Elaine

Many months away

2008-05-19T18:49:00.001-04:00

Yes, I am guilty of spending many months without updating my blog.

Now I am here and hopefully I will have more free time to do so. I am particularly sad about the fact that I even forgot my password.

Life is good!

My new job is very exciting. I am guessing after 7 years of working on the same place anything can be exciting as long as it is different.

That is all for now...short and sweet as I just need to get back into the swing.

Pedro Ignacio & Natalia

2007-08-12T09:37:00.000-04:00

Some more pictures of this summer include:

Natalia in her baptism gown.

The proud parents at the baptism.

Pedro Ignacio at the National Air and Space Museum

We watched one of the Imax movies on planets and comets.

And we leave.

St. Michaels Island

2007-08-12T09:22:00.000-04:00

I know it has been a long time since I posted. We have had a great summer.
Here is a little from our trip to St. Michales Island.

The Victoriana Inn

There is a winery and so we went wine tasting.

The beautiful sunsets never seemed to stop.

Ohh yes we went on a skip jack, with all the crap we ate we should have worked for them as well. Those are mostly oysters you see and we did put them back on the Bay as it is not the right time of year.

Dave and Dave enjoying their time on the skip jack.

Dave enjoying a little shopping in town.

We had a great time and I am going to try and keep everyone updated...

Carolyn and Jason's Wedding

2007-06-12T17:08:00.001-04:00

Our weekend in pictures

2007-05-15T08:56:00.000-04:00

Natalia enjoys playing!

Toby and JP have a loving moment.

Brutus is always happy!

The Pinzon family.

Not knowing

2007-04-18T09:02:00.000-04:00

I don't even know what to say. I've watched the news a 1,000 times and yet it almost doesn't seem real.

I believe Andrea has better words for it, go read.

April showers...

2007-04-09T08:50:00.000-04:00

If April showers bring May flowers.
What happens when:
April snow brings...

Natalia on her first trip!

2007-03-19T14:35:00.000-04:00

Has it really been that long since I posted?
Today I bring you pictures of Natalia who took her first trip this past week.

Happy Birthday!

2007-02-28T13:39:00.000-05:00

Yes, it is my birthday today!
30

I promise to have fun.

Proud of my sister

2007-02-19T11:35:00.000-05:00

"In the cookies of life, sisters are the chocolate chips."
~Author Unknown

Many of you know how much I look up to my sister. In the past few weeks I have been amazed at what a wonderful woman she is.

A few weeks ago I watched Natalia's birth and all I could think about was that my sister was now a mom. I am proud of my sister because it was an amazing delivery that started at 11:00pm. I was waiting for it to last hours, as I have heard many stories of people pushing for hours. I was amazed to see Natalia at 11:35pm all happy and alert, she barely even cries.

More amazingly, is how strong my sister was and how much I know she is going to be a good mom. I have watched Natalia laugh and cry, and my sister patiently taking care of her. They glow together and look alike and then she makes a JP face and it all comes together. I am glad to look up to Merci, as she probably taught me a lot of what I know and still teaches me everyday.
Merci is my chocolate chip and I am glad to be a part of her life, but I am even happier to be her friend. So I leave you with some Natalia smiling pictures.

Pictures of Ice

2007-02-17T08:16:00.000-05:00

A little vision into our ice heaven. It is funny how when we walk on it, we can't even leave an impression. We are hoping to get enough of a warm spell today so that we can finish clearing the driveway and we can finally stop getting stuck in it.

The back yard.

The pool cover seems to weigh so much it has sunk in at least 2 feet.

Brutus walking on the ice, not gracefully.

These are pictures of Toby and Brutus. Toby has been shaved as we have finally found out he has a thyroid problem and he is not chewing himself. Brutus is wearing a t-shirt as he had surgery this week and it keeps the stitches and drain covered.

Snow & Ice

2007-02-14T18:15:00.000-05:00

Yesterday started as a beautiful snowy day. Soon it turned into a nice cold ice day.
Today I happen to be at home, there is no way I am driving in this.

Although, I must say I was supposed to be at home since Brutus had surgery yesterday.
All is well in the doggy world. He is healing nicely, or so we think.

Thank to all those who have sent well wishes to Brutus.
I am trying to upload a movie clip, but I have no idea how.
I'll try again later.
Enjoy a great Valentines Day!

Natalia

2007-01-25T10:18:00.000-05:00

Natalia and the proud father.

Natalia in her nursery.

Natalia with Abuelo.

Natalia lookin cute with Abu.

The proud parents.

Natalia on her way home

I have no idea what I did

2007-01-24T09:05:00.000-05:00

Somehow I managed to unlink all of the pictures of Natalia, so now I have deleted the post.
I am hoping someone in my family will send me more pictures so I can show more.

For now my life is returning back to its normal routine of physical therapy, work, home, sleep, dogs and husband. Which leads me to today...

Dave I am very proud of you.

I seem to have a husband who not only puts up with the crazyness of my family, but manages to keep me sane. He makes me smile and laugh no matter what is happening. I am proud of him today as he is starting a new job that he really wants and has worked very hard for. Good luck!
I love you, elaine.

Technical difficulties

2007-01-23T10:11:00.000-05:00

I seem to be having some technical dificulties with the previos post, so if you don't see the pictures don't worry.

