Adoption Why's

Last weekend Tavo and I decided to go to our favorite book store, Chapters, in search of a book Journal.  Of course, we found the Journal in about 10 minutes,  then browsed together the - cute baby stuff - section and then, like it usually happens,  divided our family into two teams in order to conquer the rest of the store.  My dear husband, not a very avid reader, immediately went to the section of photography books and what I call "weird themes" (don't ask... they're just weird). I, on the other hand, go to fiction and after a good 30 minutes search,  end up in the children section.  Total, we were there for 2.5 hours and finished with more than a book journal in our shopping bag.   

You might wonder... why would you need a book journal?.. or  for that matter,  you might wonder what exactly is a book journal?  Well, I will explain.  Starting this year, I am part of a Book Club.  It's called Bibliotherapy.  My new book club it's basically a really cool group of women who share the love of reading. I will of course dedicate a full posting to the Book Club later on,  but for now let's go back to the Journal.   One of the ladies in my club had this journal last time we met, and I just thought it was the coolest idea ever.  Seriously! How many times have I forgotten the author of a book I really liked, or the title, or the main character? Not any more!  I decided I wanted one.  Therefore the visit to Chapters and the hole in my wallet.  : )

But getting back to the children section, I must say;  my visit was quite disappointing.  I was looking for nice story books that would help us explain to our future baby his or her adoption story (besides my not very pretty scrapbook... ). Anyway...  I couldn't find much.  There was only a red book (sorry, forgot the title, forgot the author... obviously need the journal uh?).  This book went along this lines: 

- Why did you come to our house?  Because... so and so and so...
- Why did you needed parents? Because... so and so and so...
- Why, why, why?
- So, so, and more so...


Really?  It definitely didn't sound very happy or positive.  But whatever... of course,   I didn't buy it...

But the book did make me think about all the people that have asked me - Why are you adopting?
And before I go on: 

********* Disclaimer ***************

I do think people are fundamentally good, and if you are one of those people who have asked (me or anybody else who's adopting),  this is only  intended to raise your awareness about some other options or alternatives to the question above. : )

*********************************** (there... uff!)

Ok. Moving on.  Every time I get the question,  I try to understand the person's underlying motive or desire to know the answer.  In other words... why do you ask? And is not that I will actually respond with that question, but it definitely goes through my head. Really, is the why that important?

So, let's imagine a scenario, where a thirty some professional couple, with good jobs and a stable marriage (yes... your typical Tavo & Luz scenario) go to a friend, coworker, or similar; and say: "we're having a baby", or "we're pregnant".  To what the friend/coworker/similar respond: "why?". 

Yup,  VERY unlikely.

The friend/coworker/similar would probably go... "CONGRATULATIONS!!!".  Right? (there you go, alternative to question above number 1.)

Or you could get creative and say: "Wow... that's some news"... and then add alternative 1.
You can also jump up on the couch - Tom Cruise style - and scream: "That's totally awesome"...  but then it can get a little creepy... so I would stick with 1 or 2.  ; ) 

So I'll share with you what really matters : 

• We decided to grow our family through adoption.  
• Whatever way this baby comes into our lives he or she will be equally loved.  Not only by us, but by grandmas and grandpa; uncles and aunts; etc etc etc.
• We will rapidly decide that this baby is the cutest, smartest baby in the whole wide world.  - yes, just like any other parent does about their own.
• As soon as the baby enters our life, sleeping in on Saturdays and Sundays it's over (or so we hear). 
• And of course,  we will probably share the viruses and other great bugs equally dispersed through daycare.  (yikes!). 

I leave you with a couple of pictures of beautiful Calgary in the fall.  I stole these pictures from a friend's facebook page.  He took them last Sunday.

Beautiful leaves... by the river. 

And that's me running... nahhh ha ha... I'm into indoor sports now... aerobics. 

And the last one. 

Just beautiful.  Calgary is really an awesome place to live.

Until next post,

LuzM.

