The 'Hood

Our new neighborhood is a funny place. We're half a mile or less from million + dollar old Alexandria houses and half a mile or less from Central America or San Salvador (and I write that with all fondness and respect for Central America, have never been to Salvador...) That contrast and mix is precisely what I like about it. Seriously, my Spanish would probably improve tenfold if I removed my iPod from my ears just one morning a week on the bus. I have experienced my moments of where in the world are we, like at Foodway Supermarket Saturday, where there were men in full Bolivian (??) cowboy attire and flies swarming around a tank of hungry tilapia and a basket of live crabs. We ran in to grab milk, potato chips and wine, and I daresay that's about all I'd buy there, but it did save us from going a couple miles out of our way to Giant. And the store appeared to be run by Koreans, just to make it an even more global experience.

We figured that with all the Latin markets (tiendas Latinas to impress with that Spanish of mine) and food vendors within a stones' throw we'd have no problems finding yummy yummy pastries a la quesito or pastel de guayaba, but we haven't succeeded yet. We haven't given it a fair shot though, so I'm not giving up yet, and in reading this article
(http://www.mybakerycafe.com/AlexandriaTimes.PDF), it appears that I need to give the one establishment we tried a second chance. I found my cheese empanada not all that satisfying, but really just couldn't get over the fact that "My Bakery & Cafe, Inc." doubled as a night club and lounge. That seriously struck my humor, as I really can't imagine calling Massi, say, and suggesting "hey, let's meet up at My Bakery at 11 for Mojitos and take it from there..." But the Alexandria Times gave it props a year ago, and the owner did go to my high school, so again, we'll give it that second chance the seafood section at Foodway will not be getting any time soon.

Something else to sap up our limited funds...

So if you have a kid, or know anything about kids these days, you know that they stay strapped into some kind of car seat or booster seat until the day you drop them off at college. I exaggerate only a little. Long gone are the days when I was told at about age 3 to sit on my knees in the back seat so I could pass as full sized passenger so an adult could drive in the HOV lane. And I'm still nostalgic for the "way back." Which leaves me researching car seats and boosters again. And trying to figure out how to scrape together approximately $200 (x 2) again. The kiddo's not at the Roundabout's limits yet, but just looks like she'd be so much more comfortable in somewhat more of a big-girl seat. I think I'm settling on the Graco Nautilis. Everything I read says they really should be in a 5-point harness until they are AT LEAST 4 and 40 pounds. This one then converts to a high-backed booster and then just the seat booster. And Graco promises it will be the last car seat I'll ever need, so I guess if $175 and change will cover those remaining 15 years we'll need the seat, I'm OK with that.

???

I had something to blog today, but it has escaped me, so now I think I will make a break for it as the weather doesn't look quite so terrifying. If it comes back to me and IF the kid is asleep before 10:00 I'll log back in, but those are pretty big ifs...

Wednesday Wonderings

If the strawberries I'm eating right now are bigger than the average plum are they some kind of scarily genetically modified fruits? Oh, but I can only imagine how much chocolate fondue one could hold. Mmmm....

Also, when did "The New Scooby Doo" come out? Leila picked out a DVD at the library last night and I was thinking I was in for a throw-back treat (my favorite part of being a mother is getting to revisit snippets of my childhood through her) until I noticed that what would have been a guest-spot by a cartoonified Sonny and Cher or Don Knotts had been filled by the band A Simple Plan (who?)

Back at you.

As has probably been apparent from my silence, we are MOVED. That is not to say we are fully unpacked, but I'm still alive on the other side. We're about 70% there. Not including the 3rd bedroom, which will be a chaos of boxes and suitcases for some time to come until I can figure out where to store (or as would be my preference, GET RID OF) things. I have about 6 boxes of books, art and nick knacks left to find homes for against a living room wall and just might be able to get some things hung on the walls this weekend. Once the living space is appropriately tidied and presentable, I'll get some pictures posted. The house is great. The basement makes a HUGE difference in our lives of course. I've managed the first 2 mortgage payments so far. And it's super to be able to stroll down the hill to Del Ray - walking down to yoga Saturday morning instead of driving and fighting for parking just made it all the more relaxing - and Leila's psyched about the playgrounds and library in foot's reach. And best of all, no need to worry about driving home after a Super Margarita (or 2) at Los Tios! Because I have to have an it's a small world coincidence as well, our neighbor Darcy was in my class at William & Mary. She has 4 and 2 year old girls and Leila is very tentatively showing an interest in befriending them, so that's nice. We apparently have issues with our DSL freezing up in the house, so can't promise I'll be back to posting routinely, but will do my best to get back into the groove.

p.s.: It is Thursday and I miss LOST!!

Ack! Will be moved one week from today....

... and not at all ready!! Got the contents of the attic out on Sunday and about 20 or so boxes packed, but how on eartch did we come to possess so much STUFF??? And I can't get ANYTHING done during the week because the daughter's all of a sudden decided she can't tolerate her crib (she gets her big girl bed/room when we move, but it's apparently not soon enough) and is "co-sleeping" with us at age 3 on the crib mattress on the floor next to our bed. This would be OK for a week if I could put her down and leave the room, but anytime I try to sneak out to pack lunch or do dishes or glance at Sunday's (yeah, Sunday's) paper, she pops up. So here I am at 9:42 in the dark listening to a Disney Princess CD....HELP!!!

The D List

So the "celebrity" sightings in Miami this weekend included "Prancer" from VH1's Flavor of Love 8, or whatever season we are in, and Yoshi from Miami Ink (is that his name, or did I just inadvertently stereotype Japanese?) We saw the Prancer chick at the table next to us in Wet Willie's (yea - alcoholic slurpees!) and didn't know precisely who she was at the time, but I looked at Cesar and said she looks like a blond version of "New York." Last night he called me downstairs all excitedly and said "look, that's the girl!" and sure enough, there she was skating around Flavor Flav in a pair of wheelies like an 8 year old. Yoshi we saw at the Miami Ink store (and yeah, I bought Leila and I Ami James coi printed tee-shirts) because I am just that dork to seek it out and photograph myself in front of it. He was asleep on a bench inside. If you actually want ink by one of that crew, the tattoos are done two doors down now in the "Love Hate Choppers" storefront. We saw one couple try to schedule an appointment and they were all "weeelll, we might just be able to squeeze you in tomorrow, but you need to give us your phone number and don't call us, we'll call you if we can work something in..." The weekend was fun, but too fast. Leila had a blast with her 4 cousins, collectively referred to by her as "boys" and individually as "boy" (4 boys b/t 10 and 1.5 with two-part hispanic names, so I don't really blame her.) Now I'm back here looking at empty moving boxes, paralyzed over where to start. In exactly 2 weeks from today our possessions will be in our new house!! And it is about time, because we have apparently returned to a zoo - literally and figuratively. Two weeks ago we had a repeat raccoon visitor and last night I discovered that we have baby opossums on our patio. Seriously. At least two of them. They're kind of cute head on until you see that ratty tail. Eww.