Time is slipping by

faster than money through my bank account these days. Before you know it, spring will be here and summer is of course just around the corner.

It's been pretty hectic times here since my mum left. I think we're always in a bit of a daze when she goes as we just love having her here so much we're kind of left numb when she goes. All part of life though I suppose.

I just finished reading a book mum gave me at xmas. It's got a terrible cover and everyone in my office was convinced I was reading some sort of romance novel when they saw it on my desk... but it was really so good. It was called Beach Music by Pat Conroy and it was quite the story. The old man on the bus next to me on the way home last night was looking rather puzzled as he saw a few tears roll down my cheek as I flpped through the last pages of the book. What a great read! I really would never have picked it up on my own accord but since it came reccomended by mum I couldn't refuse. Now I'm onto the last book Andrea gave me for xmas called Savage Garden by Mark Mills. It's kind of a challenge to get in to right now as I was so pulled into the last book it's hard to move on... seems to be a re-occuring theme of this post.

Other long un-resolved issues are wrapping up but with them come more issues and more stress. Not quite sure why it is that just when we seem to be getting our feet on the ground that something pops up to set us back... I guess we'll learn to live by simply bobing at the surface for a while. Sigh.

The girls are coming from London for a visit in a few weeks and all the weekend and overtime I've been doing lately will be used up on a day off while they're here. I can't wait. Perhaps some girlie time will help get through all of this.

Lilli has voiced a bark of complaint that ever since Sienna has come along her blog presense has been severely diminished... She just wanted her adoring public to know that she was still really cute and that really, she's the start of the show.... so on that note... over to you Lilli Martini!

Two words

Pony Tails!

It’s been one year already

And on this very day one year ago the little miss Sienna Ellice entered into this world. I’m amazed at how quickly time flies and how much and how little my life has changed. I always thought that having a child would mean total upheaval… that the milestones of sleeping through the night, rolling over, sitting and now walking would be monumental and earth shattering. I think the thing is, is that they all happen at such a natural progression that I never felt the rush of a monumentus feeling at these accomplishments. I do however treasure every day and hope that I will sooner rather than later master the art of divine patience that you need to be a good parent. It is truly the biggest task especially when you’re a person like me. But who better to help you learn that a 10kilo bundle of smiles, giggles and love?

Some people say that you get magic ‘I forget the whole birth’ hormones… I don’t think I ever got those… I seem to have erased from my mind the whole 9 months leading up to that Saturday morning that I hobbled down the 120 steps and out into the street between contractions on the way to the hospital. I remember the cab ride, the checking in and the subsequent monitoring of my contractions. I watched in awe and horror as the measuring unit which previously I had only seen measure contractions at a 60 at the highest was now spiking at 98 and man did it hurt. I remember walking to the delivery room and waiting while Alfredo fiddled with his scrubs as he was so excited he could hardly get them on. I remember thinking, ‘why am I not in a wheel chair’? I remember how that when they finally let me push that the pain went away… and I remember looking up at the big white clock on the delivery room hall and seeing that it was 9h15 when she was born. Her birth certificate says 9h45 but I know that she was actually bon 30 minutes earlier… not that it matters really but I remember! Then from that point on I’ve worn a veil of surrealness of being a parent. I find it quite baffling really as I keep waiting for that veil to lift and finally feel a sigh of relief and think to myself- this is real, this isn’t Sarah playing the part of a person who is a mother… may take me a while yet but I’m ever optimistic and that says a lot coming from a certified fatalist.

Mum arrived safely yesterday and poor her, was greeted by a fleet of sickies… All three of us seem to have terrible colds and fever. I can’t imagine that there is a bug that is going around that I have not yet caught. I had I think 3 flus in January and am starting off Feb. with what I hope to be a single cold and not a whole flock of them… hack hack cough cough

Happy birthday my little boobitu (although we try not to call you that)

And then....

Finally some things actually get done! It's only taken a year but we've got Sienna's Baptism planned. It will be on the 8th. Mum is flying in... Mami and Papi are coming from Italy and we still don't know if Alfredo's parents and sisters are coming from Paris... but the impressive thing is that it will be done. It only took a whole year! Shame on us.

Well in the spirit of getting things done, I managed to go for a run today with Eric after work. My sweet chickadee fixed my bike for me so I cycled to the gym (I can't believe I still know where it is) and we went for a jog along the beach and then for a chilly swim in the outdoor swimming pool. It was heated of course but still chilly. Brr. It's only 21h but I'm seriously ready for some zzz's already!

Miss Joey and Mr Pierre have some big exciting moves on their horizons! I'm so excited to be able to visit them in Scotland in March once they make their big move up north!

Oh yes and there is that minor thing which is not so minor which is the wee madam's first birthday that is coming up on the 2nd of Feb. Man oh man this time last year I was fit to be tied as the waiting was driving me mad! I was thinking that as I was jogging down the beach tonight... boy sure couldn't have been doing this at the same time last year!

I now have no reason...

to feel bad about my new downstairs neighbour. I met him in person for the first time last night and he was most disagreeable. Now I don't feel as bad as loathing him and his loud annoying music and video game playing. I also won't feel so bad when the day comes where I snap and go downstairs and scream bloody murder to him when he's got his kareoke machine on repeat at 3am singing some terrible catalan rock song. I won't feel bad at all. In fact, I may just feel kind of good. Ha I said it.

Sienna's school had a xmas recital that they all practised for but sadly she missed as she was dragged off the great white north with her mother... But they do have the cutest picture ever of the recital online. So sweet!


