our house . . . finally

After months and months of going over to look at our lot and seeing only this . .




I am very, very happy to report that there is finally lots of progress going on in our home. Yay!



Be happy for me. I can hardly wait! You can see the pictures I have so far by clicking here. By the way, don't you just love the sky here? On the other side (looking out our house) are the mountains. Doesn't it make you want to move to Arizona here with me?

feeling: super excited
listening to: Incubus (Pendulous Threads)

post oscar

Ah, yesterday was my Superbowl. My "I can sit here and watch tv all day long" day. Every year, Rodrigo and I fill in Oscar ballots and try to predict the winners. The prize for the winner? Bragging rights, of course. What could be more important? Anyway, Rodrigo honestly doesn't really care. He plays along because of me. Each year I end up getting more correct answers but he ends up getting the biggest award right. Last year he said "Crash" would win for best picture and I said "Munich". Suck. This year he predicted "The Departed" and I predicted "Babel". ARGH! I got 14 categories right this year and he only got 10, but he'll brag about the movie one all year. I think from now on I'll just pick the movie I want to win instead of the one I think is going to win.
Did you watch? Didn't it seem especially long this year? I think it was all those montages. How many were there? Like 75? Ok, so what I really watch for is to see how everyone looks. My favorites were Penelope Cruz and Gwyneth Paltrow. My least favorites was Jennifer Hudson and Jennifer Lopez. About Ms. Lopez, I think I'm probably biased. Since I don't like her, I don't like anything she ever wears. Ok, well, I'm going to look at more pictures and read more of last night's highlights now.

feeling: warm already
listening to: Muse (Starlight)

downer post

I like to keep things light on my page and if that's what you're looking for today, click out. Yesterday was such a weird day here in my city. You see, Rodeo is apparently a huge deal here. The kids got two days off of school for Rodeo and there is a big parade. At that parade yesterday, a five year old little girl was thrown off a horse and trampled to death. When I first read the news, I was shocked! I could believe or understand how something like that could happen. Immediately, I was furious at the parents. I mean, how could they allow their FIVE year old daughter to ride a horse in a parade by herself. Was it just really, really bad judgement? Now I feel horrible for them. I think they made a very stupid mistake and can't even begin to imagine how they feel now. As you can imagine, this has been all over the news here. Everyone seems to have an opinion. Besides the fact that this is such a horrible thing to have happened, there were a lot of families there just watching the parade. I mean, kids were watching this happen there in front of them. As you can imagine, the parade organizers were being questioned over and over. It turns out that the rules state that you have to be a certain age to ride alone. The family or the group that the little girl was in broke the rules. You know, this story is tragic for just so many reasons.
Yesterday I also found out that a school that Brianna had attended in Texas is also under scrutiny. Apparently one or two 10 or 11 year olds sexually asaulted a boy in kindergarten and are all still in school. It seems that it didn't happen on school grounds or something. When I read it, all I could think was "It was only a matter of time". I HATED this school. I wrote a post about it once. When I thought about this school yesterday and all the stuff that went on there, I feel so grateful that it isn't that time anymore. You can't imagine how frustrated I was during that time. Again, I have to agree that my then co-workers got to hear me whining about it sooooo much. They helped me so much in support and school recommendations. The people that work at that school are so imcompitent I get mad just remembering.
-sigh- Now that I brought you guys down, uh, have a good day. I'll post later or tomorrow with our Oscar predictions. I don't have Rodrigo's picks yet, so I can't post that yet. I love this little bloggy of mine. I feel better "talking" about crap things once in a while. Thanks for putting up.

feeling: better
listening to: Silversun Pickups (Lazy Eye)

top design

I'm trying. I'm trying really hard to love Top Design. So far, I don't love it. When I first heard about the show, I thought "Of course! Fashion, food and now of course design". It made sense. I was really looking forward to it and was sort of disappointed. From the very first episode I thought Goil was the best. Now I wonder . . are they editing the show to make it look like Goil is the only one with any chance of winning? I mean, who else does anyone like? I'm going to watch it again tonight and give the show another change to make me love it. So far, it doesn't have me. I'm sure it doesn't make much of a difference since I'm watching anyway.
Since I am on the tv subject, did you watch American Idol last night? Snore. I was quite bored. The only one I liked was the guy that sang that Keane song. I like the guy that looks like Jack Osborne because he's funny, but I didn't care too much for him last night. What did you think?

