. . . p i j i j e

first day

2006-10-23T12:58:00.000-04:00

I've been in Guatemala for 7 weeks and 4 days. I've had dreams of posting the 'perfect picture' along with the 'perfect entry', something that would present in a capsule how different my life is now. But the 'perfect picture' hasn't come yet and to explain in one entry how different things are here is a bit unrealistic.

I've had my ups and downs since we got here. Some things have been easy to adjust to, others (a lot of them) not so easy. A few unexpected things that happen a little after we got here have made things a bit harder but not unbearable. But now I feel ready to resume some of my regular activities, not in small part due to the fact that today is Tino's first day in school!!!!! Nope, not daycare. A formal SCHOOL! Five days a week, for four hours a day. Kids start going to school here really young, as early as 1 year old (as long as they are walking). We decided that it was time for Tino to go mostly because Tino and I have been so booored at home. There aren't many places to go here, I mean, no parks or places like the Y. And unless you live in a fancy condo that has a nice play area for kids (luckily we have some relatives that do and often take Tino there) or you live in a house with a huge yard, you're pretty much housebound and it sucks! Also the house where we live now (Alex's parents' house) is three stories high, so watching Tino means really 'watching' him, the computer and any other activity that I could do (knitting, or any other craft) are far away from the places where Tino can hang out, so It's been exhausting for me too. On one hand I'm happy because it'll be good for him to socialize and have fun, and it'll be good for me to have time to do stuff and recover a bit of normalcy in my life, on the other hand my stomach is in a knot right now because I know it's a big change to his routine and I feel a bit selfish to send him off so I can have all this time for myself. But I know he'll have more fun there than hanging out here with me all day.

I haven't done much else other than being with Tino and sometimes mope around, and some other times (with a bit more energy) trying to adjust as best as I can. I have done very little to none crafting. I've started some knitting, a sock here, the beginnings of a sweater there, a failed attempt to knit a softie because I didn't have the right needles and I have yet to find a nice yarn/craft store (I haven't really looked, there's gotta be something). But I'm feeling better these days, so hopefully I will actually have interesting things to tell. Yes, this makes me feel a bit more like myself.

heartbreaker

2006-08-15T12:48:00.000-04:00

Yesterday my (biological) mom, my sister and I took Tino to the Y for a swim and he encountered his first crush... o.k., not really 'cause his only (almost) 2 but it was sooo cute. This is how it went down, picture me holding Tino in the pool and this little girl (LG) approaches us:

LG: He is cute, what's his name?

me: Tino

LG: Can his name be Eric for today?

me: o.k. What's your name?

LG: It changes. Sometimes is Tori, some other days is Ellie but today is Four

me: oh, hi Four!

LG: Can I hold him?

me: sure, if he'll let you

[Tino: all smiles while being held by LG in the water]

LG: Can I carry him on my back?

me: sure, if he'll hold on to your shoulders

[Tino: holding on to LG's shoulders]

LG: please get him off me he is sinking me!

[me: going back to hold Tino]

LG: How old is he?

me: almost two

LG: how many is that?

me: [showed her two fingers] how old are you?

LG: [shows me four fingers] how much longer until he is [she shows me the four fingers again]?

me: [showed her two fingers, again]

LG: can I give him a kiss?

me: sure

LG: [gives Tino a kiss]

Tino: [a little bit weirded out] bye baby, bye baby, bye baby

LG: but I'm not going anywhere

me: I know but I think he is ready to leave

LG: can I teach him how to swim underwater next time?

me: sure, next time

LG: bye Eric

Tino: bye baby

2006-08-11T19:53:00.000-04:00

This one is for Tino, of course.

a list of important and unimportant things i did today

2006-08-09T22:11:00.000-04:00

Unimportant: For the very first time I tried one of those aqua fitness classes at the Y and it was B-O-R-I-N-G. But at least now I know.

Important: Finally bought our tickets to go to Guate. So we have a set date now, August 31st. Yikes!

Important: Tino and I went to pick up my biological mom from the airport and tomorrow we'll have to go back to pick up my sister. They'll be staying with us for a whole week and we are so excited to be able to spend some time with them before we leave.

Unimportant: I voted for my favorite dancer in the final of So You Think You Can Dance.

Important: Washed Alex's shirts. The AC is broken in his office so he's going through his shirts like water.

All in all a pretty full day.

guilty.... i feel guilty

2006-08-07T22:42:00.000-04:00

Today was a hard day to be Tino's mom, he had the biggest melt down ever. I'm not saying he's perfect, but he's usually very laid back, yes, he throws tantrums on a daily basis but they are usually very short lived and most of the times he just goes though the motions, like he'll just fall to the ground on his knees for dramatic emphasis but won't even whine and will quickly get up and continue with whatever it was that he was doing. Not today. Today it was the mother of all tantrums and it was scary. It started when we drove to the grocery store but then realized that I didn't have my wallet with me so I pulled out of the parking lot and he started crying so hard, as if we were driving away from Disney World's parking lot without having gone in first. So I thought I'd make him feel better and instead of going straight home we stopped at the park. He swung in the swings for a bit but he didn't want to do much else, he went down the slide once, back to the swing and he kept on wanting me to pick him up. Then he was walking around and on a bench there were some toys that belonged to another boy and I told him that he couldn't take them because they weren't ours and he started crying, threw himself to the ground and then he wanted me to hold him and I did, I tried to comfort him and he did calm down. Once he stopped crying I walked towards one of the slides that he likes and I tried to put him down and he started fricking out again. So then I told him that we'd better go home and as I started walking towards the car, with him in my arms he started crying so hard, and flailing his whole body so vigorously I had to cradle him in my arms and hold on to him super tight so he wouldn't hurt himself or both of us, I think his hand got tangled in my hair so he started yanking my hair so hard that he ended up with a bunch of my hair wrapped around his fingers and it was so hard to put him in his car seat. It was so scary! I had no idea how to help him calm down and how to make him feel better. By the time we got home (a mere 3 minute drive) he was o.k. and as soon as we got home I popped in a Wiggles dvd and everything was fine. And here's where the guilt comes in, not only because I felt so inadequate at handling his melt down but also because the solution that I ended up recurring to was the fricking TV! What kind of lame parent am I?

After an hour or so I put him down for his nap but I was still feeling so shaken about the whole thing. When he got up I almost felt like I was afraid of him, maybe not him but his reactions. I think I feared that maybe that one episode was going to become a regular thing, like that was going to be the new Tino. I felt horrible and tense and jumpy. Then I decided we needed something that we both could enjoy together, so I thought swimming would be the perfect thing because we would have to be holding on and paying attention to each other the whole time. So we went to the Y and it was great! It really helped to relax us both (although I doubt Tino remembered the whole park episode 10 minutes after it happened), and we had lots of fun and I was able to see my usual laid back, sometimes stubborn but always fun Tino. We all have our days, don't we? Why would toddlers be any different? right? ...oh yeah, but the guilty feeling is still there.

come hell or high water it is t -28 days

2006-08-06T19:13:00.000-04:00

There are many things that still need to be defined for our move, for example, we have yet to book our flight, decide what to do with the car, pack etc. but one thing is for sure if we are not in Guate 28 days from today our families will probably disown us forever because they've been diligently planning Tino's birthday party for, at least, a couple of months now. I can't believe the whole thing is just around the corner and my apartment looks exactly the same... lots of stuff all around. But there's time, right?