A B-day to Celebrate (and two others to come)

Ok ok... I know I'm late in writing again.  I'm latin... lateness is in my blood... it's like this: nucleus(25%), red cells (15%), white cells (15%), late cells (10%), other stuff (10%) - there goes my high-school biology class.  My teacher would be so proud! The funny thing is, people who didn't use to read my blog, wrote me one of those nasty-mails at 9:00 am on monday morning - "so what's up with the blog?"  Yes... you know who you are... and you're late too most of the times as well! : )

But let's get into the subject matter at hand.  This past week there was an important event in the family.  My little cousin, Ana Maria, who by the way, lives here in Calgary, celebrated her 9th B-day.  Tavo, Duna and I were invited to celebrate with her.  You might wonder why Milu wasn't invited but as I shared on a previous blog, she doesn't enjoy crowds, specially "crowds" where there might be more than two kids.  Therefore,  active participation in Ana Maria's B-day celebration was out of the question.  

You see, Ana Maria has a sister and a little brother - read the "crowd" - both of which will be introduced to my loyal readers at their respective b-days, which will be happening during the upcoming months (yes, two others to come).

If you think about it, these kids will play a very important role in our future baby's life.  They are the "cousins", and anybody who grew up in Colombia knows that "the cousins" are supposed to be the first group of friends in your life.  Most of us experienced more than one or two "very intimate" gatherings on a Sunday afternoon at grandma's or at an aunt's place, in the company of about 70 of your closest family members, for which the cousins category accounted for 80% of the people involved.  Yup, many many cousins.  Besides,  you're supposed to grow up with the cousins, go party with the cousins... etc etc.  So imagine the potential!! Therefore... to put in corporate words;  we are cultivating future key relationships and doing some preliminary networking - proactively.   : )

Anyway, this is Ana Maria showing off her new hoody. 

And this is a picture of all of us right before presents were opened and cake was eaten!

And now... see the looove for the camera? Nose kiss! :)

And this is the beautiful dress Ana got from us. 

But to end on a familiar note, a list. 


5 Things Ana Maria and Me Have in Common

1. Our beautiful curly hair.  - Although I must say I have like 2.5 curls for every one she has. Consequently she doesn't get my famous "lion king" look so much as I do.  Lucky her for that!.
2. We loooove chocolate.  -  Notice the chocolate cake on the picture above? Did you think I was able to resist a piece? do you, do you?  Yeah you're right... I didn't.  No will power when it comes to chocolate.  None!!
3. We're both very smart ladies. - (And so humble!! ha ha) No but really, she's a very good student, very disciplined.
4. We're so very stylish! -  (and must I repeat,  so humble!!) I must say she's a 9 year old totally fashion sensitive. If you knew her you could easily picture her at 18 wearing the coolest skirt and latest 12 in heels available.  Oh dear... my uncle is in so much trouble!

It's all about the matching. Get it?  (even if your little brother doesn't get it... let's not let him ruin your style).

5. We love Shakira... and we do believe that hips don't lie.  : )

Until next post, 

LuzM

Baby Stuff Explotion

(Pooh and Piglet on a tree,  looking at an egg in a nest)

"What are we waiting for, Pooh?" 
"Watch, Piglet, a dream is about to come true"


The waiting is almost over. 
How lucky for your baby! 
How wonderful for you! 

(From Hallmark card - From K)

Believe it or not I had a hard time starting my blog today. So I  decided to start with the wisdom of  one of my very best friends - Winnie the Pooh (of course, who else?).  You see... I made myself the promise that I would always keep the "tone" of this blog very cheerful,  very positive and very happy.  After all, this adoption is the perfect occasion.  However, I am so, so moved by what happened today, so thankful for all my blessings, for all my friends, for my life, that I will get let myself get a bit weepy... (not so much... I promise!). Today was my very own baby shower.  


And it couldn't be more perfectly timed because last Friday September 10th, 2010 (mark the date people!)  after one year of paperwork, and some,  we were officially approved by Colombia as adoptive parents.  - The waiting is almost over... how lucky for your baby, how wonderful for you...


So all of these great ladies, made time in their busy life, to just be there... to buy cupcakes, fruits, bake breads, make chocolate strawberries and other goodies, to share and celebrate the fact that soon,  I'll get to be a mommy.   They made the time to be there.  Even when one of them had  to convince her husband to drive for almost three hours! (and bring their very crazy dogs with them - oh yeah... it is true). 

