A glimpse into midlife

2011 remembered

2012-01-03T18:18:00.000-03:00

I saw this on some other blogs and liked the idea of a look back at 2011. Here are the highlights of our year in pictures.

January 2011
Trip to eastern Paraguay with our cousins who were visiting from Canada.

February
My sister from China came for a visit after 3 years. We spend a ladies night out.

March
Nico was supposed to get groomed, but instead he was "shaved". It traumatized both of us.

April
We get a new pet who disappeared a few weeks later. Never to be seen afterward.

May

News of two friends who have cancer reaches us. It is devastating and brings us to focus on how short life can be.

June
We celebrated our annual Thanksgiving feast.

Huge kettles of meat are cooked for about 800 people to eat the next day.

July
I turned 50!!

August
Rodeo in the Chaco

September
My oldest turns 25. I share her birth story.

October
My baby turned 23. I did her birth story too.

November
Enjoying being with my friends and being just a little bit silly.

December
After 3 months of focusing on losing weight. 20 lbs lighter.

After looking back at my posts from the last year, I notice how much I´ve struggled to post something worth while. It makes me think, if this blog still serves it´s purpose. I´m going to be taking a blog break for now and I´ll be thinking about if I want to continue here or maybe it´s time to "shut" her down.
For now I wish you all a Happy New Year!!

Christmas hodgepodge

2011-12-21T04:47:00.013-03:00

1. Are you cooking Christmas dinner? How many will be round your table this year? What are we having?
Yes. We are having hubby´s side of the family over and hope that the girls boyfriends can come too. So that would be about 12 people. Not very many, but I think it´s just right. We always have barbecue on Christmas. It´s the middle of summer here and there is just nothing else that tastes so good!
Of course there are many side salads with that and I´m going to make apple pie with ice cream.

2. What is one must-have Christmas cookie in your house?
Lebkuchen. I love them. It´s similar to gingerbread, so you have an idea of how they taste.
I did not have time to bake them this year, but I bought some from a lady I know, so they were homemade.

3. Santa likes a glass of milk with his cookies. Do you? What kind of milk is on tap at your house-skim? almond? soy? full fat (Gasp!)
Leche TREBOL. This is a full fat milk made in the neighbor town. But I don´t drink it................. (hubby does) :-)

4. Time magazine recently named their 'Person of the Year' for 2011. This is the person the editors believe had the greatest impact, for better or worse, in the past year. This year they chose 'The Protester'. Your thoughts? Who would you name Person of the Year for 2011?
Since I don´t really follow the US news that closely I can´t comment on "The protesters". I just think those people need to get their priorities straight. Enough said.
I thought long and hard and can´t come up with a person of the year. There is just no one I know that fits the criteria up top.

5. December 21st is National Flashlight Day... when was the last time you needed a flashlight and did you know right where to find one?
This is so funny. Who knew?
We always have a flashlight standing on our bedside table. Our energy system here is pretty unstable and you never know when there will be power outage. Usually when you´re under the shower at night, all soaped up....

6. candy canes...yum or yuck?
Not for eating, but like this............yes.

7. What Christmas carol lyric means the most to you?
O Holy Night.
Every time it plays I get goosebumps and the words of this song just say it all.
It is the meaning of the season.

O! Holy night! The stars, their gleams prolonging,

Watch o'er the eve of our dear Saviour's birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error, longing

For His appearance, then the Spirit felt its worth.

A thrill of hope; the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! O hears the angel voices!

O night divine, the night when Christ was Born;

O night, O holy night, O night divine!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I´ve missed doing hp, so I decided to join in today.
I wanted to thank Joyce for providing us with these questions every Wednesday! It´s such a pleasure to answer them and I hope you keep them coming for the next year. I´m sure it gets tedious but we love you for it! :)

This will probably be my last post till next year. So I just wanted to wish everyone a blessed Christmas celebration and many best wishes for the New Year!!

Hello my friends

2011-12-18T12:33:00.000-03:00

One more week till Christmas. I can´t believe how fast this year has gone by. A very good year in some ways and a very hard year in others. I would like this post to be positive so we´ll focus on the good.

Having both my girls living in the same town with us has been so much fun! We have grown to know each other again and learned to respect our privacy. I love that I can be available to them again and help where it is needed. Of course there´s a fine line and often I still step over, but I think we are managing quite well.
As I mentioned a while back Marisa moved into her own little house and it´s going really well. She and M. are doing well and I love to see her so much in love.
Michelle has moved to my parents house and that has been good for her too. My parents are happy someone is living there and they have the hope of returning in a few weeks or months.

H. had some slow months at work, due to the economy but things have picked up there too, so it´s looking up. He has the week between Christmas and New Year´s off, so he´ll probably be going to the ranch a lot.
Me, I have to work. I´m going into the busiest time of year for me, so things are not about to get slower. But I wanted to post a little update before ending the year.
This year we are having the Wiens family at our house for a family gathering on Sunday. My SIL helps with the food and the girls help too, so it shouldn´t be to much work. I´m glad we can still get together with most of the family. It gives the kids a sense of tradition and belonging.

Then the next weekend for New Year´s Eve, we have invited our friends group over for an "asado" into the new year. That should also be fun. Since the weather is so warm, we don´t do big dinner´s here, it´s just bbq and lots of salads.

And to end this post, I wanted to share a pic of my weight loss progress.


Before (Sept. 2011) - During (Dec. 2011)

I have lost 20 lbs. so far and don´t want to quit yet. I ended my "challenge" successfully and am very thankful for the ladies that encouraged me there. So now, going into the holidays it should be challenging eating, but hopefully I can get through it ok. The new year promises to be a good one and I can´t wait to get into 2012.

Wishing you all a blessed Christmas and the best new year 2012!!

A welcome holiday

2011-12-08T13:22:00.001-03:00

Today is a holiday in Paraguay. The majority of the population is catholic and this date is very holy to them. They celebrate the Virgin of Caacupe. If you´re interested in more you can read here.
For us who have an evangelical faith, it´s a day off work and we are enjoying it. I finally went to search for my Christmas tree and found it under some dust and cobwebs. I dusted it all off and have managed to put it up. Haven´t decorated it yet, but at least it´s standing.
I also made some fudge puddles, which the girls and hubby love.

Foto: Taste of Home

The day started off so nice. It was cloudy and at mid morning it started to rain and rained almost till noon. The weather stayed warm and we are enjoying this wonderful day. Finally it´s starting to feel a bit like Christmas.
The city is doing it´s part too. They decorated our main street lights with some beautiful angels and stars.

And then there´s an old telephone tower that is not in use anymore. Someone had the idea to decorate it like a Christmas tree. This tower is 211 meters (692 feet) high, so it´s visible from far away.

I have not seen it myself yet, but here´s a pic from someone´s fb page. I like that people here are finally getting into the spirit of decorating more with lights for Christmas.

This week has been really busy. It started off with our work Christmas dinner on Monday night. Then I had to go to Asuncion on Tuesday for a training course for my work. This was supposed to be held by the government. When we got there we went for some lunch and around 2 pm the course was supposed to start. When we arrived at the destination where the training was supposed to be held, there was some other event going on and they just informed us, that the date of our course had been changed to the 14th. We should come then!!! We saw other people arrive and leave and no one had received any notification!!
UN believable. But NOT surprising....
So we had to drive back home (4 1/2 hours one way).

In the evening when I got home I helped my sister get my parents clothes and things ready, because the next day (yesterday) my parents moved into the retirement home.
Since we are all members of a Coop we have private hospitals, schools and retirement homes. This means much better care for our elders, than is normal in this country. The employees all speak German and the people who live there are well taken care of. The only thing that would hold people off, from wanting to live there is that they have to admit that they are not as strong as they think they are. My dad is ok with it now. (I think) He has given in and admitted that they can help him to become stronger better there. My mom was still not very happy, but had to concede, that if dad was living there she would move with him. We are doing everything for them to make the move easier and less stressful. We hope and pray that they will come to like it there.
To put their mind at ease, with what will happen to their house, Michelle will be living there in the mean time.
She will keep an eye on things and water their plants and so on. They were happy about that and we hope that after a few months they will be stronger and can move home again. Time will tell.

For now things should be a bit easier and we are thankful for that.
And we have an empty house again, at least for a little while.

This much for now. Hope you all have a great Thursday.

Update

2011-11-29T10:14:00.001-03:00

Life is busy. Very busy. And it doesn´t look like it´s going to change anywhere soon.
A normal day consists of at least one visit to my dad, who is still in the hospital and many short stop overs to my mom´s who is alone at home. She refuses to consider any kind of live in help so we have to be watching over her. Luckily I have my sister and bother who are both helping too. We try to take turns who goes when.
But it is an extra burden and stressful for all of us. The doctors don´t really know why the medications are not helping my dad. This week they are trying some new antibiotics. We´re hoping for improvement.
Other than that I´m at work and trying to keep my household together. I have not decorated anything for Christmas yet and the Christmas spirit is not being "felt". I see all the decorations in the stores and hear the Christmas music and it´s like something that doesn´t touch me. It´s weird, it´s like watching something from the outside, looking in. Hopefully it will change yet.

The other thing that is also taking up a lot of time, is trying to lose weight. I try to walk at least an hour 5 times a week, so that keeps me busy too. I´m feeling great though and much more confident. Here´s a pic of the new me....... so far.

Hopefully I´ll get to my goal weight. I´m about half way there.

Yes, and then there´s Christmas coming. In one month!! I can´t believe it. There is a work Christmas party coming up next week and of course our ladies group has something planned too. I´m looking forward to sharing lots of laughs with my friends and having a glass of Sidra. Sidra is a typical drink that is sold only around the holidays and is made from pineapples or apples. It´s a sider and is the one thing that usually brings me into the Christmas spirit. haha

So posting will continue irregularly. We are thankful, that all is well in our own family. The girls are doing good and we are happy about that. Summer is heating up and we are thankful also for air conditioning. Without it I could not imagine living here.

Wishing all our friends near and far a blessed advent.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-11-16T00:24:00.000-03:00

1. What song reminds you of a specific time in your life and what is it about that song that makes you remember?

Whoever is 50 or older remembers the song Dream Weaver, right? It was one of my favorites from when I was a teenager. It made me dream of my future and was very romantic to me. Of course being totally in love helped. LOL. :) Every time I hear it now it reminds me of that time in my life.

2. What's something you've given up on?
Now don´t take this the wrong way, but I´ve given up on having a close relationship with my parents. It´s nothing against them and I´m not complaining. I think it´s a natural progression of things, that once your parents have gotten older you cannot have the same close relationship you had, say when you were younger. I think it´s a time of letting them go and being prepared to manage life without them, when they are gone.

3. What's something you'll never give up on?
I´ll never give up hope that some day we´ll have DQ ice cream cones here in Paraguay. LOL!

4. If you had to cook something from scratch in the next hour what would it be?
I´m actually preparing to bake some cupcakes from scratch this afternoon. I have some Cranberry´s and want to use those. I found this recipe and will let you know it it turns out ok.

5. Have you started Christmas shopping? Decorating? Listening to Christmas music?
Christmas music, yes. But no shopping done yet. I will be making some center pieces with my SIL for the first advent, but other than that no decorating either. I usually decorate on Dec. 8th. That´s a holiday here and gives me a whole day to pull out the decorations.

6. What do you know about your parent's wedding?
I know it was very cold. The night before the temp´s went down to 0°C. Very rare for here. The wedding itself was held in a big tent at my grandparents home (mother´s side). Back then they celebrated for two days straight. Friday night they had a "Polter abend", with skits and presents and food for everyone. Saturday everyone helped prepare for the wedding and in the afternoon the actual ceremony was held.

7. I can't believe I ___________________.
........can´t get used to needing glasses. Why can other people put them on and wear them the whole day and not be bothered by them? I just hate them!!
I know, my friend B. would say "Wah wah wah, get over it and be glad you have them". LOL!
But I am seriously considering lasik eye surgery.

(Laptop pic)

8. Insert your own random thought here.
See Nr. 7.
Should I or shouldn´t I? What´s your opinion? Do you know anyone who´s had it done?
The eye doctor told me that the problem is that they can´t make my eyes like they were when I was young. I will either be able to see far without glasses (so basically like now) or I will be able to read (see close by) without glasses but then I would need glasses to see far away. It´s a catch 22 situation and that´s the only thing holding me back right now.
My sister had it done, but for her it was because she was so near sighted and she was already used to wearing glasses. Now she doesn´t need glasses to see far away, but for reading she still does (like me).

So let´s hear it. What do you think about lasik?

Life is good.

2011-11-12T18:32:00.001-03:00

Normal and good.
Just a little update for friends and family. I don´t want to completely desert this blog, just because my focus is on other things at the moment.
What is foremost in my mind these days, is losing weight. It´s something I´ve been meaning to do for years, but could never get motivated to do it. So now that I finally am, I don´t want anything to "hold me back". If this is what is necessary to do it, that´s what I´m willing to do. It´s going well so far but I have not lost enough for people to really notice yet. But I am feeling so much better already. That means a lot to me.

We celebrated a family birthday. My father turned 75 but had to be hospitalized the same evening as his birthday. He has Cholestasis (where the flow of the bile from the liver is blocked), but after some intensive antibiotics he is home again. But he is very weak and does not have enough strength to do the necessary work at his ranch. My brother is helping as best he can, but if things don´t improve soon, they will have to think about "assisted" living. Since my dad was always the strong one, who was there for my mom, now they both need help and we all feel it would be better for them in an "institution". BUT this is not spoken of loudly yet. It´s THE big silent "elephant" in the room, and no one has the guts to speak up front about it. We´ll see how the next week goes and if things improve.

On a more pleasant note, my friend E. invited us for her birthday and we had a great time. Of course we did our traditional photo shoot. The funny thing was the front row woman were sitting so nice and proper and us in the back were just being silly.

Everyone was trying to hide their stomachs...LOL!

At work things are picking up too. The year end stress is starting up and I´m kind of dreading it. But I have a great incentive to get everything done quickly. We booked our tickets to our vacation destination. I´m so excited! It´s not where I mentioned in a previous post (near Rio), because it was too expensive and the trip there was too lengthy for such a short stay.
Now we´ve decided to go to Natal, Brazil. To this hotel (click on the link and it will take you there). Two other couples from our group of friends are also going and it should be a good time. Our first EVER such vacation! But not til Feb. In German the saying goes " Vorfreude ist die beste Freude" , meaning "Anticipation is always the best kind of pleasure/fun", which would apply in this case.

So that´s what´s going on with us here.
Trying to care for elderly parents, while still enjoying your own life, sums it up nicely.

Hope you are all well and thank you for you dear comments!

Five years ago...

2011-11-09T05:29:00.000-03:00

...I started a blog.

It wasn´t this one, but it was my first post into a world of new friends. I´ve "met" so many good people out there through the power of words and also met some readers in real life.
There have been some that quit writing and we lost touch and others that stop and come back. Then there are some that have been here from the beginning and I truly feel apart of their lives. There´s Rita and her daughter Jackie in Ciudad del Este, my fellow bloggers from Paraguay. Rita was there almost from the beginning. We have met in real life and it makes a huge difference. You really feel like you know the person better.

Then there are those faithful commenters from the US. I love you guys. Even though we´ve never met you have made a big impact in my life. Praying for me when I´m down, encouraging me and celebrating with me when I´m happy. There´s Mari and (the other) Betty who´s comments I can always count on. They have both also had their blog for quite a few years and if someone is looking for blogs to read you should pop in there.

Then their are Jeanie and Pam in Colorado. They have become true friends and we have a standing coffee date, once I manage to get up there. haha
I have to also mention Joyce who is the author of all those Hodgepodge questions. She is my writing inspiration. I love how she can use words to make a post almost like poetry.
And my newest very good friend Pam from Empty Nest. She is my inspiration to lose this unnecessary weight and I can only hope to have half her discipline.

