Christmas Pageant

Eva with teacher Bertha
doing her routine
with classmate Rachel

Today was Eva's gymnastics Christmas pageant. When I first found out about it I wasn't sure she would even participate... the associated costs were not cheap. But was it ever worth it! It was a very meaningful day.

The recital was at a gorgeous theatre downtown. Reminded me of the Walker Theatre in Winnipeg. The lighting, set, costumes and correography were very good. The sound tech needed a little more practice. Eva and three other little girls did a demo and routine right at the beginning of the show. I thought my face would split in half I was smiling so hard. Then tears started to well up! Who knew I'd get so emotional?

Eva did really well and was sooo cute. She was the youngest performer and, I think, absolutely adorable. I had told her where we would be sitting so she was looking for us. But of course it was too dark where we were. So she calls out, "Mommy, I can't see you." She did the routine quite well but was concentrating too hard to smile. The rest of the show was very enjoyable, and it was less than 2 hours long. Some of the kids had impressive skill! The costumes were all beautiful. Micah enjoyed about an hour then Andrew took him home.

At the end all of the gymnasts came out for their bows, then they dropped balloons on them. Eva's teacher gave her a pillow she had made and on which she had embroidered "Eva". So sweet! Rosemary and Lisa came to watch and gave Eva a bag of treats. Between bites Eva chattered all the way home about the pageant and what had happened backstage during the show, and when we got home she "did my hair", putting it in piggy tails with the special ribbons and glitter gel. The day made a big impact on her.

Mexican Adventure- the Notfun Kind

What a day. The kids and I were stepping out the door for a walk and there were a couple of guys in uniforms fiddling with something at the front of my house. One of them informed me that they were cutting off my power because I had failed to pay my electric bill!!! What? I pay every bill after I receive it! I had no bills pending payment. I dashed to the office and checked the file. Sure enough, the last bill paid was October. NO! I've seen the mailman deliver bills, and while some will tuck them into our front gate or under the windshield wiper, some just toss them in the driveway. One good blast of wind and... Adios bill. I must add that while it feels good to cast blame, I am fully aware that the electric company is quick to cut the power and I should have been paying better attention. I do keep track of our bills on the calendar, but I dropped the ball this month.

So, a good part of the day was spent in the quest to get our power back. I drove down to the place and got in line to the machine. Waited a few minutes, then asked someone in line whether I just had to pay at the machine. He told me I had to wait in another line first, then come to this line. So I grabbed number #91 and watched while they served #84. It wasn't going very quickly at first but got better fast. The kids were great. Very understanding. Eva declared she had to pee but assured me she could wait a little bit, and did (yay Eva!). The first procedure was easy, and we were told that the power would be back on by 1:00 or 1:30. The lady said that if it wasn't on by 2 I could call the Abastos street office, and gave me the number. Perfect. By the time we got back to the machine line most of the people had dissipated. Eva got to help feed in the cash, which she loved and is getting very good at. The final step was paying the $10 dollar reconnection fee. We got sent back into the office area where people were quietly working, but the desk of the lady we had to see was empty. We were told she'd be back right away. "Right away" turned into 20 minutes. The lady turned out to be the one we had seen in the bathroom 15 minutes earlier. I guess she had a big job to do in there! But finally, everything was taken care of.

The next part of the day was awesome. We met Andrew for lunch. The food and the company were delicious. The kids had a blast playing on the little structure in the restaurant. Micah was a maniac at the table. Overturning everything he could reach and rocking his high chair in a most dangerous manner.

We got home a little after 2 and naturally the power was still out. I called the number for 45 minutes and mostly got busy signals. Sometimes I actually got a ring, but nobody actually answered. I called the place where I had paid the bill and I she could/would suggest was driving down to the Abastos outlet. Said the offices were open until 3:30. At 3pm I bundled the kids into the van and took off for the outlet. Do you think I could find it?? Gahhhh. At 3:25 I called Andrew to see if anyone at his office knew where it was. He put his HR manager on and she said she'd make a call. By the time we got home from gymnastics we had beautiful power!!!! Whoohooooo! Thank you Cuquis!!!!!!! People around the office told Andrew that even though CFE says they'll put the power back on within a couple of hours, they never do. One guy in Andrew's office had his power out for 3 days! I am SO glad for the help. I will NOT make the same mistake twice. I will be supervigilant about our bills from now on.

Losing Hope....

