Spanish Word of the Day 31 October 2004 -- tigre

The word for today is tigre. This is tiger.

Enzo tiene un disfraz de tigre para usar en noche de brujas esta noche. Enzo has a tiger costume to wear for Halloween tonight.

Clinton's Coming Home!

Former President Bill Clinton will be in Little Rock tomorrow, Sunday, October 31, to get out the vote for Arkansas Democratic Victory 2004 as part of his effort to help elect John Kerry the next President of the United States. This will be President Clinton's first trip to Arkansas since his open heart surgery last month.

If there's anyone local interested in going, it's free. He will be speaking at the Statehouse Convention Center, doors open at 16:30. Tickets will be available Sunday up until the event at Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign offices in downtown Little Rock (West Third @ South Arch and West Third @ South Victory).

(from Democratic Party of Arkansas HOTLINE)

Ewww...

I was supposed to run 8 miles today. I didn't. For the last day, my right hamstring has been giving me fits. It's just achy. It feels tight, and it's making the knee sore too. It's like that no matter what I do, so I figured that if it's yucky now, the worst thing is to go out and do my long run for the week on it and make it worse. If it's better tomorrow (which I certainly hope), I'll make up the run tomorrow. If it's not better tomorrow, then I don't know what I'll do to make up the mileage. Maybe Monday.

I'm glad tonight is the end of Daylight Savings Time. We get an extra hour of sleep! Woo-hoo!!

I'm trying to quit smoking. I never should have started to begin with, but I did. I quit when I got pregnant with Enzo. It wasn't that hard then, really, since smoking made me physically ill. I quit before I officially knew I was pregnant. I just started again in April of this year. Now that I'm running again, I'm finding that the smoking Carrie just isn't as good as the non-smoking Carrie. I do pretty well at work about not smoking. My problem is all the time when I'm not at work. I find that the biggest times when I want cigarettes are in the car and in front of the computer. I'm trying to be good, but it's hard. My husband smokes as well, and he's not joining me in quitting. That doesn't help things when there's someone nearby smoking. It also makes it impossible for me to say, "I'm just not going to buy any more cigarettes."

I have an interview for a new job next Wednesday. It's with the same company, but a trainer position. There could be some travel involved if I get the job, but there would also be an $8K/year raise. That would definitely help out around the house, especially since we are loosely planning a trip to Buenos Aires next year to visit my husband's family. Wish me luck!

Spanish Dictionary

Diccionario de Español

A pretty thorough site. Has a nice conjugation tool. I wish I had found this months ago!

Update: apparently this site has some issues searching for words with accents in them, so here are some alternatives.

Here's another site for verb conjugation: elemadrid

Here's another dictionary site that will accept accents. I tried español and it actually returned results: Diccionarios.com

Spanish Word of the Day 30 October 2004 -- motocicleta

Today's word is motocicleta. This is motorcycle.

Nunca anduve en motocicleta. I've never ridden a motorcycle.

Movies

I love to watch movies. Just about any genre. The only thing I stay away from as a rule are the really gory slasher movies (except maybe around Halloween). I've been told that I'm a movie snob. I really don't think I am. Maybe it's because I tend to be drawn to foreign language films, limited release things that you generally don't see on the top box office lists.

Anyway, that being said, there are 2 films coming to a local theatre next Friday that I really want to see. They are Diarios de motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries) and The Brown Bunny.

On the other hand, there's another movie coming out on 19 November that I'll have to go to (at the insistence of my son). That is The Spongebob Squarepants Movie. He loves Spongebob!

Spanish Word of the Day 29 October 2004 -- diccionario

Today the word is diccionario. This is dictionary.

Cuando no se una palabra, miro en el diccionario. When I do not know a word, I look in the dictionary.

Spanish Word of the Day 28 October 2004 -- televisión

Today's word is televisión. This is pretty obvious. It's television.

Tengo una televisión de 27 pulgadas. I have a 27 inch television.

Recipe from Marta

Tarta de jamon y queso

Masa:
harina leudante(con levadura incorporada> -- 2 tazas colmadas de 150 cc. de capacidad (para una tarta grande)
1 pocillo de aceite (pocillo de café)
2 pocillos de agua caliente con un poco de sal

Se coloca en un bol el aceite y el agua caliente y se va agregando la harina moviendo con un tenedor. Hasta que la masa se une. se deja descansar tapada por 30 minutos mas o menos. Una vez estirada la masa se forra la tartera.