And all that I have to say is that this is just wonderful.  Wonderful because deep in my heart I thought I would never have a baby; even less a baby shower.  And I think... they think they gave me baby gifts... but what they really gave me is far more special than anything you can wrap... (there you go... the weepy part...) what they gave me is the acknowledgment of me being a future mommy.  And it doesn't matter how the mommy thing happens, what matters is that it will. No judgments, no differences. And that people is real friendship. And for that I feel so lucky they are all in my life.  So thank you.... thank you for being there and celebrating with me. I really have no words.  - And if you know me, you know that's really strange.  (sight...)  Ok... no more weeping...

So moving on to the happy part. I'll introduce you to some of my friends (note the abundance of wine):

 
And also to some of their ideas.  By  now you know I love lists. So here is today's list. 

Top 10 Reasons why is so much Fun to Not-be-Pregnant in your Baby Shower

1. Wine (Red and White) - this one was the first one everyone came up with, when first asked... what's up with women and wine?
2.  You don't have to listen to awful labour stories.
3. You can eat whatever you like!! Including Sushi (definite plus for me), soft cheeses, deli meats etc.
4. You can do your own bikini line... (also an everybody's fave)
5. You don't need to worry about stretch marks (too late for me... even with no baby - hummm Am I sharing too much?)
6. Your pants don't have elastic tops -  triple yay! - not very stylish -  BTW this one was the winner...
7. ... therefore, you can wear skinny jeans (did I mention I was wearing skinny ones? ha ha...)
8. You don't have to worry about heart burn after eating
9. You can still wear high heels (yay!)
10. You don't have to pee all the time (which I do anyway!)

11. (yes I know it's supposed to be only 10 but we got creative) - You don't have to go to the gym to work off the post baby weight.
12. You can paint your own toe nails (and actually see your feet). 
13. You actually get cute baby stuff instead of nursing pads...
14. You don't have to worry about morning sickness ... and
15. There is no tattoo distortion.. (in case you have one). 

Pretty great uh? 

And there were other super cool games.  By the way, everybody looooved the Colombian gifts my mom picked, so from all (in a Choir) "Thank you Mrs. Jaimes". And  then some other comments:  "Luz's mom rocks", and..."last time I got stationary... this is sooooo much better".  Stationary: Zero.  Colombian Jewelry: One. 

 Then,  I got to open the baby gifts!

And of course, Winnie the Pooh got center (or bottom?) stage (again) - I'm telling you people, our baby is going to think we have some kind of Pooh cult going on at our place...

  








So when I got back home, Tavo opened the trunk of our car and quietly said: "wow... baby stuff explosion!".  umhhhh ... yeah.

Other wonderful things I learned today about baby/mommy care/products: 

1. Sophie the giraffe seems to be the coolest gal in the animal kingdom cause she's loved by all her baby fans. Side note: She squeaks.  Keep away from the dog.
2. Diaper bags can actually look like the purse you carry your laptop on.
3. You can get Winnie the Pooh... almost anything.
4. There is this diaper genie thing that would save you and everybody in your household from horrible smells and (most importantly) from Duna eating your baby's poop.  I know... not a pretty picture. 
5. In the baby world,  Johnson and Johnson is totally in! 

We did have a wonderful time...

Until next post,

Luz M.

Sleeping in Seattle

Ok, ok... I know is very cliche to write Seattle and any word that even resembles the verb - to sleep - ... but Sleepless in Seattle is such a clasic!! I couldn't resist.  Besides, it did sound better than crashing in Seattle...  napping in Seattle...  dormant in Seattle... or somnolent in Seattle.  Ha ha,  : )  you get my drift!

All that to say... Tavo and I spend our labor weekend in ... yeeeesss you guessed right, Seattle!  And it was great! What a wonderful city! 

The Highlights of our trip
 
We took an early flight to Vancouver on Friday the 3rd.  The flight is awesome because you spend about one hour going over the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Beautiful,  even in the summer, the highest ones are covered with snow. (Which also kind of reminded me that summer is almost over and 5 months of winter are quickly arriving). When we got to Vancouver, we rented a car and drove to Seattle.  I was surprised it took only 2.5 hours.  The drive is also pretty great because of the scenery ... full of pine trees and lakes.  It's like driving through a post card!
And  what's even better is that with our Canadian passports we are no longer stopped in the American border under suspicion of drugs smuggling like we used to be. Oh yes... that's one of the "pleasures" of traveling with a Colombian passport... you are always guilty until proven other ways.  But no more!! We are free ! ha ha...