... that we'll ever have an uneventful, restful night around here. The norm is weird happenings in the night. If it's not one thing, it's another. Last night, not only was Micah up 3 times, including one time when he was extremely restless, Eva was up once to go to the bathroom (which do I appreciate; much better than a wet bed) and woke up screaming and crying about wanting me (who was in Micah's room, grateful he was asleep), and wanting to shower. This, of course, woke Micah up again. The good news is that the kids and I 'slept in' til about 7, which was amazing. Poor Andrew was late for work yet again, though. I just want to feel rested. I would love to have the energy to really accomplish things and spend energetic focussed time with my kids, instead of just trying to get through the days.

Luggage Delivered and Intact

Andrew's second bag was delivered last night around midnight and everything was there. The bag didn't fare quite as well; its inaugural journey may have been its last.

Eva favorite items were her undies and we all got some great, cute and comfortable clothes. It was an early Christmas around here this morning! I suppose we could have saved the stuff for Christmas, but winter is so short here we need to get all the wear we can out of the heavier items he brought back for us. Plus the kids needed new socks. Micah had been wearing the same pair for 3 days already ;)

Micah has been weird the last few days. Poor appetite, cranky, kind of needy. Not super obviously teething but that's the only explanation I can fathom at this time. Hopefully it clears up. I'm ready to strongly "encourage" him to quit waking up at night but he is not amenable to that idea whatsoever right now. Poor kid.

Daddy's Home!

Andrew arrived safe and sound last night- WHOOHOO! It is awesome having him back. Eva wandered into the kitchen just after he walked in the door, and the look on her face was the purest of joy.

The rest of the night was crazy. Eva didn't get back to sleep for hours. She had woken up about an hour before Andrew got home. The neighbor's dog chased the tlacuache under Andrew's car and was barking his head off in our carport. His owners seemed to be scared to get him for some reason and just stood in the front street calling him for about 30 minutes. I didn't want to open the door in case the rodent zipped into the house in an effort to escape his pursuer. Finally another neighbor came and helped. Eva and I had some special time looking out the window and talking about what was going on.

Micah woke up around midnight and was very needy. Sounded like he was coming down with something. Both kids were shy with Andrew after a week without him, so they both wanted me. We brought them both into bed hoping that would take care of their need, but then they wanted to play. Gahhh! Finally Micah agreed to go back in his bed, then Eva wanted me to lay down with her. Things were getting quiet. Breathing was getting heavy and even. THEN THE PHONE RANG!! And not only did the phone ring, but our machine picked it up then proceded to produce a very loud busy signal for a very long time (naturally no message was left). Andrew took care of it, but since he doesn't usually check that machine, he didn't really know what to do. The machine narrowly escaped with its life.

Naturally this morning the kids- Eva in particular- were a mess. But we did have a pretty good day. We started it with a couple of ventis (Starbucks large size). Then we bought a very nice Christmas tree. One of Andrew's missing bags was delivered. Hopefully the hockey bag full of Christmas presents arrives tomorrow! I went for a snooze and Andrew had his hands full. At one point both kids were crying and carrying on. I was impressed with how he kept his cool. I would have helped but I was paralyzed with tiredness. Finally they went out to the trampoline, and I dropped off into blissful dreamland. Once I got up we trimmed the tree and ordered in chinese food. I couldn't find a number for the new place we wanted to order from so I called another place. I felt like I had just arrived here... they couldn't understand my spanish!! What an exercise in frustration. But we got our food, on time and as ordered. It wasn't bad.

The kids went to bed a little early and Andrew just dropped off in front of the tv. I have lots of things I could do but I think I'll just sit down, eat some Smarties, and read in front of the tv. Hope you are all having a wonderful first Advent Sunday!

Decorating Time

Phase One has gone extremely well! I got all of our non-tree decorations up (except the outdoor lights, which require another adult to protect the children from the foul language- are we the only family that loses it when putting up outdoor lights?) and had fun doing it! Eva mostly just enjoyed the Santa Gear, and dressed up Rocking Horse so he is nice and warm.

Andrew's on his way home!!! Currently enjoying Four Hour Stopover Number One. Can't WAIT to see him again!

The kids and I went through the new Starbucks drivethrough first thing this morning. I meant to bring my camera. It is a very esthetically pleasing building! My mocha, unfortunately, was a little disappointing. Probably because I made the mistake of ordering light milk. I got flustered. I was stopped a little short of the ordering speaker and couldn't discern much of what she was saying. I caught that she was asking what kind of milk I wanted and I figured hmm, maybe I should get light. Won't make the same mistake next time! I also ordered the "apple and cinnamon donut" in vain hope that it might be an apple jack. No dice, but the donuts were actually super delicious. Not worth $1.50 of course, but delicious anyway.

Fame

Andrew's Dad is part of a quartet, The Watchmen Four (http://www.watchmenfour.com/ Al is in the middle, with the red tie). They sound awesome and their busy schedule shows it. Way to go, Big Al! We're so proud of you!