I could go on and on. I know I´ve forgotten some very good people, but this is getting too long.
There are so many good people out there and I am always drawn to a blogger that is not super popular. I like to have a relationship with the person and not go under the "crowds" of comments. Because commenting is the only way you CAN have a relationship with the person. If the person connects with you, you will email back and forth and that happens behind the "scene". I´ve had bloggers give me such good advice and they have blessed my life tremendously. I want to thank all of you here. You guys mean so much to me and I hope we will stay in touch for a long time to come.

May the next five years be as good as the first.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-11-01T22:25:00.000-03:00

I´m back for some Hodgepodge fun.

1. Who taught you how to cook?
I taught myself. When I left home I was 17, living far away from my mother, so there was no one to rely on but me. I remember the first rolls I baked. When I took them out of the oven they all slid to one end of the baking sheet, because I had used too much oil. And they were hard as candy. hahaha ....I still do not enjoy making rolls/Mennonite Zwieback.They did NOT look like this:

Foto: Google images

But I taught myself other good stuff to eat like this chocolate caramel sheet cake:

2. Have you been told you think too much? Are too much of a perfectionist? Are too sensitive? Were they right?
Too sensitive, yes. Think too much? NO! I´m way too impulsive and NOT a perfectionist.

3. As a child did you have a favorite blanket or toy? Tell about it.
I can´t remember that I did. So probably not.

4. What 'institution' do you have the most faith in?
Even though many people have gone through divorces I still have faith in the institution of marriage and family. If a person is willing to give it their all, it CAN work. Same goes with family. Everybody has to give of themselves.

5. Chrysanthemums-pansies-burning bush-ornamental cabbage...your favorite in an autumn garden?
Pansies.

6. What superpower do the kids in your neighborhood seem to posses?
They posses the power to drive me crazy. Our neighbor boy has a motorcycle and it is his pride and joy. Like all teenage boys, he loves it LOUD. He had on the loudest muffler there was. When he came home from school we could hear it from far away. He would go as fast as he could, then start to shift the gears downward. This makes the motor drone even louder and when he shifted down to the last gear it made a big BANG! It really was annoying. I write in past tense, because finally one day the police caught him and made him put on a quieter muffler. He also had to pay an expensive ticket.
(Do you see me secretly jumping up and down for joy?) My nerves are almost heal now. haha

7. Are you a fan of the cranberry?
We don´t have them here, so I don´t really know them. But just shortly I found some dried cranberry´s and I´m going to use them for baking.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
Not much new in our household right now. That explains the lack of posting. Time is flying by and before you know it the year will be over. I can´t believe we are thinking of Christmas again. But I do like the thought of Christmas music. I love it. I´m actually listening to it right now.
Work is getting busier by the minute, but better that than being bored.
Tonight is a highlight. Girls night out. Should be fun. Life is good.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-10-18T21:15:00.000-03:00

I´m back for some Hodgepodge fun.

1. How do you typically react in a sudden, extreme, pressure-filled crisis? Would we want you nearby in an emergency?
I think I do my best work when I´m under pressure. I may look like a chicken with her head cut off, but I take control andget it done. Same with emergencies.

2. Caramel apple-caramel sundae-caramel corn-caramel macchiato...of the four, which carmel treat would you choose?

Caramel sundae!! Hmmmmmmmmmm

3. Is there such a thing as destiny? Explain.
I´m not sure. I always thought it´s destiny to find the one partner for life, but after seeing my daughter lose a few "destined"boyfriends I think it´s up to you to make your destiny.
If life gives you lemons, it´s up to you to make lemonade of it.

4. What's your favorite piece of furniture? I'm referring to something currently in your possession as opposed to something on your wish list.

(I couldn´t find a picture of the whole couch, but this is half...)

My couch. In the evenings it´s my favorite place to lay on and watch tv or blog. It´s also where I go when hubs is snoring too badly and I can´t sleep.

5. Wednesday night marks the start of the 2011 Baseball World Series. Did you know? Do you care? Will you be watching? Ever been to a professional baseball game? If you're not an American do you find the title 'World Series' annoying or amusing?
I´ve never been to a professional game and don´t really care. Baseball is not a sport I grew up with (we left Canada when I was 11) and later in life I´ve never been interested in watching sports. We don´t "get" the world Series on our satelite channels, so it doesn´t annoy me. :)

6. A sound that takes me back to my childhood is____________.
The sewing machine. My mother used to make all our "Sunday" clothes for us and did a lot of sewing. I never got into it, but if I hear a sewing machine it reminds meof my mom, when she was still well.

7. On average, once you've linked your hodgepodge post to mine how many other participant blogs do you visit? Do you ever come back to the Hodgepodge later in the day or even the day after to read posts?
I usually visit about 4 or 5 other hp posts and try to comment on those. But they are on my Blog reader list anyway´s so I don´t normally go back to your blog to choose from there. I just don´t have the time.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
My quest to lose weight is going well, but very slowly. I never thought that a fifty year old body would be so stubborn to let go of it´s fat.It seems like every ounce is a mayor accomplishment. But like I wrote in my other blog, I think God is making it extra hard for me, so that Ilearn to eat healthy along the way. It also teaches me to say NO to things I don´t need.
One incentive I have is that we want to go on vacation in Feb. of next year. We are planning a trip to a city near Rio in Brazil. It´ssomething we´ve never done before and I´m super excited about that!! And I really really need to lose weight before I show myselfin a bathing suit!! I´ll post more details once everything is booked, but I already don´t know how I´ll stand to wait 3 more months!!

To my 23 year old!

2011-10-12T21:05:00.000-03:00

So now it´s your turn. Even though you´re turning 23 you are still my baby and you´ll always be it. I love how your eyes sparkle when you´re happy andhow you have a passion for your patients. You are creative and sensitive. You make my day brighter and better.

Not sure what´s wrong with blogger, but it won´t upload my pictures correctly.

You were my surprise for Papi. We had talked about having a second baby, but he wanted to wait a while yet. He still rememberedthe screaming of your sister and you know me...I forget.
I really wanted my children to be close in age, because I knew we weren´tgoing to have many. I did not want to go through the "Itch" for many children. So when you were expected it was a surprise to yourdear dad, but not to me. :) (He forgave me...)

I was hoping for a better pregnancy this time around and for the first 6 months all was well. But then one day there was an itch hereand an itch there. And no scratching could make the itch go away. My high blood pressure also made it´s way back and I had totake medicine for that. So for the last 12 weeks, there was itching.Luckily I did not have to work, because we were already living in Paraguay. I was a stay at home mother and had my mom closeby. She was there to babysit when my itching kept me up at night and I needed to get some sleep. Ice became my best friend.It was the only thing that kept me sane, when I thought I could not stand it any more.

Oct. the 13th was a beautiful spring day. A Saturday. There was a spring festival at Flor del Chaco and I really wanted to go. I wasstill 3 weeks away from my due date. Hubby offered to stay with Marisa, and my parents took me along. While we were there I started tofeel some pains. But because my first borns labor beginning had been so different I did not recognize them as labor pains.Once the contractions started to come more regularly I had an incling this might be it. But we stayed till dusk and enjoyed the day.When I was home I was sure that this would be it. The contractions were coming at a pretty steady pace now and were getting stronger.I was scared of this birth, because in Canada I had gotten an epidural right away and did not have that much pain. In Paraguay (back then)they did not offer this. Was I going to be able to handle a birth with no pain killers?
In the evening your dad brought me to the hospital and went back home to stay with Marisa. I did not want him there. I was one of those womanthat would rather deal with her pain alone and not have anybody touch her. My best friend was a nurse at the time in our hospital and shewas at my side. She offered to give me a back rub, but I didn´t want anybody to touch me. I still remember the little green light that Iwas focusing on. I remembered from my prenatal classes, that I was told to concentrate on one item and focus your pain there. And for me it was a little green light on the wall (from some kind of monitor). If anybody stood in front of my little light I would get panicky andthey quickly moved aside. :)
But I did it. And 12 hours later our second little girl was born. You were 3300 gram and 50 cm long.

Even then you had your beautiful big eyes. And your adorable dimples.You were also not a long sleeper. During the day you slept in 20 minute intervals. If I wanted to get anything done I had to do itthen. It was a very tiring 2 years, until you learned to sleep a little longer. But once you did, you started to enjoy it. Your bed time was usually 8 pm. If we had guests over and they had children along, and they stayed late, it didn´t bother you. When you felt the need, youwent to bed. Be it with other children around or not. You needed your sleep. And you still do. (Even if you often don´t want to admit it)

You know we are proud of you, at how you´ve grown into a beautiful responsible young woman. Your short life has hadmany trials and tribulations, but through it all you held your faith in God. You have grown so much through those hardships and I´m sure that God has many blessings in store for you.

Happy Birthday Michelle! We love you!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-10-05T02:11:00.003-03:00

It seems all I have time for is Wednesday´s hodgepodge. Sorry about the lack of posting, I´ll explain why in Nr. 8.

1. What's your favorite meal to serve on a chilly autumn evening?

Home made soup with Mennonite Rollkuchen (pieces of fried dough).

2. Are you a creature of habit? Explain.
Not really. I don´t mind changing things around. I love trying new recipes and don´t cook the same meals each week. I like to be spontaneous and don´t mind that much if my plans need to be changed.

3. What food product (no longer readily available) do you remember and miss from days gone by?

I know these are still available, but not to me. Me and hubby love these candy bars and we miss them.
(Then again, now that I´m trying to eat less, it´s good they are not readily available over here)

4. What's something you've lost that you've never been able to find? Any theories as to what happened?

A pocket knife I used at work. I had it for 10 years and it was my letter opener. I also used it to remove those stubborn staples. One day I was removing many such staples from a pile of documents and somehow it got mixed up with the papers. When I thew the papers out that were trash the knife was scooped up and also thrown out. Never to be seen again.... :( I miss my knife.

5. Zoo~circus~ carnival...your favorite?

Circus. I´ve only been to one real circus, but I´d love to see it again.

6. What song makes you feel instantly happy?

I´m actually listening to lots of music lately. Since I´m walking more, it helps me to walk faster and longer. I love anything with a quick beat and don´t really know the artists that perform it.

7. To what extent are you an argumentative person?

My husband would say I´m VERY argumentative, but I think I´m not that bad. I´d rather give in, than have a long argument with someone. Even though I know I´m right.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

As you´ve noticed my posting is lacking. The reason is because I have two blogs.
I tried to "do" two blogs before but I can´t do it. One of them will suffer. As I wrote a while ago, I have started a journey to lose weight and this is my top priority at the moment. I have a different blog for that, because I joined a challenge as well. Yesterday I actually posted the wrong post on this blog instead of the other one. That´s when I realized it´s getting a bit much. For now I´m going to take a break here and will be focusing on changing my life style. Once in a while I will post mayor events here that I do not want to forget. But for now this is more important for me. I´ve lost 9 lbs. so far, but it´s hard. Being 50 and trying to diet is not as easy as it used to be. I need all my strength to do it, but I am feeling great and that is incentive enough.

I will be reading your blogs though and will comment as I have time.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-09-28T00:55:00.003-04:00

1. It is officially fall here in North America...I realize not everyone who participates in the Hodgepodge lives in North America but if you do, what's your favorite memory of Summer 2011? If you're not in North America, what's your favorite memory of the season just ending on your side of the world?

I´d have to go with my 50th birthday party. It was a great day. Filled with old friends (this is me with my childhood friend. Friends since we were 16), family and of course good food. A truly blessed day.

2. Your favorite nut? You know I mean the edible kind, right?

Pistachio´s or roasted sunflower seeds, they are a close tie.

3. What activity puts your sense of balance to the test?

Stepping off the treadmill. I don´t know why, but everytime I get off the treadmill I´m so dizzy I almost fall. That´s why I only use it when it´s impossible to walk outside.

4. How would you describe your sense of humor?

Sarcastic. I love me some sarcasm.

Source: plus.google.com via Betty on Pinterest

5. September 28th is National Ask a Stupid Question Day...what's your stupid question?

Why is "lb" short for pound, when there is not even ONE letter in the word??

6. Roller skates~hula hoop~jump rope...which activity would you most enjoy? Yes, you have to choose.UGH! I don´t know how to roller skate, but considering the other two options I think I´d enjoy that most.

7. What's your most sentimental possession?

I have the love letters me and hubby sent each other, when I had just moved to Canada. I was 18, alone and lonely. It didn´t take long forhim to follow.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I found this poem and it spoke to me. I wanted to share it with you.

As I entered Heaven's door, Not by the beauty of it all, Nor the lights or its decor.
But it was the folks in Heaven Who made me sputter and gasp--
The thieves, the liars, the sinners, The alcoholics and the trash.
There stood the kid from seventh grade Who swiped my lunch money twice.
Next to him was my old neighbor Who never said anything nice.
Bob, who I always thought Was rotting away in hell, Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
Looking incredibly well.
I nudged Jesus, 'What's the deal? I would love to hear Your take. How'd all these sinners get up here?
God must've made a mistake 'And why is everyone so quiet, So somber - give me a clue.'
'Hush, child,' He said, 'They’re all in shock. No one thought they'd be seeing you.'

JUDGE NOT!! Remember...Just going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car. Every saint has a PAST... Every sinner has a FUTURE!

25 years ago

2011-09-24T04:00:00.000-04:00

I´m not sure I ever told my daughters their birth story´s. And if so, not as detailed as this will be (be forewarned.). Taking the cue from my friend Joyce, I´m "giving" them their birth stories for their birthday´s this year.

Today is the day my first daughter was born, 25 years ago. She was very much wanted but came very unexpectedly three weeks too early.

But let´s start at the beginning. After having waited for 6,5 years to have a child we were very ready for a pregnancy. Having lost a child6 months prior, when I found out we were pregnant again we were elated. We waited to make sure all was well, then told everyone. At thetime we were still living in Canada. The telephone connections to Paraguay were not that good back then, so telling our parents wasdone by snail mail. Of course they were very happy for us.
Everything went well until I was about 7 months (now they say 28 weeks) into my pregnancy. I started to feel itchy all over, but especially inside my hands and on my toes.Since I had no way of knowing what was causing this, I went for a check up and after some blood tests they found out I was suffering fromCholestasis of pregnancy. It´s a rare genetic disorder of the liver that happens in late pregnancy. The symtoms are various but most prominent isthe itching. And it gets worse as the pregnancy progresses, but goes away within a few days after delivery.
When I went for another check up I was also diagnosed with high blood pressure and had to stay in the hospital for 10 days. It also meantI had to quit work right away. This was totally not what we were expecting. When you´re young you just assume everything will go well. We imagened me working at my job till the end and having a nice calmpregnancy.So having nothing to do but watch soap operas at home, I was totally looking forward to the delivery date which was supposed to be in Oct.The itching was getting worse and worse and my hands and feet were full of scabs and even my huge stomach was starting to itch. All that helpedme was if I took a piece of ice and held it to the place of my itch until it hurt more than it itched.
I had many sleepless nights and my nerves were raw. Anything would make me cry and I was at my wits end.(Later after we moved to P. my mom told me she had had the same disease with one of her pregnancies too).
Anyway about three weeks before my due date I went to see the doctor for my weekly blood pressure check. That´s when they found out I wasalready in labor and didn´t even know it. Unfortantly it meant for a long labor. I didn´t have bad labor pains, but they lasted the whole dayand through the night (the labor got worse as time wore on). Finally, 24 hours later, our beautiful daughter Marisa Anne was born.

We were so happy. Finally we had the baby we so wished for. She was the sweetest thing. My itching subsided and you would think all wouldbe well. But on the third day after the birth, I got the pregnancy blues. I started to cry and couldn´t stop. I missed my mother and wanted to be held myself andnow I had to be a mother myself and I didn´t know the first thing about babies. Those first few weeks were very hard for me and if itwasn´t for my dear friend Barb, I don´t know how I would have managed.

