Wrong Number

At 4pm. my cell phone started ringing with a weird number showing up on the caller ID. I answered the phone and a woman started speaking in an unrecognizable language. I kept saying,"Wrong number" or "speak English?" and she would rattle off a bit then hang up. I finally figured out that the number included the international code. Then 5 minutes later, she would call back. I gave Hector the phone after the 6th time she called. He tried speaking Spanish and then figured out she was speaking Portugese. He says the languages are similar then he says she won't be calling back again. But she did. Sigh...okay if you were calling another country and the person answering the phone did not speak your language or understand you, wouldn't you give up after 45 minutes of calling that phone number?

** Note: I figured out from the caller ID that the call is from Brazil. Last night, I got 2 more call from the same number but I let it ring. So far this morning, no calls...keep you posted.

New Toy

Hector is finally rewarding himself with a brand new motorcycle. He put down the deposit on it today and will pick it up tomorrow. Hector is a very generous guy to his family and friends so I think he deserves it.

Quick and Easy

I surprised myself when I finished the baby hat this afternoon...now maybe I'll attempt a child size next. I love the colors in this yarn! I really tried to make it fit a baby and I think I came pretty close. I used Tyler's Torchic as a model and it fits a bit tight but that's because Torchic has a big ol' melon head!

New Look

In honor of spring, I went with the green template for my blog. Green is one of my favorite colors...I find it peaceful and serene. One day I'll figure out how to get a nicer and unique template to suit me.

This weekend was partly busy and relaxing. Saturday was mostly spent at Hector's mom with her awesome cooking; the menu included taquitos with guacamole and red chile with pork. We pigged out and like clockwork, his mom wanted to feed us again after 2 hours. :) This time I brought some chicken curry and rice to offer some of my culinary skills. After a nice visit Hector drove us out by Crystal Lake near Azusa where the city disappears and we're surrounded by mountains and canyons. Unfortunately, Hector did not tell me that the road out there is very winding and poor Tyler started to get carsick. Thankfully he didn't get to the point where he throws up and I was starting to get a headache too.
On Sunday I spent most of the day catching up on my Netflix movies. I watched Marie Antoinette which has gorgeous costumes and settings. The movie is general was okay. I am not really familiar with her history so I just took the movie as face value...a very pretty movie mostly filled with fluff and great 80's music. Little Miss Sunshine was a really good movie. I knew just the bare facts so I had a great time when Olive did her talent routine. What a hoot. Also I didn't realize that Alan Arkin dies in the middle...he did a great job and that's why he has an Oscar.
I finished knitting A's hat so today I am starting a new style of hat. This is supposed to be easy too but I want to make this a baby (newborn). It took me several attempts to adjust the pattern and I'm still winging it as I go. At least the yarn I chose had a lot of stretch so I keeping my fingers crossed.
Once in a while our internet service gets so slow like dial-up slow so Hector figured out that our router was the problem. Today we went to Best Buy and got another one. After installing it, I couldn't connect so Hector spent some time with the customer service rep and we are back online. Yeah!
Too bad Hector didn't get that thing running this morning when the 3rd show for The Police went on sale. I logged onto Ticketmaster and the computer spent a long time searching the the best available tickets. Finally my choice popped up and of course it was at the back in the upper levels. I bought them because I searched for other dates the the prices went all the way to $3500 per seat!! So I will be perfectly happy with my $98 seat rocking with Kat on June 21st.

Milestone

I'll give the latest update on Josh's progress. For those who are just stumbling across my blog, Josh was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder when he was 3 years old. At first, I was in denial with this label but was determined to get the best possible care for him. We are fortunate to live in a city that offers special education that caters to his needs. Josh receives occupational and speech therapy plus a preschool setting that will prepare him for kindergarten. The city of Torrance includes this in their school district although I'm not sure if other cities do this at all. I watched Larry King Live that addresses autism last night and it seemed that early intervention seems to make the most impact on these children. In a year, we have already seen Josh reach major goals and milestones.
Today Josh's teacher, Miss C called to let us know that Josh reached another milestone. Just yesterday at his evaluation, most of his goals have been reached but we still have lots of hard work ahead for the next set. I was a little overwhelmed by all of it so today's news was great in restoring my hope and energy. A big part of child development is pretend play ie. playing fireman or play cooking and this is something lacking with Joshua. Miss C called and told me how Josh and G played in the kitchen while carrying a conversation so all the teachers were thrilled. They engaged with each other and interacted for over 5 minutes which is incredible for both boys since neither of them had demonstrated pretend play before. Miss C said this is a BIG milesone! Yippee!