See it's not all evil

Where I sit here at my new but not so new any more job…

My desk faces the window which looks out onto a busy road. On the other side of the road is a block of flats above the street level shops. It’s sort of a mini-apartment complex. Although it doesn’t look to swish from it’s 50’s style architecture, I know all too well that in this part of town the owners/tenants are not hurting for money. All day long there is a flurry of cleaning that goes on in all the flats. Their dutiful South American house cleaners seem to work endlessly cleaning and cleaning. The strange thing is, is that the key cleaning task seems to be the windows. The little portly ladies seem to work endlessly away to keep all their windows clean. What kills me is how they all teeter precariously on tall ladders with the windows open. I’m terrified one day one will slip and go tumbling out the window 5 floors down to the busy foot path below. Perhaps I should keep myself busier with what they pay me to do rather than looking out the window…

Believe it or not

I managed to stay up to watch a movie last night… I did of course fall asleep around 10 minutes before it ended but let’s not be so pedantic… I’d of course seen it before. It was the movie called The Holiday. It’s a totally pinkie Hollywood movie… but I’m not ashamed to admit that I loved it even though it was the second time I’ve seen it. The first time was in the theatre with mum which in its self is a rarity. We saw it together a few years back when I went home for xmas. Perhaps that is the root of my fondness for it… I don’t know what it is about it but I did indeed notice that I had a smile on my face throughout . If you need a smile or two do indeed see it. Alfredo who is the king of pinkie romance films gives it the thumbs up too if it helps.

The wee one is getting into all sorts of mischief now as she is on the brink of full-on walking… not long now till we shed a few pounds chasing after her wherever she goes. Mum bought her this really cute monkey back pack with a tail that acts as a lead of sorts. Perhaps it seems cruel to have a child in one of these but I’m thinking that the city life we lead will certainly call for some sort of child (don’t bolt off into traffic sort of device). Perhaps we can hook on the dog too and we're all sorted (evil laugh). Hello? Child services? me? Bad mother? Que no!

Just when we feared it was all over for dear old pute pute...

Mama bear pulled out a massive geek miracle from her behind. Yup I sucessfully de-bug our pc problem. Our CPU was cranked out to 100%. I mean wtf? Want to know how to fix it? I know you don't but you're going to learn...

1) install a process explorer then you can see what exactly is causing the 100% CPU usage.

2) Once the offending process is located then track it down and kill it...

3) in my case it was a massive spooling back log which was repared by looking up the file name that was causing the blockage and following the instructions on how to delete the offending processes from within the system 32 folder (spooling file if you must know)

4) dance for joy around the living room as you don't actually need to wipe your whole computer again like feared!

5) Feel really really smug as you're not such a mug

6) Go to bed feeling smug still but exhausted as you've got to get up to go to work at 6h30 am the next day...

One day on two days off... one day on then one day off

No I've not started work as an air hostess but you might think that I have. The odd days that the holidays fall on this year make for strange work days.

In the interim I'm trying desperately not to go apeshit bollistic on my new downstairs neighbour who has a penchant for VERY VERY loud music. I am certainly very light on the patience level for things like this... flash back to about 5 years ago to when we lived in the Loft and our friendly coke dealer neighbours decided to crank their music for 48h straight... The cops of course would do nothing as we lived in Dalston and of course the noise complaint arm of the council went bankrupt... If post traumatic stress disorder for this type of thing I would swear that I have it badly! I fear for my neighbour as he may just end up bearing he brunt of my little condition.

Another two lesson's I've learned lately are

1) Babies have jet lag for longer than you can ever imagine
2) Only the very rich and the very poor have more than two children... well maybe the middle class do too but they very soon become poor paying daycare fees for places that serve freshly squeezed orange juice. (I know KJ I'm evil I'm evil)

Just because it's really really funny...

I must clarify just what a power plate is.... and now you know why never to stand on one with a full bladder... never!

Some important life lessons I've learned since I last blogged

1) Never step onto a power plate machine to show your mum how cool it is when you have a full bladder. NEVER!

2) Traveling via Frankfurt to Toronto is NEVER a good idea especially with a 10 month old baby. Go via Amsterdam or don't go at all!

3) Christmas was 100 times more exciting now that we've got little ones in the family again

4) Once you have kids you really rarely want things for yourself

Beyond these somewhat comic realizations much fun and enjoyment was had while the wee one and I were visiting Canada for xmas


My mum and Sienna and Isabella - her grand daughters


Sienna and I on mum's front path. SNOW! (check my to die for trainers says Sienna... and my fab leg-warmers - thank you auntie Kathryn)


Sienna was not too certain about this said snow?

Vero et la petite princesse



Vero's mum sent this very goldie cute xmas outfit from Marseilles for Seinna.


She wasn't quite sure what this whole thing was about... but after a few more photos she pulled out her 'blue steel'


okay not really 'blue steel'but a smile nonetheless!

I've snuck a few quiet seconds...

This sunny but cold Sunday morning. The baby is napping and the boy and the hound are curled up sleeping in bed. I'm so happy to report that I'm feeling well for the first time in days. Thank God! I'm actually looking forward to going to work again tomorrow morning to catch up on all I missed on Friday. Getting up at half six however, that I am not looking forward to...

Poor wee Sienna is on her 4th consecutive week of mega congestion. She is so sweet. Over the past few two days she has taken a liking to being held in my arms as we dance around the living room listening to bootleg smiths tracks that her daddy keeps producing from mysterious places deep within our hard drive. She just cuddles right in and lets me do the dancing. Its such a sweet thing. Eventually she just drifts off to sleep. There is nothing in this world that can substitute that feeling. It doesn't happen very often any more as she is a few days shy of 10 months now and is (when not ill) constantly on the go and not at all interested in cuddle/dancing time with anyone. So for that I am truly blessed.

