AV fell in love with cake and frosting.

I took the day of from work because a) that's what personal days are for and b) your baby only turns one once.

I had promised AV that I would take her to the aquarium a long time ago, so we did just that. By aquarium, please don't imagine Seattle Aquarium or SeaWorld. Think more along the lines of not quite an aquarium but still better than a fish store. They had tropical fish and fresh water fish. Fish from Africa, the Americas and Asia. They even have a shark tank, with no sharks. AV happily ate fishy crackers while we perused the tanks, which I found very appropriate.

Then we were off to the Honda dealership. What's more fun than spending your 1st birthday dropping off mommy's car for its service? Then we crossed the street, and by cross the street I mean I attempted to maneuver her Cadillac of a stroller on what can only be loosely defined as a sidewalk and darted across four lanes of traffic in fine Frogger style to the mall across the street. AV had her first taste of McDonald's soft serve and then commenced to walk the entire length of the mall, stopping only to check out the taco stand. Like father, like daughter.

Ramon picked us up and we spent the afternoon around the house. AV played with her birthday toy, which I am thrilled to put in the parent "Win" column considering my child is usually more interested in her toothbrush and the empty tube of toothpaste than any of her toys. She even played with it today, too. I'm impressed to say the least.

We walked over to the church where we baptized her and helped her to say "Thank you" to Jesus for one year full of growth and health and the joy she's brought to our family. She waved to Jesus and blew kisses which I think is as close to saying a prayer as you can get a 365-day year old to do.

Then we finished the evening with....CAKE!!!! I invented funfetti cake by adding sprinkles to white cake mix. Fancy, I know. I got real fancy with the frosting, a can, but I made spirals and ribbons with my new fancy dancy piping bag that I found for 50 pesos at the random store around the corner. AV loved it. Love. Like mother, like daughter.

As with any really classic first birthday, we ended the evening with a total meltdown and a much needed bedtime.

I can't believe it's been a year already. AV is a walking, talking tornado that makes us laugh and brings more joy to our lives than we ever could have imagined. Who knows what the second year of her life has in store for us, but if its as good as these past 365 days, I'll have absolutely no reason to complain.

I went and totally redeemed myself.

2011-03-08T20:54:00.002-06:00

I am officially amazing. For the record.

Remember that time I made a million cracker/cookies that were just plain old sucky? Yeah, I didn't want to remember either. Well, today that day can be washed away from all the history books. It can be forgotten forever.

Because... I am amazing.

I made the most kick butt-est (kickest butt?) chocolate chip cookies today. From scratch. No recipe.

Yeah.. jealous?

Here is the recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies in the world.

1 stick Mexican sized butter/margarine. It's less than a US stick of butter. I don't know by how much, but it apparently makes a difference.

1/2 cup Mexican brown sugar. It's not squishy. It doesn't pack. But that don't matta.

1/2 cup white sugar.

Pinch of salt.

Use the 1/2 tsp but don't quite fill it of Baking Soda

Use the 1/2 tsp but don't quite fill it of Baking Powder (But fill it a little more than what you filled of Soda.)

Add flour 'til it's the right consistency. Like 2 - 2 1/2 cups-ish. (I live at high altitude. I don't know why that matters, but it does. I don't know how it will change your recipe for kick butt cookies.)

Add 1 cup chocolate chips.

Get out the lighter stick and light your oven....oh wait, your oven probably turns on by you pressing a button, whatev. Adjust the flame to between "cinge your eyebrows just by looking at it" hot and "you could put something in here for days and nothing would happen" lukewarm. That will get you a varying oven temperature that jumps between 200 and 400 farenheit.

Cook the cookies until they smell like they're done.

Take them out and write me a thank you note.

No one's giving you a Starbuck's card...

2011-03-07T21:33:00.002-06:00

So, apparently, parenting doesn't come with cash rewards.

I did not get this memo during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or the first year of life.

I think a lot more people would have babies if there were some sort of incentive. You know, other than, like, that super cute baby you get to call yours.

Why am I saying this? So, the other day AV got a little fever. Nothing serious, I think the highest it got was around 100, but it was enough to make her cranky and needy... all night long. She decided she'd like to sleep in my arms. Fine by her, not so fine by me. I curled up on the couch. Why I curled up on the small couch and crunched my legs all up instead of moving to the big couch is beyond me, but I, along with many others I'm sure, don't tend to make the soundest and most coherent decisions at 1:30am with a crying baby.

Anyway, AV decided to wake up every hour, cry for a couple seconds and go right back to sleep. She slept fine. Me? Not so much. In one of those delusional sleep-wake moments, I got this fabulous idea that I was going to get a Starbuck's card for being up all night with her. That was the best idea I had heard in a real long time. It got me through the night.

But, then the morning came. Apparently, that is not, in fact, true. No magical Starbucks card with tons of free coffee coming my way. Just my same old decaf waiting to be made, by me, in my coffee maker, in my kitchen. No free day off. Just the same old 6:00 wake-up call, same old fifth graders, same old job.

But, would I spend the night squished on the tiny couch with AV again? Yep.
Even though there is no Starbuck's card? Yep. (Though I might conveniently forget so I could have that motivation next time.)

OR, I could just give myself the prize of Starbuck's...But paying for it myself just doesn't bring the same joy.

Firsts

2011-02-24T08:10:00.002-06:00

February has been a month of "firsts" in little AV's life.

Two weeks ago she (finally) got her first tooth. It came with a few sleepless nights and the classic new parent trip to the 24-hour pharmacy at 1:00am because we had the dropper for one medicine but no meds, and another medicine with no dropper. I'm sure the Farmacia Guadalajara loved my wacky ponytail, pj's and boots. Highlight of their lives and mine.

Yesterday really took the cake on the "firsts," though. Here they are in chronological order from 5:00pm-8:00pm.

1. First ponytail. Big deal in little girl world. Definitely won't be the last because I think her cuteness factor just went through the roof.
2. First steps. She's been walking around with one parent finger and cruising for a few weeks, but today she decided that she could do it all on her own. We might have to have a little chat about running, since she seems to only have one speed- fast. I give credit to a little visit from her friend Cedric who is 11 days older than her and walks all over the place. Who says jealousy isn't a great motivator?
3. First serious crash. Cheek, tv stand. You can imagine. AV is rocking a killer bruise now right across her left cheek. It makes her all dangerous and intimidating. If only it weren't for the pink ruffle-butt pants or flower pj's, she'd be super mafiosa.

Big day! Pictures to come, eventually, once I have a computer again...whenever that will be...

Long Time Gone

2011-02-13T17:20:00.002-06:00

I know it's been a month and a half since I've blogged.

I won't make apologies, if you're looking for one.

I will tell you this. My computer will at some point be fixed. I believe this statement to be true. The only problem is that I don't know when that when will arrive.

But, let's just say the computer whiz, though I'm getting close to demoting him to computer "I kind of get how this technology stuff works," who is "fixing" it has been saying "this week" for about a month.

Soon. I promise.

From Our Familia this Navidad

2010-12-28T21:54:00.004-06:00

In lieu of a Christmas letter, I give you the Alvarez Family Christmas Blog. I'm sure most etiquette gurus are barfing about this total lack of respect for the holiday tradition, but, let's be honest, it's December 28th and there is no sign of any mail coming from my home to yours. So, without further adieu, I give you the Alvarez Family 2010.

The biggest and most important event of 2010 was the arrival of AV, known everywhere else including on her birth certificate but excluding facebook, blogs and text messages as Ana Victoria Alvarez Hickey. Unless, of course, you are looking at her US birth certificate where she is just plain old Ana Victoria Alvarez. If I haven't made it clear to all of you on this blog, you probably haven't been reading this blog for very long or maybe we need to check your reading comprehension skills, my child is the cutest and most amazing child on Earth.

Ramon is doing his architect thing, making sure roads, highways and bridges are built correctly. Blah, blah, blah, People only read these to get to the pictures and to find out about the babies.

Shannon is still teaching little spoiled brats, I mean, lovely fifth grade children. Blah, blah, blah. Get to the pictures of the babies.

Here she is, in all her glory. The great AV at almost 9 months old. Hello, little princess.

Here we are. Ramon, Shannon and Ana Victoria Alvarez. Just about the cutest little Mexican-American family out there.

The whole family. In my world, we are known as the HIYA family. Hickey, Isbell, Young and Alvarez families in age order make a delightful and dangerous acronym. Watch out when the HIYA's are about.

From left to right: Ramon, Shannon, AV, Liam, Mom, Dad, Erin, Connor, Justin, Baby Sawyer (due any day!), Caitlin, and Josh.

Pretty cool considering this time two years ago, Caitlin and I weren't married and this time last year Liam and a still cooking AV were the only kids.

I hope my Christmas letter finds you still reading now and in the coming year. If you keep reading, I'll keep writing.

Feliz Navidad from our familia to yours.

We are go for travel...

2010-12-15T09:13:00.003-06:00

This weekend starts the travel season for us and I'm so pumped! And, no I'm not being sarcastic for once.

We are heading to a little town outside of Pachuca, Hidalgo. (Look it up on a map!) My friend from college who is ultimately responsible for my being in Mexico and meeting Ramon, is having her big church wedding in her husband's hometown. It's sure to be a blast!

Then next week we head to Seattle. AV's first Navidad! According to weather.com it is supposed to be in the 50's in Denver where we have our layover which means ontime flights! Then it's supposed to be in the 40's and rainy in Seattle. Disgusting and delightful.

Christmas cookies, eggnog and family? Yes, please.

Yes, We're alive

2010-12-10T13:40:00.002-06:00

I know it's been a long time. It had been a long time two weeks ago when I finally started writing my Thanksgiving memoir.

Then, it happened, again. Stupid Expletive Computer. Even though I got it "fixed" just two months ago, it is on the fritz again. Do I need to explain to you how frustrating it is to turn on the machine to have everything work except the screen. Blue lights blinking and taunting me with the computer's black screen seemingly saying "I hate you...Bah Humbug."

So, for now, you'll have to imagine. Imagine a witty post about Thanksgiving also full of pictures. Imagine a delighful ditty about how 5th graders and how the words "I will make you put on a coat if you don't stop being distracted by your own arm" came out of my mouth earlier this week. Imagine all my recounts of Ana Victoria and how wonderful she is.

Think of it as blogging Advent. Wait and prepare, because when I'm back, it'll be good.

The ups and downs of a lentil mess

2010-11-15T20:41:00.003-06:00

We had a little situation last night in the Alvarez kitchen. I was cooking up some lentils for AV, yes she eats lentils. In fact, she loves them. They are right up there with black beans and spinach and bananas.

Pretty uneventful Sunday evening.

I was using the pressure cooker which is an essential kitchen appliance (is it an appliance, a pot, what?) NO good Mexican wife/woman lives without one. I am so good, I have two. Watch out.

Pressure cookers, if you can't tell by the name, cook things quickly but under great amounts of pressure. This requires the operator to have patience when the cooking process is complete so that the pressure goes away, and you can open the lid. (Your welcome, you have all now passed PC 101).

Ramon, for once in his life, didn't show his normal extreme patience. In our house, the one who is patient is him. The one who is not is me. Needless to say, I didn't quite know what to do when I heard a big pop and then a few choice words coming from my husband.

When I ventured to the kitchen, you can imagine what I found. Lentils. Lentils high. Lentils low. Lentils on the clean dishes. Lentils on the stovetop. Lentils. Everywhere. Which is funny, because when would you ever see a kitchen covered in lentils. (How many times can I write lentils? Lentils.)

Now, I thank my lucky stars that Ramon, aside from being patient, is also a great cleaner-upper. So, I just said, "What happened?" He said, "The lentils exploded." And I said, "Oh, that sucks." and watched him clean. Well, I helped a little.

I learned that my stove top can be taken apart. So, that was a nice tidbit of information. I also learned that when you take the stove apart you can see to the wall behind the sink. And guess what I found when the stove was in bits and pieces? My long lost cookie sheet that fell behind the sink after the great Cookie/Cracker baking fiasco of 2010.

Moral of the story. If you want to find a cookie sheet, have your husband explode lentils in your kitchen.

How's that for a moral?

On Bomb Threats and Brown Trout

2010-11-11T19:57:00.003-06:00

Today was one that started like any other. Cold, but not quite as cold as other days this week. The kids were their normal chatterbox-y selves. I threatened taking recess away about 11 times. They saw right through me all 11 times.

Recess came and went. We were trying, big emphasis on the trying, to get down to business, when the word to evacuate quickly came. Here we go. Teacher hell. Right up there with Halloween, bomb threats make poking your eyes out with a toothpick sound enjoyable. But, since we (I) here at the Casa Alvarez blog like to find the humor in things. I give you the following.

Plus sides to Bomb Threat Day:

-Impromptu suntanning (burning). When am I ever just standing in the sun for two hours. This would obviously be way better without 1200+ 2-12 year olds running amuck and with a beach and a sangria, but sometimes you have to take what you can get.

-Impromptu half-day. I swear, I'm going to start thinking that the first mom who arrives has got to be the one who made the call. How is it possible that we haven't even finished evacuating the building and they're already there to take their precious cargo home? Do they wait in the parking lot all day?

-Watching Super Model wannabe moms stumble through the rocky/grassy field in 5 inch stilletos. Some call it dismissal when the music rings at 2:00, I call it "Who can wear the tightest pants, lowest cut blouse and highest heels." Fine when you only have to walk in the hallway. Not so fine when you have to navigate a soccer field full of 50+ groups of students to find that diamond in the rough that you call your child.

-At least its the soccer field and not the cactus garden. At the AS world, we are moving up. I say this because not very many people have witnessed much along the ways of improvements in these parts. My first bomb threat corralled 300 some-odd students into the schools 30 square foot cactus garden at 7:30am. Yep, kids and cactus = great idea.

-Confidence that the school is safe. (Not funny, but true) There is 24/7/365 security at the school plus an alarm system. So, basically if you're not supposed to be there, you won't be. It's nice to know that even if someone wanted to plant a bomb at the school (which what kind of person would?), they couldn't.

So, on that note, let's move along to this evening. After such an eventful afternoon at school, AV decided to rest for me for about an hour and a half, a miraculous, gift-from-God, afternoon nap for her. After, we played, we took and walk, we had dinner and we got the bath ready. A normal evening in the Alvarez house. Until....

