Spanish Word of the Day 30 November 2004 -- sobre

The word today is sobre, which means over or on.

Puse los platos sobre la mesa. I put the plates on the table.

I know this is a little premature...

but I found a place to live in BA. Too bad I probably can't afford it. It's not a good sign when the other properties listed have a price, and this one says 'A Consultar' by it. If you want to see my dream BA home, check it out at Sánchez Sorondo Propiedades. For those of you who'd like to see, but maybe aren't so skilled in the Spanish, from their home page, click 'Propiedades en Venta'. From there, it's the first listing -- San Martín 617. You can click the camera icon to see some photos and a full description. It's 92 square meters, about 990 square feet, so it's close to the size of my current dwelling. I really like the granite countertops and the WHITENESS of it all. I'm a sucker for minimalistic interiors.

Spanish Word of the Day 29 November 2004 -- hipopótamo

Today's word is hipopótamo. This is hippopotamus.

Enzo quiere un hipopótamo de juguete para navidad. Enzo wants a toy hippopotamus for Christmas.

Hmmm....astrological readings for me

SUN IN AQUARIUS

You are a humanitarian and an individualist. Your methodology in life tends to be unconventional and detached but you have good organizing skills. You know how to integrate several points of view and perspectives. You are a good coordinator, able to handle people and complex scheduling tasks. You have an overview, an intellectual synthesis of circumstances which doesn't lose track of priorities and first principles. You seek the truth in any situation, but it sometimes eludes you; the truth is often found in more emotional channels than the ones on which you automatically focus. If your life is to have depth, You will need to develop both your practical skills an well as your emotional skills.

MERCURY IN CAPRICORN

Your mind is practical, clear and literal. You see the world pretty much as it actually is. You are naturally resourceful because you are conservative as to what you feel is possible in any circumstance. You have a sense of diplomacy and impeccable timing in your conversation and communication. This is not out of courtesy so much as out of your perception of how things are. You make changes along well thought out and accepted lines. You see the correct time and then jump at the right moment. Your life improves when you cultivate optimism and a deeper ability to adapt to change.

In this lifetime you are very much concerned with what happens in the world, the larger sphere outside your own immediate personal concerns, and you cannot separate yourself from the issues and challenges of your generation and society as a whole whether you are active in politics, community service, organizing and managing groups of people for a unified purpose, promoting new concepts and innovations which will affect many people's lives, or simply living your life in a socially conscious way. You need to be involved in influencing the larger social fabric of which you are a part. Thus, Carrie, you tend to look at the broad canvas, the political, social, or group context of any problem or situation. A simple fight between a man and a woman becomes, to you, how women are oppressed by the dominant male power structure in this society. The decision to eat a hamburger or a soy burger is not, to you, simply a matter of personal taste or health considerations but also a moral and politically relevant issue, considering the impact of the beef industry on the rain forests in South America... Even if you are at home raising children and not significantly involved in the public arena, you will try to raise them to be thinking individuals, aware of the effects their actions and choices have on the rest of the world. You foster a community spirit, a sense of connectedness with the rest of the planet.

In whatever field you pursue, Carrie, you are likely to be an innovator, a maverick, a little unusual, or ahead of your time, and surround yourself with other free thinking individuals. While you are very much attuned to whatever group you identify yourself with, you are also very independent minded and this dichotomy between the freedom of the individual and the needs of the group can be the source of ongoing tension in your life.

Spanish Word of the Day 28 November 2004 -- papel

Today's word is papel. This is paper.

Enzo toma papel de mi impresora para dibujar. Enzo takes paper from my printer to draw on it.

Thoughts on childbirth

Giving birth to my son was nothing like I expected. I've had almost three years to think about this, and it's a little easier to talk about now.

My water broke on Friday morning, April 12, 2002, although I didn't realize it at the time. All the things you see in the movies with the women unleashing a raging torrent from betwixt their legs...not me. My husband had stayed home with me that day. We went out and did some shopping, picked up a phone card so he'd be able to call his parents in Buenos Aires from the hospital, and went out for lunch at a Mexican restaurant. We stayed in that evening, and my contractions finally started, or at least became strong enough that I could feel them ( I have a fairly high pain threshold -- having once run almost 10 miles on a broken foot to get back to my house, and not realizing it was broken until I got there). I called my OB/GYN to inform him, let him know which hospital I was going to, got my bags and headed out. Side note: my husband does not have a driver's license, so I drove myself to the hospital. We got there around 10 pm, got checked in and wheeled up to my LBR room. Made the obligatory calls to the local family. I got my IV after several tries. The nurse couldn't get a good vein in my arm, so I ended up with it on the back of my hand, just under my middle finger. I got the first of many cervix checks and also a swab which confirmed that my water had indeed broken. Friday night was pretty uneventful, me lying in my hospital bed, getting checked every so often, and unable to sleep. It really wasn't because of pain at that point, more of an anticipation, excitement: the big event that I had been working toward all these months was finally happening. My husband did sleep, however, in a recliner beside my bed.

Saturday morning came. I had been lying there watching the hours pass on the wall clock which was conveniently located on the wall opposite my bed. The nurses changed shifts, and at this point I got the nurse who would stay with me until I delivered. She was great. One thing I remember about her was one time when she came in and was checking the fetal monitor and my contraction monitor. She was talking to me about random stuff, and I was just having a normal conversation with her, no strain in my voice, no evidence of pain. She showed me the printout of the contraction I had just had that was almost so strong it was off the paper. I was unmedicated at this point. Loving that high pain threshold at this point. We discussed medications, if I wanted them, what I wanted, and when. By this point, I had finally made it to about 4 cm dilation. I told her initially that I didn't want an epidural, just Demerol when it came time to push. She explained that they can only administer the Demerol once, and that if it took a long time to push the baby out, that the medicine could have worn off and I'd be without pain relief. I told her I'd think about it. I ended up getting an epidural, since the contractions were getting stronger and closer, and I had been up for over 24 hours. I justified it to myself that I could possibly get some rest so I'd be better when pushing time came. So the anesthesiologist came. He was a nice guy too. One thing I can say is that he made sure I never saw the needle. They asked my husband to leave the room. I moved to the edge of the bed, hunched over a pillow with the nurse holding my arms for support. The doctor says for me to hold very still. Great. So I'm in one of the most uncomfortable positions for a pregnant woman, having some of the strongest contractions to that point, and I'm supposed to stay still. I got a shot of local anesthetic and then the epidural itself. If you've never had an epidural, it's a weird feeling. You can feel your lower body, but can't really move it that well, and you don't feel pain, only pressure.

I still didn't get any sleep. I was so drugged at this point, it wasn't funny. I had Pitocin in my IV by this time and I now had my epidural. I still wasn't dilating any further. My body said that 4 cm was plenty. By the way 10 cm is full dilation -- ready to push the baby on out. They were trying to give me time to dilate, they encourage natural births rather than C-sections. But things started looking bad. The baby's heartbeat was dropping every time I had a contraction. I got oxygen to help out with this, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference. When the heartrate wasn't coming back up after the contractions, but just kept dropping, they called my doctor in and he said it was time to take the baby.

