And then there were Four!

Delightful news for once! My seestor and her Hubby have just yesterday welcomed their newest wee one into their family. The wee one is a girl! A seestor of her very own for Isabella. No name yet... I'm pushing them to call her Viva but for some strange reason they're not complying!



In true family fashion she was a super speedy and natural birth. You go seestor!

We are over the moon. Now we've just got to wait another week and two days to meet her! Ooh hurry up time, I want to hold her :)

Now that my brain

Is now fizzled out... and the extra hours translation project that I was working on is successful completed... I can return instead to my normal after work work which is also never ending... We fly out to the great white north on the 5th and I can tell you, that I am most certainly looking forward to it. Two weeks away from work will be golden... KJ's new baby arriving soon... even more.

On a completely different note... am I the only one that thinks that American Dad is way more funny than family guy? Sorry Yankees but I can't help but feel that Family Guy is like a dumbed down version of American dad... sort of washed down for American consumption? I know I know but I can't help it, that's how I feel. My mother however, was forced into watching an episode with us while she was here... and she did not like it one bit... perhaps it was due the fact that it was the episode when Stan wanted to join the gay republicans... I'm just sayin... my poor mother... the things we put her through.

The Jimmy Choo sale came and went and nothing was purchased... when your bank says 000000 you have no choice but to be frugal. *cries slient tears of shoes lost*...

And just for giggles here is a grim glimpse into the world of renting a flat in Barcelona... don't worry you can feel free to scream. We'll be screaming along with you. Dear Lord I can only pray that I NEVER need to live in this place.

So it's getting better right?

The answer is well you guessed it... No. More bad news. Oh yea... well we'll keep that for the new blog that I've not yet started but will... and damn it maybe that blog will make my millions as dear lord so much misfortune is just comical... comedy sells yea? It somehow just doesn't feel that funny. Funny tragic I guess more than Funny Ha ha

Positive things.... *deep breath* okay... Well in a few short weeks, at least some of us will be flying to Canada for a well deserved break.

In an attempt to paint a brighter future we've started flat hunting... with what money do you have to move you may ask... well that's another question entirely... HA! Humour me okay?

So we've seen a couple of places and my word, Barcelona certainly offers you up a large variety of "interesting" options. We found one with the main part of the flat on the principal floor and then with the master bedroom downstairs on the entrasuelo level. It was like a dungeon. For all ye who don't get this whole floor thing here in Spain... The entrasuelo exists in old buildings and I'm sure in the past was used for servents or just tiny tiny people as it's between the street level and the first floor. Principal flats are mostly the biggest in the building and I can only suppose where the rich people used to live. Mostly now they are split into wierd distributions in an effort to make the most money possible from the spaces... I really never though it was possible to re-create a 'basement' feeling here but oh yes.. it's possible. That one is defo a no go.

The next flat of fancy we went to see was a 'para renovar' job. Yes, another BCN concept all into it's self. You see the premise is that they bestow you the favour of renting you a flat and then you are expected to invest your own money into renovating it while you live there... It really defies logic, I mean if there were a few things to polish up or re-paint or something that's fine... but I'm talking flats that are hundreds of years old people! This one was big and the agency's initial proposal was to rent it for 950 a month for a 7 year contract with the premise that you will invest 30k in the flat during that time. I thought they must be insane. Plus they want you to pay 4k damage deposit on the flat (which is a ruin!). So we went to see it.... Turns out rotting and decrepid would be too kind to describe it. The place was straigth out of a horror movie. Fitting that it was Saturday and it was Hallowe'en when we saw it! I would estimate needing to invest at least 90k in that place to get it to a point where it was livable. I really want to know how they will find someone to rent it... maybe if you bought it for a song and then put in the hard graft then yes sure why not... but to rent it... when the shower room was put in somewhere around the time that indoor plumbing became possible (and hasn't been replaced since). I think people on the street could hear my slient scream of ... "oh my god no, not ever in my life would I take on a project like that"... even if they gave me 7 years of free rent. Barcelona... seriously what the bejaysuz is going on?

