yes more photos of the ice

Wednesday January 17, 2007

We woke up to even more ice. The weather people had said that we might have snow but there was no snow -- at least in our neighbor which is pretty central. I am sure that people outside the city got some snow or even more ice.



and our patio table


and our roof



But it is over for now. Texas survived their yearly ice storm.

Today, we went back to work, to the craziness of trying to get things done with dozens people knocking on your door, phone calls to return, and this damn project that I have to finish within the next ten days. But it was fine. As much as I sometimes can't stand my job, it is good to feel useful and productive. Jobs are good.

Update on the ice...

So, yes, we spent almost the whole day here at home. Work was cancelled for me and David. And this is why...


that's a fancy icy tablecloth on our outside table


and that's what they mean by ice storms...

Around 2:00 pm we decided to go for a walk. I needed to go outside so we walked a couple of blocks to the nearest Randall's to buy ... iced coffee, milk, and ... and that's it because we really didn't need anything. We just wanted to go out.

What's up with my hat?


Super D

We ended up going to the movies -- Pan's Labyrinth ... Quite good. We are finally back home, and guess what? Work is closed AGAIN tomorrow.... Yes, another day in paradise....

ice storm 2007

We have had an ice storm almost every winter since I moved to Austin. This year winter's storm is taking place right now. It is FREEZING outside, and it has been very cold for the last two days. I didn't go to work today -- MLK holiday. David didn't go to work either -- he didn't have the day off but he works up north and the ice on Mopac and 183 were not inviting. Further, he can work at home so that's what we did. We had omelettes for breakfast and we worked all morning.

At 3 pm, due to a heavy attack of cabin fever and the decision to use somebody else's heating, we headed out to a coffee shop. The place was obviously packed. Since it was a holiday, lots of school-aged children were doing homework and/or hanging out (cool place to hang out with friends -- I didn't have a place with mochas and vanilla capuccinos when I was in elementary school). Unfortunately, Seattle's Best Coffee shop decided to close at 4:00 pm. I guess they also wanted to go home and avoid icy roads. You can't blame them. So, we had to go somewhere else because coming back home didn't sound like a great idea. We found another coffee shop and stayed there until 6:00. We went to Randalls after that to get food because --- we might forget about everything but not about food. God forbid we don't eat our three daily meals! We were back at home around 6:30 pm. I cooked some dinner -- lime & garlic tilapia, lightly buttered brussels sprouts, and a green salad with a olive oil and balsamic vinegar ( I am still counting my calories-- even though it is getting tougher and tougher). We ate all that in about 25 minutes while watching "24" -- well, David, because I really can't watch the show. (It is just so mindless that it is almost offensive.) At 9:15 pm, we both just plainly said it, "We are bored!!" And there was nothing fun to do... I wanted to go to the movies but I was also afraid of the icy roads on the way back home. We didn't have any other TV shows to watch -- we had watched HBO's Rome yesterday. We had already cleaned the kitchen, I had already thought about a healthy dinner for tomorrow, checked email for the tenth time, talked on the phone with friends and family, cleaned the TV room..... AAAAHHH! It them hit me....Three days without going to work having to stay in almost all day because it is freaking cold and terrible dark outside can really get to you! In the morning I was thrilled about my day off and the possibility of another day off on Tuesday, hanging out in comfy clothes all day, but I kindda got tired of it by the end of third day! Going out was out of the question. I really like my car and roads were being closed. What to do?! David found something to do-- organize some cables and watch like four episodes of Battlestar Galactica.... And I decided to read about Mafalda and write a blog entry... a boring one but at least one more entry.

To make things a little bit worse, tomorrow is another day in paradise. Work will be closed and I don't think David will go to work.... And roads will be icy again, and places will close early, and.... However, I should enjoy it and stop complaining. It is nice to be toasty at home and, more importantly, safe. And, right now, as I type this, David is giving a little massage to my feet while I am drinking a glass of wine (shit, I have to add it to my food log!)... Life is not that bad after all.... Well, it could be better if we were not watching the fourth episode of Battlestar Galactica in a row... but it is fine. David likes it. It's his show.

¡Joder, que paseo!

This is great-- but don't have time to translate into English. For those who speak Spanish, enjoy!!

¡¡¡Felicidades guapa!!!

