Today after school two of Bella’s classmates Lucia and Adriana came over for a play date.. At first I was a little scared!! I picked them up from school and they were sooo excited, on the car ride home they were just yelling with excitement.. screaming and singing.. I stopped by our local bakery and got them some goodies.. It was so much fun to see the look of joy in their eyes just to be able to choose any pastry they wanted..

At home, they of course played dress up and spent the entire afternoon, putting make-up on, singing, dancing and screaming with joy..  It was so refreshing to see little girls just enjoying being little girls.. no cares in the world (other than what costume willl I wear next, or what color eyeshadow should I use).

I taught them a little dance and they just loved to pretend be ballerinas.. Overall, it was a fun afternoon for me, although the playroom is a mess, I have a headache from all the screaming and I don’t feel like cleaning..

you can view all the fun pics HERE.

My good friend Misty has recently left her job at Talbots in pursuit of better opportunities. Sick of the retail life she wants to explore different facets of the job market. In a time of crisis job hunting is a difficult thing and we sometimes will accept any job offer or interview without second thought. And this is what happens when we do this against our better judgement and intuition.

Job hunting is tedious and frustrating, so when we see an offer that looks interesting we go for it. That is what Misty did (well, what Misty’s fiancee Shane suggested she do). There was a job listing for a marketing position that Shane thought would be perfect for Misty, she was not so sure and had a hunch, a sense that this would not be right, but decided, why not..

She applied for the job and was told she had an interview from 9 am to 5 pm. Ok, this should have been the first sign of weirdness, but many companies do hold long interviews where you are given several psychological and practical test so she agreed. On the day of the interview, they called her at 8:30 am to make sure she would be going in.. sign number 2 this was just funny..but she said yes, I will be there…and so she showed up, right on time. They made her wait in the lobby for more than an hour,(sign number 3), she was getting ready to just say forget this.. when a man came out and took her to the back.. He explained that the best way for her to learn what this was all about was to be matched up with a worker and he would show her the ropes..

Dallas, (yes that is a real name, and should have been sign number 4) was Misty’s match along with two other poor souls who had been on the job for about a week. They all get in a car and drive from Raleigh to Durham . Along the way Dallas explains that they will go door to door selling a coupon book of several neighborhood stores and restaurants, (sign number 5 and probably the last sign Misty needed to know this was definitely not going well). They get to Durham and it is poring down rain, Misty is wearing her best job interview suit although she thanked God that the pants were cropped and when they all stepped out of the car the puddles did not affect her as they did the other poor girl with them that was drenched from ankle to knee!!

They proceed to go door to door , all four of them under one umbrella, trying to sell this coupon book that people in this part of town don’t give a shit about and even if they did probably couldn’t afford the $20 bucks.. When all else failed they go into a CVS pharmacy and tried to sell the coupon book to an over sized cashier, Dallas begins to explain to her all the benefits of the coupon book and tells her there are great coupons to restaurants such as….He opens the book and points to one of the restaurants, the girl takes the book throws it across the room and says: “That was the restaurant where I caught my ex with his new ho and now they gonna have a baby” as she starts to cry!!

By this time it is already 5 pm and they are still in Durham, Misty has decided by now (well, she decided the day she saw the ad) that this was not for her.. Dallas then tells her that when they get back to Raleigh she needs to take a test to regurgitate all the information she had heard and then do an interview... Misty politely said she was not interested and was freed about an hour later.. where as she said to me… I will never forget this interview the rest of my life..

Thankful now for being unemployed she continues her search with an open mind and an alertness to her intuition. Good Luck Misty.. I’m sure you will find something great and if not, you call always call DALLAS…….

After writing a kind of sarcastic post a couple of weeks ago, some of you emailed me (now why you just don’t leave a comment is beyond me!!) and let me know that you do read this and that you enjoy it and to please not stop writing. Everyone had their reason for reading, some said they liked to see what we were up to here, others wanted to see how big the kids are getting, while others just thought our adventures were pretty funny…but the best reason I thought was that of my old co worker German, who commented on the last post.