From here, things went into high speed. I got a cap over my hair and got moved onto a gurney so I could be wheeled down the hall to the OR. By the way, it's difficult to move onto one from another bed when you can't feel your legs and you can't just scoot because of the epidural. After arriving in the OR, I had my belly shaved and all the things they do to prep you. I was rejoined by the same anesthesiologist who administered by epidural. My husband came in shortly with his sterile jumpsuit on. I have to admit that at this point, I was terrified. I had never had major surgery before. I got the dosage in the epidural kicked up so I was even more numb, the drape was hung, and off we went. I still had the oxygen mask on, so it was hard for me to talk and be heard. Julian was sitting beside me, and he could move and see what was going on behind the drape. Having Enzo removed was an odd sensation. I couldn't feel pain, only pressure. As the doctor was pulling him out, I felt my lower body come up off the operating table. I could also feel another set of hands just below my rib cage, pushing down. Enzo was born at 1:30 Saturday afternoon, April 13, 2002. He was fine, screaming loudly, but who wouldn't be if you were just forcibly removed from the nice warm spot you had occupied for the last 9 months? I remember that Julian carried Enzo back down the hall to the LBR room for all the tests and to get bathed and as he walked, I could hear Enzo screaming the whole way. I also remember the doctor making a comment about how he made the incision low, so that it wouldn't show when I wore a bikini. I remember telling him that the only way I was ever wearing a bikini again was if he did some lipo while he was in there. One thing I don't remember was him asking me if we wanted Enzo to be circumcised. He told me later that he held off because my response at the time was, "Sure, whatever, sounds good to me."

I got stapled up and wheeled back to the LBR room. I don't remember exactly how much time had passed. I was a little out of it, because my epidural had been removed and replaced with a morphine drip. My mom, sister, and nieces finally came. Everyone was holding Enzo, passing him around, talking about how good he looked, etc. I had not held him yet. I hadn't even had more than a passing glance at him as he was whisked out of the OR. I finally got a chance to hold my son more than an hour after giving birth. So much for my ideal of pushing him out and having him placed immediately on my stomach and having the opportunity to nurse.

I later found out that he never dropped into my pelvis like he should have, and this is why I didn't dilate fully. It was a case of cephalopelvic disproportion. Basically, his head was too big to pass through. I'm told that it's fairly common in short women (I'm 5'0"). I also have a fairly small bone structure as well.

Anyway, my whole birth plan went out the window. I didn't have an opportunity to nurse him until much later that day, since I basically passed out after my surgery. A nurse and the LC came in and said that they had a very hungry guy who wanted his mommy.

I know now that it's not the case, but at the time I felt like less of a woman for not having given birth vaginally. It didn't help that my mom and my sister both had 'normal' births with both of their children. I was once again the weirdo in the family. No one understood how I felt. I couldn't really talk to either of them about it, because, hell, they were the normal ones. I tried to talk to Julian some, but I think he thought that I was crazy. I became so depressed. I talked to my OB/GYN about it and I got a prescription for Zoloft. I stayed on it for a while, until I was able to rationalize what I had gone through and make sense of it all internally.

Things are much better now. I've been medication-free for over 2 years. I have a beautiful toddler who is becoming more and more independent each day. He walks, he talks, he sings, he gives me hugs and kisses, and he uses the potty. I look at him now and it's almost hard to fathom that he is the same little guy who used to live in my tummy.

For anyone who's interested, Julia Roberts had her babies

Her publicist says that mom and babies are doing great.

From CNN:

Roberts, who is married to cinematographer Daniel Moder, delivered Hazel Patricia Moder and Phinnaeus Walter Moder at a hospital in Southern California, said Marcy Engleman.

A cute post I found -- Bun in the Oven

I guess based on this analogy, my husband and I had all the ingredients we needed for a bun, and really weren't trying to make a bun, but got one anyway. But the bun turned out great and just gets sweeter every day. :)

Christmas is in the air

It's less than a month until Christmas, the pinnacle of the retail year. Boy, am I glad I no longer work retail. Those mandatory 6 or 7 day work weeks certainly weren't any fun. Nor was being forced to park in an off-site lot and be shuttled to work or battling the crowds to go to the food court in the mall on a 30 minute lunch break.

Now that I have that out of my system: I've started my Christmas shopping. I'm only missing one thing for Enzo and then I'll be done for him. He's getting a 'My First Leap Pad,' a Bob the Builder book to go with it, 2 books about dinosaurs, a book about cars, a Nemo book, a Shrek DVD, some Spongebob toy boxes, and a plastic toy hippo. The hippo is the only thing I don't have. The rest of the family is getting coal. Nah, not really. I don't know yet what I'm getting for everyone else. Julian hasn't given any ideas/hints for what he wants, so that will be a challenge.

As the pictures I posted earlier indicate, our Christmas tree has been installed. Enzo has already knocked it over once. Keeping him away from it is proving to be a challenge -- more so than in the past years. It should be easier to keep him away than it was to keep our cat out of it. Prior to the new apartment and birth of Enzo, we had a grey cat named Pixel. He was full grown at the time we got our first tree, but he seemed to think that it was his personal roosting area. He would do his best to nestle in the branches, but would only succeed in bringing the tree down on top of him and anything else nearby.

Oh, one last funny tidbit: my sister's name is Beverly. We call her Bev. When talking about her to Enzo, I refer to her as Aunt Bev. Before Thanksgiving, I had been telling him about going to Aunt Bev's house and that we would get to eat and he could play with the dog, etc. Anyway, on Thanksgiving, we're loaded in the car and on the way to her house, when Enzo says from the back seat, "Yay! We're going to elephant's house!" He was mishearing Aunt Bev as elephant. Oops. We all had a good laugh about it and Bev spent time with Enzo working on saying her name correctly. I think he's got it now.

Sorry Everybody

Can I add my apology as well? I wish my state was as blue as I feel.

Real Academia Española

They have a great Spanish dictionary, of course you'd kind of expect that, I suppose. Only thing, not so great for Spanish students as it gives the definition in Spanish as well.

Spanish Word of the Day 27 November 2004 -- gato

Today's word is gato. This is cat.

Mi marido quiere un gato. My husband wants a cat.

Another photo from Thanksgiving

This is Enzo with my sister.

Christmas Tree!

This is our Christmas tree. We just put it up today.


Enzo with the tree

Enzo, Mommy, and a puppy

Here's a picture of Enzo and me with one of the puppies from my sister's house. This photo was taken on Thanksgiving.

Spanish Word of the Day 26 November 2004 -- perro

The word today is perro. This is dog.

Mi hijo jugó con un perro hoy. My son played with a dog today.

Why is there a picture of Little Rock on the front page at CNN.com?

CNN.com

That's kind of scary. Maybe that's why I don't take the day after Thanksgiving off.

Edit: Okay, I promise it was there earlier. The crowds at Best Buy have been replaced by real news now.

Back at work

I wish I got more than one day off for Thanksgiving. I suppose I could have taken today off as a vacation day, but I never think about it until it's too late. So here I am at work.

