Lesser known celebration coming

For those of you reading this who are not Mexican,

tomorrow is "Virgin of Guadalupe" Day, or "Our Lady of Guadalupe" Day.

The following information is compliments of Wikipedea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Guadalupe):

Guadalupe's feast day is celebrated on December 12, commemorating the
traditional account of her appearances to Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin on the hill of Tepeyac near Mexico City from December 9, 1531 through December 12, 1531.

The Virgin of Guadalupe is a symbol of significant importance to Catholics. Mainstream Catholics believe that Guadalupe was a manifestation of the Virgin Mary in the Americas and recognize her as "Empress of the Americas." The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City is the second most visited Roman Catholic shrine in the world.

The Virgin of Guadalupe has also symbolized the Mexican nation since Mexico's War of Independence. Both Miguel Hidalgo and Emiliano Zapata's armies traveled underneath Guadalupan flags, and Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe is generally recognized as a symbol of all Mexicans. The Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes once said that
"...one may no longer consider himself a Christian, but you cannot truly be
considered a Mexican unless you believe in the Virgin of Guadalupe."

So, Felicidades Virgencita de Guadalupe!!

Congrats to Monico

I'm very proud of Monico, who scored 48 out of 50 points

(that's 96% to those who are math-challenged) on his midterm!

Way to go!!

Isn't that redundant?

As I was driving to work this morning I saw a sign board that said,

"Thank you Veterans, past and present" and it got me thinking...

Other than to be poetic, do we really need to specify

the remembrance of Veterans to include past and present?

Don't get me wrong, I know that there are Veteran's who are "present"-ly living, but a isn't a "Veteran," by definition, something that is always "past?"

Am I alone in my thoughts on this?

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Halloween 2008

Monico and I had a fun Halloween with friends. This photo was taken of us at the apartment of Monico's classmate who hosted a party. So fun!!!

My costume is a German Beer Girl (hey, I didn't name it!) and Monico's costume - manufactured by me - is affectionately

called "Death by Ball Machine"! Kind of silly, but very cost effective!

Obviously not marketed to women!

How funny is this photo? Monico found it on http://www.break.com/,

and I couldn't resist sharing.

Yes, the father and son are playing the game, and the daughter is helping her mom with dishes in the background,

because clearly, why would the girls play, right?

Haha... too funny...

Leavenworth 2008

Last weekend we traveled with Matt and Brandy to Leavenworth to enjoy the spirit of Oktoberfest, and to cheer Brandy as she ran the half-mile marathon. Go Brandy!!

On the way home, we drove via Blewett Pass
and enjoyed the colors along the road.

What can you get when you go to Walmart?

Gigantic 2 lb bags of Twizzlers!!

What is HILL-AIR-E-OUS is that there is a 4 POUND box-o-twizzler's right behind me and I didn't even notice it until I saw this photo!!

I mean honestly, no one needs that much licorice... ever...



Oh, and I can't believe how tired I look in the photo.
Apparently I need more sleep!

Grateful

For those of you who have been students, or married to students,
you'll understand my excitement that financial aid came in today!!!

Yep. This little dancing guy is me.

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We've been INVADED!

Soooo... apparently the late summer/early fall period is uber-breeding time for fruit flies, which reproduce faster than rabbits! I did not know this. If I had, I would have nipped it in the bud early when I first noticed a few little flies around the kitchen last week.

I predict that the eggs hitched a ride on the bananas I bought last week... or the ones I bought the week before. Either way, apparently the eggs hatch into larva (yep... worms in my kitchen, ew...) and then into flies. This whole lovely process takes 10 days. Not a pleasant thought imagining this whole process taking place on or around my food. YUCK!

After reading on the internet, I created some traps, which I set last night. This is the collection I was able to gather within 24 hours. I am hoping is the majority of the flies, and that the few stragglers will join soon.

This trap was a bowl with apples, covered in plastic wrap, with small holes poked in it. The flies get attracted to the smell, climb through the holes, but can't get out again.

This trap is a bowl of cider vinegar, with a drop of dish soap. Apparently the soap breaks the "tension" of the surface of the liquid, so when the flies land on the top, they sink (and drown!!) instead of walk on top.

Can you believe HOW MANY there are?? This is only after noticing these pesky buggers last week. I always thought that the down side of leaving rotting food out was you might get ants. But apparently these are just as likely to appear.

So, warning to all my friends. Wash your fruit when you bring it into your home, and (when possible) store in the fridge, as the flies are extremely sensitive to the cold.

Again... yuk!!

Awe... so cute!

After looking at photos on other peoples blogs, I loved the idea of scanning and posting old photos (thanks, Donna!), so I scoured my collection of photos we stole - um, I mean "borrowed" from our parent's collections, and tried to find photos of Monico and I at about the same age... which is hard when you don't have that many.

Hope you enjoy!!

