Spanish Word of the Day 31 July 2004 -- marido

Marido means husband. Marida is wife.

Voy a cenar con mi marido esta noche para celebrar nuestro aniversario. I am having dinner with my husband tonight to celebrate our anniversary.

The Dixie Cafe

This is one of our favourite restaurants. It doesn't hurt that there's one just down the street.

This is what we're having for dinner tonight. It should be ready to pick up in about 15 minutes. Yum!

The Dixie Cafe

Spanish Word of the Day 30 July 2004 -- piscina

Today's word is piscina. This is swimming pool.

Fuimos a la piscina hoy. We went to the pool today.

A photo

These are my nieces with my son. It's hard to believe that the oldest of the two is going to be a high school senior this year. I remember when she was born --I was 10 years old. That makes me feel old. That and the fact that this last week, she asked me how old I was, and I told her I was 10 years older than she. I said, "I'm ancient," to which she replied that I wasn't old yet, but I will be when I'm 30. It's nice to know I still have 2.5 years of youth left.

I found the cutest bed

I'm in the market for a big-boy bed for Enzo, and I found one that's adorable from Little Tikes. It's more than I would like to spend, $300 for the bed and an additional $90 for shipping, but since I just re-did his room in a tranportation theme, it would fit right in.

Maybe I can talk the husband into this.

99% Humidity -- Yuck!

I just looked at my Weather Channel info and it's 26C, feels like 29C, hazy with 99% humidity. I will definitely agree with that. I took Julian to work this morning and when I stepped out the front door, it felt like walking into a bathroom where someone has just finished showering. There was a fog over the city, unable to see the tops of the tall buildings (all 4 of them), just generally nasty. It rained last night as I was wrapping up the book editing. I think it's supposed to rain more today and then clear up tomorrow.

Oh, last night, I was cruising through the book editing, I did ~50 pages or so, and it had been a while since I last saved. So, I click the disk icon. Word goes through the motions like it's saving, and then I notice a little progress bar at the bottom of the screen, that stopped one increment shy of complete. Then I notice at the top of the screen it has my document name and then the 2 words I hate to see: (Not Responding). I had to CTRL-ALT-DEL out of it. All the work I had done since my last save was gone! I ended up staying up about 30 minutes later than I meant to, in my recovery effort. I was able to locate an autosave copy that had saved about 2 minutes before my botched save attempt. All is well. I'm a happy editor for the moment.

Today, my nieces are going to come visit me. They don't live very far from me, around 30 miles or so, but we hardly see each other. The last time I saw them was my son's birthday party, which was held the weekend after Easter.  Today is going to be a busy day, I think. I'm going to finish this post, work on the book some, and unload and reload the dishwasher. I've already carried out 4 bags of trash this morning. I'm also going to meet my husband for lunch today, pick up the kiddo from school, entertain my family, and then go back to pick up my husband after work. Oh, and I also need to do some laundry along with all that other stuff.

It's kind of sad that my vacation is coming to an end. I have today, Saturday and Sunday and then it's back to the grind. There's a part of me that would like to stay home with my son and be a mommy, but I think in the end that would drive me nuts. I think the only reason I haven't gone stir crazy this week is because I had so much that needed to be done. I painted 2 rooms, hung wallpaper borders in both rooms. I spent a day out with my son, at the zoo and also at my mother's house. I've cleaned. I've rearranged the furniture slightly in our living room. I made banana ice cream and chocolate chip walnut cookies. I think my work here is nearly done. It's time to go back to the office.

Check out CARRIE's celebration

Hi BLOG, CARRIE has something to celebrate. Check it out at nikesoccer.com then see who has the most style.

Finding a literary agent

My husband wrote a book. He's still writing the second in his series now. He's had this all in his head forever, but finally found the time to get it all out in the open for the rest of us to enjoy. I'm acting as his proofreader/editor, and have been slogging through this for weeks. It's really a good book, although it's a science fiction work, and that's not generally my favourite genre to read. The biggest issues I've found so far have been punctuation errors (he just wrote and really didn't care about correctly punctuating) and some passages that are worded funny (because he's not a native English speaker, sometimes he doesn't know that x would sound better than y).