Relleno:
Jamón cocido en tiras anchas o picado, a gusto (150 a 200 grs.)
Queso que se derrita facilmente (como para pizza) en trozos (300 a 400 grs.)

Y encima un batido corto de 2 o 3 huevos enteros con un chorro chico de leche y un buen punado de queso rallado qrueso (el que se usa con los spaguetti). Sal y pimienta. Se coloca con cuchara sobre y queso y el jamón y se lleva al horno por 35 a 40 minutos (hasta que este cocida la masa y derretido el queso).

English translation to follow. This is really yummy.

Ooh...spooky

Boo! It's my spooky ghost jack o'lantern.

Can you tell it's a ghost? Julian says it doesn't look like one.

This is the first 'non-traditional' pumpkin I've carved.

illumiNITE 'The Science of Visibility"

This stuff is so cool for early morning or night runs. Check out the demos. The whole garment is reflective, so it's easier for drivers to see you!

Spanish Word of the Day 27 October 2004 -- suegra

Today's word is suegra. This is mother-in-law.

Quiero conocer a mi suegra. I want to meet my mother-in-law.

Link to Photos from the Mud Run

If you want to see some photos from Little Rock's dirtiest 5K, this is the place.

Milanesas!

I made milanesas a la napolitana tonight for dinner. They were very good, but they could have used more cheese. Here's a picture.

Spanish Word of the Day 26 October 2004 -- elección

Today the word is elección, which is election.

La elección es en una semana. The election is in one week.

Spanish Word of the Day 25 October 2004 -- uva

The word today is . This is grape.

A Enzo le gustan las uvas. Enzo likes grapes.

Spanish Word of the Day 24 October 2004 -- agua

Today the word is agua, which is water.

Tomo mucha agua cuando corro. I drink a lot of water when I run.

Spanish Word of the Day 23 October 2004 -- lechuga

The word today is lechuga. This is lettuce.

Nosotros comimos tostadas con carne molida, lechuga, y queso. We ate tostadas with ground beef, lettuce, and cheese.

I volunteered today at the Mud Run

I got up this morning at my usual time (5:30) and headed out to Two Rivers Park for my volunteer duties. I got there a little after 6. It was still dark out. I got assigned to food duties initially. So there I was in the dark, moving tents, moving tables, moving food, and later cutting the food. There were lots of bagels and oranges that needed to be cut.

At starting time, I moved out to my place on the course for work as a split timer/course marshall. It was pretty fun. This is more like a cross-country race. It starts on the road and then weaves its way through some fields/gardens before ending at the MUD PIT. I was stationed at one of the turns to direct traffic down the correct garden path. I was somewhere between 1.5/2 miles, so not many asked for split times, but I was cheering everyone on and letting them know they were halfway there.

There were lots of people who dressed in costume. There was a lady in a pumpkin suit handing out candy to the volunteers. I also saw a guy dressed as a bunch of grapes, with purple balloons attached all over his shirt and shorts. Then there were some ladies who were his shriveled counterparts, the raisins, with black hats, trash bags and black tights. There were some ladies in tiaras and tutus over their running gear. A few togas, and also some rednecks for good measure.

I stayed around for some of the awards, but by this time, it was almost 10 and I was getting eaten alive by mosquitos. I got two free pizzas and came home and took a Benadryl and crashed.

Spanish Word of the Day 22 October 2004 -- receta

Today's word is receta, which is recipe.

Recibí algunas recetas de la madre de Julian. I received some recipes from Julian's mother.

A site for buying Argentine items

Compras Argentinas

This is a pretty nice site. They have food and other items, and also will try to get other items for you that are not listed.

I always knew she was crazy!

Okay, at a previous employer I had a boss who I always thought was nuts, but based on what I heard yesterday, I'm convinced. My friend told me that she's in jail in another state for attempting to kill her 2 daughters. From the story that I got (which came from the ex-husband of the oldest daughter to my friend to me), the oldest daughter was visiting her mother, who asked her to go to the store to buy dinner items and gave her the keys to the car. Apparently she got in the car and realized the brake line had been cut. Nice.

The issue with the second daughter was this: oldest daughter gets a call asking if she's related to her mother and sister, is informed that those two were in a serious car accident, that apparently she intentionally drove into oncoming traffic on a highway/interstate and were both in the hospital in critical condition.