I know I've said it a million times, although I sound apprehensive about the move I am excited about it. I'm excited about a fresh start, like a new year at school, right? with brand new notebooks and pencils and new clothes, the possibility of doing new things, reuniting with friends and trying to correct things that you didn't do so well in the past. I think is the move itself that's the hard part, the packing, the getting on and off airplanes (with a toddler), the first few days when I'm sure Tino will be so weirded out by his new surroundings. But it is what it is and we'll get through it.

So, in general, I'm doing o.k. I'm still not too stressed out... my eating is completely out of whack and I hate that so much. Why? why do I do that to myself???? It always happens in periods of instability; as if all the changes going on weren't hard enough I never seem to be able to control my eating, no matter how hard I try to come up with a plan before it all happens. It is not so much that I'm horribly binge eating... although I must confess that in the past week I've had a few episodes of eating handfuls and handfuls of Tino's teddy grahams or mini nilla wafers or having ice cream + cake + candy bar for dessert at night. But mostly I don't seem to have the energy or focus to make myself (and Alex) nutritious meals, which in turns makes me feel fatter and more tired which in turns make me not be very efficient around the house with all the cleaning and packing and all the stuff that needs to get done around here which in turn just makes me more stressed. How to brake the cycle? ...believe me if I knew I would've done it eons ago. But I am so open to any suggestions and/or advice. Help? Yes, please!

Onto more crafty matters. Here's a picture of a pair of socks I knitted a month ago. I don't love the yarn or the color, I think I ordered it online thinking it was purple and pink, not that that would've made it better but I bought it to make my friend Rachel some socks as a joke, which for some reason I thought it'd be funny if the socks were pink and purple but I don't remember exactly why I though that was funny. The yarn turned out to be purple and light purple, but I went ahead and made the socks 'cause knitting socks is fun and there they are. Can you see how I messed up the top of the right sock... yes, it is a bad picture but also a poorly knitted sock. But they are comfy... or they will be when is not a 100+ degrees outside anymore.

And this is the project I'm working on right now. Well, this is a sample of what I'm trying to achieve. May brought me this hat because it's her favorite and she wants me to knit her a replica, it's really cool and hard to explain but it's made out of one long piece of 2x2 ribbing and sewn onto itself. Anyway, it's really cool and I'm about 9" away from finishing the long strip (not photographed here) and then I have to block it and then attempt to sew it just like this hat. We'll see how it goes. But I can't wait to see if it works =)

friends & haircuts

2006-07-01T20:17:00.000-04:00

I started writing this post almost a week ago... and I've been sitting on it, no excuses. Life around here hasn't been really hectic as much as unpredictable and uncertain but all good. So, to catch up I'll make a quick top ten list of the things I've been doing since I last posted (I know...I am definitely the worst blogger on the block!!!). Here it goes:

#1 We had the fortune of having my friend May visit from NYC last week for 4 days!!! May and I have been friends for a long time, and when we became friends in Guatemala (about 12 years ago) we were attached at the hip! Then I went away to college and years later she moved to NYC. She visited me once in Chicago and I visited her a couple of times in New York. But I hadn't seen her since I got married (she couldn't make it to my wedding and I was very sad about it... when she called me the night before the wedding I ended up crying after we hung up. Ehem...I'm still a little bit sensitive about that) except for last year that Alex and I met her for dinner one day when we were in NYC. And she hadn't met Tino yet. So it was the first time in a very long time that I got to spend so much time with her. I was a little bit nervous at first, because, you know?, people change and stuff and what if now we had nothing in common and all that. But, as Alex would say, we still 'clicked'. Yes, our lives are very different but we are still the same at the core. She's become a gorgeous, strong and independent woman, she's still one of the smartest people I know and I realized that she still is one of the people whose opinions I value the most in my life. And can I just say that she has the best smile? So, here are some pics, so you can meet her. Here she is with a chicken hat at Lynn's Paradise Cafe (doesn't she look fetching?)

and then the both of us at Palermo Viejo (a restaurant in my neighborhood).

#2 I've been watching the World Cup (of course) and let me tell you, everything that's happened it's been my fault! When Italy and Ukraine played and Italy won (and the day before Germany had won over Argentina) I was complaining on how predictable this World Cup was, and how boring, and how Brazil was going to beat France and England was going to beat Portugal, and the final would be Brazil against Germany...blah, blah, blah. HA! See? And what happened? A slap on the face! That's what!!!! I jinxed it, for everybody!!!! Poor Becks, had to go home a looser. I took a nap during the second time of the Brazil-France game but when I woke up Alex and Tino were upset (well, just Alex) and they "didn't want to talk about it"...so I guess I also sent Ronaldo and Ronaldinho home. So now I'm afraid to make any comments but I really hope France wins because I would like for Zidane to retire a champion... there I said it.

#3 Tino got a new haircut and he looks so cute and mischievous!!! It's like having a completely different boy. Although I do miss his 'lady hair', like Rachel calls it. But he looks so cute, see for yourselves.

#4 I've been eating my weight in chocolate...because that's what unpredictability and uncertainty will do to you, even if it's all good.

#5 I've rekindle my love of knitting and I've been knitting maniacally for the past couple of weeks. May brought me a really cool hat that she wants me to knit a copy of, so I'm super excited about that. I'll have pics of my current and future knitting hopefully tomorrow.

#6 Oh! I won the Back Tack III thingy!!! Yeayyyyy! Thank you so much for all the people that voted for my softie! A couple of days ago I got my award goodies from Wee Wonderfuls and oh my God!!! The softie that I got is sooooo wonderful!!! Cute to boot and clever and I also got her first booklet with the softies pattern (which Tino keeps on thinking is a story book and continuously picks it up and brings it to me so I can read it to him). Thanks so much to Hillary for the goodies and Nicole and Allison for organizing the BT3 and to all the voters for the encouragement! Muy agradecida, muy agradecida y muy agradecida!

#7 I haven't been reading my daily dose of blogs and I'm missing everybody but I'm hoping to go back to a normal blog-reading routine soon. So, if you are reading this: Hi Didine!!! I've missed you too. And Ashley G.: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, a whole 12 days late! (I'm such a jackass!) You are truly one of the coolest and most talented people I know (even if I only know you in blogland).

#8 I bought myself a pair of Crocs, and I know everybody is sporting them now a days but let me tell you, they are sooooo comfortable!!! And cool and bright colored. I got myself a pair of the red ones, but I think I want more, more, more! Actually I think the whole family should get them. And they are so reasonably priced. So, do your feet a favor and go get them some Crocs.

#9 and #10 I guess I haven't been doing as much as I thought. But I have been thinking about doing stuff, so that should count for number 9 and 10. And I know I've promised myself to be more constant with the blogging but every time life throws me a curve ball the determination goes out the window. But I have to admit that after writing this I realized that blogging is kind of soothing and cathartic, sort of blogging as therapy, so I should keep that in mind next time I fall into a blogging slump. That's more realistic. Happy to be back though!

my stinky b-3 package

2006-06-20T13:51:00.000-04:00

This post is way long overdue. I received my bt-3 package almost 10 days ago and I've been sitting on the pics to share with you. First of all let me tell you how beautiful my package from Whitney was and I mean the package itself! When I opened the box it was full of little yellow bundles tied up with red grosgrain ribbon... it was so beautifully packed that I had to wait for the proper daylight to open it so I could photographed it in all its wrapped glory.

