Last night, as I plopped on the couch, ready to watch a movie with the hubs, I caught a whiff of something different. Something I couldn't quite place. But something that smelled amazing.
Not one to wear anything scented, I cautiously asked Mario, "Are you wearing perfume?"
"Nope, I'm wearing mosquito lotion."
Ahhh . . . of course. I've never thought of mosquito lotion as an attractive scent. But some of my fondest memories have been spent outdoors, in the woods, at camp--covered in mosquito lotion.
So I guess there is an upside to the insane amounts of mosquitoes we've seen this week. I'm hoping that Mario puts on that mosquito lotion every night.
And last night I even dreamed that I was spending the summer at Homestead again. I'm not seeing a downside to this.
Yet.
domingo, 23 de junio de 2013
jueves, 20 de junio de 2013
Weighing In
Every now and again, little, everyday common occurrences remind me how many things I've learned in the last few years. Little things that I take for granted now that seemed so difficult a few years ago. Little things, that--once I've got them down--make life so much easier.
Take the metric system, for instance.
Six years ago, when I was living in Toluca (where they sell tortillas by kilo, not package), I asked my tortilla lady for a quarter kilo of tortillas. Mario ate at work, so I was just feeding myself at the time, and there are only so many tortillas I can go through before they go bad, right? The tortilla lady gave me a funny look, and I got my quarter kilo of tortillas.
Now that I am an expert at ordering deli meat, I realize that ordering any fraction of a kilo (beyond half) is pretty strange. If I wanted a quarter kilo of tortillas, I should have asked for 200 grams or 300 grams. Once I finally figured that I can ask for things in grams instead of awkward fractions, life got so much easier. Or less awkward, at least.
Another case in the same vein: when my parents came to visit, Mario and my mom found themselves cooking in the kitchen together. My mom was teaching Mario how to make something. I don't know if she was halving a recipe or simply using quarter cup/third of a cup measuring cups, but Mario was all of a sudden turning into all thumbs in the kitchen (not usual, as he's a very good cook). Furthermore, he's an engineer, so his math skills are quite strong, to put it mildly.
It took me awhile to wonder why he was so thrown for a loop, and then it dawned on me--thanks to the metric system, most of the world hardly ever has to deal with fractions! While he has to deal with the empirical system at work, he just isn't used to it at home, in the kitchen. OK, let's face it--he's just not used to measuring things when he cooks. (Never mind that measuring things is essentially what he does for 12 hours a day at work.)
But enough on the oddities of my husband!
Want to know what really made me a convert to the metric system?
My bathroom scale. In kilos. Oh, yes indeedy! Knowing that there are 2.2 pounds to every kilo, the metric system works in our favor when weighing ourselves. I'll always fondly remember the first time I stepped on my in-laws' bathroom scale. Oh dear sweet heavens, I just lost HALF my body weight!!! Instantly! Effortlessly!
Honestly, 10 years later, I still get a bit of a thrill.
So, for those who want to learn the metric system this fall, I'll be happy to import metric bathroom scales to Texas, Arkansas, southern Illinois and Indiana this summer. Just let me know. It's pretty exciting.
Take the metric system, for instance.
Six years ago, when I was living in Toluca (where they sell tortillas by kilo, not package), I asked my tortilla lady for a quarter kilo of tortillas. Mario ate at work, so I was just feeding myself at the time, and there are only so many tortillas I can go through before they go bad, right? The tortilla lady gave me a funny look, and I got my quarter kilo of tortillas.
Now that I am an expert at ordering deli meat, I realize that ordering any fraction of a kilo (beyond half) is pretty strange. If I wanted a quarter kilo of tortillas, I should have asked for 200 grams or 300 grams. Once I finally figured that I can ask for things in grams instead of awkward fractions, life got so much easier. Or less awkward, at least.
Another case in the same vein: when my parents came to visit, Mario and my mom found themselves cooking in the kitchen together. My mom was teaching Mario how to make something. I don't know if she was halving a recipe or simply using quarter cup/third of a cup measuring cups, but Mario was all of a sudden turning into all thumbs in the kitchen (not usual, as he's a very good cook). Furthermore, he's an engineer, so his math skills are quite strong, to put it mildly.
It took me awhile to wonder why he was so thrown for a loop, and then it dawned on me--thanks to the metric system, most of the world hardly ever has to deal with fractions! While he has to deal with the empirical system at work, he just isn't used to it at home, in the kitchen. OK, let's face it--he's just not used to measuring things when he cooks. (Never mind that measuring things is essentially what he does for 12 hours a day at work.)
But enough on the oddities of my husband!
Want to know what really made me a convert to the metric system?
