On Malta

So, A and I just got back from our Saturday to Tuesday vacation to Malta. We had only been away from N for ONE night during her whole 26 months of life when we went to a wedding in September. (I have been away while in the USA but never both of us at the same time). It made me really nervous, but knowing that his parents would take crazy good care of her and she would still be able to stay in her own environment made me feel better. Apparently she was a perfect angel. Go figure. A and I really want to start planning at least a once a year get-away for just the two of us. It´s definitely important for couples to ¨reconnect¨ and we hadn´t been on a trip since Milan, 2009. (Too long!) There´s always an excuse as to why we don´t travel more...mainly money at this point...but we found our flights PLUS 3 nights in a hotel for 240 euros. Total! It was awesome! Thanks Ryanair! In 2.5 hours we were there. Voilah. I must admit it was really nice not having to worry about ANYTHING! Here are some things I noticed about Malta: ALL of the rooms at our hotel were smoking. How is this even possible in 2012? ME NO LIKEY! I woke up every morning feeling like I had black lung. We went to see HUNGER GAMES movie (which I LOVED) and I swear this theatre is the BIGGEST I´ve ever seen. 750 people...amazing! HOLY HIGH HEELS. I couldn´t believe it. We aren´t talking heels we are talking stilettos...all the girls starting around 12 years old. They are NOT messing around. (Too bad they couldn´t walk in them and I also saw a lot of barefoot girls!) If you can´t hack it don´t do it! HOLY SHORT SKIRTS and HELLO butt cheeks. Our hotel was in the ¨going out region¨ but still. It makes me kind of sad that girls don´t have more respect for themselves and their bodies. Gosh I´m old. They had Dr. Pepper and Cadbury Chocolate which I noticed right away. Needless to say I was in HEAVEN! There was a boy on our flight that had the biggest earlobes I´d ever seen. COULDN´T.LOOK.AWAY. It was seriously intense. They left the chairs out at night at the bars..I was surprised! Lots of fast drivers and loud music. All in all...fabulous!

More Feria Cuteness

Feria 2012

It´s that time again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Feria has indeed arrived. I can´t believe it and yes I´ve worn the same dress for I believe the past four years. Why? Because they are a zillion dollars and I´m broke as a joke. I might wear it until I´m 92. Last year we took N and she rode the carousel.. . Tonight we took her and she rode the carousel but she rode three other rides as well. One of them were these moto bikes that she actually had to steer the wheel. Looking back on it, probably not such a good idea.....but, regrets? Nope. I don´t think I´ve ever laughed so hard in my entire life. She ran into the wall a few times and stopped traffic a few other times, but honestly, I think she did pretty good for a 26 month old. She seems SOOOOOOOO big after being away from her for 3 days on our vacation. On a side note...I was hoping when I saw her this morning she would say ¨Hi Mommy!¨ Instead I opened her door this morning and she gave me the biggest evil eye I´ve ever seen. Oh, how sweet. Ps. These are the heels N wore this year. They don´t mess around!

Ugh!Why can´t some things just stay the same???? Now my blog is all whacked and I don´t even get it. It´s like come on now...I don´t need things changing all the time. I am also a bit freaked out that I have 26 followers and I only know 2 of them. Should I be worried? Why are the ¨following¨ me? I´m scared. Today we spent 4 hours in a ¨funeral home¨ because a friends dad died. I have ¨funeral home¨ in quotes because they don´t really have those here. The best way I can describe the place is a hospital with rooms that the family is assigned to and there is a creepy part that is literally refrigerated with the body in it because they don´t embalm here. So you push this button and curtains open so you can see the body. How about them apples?! On a brighter note we are leaving for Malta tomorrow for three glorious nights sans N. I will miss her a lot and it´s the first time we will leave her in her 26 mths of life, but who am I kidding? Her grandparents will probably take better care of her than we will!!! Cheers!

26 months.

My Dear Sweet Nora.

You are 26 months old! You are going potty every once and awhile on the toilet. Hey, I´ll take it! You can count to 10, know the colors of the rainbow, four shapes, and a few letters of the Alphabet. AKA GENIUS...just kidding. Isn´t it annoying when parents say that?

You love when we sit down at night and read our books together..I must admit that it´s one of my favorite times of the day as well. You then want me to sing the Alphabet song while pointing to all of the letters on your wall and then sing you ¨Jesus Loves Me¨ and THEN cover you up with your two blankets and THEN cover up half of your face with your doll. Gosh you are so demanding.