Anyway, we made it there and decided to go out  in a dinner cruise. I know... very romantic! Although I think we were the only couple there that wasn't either getting engaged or celebrating something. We were just there... enjoying a good meal in Seattle! 

This is me when leaving the city...

And this is us after dessert.  By the way... the meal was yummi. 

On Saturday we decided to take one of the Savour Seattle Food Tours.  Did you know this is Seattle's number one touristic attraction? They open the tour with coffee at a Starbucks located in front of Pike Market which is a farmer's market or -plaza de mercado - in Spanish.  From that point on you go through many stands in the market having a taste of every kind of food you can think of:  fresh donuts,  smoked salmon, chowder, cheese, freshly baked bread... etc etc etc.  Of course after two hours of this you are not only pretty full but amazed at the entire market experience...

This is the picture of the coolest stand... the guys that work there literally throw (or propels through the air) huge fish at each other. (please note fish in guy's hand).  Everybody else stops to see the "show".  I know it doesn't sound like much fun but the fish are HUGE,  slippery and smelly...  you can't help but wonder how they can catch them! :)  I don't think I would want to try it due to the imminent possibility of  everlasting smell in my hands but it is definitely fun to watch! 

For those of us that grew up going to farmers markets instead of supermarkets (a quick reminder for my fellow Colombian friends: plaza San Francisco en Bucara, plaza de Fontibon en Bogota etc etc) it's still a bit unbelievable that this can actually be such a big attraction. But yes... it is. 

Anyway... we not only enjoyed food at Seattle... we also went to the Seattle Center where the space needle and other nice city landmarks are. More pics:

cool artwork uh? And it goes with my shirt.

 And totally awesome us !

On our last day in Seattle, Sunday, we went to the Boeing manufacturing plant which made my husband and his child within - Tavito, the astronaut - very very VERY happy.  Unfortunately we don't have pics as they don't let you in with a camera, but I can tell you that the facilities are as big as Disneyland and that we got a close look at the new Boeing 787.  It is of course, huger than huge! And for those of you in contracting and procurement... it is conveniently sold for $300 million per unit non including engines or chairs. I know...  I did ask the same question: WHAT? Why would anyone want a plane with no engines? I wondered...   does the Boeing think that customers might get a better deal if they negotiate 2 engines by themselves? Weird.   Unfortunately, the guide wasn't able to answer my question.

After Boeing we decided to go check out some baby stores.  Did you know you need and MBA to make a decision on your baby's stroller?  You have to think about technical capabilities, life style,  purchasing price, re-selling price, total life cycle value including environmental concerns and on top of that, you might need to consider as well if your ipod can be plugged to a little speaker close to your baby's ear so you can help him/her sleep with "earthy" sounds.  Wow! What an industry! Mind blowing. Soooo many choices, sooooo many brands.... it's scary. So us, very competent parents to be decided to procrastinate on the issue and wait.  : )

We did end up with new friends after our visit to the store.  Ready? Here they are: 

And while the baby arrives... and before we have to go back to the store to decide not only on a stroller but also on a car seat (even more choices!) Tacoma, the girafe, gets to ride in the back. 

Until next post, 

Luz M. 

PS. Stay tuned for next week. My friends are throwing me a baby shower!!! imagine! How cool is that?

General Update

Last week I was so focused on sharing with you all about Colombia, and - must admit - frustrated with the delay in my translated documents that  I forgot to also tell you about some great news.  My dear hubby and me celebrated our 7th Wedding Anniversary on August 17th.

Yup, it's been 7 years.  Amazing... and great.  So, to bring up some memories, I went on a treasure hunt mission to my basement.  Objective: To find our wedding pictures, which have been lost since we moved to this house.
Just when I was getting scared (to be honest,  I was freaking out! ) I decided to take a look into our tax box (you know... that box where you put all your receipts and "notice of assessments"?)  And Voila! there they were.  By the way... I think the fact that they were hidden in the tax box does not mean anything.  - Just thought I would make it perfectly clear -. : )

Ok so here are some pics from that day.

