I'd like to introduce myself, me llamo Mommy

Monday, May 3, 2010

AFS WEEKEND

I had a very busy weekend. It was an AFS weekend. AFS is an international exchange program for high school age students—we are pretty awesome if I say so myself. I went to Paraguay in 1999 with this organization, and my life has pretty much made a 360 since then.

This weekend was a weekend of Good-byes and Welcomes. We prepared our hosted kids for the tough journey home. It’s one of the hardest parts of an exchange. You return to a home, much like you left it, completely different. You have to learn to fit

in where you once belonged.

And on the flipside we welcome five new AFSers…these brave, young, adventurous teenagers looking forward to leaving their comfort zone here in the United States and moving to another country for a summer or year. It’s the absolutely most amazing experience ever. More American teens really need to experience another culture first hand. There’s nothing else like it. And what finances you put it, you get back in scholarships.

Apparently our fine hosted students had plans for me in a skit they put on for their talent show. Unfortunately for them (fortunately for me) I headed out early and was unable to be a “contestant” in their “dating show.” Sorry guys…they do say “Mockery is a form of flattery” don’t they?

But the pinnacle of my AFS weekend was the discovery of my AFS liaison on FACEBOOK!!! It signifies that internet has reached la Villa de Rosario. Now she needs to get my host family on it—but now that I think about it, maybe I should just ask for an email address.

So inclusion—AFS rocks! I think everyone should participate in a foreign exchange whether traveling or hosting. It’s something this country really needs right now. And you’ll be working towards world peace at the same time…so wanna host? :-)

LiveJournal Tags: AFS,exchange student,Facebook

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Ms. Domestic

So I’ve been playing Ms. Domestic of late…I enjoy it actually. Wish I had more time for this type of thing. I don’t like cleaning, but I like the house being clean. With my sister in the hospital this last week, I didn’t have quite the clean house, but I made do…

However, I’m finally getting to those curtains I planned for the old apartment…a few years later, but the will work in the guest room. I hit a bit of a snag when the sewing machine got mad at me. I googled “what makes my thread snap on my sewing machine.” There were separate answers for why the top thread would snap and why the bottom one would—but both are snapping. Perhaps it’s the thread (I had just switched from white to red)…before the thread goes I will play with the tension adjustment,

I think they are quite cute… they will have a band of red on the top and bottom with the white zig zag stitch visible. I think the stitching gives it character.

Then we built our raised garden and I moved three cubic yards of topsoil to fill it. It didn’t look like a lot of soil, but it was as I expected. It seemed like a hell of a lot more after I started moving it. Now we just need to decide what we are planting and plant the seeds. We’ve got a bit of frost left before we can’t put in the tomato and pepper plants though.

Here is our garden from a distance:

And lastly those cookies I included in my last blog…shortbread. A bit different than the cookies I usually make. There were no eggs…just a lot of butter, some sugar and flour, along with some salt, vanilla and almond flavoring. Sooo yummy…they practically melt. I put some Cadbury Mini eggs on them for the right look and a bit of chocolate-y goodness.

I had some good help making and tasting the cookies.

We have quite a few more projects lined up. What homeowner doesn’t? Some I’m looking forward too, for instance my flower bed(s). However others, weatherproofing the deck (anyone want to do that one for me?) and painting the remaining rooms of the house, I’m not looking forward to. Maybe one morning I’ll wake up and they’ll be complete?

Oh well…I guess you can’t get rainbows without rain, can you?

Monday, April 26, 2010

Environments that make us happy

My sister has a school assignment where she must draw a picture of herself in an environment that makes her happy. She asked me to take a picture of her at my house (awww…). So I took pictures of the other beings in my house on Sunday in places where they are truly happy…and since I am saddened by my hometown hockey team’s playoff elimination, I am countering that with happy.

Heidi, on my comfy couch in front of the TV (and the computer) in my den…