feeling: blah
listening to: Pixies (Debaser)

my cursing son

This past weekend, we went to watch "Bitch to Terabithia". That's right. According to Alec, that's what we saw. Neither Rodrigo nor I are big cursers. At least not around the kids. The only time I let go of the profanities is when I'm driving. Even then, they're not really curse words and mostly in Spanish (it sounds so much more dramatic that way).
Anyway, I first noticed that Alec couldn't pronounce "bridge" once when we were playing. We were being Dora and Diego and he said "Ok, now you be the bitch". I was shocked because I didn't know what he meant. Then he added, "You be the bitch and I be the troll".
Some other things that he's said are . . . .

- "Check out my fucky tires". -Being Lightning McQueen. The word should be "funky".
- "I like that red eyed tree fuck". -Talking about a frog.
- "Mama, you're not a fuck". - Again, a frog. I was saying "ribbit, ribbit".
- "Look at the cock". - A clock in a store.

So, we've just been trying to help him pronounce the words rather than laugh or make a big deal. I do find it funny, but if I laugh, he'll think it's cute and say it more. Seriously, I think people are going to think that we cuss up a storm at home and our poor kid has no choice.

feeling: tired
watching: The Tonight Show

valentine's day recap and links

We had agreed that we would have a really low key Valentine's Day. I was concerned because I didn't want Rodrigo to spend too much money. We'd just bought Brianna's bedroom furniture last month, he bought my iPod shuffle earlier this month and we bought Alec's bedroom furniture this past weekend. I told him that my shuffle could be my gift so I wasn't expecting anything. When he left to work yesterday he'd given me a giant chocolate bar which I thought was really cute. In the evening I received some pink, green and orange roses. My eyes teared up immediately. When I was working on a new blog template and trying to make a banner, I'd told Rodrigo about how I loved the combination of pink, green and orange. I was touched that he'd been listening, remembered and actually thought of it. He loves me.
As for the kids, well, they loved yesterday too. They think Valentine's day is a holiday for them too. Not like a lovey dovey holiday but a holiday when they can get goodies. Kind of like Halloween but sans costumes and with different color combos. Anyway, Brianna got a whole bunch of lip glosses (because I "never buy her any lip gloss". "Never" meaning I only buy her 3-4 lip glosses every month or so), a "fat cat" and several cards. She also received pencil, stickers, cups, erasers and about a million Valenines at school. Alec got cards, of course, a Milo and Otis movie which he loves but had never owned and a Lightning McQueen big cookie.



















I also wanted to share some links that I've come across today . . .

- I think I'm going to print out a few pages of this article and just pass them out whenever another person asks me "So, when's the wedding?"

- I only have the rest of today to make some Chinese New Year crafts for 23 kids. Any simple ideas?

- I don't know how many of you have tried this new cereal but it is LOVED at my house. Rodrigo and the kids have already gone through three boxes in less than two weeks. I've only tasted about one spoonfull but it's pretty good.

- I received the new Red Envelope catalog yesterday and there are lots of nice St. Patrick's Day gifts.

That's all for today!

feeling: super busy making 12 hairbows and other crafts BY TONIGHT
listening to: Semisonic ? (Closing Time) <-- I think that's the name of the band. I hadn't heard this song in years

Valentine's Day

new look

You're probably sick of seeing new templates here all the time. Ok, I think this is going to stay the same for a while. For a long time now, I'd wanted something very simple, pink, green and with daisies. Last night I started messing around and thought I had a template I loved. I was just like this one but when I saved the changes, the whole right column was at the bottom of the page. I stayed up until around 1:00 a.m. trying to fix it and kept messing it up even more.
Anyway, I think I have it fixed now. It's pretty frustrating that when I hit the "preview" button, it would look ok, but once it was saved it was different. This morning I kept saving and discarding. If you came in here earlier, you probably saw some sort of half completed template.
Anyway, I don't have much time to post today. I'm making Valentine's fairy halos for the little girls in my daughter's class. Have a good day!