Yesterday was a pretty good day. I woke up later than I had planned to, so I spent the morning cooking furiously. I woke up a little after 9. I was expected at my sister's house by noon to eat. She lives about 20 minutes away from me. So, I had under 3 hours to get everything ready. By some miracle, I made it. The first thing I did was start a pot with my sweet potatoes in it. Then I started my green beans. I realised around this time that the dishes I was planning to use for both casseroles were not only dirty, but that they had food in them. So I relocated the food to other containers and hand-washed both casserole dishes. I put the ingredients for the green bean casserole into one of the dishes, waiting for the green beans. The sweet potatoes were still cooking at this point. I put the green bean casserole in the oven. At this point, I got the kid bathed. Sweet potatoes are still cooking. Green bean casserole done and out of oven. Got the sweet potatoes done. I didn't have time to wait for them to cool before I started peeling them. That was interesting. I got them peeled and mashed, and into my blender with the other ingredients for the casserole. I got that dish into the oven and then went to take a shower. By this time, it was about 11:15.

So we got there and ate. We had turkey and gravy, dressing, cheese broccoli casserole, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, rolls, and desserts.

After lunch, we just hung out over there. They have a dog outside that recently had puppies, so we went to the barn to see the puppies. We also played cards and Yahtzee.

I got back home a little before 7 pm and spent a little time browsing the web before our internet connection died. Blah.

Spanish Word of the Day 25 November 2004 -- volver

Today's word is a verb, volver. This means to return.

Here is the basic conjugation (present tense):

yo vuelvo
tú vuelves
él/ella vuelve
nosotros/nosotras volvemos
ustedes vuelven
ellos/ellas vuelven

Fuimos a la casa de mi hermana hoy y Enzo quiere volver. We went to my sister's house today and Enzo wants to go back.

CARRIE's Wish List from Victoria's Secret

Here are some ideas for me for Christmas.

CARRIE has invited you to see her Victoria's Secret Wish List.

See CARRIE'S Wish List

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's officially Thanksgiving. At least in my time zone. So happy Turkey Day everyone! In about 12 hours I will be sitting down to lunch with my family and stuffing myself to the point of being uncomfortable, just as I do every year. I will also feel extremely guilty about the amount of food I eat, just as every year. I still have to prepare my portion of the meal. I'm making a green bean casserole and a sweet potato casserole that's topped with brown sugar and pecans. So that's how I will spend my morning. Entertaining the kid and cooking. I guess it could be worse: at least I'm not in charge of the turkey preparation. If I was, I'd probably order one and then pass it off as mine. Yes, I can be that lazy. I'm not ashamed to admit it.

I'm in a very strange mood tonight. I'm feeling revelatory, so take advantage.

Sex. This is a subject I've avoided until now. I don't know why. It really wasn't something that I purposely steered around, but it never seemed important to post about. It is something that is important in my personal life, but sharing it with the entire internet, eek. Having made that initial disclaimer, here goes: Last night I had what was perhaps the best sex of my life. It was a nice, slow, loving evening. The kind of sex you don't get much when you have a toddler. :) I was thinking about it all day at work. Made the day go by a little faster.

Religion. I don't know if I should really go here. I'm sure this is going to open Pandora's Box. I'm not a very religious person. I was raised in the church and basically forced to go until I was in high school. As I was growing up, I accepted everything I was taught, no questions asked. Blind faith. Until one day it hit me. It just doesn't feel right. I'm the type of person who needs proof. I want statistics, charts, graphs, any thing that can prove the hypothesis. I can't get this when it comes to religion. No one can prove (or disprove for that matter) the existence of a higher being. I've spent hours wrestling with this internally. I know that for many, religion is one of the cores of their lives. Not for me. I'm agnostic at best. I can't get into organized religion. I feel that if a higher being (God, gods, whoever) exists, the relationship between you and that being should be a personal one. I don't need to confess to a priest who will act as my intermediary. I don't need to sit in a sanctuary and be preached at with the threats of hellfire and brimstone. I'm accountable for my actions, no one else. I think that if you live a good life in harmony with nature, observing the basic rules, you should be good. That's one of the things that drew me to witchcraft (Wicca). You don't have to be part of a congregation. There's really nothing that's required of you. One of the basic tenets is one that is echoed in Christianity: Do unto others as you would have them do to you. The Law of Threefold Return: anything that you do, whether it is good or bad, will come back to you threefold. So it makes sense to do good instead of bad, because who wants three times the bad coming back on you? I told my mother about this and she's okay with it. My sister, however, thinks that I'm nuts and keeps inviting me to go to church with her. I'm not evil. I don't worship the devil or make human sacrifices. I just have a different connection to the world than she does. I wish she would be more understanding of my beliefs. I don't try to force what I believe on her, inviting her to sabbats or anything like that. I respect her beliefs and let her do what she wants to do. It comes back to individual accountability. Who's to say that one way is better than the other? No one can say for certain. I think that generally, mankind feels the need to have some type of controlling higher being. Is there one out there? I can't say.

I think it's time to move on to some lighter fare. My husband did want me to make a correction to a statement that I made in a previous comment about eating together at the table as a family, lest I give the impression that it was entirely my idea. He is an ardent supporter of eating at the table. So I apologize, Julian. And don't be afraid to comment while you're trolling my blog. :)

I'm enjoying watching our son grow up. He says some of the funniest things. For example, a couple of weeks ago, we were sitting at the table having dinner when he said that he was white and I was white, but that his daddy is brown. ??? Julian does have darker skin than either Enzo or I do, but to call him brown, uhh I don't know about that. I'm not sure where that came from.

He's also been talking about what he wants for Christmas. He wants big trucks, a dinosaur book, a hippo toy, animal videos, Toy Story, and a Toy Story toy. At least he doesn't want expensive things. I've already got the dinosaur book for him. I also bought Shrek for him. The animal videos could be a challenge. He doesn't want cartoon videos, he wants live action movies. All this came about after we were flipping channels one Sunday evening and stumbled across an episode of Nature on PBS featuring hippos and lions. He's really into animals now. He knows the name of more animals than I do. He also likes cameras and pretending that he's taking pictures. Based on these current interests, I'm forseeing a career as a photographer for National Geographic.

I've been thinking about what I want for Christmas. I could use some new clothes and shoes for work. I'd also like some new running shoes (I want Nike Air Zoom Milers). Some running socks would be nice as well. I want an iPod mini (pink). When I ask the question to Julian, he says that he doesn't want or need anything. Surely something will come up between now and Christmas, which in case you're counting, is a month from today. That's not long.

I think I've said all I needed. I know this was a little on the long side. I need to go to sleep so I can get up and get my cooking done. I'm sure Enzo won't sleep in. He doesn't understand weekends and holidays are sleeping late days yet.

Colombia police report abduction by C-section

CNN.com - Colombia police report abduction by C-section - Nov 24, 2004

This is kind of frightening: having your baby abducted from your own body while you're unconscious. People are crazy.

A thought before retiring for the night

I love my husband so much...regardless of what he does. I guess this is the real deal. I knew it almost from the first time that we talked that he was the one for me. I know it's kind of a cliche, about finding a soul mate or whatever, but I really feel that he completes me. It's been hard to explain to my family, because all that they see is the fact that he's from another country.

In all of my past relationships, I reached a burnout stage, when I knew it was over whether I wanted to admit it or not. I haven't reached that point with Julian and I don't expect to. I honestly can't imagine my life without him. It would be so empty.

In his own uniquely Argentine way, he makes me feel special, wanted, loved. For one thing, he left his home, his family, his country, for me. Wow. Of course I was willing to make the trip south to be with him if he couldn't come here. I've never experienced anything like this before.