I was amazed by Whitney's generosity but most of all by her craftsmanship. She sent me all kinds of handmade goodies that were so perfectly made!

Without further ado let me introduce you to the star of the swap Ms. Penelope Skunk (thus the title of the post... although for being a skunk Penny is pretty odorless). I was so overwhelmed by the cuteness that is Ms. Penny! Please check the bag that she carries...with a beetle inside that I imagine she gathered in some of her nature walks.

But it doesn't stop there, Ms. Penny didn't make the trip by herself, she had her trusty companion Molly, whom I think is needle felted and has a very snazzy outfit with an M on it. She can be seen in this image posing with another goody this super cool pyramid shaped baggie filled with super cool buttons! (buttons not shown in image but take my word for it they are very colorful and cool!).

More? yes, of course! Look at this super cute coin purse made with munki munki corduroy and inside I found some awesome wide red and purple grosgrain ribbon. Does she have my number or what?

And the piece de resistance... I know this piece should not steal the limelight away from Penny and Molly but what are you going to do? I'm a bag addict! Look at this gorgeous handmade bag!!!!!!! Reversible, yes, so really, it's like she made two bags for me. Please notice the button details on the bottom corners of the bag.

Thank you, thank you, thank you soooo much Whitney! I am in awe of your creative talent and craftsmanship!

gooooooooooooooooool

2006-06-09T11:02:00.000-04:00

I'm not a sports fan really but I can't help get excited about the World Cup. Times like these are when I miss not being in Guatemala (although I know I'll be there really soon). You can't understand the excitement and the vibrancy you feel in the air around this time. People start adjusting their sleeping schedules and their work schedules to make sure they won't miss a beat of any of the games. School age children and teenagers try to sneak in radios with tiny headpieces to listen to the games during class. There are parties every night, people rejoice and also cry, friendships become endanger when favorite teams play opposite one another. One of the local newspapers offers this service for drivers, in busy city intersections during the red light there are two guys that will stand in the middle of the street holding a huge banner (one on each side) with the most current scores of the games going underway, and let me tell you, drivers depend on this information as if they were trading stock and these were nasdaq figures! And the albums! The frenzy of buying the empty book and driving your parents crazy to buy you the little pictures to fill it up and then trading with your friends the repeats and then scavenge like a mad person for the ones that are so hard to get. So, yes, I'm quite nostalgic about that today. You hardly hear anything about the world cup here... except for that ESPN commercial narrated by Bono, that puts a knot in my throat every time I see it, on how the Ivory Coast made it to the world cup and how a country united cheers louder than a country divided. Actually I think all those commercials really capture the spirit, you can go here to take a look (if you are interested). In conclusion, this two weeks would be a constant party if I were living somewhere else so I think Alex, Tino and I should make our own little Fifa two week event. Any ideas?

In the mean time, those images are of crafty looking soccer balls (or fut...like we call it in Guat... or fubol, if you are from Argentina =P), Alex found them here. Pretty cool, no?

i'm back....tack 3

2006-05-30T11:23:00.000-04:00

First of all I want to thank my handful of readers who let me know they were there in a less than cheery time for me. It really meant so much to me! So, thanks! *blush, blush*

Now, back to business. I don't think I've mentioned it before but I'm participating in back tack III. My partner is Whitney from whittycism, I created for her and she'll be creating for me. As you all know there were some strict guidelines to follow and I did. The only thing I didn't feel like doing was any of the patterns they suggested, so I did my own. It's a mixed media type of softie, I used an iron on transfer for the image and the embroidered it and sewed it together by hand, of course, because I still don't know how to use a sewing machine. I'm pretty sure my back tack partner doesn't check up on my blog but just in case, WHITNEY PLEASE LOOK AWAY NOW!!!!

Here's the front of my softie. Is pushi-pushi reworked with a body instead of just a floating head. I tried to make her look like a Fruit which I hope comes across with a limited color palette. The thread I used for the embroidery looked very beautiful on the spool because it was so shiny and thick but it was a beast to work with! It's made of rayon, and could only use very short pieces at a time because it would start to deteriorate and fuzz... obviously is not intended for the use I gave it but I think it looks o.k. It is my very first softie. I made a gazillion mock ups and trial versions and it's still full of imperfections but I'm o.k. with it. I really hope Whitney likes her.

Here's the back.

Here's what will go in the package with her. I don't know much about pushi-pushi, except that she is Japanese, I'm pretty sure she is Tino's PR person on account of Tino being famous in Japan. Other than that all I know is that she's a fashion maven and a picky eater, that's why she's brought her food along.

These are the photos I submitted for the back tack lineup and they've been killing me because they are absolutely horrible! They have this blue cast all over because I took them outside...grrrr... but they've been sent, so I have to let go, right? ...just breath and let go.

lacan follows me to blogland

2006-05-19T13:47:00.000-04:00

All I wanted was to have a crafty blog. Truth is I am not a prolific knitter, crafter or idea producer. I sporadically get things done and even more sporadically come up with ideas worthy of being deemed "cool" or "cute". What I do a lot of is feel bad about myself for not doing enough (fill in the blanks): work around the house, craft projects, reading books about parenting, spending quality time with Tino etc. I am also a big mess and I'm not only talking about my surroundings (I will spare you a visual) but there are toys everywhere, jackets piled up high on chairs, Target bags half full with stuff that we purchased days and days ago. I am also a mess inside my head and for this I will spare you a mental picture. And then there's the move, the big impending move. I am a ball of emotions about that, I'm stressed, I'm happy, I'm scared to death, I'm excited. And the list of things that need to get done, the packing, the throwing away, the storing and the money that will have to be spent to get it all done. I am overwhelmed to say the least. And I feel lonely, utterly lonely. Yes, I have Alex and I couldn't ask for a more wonderful partner but it does take a village once there's a child in your life, doesn't it? And so the reality is, at this moment, I can't be one of them craft blogs, I can not show you a beautiful home full of hand made cleverness, and you won't be able to find wonderful hand made things here on a daily basis. Who I am right now is a 30 something still trying to figure out what the heck I want to be when I grow up, dealing as best I can with a 20 month old toddler, and trying to be brave through this period of big changes. And that is that.

happy mother's day to me!!!!

2006-05-10T13:54:00.000-04:00

Today is mother's day in Guatemala (and I'm pretty sure in all of Latin America) and though we live in the US we are Guats after all so I get to celebrate today. Yeaaay!!! This is my second mother's day, I can't believe it! Time has flown by.

I showed Alex this once and he knew I really, really wanted it, I might have also showed him Ashley's Etsy shop, anyway, he ventured into the deep waters of Etsy and couldn't find that piece or Ashley's shop =( (I'm not worried, we have an anniversary coming up in 2 weeks and this time I'll provide more info =P)but he and Tino did manage to get me other super cute things!!!