Ana Victoria decided that she would rather have a jacuzzi than a bathtub. I'm with you on that one sister, I would settle for a shower that was actually warm for more than 2 minutes. What I am not, however, supporting is that she decided to manually make the bubbles go. She tried a little too hard and one of those jacuzzi bubbles came out with a prize. Actually three prizes

Everybody clear the pool. Brown trout.

Needless to say, bath time was cut short and followed by a serious talking to about when and where we move our bowels.

In the words of the late and great Dave Niehaus, My, Oh My.

Guilt-driven parenting

2010-11-06T21:20:00.002-06:00

I'm going to go ahead and assume that if you're reading this and you're a parent you have at some point, and most likely at many points, made parenting decisions based on that fabulous thing we like to call guilt. If you're not a parent yet, then you can roll your eyes at me all you want. What do I care? I can't see you. But, mark my words, when you have your own children, you will make guilt-based decisions, and you will think of me. And, on that day, I will say, I told you so and feel very pleased with myself.

Guilt-driven parenting could be a totally new craze. If I had the patience and train of thought longer than like 4 minutes, I would write a book about it and make millions. Eat your heart out attachment parenting and babywisers- GDP isn't gross domestic product anymore (thank you whatever class in high school taught me that) GDP is THE new way to parent.

My GDP started when AV was very young. I thought that anytime she was awake I needed to be talking, interacting, playing, etc with her. I felt guilty when I would put her down to do something or another. Not to mention, God forbid, put her in the car and take her somewhere. Guilt, guilt, guilt. Then, of course, my guilt-driven thinking took over and I started thinking if I would like it for someone to be talking at me and playing with me and not giving me a second to look around during every second of my waking hours. I concluded that that would be obnoxious (something I do well). Then, the GDP took over on the other side. Oh jeez, I haven't been letting her be her own person. I haven't taken her places. GDP, baby.

GDP worked wonders when going to work, too. The wannabe stay-at-home mom in me thought of what horrible irreversable damage I was doing to the poor creature entrusted to my care by abandoning her to the loving arms of grandparents for 6 hours a day. Tears, hugs, and all sorts of get rich plans abounded from GDP and the working mom. Then, guilt-driven thinking told me that if I didn't work the baby wouldn't have a house to call home, wouldn't know her family in the USA and wouldn't have the education she deserved. GDP told me that I should head back if only for the tiny silver lining every 15th and 30th called payday.

GDP is at work right now in the mother's milk factory. This mama cow's supply is dwindling. My poor child will no longer be one of those magical, mythical creatures who are closer to angelic than they are to human, whose poop, literally, does not stink, who will never be obese, who will get a 1600 on their SAT's the first time without studying, who can most likely speak in complete sentences at 5 weeks old. She will be thrown to the proverbial dogs and become one of those alien children who drink.......formula......eeeewwww. I'll let you all shudder and shun me by shaking your head at the computer. (It's okay, it's all a part of the GDP process.) In my desire to not send my child to the dark side of baby nutrition, I tried everything I could to make more milk. Then GDP started working its magic. What does this GDP mom really want: a starving unhappy breast-fed baby, or a health strong bottle-fed one? When it comes down to it, formula (eeeewww) was invented for a reason, so that babies could grow strong and healthy when their mothers could no longer give them what they needed. It sounds a little less nasty now, but only just a little. GDP, in all her glory.

GDP, you might be realizing is just a fancy way to find balance. I shouldn't tell you that, because now my non-existent book won't sell. As parents we do the best we can with what we have. We trust our instincts and make choices every day so that these tiny humans under our charge grow into some semblance of normal, healthy and hopefully, good-looking, smart and successful adult humans. As long as the GDP thinking is evenly weighted with pro's and con's, the parents have a pretty good chance of making the best decision for their children. (pretty good chance is a very technical term, you need technical terms for your method to sell) That isn't to say that I won't look back in twenty years and think about all the things I should have done differently, but I will at the very least, be able to tell my children that I thought through, and probably overthought, every single decision that involved them and their development.

I will be accepting your pre-orders for the GDP book. Let me know how many copies you want.

Chores

2010-10-24T16:38:00.002-05:00

Saturday and Sunday are Chores days around the Alvarez household.

I thought Saturday and Sunday were the weekend, but apparently, I was wrong.

Now, the more I do chores, the more I realize how terrible chores are. I've heard people say that chores are a way of loving your family. But, let's be honest, I would much rather love AV and Ramon over a box of white chocolate Oreo's. I think they'd feel the love way more, too, because I wouldn't be righteously annoyed.

Chores suck, plain and simple. Here's why.

They are never actually done. You spend all day, sometimes night, and sometimes even the next day if you live in a dryer-less world like I do. Sunday night you finish the laundry and have every sock put away, but inevitably you have to take off the clothes you're wearing. The empty white basket is now one step closer to full again. It just makes you want to scream sometimes.

Sweeping and mopping are also lame-o. Mexico is the dust capital of the world. So, once the floors have been swept and mopped you can already see those stupid butt-holey dust specks starting to settle back down in their place. I can hear their tiny dust voices whispering, "Nice try, Sssuuuccckkkaaa."

Now, let's talk about the kitchen. The kitchen is usually clean for about 10 hours a day. Pretty impressive, I'd say. Except for the part where 8 of those hours are when the entire house is sleeping and no one can enjoy it. The second you wake up, someone needs to make breakfast. That someone is 99.9% of the time, me. I don't have one of those magical dish hiding places that other people have been known to call dishwashers. The dish washer, again, is 98.4% (we'll give Ramon a little more credit on this one) of the time me. After washing all the dishes, without fail, you turn around to find one lone cup or spoon who defied the instruction to be washed and stored. Whatever, that jerk gets to sit all night alone in the sink and think about what he's done.

Don't get me started on the bathroom. I've decided it's going to be Ramon's chore. I hate cleaning the bathroom. The second you finish, you always ALWAYS have to go the bathroom. And if you live in a house like mine, you don't have any other viable or appropriate option other than to dirty up your nice clean bathroom. It's not so much the going that bugs me as much as it is the washing hands part because the nice clean shiny sink now has drip marks. Since I'm unwilling to give up the handwashing part of the bathroom experience, I just have to resign myself to the fact that the bathroom will never be perfectly clean.

Some parts of cleaning are, however, extremely satisfying. I love the feeling when you think, 'Oh yeah, that's what that coach looked like.' or 'That spot wasn't permanent? Sweet.' But, come on, that doesn't happen often enough to outweigh all of the negatives.

They say a woman's work is never done. I think that phrase should more appropriately be changed to read, "Chores suck, but you still have to do 'em."

If Strollers Could Talk

2010-10-20T12:19:00.002-05:00

To start, my stroller would have an awesome accent. Something to drive all the babes wild.

Then, my stroller would get a little more serious and probably tell me the following things.

Dear Owner,

I was not made for what you are putting me through. I was happily shipped to Babies R Us USA where there are sidewalks and paved roads and ramps and crosswalks and all sorts of other amenities of this sort. If I had been informed upon my purchase that I would soon be exported, I most likely would have objected very loudly. I would most definitely have objected had I known that you were going to be my owner. Every night, I sit alone and cry, "Why me?!" I think you deserve to know why.

1. Your child, while extremely cute, (I might say that she is the cutest baby I have ever seen in my entire life, and strollers have been around for a while, that's saying something. But, I digress.) is not even seven months old yet and has already puked on me and peed on me more times than I can count. That, dear woman, is gross. I do not like to have any bodily fluids other than my own, which I have none, on me.

2. Focus, woman. Your child was barely 6 weeks old when you burned the living crapola out of one of my wheels. I understand that lights in the floor is supposed to be something modern and interesting. However, my wheels are plastic. Plastic melts. Even if the streets were paved in gold, my ride would now be just slightly wobbly because of your lack of general awareness of your surroundings. Next time when you smell something burning, check my wheels, it's probably me.

3. I am not as small as you think I am. I am a travel system. We are the SUV's of strollers. We take up entire trunk spaces just because we can. We have no qualms with taking the space of things like groceries. We are that important. Please, understand, come to terms, and begin respecting this fact. Stop trying to force me through spaces between buildings and telephone poles. Stop taking me to crowded market places. You can pretend you don't see the dirty looks when you push me into the ankles of those in front. But, the baby and I? We feel those scornful looks, and frankly, it hurts.

You are very lucky that your baby is so cute, because if she were one of those weird-looking alien babies that are out there, I would have rebelled against you a long time ago. I just ask you to open your eyes, ears, nose and work on your spacial awareness. If not for my sake, for the sake of the precious cargo I transport, I don't know how much more we can take.

Sincerely,

Your Stroller.

Wait, what?

2010-10-10T20:54:00.000-05:00

Wait, what? This is an all too common phrase that is most often accompanied by a raised eyebrow and confused face and it can most likely be seen on me when trying to decipher my students' work. Once I figure out what the child is trying to say, the confused usually turns into a smiley laughing face.

Want some examples? I though you would.

We are dead for food.

Translation: We were dying of hunger.

It was a week very heaviest.

Translation: It was a very tiring week.

The convencion durate to one week.

Translation: The convention lasted one week.

The sending is the aple richen large that whit spon and spar centing cente.

1st Response: WTF? What is this?

2nd Response: (Just hit me in this moment 3 weeks after reading the work) AAhh, she has tried (big emphasis on the tried) to copy from the book to answer the question: What is the setting?

Translation: The setting is the castle kitchen, large pots with spoons are placed center stage.

Define Shellfish (not my student but definitely share-worthy)

Answer: Shellfish is when you only care about yourself.

Use Majesty in a sentence.

I say to the teacher Majesty because I want more recess.

Response: Nice try.

Use porridge in a sentence.

The people want porridge.

Response: Give the people what they want, I say. Their demands aren't outrageous.

Use peasant in a sentence.

This school have a peasant to do the school nice.

Response: Oh, is that what we're calling janitors and gardeners now?

By far, best sentence I have read in all of my five years of teaching.
Drum Roll, PLEASE!

Use dungeon in a sentence.

This person are bad they kill chickens and are in the dungeon.

Response: After I stopped laughing, read it again, laughed again and stopped again, I thought "Chicken Killer? Really? That's what you have to do to get sent to the dungeon?"

PS Yes, we read a story about a king, so, no, these vocabulary words aren't weird.

Cookies or Crackers?

2010-10-09T21:12:00.002-05:00

I have an amazing oven.

It's amazing for many reasons none of which include its ability to cook food. I don't know how old it is, but let's just say that if we ball park it in the time frame of older than me, younger than dirt.

I will give it this, though. It is the first oven that I've had in Mexico with numbers. I'm talking real temperatures, people. My first oven went from temperature minus sign (-) to temperature plus sign (+). Your guess is as good as mine, or maybe better because I always guessed wrong with that baby. My second oven was way more high tech; it had a scale from 1-5. Again, your guess, probably better. This one has temps, in celsius, which, even after 5 years, still means very little to me.

The door doesn't close properly. Handy Fix-it Man Wally Hickey rigged up a nice latch system for me when he was here in April which took the oven's usability from zero to functioning. To use said latch, you must push all your weight against the oven door and then latch. Though, when the oven is on, this means that you will burn your leg and fingers because the door and latch are just about as hot as the inside of the oven.

Everything around the oven gets hot when its on. Note to self, plastic should not be close by. Learned that lesson the hard way.

Oh yeah, that part about how the oven has temperatures? Big, fat lie. The temperatures mean nothing. I set my oven to less than 350. It heated up to over 500.

The point is this: I now have 60+ chocolate chip crackers.

Anybody hungry?

Never seen that before.

2010-10-02T20:50:00.002-05:00

Sometimes living in Mexico gets old.

Like on the days when you have to push a stroller on what can only be loosely defined as sidewalk, and more accurately can be described as blocks of concrete of varying heights, super steep driveways, with telephone poles in the middle that require you to take aforementioned stroller into traffic to go around aforementioned pole.

Mexico can get old when you realize that you've been cut off by the same bus three times in three blocks because it speeds up to get in front of you then pulls over and stops to let people off.

Somethings don't get old.

Like seeing a man walking down the street carrying three GIANT bags of cheese puffs. I'm talking bags that are almost the size of the man.

Now that, my friends, is funny.

Why I'm a teacher.

2010-09-27T17:50:00.005-05:00

I bet by the title you think this is going to be a real deep and meaningful post about the joys of educating the future world leaders. Nope. Sorry. (Though, I know most of you are probably relieved since you don't want to read a serious blog post.)

Think back to the days of Barbie to that fateful day when you, and you know you all did, decided that barbie needed a haircut. Same idea.

I cut Ana Victoria's hair.

AV was growing a little Mexi-Mullet. Party in the back and on top with a nice little bald patch around the middle. If you know my dad, think opposite of Walter. So, since Ramon and I both cut our hair yesterday, we decided it was time for AV to join us. Little snip here, little snip there. Then I snipped some more. I'm no Gene Juarez, but if you like crookedy bangs, I'm your gal. Don't look close while the hair is wet. Just look at the overall style. (Most haircuts look better styled anyway. Whoever believes in wash and wear, just likes boring hair....ie... me...lots of dots...) Let's just say I'm not going to quit my day job yet.

Feeling cool.

2010-09-22T12:39:00.002-05:00

I saw this today and all of a sudden felt real cool.

Who do I know in Latvia, Germany, Netherlands and China?

PS The height of people reading my blog was July. You've been slacking. I've been slacking. Let's fix that.

Pageviews by Countries

United States

872

Mexico

129

Canada

China

Russia

Australia

Latvia

Germany

Netherlands

Peru

Adventures in Public Transportation

2010-09-08T12:43:00.002-05:00

I've only really used public transportation in a few countries, but I am taking the liberty of generalizing that public transportation, along with its users, has some serious quirks that, if you catch the rider on a good day, can really be quite enjoyable. My, that was a long sentence.

If you didn't read my last post, shame on you, you may have missed the part about how I crashed. The car is still in the shop, not because the problem is that serious, but more because the car is really only Ramon and my priority. Not the insurance, not the shop, nobody. Sucks to be us? Yes, a little bit.

Any way, I've become a bus rider again. I thank my lucky little stars that this will be a relatively short lived period of my life, since I'll only be able to find humor in it for so long.

There is no such thing as a bus schedule. Three might pass at the same time, racing each other, of course, and then it can really honestly seriously be twenty minutes until the next one comes by.

Black lights are cool. They're especially cool if they make Jesus on the cross glow.

Speaking of Jesus on the cross, He is on every bus. Not in the spiritual kind of way where Jesus is always with us. No, he's there. Usually in giant crucifix or life-size window cling form. He is usually accompanied by Mary, Our Lady of Juquilita, and/or some pin-up model in a bikini.