Spanish Word of the Day 23 November 2004 -- novio

The word of the day today is novio. This is boyfriend. Girlfriend is novia.

Mi novio me presentó a mi esposo. My boyfriend introduced me to my husband.

Spanish Word of the Day 22 November 2004 -- encendedor

The word today is encendedor. This is lighter.

Mi encendedor se quedó sin fluido hoy. My lighter ran out of fuel today.

My astrological match with my husband

I am Aquarius, My Lover is Leo

Leo is 180 degrees away from Aquarius in the zodiac, indicating that you two will either snap together like two jigsaw puzzle pieces or else kill each other. There is no in-between! My bet is you will find an ideal mate with Leo. Fire sign Leos like the air element you provide to the relationship, for it makes their fire burn brighter. You like Leo's attachment to luxury and culture, even though you wouldn't indulge nearly as much on yourself if you were left to your own devices.

Leo's generosity and sense of fun is good for you both, and your partner admires your strong intellectual logic. One problem is that you are both fixed signs. This may mean that if you hold opposing views, you may attempt to stare each other down and wind up at an impasse. Unless one of you develops some flexibility, this ride together could go nowhere.

Leo's are rather patrician, and think of themselves as having attained some sort of social status that maybe they haven't quite earned. Social classes and snobbery drive democratic Aquarius up the wall, so if this gets out of control, it could be something that has to be discussed honestly. You march to a different drummer, and approval from others is something you have never needed. Understand, though, that Leos need respect and admiration from others nearly as much as they need oxygen. Leos will never be able to give this up, so don't even try to change them. All you can do is try to keep their expectations realistic -- with your objective point of view this shouldn't be too hard.

Leos' egos are strong, and they will need lots of attention from you, which could be another problem. It is not that you have a big ego too -- you don't -- but it's the time that it takes to cater to their needs that could be troublesome. You lose yourself in your projects for extended periods, much to your partner's dismay.

Sexually, your Leo is expressive and warm, bringing all kinds of luxuries into the bedroom to coax you into the mood, using fragrant flowers and the best champagne. Your Leo has a playful, dramatic style, which will be fun. Be aware, however, that your need to be a bit aloof will not sit well with a Leo. Leos feel that passion is one of the best parts of life, and they expect not only your presence but your enthusiastic participation, too. Here you may benefit from your association, for Leos are right. Sometimes you are a tad too serious and work-obsessed!

You both have an adventurous view of the world, so things could be good between you, despite a few bumps along the way. If you can dream it, you can make it happen. Do some creative fantasizing, Aquarius!

The 50 Best Things About Having Kids

I found this as I was cleaning out some old magazines. This comes from the December 2002 issue of Parents. The article was written by Peg Rosen.

I can agree with the majority of these.

1. You get to cuddle in bed with someone who has absolutely no interest in getting lucky.
2. You can buy fabulous clothes in tiny sizes without once thinking about your waistline.
3. Having rambunctious kids in the house is the perfect excuse for why you haven't bothered to decorate (or for that matter, clean, organize, or otherwise make the place presentable).
4. The focus at family get-togethers is no longer on you -- and your offbeat marriage or going-nowhere job -- but on your little angel's delicious dimples.
5. No matter how self-centered or selfish you may think you are, you realize you have the capacity to put someone else's life first.
6. You witness the miracle of a tiny, helpless creature evolving into a self-assured, creative, courageous and completely original human being.
7. The sound of a baby screaming nonstop on an airplane no longer makes you want to scream -- unless it's yours.
8. You discover that you really, really can trust your instincts. They are that good.
9. Kids are your standing excuse to indulge in all kinds of decidedly unadult behaviour, like flopping down to make snow angels when the spirit moves you or speaking in a Donald Duck voice.
10. Your love handles and the bags under your eyes melt away when your child tells you that "you're more beautiful than a princess."
11. During life's very darkest moments, you can look into your child's face and see hope.
12. There's at least one person in this world who thinks you're good at doing everything.
13. You can surprise your children by demonstrating that you've known how to do a backwards somersault for years.
14. You finally understand that your parents didn't deliberately mess you up. They tried to raise you the best, however bumbling, way they knew how. Just like you're doing with your kids right now.
15. You get to put Cap'n Crunch on the grocery list without raising any suspicions that you're the one who wants it.
16. You're forced to act like a grown-up -- which means staying calm when you're hopelessly lost and not freaking out when the basement floods.
17. You really do care about making the world a better place.
18. Kids know how to give pretty good back rubs, and they don't expect one in return.
19. You get to hear those first glorious words of true independence: "Mom, can I get my own breakfast today?"
20. You can feel like the math whiz you never were -- at least until the kids start learning fractions.
21. With all the world weariness and cynicism of adulthood on your shoulders, you can look at your child and still experience a sense of pure wonder.
22. You finally get to buy that Barbie Dream House and remote-control car that your own parents said no to.
23. You can make small talk with anyone who has kids, which will get you through just about any business function, wedding reception, or job interview -- no matter how stiff, awkward, or painfully boring it may be.
24. You have the power to provide security and comfort in a most insecure and uncomfortable world.
25. You take joy in doing things you would never in a million years have done on your own, like learning how to snowboard.
26. No matter how late you are on a work deadline or how vicious the office politics may be, those little faces that greet you at day's end put everything in perspective.
27. You can read your kids the books that captivated you as a child.
28. You see magic in things you didn't think twice about before -- an ant making its way across the front porch or a recycling truck in action on a Tuesday morning.
29. You get to eat french fries and pizza on a regular basis.
30. You're not shy about doing things solo -- be it dining on your own while away on business or sneaking off to a movie -- because you know you're never really alone in this world.
31. Regardless of how evolved you thought you were before having kids, you'll see a new person inside of you, blossoming right along with them.
32. You are able to give your parents the same precious thing they gave you: the gift of life.
33. God willing, there will always be something in your kitchen cupboard worthy of a satisying midnight snack.
34. No matter how squeamish you may once have been about the human body, nothing fazes you about your child's -- not his poop, not his vomit, not his snotty nose.
35. You have someone with whom you can share a hobby that your spouse rolls his eyes at, be it stamp collecting or shoe shopping.
36. You get to read Mother Goose and decide with full adult confidence that most of the stuff still doesn't make any sense.
37. You can decide one morning to serve M&M's for breakfast and become your kids' Pied Piper for a day.
38. Someday soon, your child will teach you something you didn't know; the name of Jupiter's largest moon, or that the beautiful tree with the fan-shaped leaves in your yard is called a gingko.
39. The uninhibited, intoxicating sounds of your child's laughter can wipe away a bad day in seconds.
40. You rediscover -- and actually use -- all those great catch phrases of you youth, like "Liar, liar, pants on fire," "Gotcha last," and "Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah."
41. Amid the endless line, rampant commercialism, and frantic preparation, your child's excitement enables you to once again see the magic of the holiday season.
42. Your hearts swell every time your child says, "You're the best Mommy and Daddy I ever had."
43. You have a captive audience for all your stories about your own childhood.
44. No matter how much peer pressure there is, how influential television may be, or how little you feel you are heard, you are still your child's moral compass, and, to some extent, always will be.
45. You are forced to summon up courage and strength that you never dreamed you possessed.
46. You can watch reruns of cartoons like The Flinstones that you loved as a kid -- and not feel guilty about it.
47. You have someone to bake cookies and cupcakes for.
48. More than ever before, you appreciate what a luxury and joy it is to actually be able to sit down and read a book.
49. You become a morning person and learn to make the most of it -- whether that means sitting outside with your baby while the birds sing or getting more done before 9 A.M. than you used to accomplish in a whole day.
50. Regardless of your romantic success or failure, you will always know what true love feels like.
    