My sweet little baby was a screamer.
Every evening before she wouldfall asleep she would scream for an hour. We could hold her, cuddle her, feed her or rock her....nothing helped. She screamed. It was veryfrustrating and I feel for every mother who has to go through this.After a couple of months we decided family was important to us and we wanted our kids to know their grandparents,so we decided to moveback to Paraguay. It was a decision that many people tried to talk us out of, but we think it was the right one.

Marisa was a happy child, always willing to help and learn. She had/has many friends and they were and still are important to her. She is a talented photographer and is loved by her little kinder-garden students.

We are proud of you and love you!

Happy Birthday Marisa!

Foto Fridays

2011-09-23T02:53:00.000-04:00

Last week was filled with friends and lots of laughter.
Our group of friends had not seen each other in quite a while (and the weather was just perfect) so we decided to make some "Hühnerbraten". That is a Mennonite dish where you stew some home grown chickens outside in a big iron skillet (not sure if you call it that in english).
We went to our friends place who live on a farm. They have one cow that they milk for their own fresh milk and this cow had adopted two little calf's. While we were there I went to check this out and as you can see in the photo, all three calf's are suckling at the same time. It was so adorable.

As usual the guys played their billiard and us woman "chatted". :)

Our friend A. was the head "chef". The rest of us were there to give advice. haha

This is how it looked in the beginning.

And this is the finished product. It is accompanied with Yuca, Salad and rolls.

Afterward we sat by the ~~smoke~~ fire and rubbed our full stomachs. LOL.

Then on Wednesday we celebrated my friend Uschi´s birthday.

She is a dear friend and always fun to be with. This is the group of woman that were there.

All in all a great week.

I´ll be joining the rest of the gang at Java´s for Follow Friday again. Check it out here.

Foto Fridays - Rodeo 2011

2011-09-16T02:13:00.001-04:00

Like I promised, I´ll be sharing some pics from our annual Rodeo. Marisa took all of them and she gave me permission to share. Since the pics are pretty much self explanatory, you can enjoy the colors and the expressions on the faces.

This photo below is made of six pictures put together. I think it´s amazing! It shows the obstacle course that the riders were making.

This one is made of two.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Let´s party!

2011-09-15T19:01:00.000-04:00

I´ve got this great party I´d like to invite you to.
It´s held at a blog friend´s blog and it´s an on-line house party! Yes, a proper on-line party to launch Carol’s debut novel Mini Skirts and Laughter Lines.

It should prove to be a fabulous opportunity to meet new bloggers and friends; a huge cyber gathering, so come on and join me over at her blog called FACING 50 WITH HUMOR. I can invite as many guests as I want and you only need to bring a sense of fun with you. You will be able to mix and meet a variety of people from Blogland.
There will actually be virtual games (have you ever tried ‘Pin the tail on a virtual donkey or virtual juggling?’), virtual food – you won’t get fat on that, music of your choosing. There is a ‘Mini Skirt’ competition with a few surprises.
There is also a ‘Laughter Line’ contest where you can vote for your favourite joke – an event which should bring a smile to your face.
In various ‘rooms’ you will be able to mingle and ‘chat’ to other bloggers and ‘A’ list celebrities. There are even some Guests of Honour. There will be virtual dancing and of course, as it is a book launch party, the opportunity to read some of Carol’s very entertaining novel and even win a copy.
Have you read the book already? Then come over and leave a comment – it could win you a prize.
Are you on Facebook? Then ‘like’ Carol E Wyer’s page and answer the question ‘What film/book or television series makes you laugh most?’It could win you a copy of the book.

The party starts at midnight UK time Friday 16th 2011 and will go on all day.
Come on, you can skip off work for a while...’

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-09-14T00:19:00.000-04:00

1. What do you do at the first sign of a cold? Will you get a flu shot this year?

I haven´t gotten a flu shot in years and since we are going into summer, I most likely won´t now. But for next winter I most certainly will. I had a coldthis past winter that lasted for months. I do believe they work.

2. What advice can you give about how to conquer fear?
I think the best thing is to face it head on. Usually fear comes from the unknown. If we explore what we are afraid of we will discover it to be needless.

3. Share two good things about your life right now.

No words needed, right?

4. A hot fall fashion trend in 2011 is a return to sixties style...tunics with pants, shift dresses, pencil skirts, cinched waists, bold prints, high necklines and short lengths to name a few. How does this fashion trend fit with your wardrobe and personal sense of style?

I like the tunic shirts that are in, because they flatter my body type, but mini skirts? Not so much. I´ll have to wait and see what really takes off, but I think at this age we can´t wear everything that is "in".

5. Were you involved in scouting as a kid? How about as an adult?

Nope.

6. Apple, pear, plum, pumpkin...your favorite fall flavor?

Plums if they are really sweet and apples come a close second.

7. What characteristics do you think are essential in a good teacher?

Patience. And being flexible. To be able to understand her students and connect on their level.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
Something I found on Pinterest the other day. Thought I´d share this good idea.

Source: oneshetwoshe.com via Betty on Pinterest

Use canning lids on a sheet pan to hold paper cupcake liners, so you can bake more cupcakes/ muffins at one time...genius!!

Ballet in our little Chaco

2011-09-11T13:06:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, my SIL called and asked if I wanted join her in going to the neighboring town to watch my niece in a show that she was performing in. My niece has taken ballet lessons for 7 years now and I had never seen her perform before. There is a dancing school in Filadelfia that teaches many different kinds of dances.
I was surprised at the variety that was presented and it was a great evening.

There was a string orchestra that played not just classical, but also pop and other popular music.

Then there was ballet. I love it and have not been to a real ballet since we lived in Canada.

I love how the little ones joined in. The little girl in the middle (with the arms down) was just the cutest.

Then there was "Danza Paraguaya". These are typical Paraguayan dances.

And last but not least there were German dances. Since our ancestors are German this dance was very popular and many people were clapping along.

Just so you get a taste of one Paraguayan dance I included a short clip.

I was very proud of my niece and next time she performs I will be there again.

32 years ago today...

2011-09-08T04:04:00.000-04:00

...we got married.
It was raining, the church we got married in was being renovated and we had not a dime in our pockets.

But we had each other. And we were happy. We are still happy and cherish the moments we have together.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-09-07T00:52:00.000-04:00

1. What is one piece of advice you would give a 'just turning' 21- year old adult?

My advice:

2. Besides cooler weather (or warmer weather, depending on your hemisphere) what is one thing you are looking forward to this fall?

RAIN!! (I guess you know by now, we like rain. haha)

Source: whippetmom365.blogspot.com via Liz on Pinterest

I´m also looking forward to a trip we are planing with our friends. Hopefully it will happen.

3. What sound lulls you to sleep?
See as Nr. 2.

4. September is National Preparedness Month...does your family have an emergency 'kit' and/or disaster plan in place?
The only natural disaster we experience here is drought. And for that we have many things to tide us over. We build cisterns to last a rainless winter. We make big water holes at the ranch for the cattle and we make well´s which (if we´re lucky) have enough sweet water that the cattle can drink.
We don´t really have an emergency kit in place though.

5. How has your blog changed since you started blogging? Or has it?
It has changed. I write about things I want to now, where as before I wrote many things that I thought my daughter might want to read (who lived in Canada at the time). I think a blog should be a place you feel comfortable in, not under pressure. That´s why I´ve been posting less too.

6. What's something you've recently learned to do on the computer?
I recently found out how to make a list of friends with a "Limited Profile" on my facebook page. Sometimes I think many people are just there to be nosy and when I don´t want them to see or read everything I just "custom" my post or pictures and it makes it so that those that are on LP will not be able to see the post. I know I could just unfriend them, but then there might be some hurt feelings....

7. Is a picture worth a thousand words? Elaborate.
How could I ever explain the beauty and the colors of this picture below?? There is just no way and if you see it yourself you know that a thousand words would not be enough...

Source: sunsurfer.tumblr.com via Betty on Pinterest

8. Insert your own random here.

As of Monday I have started a new journey of getting healthier and hopefully lighter. In order for me to be more disciplined and accountable I started another blog, where I will post about my struggles and up´s and down´s. If you´re interested in following me there, let me know in a comment and I´ll send you the URL. It´s a topic that I have avoided in this blog, because it´s so personal to me. That´s why I´m not publicizing the URL here. Hopefully this will help me to be more aware of what I¨m eating and get a grip on my weight.

Summer (Winter) SEVEN

2011-08-31T19:40:00.000-04:00

August is over. I can´t believe how fast time is flying. For us winter is coming to an end and we are ready for some rain and hot weather. I´ve decided to join Joanna @ The Fifty Factor in this end of Summer/Winter meme. Here are my Seven Off-The-Top-Of-My-Head List of Summer(Winter for me) Happenings..

1. My computer is fixed again it´s working good. Glad for that. I now know, never put your laptop down on the footstool. Cost me about $100.

2. My girls will be moving again. They had a contract with their landlord until Nov. 1st, but have decided to move out at the end of Sept. already. Marisa will be living on her own from then on. She found a cute little house to rent, with reasonable rent. Michelle will be moving back home for a while, because she wants to make a trip and it will be easier saving money this way. We don´t mind. I think she deserves a trip. After her long years of studying and now paying off her student loan, she has earned it.

3. Our cat is gone. It happened a while ago. Suddenly he disappeared into thin air. We searched and searched for him. I thought maybe he would be locked in somewhere, but we could not find a trace of him. The only thing I can think of, is that someone stole him.

4.Sunday we celebrated my husband´s birthday. He does not like for me to make a big deal of it, and wouldn´t let me invite anyone. He said, if someone wanted to come, they should come, but no big party. So I made some cake, just in case and it´s a good thing I did. I counted 17 people who showed up to wish him all the best. Family and friends.

5. I made a facebook page about Household tips.It´s called "All around the household". I was finding so many good ideas on Pinterest and wanted to share it with my friends on fb who are not on Pinterest yet. So if you´re interested you can "LIKE" my page (just click on the link), and get a new household tip every day (at least I try to update every day). It is bi-lingual page (German and English), because I´m sharing it with all my different speaking friends.
One example: How to make crisp even hems.

6. Spring is already here. We are loving the wild flowering bushes and the new green leaves of the trees.

But the water holes are pretty much empty and are waiting for the first rains.

7. I´m having a hard time with Nr. 7. Life has been pretty ~~boring~~ good the last couple of months, so what do I tell? I know. A while back I was telling you that we have two friends in Canada who were diagnosed with cancer. We have been praying for them and they have made it through their surgery´s well and are now recovering. We praise God that He is giving them more time to be with family. Thank you for those that prayed!

If you´d like to play along in this fun meme, grab the button up top and link up at Joanna´s blog.

My most embarrassing moments - VI

2011-08-29T20:09:00.000-04:00

Last Friday I came home from work, and since my husband had told me he would be late I made myself comfortable in my Ikea chair with my laptop on my lap.

I was enjoying myself, playing Words with Friends and reading blogs. Nothing like being home alone after a long day at work. :)
Suddenly the phone rang. It was our land line phone which rarely rings because most everyone uses cell phones these days. It usually only rings if it´s my parents or in laws. So I jumped up and wanted to put my laptop onto the footstool, but I guess I set it down too abruptly because before I could grab it, it flipped over and landed on the floor. A TILE floor. Face/screen DOWN.

It was NOT funny. I couldn´t believe something like this could happen to me! (Then again, of course it could. Why else would I have 6 of these embarrassing posts already....haha)
I don´t even remember who was on the phone or why. After the call I picked up the laptop, but all seemed to be working normally. So I turned it off and hoped for the best. I thought, "Whew, that was close".
The next morning I wanted to check my emails and right away I noticed how slowly my programs were responding. I knew right away....there was more to it and my luck had ended. The computer was definitely "on the fritz".
Luckily I have a really good computer "guy" and he had time for me right away. Today I could pick up my fixed laptop. The hard disc drive had been damaged, but he was able to recover all my data. All I need to do now is pay......

Another lesson learned.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-08-24T00:54:00.000-04:00

1. What is something that bothers you if it's not done perfectly?

I can´t really think of anything significantly, but one "tick" I have is that when we leave the table all the chairs must be put back into place. I hate it when they are sticking out or out of order.

2. Do you think a 6th sense exists? Explain.

Yes I do. Sometimes I sense when my girls need prayer and I don´t take this feeling lightly. I think it´s more prevalent in woman and some have it more than others.

3. Do you say your goodbyes slowly, quickly, or not at all?

Quickly. I know people that linger and linger and it just makes it harder.

4. On a scale of 1-10, with ten being hot hot hot, what level of spice do you like in your food? What's your favorite 'spicy' dish?

I don´t like it VERY spicy, maybe a 6 or 7. My fave is sweet and spicy chicken wings. Hmmmm!

5. What is one of your all time favorite commercial jingles?

Since we have such different comercials down here, I looked on line to find an ad I liked and that everyone would remember. When I found this one it brought back many memories. Remember the Slinky?
Slinky - Original Commercial Song

I can´t say it´s my favorite though, because I do not have one.

6. Plane, train, boat or auto...your preferred method of travel?

Since I have not traveled per train or boat yet, I can´t really say. I do like a good road trip tho, so I´ll go with auto.

7. What is something you take for granted?

Being able to walk without pain. I have two friends who both have rheumatism in their knees and can only walk slowly and always painfully. I can´t imagine not being able to jump up and going where I want to go and need to be more thankful for that.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I got a new office at work! And I´m loving it. For the first time in 13 years I have an office all to myself! The one I had before was kind of a "pass through" to get to the next office, so it was not private. Now I have a room all to myself and it´s great! It was not a promotion. A co-worker quit her job a while ago already and ever since then the room was standing empty. Finally I convinced my boss to let me move in there and now he´ll never get me out again....LOL! :)

Rodeo

2011-08-21T14:24:00.000-04:00

This is weekend is a big deal for all ranchers in this part of our world. It´s rodeo time. Up till now we didn´t really go every year, but now our daughter has a bf who is a member of the club that organizes it and even rides in the parade. So this year we are there. :)

I went with my daughter yesterday and we watched at least fifty horses come in and do a dance or some sort of parade. I filmed the whole thing and wanted to show you here, but as always blogger is acting up and won´t let me upload. So once I get a hold of some more pics I´ll post those. It was really interesting and today should be a lot of fun too. Today there is supposed to be a motorcycle show with stunts and all kinds of maneuver´s, which my husband is interested in, so we´ll be going for that.

The weather was really awful these last few days. VERY windy and freezing cold. That was not good for the rodeo. Many people didn´t go and they (the organizers) were getting pretty desperate, but today the wind has finally died down, so I´m sure there will be many people there. In the evening there will be a fireworks show too, to end the event. Should be good.

In the morning we went to church and we had a very good sermon. One of our younger youth pastors spoke about listening to the Holy Spirit when HE speaks to us. Sometimes we think we need a huge sign to tell us what HE wants us to do, but mostly it doesn´t happen that way. God speaks quietly and if we don´t listen we will miss it. I´m sure you all have that little voice inside of you, telling you what is right, encouraging you to speak up or just making you feel like you need to do something. That is the Holy Spirit. And it´s up to us to obey him or not. I needed this message. It gave me new hope and encouraged me to listen more carefully of what God wants of me.

My girls

2011-08-18T00:46:00.000-04:00

I got a request for an update on my daughters, so I thought that´s a perfect topic to get back to writing, because I love to write about them. The only reason I don´t do it much, is to respect their privacy.

I´m not sure how far back to go, or what I´ve already written about them. But I´ll fill you in for this year.
Michelle finished her RN studies last year already, but in April they finally had the graduation ceremony. That was a highlight for her and us.

She is working at our local hospital (the only one in town). Sometimes it´s hard for her to get along with so many different people, but she loves her work and I know the patients love her (they told me so).

