The light is really beautiful this time of year

First Saturday of March

It’s been awfully grey here lately. Grey with wind, sometimes grey with rain, always grey. But we are having a spot of sun. Even in the house you can feel it.

Winter should be wrapping it up soon. This year there has not been much of an effort by winter. Not that I am complaining. I am looking forward to more sun and longer days.

My brother is here visiting with his son. Henry is home from school. The cousins are outside playing touch football with the dogs. I am inside sitting in my sunny living ready to crack open a magazine. Sounds idyllic, doesn’t it? It is.

A look out my window

Its been an odd autumn.  The weather has been nutty with the hurricane and the early snow storm that both took place the last few months.  I hear the summer was super hot and wet.  So apparently that combination of weather factors has produced a rather anti-climatic foliage show this year. Its been dull.  Leaves have been turning brown and are withering on the branch.  The red maple that usually has spectacularly red leaves, has dropped its leaves before it changed.   Its a little disappointing given I have been looking forward to what is normally the most glorious time of year here in New England.  But even though I have seen a better show in the past, its pretty and smells crisp and makes it cozy to be inside on a cool morning.  And there is always next year….

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The dogs are not allowed on the furniture

Here is his response to my request to get off the couch

Irene is not my friend

We are now Irene +5 and no power. Happy to report no damage.  The kids were suppose to start school Tuesday, but because of a million good reasons;   non travelable roads for the buses, no power at one of the schools, flooding at another and the fact yet another was being used as a shelter with 14 families sleeping there, school was closed today and will be closed for awhile.

Its been OK, It could have been a lot worse. While there has been a lot of damage from the big old trees blowing into houses, everyone in our town somehow stayed safe.  We have had some fun meals with friends around candlelight, the kids have had to entertain themselves with outdoor summer games at night (manhunt) and using candles and flashlights make everything cozier.  But I am ready for some electricity. First, I am bummed by the fact that I will have to throw out half of all the food I had bought last week in order to build a larder of stuff to eat. But I am mostly bummed by the lack of water.   I was not cut out for the pioneer life, I like my showers hot (and plumbed in), would prefer to not to have to flush my toilet with buckets of water, but most of all I want my cup of Nespresso coffee in the morning.  Lets hope we get some juice today.

Too Much

Photo from http://www.tessellationsblog.com/

I have been home for 2 weeks and I already feel like I am spinning out of control.  I am busy with daily life but my time is also rich in friends and travel.  I just don’t have enough hours in the day to enjoy the good stuff.  Its a good kind of problem to have, but one that needs solving.  How do I spread it out, so there are moments to savor and reflect upon?

We are back

Dont worry, she was recently dipped in sunscreen and she couldnt sit still for more than 5 minutes anyway.

For those up north, you probably dont want to hear me complain about the hot humid weather we came back to.  And I wont, because right now its absolutely gorgeous.  Maybe 80-82, a breeze, strong sun and dry air.  You probably dont want to hear about that either.

The weekends are fine.  Great weather to enjoy, not too busy yet.  But when I hear the alarm go off at 6:30 and I torture myself with the snooze button for another 20 minutes, I yearn, desperately for Junin and summer vacation.

 

 

tedium

The kids are back to school.  It being winter is making getting back into the school routine difficult.  Upon our return from the States there were a lot of days spent sleeping and nights spent playing, like our new hamster, Bubble.  But last week, after several attempts to wean ourselves of our winter hibernation, we went cold turkey and woke up at 6:45 in the morning to get ready for the school day.  Its been brutal.  The kids are cranky, the grown ups are cranky, the dogs are cranky.  Today was the first day I felt semi-normal when I woke up in the dark last this morning.  I went to the gym and I was showered before noon.  I got some paper work done and picked up the kids groomed and am engaged enough to deal with homework and afterschool schedules.  And it all sucks.  I miss vacation!!!

Easter Bunny Porn

Funny Protester Signs

Huffington Post does a funny roundup of ludicrous signs from protests throughout 2009.  Worth a look.

Almost Abandoned

Not really, just feels like it.  Definately neglect.   Between a week long trip to New York with girlfriends, the critical fail of my laptop and thousands of photos from mutiple birthdays, Halloween, and the Yankees continued domination to edit (without my laptop) I have be ignoring my little blog.  I am back (without my very sick laptop:() and have some catching up to do.

Beautiful but Cruel

Every night before I go to bed I have to check Owen’s blood sugar, he is a diabetic.  I then visit the other three.  I suppose I do it to check and make sure they are safe in their beds.  But I also like to remember them this way, totally relaxed and soft and peaceful.  It reminds me how much I love them and even though they spend much of their waking hours torturing me with perfectly age appropriate but still incredibly annoying behavior, I still love them more than anything.  It also reminds me that tomorrow I can try to be more patient, be more engaged, be more present when I am with them. My children are beautiful and when they sleep they are even more beautiful.

Now to the cruel part..taking these photos.  Henry would kill me if he saw this.  Georgie actually woke up to avoid the reading lamp I was trying to use for light.  Cal and Owen are use to my visits and lights being turned on, so they were none for the wiser.  Do you think doing this was cruel?

Out like a Lamb

The weather is changing.  It feels like we have hit a threshold now where winter is has been permanently retired and spring  has begun to leave behind the cool mornings and dry air.  I can see it in the garden.  Those early blooms of spring are tired and new hardier blooms are on the way.

