Christmas crafting

I got all crafty yesterday and made up some sticker tags and stuck them on cellophane bags. Then today I baked SIX DOZEN cookies. Oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip, and peanut butter. Yummm. A friend and I stuffed them in baggies, and I handed them out today to the pediatrician, ob/gyn, neighbors, in-laws, etc. I'm really proud of them. Aren't they cute?? :)






tenga una dulce navidad = have a sweet christmas

my first resolution

Good grief I can't believe I haven't posted anything since October. I'm sorry my dears (if there are even any of you still reading!!). I think you have to forgive me though, since I've been a little busy with a new baby and a new job and whatnot.

Anyway, to the point...I want you to know that this year I am making my first New Year's resolution ever. Can you believe I have never made a New Year's resolution? It is probably my subconscious just preventing me from making a promise to do something it knows I can't follow through on. I'm really good at coming up with ideas, but not so good at following through...

*drum roll*

This year, I promise I am going to write a blog post at least once a week!

I hope I stick with this because I really miss writing, and I hope you miss reading!! :)



Now, for what you all actually came for...




I know, right?! :) :) :)

surprise, surprise

Attention:

...we are not seeing anyone today, because there is a lot of dust...

My husband went to the RNP (Registro Nacional de las Personas) yesterday to apply for Nicholas' birth certificate. They were closed. Because of dust. Yes, dust. AND they misspelled the word "demaSiado" (too much/a lot) on that sign. Spell check, anyone?

He went again this morning, and they were open (hooray!) but the wait was over 5 hours (boo!). It took Jose over 6 months to get a new ID last year because every time he went they were out of plastic (for printing the cards). Next time he gets away from work to go, they'll probably say no hay sistema (the system is down). Or they'll be on strike. Or they'll be out of paper....

Maybe Nicholas will never have a birth certificate (and therefore never a US passport!!!)....

Baby Nicholas is here!

September 10 @ 8:26 am via c-section

8 lbs 2 oz

50.5 cms (19.9 in)

I bet you didn't know...

...that I lived so close to Kuwait, did you? ;)



Wait, maybe this is in reference to the BOULEVARD Kuwait. :)

t- 6 days

I can't believe I'm going to be a mother (to a human...I'm already a mother to a fur baby!!) in 6 +- days!!!



The Dr. Seuss nursery is ready and cleaned, the clothes are washed and folded, our bag is packed....

Now what?!

I'm dying here. It's not that I'm that uncomfortable. Sure, I have little feet in my ribs and it's hard to breathe and I pee every 5 minutes, but it's not THAT bad. I've heard of a lot worse.

It's this WAITING GAME that has me going insane. Knowing that he could make his grand entrance any day now, but not knowing exactly when is driving me crazy. With every little pain, cramp, or tightening in my belly, I have googled "what do contractions feel like..." thinking OK THIS IS IT! But it never is. :-/

I guess all I can say is..... stay tuned!

Word of the Day Wednesday

In case you were wondering...

An ant-hill is NOT called "la casa de las hormigas" (translation: house of the ants) in Spanish (like I called it, much to the amusement of my gardener).

It is called an hormiguero (say or-mee-geh-roh) or nido (say neee-doh).

Now you know.

count your blessings

does this add up?

One roll is L.22.95, and a pack of 2 rolls is L. 82.00.

Claro TV update

Remember this story about my experience with Claro from forever ago??

It turns out that a friend of a friend is the Gerente General at Claro. She told him my story last night, and in turn he had his assistant call me first thing this morning. I told the assistant the whole story and she apologized a million times and said they want to do "whatever is necessary" to redeem themselves.

I'm supposed to hear back from her tomorrow. I think if she actually calls back when she said she would...that's a big step up for their customer service! ;)

Stay tuned for updates....

Dear Fetus

I appreciate your signals from the womb to let me know you are alive and well and growing...but will you please stop kicking me so hard? It's starting to get uncomfortable.




Sincerely,



your mother




27 weeks!

marketing FAIL

*because the future is written with an F*

I am no marketing expert, but this tag line has been really bugging me since I started seeing it about a month ago.

Yes, future starts with F. But so do a million other words! Some of them are good words, but honestly none of the good ones come to mind first. How about the F-bomb? Failing grade? Fake? Fraud? Frustrating? How about the word FAIL?

healthy AND delicious!

With todays visit to the local Yogen Fruz, I announce that I have officially tried all of the flavors (except for higo, because I'm not sure what it is). AND I've tried them all with a variety of toppings. My favorite? It's a tie between canteloupe with granola or strawberry with granola. (You see, I add the granola so I feel like it's even healthier....)

This is a little bit embarrassing, since it means I go there on a regular basis (like, every other day) and I think the employees are starting to recognize me.

In other news, I am boycotting Zara because they wouldn't let me shop while I ate the aforementioned frozen yogurt. And you should too!....because who tries to take frozen yogurt away from a pregnant woman??? ;)

the big 2-6!

If we didn’t have birthdays, you wouldn’t be you.

If you’d never been born, well then what would you do?

If you’d never been born, well then what would you be?

You might be a fish!

