We are off.....

Ok, this is the last post from Spain. We are leaving tomorrow morning to Madrid then on Monday off to Miami!! packing almost done..check...tickets in hand..check..passports...check...kids medicine to knock them out in the plane...check!!!!!

Once in the U.S I will write a couple of blogs in Spanish for my Spain friends we leave behind and want to hear all about our trip..

Nothing left to say here..

pick thanks to Djo's in flckr

Two days away from travel and nothing packed

I don't even really have time to write this post and it will be short at that. I'm freaking out, I have sooooooo much to do and no time to do it in.. I need to finish the laundry, figure out what to pack for Madrid (freezing cold) and Miami (probably nice and warmer).

The kids are so excited they don't even know what to do...Isabella tried to help me pack and took all her clothes and put them in the suitcase!!! I'M NO KIDDING!! ALL HER CLOTHES!! (SHOES INCLUDED), guess I don't need to pack for her now...

Ok, I will try to post tomorrow if not i will when we get to Miami..

picture thanks to flckr

In Miami one week from today

I truly almost forgot the date and when my mom called me this weekend to ask me how the packing was going, I said to her, "From Paris? I was only there for a day Mom" and she said, "Not Paris, you idiot for Miami" and that is when it hit me that in about a weeks time I would be off to visit my friends and family..

I have so much to do, and I really have until Friday because we are leaving right after work to spend the weekend in Madrid, since we leave from there on Monday. We are going to take advantage and see the Beauty and the Beast musical while we are there..The kids are very excited.. well , I think I'm more excited than they are.

I hope I will be able to see all of you there. Margie, are you ready for Disney?, Ana Marie, I don't have your phone number I know you have given it to me on numerous occasions, please do so again, Tom and Wanda, you lost souls I hope you re appear, Alberto and Patricia, I know you will make time to come see us, Ana can't wait to see the little new one, Leonor we will need to catch up.

Here are the details we get there Monday February the 4th, we will probalby be exhausted. I think the next day we will go up to WPB to visit Tony and family and also Evelyn will there from LA, Wed afternoon we leave for Disney and will be back on Sat, Sun the 10th is Tristan's Baptism after that we are pretty much free, so please call me to book some time. I will not have a car and will not be able to get around, so I hope you can all pass by my dads house at the beach.

Can't wait to see everyone there..

photo thanks to bridgepix

My day in Paris with Passionata

I'm still trying to recover from my very mini trip to Paris last Thursday. After years of dreaming with Paris, all of a sudden I found myself there. Although it was only for one day it was an experience I will never forget.
My bosses very nice people!!! allowed me to go to an event for the lingerie line called Passionata. I had to wake up at 4:30 am to catch a 6:30 flight that would take me to Madrid then run around the Madrid airport for more that half an hour, trying to figure out where the hell I was going to finally catch the Paris flight. I was very calm, and I'm still not sure why.

Once in Paris I was picked up in a Mercedes and taken to a very chic restaurant which happened to be in walking distance to the Eifel Tower.. I met other bloggers in my field and I was sat in a table with the Italian bloggers because there was no room in the Spanish blogger table.. We had a great lunch and wonderful conversation..hahhahaa.. ok, they had a great conversation among themselves as I just sat there nodding at everything they said.. I still think they thought I understood what they were saying..but I just kept thinking.I'm in Paris, I'm in Paris..

We then walked over to the crazy horse a sort of burlesque type cabaret bar, a famous landmark in Paris. There we sat down to watch the show..I sat very close to the stage and I'm still not sure if this was good or bad. We were all expecting to see the top models of Paris strutting their stuff, showing us all the different types of lingerie Passionata had to offer. But instead we were offered an erotic, sensual show that took my breath away.. I actually saw more than I wanted to see but they sure got the point across. IF you wold like to see part of the show just go to passionata show and register they will send you a login and password and you will see what I'm talking about.

Once the show ended we were free to venture around the streets of Paris for an hour.. I didn't see much but just walking around the streets, was awesome.On the way back home my flight was late and I didn't get home until 1 am.. tired, excited and wanting more..

Full moon today Tuesday January 22nd 2008

I love full moons and tonight we could really appreciate the beauty of it. We were able to view it beautifully from our house, it was huge and crystal clear, it was stunning. The full moon is in Leo today which signifies the total surrender of ones personal vision through self actualization by the use of creativity. I know a lot of mumble jumble.. But it also happens to be the 22nd a very spiritual number so be aware tonight.

Full moons bring your deep emotions to the surface, so if you are feeling a bit off or emotional today, not to worry the moon will soon give way to a new phase. If you want to know how the full moon in Leo will affect you depending on your astrological sign read more HERE

The picture you are seeing was taken today by hasily a flckr user and its impressive..