On the other hand there are lovely looking flats like this one... which we're I think we're going to see on Wednesday... if it's not already gone by then.. That's the other thing... the good ones are snapped up in a heart beat so it's not really condusive to 'window shoppers' like us...

I'm going to start a new blog

It's going to be called "where the bad things go" Then I'll have place to put them all. I'm thinking i may take off... everyone can stop by and drop off their bad things... bad luck, bad karma, bad thoughts, bad actions... then we'll keep them all safely there so this blog can perhaps re-join the realm of not-so-grim-all-the-bleeding-time.

Shoes help, so the fact that in less than a month the Jimy Choo collection will be released at H&M should certainly be a good thing. Another positive thing is that in just a few short weeks I'll pretty much be done work for the year and I"ll be heading home to Canada to welcome my seestor's new wee one into the world.

That's two positive things... see I am still capable....

We'll round it off at 3 good things... how sweet is the wee miss these days?


This is me holding my breath until all the bad passes us by... I might be going blue soon.

And again... Only in Spain...

Does your bike get stolen and a few weeks later your boyfriend's professional camera worth more than 2k with a lens you just bought and have not finished paying for worth 700 euros on it... from right under your nose while sat in a completely empty fast food restaurant with your mum and your baby (and boyfriend of course)... I swear the theif was a magician or there was a trap door as there was not a soul in the place. It's absolutely baffling and really really heartbreaking that it happened. It's all part and parcel of living in the petty crime capital of the world I suppose. Bad Barcelona... we don't like you much these days.

And of course for us it simply means that life just got worse... just when things were slowly starting to move forward and unstick... there is a very remote chance that the dregs of insurance we have may help cover it but it's very unlikely. How is one supposed to make money without the equipment needed to make it?

There have been many many tears... and an imessurable amount of nashing of teeth. But nothing will bring it back....

Before it was stolen one of the last jobs Fredu did was for Al jazeera (sports) they were here doing an interview with Thierry Henry and the President of the Barca club Joan Laporta. Alfredo was hired to do the still shots. The camera man who was recording the interview sweetly offered to take two shots of Fredu with the Thierry and Joan. Pretty lucky guy (that day at least)... he even got a lift in Thierry's car with him as they moved from one venue in the staduim to another...

We are mostly very very proud of Sureshee!

He's been working hard while finishing his masters at RCA! Selling at Bonhams that is!

Amazing amazing amazing!

Well... it's all over folks

The bike is gone... Alfredo's locks remain. Guess the bloke was really as horrible as we thought and apparently has re-stolen the bike. Sigh. A new bike for eric it will be.

I hope he enjoys it (the theif) and I hope all the karma he deserve finds him swiftly.

The lock-off continues...

The person who "stole" the bike finally got the note we left for them on the bike... I told Fredu to leave his mobile number on the note... Low and behold the 'new owner' of the bike rang yesterday... in a hail of expletives he screamed down the phone that he had found the bike in the street and that it was his... all in English of course. Because we live in Spain yea? The note we left in Spanish... the guy didn't speak it. Lucky him that Fredu does speak English.... Now we have a complete impasse. The guy won't remove his lock and Fredu won't either... Eric, the actual owner of the bike (who had been lending it to Fredu long term) is now involved... he's searching now for documentation that proves the bike is his! The police are going to be involved soon but who are they going to believe???? I think they should play the trump card that the theif guy doesn't speak spanish and get the cops invovled and if he can't speak, he can't tell his "i found it on the street story"... Seriously do we need this sort of insanity?

Clearly there is no point in even asking that question. It is my life after all... the answer is always a resounding YES.

The lock-off continues

Only in Spain...

Would someone steal your bike.. then lock it up at another bike rack 200m away with another lock... So in response, Alfredo bought two new locks and locked them to the bike and left a note for the person who had stolen his bike to please remove their lock and give him back the bike... it's a lock off baby! No movement yet. The bike still sits there with 3 locks on it (2 alfredo's and 1 of the theif)... One more day and he's just going to saw off the other lock... it's funny this, not only because it's absurd... but because this is the second time this has happened.