I had a lovely chat with my mum the other day who told me the best news. She said that after nearly 2 years reprieve from her hellish job that she woke up the other morning and finally felt well rested. No small feat really as she is a terrible sleeper at the best of time... mix that up with constant stress, grieving the loss of your husband... there is no doubt why its taken her so long to finally re-gain balance. I love her so much that it fills me with great joy to know that she is truly well, inside and out. I just can't wait to pass her wee Sienna for a cuddle when we arrive for xmas in just a few short weeks.

Our house is a disaster and for the first time in a long time I really don't care. My priority is enjoying every second at home with all of us together house work can wait. Today since the sun is out I plan to round up the girls and reluctant father to go for a walk and soak up some vitamin d on special today for free from the sunbeams... then stop at out beautiful neighborhood church to say a few prayers and get some divine direction and stuff and such in the hope that by some miracle Alfredo's passport woes which are still tied up in years worth of red tape will be resolved in the next 2 weeks and that he too can come home with us for xmas. There is a lot of praying to be done and we're no holy rollers or anything like that.... but hey, if you've got some spare room on your meditation/prayer or whatever higher being spirit power or enlightening force open, please add his cause on. It would be so lovely to all be together for once at xmas.


Congestion is no match for bath bubbles

Sleep sleep and more sleep



The congestion fest continues here at Casa Montcada... Just to mix it up a bit I got a nice stomach bug on Thursday night which kept me in bed all day Friday. Not so good since I had tons of stuff to do at work, I feel just terrible for not being able to go. The good news however is that it seems to have passed now and I'm slowly feeling like food isn't the enemy anymore.

We have just recently completed watching the first half of Series 6 of the Sopranos... I had no idea that there was a second half. Joey is an angel for having lent this to us! I'm not quite sure what we'll do when we get our hands on the second half, as once we've completed it we'll have to come to terms with the fact that there will never be more :(

Organic vacuums and funky hairdos!

Anyone with a small child and a dog should be quite smug with themselves... You might think we are nuts, which we are but having a naughty Chihuahua has its advantages... Crumbs are a rare sight in our house... and accidental spills- no problem. Lilli is our little organic vaccum. Crib full of cracker crumbs? Remove baby and place in dog a few minutes later, presto, all clean! And if your clever you leave to dog in the play pen for a few minutes and a tiny glimmer of peace will be yours! now if we could only convince her to chase up the dust bunnies...

Its been a long time since I've had a proper Saturday like this... meaning after a full week of work. It does indeed feel nice to spend time with the wee ones and the tostadito one!


AHHHHH!

I'm about a hundred days behind in photos and there are just so many. The wee one is advancing leaps and bounds with all the time she's spending with her new friends at nursery school... she's a little madam now and just so much more interactive with everyone. Her hair is growing like weeds and we may just manage to pull of pig tails for xmas...


Mum went a little overboard with the hair dryer!

Not long now till we jet off to the great white north! The count down begins!

Its been pretty slow on the ground these days...

For anything that does not directly involve my new job that is... waking up at half six every morning is resulting on a very very early bed time these days... by half eight last night I was already zzzing... sad state of affairs really but coupled with the fact that I am still fighting this monster seemingly never-ending cold it makes a bit of sense.

Perhaps the weekend will bring me a bit of reprive and a bit of blogging...

Sitges or bust... or in my case, Sitges and bust

Well it sounds funny. But no really, it wasn't really funny at all but at the same time not sad either. I ventured off to Sitges on this rainy Wednesday morning. My mission was to return miss Andrea's ring to the shop where she bought it as the stone that it had, had fallen out. Its a very pleasant train ride from my house with just one quick change. It was so nice to just venture off on my own, something that I certainly don't do very often anymore. I arrived and quickly navigated to the shop. Was I surprised to see the - closed from the 9th till the 24th - sign posted on the door? No, not really. Just my luck. But all was not lost as I now know the name of the shop and the name of the street so I can ring the lady when they open again!

I then strolled the 50m down to the sea front which was quite grim as it was not raining there but darn close... snapped the two standard pics for prosperity and within a few minutes boarded the train back to Barna (that's what catalan's call Barcelona).


Cloudy sea front... well the palm trees just before the sea starts


The beach and the lovely church

Its been a long long time... but I finally...

Went out on a Saturday night! I know, I know, it may be hard to believe but I attended mini me's birthday party on Saturday night. It really felt strange being at a bar... I do however have to contest that the cigarette smoke was probably the most difficult thing for me to handle. The four vodka's that I imbibed were of course no problem at all!


Mini me and me!

Spot my dodgy hair re-growth? Thing 10004 of the list of things they don't tell you that happen to you when you have a baby... your hair falls out!!! Not permanently of course but its something like your hair stops falling out like it normally does when you're pregnant and then when you're no longer pregnant your hair growth cycle starts again and the new hair growing pushes out the old one which results in you thinking you're going bald as huge clumps of hair fall out... sigh... makes life interesting I suppose!

Happy Birthday Maria!!!

We were trying to do a nice little portrait to send to my mum who's birthday it is today... shambolic results of course... but funny! I think we need a tripod... But the important thing is that today is my Mum's birthday! She's the grand old age of 58! I can only humbly hope that one day I can be even a tiny bit as good as she is with me, with the wee Sienna... I am truly blessed to have such an amazing mum. It got me thinking that when I'm 58 Sienna will be 27!!!


First take... its like this all the time...


Mildly better... but still chaotic

Frustration thy name is... ME!

