Stairs going nowhere

Maybe they didn't want me to hear their secrets...

H will be on a soccer tournament for eight days... he'll be leaving tomorrow night on a bus, along with the members of the Catalan team. This tournament is called Europeada. It's a European soccer championship for national minorities. He's with the "Katalans from Spain". I've seen them play, and I don't think they'll get too far, unless, of course, the other teams are even more amateur... That tournament will leave me to handle the Gremlins alone for eight days... shouldn't be too bad. My parents and sister will be off too, on a trip to Italy...

Here's a map of the regions/languages involved in the championship. Click to enlarge, if you're interested in our European ethnic/linguistic chaos...


UPDATE:
They will be playing today (sunday) at 5pm. I do hope they win, ok??? Gosh I felt so mean when I reread this post through Buff and James' eyes :-(

Here's the link http://www.europeada2008.net/

My poor neglected blog

I took these pictures last month, on Saint George, which is a big holiday here. According to the legend, a knight (Saint George) saved a princess and an entire town from a fierce dragon. Where the dragon's blood fell, roses flourished so each year women get roses from their husbands/boyfriends/fathers, and women are supposed to buy a book for the men... Roses come in almost all colors. Our roses were classical red.


It's a very special day so even if you're working, most people can have a break from their job and stroll down our rambla...




There are groups of amateurs like these people representing the legend and playing music on the street... The woman in the picture above is actually the princess, and the guy in green next to her, the dragon.



This is what we call the "tarlà". According to another legend, he was some sort of acrobat who entertained the neighbours of Argenteria street during a quarantine for an epidemic. Now we have this acrobat toy hanging on Argenteria on special occasions. It rotates from time to time...



And this is Alicia, holding the rose her father gave her...
So what do you say, James, Buffalo, Jessica ... would you come over for a visit? ;-)

Have a nice day

On the whole, I'm happy being a mom and I love my kids almost everyday ....
But it's hard to be around them when they're having a bad day, which happened today. Especially with the three year old. I think she was alternatively crying/whining at least 70% of the time. Which is a lot. For my nerves. I ended up wanting to scream and cry myself. To give you an idea, they looked like this today (this pics were actually taken half a year ago)...





At the supermarket, C threw a tantrum. One of those that make other customers look discreetly towards you and your kids, but wishing you and your brats just disappeared. The woman at the counter had the audacity to say "have a nice day". I'm sure she, along with the other customers in line, burst out laughing when I was out of sight!



And at the end of the day, I looked exactly like the "portrait of mom" Cristina drew just a few days ago. YES, THIS IS EXACTLY HOW I FELT AND LOOKED TODAY!!!! My hair, my mouth, I'm surprised my three year old could be so precise!!!



PD: Just for the record, the previous days were pretty good. Maybe I'm whining too??