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Archive for December, 2009

Do your friends REALLY like that?

December 30th, 2009 at 12:28 am

Sis hates sweets and desserts, cookies and chocolates, anything sweet, basically... so, when I bake for my friends, she just doesn't "get it" that I will go through all that work and that people actually enjoy the alfajores and the bars and the brownies....LOL!

Ale's pink tree!

December 25th, 2009 at 10:45 pm

Here it is! Ale's pink tree!


And, here WE are, in front of the tree.

I need to contact our landlady

December 23rd, 2009 at 05:18 pm

We pay for all minor repairs on the house, first of all, because they are "normal wear and tear" repairs and, secondly, because, even with the increase, our rent is so low for this part of town (we pay $350, and houses in our neighborhood typically rent for $500)...but, the lightbulb in the kitchen is dripping (or,rather, water from the upstairs bathroom, which is right on top of the kitche, is collecting and dripping!...) Since the girls' bathroom had a leak, I assumed it was THAT. Eh...should have remembered I don't have good spatial sense, the girls' bathroom is actually over the dining room/living room area, the kitchen sits right underneath the shared bathroom!

So, anyway, since the guy had to come pick up his $$$, I asked him to look at it. He said they are closing today at noon for Xmas, so he couldn't start working on it, but, said this is a fairly common problem, explained what might be wrong and, said this typically costs between $100-$200, depending on how bad the problem is. Also, he said they will have to remove tile floors and maybe some of the pipes...this is a major repair. I will try to get the landlady to pay for it, but, if she refuses, then at least I need her authorization to change the floor tiles... (also, I would prefer that this be done by someone SHE trusts, it is her house, after all!)

Wish me luck!

Cinnamon bars- recipe

December 23rd, 2009 at 03:51 am

This recipe was in an old book of my Mom's, under "resistant cookies", meaning they are long lasting and will travel well!

1 cup raisins
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoonful baking poweder
1 teaspoonful (ground) cinnamon
1/4 teaspoonful (ground) nutmet
1 teaspoonful vanilla
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (I used almonds, as Ale prefers them)

Boil the raisins for 5 minutes, then let cool.
Cream the margarine with the sugar, ad the eggs one by one, the raisins and the vanilla. Sift all dry ingredients together and add them together with the nuts.

Place in a mold, greased and sprinkled with flour. Bake at 176°C (~350°F) for 15 minutes.

Let cool completely before cutting in squares. Yields 3 dozen, approx.

See? My kind of recipe! Super easy, and fast! (not to mention delicious!)

New Year's dinner!

December 22nd, 2009 at 10:47 pm

Yes, I know, we haven't even had Xmas dinner yet!
But, today we went to a luncheon with the people that give us translations and, both sis and I each won a $15 gift certificate redeemable at the supermarket...so, there's our New Year's dinner! Yay!

487 children murdered in 2009

December 22nd, 2009 at 03:47 pm

(and, the year isn't over yet!)

Things like thise really anger/ sadden me!

White belt with yellow stripe!!

December 19th, 2009 at 03:38 am

Yay!
Ale passed her test today... not unharmed, unfortunately, she got a kick to the side of the face!

Later, she said: Mom, that kick DID hurt!but, it didn't put her off TKD, so it's ok, I guess...

She will get her new belt, diploma and a CD of the whole thing next week!

Of course, I'll bore you with it...er, share it with you! Wink

home baked gifts!

December 17th, 2009 at 10:53 pm

I baked some cinammon bars, brownies and alfajores for Ale's teachers. Everyone at home looked at me as if I were losing my mind!!

I bought some (small) tin cans at the dollar store and, yesterday night (or, should I say this morning?) I was up until 1am finishing the alfajores and preparing the boxes (today is the last day of school!)... each tin had 2 cinnamon bars, 2 brownies and 4 alfajores ... once they looked at the cookies in the tins, the tone at home changed to> oooh, that looks fancy!

I also packed some in tin foil for the nannys and the guard at school, about the same amount of cookies, just no tin...
the store didn't have enough, and, I really didn't feel like looking for more!

Great day for freebies!!!

December 15th, 2009 at 09:21 pm

Ale will have her "change of belt" test this friday, at the tae kwon do academy...cost: $20. The employee coop handed out our Xmas "bonus": $20

(Yay, unexpected money!!)

Ale wanted to go to a magic show, but, tickets were not for sale, one had to "earn" points to buy the tickets through (paid) text messages to one of the local cellphone companies... none of us at home has a phone with THAT company, so.... too bad, right? WRONG! This is the company that has the office cellphone plan,and, I mean the WHOLE office, not only MY office!!... so they brought lots of tickets to be distributed among employees on a first come/first served basis... guess who got tickets for tomorrow's show?? Yep, I did!!! ... the message stating they had the tickets came at 2:24pm, and at 2:36pm, they announced they were out of tickets!

I'm soooo happy!

Ale still doesn't know!! shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

She's going to be so happy!!

MY Christmas gift....

December 12th, 2009 at 05:08 am

Well...I really can´t think of anything I want/need...well, yeah, I need to finish fixing my teeth, but....

I´m thinking about getting myself a book. I really do believe one can´t have enough books... I truly am a voracious reader!!...

The advantage of the translations is that they also help curve the book cravings! LOL!...

The problem is, sometimes I find so many books that I want, I end up getting none...

There´s a new bookstore in town... I´ll have to go check it out!!

Ale as a flame!

December 6th, 2009 at 03:50 am

We went to Ale's Xmas ballet recital...
They did an adaptation of the Little Match Girl.

Ale was a flame.... here's a picture



Oh, and, this time, she did dance in unison with the others...progress!! Yay!! (She ALMOST missed it, but, recoverd on time!)

migraine averted!

December 5th, 2009 at 06:43 am

I had "that feeling" today...the heaviness and "cloudiness" that come before the pain...I took my pill, just like the doctor said: BEFORE the pain... after about 30 minutes... I felt normal!!! Yay! No migraine...

((sigh)) if only the pills didn´t cost $13 each!

But, I have been having migraines more frequently lately, so my sister will get me an appointment with her neurologist. He has his private practice, but is also Chief of Neurology at the Social Security Hospital, so, I can go see him at his private practice and pay $35 if I need emergency care (getting an appointment through the SS system would take at least 3 months), but, can make regular appointments at the SS hospital ("free")to have a full check up so that I have a file at the SS hospital and, if I ever need it, I could get the CAT Scans and other exams done there.

Sorry, I know this is not very clear, but, for one, you´d have to know how the SS works here (let´s just say one of my former bosses, an American, used to call it the Social Insecurity! AND, they have been known to remove healthy kidneys and legs-- Someone hung the X rays the wrong way!!! and other stuff like that...the stuff of horror movies!...) People opt to pay for healthcare, if possible, even if they are covered by SS...

On the other hand, is 12:43 and I{m too sleepy to make any sense!

good night, everyone!