My bathroom scale. In kilos. Oh, yes indeedy! Knowing that there are 2.2 pounds to every kilo, the metric system works in our favor when weighing ourselves. I'll always fondly remember the first time I stepped on my in-laws' bathroom scale. Oh dear sweet heavens, I just lost HALF my body weight!!! Instantly! Effortlessly!
So, for those who want to learn the metric system this fall, I'll be happy to import metric bathroom scales to Texas, Arkansas, southern Illinois and Indiana this summer. Just let me know. It's pretty exciting.
miércoles, 12 de junio de 2013
Lazy Days
This is our fifth spring in Saltillo. You'd think we'd have things figured out by now. But we don't. At least, not when it comes to the weather.
Spring 2009: quite warm, but pleasant. Sometime in April or May, Mario (who loves warm weather) gave me an ultimatum: either we were going to get air conditioning or a pool. We both hate air conditioning (I'm still shocked he even suggested it), so 3/4 of our patio is occupied by the pool every spring and summer. It makes me feel like I live in a resort.
Spring 2010: much like 2009, but spring came on like gangbusters, making it seem like winter got shoved out of the way in favor of summer.
Spring 2011: freakishly hot. Above 30 degrees Celsius from March until October. Joey was born at the end of July. Awesome.
Spring 2012: the heat never really reared its ugly head. We set up the pool at the beginning of May, just because we knew that, sooner or later the heat would start. It never really did. We got in the pool frequently, but were also frequently cold because of it. I began to resent that pool taking up 3/4 of my patio.
Spring 2013: downright cold! When I was still wearing sweaters at the beginning of May, I had dreams that perhaps we would not feel the need to put up the pool at all this year. I was starting to get kind of excited about that idea. We could watercolor the patio's walls, learn how to jump rope, do yoga at night under the moon . . . oh, the possibilities!
The kids and I went to Mexico City for two weeks in the middle of May. One of the first nights I called Mario, he reported that he was bundled up, it being a mere 5 degrees Celsius in the house--5 degrees above freezing! In MAY!!! Then, then night before we came back, me mentioned that it was 35 degrees Celsius--in the house. That's well into the nineties, for those of you stuck in Fahrenheit.
I gave myself a week to figure out what was going on with the weather this spring, in order to make the big "do we put up the pool?" decision. That Friday, when Mario came home and laughed at me as I was visibly melting at the kitchen table, the decision was made.
The pool went up.
It's been glorious.
Spring 2009: quite warm, but pleasant. Sometime in April or May, Mario (who loves warm weather) gave me an ultimatum: either we were going to get air conditioning or a pool. We both hate air conditioning (I'm still shocked he even suggested it), so 3/4 of our patio is occupied by the pool every spring and summer. It makes me feel like I live in a resort.
Spring 2010: much like 2009, but spring came on like gangbusters, making it seem like winter got shoved out of the way in favor of summer.
Spring 2011: freakishly hot. Above 30 degrees Celsius from March until October. Joey was born at the end of July. Awesome.
Spring 2012: the heat never really reared its ugly head. We set up the pool at the beginning of May, just because we knew that, sooner or later the heat would start. It never really did. We got in the pool frequently, but were also frequently cold because of it. I began to resent that pool taking up 3/4 of my patio.
Spring 2013: downright cold! When I was still wearing sweaters at the beginning of May, I had dreams that perhaps we would not feel the need to put up the pool at all this year. I was starting to get kind of excited about that idea. We could watercolor the patio's walls, learn how to jump rope, do yoga at night under the moon . . . oh, the possibilities!
The kids and I went to Mexico City for two weeks in the middle of May. One of the first nights I called Mario, he reported that he was bundled up, it being a mere 5 degrees Celsius in the house--5 degrees above freezing! In MAY!!! Then, then night before we came back, me mentioned that it was 35 degrees Celsius--in the house. That's well into the nineties, for those of you stuck in Fahrenheit.
I gave myself a week to figure out what was going on with the weather this spring, in order to make the big "do we put up the pool?" decision. That Friday, when Mario came home and laughed at me as I was visibly melting at the kitchen table, the decision was made.
The pool went up.
It's been glorious.
 |
| Friends brought over a bubble machine one day. It was just fascinating. We may have to get one and tease the daycare center on the other side of our patio wall.
|
As irony would have it, it began to rain about two weeks after we put up the pool. This cools things down considerably. But I'm still glad we put it up. The kids now get in regularly at about 11, when it's still nice and warm, swim until 12:30, and then after lunch, when it really threatens rain, they nap (and rain makes them nap particularly well).
So even if I only put up the pool in order to draw the rain clouds to this part of the world, I'm happy to have done it. This desert needs all the rain it can get!
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