At the end of last year she broke up with her bf of two years. This was a very tough time for her to go through and we all suffered with her. But she has survived and is happy again. With a little help from a new boy in her life. :)
We are happy for her, that she found someone else and that he is good to her. He is a mechanic (like her father), loves motorcycles (like her father) and racing/races (like her father). I think it´s so cool that she chose someone so much like my husband and we hope this relationship will grow.

Marisa is starting to feel at home again (I think). After 5 years of being away, it´s not so easy to get into the swing of things again. Most of her friends had married or are getting married. This was her childhood friend D. where she was a bridesmaid. The next friend marries in Feb. of next year.

So it´s a little tough finding new single friends or friends that are not married yet. Luckily she does have a good group of friends in Asuncion, which she visits every month or so.

She loves her work too. In the mornings (till 11:00) she is a teacher in the Kindergarden/Pre-school. School here is only in the mornings, so she has the afternoons free to do other stuff. She is also a tutor for two students in the afternoons.

It was amazing to see her fall in love. I had wished this for her for so long and after moving back to P. it only took about 2 months and she found her love. His name is Mark and he also has the same last name as we do (no relation though). He runs/is the administrator of three ranches. This means a lot of driving back and forth and Marisa loves to accompany him when time allows.

When I think of all the worrying I´ve done, I´m ashamed at myself at my lack of trust in God.
Their lives are so different from what I imagined they would be like. I thought for sure Marisa would find someone in Canada and never come back to P. And Michelle would also marry someone from Asuncion or eastern Paraguay and not live in Filadefia again. I already saw myself making many trips to visit them.

And now they are here. Both so close by, both with bf´s from here and both working here. I´m still amazed. NOT complaining at all. Who knows where their path will lead them in the future? I know from experience, not to expect too much and I am taking each day as is. I am enjoying spoiling them and cherishing each moment. My favorite times are the ones we spend around the dinner table and someone tells a story of their day. One of us (woman) start to giggle about something and the others get infected and join in. We usually can´t stop laughing till the tears are streaming and my stomach hurts. LOVE those moments!

We thank God each day for these special woman in our lives.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-08-17T00:25:00.000-04:00

1. Using what's in your fridge right now what sort of meal would you be able to make for guests who are knocking at the front door this very minute?

I would make my chicken lasagna. I have all the igredients because I wanted to make this yesterday (Monday), but then my husband went to the ranch for the whole day and one of my daughters went fishing (it was a holiday). So in the end it was just me and Michelle and I didn´t want to make such a big meal for just the two of us.

2. What is something about yourself that you hope will change but that probably never will?

My TONE of voice. I really need to work on that, but in the heat of the moment I completely forget....

3. What's something about yourself that you hope will never change?

I like to make people happy. Be it with a flower, a helpful hand, a package in the mail or some other little gesture. Giving gives me pleasure and I hope that won´t change.

4. Do you usually send serious or funny greeting cards? Why?

Mostly funny if I can find them. Our selection of cards is nothing to brag about around here.
I like to give funny cards, because I like to make people laugh.

5. Bird watching, shell gathering, or star gazing- your choice for whiling away the hours?

Bird watching is fun. We do it when we go to our friends ranch. They feed the birds, so there´s many that come for some dinner.

6. Do you double or triple check things? If so, what?

Only at work. I double check my forms that I send to the government, because it takes so long for something to get processed and if there´s a mistake they send the whole thing back and it takes even loooonger.

7. What's your favorite place for people watching?

In a restaurant. I even took a pic of the woman below, because I was so amazed of her "outfit"....

Or on a road trip. I love to see how other people in this country live or how they "try" to make a living.

Sitting by the road, selling whatever.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I want to thank everyone for their kind comments on my previous post. I was touched by your understanding and it gave me the necessary push to get my "juices" flowing again. I got some really good ideas what to write about so that is in the doing. I wanted to also share another picture from Sunday. We went to our friends ranch and enjoyed the flowering bushes. Another sign of spring.

Blogging blues...

2011-08-15T15:08:00.000-04:00

I can´t seem to get into the flow anymore.
My posts seem meaningless to me and I can´t think of anything worthwhile to write about. Life is good, for which we are very thankful. But it just doesn´t seem blog worthy to me. I need to do some thinking. Will I keep the blog or will I change it? Just changing the background template may help to make it look fresher, but it doesn´t help if the content isn´t worth coming back to.

Not sure what is wrong. Maybe my faithful commenters could give me a kick in the butt and tell me what they would like to read about. Maybe it´s just a phase, because usually when I decide to take a blog break I have lot´s of ideas what to write about. So I´m hoping for that.

What do you say?

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-08-10T00:31:00.008-04:00

1. If you could work for any one government agency which would you choose and why?

I would NEVER want to work for our government!! But if I HAD to I´d choose the tourism branch, because I´d want to make Paraguay a better place to visit. There are many places to see, but such bad organization and planning to facilitate it.

(Asuncion)

2. How difficult is it for you to forgive someone who refuses to apologize?
If it´s my husband or a sibling it´s not that hard, but if it´s a friend it´s harder. But in this case the saying is true, "time heals wounds".

3. What is your favorite meatless supper?
Ice cream.

4. Wednesday August 10th is National Lazy Day...will you be celebrating? If so, tell us how so we can be lazy too.
Since it´s only national it´s not for me...
But if we had such a day, I´d start the day by sleeping in, then go out for breakfast, then get out a good book and do some reading. I´d order lunch in and afterward have a siesta. In the afternoon I´d go visit a friend and in the evening go out to dinner with hubby.

5. As a child did you have any special back to school traditions and if so, what were they? If you're a parent did you carry on those traditions with your own children?
Every year before school started we would get some new "school" clothes. I think that´s where I first got my love for shopping. It was fun. When my kids were in school we kept up the tradition somewhat, but not exclusively before school. Since I owned a boutique back then, I always had a lot of to choose from for the kids and we eventually went to buying our clothes whenever the need arose.

6. Write a summer tongue twister.

She sells sea shells by the sea shore.

(Got this from Google because I really didn´t know one)

7. Would you be interested in observing a surgery or do you turn away when the nurse brings out the needle?

My husband and daughter (the nurse) love shows like the one in the picture. The gorier the better.
Me? Not so much. I do turn away when having blood drawn and I can´t watch (or listen) when someone is being cut open. I go and read a book.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
My blogging mojo is missing these days. Not sure why. I just have nothing to say. Life is ~~boring~~ good. Luckily the sand storms have subsided. Here´s a look at what our Sunday was like....

We are all in "waiting" mode right now. Waiting for the winter to end, waiting for the first rains, waiting for spring.

Foto Fridays - Pinterest

2011-08-05T04:53:00.001-04:00

Since the Chaco is at it´s worst right now, I really am not taking any photos lately. And since I´m still totally into my newest addiction, I thought I would show you why I´m still loving Pinterest.
Pinterest is a place to dream. It´s a place to get inspiration and ideas. It gives me the motivation to do stuff, I´ve been putting off. It is an online "pinboard" where you can "pin" inspiration photos from anywhere online.
If you like something you "Pin it" onto your own boards. You can have as many boards as you want and collect all your good ideas in one place. I have 15 boards, ranging from DIY and Organization ideas to inspirational quotes and cool photos I like.
Let me show you some examples.

This quote spoke to me:

And this kitchen island as well. When I get my new kitchen (hopefully next year) I am definitely having an island with a breakfast nook like this one made.

What about recipes? So many can be found. Like this. So simple, but I never would have thought of it.

Or this organizing tip below. When I saw this I immediately went to my "drawer for everything" i.e. junk drawer, brought it to my friend who owns a shop where they make furniture and had my drawer divided into sections like this. Finally I don´t have to be ashamed to open that drawer.

Another good organizing tip which I want to make for the summer, so I can clean up all my flip flops.

And for Christmas I´m going to attempt something like this.

And last but not least, this spoke to me today. I have a problem with my tone of voice and people misunderstanding me, so it gave me food for thought.

The possibilities are endless. You can collect ideas for events, weddings, partys and so on.

If you´d like to check out my boards, feel free to snoop around. Just click on the link. :)

Have a good weekend everyone!

Ice and Spring

2011-08-02T21:47:00.000-04:00

I didn´t have time to do this week´s HP, so this will be just any ol´ kind of post.

I "borrowed" the picture below from someone´s fb page.

If you know our weather, you know how rare it is to have ice on windshields. This morning it was 1°C/34F. Luckily it warmed up during the day and tomorrow it will be even warmer. It´s the second time this year that the temp´s went below 0°C, and this is pretty rare in any year. Who said anything about global warming??

In other news, I changed my blog design again, because I was sick of the fall picture. Our spring is just around the corner and the LaPacho Trees are already in full bloom.

Every year this tree is a sight for sore eyes. When everything looks at it´s worst it starts to bloom and it is like a light in the darkness of winter. It gives you hope of more to come.

Catching up post

2011-07-31T10:45:00.001-04:00

Today is Sunday and we are having some great weather. Cold, but not too cold, raining lightly (not enough to give us water in the cistern, but enough to cover the dusty roads). I love it. :)
Last night we finally had our celebration of my 50th birthday with our friends group. We had reserved a private room at the hotel and ordered dinner there. It was relaxing and fun. They read some funny poems and we had some great laughs. :) Still smiling the next morning.

Then some catching up. A few weeks ago we went to Asuncion and went to the annual Exposition there. It´s mostly about livestock but there are also some interesting other stuff. This year they were attempting (and succeeded) to break the world record for longest hot dog. It was done the night before we came, so we just got to see the frame that they made for it. It was just over 200 meters (668 ft.).

Here´s some pieces of hot dog still laying in the frame.

After walking the length of the frame,we realized it was a mayor accomplishment. That was one LOOOONG hot dog!
We went over to the arena and checked out some livestock. They were just giving out the prizes so it was interesting.

Afterward we wanted to check out the stands, but it was really filling up and the pathways were FULL of people!

One stand that I really liked, was where there were traditional handmade leather goods.

Above are all "guampas" (what we use to drink our Tereré tea) made of wood, then covered with leather.
Then I saw this handmade leather bag! I loved it! And now I´m sorry I didn´t buy it.

This is the whole stand.

We checked out some more of the Expo, but I was actually pretty disappointed in it. I had not been in a few years and it seemed to me like it was getting much more uninteresting each time I come. If you´re not into livestock there is not much else to be seen. So after we had lunch we made our way into town, where there are many shops and that´s my kind of thing. :)

So that was a day of our time in Asuncion. I thought it was interesting that Paraguay actually was able to get into the Guinness Book of Records and will be checking that out when it publishes.

What I like about Paraguay (Foto Friday)

2011-07-29T02:42:00.003-04:00

Today I need to remind myself why I´m living in Paraguay again. We´ve been having awful north winds which = sand storms and I am missing Canada so much. This is normal winter weather so there´s no hope it will change soon. We are not expecting rains yet, so this is it.
So I thought it would be good for me (and interesting for you) to know some of the good things we have down here.

1. Guayaba, or also know as Guavas. They are delicious and one of myfavorite fruits. You can eat the whole fruit with seeds and peel.It also makes a great marmalade.

2. The moonshine. On clear nights it´s so bright, you don´t even need lights outside.

3. The blooming Paratodo trees. They are a sure sign of spring when they start to bloom and I can´t wait for that to happen.

4. The way the Paraguayens enjoy life. Sometimes it can be frustrating, but mostly I wish I could have some of their "happy-go-lucky" attitude to life.

5. The sunsets!

(Photo by Marisa Wiens)

6. Drinking Mate or Tereré. This is a kind of tea which everyone drinks here, made of Yerba. In the winter wedrink it hot, in the summer cold.

7. The simpleness of life in the country. We can still letour kids play in the streets and not be worried ofthe unknown "stranger". We have very little traffic inour town and everything is close by. We don´t have a lot of play grounds with rides to offer kids and since they don´t even know they exist they are happy to just play in the sand. We don´t really need to lock our doors (but we do), and I know of many people who don´t.

8. The Iguazu Falls (these are actually on the Brazilian side, but hey..... they come from the Paraguayan river!)

9. Red grape fruit! My dad has at least 10 trees of themat his ranch.We are enjoying them right now.

10. The beautiful wild "bush" . We don´t call it jungle,because it is not a tropical climate.Our forest is very low and consists of many bushes. But when you go up north where land is still "pure and wild" you can find many lovely big trees too.

11. Siestas - We love them and they are holy. Over here there is nothing "happening" from 12 to 2 in theafternoons. Everyone is taking their siestas. It´s probably not held quite as strict in the city, but here in our town it´s a ghost town at siesta time.

12. Going fishing - and the look on hubby´s face when hecatches something :)

Now that I finished this post, I really really want to go fishing! :)

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-07-27T02:22:00.001-04:00

1. July is National Ice Cream month...your favorite flavor? Soft served, hand dipped, or frozen yogurt...which do you prefer? And technically yogurt is not ice cream but its hot outside so I'll let that slide for today.

DQ - soft serve, hand dipped cones! Hmmmmmm!

2. When you travel do you tend to pack too much or too little?

ALWAYS too much! I just can´t decide ahead of time what I´ll want to wear.

3. What's your favorite cleaning product?

I´m not sure if you have it over in your part of the world, but I use a lot of CIF.

4. Which is the greater tragedy-an innocent person imprisoned or a guilty person set free? Explain.

Well for me an innocent person imprisoned is more tragic.
I just can´t imagine the bitterness and frustration that person mustfeel. Also the guilt we as a society have against such a person is something I don´t like to think about.

5. What's the longest trip you've taken by car?

We went to Guaratuba Brazil back in 1997, which is 700 miles from where we live.It was a memorable trip, because we did not know the way (it was before Google Maps and GPS) and we had to follow two other cars (friends). NOT a fun way to travel, let me tell you. We were always the last ones and if the other two made it through a yellow light, we didn´t. Or if the other two passed a car or semi, there was usually no time for us to pass too. So that was a once in a lifetime trip....

6. tennis-golf-canoeing-biking...pick one.

I´ve only done biking, but don´t really like it. I would like to try golfing someday though.

7. What sound drives you crazy?

Any repetitive sound, like someone flicking their finger nails, a chirping of an insect or just plain SNORING!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I made these yesterday. Caramel Apple Cheesecake bars. They are VERY yummy! I found the picture on Pinterest and looked up the recipe and I was not disappointed. You can find the recipe here.

I´m here!

2011-07-25T20:42:00.001-04:00

I´m here and doing good. Life is moving along very pleasantly and a I´m thankful for that.
We survived the "Copa America", which is the Soccer Tournament that is held every four years. Paraguay made it to the finals, but sadly lost the last game. People were getting really fanatical about the games and each time they won there was a carnival on the streets of our little town. So it´s good that it´s over.

Other than that, not much new has happened. I´ve enjoyed my little break, but have developed a new addition. You remember a while back I wrote a post about things I didn´t get? One thing in that list was Pinterest.com and I´m afraid I have to eat my own words.... I thought to myself, why not check it out and see what "they" are all raving about. It didn´t take long for me to "get" it. And now I¨m hooked! There are so many great ideas on there,it´s amazing. My mind is full of new organizational ideas and I can´t wait to start using the tips I´ve found. If you decide to join the fun and need an invite just let me know. You can follow me at Betty1961.

I´ll leave you with some pics from my birthday celebration.

My and my SIL.

My ladies friends group. They and many other woman came to celebrate with me.

Opening some gifts.

My friend U. gave me these. LOL!

Some of the food we had. I had a really good time and was very blessed!