A medida que envejecemos, las mujeres ganamos peso.
Esto ocurre porque acumulamos mucha información en
nuestra cabeza.
Pero claro, llega un punto en que tanta información
no cabe en nuestra cabecita. Así que esa información acumulada
empieza a distribuirse por todo el cuerpo. Y ahora lo entiendo
todo...
¡No me sobran kilos!
¡No estoy gorda!
¡Soy culta!
¡MUY culta!
Para todas las mujeres estupendas que andan por
ahí....
Hoy es el Día Internacional de las Mujeres
Endemoniadamente Guapas y Elegantes, así que por favor envía este mensaje a alguien que creas que encaja con esta descripción.
No me lo vuelvas a enviar a mí, porque ya lo he recibido, ya sé que soy estupenda.
Y no olvidemos este lema de vida: La vida NO debería ser un viaje hacia la tumba con la intención de llegar con buena salud y con un cuerpo atractivo y bien cuidado, sino más bien deslizarse en ella, con chocolate en una mano,
vino en la otra, el cuerpo hecho polvo, totalmente desgastado y
gritando...
¡¡Joder que paseo!!!

I'm Super Girl!!! (Who's that? I have never seen her in TV...)

Your results:
You are Supergirl

Supergirl 77% Robin 70% Wonder Woman 62% Superman 60% Spider-Man 60% The Flash 60% Green Lantern 55% Iron Man 50% Catwoman 45% Hulk 35% Batman 30%

Lean, muscular and feminine. Honest and a defender of the innocent.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

back to real life

So the holidays are over and things are slowly going back to the way they were three weeks ago. And it kindda sucks. I really enjoyed the holidays and going back home, and seeing my friends, and seeing my baby (I am calling my nephew my baby), and spending time with loved ones.


Monterrey during the holidays


Me and my baby


Christmas' eve at grandparents' with crazy uncle dressed as Santa

Fun, fun times....

Now, it turns out that Starbucks made it to Monterrey with great success. The coffee shops are always crowded, and David and I were able to drink decent capuccinos (me) and strong coffee (David). However, not everything is the same at the Starbucks in Mexico. This basket was supposed to be filled with toys or books as it supposed to be "epoca de dar": time to give. However, it seems like Messsicans got a little bit confused...


"People, you were supposed to put toys there--no trash!"

ANYWAY, now it's time to get back to work, and to get on a diet because for the love of GOD, I really need to lose weight since I have a whole closet full of things that I cannot wear because I don't fit in them!!! I really don't know how it happened but I gained almost 10 pounds in the last year and, although it doesn't seem like a lot, it is a lot because I am hardly 5' 3" tall and very small boned. So, there is no excuse -- it is only fat.

With this in mind, I found this website called fitday.com. It allows you to keep a food journal and it tallies the calories you eat every single day. It also tells you if you've gotten your required nutrients every day. It is amazing to see how calories add so quickly and how difficult it is too get all the nutrients that you supposedly need. Like now I know that I didn't get any vitamin D today (where do you get vitamin D???) and that my calcium intake is really deficient (do I have to drink milk every single day? Where are the damn vitamins that I bought last year?). Anyway, it is a pretty good little website, and it is free! And the most important thing, at least for me, is that it is a new thing and new things always work for me. At least for a while. So I will take advantage of the novelty (let's see how long I can fool myself) and hopefully I can lose some weight. It has to happen because I really have no money to buy new clothes... However, I do have to say that my real goal is to learn how to eat healthier once and for all. I guess it's time -- I am not getting any younger...

But the real new year resolution, the only one that I have (well, the only one that I am posting here), is to learn something new. This year I have to learn something new. A friend's girlfriend offered to teach me how to knit. Knitting.... hmmm, thanks but no thanks. As domestic as I am becoming now with the Kitchen Aid mixer and all that stuff, knitting is not for me. It has to be something more active... I'm thinking some kind of dancing or maybe a sport? But I am not the sporty kind... Maybe tango. Tango is sexy, and I like sexy things... so maybe by the end of the year, I will know how to dance tango. Who knows... but I will learn something new.

Happy New Year to Zeynep and Mirthala.... my dear friends who are far away.

the cutest nephew on earth

Yes, he is. He is the cutest nephew on the whole world. Look at him... I have a lot of friends with babies, a lot of cousins with babies, etc. but this baby is totally different. He is my first nephew, and that makes it all different. Amazing. Besides, he is the son of my baby brother, my baby brother whom I changed, babysat, and cleaned his nose! And now he has a baby... can you believe that? I still find it difficult to believe that my baby brother has a baby of his own.

However, it is true... He has a baby and we are all crazy about him... especially the grandparents... oh God -- you should see my mother playing with the baby on the floor and my dad drooling over his first grandchild. It is just pretty amazing to see them like that. I'm glad they are so happy with the baby, and I hope that keeps them from thinking too much about David and me living together...