There is no such thing as a full bus. Friday I got on one that was obviously overfilled when I got on. Think enough seats for 30, already had close to 50 when I got on. My silly little naive self thought, "Oh good, he probably won't stop much more, now." Wrong. Think sardines. Smelly, sweaty, unshowered, Friday afternoon sardines. I think I just threw up a little.

Here's my wondering. I'll chalk it up to life's big questions. Isn't it in the bus drivers best interest to get people safely and comfortably from one destination to the next? Isn't that good for business? Isn't it probably a good idea to stop the bus completely while people get on and off? Isn't it probably wise to pick up passengers, especially when your bus is empty?

Call me loca... Here's to hoping the car is ready soon.

Gone, but not forgotten

2010-08-31T12:24:00.002-05:00

Have you missed me?

So much has happened in the last month, good and bad. I'll try to do a quick summary for you.

1. Went back to work. The first day of school is always amazing. There so much wondering going on, just what oh what, incredible, invaluable, can't believe I lived so long without knowing this, information will they present to us?? Last year it was a mathematician who talked for, no joke, two full hours about doctorate level math problems with the sole purpose of showing us that with all that math that only about .2% of the population understands, you can, in fact, make a graph that is a pretty little flower. So, you can only imagine the level of excitement I had anticipating the first day. I was pleasantly surprised to have a visit from Apple, Latin America who told us all about the amazing things you can do with Apple products. Do you think I can do that with my Apple 2E (just kidding, I have a little fancier technology, a little)? Nope. But the second speaker blew me away. Did you know that you can get old without aging? I didn't. I still don't get it. I'm also still trying to figure out what that has to do with elementary school...

2. Computer stopped working. It turns on, and by on I mean the little blue lights on the top turn on. The screen? Not so much. That's fun. It will be around 200 bucks to get it fixed, which I have to do because my entire Master's degree and all of my pictures are saved on it and I'm not quite willing to live without those.

3. AV started eating food. She loves pears. She makes faces at the first bite of apples. She is an eating monster. She can roll over front to back and back to front. She laughs. She sleeps 11 hours. I love her. She's amazing.

4. Crashed Ramon's car. Insert your favorite expletive here and you might come close to the colorful language implemented by me last Thursday morning. Ramon's hierarchy? Ana, Car, Me. I think I might have dropped a few spots now, too. The good news? He's now speaking to me again. The bad news? I crashed his car. The good news? The baby wasn't with me and nobody was hurt. The bad news? I crashed his car. The good news? I learned how to call the insurance company and deal with transit police. The bad news? I crashed Ramon's car, had to deal with slimy corrupt policeman who took my money and then hit on me. Aaah, the joys of life.

So, that's me. Once I get the computer up and running again, I promise to make my absence up to you all. Please, don't go jumping off any cliffs. I still love you. I still think of you often. We will be together again.

4 months, what?

2010-08-12T17:40:00.004-05:00

My baby girl is a world-traveling, laughing, rolling, sleeping through the night (almost), machine.

I love her with everything that I am. Even when she's being a turd.

Here she is all dolled up in a dress that was hand-made for her by one of Ramon's family members in Veracruz. So sweet!

Traveling with AV

2010-08-09T13:50:00.002-05:00

Getting on an airplane with a baby is a serious walk of shame.

I see your scornful looks. I hear your silent prayer, "Please, for the love of all that is holy, do NOT let that baby be sitting by me." I feel your dread. Your attempts to hide are feeble. Don't fake smile at my baby, she sees right through you.

I laugh now, ha ha ha, because you are kicking yourself and feeling guilty for underestimating the amazing, super-hero-esque, lovable little girl that I call my child.

Ana Victoria was a FABULOUS little traveler. Scream it from the hilltops. AV has redeemed the name of traveling babies for once and for all. (We will accept your congratulations and thank you's through monetary donations...no limit)

This little one loves adventure, I guess.

In 18 days we did all of the following plus some. We rode the bus to Mexico City, flew to Houston, stood in line with 20 other flight's worth of passengers, missed our connection, ate a ridiculously overpriced salad, flew to Seattle, visited, shopped, played, swam, met people, hung out with cousins, went to church, ate too many Cheez-its, flew to San Francisco, drove to San Jose, met great-grandparents, picked oranges, drove to San Luis Obispo, partied with the Hickey's, got up at 5 am, drove back to San Fran, spent 15 bucks on a bagel and fruit, flew to Mexico City, waited for a stroller that never arrived, reunited with Ramon, rode the bus back to Puebla, stopped for tacos and went home!

I guess that just means we'll have to travel more. I'll make that sacrifice for you, AV. Who loves ya?

Mexico Q & A

2010-07-30T15:32:00.002-05:00

I live in Mexico. Surprisingly, this brings on lots more questions then, say, living in Bellevue does. They are all, usually, good natured, honest questions that people really just want to know the answer. So, to the inquiring minds that need their fix of useless information, I'd like to just set the record straight.

Question 1. You live in Mexico, so why don't you have a tan?
To me this is like asking, you live in Seattle, why aren't you wet? Yes, may come as a shocker, but there is inside in Mexico, too. And, another shocker here, I have a day job. And to just keep the shock effect going, I don't live in Cancun, wish I did, but I don't. So, the answer to this question is the following: My life consists of going to work, coming home, taking care of a baby, cleaning (sometimes), etc. It doesn't leave to much time for basking in the rays. Plus, where would I bask? The parking lot in front of my house just seems like maybe not the best place.

Question 2. When are you moving back to the USA?
This one is a kick in the guts every time I hear it. I love Washington. I love the trees, the fresh air, the Cheez-its, the Targets, the Old Navys, ok, getting off track. Point, I love where I am from. But there comes a time in every young woman's life, (please imagine me with grey hair in a rocking chair while I share) when she needs to make the decision that's best for her family. My family unit consists of Ramon, me and AV right now. Here's the short answer, I don't know. We will be wherever it is best for us to be for as long as it is best for us to be there. That means anywhere in the whole wide world. For now, it means Puebla. If you know how to convince my husband that Washington is the best place for us, by all means, share away.

Question 3. Will AV speak English?
Short answer, She'd better. Long answer, I speak 100% English to her and around her. I blab on and on about anything and everything so that she is inundated with English. The rest of her world operates in Spanish. I can't control that. She'll speak all right, she might prefer Spanish, but she'll be a native English speaker.

Question 4. What's it like where you live?
I get the feeling that people have two very general understandings of Mexico- tiny little towns where everyone wears sombreros and beach paradises where only tourists where sombreros. I don't fall into either of those categories. (I know I'm like totally shattering some people's worlds right now, sorry) Puebla is the 5th largest city in Mexico. Approximately 2 million people. Yeah, so it's big. It was one of the stops along the way for Hernan Cortes as he travelled and claimed Mexico for Spain from the port of Veracruz to what we now call Mexico City. Puebla is known as the city of angels. And, now I sound like a tour guide. Long story, short. It's a huge metropolis.

Those are the main questions that I commonly hear, but if you'd like to hear my witty, intelligent, and oh-so-interesting answers to any other questions, feel free to share.

Like there was ever any doubt

2010-07-28T18:16:00.003-05:00

In my world, since March 30th, there has never existed even the slightest shadow of a doubt about who's kid is the cutest in the entire world. Just so we're all clear, it's my kid.

Case in point. I give you the following:

AV has shades.

There are no words to describe how awesome she looks.

Learning a lesson...

2010-07-19T15:47:00.002-05:00

AV has two new tricks. Rolling over and screaming.

Not at the same time or that would be three tricks.

I'll focus my mind on the first trick while I write this to remind myself how normal, sweet, smart, and wonderful she is. It's so cute to put her down on her belly and watch her flip right over on to her back. She gets so much momentum sometimes that she almost does a full 360. On Saturday, I told Ramon that by the time we got back from the US, she would be rolling over. Not 5 minutes later, she did!

Now that I've calmed myself down, I'll focus on the second trick. I guess I shouldn't describe this so much as a trick as it is, hmm, what word shall I use? Thinking... Choosing wisely... Umm, what do you call the thing that makes you think twice about having another baby? I guess for lack of a better word and considering my mood, we'll call it "extreme vocalization" for now.

AV has learned how to extreme vocalize. Yes, that sounds much better than scream bloody murder. This has come in tandum with her refusal to take long enough naps to make her not so tired. I feel like I've got one in the "win" column because I am about 89% sure that she cries because she's tired. Another 1% thinks she has something wrong with her. The last 10% is the first-time parent uncertainty bubble that looms around every possible child-centered decision.

Hearing your child scream, I mean extreme vocalize, is a sure-fire way to make you feel like just about the worst parent out there. Part of me wonders when I can expect a knock on the door from curious neighbors wondering just what in the world I am doing to her. She has this really awesome knack (Does knack have a silent-k? I feel like it does, or at least should) for vocalizing when we are around Ramon's family. So, the discussion begins, what's wrong with her? To which the defensive new-mom in me wants to scream, "Nothing! Sometimes babies cry!!" but to which I nicely (at least it's nice in my head) say, "I don't know."

We started a new nap routine today- Operation Nap Time. It worked pretty well in the morning. She slept for an hour and a half and only needed her binky back in once. We tried again this afternoon and she slept for half an hour. Then we went to my in-law's to eat, and the vocalizing commenced. COME ON, AV! I mean, seriously, you couldn't just vocalize at home? You had to save it for the abuelos?!

After rocking and swaddling and shushing her to no avail, I politely said goodbye and wandered home. She was quieter outside. (Putting that one in the ideas pile for ways to get her to vocalize less extremely) I came home put her in the sling to chill her out some and then transfered her to the crib. I could have kept her in the sling, but mom needs a break.

Here's my top 10 new-mom self-help counselor advice-
1. Chill out, mama. Babies cry. That's their job.
2. You need to cry with her? Go for it. But, only for a minute. No wallowing.
3. (Very important epiphany) Put her down and walk away. Step away from the baby, crazy woman.
4. This, too, shall pass.
5. No one said parenting would be easy, they just said it would be worth it.
6. It's beer o'clock somewhere. She's asleep now, reward yourself with whatever you want, beer, chocolate, facebook, whatever floats your boat, honey girl.
7. Tomorrow's another day. Maybe she won't cry. If she doesn't, great. If she does, you'll deal with it then.
8. You think she's crying because she's tired. You're probably right. Go with that. If it doesn't work, try another idea.
9. Take a deep breath. Relax. Get your shoulders out of your ears from being so tense. That's not helping anyone.
10. Jesus, I trust in you. (I said this all through my labor and all day for the first few weeks of her life. It helped then and I'd forgotten because I'd gotten confident.)

When the goings get rough

2010-07-14T09:10:00.002-05:00

It's times like these that I wish Puebla and Seattle were neighboring cities.

My baby nephew, Connor James, was born Saturday, July 10th. His original due date was August 19th. The doctors had scheduled my sister for her c-section on July 27th due to a rare condition called Placenta Accreta. She had been on bed rest, in the hospital for over a month, when she had serious bleeding and they decided that baby needed to arrive even earlier than anticipated.

He's in an incubator, he needs oxygen, he's jaundiced, he's a tiny peanut. He's beautiful.

Knowing the love I have for my baby girl and how I used to cry and cry when she would cry and cry even though she was healthy and strong, I can't imagine the hell my sister and brother-in-law are living right now. I'm crying as I write this just thinking about it.

I wish I could be there right this instant to hold hands, give hugs, distract worried faces, try to calm frightened family. The next week will be an eternity while I wait for the day I can finally be with them.

For now, it's a lot of prayer. Asking Jesus to protect His little angel, Connor. To help him grow stronger with each passing hour. To comfort his Mom and Dad and big brother. To calm their fears. To heal my sister from her surgery. To help them come together as the united family that they've always been. To help them be brave. For their hearts to overflow with peace and comfort. For their sleep to be restful and multiplied so they have the energy for each new day. To know how much we love them and would give anything to make everything better.

May this, one of life's most difficult trials, bring praise and glory to God when Connor and Erin are both home and healthy.

Closing up shop.

2010-07-09T09:11:00.003-05:00

It's the end of the year at the AS world. That means there's a whole lot of sitting around doing nothing on my work schedule. The end of the year brings a whole lot of ridiculous with it, too. I will allow myself to share with you.

1. Change classrooms AGAIN. In August, I will begin my 5th year at the American School. I will begin it in the 6th classroom. That's right. 6 classrooms, 5 years. It's a good thing I'm ocd about throwing things away so I don't have that much to move. But, honestly, again? Another classroom? I'm going back down to 5th grade because they say they need my crack-the-whip, respect-my-authority, no-you-may-not-do-whatever-you're-asking-to-do, yes-you-do-have-to-do-what-I-say, discipline-is-my-best-friend attitude with the next generation of kids. Needless to say, I'm psyched for the groups to come.

2. Have a party. We celebrated 4th of July with a staff barbeque- hot dogs, burgers, baked beans, etc. Only a few people gave the beans a look that blatantly said "You put sugar on the beans." To which we kindly resonded with the look of "You put chocolate on your chicken (aka Mole)" The 6th grade team and a couple others spent the WHOLE day, 8-2, preparing, partying, and cleaning up a 1-hour lunch. Complete with Conga line and dance party. It's just what happens when teachers get a little freedom.

3. Say good-bye. Now, this doesn't really fall so much into the ridiculous category as it does into the I-can't-believe-it category. I'm not lying or exagerating when I say that I can count all of my friends here on approximately two hands. So, when people decide to go back to the USA or dedicate their time to their families, I'm jealous, I mean sad. My good friend Claritza is leaving with her husband and soon to be born little girl. We started at the school together, did our masters together, got married and pregnant within months of eachother. We've really grown-up together from late Friday nights with too much beer and dance parties in our living room to sharing ups and downs and asking eachother's advice. I will REALLY miss her!

4. File and unfile, and file again. The Secretary of Education sends report cards for Spanish teachers to fill out, in pen, with zero mistakes, at the end of every school year. This year those report cards are behind schedule. Which means that everything is now behind schedule. We file student grades in their individual files at the end of every year, too. Because we didn't have grades to give to parents, we had to unfile the previously filed grades, put them into the envelopes to send home, print out new report cards and file them again. Maybe I'm just nuts, but couldn't we have skipped a few steps here, printed the report cards again and just put those in the envelopes??