I will get it all figured out tonight. More pictures of Natalia to come.
elaine

Natalia Mercedes Pinzon

2007-01-20T09:02:00.000-05:00

Good Morning!
I am proud to announce the arrival of Natalia, at 7lbs 3oz.
Friday, January 19, 2007
11:35pm

Mom, baby and proud dad are happy and healthy.
Here are some pictures.

Monday Morning

2007-01-15T11:24:00.000-05:00

Hello all!
It is Monday, MLK holiday for some, a regular work day for those like myself.

I had a wonderful weekend and must say Andrea's wedding was great! It was beautiful and so filled with love and happiness. I just couldn't have imagined it any other way...

I of course got home yesterday afternoon and today I had to work. All I can think of is how much I would rather be home with Dave.

I know some of you read my blog often and I want to say thanks. I know my writing is not the best or most poetic out there, but I promise to keep you entertained for some time. Now you all have to do me a favor and start commenting on my blogs. Otherwise, I am going to get frustrated and stop writing.

I hope you all have a wonderful day. I promise to write more later.

Andrea's Weddding

2007-01-12T09:09:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow night I am attending a special wedding.
The wedding of Andrea and Lee.

Andrea is a good friend of mine who I met in college. One of my fondest memories is when we went to the US Virgin Islands together. It was an amazing couple of days. Where not only I could remember my stomping ground as a kid, but I could also share it with such a great person. I could say so many good things about her however I will stick to the one that makes me laugh.

Andrea is a kind hearted, wonderful person who has taught me one very important lesson, she hates the run-around (I could use harsher words, but you can say them). Unfortunately, I guess this rubbed off on me, cause not only do I not have a tactful way of saying things sometimes, but I can't stand it when people give me the run-around. So my dear friend, I owe that to you. You will always have a special place in my heart.

Although, I must admit I think I am a bigger klutz than you are.

I know that Andrea and Lee will be very happy together.
I wish them only the best!

Have a great weekend!

We did not win

2007-01-10T14:36:00.000-05:00

So we didn't win the lottery and now I sit at work.

Wouldn't it have been nice... I think we had it all planned out the last detail. We knew exactly what we were doing with the $$ but I guess imagining is as good as winning?

I don't think so!

Yet, I there will be plenty more times to try.
I am anxiously awaiting chiquita. I guess she is too comfortable.

Today is just another day, which is good because some days I love how ordinary my life can be and then I realize I am far from ordinary so I should admit my life is not ordinary at all. It finally feels like winter here. Welcome cold windy days!

It is 2007!!!

2007-01-08T16:37:00.000-05:00

I have so many things from 2006 that I will never forget. It is 2007 now and I need to start a new year.

We have enjoyed the wonderful weather!

It is only a few days till chiquita arrives. I am sure she is very comfortable in Merci's belly, but hey listen in there we want to meet you. I plan on being the best aunt out there, and for the first time Dave will have a niece that he can enjoy. Yes, Pedro Ignacio, this does not mean we will ignore you, as you will be the best nephew we have.

I can't wait!!! Between all the preparations and everything else it is getting very exciting.
Fortunately for Merci, I am not the one who keeps calling and asking her if she has had any contractions...

The next few weeks prove to very exciting. I will be making my way to Andrea's wedding and Dave will be making his way to his cousin's wedding. It proves to be a very exciting MLK weekend. Although, I am working on Monday.

I hope you are all having a great day.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-23T17:48:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone!

I know it has been a long time. I am recovering well from surgery, just hopping along. Hopefully soon it will all be a memory.

I wanted to wish you all Happy Holidays, I hope wherever you are and whomever you are with that you have a jolly time. Be safe and enjoy.

Elaine

Grenada pictures

2006-11-14T09:10:00.000-05:00

Finally blogger is allowing me to upload images so here they are...

Grenada,
my friend the monkey who pretty much takes the banana from your hand and doesn't even say thank you; how rude...

There were three monkeys and the debate began on them being pets or not...

What they call elephant trees. In spanish it is a Ceiba. They are found in the rainforest, up the winding roads.

Grand Etang which is the volcano crater turned lake.

The waterfalls.

Grand Etang, our tour of Grenada

2006-11-09T13:30:00.000-05:00

October 27, 2006

As we spent our first morning relaxing and talking to the wedding coordinator Lucille, we arranged for a tour of the island.

We hoped in Terry's car (he is also know as terrible Terry) and off we ventured. We wanted to see Grand Etang, the town and nutmeg factory. I think Dave was hoping we would go to the rum factory, but there wasn't that much time.

We arrive at the town and start walking through their open air market. All you could smell was spices. So we decided to indulge on buying some spices and their famous cocoa balls. It was all a very entertaining experience as my new husband is not very good at negotiating prices and I am the queen of negotiating, I just enjoy it.

I decided to walk by the fruits as Terry was buying some bananas, and I found my ultimate favorite guava. Anyone who knows me knows I adore anything guava and passion fruit related. So I bought this big bag of guavas, realizing afterwards that $4EC is less than $2US. So I basically had now 3lbs of guavas.

We continue to the mountains...
I have to say Grenada just has pretty views, everywhere you are there is a good point to just stand and watch the ocean, you can almost feel it in the air.