I am going crazy today as I can't quite get my head around KLM and Lufthansa's pet in cabin carrier sizes. Both airlines will allow a max height of 20cm (8'') but I can not for the life of me find a single carrier that meets this requirement, they are all taller... some by 1,5cm and others by 4cm but still... a max height is a max height and one does not want to risk experiencing any more stress than need be when traveling internationally with a pet (and a small child)... just writing that makes me think that we are insane for even contemplating this journey... but still, we have to go home for xmas and I don't know anyone who is in the market to mind our dog for 3 weeks while we are in Canada... Calling the airlines has not produced any help... they only have the same info that is detailed on their website to relay to me... I think its quite possible that my head may eject my brain by means of a massive explosion as I can't process the amount of frustration that this is causing me... I guess someone needs to take up yoga or some calming thing...

I appologise in advance if my brain splatters all over your monitor as you read this.

Its was all good...

The wee one seems to love her new school and was so elated and excited from all the days activities! Even though she was shattered she had a hard time settling down last night when she returned home. Its hard to see her there but its so important for her to learn and grow... all parents go through this but I guess until its your sprog you don't quite get that heart wrenching feeling. Don't get me wrong, I am also happy to report that I have also experienced a bit of elation myself as for the first time in ages I've had some time to myself without feeling guilty that I am not with her... not that I've not got other things to keep me busy but a bit of time even to clean the microwave (I know, how sad is that?) is well appreciated.

The job search is finally over, I'm not going to go into too many details until the ink has dried on the signed offer, but its nice to know that we'll soon be back on track. They seem like a very nice company and are even so kindly accommodating our trip to Canada this xmas. Now if we could only find a half decent photography agent for Fredu it might boulster some work his way too... we can but try no?

Someone started their first day at nursery school!

She was all smiles this morning on her way out the door to her first day at nursery school. Its pretty exciting as we're all ramping up for me to return to work and start a new chapter! Lilli dog is over the moon as she thinks we've finally gotten rid of that 'thing' that seems to take up all of our attention... Just wait till 17h when she returns... Lilli will be beside herself.


All smiles with daddy! And look it finally stopped raining!


She's not so sure about it... but I'm sure she will love it! Look at how much space there is!

Happy Hallowe'en!!!

We were due to go to a party... but unfortunately it was canceled at the last moment due to an unforeseen injury of Vero's brother... poor guy! So we took the party on the road and found some more fun!

Soy una gatita (I'm a kitty cat)


A crazy Mexican and two scary vampires!


Daddy and the gatita

The whole gang!


Meaow!


The vampires decorated Sienna's carrito

If you've ever had a cat or a dog...

You simply must read this entry from Super_AP: wogging at its blorst I laughed so hard. I think we should all petition him to write more cat entries! Simply briliant.

It's Hallowe'en and here in Spain its not the most widely observed day... but with so many foreigners there are always some fun things going on... we shall head out with Roy and his twinnies and of course our little miss... She won't of course quite get what s going on but it should make for some fun photos for the blog...

In this last week all her activities such as CONSTANTLY crawling and climbing she seems to have burned off some puppy fat... I think she is really enjoying exploring the house and trying to drive her parents nuts by touching anything that is possibly dangerous... amazing how they just seem to gravitate towards what they are not allowed to touch...


Chillin' being all independant with her bad self in the hall.

Nursery's Bugaboo and lots and lots of chilly rain

Things have been quite busy here in casa Barcelona lately. We had a lovely visit with Joey just last weekend which helped Sienna refine her love of shopping. She is now touching everything as you go by... Just like her great grandma!

Fredu returned from his work excursion to the south late on Sunday night and there was one very happy camper who awoke to find her daddy had returned... actually the dog was of course VERY happy to see him return too. I sometimes thinks she gets depressed when he's not here as I am a much stronger pack leader (thanks Cesar Milan) than him...

The wee one has finally gotten a place within the nursery near our house. She is booked in to start on Monday. It is going to be much harder for us to let her go than it is for her to be left but we'll work it out I'm sure. She's going to be in good hands with the fransican nuns who run the joint just a few doors down from our house. Now I just need to get cracking on getting back to work and we're all set! It will feel very strange next week having her no here as I will be at home and she will not! I guess I will get a lot of life admin sorted and gym and paint and such so all good and hopefully sooner than not be back working.

Our Bugaboo pram is having some problems with the big round white button that adjusts the seating position. As we got it second hand the warranty has expired... we had the sneaking suspicion that it would cost us a fortune to fix... I wrote an email to Bugaboo Spain and I kid you not they rang me the very next day and have told me they will ship me a replacement part free of charge! I'm absolutely astounded. What fantastic customer service. I'm so interested to see if these new parts really do fix it! Well even if they don't their customer service here is very good!

The rain and grey weather continues here and its darn cold let me tell you! We are all kitted out in our best winter gear already. We need an urgent trip to Ikea to buy a rug as some little people who are now crawling around like crazy are having issues with cold bums!

Maria and the Douglas clan are heading off to Cuba this Friday afternoon. Theyve certainly got the right idea. We shall be with them in spirit... Mojito anyone?

Crisis vs Crunch... an example of how language is so important

Things often get lost in translation but often times information is manipulated by language as well. When Andrea who is of course from London was here she was referring to the current world economical situation as the "Credit Crunch" which I found very interesting as here in Spain it's been labeled an ''Economic Crisis". Its all very well spun by the political leaders of each country. No doubt I'm missing a lot of fundamental understandings of how economies work, but I think its pretty safe to say that they way your leader refers to the current situation shows a lot about who they really are. I wonder what senor Bush refers to it as?