He also assigned to me the task of researching literary agents and sending queries. I'm lost. I've had an agent in the past, since I used to do voice-over work, but that's a far cry from what he's asking me to do. So I've been perusing the web, trying to find as much information as possible on who represents sci-fi authors, who's reputable and who's not, and then once I have found the right person/people, what to send to them and whether they accept queries by email, fax or snail mail.

I'm preparing for rejection letters, but maybe we'll find someone who loves it and he gets published. I'm hoping for the best, but ready for the worst.

My husband made a card for me

for our anniversary. It was really nice. We're both big LOTR fans, so it was definitely appropriate. Here it is:

I thought it was neat that he made it instead of going out to buy one.

Spanish Word of the Day 29 July 2004 -- flamengo

Today's word is flamengo. This is flamingo.

A Enzo le gustaron los flamengos en el zoológico. Enzo liked the flamingos at the zoo. 

Enzo's Room, Part Deux

Here is the other side of Enzo's room now that the border is up. I'm really liking the border. I have bedding to match as well, once we get the big boy bed. 

Enzo's room

Here's one wall complete with border. I think it's so cute! 

Spanish Word of the Day 28 July 2004 -- aniversario

I chose today's word, aniversario, because it means anniversary.

Hoy es mi quinto aniversario de bodas. Today is my fifth wedding anniversary.

Happy Anniversary!

Well, we did it. We've survived 5 years of marriage.

It was 5 years ago today that we took the plunge, against the advice of my parents and family, who basically said, "It'll never last." I've never been happier. I'm spending my life with the man I love, and I have a sweet little son.  I guess we're proving them wrong, eh? 

To Julian: Thank you for putting up with me for these years, and I hope you'll continue to do so for many more.

Happy anniversary!

The Childhood Goat Trauma Foundation

The Childhood Goat Trauma Foundation

I was looking for a picture of something unrelated when I happened upon this. I thought it was funny, especially since we just petted the goats yesterday. But we didn't experience any goat trauma. No goats dropping from trees or the like. :)

Got my glasses today!

This is a baaad photo, but here are my new glasses. 


And here's a picture of the glasses themselves:


It's nice to be able to see again.

Here's Enzo at the zoo today. He's in the petting zoo area with the goats. 

Spanish Word of the Day 27 July 2004 -- azul

Today's word of the day is azul. This means blue.

Enzo tiene un dormitorio azul. Enzo has a blue bedroom.

This is Enzo's room after the paint. I still have a border that I'm going to hang in here with cars and trucks on it 

This is my hall bathroom (a part of it, at least) after the paint and border. 

Spanish Word of the Day 26 July 2004 -- baño

Today's word is baño. This is bathroom.

Yo pinté el baño de rosa. I painted the bathroom pink.

So much to do

and so little time in which to do it. I'm on vacation this week and just staying at home, doing some things around the house. I'm painting my son's room and our hall bathroom, and putting up wallpaper borders in both rooms, as well as my kitchen.

I also have the daunting task of proofreading my husband's book as well as trying to find a literary agent for him. He's still writing, a part 2 or whatever. It's a sci-fi thing, which is not necessarily my favourite genre to read, but it's pretty interesting so far. I'm just wondering if it's okay reading for me,  will sci-fi enthusiasts still like it?

My 5th wedding anniversary is Wednesday. We were planning to go away for a weekend for our anniversary, but logistics got in the way. I don't have anyone who's able to watch our son for the time, and taking a 2 year old on a romantic getaway defeats the purpose. So, I think we're going out to dinner on Saturday -- I was able to find someone who can watch the kiddo for at least a few hours so we can have a kid-free meal.