50

2011-07-18T04:57:00.000-04:00

Just back from a wonderful trip. I had prepared a post for yesterday, and scheduled it to publish, but as we know blogger, they didn´t come through. So this is the post, one day late:

Ok, so today is THE day. The day I was born 50 years ago.
I have very mixed feelings. In some ways I´m thinking "holy crap how did I get here so fast" in other ways I´m thinking "What is a fifty year old supposed to act like"?
I know I´m probably over thinking the whole thing, but I can´t help it. It seems like 2 years ago I just turned 40, and now here are the 50´s already! What I know is that I feel great and I am thankful for that. I am much better off than some of my friends who are the same age.
My daughter gave me a compliment. She said she was speaking to her friends the other day, and told them her mom was turning 50. The friends couldn´t believe it, they thought I was much younger. Awwww, right?
Made me feel good.
I also know it´s just a number. You ARE as old as you feel and I plan on feeling even better about myself this year. I hope to change one big thing in my life, that being my weight. I know it´s high time to get serious and I hope I can succeed.
I had a great celebration with my friends on Wednesday. There were gifts, laughing, hugs and of course good food. Today I´m (if all went as planned) in Asuncion enjoying the city and some shopping. My husband is good to me and knows what I want. :)
So this is me. 50 years young and blessed.

P.S. I´ll be taking a short blogging break.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-07-13T05:56:00.000-04:00

1. How has your hometown changed since you were a kid? What has changed most about the neighborhood you grew up in?

I live in the town that I was born in and it has changed a lot since then. Back then there were so few people living here and we were allowed to drive on motorcycles from the age of 13. We never had to wear helmets and it was the best feeling of freedom. This is me and my sister. It´s a good thing people have to wear helmets now and the law is strictly enforced.

We also didn´t have any paved streets back then. Now at least the main roads are asphalt and it is not as muddy when it rains.

2. What song makes you laugh?

I really really can´t think of one.

3. Are you a fan of Harry Potter? Read the books? Seen any/all of the movies? Will you be standing in line somewhere close to midnight later this week? For those of you playing along today who live outside the US or UK is Harry Potter a phenomenon in your part of the world?

Since my kids are grown I´m not really sure if other children read this series. But as far as I know the Harry Potter books are not as popular here as they are in the US. I¨m glad, because I really don´t like them.

4. If the truth hurts, will you tell a lie? Are we better off as a society in a world that allows no form of deception whatsoever?

Tough questions. I can´t lie. So I would have to say yes. But I would not hurt someone with the truth unless they asked me directly.

5. What is your favorite 'sauteed in garlic and butter' food? Or garlic and olive oil if that makes you feel better.

Tenderloin suateed in garlic and olive oil. Simple yet soooo delicious!

6. Attending any reunions this summer/year? High school? family? Other? Do these events stir up excitement or dread?

We had a cousins reunion a few weeks ago. My cousin from the US was visiting her family and we got together too. It was nice to see her again after 7 years and see pictures of her family. I like these events if they are kept informal and not too long. Usually though we just have family gatherings at Christmas and Easter.

7. Lilac, hydrangea, peony...pick one.

Hydrangea!! I love them, but unfortunately they do not grow here, because it is so hot.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Today I´m celebrating my birthday. But please no birthday wishes yet! I´m not 50 till I´m 50, which is Sunday. Since we will be away on that day I decided to invite my friends for today and "celebrate". I still can´t really be happy about it, but like they say
"Stop whining. Change it. If you can´t change it, live with it".
And since I can´t change it might as well enjoy it, right?

My most embarrassing moments Part IV

2011-07-10T15:23:00.001-04:00

One day I was finally getting around to de-cluttering. You know how things just seem to lay around in stacks and everyone just keeps putting more papers onto the stacks instead of cleaning them up?Well I was fed up and in "cleaning mode" and when I start to clean...watch out. (Ask my kids....)
I went through the stacks of paper that were laying there for weeks and threw out what I thought was useless or out of date. I did not turn over each paper though....
The way we dispose of our garbage is this. We have a barrel at the back of our lot and put our garbage in there. Once it is full my husband drives it to the garbage dump, which is about once every two weeks.

Since I had been doing so much "cleaning" and de-cluttering the barrel was full. So hubs brought it all to the dump.

A few days later. Hubby is looking for his "cedula", which is like your personal ID card here in Paraguay. VERY important to have and VERY important to never loose it. He had taken it out of his wallet, but I don´t remember why.

Anyway he remembered putting it on a pile of papers that were by the fridge. The pile of papers was gone now....(guess who had thrown them out). I told him though that I was sure, that his cedula was not in those papers. Well, he never believes me so guess where he went? He went to the dump.
And found our garbage bags. He ripped them open, found the stack of papers that had lain by the fridge and FOUND his cedula there!!! I was so embarrassed!

Have you ever thrown out something important without realizing it?

2011-07-07T05:31:00.005-04:00

"Letting your adult children go is one thing. Learning to keep your mouth shut is quite another."

This is a sentence written at a new blog I found. You should take a look at the post Dr. Kathy McCoy wrote, titled: Feeling the limits with adult children. Just click on the link.
It stirred up some emotion for me, because it is something I have so much trouble doing. To just shut up and LET them.Who knew it could be so hard. It´s something I have not mastered yet, I freely admit it. Maybe I never will.
Even though they have lived away from home for so long, it is especially hard with both of my kids living so close by now, I constantly want to "help" them or give them "advise" they don´t need. How do you stop?! How do you know where the "line" is?
Just yesterday I went shopping with one of the girls. She bought some pants for work that she really needed but they needed to be hemmed. I offered to take them to the seamstress right away so she could use them sooner. She said no. I was about to insist, but was able to be quiet. Seems like a minor incidence, but this is a typical thing that I do, and I need to learn to wait for them to ask me.
And after reading Dr. McCoy´s post yesterday it´s something I want to practice more often and succeed at more often. Not just at such harmless situations mentioned above, but also when I see that they could get hurt or make mistakes.
As she writes, all we can really do is "Shut up and PRAY!".

What about you? If you have grown kids, do you have trouble being quiet or is it something you needed to learn too? Maybe you can give me some tips...

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-07-05T21:51:00.000-04:00

1. What is the most useful book in your house?

My cookbook.

2. What's worse-being too hot or too cold?

Too cold! Being cold hurts, being hot is just uncomfortable.

3. Share something that made you smile this past weekend.

We had a baptism at our church last Sunday and 10 people got baptized. It made me smile to see them so happy after they made this decision. I remembered this video of a funny baptism and had to share. You can´t help buy laugh!

4. How do you like your hamburgers? Or don't you?

I like hamburgers. We have them at least once a month. I like them with Mustard, Ketchup, Tomato, Lettuce, a slice of bell peppers,and maybe some cheese. Homemade of course.

5. What's your summer beach read? If it's not summer in your part of the world then tell us what book you're reading in front of the fire while sipping hot cocoa.

I know you were thinking of me here Joyce. Thanks for that.
I have actually not read in front of the fire yet, because I usually have my laptop in front of me....But I did start the book "Running with Scissors". While looking up the link for this book, I realized there is a movie made of the book. Anybody seen it?Is it worth seeing?

6. How was your birthday celebrated when you were a kid?

I invited about 5 - 10 friends from school and we had a happy afternoon filled with playing games. My mom made a cake andsandwiches and it was all good.

7. What's something that is totally uncool that you love anyway?

High waisted pants. I never got used to low riders and luckily they are on their way out.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Our temp´s are still cold down here and the fire never goes out in the fireplace. Blankets and throws are always close at hand and we feel blessed to be able to keep warm. I worry about the poor, that have nothing or little to keep warm.

Random Sunday

2011-07-03T15:21:00.000-04:00

Maribeth from Dackel Princess bestowed me with this special award. You all know I love my blogs, so I thank you very much Maribeth!
Of course there are rules.

1. Thank and link to the person who nominated you. (Did that)

2. Share seven random facts about yourself.

I am turning 50 in 3 weeks. (Insert silent scream here....)
I´m over winter (and it´s only just started...).
I made a fb page called "Handmade" where people can portray their arts and crafts and sell them. I hope it catches on.
I constantly drive too fast.
People who stand in the grocery aisle and visit with other people drive me nuts. (We have a very small supermarket and the aisles are very narrow)
I love the show Property Virgins and House Hunters International. Any of you know them?
Our first car was a 1967 Chevy Malibu.

3. Share this award with 10 other bloggers.
This is the part that I don´t follow. But if you are reading here and love blogs and blogging as much as I do, feel free to take this award and pass it on.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Our weather has been really cold lately. My fireplace is always lit and we are trying to keep warm, which is a bit hard with no heating. Good thing our winters never last that long. It´s hard to get moving because you have to wear so much clothes inside and your body is just stiff! So I´m just on "survival" mode. I´m thinking about how I want to celebrate my birthday since it´s a round number this time around. I¨m not really into the formal sit down party, so it will probably be a home celebration. We´ll see.

My cold and back (which had been bothering me last week) are much better and it´s a relief to know I´ll feel better this week. It could be I got that cold from last weekend, when it was freezing, but we spent the day outside with our friends. We tried to keep warm with a fire and Mate, but it was so windy. We still had a great time. We made Pigeon stew. It´s pigeon season down here and many hunters come from the US to go on hunts. Here are some pics from last Sunday.

We put up a huge tarp, to protect against the icy wind. It helped some.

Who knows what Chiremoya are? They were ripe and I went to pick some from our friends tree. They are very yummy.

While we waited for the stew to cook, we played Phase 10 and Billiard.

A perfect day.

2011-06-29T03:06:00.000-04:00

1. What makes you stand to your feet and cheer?
When someone gets what they deserve. (Meaning in a good and bad sense...)

2. What's your favorite patriotic song?

"Oh Canada." ( I´m not a very typical Paraguayan...)

3. Do you believe that opposites attract?If you have a significant other are you opposites?
Oh yes! I have seen it over and over, that opposites attract and sometimes it´s good, other times the result isdisaster. Me and hubby are about as much opposites as their can be. That´s probably why there are still"sparks" in our marraige. haha

4. You're going to get a behind the scenes look someplace...where would you like that someplace to be?
I have some friends who always put on a perfect front. Their marraige, family life and everything seems to be without fail.I would love to see a behind the scenes look into their life. Just because I can´t believe it really is THAT perfect...

5. How far would you have to travel to ride a carousel (merry-go-round)?
You mean one that doesn´t look like it will fall apart? Then it would be to another country like Brazil.or Argentina. In Paragauy I´ve never seen one,that looks like I would want to risk my life and get on it.

6. When was the last time you saw fireworks? What was the occasion? Do you enjoy fireworks?
I love fireworks! The last time I saw some was at last years 80th birthday celebration of our Coop. They had food for everyone and the highlight was the fireworks. It wasthe best I´ve seen here so far.

7. Of all the 'beauty products' you own, what item do you consider to be the most overpriced?
My Perfume. It is ridiculously expensive, but I love it.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
I got a new cell phone this week. Mine was acting up and every time I made a longer phone conversation it shut down or cut me off. What I really would have loved to buy was this:
A Blackberry 9800

.....but they are $900!! So instead I got this:

It´s a Nokia C3 (touch and type). You can type your text the "old fashioned" way but the screen is also a touch phone. Not sure if I like it yet, but it was what I could afford and hopefully I´ll get used to it soon.

Things I wish I knew before midlife

2011-06-27T02:17:00.000-04:00

I wish ´d known that

I would need glasses, no matter how hard I try to avoid it or how often I forget them....
hormones can be a great solution, for mood swings. (I´d have taken them sooner)
worrying about your children brings you NOTHING. They do what they need to do, and all you can do is Pray. (I´m not saying I have "turned off" my worrying, but I know it doesn´t help)
Disappointments can lead to blessings in disguise (who knew that after the awful breakup of daughter 2 and her bf last year, would lead her to get to know someone even better and more "fitting" for her)
that my 30 year old 30lbs lighter body was beautiful back then, and that I´d appreciated it more!
being happy is a choice and how you get older is up to you, not on the circumstances you live in.
being envious of someone else will bring you nothing, but being happy for them will make you feel like a better person.
you need to know your own body and tell the "professionals" if you don´t agree. (Too often people take what the Dr. says for "gold" and don´t get second opinions)
you can´t choose your family, but choosing friends wisely will help you as you get older.
not all families are close and it´s ok, if yours is not.
sometimes it´s ok, to say NOTHING. (not saying it´s easy....)
I need to appreciate what I already have in my life. Wanting and liking the things I have brings contentment. Always chasing after something you don't have brings stress and anxiety.

I just don´t get it

2011-06-24T11:09:00.000-04:00

My blogging friend Ellie did a post the other day about things that are popular, but that she doesn´t get. I loved it and decided to copy her. Here are a few things that I know are popular, but it´s beyond me....why!

Jersey Shore

(what will our youth learn from this show???)

beer

(I drink it sometimes, but I really don´t get it..)

Running

(sorry Ellie, but I really really don´t get it)

Glee

The Twilight Series

Harry Potter

Escargots

(Even with a fancy name, you are still eating SNAILS!!)

Low riders

twitter

(Who needs it, if you have fb already?)

A bath
(I keep imagining I´m laying in my own dirt....)

Touch phones
(I have to admit I haven´t tried one yet, but from what I´ve heard from others, they don´t work that well. I hope someone can convince me otherwise)

Wine
(I know it´s in, but I don´t miss it)

Baby names like: Blanket, Apple or November
(The poor children!)

I could go on, but I´ll stop here. I would love to hear from you in the comments, what things or trends you don´t get.

Wednesday´s Hodgepodge

2011-06-21T18:42:00.001-04:00

1. Summer's here-whoohoo! What's your favorite sight, sound, AND smell associated with summer? Technically it´s winter here, but I can still remember summer, so I´ll play along.Most of you know, my favorite thing about summer is RAIN. Seems odd to say that, but after a long dry winter, that is the best thing.That goes for sight, sound and SMELL. It´s really something everybody who complains about rain, should experience.

2. Fireflies or lightning bugs...what are they called in your neck of the woods?

We say firefly. In German it´s "Leuchtkäfer". There are very few around here, but we do get them.

3. What is something from the past week that reminded you of your childhood?

My best friend from my teenage years celebrated her 50th birthday. She lives in a neighboring town and we reminisced about how we got toknow each other and how long ago it was. It´s amazing how we still click and she and I love to laugh.

4. Define 'the good life'.I think we are living the good life.

A life that is filled with family who love each other, friends who support each other andwork to keep our minds "fit". We have a faith that fulfills our inner longing and fears.The "good life" is a life filled with balance. Even though there are still things I would like to "have/do", I am so thankful for our health and that we areable to work and enjoy our life with friends and family. Whatever there is, that I THINK I still need is just icing on the cake. Life IS good.

5. Tell us what we'd see if you took a snapshot of your desk/work space?

A picture is more than a thousand words, right? So this it.

The telefon and computer are what I use most. Then there´s the picture of my girls, next to it a box of Kleenex.Next to that a wooden pen holder and a stamp holder. There´s my holepunch and tape despenserand of course my morning cup of coffee. :)

6. Peaches or watermelon...yes, you have to choose.

No contest. Always watermelon!

7. Ever been skinny dippin'? Is that too much for the Wednesday Hodgepodge? Rest assured we won't need details...unless of course you feel you must but remember, this is a family friendly blog so keep it G rated.

No, never had that desire.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

We had some wonderful news from our friends in Canada. I wrote a while back that the husband had been diagnosed with cancer. Well now after some more extensive exams, they have discovered that it is operable and he doesn´t even need Chemotherapy afterward. We are so thankful and praise God for answers of prayer! Thank you to those that helped to pray.

Email blogpost

2011-06-20T14:30:00.002-04:00

Hello and happy Monday to you!
I´m testing this new product I read about on Blogger. You can supposedly post by writing an email to your blogger email address.
How do you get your email address? Just check out your blogger settings, it should be there somewhere. I didn´t save the process, and I can´t access it here at work. Sometimes I have these "empty" phases at work and I don´t really have anything to do.
So I thought this would be a good way to post on my blog and free up some time at home.

We had a good weekend. Sunday we celebrated Thanksgiving and Father´s Day. Thanksgiving is always on the third Sunday in June and this year Father´s Day was on the same date. Unfortunately F. Day is not really that BIG over here. Not sure why it isn´t
catching on, but the girls did give their dad gifts and he was really happy they thought of him.