Hello Nuria!!

Como que nadie lee tu blog? entonces como iba yo a seguir aprendiendo inglés?

Y no te preocupes por los 40, lo que tienes que hacer es celebrarlos bien

P.D. iba a escribir en inglés pero…

He basically let me know he reads my blog to stay on top on his English.. so I guess I have finally found my purpose in life through my blog…Anyway, thank you to all for all the kind words and I promise to keep you updated on the adventure, write funny stories, update the pictures of the kids and well, just keep writing in English so all my Spanish friends could practice…

This weekend was a nonstop party for me.. With the announcement of my new drivers license my friends decided we needed to celebrate (any excuse for a girls night out) so on Friday night, the girls and I went out to dinner and a night of dancing around town..We got home early well.. very early for Spain just before 4 am.. We left when people were just starting to party.. Put it this way we finished having dinner at 1 am…

On Saturday night we were invited to the David Bustamante concert. Most of you probably don’t know who he is and I didn’t either but I found out he was the 4th runner up of the very first Operacion Triunfo contest, Spain’s version of American Idol. Matt’s friend is a friend of his and his guitar player Pablo Padilla . We hung out with Pablo backstage before the concert and briefly met David Bustamante, a very nice down to earth guy. The concert was in a little town called Novelda, a very small little town, but the concert was great, it started at 1 am (yes, we are in Spain, everything starts a little later than usual..) and we were home around 4 am…

Sunday, I was exahausted and just hung out in the pool making sure Isabella didn’t drown!! She just learnt how to swim and is a little too brave.. I will share that story tomorrow…..

A while back I published a post about how Misty sent a plant to her boyfriend in the hopes of proposing to him. Well, a few months later I’m very excited to announce that they are now Engaged!! Yes, at the time he didn’t answer her proposal but had been planning his all along.

They went to California to a friends wedding and on that trip Shane decided to pop the question. I had known all along because he consulted with me on rings and ideas. I had been avoiding her for weeks because I didn’t want her to get it out of me…I spoke to Misty yesterday and she gave me all the details.

They had decided to take a hike on a path called “Damnation trail” (hahaha, she later asked him if this was a good sign), when they traveled they were told the weather was very nice so they did not bring warm clothes with them. On the day of the hike Misty was wearing a very cute black and white outfit but needed sneakers, so she decided to buy some cheap ones at Target before the big hike. The only color they had was brown and pink..To make a long story short she ended up wearing two layers of coats, shoes that didn’t match her outfit and overall, she was not looking how she would have wanted to.

A little while into the hike Shane handed her a flat white envelope with the initials MWYMM written on it and he said if you could figure out what they mean you could have what is in the envelope. She figured it was probably some sort of gift card because she still needed to buy shoes for her friends wedding. She started to try to guess but just couldn’t come up with it, so she finally said to him, “I don’t want to work so hard for this envelope you keep it!!”, He said, come on, give it one more try..(while freaking out, because he didn’t have a PLAN B). She finally said kidding around “Oh it says, Misty Marry Me, oh yes, I will, oh yes, I thought you would never ask” all this truly kidding around.. but then she saw the look in his face and looked inside the envelope to find a beautiful engagement ring!!!!!

MWYMM as you have already guessed stands for MISTY WILL YOU MARRY ME!!..Congratulations to them… I now have a Bachelorette party to plan and well, she still hasn’t officially set the date or decided on brides maids and maid of honor.. I will keep you posted.

In these days of vacation, and the weather being not so hot, the kids have been stuck home having to make up games to stay entertained…As you can see from the picture above Isabella decided it would be fun to dress up Marco and their friend Pablo with all her princess accessories..They were willing participants and had a lot of fun, although, look at Marco’s expression..hahahaha..

She then decided to put make up on herself.. Doesn’t she look lovely????