This is us reading our vows, which I also found with the pictures. I went over to read Tavo his vows.  He claims he doesn't remember writing any of that ... and that's not his hand writing!! : )

And that's the part where you wear the rings.  So here is a story.  We didn't go with the traditional diamond in the engagement ring because we were saving for our trip to Canada.  However, two years ago, when we celebrated our 5th year anniversary,  Tavo secretly took my very scratch "diamond" to a jewelry store for replacement.  Of course,  he did come back with a diamond in my ring that according to him is "still showing up in his credit card statement"... and "you are not getting more expensive gifts until our 10th year anniversary"... ha ha... seriously people... it is NOT that big... he's just a cry baby. : )

This is our family at the wedding.  From left to right:  Ana Maria, my cousin and flower girl;  Tavo, me, my mom and dad,  my brother- Felix;  and my mother & brother in law - Marina & Diego.

And finally the happy couple with beautiful Colombian mountains in the background.  Are we cute or what?
Oh! and for those of you who are not very familiar with Colombian traditions,  here is one last picture.

This is from my "Serenata" - translation: serenade.  It is a tradition in our country that the night before the wedding the groom serenades the bride. So this is a picture of my family that day.  - I think my dad might have had more than one drink that night - ha ha.  Anyway,  Different kinds of music can be used.  Of course,  within the limits people! no rap, rock, electronic or similar... it's supposed to be romantic. Get it?

Anyway,  I am ashamed to tell you we're not big in remembering our wedding anniversary.  We normally remember about a week later (ooopss!).  However, this year, for whatever reason we both did remember.  I got delivered beautiful flowers to the office.  They smelled awesome! Although I was getting worried that they smelled so much some of my coworkers might not enjoy it as much as I did.

And Tavo got delivered an eatable fruit arrangement with chocolate covered bananas.  - Ok so here is the thing... Tavo LOOOOVEESSS bananas.  Those of you who know my husband and have seen him eat two or three bananas standing at the kitchen counter, know that this idea was a real treat from him!

So the first update- our wedding anniversary -  was pretty long. I'll keep it short now.  - Or so I will try.  

The second update is regarding the document saga.  We finally received our translated copies, put everything in the envelope and send it to Alberta Children & Youth Services.  (yay!!!)  Now, those nice people are supposed to forward them to Colombia where hopefully, everything will be okay and we will finally be approved.  Then, the docs will be send to ICBF's regional office in Bucaramanga for a match proposal. From that point on, depending on availability, time can fluctuate between 2 months (happy face) and 2 years (not so happy face). 

To be honest I have mixed feelings. On one hand, yes, we're closer (I know, I know); but on another hand,   I feel we have just wasted one full month re-doing some of the documents.  "Calm" me is starting to get a little anxious.  - Yes, I know, there is not one single curly hair of calmness in me, but I've managed pretty well.  Kept myself occupied,  doing paperwork,  blogging,  riding  a bike for 18 Km (again... what was I thinking!), but as I said before, patience in not one of my God given gifts.  So, if you have a minute while you're reading... send us good energies so that this time ICBF approves us and we can move on to wait for our little Colombianito(a).

The third update is regarding my Quest for Justice!! (drums in the background!).  I send my finally finished e-mail to HR again. It went like this:  "Dear HR department: Overall,  I think your family policy sucks..." Nahhh.. ha ha.  But I do have to tell you I wrote a very emotional two page first draft, which my lawyer friend summarized in two non-emotional, very business like, paragraphs.  And by the way, it must have taken her like 30 minutes.  Amazing!  I also talked to our new General Manager,  who happens to be a woman,  about my case.  She was extremely supportive. I have a feel things will move along faster if she calls a certain HR VP about it.  But is just a feel! hi hi hi...

And last update!! For those of you who are following my new found interest in running... Calgary was sunny again last week! (yay!) no imported smoke from BC & no rain - until today, but that's another story-.
So, my dear husband, my dog and I went running again yesterday.  Sadly, I didn't make it to the time I was supposed to according to my very own iphone personal coach.  :( 
I did try thought!! 30 seconds before the end I just couldn't go on and had to stop. So, I'm trying again tomorrow (because today is raining) and we'll see how it goes. 