Thanksgiving is a celebration of the years crops and we as a community have a church service to give thanks to the Lord. Afterward we have lunch together and there is also a big auction of things people brought.
This year we were helping inside, so I didn´t really get to "be" in church or sit and enjoy. We prepared about 60 "take out" meals for those people that couldn´t come or are too old to be there. What was the food?
The day before (on Saturday) about 1200 kg. of meat is cooked and cut into cold cuts.

This is served with pickeled veggies, buns (rolls), and our famous HOT mustard. A simple meal, but good.
After the meal is a big auction and the proceeds all go for mission projects. We didn´t stay for that,because the weather was not the best. We had really strong North winds, with lots of sand and temp´s in the 90´s (no AC´s).
My least favorite kind of weather. So we headed home for our siesta.

In the afternoon we went to my sister´s house. BIL´s birthday was also yesterday and my dad was there too, so wecelebrated the two together.
All in all a full day.

Glad it´s Monday and a new week. Today´s weather is much better and we have the hope of it cooling off this week.

If this posts well, I will be doing it more often.

So much for now.

An award

2011-06-16T12:38:00.055-04:00

From Giggle, Laugh, Cry

I received the nicest surprise today. A blogger I had not met before "bestowed" me with an award.
It´s the sunshine award and it made my day. Thank you so much! The blogger says this about herself:
"My blog title says it all. I giggle & laugh every day, but sometimes I laugh so hard I cry and other times I break down and cry too. And you know what? Life still goes on."
So if you want to meet another midlife blogger head on over and say hi.
Every award has it´s rules and this one is pretty easy.

Thank the person who awarded you and link back to them
Tell one thing about yourself
Nominate 10 blogs for the award
Head over to those nominated blogs and let them know they were chosen to receive the award

My one thing is this:
I snore. Yes, it´s true. I´ve even heard myself, right before I wake up. I´m embarrased by it, but
what can I do? :) My husband snores too, so I guess we´re even now.

I´d like to pass the award on to the following bloggers:

Brenda @ The Chacogirl (another fellow blogger from Paraguay)
Pam @ Empty Nest (always good for a laugh and has four beautiful daughters)
Betty @ a corgi in southern California (she always gives me an impulse for my faith)
Donna@ Mystical Journeys (her dad has Alzheimers too and she has an adorable grandson)
Mari @ My Little Corner of the World (she has the most wonderful recipes on her blog. Simple, easy to make and delicious)
I know that´s just five, but I´m a rule breaker. Check out the blogs I mentioned. They are a great bunch and such true friends.

There will be no Foto Friday this week, because I didn´t take any pictures. Not much happening over here, so you´all have a good weekend!

Hodgepodge Wednesday

2011-06-15T00:21:00.001-04:00

1. What is one thing on your bucket list? If you don't have a bucket list let's pretend you do.

To see Europe. Any part of it, but preferrably Germany/Italy and the Swiss Alps.

2. What makes a good dad?

For me, a good dad is someone who listens to you when you speak and supports you in your dreams.
I have a good dad.

3. Are you afraid of insects? Which ones?

No, not really.

4. We're barbecuing...what's on the grill at your house?

Ribs! We love us our ribs down here.

5. Do you believe that playing is more important than winning?

Oh yes. It´s much more important to play than to win. (meaning games) But I know there are people who NEVER play, because they know they won´t win. In our group of friends there is one guy who never plays billiard, cards or any game for that matter, because he gets to mad if he doesn´t win. How sad is that?

6. Do you tan? Use self tanners? Visit tanning salons? See your dermatologist at least once a year?

I used to tan every summer, because I loved the brown color on my legs. It would be 40°/110° outside and I would lay there and almost die of heat stroke, but I HAD to do it. That was soooo stupid!!
I´ve seen the ~~age spots~~ "light" now, and do not tan any more.

7. Five years ago I would never imagine that today I would .........................
...........................NOT be a mother in law yet.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

A funny picture from our local newspaper. It shows a huge pot hole in the street filled with water and the sign says "Free fishing here". I guess it´s better to laugh about it, than cry, right?

Foto Friday

2011-06-10T01:39:00.001-04:00

Any of you know Guayaba´s? It´s the season for them over here and yesterday I received a huge bucket full of them. What do we do with them? You can make Jam or Jelly or just mix them up with some sugar and freeze them, till you need them. That´s what I do.

But first you have to cut them in half and scoop out the seeds....

Then cut them into little pieces and mix in the sugar. By the time I had finished these my shoulder blades were killing me and I had a cramp in my hand. Just NOT used to working in the kitchen like that.

I use these to make a delicious milk "mouse". It´s like a soup, but it´s a dessert. I´ll have to post the recipe some day. You can use any fruit you like.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
In the afternoon my friend R. had invited for her birthday. Of course we made our obligatory group picture. :)

And there was cake. What would a birthday be without cake. :)

We had a great time and ate waaaay too much!

This weekend is a holiday weekend. We celebrate Pentecost Sunday and it´s time for another family gathering. It will be at my house so I´ll be busy. It is also a time to celebrate because my cousin Robert is getting baptized on Sunday. He´s 40 years old and we have prayed for this for so long. We are very thankful.
I hope my friends up north are enjoying their summer. We are having cooler weather, but not too cold. Very nice.
Have a good weekend everyone!

Check out Java´s for more blogs of woman over 40.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-06-08T01:41:00.000-04:00

1. Do you and your family enjoy camping? What do you enjoy most/like the least when it comes to family camping? When was the last time you camped?

The last time we went camping was in 2009. It was not really "camping" ,because we didn´t live in a tent or trailer, but we did do some fishing and we were outside a lot . Our family loves camping, but for some reason it´s always a major decision and because we all hate to pack everything up, we rarely go.

But we have instilled this love in our daughters and I´m sure they will go more often than we do.

2. Did you attend a summer camp when you were a kid? Is that a happy or not so happy memory?

Yes I did, but I have very few memories of it. It was when I lived in Canada (they didn´t have summer camps here), and that was such a long time ago. I just know I liked them.

3. Over the course of your life, what have you probably spent more time pondering than anything else?

I have ~~worried~~ "pondered" the most about my kids. How to help them, so they will be able to COOK for themselves. They both don´t like to cook and I have no idea how I can teach them anything, if they don´t WANT to learn it.

4. Which of the seven natural wonders of the world would you most like to see? There are many lists of 'wonders' but this is the standard natural wonder list-Mount Everest, The Great Barrier Reef, The Grand Canyon, Victoria Falls, The Harbor of Rio de Janerio, Paricutan Volcano and The Northern Lights.

Because it´s something "within my reach" I choose the Harbor of Rio. I would love to go there for a vacation.

5. What was your first real job?

Making drawers for bedroom furniture. I even remember the company´s name. Palethorp and Dowing in Vancouver, BC.

6. Lemonade or Sweet tea...which do you prefer on a hot summer day?

Lemonade. I don´t like tea.

7. What is something that always brings a smile to your face?

A package in the mail. Or some flowers from a friend or hubby.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Does everyone have a new Blogger Dashboard? It´s all in gray and where you write a post is in the middle of the page now. I was surprised to have it all changed this morning. But I think I like it.

Great questions Joyce. Love playing along again.
Happy Wednesday everyone!

Health

2011-06-06T05:17:00.005-04:00

Have you ever thought about your health and how unstable it can be? How much EVERYTHING rely´s on how good your health is?
If you´re sick you can´t work, you can´t think ahead. All you want is to feel good again.
I know I take health too much for granted. When we are healthy we make plans what we will do then and there and never even consider to think that it could come differently.
My blogging friend from Better is Possible posted the following verse the other day and it made me think.

We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps." ~Proverbs 16:9

Two of our good friends have recently been diagnosed with cancer and this brings many thoughts tumbling through my mind. How can we cope with such situations? Can we anticipate them, or should we? Is there anything I can change to prevent an illness? I know the answer is no.
But I realized that we must be more thankful for the healthy moments we have NOW. We must be more aware of them. We can plan for the future, but the Lord determines if we will make them. It´s something that I too often forget.
My heart goes out to my dear friends who are going through this hard part of life. It is not fair! And too soon!! The hardest for me is that I can not be at their side, because they both live in Canada. I can pray and I do. I hope they will feel the powers of prayer. We are suffering with them and trying to believe that God will give them the strength to walk this path. Because He is determining our steps. Sometimes his way is different than our way.

“No human wisdom or understanding or plan can stand against the LORD.” (Proverbs 21:30)

My most embarrassing moments - Part II

2011-06-03T00:50:00.008-04:00

I think the best medicine against taking yourself too seriously is to laugh about yourself. Sometimes I like laughing at my husband (especially when he forgets something, because usually it´s always me), but mostly it´s better to laugh about what ridiculous thing I´ve managed to do again. Like the time we had some deacons from church visit us and I had totally forgotten. I wrote about that here. That was Part I.
I am so good at embarrassing myself I thought I´d make it a regular feature here on my blog. It can also be something ~~my hubby can rub into my face~~ I can read and laugh about when I´m older and wiser. LOL!

I was 12 years old (yes I started young...) at the time.
It was April Fools day and we wanted to fool our teacher at school. I had read or heard about a prank somewhere. You take a piece of cloth and hide under the teachers table in the classroom. Then when the teacher comes in and starts to write something on the chalkboard you rip the cloth right at the moment she/he would lift her arm to write (as if ripping her sleeve). Sounds good right? That´s what I thought...

Since I was the one who had found the prank and no one else was ~~dumb enough~~ brave enough to do it, I was the one under the table. The teacher came in. Of course she noticed my place was vacant, but she didn´t say anything. She started her class and reached for the chalk to write on the board. My big moment was there. (I´m feeling the tension even now, as I write this.) She lifts her arm to write and I RIP my piece of cloth!
What happens? NOTHING.
She hadn´t even heard it!!! She just kept on writing and acted as if nothing happened. What now??!!
I was soooo embarrassed I wanted to die. So while she continued to write on the chalkboard I slipped out from under the table and into my seat, acting as if nothing happened. She never said a word about why I was suddenly there again and just kept on teaching.

This memory haunts me to this day. Every April Fools Day I think of it. So now that it´s in writing, we can all laugh about it, right? LOL!

What about you? Do you remember any embarrassing moments from way back?

Check out Java´s for more blogs of woman over 40.

And then there was one again...

2011-05-28T17:57:00.001-04:00

I know I´m crazy, but I didn´t know how much. haha
When Nico was so alone I looked high and low for a kitten, but at the time they were all too little. So I made a "reservation" for one. Over here kittens are free, you just have to "find" them.
Then in the mean time we got the other little one, which had lost it´s mother. I totally forgot about my reservation until last week, when the owner called and said the kitten would be ready to be taken over now.
So I took that second kitten too. The cats got along fine right from the start, but I noticed that now that they had each other, they were ignoring Nico again. Plus having two kittens were driving me nuts. They constantly needed attention. I had to watch out that Nico didn´t eat their food. And I had to watch out that Meezy didn´t eat Pinky´s food (because she was the first one here, she considered herself the boss). I knew really fast that I had made a mistake in taking on two kittens.
Anyway today my cleaning lady came and I asked her if she wanted one. She said yes right away. I felt really bad right after asking her. I didn´t even know which one to give her.It broke my heart just thinking about giving one away. It was a really hard decision for me, because they had both grown on me in such a short time. I knew which ever kitten I would give away would have to be able to fend for him/herself, because not everyone spoils their pets like me.
I chose to give away Meezy because she is a "street" cat and I could tell from the time she had been here, that she would be able to fend for herself. She was able to adapt very quickly and I´m sure she will be loved in the new home. My cleaning lady has two kids, so they will adore her. Plus I did not really want a female, because eventually I´d have to deal with little ones down the road. A male can be neutered and that makes it so much easier.
So now we have one cat again. Pinky.

Hopefully that will be it for a long time to come.

Tag and Foto Friday

2011-05-27T00:58:00.002-04:00

I was tagged. By my only (at least that I know of) male reader. So I guess he deserves a shout out. He´s the husband of the very funny blogger "Facing 50 with Humor" (short F-50). He writes at her second blog Fortifying your Fifties and has a brilliant sense of humor. They are the first "couple" blog I know.
Anyway these are the questions I´m supposed to answer.

Do you think you're hot?

That would be me....the one looking in. NOT hot. :) (Foto Google images)

Upload a picture or wall paper that you are using at the moment.

A Paraguayan sunset.

When was the last time you ate chicken?
Just this week I made a chicken stew. Very yummy.

The song/songs you listened to recently.
I can´t really answer this, because I do not remember songs names or titles.

What were you thinking while doing this?

I was listening to the radio (on my laptop) the other day and was wishing for an internet radio. F50 wrote a post about these new kind of radios the other day and I would love one of those too.

Do you have any nicknames? What are they?
Yes, my close friends call me Bets.

Tag eight blogger friends...

This is where I never follow the rules.
I´ll do five because I think that´s enough. But if you like being tagged and would like to play along, feel free and do so. You´re it!
Jeanie from Living Consciously
Pam from Kinz Family News
Maribeth from Dackel Princess
Betty from A corgi in southern California
Brenda Susan from Walking Butterfly

Who's listed as number one?

Jeanie who is a true friend and a great grandmother. She has the cutest grandkids ever and they are so talented too.

Say something about number five?

Brenda is a new blog I´ve been reading. She recently lost her MIL and her mother to death and has had a hard time with that. She and her hubby love riding their motorcycle in the summer time. She also loves it when other people cook for her...like me. :)

How did you get to know number three?

I have no idea. Maribeth do you remember? If you love dogs and cooking, this blog is for you!

How about number four?

Betty writes a blog I´ve been reading for a long time. Again, I don´t remember who found who. I just know that she is a God loving woman and she is often a witness to me and encourages me in my faith. Thank you for that Betty!

Leave a message for number six?

Since I´m only doing five, this would be for those of you who do 8.

Leave a lovey- dovey message for number two?

This is really funny, because Pam and I both have husbands who are not the most "romantic". So "lovey-dovey" is something I don´t do very often.
Pam I enjoy your blog and love the honesty you give me in your comments. I remember we got to know each other when I was starting a diet blog and we both know how that ended.... I wish you would live nearer so you could kick my butt into gear! :) (Was that lovey-dovey? Probably not. haha)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Now to our usual Foto Friday post. Unfortunately only one pic. I really need to pick up my camera more.

We got another kitty! Yes I´m crazy. But I couldn´t say no. Not sure yet if this will be a mistake. The kittens are getting along great, but Nico is feeling a bit left out. We´ll see how it goes.

They look very similar and are about the same age. The one on the right is "Pinky". Pinky´s a male, so we´ll be doing some "snipping" there before he get´s crazy like Nico was.

Haiku Wednesday - For you Jenn

2011-05-25T01:23:00.016-04:00

Today´s word is:

Anniversary.

Time spent reflecting

Remembering moments past

Falling in love again

I´ve never been into poetry and can´t remember the last time I´ve ever WRITTEN poetry. But my blog friend Jenn is celebrating her 100th post of Haiku Wednesday on her blog and as a special gift to her I´m participating today.
I hope you like my first try at Haiku Jenn!
If you´d like to participate check out Jenn´s blog. Every Wednesday she gives a theme word and you link up to her blog on Wednesdays.

D.´s 50th birthday

2011-05-22T22:51:00.005-04:00

Sunday was hot and windy. But we didn´t care.....we were heading to the little green "island" called "Campo´i". Our friend D. had invited us all to celebrate his 50th birthday. After a round of Tereré the men set up D´s birthday present (a "billiard" table) and started playing.

Us woman were in a chatting mood and enjoyed watching the men.

And having some snacks....

After a while we took a stroll in the lovely park that surrounds the hotel. The hotel was booked for the day, so we were not allowed inside. This is a wild rose bush and it doesn´t really look special from afar but.....

up close.............