This is a photo of me at 8 months (circa September 1979).
This is my favorite photo!!!

This photo of Monico looks as if he is about 3 months old.
Look at all that hair!!! Sheesh...

In this photo (taken at G&G Bagley's) was taken summer 1980,
so I would have been 18 months

It's anyone's guess on how old Monico was,
but my best guess is 12 months.
LOVE THE BLUE SUIT!!!

As a child of the 80s, I think this photo (circa 1984) is iconic:
a "Big Wheels" AND "jellies"?
Awesome.

Monico at his first day of school.
Have you ever seen a more complacent Kindergartner? LOL

And, just for fun, this is one of the engagement
photos we took (circa April 1998).

It's finally here - Monico started school today!

I know what you are thinking, and "Yep. I totally took a picture of my man - with his lunchbox in hand - as he was heading out for his first day of school." How could I not, when he looks that cute!

So, today is day one of the Master's in Teaching program,
and Monico's last day will be August 15th(ish) next year!
It is soooooo exciting to think about how
close Monico is too his goal of becoming a teacher.

No more job (or paycheck!)... time to head back to school

Monico is officially done working.

His last day as a file clerk for the Dussault Law Group, the same office I STILL work at as a paralegal (yes, I got him the job...) was on Friday, August 29th, and he starts class tomorrow morning!

Monico at his desk...

We had a going away party. Not much time for decorations,
so I tried to be clever with dri-erase...



We got the fiesta platter from Azteca restaurant down the street... YUM!!




We had some fun golfing this weekend. We did 9 holes at Interbay Golf, then did
the18 hole putting course. It was a FANTASTIC mini-golf location.
Had we not done the 9 holes, I wouldn't have even known it was there.
Monico won by 2 or 3 strokes.
(Out of humiliation, I actually didn't do the final tally, so I don't know for sure.)
We will definitely be back again for a rematch before the weather turns too sour.

Although the sun was out, it was kind'a chilly... thus my hat/sunglasses and sweatshirt combo.

As prep for his first day of school, I gave Monico a haircut.
Although we've been married for this long, one of the things I was previously
NEVER allowed to do was cut my husband's hair.
However, as he has now joined the ranks of the unemployed students,
he has agreed to let me do it to save the $20 or so he spends each time he goes.

Oh yeah, since we don't have a hair-cutting cape yet,
we used an emergency poncho instead!
Kind of ghetto, but it worked really well!

I think i did a fantastic job -- if I say so myself!!!

(Before)

(After)

Summer Sandals

The weather has gotten a little colder the last couple days, and I have started thinking of the fall getting closer, and how all my summer clothes are going to be put away until next spring.

Well, apparently my cats aren't ready to let go of the warm summer months yet, as they seem quite attached to my summer attire!

But, my cats will soon remember how much they love my winter boots, and my sandals and capris will be long forgotten...
(he he he - I guess I'm little silly because it's Friday! Boo-Yah!)

Anniversary Weekend Getaway

With temperatures getting over 90 degrees this weekend, Monico and I took an impromptu trip for the weekend to the other side of Puget Sound. Although taking a trip means spending money, I figured that "you only have a 10th wedding anniversary once!"

We left on Saturday morning and drove South through Tacoma and across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.




We stopped for lunch in Gig Harbor, Washington.


After a lunch at a Mexican restaurant on the waterfront, we were completely taken by the cuteness of the elderly couple (they both had to be over 80 years old) who owned and ran a used book shop next door and couldn't get away without buying something.



After Gig Harbor, we headed to our destination at Port Orchard, Washington, where we had a room reservation at Days Inn just off Hwy 16.

King-size bed AND a hot tub in the room?

It was like our honeymoon all over again!!

After we cooled down from our trip in our air-conditioned room
(one of the key amenities we were looking for in a hotel!),
we took a drive around Port Orchard.

Could you trust your house not to fall in the water?
If so, this one is for sale...




Not a cloud in the sky... look at the sun reflecting on the water! Beautiful.








One of the "sites" to see was The Candy Shoppe, which we missed the first time we drove by...




So many taffy flavors! Crazy.




We bought these cute flower suckers for Brandy, who let us borrow her car for the trip.




We had dinner at the Pancake House -
was 10 times better than any IHOP I've ever been to.




Everything sounded so DELICIOUS! I had such a hard time choosing.




Monico enjoyed the buttermilk pancakes.




After dinner we headed back to the hotel for a swim.




Ah, Sunday morning. Time to go home.
"Goodbye air-conditioning... we will miss you."




We took the ferry home. We had planned to take the ferry from neighboring Bremerton, but we didn't time it better, so we headed East to Southworth/Vashon ferry.
We had some time to kill while waiting so I took some photos.

Monico in the car




Vashon Island
(you can see our ferry docked there before coming to get us).




Our ferry unloading.




A view from the ferry's bow, and the end of our trip.