Selfie at the park

The Chocolate 5K

Yesterday morning Sofia and I were supposed to participate in the Chocolate 5K, which was going to be to our first race together. She insisted that we signed up for it after she heard about it on the radio, and heard that besides water they were going to be handing out chocolates throughout the course. She had been really looking forward to it, but unfortunately we couldn't go because she was still sick, the race was early, and it was really cold in the morning.

She was very disappointed the night before when I told her we were not going, so I told her not to worry because there would be many other races she and I could do together. To make her feel better I started looking right away, and luckily we found the "Teddy Bear Run", which is also downtown and happens to be right on her birthday. So we will be signing up for that one, and hopefully this time around nobody gets sick, and nothing prevents us from being there.

Slackers

I have always disliked slackers ... human slackers that is. My dog is the only slacker that I don't just tolerate. I love that girl!

Back to 5!

For the last few weeks now, ever since I came back from the Miami Marathon, I have been religiously doing all the exercises they gave me in physical therapy to try to overcome the tendonitis in my left leg. It has been a slow, annoying process, but I am now finally able to complete some decent runs. My pace is still lower than usual, but at this point I am just happy that I can start to increase the miles. 

Once upon a time...

Last weekend, when the girls and I went to visit my parents, we were looking at some old photographs. My parents were never particularly good at writing dates in the back, so in many of them I don't know exactly how old we were ... I can only guess. With my phone I took pictures of some of my favorites. What a blast from the past!

Ault Park

Yesterday we made a quick visit to Ault Park. It looked beautiful outside, with a nice blue sky, but it was definitely cold, especially when the wind blew. Since Sofia was still recovering from a cold, and I was freezing, we only stayed out there for a little while.

The double mess

This weekend Sofia had a cold, so she actually stayed home on Friday. Yesterday morning she said she wanted to go to French class, so we did. But once there she started feeling bad, so we left the class a bit early. Since it was about 10:15 am I called my parents to ask if they wanted us to meet them somewhere for their morning coffee, and we agreed to meet at one of the many Starbucks. I thought that getting Sofia a hot chocolate would be good for her, and would serve to lift her spirits.

All 5 of us sat at a table to enjoy our drinks, but sadly it wasn't long before Bella spilled her hot chocolate sending some of it to the table, the floor, and even a few drops on my mom's pants. I quickly got up to get napkins to clean the mess, only to find that by the time I came back Sofia had already spilled hers! And this time around her drink was not only spilled on the table and the floor, but also all over her outfit and my mom's pants.

It took another bunch of napkins, but we managed to clean the mess. And even though my parents and I could have been all upset, we managed to keep our cool, not bite their little heads off, and even walked around after that for a little bit before we went our own merry way.

Wicked!

This past Wednesday I took Sofia to see Wicked, one of my favorite plays and one that is appropriate for kids. Before the play we had dinner at Sotto, one of the newest restaurants downtown. The dinner was good, although not as good as I thought it would be. But the play was great, and Sofia enjoyed it very much. I was afraid she would be too tired for the second half, but she was wide awake and paid attention the entire time. During the intermezzo we also made a great move, and stood up as soon as the last song ended. I knew Sofia would have to use the restroom for sure, but the lines are always so long that sometimes you don't have enough time to use it at all. Thanks to our great move we were the first ones in, which made Sofia very happy - especially when we got out and the line was so long that it went almost to the opposite side of the room.

Getting up the next day was a bit rough, but if you ask us both it was totally worth it.

Luna llena

As I left the house on Tuesday morning at 6:00am to pick up my mom, I noticed the moon, big and round, hovering over our neighborhood's club house. I was a somewhat nice, somewhat creepy sight.

