Just a Few Things

at this moment i am out in the garden watching is and a neighbor-boy playing with a bucket of water and pool toys. some how a bucket of water trumps not one, but two actual pools. i guess it goes to show that i will never be able to predict what will entertain a toddler. 


eric has decided to buckle down and do 4 weeks of intensive studying and then take his 2nd board exam, and so he said that i may want to return to utah even earlier than planned. am i ready to leave that soon? i'm not sure.  there are many things that i miss about the u.s., like customer service being a priority. i was returning a small can of pumpkin (after being so thrilled to have finally found some after years of not being able to buy it) because i later checked the receipt and saw that it was almost $10. imported goods are so expensive. i thought that if i could go three years without it, i can go one more month. so the thueson frugalness kicked in and i returned it. but the woman working was so rude, i was trying to make small talk and didn't even get a smile. lack of customer service where ever i go gets old. but other than that i have had a great few days. i tried to sit down to a late breakfast with a couple girlfriends this morning, but is wasn't going to let me. we had already eaten, so he was ready to play, or nap, i couldn't tell. so it was cut short, but enjoyable, nonetheless.

Hot Hot Heat

oh, it is getting hot! first of may and we are living air-conditioning-less in the 90s. ouch. we find ways to beat the heat though- 8 fans running in our apartment at any given time, late night pool dips, and my personal favorite: near-loitering in the costco walk-in refrigerator. we hung out there for almost 10  minutes this weekend, pictured below. it was marvelous. this weekend was a holiday weekend here in mexico. it seems that every other weekend in the spring is a holiday. this particular weekend was children's day and labor day, so i had monday and tuesday off from work. usually i would love this, but that means no air-conditioned classes to teach, so i just risked getting kicked out of costco instead. on saturday, some friends and their kids had a picnic at parque metropolitano which was a lot of fun. is seemed less interested in the swings and kids and more interested in trash pick-up, it was starting to gross me out, all of the things he would bring for me to throw away.  yikes. 

           

A Morning to Remember

because our time here is wrapping up, i feel myself trying to soak everything in. i am almost looking at everything with the same rose-colored lenses i did when i first came. guadalajara is truly a beautiful city with beauty in everyday things. the flora is particularly beautiful, the tree pictured below reminds me of the trees that come in a legos kit, driveways are decorated with intricate tile-work at every other home. while we are looking forward to being back in the united states, here are photos from yesterday morning of things and moments that we will miss.

             

Night Owl

about once every two months, it takes is an hour or more to fall asleep. i love to listen to him jabber and shuffle around in his bed. i wonder what he is thinking about and how he entertains himself during these nights. last night was one of these nights. after about an hour of listening i couldn’t resist any longer, i opened the door and was greeted with a huge smile and a 'mommy!', so he was pulled from his crib and we cuddled up in bed. he loves to watch home videos so at about 10 o’clock last night, that’s what we were doing.  watching his face while he watches himself in the videos might be the sweetest thing I have ever seen- but I find I say that he is doing the sweetest thing I have ever seen about once a day so…

want to see what we were watching?

after about 45 minutes of videos, cuddling, kisses, songs and laughing, he was back in bed and asleep within 5 minutes. amazing.

A Great Weekend

the weekend started out great with the get-together at kristi's and only got better as the weekend passed. is took 3.5 hour naps all weekend! saturday we watched eric play in a volleyball tournament and went out to dinner at our favorite restaurant, la pasteria. why is it our favorite? because you can get all of the food in the picture below for less than $20 and it is delicious with a great ambiance.  i would eat there every night if my pride would let me, but i swear everytime we go i can hear them groaning to themselves, "oh, here comes that demanding american girl with the baby who throws his utensils on the floor at every chance." so because of that, we only go about once a week. and sunday we finished the tournament and ended the day cuddled in bed with popcorn and a couple of episodes of breaking bad.  i hope our remaining 5 (5!) weekends here in GDL will be this great. 

          

A Perfect Friday Evening

as a mom with a husband in medical school, i don't very often get the chance to enjoy the company of girlfriends without keeping one eye on the babe. so last night was a fun and relaxing change, just 4 grown-ups enjoyed a nice respite from the heat on the shady back patio of my friend kristi's house with cold fruity drinks and appetizing appetizers. it sure is nice to interact and converse with intelligent women after days and days of alphabet songs and stacking blocks. it was a beautiful evening, looking forward to our next get-together.

          

An Impromptu Shoot

last december my parents wanted a few pictures taken, and my sister, is and i ended up in a few of them.  these great images were taken by my talented husband just a half mile from their home.  beautiful scenery and people, inside and out.

           

           

see more of eric's work at ericoverton.com