But, back to my plans for the week. I'm also making some banana ice cream for my husband. Apparently back in Buenos Aires, this was available commercially, and it may be available some places in the US, but I haven't found it anywhere within 20 miles of us yet. He just wants banana -- no chocolate, or other flavours in it. That's been the catch. Banana is his favourite flavour of ice cream. I usually don't have a whole lot of extra time to make it, but this week, since I'm off, I'm going to make a double batch for him. That should make him happy.

Well, off to the home improvement tasks now.

And for anyone looking for the Spanish word of the day, don't despair: I'm going to get caught up and start posting again this afternoon.

Spanish Word of the Day 25 July 2004 -- zoológico

The word today is zoológico, which is zoo.

Vamos al zoológico el martes. We're going to the zoo on Tuesday.

Spanish Word of the Day 24 July 2004 -- vacaciones

Today's word is vacaciones. This is vacation.

Mis vacaciones empezaron hoy. My vacation began today.

On vacation!

I'm on vacation now! Today was my first day off, and I don't have to go back to work until 2 August. I'm not going anywhere while I'm off, but I will be repainting my son's room as well as our hall bathroom. My glasses will also be ready next week for me to pick up. Nothing really exciting. My husband and I want to go to Argentina as soon as possible to see his family and friends, so we're trying to save our money for that.

Spanish Word of the Day 23 July 2004 -- cocina

Today's word is cocina. This is kitchen.

Mi cocina es pequeña. My kitchen is small.

Dilated pupils...

I went to the eye doctor yesterday for a routine eye exam. It had been more than 5 years since I last went, so it was definitely time to go. My eyes are healthy, but I do need new glasses since my prescription changed. I had my eyes dilated during the exam, and then had to come back to work afterward. That was an interesting afternoon. My vision was back to normal yesterday afternoon, all was good. I dropped back by the eye clinic to take care of an insurance issue and to get my eyeglasses ordered. They should be in early next week. I'm excited.
This morning, I woke up, had normal vision, watched the news to check on the weather, and then started to get ready for work. I got some water in my left eye and it must have reactivated some of the dilating solution that was still remaining in my eye, because my pupil began dilating again. How weird. It's back to normal now, but I called the clinic just to be sure. They said it was fine. I looked strange, with one normal eye and one dilated.

Spanish Word of the Day 22 July 2004 -- cumpleaños

Today is my Mom's birthday. And in honour of the occasion, today's word is cumpleaños, which means birthday.

¡Feliz cumpleaños, Mom! Happy birthday, Mom!

Spanish Word of the Day 21 July 2004 -- elefante

The word today is elefante, which means elephant.

Me gusta ver los elefantes en el parque zoológico. I like to see the elephants at the zoo.

Spanish Word of the Day 20 July 2004 -- impermeable

The word of the day is impermeable, which means raincoat.

Uso un impermeable cuando llueve. I wear a raincoat when it rains.

 

Spanish Word of the Day 19 July 2004 -- suéter

Today's word is suéter. This is sweater.
 
Me gusta tu suéter. I like your sweater.

Spanish Word of the Day 18 July 2004 -- entonces

Today's word is entonces, which means then.
 
Espera a tu hermana, entonces abre la puerta. Wait for your sister, then open the door.

Big boy haircut

Enzo had his first big-boy haircut on Wednesday. Here is a photo of Enzo pre-haircut:   
 
 

  
And here is one after: 
 

I miss the longer hair. Maybe I'm just sad about my little guy growing up.

Spanish Word of the Day 17 July 2004 -- con

Con means with.
 
Me gusta ir al cine con mi marido. I like to go to the movies with my husband.
 

The Astrological Sign Aquarius - Carol Willis

The Astrological Sign Aquarius - Carol Willis

Here's some information on my astrological sign, Aquarius, to maybe provide some insight to those around me as to why I'm so strange. :)

A peek inside Cheryl's brain...

Here's a link to the page of someone who blogrolled me. Thanks! Glad you like it.