5. Here's my year in review:
Number of times called to the office: 6
Number of times called to the principal's office: 1 (a real improvement for me)
Number of times accused of starting a strike with the 6th grade teachers: 1
Number of weeks worked: 30
Number of weeks of maternity leave: 14
Number of hours at work per week: 30
Number of hours of actual work completed each week BEFORE maternity leave: 28
Number of hours of actual work completed each week AFTER maternity leave: 2

School's out for summer. One month from today, I'll have to be back. Better hurry up and start enjoying the days off!

And you wonder...

2010-07-05T20:51:00.003-05:00

...with eyes like these, how could her nickname be anything OTHER than bug!?

365 days

2010-07-04T08:13:00.003-05:00

365 days ago, I married my best friend. On that day, there were smiles, tears, laughter, mariachis, photos, friends, family, and so much more. It was an incredible way to start an incredible journey.

365 days later, we've had ups and downs. We've had joys and sorrows. We've laughed and fought. We've welcomed the most beautiful baby girl into our family.

I can't wait to see what the next 365 days hold. I love you, Ramon!

I'm a lemming

2010-06-20T09:22:00.001-05:00

Everyone else has been changing blog styles, so I HAD to, as well.

I'm a lemming. Let's all go jump off a bridge.

Feeling thoughtful

2010-06-19T16:23:00.003-05:00

Because I know you love my insight. Because I know you love my reflective nature. Because I know no one else would blog about this in a million years. Because my baby's asleep and I have a few minutes.

I give to you, drumroll please, my thoughts on Mexican bathrooms.

They usually leave a lot, bold font, italics, to be desired.

The thing I usually desire most is a toilet seat. Why would you have a toilet with no seat? Even if you are going to cover and hover, the seat just needs to be there. This is not a random occurance that I speak of, it's a real common occurance, actually. People move from home to home and bring their seat with them because you can't be sure your new house will have one.

Toilet paper outside the stall. I don't get this one either. One giant roll to share amongst all. I like to think that the goal is to reduce tp-wastefulness. But let's be honest. No one is going to undersestimate their tp needs. You will inevitably take more paper than you could ever possibly use. The savings are lost. Just give each stall a roll, please. If not to save money, do it for the poor new-to-Mexico Gringa who hasn't learned about the one roll and who will at least once enter the stall before realizing she is tp-less.

On the subject of tp...What is up with roll placement? If you are lucky enough to get a roll to yourself, it always ends up being in a weird place. This happens in public and home bathrooms. You have to pivot and turn, or reach and risk falling just to get your squares. I feel like most people end up putting the roll on top of the tank since it's just too much effort to get the tp from its designated space.

Gold, in Mexibathroom world is this, for me:
Clean
Seat
Door
Individual TP
Running water
Soap
Free or less thn 3 pesos.

There you have it, deep thoughts.

AV at 2 months.

2010-06-12T12:18:00.003-05:00

She's two and a half months now. These are her two month pictures. I got behind. Sorry.

Things I loved from this month:

-Smiles and sounds. She loves to chat. I love to hear her. We have some awesome convos. Hopefully she'll still like to talk to me when she's fifteen.

-Sleeping more. Getting up only once or twice each night is amazingly easier than three times. I can't wait until it's zero-one times a night, though.

-Growing confidence. I finally feel like I generally know what I'm doing. I have moments where I lose confidence, but mostly I think I've got the hang of things for today.

-Going back to work. Weird, I know. But, it really makes me appreciate and take advantage of the time we have together in the afternoons.

-Drinking alcohol. I missed my occasional beer and sangria while I was pregnant. All you moms know you did, too. It's nice to be able to have a drink again without thinking that a sip is going to cause serious irreperable damage.

-Hats! As if my kid wasn't cute enough to start (shameless bragging and I don't mind), throw a hat on her and her cuteness goes through the roof.

Things I'm looking forward to:

-Laughing. I think she's on the verge. She'll open her mouth real big, but no sound yet. Come on, baby, laugh!

-Washington Summer. Counting down the days until we go to WA. It's been so hot and I can't wait to have a cooler, but still warm, summer visit. I can't wait to get AV splashing in the kiddy pool at Samena.

And here she is! Yes, we are still getting the hang of the whole "sit by the bunny" photo shoot thing.

On bad luck and brain fog

2010-06-10T09:50:00.002-05:00

Mommy brain. It's a real, true and debilitating illness. When you add in some bad luck, sometimes it gets so ridiculous that you go from totally p-o'd to laughing hysterically to sobbing in 2.4 seconds. Since I have no shame and even though something embarasses me, I have no qualms in sharing, here are some of my adventures. These have all occured in the past 6 days:

Last Saturday, I had a good friend's baby shower. I was in charge of games. I got all prepared weeks earlier. I researched. I planned. I got presents. I got excited. I, also, got to the shower with NOTHING I needed for the games. I told another person I had about a million safety pins(which I do) and I would bring them(which I didn't). Smooth move, Exlax. (When's the last time you heard someone use that phrase?)

I went back to work. This means that now I can't just carry a diaper bag. I must go back to carrying a purse. It also means that when I leave the house with AV I must remember to put items from the purse into the diaper bag AND remember to return them to the purse upon return. Back to the baby shower. I needed to be there at 10. I planned to leave the house at 9:30. I left the house and 9:53. Getting out of the house with a mini-me is still not my forte. I decided the most appropriate thing to do would be to bring the purse and the diaper bag. Great idea. Except for the part when I got home and realized I had no keys, no wallet, and no purse.

Upon arrival, I turned off the car. Normal? Yes. Did you know that the air conditioner, if not turned off, causes the car battery to die? Normal? Nope. What's more awesome is when you discover this at 7:30 on Monday morning when you need to leave for work at 7:25.

My friend is visiting from the US. She has two boys, one who is 11 days older than AV. I was supposed to go to her older son's party on Sunday. Didn't get there... We made a plan for her to come over on Monday at 4:00. She did, she waited, she called, she texted. Nothing. Zip. Nada. Where was I? Inside my house, telling my child about how her friend was coming to play. Was my phone working? Nope. When did I figure this out? 5:00. She waited outside my house with a screaming baby for half an hour. She said she was worried, but let's be honest, you know there was a little (or maybe big) part of her that was thinking, "Double-you Tee Eff."

On Tuesday, AV and I went over to another friend's house to see the friend who we missed on Monday. On the way, another friend called (I feel popular, I have three friends, they all called me on one day). She told me she was worried about something and I told her I would call her right back. An hour later, my phone rings. Guess if I had called her back. What an amazing friend am I.

I like to think that I generally have things together. I like lists. I like efficiency. I like being in charge.

Right now, I look in the mirror and roll my eyes at myself and say, "Oh, honestly." It's my mom phrase.

Maybe it will get better, but what if it doesn't? I guess as long as I get out of the house and back to it in one piece and with my child in one piece, I'll call that a success.

Cheese and Sap...

2010-06-04T09:36:00.003-05:00

...Things found in a house in a forest?

Nope. It's the general sentiment of this post.

This week I went (came since I'm here now) back to work.

AV is fine. She is such a good girl. She sleeps and eats and melts her abuelo's hearts for the morning. Then she spends the afternoon in my arms. Not so much because she wants to, but because I don't want to let her go.

There's nothing like being mom to make you feel like the most important person in the entire world. Obama, Benedict 16, Lightning McQueen, and Lady Gaga have nothing on me. They can be plastered all over magazines, newspapers and the internet. But, they can't make my baby smile. They can't make her fall asleep instantly. They can't make her stop crying. They don't know what each cry means and the different ways to make them go away.

I knew I wanted to be a mom. I didn't know how amazing it would be.

I have days (usually nights) where I pray that she will just go to sleep and stay asleep for a while. I have afternoons where I think, "Oh my goodness, wasn't it 4:30 an hour ago. What am I possibly going to do with this child for another 4 hours before bath and bedtime?"

Every moment I'm at work, I'm wondering what she's doing. I can't wait to get home every afternoon.

My kid is just that awesome.

Being a mom really is just that amazing (minus the 1st month when you have no idea what you're doing and everything makes you sob).

If you're considering procreating, I highly recommend it.

Start Calling Dibs

2010-05-30T10:10:00.002-05:00

Since I assume I am just as, or more, popular than I think I should be, I feel it is my duty to make the following report. Ana Victoria and I will be in the USA. Yes, you read correctly. I'll give you a moment to jump up and down, wipe your eyes from the happy tears you're now crying and generally compose yourself.

Ready? Ok.

We are heading to Seattle on July 21st and will be around until August 2nd. Then we're off to California so AV can meet her Great Grandparents and the whole rambunctious bunch of Hickey's at the SADOPH reunion.

Needless to say, we're pretty psyched.

So, start calling dibs on when you want to see us! I know you mostly just want to see my child, but at least pretend to be excited to see me, okay?

Creative Money Making

2010-05-23T10:52:00.002-05:00

I've been trying to come up with some creative ways to make money while working from home. I've scoured the internet, but everything seems just a little bit shady. You know what they say, if you want something done, you have to do it yourself. So far I've come up with the following ideas. I'm not sure how viable any of them are but, it's a start.

Win the Lottery. Very low investment on my part with the potential for huge pay-off. The only problem is the millions of other people who are also using this plan to get rich and stay at home.

Mexi-gut Diet Drink. The premise is this: you buy my diet drink and get thin quick, I get rich. It seems simple. All I have to do is invest in some water bottles and a label maker and then fill 'em up with my tap water. Where I live there is some serious hard water, I'll charge extra for the vitamins and minerals that you just can't get from any old tap water. Low cost investment on my part. The side effects for the consumer are pretty detrimental, however. Unless you don't mind living with the runs and amoebas in your system, of course. Though, now that I think about it, those could be the side effects of a lot of different diet drinks. So, really, the idea isn't that too far fetched, I guess.

Be a full-time blogger. I read a little about blogging for profit. Here's the scheme though, you have to write about one thing, be good at it and get other people to think you're good at it, too. I've got about 250 friends on facebook, maybe 25(on a good day) will click over to my blog. I don't think that's enough to get rich. Plus, there's the whole write about one thing and be good at it part. Oh well, I guess that one's out.

Start a School. This is really a dream in the works. I have recounted the adventures of the AS world. It has its ups. It has its downs. They are doing a fabulous job at taking away just about every perk that existed for working there. My hat's off, really. The only thing really left is the paycheck and the schedule (You can't really complain about Monday-Friday 8-2). So, if that's all that's left, why not start my own school? I've got access to curriculum. I have a Master's in Administration. I know quite a few people here and State-side who would make the jump with me. I'm just missing the start-up capital and the population. I think I could get the students. Now, how about the money. I'm totally willing to go into reality TV. If the Gosselin's can do it, why can't I? I'm totally way more interesting, and way less annoying. Plus, I haven't been nor will I ever be married to Jon Gosselin, that's got to be a major plus.

Afternoon tutoring. I could definitely start my own little after school-school in my home. Counting each couch cushion and chair, I could have a total of 10 kids at a time. I could open a 3-4, 4-5, 5-6 and 6-7 time slot. 4 hours times 10 is 40 kids times 30 bucks a week each is, (hold on I have to open up the calculator. What? I don't teach math) 1200 bucks a week. Really? I just had to go back and do the math on that one again because I wasn't convinced. It's true. I might have just found the winner. With cash flow like that, I might even give the kids a snack or something. I will definitely have a disclaimer that I have no responsibility over their grades. Monday-Thursday. 4 hours a day times 4 days a week is, besides being math that I can do in my head, 16 hours a week. I'm totally down for that.

The last option is to spend half of what we make now. That's easy, we already do. Almost all my money goes into savings. The only problem is we need to buy a car, a house, and plane tickets. Put that on your list for the grocery store and it comes up to about 100+ some odd thousand dollars. When you only make two thousand on a good month, that's a lot. We're going to need my mula, at least for a while.

I'm totally open to other options for money making. That's a lie, I don't want to have to work that hard, I don't want to have to do anything weird, and I don't want to leave my house for very long. So, I guess I'm not that open to very many other ways to make money. However, if you would like to give me around 1,000 bucks a month and have me do nothing, I would have no problem obliging.

Think about it and let me know.

Am I the only one?

2010-05-17T12:53:00.002-05:00

As I was drifting off to sleep last night, as with most nights, my mind started to wander. This is dangerous usually because it tends to wander really strange places. Last night it wandered here, to things that really skeez me out. Then, I started to wonder if these same things skeezed other people out, too. Or, am I the only one.

Am I the only one seriously, like I'm talking your knees want to shake and some portion of you brain totally shuts down, teeth hurt, etc, skeezed out by the following:

1. Unidentifiable bugs. There was a, later defined by Ramon, grasshopper in my house. If you've never seen a grasshopper up close, they are absolutely grotesque. They have weird antennae, fat legs and are transparent. Gag! The worst part was that I saw it one day, tried to kill it, missed and lost it. Then I found it again the next day, tried to kill it, failed again, and lost it again. Then, I found it again while in the bathroom. By the way, everything is scarier when it happens while you're sitting on the pot. Almost fell off said pot, smashed bug with a box of toothpaste, lost the bug, found it, made sure it was good and dead and then carried it, at arms length, to my husband for identification. It's not so scary knowing it's a grasshopper, but those first few days were pretty bad.

2. Getting your socks wet. Eeew. Gross. There is nothing more skeezy then when your socks get wet. Like when the shower is dripping and you try your best to step on a dry spot to close the faucet, but you ALWAYS, without fail, step on a wet spot AND turn the handle the wrong way and spray yourself a little bit. I can handle a wet shirt. I cannot handle wet socks. It makes my joints hurt just thinking about it.

3. Warm chairs. There is very little worse than sitting down in a public place in an unoccupied seat that you didn't see become unoccupied to find that the seat is warm. Ugh, it makes my stomach do flips thinking about it. You know it grosses you out, too.

Now, you might think that these must be the thoughts of a sleep-deprived mother, but no, that's just normal for me. We'll see where my mind takes me tonight.

PS. I'd really like to know what skeezes you out to see if I've missed any obvious skeez-inducing events.

The road to...

2010-05-10T13:08:00.003-05:00

They say the road to H-E double hockey sticks in paved with good intentions. But, I disagree. For me, I think my good intentions are just paving the road to not losing pregnancy weight.

I was feeling so proud of myself yesterday. I went to the grocery store and got good, real food. I came right home and chopped up my canteloupe and carrots so that I would have healthy snacks ready.