Anyway, from what I know, the 2 daughters are living now in California with their father(who long ago divorced their mother) and my former boss is in jail or whatever.

That kind of freaked me out when I heard about it. It's strange how you can work every day with someone and you never know when or if they're going to flip their lid and end up in the loony bin.

INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY - OCTOBER 22

WOO-HOO! IT'S INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY TODAY!!

Spanish Word of the Day 21 October 2004 -- perejil

The word today is perejil. This is parsley.

No me gusta comer perejil. I don't like to eat parsley.

Spanish Word of the Day 20 October 2004 -- oreja

The word today is oreja . This is ear.

Mis orejas estan perforadas. My ears are pierced.

Well, I found a way to "participate" in the Mud Run without getting muddy...

I'm volunteering! I got an email from one of the guys that heads up the marathon training group that the organizers were desperate for volunteers, so I signed up. I get to arrive at 6 am with my poncho, flashlight and blanket to help with registration, then I'll be doing duties as a course marshall and split timer.

They're expecting between 300-400 participants, so it should be fun. I'll bring my camera and see if I can get some shots of the mud pit and the folks in costume. There's a 50% chance of thunderstorms that morning, so it should be interesting.

Spanish Word of the Day 19 October 2004 -- ajo

The word today is ajo. This is garlic.

Mi marido no come ajo. My husband doesn't eat garlic.

PollingPoint | A Nationwide Network of Millions of People Inspiring Public Debate

There are some interesting polls that you can take here.

Yum!

Bienvenidos a Havanna

Recent Events/Week in Review

On Friday, I refilled the prescription for Enzo's anti-fungal/ringworm medicine. His head doesn't seem to be getting that much better, but we still have 2 more weeks of medication to go. I'm afraid I'm getting the ringworm on my head too. I noticed a flaky patch in the front. Side note: my husband doesn't call it ringworm, it's ringwraith, as in "Don't touch Enzo's head. He's got the ringwraith there."

Saturday, my supervisor had to work, so I took him a cake, balloons, and gifts that our team chipped in to buy. Enzo accompanied me and merriment ensued. :) Saturday afternoon, after the sugar loading from the cake, we went to the grocery store for the weekly shopping trip. I go to the Wal-Mart Supercenter, so I get all my crap in one trip. That evening, we had a couple of friends over for dinner. I prepared homemade chicken enchiladas, refried beans and rice. If you've never made your own refried beans before, I highly recommend testing them out before you have company. Mine ended up roughly the consistency of mortar and probably tasted about the same. The enchiladas and rice were yummy, though.

I spent Sunday at home, doing laundry and housework. Not a very fun day.

Yesterday, the weather was really yucky. I awoke to thunder and lightning as well as pouring rain. There were some tornadoes near where we live. The tornado sirens were going off. There was an F-1 and F-2 that touched down in the area. The weather in Arkansas is so strange. There's a saying about the weather here, that if you don't like it, just wait and it will change. That is so true. Saturday, the highs were in the upper 50s/lower 60s and it was sunny, it was similar on Sunday, then yesterday the high was about 86F.

And that brings me to today. I am home from work today. I don't know if it's all the weather changes or what, but I'm not feeling well. My sinuses are going nuts and I'm feeling generally fatigued.

Spanish Word of the Day 18 October 2004 -- tornado

Today's word is tornado. This is tornado. A little obvious.

Hubieron tornados aquí hoy. There were tornadoes here today.

Here's a screenshot of my current messed-up family. Note the nude sim that seems to be floating in midair above the staircase. She's actually taking a bath in the upstairs bathroom, but apparently something went a little haywire. 

This is my sim version of me and my husband.  

My husband's review of Rome: Total War

If you're interested in gaming, you might enjoy reading this. Bonus: Latin lesson! Everyone needs more Latin in their lives.

Family Pet?

My husband and I have discussed getting a family pet now that Enzo is a little older. We have 2 goldfish now, Nemo and Dorothy. We've been talking about getting a larger, non-aquatic pet. He wants a cat again, but I would rather have a dog. I think I was allergic to our last cat. The only problem with a dog is that we live in an apartment, so someone would have to walk the dog and that someone would more than likely be me. I wouldn't mind the actual dog-walking itself, but being roused out of bed on a cold morning earlier than usual to take the dog out definitely puts a damper on things.

So I'm now considering a guinea pig. Enzo would be able to hold one easily, they're relatively easy to care for, and they're just so cute. I had 2 growing up. The only thing I'm concerned about would be Enzo freeing it from the cage and allowing it to escape. Still undecided.