flexa

Alec has had a toddler bed for a while now. We knew that he was going to soon need some new big boy furniture, so we'd been looking around for some time. The first time we went looking, we ended up buying a new bedroom set for Brianna (who also really needed one. This past weekend we went to a local kid's furniture store to browse. We immediately fell in love with a brand called Flexa. I love how you can add pieces to customize the room. We bought the basic bed and a chest of drawers for Alec. The basic bed is pretty low and I think that'll work for a while (in case he falls off or something). That's pretty much all the real furniture he needs right now. I want to buy him one of these toy bins. Right now his room is all "Cars". Again, I wish we were already at our new house so I could paint his room. I'm going to start sketching ideas for maybe some sort of Cars theme. All I know for sure is I want checkered flag curtains. Anyway, I thought I'd share. Pictures will come later.

feeling: thinking of things I need to do this week
listening to: Eve 6 but I can't remember the name of the song.

book & music memes

I have nothing to write about. Well, I do but I'm not in the mood. :) Anyway, I've had a few of these memes for a while. I'd either seen these somewhere else or had them emailed to me. I'll do these instead. Play along either on your page or shoot me an email. It's always fun to see other people's answers. . .

Book Meme

1. A book that changed your life:
Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs - It made me really appreciate my childhood.

2. If I could only recommend one book it could be:
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - If you've read it, you know why. If not, read it.

3. Favorite Chick Lit Book:
I don't really read "chick lit" but I guess it would be either of the Bridget Jones books by Helen Fielding

4. A book you've read more than once:
I read most of my books more than once.

5. A book that made me giddy:
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

6. A book you wish you had written:
Any Hemingway book. I think his style is something that most anyone could've done. That I could've done and I'd have been that famous. And drunk. I think he was very lucky to have been the first or best known.

7. A book that wracked you with sobs:
The only books that have made me cry are House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

8. A book you are currently reading:
Snow by Orhan Pamuk

9. A book you've been meaning to read:
Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes - I've owned it for years but have never read it.

10. A book you started but could never finish:
Mother of Pearl (same as above) and the Purgatory book of The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

11. A book sitting on your bookshelf that you haven't read...yet:
same answers as #10

12. Books I've read and liked but actually don't own:
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee - my brother lost it back when he was in high school and I never bought it again. Also the Complete Edgar Allan Poe collection. I lent (would this be "lent" or "lend"?) it out and never got it back.

13. Books I've read and once it was finished thought, "What's the big deal?":
The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd and The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards

iPod Meme
I'm going to play along using my Mini iPod

SOUNDTRACK OF YOUR LIFE
IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?
So, here’s how it works:
Open your library (iTunes, Windows Media Player, iPod, etc), Put it on shuffle, press play. For every question, type the song that’s playing. When you go to a new question, press the next button

1. Opening Credits: A Crow Left of the Murder - Incubus
2. Waking Up: Mis Impulsos Sobre Ti - Aleks Syntek
3. First Day At School: New Slang - The Shins
4. Falling In Love: In My Place - Coldplay
5. Fight Song: Break Your Heart - Natalie Merchant
6. Breaking Up: Never is a Promise - Fiona Apple
7. Prom: Six Underground - Sneaker Pimps
8. Life’s Okay: Van Dieman's Land - U2
9. Mental Breakdown: Time is Running Out - Muse
10. Driving: Smile Lines - Incubus
11. Flashback: Wave of Mutilation - Pixies (the slow version)
12. Getting Back Together: Fiebre - Fobia
13. Wedding: Suedehead - Morrissey
14. Birth of Child: Southern Girl - Incubus
15. Final Battle: Sunday Morning - No Doubt
16. Funeral Song: Beast of Burden - Rolling Stones
17. Breaking Up: Lemon Meringue - Poe
18. Sex Scene: I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor - Arctic Monkeys
19. Chillin: Stinkfist - Tool
20. Studying: Best of You - Foo Fighters
21. Sleeping: Speed of Sound - Coldplay
22. End Credits: Eres - Cafe Tacuba

I really liked the way a lot of these turned out. I'm sure it works for everyone, since after all, our iPods/music players have music we chose for ourselves. Play along.