I thought, foolishly, that this might help me to limit my chocolate and cookie consumption. Oh, was I wrong. Why eat carrots when I could have a Girl Scout cookie? Why eat canteloupe (is that even how you spell that?) when I could eat, oh, I don't know, anything that contains copious amounts of sugar and bad fats.

You know you'd make the same choice. And if you say you would go for the carrots, you're a liar.

My logic works like this: If I eat all of the bad foods, then they'll be gone and all I'll have left is good food. I didn't say it was sound logic. I didn't claim it was health-wise logice. But, it's my logic.

Gotta go, I just got hungry...

**UPDATE** I ate the stupid carrots. Stupid carrots, stupid guilty conscience, stupid desire to actually wear all my clothes again one day....

AV at one month

2010-05-04T17:01:00.004-05:00

Ana Victoria turned one whole month old on Friday. Pretty impressive. In honor of the momentous occasion, we had to hold a photo shoot. And we did, but then I erased all the photos on my camera. So, we had to have a second photo shoot.

By photo shoot, I mean, I took about 10 pictures before she started to cry. Four had to be erased because they were blurry, or she was blinking, or she just was feeling a little bit un-photogenic.

Here is the progression and three "keepers." I got the idea of taking her picture with a stuffed animal from my sister. This way we can see how she grows every month.

Take 1. Oh mom, another picture? YAWN! I know I'm gorgeous.

Take 2. Tiiiimmmbeerrrr. Umm, mother? Remember how I can't sit up yet? I've got some tricks, but not that one yet.

Take 3. This will have to do, crossed eye and all. Better luck next month, madre.

I've learned a lot this past month. But there are still two things of which I have a conceptual understanding but not quite a practical one yet.

1. Burp rags were invented for a reason. Use them.

2. When the baby is sleeping do things like go to the bathroom. Do not do things like facebook stalk.

Hmm, maybe I'll get this by next month??

Mis dos centavos

2010-05-02T09:06:00.002-05:00

Here are my two cents on immigration. Right now there is a lot of uproar about the Arizona law, and here is what I think. Take it or leave it.

Borders exist for a reason. They should be respected.

Laws also exist for a reason. Anarchy = probably not a good idea.

Laws, however, should protect ALL people from danger, mistreatment and injustice. Does this law do that? The answer is a resounding, "no."

I can tell you from first-hand and seond-hand experience that it is REALLY hard to be financially stable in Mexico. I assume this is the same for all of Latin America. (but you know what they say when you assume...)

With a Master's degree, I make around 1,000 bucks a month, when the peso is strong. That's an amazing salary considering my work day is 6 hours. My husband works 2-3 times as many hours for the same amount of pay. My mother-in-law works longer hours, plus Saturday for less than half that. We make enough to pay rent and buy groceries. Ramon and I are blessed enough to be able to save a large amount of my salary with the hopes of buying a house this year or next.

But we are an exception. We're not the rule. Imagine the cactus farmer who makes 100 dollars a month. Do his utilities and groceries change price based on his income? Nope.

I hope you can undestand why people feel the need to find a way to make more. Believe me, it's not the beauty of America and it's people that tear people away from their homes and families. It's necessity.

Why should this be the US's problem, you might argue? And you'd be right, a little bit. It's not the US's problem that people in other countries can't survive on their income.

But, when has that ever stopped us from getting involved in other conutries' business?

Plus, we do have a huge part of the responsibility. Just do some investigation about Maquilas in border towns and how much US companies save by having sweatshops on this side of the border. etc, etc, etc.

What's the answer? I don't know. What I do know is that the Arizona law is kind of like trying to put out a forest fire with your own spit... Try as you might, you're not going to solve anything.

Efficiency? What's that?

2010-04-29T13:45:00.002-05:00

I usually like being efficient. I like getting things done. I'm the type of person who would put "wake up" on a to-do list just to feel like I started my day accomplishing something.

Why then, have I lost the will to be efficient?

There are a million things that I could do with the precious time that my hands are not full of a baby. I could get my home organized. I could wash dishes, sweep and mop floors and put laundry away. I could make the bed. I could put all of our documents in order and get everything prepared for doctor's appointments, passport and embassy appointments. Heck, I could even brush my hair or put on make-up or something.

But, no.

Here's what I do instead. I watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on youtube. I check, recheck, and check facebook again. I paint my fingernails. (I painted them an awesome shade of orange and I'm actually pretty psyched about it) I read People magazine. (I actually paid 7 bucks to be able to waste my time reading People magazine in English) I read blogs.

Oh well, efficiency and productivity just may not be all they're cracked up to be.

How did this happen?

2010-04-23T12:36:00.004-05:00

It wasn't my intention for this to become another "Mommy blog," but when your only human contact for 12 hours of the day is a tiny little human you created called a baby, well, things happen. Maybe, once I start having some more adult human contact, I'll start writing about that. Maybe not.

The learning curve for parenting is a steep one. Like Everest, excepet minus the snow and add in some more oxygen. Here are some tidbits that I learned this week.

1. I may never drink a warm cup of coffee again.
2. Babies have shower radar. Just when you think they're asleep enough to jump in the shower, you get your hair all sudsy, like clockwork, the babe starts crying.
3. Babies also have meal radar. Just when you think you'll be able to have a warm meal, baby decides she'd like to eat, too. I'm convinced this, along with #1, is why microwaves were invented.
4. All-nighters in college are for wimps. You may have crammed for a total of two days, then you took your finals and slept for a week. Try doing that every night, with no end in sight.
5. Like a moth to a flame, baby poop is inexplicably drawn to a clean diaper.
6. It is possible to carry on hours-long one-sided conversations without getting bored or annoyed by no response.
7. Most things baby are proportional to their size. Tiny fingers. Tiny toes. Tiny body. Everything except for baby farts. It's like a grown man after a week of eating beans for every meal. They could make for some serious competition in a fart contest.
8. It doesn't matter what provokes the smile or noise, anything that can be deemed as non-crying communication is amazing.
9. After 5 hours sleep, a shower and a little bit of make-up, you feel like a million bucks.

So there's my Mommy wisdom for the week. And here is a family photo.

Mystery Madness 101

2010-04-21T10:48:00.002-05:00

Parenting in the earliest days of your child's life, I'm coming to find out, is like trying to solve one of those murder mystery dinners. or figuring out who did it, with what, and where in Clue. I'm not good at either of those things. I don't have the patience. I just want someone to give me the answer.

You might think that someone like me would find satisfaction in solving complex mathmatical problems, or figuring out super hard mazes. Or, you might know me, and realize that no, I'm a fan of just being told the answer.

Unfortunately, my child can't talk. She can't tell me the answer. I have no choice but to play along in the mystery madness. I'm not a fan, Ana Victoria. You can start talking any time now.

Last week, and all the weeks prior of her life. All 2 of them. She'd been a great sleeper at night. She would wake up every 3-4 hours to eat and go right back to sleep. It was new-parent heaven.

She has decided the last 2 nights that she needs to wake up every hour and a half. She has also picked up this awesome sleep habit of grunting. Awesome. I love it. And by "I love it," I mean, "I hate it."

I solved one mystery last night. She was too hot. I took her blanket off and she slept merrily for 2 full hours. I thought I had the mystery solved.

Then the grunting started up, again. Stretch. Grunt. Squeek. Grunt some more. Stretch again. Grunt. Grunt. Gruntidy Grunt.

What is that? Can anyone enlighten me? I need some sleep!

My baby story

2010-04-15T10:10:00.002-05:00

I won't get too gorey and I'll try to spare the unnecessary details, but here is how baby Ana Victoria came into the world.

It was a beautiful, sunny day on March 30th, 2010. Oh wait, this isn't a fairy tale. Anyway, we went to the hospital to be induced at 9:00am. The doctor said it was because my placenta was starting to age, but part of me thinks she didn't want to have to hang around town during the 4-day Holy Week break. But, that's just my opinion...

The doctor started my induction with a tablet that softens the cervix and begins dilation. Within 15 minutes, I was feeling the contractions. They didn't hurt, but they were strong enough to make me notice. Ramon and I went for a walk around the hospital, got settled in in our room, and watched some TV. (We had to take advantage of the fact that the hospital had cable!)

The doctor checked me around noon and I was only dilated to barely 2cm. She advised us to get ready for a long haul. Another young mom was being induced at the same time as me and she was already to 4cm. I was jealous. I had a talk with AV about how the Alvarez Hickey family likes to come in first place. She listened because about 30 minutes later, my water broke. Now, that is a weird feeling. Like peeing your pants, not from laughing and you can't control it. Not the prettiest event of my life. I ran to the bathroom. Ramon ran and got the doctor.

For the next two and a half hours, I was monitored more closely and my contractions were coming about every 2-3 minutes. They were strong. They were painful. I wasn't happy.

At 3:00, they checked me again and I was only 4cm. They wouldn't give me meds until I was at least 5cm. I was not a happy camper. I had always said that I was going to go the 100% natural way, no drugs, no nothing. That's a nice idea when you're not in labor. I changed my mind. I wanted drugs. I wanted them right then and there. They didn't want to give them to me.

Then I had an epiphany. I pulled out the C word. C-section. If I told them I wanted a c-section, they'd have to give me meds, right? Right.

I convinced them. Oh, I'm so tricky. I told you the Alvarez Hickey's like to win. We also like to be tricky apparently.

AV had some of her own trickery on it's way. Remember how at 3:00 I was at 4cm? Well, at about 3:15, I was at 9cm. Open the gates, said little Ana V, I'm a-coming. I got the meds. I was now much happier. I might have heard the following things in my spinal block-induced bliss.

I can see her head!
Um, this baby is going to be born now!
Hurry!

Ramon, thinking he had hours on his hands, had gone back to the room to change his clothes. He was summoned with yells down the hall, "Shannon's husband! You'd better get in here!"

I pushed about 3 times. Then, she was here. Hello, little one. Welcome to the world!

The first night, they kept her in the nursery to monitor her. Standard procedure. I convinced the pediatrician to let me have her, but she wasn't going to be ready until about 2 in the morning. Ramon convinced me to just get some rest. They brought her to us early the next morning. She was beautiful. She was amazing. She was hungry!

The second night, we were so excited to have her with us. Then, my hormones went on a wild addict in withdrawal-type rampage. I was shaking violently. I was burning up. I felt awful. I couldn't deal with it all at once, so they took her to the nursery for a couple hours again. I shook and sweat and had all sorts of glorious other side effects for the rest of the night. I was really bummed, but was thankful that we were still in the hospital and there was someone who could take her.

We came home on Thursday April 1st. It's been a whirlwind since then. We've had some good days and nights. We've had some bad days and nights. She generally hates her bath. It's torture. She screams. Sorry kid, you have to be clean. No stinky babies in this house.

She's amazing. I look at her and it's still hard to believe she's really mine. She's not my neice, she's not my friend's baby. She's mine. I love her with all my heart. I love my husband even more than I ever thought I could. It's incredible.

Being a parent, two thumbs way up.

Oh jeez...

2010-04-06T09:20:00.002-05:00

I'm one of "those" moms.

I have to check to make sure my baby is breathing because I haven't heard her make a noise in approximately 4 seconds.

I can't stop worrying about if and when she will or won't poop.

I wake my husband up at least twice each night telling him to put the baby in the crib. She's already there.

I convinced myself that a tiny baby had swallowed a giant piece of plastic and made aforementioned husband turn on all the lights at 4:00am to find the aforementioned piece of plastic.

But, look at this face, wouldn't you do the same thing??

Very, very strange

2010-03-25T10:49:00.002-06:00

I've had some weird dreams in my life, but last night really takes the cake. The more I think about it, the less I really want to share it. It's that weird.

I would really like some dream analysis guru to take a stab at this one; it's a doozy. It's a doozy not because of it's grand complexity or it's possible message for my life, but because of it's extreme randomness and downright strangeness.

Now, I don't remember the beginning or the end, which I really hope would clear up the middle portion for me. But, here's the middle nonetheless:

I dreamed about growing rice. Not out in a field. Not in a garden. Did you know that the most appropriate place that rice is grown is on one's butt? Yes, apparently so.

Now do you understand why this dream is so strange?

My friends were explaining to me that every spring the butt, bottom, booty, etc of certain people turns into the perfect farm land. Rice plants sprout in perfect rows, no need to plant, water, weed, etc. Rice paddy is really a tricky synonym for rice butt.

I didn't get to the part in the dream that explained what to do once the crop is ready. I think I'm kind of glad I didn't. I'm also pretty glad I'm not one of the chosen rice growers.

Oh, I also am going to do some research on how rice is actually grown. What if it's true?!

The war

2010-03-19T13:20:00.003-06:00

No, not the Iraq war. Nope, not the Afghanistan war. No, not even the war against narcotrafficking. I speak of a very different, a very personal war, I am fighting all day, every day.

Ants.

I have ants in my kitchen. I hate them. I want them dead. I want them gone.

If you have been one, have known one, or have heard about nesting mothers, you will understand that there are NO crumbs in my kitchen. There is no dish left unwashed. There is nothing laying around tempting the little critters to come out of the crevices and attack. There is nothing.

Why, ants, why!?

I want my house to be perfect for the baby's arrival and you are ruining EVERYTHING! I've googled how to get rid of you. I kill all your little friends. Go away!

I will give you one more chance. This is not a threat, it's a promise. Go away, find a new home or I will kill every last one of you with however many products I need to in order to make my point. Bring this information to your queen. This is not a negotiation: Either leave by yourselves or be forced out. You are not welcome.

**UPDATE**The ants have now invaded my dreams as well. Last night I dreamed that every time I looked, they had multiplied. Apparently, according to me and my dream, every ant has 10 ant babies everyday. Imagine the multitude. The bad news was I found the nest in the corner of one of the legs of the kitchen table. Did you know an ant nest looks surprisingly like a Chinese paper lantern? I didn't. The good news is, I went crazy with the broom, pinata style on that paper lantern ant nest. Then, I got my spray. Needless to say, there were no more ants. I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. I actually had to get out of bed and check to make sure it didn't actually happen. More good news, I've only seen one ant this morning. It's dead, now. That's progress in my book.

Adventures in Corned Beef

2010-03-16T10:00:00.003-06:00

This little Irish girl has a lot of time on her hands. And after four years in Mexico, I decided it was time to have a real St. Patrick's day, corned beef and all. The only problem is that corned beef doesn't exist here. No worries. Now, I realize that St. Paddy's day isn't until tomorrow, but the corned beef has been corned, cooked and devoured already. You can take my word for it, it was awesome. Here is the recipe and the process in case you, too, get a wild hair and decide to spend 5-7 days making meat.