Fama a bailar! I'm hooked

I hardly have time to watch televison but when I happen to see something that interests me I'm hooked. I'm currently hooked on "Grey's Anatomy", "Desperate Housewives" and now a new TV program from Spain called FAMA. It is a type of American Idol but for dancers.

There were auditions all over the country and 10 girls and 10 guys were chosen to enter a dance school called FAMA (yes, fame), they compete daily with new choreographies in classical, hip hop, funky and other styles. It is on daily from 3:30 to 5:00 pm so when I get home from work, I now have my lunch in front of the TV..I try to get other things done but lately I have just been glued to the tv set..

I hope to outgrow this obsession soon because I have a lot of things to get done..hahaha...

Weekend Birthday Parties

I guess Marco and Isabella are at that age where birthday parties are part of our daily routines. But you don't realize that parties not only take time away from you they also take money away for you. Last year I realized that I had to incorporate in our financial budget a birthday budget.

Yes, I know it sounds a little ridiculous but think about it, we have 2 kids, there are about 20 kids per class, about 10 friends in the urbanization and unfortunately or well many would think fortunate, our kids are very popular and invited to every single freaking birthday party in town.

Now, let's do the math. 2 kids times 20 classmates each = 40 kids + 10 urba friends = 50 kids. Ok, now each gift cost an average of 15 euros so 50x15=750 euros a year in birthday gifts and average of 62.5 a month. so, there you have it.. Aside from the mortgage, gas bill, electric bill, phone bill, food, car insurance and so on we now need to add a birthday party fund.. and lets not even talk about their actual birthdays, where an average party costs about 200 bucks x by 2 and now your total birthday deal is almost a grand a year...

Those of you who don't have kids yet, this gets you thinking huh?? its not just diapers and formula, with each stage there are new costs..

This month so far we have gone to 2 birthday parties and Marco had one today and Bella has one tomorrow so we are right at the 4 average that I budgeted..so if anyone else invites them this month we will have to pass...

Passing the ITV emissions test in Spain

I don't know if to laugh or cry but here goes. The story begins last year, when a very good friend of my dad's who lives in Madrid but has a place here in Alicante gave us his used car as a gift! A very generous gift which we appreciate. The car is a Citroen (to tell you the truth, I have no clue what model or year, but it is a least 10 years old). The car runs great and Matt uses it to get around when I'm using the other car...

Ok, so today we had to take it for its yearly emissions test otherwise called the ITV (inspecion tecnica de vehiculos). We start out by not knowing where the hell this place was, we weren't sure what documentation we needed, not sure of the cost, or what they would put our little old car through. After driving around for half an hour lost (half way to Madrid, hahah) we finally found the place, we stood in line in our car only to find out we had to go in the office first, present documents then stand in line in your car.. Ok, all that goes well..

The test starts, and we felt like we were taking the driving test again... put your blinker on, the lights, the break lights, windshield wipers, emergency lights, open the trunk, do the seat belts work...then you go to level two the emissions part, press the accelerator as hard as you can and see how much shit comes out of the back.. then a noise pollution test, again rev up the engine to 40 and see how loud it gets, then drive your car up over a hole where a guy is waiting beneath and speaks to you through a speaker which you can't really hear or understand what he wants you to do, he then preceeds to shake your car down like he was making some sort of junk cocktail..

At the end we failed!! yes, we failed, and I thouht we had performed so well.. it seems, our windshield wiper needs a new blade, one of our headlights flickers and our emergency break is lets just say not ready for an emergency...so, there you have it.. after paying 40 euros we must return within a month pay another 40 euros and hope that our little old thing could withstand all the probing again. Needless to say we must take the car to the shop for repairs..

Oh, the joy of adulthood..the kids don't know how good they have it..I will keep you updated on our progress.

pic flicker by Wendy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM

Today is my moms birthday so I have to dedicate this post for her. She is 71 years old and looks great (I do hope that beauty is in the genes so I could look this good at her age). She is enjoying her time and has a wonderful social life. So Happy Birthday MOM may you have many, many more..

Do you know why I like to eat my buggers?

Since, I always seem to write about how wonderful and great my kids are, I thought a post into reality now and then is always good. Today driving back from school Isabella said to me in Spanish of course..."Do you know why I like to eat my buggers?" and I said "No!!! why do you like to eat your buggers"? and she said "porque me gustan" in other words "Because they taste good" to which I had no reply!!

You just have to love kids and their sincerity, I'm sure if she ever looks back at this blog when she is older she is not going to be very happy with my sincerity.. but I thought you might all need a good laugh today..