Mi marido

I don't understand my husband at times.

At home there are moments when it seems as if my son and I are an inconvenience to him. On the other hand, he posts items in the forums on Ars Technica about how much he appreciates me and referring to the birth of our son as being handed the universe in a blanket.

He comes home from work and goes straight to the computer. He sits in that seat for the majority of the evening, arising for bathroom breaks, getting more Mountain Dew, eating dinner, and if I request something. In the meantime, I'm trying to get in my computer time as well, taking care of the majority of my son's needs, as well as doing my normal duties around the house (cleaning, cooking, laundry, etc.).

I think what this all stems from is the fact that he seems more willing to spend hours working on something for Ars than he does to spend time doing things with his family. Some examples: one evening, he spent the whole night in preparation for a post about music, compressing mp3s into little snippets to illustrate the points he was making in his post, uploading them, and so on; he does game reviews for Ars as well, generally one a month, which involves buying the game, playing the game, and then preparing a review, including screenshots. This weekend was Half-Life 2 for him. I was off on Thursday, and so I went that day to purchase the game for him. That's basically all he's done this weekend.

It's just frustrating. I have more that I could say, but I'd rather not air all the dirty laundry. Sorry for the bit of a rant, I just needed to get that off my chest.

Spanish Word of the Day 21 November 2004 -- peldaño

Today's word is peldaño. This is an individual step in a staircase.

Hay 26 peldaños hasta mi apartamento. There are 26 steps to my apartment.

Spanish Word of the Day 20 November 2004 -- capucha

The word today is capucha. This is hood.

Mi abrigo tiene una capucha. My coat has a hood.

Sarah McLachlan - World On Fire

You may have already seen this, but this is really a great video. The normal costs of producing a music video were donated to various charities, and the video documents this. One of the charities which received a donation is one that is near to my heart, Heifer International, which is based here in Little Rock.

I'm far too good...

That means my blog is 68% good. This thing can't be right.

My hair -- I need a change!

Okay guys, you might want to browse past this one. This is going to be a pretty shallow, girlie post.

I'm tired of my hair. Both the cut and the colour. For the last 10 years, I've had pretty much the same hairstyle: shoulder-length or shorter, straight, and parted on the left side. For a variation, I occasionally part it in the middle. I've tried other styles, but I invariably revert back to the old standby.

I like something that's pretty easy to care for, basically a wash and go style. I don't have the time or the inclination right now to spend hours in the morning getting my hair "just so." I cut my hair shorter earlier in the year (around March) and coloured it light blonde at that time as well. I decided to let it grow out. A few months ago, I coloured it a very dark brown and have kept it that way since then. About 2 weeks ago, I went to a slightly lighter shade of brown. I think I'd like to go shorter again, and maybe blonde again, or possibly keep the brown, but get some highlights.

I'm not afraid to experiment with my hair colour. I figure that if I don't like something, I can always colour it back. From high school until now, I've been medium blonde (my natural colour), white-platinum blonde, blue, red, auburn-ish, brown, and black. With my current job, I need to keep something in the natural hair colour spectrum. I somehow think that my boss would not be pleased if I went to work on Monday with blue hair.

Any suggestions?

Spanish Word of the Day 19 November 2004 -- león

Today's word is león. This is lion.

Enzo tiene dos leones de juguete. Enzo has two toy lions.

That was...interesting

A little earlier this evening, I was in the kitchen preparing dinner when I heard a loud banging on our front door. It was a little unnerving. It wasn't just a loud knock, but the sound that comes just before your door is broken off the hinges. My husband was wearing headphones and playing Halflife 2. He even heard it. I put down what I was doing and went to open the door, unsure of who or what would greet me on the other side.

As I opened the door, I saw an older lady standing there, closing our screen storm door. At the same time, a man who was with her began knocking on our windows. She looked at me, said to the guy, "We've got the wrong apartment." The guy apologized. He had a rather strong accent. He then went back to talking on his cell phone -- in Spanish. The lady said that they were looking for someone who had just moved in. Someone must be giving out the wrong apartment number or wrong building number. Hopefully we don't have any more of their visitors.

Spanish Word of the Day 18 November 2004 -- pimienta

The word today is pimienta. This is pepper.

Me gusta la pimienta recién molida en mi comida. I like freshly ground pepper on my food.

Weight loss

Why is it that when I was really following a diet, I had trouble losing weight and now that I had basically given up, I'm losing weight again? I guess it's the exercise from the running. I've lost about 7 pounds in the last 2 weeks after hitting a plateau for over 2 months. I'm down 38 pounds from where I was on 5 January 2004, when I started the South Beach Diet initially. I'm proud of what I've done, but it's taken me 11 months and I haven't even lost 40 pounds. Geez. I still want to lose a lot more. I'm hoping to be at my goal weight in March. I've got a lot of work to do to get there.

The ceremony is beginning...

The VIPs are being introduced and entering the stage.

It's still raining. What a yucky day for an event like this. This was supposed to begin at 11:00. It's now about 11:20.

Chelsea Clinton was just introduced and the fanfare is playing. Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, Barbara Bush, and Rosalynn Carter were just introduced...fanfare.



President George W. Bush, President Clinton, President George H.W. Bush, and President Carter were introduced. Hail to the Chief is playing. Bill waved to the crowd and got quite a reaction from the hometown audience. Skip Rutherford, the president of the Clinton Presidential Foundation, is speaking now. He's thanking the governor of Arkansas and his wife, the mayor of Little Rock and his wife, and the dean of the Clinton Public Service school, David Pryor and his wife.

The colours are now being presented. The pledge of allegiance was said. The national anthem is playing. Reverend Floyd Flake is delivering the invocation. "You're a Grand Old Flag" just played. The leader of the Philander Smith College choir just delivered some remarks and is now singing with the choir accompanying him.

Six people from around the country who were affected by Clinton's administration are speaking. The first is Steven Bishop, chief of police from Kansas City, commenting on the Crime Bill of 1994. The next speaker is from Riverdale, MD; Deborah Ledbetter. She spoke about how her family benefitted from the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). She was followed by Gloria Hackman, a school nurse from Washington D.C. Ms. Hackman spoke about air pollution, and President Clinton adopting stricter air quality measures. Nancy Santana from Philadelphia followed with comments about welfare to work programs. She stated that she is now a small business owner. Katie Tierney from Little Rock, who is the director of Little Rock City Year, was up next to speak. She spoke regarding national service programs. The final speaker came from Port Lavaca, Texas. His name is Kenny Weaver and he delivered remarks about the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Andres Pastrana, former President of Colombia, was the next to speak. His remarks were followed by a group of Colombian children playing music and singing.