1. Find a recipe. I found mine at Cook's Illustrated. I only made a few changes. I didn't have allspice so I used equal parts cinnamon and nutmeg. I didn't have thyme so I used oregano. I didn't have sea salt, so I used normal salt. My food, my ingredients.

This is how it all began.

I bought beef brisket. What? Your meat doesn't come in a purple plastic bag? Weird.

Poke and rub the meat and put it in plastic baggies.

What? You don't have bricks just chilling in your backyard ready for impromptu corned beefing? Weird. PS You can then use the bricks to raise your washing machine or raise your car so your husband can change the oil. Just a tip.

Weigh the meat down with the bricks and flip once a day for 5-7 days. It helps if you are 8 1/2 months pregnant and have nothing else to do during the day besides flip a baggy of meat. Here is what it looks like after 6 days.

Yeah, I forgot to take a picture of it when it was done. What? I was hungry. I cooked it for a few hours in the crockpot but I wasn't satisfied so I moved it over to the pressure cooker and that helped it become nice and tender. Yes, I have a pressure cooker. I have two, actually. My Mexikitchen wouldn't be complete without it.

Accompany with the traditional carrots, potatoes, and cabbage. What could be better!?

It's also nice to have an Irish friend who makes Irish Soda Bread, Bailey's brownies and Irish flag sugar cookies. It made the meal.

Great, now I'm hungry.

Any Questions?

2010-03-15T11:34:00.004-06:00

Fun Laundry

Un-fun Laundry

Any questions??

My Week in Numbers

2010-03-04T10:16:00.002-06:00

All of the following are true. Exaggerations will be obvious. Some are impressive. Some are embarassing.

Number of
loads of baby laundry: 4
loads of adult laundry: 0
cribs built: 1
enormous boxes in my living room: 3
items put into digital shopping cart at Target.com: 25
items actually purchased from digital shopping cart: 4
hours of television watched: 30
games of solitaire played: 81
games of solitaire won: 8
times email was checked: 7482
times email had new messages: 12
times email messages were from a real person and not facebook, Macy's, Old Navy, What to Expect or Barack Obama: 1
times phone rang: 4
visits to the bathroom daily: 7
visits to the bathroom nightly: 2
times left the house: 5
hours spent on facebook: 12
hours spent reading blogs: 4
items checked off to-do list: 6
items remaining on to-do list: 16
times swept and mopped and dusted: 2
hours dust stayed off of recently dusted items: 1

See? I'm doing LOTS with my time!

Mock turtlenecks, baby food and alcohol?

2010-03-02T10:59:00.005-06:00

What do all of these things have in common? They all appeared at the baby shower Ramon's mom and our good friend Rocio threw for me and Baby last weekend. The games were hysterical. Grown women giggled while feeding eachother baby food, drinking rompope out of bottles and passing a suitcase filled with all sorts of articles of clothing. It was such a fun party. As a result, Baby is set with diapers for a while. That is the best present!

Here are some photos:

The hostesses Ramon's sister Liliana, Our friend Rocio, Ramon's mom Guadalupe, Me, Ramon's aunts Irma and Rebeca

The ladies looking oh so beautiful. The last person left without an article of clothes was the winner.

When was the last time YOU saw a mock turtle neck? I think it was Lamont's in Crossroad's mall in the 90s.

Kristen and Rebeca won. Is it really fair, though? Kristen got pears and the other was veal and veggies.

Thirsty?

Fighting the urge

2010-03-01T10:46:00.004-06:00

Lately I've been fighting the urge to be stingy. Like, seriously stingy. Maybe even verging on just plain ridiculously cheap. There are so many expenditures that come with having a baby that sometimes get me overwhelmed. In general, I'm a worrier and money is something that I worry about a lot.

It started with the school changing the "insurance" system that they had. I put insurance in quotes because it's not really insurance; it was one person who decided what the school would reimburse and what they wouldn't. Sketchy much? Pregnancy isn't covered, which is fine. Expensive with doctor visits, ultrasounds, blood tests, vitamins, etc, but well worth every peso. Then the school decided that my hospital bills, originally covered, wouldn't be covered anymore. They would have a certain amount of money that they would reimburse and everything after that would be on me. Uhh, I'm 4 weeks from my due date. Are you serious? Enter major worry.

So, I decided last week that I've just been wasting way too much time worrying. As wrong as it may seem to me, if the school doesn't pay my hospital bills, we'll just have to take money from our savings for buying a house. Not my #1 option, but I'm not going to sacrifice my or Ana Victoria's safety and health because of money.

I also decided to fight my urge to be ridiculously cheap with generosity. I invited our good friends over to eat last week. I gave a little extra at Mass on Sunday. It isn't much, but it's actually helping me to worry less. I try to keep in context that there are so many people around me who don't have the possibility to have a private doctor, who couldn't have babies in a private hospital, who don't have a car or a roof over their heads, etc.

Originally I hadn't given up or added anything into my life for Lent. I figured not being pregnant by Easter was a good and achievable goal, but now I'm thinking that what I need to do is clear. My goal is to be generous and have a thankful heart. We'll see how I do!

I do what I do

2010-02-23T10:51:00.003-06:00

I have now officially been on maternity leave for one week. I have 5 weeks to go. I have done nothing of any real value with my time, yet.

I'll say last week didn't count because my friend was in town and I was stomach sick two days. You may not agree, but I don't really care.

I was so excited for all the things I was going to get done while on leave, but I think the world is trying to slow me down. 12 glorious hours of leave hadn't passed before my doctor told me to stop driving. Stop driving? What about all my plans to spend hours walking up and down the aisles of Costco? What about my plans to take care of so many errands around town? Her reason is that she doesn't want me to get into an accident and then go into labor. I agree, that wouldn't be fun. However, I think going stircrazy is probably a negative, too. Strike one against productivity.

I thought I would get out and exercise every morning before it gets too warm. February and March in Puebla gets pretty warm. However, I have a new friend that visits me from about 4-6am every night. Her name is insomnia. On top of that my husband has decided to start snoring. I spend a good part of the morning trying to recover from the night. Strike two.

So far, there's no strike three. There's still hope for me and productivity to join forces. But for now, here is the lowdown on my day.

8:00 Get up and make Ramon a sandwich for work, make breakfast.

9:00 Kiss Ramon goodbye, fill my coffee cup and settle in for some fab Mexican television. Que venga la alegria!

Somewhere between 10:00 and 1:00 Take a shower, make bed, wash dishes, maybe do a load of laundry, maybe clean something.

1:00- 3:00 Gmail, Facebook, Blogs, repeat.

3:00 Eat something.

3:00- 7:00 See 1:00-3:00 and go for my daily waddle.

7:00 Clean something or look active because my husband will be home soon and I don't want him to know how lazy I've been all day.

7:30-11:00 News, Telenovelas, Talk with my husband, Baby goes Alien, Laugh at how weird my stomach looks.

11:00-4:00 Sleep, kind of.

4:00-6:00 Go to the bathroom, eat a cookie, stare at ceiling, try to get my husband to stop snoring, sometimes try to wake up husband to have some company.

6:00-8:00 Sleep, kind of.

Yeah, you jealous?

American School Family

2010-02-20T13:39:00.002-06:00

Most people have friends, have family and have coworkers. All three of these groups are separate and very rarely do they merge except in the case of some sort of social event or when a coworker happens to break the barrier and earn friend status. This is not really the case at the American School, at least among most of the international staff.

There are very few people around here who completely understand the situation in which we live: far far away from family, in a completely different culture, distinct ways of living, different values, etc. There are also many reasons why we've all arrived here: getting away from home, adventure, learning a language, discovering new things about the world and ourselves, etc.

The great thing about the girls I call my friends here is that they are versatile, supportive and can be just what you need when you need it. They know when you need a drinking buddy. They know when you need mom advice. They know when you need a psycho-therapist who speaks your language. They know when you need a party planner. They know when you need a sister. They know when you need a translator. And they can be all of these things on the same day, if need be.

This week, one of my good friends who has served as my cooperating teacher, my coworker, my neighbor and my friend was here visiting with her family. She has moved on from the AS, but the bond that we have hasn't changed. She can empathize in a way that others who haven't lived our life just can't. I miss having her around, but it's so great when we all get to reunite. We were able to spend a lot of time together since I didn't have to work. We got to catch up and share pregnancy stories since we're both expecting for the same week. We got to see other friends and get all the kids together to play. It makes me happy to know that even though we all might be scattered across the North American continent, we still have a bond and a friendship that is strong.

I kind of feel a certain responsibility to the other international teachers now that I'm going on 4 years of being here. I've been around the block a few times and even though I don't know everything, I know the ropes pretty well. I know enough about myself, my culture, and this culture that I can commiserate with those who are feeling low, and help them see the upside and promise them that things get better. I can celebrate with those who are feeling good, share in their joy and remember the satisfaction of when you finally feel content with life here.

So, cheers to the American School Family- past and present. You have all changed and influenced my life in some way and for that I am truly thankful!

Something you don't see every day.

2010-02-11T18:29:00.003-06:00

Unless of course, you live where I live.

There are some things that become normal when you make your life in a different place. But, there are some things that just never do. Here is a small compilation of things I see consistently that still always make me laugh or raise an eyebrow:

1. Dogs wearing clothes. Not like clothes for dogs, but human clothes.
2. A tiny rollerskate-sized car with about 1,000 balloons coming out of it.
3. A dog walking down the street with a grocery bag.
4. A clown waiting for or riding on public transportation.
5. A pickup truck with 15 huge tires (like semi truck tires) in the bed, held down by a rope.
6. Two guys walking around your neighborhood hauling marimbas with them and stopping every block to play a tune.

Oh, Mexico. I love you.

Showered

2010-02-09T18:51:00.005-06:00

Ana Victoria and I were showered with love (and gifts! and diapers!!) last weekend. Some of my girlfriends from work organized a baby shower for us. It was held at a beautiful old hotel/restaurant in downtown Puebla. We were surrounded by great friendship, a beautiful ambiance and lots of outpourings of love and well wishes. A lot of times it's hard to be so far away from "home" but, it's so comforting to know that I have an amazing support system as I begin this next part of life's journey! Ramon's mom and our good friend Rocio are organizing another shower for next weekend. We are definitely feeling the love!

Here are just a couple pictures, but there were almost 30 people there!

The beautiful hostesses: Cynthia, Caitlin and Lenya

A few friends: Kay, Sarah-Eve, Claritza, and Courtney

Thank you to everyone who was there! Claritza, Nicky, Cynthia, Edith, Karla, Sandra, Paty J, Paty S, Courtney, Kay, Corie, Kristi, Kristen, Caitlin, Lenya, Kendra, Sarah, Lolita, Lulu R, Lulu L, Caty, Angela, Megan, Beth, Amy, Rocio!!

I didn't believe it...

2010-01-29T20:05:00.005-06:00

...before I got pregnant.

There are a lot of things that pregnant women say that to women who have never been pregnant seem ridiculous. I didn't believe, but now I do. Here is a list, though not an exhaustive one, of the things I didn't believe, but now I do.

1. You really have to pee all the time.
I go to the bathroom before I leave work. By the time I get home, 10 minutes later, I'm running to the bathroom again. The other day I got home, went, and not five minutes later had to go again. I even checked with Ramon, "I did just go to the bathroom, didn't I?" You piddle like two drops and it's sweet relief for about 20 minutes.

2. You waddle.
I thought that was totally exaggerated and untrue. It's not. I don't know when it happened or how, but I am now a waddler. Just a note to people who like to talk to pregnant ladies, you don't need to tell me I walk like a penguin or a duck. Believe me, I already know.

3. You have some seriously strange dreams.
Just this week I traveled to China and kneelers came out of nowhere, so everyone started praying, except my mom, she decided to have some dumplings. Then we decided to try to go from Mexico to the US illegally using only 15 bucks, just to see if we could. Good thing the Border Patrol thought my story was cool and let me go.

4. You turn dumb.
I can't remember anything. On Thursday I went to the grocery store, came home and happily went inside. About 20 minutes later, I remembered there were groceries in the car. Whoops. Thank goodness I didn't buy anything that needed to be super cold. (Another side note, I just realized that I had my numbers going from 3 to 5 skipping 4, case in point)

Here we are at 31 weeks. Ramon took this last Sunday. I'm surrounded with Ana Victoria's baby loot in what will be her bedroom. 60 days to go...

On my mind

2010-01-23T20:59:00.002-06:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about the differences between stay-at-home and stay-at-work moms. If the world were perfect, I would love to be able to stay at home with our baby girl. In this perfect world, I would also own my home, have two reliable and safe vehices, and always have spare money to travel to see my family. Fortunately and unfortunately, I live in the real world. None of those things in my perfect world are my reality right now.

And that's okay.

I get that it's a huge sacrifice and a huge gift and in turn, a huge reward to be at home. It's something that I'd ultimately like to do. Maybe I'll be able to when #2 comes around. Maybe not.

I'm making my sacrifice in a different way. I'm not continuing to work to get ahead in my career. I'm working because it means that my daughter will be able to know her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, in the US personally. We will be able to travel at least once and hopefully twice a year. We wouldn't be able to travel even once on one salary.

I'm working so that my husband and my daughter can have access to better healthcare and in case of an emergency, they will have way more opportunities for care. We can't afford outside health care on one salary.

I'm working so that my daughter will be able to have the best bilingual education possible in this city. If I weren't working, there would be zero possibility for her to go to the American School. As much as I can complain about the school, it really is the best there is especially for younger kids. This doesn't mean we want our children in this school forever because there are definitely cons to having our kids there.

I'm working so that we can save money to be able to buy a house for our family. I'm not working so that I have more money in my pocket, more coffee breaks and dinners out, more shopping trips, etc. We want a place where our children can call home and that we can call "ours."

I think staying at home is an incredible gift and a wonderful career choice. However, that doesn't mean that going to work isn't a just as beautiful and difficult sacrifice that a woman makes for her family.

Stepping off soapbox in 3, 2, 1.

Extreme laundry

2010-01-16T09:42:00.002-06:00

There's a little something in Mexico that I like to call extreme laundry. It happens just about the time when you've washed the clothes, they're wet and then it decides to start raining. You improvise, what's the alternative? You take clean clothes off hangers to have somewhere to hang. You drape towels over chairs, you turn anything you can into a place to hang. Socks adorn windows like ornaments on a Christmas tree. Shirts hang from door handles. I have a feeling there will be some extreme laundry photos today. Bring it, Puebla and Mother Nature.