Behold super cute item #1: itty bitty kitty that's holding an even ittier bittier mouse and came in a super cute little pouch(I know they are from Etsy but I can't find any details on the vendor...sorry. I also apologize for the blurry and bad lit pics but it's rainy and grey here in Louisville today).

Super cute item #2: raccoon coin purse.

Super cute item #3: this large hotpad from this Etsy shop (the sushi/dot fabric is soooo cute!).

And here's a recap pic of all my gifts =)

And the cutest mother's day gift of them all =P

A shout out to all the Guat moms and moms all around the world!!! and this quote that my friend Andrea sent me, I don't know the author but it's really cool and crafty: "I always wanted to invent something that would move around & make funny noises & would change the world as we know it & I forgot all about that until I had kids & now I see I came pretty close." Happy Mother's Day y'all!!! =P

this, that and the other

2006-05-08T13:25:00.000-04:00

This past weekend Tino, Alex and I went to South Bend to meet this cutie in person and to visit some friends.

I can't believe I'm going to say this but I actually had lots of fun in South Bend! I know I'm always bitching about the place but going back to visit I realized that we did meet some wonderful people there and built some very strong and awesome friendships. Here's a picture of Tino playing the piano at our friend's house. He loved it! And he wasn't banging on the keys all willy nilly, he was gently pressing the keys like he knew what he was doing, very cute.

The wonderful thing about long drives is that you get to do stuff in the car. If I were a faster knitter I would've probably finished the project but I got this much done.

I'm making this toy by Jess Hutch for a little girl whose birthday is on friday. I think my version needs some kind of bow to make it girlier...if only I knew how to knit bows. Maybe I should get some barrettes. Mmmm... I'll have to go to Target and see if I find something suitable. I shall report back soon.

done, donner and my heroe

2006-05-01T22:37:00.000-04:00

Life is back to normal. Craftiness shall resume. Can you believe that now that I finally have time to myself, I don't have any materials?! I ordered some yarn for a couple of projects and some fabric to finish a project. If you feel like you are experiencing dejavú when you see the pictures is because I showed you these projects before when they were half way done. These are Tino's socks, which I thought were going to be big but it turns out they fit him just right but what's the use because they are wool and is too warm to wear them. But I'm hoping they'll stretch for when he finally needs them. I can cross this project off my list.

Here's the other project that I showed you before but this one is just half done. I finished sewing the quilt top.

Here's a picture of the embroidery I did on the center block.

I'm waiting for the backing so I can start quilting. Wish me luck. Remember, it's my first time.

And then I couldn't leave without showing you a picture of my hero right after he crossed the finish line of the marathon last saturday.
The whole thing was so emotional! There were runners at the finish line who completed the marathon first and as exhausted as they were they would go back and grab by the hand those who looked like they couldn't take another step and help them to the finish line. Tino and I were waiting for Alex before the finish line, Alex picked up Tino, ran the last stretch and crossed the finish line with Tino in his arms. It was an incredible experience!

don't be jealous

2006-04-28T11:37:00.000-04:00

First of all let me tell you that my stomach is in a knot right now because tomorrow Alex will be running his very first marathon. I am so excited and proud and nervous. Everybody knows that running a marathon is a physical feat but I didn't know how huge it was until Alex started training for it. It is such and incredible effort and so taxing not only physically but mentally and emotionally. I can honestly tell you it's been a team effort. On my part, I had to sacrifice time for myself and my silly craft projects; Tino had to sacrifice being able to spend time with his dad and having to spend more time with a, very often, cranky mom; and Alex, obviously, had the biggest sacrifice of all, physically from work straight to running on most days, no weekends because he would do his long run then and he would be too exhausted to do anything else and some days only being able to see Tino 5 or 10 minutes the whole day. And I am so proud of him for sticking with it all the way. See, here's the thing, we are not athletic at all, we've never been. But when Tino was born we both made a commitment to get healthier for ourselves and for Tino, because, among other reasons, we just don't want him to grow up with all the activity and food hang ups that we grew up with. And I think we are getting there and that why this is soooo huge for us. If a year ago somebody would've told us that he'd have the physical strength to do this we would've laugh incredulously, but here he is and he is so doing it. And I couldn't be more proud! Please send him all the good vibes and positive energy that you can tomorrow, ok? He'll need all he can get.

OK, I hope I didn't bore you. On to crafty swapy things. Look at this bounty that I received from my super sweet friend Didine. I sent her some pieces of fabric that she wanted some time ago and this is what she sent in return. Everything is so lovely! And no, that wasn't me who ripped the box so savagely like that. That's how it arrived at my doorstep; clearly it made it here by way of some war ridden country, fortunately everything inside was intact. That rat was part of the goodies she sent me, except it wasn't for me, it was for Tino. He loves it! I think he thinks is some type of vehicle because he plays with it in the same way he does his little cars and trains... you know? making it walk on surfaces.

Look at this lovely fabric and pin cushion...perfect!

And one of Didine's tissue boxes and a fun bead necklace. She's so talented!

And an awesome cool pencil bag and note pad.

Thank you so much Didine! I love, love, love all my goodies.

I still have to tell you about Chicago but this is post is getting too long. I just wanted to show you this picture of a skirt I saw at H&M in Chicago. So cute! Very Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.
The apron is attached to the skirt. (I felt all self conscious taking the picture at the store...like I was stealing some kind of industrial secret). More about Chicago over the weekend.

how do they do it?

2006-04-26T20:10:00.000-04:00

I got back from Chicago a couple of days ago and it's taking me a minute to gather myself back together. I'll give you some highlights tomorrow. I also got some mail goodness that I need to share, but it'll have to wait. This is a quick post because, oh my God! how do they do this? Go here to take the quiz and find your sleep pose. Mine is so accurate, is scary! How do they know?

day of firsts

2006-04-21T00:08:00.000-04:00

First, I got in the mail a package from my very first swap (Open Yours Too 04). I am a virgin swap no longer. Hooray! Thanks so much Eireann, I loved all my goodies! I just realized my pics don't do justice to the beautiful pieces of Japanese fabric that I got. The center stage is taken by those lovely vintage quilt patches. And look at all my other goodies, ribbon (it looks very boy like... maybe I can embellish some of Tino's jeans with it) and the vintage golden buttons and the colorful embroidery floss. Yes, yes, I'm one happy swapper =).

You can see what I sent her here (at the bottom) and here (if you want a close up). And I am soooo happy that she enjoyed her package!!!!

Second first: my very first meme. I just got tagged by Carolyn, ready?, set?, go:

1. Five Minutes to yourself how would you spend them, ideally?
In front of the computer sipping a nice cup of coffee and a eating some chocolate looking (peacefully)at my favorite blogs without being interrupted by a little hand tugging at my shirt or my elbow or biting my side (yes, it's happened before) to get me away from the computer.

2. Five bucks to spend it right now, how would you spend it?
five bucks...mmmh...everything that pops to mind would be more than five bucks. Right now, since is so quiet around here, I'm going to go for a cup of coffee and a nice warm freshly baked scone to enjoy my five minutes above.