Ahh, my new Ugg replacement soles just arrived and restored new life to my old Uggs. My feet are very happy in their plushy and cozy boots!

I can check off another item on my Things To Do list. Yesterday, I went to Walgreens and had my passport photos taken which I picked up this morning. My passport expires in November and with the new regulations I heard that the passport agency is swamped with new applications. That's why I'm submitting my renewal now so I will receive it in time for our trip to Italy in October.

Note: You know who you are and get working on YOUR passport ASAP! It's always great to have because you never know when an opportunity to travel springs up!

Before we decided to have kids, I really wanted to travel. So we planned and went to Europe for 25 days. It was such a fantastic trip even though we hit some snags, those memories are always looked upon fondly. Our first city was Barcelona and I absolutely fell in love with it. I especially enjoyed Gaudi's work because it is so far advanced during his time and unique. After visiting La Pedrera, I wanted to remember the moment so much that we bought 2 watercolors of the building. Of course, I then had to carry my artwork in a cardboard tube for 3 weeks but it was worth it. I put them away when we got home since we lived in a small apartment waiting for the appropriate time.

Fast forward 9 years and my prints are still in their tube. A few weeks ago, I took them to Michael's to have them framed. Hector went along and we were shocked to find out the prices! I chose a simple black wood frame for both watercolors and a black metal frame for a Dali lithograph (Dali exhibit in Berlin). The grand total was over $500! Whew...talk about sticker shock. Oh well, I was going to have them framed and good thing Hector asked about a discount. One of the watercolors would have been $325 alone! So earlier this week, my prints are ready.

So here they are...I found pics of the real deal to give reference to my watercolors. But I am so happy that I finally framed them and need to hang them hopefully this weekend. I'll always remember that trip and the special memories we shared.

Heh, just when I think I'm all that and with it, I get knocked down a peg. I thought that Josh's IEP meeting was this morning because I even wrote it down in my Palm. I lost the original paper stating when the meeting was to verify so we were there at the door. Then I notice that Miss N. is out sick today...after some phone calls, they say the IEP is Wednesday. Okay, my bad.

I have my cough still which gets worse at night when I'm laying down. Hector gave me some Dayquil liquid which seemed to help right away. This morning I was so sleepy still and had a hard time getting up. The bottle was by the sink so I checked it out and that stinker gave me Nyquil!! That stuff knocks me out (which is good) but it also lasts much longer in me (like until noon). Good thing I didn't drink a full dose last night.

Multitasking

Ah, Sundays...the day for catching up on laundry, cleaning up and watching bad shows. Stuff that I'd never want to see in the movie theatre but when it's on cable...it's a guilty pleasure. Let's see, we've already watched 10 Things I Hate About You, RV and 100 Greatest Songs on the 80's. I am feeling better with my cough although it's still very annoying.

Josh's Hat

Here is Josh's hat. I used the same yarn that I used for Tyler's but substituted black yarn for the blue yarn. I wanted them to be similar but not identical.

Sunset Clouds at Mammoth

One night I was called out to see the sunset and saw these beautiful clouds. I have not retouched these photos at all.

I spent most of my morning laying in bed...this cold has got me beat! It was nice to lay there dozing and I feel much better. I'm happy it's Friday but Hector has to work tomorrow. At least we got to go out last night to the Kings game. I was kinda feelin lousy and tired but we arrived early in time to see the teams warm up. At the start of the game, Carmen Electra was introduced for a charity event and other celebrities like Ryan Seacrest who was booed. Then at intermission, about 20 beauty pageant contestants were brought out to shoot pucks for a charity and included the newly rehabbed Miss USA Tara Connor. As they were walking past our section, many of them waved to some man in a green baseball cap by the glass. Hector said it must be someone famous...and sure enough, the man walked past us and it was Jim Belushi.

The hockey game was really exciting and the 2 women next to me talked practically nonstop thruout the game. Thankfully, they switched seats to sit next to their man in the 2nd period. Lately the Kings have been doing really well in the beginning but lose momentum later so the score will be tied which goes into overtime then the final shootout and lose. It is a major bummer and that's exactly what happened in this game.

I finished knitting another hat (this time for a girl) so I started on a scarf. I found this really bulky soft yarn in a dark gray color so I'm tempted to keep it for myself. I have about 1 foot done so I'll see how far a skein of yarn will get me.