My dirty little secret...

2010-01-12T17:01:00.002-06:00

To all you treehugging, environmentally friendly people (like I claim to be), this post will possibly make you loathe my wastefulness. Sorry, but only a little bit.

I have to say that I 100% believe in saving and taking care of the planet. Well, maybe only 95%. I use biodegradable trash bags. I take my canvas bags to the grocery store (even my hand-me-down Captain Underpants bag). I recycle even though it means putting my recycling in the car and driving it to the recycle center. I believe in carpools, walking, and using energy saving light bulbs. I'm considering putting a brick in my toilet to use less water. I hang dry my clothes (let's be honest, I do this partly because I don't have a dryer...)

I don't believe in short, cold showers. I hate them. I'd rather be dirty.

The shower in our house takes a good minute to warm up...and I just let the water run. I know I'm supposed to put a bucket in my shower, but I don't want a bucket in my shower. About 2 minutes into the warm water, it gets lukewarm again. I could rush and get my showering done, but I don't. I stand there like an ice sculpture staring at the showerhead, willing it to get hot again. 2 or 3 minutes later it inevitably does and I go on showering. The problem is that now I'm cold. So, I stand there in the hot water until I thaw and then I continue.

I know it's wasteful. I know it's wrong. But, I do it. Every day...And I love it. Sorry Earth, let me go turn off another light.

Baby, it's cold outside

2010-01-11T18:21:00.002-06:00

You're probably thinking that there's no way it could possibly be cold. I've heard it all. "Why don't you have a tan? Don't you live in Mexico?" "It's hot all year round down there isn't it?" Well my friends, the answer is no. Right now, more than ever, it is downright chilly.

I propose this question to you. If it were 39 degrees outside your house, would you have your heater on? I sure would...if I had one. I live in a world where insulation and central heating are nonexistent.

My solution? One more layer, one more blanket, one more pair of socks, one more cup of tea, hot chocolate, ponche, etc. I'm thanking God for my built in heating system this winter, too.

Today, notch your heat up one more degree and think of us. Brr....

Christmas, New Year and in between

2010-01-06T11:48:00.004-06:00

This year was our first Christmas as the Alvarez Hickey family. Initially our goal was to spend the holiday in California with my grandparents since my grandfather has been fighting throat cancer since May and they weren't able to be at our wedding. Unfortunately for us, the cost of tickets(and then multiplying that price by 2) was just too much. Spending the holiday apart just wasn't an option I was willing to consider, so we decided that the best decision would be to stay in Puebla.

Ramon was given from Dec. 23rd-27th and from December 30th- January 2nd off. What a huge blessing since he usually works long hours with little to no rest/vacation. I enjoyed every minute with him, sleeping late, hanging out, and getting a new refrigerator! Getting to spend time together was definitely the best Christmas present.

Here in Mexico, Christmas Eve (Noche buena) is the big day to celebrate. We went over to his Aunt's house where the whole family gathered for dinner. First we rocked and sang to the baby Jesus welcoming him into our lives this Christmas. Then we had a feast, pork roast, pasta, apple salad, cod (bacalao), all the traditional dishes. We exchanged gifts, told stories, and laughed until late. Christmas morning was the hardest for me. When we finally woke up, Ramon asked me what I wanted for breakfast. I told him cinnamon rolls and immediately started crying. It was hard for me to spend Christmas away from my family. We went to mass on Christmas day and then went back to his aunt's house for leftovers. Everything is always better the second day!

Between Christmas and New Year I went for a whirlwind trip to Seattle. We had Christmas morning all over again (complete with cinnamon rolls) and spent the day together. This year we did a secret santa, which was the best idea ever. Not only did it lessen the stress of holiday shopping, but everyone seemed really happy with what they got. (Our secret Santas were AMAZING!!!!!) The next day, my sisters, mom and I went shopping crazy. We spent at least two hours at Babies R Us, then went on to Old Navy and Target. My friend Stephanie and her little girl Lucy joined us. It was great to have experienced moms around to give input. Ana Victoria definitely scored, big time. That night my friends came over for pizza. It was great to catch up with everyone, even if only for a little while. I returned to Mexico on the 30th, Ramon met me at the airport to help move the huge box containing the stroller and car seat, and the heavy suitcases full of loot.

New Year's Eve was at Ramon's aunts again and was similar to Christmas Eve. Eat, drink, laugh, repeat! The Parents' Association at the school gave us turkeys for Christmas this year, we enjoyed it thoroughly that night. At midnight, we had a toast, gave hugs all around and ate 12 grapes each for good luck in 2010.

Today is 3 Kings Day. Santa isn't the traditional gift giver here, though he and his reindeers have infiltrated quite successfully. The 3 magic kings come on the night of January 5th to leave presents for good boys and girls, just like they gave presents to Baby Jesus. Children send their letters attached to balloons or leave them in their shoes for the kings. Ana Victoria got a teddy bear and a Tigger "grow with me" toy. What a lucky girl, she's not even on the outside yet and she got the most presents of all!

Part of starting a new family is starting new family traditions, sharing eachother's family traditions, and combining them to create our own. It was a blessed, family and joy-filled holiday and I wouldn't have traded it for anything.

Growing Baby

2010-01-04T18:04:00.007-06:00

As the baby grows bigger and the time before her arrival grows shorter, irrational, wild and downright weird fears just seem to grow increasingly common in my world. I'm sure that's probably normal and as the fears pass I can laugh about them, but in the moment they really get to me.

For example, the other day when I got on the plane, the stewardess made me sign a letter that would pardon the airline in case anything happened to me or the baby during the flight. So, I signed because I had to and then my mind started to spin. My conclusion was that the pressurized cabin was going to change the pressure of the amniotic fluid and the baby's ears or eardrums were going to pop. It was enough to make me worry the entire flight...

Another example, the baby moves. A lot! She is always spinning and kicking and who knows what else inside of me. This should be, and is, a wonderful sign that the baby is healthy and growing. I, on the other hand, got the idea in my head that there wasn't enough fluid and she was kicking me to try to get out. I couldn't fall asleep for like 2 hours worrying about it. Ridiculous, I know, but try to get that through my brain in the moment!

Today, I woke up with the deathly fear of becoming hugely fat. So far, in 28 weeks of pregnancy I've gained between 12-15 pounds. Totally normal. I decided today that I'm some how in the next 3 months going to turn into Violet from Willy Wonka who turns into the giant blueberry. Maybe it's because I got a matching sweatsuit for Christmas and now you can really see my belly??

I'm hoping these silly fears subside, or at the very least are replaced with rational fears. It's hard to believe that in just 12 weeks, our baby will be here!

On to what you're all really interested in: Belly pictures.

This one is at 24 weeks in front of our first Alvarez Family Christmas tree.

This one is at 27 1/2 weeks in front of the Hickey family Christmas tree. (Note the matching sweatsuit)
Merry Christmas from us to you!

The move

2010-01-04T10:29:00.005-06:00

We have been in our new place for a month already. It's hard to believe that a small 3-bedroom apartment could feel so big. But, after the glorified shoebox that we lived in before, this place is enormous.

The move didn't exactly go as planned; nothing ever does! The school decided at the last minute that they didn't want to help us out. Ramon scrambled to make other arrangements only to have them fall through at the same time we were supposed to start moving. The move also happened to fall on a weekend where he had a ton of work so Saturday afternoon he ran around town finding a moving service, only to return to work until about 3:00am. The truck arrived at 8:00am on Sunday.

This is now where the story gets funny, like all things Mexico, there has to be something that makes me laugh. One would think that four burly men would have arrived at our doorstep, but no. I'm not joking that I was probably taller and bigger than all of them. They quickly loaded the boxes and then began with the big stuff. Pictures are worth a thousand words, so I'll tell this part

of the story with pictures.

Mattress? Check.

Bed frame? Check.

Couch? Check. Anyone want a ride??
Box of Kleenex? Check. Ramon, ever the hard worker!

Once the truck was loaded, we headed to the new place which should take max. 15 minutes. But, no, we just happened to move on the day of the Puebla Marathon. The city closes every, and I'm not joking, every main thoroughfare in the city and doesn't provide alternate routes. It took us an hour to make the 3 mile journey.

Now, we're all moved in and the only thing left to do is get the baby's room ready!

I owe you...

2010-01-04T09:22:00.002-06:00

...many posts and many updates. On the list of things to post about

1. The move, finally.
2. The new house.
3. Baby Alvarez updates and pictures
4. Christmas and New Year in Mexico
5. My trip to WA.

Ramon went back to work today and I have the house to myself. I now have internet, but still no cable which means there will be plenty of time to update in the next couple of days. So, stay tuned to Casa Alvarez and I promise there will be some action.

Quick Update

2009-12-03T08:42:00.000-06:00

We are getting settled in the new house. It's much bigger, much quiter and much closer to work for me which are all nice things. I'll post soon about the move including pictures. To get yourselves prepared, just start imagining. My favorite picture is called Couch Piñata, so that might give you an idea!

Right now we don't have internet or cable at home so I haven't been updated in the blog or facebook world. I have been getting all caught up on my Mexican soap operas. I know the whole line up. We start with Lo que Callamos las Mujeres, followed by Cada Quien su Santo, then Pobre Diabla, Mujer Comprada and, Ramon and my personal favorite, Pasión Morena. I like reminiscing back to when I first moved here and I would watch these channels and not understand anything. Now, I can follow the stories (which are super complicated, not) and even listen along from another room.

Little by little, I'm getting everything unpacked and put away. My prize to myself will be a Christmas tree, so I'm definitely motivated. I think we'll do a little painting this weekend to get rid of the institution white walls and hopefully on Sunday we can put up a tree!

More stories and pictures to come, soon!!

Can you spare some change?

2009-11-24T17:54:00.004-06:00

Today I have been inundated with change...like the money.

We are having a shared Thanksgiving activity between sixth and first grade. This requires each of the over 400 children to bring change and for all of the teachers to count it. Can you imagine counting over 150 bucks in nickels? Fun, huh.

Then, I decided to run "quickly" to the grocery store before heading home. I grabbed to couple things I needed and lined up in the "10 items or less" line. Of course, the person in front of me had to argue the difference of 3 pesos on a pair of socks, so they sent me to a different line. I line up and the lady in front of me has to argue the price on her 3 for the price of 2 toothbrushes and decides to buy 3 instead of 6, which required the teller to make a return on 3 toothbrushes. She then proceeded to pay her over 50 dollar bill with, that's right, change. Count out 50 bucks in nickels while you have 5 people in line behind you, puh-leez.

Ghandi said "Be the change you wish to see in the world." I'll change by using less change, I think.

Moving on up

2009-11-19T18:32:00.003-06:00

Ramon and I are moving! I've lived here since 2006 and have made many memories in this little place. We live on the 4th floor, which means lots of stairs. If at 21 weeks pregnant, those stairs wear me out, I don't want to find out what will happen at 30 weeks or worse, with a carseat and stroller!

An apartment opened up in the same complex where Ramon's parents live, so we'll be moving from Cholula to Puebla at the end of the month. It is a 3-bedroom apartment, on the first floor, and it gets lots of sunlight which will be great during the winter. (Yes, it gets cold. No, we don't have heat) It will also be nice in the spring when I have to go to work, because Ramon's mom will be watching Baby Alvarez.

But, before we move out, I want to share some pictures of our first Casa Alvarez. I'll be excited to have more space and more closets! Fitting two people's things in one closet and one kitchen has been quite the headache. (Which is partly why there's no pictures of the bedroom, it's kind of still full of boxes and wedding presents)

What you see is what you get. This is the view from the front door. The only thing missing is the bedroom and the bathroom. When you think your house is small, it's not!

I won't miss the fireworks. I won't miss the constant bell ringing. I won't miss the marching bands. I won't miss the chickens, goats, etc. BUT, one thing I will miss? The view! This was taken right out the kitchen window and I've been blessed with some beautiful sunsets behind the Popocateptl!

Neighborhood Saint Day

2009-11-14T19:03:00.003-06:00

This weekend marks the feast day of the saint at our little neighborhood church. The church is San Dieguito, and I would tell you more, but I can't find any information. Anyway, the way of celebration seems to me to be quite a combination of Catholic and native ways. It all started on Thursday night, or was it Friday morning? I don't know, I was trying to sleep. A man set up his keyboard and huge speakers and started singing the Mañanitas (like Mexican Happy Birthday) to the church and then continued to sing for a couple hours more, pulling out classics as well as pop music. Then, the fireworks began. You might think, Cool! Fireworks. But no, they aren't the pretty fireworks. They're just big huge loud bangs. Today, the drums came out. Drumming, drumming all the live long day and a man playing something that looks and sounds kind of like an oboe. This will likely last all night long. So now, we've got music, fireworks, drums and oboe-man.

I've included pictures so you can see the view of the festivities from Casa Alvarez. As you can see, we have a straight shot to the church (built in the 1600's) so there's nothing to muffle the noise!

View from the kitchen...

Zoomed in on the drummer and oboe-man. Mind you they are not playing a particular song, it's basically just lots and lots of noise. No real beat, no tune.

The bright side, at least it's a nice view! The Popocateptl letting of some steam.

San Dieguito, pray for us. (and I wouln't mind if you asked God to let me sleep through the drums, oboe-man, and fireworks tonight!)

The Gringa's Guide

2009-11-11T17:47:00.002-06:00

As Gringas in Mexico, my friends and I have joked about writing a book. This book would share real experiences, real situations, and real advice that you can't get from the Lonely Planet! I was thinking about this today and what kind of chapters might exist in this book.

Ch. 1 Why?...Why Not?
This chapter would be dedicated to answering all of the why questions that surface in the first year abroad. Why does the bus sometimes come for in a row and then not for 20 minutes? Why

Ch. 2 The Weirdest Thing Outside Your Door
This chapter is pretty self explanitory. Each participant would recount the strangest things they've seen on the street in front of their house. My experiences would include tigers and monkeys in a truck selling tickets to the circus and a boxing ring blocking the intersection.

Ch. 3 Say What?
This would be for all of those special little comments that are made by people who think they're being nice or knowledgable but you really want to sock them in the face. Examples would be, "Te ves más llenita" meaning "Wow, you got fat." Another would be upon inquiring why grown children live at home into their forties, getting the response "Es que las familias norteamericanas no son unidas, por eso no entiendes." This means, "US families don't care about eachother, that's why they don't live at home."