The rain came down in buckets this morning. Poor Lilli may never forgive me for subjecting her to the indecency of having to *gasp* walk in the rain... Sienna was snug in her plastic bubble that protects her pram and she quite honestly enjoyed watching the rain dribble down the plastic that surrounded her...

I'm hoping that Joey doesn't read by blog before she jets off to visit us tomorrow night. I've made her some red velvet cake for her Birthday which was a month ago but hey... any excuse right? I wonder if it will last over night in my fridge. I've instructed Eric to come by to collect his tonight to lower the risk of me eating the one I made for him!

What the devil does it all mean?

I've been having these re-occuring dreams lately and in them surfing is the main subject. I seem to find myself in places with huge waves. The kind like they have in Hawaii... big and blue but surprisingly friendly. The thing is, that I have never surfed before in my life... nor have I been anywhere where surfing of this kind takes place. I am not scared or anxious in the dream just excited to get out there... but in these dreams I have not yet managed to actually get out to surf them. Last night just as I was about to get in and give it a go the surf all of a sudden subsided like a wave pool that you would find in a water park being shut off?

Apparently the dreams don't mean much... I looked up surfing and waves and apparently this is what they represent...

Surfing

To dream that you are surfing, indicates the ups and downs of some emotional situation or relationship. You may feel overwhelmed. One minute you can be in control of your emotions and the next minute you are not.



Waves

To see clear, calm waves in your dream, signifies a calming of emotions. It may also signal an important decision to be made.

To hear waves crashing in your dream, indicates tenderness and relaxation. It also brings about feelings of sensuality and sexuality.

To be honest I'm pretty disapointed as if these dreams are supposed to be about emotions I mean d'huh isn't that what all dreams are about? I'm just going to go back to dreaming about birds that turn into lizards like I had before...

We had...

A lovely weekend with miss Andrea who came to visit. We chatted, had cocktails, jogged, dined, shopped (well she did) and had an all around fab time. It was such a treat to have her here especially since I've been feeling pretty low lately.


Andrea made sure to gansta-ize my baby... it was pretty funny. I'm hoping child services don't haul me up for this...


Her and I sipping wine after her 6k jog and my 4k jog (she's got more beans than I do) much shopping for her ensued.


A civilized shot of ladies that drink wine before lunch (but after jogging so that's okay right?) Sienna stuck with her milk of course.

I done didded a new painting

yup I did


My name is Sadie... like my curves?

My mum has been very busy...

clicking her fabulous knitting needles. Her latest creation was a commissioned piece for Sienna in the form of a flopy knitted hat to match the ones her daddy wears. The commission was so successful that it was snapped up by Isabella! Mum apparently has several new orders for more now... if you want one for your wee one send me a mail and I shall add you to the waiting list! We will hopefully have a clearer pic soon but consider this the pre-relase!


Isabella modeling the prototype

Forget my last posting...

If some parties don't want to be grandparents we can't force them... its their loss... Sienna's too of course but hey, she has a heck of a lot of love around anyway so she is well looked after. I guess I need to take all the bad energy and somehow distill it into good energy and maybe that might help the job search. I am just so anxious and excited to get back to working to get things rolling her financially again I can just taste it... it is however very difficult to muster up enthusiasm every day to keep hunting:)

Turkey day for the Cannucks in my family came and went, but because our phone as also decided to pack it in, we were not able to speak with them and take part by-proxy in the celebrations. Ne mind really as I hear mash and turkey don't bide so well when squeezed down phone lines...

The humidity here is approxing insanity. We were sweating buckets today on the way across town to return the dead DVD/TDT... I swear it must have got to near 30 Celsius today at its peack (including humidex although they don't really do that add-on here)... I tell you, with my summer wardrobe tucked away nicely its very likely that the nice weather has something to do with me!

Its probably one of the worst feelings in the world...

You know when you are frustrated upset angry and disappointed all wrapped up into one? Like that feeling when you're young and this person you like is supposed to call you and you wait and wait and the phone never rings and your brain and your heart wants to explode? Kind of like that. I was really hoping that simply going to bed would be the solution and I would wake up and be past it all... no such luck... Yes, its better today but still the uglies are simmering just under the surface. I guess I'm more angry now than anything but hey, such is life right? You can't control other people to make them do what you want no matter how much its bothering you.

Our TDT/DVD decided to explode this morning just before the Dog Whisperer came on. This did not help my mood much. I can't even imagine that we still have the receipt or the waranty for the darn thing. Damn it. Perhaps I should just try the whole going back to bed thing and see if that helps... oh wait, that is just not an option these days is it? Grumble grumble. Did I mention that it was grey and cold outside too? Quite fitting no?

A tiny snapshot of sightseeing for the weekend...


Sienna and pops and the emblematic Barcelona Lichtenstein statue

Not that we were actually sightseeing... but we took a touristic photo this Friday on our way back from dropping off our mountain of paper work to the Agencia Tributaria... The final battle to receive the 2500 baby bonus we are supposed to have received drudges onwards... this time it goes to the courts so lets just hope they are more sympathetic to our mountains of proof that I have indeed live, worked and paid taxes here for the last two years... I swear to God that if one day they actually agree to give it to us I may just fall over from shock. But back to the picture... it was so beautiful here on Friday that some of us were wearing their sundresses... while others sweated away with too many clothes on.

Lilli and I went for an evening jog in the park again last night. I just love the endorphins you get from running but I am just really rubbish at it. I think its all to do with mental focus... perhaps the million and one worries swriling around in my head don't help with that...

