My Letter of Recommendation

When I was still in school, I had the pleasure of taking a couple classes with this really great professor. She was the type of teacher who genuinely cared for her students, and we could tell. She regularly went beyond her duties as an English professor to make sure her students were successful not just in her class, but also in life. While I was in her class, she had said that if any one of us ever needed a letter of recommendation, she would be glad to help us.

After I graduated last June, I remembered this professor's offer, so I sent her an email and asked if she could write a letter of recommendation for me. She emailed me back that night and said that she wasn't able to do it right then because she had just left to Japan for a few months (to join her husband, who teaches there) and she didn't have access to her grade books. She did say that she would be able to write it for me when she got back at the end of September.

So a couple weeks ago, I looked around and realized that it was already the end of September and I remembered my professor's offer. I emailed her and asked if she would still be willing to write a letter of recommendation for me. She immediately emailed me back and said that she would be happy to write it for me.


Yesterday I went to campus to pick up the letter she wrote for me. She left them outside her office door on her bulletin board. She also made 3 additional signed copies for me, just in case I needed extra. I'm telling you, this professor is so nice and thoughtful.

After I got to my car, curiosity had gotten the best of me, so I opened one of the letters to read it.

And WOOOOOOOOOOOW!

What do you know?

The letter was filled with nothing but nice things about ME!

I think that letter boosted my self-esteem by 10 points, maybe even 11.

But seriously though, I'm hoping my professor's letter will aid me in my job search. I already have 2 letters of recommendation that were written for me by my 2 former supervisors, so I thought that it could be good to add another one to my files.

Or maybe I just might frame it, and look at it every morning when I wake up.

Picture Day Princess

I can't believe my first baby will be turning 7 this weekend. It seems like only yesterday...

Time for Another Edition of Nerdy Humor

So my washer broke some time last month. My front-loading, barely 5 years old washer that we bought when we moved to this apartment is broken. It first started making a horribly loud noise when it was spinning and then it sounded like something was banging around in there. So I checked inside the washer to discover that the drum was loose and just swinging around inside the washer.

After doing a little research on the good old internet, I came across several people who had the same washer as me, with the same exact problem. From what I gathered, most likely the problem is the spider and brackets (which hold the drum in place) got corroded and broke, and the washer manufacturer doesn't sell these parts separately. You have to buy a whole new drum with the spider and brackets already in place. Sounds expensive, right? Yup, you guessed it.

We bought the 5 year warranty for the washer when we purchased it, but when the 5 years was up, I decided not to renew it for another year. We didn't have any problems with it up until then and I remember my parent's washer lasting over 10 years, so I didn't think we needed to renew the warranty. But I guess I was very wrong.

So lately I've been washing over at my mom's or going to the laundromat and washing a few loads and then bringing them home to my (still functioning) dryer.

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If you've been around here long enough, then you'll know that it amuses me to no end when I see a misspelled word that has been published or is on a sign somewhere.



While I was at the laundromat last week, I spotted this lovely gem of a sign posted up on the wall.

It has not just one, but 2 spelling offenses in the word beverage, or should I say 'bevrge.'

As I was waiting for my loads to finish, I began to wonder, who would be taking liquor in there anyway? It's not like the laundromat is Party Central...

But as I thought about it some more, I realized that laundromats are not very fun places to be, especially if they are hot, crowded, and full of people with staring problems and/or no sense of personal space.

So maybe people take their alcoholic bevrge to the laundromat and use it as a coping mechanism to get through their dreaded time there.

hmm..maybe I might try that sometime. Oh wait, but then I'd have to drive myself home afterwards.

Eh, I could call myself a taxi....

What I've Been Up To...

I still haven't found a job after 3 months of (half-hearted) job searching. I say 'half-hearted' because I'm not sure I'm ready to leave my kids and be gone full-time just yet, and also because I know the job market is less than ideal for recent college graduates right now. But like I've said before, I believe I'll find the right job when the time is right.

And although I am currently unemployed, that doesn't mean I've been sitting around all day watching Soap Net because with Elizabeth back in school now, Michael has been keeping me pretty busy. Running after him all day is a full-time job. So maybe I'm not really unemployed after all.

Michael has recently developed a fascination with water, more specifically the water dispenser in our kitchen; crayons; and my makeup (but please don't tell his dad about the last one).

One evening during Eliz's first week of school, I had to go over all of the usual new school year paperwork with her: the school rules, library agreement, homework policy, etc... Since I was otherwise occupied with his big sister, Michael saw it as the perfect opportunity to get my makeup bag off the bathroom counter and examine its contents.

Once I noticed that he was being a little too quiet, it was too late. He had gotten into 3 of my mascaras, and painted on quite an impressive beard.

Exhibit A: Sneaky Bearded Baby




I'm glad I don't use waterproof mascara...

The next thing that has been keeping me very busy is Michael's use of crayons. He just recently became interested in crayons after watching his sister doing homework at the kitchen table everyday. I bought him his very own pack of large crayons and a couple coloring books.

He loves to scribble in the books for a while, but then he'll get up from the table and move his artistic expression to our walls. If I'm lucky, I'll confiscate his crayons before he leaves the table. But if I'm not so lucky, he'll escape with a crayon or two in hand and mark up our walls.

Exhibit B: Vandalism in Progress



Since I've had to constantly be cleaning crayon off the wall, Mr. Clean magic erasers have become my new best friend...

Our First Camping Trip

We went camping to Lake Perris this past Labor Day weekend. As a child, I went camping with my family a lot, but I hadn't been camping recently. I think the last time I went camping was a couple years before Eliz was born. So it's been a long time.