Last year Alfredo's bike had a broken peddle. He noticed one day that the bike was gone. He was sad but hey ho such is life in this mad city... Sunday morning rolls around and we're all walking to the park and low and behold there is the stolen bike broken peddle and all... locked to a rack approx 100m away from where it was taken from... new lock of course. So we promptly went to our local bike renting shop which was a few metres away and asked if we could borrow some lock cutters. Remember we are in full family mode... pram, baby dog in toe... they gave us the cutters and right there in the street we stole the bike back. Theiving family unit baby!

It's the madness that makes you just that little bit crazy when you live here... It's kind of a banana republic in many ways... but I suppose in the end it's the recklessness that adds to the charm.

There is a secret time here in Barcelona

It's usually near the end of August when most people are smart enough to leave the smoldering heat of the inner city and head for the beach and enjoy summer... The streets are significantly more empty than normally especially up town. It's quite the peculiar thing as many shops simply just close down for 4 weeks and happy announce they'll be back after their holidays. It's funny because in one way the city empties out and then in another way the floods of French tourists arrive. This year because of the delicate economic climate there are lots of Frenchies, a few Italians but very few northern Europeans and even less Americans... But the beautiful thing about remaining in Barcelona during the summer is that for a small few moments you feel the city is just a little bit more 'yours' than it normally is. I suppose that because all of the locals are gone (or it feels like they are) that you are the closest thing to being a local... makes you feel kind of like for once you maybe fit in.

The morning bus rides to work will soon return to normal... the darkness is slowly creeping back into my morning routine. The alarm goes off at half six but my brain is not quite ready to compute the fact that it's starting to still be dark then. Work is sufficiently manic to make the hours in the day zoom by. In fact last week I felt like I looked up from my desk and it was Thursday already!

The impending baby rush is a pink one. Miss Vero and Miss Karen are both having little girls. To say I'm thrilled for them both is an understatement. Now if we can just bear the wait until seestor and bryan have theirs in Dec we can try for a hattrick... but they like the surprise and are thus going to wait to see if they too have a girl.

We ventured out very early yesterday morning with the ever enthusiastic Chiara and Nacho egging us on to be brave and actually atempt a day at the beach out of town. We were at the train at 8am to head off to the costa brava. We trained and bused it and then bused it some more and we arrived to Cala de Sant Francesc at around half ten. What a lovely place. It boggles the brain as to how much money you would need to have one of the massive houses that shroud the cala. It's really lovely and we had a fabulous day. Bravo to them for helping us make it possible with all the baby acutraments that we need to have with us to allow us to be away from home. It's not a trip for the faint hearted... and the transportation system isn't too sympathetic to people with baby prams but with 4 people we did it! And for the record... all those locals that are missing from Barcelona... they were all in Blanes. I think we were the only foreigners there!
Cala de San Francesc - trust me there were many more people there!

We're still here...

but summer and work seem to have zapped time away faster than money though our account.

It's not been the easiest times for us for the past little while but summer sun and the wee one sure do help get through until the next day.

Now we've the added bonus of a visit from my mum in mid-sept to look forward to.

Not quite sure if using a beach ball to keep your chins up is a viable life flotation device... but it will have to do for now.




Styling at the Villa


At the beach during the day with daddy...


Cuddles at the beach


Cuddles with mum when she finally gets home from work.

To say that I was gutted…

Would be a huge understatement.

Devastated is a bit closer… my beautiful present from the lovely and wonderfully talented Suresh Dutt met a terrible terrible end. We were all sat relaxing in our living room when completely un-provoked his piece tumbled off the top shelf above the television where it lived. I think my high pitch scream of NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO could be heard even before it bounced on the TV table (not yet breaking) it wasn’t until it shattered on the hard tile floors into about one zillion pieces did my scream stop. We were damn lucky as the wee one was about a metre away from us Fredu instantly grabbed her to keep her from the shards of glass. With dog and baby in arms the tears fell. I loved it so much. I am so very sad. At least if I had of dropped it while cleaning it or something like that it could resolve it… but it literally slid from the shelf with no reason. I guess the gods decided we weren’t to have anything nice.


What I had was the prototype to this piece...