Mammoth condo

I don't thing I posted pics of the condo where we stayed at Mammoth. It was very roomy but cozy enough for us to hang out. We had 4 adults and 4 kids so the 3 bedrooms and 3 baths were perfect for us.

Today was a good day...I did have to start the morning with a dentist visit but our dentist is really cool & gentle. He had to replace an old filling and it only took 30 minutes. Once both boys were in school, Hector and I went to Costco to spend out rebate check from American Express. For dining purchases we get 3% back and for everything else 1% which added up to a nice amount back. Let's just say we got a new BBQ grill and a few essentials with our rebate which is sweet. We unloaded our things and headed to have lunch at the Curry House. we hit the lunch crowd but only had to wait 15 minutes for a table and service is very fast. I had the chicken katsu curry with rice and Hector had the beef curry with spaghetti. Unfortunately they add green bell peppers to the noodles which Hector & I dislike but he picked them out and he was good to go.

This afternoon we picked up Tyler from school and walked over to El Monte RV to look at the different RVs. We are thinking of renting one this summer. It was fun. We got a price quote on the 30 foot RV and we might give it a go this year. Of course we have to decide where to go etc but it sounds like lots of fun. If anyone has any suggestions or experience to share, please leave a comment.

Back Home

Finally we're back home and it sure is nice. Overall, our trip was great. The weather was warm and sunny. Tyler advanced in his skiing from the bunny slopes to the intermediate lifts. We had a fun time with the our other friends but I think we'll get our own place instead of sharing. It was just hard to coordinate everything especially meals. Plus getting to and from the ski resort was such a massive undertaking for them which always had us waiting and waiting. Hector was getting really frustrated this morning when we were getting ready to leave. Last night I gathered up the kids' things and laid out their clothes for the next day and I do the same for myself. Hector takes care of his things and all of our snow gear. So this morning most of our things were ready; we just had to pack our toiletries, food and electronics. But out friends left everything to be done this morning. That made packing plus getting their kids' ready take much longer than we planned for. We wanted to check out and start driving home but had to wait for the others. The condo was in our name and we had to turn in all the keys etc so we had to wait for them to get their stuff out. It was just a frustrating end to our trip. Other than that, we had lots of fun.

Hector and I snowboarded all over the mountain yesterday. I was being careful the first couple of days and felt really relaxed yesterday. I fell more because I took more risks but we had so much fun. I have a huge bruise on my right knee from falling when getting off the lift. Oh well that was to be expected. Tyler was excited that he graduated to the steeper hills. One day we tried to find him on the beginner hill and Hector saw Tyler following his instructor off some small jumps! Cool! Too bad we didn't get any pics of it but it was great to see him concentrate and accomplish so much.

More...

Okay, I've been super busy since my last post but I have plenty to tell ya. Wednesday afternoon, we took the kids sliding. It was getting late and Tyler dragged his sled up higher than normal. When he started sliding, his sled took a different path right into some trees! He crashed into a huge tree sliding facefirst! Tyler got some cuts and scrapes on his face but he is OKAY. Of course he was very scared and crying but now 2 days later, he is running around like normal. It could have been a lot worse. He didn't want me taking his picture so I didn't. Just use your imagination.

Thursday was our first day on the mountain. It was a perfect, gorgeous day. Tyler started ski school and Josh went to the preschool. I made sure I stretched really well and it seemed to help me. Hector and I snowboarded most of the day down Stump Alley which is super wide and groomed. So much fun.

We took the kids sliding again. Here are the pics of their extreme sledding..

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more of our day...

I woke up this morning around 6:30am and dozed until 8am. I opened up the window and this is what I saw...

Snow flurries and the lovely storage building! I woke up Tyler to see the snow and he pointed out this.

A HUGE icicle...

We had breakfast at Base Camp cafe near the outlet stores. So when Hector took my snowboard in for some tuning, I headed over to Coach with the kids because gift card was burning a hole in my purse. Because the store was outlet or Factory as they call it, I got a lot for my money. I bought 2 purses, a cellphone lanyard and a Coach keychain. Did I mention the 20% discount I got in addition to the factory prices? Yippee!! At the retail store, my $500 gift card would not get me as much. So I'm a happy cheesegirl....here are my latest purchases to my collection.

Gonna go and play in the snow now...pictures later.

Safe Arrival

Well, we're in Mammoth and our trip was smooth sailing. I got up early to pack and get all the loose item together so by the time we left it was 11am. At least the traffic was light and the roads were clear after West LA.

