Day 31 (1.31.09)

Brasserie JO

Finally a celebratory dinner for just the two of us featuring escargot, shrimp in a bag (pictured here) all in honor of Arturo passing the Architectural Licensing Exam. Nine exams have taken him 2 years, but he passed them all on the first try! Too bad the pay isn't adequate to all the training, responsibility and hard work. Seriously, we are both architects and would't think of going to this place if not for a $50 gift card from Arturo's employer - $78 dinner is just too expensive...

Day 30 (1.30.09)

PTA International Family Night

I SO didn't want to go to this event, but was glad I did. Pot luck in the cafeteria with food arranged by continent. We were missing Australia and Antartica LOL! While this was going on a Syrian band was playing some unusual music. Wasn't my thing, neither was the other event - Jewish folk songs. Come on! I live in a town where there is a synagogue on every other corner, could they have been a LITTLE more diverse? I'm not Jewish, but gotta tell you, at the end of the concert I was right up there dancing with the others!

Day 29 (1.29.09)

'The Playdate - BFF' & first cavity

How about a game of Candyland DVD in high heel play-shoes and dressed up in this pretty apparel. They had a good time, meanwile our governor was getting impeached. Later we headed to the dentist who told us that Olivia had a cavity, or 'gravity' as she described it...

Day 28 (1.28.09)

A little bit of snow today turned into a LOOONG commute (and I'm 15 min from work!) You are looking at a view from the back door to work, which is occupying my mind a little more lately since it was announced that we will have a pay freeze, no paid OT or comp-time OR any wellness benefits. The idea is that they want to keep the staff and not let anyone go. We know we have work for 6 months and that we are interviewing. So there is hope...

Day 27 (1.27.09)

Stove Day!

Yey! The stove is here - thanks e-bay! It commanded the day - husband had to take a half-day, Olivia had to be at a friend's house, dziadzio had to stop by and help carry in ONE step down to our sunk-in living room. This thing is seriously heavy. It's back to the stone age and its low-tech solutions, but I love that thing already. Alush asked - 'Hey, can you turn on the fire now?' NO...

Day 26 (1.26.09)

Reading by osmosis...
Today we discovered that Olivia can read! Seriously, she has been 'reading' Bisquit books, but we just thought she memorized them all. But NO! Today we brought in some books from the library (level 1) and she read the entire book (with help!) She can sound out words, memorized easy ones, and read things like fish, water, kick... So proud of her!

Day 25 (1.25.09)

Today the kids decided that no matter what they would not go ANYWHERE. No matter what. They just wanted to stay home and play. I'd say they made good use of their time, as we did of ours - teaching them about England, Spain and Portugal. We are supplementing their education by teaching them geography, math and history at home. Today we talked about the Tower of London - the usual stuff: beheading, ghosts, knights, hidden treasure AND the highlight - medieval toilets, complete with diagrams! Gotta love 6-yr old humor...

Day 24 (1.24.09)

'Pipe Day'

So the wood burning stove is becoming real, and we were busy designing the venting pipe. Being the recessionista that I am, I spent the last two nights putting together a spreadsheet of parts and prices from on-line stores, e-bay, craigslist. Guess what? Good old Menard's beat them all by at least $200! Who would have guessed! We got dibs from the sales guy that there will be a sale on Feb 15th. We'll be there. Next on the agenda - getting some discount coupons...

Day 23 (1.23.09)

It's finally Friday! You know, I really enjoy the evening - the kids are sleeping, it's quiet, we can snuggle up, put our feet up and watch some TV. The winter sucks the life out of me... I'm a sun-energy type of being. I feel good when its rays warm my skin. Now? This is about all I have energy for... couch potato-ing.

Day 22 (1.22.09)

'Paper Bag Guy'

This is the coolest thing they made @ preschool! Olivia's avatar always has yellow hair, blue eyes and make-up. So does this character. Her name is 'Doggy-dog-dog' and check out the manicure! Has a pedicure too, and real earrings. Instant friend...

Day 21 (1.21.09)

Ok, so I knew this day would come sooner or later. An absolutely average, gray, silly day. This is what I felt like doing to the cars on the Edens as I sat in traffic on the way to yoga...Felt much better afterwards..

Day 20 (1.20.09)

So, history was made...

I'm speechless... I was lucky enough to attend the Election Night Rally in Chicago. Not this time - no DC trip for me:( But I sat glued to the TV most of the day. OK, so if you don't agree with me that the man is amazing, at least acknowledge his gift of pulling people together. People believed, people had hope, people united. We finally have a leader with intelligence and charisma. I just hope he can bear all the weight we collectively put on his shoulders.

