Carlota Aguerrebere (1918-2008)

My paternal grandmother, Carlota Aguerrebere affectionately known as Tita passed away today.  She was 89 years old and would have turned 90 in October of this year.  It is a strange thing to know that your grandmother is no longer on this earth.  She was the matriarch of the family for many years.  She bore 8 children (4 girls and 4 boys) and she was this tiny, petite little thing.  She was a concert pianist and was apparently amazing.  Unfortunately, by the time I was old enough to appreciate this, she had basically stopped playing.  She was widowed when her children were still very young and supported herself & her children by teaching piano lessons in Mexico City, Mexico.  She was a devout Catholic which she showed by going to mass daily and having a kneeler in her formal living room which she frequently used to pray for all of us. Her only concern when I was about to marry Bret was whether he prayed to God and whether he believed in Jesus.  To which the answer was yes to both, thus satisfying her.  I am certain that she is happier in the heavens than she was in her last years on earth.  

Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It!

"Tengo que pintar mis unas bien, Mami."  (I have to paint my nails well, Mommy. )

My dear friend Sarah came over this past Sunday in order that we may sneak away to get a manicure. Upon learning of our destination, sweet Isabella insisted that she come along.  All she talked about was how she was going to get her nails painted too.  So what does a mother do?  But oblige of course.  You should have seen Isabella at the nail salon while we were waiting.  She was very intrigued by an older lady who was getting acrylic nails done and wedged herself right next to the woman's chair to get a perfect view.  

She also had to pick out the perfect color.  She picked it out well before we entered thesalon.  She went over to the nail polish display and picked out her color.  OPI's Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It.  It was a sort of  orange/reddish color.  Sarah tried to dissuade her by pointing to another reddish color.  Nope, Isa knew exactly which color she wanted.  There was a wait in the salon which was in the mall.  We went window shopping while we were waiting.  When we came back I went to pick out my color and invited Isa to come with me.  She would have none of it and went back to the window display where the *new* colors were.  As stated previously, she knew exactly the color she wanted.  Thankfully the receptionist was very kind and said it was ok for them to open the bottle for Isa to get her manicure.  

So, Sarah, Isa and I all got a manicure - but this one was Isabella's first.  Hopefully we haven't introduced her to an addiction.  But, at the same time - what fun to have a girl that I can get manicures with.  Oh, how I adore her.  

Overpriced Marketing

What's in a name?

When PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting was preparing for its separation from the audit and tax firm (circa 2002), PwC hired some marketing folks to come up with the name for the consulting sector.  Guess what the brainiacks came up with?  Monday Consulting.  Bret & I couldn't believe it.  Big moneys were paid for some firm to come up with such a ludicrous name?  Seriously?  They had come up with the logo brand and had plans to spend $110 million.  I can think of over 110 million better names than Monday.  And can certainly think of 110 million ways to better spend that kind of money.  Thankfully no one has ever had to work for Monday Consulting because IBM bought the consulting sector before Monday could even launch.  

So what's in a name?  I decided that I could have the "well researched" name Monday Consulting for FREE and am therefore using it.  I was also thinking that the blog could be a sort of consulting.  I consult with you or you can consult with me.  Or, you could be looking forward to my posts each Monday when I consult the blog.  

Sugar Cookies

When I was in college, we had an acquaintance named Claire introduce us to this spectacular sugar cookie recipe.  It has now become a staple with my college roomies from Casa Rosa to make this for any special occasion - baby showers, birthdays, beach reunions, and most recently, 4th of July parties.  Unfortunately, I had to miss out on these delicious cookies on the 4th and have been thinking about them ever since Tricia told me she had made them.  Will I make them this weekend?  That would be a resounding no.  I will, however, be so much more looking forward to them for when we go to Port Aransas this year.  I am counting on the fact that Tricia and Alison make these cookies almost every year.  I leave you with the recipe should you want to try to make these yummy cookies yourself.  

Yummy Sugar Cookies

1 cup oil, 1 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup powdered sugar, 

2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, 4 cups flour, 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Preheat oven to 350.  Cream together 1st four ingredients.  Mix in remaining ingredients.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  

Icing:

Mix the following: 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 cup butter (softened), 1 egg, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, food coloring of your choice (have fun with this!)

Google Reader

Have you checked google reader out? It's similar to an inbox, but for blogs. Basically you go to www.google.com and click on Reader. Once there you can add all the subscriptions you want. It is much better than blog surfing - unless of course you're in the mood to waste some time and enjoy that sort of thing. Not me. I like to get directly to the point and look at the updated blogs. I used to go to everyone's blogs (which I have memorized by the way) and be disappointed to look at a page that had been the same for months (you know who you are!). So, that's my tip for blog reading - Google's Reader.

