I keep messing my computer up. You see I figure that anything that costs that much ought to be able to do more than one thing at a time...I can, I have to all the time, so why the heck can't it be opening blogger and uploading photos at the same time. I mean really, why does it have to get it's chips in such a knot? Maybe they should have more women designing them. We can do more than one thing at a time for hours on end.
I had a morning that surged and swept around me, precipitated by a pair of e-mails that HAD to be answered, amputating half an hour from the morning routine. I don't know about you, but I can't do that to my morning routine without hefty payback. But, despite this, it left me with a feeling of increasing integration in this community. Still mightily fringe-dwelling in this small town, but sliding in sideways. I ran, literally, to the bakers to get bread for the girl's ezmorse, morning snack, although the word actually means breakfast. My Catalan was good enough that I could give a man directions to the bank, while running down hill and he understood them. Poor guy, he had to run to keep up with me, and the last I saw of him he was still running as he rounded the corner, as if he had been swept up and couldn't stop. I wonder how long he ran before he wondered why he was still running.
When I got into the bakers, there were a pair of ladies having a lovely and leisurely chat with the lady behind the counter, which peaked both my heart rate and my blood pressure, but my Catalan was also up to gracefully bumping the line! Whew.
We tore out the door on the way to the community center to drop eldest off at her gym class, and on the way saw one youngest's friends heading for school with her Mom and sister, again, the Catalan was up to pawning littlest off and sending her on her way. Although I didn't remember to use the ultra-polite favour asking sentence structure that I recently learned. Oh well.
Eldest and I jogged on, blessedly on one of the few relatively level bits, when I realised that I still had eldest's knapsack that had to be dropped off at the school, and I didn't have time before work. Fortunately another friend from the school was headed that way and took the bag! I dropped eldest off, whipped down to work used the keys to the place I had been lent and in I went. Then the student was half an hour late, but what the heck.
Two folks I know well enough to ask a favour, and keys to a workplace. Starting to belong.
I went into BCN on a lightning fast tour looking for some foodstuffs, and cloth for napkins. We have been napkinless here for a long long time, and every time I look at them they are ugly, skimpy polyester and a mere 4 Euros each, that's about US$4. *gasp*
So instead I bought fabric. Found some fun stuff too....One of them is like a magic match for my favorite mug at the top of the page. Now unfortunately I will probably break the mug, but what the heck.
The fabric is nice and think, and we are going to make them big...fancy restaurant big. I love the napkins you get in those kinds of places....
They had AMAZING fabrics there, I am going to have to get a pattern for a vest and make me some clothes. How hard can it be?
7 comments:
Computers drive me batty. Real batty. I hate that in three years you will be under pressure to replace said computer, which is just stupid. We put up with more crap from the computer industry than just about any other business.
I love that fabric! I collect fabric...I have loads of it...all different kinds. I just can't help but buy a yard or two when I'm at the store and see something I like.
How's Burks coming along?
and what is that food up there? Rice?
What a day! It's nice to feel like you're fitting in, though. Did you ever mention (or did you want to?) how long you are thinking of staying where you are now?
Love the mug, and the napkin fabric!
DD: Yup, I have officially actually punched at least three computers...the one at work only gets slapped upside the hard-drive...it's not mine so I have to be more gentle.
Beth: Oooo, do you want some fabrics?, These were amazing, what do you like, post some pics so I get an idea and if I see something spectacular on sale I can send it over....
Kate: We are planning to be here for at least another two years. At that point eldest will be 13/14, and we will have to decide where we are going to commit to staying for the next decade or so. We feel that it is a whole lot easier for teenagers to do what they have to do if we quit moving around quite so much...it'll be a big decision because they will most likely end up staying where we decide to remain....right now, we are aquiring as much skill and knowledge and facility here as we can so that when decision time comes, it is based purely on what is best for the kids, and the rest of us, but mostly them, and not on the fact that we have no friends because we never learned the language.
We'll see...that's the plan right now anyway...
Oh, and Beth: Three different rices, Thai red cargo rice, Thai black sticky, and Thai sticky, or glutinous rice. There is also millet and kasha and oatmeal...
This morning I was about to throw my computer against the wall, my internet connection wasn't working. I fiddled around a bit, have really no idea what I did, and... Eureka! It works! (I'm sure there's a Windows conspiracy going on here - once everybody has been driven to insanity due to recurring computer errors, Bill Gates will take over the world).
Those napkins are going to be too pretty to use. So, does anybody speak Spanish over there, or just Catalan?
Theresa: Thanks for dropping by...all the Catalans speak Spanish as well, fluently, and there are Spanish here, who speak Catalan, and who don't as well as lots of other folks who have emmigrated to Spain as we have who speak, well, whatever their native tongue is at home, and most of them speak Spanish, some have learned Catalan as well...very multi-lingual kind of place.
I thought Gates already had taken over the world...
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