We arrive at the waterfall, and there were tons of people bathing in it, so we decided there was just too much of a crowd and kept on going.

We stop to feed the monkeys near the volcano crater turned lake. Dave thinks these are someone's pets as they are not afraid of people. But after reading further I find out they are not pets, but monkeys who live in the rainforest.

We arrive at a small lunch place to eat with the locals, I am encouraged to order Ginger Beer. Now I thought it was going to be similar to an actual beer, but now it is ginger juice and it is spicy! So I make Dave drink mine, I am not a fan of anything ginger that is so strong tasting. ughhh!

Finally we to the nutmeg factory, where we get a tour and watch some locals sell nutmeg to the factory. Fortunately we ended with a bag full of nutmegs. Now how do you crack and use them, I have no idea but I have a feeling Dave knows.

I promise to add pictures to all of this, but we need to actually get them off our camera and since our house looks like a tornado went through it, you may have to give me some time...

(to be continued)

Pictures of Calabash

2006-11-09T13:23:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures of the stay. I will be writing about our stay over the next couple of days.

The view from our balcony.

The beach at the hotel, it was not the best day there, but it was the only cloudy day...

I promise to write about our rainforest adventure and the monkeys!

The beginning

2006-11-08T15:27:00.000-05:00

October 26, 2006

We arrive in Grenada at 8:30pm.
It is extremely warm in this airport, ohh yeah I forgot no A/C. Good thing cars have A/C (right?)... We go through customs and collect our luggage, here we are! Where is our car? I know we had arranged for someone to pick us up, well maybe they are running late...

We grab a taxi, he introduces himself as David. So Dave and David hit it off on the ride to the hotel. I roll my window down and can smell the nutmeg and cinnamon, ohhh my how nice. I can hear the ocean in the distance, but I can't see anything as there are barely any street lights. I suddenly realize that Dave and David are talking about rum. Then our taxi driver manages to explain that he has already had a half-bottle of rum before picking us up.

Great! are you kidding me, has anyone heard of drunk driving around here, as I strap my seat belt tighter. We manage to get to the hotel in one piece. Calabash We do our usual checking-in and then we are asked to choose our choices for breakfast. Yippeeee mango juice! I am so excited you can see it in my face. Of course this will all be cooked and delivered to our balcony at our requested time.

We are too tired to think as we have been up since 4:00am.

As we walk in our room we find a couple of bottles of champagne and some gifts, it is all too nice. But I am hoping I can just make it to bed.

As the sun rises and the birds start chirping outside our room, I realize we are in paradise! and then I smell breakfast... this became the highlight of my day.

Calabash was by far a great choice on our trip. Everything was better than expected.

I promise the stories will continue...

We are married

2006-11-07T12:28:00.000-05:00

I promise to write all about our trip and wedding!

The deer are back

2006-10-10T11:07:00.000-04:00

So I am not kidding when I say I have made friends with the family of deer from a couple of weeks go. Ok, well maybe not friends but distant acquaintances.

About 2 weeks ago, I went out through the garage and was working on emptying water out of my post, when I heard a clank, clank behind me and I turn around and see the three little deer walking up our driveway and into the front yard. I followed them to the front yard and I am watching them play when I feel eyes staring at me and I turn to my left to see mama deer not even 10 feet away from me. I screamed, it was my sad reaction. I didn't move she didn't move, so I ran inside to watch from the safety of our kitchen window.

After that I had not seen them for a couple of weeks and thought I must have scared them away, when in reality mama deer scared me to death. Dave calls me to the front door yesterday morning, well to our surprise there they were, mama and only 2 little deer (I wonder what happened to the third one). So this time I ran for the camera and took some pictures. Yes, I will have to post them. We spent a good 10 minutes watching them take over our front yard and to our surprise they left but one little deer stayed behind, he couldn't figure out where to go. After watching him struggle for a few minutes Dave went out to show him the way. Can you do that?
Needless to say the deer got scared and jumped the fence.

So I think we have made some new friends in the neighborhood.

Thank you

2006-10-05T13:10:00.001-04:00

Thanks to everyone who went to my shower. It was a fun Saturday afternoon of drinks, too much food and a lot of gifts. It was exciting and wonderful to share time with my mom, Merci and my grandma. Plus all the great friends who were there.

I promise to post pictures as soon as I have them.

I know I haven't posted much, but I am swamped with work and it is only 25 days till our wedding!

elaine

Many many things

2006-09-22T11:52:00.000-04:00

I only wish the day had more hours, at leats for this week. I must admit I am no longer used to the late nights at work, so I have been spoiled, and now I am back to them. Was there a point when I enjoyed this? Nawwww never. I still don't.

So today I am trying to take it a little slower and find my desk. I know it is here somewhere...
Fortunately it is Friday and I am very happy for that alone.

It was 2002 and I had been working many long hours when I decided to join a local volleyball league. Those of you who know me well enough to know volleyball is my passion, and probably always will be. However, in 2002 I had a nasty fall one night and ended up in pain. Needless to say 2 knee surgeries later and 2 years later, I thought I would never be the same.

I believe it was August 2004 when I joined Active Duty Fitness. This is the "bootcamp" that I still to this day go. It not only has completely changed how I feel about regular exercise, it has converted me into a morning person. I have met wonderful people who suffer with me every morning and some excellent trainers (that are not out to kill me), who make me a stronger person every day.