Next to speak was President Carter, accompanied by his personal umbrella handler. He described the first time he met President Clinton 30 years ago and also remarked on the accomplishments of Clinton during his time in office. He congratulated George W. Bush on his re-election as well as complimenting George H.W. Bush on his career in public service.

He was followed by President George H.W. Bush. He had the same uniformed umbrella holder. He provided some comic relief, with comments about the campaign in 1992. It was a very nice, well-delivered speech.

Next up was President George W. Bush. He also had some humorous comments, but his speech was very complimentary. He also spoke kindly about Hillary. He called Clinton's rise to the presidency "inspiring."

Next out were Bono and The Edge. They performed a short acoustic song. It was Rain, with lyrics about getting 4 presidents out of bed. Bono delivered some remarks about Clinton's administration and then there was a performance of Sunday Bloody Sunday.

They also did a version of The Hands that Built America.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke briefly and then introduced President Clinton. He's looking well after his surgery. He spoke about his mother for a moment when commenting on the rain. He thanked Hillary and Chelsea. He also thanked Al and Tipper Gore. He talked about how politics is intensely personal for him because to him everyone has a story and his goal has been to make everyone's story better. He also expressed his hope for peace in the Middle East. He said he hopes that by people visiting his library, they not only see what he has done with his life, but what they can do with theirs.

Chelsea Clinton presented the keys to the library to the National Archivist.

The presentation was followed by Mickey Mangum singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic. During this song, the mass exodus from the library grounds began. At the conclusion of the song, there was an Air Force fly over. Dr. Tony Campolo delivered the closing benediction.

For further information, visit www.clintonfoundation.org.

Clinton Library Dedication Day

Today's the big day! I stayed home today to try to avoid some of the traffic issues. I still took my husband to work and my son to daycare. That is normally about a 30 minute trip. Today it took me over an hour, partially because I had to detour around my normal route, which was closed.



It's a dreary, rainy morning, but from what I've seen on TV, the crowds don't appear to be dampered by the weather. People have been waiting for hours in the rain to get past security and onto the grounds. They're running shuttles in from remote parking locations.

Air Force One just landed here at the airport and the President and First Lady are exiting the plane as I type.

More to come...

President Bush is now at the library site. There were some images on TV of him with President and Senator Clinton, Chelsea, and Laura inside the library.

Some confirmed celebrity sightings: Al Franken, Barbra Streisand, Geraldo Rivera, Robin Williams. John Kerry and his wife are here. I also saw Wesley Clark, Al Gore, and Tipper Gore.

I'll keep you posted.

Spanish Word of the Day 17 November 2004 -- pepino

Today's word is pepino. This is cucumber.

A veces pongo pepino en mi ensalada. I put cucumber in my salad sometimes.

My porn star name...

Your Porn Star Name is: Sweetest Sin

Get your own Porn Star Name

Fireworks!

We had fireworks tonight to celebrate the opening of the Presidential Library.

Minesweeper

God, I am such a nerd. I got over my Sims 2 addiction. Everything's fine...or is it? I've started playing minesweeper in my spare time. Such a simple game. No bells or whistles. What is my attraction to minesweeper? I sit here with my headphones on, clicking away. It's almost at the point that I don't have to think about it, mindless.

I guess it's kind of relaxing. I need to find a new hobby, though. It's embarassing to admit that I enjoy playing minesweeper.

Traffic...ugh

Spanish Word of the Day 16 November 2004 -- crayón

The word today is crayón. This is a pretty obvious one -- it's crayon.

Mi hijo quiere que yo dibuje animales con un crayón. My son wants me to draw pictures of animals with a crayon.

Barney

What is it about children and Barney the dinosaur? He is quite possibly the most annoying character ever created. My son absolutely loves him. We own 4 Barney videos that are in frequent rotation here. The most recent acquisition is "Barney Goes to the Zoo", which is playing on TV as I write. This is why I have my headphones on, listening to Death Cab for Cutie. :) Anyway, this video combines two of his favourite things, animals and Barney. It's a winner. We've seen it 3 times today.

Before I had Enzo, I hated Barney and said that no child of mine would watch him. Of course, I didn't count on the fact that he would see Barney at daycare and want to watch it at home too. Bleh.

Babies

I've been thinking lately about whether I'd like to have another child. There's a part of me that wants to, the mommy part with the biological clock ticking away incessantly in the background. On the other hand, my practical side says that we should stop at one, that money is tight enough already without adding another mouth to feed and another bottom to diaper.

I've asked my husband and the answer I've received is that he doesn't know right now. This is not a decision that I can make alone. I don't want to decide to have another child and feel that I'm forcing him to go along with the plan and be miserable. I also don't want to not have another child and regret it later.

I would like for Enzo to have a brother or sister with whom he can play and develop (hopefully) a friendship. I just don't know if our existing family is ready to accommodate that at the present time and I'm afraid that if we wait until we are ready, that it'll be too late.

I suppose that being an only child isn't the end of the world. Julian is an only child. My sister and I were spaced far enough apart that we were practically raised as only children; the year I started kindergarten, she got married. It's kind of nice getting all the attention from your parents.

This is something that is definitely going to require more thought on my part.

The media focus will be on my town this week

with the opening of the Clinton Presidential Library on Thursday. I've been hearing reports of celebrities and politicians that are scheduled to be here. Both Presidents Bush are going to be in Little Rock, Meg Ryan, Barbra Streisand, and Bono (!) as well from what I hear. Too bad I won't see anyone. I am taking Thursday off because of the library opening, but not because I'm going. A lot of the streets are going to be closed that day and that would significantly interrupt my morning commute, so since I have some vacation time to burn, I might as well take the day off.

I pass the library site every day as I go to pick up my husband from work and there are massive temporary bleachers set up on the grounds. There are also already fences up around the interstate onramps. I can't remember a time here that things have been this nuts. I'll see if I can get any photos this week worth sharing.

Spanish Word of the Day 15 November 2004 -- escritorio

The word of the day is escritorio. This is a desk.

Me siento en mi escritorio cuando hago mi tarea. I sit at my desk when I do my homework.

Spanish Word of the Day 14 November 2004 -- sillon

The word today is sillon, which is an armchair.

Tengo un sillon malvo en mi living. I have a mauve chair in my living room.

Photos from race day

This is Jon and me before the race:



Here I am during the race (more than halfway there!):



Coming in to the finish line:



And here I am at home afterward:

Why do my days off go by so much faster than the days I work?

It seems like I always have so much to do on the weekends, and I never get half of it done. I just looked at the clock and my day's pretty much gone. I've been doing laundry today to get ready for the upcoming week. I also have the dishwasher running at the moment. I need to go clean the bathrooms and vacuum.

Sunday night always seems to turn into the race to Monday morning for some reason. It's like I'm struggling to get everything finished and ready to go for the next day. I don't encounter that so much during the week, but then again, during the week I'm not taking care of all the cleaning tasks and such.

It just seems funny that I sit at work watching the clock and it seems like 4:00 will never come and I'm at home and I look at the clock and it's already 5:00 and I don't feel like that much time has passed. I know it's just perception and that time seems to pass faster if you're either: a) doing something that you enjoy or b) busy.