We were told to exect a long awaited visits from the inlaws this weekend who incidently have yet to meet their first grand child... I know I know (we all have different families) but its mid-afternoon and we've not heard a peep from them yet... They were struggling to find non insanely expensive flights from Paris at the last minute... not something that is very easy I must say... Barcelona is a very popular weekend destination for Northern Europeans as its usally sunny and at least 10 to 15 degrees warmer than the North and not so wet... thus its allure. And oh yes it is indeed a beautiful city and retail runs at approx 30% cheaper than the pound... but that was a while ago, I have no idea what the exchange is like now in these crazy times... It will be a pleasure to meet them finally when they do arrive, however now its not looking so likely that it will be today or this weekend. Disapointing is I guess the only way you can name it...

Winnings!

Mum has been on a bit of a winning streak lately. Sadly not the lotto but still she can't complain. She won a hundred dollars in flight voucher from a westjet online competition she had entered and then she won a thousand dollar gift basket from ebay via a competition she entered in Chatelaine magazine (its a Canadian monthly woman's mag). I guess all that rubbing of the Buddha's belly in her front hall is producing winnings this year instead of grandchildren. We're all very anxious to see what goodies arrive in the gift basket. I laughed with her as we discussed how that now she would no longer need to do xmas shopping, she could just dish out her winnings. That being said, you know that is exactly what she would do even if xmas wasn't quickly approaching. She is such a saint.

Things on this side of the pond plod on and the sun has been shining and we've been blessed with a bit of autumnal warmpth to keep our spirits up. The job hunt continues but we've been lucky to have some positive interviews in the last little while which is nice... nothing concrete but still nice to find something that would be great to get... time will tell!

I cleaned and organized the flat today for a good four hours today ... Fredu took the girls out this morning so I could indluge in my cleaning frenzy. I feel soooooo much better when things are in order... especially so when you live in such a tiny space. Now if I could only get the dog the baby and the boy to understand this concept...

Sureshee sent Sienna some fab pressies the other day. One of them is a little mobile phone which speaks in English and Spanish. Its so cute. What a sweet surprise to see it arrive one morning last week... I know she's only 8 months but we're sure enjoying playing with it... that's what is all about right? She's happy to just eat it... oh yes and he also sent a key chain that she can chew on that jingles when you shake it. Oh and a tiny pooh bear. We heart unkie Suresheeee!

Exciting news...

From my friend Joanna today who just had her second scan and now knows she's having a girl. I'm so pleased for her as I think she really wanted one!

Time is marching on at a hurried pace and before you know it, it will be xmas again. Time is also running out on our final appeal for the 2500 euro baby bonus that we are STILL fighting for... I honestly pretty much have given up as they just won't budge... they are still convinced that I have not lived here for 2 years prior to Sienna's birth... Even though I have so much documentation to prove that I have... they are being really really difficult about it. I'm sure its just part of the whole fiscal frugality that is surely in place during these hard times. Needless to say, we would be VERY greatful for this but as now it looks unlikely I'm trying to come to terms with it. Sigh... sometimes the good guys loose.

Life goes on and yea you've got to see the good things right? Miss S is now crawling (well sort of as she drags one leg behind kind of but she's moving alright and at a great pace!) and she is standing and pulling herself up as often as she can which means a lot of bumps an bruises for her as she finds her balance and then looses it....


New trick... one of many.

Lilli and I have been jogging in the park in the evenings lately... people look at me strangely jogging next to a small dog but what they don't know is that she is quite the little runner and often is the one urging me to pick up the pace... Its a feable attempt at draining her energy so she is not so hyper... its a tough task. Lets hope at least my fitness levels will increase and we can both make some progress...

Wee one is changing so quickly and in some pictures you can really start to see her looking like me... but in other she looks sooooooooo much like Alfredo. I swear if you look at these pics you would think they were two different babies!?!?!


Looking quite like mum!?!?!?


More like dad?!?!

Good things happen in threes...

Based on this principle then we've had lots of bad things in multiples of threes too so surely we can hope for the same with good things yes?

We received two really sweet packages today for wee Sea... some cool english/spanish speaking toys from Sureshee and a lovely CD from Jackie. Very nice indeed.

The third good thing I'm not going to talk about because I don't want to jinx it... then it would become a bad thing and that is not a good thing. Ha!

I may find it kind of hard to walk or type for the next few days with my fingers and toes all crossed like they are right now....

Its Friday!!!!!!!!!

And its Fredu and Joey's birthdays today... in the goofy spirit of the festivities Sienna brings you her inspired pose of the day:

We are a long long way away from Yankee Doodle Land...

but much to my surprise I've been noticing lately a lot of presidential paraphernalia floating about the 'cuidad comptal'. I really have to admit staring down the people wearing the hats and shirts... All supporting Obama of course... not that I know much about American politics but I can't quite envision McCain supporters travelling to a city so far far away... The thing that astounds me most is quite honestly the garrish design of said hats and T shirts. I mean I think that's why I always find myself turning around to catch more of a look when i see someone sporting one walk by. The hats and T shirts are black and have huge text and I swear they've taken a design sheet straight from the Wrestling federation styleguide. I swear to god one of the T-shirts I saw this large bellied gentleman wearing featured a huge portrait of Obama on it... words can not describe... I really had the impression when I first saw one that someone was wearing one to be ironic but with further inspection of the wearer's footwear it was quickly confirmed that he was indeed American and that, yes - he wanted to be wearing it to show his support. I don't get it. Fashion is not an option people - and don't forget please that it is an obligation - regardless if its politics or not. I checked the Obama site to see if I could find the examples that I've seen but sadly they don't seem to be part of the 'official obama merchandise'... sigh... however I did find this little jem... I'm sure Sienna would just love to wear it!



*steps down off soap box*

Now who says I'm not political?

There are some things that are essential in this part of the world...