Saturday

Today is my last Saturday to work. Yippee! Next week, our new schedules start. I'm keeping the same hours, but will be working Monday-Friday instead of off on Wednesday and Sunday. My husband and I will actually have some time off together. He's always been a Monday-Friday guy. At present, he spends Saturday at home with the kiddo.
We went out with one of the Jons for dinner last night. That was pretty fun. We went to a local Mexican restaurant. I had never eaten at this particular place before. It was good. When he recommended the place, he said "It's real Mexican food made by real Mexicans." Is there such a thing as a fake Mexican? The meal would have been better if Enzo would have behaved. I ordered him a kids soft taco plate with rice and beans. He didn't touch it. He was screaming and crying through most of the meal. The went outside with my husband for a while, he went outside with Jon for a while. After the second trip outside, he calmed down a little and ate some applesauce I had the foresight to pack at home. After dinner, we went through the drive-thru at Starbucks and got some coffee to take home, and settled in for a game of Trivial Pursuit. Jon brought over the 20th Anniversary edition and that is hard. My husband dropped out after a few rounds. I think he was sulking because I was winning. We never finished the game. At least I have the satisfaction of knowing I was in the lead.
Tonight, I think we're going to go out with the other Jon for dinner or something. Not entirely sure. I still need to replace that nail-filled tire. I also need to pick up a few items at the grocer.
 

Spanish Word of the Day 16 July 2004 -- limpiar

Today's word is another verb. It is limpiar, which means to clean.

Here's the conjugation:
yo limpio
tú limpias
él limpia
nosotros limpiamos
ustedes limpian
ellos limpian

Limpio la casa los domingos. I clean the house on Sundays.

Red or Blue? -- I'm Purple

I took the Slate quiz to see whether I was red-state or blue-state, and it turns out I'm right in the middle. What do you know? You can take it here.

Spanish Word of the Day 15 July 2004 -- alto

Today's word is alto. This means tall. This is an adjective that needs to agree in gender with the word it is modifying/describing.
 
Mi marido es más alto que yo. My husband is taller than me.

What a day!

Okay, today was my first day back at work after 2 glorious days off. The actual work part of it wasn't so bad. It was a pretty easy day today. However, on the way to pick up my son from daycare, I hit a box on the road and in the process got 9 nails in one tire. Seven of them were in one cluster together. I pulled into the closest full service gas station where they offer repair services, went in and asked about getting some help with the tire. The guy came out, looked at the tire, yelled to his coworker that he has to come see this, told me that there was nothing they could do to fix that, and then said he's never seen anything like that before. Great. So I have the spare on now, the unrepairable tire in the trunk and a mission to go get a new tire this weekend. 

 

Spanish Word of the Day 14 July 2004 -- bajo

Bajo means under.
 
El gato esta bajo la mesa. The cat is under the table.
 
 

Spanish Word of the Day 13 July 2004 -- entre

Entre means between.
 
Mi cuello esta entre mi cabeza y mi pecho. My neck is between my head and my chest.

Spanish Word of the Day 12 July 2004 -- anteojos de sol

The word today is anteojos de sol. This is sunglasses.
 
¿Dónde estan mis anteojos de sol? Where are my sunglasses?

Spanish Word of the Day 11 July 2004 -- fútbol

The word today is futbol. This is football, or as Americans call it, soccer.

Me gusta mirar fútbol. I like to watch football.

Spanish Word of the Day 10 July 2004 -- aburrido

Today's word is aburrido. Estar aburrido/a means to be bored. This needs to agree in gender with whoever is bored.

Estoy aburrida en el trabajo hoy. I am bored at work today.

Spanish Word of the Day 9 July 2004 -- semana

The word today is semana. This means week.

Trabajo 5 días a la semana. I work 5 days a week.