I'm glad the holidays are coming. I have a full work week this week, then next week is Thanksgiving. I have another day and a half of vacation time that I need to schedule sometime, and in addition I am taking the week between Christmas and New Year's off. That will be nice to spend some time at home unwinding from the holidays.

A strange coincidence

This morning after I finished the race, I went grocery shopping. When I arrived back home, my husband told me he had some news for me. He told me that he had found one of his old friends from BA who he hadn't talked to for at least 5 years and they had been talking. Julian told him that he had a blog now, and that I did as well. When he told him about my blog, it turns out he's been reading my blog because I had linked to his photoblog a few months back. And he had no idea that I was the wife of his friend. How funny is that?

Spanish Word of the Day 13 November 2004 -- hoy

Today's word is hoy. This means today.

Vi a dos amigos hoy. I saw two friends today.

Big Snowman

Here's Enzo with the snowman in front of our apartment office. He loves this snowman and wants to go see it every day!

I did the Presidential 5K today

I ran most of the way today. There were a couple of nasty hills around the state capitol that I walked. I finished at around 44 minutes. I beat my friend who went with me. Heh. One of our friends went with us as 'official photographer' so I'll have some photos to share later.

The race results will be posted later at Arkansas Runner, so check it out and see how bad my time was compared to everyone else's. :)

Spanish Word of the Day 12 November 2004 -- sal

The word today is sal. This is salt.

Mi marido pone manteca y sal en su pan. My husband puts butter and salt on his bread.

Am I the only one with my mind in the gutter?

Last night I was reading to my son. One of the books we were looking at is "The Little Golden Mother Goose." It belonged to me when I was young and my mom gave it to us. Anyway, I came across this entry in the book:

I Love Little Pussy

I love little pussy, her coat is so warm,
And if I don't hurt her, she'll do me no harm.
So I'll not pull her tail, nor drive her away,
But pussy and I very gently will play.
I'll sit by the fire, and give her some food,
And pussy will love me because I am good.

There's an illustration beside it of a boy playing with a cat.

As I was reading this I couldn't help but think about the innuendo, intentional or not.

my life

I feel so unfulfilled. When I graduated from high school 10 years ago, I was full of dreams and promise for a great life. Nothing has turned out as I had planned. I suppose that having everything work out perfectly was too much to hope for.

I had not planned to marry or have children. I wanted to go to medical school and become a MD.

Instead, I am married and have a 2 year old son. I am nearing 30 and still do not even have an undergraduate degree.

Don't get me wrong, I love my husband and son and the life we have together. I'm just going through...I don't know, a quarter-life crisis. I'm not old enough for a mid-life crisis.

It's time to re-evaluate my short and long term goals and modify my strategies to meet those goals. I want to get back to school and finish my degree. I want to move out of Arkansas. I'd like to find a job -- no, a career -- doing something that I enjoy.

Spanish Word of the Day 11 November 2004 -- biblioteca

Today's word is biblioteca. This is library.

Esta semana es la inauguración de la biblioteca presidencial de Clinton. The Clinton presidential library is opening this week.

Change is good...maybe

Corporate life. Arrgh.

With that out of my system, let me explain where that comes from. Last November, I was sitting at my desk, plugging away in the position I had held since August 2000. I get a notice that another department is looking for people to train for a "standby" position. This department is one that had just started in September 2003 and I had applied at that time and unfortunately was not extended an offer. So I applied for the standby position. I get accepted this time. I go through 2 weeks of training. It's determined on the last Friday of training that we will be needed, and that my schedule will be changing as of the coming Monday. Up to that point, I had been working 8-5 Monday-Friday. Pretty good hours. I'm told my new schedule is going to be 9-6, off on Wednesday and Sunday. This is not so cool. Part of the reason I always worked earlier hours is because my son has to be picked up from daycare by 6 or I start paying by the minute. That gets expensive. So I go to the supervisor in this new department and explain my situation and so I work 9-5:30 with a 30 minute lunch. I'm still working Saturdays. That's okay. Sooo...I continue on in my "standby" position, technically on loan from my original department until March 2004, when the powers that be decide that the positions are needed on a permanent basis. Cool deal, right? Well, here's the catch: we all have to apply for the positions that we've been holding for 4 months. Anyway, out of the group that had been on loan, only about half of us are hired for the permanent positions. I'm not in the lucky half. So I apply for another position, get it, move in to my new desk, make new friends, get settled in. I've been in this position for a month when the manager of the department I was on loan to sends me an email that she needs to talk to me. I'm wondering what's going on, what I've done, etc. I go to her office and she offers me the position that I was rejected for a month ago. I tell her I need to think about it. It's more money, but might not be as sure of a deal as where I ended up. I go home and talk to my husband. We decide that I should accept the offer and move back. For those of you keeping count, this is now 3 job titles I've held in 2 months.

I've been there since May. I'm at my second desk since I returned to the department. We're all hanging in, doing our thing, when we have a department meeting. My manager's boss is there and explains, among other things, that as of November 15 our jobs are being moved down a pay grade. Then in the same breath, says that he really hopes that we all stay in the department because of our experience and how valuable we are. Whatever. The grade move isn't affecting our current pay rate, but it will change the salary cap. The new salary cap is about where the midpoint is now. There's a guy I work with who was already past the midpoint in our current grade, so if he stays, he'll never get a raise again since he'll be over the salary cap. That's definite motivation to stay in the department and to do a great job.

Then a couple of days ago, we're notified that our manager is leaving in December and we're getting a new manager who's coming from another city and has no experience in the work that we do. Nice.

I had an interview last week. I haven't heard anything back on that yet, so I'm getting a little discouraged. I have an interview for a different job on Monday. I really like the company I work for, and I feel that I'm a pretty flexible person, but I want some stability. I want to know that my pay rate isn't going to be decreased arbitrarily. I know I won't have that definitely as long as I work in the corporate world. Nothing's guaranteed. But I at least want to move somewhere that the rules don't change every week.

Shameless self-promotion

If anyone is interested, I started a blog strictly about my running. You can read it here.

Also, my husband is now a blogger. After all these months of making fun of me for blogging, here he comes, live and in Spanish. His blog is here.

And more on the self-promotion theme: YAY ME! Woo-hoo! I lost 2 more pounds! I've now lost a total of 35 pounds this year. I'm on my way.

Spanish Word of the Day 10 November 2004 -- manzana

Today's word is manzana. This is apple.

Mi hijo siempre quiere comprar manzanas en la tienda, pero no las come. My son always wants to buy apples at the store, but doesn't eat them.

Spanish Word of the Day 9 November 2004 -- manteca

Today's word is manteca. This is butter.

Compré una libra de manteca la semana pasada. I bought a pound of butter last week.

Spanish Word of the Day 8 November 2004 -- zanahoria

The word today is zanahoria. This is carrot.

Hice carne con papas y zanahorias la semana pasada. I made roast with potatoes and carrots last week.

Spanish Word of the Day 7 November 2004 -- cámara

Today the word is cámara. This is camera.

Quiero una cámara digital nueva. I want a new digital camera.

Siblings

I was just commenting on a previous post and I started thinking about my sister and myself, and how different we are. For one thing, we're 13 years apart. I think not being born in the same decade has affected us in many ways.