Spanish Word of the Day 17 October 2004 -- ojo

The word today is ojo, which is eye.

Tengo ojos azules. I have blue eyes.

Spanish Word of the Day 16 October 2004 -- regalo

The word today is regalo. This is gift.

By the way, today is National Boss's (Bosses?) Day.

Le llevé regalos, una torta y globos a mi supervisor hoy. I took gifts, a cake, and balloons to my supervisor today.

I'm not sure if I want to do this

MUD RUN - Little Rock, Arkanas

This is a 5K here that's a week from tomorrow. I still haven't decided whether I want to do it. It's a "fun run" thing, not a serious 5K.

I got a reminder email about it today which included the following:

Wear your grubby clothes and old sneakers, because more than likely they won't be going home with you. There will be showers and changing area for participants.
* Bring a big trash bag
* Leave your jewelry at home
* Drink fluids before, during, and after your race
* Do Not dive head first into the mud pit
* This is a fun run so help your neighbor if he or she needs help
* There will be medical staff along the course and finish line
* We are not responsible for your personal gear
* Do not let your children go in the mud unattended
* Wear a cool costume

Running in costume through a mud pit? I can't see myself doing that. I really despise being dirty. I'm a compulsive hand washer. Getting so mucky that I have to shower BEFORE going home and throwing away everything that I wore during the race is not my idea of a good time. I'm trying to convince myself otherwise. I know that if I do it, I'll probably have a blast. I have an entry form already filled out and ready to go. All I have to do is drop it off with my $20 and I'm in.

Should I do it?

Spanish Word of the Day 15 October 2004 -- libro

Today's word is libro. This is book.

Me gusta leer libros. I like to read books.

Spanish Word of the Day 14 October 2004 -- correr

Today's word is a verb, correr. This means to run. I can't believe I haven't used this before since I'm training for a marathon.

Here is the conjugation:

yo corro
tú corres
él/ella corre
nosotros/nosotras corremos
ustedes corren
ellos/ellas corren

No corrí hoy. I didn't run today.

An audio post!

Spanish Word of the Day 13 October 2004 -- grande

Today the word is grande. This is big.

La ciudad donde vivo no es grande. The city where I live is not big.

Some Photos of Buenos Aires I Found

This is avenida 9 de julio. It is about 130 m wide.


This is Galerias Pacifico, a shopping mall.


Here is Puerto Madero at night.


And finally, a blast from the past.

Spanish Word of the Day 12 October 2004 -- música

Today's word is música. This is music.

Estoy escuchando musica. I'm listening to music.

Spanish Word of the Day 11 October 2004 -- pequeño

Today the word is pequeño, which is small.

Tengo pies pequeños. I have small feet.

My little tiger

Here's Enzo in his Halloween costume. We bought it on Saturday. We had planned for him to be Bob the Builder, but he changed his mind after we got to the store. I think he's a cute little tiger. 

Spanish Word of the Day 10 October 2004 -- noche de brujas

Today's word is more than one word, actually. It's noche de brujas, which is Halloween.

Compré un disfraz de noche de brujas para Enzo hoy. I bought a Halloween costume for Enzo today.

Spanish Word of the Day 9 October 2004 -- lavar la ropa

Well, it's another more than one word 'Word of the Day' day. Today's phrase is lavar la ropa.

Necesito lavar la ropa. I need to do laundry.

Here's the kid

This is a picture of my baby at the park from last month. I suppose at some point, I'll have to stop calling him my baby, but I'm not ready to let go of that yet. 

I did the Race for the Cure today!

I just got back from the Race for the Cure. I went with my friend Shon. We had fun, even though she got accosted by a guy in a Bill Clinton mask. We ran as much as we could, but we didn't start as far up in the field as I would have liked, and there were 38,000 ladies registered. All in all, it was a good time, and even though we were way back in the pack, still finished 5K in less than an hour. I'm ready for the next one -- the Presidential 5K Fun Run in less than a month. That one is gonna be a running one. It has an hour limit to finish, and doesn't have a space on the entry form for walkers. Oh yeah! 

Spanish Word of the Day 8 October 2004 -- periódico

Today's word is periódico, which is newspaper.

Siempre leo este periódico. I always read this newspaper.

Bilingual toddler?

