A trip to Friday's

Every once in a while Agustín will ask, "Why don't we go to Friday's?" And so we do.

Today was one of those days. So we got out of our pajamas and took off for a meal of "the best chicken fingers in the world" and the kids' favorite dessert: Oreo Madness.

We got to the restaurant and suddenly Nico pointed over at another table. A look of angry hurt came over his face and he got real quiet. Sitting across the aisle were his grandparents, great grandma and uncle! We went and said hi, surprised of course that they were there too. But Nico couldn't get over it - they had gone out to eat without him, and he was MAD! He wouldn't talk or look at them for about an hour.

Until Uncle offered him his iPod. Then things were forgiven.

Packing

Getting ready for my trip to Rio. I like to say that. Of course, this is RioBAMBA I am talking about, but it still feels fun to say, "I'm off to Rio now!"

Will also be in Amba(to) and Lata(cunga). When I call them by these nicknames it doesn't seem so bad to be leaving the fam. "Off to see my friends Rio, Amba and Lata now! Chao!"

I'm actually quite excited for a little alone time. See those three books? I know most of you know me as a perpetual pessimist, but did you know that when it comes to the number of pages I think I might be able to get through on a trip I am a die hard optimist? I bet you didn't know that!

I do not like to find myself bookless, nor feel that I have to modulate my reading speed because I might run out of material.

That said, I will probably be lucky to make it past two chapters in one book before I fall asleep.

Pathetic!

That's me

I realized that I don't have many pictures of myself on the blog. Terrible. As usual, I don't pay enough attention to myself, and with my new job I haven't been giving myself much down time or me time. (I KNOW Ecuadorians don't understand it, Andres, and I will never expect them to!) This picture is actually from a few weeks ago - that's how long ago I have really taken a picture of myself.

Well, anyway, hello!

Still running

I have been running/jogging as much as possible, but haven't been as constant as I was a year ago. My new work schedule has proven to be very difficult to work around - it is so unpredictable. Some days I think I'll be able to exercise and then at the last minute will have to give a workshop, or other days I get home late because of traffic. I get home about 5:30 if I'm lucky. By the time I get dressed and ready to jog, it is usually about a quarter to six. That means max 30 minutes of light. I usually walk/jog for about 45 minutes, which means going in the dark. I don't like going in the dark too much - I'm never sure how safe it is out there once the sun goes down, although we have no complaints in our neighborhood so far and I have never felt too threatened, (there have been a few scares but nothing too bad), but aside from that, it is DARK, and the sidewalks and streets are all irregular, which means a twisted ankle for sure.

Anyway, tonight I got out there and decided that I would try to beat the twilight (remember - on the equator that means 5 minutes of dusk and then pitch dark). Andres got a picture of me as I made the rounds in the park.

So since the sun comes up at 6 (dawn also lasts about 5 minutes), the whole dark thing means that I can't get up early to go running (Andres leaves the house at about 6:15 and I stay with the kids), and that I usually don't go later. So Saturday and Sunday have been the only days I have been constant.

I really want that to change. I miss running. I miss it a lot. I had hopes to run a 5K one of these days... but it's going to have to go on the back burner for the moment I guess until I feel more comfortable with my schedule.