In Barcelona in specific, one of those things is 'Pan con Tomate' which is bread with tomato and olive oil. They prepare most sandwiches here with this as standard... no butter or marg... its oil and tomato! The Tomato they use is special its called 'tomate de rama' because the tomato comes off a vine that is like a branch... You can use a single one of these tomatoes to spread accross lots of sandwiches.

Sienna will show you how to eat this... please take note of my breakdown just before the end of the video... 'dear lord I need to wipe her hands!'



Because its friday and lets face it... we've been busy here today... I present to you a few other oscar contenders...

Sienna giggling with autie Becks (which finally uploaded to youtube)



Sienna clapping with me looking like a doofus sitting behind her... but thats what mums do no?



Sienna playing this morning in her crib before we went out for walkies

There is a very dark cloud...

Looming over the normally bright skies of Barcelona lately. I'm speaking factually and metaphorically. I swear I'm going to scream if one more news person mentions the word 'crisis'. I am convinced that its probably that but combined in some way with strange planetary alignment or the moon or something. So many people, not excluding myself are in really rough times right now for a foray of reasons... Some are lamenting lack of jobs, disillusionment, struggling marriages, trust issues, depression... all the heavies are there. My biggest fear is that I'm going to run out of steam soon trying to do whatever I can to help keep people positive... Me, I'm always last in that list of course, but its easier that way...

I guess as an interim measure I should aim to note a few things every day that should be observed as they are definitely not gloomy....

so lets give this a try

1) Seestor finally has a new fancy phone and her ankle is on the mend and the cast has been removed! (ooh that was like a hat trick)

2) Sienna's giggle fits (nuff said)

3) In a stupid attempt to distract myself today I tried on a size 29 pair of jeans. They fit! Not saying I would concede to wearing them but damn it if I wasn't so accustomed to everything hanging off me, I could in theory wear them... LOL... guess it does't count when the bellies cascade over the top eh? (just kidding i'm not quite at that point yet)

There, did that help?

Giggles with jo jo and becks

Ahh it was so nice to have the girls here for a visit... Fredu is back with his camera and thus the release of the pics that were stored on the camera he had with him...



Fredu also made this cute video of miss Sienna with the giggles... Becks was the source of the giggles of course... hmm its taken all day and the video is not cooperating... perhaps we can add it up later.

She sleeps like an angel (of course the sun beam helps the effect too!)

This morning walkies required hats and blankies. Barcelona is much chillier now but mostly only at 8h30 in the morning. Avoiding the muddy park we walked down to the Marina and stopped off to get a well deserved Soya latte for moi. While walking there I sneezed as I do a million times a day and bang. My old circus school neck injury jolted into action. So I went the rest of the way very delicately trying to steer the pram and handle the dog while trying desperately not to turn my neck. Not easy... the pain killers I took when I got home didn't help much so I'm now even more anxiously awaiting Fredu's return so he can help me function!

Outside right now a band of kids are belting their hearts out in a drum group. I guess you could describe it as like a brazillian marching band. Really nice and very uplifting but no so good for sleeping babies! I think its amazing that the kids here are so constructive. They've got the day off of school today and this bunch has chosen to do something so cool with it! We should ship some of my sister's little hellians here for an exchange program. Might do them the world of good!

Speaking of sleeping angels...


how beautiful is the tiny ray of sunlight on her face beaming in from the interior patio?


She's in her play pen and just drifted off... guess it was just all too exciting...

Photos of the guests before jojo and becks

Hon and Naoko were in town for their first trip ever to Barcelona just before the girls. They snapped a ton of pics and here are a few...


Me and my 'little brother', Hon


A stoic pose from my first baby...


Cuddles with the furry one

Time flies

and soon its time for jojo and becks to jet back to London... but someone got lots of playtime in!

I guess its for a number of reasons...

but I've just not been able to write much lately. Fredu is out of town for work until the end of the week thus fullt-time baby duty is tiring me out... Jo jo and Becks are here visiting which has been fabulous. They are both so good with the bub and have helped out tons. I'm blessed to know such wonderful people.

The job search continues but we're a long way from being out of the woods. I'm looking and looking but not a single interview yet. All in due time I supposed but I think time may be starting to be the biggest enemy (that and the bills of course). I think I falsely convinced myself a few weeks ago that it would all be sorted by now... finding that this was clearly not the case is a bit hard. I'm praying for some divine direction. We stopped into Santa Maria del Mar today to ask for help with just that.

So here I sit with a sad dog mourning the absence of her dad curled up in my lap and the tiny one fast asleep in her bed punching in the words to try and push through this. Its mad really as much as I crave financial infusion I also cringe at the thought of having to say good bye to this precious time with the girls... life gets tougher... why don't they tel you this?

We've been busy here at bcn headquarters these days...

Sienna is battling her first cold with chesty cough and Lilli is on the other side of a bought of stomach upset. Thus far (thank god) Fredu and I have been the ones tending to the girls and not participating in the illing. Lilli is on a special diet to return her stomach to how it should be and Sienna is now not so congested thus allowing her to sleep and sleep to fight the virus!

I think, however that the dog is the one who is suffering the most. After an entire day of eating nothing without vomiting immediately afterward she's even more ravenously hungry than ever... Tonight as I sat tucking into a yummy dish of bean dip she was completely fixated. The reason being is that the beans we used for this naughty dish were black pinto beans (re-fried) they bore a terrible resemblance to the pricy 2,50 E tin of dog food that is part of Lilli's re-hab diet. She stared at me incredulously as I devoured (as what she thought) was her plate of fancy food. I almost spat beans through my nose as the way she was looking at me was so hilarious. I am a cruel woman.