Daddy usually has breakfast duty while I snooze a few extra minutes. I swear the first thing you say in the morning is ¨Peppa Pig¨ before ¨good morning¨ or anything else for that matter. I think Peppa is your soul mate.

You are also obsessed with the park and must go at least three times a day. Everything is ¨Mine¨ and ¨No¨ these days.

You still like to eat... a lot and are pretty good with a spoon. You sleep eleven hours at night and two during the day.

This month we took you to the arcade and you were tall enough to play with all of the bouncy balls. Sad day for mama as you weren´t tall enough like yesterday. How are you so big? Needless to say you loved it. I thought you were going to get some gross disease..I heard those balls are covered in pooh. Sometimes mothers just gotta let go I guess. You´re still here.

You are seriously so polite. ¨Thank you mommy¨ ¨Thank you Daddy¨ It´s hilarious. I will like drop something on the ground and you will be all, ¨Thank you mommy.¨ um. ok. You also say ¨bless you¨ if I burp..and sometimes at the appropriate time but mostly not. It´s adorable.

You are so sweet and loving and then you have temper tantrums and I wonder where my sweet cute daughter is?! Thank goodness those usually don´t last long.

I love walking down the street with you and holding your sweet little chubby hand. I love how it fits into mine.

You still love to color and paint and play play play.

I love you so much and am so happy to be your mother.
Love you boo bear!
Mama

Gone too soon.

It´s always heartbreaking when people leave this Earth too soon. Babies, kids, young mothers or fathers. Accidents or illness. Why God? That´s usually our first question.

A friend of our family is with Him now. She leaves her two small children and husband behind. She also leaves her legacy, her smile and her looks through them.

Who are we to question God´s plan? Of course we don´t understand it, because we don´t think like Him. We don´t see what He sees or have the abilities that He has. He´s like a super hero and we are the tiny nothings left behind.

Even though sometimes it´s heartbreaking and just plain unfair, He calls us to trust Him. He never said it would be easy and a lot of times it´s not but we should be able to rest better at night knowing that He is in control of our lives whether that be here on this Earth or in Heaven with Him.

Love you Jesus. Rest in Peace sweet Alyssa.

new shoes!

How cute are these new shoes I got Nora? I was excited to put them on her this morning. I didn´t know they SQUEAK when she walks. I guess the shoes were made to squeak. Annoying..but turns out very handy! I went to a department store and I couldn´t find her for a second. No worries...I could hear the squeaks!

She also hasn´t been digging her stroller lately and has been wanting us to hold her. No longer with squeaky shoes. Brilliant!

Downside: We did get a lot of funny stares and dogs chasing her.

..

Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.”
― Alexander Pope

I wish this was my case. I am feeling let down by sooo many people lately. Surely its because my expectations are too high. That has to be it.

wow

I posted about vaginas and no one commented....sad times.

Vaginas.

I mean, why is it such a taboo topic? Last time I checked we all got em. I have never laughed so hard EVER and for such a long period of time as I did when I read this article. (Sorry about the F word, but it´s still freaking hilarious) Enjoy.




Your Vagina Isn’t Just Too Big, Too Floppy, and Too Hairy—It’s Also Too Brown

Good news, ladies! Society has discovered another new thing that's wrong with you, which means another opportunity for you to make yourself more attractive for your man. Score! Turns out, the color of your vagina is gross and everyone hates it. So bleach that motherfucker. Bleach it right now!

In this commercial for an Indian product called Clean and Dry Intimate Wash, a (very light-skinned) couple sits down for what would have been a peaceful cup of morning coffee—if the woman's disgusting brown vagina hadn't ruined everything! The dude can't even bring himself look at her. He can't look at his coffee either, because it only reminds him of his wife's dripping, coffee-brown hole! Fortunately, the quick-thinking woman takes a shower, scrubbing her swarthy snatch with Clean and Dry Intimate Wash ("Freshness + Fairness"). And poof! Her vadge comes out blinding white like a downy baby lamb (and NOT THE GROSS BLACK KIND) and her husband—whose penis, I can only assume, is literally a light saber—is all, "Hey, lady! Cancel them divorce papers and LET'S BONE."