We're trying to teach our son both English and Spanish. He asked me for some milk, so I explained that it was also called leche. He replies to me, "It's not leche. It's milk."

My kid is driving me nuts...in the best way possible

All my son wants to do is eat. Except at meal times. We get home from work/daycare and the first words out of his mouth are what kind of snack he wants. Depending on what he wants and what we have, I try to accomodate him. I try to encourage healthy snacking and offer fruit when we have it or maybe some popcorn. He'll eat what I give him and then come back 5-10 minutes later asking for another snack. This repeats all afternoon long. I'll be in the kitchen preparing dinner and he comes in asking for a snack. I allow one snack after school, maybe 2 depending on what the first snack was. I know from experience that if I give him more than that, he's definitely not eating dinner. Anyway, even with one snack, half the time he doesn't want to eat. I don't know if he's just being difficult (he's 2.5), if he doesn't like what I prepared, or if the snack filled him up too much. Since I've been typing this post, he's already asked me for Shrek cereal, Lion King cereal, poptarts and Nutty Bars. He's eaten one of those prepackaged tubs of jello and half a nutty bar already. At school I know that he has breakfast, a mid-morning snack, lunch, and an afternoon snack. I want to make sure that he's not hungry, but I'd rather have him eat the nutritious meal I prepare at dinner instead of snacking all afternoon. Should I let him snack, and buy more substantial things for him to snack on, or do I say no to snacking and wait until we eat dinner?

Spanish Word of the Day 7 October 2004 -- profesor

Today's word is profesor. This is a teacher. The feminine version is profesora.

Katrina es una profesora de español. Katrina is a Spanish teacher.

Spanish Word of the Day 6 October 2004 -- equipo

Today's word is equipo, which means team.

El equipo preferido de mi marido es Club Atletico River Plate. My husband's favourite team is Club Atletico River Plate.

Why are men so...bleh?

First a little background, for the unitiated: my husband is from Argentina and his parents still live there. Calling is expensive, so we rely primarily on the internet for communication. His mother sends him emails, which go unanswered. Why, I'm not sure. I haven't really got a straight answer on that one yet. Anyway, so she doesn't get a reply, so she freaks out and calls to make sure we are okay. She has started sending emails to me since I actually reply. The only problem: she only speaks Spanish and I don't speak that much at the moment. So, I get email in Spanish that I either have to have my husband read for me or I break out the Spanish-English dictionary and pray that I'm getting it right. I then try to reply in Spanish, using my fabulous vocabulary that I'm building through the Spanish Word of the Day. :) It never fails that I don't know how to say what I want and I have to ask my husband for help. He gets frustrated with me and tells me to email his mom in English and she'll translate it. I really don't want to do that to her. I've tried drafting an email in Word, sending it to my husband so he can translate it and send it back, and it sits on his computer until what I've written is no longer relevant. Keep in mind that none of this would be an issue if he would just reply to the email that he gets from his mother. Arrgh! I guess if nothing else, it's a good chance to put my Spanish to use. It's just frustrating to me that I'm stuck in the middle of this because he won't spare 2 minutes to send her a reply. He spends half the night posting on Ars Technica. But he can't send an email to his mother. Okay. Got that out of my system. Time to eat.

I've found my next car

This looks so nice. And it's a hybrid, so there's improved gas mileage.

Spanish Word of the Day 5 October 2004 -- salir

Today's word is salir. This is a verb that means to go out or to leave.

Here's the conjugation:

yo salgo
tú sales
él/ella sale
nosotros/nosotras salimos
ustedes salen
ellos/ellas salen

Salgo de mi casa por la mañana. I leave my house in the morning.

This is so me right now

Can we say addicted to the Sims?

Arrr! My pirate name

My pirate name is:

Black Charity Cash

Like anyone confronted with the harshness of robbery on the high seas, you can be pessimistic at times. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

Spanish Word of the Day 4 October 2004 -- azúcar

The word today is azúcar, which means sugar.

Tomo mi café con azúcar y leche. I drink my coffee with sugar and milk.

Spanish Word of the Day 3 October 2004 -- frío

Today's word is frío, which is cold.

Tengo mucho frío. I am really cold.

Spanish Word of the Day 2 October 2004 -- pregunta

Today the word is pregunta. This is question.

Tengo una pregunta para vos. I have a question for you.

Spanish Word of the Day 1 October 2004 -- octubre

Today's word is octubre, which is October.

Hoy es el comienza de octubre. Today is the beginning of October.