The rain stopped!!! Woohoo!!!
It rained all morning and most of the afternoon but now it's only partly cloudy. Life is good!
Friends of our came by this morning after doing a little house hunting. Their boys are thrilled to be here every time - it's heaven for them to be out of the hotel for a few hours! Mary and I went down the street to a lady's house who was having a sale of her sewing/craft products. I bought some wonderful Easter items - now to keep them "under cover" for a week!
We left the kids and headed out for an adult lunch. Had the best hamburger I've had in a very long time - the beef is amazing here! Chatted for a couple of hours over lunch then headed back here.
Our landlord came by to check out some leaks that surfaced over the last two soaking-wet weeks. He's a great guy and remains very responsive to anything we ask/report.
Nicole is going to a nightclub tonight!! Isn't that horrible?? Her girlfriend's mom rented the VIP room of a bar nearby and is having 20 couples there to celebrate her husband's birthday. She allowed her daughter to invite 7 friends to hang out as well. This is a very protective family - we've met the mom a few times and she's just as cautious as we are with her baby girl. She called and spoke to John this morning - even he's reassured that this is all well-organized and the kids will be closely monitored. So, horrible but really cool! LOL
Okay...I still can't believe my baby's going "clubbing"!!!! AHHHH!
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Friday, March 30, 2007
Rain, Rain Go Away!!
It hasn't stopped raining in two weeks. Well, it feels that way!
Roads are flooded, there's no dog walkers or pool guys to be found and our lawn is two feet tall. Our security guy is closeted up in his shack...rain, rain, rain. Thankfully with a 4WD vehicle, I'm not stuck here. John and I went to some electronic shops to get stuff for the electrician (who can't finish the job 'cause it's RAINING!) then to EASY (our version of Home Depot) to grab some other stuff. It was a nice time to spend together - I do love it that he has Fridays off.
Jake was optimistic - he left this morning with his tennis racket in hand. Poor baby, sorry for his luck!
I had another lunch out yesterday with another group of ladies - very nice! Then I ventured to get more bills paid, I couldn't bear to give John anymore of those duties. Thankfully I was eventually successful - two trips, about an hour and a half total.
Spanish lessons are going full blast ahead. My brain is turning to mush but I think we're getting somewhere. Jake is still enthusiastic, she kept it down to 45 minutes for him so as not to overwhelm him.
Leftovers for dinner last night so I either need to cook or find delivery somewhere for tonight!! :-) That's an easy choice! LOL
Ciao!!
Roads are flooded, there's no dog walkers or pool guys to be found and our lawn is two feet tall. Our security guy is closeted up in his shack...rain, rain, rain. Thankfully with a 4WD vehicle, I'm not stuck here. John and I went to some electronic shops to get stuff for the electrician (who can't finish the job 'cause it's RAINING!) then to EASY (our version of Home Depot) to grab some other stuff. It was a nice time to spend together - I do love it that he has Fridays off.
Jake was optimistic - he left this morning with his tennis racket in hand. Poor baby, sorry for his luck!
I had another lunch out yesterday with another group of ladies - very nice! Then I ventured to get more bills paid, I couldn't bear to give John anymore of those duties. Thankfully I was eventually successful - two trips, about an hour and a half total.
Spanish lessons are going full blast ahead. My brain is turning to mush but I think we're getting somewhere. Jake is still enthusiastic, she kept it down to 45 minutes for him so as not to overwhelm him.
Leftovers for dinner last night so I either need to cook or find delivery somewhere for tonight!! :-) That's an easy choice! LOL
Ciao!!
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Argentina Frustration
It's poor John's frustration...he's the one that has to deal with the insanity.
It is now 8:50 - John just got off the phone with the cell phone company. He first tried calling them at around 5:30. He was trying to pay three cell phone bills. He had to call from the actual phone, call three different numbers and talk to two different people because neither of them could do what the other could do. Then the actual payment had to be through the automated system. If that sounds confusing, imagine doing it all in another language!! Turns out the credit card number that John gave one of them was taken down wrong so he had to start all over again. He's about to have a stroke! Midway through he asked me if I thought it was the incompetence of the people or the system. I opted for the system but then we found out about the credit card number. Ooops.
My day was nice!! I wandered around the mall - it's huge so I didn't see a quarter of it. Had breakfast there then went and bought groceries. The maid had the house all clean by the time I returned plus she found some of my shirts to iron. Yeah, this rocks!
Groceries are pretty inexpensive here - we had a roasted free-range chicken/corn-on-the-cob/sauteed fresh spinach with onions & mushrooms for about $10. Obviously I felt like cooking today.