Needless to say, certain citizens are troubled by this product—which, in addition to just being fucking insane, brings up painful issues about the hierarchy of skin tone within the Indian community. As if it isn't bad enough that darker-skinned people are encouraged to stay out of the sun and invest in skin-bleaching products like Fair & Lovely, and that white actresses are being imported to play Indian people in Bollywood movies, now everyone has to be insecure about the fact that their vaginas happen to be the color that vaginas are??? Splendid! God, I was just saying the other day that my misogyny didn't have enough racism in it.

So what are the pro-vadge-bleaching people thinking? Here's a hilarious explanation from a male ad exec:

It is hard to deny that fairness creams often get social commentators and activists all worked up. What they should do is take a deep breath and think again. Lipstick is used to make your lips redder, fairness cream is used to make you fairer-so what's the problem? I don't think any Youngistani today thinks the British Raj/White man is superior to us Brown folk. That's all 1947 thinking!

The only reason I can offer for why people like fairness, is this: if you have two beautiful girls, one of them fair and the other dark, you see the fair girl's features more clearly. This is because her complexion reflects more light. I found this amazing difference when I directed Kabir Bedi, who is very fair and had to wear dark makeup for Othello, the Black hero of the play. I found I had to have a special spotlight following Kabir around the stage because otherwise the audience could not see his expressions.

See? It makes perfect sense. We just want our vaginas to reflect more light—is that so wrong? I mean, WHAT IF MY CAR BREAKS DOWN AT NIGHT AND I DON'T HAVE A REFLECTIVE ENOUGH VAGINA? Really, the ultimate one-vagina-to-rule-them-all would glow in the dark like one of those deep-sea fishes. I need my vagina to attract more krill so my husband will fuck me again! (My husband is a whale.)

Basically the idea is to get as far away as possible from any color that vaginas actually come in. Because that's what's at the heart of this type of thinking—the perfect vagina would be something that's not a vagina at all.

page turner

The main reason I write stuff about N on here is for me. So I can remember each special moment. I was going to read her night time story and the pgs were stuck together. I had no idea how that happened and I was kind of upset since the pgs were ripping. She ran the book to Daddy in the kitchen, he worked his magic and she came back into the room running and saying, "mama I fixed it! Fixed it" My daughter is just so full of love and has such a servants heart it brings tears to my eyes. She's always saying "its ok mommy, its ok". Yes N, it is indeed.

Easter!

If Easter says anything to us today, it says this: You can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there. You can nail it to a cross, wrap it in winding sheets and shut it up in a tomb, but it will rise!
Clarence W. Hall

Jubilee!

;)

Today was a perfect day!

1. The weather as beautiful
2. I bought a coat for 16 dollars that used to be 150.
3. My daughter was an angel!

This never happens....hardly ever. Usually every day is like NO DON¨T DO THAT STOP IT STOP WHINING STOP CRYING and kind of just an all around crazy toddler-mama battlefield.

But today was different. Things were calm. No crying, no whining, no power struggle.

It was glorious!

Here´s to many more days like today!

weather report.

It hasn´t rained for 3 consecutive days in a row since LAST Holy Week. It´s kind of incredible, really.

Below is a photo from tonight. It actually stopped raining for a short while so we could get out and about.

A Rainbow. How fitting for good Friday.

God´s always making promises and He is the only one that can say without any doubt that He keeps them, always.

KARMA

Maybe it´s just me? Or does this happen to you too?

I recently said, ¨I haven´t had a migraine in over 3 years¨ ---

until last night.

Why does this ALWAYS happen to me? I´ve been getting them since I was ten and I thought I had grown out of them by now. Apparently not.

I hate them and wish they would go away..forever.

papa, paparazzi

They always end up finding us somehow. It´s really starting to piss me off.

;)

Have you ever loved someone so much you felt like your heart was gonna explode?

I pretty much feel like that on a daily basis.

on a side note: since we have this week off I decided to do some more cooking. I made fabulous sugar cookies and frosting today (allrecipes.com) and they are DELISH. No worries that the Crisco I used expired in 2010. Shh..don´t tell anyone!

Never Fails

Holy week starts TOMORROW here in Spain and guess what? It´s raining and supposed to rain all week. It happens Every. Year.

It has rained probably a total of two days since I got back here in August. Seriously. 2. I know this because I ride my bike to work daily and A has only had to take me in the car twice!

I just think it´s SO ODD that it rains every year during Holy Week. It´s incredibly sad because people have been preparing for a year and their floats can´t go out if it´s rainy. Anwyho, we went for a walk today despite the rain and N had a very fun ride on her Daddy´s shoulders.

Must be nice getting carried around all the time!