I have promised to change the names to protect the innocent and I shall do that…

On February 29th of this year, a leap year in which it is said that on this day a woman could propose to a man a friend of mine decided it would be a good time to propose to her long time boyfriend. She was not sure how she was going to do it and being a very busy career woman had no real time to prepare…

She decided at at the last minute that her best option was to send a plant to her boyfriend at work with a simple note saying “Marry me”. She made the order by phone and crossed her fingers.. (before I go on I must tell you that she was in the process of moving in with him). After a couple of hours and no phone call from her boyfriend, she started to get worried.so she called him…and she said well?? and he answered “Nice Plant”.

Up to now there has not been any more talk about the proposal, her boyfriends sisters are pressuring him and she doesn’t know what to think. The other day while driving with him while moving in some of her things , his mom called him and she answered the phone, the mom asked her what are you guys doing? and she said I’m moving and the mom said “where are you moving to”? (I guess her boyfriend forgot to mention the fact they were moving in with each other..) She said I’m moving in with your son to which the mom answered “Without a ring on your finger” to which she replied “ I SENT A PLANT”!!!!!!!!!!

I will keep you updated on the final outcome of this very interesting love affair..

photos flicker by librarianinstiches and marcgutierre

One of my very good friends Marisela, has just bought a new apartment and is starting her new life after losing her husband last year to cancer. She wanted me to go with her today to Ikea in Murcia (about an hour south of Alicante) so she could do a little shopping. Since, I have a little free time now..hahahaa.. I signed up quickly.

We dropped off the kids in school and headed on our adventure. Once there we had breakfast for one euro..and where ready to shop. If you haven’t been to an Ikea the experience is a little overwhelming. There is so much to see and everything is laid our systematically.. It was like following the yellow brick road.. We did that, and picked up little nick nacks along the way.

Two carts full and a couple of hours later we were on our way to the check out counter and then to the hardest part of the trip.. How the hell to stick all the things we purchased in to a little European car...We basically had to pull everything out of the boxes, put down some seats, squeeze all we could in to the trunk and hope we would fit in the car…

We had a great time and the trip was a success..We plan to do it again real soon.. But hey Marisela, next time lets skip the elevator part..hahaha..

Photo from flickr by rodelgo

We are very sad, it has gone by so fast..We have done so much, yet it seems like so little..We will miss all our friends and family. I would like to thank all the following people for their kindness and gifts to the kids..

My dad and M.T. who took us to Disney !! bought the kids gifts and let them destroy their beautiful beach apartment..we love you and we will miss you..

To my brother and Cristina for their hospitality, their beautiful son and the honor they have giving me by making me a Godmother.. we will miss you guys and hope that you will visit us soon…

To Margie and Chris, Minna, as she is called by the kids went to Disney with us and showered the kids with gifts and love, the poor thing had to sleep with Bella and had the patience not to kill her..Chris took Marco and Bella to Chuckey Cheese, an event Marco will never forget..we will miss you very much..

To Alex and Cindy for their gifts and love to the kids.. Alex we can´t wait to see you guys in Madrid very soon..Cindy, keep the Skype on girl, and we will chat..

To Alberto and Patricia for the wonderful lunch and company. We will see you in Madrid very soon..

To aunt AnaMarie, Marco is reading up a storm his Harry Potter collection and Isabella will not take the princess dress off.. thanks for the dinner and getaway, that I really needed.. love you and hope to see you in Spain soon.

To Mark and Maruchi and little Mark for the fun times.. Marco and Bella said.. we liked that boy he was very nice..hahaha… take care and keep in touch..

To Alex and Cucu and the kids.. Marco and Isabella wanted to stay in your house and live forever..you have a beautiful family and we wish you the best..

Tom and Wanda, it was great seeing you, You have a beautiful daughter, love to you and with luck with the new business venture..

If I forgot someone, I´m sure you will let me know..

Again, thank you to all.. We will miss you but we will stay in touch through this blog..