Consul-hell

This past Tuesday I took my mom to the Mexican consulate in Indianapolis to do some paperwork. She had an appointment at 8:30 am, so we left Cincinnati at 6:00 am to get there on time. As expected from any government office, the experience was less than ideal. Turns out only the person with the appointment was allowed to even enter the tiny building so I had to wait outside, in the tiny lobby, standing, with 20 of my "closest friends". Since it looked like we were in for a long wait, I eventually made my way back to the car. By the time we got out of there it was 3 hours past my mom's appointment time, which was tiring and annoying, but we did what we needed to do. And I took advantage of my time in the car to keep up with my email and download some new songs, which I hadn't found the time for in a while.

Nonsense

Sofia [screaming, clearly angry]: "Mami!! Bella pretended to take a picture of me with her pretend phone, and then she went Ha Ha Ha, like my picture turned out funny!!"

Sunset

New sunglasses!

Tia Gabi gave us some sunglasses that she doesn't wear anymore. I think they look pretty good on Sofia. 

Gorgeous!

Today the weather was beautiful, so when we picked Bella up I let the girls enjoy the daycare playground for a few minutes. Then, when we came back home, the girls played outside for a while. They were having a blast!

Picture perfect

Around here you don't always find good avocados, but today I cut a perfect one. It was so pretty, that I just had to take a picture of it. 

2nd Anniversary

It is hard to believe, but today is exactly 2 years since Sofia had her very first piano lesson. Time sure flies! She has learned a lot since that very first class, and she is now to the point where sometimes she sits and plays the piano just because, even if it is not her regular practice time. I love it when she does that!

The park

My favorite part of the day today was taking the girls to the park. It wasn't particularly warm as it only made it to the upper 40's, but it was sunny and warm enough to get ourselves outside.

Father Daughter Dance 2014

Last night was Father-Daughter dance at Sands, and Lionel went with both girls. I was also there because I was supposed to bring food and volunteer, although at the end I didn't end up volunteering at all because I didn't know where they needed help. I did bring food though, and spent my time chasing after Bella while Lionel chased after Sofia. Even though it is supposed to be Father-Daughter dance, the reality is that most of the girls left their Dad's behind and spent the time running around with their friends. Poor Dads, but at least the girls had a fun night dressing up and running around.

Almost spring

The spring is almost here, so I have started planting some herbs. Here is my cilantro, growing slowly but surely by the kitchen window.

Why am I here?

This is the surprising mini-conversation I had with Bella the other day:

Bella: Why am I here?

Me: Because you are part of the family

Bella: No, but why I am here?

Me: Because I am your mami

Bella: No, but why am I here, in this world?

Me (in my head): What?!? What type of question is that for a 5 year old?

Turns out she asked about it because of a book they were reading at school. I am going to have to go get it, to know what Bella expected me to say.

Corazon

Zoey always pees when we come back from work or are particularly nice to her. She just gets excited! It is usually annoying, but earlier this week after she peed I put a paper towel on the carpet and a heart came out. That was pretty funny to me.

Pretty Pattern

Here is how our doormat looked like today without anybody touching it or stepping on it. First it was a layer of ice, and then some packed snow.

Basement Gem #6 - Old Xavier Project

Among some old folders I also found transparencies from an old MBA project. I hadn't even though about overhead projectors in such a long time. They seem like part of ancient history by now.

Basement Gem #5 - Two pictures from college

I also found couple pictures from when I was in college, my friend Lulu came to visit, and she, my sister and I went to Guanajuato for the day. Such a long time ago...

Basement Gem #4 - Two random pictures

I found couple random pictures from 2003.

Montreal Botanical Garden

Gabi and Rusty in our old house's basement

Basement Gem #3 - Our old room

I also found a picture of our bedroom in our first house. I love how those walls turned out.

Basement Gem #2 - Casa de Colores

Once upon a time I took some online courses on Interior Decoration, and seriously thought about starting my own business. The name was going to be "Casa de Colores", and I started putting together my business plan, my portfolio, and even had couple clients. But then I decided that I liked having a corporate job - and knowing exactly how much I was going to make each month. It is still a good memory though, so I enjoyed looking at the old documents I found today.