Or a toad in a tree!

You might be a doorknob!

Or three baked potatoes!

You might be a bag full of hard green tomatoes.
Or worse than all that…

Why, you might be a WASN’T!

A Wasn’t has no fun at all. No, he doesn’t.

A Wasn’t just isn’t.

He just isn’t present.

But you…You ARE YOU!

And, now isn’t that pleasant!
Today you are you!

That is truer than true!

There is no one alive who is you-er than you!

Shout loud,

“I am lucky to be what I am!

Thank goodness I’m not just a clam or a ham

Or a dusty old jar of sour gooseberry jam!

I am what I am!

That’s a great thing to be!

If I say so myself,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!”

-Dr. Seuss, "Happy Birthday to Me!"

23 weeks!

21 weeks!

over halfway there!!!!!!!!

the beginning of the bump!

16 weeks

the end is in sight...

My first trimester teaching English at the university is almost over. Thank. you. sweet. Jesus.

Don't get me wrong, I like teaching! I do! And I like teaching English! And I like *most* of my ~80 students!

But good grief. When I am grading final projects and doing final oral evaluations and I hear something like this...

me: Describe your typical day.
student: Chicken.
me: What? Tell me about your typical day. What do you in a typical day?
student: Baleadas.

(from a level 2 student. not level 1, but level 2!)

Hellooooo. Have you not been listening to anything I said for the last 10 weeks?

It makes me want to scream! It makes me want to run far, far away! Thank GOD Semana Santa is almost here!!!

hellooo smoky season!

We technically only have 2 seasons in Honduras - the rainy season and the dry season. But I am declaring that there are actually 3. That's right Wikipedia, update your info. These are the seasons in Honduras: dry season, smoky season, and rainy season.


Since the last rainy season (which wasn't as rainy as usual) it has only rained a few times. That's like, 6 months with only a few inches of rain. Talk about a drought!


And what happens when there isn't any rain, we go into our hottest time of the year, AND it's time for the farmers to get their fields ready for crops (remember, they burn their fields)? Ahh, bienvenido smoky season!


That's right, smoky season. As in, the air is full of smoke. In the city, you can't smell it and you wouldn't even know it was there if it weren't blocking the view of the mountains.

(see those beautiful mountains in the distance? oh, you can't really see them? that's because there's smoke blocking the view!)

And if you weren't an observant person and didn't notice the lack of mountains in the distance, then you would still most definitely notice that all of a sudden your throat hurts all the time and you can't breathe through your nose anymore.

I am tired of waking up every morning with a stopped up nose from the stupid smoke. And it's SO hot right now that it's impossible to sleep with the windows closed. And I know in a couple of months I will probably be begging for the rain to stop... but will someone please, PLEASE do a rain dance or something?

jirafa

I know that this is a strange and foreign land to a lot of you, but this sight today was even strange and foreign to me.

Yes, that is a giraffe. It was being pulled on a trailer in the middle of some protest or something, in front of the Casa Presidencial. And pobrecito, the cage wasn't even tall enough for him. :(

Now, there is a circus in town, but the 50 or so people walking in front of/behind the trailer were all wearing red, which is the color of the resistencia. If it was them, I'm not really sure what a giraffe has to do with the resistencia. "Come join our circus" maybe?

Just to be clear, giraffes are not native to Honduras. Hahaha

Peeps

I'm not happy about the monopoly that Mas X Menos has going on with the Easter candy. I paid $1.50 for FOUR peeps today! And I don't mean 4 packages. I mean I paid $1.50 for 4 pieces of delicious, yellow sugar-coated, marshmellow heaven.

Normally, I wouldn't splurge on something like that. But, when I saw them I had to have them. Blame it on the pregnancy. (Ha, who am I kidding? I'm always craving candy...pregnant or not!)

When I go back to the states after Easter, I'll be sure to buy ALL of the Peeps at half off.

Yummm.

Our Marero Gardener

I promised you some entertaining stories a really long time ago, soooo....

A few months ago we were greeted on a Sunday afternoon by a strange guy in front of our house. He was carrying a machete.


He explained that he was a gardener and did work for some of our neighbors, and would we be interested in hiring him to help out? Well, it just so happened that the grass/weeds were taking over our backyard. It was so tall that even Charles was scared to walk through it. So we invited him in to take a look. He suggested a price, we haggled, and we had a deal. He said he would be back the following Saturday to start the work.

The next Saturday he showed up (which was a surprise!) and he did a great job cleaning up the yard.

He showed up the next 2 Saturdays like he was asked....even on time!

The 3rd Saturday, he came again. It hadn't been raining, and the grass hadn't grown at all. There was no work for him to do. Also, more importantly, I was home alone because Jose was out of town. I asked him to come back the next Saturday instead. He got upset, understandably, because he had been counting on the day's work and pay. I gave him all I had in my wallet, which was a lot less than half of what I owed him for one day. I told him to consider it an advance for the next week, when I would deduct it from his regular pay.

Now, you've probably already guessed.... he didn't show up the next Saturday, right?

Right!

I didn't mind it, because I was only out $2.