Everything is slowly getting back to normal here and I'm hoping that one of the four jobs that are still pending comes through with an interview! In other productive news I posted off little giftie packages to Yvonne and my Seestor today... I'm now convinced that the Spanish postal system is as corrupt as the rest of this country. Ah well, I'm excited to send gifts as truly, it gives me such pleasure. I'm now just really curious as to how longt they will take to arrive to their said destinations.

Back to my wine... I must enjoy it as tomorrow when I'm running along the beach at half seven with eric... lets see if we make it...

Routine is just so very important...

for small dogs, babies and mummies that have yet to find a new job and get back to work. Ours are all about the morning walkies in the park. The autumn overtures are drifting in and the once very sticky early morning walks have now cooled and call for warmer attire for babies... Handy for us that her Pj's seem to accessorize well!


With dadeeeeeeeeeeee!


Pinkie up close


Even my shoes match! Mum has clearly gone overboard this morning... we hope she finds a job soon!

Friday night with Oprah

Yes, strangely so... I'm not at all certain why, but one of the Catalan channels here broadcasts recent episodes of Oprah here (without commercials) and in English!??! So here I sit, watching and wondering and feeling a bit strange as it mildly feels like I'm home... I've never been a big Opera fan but hey, sometimes its nice to bite into a slice of Americana.

I've been really missing my London girlies lately. I know they are all so busy with their jobs and other travel plans thus no visits to me are lined up... I wish I could pop over to visit them but thats not on the cards either as paying the rent and bills and such are a much bigger priority... sigh

Back to catch the last of Oprah as Alfredo has just arrived and can't stand it!

Ridiculous baby schedules and - Walkies with Penelope and Alberto

Yesterday I was sent a link by my lovely sister to one of those baby sites that detail the developmental process for wee ones. Indeed they are handy sometimes when you are curious as to what is coming up next... this entry was however the funniest thing. It detailed the 'daily routine of the mother of a 6 month baby. It was by far the most pretentious thing I've ever read. I actually laughed out loud at what this woman had wrote! Go on, give it a read you know you want a good laugh don't you? My heart kind of breaks for this poor child as if the mother truly rolls like this with her I hate to think what will become of her! Just for fun I'll jot down our 'daily routine''... You make the comparison....

8am - Sienna awakes (in her own crib in her own room) and I go get her and breast feed her in bed with us and slowly try to awake from my slumber. We play around there for a while all together and of course do a technical nappy change.

9am- We're up and out the door with dog on the way to the park to 'try'and play fetch with Lilli... ha that deserves a medal all in its self as its more like I throw the ball- the dog runs for it and on a rare occasion will pick it up and bring it back. Sienna sits very patiently in her pram throughout this excersise in futility.

10am - Just as we turn the corner to arrive back to the flat, Sienna falls asleep. Sometimes if I'm lucky I can carry her up the 120 steps up to our flat and get her into her crib before she wakes up again. This is sometimes a window to check emails and apply for jobs and of course read my favorite blogs and terribly addictive gossip sites. Oh yea around now we tend to change her again...

Noon - The wee one has a bottle (halleluja she takes a bottle!) They eats/smears her rice pablum and fruits and vegetables all over herself and the dog who is waiting by her side attentively for any accidental spillage of foods (there are lots so she is content).

13h- Bathe said filthy baby (dog is suspicously abscent from this activity for fear that she may one day be subject to being bathed too). Nappy changing at this point is a given.

14h- Eat lunch- Alfredo normally cooks something divine or I prepare something not so healthy and eat it quickly so as to return to attend to the small child sitting in her bouncy chair complaining that she is not getting any more food just yet... Sometimes for fun we give her a rice cake and try and keep the dog from taking it away from her as she flings her arms around with glee! Its kind of like an adventure sport.

15h- Watch the news (yup it airs at 15h... its siesta time people) and play with baby and dog and sometimes get some domestic duties done inbetween like picking up wet bath towels from the bed... put out washing or if I'm really lucky I may just clean the toilet!

16h- Bottle feed (or sometimes breast feed) said child... a lot of the time I will ring mum as she will be awake by then and I will no doubt entertain her with all the excitement that was my morning. Sometimes the baby will fall asleep around now and nap for a wee while.

17h-20h- I'm not too clear as what we normally do around this time as I guess my mind stops working by then... but sometimes there are outings or such things as poopie nappies but one this is certain that sometime between 19h and 20h the wee one is breast fed, changed into her jammies and is ready for bed.

20h-22h- More likely than not the bub is asleep these days around 20h and will sleep through the night in her own bed... We do whatever inane things parents do when the bubs are sleeping..

And that's basically it. So what about that comparison with Piper's mum? I'm the mother of the year right? Ha! Not! Just wait till I'm back at work... this will change pretty dramatically (for me mostly).

Oh yea, those walkies with Penelope and Alberto... that happened this morning as instead of going to the park we walked along the port. Just at the very top of the port we ran into this old man and his chubby chihuahua named Penelope. He latched on to us and joined us for our walk. He did most of the talking (much to my amazement as I'm usally the chatty one... but honestly I couldn't get a word in edge-wise). He told me about his life, his family, his money, his pets and most importantly how he calls all his dogs Penelope. If one dies he gets another one and gives it the same name! He was prety cool. He gave me the skinny on all the hippies that are camping on the beach this summer, the stories of what the beach was like when it was still just a little fishing neighborhood... lots and lots of information. Cool little man. Amazing stories... And all of this happened of course before 9am. See what happens when wee ones arise extra early? I tell you! I'm wondering when Piper's mum fits this type of stuff in? HA! LOL!