This week I found out that I need to have knee surgery, and although it broke my heart and I am coming to terms with it. I will be back to ADF as soon as I can. So wish me luck, later on when I actually go through with it.

More to come later, as I have made friend with the three little deer.

Happy Birthday Andrea!

2006-09-21T16:44:00.000-04:00

"There is hope for any woman who can look in the mirror and laugh at what she sees."

Well at least sometimes....
Hope you have a wonderful day with Lee.

Coming Soon

2006-09-19T15:03:00.000-04:00

I promise lots of posts are coming soon...
Only if you promise to read and respond.
thanks
elaine

A raccoon!!!!!!!!!!!!! out during the day?

2006-09-11T09:49:00.000-04:00

It is about 7:45am and I am having my normal routine with the dogs on a normal morning. I sip my coffee and watch Toby play with the toad in the pool. I listen and watch Brutus as he barks away at the shnouzers. Except he makes a dead stop on his way back as he has encountered a cat. I yell at Brutus and think, please don't kill someone's poor cat. Then I realize that is one BIG cat and as it turns around I notice this is NOT a cat. A raccoon! In bright daylight. I yell at Brutus and I mean I yell bloody murder.

I am sure the neighborhood is very happy with my yelling.

Granted I have not approached Brutus or the raccoon as I am afraid of it. I keep yelling, but they are just standing there looking at each other. Meanwhile I have images in my head of a very bloody raccoon and dog. Raccoons are not known for being nice and Brutus is probably wondering if it will play with him. However, at this point Toby decides something must be happening because I am still yelling. So he goes to explore, and now I am really freaking out.

So my guess is the raccoon saw Toby and figured what the hell am I thinking, I am out-numbered here, and finally ran away. So I normally drag them in the house as I am shaking like a leaf. I have never seen a raccoon before and I must say this was not a good experience so I am happy it will be the last or so I hope. For all I know this raccoon is rabid and I did not find it cute, so I hope it doesn't think our yard is safe home.
So go away raccoon and please don't come back!

Cable Woes

2006-09-08T09:15:00.001-04:00

It is wonderful to walk into your house after a long day of work and snuggle up to watch tv.
Right?

Well not for us... We have not had cable since the beginning of July. Now I will explain that we have had at the very least 5 people out to fix the problem, a new line put in from the street to our house, a new box put in, refreshed a box 50+ times and spent countless hours on the phone with customer service.

So we are done, we are officially not customers of Cox Cable.

Now, it wasn't that easy... Why would it be. I spent about 45 minutes just trying to cancel our service, because there is just nothing they can do for us. And they wondered why we wanted to cancel. The customer service person must have tried 15 different ways for me to keep the cable until I finally said, you can't fix the problem, I like to watch tv, period. No more service from you! Well then I also proceeded to cancel our telephone and internet service with them, and that was the tip of the iceberg. Why? How can you? Well you can't provide service in one area why should I keep them all?

Unfortunately we are very disappointed as there is only one choice of cable company.
So satellite HERE WE COME!!!!

The most beautiful thing...

2006-09-01T09:30:00.001-04:00

This morning as I was driving back from bootcamp I saw the most beautiful thing I have seen in months.

Every morning I am really care full with deer, as the are we live has tons of them. I was driving back and it is raining this morning, so I am slowing down as I approach a section that I know I am bound to run into deer. There is a damn to the right with wood and on the other side of the road is more wooded areas. I slow down and notice that a deer is watching me, so I come to a complete stop, as I can tell it is going to cross the road. However, mama deer stops in the middle of the road and stares at me (or my car headlights). So I am glad to see the little deer cross the road. The first one being extremely small but he hops along, followed by 3 more of different sizes. At this point I can't help but smile.

Except mama deer doesn't move away from the road and just keeps staring at me, so I stay put hoping she will vacate the road and I can go on my merry way... As I am starting to get annoyed I see a second mama deer come out and now she has switched places with the first mama deer. And out come three little deer, and the proceed to just be completely playful and jump on each other back and forth on the road. I sat in my car enjoying the 5 minute show they put on. I must say, I never grew up watching deer, so this is all still enjoyment to me. However, today I got the spectacle of a lifetime. After the three little deer finally crossed the road and everyone was safe in the woods I continued to drive. Never in my life have I ever seen anything so amazing. I wished I had a camera in my car to take a picture, but alas I guess you are all going to have to wait till next time.

Moments like this make me realize that we are only a small part of the whole and it makes me very happy to live in an area where I can enjoy this precious beauty.

Have a wonderful labor day weekend!

Cristina Happy Birthday

2006-08-30T16:39:00.000-04:00

Cristina:
You are a like a sister to me and I appreciate the wonderful friendship that has lasted for over 20 years and probably more to come. I wish you only the best on your 30th birthday, I know this is late but keep in mind better late than never. :)

"The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions - the little, soon-forgotten charities of a friend or smile, a kind look or heartfelt compliment"

Happy Birthday!!

A new niece

2006-08-28T09:56:00.000-04:00

I get to have a niece. Yes, Merci and JP's baby is a girl!!!
I am very excited, as I am sure some of you out there are. Everyone is already talking about the bows, earrings, etc.