3. Five items in your house you can part with, right now that you hadn't thought of already?
This one is a tough one, now that we are about to move I become less attached to things because the thought of taking too much stuff with us is very stressful.
*a ceramic fondue set that we never use
*a bunch of old New Yorkers and Artforums (ok, the Artforums hurt a little bit)
*some of Tino's baby toys that are completely messed up and have parts missing
*a bunch of negatives and prints from my first projects in college
*a gazillion copies of my graduate thesis that are rolling around the house

4. Five items you could absolutely never part with in your house?
*all family pictures (Alex's, mine, our dogs, our wedding and Tino's)
*all my art books (just because I'm nice I'll include here all of Alex's design books)
*my engagement ring that Alex designed. (Does this count? Is more of a personal item)
*Tino's newborn clothes (a onsie and an itty bitty pair of socks)
*all of my Paul Frank stuff

5. Five words you love
You do know that english is my second language, right? So there are some words I enjoy not really because of what they mean but more because how they sound. So, here they are:
*humongous
*stagnant (I find it very sophisticated)
*dang
*cockamamie
*layout (I can't think of a word in spanish that is this versatile)

My turn to tag, right?
Didine, Holly and Liz

I'm off to Chicago for the weekend. It's already 1am and I'm going to pay for it dearly tomorrow when I won't be able to fall asleep during the 5 hour drive because I have to keep Tino and Alex entertained. See you all on monday, have a great weekend!

a hundred years late

2006-04-18T11:13:00.000-04:00

So, I think I'm the last person in this world among the people who are into these things to have watched My Neighbor Totoro. Of course I loved it, that's a given. In the summer of 2003 I watched (but not paid attention to) Spirited Away almost everyday , 7 days a week for 3 weeks straight for work related reasons (a long story...), and I completely fell in love with the visuals, and when I finally did pay attention to it I completely fell in love with the characters and story so I was sure I was going to like other Miyazaki's movies. Alex and I love Spirited Away so much that "thank you Mr. Boilerman" is still a household phrase with us and it has to be said in a high pitch tone of voice (like a little girl). But I digress. I loved My Neighbor Totoro but (and please don't hate me for this) I didn't like Totoro that much. I liked the shape, all round and poofy but not so much his personality. I think the spirits in Spirited Away were stronger, but that's just my humble opinion. I did love the soot sprites (tried to look for an image but couldn't find a decent one) but again, I think you can see more of their personality in Spirited Away.

Having said that, my favorite character bar none in My Neighbor Totoro was Mei.

I loooooved that little girl!!!! She was the animated version of Tino. The resemblance is uncanny!

Her facial expressions, the shape of her body, even her personality a little. I think she was brilliant!!!! And this also confirms my suspicion that Tino could be famous in Japan =p.

Other things I loved about the movie: the opening and closing title sequence (the bottom pics) and the little crab on the letter that Satsuki sends her mom (couldn't find an image).

All images downloaded from http://www.totoro.org.

hello? is anybody still there?

2006-04-17T11:39:00.000-04:00

Bad blogger, bad blogger! 11 days without a post...tsk, tsk, tsk. I don't have any excuses but I can give you a recount of my activities while I've been gone. First, I was working on translating my resume because, yes, my days as a lady of leisure are counted. When I go back to Guatemala I'll definitely have to work so I'm trying to get a move on that. And believe it or not my spanish is kind of rusty... not the vernacular (Alex, Tino and I speak strictly in spanish amongst ourselves) but the professional-technical-sophisticated one. So I had to sent it to a friend to proof read it...and well, you know how it is, those things take time.

Then, I had to do our taxes. I honestly think that filling out tax forms is on the top 3 of my most stressful activities, I can feel the veins on the side of my neck tensing up. But they are done and they have been mailed. Hooray!

Theen, I'm participating in this.
And I was so excited that I got in because this is my very first swap and then when I got the name of my partner I totally froze! Really, I did! I had been to my partner's blog before OYT 04 (Open Yours Too 04) and I loved her work, let's face it, she's a total crafting pro (literally, she has a little online shop and you can also find her amazing designs here.) So I started stressing out because I thought I was going to get a partner like me... you know, someone looking to build a non-existent stash of materials and supplies. But, oh boy, this girl makes such beautiful things that I'm sure she's got everything she needs and then some. I did the best I could and I really hope she enjoys her package (I'll post pics of what I sent once I know she's got it.)

Theeen, my friend Rachel came to visit from Chicago for the weekend and I had soooo much fun!!! It had been a year since I last saw her and now I'm going to see her again at the end of this week because we're going with Alex to Chicago. She's Tino's godmother too. She hates to get her picture taken, so I knew that this was the best I was ever going to get (she'll probably kill me for posting it). Do you want to hear a funny story about Rachel? Apparently she's a dead ringer for Alex's ex-girlfriend. Once, when Rachel and I had just become friends, Alex showed a picture of the two of us together to his mom, and his mom scolded him because she thought he had been messing around in photoshop putting together a silly picture of the ex and me. And the funniest one (and my favorite), Rachel was the maid of honor at my wedding in Guatemala, and a lot of the guests were freaking out thinking it was the ex.

And that's it. That's what it was like for the past 10 days.

five years ago today...

2006-04-06T20:17:00.000-04:00

I was still in grad school in Chicago, Alex was a professor at a university in Guatemala and had come to visit me for spring break. This particular day I was kind of cranky because Alex made me go to the Lincoln Park Zoo under the pretense that he absolutely had to conduct an experiment which he had to document and then send the images to the university asap. It was rainy and gray and I was cursing on the inside because I was wearing sandals and my feet were getting wet walking through the damp grass. I didn't understand why the hell he couldn't do this some other day when it was sunny. We had lunch reservations at this nice restaurant downtown called Spiaggia and for some reason we HAD to do this before lunch... I wasn't happy.

The "experiment" was to throw an egg inside this contraption (which I couldn't photograph because of the bad lighting today but I promise I will someday) and make sure the egg didn't break. I had to 'perform' the experiment because he had to document it (he couldn't be the subject because he was the professor). So we walked around the zoo looking for a suitable bridge from which I could drop this thing (again, a lot of walking in a grey day...not happy). We finally found a spot, I dropped the object, then had to open the thing to make sure the "egg" had survived and when I opened it there was no egg, I was soooo mad! I thought Alex had forgotten to place the egg inside and that we were going to have to go back and do it all over again. Instead I saw a little capsule, like the kind you would find inside a Kinder chocolate egg... I thought it was a joke and was about to start yelling at Alex, he was laughing and told me to open it and there... five years later you too can witness my reaction when I opened the little capsule and saw my engagement ring. I don't know what I thought when I saw the ring, to be honest with you I hardly remember what Alex said afterwards, I just remember feeling so happy and excited that everything felt like a dream... almost like I was floating and looking down at everything that was happening. It was so surreal and funny and great and unexpected! This was trully one of the happiest moments of my life.

my urban baby

2006-04-02T20:58:00.000-04:00

I had a wonderful start to my day this morning. My own urban baby and I went out for breakfast so Alex could sleep in with no noise. We went to this cozy cool bakery in our neighborhood called Breadworks. We skimmed through the New York Times while having coffee and a scone (me) and latte (just the latte part, no coffee) and a chocolate croissant (Tino). I had a great time talking to Tino and staring at him and he had a great time staring at strangers.