Ch. 4 Doing What Will Make Me Sick?
Illnesses in Mexico are just as intriguing as the culture. There are so many things one must learn in order to survive. Walking around with no shoes makes you sick. Getting mad after eating avocado makes you sick. Wind blowing on your back makes you sick. The list goes on and on...

These are just my preliminary ideas, but you get the picture. I think that we could really make some money and take over the culture, travel sections at Barnes and Nobles across the country!

Doubting Shannon

2009-11-09T17:19:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago, my good friend Stephanie called me to tell me that she'd sent me two packages. One had a childbirth workbook and a drawing from Lucy. And the other? Two bags of candy corn pumpkins and a can of pumpkin puree....Essentials for survival, of course.

I was excited when two weeks ago I got the package with the books. Though, I'd be lying if I wasn't bummed that the pumpkins didn't arrive. I invented a whole story to myself that some customs agent in Tijuana was eating all of my candy pumpkins and finally resigned myself to the fact that I would never see those delicious pumpkins...

Until today! Three weeks after she sent it, I got another package! Needless to say, one bag is already almost gone.

So, I'd like to apologize formally to the imagined customs worker who I so meanly portrayed as a pumpkin stealer in my imagination. Dear Mexican Mail Service, I'm sorry. I promise not to doubt you again....about pumpkins.

I just so happen to have a picture of Steph on a Mexicano Postal Bike taken on the day of my wedding. I kind of hope this bike delivered my package. Love you, Steph!

December Plans

2009-11-07T11:12:00.003-06:00

Early this morning, while most of you west-coasters were sleeping, I was buying a plane ticket. Thanks to kayak.com, my new best friend for flights, I was able to get a flight for the 27th to the 30th of December. It's going to be another seriously quick trip, but that was how we could make it work this time. I will be going on my own this time, though I'll be bringing Baby Alvarez for his 2nd trip to the US in his short little lifetime.

So, clear your calendars ladies and gentlemen, that is if you're interested in seeing me. Here are some things I'm looking forward to in my whirlwind trip:

Mom and Dad's House...

I love hanging out with Mom and Dad, the Christmas tree, the stockings, and, all of the CHRISTMAS COOKIES!

Seeing the rest of the family...

Last year was fun with the snow, but I'm hoping for a green Christmas this year. It will make seeing everyone and running errands so much easier.

Erin and I playing in the snow last year.

Justin and Liam and their matching hats from Aunt Donnie.

Caitlin and Josh opening pressies.

Other things I'm looking forward to...

-Seeing friends, hopefully!

-Eggnog Lattes (decaf this year!)

-Salted Caramel Hot Chocolates

-Garden Delights at the Bellevue Botanical Garden

-Target and Baby's R Us, AFTER CHRISTMAS SALES!

Baby Update

2009-11-05T18:17:00.002-06:00

Ramon and I went to my 4 month check up yesterday. Baby Alvarez is doing great!

The doctor was surprised by how much the baby grew this past month. He/She was awake and moving around while the doctor used the doppler to hear his/her heartbeat. It was the first time Ramon got to hear his baby's heart beating and he was really exited about it. In 2 or 3 weeks we will have our ultrasound to find out if Baby Alvarez is Al or Ally. It will be a great Thanksgiving present!

I'm pretty excited because so far I've only gained 2 kilos, which is about 4 1/2 lbs. So far, I haven't had any crazy cravings or aversions. Although, I can't go a day without an apple and I really don't want ham. We'll see if I'm still as lucky for the next 5 months!

The bad news is that my doctor is going to be taking a bunch of time off next year to spend more time with her daughter and grandson. Good for her, bad for me. So, I have to come up with a list of doctors so that she can recommend a new one to me. I think it's funny that she told me this right before she took my blood pressure....

Family and the Holidays

2009-11-03T16:41:00.002-06:00

There are a lot of things in life that make you adjust and readjust your definition of family. My definition of family for the first 12 years of my life was Mom, Dad, Erin, and Caitlin. Then, along came Justin and our family grew. 3 years ago, the family grew even more with the arrival of Liam. This past summer, both Ramon and Joshua joined our family.

I've also now joined Ramon's family. Sometimes, though, I kind of feel like I've left my family in order to begin a new one. Ramon and I aren't two individuals anymore, we're one family with a little one on the way.

When I get out of class for Christmas break, I can't just hop on the soonest flight and spend 3 weeks at "home" with "my family." My awareness of this changing definition of family has become more acute as we approach the holidays. It took me a while, but I've adjusted to the fact that I have to work on Thanksgiving. I won't wake up Thanksgiving morning to mom in the kitchen already cooking away and dad looking through the basement for Christmas lights and hanging them. I've adjusted to the fact that Thanksgiving will be made by me, on the Sunday after, and I have to have a bowl of jalapenos between the turkey and the yams.

What's been the hardest, and it's a challenge I haven't ever faced, is the changing definition of Christmas and family. As Ramon and I look at our finances, how little or much that we make, and the financial requirements of the year ahead, (buying a reliable car, moving to a bigger place, paying for hospital bills and everything a new baby requires), flying both of us to the States at the busiest travel time of the year just isn't as easy as it was last year when it was only me.

It's hard for me to believe, and even harder for my raging pregnancy hormone infested self to come to terms with the fact that I may not be in Bellevue or have "my" family around me this December 25th. Nothing is decided definitively yet, but I know the challenge that awaits me. I need to be okay with whatever happens. If we get to go to WA, I can share my family traditions with Ramon. If we stay, he can show me his. Either way, we'll get to know eachother even better and start making family traditions of our own.

I can't make this up.

2009-10-28T18:46:00.002-06:00

Sometimes I hate my job, I'm sure everyone does.

Sometimes I love my job, I'm sure everyone does, too.

Today I had both of these experiences. In the morning, I wanted to curl up under my desk and hope that the children would disappear. In an effort to be positive, I'll spare the details on the negative part and get to the silver lining of my day.

The students are in a unit of inquiry that looks into different perspectives and points of view, how these lead to conflict and how we have to listen to others to live together in harmony. To get the kids thinking about perspective and point of view, I decided to have them write a story about eating from the perspective of the food. Pretty straight forward, right? After 10 minutes of working, one kid raises his hand to ask a question. He asked the following:

"Miss, is it okay if the story's fiction?"

Can you hear me now?

2009-10-27T16:40:00.002-06:00

The following conversation took place between yours truly and a lovely employee of the Comision Federal de Electricidad. To preface the conversation, here in Mexico your light bill comes once every two months and you have about a week to pay it before they come and shut off your electricity. I always pay my bill within 48 hours of getting it. Partly because its only around 10 bucks and that doesn't break my bank, and partly because if I don't I'll most likely forget. Anyhow, this months bill was due October 23rd; I paid October 19th. Imagine my surprise upon arrival to Casa Alvarez to find my electricity had been shut off.

Me: Good afternoon, I have a question. I paid my bill with plenty of anticipation and today I arrived home to no electricity. Can you please tell me why?
CFE: Give me your Service Number.
Me: blah blah blah a list of 12 numbers in Spanish
CFE: Did you check your interrupter?
Me: You put a lock on my meter. I have no light.
CFE: Did you check your interrupter?
Me: What's does it look like?
CFE: I don't know. I've never been to your house.
Me: Well, could you explain it to me so I can tell you if I checked it?
CFE: Do you have a fuse or a breaker?
Me: Oh, I get it. I have a breaker. It's fine. Did you hear me when I told you that you cut off my light?
CFE: Your light is not cut off.
Me: Yes, it is.
CFE: No, it isn't.
Me: Whatever. Gracias.

Good thing I have neighbors who know how to use wire cutters. Long story, short. We cut the wire lock and turned the electricity back on. I just wonder, how can someone in an office, who hasn't been to my house, tell me that my light is on? Umm, ma'am, I'm in my house...The lights not on...

Is it all about me?

2009-10-26T16:58:00.003-06:00

I will never claim to be selfless. In fact, I will claim to be selfish. I can't deny that I want things the way I want them, when I want them, with no ifs, ands or buts. I do consider that most often things can be done my way or the wrong way. However, in my selfishness (and maybe this is a selfish thought), I like to think that I consider the wants, needs, opinions, and desires of others.

I've noticed lately that most, if not all humans with whom I come into contact, share this general selfishness. I've also noticed that a lot of people are taking selfishness WAY too far. So far, that they end up putting their ever so precious self into danger.

There was a woman behind me on the way to school the other day and she couldn't handle the fact that I was in the fast lane and not going twice the speed limit. She couldn't even glance into the slow lane to notice that I was passing 5 cars and the moment the lane was free I moved over. While she was flashing her high beams and honking, I'm sure she sent me to a place far, far away that I have no desire to visit now nor in the afterlife. When she finally, a whole 30 seconds later, got to pass me, I noticed she had her young daughter in the car with her. One wrong move and she could have easily killed herself, her daughter, me and my child just because she thought she could go super fast and tailgate so close we were almost kissing bumpers at 50 mph.

Another example is the NWA flight where the pilots flew past their destination because they turned off their headsets and were using their laptops. These actions put their lives in danger along with hundreds of others. Now they will probably, and should, lose their pilot's licences and their livelihood. All because they were too selfish to focus on their job for the couple of hours it takes to fly from San Diego to the Twin cities.

I want to reiterate that I'm not writing to make any sort of claims of perfection. However, I think we all need to start considering others a lot more than we consider ourselves. It's so often that we hear: Do what's right for you. Don't worry about anyone else. Self first. Etc. You know what I'm talking about.

I've decided that I'm going to challenge myself to be less selfish, to consider others more, to eliminate my jealous and negative thoughts, to be thankful for all the things I do have. I hope you'll join me, even if it means just putting the seat down so your wife doesn't tell you to, or smiling at your coworker even though he/she makes you want to scream. I don't know what ideas you'll come up with, but I hope you'll share so that we can all start being a little more selfless and a little less selfish.

My, how you've grown

2009-10-22T19:24:00.003-05:00

Baby Alvarez is getting bigger every day. I wore a skirt yesterday. Apparently I don't do this much because one of my students said, "Miss, are you really happy today? Why are you wearing those clothes?" I had to come clean and tell him that none of my normal clothes fit me, and maternity is still too big. Baby is almost 18 weeks old. I'm happy to report he is no longer puking, wretching, gagging, etc. This makes his mother extremely pleased.

Ramon is totally excited about the baby. He goes to bed after me, but sometimes when he gets in bed, I wake up because he's talking to my belly. You can tell Ramon is all about the baby, he didn't feel the need to include my face in the belly pics. You'll have to imagine my beautiful smiling face.

At 15 weeks

At almost 18 weeeks.

The woman's woman

2009-10-20T17:13:00.002-05:00

The following is a real event that occured in my home between 3:15 and 3:45pm.

A hole was drilled in the wall to make a place to hang my aprons. (Yes, I do realize how weird that sounds.)

Another hole was drilled in the wall to make a place to hang my calendar.

The entire floor was swept and dust cleaned from aforementioned holes.

Mexican red rice was cooked to delicious perfection.

Dishes were washed and kitchen was cleaned.

A load of laundry was done.

All of this was done by me and while wearing a skirt.
Bring it on, Baby Alvarez. Your mommy is a rockstar.

Driving...me crazy sometimes.

2009-10-17T18:49:00.002-05:00

Driving in Mexico. Many will never have (or take) the opportunity to drive in this lovely country I call my home. The first months I was in a constant state of almost heart attack while behind the wheel. Now, my skin has been toughened and I can take on the biggest bus and the wildest taxi driver. There are some things you can't explain about it until you do it for yourself. In this post, I'll at least try to let you in on a few of the idiosyncracies of driving here.

1. I've gotten the question often enough, "Can you do that?" To which the only plausible answer is, "It looks like I already did."
2. Signs, speed limits, one-way streets, stoplights, brake lights, etc can be considered as suggestions, not requirements. Free right turns do not exist.
3. Lanes are also a suggestion. When in doubt, ask yourself this, "Do I fit?" If the answer is yes, it's a lane. If the answer is no, it's probably still a lane.
4. Busses will race and cut you off and start moving while you're getting on and off, just so that they can get to one stop and sit (while blocking traffic) for 10 minutes and drink a coke.
5. Speaking of busses, bus routes are also suggestions. Don't be surprised if your normal route one day ends up on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, the driver probably forgot something at home.
6. There is a special dance that happens at the changing of a stop light. Since both running the red and jumping the green are acceptable, the cars magically drift through the intersection in slow-motion rivalling even the greatest choreographed ballet.
7. There's no such thing as a close call, you either hit or you don't.

Now that you know some general rules, I'll let you in on a few of my own secrets that just make me sense of the madness and make my own enjoyable moments.

1. Sometimes I drive down the middle of what I know is supposed to be one lane in each direction street just because I get sick of rule #3.
2. I never let cars in that don't use turn signals.
3. I use my horn; it's so satisfying.
4. I shake my head at people; It's even better when they're looking at me.

So, next time you're stuck in traffic or get cut-off. Thank God you're not driving in Mexico...and use your horn.

I'd call myself trilingual.

2009-10-15T16:44:00.002-05:00

I like to say I'm trilingual.

Why, you ask? Native English speakers, with little to no knowledge of the Spanish language, I invite you to decipher the following actual phrases commonly used among students.

1. My impress don't have tint.
2. My brother she have his bird day party old the day.
3. Miss, I can go to the nursery because my panza dolerme?
4. The proposite of that excursion was explore the piramid.

Have I stumped you yet? Here are the translations.

1. My printer doesn't have ink.
2. My brother(or sister, one must ask the name to determine gender) had his/her birthday party all day.
3. This is a question. Miss, May I go to the nurse's office because my stomach hurts?
4. The purpose of the field trip was to explore the pyramid.

These are just a few smatterings of how I prove that I'm not only fluent in English and Spanish, but also Spaniglish. Another example,

Teacher: "What are you doing?" Student: "Anything!"

I know my student means to say nothing, but I can't help but think that he or she is really trying to trick me. I think they're doing anything OTHER than what I've asked to be done.

Last, but certainly not least, the use of apostrophes. The following words, in Spanglish of course, all contain apostrophes.

1. Paren't
2. Wan't
3. Studen't

Oh, the list goes on and on. But, you get the picture. Spanglish isn't Spanish and I'm sure you concur that it's certainly not English. It's possible to speak it, write it, read it, etc. Doesn't that make it a language?

Excuse me, but I think I'll update my resume.