The famous three palms of Campoí

Not sure what these blooms are called.

We read the birthday boy some funny poems and wishes.

Till finally we got to have our delicious barbecue! Yes, bbq is the common meal here made for most every special occasion.

This little guy got some bread for lunch.

The birthday boy opening an after dinner drink.

It was a great celebration of life lived and hopefully many more years to come. The next 50th is mine.........

Foto Fridays

2011-05-20T00:10:00.001-04:00

Since I´m being really bad at taking pictures I thought I´d share a few of my daughters pics.
They are both doing very well and I love how they enjoy life. I stole theses from their fb pages, so I think they won´t mind. :)
Michelle went fishing last weekend. She loves fishing and hasn´t been in last 4 years of studying, so this was a special treat for her. Our water "holes" are covered with seaweed, so that´s why it looks like she´s fishing in the grass... haha

A while ago she also ran a marathon. We are all not runners, except for her, so that makes me proud of her!

Her sister was there for support.

Marisa´s friend got married a few weeks ago and she was a bridesmaid there.

I love this one, taken while getting ready for the wedding.

This is her with her bf Mark.

One picture I can share from this week. We had another ladies afternoon. We were trying to take a pic with just our faces in it, but after many tries, this is the best we could do... :o)

We had coffee and of course cake and enjoyed each others company. What I liked was that the host had prepared little slips of paper which we each got one. On it was a question we had to answer, like "What do you like about your husband or What do you like about your kids?" Mine was "What are you thankful for in your life?" Of course I said, My friends! :)

Tomorrow we may go to a Rodeo. In the neighbor colony "Neuland" they are having one, so we may go see what´s going on there. Sunday we are invited to Campoí (click on the name if you want to see an older post with pictures of where that is). Our friend D. is turning 50 and we are having his celebration there. Can´t wait, should be fun! I´ll be sure to take pictures for next weeks Foto Friday.

Hope you all have a good weekend!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-05-18T00:35:00.001-04:00

1. What reveals more about a woman-her refrigerator or her purse?

For me it would be the refrigerator. My purse only holds the essentials, but my fridge....very telling!

2. When was the last time you went to the zoo? Where? What's your favorite zoo animal?

That would be in Asuncion. It was a long time ago, the girls were still young. My favorite animal are the monkeys. They are just too funny.

3. What social issue fires you up?
I´ll go local for this answer. It´s the Dengue epidemic.There have never been so many people sick at one time in Filadelfia (at least not with the same serious sickness). Many people would have preferred to have been admitted to the hospital, but were senthome because the hospital was FULL! What "fires me up" is that our local municipal government is not doing anything to combat the mosquito's. Yes, they sprayedthe streets a bit with poison, but it was NO help what.so.ever. What I think is needed is more awareness campaigns of where the mosquito comes from and how toavoid the problem. What we need is for teams to go house to house and point out to people what they need to improve or clean up, so that this mosquitodoesn´t develop next year again.

4. Are you a coupon clipper? If so, are you extreme?

No. We don´t have coupons here. But I never was when living in Canada either.

5. What is one of your favorite souvenirs brought back from your travels?

I don´t think I have a favorite. I haven´t traveled that much and when we do, we usually don´t buy many souvenirs.

6. Lemon meringue or key lime?
Lemon meringue. My dad´s favorite.

7. What is the most beautiful word you know in any language?

This is hard Jo! I´ve never thought about this before. Hmmmmm.......I´ll go with "Freund" (friend), because it means so much to me.

(A friend is someone who sees the smile on your face, yet feels that you are crying inside)

8. Insert your own random thought here.

My mom turned 72 last Sunday. We celebrated it together as a family and we were glad she was so "stable". I think she enjoyed herself. This is our last family picture (from their golden wedding celebration). Everyone was there.

My mom turned 72 last Sunday. We celebrated it together as a family and we were glad she was so "stable". I think she enjoyed herself.

Happiness is...

2011-05-17T04:55:00.001-04:00

I am filled with thankfulness from this last weekend. We had nothing special planned, but we have a group of friends we can always rely on. Someone will invite or we all just go out. So this weekend a couple invited us to their house for games night. We did play some games, but not that long. The host couple brought out
some food and after we ate we ended up sitting outside. Their was a fire pit which warmed us and the moon was almost full. I LOVE sitting around a fire. There is just something special and intimate about it.

We talked and laughed and it was just a very relaxed atmosphere. When driving home later I was just so filled with thankfulness for our friendships. It is not always easy to keep "it" (a group) together, that´s why I want to cherish these moments when we have them. Since most of us know each other from childhood we all have a lot in common and it is an easy going group.
It´s easy to be thankful for something good or that is fun, but I think if we can´t "see" those precious moments, than we will have a hard time being thankful for the not so good ones. I hope that these moments/memories can carry me through the tough moments in life, that can always come.

Hop on over to Leigh for more Happiness moments.

Happy Independence Day Paraguay!

2011-05-14T17:17:00.001-04:00

Our country is celebrating their 200th year of Independence today. Actually the celebrations have been going on for days already. We had a celebration here in Filadelfia a few weeks ago. The whole country is really getting into this and I don´t think there are any more red/white or blue materials left in the stores (Those are the colors of our flag). Everywhere there are flags and bandanna´s brought on to buildings, houses, street signs and such.
Today was the big parade in the capital Asuncion. Too bad we couldn´t be there, but I found some pictures on fb, which I wanted to share with you. You can see more here. It´s amazing to see the joy of the people who are participating and the beautiful costumes are stunning. I hope you enjoy the pics as much as I did.

They even stacked the chairs to reflect the national colors. Now THAT is what I call patriots. :)

Some fireworks to end a fantastic night.

Happy Independence Day Paraguay!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-05-11T00:59:00.000-04:00

1. How many times in your life have you moved house?

17 Times. 9 times before I was even married, twice to a different continent.The rest was while living in BC after we got married, then we moved back to Paraguay. Here we have lived inthe same house we built since 1987.

2. What subject would you study if you had a year to devote to it?

I think it would be, "How to draw houseplans". It´s something I really enjoy, and something I can see myself doing when I quit my job.

3. What in this world breaks your heart?

When we go to the capital and I see the poor street children lingering around. Or seeing this cripple cross the street...on his knees!! It breaks my heart!

Here´s a child checking for lice on his brother/friends head.

4. What is one item that symbolizes the times in which we live? Why?

The cell phone or the computer. It seems we can´t live without it any more.

5. Share a favorite bumper sticker or t-shirt slogan.

6. How do you like your spaghetti?

With meatsauce.

7. What is one piece of advice you would give a recent, or soon to be recent, graduate?

(These are not my words, I found this on line, but the advise is so true and something I would like my daughters to know (newly graduated))
When you find yourself at a job you wish to pursue or with a group of people doing something you wish to do, BUST YOUR ASS, go all out and show that you are game, don't act the prima-donna, don't assume that anything is due to you by virtue of your good looks or connections, do everything in your power to show that you are dedicated to the job, and do some more, the earlier you apply yourself the better.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

A little late, but I wanted to mention my Mothers day, since it was so good.
We had a really great Mother´s Day celebration. We invited my in laws, my husband´s brother with his family and my girls. Marisa even brought alongher bf for the first time. He was "officially" introduced to the Wiens side of the family and he seemed to enjoy himself. Good start. :)
Hubby grilled some delicious spare ribs and I made some salads. For dessert I had bought a "Frankfurter Cake".

All I can say is "YUMMMMY"!!
In the afternoon we visited with my parents and brought my mom some flowers.

A perfect Mothers Day.

The guilt of a mom

2011-05-07T07:15:00.000-04:00

It´s Mother´s Day again and there are many emotions I feel at this time of year.
Being a mom is the most stressful, challenging, sleep depriving job I´ve ever had.....but it is the most fulfilling and BEST job anyone could have or be.Being a mom is so much but so hard to put into words. There are emotions on the surface that have no words, they are just there.
The love I have for my children can not be put into words. But I will try.
When I had my first baby I was so very inexperienced. I married young and moved away from home. I went to work full time untilI had the baby, so there were no experiences to fall back on, what kids are like or want.It was no surprise then, that I fell apart when I came home with the baby. Back then I received my advice from books and nurses aides or friends.The books said, feed your child every three hours. They didn´t say what to do, if your child could not last that long in between feedings.And I had a child like that. She would be screaming for food after two hours and I was at my wits end trying to calm her till the next"allowed" feeding.

It was all very frustrating and made for a hard beginning. Until I realized I had to listen to my child andmy instincts. NOT what the book says. So I fed her every two hours and she was not overweight or spoiled by it. She was a happyhealthy child.

When we moved to Paraguay we had another beautiful daughter. Being near to my mom (who was able to help out)and being a bit more experienced, I was much more sure of myself with the second baby. She was also a very happy child.
But when I lookat my children´s baby photos I have feelings of guilt. I did not realize then what fleeting moments they are. All I wantedwas for them to be bigger, grow up faster and be more independent. In that sense I was not a good mother. I say this with regret.Knowing that I missed those moments of bonding with them that I can never get back. It´s something I hope every new mother willtake to heart and remember.
There is no way to change that situation, but there is a way to cherish the moments we have now.Being a mother is a gift. It gives you so much satisfaction seeing your children become independent and self reliant.I love that my girls are suchgood people. They love the Lord and try to be the best they can at their work and in their lives. This makes me happy.
Being a mother gives me joy on a deeper level. I look at my daughters and see a piece of me. I see myself living through them. Theyfullfill me. When they are happy, so am I. If they are sad ....I cry. If they hurt...I hurt. It just does. They always say to me, don´tworry about us, but you can´t help worrying about your own flesh and blood. It a learning process. To let them go and to not worry. I´mgetting there. Slowly.
The nights of lying awake and "wondering" have gotten better. I am able to sleep better. That is also a process.There are many more thoughts in my head, but I think everyone has there own experiences.
This is what Ithink about when Mothers Day roles around.
I make new promises to myself, that I will be a better mom, be a better listener, give betteradvice and not to be so nosy. And to cherish the moments that are NOW.
I know I fail all the time, but I hope to get better and better at it each year.
I hope every Mother out there will be blessed by their children, as I am.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-05-04T02:25:00.005-04:00

1. Have you ever been served breakfast in bed? Do you enjoy that? If someone were serving you breakfast in bed this coming weekend what would you hope to see on the tray?

No, I never have had breakfast in bed. I don´t think I´d like it. Somehow I think food belongs on the table and even if my family would want to bring my breakfast in bed, I would not be able to stay there. (Think of all the crumbs that would fall into the sheets??)
What I would like for breakfast "at the table" is Pancakes and toast. Something we rarely have.

2. What is one piece of advice you would give a new mother?

Let them get dirty!

Don´t worry about the little things. Time flies by so fast and before you know it, the kids are gone.

3. When was the last time you wanted to scream? Explain.

See Nr. 5

4. Can you hula hoop?

I have no idea. I used to, but have not tried for like 40 years!

5. What is something people do in traffic that really bothers you?

This is something a lot of people do here.
They turn left without merging into the left lane and without using their signal and without checking to see if there is someone coming in the left lane. It makes me want to scream!Many people here are not used to driving paved roads. They did not go to any driving school and have not been taught the right way to drive. So now that our main streetsare paved, we have two lanes (they grew up only having one lane dirt roads). Many people do not know, that you merge into the left lane and THEN turn. When someone does this to me or in front of me,I usually honk my horn so hard, they HAVE to notice they´re doing something wrong. Some people look at me all like "What did I do?"......it drives me crazy!!

(The picture shows a right hand turn, but you get my drift, right?)

6. What do you do when people don't admit they're wrong?
I usually argue with them for a while but then give in (for the moment), Then I wait to get proof, so they HAVE to admit they are wrong.

7. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word 'fun'?

Having a bbq with friends or traveling.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

We had 7°C/40 F this morning! Brrrrr! Pretty early to be so cold already. I actually had to get out my winter clothes and as I´m typing this my toes are freezing. I will actually have to wear S.O.C.K.S.!!

Foto Fridays

2011-04-28T20:41:00.000-04:00

You´re probably sick of me only writing about my dog and new kitten, but that´s what is "happening" at my house at the moment. Other than work, cooking, sleeping, eating and so on. You know the rhythm...

When I get up in the mornings I feed the kitten with a syringe. She was so small when her mother got killed, that she had not learned to lick her milk yet. Luckily as of today she started to. So that will make it easier.
The pics for this Friday show how Nico and Meezy are becoming fast friends.
Here he is checking her out.

Then a little closer....

Starting to play together.......

My daughter helping me feed the kitten, while I make lunch.

Of course Nico wanted some too.

Below is a little video I made of Nico and Meezy playing together. He is very gentle with her and I´m so glad they are getting along.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-04-27T00:11:00.000-04:00

1. What is something that bothers you if it is not done perfectly?

Hard question. I´m not a perfectionist so this is not something I stress over.
What I do like to have done properly is my floors. We have all tile floors and it´s easy to get them streaky after washing, but with the right cleaning solutions they look great.

2. What is one of your best childhood memories?

Going on camping trips with my parents. I really can´t remember much from back then, but I know we had fun. My dad was always a very busy man with little time for his family, so when he took the time to go camping with us, it was special.

3. Do you plan to watch the Royal Wedding and when was the last time you wore a hat?

I don´t even know for sure when it starts. Probably not. I have to work on Friday, so I wouldn´t be able to watch, even if I wanted to.

4. Where do you fall in the birth order in your family? Do you think this has influenced your personality?

I´m the oldest. And yes, it probably influenced me. I´m bossy and very good at giving orders. :) I also feel like it´s always up to me to organize family events.

5. Where do you think you spend most of your money?

Right now, it´s to pay off debts. We want to pay them off quickly so we´re paying as much as we can toward that.

6. When you need to confront someone would you rather communicate in person, on the phone, by email or by letter? Why?

In person. I like to look the person in the eyes and be able to explain myself. Too often when doing it in writing the person will misunderstand me.

7. Dodge ball, freeze tag, kickball or jump rope? You have to pick one.

Jump rope. Because I don´t even know what the other ones are. :)

8. Insert your own random thought here.

This is Meezy´s favorite place to sleep. :)
Nico is being very sweet. He is coming around to liking her and they are starting to play together. I have to remind him to be gentle, but I think they will be best friends soon.

Easter with a new pet.

2011-04-25T18:55:00.001-04:00

We had a very nice Easter celebration this year. Very different, but so nice.
Saturday night Michelle and her friend came over for a sleep over, so when we woke Easter morning it was so nice to have her home.
The weather was perfect. It was my favorite kind of weather. Drizzle rain, but not cold. We sat outside to have our Mate, with Michelle and her friend joining us. Since Michelle had to work in the afternoon and we rarely have such quiet moments with her (especially my husband rarely sees her), we decided to not go to church. We didn´t want to rush our time with her and felt this was important. It felt little bit wrong but also so right. Our services are always transmitted on the radio. So we set up our radio and listened to church while enjoying the drizzle rain and Mate. After church service, I made a pancake breakfast (which is VERY rare, because there is never enough time).
In the afternoon we went to my brothers house who had invited the whole family for a gathering. Unfortunately no pics. I was just not in the mood, because everyone always does not want to be in the pictures. So no Easter pics this year.

Since Saturday we have a new family member. A kitten. My nieces were house sitting 3 kittens for someone and they had their permission to give away the kittens to whom ever wanted one. So we took one. I call him/her "Meetzy". Not sure of the gender yet.

She´s (I think it´s a female) still very small. Her mother got run over by a car, that´s why she doesn´t even lick yet. I feed her milk with a syringe. But she can eat and loves cat food. Nico was not as happy to have her in our home. He saw his "spot" in jepordy and the first time I left them alone he wanted to kill her. He jumped on her and was growling and barking and trying to bite her. Of course we are more careful now and I do think he´s coming to accept this little creature. It´s for him that we got the cat, so we do hope that he will come around and once the kitten is a bit bigger, that they will play together.