We should have taken a picture as the way in which it shattered was most spectacular… could have been art in it’s self… but I was too upset and Fredu was too busy trying to make sure no one cut themselves…

Why do all the nice things we have break? Or do we only notice they break because they’re nice?

*sobs*

Life has been

Pretty darn trying these days... for a plethora of reasons. The is now clear and surefire way though times like this. It takes patience and perseverance of course but it's never easy when literally every step you take lands you deeper in quick sand. Bear Grylls would say the best chance you have of staying alive is to keep moving... so that we do and whether it will simply aid the quicker sinking down into the quicksand or actually get us out is not yet certain but there are simply no other alternatives to consider so on we press.

I had a lovely and amazingly helpful evening with the lovely Jacob tonight who really helped me push throught this dead spot I had in one of my paintings. I'm so greatful for his coaching and motivation as I really needed it. It's really hard to do much of anything constructive when you're exhausted and just want to collapse.

Living far away from your immediate family is always a challenge especially when you are close to them... it is becoming more poingant every day just how much having their physical presence would be such a great help. Getting away for even two days with just the two of us would b simply golden... neither of us would actually really want to go and leave the wee one but at certain times you have to start to realise that without you as a couple you will quickly cease to exist as the parents she needs and wants and you can so very easily become exes and coparents and nothing more. It's a bleak way to think of things but if you don't have balance things can go really really wrong. We're all thinking about joining the circus. I hear they've got an opening for a family tightrope act...

In a blink

Summer has arrived and things are in full swing here... We've just had a lovely visit from the ever fabulous Ollie. He has however been struck by the ryanair curse and missed his bus to the out of town airport and is now on a mad dash to still catch the flight...

It was the sonar music festival this past weekend so the city was flooded by norther europeans. The weather did not disappoint.

Sienna all ready for Sonar Kids

Summer means holiday season and regrettably it doesn't look like I"ll be making it home this summer like I had hoped. I really wanted to attend my little cousin's wedding but doesn't even look like the wee one's passport will be renewed in time... ah well. The villa week is coming up and we're well looking forward to getting some relaxation time in. Things have been fairly rough here these days and I think we all deserve a bit of a rest. The villa is actually fully filled up whereas just a few weeks ago I thought we would be low on numbers... May be a bit cozy in the end more like a summer camp with people sharing rooms and beds!

we're kind of on the coping with a half day at a time to get things rolling... even sometimes the thought of a full day makes my chest tight with anxiety... baby steps for all of us.

It's a baby bonanza!

It's been a busy week... seems like March and April this year were indeed fruitful baby making months as we've got joyous news from both seestor and the lovely vero! Both are expecting bundles of joy. For Vero it's her first and seestor her second. Seestor's is due the same day as her first which is just before xmas and Vero at the end of Jan. Lots of waiting to be done between now and then but how excited am I to be able to buy cute tiny baby things again?

Our sleepy bundle of joy is on her second weekend of massive slumber. I swear she's gone from a 1 year old to a 15 year old all at once. Last week she had a 3h nap in the morning and then went back to sleep at 17h in the afternoon until the next morning. We of course were totally freaked out by it so had no rest... we were checking on her every 5 minutes... She was just fine of course. Now today when she does it again and we're not quite sure what to think of it. Perhaps the week at the nursery school is more tiring than we can imagine... that and she's getting more teeth. Ah well I guess we should just enjoy the quiet evening. Watching back to back episodes of american dad is of course part of said quiet evening...

Shoes are a delicate issue...

And even more so when you are forced with the reality of having to buy practical shoes for a 1 year old with tiny feet. She needs something that she can romp around in at school and that the teacher’s don’t go mad with her feet slipping out all the time (such as they are now with her current sandals). So off we trotted on a dubious mission to find a cute and practical pair of small kid’s sandals… dear god it nearly killed us… everything was so bloody garish and the cool pink gladiators that we fell in love with didn’t fit her feet properly so they were taken out of the running…

After more than 4 shops and trying on 12 pairs of shoes we finally compromised and bought her a wee pair of Birkenstock inspired sandals from Zara that would securely hold in her tiny sweaty feet without looking too horribly ugly… I would be lying if I said I didn’t go home and paint the white buckles silver… Fashion is not an option people… neurosis maybe but fashion, is not!