I can't wait. Is it possible to have the best of both worlds?

A nephew like Pedro Ignacio, who when you call tells you "I am busy, I will talk to you tomorrow." And now a great new niece I can't wait to meet!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder...

2006-08-24T11:29:00.000-04:00

Did you all miss me?

I know I have been very bad about not posting but here I am.

It has been a very exciting time. I was up in NYC for a couple of days with my mom and sister. Merci bought a crib for the baby and my mom bought just enough that I can't remember what she actually got. It was the Home Show, which is hundreds of booths selling home essentials/accessories/etc. As always it is fun but extremely exhausting.

On another note Dave had several misfortunes this weekend, and I promised I would not recount them all, but believe me he should have been tied to the couch and told not to move. So instead I am sending good vibes his way hoping it is all better now.

I hope to get my act together in the next couple of days and start posting interesting content but for now I must work on my performance objectives so this is as much brain power as I have. Why do companies come up with such complicated performance objectives and review systems. I am sure there is huge value to them, but honestly when I spend 5 days dreading writing my objectives and it takes me at least 4 hours to do it, didn't the whole process just become counter-productive?
As you can tell I am bitter about this since it just seems pointless, let me do my job and do it well, this process barely affects the way I work. Do you think half way through the year "ahhh yeah one of my objectives was to file my paperwork, maybe I should do that now." I guess I am not the perfect "business person" but I am a designer, I should be creative, and a little goofy too.

I apologize

2006-08-21T13:32:00.000-04:00

I know it has been days since I have posted anything.
I am having computer difficulties. Keep in touch and I promise to update you soon.
Elaine

5 Years

2006-08-08T10:21:00.000-04:00

In the last 5 years I:
- had 3,643 Tylenol
- moved 2 times
- got engaged
- have lost 671 hours of sleep
- have slept an extra 890 hours
- adopted a mutt
- have taken Toby countless times to the vet/puppy school/kennel
- welcomed a lab into my life (just b/c I love the owner, ooh and Brutus too)
- have gotten 1 speeding ticket
- had my car broken into (my poor jetta)
- had 2 knee surgeries
- completed a 5k
- taught/learned countless time
- became and aunt (an plan on doing it again soon!)
- had too many beers/wine to count
- ate too many times
- still and always will love my family and friends

What is 5 years? Well today I am reflecting on 5 years as it is officially my 5 year anniversary at work. Who would have thought? I many times though I wasn't going to make it. But today I know that times go by very fast and I plan on making the best of each and every moment.

Shaving Toby

2006-08-07T16:35:00.000-04:00

Ha! Today was the day.
I shaved Toby, this is not particularly one of his favorite activities but it must feel nice to have some fur off of him.

I could make sweaters with his fur, since it feels like a nice blend of angora and mink, but unfortunately all I am doing is throwing it out. I am also trying to get it off of me. That will take a few showers and a nice scrubbing.

Sitting here waiting for another thunderstorm, the one this morning woke me up at about 4:00am (the middle of the night in my book). It is funny how all dog owners never get to miss a thunderstorm, within seconds both dogs were trembling next to us. You would think a "ferocious" 80 lbs. lab wouldn't be afraid of thunder. Let me not get started on the 85 lbs. mutt, he is even afraid of trucks driving by.

Hope you all had a happy Monday.

Woof woof woof

2006-08-02T10:12:00.000-04:00

I am officially annoyed by schnauzers.

I am a dog lover, I am happy to pet any dog and I think most of them are adorable. However, we have 2 shnouzers living in the house behind us...

Every morning at about 7:00am I take Brutus and Toby to play in the back yard. Our back yard butts up against our neighbors. Now I can't say every morning, but I can say about 80% of the time that we go outside the shnouzers are out in their yard. And the territory wars begin.
One of them starts barking at Brutus and it all turns to loudness in about 2 seconds. Brutus rushes to the very end of the yard and lets it roll. Woof wooooooof wooooof...

Now I don't blame him, this is his yard (poor Toby). He has every right to bark away, as they are only instigating. In the meantime I am petrified, it is only 7:00am, what if people are sleeping. Mind you this is not quiet barking, so the entire neighborhood must hear it.

Yet, I look at Toby who is desperately trying to catch the toad in the pool, even though there is no toad in the pool, and he stares at me with a look of "who cares, what is all the fuss about?" As I think to myself, you have got to be kidding me, you are looking for a toad that is not there... So after minutes of barking I yell at Brutus to come back. Now, the one thing that does annoy me is that it takes the schnauzers owner another 15 minutes before blowing his whistle to reprimand his dogs. In the end I end up feeling miserable, maybe I should just let Brutus go at it. Let him bark till he comes back with a smile on his lab face.
I guess dogs will be dogs... or Brutus will be a dog and Toby will be a strange dog.

HOT!

2006-08-01T10:16:00.000-04:00

You all know, because you are all experiencing it. It is HOT!

We had a fun filled weekend, a group of friends having a nice day at the pool.
I wish I had time to write more, but I am swamped at work, as I need to keep my job I will go back to working and promise to blog later.
Have fun!

Blackberry drivers!!!