It's been a while...

since I actually wrote a "real" post, not a word of the day post. We had a good July 4th holiday. Didn't really do anything exciting. I took my son out to see my mom and step-dad. On the way, I stopped and bought a couple of fireworks. I got a package of sparklers and one of those rolling tank things. I didn't want to do too much since my son is so young and scar him for life or anything. The tank was cool until the reports at the end. He ran away. The sparklers weren't much better. He saw me holding one and thought it was cool and wanted to do it too, so I helped him hold one, but the problem is that his arms are so short that all the smoke it made was blowing right into his face. That was the end of fireworks for us. We were all off on Monday also because that was the "observed" holiday because the actual holiday fell on the weekend. I went grocery shopping and did some chores around the house. I went back to work on Tuesday and then was off again yesterday.
Yesterday, I went shopping and bought the Lord of the Rings edition of Trivial Pursuit. My husband and I played last night. He won. But only by one piece. Are we both nerds or what?
I'm still playing the Sims during my free time. That is such an addictive game. I have all the expansions. I'm playing 2 different families. Both families are coming along nicely in the game, as far as career, friends, all that good stuff.
I'm also excited because I have some vacation time coming at the end of the month. Next week, I'm going to be off on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then I have my actual vacation from 24 July until 1 August. During that time, I'm going to celebrate my 5th wedding anniversary. I think my husband and I are going to go away for a night. I'm still trying to finalize some plans.

Spanish Word of the Day 8 July 2004 -- cansado

Today's word of the day is cansado. This means tired. This is an adjective that needs to agree in gender and number with the object it is modifying. Cansado is the singular masculine form and cansada is the singular feminine form. To make either plural, you would simply add 's' to the end of the word.

Estoy cansada hoy. I am tired today.

Spanish Word of the Day 7 July 2004 -- lunfardo

Lunfardo is Argentine slang. Many lunfardo words and phrases are used in tango.

No te entiendo porque hablas lunfardo. I don't understand you because you speak lunfardo.

Spanish Word of the Day 6 July 2004 -- anoche

Today's word is anoche, which means last night.

Jugué Trivial Pursuit anoche. I played Trivial Pursuit last night.

After some feedback from a reader as well as my husband, I modified my sentence and my word of the day. Thanks for the suggestions!

Spanish Word of the Day 5 July 2004 -- coche

Coche means car.

Estoy conduciendo mi coche. I'm driving my car.

Spanish Word of the Day 4 July 2004 -- los fuegos artificiales

Today's word is in honour of the July 4th holiday. Los fuegos artificiales means fireworks.

Los fuegos artificiales fueron buenos. The fireworks were good.

Spanish Word of the Day 3 July 2004 -- la oficina de correos

Today is a noun, la oficina de correos. This is the post office.

¿Dónde está la oficina de correos? Está todo seguido. Where is the post office? It's straight ahead.

Spanish Word of the Day 2 July 2004 -- no

Today's word is easy enough -- no. This is used to make an expression negative by placing it in front of the verb.

Juan no está aquí. Juan is not here.

Learning Spanish

My husband has a new assignment for me in my quest for Spanish knowledge. He is assigning me a song in Spanish that he wants me to find the lyrics for and translate, and then he will let me hear the song so I can follow along with the lyrics and know what they are talking about. It should be fun. My first assignment is today -- "Vasos Vacios" by Los Fabulosos Cadillacs.

Spanish Word of the Day 1 July 2004 -- hay

Today's word is hay, which means there is or there are.

Hay dos libros en la mesa. There are two books on the table.

Thursday...raining again

It's rained every day this week. I am so tired of rain. It's July and the sun needs to come back out! Of course, the sun will come back and it will get hot and then I'll complain about the heat. But I'd rather have sun than rain. I was off yesterday and did some errands, went shopping, had lunch with my husband and son. Watched the England-Portugal match last night finally. I just wonder if things would have turned out differently if Rooney would have stayed in the game. But that's water under the bridge at this point.
It's raining again right now. All this rain is making me depressed. It's only 3 more weeks until I have a week of vacation. Plus, this coming weekend is the July 4th weekend, so I get Monday off. Woo-hoo!