I'd better go pour John some wine! LOL
Salud!
It is now 8:50 - John just got off the phone with the cell phone company. He first tried calling them at around 5:30. He was trying to pay three cell phone bills. He had to call from the actual phone, call three different numbers and talk to two different people because neither of them could do what the other could do. Then the actual payment had to be through the automated system. If that sounds confusing, imagine doing it all in another language!! Turns out the credit card number that John gave one of them was taken down wrong so he had to start all over again. He's about to have a stroke! Midway through he asked me if I thought it was the incompetence of the people or the system. I opted for the system but then we found out about the credit card number. Ooops.
My day was nice!! I wandered around the mall - it's huge so I didn't see a quarter of it. Had breakfast there then went and bought groceries. The maid had the house all clean by the time I returned plus she found some of my shirts to iron. Yeah, this rocks!
Groceries are pretty inexpensive here - we had a roasted free-range chicken/corn-on-the-cob/sauteed fresh spinach with onions & mushrooms for about $10. Obviously I felt like cooking today.
I'd better go pour John some wine! LOL
Salud!
Monday, March 26, 2007
My Star
Lisette was very happy when she got off of the bus today! Last week she auditioned for a student-led play at her school. Today, she found out she got the part of Helena in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"!! Very exciting!! Thankfully, or otherwise, she has decided that she doesn't want to become an actress after all. Stay tuned for more on that as time goes by!
Jake had a swimming lesson after school. When I picked him up he told me that there was a giant wave coming to Buenos Aires and we were all going to die. He was quite excited about this. He did mutter something about his short eight years not being so great. I took offense to that! He insisted we look up the news online about this giant wave...surprisingly, the AP doesn't seem to have picked it up. That wasn't enough for Jake to find any hope of seeing tomorrow although he was talked out of sleeping in the attic. I have a weird kid.
So we're all sleeping in our own beds...hope I don't get too soggy during the night!
Jake had a swimming lesson after school. When I picked him up he told me that there was a giant wave coming to Buenos Aires and we were all going to die. He was quite excited about this. He did mutter something about his short eight years not being so great. I took offense to that! He insisted we look up the news online about this giant wave...surprisingly, the AP doesn't seem to have picked it up. That wasn't enough for Jake to find any hope of seeing tomorrow although he was talked out of sleeping in the attic. I have a weird kid.
So we're all sleeping in our own beds...hope I don't get too soggy during the night!
Roller Coaster Weekend
Saturday morning was quiet. Then the girls had to go to their soccer game.
John, Jake and I headed to the stores - John to "Home Depot" and Jake and I to "WalMart". It was nuts! We've vowed never again to venture to the stores on a weekend. Jake did get a tennis racket though.
Nicole had a friend spend the night on Saturday - they ordered McDonalds delivery for dinner! Awesome! John and I went out for dinner, he needed a daquiri after the shopping fiasco. :-)
We tried out another church this Sunday. I liked it a lot more than the other one we tried. Seems like that was the consensus of the family too.
Spent the rest of Sunday working around the house. John is being quite the handyman these days. He hung/fixed four sets of lights plus hung a bunch of the pictures I'd set out. I worked on organizing the kids' DVDs and videos. Laundry's done and Jake got Shepherd's Pie for dinner - he's been asking for weeks.
Hope you're weekend was productive too!
John, Jake and I headed to the stores - John to "Home Depot" and Jake and I to "WalMart". It was nuts! We've vowed never again to venture to the stores on a weekend. Jake did get a tennis racket though.
Nicole had a friend spend the night on Saturday - they ordered McDonalds delivery for dinner! Awesome! John and I went out for dinner, he needed a daquiri after the shopping fiasco. :-)
We tried out another church this Sunday. I liked it a lot more than the other one we tried. Seems like that was the consensus of the family too.
Spent the rest of Sunday working around the house. John is being quite the handyman these days. He hung/fixed four sets of lights plus hung a bunch of the pictures I'd set out. I worked on organizing the kids' DVDs and videos. Laundry's done and Jake got Shepherd's Pie for dinner - he's been asking for weeks.
Hope you're weekend was productive too!
Friday, March 23, 2007
Quiet Day
The kids head for school early so I just got up in time to send them off on the bus. It had stopped raining so the dog walker was likely to show so I waited for him - as soon as he left with Buddy I headed back to bed...for THREE hours! I have got to start going to bed earlier! Last night it was past midnight before my head hit a pillow.