When life gives you tea… drink coffee

Yea well I know it doesn’t make much sense but that’s the way things roll these days. My office houses quite a few avid tea drinkers and we all whimpered a little bit when our ‘proper tea’ supply ran dry a week so so ago. The tea gods must have heard our cries as the very next day our colleague returned from his work related trip to Sri Lanka with armfuls of tea. Oh happy day. The only problem is, that this is “seriously proper tea” and thus requires proper brewing instruments of which we do not have… so there it sits, in it’s regal tea glory on the table un touched. Until one of us scrapes together the incentive to buy a brewing pot from the Chinese shop we’re all stuck drinking coffee… not all bad of course as I’m rocking the soya milk coffee… seriously when life gives you tea, drink coffee.

Miss Bambach has announced her imminent arrival to the continent within the next few weeks. It’s been far too long since we’ve had any new Sally stories or adventures to delight us with so we are most pleased . The villa this year will be really fun as we’ve got two new guests which should indeed spice things up.

My fight for the baby bonus we were due when Sienna was born continues this time with the help of our local ombudsman. Who knew we had one? Lets hope they help us get a favorable resolution to my appeal. It’s been nearly 7 months and we’ve heard absolutely nothing from the government office that is processing the appeal. If we get it we may just be able to get flights to Canada for my cousins wedding or maybe even home for xmas… or we could just blow it all on champagne and cheap women. Just kidding.

It’s a good reminder…

To slow down sometimes and really make an effort to appreciate life. Speaking with miss Andrea last night she told me of the very unexpected death of a dear colleague of hers. He died last week only 34 years old. He took ill after a night out with her and some other friends… he thought he had the flu but by the following week he was not feeling better and then on the Wednesday he had two seizures and the second one proved fatal and he passed away. Death of course is such a natural part of life but it’s all too easy to lose sight of our mortality. I’m so sad for Andrea and her friends and of course for his family. I never knew him but I know Andrea and Mit always spoke favorably of him.

I can but hope that we’re doing our best to enjoy life and all it’s good and bad things. This weekend we did some painting with the wee one on the terrace which I do believe she thoroughly enjoyed… we did two sessions actually and the second one ended with her painting most of herself blue. Then we baked some peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. Very industrious indeed. Sunday we ventured out to the zoo with Chiara and Nacho. It was such a nice day for the zoo as it wasn’t too hot. The little miss did indeed seem to enjoy it but I’m sure if we return in another 6 months she will enjoy it even more!

To life. Live it.



The painting lady

Dodging Photocalls

On Thursday night we slipped off into the night for a rare evening together. Tucked in at home was the wee one under the careful watch of her godmother... In store for us was an interesting evening at a club/restaurant on the beach that we sometimes send our BL clients to... It was an evening sponsored by Laurent Perrier which of course caused my left eyebrow to raise in curiosite... We arrived to the entrance and were met with a photocall... I think my whole body kind of froze as I took in the fact that we were being queued up to pass through and of course be photographed... I think Alfredo quickly sensed my mild panic... I couldn't quite imagine the relevance of being photographed as we were surely not of interests to the photogs... Funny, but just a little too embarassing for me who doesn't go out much any more to handle! Fredu did a quick negotiation with the staff and they quickly ushered us around the back so as to avoid the photos... very sneaky sneakerson if you ask me.... It was a nice night and even nicer to spend some adult time together... we do however need a bit of practise at the whole 'us'time together as we struggled a bit to talk about something that was not Sienna related... we'll get there eventually.

The approximately 6 glasses of champers that I suspect I imbibed were in hindsight not the best idea but they seemed like it at the time. Friday morning however sealed the deal on that argument as when faced with an unexpected 3h meeting where I had to sit through a host of presentations from the different departments within my company... loosing the will to live was a real problem for me that day...

Back to reality this morning and a nice tranquilo morning with the furry little one and the not at all furry little one oh and did i mention the chaoticly messy house? Business as usual!