Some of our differences include:

• Political affiliation/ideology. (She's a pretty conservative Republican, I'm a pretty liberal Democratic-leaning independent)
• Religion. (She is Protestant and goes to church nearly every Sunday. In fact, she drives quite a distance to attend church, when there are other churches of the same denomination closer to her. I am, well, agnostic. I consider myself Wiccan. Of all the religions I've tried in my life, this seems to be the best fit for me.)
• Choice of where to live. (Since she got married, she hasn't lived more than 10 miles from either our parents or her husband's parents. When I got married, I moved into town, about 25 miles away. I really dream of moving away, either out of state or out of country.)

It's sometimes hard for me to believe that we share the same genes. When I was talking about marrying my husband, my family called a meeting and she said that if I married him, we wouldn't have white children. My husband is basically European, by way of Argentina. His father's family comes from Italy, and his mother's family is from Spain. You've seen the photos of our son. Does he look non-white to you?

Don't get me wrong, I love my sister. We're family and nothing will change that. But we're not as close as we could be because of being at totally different places in our lives. Her oldest daughter is graduating from high school in less than a year. I'm trying to potty-train my son.

Spanish Word of the Day 6 November 2004 -- sobrina

Today's word is sobrina. This is niece. Nephew is sobrino.

Tengo dos sobrinas. I have two nieces.

This is Enzo on Halloween at my sister's house. He lost the tiger costume, because it was bothering her dog. 

In case anyone out there has been wondering what I look like right now, here I am with the kiddo. This was taken this afternoon at Wal Mart -- it was our free photo with Shrek. 

Postal Service Tale: Indie Rock, Snail Mail and Trademark Law

From the New York Times:

The outcome was as unusual as the band itself: this week the United States Postal Service - the real one, as in stamps and letters - signed an agreement with Sub Pop granting a free license to use the name in exchange for working to promote using the mail. Future copies of the album and the group's follow-up work will have a notice about the trademark, while the federal Postal Service will sell the band's CD's on its Web site, potentially earning a profit. The band may do some television commercials for the post office.

Spanish Word of the Day 5 November 2004 -- palabra

The word of the day is palabra. This is word.

Estoy aprendiendo una palabra en español cada día. I am learning a Spanish word every day.

Interested in knowing what I've been listening to?

You can see at Audioscrobbler. Check out my page.

I think I've found another training goal:

The Buenos Aires marathon! The 2004 marathon was last month, but I have about a year until the 2005 race. It's set for 9 October. Check out their page here.

Spanish Word of the Day 4 November 2004 -- tarjeta

Today's word is tarjeta. This is card.

Necesito comprar una tarjeta para mi amigo Jon. Hoy es su cumpleaños. I need to buy a card for my friend Jon. Today is his birthday.

I'm back

Well, this has been an interesting week. I took Monday off from work and it was a yucky day...rainy all day long. Enzo stayed home with me and we just had a mom and me day for the most part. We did leave the house once that day, to go to the courthouse so I could drop off my absentee ballot which I forgot to mail and to pay the electric bill. The courthouse was packed with early voters. It was a madhouse! I had to park about 6 blocks away and walk in the rain with Enzo under our little umbrella. We were both wet when we arrived. Enzo was wet up to his thighs, partially because he insisted on jumping in every puddle he saw, and there were a lot. It took about 45 minutes to make my way through security, then navigate the maze of people to get to the county clerk's office, only to find myself in queue to drop off the ballot and sign the form. From there, back in the rain we went, to retrace the 6 blocks back to the car. One thing that was nice -- apparently the parking meter I was at was broken, and was stuck at full. I noticed when I exited the car that there were 2 hours on it so I didn't have to deposit any money, but it was still at the same point when we got back. Oh well.

Monday evening I started feeling poor. By Tuesday morning, I was feeling like poo. My nose is stuffy and I've developed a loud booming cough. I've been to work every day this week other than Monday, but have been akin to a zombie. I've been taking all kinds of cold medicine and cough syrup. I have some prescription cough medicine that has codeine in it and that's been making me feel really good.

I haven't even turned on the computer at home for the last 2 days. I think I started experiencing withdrawal. :)

Tuesday evening, I sat in my comfy chair in the living room and watched the election results on TV with Enzo snuggled in my lap. After Enzo went to bed, I moved to the couch, where I fell asleep. I woke up sometime in the middle of the night and moved to bed, not knowing at that point the outcome of the presidential race, or even if there was a definite outcome yet.

Yesterday, I was supposed to attend a parenting class. I had registered for this months ago and was excited about attending. It was to be held from 6-9 pm and was titled "Effective Parenting in the Toddler and Preschool Years." Anyway, I got home from work, was really feeling badly, and decided to take a nap before I went. Bad idea. I didn't wake up from my short nap until nearly 8 pm! Needless to say, I didn't make it to my class. I'm really disappointed about that.

I also had a phone interview yesterday for a different position within my company. It's for a position I've wanted for a while. I think the interview went pretty well. I know the recruiter who interviewed me, and we have a pretty good rapport. From here, she's forwarding her notes from the interview on to the hiring manager. He'll select the people he wants to call in for a second interview, and then from there will select some people to do a short presentation. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

I'm sorry this has been so long, but there was a lot to catch up after being MIA for a couple of days. I am starting to feel better now, but I think I've passed whatever this is to my husband, because he's now starting to get sick.

Spanish Word of the Day 3 November 2004 -- medicamento

The word today is medicamento. This is medicine.

Estoy tomando un medicamento porque estoy enferma. I am taking medicine because I am sick.

Spanish Word of the Day 2 November 2004 -- jamón

The word today is jamón. This is ham.

Como jamón y huevos en el desayuno. I eat ham and eggs for breakfast.

Spanish Word of the Day 1 November 2004 -- noviembre

Today's word is noviembre. This is November.

Hoy es el comienza de noviembre. Today is the beginning of November.

I chose the best day off...

I have some vacation days at work left that I need to take before the end of the year, so I took one of them today, thinking that it would be a good thing after Halloween in case we were out late.

Today has been a really horrible day, weather-wise. It's been raining pretty much all day, and I keep seeing Tornado Warnings and Flash Flood Warnings on the TV. My county hasn't been in a warning yet, but we are in a tornado watch area until 16:00 today. Looking at the radar, there's a big orangey-red spot over central Arkansas. Ugh.

Halloween went well for us. We only went to two houses, my mother and my sister. I had intended to go to more than that, but of course we had to stop in and visit at each place.

At my mom's house, Enzo actually said 'trick or treat' at the door. Just like we had practiced. :) We went in and Enzo got some candy for his bag. We visited for a while, and as we were leaving, Enzo started stuffing his bag with non-candy items. We ended up with a stuffed dog and an 'Arkansas Watchable Wildlife Guide'. My mom said it was fine for him to take them.

Then we went to my sister's house. My sister is 13 years older than me. She has 2 high school age daughters. The oldest is a senior this year, and the younger is a freshman(I think). Enzo had a blast there. They have a jack russell terrier who lives in the house named Maverick. Before the night was over, the two of them had chased each other all over the house. My sister also has some larger dogs who live outside, and one of them just had puppies, so I got to hold a 2-day-old puppy. His eyes weren't even open yet. How sweet. Or at least it was until he pooped on me. Oh well.

The warnings seem to be getting closer to us now, there was just one issued for the southern part of my county. I better go.