2006-07-27T15:21:00.000-04:00

Blackberry drivers = people who drive while checking/responding/parusing their blackberry devices.

These people are officially on my black list, this morning I had to hink at a gentleman who was so engrossed in his email (or whatever else) that we missed a light not once, but twice.
So overall I have decided that this is even worse than people or just as bad as people who eat, read, talk on the phone and drive at the same time.

I apologize for the lack of information today. I am busy after all I need to keep my job to feed brutus and toby.

Try me!

2006-07-25T10:13:00.000-04:00

I have had some trying days at work recently. Although I refuse to go into detail, many of which you already know, I have decided to make the best of it for the time being.

Tonight I am to attend the Chairman's Award winners dinner. Yes, I am one of the winners for the Chairman's Award. For the most part I do not feel like a winner, but for once I will go and accept the honor of being a winner. I guess if this had happened at a different time I would have been more excited. But enough of this...

I had trouble blogging yesterday... so here is what I was going to say.

Dave and I had the most amazing weekend. We decided to take the weekend off. No yard work, barely any house work, no folding laundry, and no stress. Sometimes I think we are so in-sync we think exactly alike, we just looked at each other and said: "don't we deserve a weekend off." So off we went to sit by the pool with our books all weekend, it was one of the nicest days I have had. On Saturday night we had date night. Sometimes, I find it amazing that time with Dave goes by really fast, yet whenever I am not with him time drags by. I am constantly entertained by his humor and his interesting perspective on life.

I hope you all have a great day!

I look forward to sleeping

2006-07-21T10:39:00.000-04:00

It is funny how we wake up on Friday mornings looking forward to sleeping in Saturday and Sunday. This morning was not a good morning to wake up, as I keep thinking it is darker out in the mornings.

I am looking forward to a quiet weekend relaxing with Dave, so I wish you all a happy weekend.

And for those of you waiting here is a picture of Pedro Ignacio...

To change or not to change

2006-07-18T13:22:00.000-04:00

Most of you know me as Elaine Pons also known as Elaine Marie Pons, known in Puerto Rico as Elaine Marie Pons Licha. Elaine Marie Pons Licha was given to me by my parents some 29 years ago. It is the name used in my drivers license and my passport, as it is common for those of Hispanic descent to use our father's name and our mother's maiden name. Soon enough I must decide whether Elaine Marie Pons Licha or Elaine Pons (shortened for US) will continue to be my name. I have the beautiful choice of changing it to Elaine Marie Lynch. However, if anyone calls me Mrs. Lynch (which kids in our neighborhood have, and got sneered for) I probably will not respond. As Mrs. Lynch will always be Dave's mom to me.

In all of this I should be asking Dave what his opinion is, but right now that is not a factor as this is about me.

Pons Licha may not sound Puertorican, but it is the name I inherited there. Maybe I am afraid changing my name will make me less Puertorican, like anyone would know by looking at me. I know I will never leave my roots behind as I am proud to be from Puerto Rico and I will probably never forget my food, language and customs. But does changing your name really change you?

I think Elaine Lynch will probably be the suburbia mom, I may or may not be in the future. All the same considering it an honor to carry the Lynch name. Although I will remind myself that Lynch Castle in Galway, Ireland is now a bank. However, leaving behind the Pons Licha doesn't seem to be an easy decision. I guess soon enough we will know...

Toby is depressed

2006-07-18T09:47:00.000-04:00

Monday blues are gone, but it is only Tuesday. I am really impatient lately. For one summer is going by way too fast for my liking, second I really want to leave for Grenada now, but we have about 100 days left, and that means fall is here. So I am torn.

Toby is officially depressed, or so I have declared him. Anyone who knows Toby knows he is a little neurotic (well maybe a lot), but poor dog, he was abused as a puppy. Granted, I have owned Toby now for almost 4 years, and he has been spoiled every day from a warm/cold house to sleep in to food, treats, peanut butter and a large yard. Ever since we had those storms a few weeks ago he has not been the same. Granted maybe it doens't seem strange to him but hiding his head under the bed, while the rest of his body is on the floor, because he can't fit his whole body under the bed is not normal. The worst part was this weekend, we had tons of people in the house and he wanted nothing to do with anyone, he just wanted to hide. Now, he does go outside (which is not the norm for him), but his has managed to dig a hole in our yard and that is where he spends most of his time. So last night I headed to Whole Foods to buy some herbal remedy for his anxiety/depression that was recommended to me. Now, I go in to WF and I am thinking to myself these people are going to think I am crazy. So I ask the lady at the herbal area if she can help me find these drops, she says "ohh did your vet send you?", no my vet did not send me I have yet to slap the $300 vet bill for her to tell me to buy this product. So she explains to me how to use it and pretty much that is it.

Once home I give Toby the drops and hope he reacts to them. We take them for a nice warm walk and then jump in the pool. He acted normal for most of this, even pulling me all the way home once he realized how hot it was outside. So we will see how the new herbal product works... cross your fingers I want my neurotic dog to be normal again.

Titi Elaine

2006-07-14T09:32:00.000-04:00

In the words of Pedro Ignacio "titi Merci tiene un bebe en la panza." I was very happy to find pictures of my new nephew/niece today.