Until next post!

LuzM.

Some information about Colombia & the concept of time - A discussion around Wikipedia

I'll like to start by apologizing with all my fans (ha ha...) for the delay in my weekly blog. We had a hail storm here in Calgary Sunday afternoon; the kind that makes you wonder if missing church in the morning was a good idea....  So, I kinda of got distracted.  But anyway... we survived ; )  however I can't say the same for some of  the flowers in the back yard. Yes, I have flowers! - did I mention my mom planted them? Anyhow, it hasn't been a normal summer.

Changing the subject, I have no update in regards of our documents. Last week we were happy that the embassy was so quick in sending us the legalized copies, however we haven't been able to get our hands in the translations yet.

So here is the story.  When we first got the docs (english) I scanned them and send them by e-mail to our translator.  This was about 3 to 4 weeks ago.  The master plan was that while the notarizing/legalizing happened here in Canada, our translator in Colombia would work on the docs.  Then my mom would send the docs to us just in time for us to put everything in an envelope and back to Colombia. The End. 

Well... that's me being a Canadian. I've been way to much time in this country and I forgot about the concept of time in Colombia.  So, let me explain that a bit better.   

In Wikipedia (which by the way is probably written by a nice North American someone or someones), time is defined as: "The continuum in which events occur in succession from the past to the present and on to the future".  Therefore my thought process. I would send the docs early (past) so that the translator would work on them (present), so that I would get them at the same time as the notarized ones (future).  See? a con-ti-nu-um... a sequence... simple.

Well, for whatever reason the concept of time in Colombia is rather fluid.  For example, if I got distracted today (present) - because it rained, or it was too hot, or we were in Carnaval... or  something else... (the something else depending on the subject performing the action)  we would do whatever we had to do today, tomorrow. But that's ok... because it's probably not urgent anyway, (no hay afan!) so my tomorrow plans really just magically moved to someone else's present tomorrow! And this happens for many many days, with no consequence whatsoever. Therefore the docs were never translated until I called to ask - what's up with the docs?-  Ooops.  Con-ti-nu-um, broken.  Rather interesting.  

But anyway... I kinda of miss some of that.  It keeps us Colombian relaxed.  haha.  : )

Besides time,  and the fact that I got mad at my translator  - Who's very good by the way, if it wasn't for this last delay - I thought it would be a nice idea to share with you some info about Colombia. 

Five important facts about Colombia:

1.Capital : Bogota (And by the way... this city is not near as close as you see in the movies... it's way cooler and nicer - 80% of the image you have in your head is Hollywood's influence).
2. Population:  45,586,233  (Yeap! more people that there is in all provinces of Canada, which is 32.2 M aprox).
3. Area: 1,138,910 Km2  (Not that much than the Province of Alberta - which is 661,848 km² ).
^4.  Location: Right in middle of the Equator. First country in South America with exit to both the Pacific and the Atlantic ocean.  
5. Language: Spanish.  Si amigos... espanol (not mexican)!   Es-pa-nol

 

But of course, you can get all that from Wikipedia.  You really don't need me to know that.  So, 

5 Interesting things about Colombia that Wikipedia won't tell you: 

1. Colombians feel very strongly about two things:  Futbol (the real one, the one you play with your feet) and Miss Colombia (the national pageant). 
2. Most Colombians love dancing. Merenge, Vallenato, Salsa... and pretty much every other beat you can think off.  By the way... I don't exactly agree with Wikipedia claiming that Salsa is originated in Cuba. Whoever wrote that obviously hasn't been to Cali .  The international capital of salsa (mira ve!)
So there is link for you to see.  If you get past the make up in the little girl (she needs a bit of advise on that matter)... OMG they can dance! (see link)

Kids in Cali dancing


3. Colombia, even thought is a developing country, rates as one of the places where people are most happy! Higher than the US or Canada. (It must be the lack of deadlines!)
4. In Colombia guayabo - means a hangover, hacer la tarea - means to have sex (literally, to do homework), hacerse el gringo - means to feign ignorance (literally, to act like an American), and tombo - is a police officer.
5. Did I mention we have awesome beaches?

So my friends,  that's my country and the country of my future Colombianito(a).

Until the next post, 

LuzM. 