In the afternoon I met Liz and Holly for some knitting... fabulous! But when I came back home Alex had cut Tino's hair...booo hoooo, my baby looks like a boy now. He'll be 19 months old tomorrow but he looks so much older without his messy curls. I want his hair to grow back NOW!

The pictures of this post are from a book I got from the library called Urban Babies Wear Black. It doesn't really have a story, more of a list of things that urban babies do... like, you know? go to galleries and drink latte. But I love the illustrations! They are by Nathalie Dion. I love the styling and the colors she uses. Look at that awesome (expressionist?) painting the little girl with the red bandana is looking at! Too cute!

to new beginnings

2006-04-01T20:26:00.000-05:00

My little sister got engaged last night!!! AND, a-n-d she got a kick ass new job this past week!!!! I'm soooo happy and excited for her! She called us last night and I feel like a heel for not picking up the phone right away, Alex and I were watching a movie and it only had like 10 minutes left. But I called her right back and she gave me the news. Apparently she had been bugging everybody that she wanted and iPod nano, so Jason (the boyfriend now turned fiancé) had a little romantic evening picnic thing prepared in a park in downtown San Antonio and she thought it was to celebrate her new job. Jason gave her a nicely wrapped present and it was the iPod nano, then he told her that he got it engraved and when she turned the iPod to see, the inscription read "will you marry me?" ...How cool is that? how techno-romantic! he then (I guess) went down on one knee and gave her the whole spill and the ring. I'm sooooo happy for her!

*the picture is totally unrelated to the post but I really don't like posts without pictures. The image does mark a rare occasion when the whole set of Tino's blocks are accounted for. =P

slacking? who? me? never!

2006-03-23T11:58:00.000-05:00

I know, I have been slacking a bit on the blogging and the crafting but I have a lot in my mind these days. That's why the two projects that I'm working on are so perfect because the repetitiveness of them are very soothing to my brain.

First, I'm working on my very first quilt. I know is not extremely creative to use all fabrics from the same collection in the same quilt but hey, I had the charm pack, already cut in squares and it was less than $15. so I think it is a very economical and practical thing to use for a first time quilt. I'm hand piecing and hand quilting because I haven't tamed the beast that is my sewing machine and because that way I can work on it while Tino sleeps.

I've been also working on socks, they started to be socks for Tino but they seemed too big. Then I decided that they were going to be socks for the Dulaan Project but I don't think they are warm enough, so now they are back to being socks for Tino, although he won't be able to wear them until he's 4 because they are too big. I am so torn about knitting for the Dulaan Project. I know if I make thrummed socks they'll be warm but I had some thrummed socks once and if you have a lot of walking to do they are sort of hard on your feet, I don't want these kids to have chafed feet. I'm also torn because Alex mentioned that maybe it would be more efficient to buy them jackets and winter stuff that we could probably find on sale this time of the year. I really want them to get as much stuff as possible to keep warm. But I really want to knit for them and, besides, handmade things have magical powers, remember? So they will keep them warmer, right? right? so it's o.k. if I only get to send them half a dozen items or so, right?

not the first try

2006-03-17T15:31:00.000-05:00

Here are the results of many, many, many failed embroidery attempts. Originally I wanted to make the little face bigger so I could make a pin cushion or something like that, and eventually work the design again to a pillow size. She had a name (pushi-pushi) and a story but she looks so small and insignificant floating around my old t-shirt sleeve that I'll spare you the details of her story until she can be successfully embroidered at a larger scale. Apparently drawing something cute on illustrator and playing around with the colors will not directly translate to needle and thread. My stitch vocabulary is very limited so that may have something to do with it. I do like my old t-shirt with an unexpected little something - something on the sleeve.

*I posted the picture a bit larger so you could see pushi-pushi's face up close ...and my roll of back fat as an added bonus =P

self-portrait tuesday

2006-03-14T12:46:00.000-05:00

Time, moving, the last 10 years.

1995 Guatemala
1995 Savannah, Ga Apartment #1
1995 Savannah, Ga. Apartment #2
1996 Savannah, Ga. Apartment #3
1997 Savannah, Ga. Apartment #4
1998 Savannah, Ga. Apartment #5
1999 Treviso, Italy
1999 Savannah, Ga. Apartment #6
1999 New York City, NY
2000 Guatemala
2000 Chicago, Il.
2002 Guatemala, mom's house
2002 Guatemala, newlywed apartment
2002 Guatemala, mom's house
2002 South Bend, In. Apartment #1
2003 South Bend, In. Apartment #2
2004 South Bend, In. Apartment #3
2005 Louisville, Ky.
2006 ...

More self-portrait tuesday bloggers here and here.

official project #1: done!

2006-03-12T20:20:00.000-05:00

I joined angry chicken's super official mailorder club and the apple crisp was one of the projects for this edition. You not only had to make it but also eat it, which I'm still working on. It is sooooo deeelicious!!!! With a little bit of whipped cream and a strong cup of guatemalan coffee... yummy, yummy (coincidentally this is Tino's new word. Cute, no?). I have yet to earn my batch for this month because I still have another project to complete. It'll come soon.

I wanted to thank everybody for their comments and e-mails about me leaving. I will miss this country and all my friends so much! We won't be moving for another 5 or 6 months, so I'll still be here for a while. And of course, even in Guatemala I shall keep on blogging and crafting. Oh yeah!

finally!

2006-03-11T19:08:00.000-05:00

I'm done with this project. This is River, from the Rowan magazine # 38. Is not for me, is for my sister in law. I started knitting it at the end of last summer but I wasn't feeling it, for some reason I could not find a rhythm to the pattern. Then, the brilliant Liz from my wednesday knitting circle suggested that we did our own little knitting olympics, with different time constraints to fit our needs and so i chose this project. I did not get it done for the olympic due date, and I could've done it except I got distracted by trying to sew the 'it'll never happen' apron that never happened (from a couple of posts ago). But I'm done, I'm done, I'm done! I think is pretty. The kid silk haze is a pain! not to knit with but if you need to rip it...well, good luck! I'm not so sure about the beaded knot, beads are not really my thing. Plus, I don't think I sewed it properly because it has a piece of elastic inside but the knot itself is not stretchy...but with the kid silk haze, trying to rip it and re-sew the thing was never an option. It'll be on its way to Texas next week, and I really hope my SIL likes it.

excuses, excuses, excuses

2006-03-10T12:19:00.000-05:00

Tino got a bit sick a week ago (he's fine now). Then Alex got really sick a couple of days later and I was freaking out... yes, he felt that ill, but he's fine now. Then Alex and I finally admitted to ourselves and to our families the fact that in a few months we will be moving back home to Guatemala. Then I got a little bit sick myself, but I'm fine now. All I'm saying is that all this sickness and life-altering decisions can affect a girls will to craft.

At least somebody is doing something around the house. The picture is one of Tino's new lego structures. I'm completely in love with them and can't stop photographing them. He used to only like the single peg blocks and use to stack them up really high, but now he's using all the blocks and creating this very interesting shapes. You probably think I'm crazy... but I think is very cool! The puppy in the background is Tino's bff, El Aquel (l-ah-kel), his laying on the ground like that pretty much sums up how I've been feeling for the past week.