We had planned to stay for two nights but we only stood one night because Michael just wasn't into the whole sleeping in a tent thing. We got there on Saturday afternoon, and set up our tent and everything else. We went with some friends who also have 2 children, so Michael and Eliz had fun playing with them. By the evening, Michael was worn out, so he fell asleep in Mig's arms. Later in the night though, at about 10:00, Michael woke up in the dark tent and he was just crying and crying. He would not lie back down and he didn't fall back asleep until about 4:00 a.m. It was a verrrrrrrrrrrrrry long and exhausting night for all of us.

We think Michael was probably a little scared and confused as to why he was out in the wilderness, asleep in a dark tent instead of being at home in his comfy little bed, so that's why he had such a rough night. In turn, our night was also really rough from the lack of sleep. But there's nothing like hearing a wild animal (of some sort) walking around outside your tent to really wake you up in the morning. That, and some strong coffee of course.

So on Sunday evening, we decided to pack up and go home rather than subjecting Michael to another night of tent sleeping. The drive home wasn't very long, only about 1 hour, and once all of us got to bed, it was the best sleep we'd ever had...

I think we might need to wait a while before we attempt to go camping again, at least until Michael can understand that we will only be staying in the tent for a couple nights and not indefinitely (which is probably what his little brain was thinking.)


I don't have any pictures of our weekend because I can't find my camera charger and the battery died last week... = (

My Hired Help

The housework and chores around here have been getting so overwhelming, so I recently hired some help.

Now I can just sit around and eat bon-bons all day...

Elizabeth Is Officially a 2nd Grader

Elizabeth started second grade today, and she was so excited. She had her new backpack packed with all her new school supplies since last week. She woke up, brushed her teeth, and got dressed all without any prompting or reminding from me. I hope her excitement and self-sufficiency lasts longer than one day.


As we walked into her classroom, Eliz scanned the room for friends and familiar faces and she was able to spot a few. Although there was one little "friend" of Elizabeth's that I kind of wished was in a different class. For the third year in a row, Elizabeth's nemesis, 'Violet,' is in the same class as her.

The word, friend is in quotations because 'Violet' is hardly Elizabeth's friend. It all started when they were in kindergarten and Violet scratched Eliz's neck. Eliz told their teacher. Their teacher made phone calls to both sets of parents and Violet got in trouble. So from then on, they've had problems (of the passive-agressive variety. No other scratching incidents have happened.)

Throughout first grade, Eliz would come home and say that Violet was being nice to her and she wanted to be her friend. Then the next day, Eliz would say that Violet didn't want to be her friend, and that Violet told another girl not to be Eliz's friend as well.

Or Eliz would tell me that Violet said she couldn't play with her and some other girls because Eliz wasn't wearing pink or Eliz wasn't wearing a dress, or some other stupid reason. Violet seems to be a Mean Girl in the making....

So you can understand my disappointment at seeing Violet this morning in Eliz's class. I'm hoping we don't have another school year of the same thing. I'm hoping that this past summer has helped to mature both of the girls a little bit so that Violet won't be as mean and if she is, then Eliz won't care so much...

Not So Wordless Wednesday - Do Not Feed the M&Ms

Is it still Wednesday? Yeah I think I have a few hours left...

We went to Vegas last month and I never posted any of the pics, but I'll just share these greatest hits with you.

When you go to the zoo, there are usually warning signs up about not feeding the animals, but at the M&Ms World in Vegas, they should have a warning sign up about not giving the M&Ms any beer because they can turn a little wild...

Here is Mig sharing a little Budweiser with Red.






And about one minute later, here is Red giving my cousin Tatiana and her boyfriend, Edgar a not-so-friendly hand gesture.

Cold Brewed Coffee

I posted this recipe almost a year ago, but it is just so good that I have to post it again especially since it has been so hot lately.
When I first read about cold brewed coffee, I had no idea what cold brewing was or that it could even be done. From my understanding, because the coffee grinds do not come into contact with hot water, less oils and acids are released so it turns out less acidic and very smooth.

This recipe from a New York Times article makes enough for 2 drinks, but I like to make a double or triple batch to keep in a glass carafe in the fridge:

• 1/3 cup of ground coffee


• 1 1/2 cups water

1. In a jar or pitcher, stir together the coffee grinds and water. Cover and let rest at room temperature overnight or 12 hours.
2. Strain twice (once if you're lazy or you just can't wait for your caffeine fix) through a coffee filter, a fine-mesh sieve or a sieve lined with cheesecloth into another jar or pitcher.

The resulting coffee will be pretty strong, so I like to make my iced coffee with 3 parts cold milk and ice and 1 part of the cold brewed coffee and some sugar of course.

You know you want some...

My Strong-Willed, Picky Toddler

Michael's eating habits lately have been making it very hard to parent him with a smile.

Take yesterday, for example:

I made blueberry pancakes for breakfast and he wanted absolutely nothing to do with them. Who doesn’t like blueberry pancakes?

For lunch, I made him a peanut butter sandwich, and thankfully he ate it.

For dinner, I made chicken cacciatore. Now, I know that he’ll eat spaghetti, but all I had was linguine so that’s what I made. Well I guess Michael is not a big fan of linguine because he just looked at his dinner and dumped his plate over without even taking a bite first.

(Note to self: NEVER buy linguine again.)

And this morning again, he wanted nothing to do with the bowl of cereal that I put in front of him. I finally gave up and just let him eat a banana.

I know that toddlers his age don’t have very big appetites, and on the plus side, Michael does like to snack on fruit throughout the day.

So I should try not to get stressed out about his current eating habits because I can feel 3 new white hairs sprouting from my scalp as we speak.