The fish survived

I forgot to mention that over the holidays we had a little visitor we had to take care of. His name was (and is, thank God still IS) Flappy! Our upstairs neighbors went away for the holidays and left us with their daughter's little pet fish. Marco and Isabella were thrilled to have him!! as for me.. Well, this poor little guy lived in a round crystal jail and had to be cleaned daily!! Not much fun for me.. As if I didn't have enough with 3 kids (Matt is considered a child now and then), one dog and now a little wet fish.

Flappy survived Bella just as nemo survived "Darla", although she tried to "play" the straw game...(that was the game that killed our own poor little flappy.. Our little fish all of a sudden developed a little round hole which I thought was a tumor..hahahaha but later found out was a little hole from the poking with a straw!

Marco fed Flappy a little too much but at least did not play the straw game with him. The day before yesterday he was picked up by his loving family and I'm sure was glad to go..You may ask why I took a picture of him, well, for two reasons 1. in case something did happed I could take the picture to the pet store and replace him ( I know very mean, it wasn't my idea it was another neighbors ides) and 2. I thought it would make a nice post.

Kids are back in School!!

I know, it sounds mean.. I love my kids, and I love to spend time with them. I have really enjoyed the holiday vacation but Marco and Isabella are two young children with a lot of energy, way too much for me..They were actually looking forward to starting school again. Isabella said "I can't wait to start school, you people here are no fun", Marco said "I want to see my friends again but I have gym class today and I don't really want to go".. hahahaa...

I told my bosses today that my actual vacation started today.. My boss stated if that was so I should pay him instead of him paying me..hahaha.. Ok, so its not actually vacation but I do love going to work, being able to be productive and have converstation with adults..

I hope your beginning of the work week has been eventful..Talk to you all soon..

HAPPY THREE KINGS DAY

What the hell is that you are asking? Well, let me tell you, here in Spain the holidays are not over until we celebrate "Los Reyes Magos" (the three kings day), this holiday is one of the biggest of the year, it is as big as Christmas day, most children in Spain receive their holiday gifts today and not Christmas day. It has a more religious meaning than Santa Claus and therefore is considered a very special day.

One of my favorite traditions of this day is the "Roscon de Reyes" (pictured above) a special round cake that is consumed with hot thick chocolate.. Last night we went to a parade, where the Three Kings arrived and threw candy and toys at the kids, and after this we went to a neighbors house to have the traditional cake!

We have to compromise and the gift giving and it is done half and half so there are no issues. The kids get to receive presents twice (doesn't mean they get more, just in two separate days). Today Marco and Bella woke up to gifts from the Reyes and were very excited. Today is their last day of vacation, so they made sure they enjoyed it to the fullest.

I'm sad the holidays are over they went way to fast but in another way I do want to get back to the routine. How were your holidays? Are you ready for 2008? You can view our first January 2008 photos here.

Marco playing basketball with "Snap" Hunter

Our friends Crystal and Jimmy came over the other day for a visit and Marco took the opportunity to show "Snap" his moves. Snap is an American basketball player who is playing this year for the Murcia team. We met him and his wife last year and just love them.

Marco is in that stage of his life where he finds everything fasinating and is starting to find out what he really likes and dislikes.. so far we know he loves soccer, he likes judo but I think could do without it, he is starting to really love guitar and piano is still a joy, but lately he has been very interested in basketball. For his birthday he asked for a basketball, that is all he said.

Well, as you can see from the video he has a long way to go.. you can view more pics in the December album.

Starting the New Year

It is only the second day of the New Year and there already many new exciting things happening. The first very exciting thing is Matt's upcoming concert on Friday January 4th where he will be on stage with his new muse Estefania Gralla for a Christmas concert. I will report on that this weekend.

The second very exciting thing is our upcoming trip to Miami on February 4th, we will be there until February15th. Our nephew Tristan's baptism will be February 10th and I'm the proud Godmother. In this trip we will be taking the kids to Disney compliments of my papa!!! They are so excited, everyday they ask me when we are going to Miami to see Yayo and Abi.

The other very exciting thing for me is an upcoming trip to Paris January 25th to see a fashion show, it is a one day trip for work but my dream of being in Paris and to attend a fashion show combined is way too much for me.. Thanks to my bosses Fernando and Julia for this wonderful gift.

Ok, not too bad for the beginning of the year..

HAPPY 2008

It is finally here the awaited 2008, for many 2007 was a tough year full of challenges and adventures. We could say goodbye and start a brand new chapter in our lives. I have many New Years resolutions that I hope to fulfill this year..brand new challenges to overcome and new adventures to continue.

I wish all of you a very Happy 2008 full of health, peace and love. I'm positive this year will be a very exciting one. Numerology states that 2008 is a year 1 meaning new beginnings but you must also find out what year number you are personally in, I'm entering my year 3 which I hope combined with the new beginning will jumpstart my bright future. You can figure out yours here.

Ok, I will continue writing as much as I can this year to keep you up to date with all our doings..