I am very excited about Merci and JP having a baby!!! I know they will make the best parents. Although, I am sure said nephew or niece will have a lot of fun with titi Elaine and uncle Dave.
I can't wait for the arrival of "le bebe."
Knowing le bebe's grandparents this kid will have more clothing than Merci and I together. It was funny going over there for dinner last weekend and getting a look at le bebe's drawer. This baby isn't even born yet and it already has more pairs of shoes (booties) than I do. I'll have to get the picture of the drawer, I just hope Merci is ready for the kid over taking all of their closets.
Have a wonderful Friday!

PostSecrets

2006-07-13T16:15:00.000-04:00

A long time ago I read about this in the Washignton Post, today I will share the blog for it:
http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

Run like the wind (take 2)

2006-07-11T11:05:00.001-04:00

I lost my post this morning so I am trying to recover from my mistake.

This morning I decided to resume my running at bootcamp. I have never been a runner but have made huge attempts at it since I joined ADF. Many days I wondered why in the world I wanted to endure more pain, so I gave up running for some time. Somehow today seemed like the right day to pick it up again. I will pay the price...

Since this is my fifth attempt at posting today I am going to give up and be done.

Some wedding news

2006-07-07T08:54:00.000-04:00

So I will share with you all that I finally bought my wedding dress. The one I will wear while we make it official on the beaches of Grenada. It has been exciting and weepy all at once and I am very happy. Now if only I could just skip time and be there. I just don't have the patience to wait until October 30th.

Now if you would like to see the dress I expect you to be in Grenada on the 30th or you will have to wait for pictures afterwards. I am not going to spoil the surprise by posting pictures beforehand.

It is Friday and although I have only been at work for 2 whole days this week, I cannot wait till this week is over. Happy Friday!

why at 4:00 am it is the middle of the night

2006-07-05T16:07:00.000-04:00

We spent a lovely 4th of July weekend in St. Simons Island. Now we are back, happy to see our brutus and toby.

So here goes my wisdom, every time we got somewhere we always beat ourselves up for taking the first flights out, what in the world is the difference. I'll tell you what the difference is... waking up at that awful hour of 4:ish am. You try to go to bed at a resonable hour but it just so happens that your body doesn't want to go to sleep and then most of the night you wake yourself up to make sure you haven't missed that alarm clock. So then what happens is that at 4pm this afternoon we would both love nothing more than going to sleep, but that is not how normal people are so eventually we will make it till eight o'clock tonight and then allow ourselves to fall asleep.

I personally love early morning flights, althought I still don't like getting up that early. Early morning flights ensure that I will either fall asleep through most of the flight, making the flight seem shorter or depending on the travel date it ensures that I have time for missed connections etc etc.

And I cannot believe airlines are still using the excuse of "we don't have the right tool/part to make the aircrafty leave on time" when does this stop being a reasonable excuse??

So off to slumberland we hope not to go yet, but I am sure if you call me after 8pm tonight you will get yelled at.

Lots to do

2006-06-29T10:26:00.000-04:00

So I am home on vacation today!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and I seem to be running aroun in circlea with a million things to do and not getting anything done. I am already wondering what I can put off till another day.

Dave is all packed and ready to go, but I still have a few more days till I leave and I plan on making horrible use of them. It feels like this week has seemed endless and I was planning on talking about a million things here today but you would all be bored to death.

So off I am to enjoy a cloudless day in my house, as we try and dry out from all this rain.

The SUN!!!

2006-06-28T09:03:00.000-04:00

The sun is out!!!!!!!!! I am very excited!

We are supposed to get some sunshine this morning followed by thunderstorms this afternoon and tomorrow. At the very least we are getting a break. Last night was not bad, no cleaning up necessary, although I am sure I could have found something to clean I decided against it.

Dave made a wonderful meal of salmon and zuchinnin for us. I know I haven't said this before but he is by far the best cook I have ever met. I never need to go out to eat for good food all I need is Dave. Now, more impressively the zuchinnins are from our garden. Yeez, they are BIG! We will have so many of them in the next few weeks I am sure I will be giving some away, so let me know if you want some.

We head out this weekend to St. Simons Island, were hopefully we will get some rest and some quality time with the Lynch family. Dave has already asked his mom to make a nice southern dish for, ohhh what am I in for?

The woman with the shop VAC

2006-06-27T09:05:00.000-04:00

So my saga of water continues...
After another rainy day here, I left work and had to try 5 different routes to get home. All of them seemed to have been flooded, destroyed or trees were down.

I got home and got Toby and Brutus outside for a run, or should I say swim. After that it was all business. Now, I am going to add that Dave is lucky, I do not mind getting my hands dirty or working on stuff that would normally be stereotyped as "manly". I crawled into our crawl space and started on the shop vac, to suck water out. I call it the wet vac, why is it called a shop vac? It just sucks water shouldn't it be called a water vac...

After about 2 hours of working diligently at it, I got annoyed the more water I sucked out the more water that came out. It was getting ridiculous, so I gave up and we had some tomato and mozarella for dinner. Enough is enough!

We proceeded to check everything around the house and called it a night. At this point if the rain keeps up, I am attaching the shop vac to Brutus and making him do it.

I wish I had pictures but I do not, as my digital camera is at Merci's house, otherwise you could have laughed at me sitting in the crawl space begging for mice, snakes and anything else that could be down there to please not come out and say hello...