Diego is 1/2 a year old

My baby turned 6 months today. The time with him has flown. He's such a sweet, cuddly baby who enjoys being held above all else. Can you blame him for loving his mother's arms best? I took him to the pediatrician this morning for his vaccines and well baby check. He's a healthy boy allright seeing that he has not been to the doctor any other time than for his well baby checks. Diego is a lightweight - which is how his genes run, just like his older sister's.

• Height: 26" (30%)
• Head Circumference: 16 3/4" (25%)
• Weight: a whopping 14lbs. 10 oz. thus putting him in the 8th percentile, which means he has jumped in the charts and passed up some of his same age buddies since his last check-up when he was back in the 5th percentile.

Dr. William Pielop cheered me on for still nursing Diego. He stated, "Only 15% of babies in Texas are still breastfeeding at 6 months." I was surprised to learn this statistic considering how many moms I know breastfeed their babies well beyond the 6 month mark.

I tell you that a big reason that I continue to nurse our sweet lil guy besides the obvious reasons (breast is best, it's easy, etc) is because of the cost of formula. We attempted giving him formula a few times and let me tell you - his body highly rejected it (we tried 3 different kinds). Washing multiple sheets (ours and his), pj's (ours and his) and being awake for hours during the night was not an experience I am ready to repeat any time soon. Dr. Pielop recommended this fancy schmancy (i.e. expensive!) formula for us to try. Umm, no thanks, I'll continue nursing. I am therefore entitled to buy myself a $30 item (clothing, mani/pedi/whatev) for each week that I nurse Diego. Of course I don't to that, did you really think I would?  

Three Cups of Tea, The Summer Guest

I recently finished reading two excellent books: Three Cups of Tea and The Summer Guest  

I highly recommend both of them.  I particularly like Three Cups of Tea, a non fiction book, because of what Greg Mortenson has accomplished.  His life is very insightful while simultaneously highly admirable as to how to promote peace in today's society.  He is an educator and peace maker in Pakistan and Afghanistan who builds schools for girls.  The title comes from this excerpt in the book, "Haji Ali, his first Balti friend, told Mortenson that he had to respect Balti ways.  'The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger.  The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest.  the third time you share tea, you are family and for our family we are prepared to do anything, even die."  It's a great book that teaches you about education, perseverance, sacrifice, and culture.  Read it!!!

The Summer Guest is more of a beach read about generations, fatherhood, and love.  It is fiction and very captivating.  You will enjoy this one too.  If you're just going to read one, though - I recommend Three Cups of Tea.

I hate mail

I typically really look forward to checking the mail.  In fact, it's a highlight in my day.  I know what you're thinking, "what is she 80 or something?"  No, but I am somehow eternally optimistic that I will get something good in the mail.  Like a letter or package.  A real letter, not just an invitation or announcement.  A handwritten, thoughtful letter.  I love them.  In fact, I live for them.  But, the reality is I get what all of you get - junk, bills, more junk and the occasional invitation.  And, I allow for the mail to pile up.  My secret hope is that someone will go through all the mail for me, pay the bills, and most importantly, file everything away.  But, that fairy doesn't exist in my house.  We have a pretty good filing system, his name is Bret.  As if Bret needs anything else to do, but he's my main guy.  Why?  Because he knows that I despise filing the mail not to mention he's good at it.  The drawers are too tight, and I just get in a bad mood trying to stuff one more document that I'm not even sure we really need.  He's laid back and doesn't seem to mind.  For tonight, our mail pile has vanished and my desk area is organized once again thus giving me temporary bliss.  What is your filing/mailing/document system like?

To Journal or Not to Journal

What is your vocation? I'm sure most of you have more than one vocation. I have decided to enter the blog world because I always wanted to be a journalist (sometimes I think I could still be one). My husband challenged me to start a blog in order to journal. By journalist, I mean wouldn't it be cool to interview ambassadors, moms, priests - really anyone? I feel as though I always have a million questions for people because I just can't always get a grasp for what people do. So you say you're a lawyer - what exactly does that mean? Isn't it interesting how you can know 10 lawyers and they all do different things? Their days all look different from each other. People are really just fascinating. What are your interests? What are all of your callings? I wanted to be a journalist, an anthropologist, a lawyer, a mom, a wife, an eternal scholar. You get the picture, I have lots of interests. I'm not sure where this blog is going to go. But, I'll tell you what - it is only going to be one blog. This is going to be a mix of (i) mommyhood - where you will see pics of my children, and (ii) my thoughts, interests and ramblings. One of my goals is to interview someone and journal about it. Thanks for reading and stay tuned!