I promise some crafty goodness to come soon.

experiment No.1

2006-03-03T11:20:00.000-05:00

Here are the results of my first experiment which I personally think was a success. I am strictly talking about the experiment, all design details will have to be work further in future attempts. I was trying to create some kind of weave with only a strand of yarn and without having to knit it. I got the idea from a beautiful Japanese scarf that I saw in New York last year at the MoMa Design Store (I looked online but they didn't have a picture of the one I saw). I laid one strand of yarn on the bubble wrap and I made like a very rough interlocking weave type of thing and then, you know? warm water and rolled the bejesus out of the thing of bubble wrap, two hours later of rolling and a few hours of drying I have this: For being such an open weave, it is quite warm. This was just a test so it is very short, it could be worn more like a neck warmer or a funky necklace. You like?

pity party, pity party & yarn, yarn, beautiful yarn

2006-02-27T14:48:00.000-05:00

I'm a little bit depressed on the crafty front today. This weekend I was in a bitter battle against the sewing machine and so far, the sewing machine is winning. I wanted to make a little apron for Tino for this month's theme of Tie One On. I had my little design and everything, cut the pieces but the sewing did not go smoothly. Other than the fact that I don't know what I'm doing and I had crooked seams and some pieces were to be glued, the tension was all messed up. I read the manual, read the books, did everything they said to do: re-thread the machine, change needle, check the bobbin, change the tension of the upper thread... you get the picture... and nothing, the stitches still look wonky on one side. Tonight (if Tino permits) I will try to mess with the bobbin tension... I'm just sad because I won't be able to make the apron on time for the Tie One On deadline AND because it is really difficult for me to spend a lot of time working on something and not having it turn out the way I wanted it, I feel like I wasted some precious time. Alex always points out that I didn't waste time, I was learning, but it's still hard because I rarely get bit chunks of time to dispose of. Which makes me question whether I'm really up for this (my project for sew? I knit)

I'll still make Tino's apron... someday. OK, enough of my little pity party. Now, on with the plans for the week.

The beautiful yarn on the picture, I ordered from handpainted yarns, the color's name is Pagoda, isn't it lovely? I love ordering from that place, their customer service rep, Mariana, is soooooo nice, it is truly a pleasure to deal with them. I highly recomend this place, beautiful yarn, great service, what more could you ask for? So I'm planning two experiments and one project with this yarn. I'm not going to tell you about the experiments, I will show you (I promise I will, even if they fail). And I'm going to knit myself something similar to this. I made one for my sister in law last Christmas and it looked so cool and warm, I don't have a picture but you'll have to trust me that it was cute, plus it knits in no time, so I should have a couple of things to show you before the end of the week.

something cute and something funny

2006-02-22T12:43:00.000-05:00

Above, something cute via moco loco.

And this is kind of funny, via etc.

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Mery!

A thimbleful of Mery would weigh over 100 million tons.
Half a cup of Mery contains only seventeen calories!
Fifty-two percent of Americans drink Mery.
Some hotels in Las Vegas have Mery floating in their swimming pools.
A lump of Mery the size of a matchbox can be flattened into a sheet the size of a tennis court.
The Church of Scientology was founded in 1953, at Washington D.C., by Mery.
Mery has 118 ridges around the edge.
Mery can only be destroyed by intense heat, and is impermeable even to acid.
Ancient Greeks believed earthquakes were caused by Mery fighting underground!
If you keep a goldfish in a dark room, it will eventually turn into Mery.

self-portrait tuesday

2006-02-21T14:33:00.000-05:00

All of me: my furry eye brows. I hate my furry eye brows! I am not a vain person, honestly I'm not. I feel kind of stupid admiting to this but my eyebrows really, really bother me. They are only eyebrows and can be fixed, right? but is so much more than that. Having nicely groomed eyebrows remind me of a time when I felt more in control of my life, when I had the time and money to do that kind of thing for myself on a regular basis. When I felt civilized and pretty and kept and most of all, I felt together. The furry eyebrows are a constant reminder of the frumpy person that I have become.

More self-portrait tuesday bloggers here and here.

it doesn't look like much

2006-02-20T14:13:00.000-05:00

Last saturday I took my first quilting class ever. It was a one day class about hand quilting. I looooooved it! The lady that taught the class was very charming in a southern-old-school kind of way. There were 8 students in the class, all women but only one was about my age (the others a bit older). The teacher and some of the students started talking about quilt shows and who's had the chance to go to one etc. etc. and I was going to contribute to the conversation and tell them about the incredibly and crazy beautiful and gorgeous (I run out of adjectives in my vocabulary to describe them) quilts from the Japanese quilt show that Be*mused went to, and all of a sudden all these ladies start bashing the 'modern quilts' or 'art quilts' as some of them called them, and how it was a pity that you hardly ever see those good old geometric designs and they went on and on... so I kept my mouth shut. I don't know much about quilting and it just recently peaked my interest but I seem to be attracted to both equally (strictly geometric and more free form ones).

That's a little picture of what I made. We joined two squares, and learned how to make and join the half square triangles and learned how to do the quilting itself. The very last part of the class (like the last 10 minutes) was spent on attaching the border and I was kind of bummed because that really seems like the hardest part. I have a little charm pack that I ordered from here, so I'm going to try to make a baby quilt out those patches... we'll see how it goes.

japanese goodness and stunned by kindness

2006-02-17T09:39:00.000-05:00

Here's the picture I promised of our little valentine's presents that Alex got for us. The two boxes are pretzels type of thingies, but how cute is the packaging?, those are for Tino. And the little notebook is mine... I was tempted to post pics of the pages because they are so adorable but I restrained muself, however if you do want to see them you can go to my flickr account [where I will post them as soon as it lets me log in...I'm not liking flickr too much right now].

On another subject, yesterday Tino and I went to the library, we always walk there (I walk, Tino rides in his stroller) because Alex takes the car to work. Anyway, it looked like it was going to rain so I had two raincoats, one to cover Tino, and one for me. When we left the library it started raining super hard, so hard that I didn't think the one raincoat was enough to protect Tino so I used mine to give him some extra coverage. So I was getting rained on, big time. After a couple of blocks this nice man stops his car, gets out and hands me an umbrella! How nice was that? I was so touched and I can't get over the fact that someone did that for another human being in this day and age. Thank you, thank you, thank you kind anonymous man!!!! You have some good karma coming your way.

my own little cupid

2006-02-14T20:38:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's day everybody! You are not going to believe this but this is my first time celebrating valentine's in many, many, many years. When Alex and I were dating we were never together for it, I was usually away in college and he was back home in Guatemala. Then the very first time that we were physically together we didn't really get into it, so it's been kind of a non-event for us. That is, until Tino. For some reason he makes us want to celebrate every holiday to the max. I made Alex his favorite cake (cream cheese pound cake) and I had big plans of making Tino Wee Wonderful's little kitty...yeah...but, remember? I don't know how to sew? I tried to sew it by hand but the seams were too weak. I shall persevere and once I get the hang of the sewing machine I'll give it a go again. Alex gave Tino and I some super cute things (almost as cute as this here) that I'll have to wait to show you tomorrow because of the lack of natural light to photograph. A great valentine's day was had by the whole family!

*feliz dia del cariño, sort of means happy valentine's day in spanish...except cariño means something like love but is more like caring. I looked it up in the dictionary and one of the translations is affection. I don't think it translates well. Anyway, Feliz Dia del Cariño!

the problem with me is...

