Craziness, I Tell You

Let's see, it's exactly one week before Alex and Allie's 2nd birthday.  So, I'm planning on taking off that Thursday through Monday.  You may ask, "why?"  or not.  But I will tell you anyway.

1. They have their 24 month doctor's appointment on their birthday.  I know, I'm just a crazy mom.  But, this way, this appointment will never slip through the crack.
2. Friday is their pre-school birthday party.  Meaning juggling with lunch boxes, cupcakes, juice boxes and party favors.  But wait, I will have help, my sister is planning on taking off that day also, yay, and my dad will be in town.
3. Saturday is their 2nd birthday party.  So, there will be toys to be hauled to the party site, cakes to be picked up, food and drinks to be bought, and decorations to be arranged.

So, you see, it's just sheer madness, craziness, I tell you.  When you have two kids having a birthday at the same time, everything is multiplied by dos.

Enough said:)

Road Trip

One last try to hang on to summer, a road trip to Mexico with my sister.



First time to cross the border on foot

Loving the ocean view, warm sun, and thoughts of lobster and margaritas

Hmm, I think I can get used to this

At Puerto Nuevo


My plate


Hanging out with Robert

With our wonderful hosts


I'm ready to move here


At Ensenada

Well folks, that's all. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend like we did.

Another Postcard

The last time I spoke to my friend he was heading to Germany to his friend’s wedding and will be gone for a month or so. Then postcards started arriving. The first one was from Venice, with just a short Italian sentence, which probably says in English, “Surprise Jesusa! Hello from Venice.” What can I remember about Venice? My first impression on the boat approaching the city was, “Magnificent!” I probably could have stayed there longer but the tour group I joined had to move on. But I loved every minute of it, the gondola ride, walking in front of the Basilica di San Marco, walking through the narrow streets and enjoying a cup of cappuccino in one of the cafes.

The second postcard dated 2 days later came from Firenze (Florence), the same time I was in Florence 7 years ago. This time he wrote a longer note, how he thought this was a pretty interesting city. Oh how I loved Florence! The view of the city was breathtaking. It reminded me of a lifelike museum quality painting. Miles and miles of bright splash colors of the rooftops and buildings. I remember standing there and was thinking of the landscape being the backdrop to my wedding photo.

The third postcard arrived today dated 2 days later from the second one. This one had “Helvetia” stamps. He even wrote that this one would stump me, and it did! He got this postcard in Basel, Switzerland while he saw a Vincent van Gogh – Between Earth and Heaven Exhibition. This postcard was kind of special, it’s a Renoir painting called “Young Girls at the Piano,” he even had a little p.s. on the side telling me how this one reminded him of me and one of my sisters. This postcard is big reminder to myself that this is one more place on my “list of places to go” that I still have to check off.

I am looking forward to the next postcard. I hope there’s more to come.

Travel Itch

Three months have passed since my last travel. I'm beginning to feel the itch to go somewhere. I often have this fantasy of just packing up and showing at an airport and buying a ticket to a flight anywhere before it boarded. That would be a real surprise! It could be Spain, Greece, Morocco, Thailand or Fiji. I guess I have to be at an international section of the airport, hahaha. Come to think of it, I can't find my "list of places to go." I think the last one I checked off was "Paris." On my local list, I could have checked off "Chicago," however, plans changed since one of my friends could not get away because of this little thing called "work." And to top it all, with the budget crisis in our midst, it seems like it would be such an irresponsible thing to do. Unless, I win the "lotto," then it would be a different story, right? Oh, the beauty of day dreaming, it's free! No hours wasted on deciding what to pack, where to go, long lines waiting to get searched, removing shoes and belts, throwing your water bottles that is almost full, getting seated next to a snorer, the list goes on. But wait, I still need to go somewhere, anywhere to get this "travel itch" off my back. Well, well, maybe in three months, I'm crossing my fingers.....