We stopped a couple of times to eat and once to figure out a mystery noise in the back seat. At first I thought it was the speaker but it turned out that Joshua dropped a Gameboy down into the doorwell. It was making a feedback noise so that was a relief it wasn't the car.

We arrived at Holiday Inn & Suites around 5:30pm. We loaded all our stuff onto a bellhop cart and went to our room. The kids were excited because there was a popcorn cart that was free and an indoor pool. Hector and I ate our sandwiches from Schatt's and the kids had spaghetti. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep so Hector took the kids to the pool. Later he said some ladies were oohing and aahing over the kids and one of them is a swim instructor so she put Tyler through some exercises. Then she said that Tyler listens very well! Ha. Sure that time he did.

That reminds me I saw that there is a Coach store in Mammoth which got me excited. Earlier Hector went out to get the kids' takeout and when he came back he was carrying 2 Coach bags. HUH?? He explained that he slipped while walking back and the spaghetti overturned in the bag so he ran into Coach to get another bag. While he was there, he got me a gift card!! What a sweetie! Hector said that he didn't give me a Valentine's day present. So cool...later I can check out what they have at this location or hold on to it for later.

So last night I think I must have slept about 10 hours and I feel so refreshed today. We're gonna grab some breakfast, check out and do some errands. We need to get mula at the bank, rent skis for Tyler and check into the condo (which we can do early). :) Gotta run now...more later!

Packing Time

We leave tomorrow for Mammoth for about a week so I spent most of the morning folding laundry, sorting socks & picking out all the snow gear. Hector is a darling and doing the vacuuming which I detest. Every time we go on a trip, my mom comes in and cleans. In a perfect world, we'd love it but she tends to put things away where we can't find things or decide to decorate. My mom means well but it is our house and she thinks we would like whatever she chooses to hang on the wall. We had to tell her (nicely), "How would you feel if you left and we rearranged your furniture?"
Plus my mom hasn't feeling too well so we're trying to clean up so she won't feel the need plus we turn off the water to discourage her! She just needs to take it easy. I think the condo will have internet access so I might post some pics here or there depending how tired my old bones will be from snowboarding. I'm gonna take it very easy so I don't hurt myself...it'll be fun just to get away. Laters....

Rough Day

Today is a total eclipse of the moon. I heard an astrologist on the radio mention the total eclipse and how life changing events happen on these days. She mentioned that Princess Diana got married on a total eclipse, had one of her sons on a total eclipse and died on a total eclipse. I remembered all this while waiting in the ER tonight with my mom.

It all started this afternoon, my mom agreed to watch the kids while we go the Kings game. Hector took his usual time so we left at 12:45pm for a 1:00pm game. The traffic was slow and we were almost to Staples center when my mom called Hector saying she didn't feel well (her high blood pressure). So we park briefly to try and offload our tickets. The 1st period was already over but Hector found some guys who were in the upper levels who bought our tickets for $20 each. At least they got to upgrade their seats and have a better view of the game which the Kings lost. We drove home to pick up our family car and picked up the kids.

So then we thought we could catch the Ice Dogs game at Long Beach tonight which is an IHL team. We called Tyler's friend, Glenn & parents if they'd like to join us and they agreed. We said we'd swing by their house at 6pm and carpool. I had the kids all ready at 5:30pm and called my mom to check if she was feeling better. It wasn't good..she sounded awful. I told her that I would take her to the ER and she said okay. So I had to back out of the hockey game tonight and told Hector to go.

I took my mom to the ER and it was packed! Everyone and their extended family was there and it was almost like a party on one side of the room. Good thing I had the foresight to bring my knitting so I got a lot done. We arrived at 6 pm and I waited until 7:30pm to head out for some food (In-n-Out...so good) to bring back. My mom was feeling a little better but she gets these spells where her BP shoots up for no apparent reason. She feels weak and shaky. By 9pm my mom asked them to check her BP again and she decided to go home. We were almost out the door and they called out her name which we told them to cancel. Whew...this night got me thinking of the full moon/eclipse. I'm just glad my mom feels better.

The good news is that I finished Tyler's hat last night! Yeah! I finished a project! I started Josh's hat tonight so maybe I can finish it by Tuesday for our trip.

I am really happy how the hat came out. It's a little big on Tyler (heck, it fits my big head) so I'm on a mission to finish a few more. I still might add a little pom-pom on the end.