feeling: I have a lot to do today
listening to: Eres (Cafe Tacuba) <-- it's still on

yet another Incubus/U2 post

This past December, Incubus asked fans to create a video for their song Dig. We were given files of band footage (singing Dig). The whole band and individual member shots. Rodrigo dabbled with it for a bit, but neither one of us really made anything. We kept looking at the entries and thought this whole contest was really cool. I know they're not the first band to do this, and I am absolutely sure many more will soon begin to do the same. I'm sure you've all seen this kind of thing on YouTube. People take a song they like and add a compilation of pictures. Either that or they upload their own take on the video. I'm glad that Incubus recognizes that fans are paying tribute to them by doing this. Anyway, they've now announced the five finalists. The winning video will be the official video for Dig. Cool, huh? You can see the band announcing the finalists here. (Note: Brandon was wearing that same hat when I MET HIM.) You can also vote for your favorite video here. I like video #2 because I like how they took the art from the Light Grenades CD and animated it. I also like #4 just because I like it. Take a look.
Is it just me or do you also think this concept is really cool? (yes, I've typed "cool" again. I need a thesaurus.) I know I'd love to make a video for a band I love. I think it's interesting how people have different interpretations of a same song. I'd remake almost the whole Joshua Tree album with videos of footage taken here in Arizona. "In God's Country" especially. Check out the video here. I was about to type "check out the original" like if I've really remade the video other than in my mind. Notice how young Saint Bono looks.

feeling: loving this weather!
listening to: U2 songs on YouTube

disloyal yvett

Let me start off by saying that I love my iPod. I love, love, love my iPod. It has been one of my favorite gifts from Rodrigo. He chose it pink for me and had my name engraved. Or not engraved, but had my name put on it. The only problem lately has been that my iPod is a mini. Minis were replaced by Nanos a while ago and I never find any accesories anymore for the mini. I can never find any sort of straps or bands so I can wear it out while walking. Still, I didn't want to replace my iPod. Then I saw the commercials for the new shuffles. The ones that are a little clip and I really liked that idea. The only reason I wasn't wanting one was that they were only white. The new colors were released recently and I secretly wanted one. The thing is that I still want my old iPod and only want the shuffle because it clips on. I have to say that they really had me with the "Wear your music" slogan. Anyway, Rodrigo went to some stores on Saturday and came back with this . . .


A pink shuffle for me! I have to admit that I love it too. I feel so disloyal to my existing iPod. I mean, I've had no trouble with it and am only hoping that it doesn't now break down because I'm liking another one.
I fully intend on still using my old one as much as I have before, which is mostly in the car. I don't use my mini to walk, so now they each have a purpose. Plus, the mini has a lot more storage, so I want that one just as much.
Can you believe that little shuffle thing is a music player? It's tiny! In the picture above, it is on top of one of the mini's "socks". I'm once again trying to carefully select all my songs that go in there. I went through all my iTunes and chose a few that I consider shuffle worthy. Share any song that you consider to be favorites. Suggestions are always welcome.

feeling: happy!
listening to: Incubus (Under My Umbrella)

frustration!

Ok, I don't like griping about Blogger mainly because it's free. I'm not paying for this service, haven't paid for it for the three years I've used it and am not really interested in using a blog service with a monthly fee. Still sometimes I'm really tempted. My comments were down for THREE DAYS. Not one day, not two days, but three days. I couldn't even access my own comments other than by email. I was REALLY frustrated. If you tried to comment or view comments, you got this message



ARGH! Also, if I tried to comment on anyone else's page, it took three or four tries for the comments to actually take. Here's the thing. I like things that work. I like to leave something and know that it will work without me having to be monitoring. I guess everyone does, right? Not until tonight was I able to look into the problem and try to find some sort of solution. It was pretty evident that it wasn't going to get fixed on its own anytime soon. I looked into what other people were doing and the best thing I'd found was to change the address on the "we're sorry" error page by adding a number two right after the "www". Eh, too much of a hassle to ask you all to do. Then I was adviced to clear my cache and it seems to be working now. Whew!We'll see if this is up for good now. Comment away while you can.

feeling: relieved
listening to: Rodrigo talking about Law & Order (next to me) --->