Archive for August, 2011
errands
August 31, 2011
Today was errand day for Graciela and me. It took us about three hours to get up, get Graciela fed, get ready for the day, get all of our documents gathered, get a care package together, and get Graciela fed again. But after all of that, we were off on our adventure for the day.
STOP #1: TERRIBLE’S
We needed to go get our car smog checked (oh the joys of being an adult and having to take care of silly things like smog checks). We were first in line, and it took longer for me to go into the office to pay for the smog check than to actually get the smog check done. The guy who did our smog check was super nice and even opened the car doors for us when we walked back out to the car after paying.
STOP #2: DMV
After our car passed the smog check with flying colors, we were off to the DMV to get registrations done. Fortunately, Graciela (thanks to her full belly) was still sleeping so there was no embarrassing hurry-up-and-get-a-bottle-ready-before-she-screams moment at the DMV.
Now let me ask you this, why is it that the employees at the DMV all seem like they want to commit suicide? When my number was called, I greeted the employee with a friendly hello. His response? Nothing. Not a hi, not a how’s your day. Just nothing. He then got annoyed with me for forgetting to bring in my old registration. Come on, it is not like he couldn’t just pull up the information on the computer. I had everything else I needed with me. I offered to run out to the car to pick it up, but of course, he said no with the most annoyed voice he could muster.
STOP #3: POST OFFICE
With Graciela still sleeping, we were off to the post office to mail a package to my parents and sister in Brazil. And for future reference, any time you mail a package out of the country, you MUST have a customs declaration form, otherwise the postal employee will roll his eyes at you and think you’re not very smart. But if you’re lucky, that same postal employee will also smile while he rolls his eyes, give you a form to fill out, and let you jump to the front of the line when you’re finished.
And after all of that fun and excitement, little miss Graciela and I headed home to get started on dinner. However, as soon as we got home, she woke up (of course, she slept all afternoon) and was famished and I had to feed her. So instead of making dinner, I’m sitting on the couch holding a bottle in one hand, and typing with the other.
tiger mom
August 30, 2011
This book has been on my reading list since it was released, and I finally got around to actually reading it. My thoughts? Eh. The entire book was summed up pretty well in the articles I read about the book. Do I think she was way too hard on her kids? Absolutely. But do I completely disagree with all of her parenting philosophies? Not necessarily. I think there is something to be said for working hard to become the best you can be. But the yelling, screaming and crying to get there? Thanks, but no thanks.
30 sundays of truth
August 28, 2011
Day 24 → Make a playlist to someone, and explain why you chose all the songs.
I’m not very good about making playlists for people. But I’ve decided to go ahead and take this little challenge to write down the “playlist” of songs I’ve been singing to Graciela. These were some of the songs I remember that my mom used to sing to me when I was a child.
1) Hora de dormir (Video)
Tá na hora de dormir
Não espere mamãe mandar
Um bom sono para você
E um alegre despertar
2) Eu vi
Eu vi meu pijama lavado
Eu vi minha cama arrumada
Eu vi, eu vi, eu vi
Eu vi que é hra hora de dormir
3) A Casa
Era uma casa muito engraçada
Não tinha teto, Não tinha nada
Ninguém podia entrar nela não
Porque na casa não tinha chão
Ninguém podia dormir na rede
Porque na casa não tinha parede
Ninguém podia fazer pipi
Porque pinico não tinha ali
Mas era feita com muito esmero
Na rua dos bobos número zero
basketball wives
August 27, 2011
Have you ever heard of this show? I saw it on Netflix and decided to give it a try, after all, I love reality TV. You know that saying “misery loves company?” It is the perfect depiction of the first season of this show. It is a bunch of women who are upset about how their relationships ended and simply fuel each other’s fires. On one episode, one of the girls goes as far as encouraging the other to cheat on her husband! And to top it all off, out of the 7 women on the show, only 2 are still married to their basketball player husbands, and several were never married to begin with.
Yet despite the fact that it truly is an awful show, I found myself watching the entire season in a matter of a couple of days… mostly in the middle of the night when I get up to feed Graciela. I guess I’ll be adding this show to my “guilty pleasure” list of shows that I’m almost (but not quite) too embarrassed to admit I enjoy watching.
look who came to visit
August 26, 2011
Those of you who know Luis in real life know that he is an extremely loyal friend. Once you’ve made your way into his “friend” list, it is nearly impossible to be written off. Which means that he has quite a few friends from pretty much every stage of his life. A few months ago, Luis’s friend Chris, was in town. Luis and Chris have been friends since high school and still lives in Texas. We try to meet up with him every time we are in Texas. But this time around, he was in our neighborhood so we took him to Claim Jumper for lunch. I always have a great time listening to these guys reminisce about their high school days (especially since it gives me ammunition for things to tease Luis about later on).
too long, a little too long
August 25, 2011
When it comes to cooking, I usually do a pretty good job. Baking desserts? Piece of cake. But for some reason (i.e. a lack of practice, and possibly talent), I have yet to master the art of bread baking. And honestly, I’m ok with that. Sure, fresh homemade bread is wonderful. But if I knew how to bake it properly, I would probably do it all the time and be 100 lbs heavier than I am now.
Last Sunday I was making a roast for dinner and decided we needed some rolls to go along with them. Now, before you think I’m some domestic goddess, let me point out that they were Rhodes rolls that only needed to be pulled out of the freezer, allowed to rise for a couple of hours, and thrown in the oven (ok, now that you know that, if you still think I’m a wonderful wife for giving Luis something other than sliced bread, go right on ahead). Anyway, I pulled the rolls out of the freezer as soon as we got home from church, thinking this would allow sufficient time for them to defrost and rise before dinner. The only thing I didn’t account for was the possibility of the rolls sitting out a little too long and rising a bit too much, which resulted in this:
But hey, at least I didn’t burn them :)
abuelita
August 16, 2011
When my dad got called to be a mission president in Brazil, I felt two things. 1) I was very excited for the opportunities and experiences my parents would have. 2) I felt very sorry for myself. I felt sorry that my mom would probably not be able to be here with me for the birth of my first child. Sure, plenty of people have to go at it alone, but this was just not what I had in mind for myself.
In steps my mother-in-law. She was able to come stay with us for a little over a week. She spent her mornings taking care of little Graciela so that I could get uninterrupted sleep. When I was awake and ready to assume full-time mommy responsibilities in the afternoons, she spent her time cleaning, reorganizing, cooking, and freezing meals for us. By the time Sunday morning rolled around, and she had to leave, I was crying like a baby. I couldn’t even bring myself to express to her how incredibly grateful I was for everything she had done to help me during this time.
We love you abuelita :)
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