Here you can see the jasmine waning while the roses have just erupted in the last few days

Tevez

He is as dumb as a brick.  But he is sweet, attentive, loving and lovable and as you can see, beautiful.  He is also hopelessly devoted to his nutjob of a mom.  What is not to love?

Sunday Lunch

I think I have mentioned before that asado is a big part of life here.  Typically the weekend is when most people are either cooking their own, have been lucky enough to be invited to another’s asado or go to a restaurant that specializes in asado.  Yesterday, after an exhausting social calender this weekend, we were happy to go to a restaurant, specifically a parrilla.(parrilla is the spanish word for the barbecue or grill that you make the asado on)  Yesterday was a gorgeous day so we wanted to walk to lunch meaning our regular parrilla (aptly named La Vaca) was not an option and we tried a new one.  We were an abridged version of our family as the two older ones are mortified to be seen with us and basically dont like us at the moment.  They stayed home and we were accompanied by the younger two, happy to walk hand in hand, excited to try a new place. Two uncomplicated children, how easy!  What was I thinking?

This is how every asado starts...wine, bubbly water, bread, empanadas, provoleta (melted cheese) and morcilla (blood sausage)

Tira is similar to short ribs, very tasty. They were served with fried sweet potatoes.

Georgie usually opts for the fresh tallerines and tomato sauce. Pasta is good in Argentina.

Normally at home we have ice cream for dessert, the parrillas have extensive dessert menus. These brownies were very good, crunchy on the outside, gooey and fudgy on the inside

This is my personal favorite, Flan. The condiments are key, crema (whipped cream) and dulce de leche (milk carmel)

After a protein heavy meal like this, you experience a bit of food coma

Georgie trying to muster up the energy for the walk back

Here is the beautiful view from our table, city livin'

That’s one hairy 20-year-old

But he can play tennis and I like that he beat fashionista and sometimes tennis player Roger Federer.  Vamos Argentina!

This epic win almost distracted us from the sport match that mattered last night , Yankees vs Angels.  Yankees pulled it out a win again and are securely leading their division.  This has been a magical season for the Yankees and their fans.  While we will all suffer a bit of depression when the season is over, I cant take these post midnight bed times much longer.  I am going to have to start napping.  Here is one of the highlights of the season:

Not spoiling your kids

It’s a hard thing not to do.  You want to give them everything they want or sometimes the things you wanted as a kid.  You want to make them happy.  It’s a powerful desire.  But spoiling your kids has consequences.  They aren’t pretty and you have only yourself to blame.

Living abroad alleviates some of the compulsion to buy stuff.  You just cant.  The newest hand held game system, not available for purchase in Argentina, the latest tennis shoes from Addidas, not sold here.  A Mercedes SUV for a sixteenth birthday (yes that does happen in the States) will never happen because kids need to be 18 to drive here..ha!

That is not to say that my kids are deprived.  Hardly.  But sometimes they do have to wait and wish and want for something a lot longer than their contemporaries in the States.  This is a good thing.  And when their father shows up from the US with a big bag of marshmallows you would think that it was a Mercedes SUV.

Speaking of cars..We just got a new car, or actually new to us but a 5-year-old minivan.  You would think it was a Mercedes SUV by the treatment it is getting from the family.  It’s clean, no dents and the doors automatically open when you push a button.  The kids had been talking about this new/old car non-stop for the weeks leading up to us taking possession of it. You would have thought we were going to Disney. It is refreshing to see them so satisfied with simply a car with operational cup holders and radio with speakers that function.

The Stoopids

I am not going to write much about this because it makes my head hurt thinking about what a royal waste of time it is even trying to engage these people in meaningful conversation.  My new strategy is to ignore them completely and maybe they will go away.  Or at the very least, have a good laugh at their expense. These photos are from yesterday’s big  9/12 Rally in Washington DC.  By any account this was a more significant turnout than the April 15 Tea Bagging Rallies, however there were considerably less than the 1.5 million some organizers were claiming.  When the DC Police released their estimates of the crowd at 50-60,ooo, the right claimed suppression of the real numbers by Obama.  God, I am so tired of the hysterics.  But again, let us find the irony and humor in their ignorance and stupidity.

This guy needs a refresher in basic math principles, dont believe "&" is a mathematical operation.

I would love for her to explain this one to me

I googled Obama/Small Pox/Vaccination, I got nothing, What does this guy know? Nice printing though.

And my personal favorite:

WTF is this suppose to mean? Babies dont give a shit about fiscal policy. Believe me I know, I had four of them, and none of them cared at all!

Lazy Sunday

Its not a long weekend here…but it has been a relaxing one.  Yesterday was a usual Saturday of driving around children to different activities and friend’s houses, but GM is quite helpful that way so between the two of us it was manageable.  Listened to a lot music and radio news, watched a baseball game (Yankees won! YEAH! and Boston lost:)), watched a horrible loss by the Argentine National Soccer team, made GM dinner and fell asleep reading some short stories Henry needs to be studying for an English test on Tuesday.

Dragged my ass out of bed at 10:30 and have had a cup of coffee with my online newspaper reading.  Missed reading Franch Rich this morning, must be on vacation.  Not much good news.  Here are some fun links for the family.

National Geographic Photos of the Year 2009

Montreal Topiary Garden

Famous Photos in Lego

This is where I have been

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I have had a really nice last few days.   The 16 hour car ride across desert and plains should have been optional, but it was all worth it.  It rained or snowed the entire time when we were at the … Continue reading →