   

Not pregnant, but expecting.... it's all about the weight

You could say that a woman that is working on baby names, has a finished nursery AND is gaining weight is pregnant,  well... you are WRONG!!  I am working on baby names, I have a finished nursery and I am gaining weight BUT I'm not pregnant...  however... I am expecting... (and might have a psychological pregnancy if you are judging by my weight!).  ha ha... Nahhh I'm exagerating... it's not that bad... I'm not growing a belly... just growing my butt... :)

Anyway, to counteract the psychological pregnancy caused by too many ice-creams,  I tried the diet, counting calories route for about two weeks and... uh... it didn't work.  See, I am a very disciplined person when it comes to pretty much anything... but when I get back from work at 6:00 in the afternoon and I have to wait for about an hour for dinner to be ready (maybe for two if I'm the one cooking) is bye bye diet. I'll eat whatever is at hand...  It's about survival!! :)

So I decided to change the strategy... let's start moving... any sport would work...  and what would be better than running!! I'll just burn the calories!! It's pretty convenient,  you don't need to go anywhere (like a gym) and all you need is pair of running shoes! You see, I have this friend at work who's a sports freak, really.  She's the type of gal who bikes for 7 hours straight and then goes for a short 2 hour run to "cool down"... seriously! So anyway, I asked her how to start jogging and she recommended I counted trees.  Yup... trees.  But not like counting trees to try to fall asleep... this is not sheep... this is trees. 

Next day, I tied Duna to my waist and asked Tavo to count trees with me.  Surprisingly, he happily accepted.  We started jogging on the sidewalk - we counted 3 trees and then we would walk one... (that's the part where we try to re-gain our breath) and then we started over.  That continued for about 30 minutes.  Yes people, you could say we were not in very good shape.  Anyway... everything was going peaches, I even went one step ahead and downloaded this app called Couch to 5K... which is like a personal trainer in your iphone.  Really cool stuff.   We were following our "program" and Duna was loooving it,  until last week when it started raining again.  And if you live in Calgary you know that we've had a pretty wet summer this year.  Uhhh... I don't jog in the rain so we took a weekly break.  

Well the problem is, during the week you eat the calories... and it rained... so today we took the decision that we would bike.  We thought that it would be fun to go from home to downtown and back, it would be nice, we would do it slowly, while enjoying nature.  Sooooo much fun, we would take the bike path right by the bow river, we would see the birds, and take in the clean air.... freak'n 18 Km of clean air!!  18 Km!!! Of course...  we were soooooo smart.  So smart, we forgot to check map quest before leaving...

Ok so let me tell you... 18 Km of cycling for someone that has issues breathing after 4 to 5 trees... is not funny. 

This is me the first time that we stopped.  I was "lost" and needed to take a break to look in the "map"... the distraction did work for a while until Tavo said: You tired? And I said... trying to breath at the same time... Nahhh meeee??? Ya think?

And this is Tavo laughing at me (and telling me "Tu si eres una nena"! - translation: you are a cry baby) and showing me how far we still were from downtown.  See the smile... (??) He doesn't know yet but there will be vengeance!

Finally, after about 4 hours and many more stops,  downtown was at close sight...  this is me celebrating.

Did I mentioned we didn't have any food on our way there? And it was about 3:00 pm with an empty stomach when we got there. 

But the day did get better.  We arrived to downtown and after two bottles of water we realized "A Taste of Calgary" festival was on.  So we did park our bikes somewhere close by (hoping someone would steal them), and bought something to eat.  (By the way... sadly nobody stole the bikes...)

And of course... good negotiator that I am, I did negotiate my way back home in the LRT.  What? did you think I was going to do the 18 Km back? You kidding? Enough burned calories for one day!

Until next post!


LuzM. 

PS. For those of you following the adoption paper's saga,  the Colombian Embassy totally amazed us by sending us the signed docs in less than a week.  So we have the ready the second set of documents, but no translations.  Our "legal representative",  or "international specialist" other ways known as my mom...(or future abuelita) is working on sending the translations to us next week so that we can add them to the originals,  take copies and forward to Alberta Children's Services which is supposed to send them to ICBF.  Hoping all of that will be ready in Colombia by the end of August.  More to come!!