The next Saturday? He didn't show up then either.

But the next Thursday (Thanksgiving!)....

I came home from work and there was a strange man in front of my house. When I saw the machete, I realized it was the gardener. He had been beaten up so badly that I didn't recognize who it was.

So I got out of the car. Stupid! And I asked him what he was doing there, on a Thursday. When I'm home alone! He explained that someone had robbed him and beaten him up. Hmm. Ok, that could be true, but why risk it?! He asked if I had any work for him. I explained that since he hadn't shown up the Saturday before, we had already hired someone else and that we would no longer need his services. Which wasn't true, but....

You see, I had decided from the second that I saw his swollen face that I did not want him in my house or anywhere near it. Around here, being beaten up that badly screams GANG (mara in Spanish). Now, it doesn't necessarily mean he is IN a gang, but that one had beaten him up. And who wants an employee in their house that is either a gang member (marero) or has upset one badly enough to beat the living daylights out of him!?!

So you can imagine my fear when instead of just walking away, he got upset.

"But I don't have any money and now I have to pay the doctor bill and you were supposed to pay me to work in your yard!"

"Umm, you were also supposed to show up on Saturdays, but you didn't come, so I hired someone else. I'm sorry for what happened to you, but I can't rehire you now that I have someone else," I explained.

"Well, you HAVE TO give me some money then!" he demanded.

Eeeeek. "Gerardo, I don't even have 1 lempira in my purse. I don't have anything to give you."

"But I have to pay for my x-rays at the hospital!" He was getting more angry.

"Like I said, I have no money. I'm sorry. Now, I think it's best if you leave," I said, eyeing his machete.

"I NEED SOME MONEY!" he yelled.

I glanced at the front door. Even if I made it there before him, he could try to push in after me and it would be worse than what could happen outside where the neighbors could see, I thought. I prepped my car key in between my fingers in case I needed it as a weapon. You know, to fight off his machete. !?!

Then, thank God, my phone rang. It was my husband.

"Oh thank goodness you called," I said in a completely normal voice so Gerardo wouldn't know what was up. "The gardener is here, and he's really pissed off, and he's demanding money, and I don't know what to do," I said in a cheerful voice.

And then, Gerardo did something totally unexpected, and turned around to leave.

I waited until he was near the gate, and rushed inside and locked the door. *sigh* Safe at last!

About 45 minutes later, the doorbell rang. Eeeeeek! He's back!! Probably with his marero friends!

But it was the neighbor, letting me know that the muchacho golpeado (beaten up guy) had just stolen the spare tire off of the other neighbor's truck, AND a gas tank from the other neighbor's house.

I don't know how he made out of the neighborhood carrying both things on foot. (I mean, why do we even pay the guards at the tranca?!) But, the guards were given clear instructions to never let him back in, and we haven't seen him since.

And if you think that was as bad as the day could get, you're wrong! Later that day my wallet was lost/stolen and I met a lovely scam artist. Stay tuned for that entertaining story...

You've Got Mail!

I LOVE getting real mail here in Honduras. It's just such a rare occasion to receive something in the real mail! In fact, we don't even know our own mailing address. (How do we receive our bills, you ask? We don't. Sometimes the ticket for the electricity/water is stuck under the door of the house. Other times, it's not. Then you have to pay it online via your bank, or go to the bank to pay it. With cable/internet and cell phones, we don't get a bill...we just have to know when they're due!) So when friends ask me how to send me cards and packages from the US, I have to give them my in-laws address.

Now that I think of it, I have never seen a mail carrier or a mail truck....I have no idea where the post office is located or how to send a package/letter via snail mail. Hmmm, maybe this is something I should investigate!

So anyway, I love getting mail. And I was so excited when I saw TWO letters in my hubby's hands when he came from a visit at my in-laws house the other day.

Letter one was just a bank statement from the US. I LOVE my bank in the US...can you believe they send my statements all the way down here??

Letter two was a Christmas card from my friend Amy. She sent the card from Tennessee on December 10 and it arrived in Honduras on December 28. The envelope was torn on the back...but the card inside was fine!

Thanks Amy! And to the rest of you....send me more letters!! ;)

Surprise!

We're gonna have a baby!!

I posted this on Facebook yesterday and got lots of questions, so I'm going to try to answer them all here in one post...

-I am 7.5 weeks, and due on September 4, 2010.

-I am feeling good, just very tired. The nausea isn't too bad (I hope it stays that way!), and is worse at night than any other time.

-I love my OB! It took me weeks of calling every day to try to get in to see him because he is one of the best (ok, I think he's THE best!). His office is one of the nicest doctor's offices I've ever been in, and I was very impressed by the technology, etc that he uses. So all you people in the US - don't worry...I'm in good hands over here!

-We weren't exactly trying, but we weren't trying not to either. We figured it was going to happen sooner or later. :)

-The plan is to have the baby in Kentucky. I will hopefully be going at the end of March/beginning of April for a week to do some paperwork and meet with an OB, etc. Then I will be going back in August to have the baby.

-We do not have any names picked out yet.

Thank you all for your lovely comments and well wishes. We are so excited!!!