2006-02-13T15:44:00.000-05:00

That I already want to master all the skills I need to make the stuff that I want to make. Take knitting, for example, I don't even remember when I learned how to knit. I was very young and then when I picked it up later in life it was easy because I had the basic skills and I just had to build on that to be able to do stuff. But everything I want to do now I have to build from 0. I know, I know patience and practice, patience and practice. Thank you Tino for letting me practice my stitches.

tino at the museum

2006-02-12T11:09:00.000-05:00

After what turned out to feel like a very looooooong week, Alex, Tino and I spent a (much needed) fun saturday morning at the Louisville Science Museum. It's a small museum but it's very cute. They have a small area where children under seven can play around in sessions of 45 minutes. From what we saw that peaked Tino's interest we decided that he'll either be A. an architect, B. a plumber, C. a driver. After the play seesion was over we walked around the museum and Tino kept on having a ball. He was having so much fun that a tantrum was had when it was time to leave. Luckily by the time we got home there was a Valentine's present in the mail for Tino from his aunt Kiki (Alex's sister)and all was well again.

a little bit off & a little bit fo

2006-02-08T15:50:00.000-05:00

Today I'm feeling a bit tired, a bit sad, a bit cold, a bit lazy, a bit off. Feeling very indulgent eating a bowl of chicken noodle soup in front of the tv while Tino naps.

Also a little finished object. These socks (my very first pair) are a long overdue christmas present for somebody with an extremely discerning taste. I just hope the recipient will enjoy and wear them often. They will be on their way to Chicago tomorrow.

self-portrait tuesday

2006-02-07T14:13:00.000-05:00

Was this supposed to be easy? There it is: all of me. Those numbers have been a constant issue in my life. For a big part of it they have determined how I felt, what I did and how I related to others... to be honest they still do, although in a slightly lesser degree. I'm hoping this will be liberating. Right now is just scary.

More self-portrait tuesday bloggers here and here.

step one: threading the sewing machine

2006-02-06T16:25:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned before I don't know how to sew and I had never, ever used a sewing machine before yesterday. It took me a good couple of hours to learn how to thread it and to try out the first few stitches. I was ecstatic when I finally got it to work but I was mentally exhausted when I stopped playing with it... as if I had been writing the most complex paper on the cultural implications of new handcrafting trends and the contemporary woman. Yes, it will take me sometime to master this skill. I joined this to keep me motivated.

too cute

2006-02-03T13:26:00.000-05:00

Thought I would leave you with some cuteness for the weekend. Look at these super cute stamps that we got. They are definitely too cute to mail bills (the lowest form of mail, if you ask me). Wild Thing is a personal favorite of Tino, him being a wild thing himself and all.

about the name

2006-02-02T14:44:00.000-05:00

Is pronounced pee-hee-he. It's a type of duck native to Central America. I think the word is very beautiful typographically speaking ... mmmm, all those dots. Plus it reminds me of Tino. When he used to crawl, he never laid his hand flat on the ground, he always positioned it just so, like a duck.

i am sew doing it

2006-02-01T15:39:00.000-05:00

As I started this blog to keep tabs on my crafting endeavors I decided to present myself with a monthly challenge. I have big plans in my head: wonderful softies, whimsical embroidery, delightful quilts, and then comes the reality check, ehem...I really don't know how to sew. I vaguely remember some basic stitches you learn in elementary school, you remember? those stitch samplers that everybody had to make...mine always looked a bit wonky. So the time has come, the time is now (too much Markin K. Mooney latelty) I must and I will learn how to sew! So I propose that before this month is over I shall present you with a little embroidery sample. A simple one, very basic and very pretty. So please come back and check on my progress, ok?

In other news:
teething Tino + one nap a day = grumpy mama
looking forward to: tonight's Project Runway! GO DANIEL!

self-portrait tuesday

2006-01-31T14:24:00.000-05:00

I was born when my dad was 60 years old. He died when I was 19. I don't feel like I really got to know him, he was too old and I was too young to care. The mental picture I now have of who he was it's made of little trivial things I remember about him, stories I've heard of him and some facts that I've added up in my head. My whole life I've heard how much I resemble my dad's side of the family. I was never close to them, my uncles and aunts were very old, my cousins were in their twenties when I was a child so I really didn't fit in. I got this picture as a wedding present. My father, the first one on the left in the middle row, was 14 years old here. The rest are my grandparents and all of my dad's siblings of whom I met only 3. I have stared at this picture a few times to see if I can find something of myself in them or in my dad. All I can see is my nose.

More self-portratit tuesday bloggers here and here.

welcome owen

2006-01-30T14:41:00.000-05:00

This hat and these socks are on their way to Michigan. Our good friends Mark and Jen just welcomed the arrival of their first baby last friday. Congratulations guys!!!! I am so happy for them and I can't wait to meet baby Owen. Mark and Jen are not only awesome people but they were truly amazing with us when we were expecting Tino and for that we'll forever be grateful. Anyway, I hope he likes them. I got the pattern for the hat here (I love this pattern so much, is so easy and so cute!) and the socks are from a Bluesky Alpaca pattern that I bought.

I had a good weekend. I just wish I didn't have to do any chores during it. But sometimes is the only time I have since Alex is here and can look after Tino while I do laundry, or go grocery shopping etc. (blah!)

thank you holly

2006-01-27T14:45:00.000-05:00

This beautiful hat that I was trying to photograph Tino in (because he makes such a cutter model than I. And can you tell that I was chasing him? ...I need a faster digital camera!)was a Christmas present from sweet Holly whom I met at the knitting circle I attend at my lys. Not only is she extremely talented in this craft but she has a great eye for matching colors and styles with personalities. She knitted a different style of hat for everybody and we all fell in love with our present. Thanks Holly, you are too sweet! (I just got my hat this past wednesday...so don't think I'm recycling old news here).

I haven't been too productive for the past couple of days. Tino and I are getting used to a one nap-a-day schedule, which has been kind of tough for both but it had to be done. He was falling asleep later and later in the afternoon and it was just too close to dinner time and bed time.

Today when he was laughing really hard I noticed that he's got 2 new teeth: a right canine and a right bicuspid, so total with the ones he already had: 10 teeth. But when he bites it feels like a 100 teeth. He doesn't bite too often but sometimes he just can't seem to help himself and he goes directly for our index fingers. I'll try my best to get a picture of the new teeth. In case I don't get to post over the weekend: everybody have lots of fun and get lots of rest, ok?

my very first post

2006-01-26T14:12:00.000-05:00

I made these for my lys owner's newborn. I'm pretty happy with the way the came out. I had big plans of screen printing a whole series of them with a cool tutorial I found here, but I kept on buying the wrong kind of ink so I settled for the good old ink jet heat transfer thing. I hope she likes them. I made the picture of the little baby knitting myself so excuse my 5-year-old drawing skills.

So this is my very first post and I'm kind of nervous. My friend N (Noodle, see? I mentioned you in my very first post) told me that if I was about to write my first post I better made sure that I have something for a second one...oh, the pressure. But I'm happy to say that I do have a couple of ideas in store for future postings. So, stick around...