John and I walked down into town for lunch, checked out a few stores then headed home. Jumped into the car and headed to a light store. We love this house but it needs a little updating, especially in the lighting. Things are relatively cheap here so we're putting our own money into it - to a degree. We knew what we wanted but going shopping here is a very lengthy process. We fairly quickly chose the lights we wanted but that was only a small fraction of the time required. First, getting the attention of the salesperson. Not an easy task. We just kind of stood around, looking "ready" - it took about ten minutes before someone approached us. This is a very small store, with two other customers and three sales persons. The gentleman then chatted with John about California for about fifteen minutes. It took about ten more minutes to find out if the lights were in stock. Then another ten minutes to find light shades that would fit, their first selection was not what we wanted. There was unpacking/packing/unpacking/repacking to be done. John spent most of the time switching different lights on and off. The process of picking out (fifteen minutes) and buying two sets of lights took us almost two hours. Plus transit time. Good thing we weren't in a hurry!
Jake had another tennis lesson today - he's really enjoying it. John offered to buy him a tennis racket...looks like we'll be shopping again tomorrow! Uh Oh.
John and I walked down into town for lunch, checked out a few stores then headed home. Jumped into the car and headed to a light store. We love this house but it needs a little updating, especially in the lighting. Things are relatively cheap here so we're putting our own money into it - to a degree. We knew what we wanted but going shopping here is a very lengthy process. We fairly quickly chose the lights we wanted but that was only a small fraction of the time required. First, getting the attention of the salesperson. Not an easy task. We just kind of stood around, looking "ready" - it took about ten minutes before someone approached us. This is a very small store, with two other customers and three sales persons. The gentleman then chatted with John about California for about fifteen minutes. It took about ten more minutes to find out if the lights were in stock. Then another ten minutes to find light shades that would fit, their first selection was not what we wanted. There was unpacking/packing/unpacking/repacking to be done. John spent most of the time switching different lights on and off. The process of picking out (fifteen minutes) and buying two sets of lights took us almost two hours. Plus transit time. Good thing we weren't in a hurry!
Jake had another tennis lesson today - he's really enjoying it. John offered to buy him a tennis racket...looks like we'll be shopping again tomorrow! Uh Oh.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Newcomer's Adventure
There's a Newcomer's Group that meets just three times but they cover lots of useful info like - paying bills(yeah!), choosing meat at the grocery store (yum!) and avoiding getting mugged (bonus!) Today, we met and toured the business area near my house and then took the train to Belgrano, a suburb of Buenos Aires.
I'm thrilled with this area - we're plenty close to a lot of great shops/cafes but our neighbourhood is very, very quiet. So it was fun to find some new places to check out and have the shoe repair shop pointed out, etc. etc.
Chinatown (really China Street) is in Belgrano and we had an awesome Chinese food lunch. The ladies in the group are super friendly, it was a very international group too - Americans, Canadians, German, Danish, Asian (from Laos, I think).
So now I know how to take the train - exceedingly easy but I didn't know that until I went! I also bought a good map book at the "Kiosco" near the station.
The Spanish tutor had just arrived as I was walking up to the house. Class went well and Jake jumped right in when it was his turn. When I introduced them he immediately responded in confident Spanish - too cute!!
Nicole went to the doctor after I picked the girls up from soccer. Her back has been bothering her for quite some time. The doctor diagnosed it as a sciatic problem and suggested rest/warmth/ibuprofen as well as stretching. Thankfully, said doctor speaks English and takes our medical insurance.
Busy day - now I'm ready for bed!
BTW, our phone is definitely working now. John had set it up to forward to his old cell phone number!! AHHHH! :-)
I'm thrilled with this area - we're plenty close to a lot of great shops/cafes but our neighbourhood is very, very quiet. So it was fun to find some new places to check out and have the shoe repair shop pointed out, etc. etc.
Chinatown (really China Street) is in Belgrano and we had an awesome Chinese food lunch. The ladies in the group are super friendly, it was a very international group too - Americans, Canadians, German, Danish, Asian (from Laos, I think).
So now I know how to take the train - exceedingly easy but I didn't know that until I went! I also bought a good map book at the "Kiosco" near the station.
The Spanish tutor had just arrived as I was walking up to the house. Class went well and Jake jumped right in when it was his turn. When I introduced them he immediately responded in confident Spanish - too cute!!
Nicole went to the doctor after I picked the girls up from soccer. Her back has been bothering her for quite some time. The doctor diagnosed it as a sciatic problem and suggested rest/warmth/ibuprofen as well as stretching. Thankfully, said doctor speaks English and takes our medical insurance.
Busy day - now I'm ready for bed!
BTW, our phone is definitely working now. John had set it up to forward to his old cell phone number!! AHHHH! :-)
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