Day 19 (1.19.09)

Blah...what a day. Too much work today - I tried to cram 8hrs into my 5 1/2 hour day. Whenever I try doing it, I enter this strange universe where the real world appears flat and linear. Everything has lines... No, no, I'm not doing drugs! This is what happens when I stare at an AutoCAD drawing (black background, thousands of multi-colored lines) for too long! This phenomenon usually goes away by itself in about an hour...

Day 18 (1.18.09)

This is how the kids are watching their cousin's gymnastics meet. OK, this kid is seriously good, so are the other competitors. This is serious stuff. Sebastian has to practice 1.5 hours a day, 5-6 days a week, and THIS is what they choose to do! Sebastian did really well. His team took 1st place and he tied for 1st on the parallel bars.

Day 17 (1.17.09)

We finally had swimming today. The last two classes were cancelled, just as Alush learned to do streamlines! He was so dissapointed that he could not practice. It has been going well so far. This is their 4th session. They spent the first crying, 2nd getting used to the water, 3rd they began to learn. Oh, we changed pools too, so that the water would be warmer - that seemed to help!

Day 16 (1.16.09)

A Strange Day

The morning started @ -18 below...only two school busses were running SO this was the first time Alush was a 'walker' - meaning I dropped him off AND picked him up at school. A long line of cars waiting, kids getting called out one-by-one and the principal and other monitors FREEZING outside to help them in and out. I really felt for them today. Think about it - it was too cold for the bus to run, but yet these people were OUT!

Day 15 (1.15.09)

THE COLD

I mean it is FREEZING - it has been below zero since last night. The HIGH was -7! Ridiculously cold... Alush almost had a frostbite on his cheeks walking from the school bus (that is just on the corner of the street) Wind chills were in -20 to -30 range. That wood stove would sure come in handy today, since the phenomenon of mid-level being cold while upstairs is burning hot and downstairs is 'fine' is more pronouced during cold spells. It will happen...

Day 14 (1.14.09)

More snow! Hit right in the morning rush hour, took us twice as long to get to preschool. At least Olivia was having fun playing in the snow while I was cleaning the car (AGAIN!) Seems to be a pattern now: snow, sunny, snow, sunny... See how deep it is getting?

Day 13 (1.13.09)

'The Bizzard that never was...'

All through the night the warning were dire, blizzard is coming, drifting snow, strong winds, zero visibility. Everyone hunkered down, kids got excited that there would be no school.. We wake up and...the sun is shining! What? Where did it go? We do have school - that sucks!

Day 12 (1.12.09)

Double 'Konik'! Otherwise known as a horsie ride, two kids at the same time. Going straight to bed. They always try to get me to do that...No way, hard to do with just one of them without braking your back! Sweet dreams...

Day 11 (1.11.090

Today was all about ENERGY - wasting it today to try save some in the future. We took a 1-hr drive to look at wood burning stoves. The idea is to put one in the living room and have it heat the house on MOST days without using natural gas. The furnace's fan would be used to circulate the air through the house. What makes it doable is an ample supply of wood at Dziadzio's Cabin in Wisconsin (4.5 acres of forest my dad owns.)

Day 10 (1.10.09)

The day of the snow storm - 10 inches! Yey, it came on a Saturday so no one had to drive to work. Husband was busy - shoveling and digging his car out after the plow came. Snow was to the top of his wheels. A pretty laid-back day considering all the weather chaos.

Day 9 (1.9.09)

Off to school we go! We are fortunate to have school-owned bus service, with the same friendly driver AND a bus monitor. The thing is - it is SO cold...the winter school memory becomes one of standing on the corner and shivering waiting for the bus. I guess I could always have the car running and wait inside... No way! As Alush would say - 'Stop killing the polar bears!' Can't argue with that - I'll bundle up some more ;)

Day 8 (1.8.09)

I love the moon. It makes me aware that we are a part of a larger universe. To see it during the day...well, that makes Alush say: 'My school was so long that the moon is already out! It took forever!' Little does he know that 3:30 pm is about the time working 9 to 5-ers emerge from food coma and head for that cup of coffe...

Day 7 (1.7.09)

Went back to yoga today after a too long of a holiday break... Body felt stiff like metal with rusty, squeaky joints. Core muscles wern't so hot either (all that holiday food) Felt like they were being taken over by some gelatine beast. But I managed, and I'm back. Mom wasn't too happy - only 5 min between classes now! But she managed OK as well and finished with a smile.

Day 6 (1.6.09)

So it snowed today. I used to love snow, now I have a love-hate. Since we have no garage the car is cold and burried under different varieties of snow. Wet, dry, flaky, dirty, moist, icy.... This morning it was dry and flew off the car without much external effort. Tito loved it - you couldn't tell from the look on her face. I just love that grin :)