Today was still a holiday here. It was a nice long weekend we enjoyed. Tomorrow it´s back to the same old, same old, but it´s ok. It´s all good.

Have a good week everyone!

Foto Fridays

2011-04-22T04:12:00.000-04:00

Today is Good Friday and a holiday. Not sure if it is in other countries too, but for us it is a meaningful day to remember what our Lord has done for us. Through His suffering we are saved.

Here are some photos for this week. Not much new going on, so just a few from the yard and house again.
I have to keep these on record, because I´ve never had so many flowers before.

Even the weeds are looking good these days.
A greenback enjoying the view....

A street in my town, with blooming Palo Blanco trees. It smelled like perfume when you drove this street.

Like I mentioned Wed. we will be having a family gathering at our house today. But first we go to church in the morning.
May you all have a blessed time with your family´s and a happy Easter!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-04-20T03:02:00.002-04:00

1. What are your plans for Easter Day/weekend?
Christmas and Easter are times for family gatherings. We´ve already had one with my extended side of the family (a few weeks ago) and Friday we have another from my hubby´s side. We are inviting to our house. Luckily for me, Thursday is a holiday as well, so I have enough time to prepare. Sunday my sister-inlaw and brother invited us to their house, so we´ll be having another family get-together there.

2. Besides Jesus, what one person from The Bible would you most like to meet and why?
I would like to meet my blog friends Jeanie and Pam. (I know you said ONE, but I´m a rule breaker). They both live in Colorado and I know from pictures what a stunning area they live in. Both have have been faithful blog friends and Jeanie even sends me gifts in the mail! They have a heart of gold and I would really love to get to know them in person some day.
(After reading other peoples HP, I realized I had not seen the "from The Bible" part. So, please excuse the wrong answer).

3. What is one modern day convenience you didn´t have as a child that was easy to live without?
A Microwave. We never had one, and even though I do now, I wouldn´t have a problem to live without.

4. Are you more right brained or left brained? If you don´t know what that means there is an interesting little quiz here.
My result was 52% left brained - 48% right brained. Pretty even, I would say.
Some things a "lefty" is like:
* Your Left-Brain controls the right side of your body
* Prefer things like instructions to be done verbally
* Good at math
* Like to read
* Very Logical
* Dog lovers (Yes)
* Don't enjoy clowning around (just ask my kids... :))
* Can't be hypnotized
* Usually remember things only specifically studied
* Need total quiet to read or study
* Like to read realistic stories
* Like to write non-fiction
* Also like to read action stories
* Usually rational
* Usually do things in a planned orderly way
* Good at algebra
* Almost never absent minded
* Can think better sitting down ( so true! haha)
* Attentive during long verbal explanations
* Prefer well structured assignments over open ended ones
* Likes to be Organized

5. What is something you intended to do today but didn't? Why?
I intended to return the shoes I bought last week, but couldn´t, because I forgot I have an appointment to get my hair colored. The shoes hurt my feet, before I even left the house, because they were just too stiff.

6. Cadbury Creme Eggs or Reeses peanut butter?
Reeses peanut butter!

7. Who was your favorite cartoon character when you were a child?
Tom and Jerry

8. Insert your own random thought here:
Nico is calming down and his hair is slowly growing back. Thank God! He´s actually behaving more and more like his old self, before hormones hit him.

Easter is almost here and it will be a treat to have my girls here. First time all together in five years! I already told them, we will be doing an egg hunt, even if they think they are too old. For old times sake. :)

Happy Easter everyone!

My dog is driving me crazy!

2011-04-15T19:59:00.000-04:00

So what´s been going on at our house this week?In a few words: Our dog is driving me crazy!

Nico has been so love sick this week, until I couldn´t stand it anymore and we had him castrated.
I think I wrote about him always running away, but it got worse and worse. As soon as we would let him out he would be gone. He stayed away forthe night and came home just to eat and rest up in the afternoon. Then he would leave again.We heard from neighbors that he had been seen around ourblock, where there was a hot bitch (sounds bad saying that, haha). There were many dogs trying to be the "lover" of said bitch.Nico included. I couldn´t keep him locked up inside all day, because he would whine and yowl and I couldn´t stand it.

So Thursday I had had enough. We made an appointment with the vet and got him castrated.I thought that would be that, but today he still wants to run away. I don´t let him out of my sight anymore and when he´s outside he´s on a leash. He thinks he´s beingpunished for something and is looking really sad. The vet promised, that in a few days this would blow over, but so far I have not noticed a change.Hopefully she knows what she´s talking about, because I want my loving Nico back!

We have decided to get another kitten too, so that he will not be so alone, but they are still too little to take home yet. I know he needs someone to keep himcompany, then he will not want to run away. Our big old cat did not play with him, so we´re hoping a kitten will do the trick.

Yeah, so that´s what´s been keeping me busy this week.

Tomorrow night we have invited our friends over for another game night. That should be fun.

Have a good weekend everyone!

A reason to be happy

2011-04-12T13:24:00.000-04:00

Dengue is on the rampage in this country. Due to a wet summer, there are many "Dengue" mosquitos out there that spread this disease. Since there are no vaccinations against this sickness, the only way to protect yourself is with anti repellent.

What makes me happy today is that I have not been infected YET.

The hospitals are overfilled (like the one below in the capital). Many people I know have had this disease and it is not fun!

I am thankful for my health.

Check out more reasons for happiness over at Leigh´s.

An award

2011-04-09T18:29:00.000-03:00

Jenn at "You know....that Blog?" made my day when she honored me with the above award. I usually don´t "do" awards anymore, but decided to partly play along this time. Thank you Jenn, for the award. Please don´t be mad if I don´t pass it on to specific bloggers, because I´m just a rule breaker like that.

The Versatile Blogger Rules:
1. Thank the person who awarded you and link back to them in your post.
2. Tell 7 Random facts about yourself.
3. Pass the award on to 15 new found bloggers.
4. Contact each blogger you want to pass the award on to and let them know you’ve done so, and let the giver of your award know you accept it… or not.

Here are my 7 things about me.

1. I have a hard time being quiet when I see injustice. Sometimes it´s not on me to “say something”, and it is very hard for me to let things run their course.
(I know I´m being vague, but just take it like it is)

2. I love reading recipe´s and imagining how the food will taste, but I hate cooking.

3. I don´t listen to music much, and don´t really miss it. That´s also why I hardly know any song lyrics.

4. If I don´t wear my watch, I feel naked.

5. I´m a sucker for American Products. When I see them in a supermarket in Asuncion, I pay way to much for something I would probably not buy if it were always available.

(Like a can of Cream of Chicken soup for $2! Is that expensive? Because I have no idea how much they are in the US)

6. I still like to play Tetris once in a while.

7. I´m really scared of going bald someday. My hair is really very thin and there are some areas that already need “covering up” . In those spots the hair is not growing back like it should.
I´ve tried vitamins for hair, special treatments at the salon but nothing seems to help. If anyone has a suggestion, I´m all ear.

I love all my blog friends and would like to give this to those that feel they have a versatile blog. I know there are some who have "theme" blogs, but many of the blogs I read fit in this category. Feel free to post about it on your blog!

Foto Fridays

2011-04-08T05:05:00.003-03:00

No time for much words, but we are very proud of our daughter. She is now a registered Nurse.
Congratulations Michelle!

Fall

2011-04-03T12:37:00.000-03:00

By now you know I like to change things around.
Since we have entered Fall in this part of the world, I thought it would be fitting to change my blog accordingly. This way you´ll know when coming here, we are in a different season.
For me, Fall is the best time of year. Fall means cooler temperatures, flowers bloom, trees are still green and lush and rains still comes off and on. Fall means Easter. Fall means the farmers are harvesting their crops and we celebrate Thanksgiving.
It´s also the opening of Pigeon hunting season. There are thousands of pigeon´s that migrate here every year and for the farmers they are a pest. They welcome the hunters who help to drive them away from the crops.
We love the taste of pigeons too. I make a soup with them, very similar to Chicken noodle soup.

Fall is also when this beautiful Chaco tree blooms. It´s called the "Palo Blanco".

Fall is when some people understand why we live here.

I said "CUT" not shave!!

2011-04-02T04:18:00.004-03:00

I´m VERY upset!
Yesterday I brought Nico to a woman who cuts dogs hair. Since we´ve never had a dog with such long hair before I had not had any experience with this. Nico´s hair was getting pretty frizzy and was constantly in his eyes. He wouldn´t let me near him with a scissor, so I didn´t know what else to do. Lately, since he started "wandering and exploring the world" he always came back totally dirty and had some kind of plant seeds in his fur that wouldn´t come out. So my hubby and daughter were nagging me to go to this woman to get his fur/hair cut. Well yesterday I did, and it was a HUGE mistake!! I´m so so sorry I did. Check out his beautiful blond fur here. It´s ALL gone!!

This is what he looks like now:

I KNOW!!!! HUGE MISTAKE!

My poor poor Nico. When he came home he cried and I did too. I know it will all grow back, but this was just not necessary. I did not know she would chop off everything like this!
So, I guess all we can do now is wait, till it grows back and I have my cutie back. He is slowly getting used to being like this, but I can tell he hates it too.
Trust me, NEVER EVER again!

The A to Z of me

2011-04-01T12:56:00.000-03:00

Age – 49 and counting....

Bed size – KING.

Chore you hate – Cleaning the bathroom (luckily I don´t have to very often, because I have a terrific cleaning lady).

Dogs – Nico (Yorkshire Terrier)

Essential start of your day – Drink Mate (the tea, Read "Mátee") with my hubby and Prayers.

Favorite color – Don´t really have one. Sometimes yellow, sometimes blue-ish

Gold or silver – Usually silver.

Height –5’7″

Instruments I play (or have played) – piano (but only for 3 years, when I was a child. I quit because I hated it and have never looked back).

Job title – Admin. Assistant/Housewife

Kids – Two daughters, 24/22.

Live – in Paraguay.

Mom’s name – Frieda

Nickname – Bets.

Overnight hospital stays – There have been quite a few, but none too serious (i.e. gall bladder operation/diarrhea etc). The last one was for "unkown" stomach pains.

Pet peeve – people who stand in the grocery store visiting and blocking the aisles.

Quote from a movie – I don´t "do" Movie Quotes.

Right or left-handed – right

Siblings – I´m the oldest of 4. First me, then my sister who is two years younger, then a brother and the "baby" is my sister who lives in China.

Time you wake up – 6 a.m.-ish

Underwear – Always!

Vegetable you dislike – Palmitos (Palm hearts)

What makes you run late – my hubby!

X-rays you have had done – arm and foot.

Yummy food you make – Chicken cream lasagna.

Zoo animal – I can´t remember the last time I was in a Zoo, but I love the whale show at Vancouver Aquarium.

~*~
Depending on your mood, you can either thank of blame Beth or Quilly for this meme. I stole it from them.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

2011-03-29T03:43:00.002-03:00

1. April rolls in at the end of this week....what is something foolish you've done?
I can´t think of anything at the moment. But I´m sure it´s just my "midlife brain" acting up. I´m forgetting EVERYTHING these days!!

2. With April comes Easter and that classic edible treat known as Peeps...so tell me...what's your favorite way to fix/eat chicken? That wasn't what you were expecting, was it? I 'fooled' you. Teehee.
I don´t know what Peeps are anyway. :)
My favorite way to fix chicken is to bake it, just plain with salt and pepper. My favorite way to eat it though, is KFC kind!

3. What's the best museum you've ever visited? Or your favorite? Or the one you'd most like to visit?
Honestly, I´m not into museums. We have one here, but I´ve only been there once or twice. A museum is not on my "to do" list.

4. You know what they say about April showers...what's your preference-a shower or a bath?
Shower! Always!

5. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder"...fact or fiction? Why?
Fact. When someone is away long enough you forget the little things that annoys you about that person. All you do is remember the good times you had.

6. What's your favorite product made in your home state/province?
We are ranchers in our "state/Dept". And the best product that we produce is our meat. We have the best ribs. And my hubby is the best a bbqing them. They are so tender and the meat almost falls off the rib. Hmmmmm!

7. What is going on in the world today that affects you the most?

Those disturbing pictures from Japan. I just can´t imagine seeing my whole town destroyed like that and what those poor people must be going through. I just pray that they will get the help they need.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
My mind is a blank these days. I have nothing to blog about and I keep forgetting the simplest things. I forget who said what, and what happened when. It´s pretty annoying. I stopped taking Hormones, so maybe that´s why. But otherwise I´m very pleased that there are no other midlife "symptoms" yet.
So if it´s pretty "quiet" here these days, that´s why.

Foto Friday

2011-03-25T04:04:00.000-03:00

This will be a random post. A little of this and that.

I wasn´t really in the picture taking "mood" when in the hospital last week (and it shows), but I took one of the flowers I received. I felt loved. :)

This week started off pretty normal. I am really trying to make an effort with the preparing of our lunch meals. Lunch is our big meal of the day, yet it´s also our "siesta" time, so it should be quick, yet hearty. I´ve been trying to prepare ahead of time, like in the afternoons when I have off work. Then when I come home from work, I just have to make a salad and we can eat.

One afternoon this week I had a pedicure. Aren´t they "purty"? :)
(I know....loooong toes! But hey it´s the only skinny part on my body)

Here he is again. The bad boy. Doesn´t he look just so innocent? :)

We´ve decided to keep him inside, while I´m at work. When I´m home he is outside more, but I try to keep an eye on him. I think what my commenter Marion said was right. There must be some cute little bitch somewhere, that is enticing him. Hopefully this will "blow over" and he will be happier to stay home.

See the exercise machine behind the chairs? Remember when my husband bought this and I said he would not use it? See the cobwebs hanging from the handle bars?
Can you see me laughing, saying...."I told you so"!!!???

Just another picture of one of my flowers. It will be winter soon enough, then I´ll be enjoying the pics of flowers somewhere else.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Nico….the bad boy!

2011-03-22T19:20:00.000-03:00

Nico has learned something new recently. And it´s not a good thing!
Since he is mostly outside, when we are at work, he has recently discovered that it´s fun to run away!!!
Our lot is mostly surrounded by a fence (except for the back and half of one side). Up till now it was not a problem, because there are only bushes in back.
Plus we have a electric wire on the one side, because he loves to go to our neighbors house. My neighbor lady has a daycare and some of the kids are
scared of dogs, so he was supposed to stay home. And up till now he did.
Now, he´s discovered the world….
Yesterday I came home to find “no one” home. No one came to greet me and it felt empty. He was gone. I didn´t really worry that much and thought he´d be
back soon. But after we had our lunch, I received a text from my neighbor. She wrote that Nico had been spotted at the local high school. That´s 3 blocks away and
around 2 corners! I couldn´t really believe it, but sent my girls to go look for him. I was sure, it must have been another dog that looked like him. Well when
the girls returned they had the little rascal in tow. He had been it!! How he got there I have no idea.
He was very dirty and very tired. After I had bathed him, he slept all afternoon, like this. He always sleeps behind my curtains.

I thought for sure, this was a one time thing. Today I went to work, reassured, because my cleaning lady would be here in the morning. And since he was not
alone, Nico wouldn´t run away. Yeah, right.
When I came home at 11:30 he was gone again!! The girls (who were coming for lunch) had to go search for him again, while I made lunch. Even my husband
hopped on the motorcycle and cruised the neighborhood, looking for him. NOTHING.
We decided to have our lunch and search some more later. Well when we finished eating my husband stood up to bring his plate to the sink and looked out
the window. What do you know……..there he was!! Totally dirty again and totally spent!
Looking something like this.

I do not know what we are going to do.
What I do know is that when we leave home, we have to keep him inside. Something I don´t like to do, because I think dogs should be able to roam the outside, since the weather is so nice.

Anybody have some suggestions on what to do??