Water, water everywhere!

2006-06-26T12:49:00.000-04:00

I am glad to be dry for once this afternoon. As many of you know this area had torrential downpours this weekend. Well as my weekend was winding down yesterday, Sunday afternoon, Dave and I sat relaxing in the family room. We can hear the rain pounding on the roof and it is heavy! Both dogs have been scared all weekend since it has been thundering and lightining non-stop. So we both decide to check the gutters and walk around the house before relaxing some more. "Well let me finish this stuff in the laundry room for a second" I say. Ok, so we gather ourselves and decide to head out the back door. We open the sliding door to the sunroom and alas our river begins. The sunroom has a couple of inches of water so we SCREAM and continue to walk over to the pool, which has now become the back yard, it is all flooded. We run for the drains to make sure thye are not clogged and no they are not clogged so we start pumping water out of the pool, when suddenly Dave yells "Go check the crawl space" Ha, why me, but I do as I am told to find that it is raining in the crawl space.

Dave used to hide a plastic Christmas penguin in the entrance to the crawl space, so when you opened the door you would be scared. Now I could see the penguin floating all the way on the other side of the crawl space, and literally water rushing in through the wall....
So we calm down and call our neighbors Ralph and Sue, which I may add it has not been the first time they have gotten us out of a jam. I run over to their house to grap the motors that will eventually pump water out for us, but in the meantime... I run across a floded road and up their very muddy hill, where I almost lost my shoe. I knock on their door and suddenly realize I have lost my glasses, so I scramble to my knees and start looking in the grass for them. Now I must explain there were about 2" of water above the grass and it was pitch black except for the ocassional lightning, so I am not sure what I am thinking at this point. Sue, not only laughs at me but manages to pull out a flashlight and find my glasses.

We run back to our house aremed with shop vac and pumping motor (who knows what these things are). We manage to get one working on the pool and another one in the basement. Now, most people would ask why not use the back washing in the pool, well cause NOTHING is simple in our house, and I had realized long ago that our former owner was a moron to say the least. So no we can't use the backwashing because it will only backwash to what used to be the pond/fountain, which no longer exists. I will get this fixed now, or it will drive me bananas.

After a very long night and a hard laugh Dave and I have managed to clean up half of the mess, the other half will have to be done tonight. Yet, as we wait for more rain, we will make sure the house does not become a swimming pool.

More later...

Grumpyness Galore

2006-06-23T10:55:00.000-04:00

So I apologize for not posting much, but I have been GRUMPY, yes I admit to it. I think I was overly tired and developed a very nice continuous headache that would not go away for days. But alas, it is gone...

We had horrible thunderstorms here last night. We are very glad it rained heavily as we are at -5 for the amount fo rain we need. You can tell just by looking at our dead grass, even with me having spent days fixing the sprinklers and actually getting them to run every other day. That is another story in itself. I will have to explain later or when I finish my nice patching job.

So here I am at work and I wonder what makes people think that we as designers can create a miracle or turn back the clock. I walked in to a frenzy, there is this proposal due today, the courier is going to pick it up at 11:45am, however it is 10:55am and we still have not approved and printed it. So let me tell you we are in trouble, but how in the world are we supposed to get it done... STOP writing and approve, maybe we will have a shot at this. The wonders of my life as a graphic designer...

I do promise to write more, as I get to update all of you on my wedding plans, etc. etc.

Back in the working world

2006-06-20T12:01:00.000-04:00

So it was nice to go to Puerto Rico this weekend. I will have to post pictures later.
I got to see my nephew Pedro Ignacio, who amazes me every time I see him, he just grows up sooo fast. He has somewhat learned that I am titi Elaine, hopefully it will stick instead of the girls or her.

It was a very nice father's day. We spent some quality time with the family.

Almost the weekend

2006-06-15T10:19:00.000-04:00

So today I get to pack as I am going to Puerto Rico tomorrow morning to visit my dad for father's day. I am excited, but I am also exhausted from a pretty annoying week at work, so I am not sure which one I am more happy about. Not getting up at 5:30am for bootcamp, or just going to the beach for a few days... I guess both!
Even better is the fact that I get to see Pedro Ignacio, my nephew. I don't get to see him very often, but at 4 years old he is starting to realize that he has 2 aunts, and not one who calls and makes him talk to her on the phone. I can't wait to play with him and just enjoy the fact that I get to see him. It does amaze me how fast he has grown.

On another note, I am meeting at lunch with a friend who has done/worked for Windjammer cruises and I will get all the information I need to plan our wedding. Yes, Dave and I are on option # 175 for wedding plans and this one I hope sticks. I will admit it has been a little frustrating to not know, when, where or anything else about my own wedding. it has been mostly my fault, as this has been an emotional rollercoaster. I love Dave and I could not think of spending the rest of my life with anyone else, so I am happy he has been patient and supportive in my wedding emotial trauma. So wish me luck!

Welcome

2006-06-14T11:30:00.000-04:00

Hello all!
I am going to attempt to start this blog and see how it works out.

A little about me:
I am currently a graphic designer at PricewaterhouseCoopers. I live in Great Falls, Virginia.I am the proud owner of 2 dogs, a mutt and a lab. Currently engaged to the love of my life Dave.