Monthly Archives: April 2012

Friday Night Bunco!

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So Friday night I co-hosted a bunco game with one of my friends from work. We have a group of ladies that get together once a month and take turns hosting. This month was going to be 24 women and there is no way that that many would fit in either one of our houses we we rented out one of our local facilities, the fleet recreation center.

It ended up being the perfect size, we had a few ladies drop out at the last minute (like always) but still ended up with 20.

Bunco is super easy, the fun is in getting together. Our theme for the night was pajama party, so everyone came in pajamas and brought a gift with that theme.

And there was so. much. food. I was cooking up a storm because I am paranoid about not having enough to eat. I shouldn’t have been worried!

I made buffalo chicken dip, broccoli salad, greek couscous salad, crab dip, popeye dip, amaretto slushies and cheesecake stuffed strawberries.  There were also meatballs, a breakfast casserole, ham sandwiches, cupcakes, cranberry apple crisp and banana pudding. Oh and a giant tub of jungle juice. It was deadly.

Everyone ended up having a great time and even though I didn’t win a money prize I went home with a gift I wanted. The same one I brought! Evil, but I really liked the blanket I picked out!

And here come all of the feria posts…

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Feria is the Spanish equivalent of a county fair. They originated from trading posts and have evolved into a big celebration with horse show, fair rides and tons of food. Different organizations set up casetas or tents and sell food and drinks as well.

At work we have our own feria for the kids. Each class has been working on some dance steps to the traditional Sevillana dance.  Everyone dresses up in feria attire, similar to what most people would consider flamenco dresses.

The day started out rainy and of course we were panicking over where we were going to hold it if it was raining, but the rain cleared and the sun came out and it ended up being a beautiful afternoon.

 

Some of the decorations we hung up, most of them made by the kids in the center. We put window boxes on every window and make about a million tissue paper flowers. Also draw some gypsy bars on the windows. Makes for a very cheerful center!

 

Setting up… Thankfully this is after the rain stopped. Each classroom also decorated one of those hanging triangles for their ‘caseta’.

Hanging out in O’s class with Miss Ana before feria starts. I had so much fun getting all dressed up!

Me and M. She loved getting all dressed up in her feria dress.  I ended up taking in the sides the night before as the dress was a size too large for her. Also pinned the front of the skirt up a bit so she wouldn’t trip because it was really long.

The babies. So stinkin’ cute! They pretty much just sat there and looked adorable in their tiny dresses!

Here is one of our one year old classes. They had maracas and were dancing all over the place with them.

A TON of parents showed up, it was so much fun!

Hello blue sky and sunshine!

O was a very serious dancer.

 

Once he was all done he was smiling!

M did great, lots of skirt swirling!

Me and my two kiddos, looking all Spanish!

Me and our assistant director, Patricia. I loved her dress, it was all embroidered, beautiful!

Me with my Spanish amigas! Cristina, Cristina, Maria del Mar, Maria Jose, Luisa, Aurora and Inma.

The start of Rota and El Puerto de Santa Maria’s feria’s is this week and I can’t wait to go and take a million pictures of our last feria. This is the first year I’ve had my own dress so I am very excited over that. Plus every year we feel more and more comfortable hanging out at feria.

So ready for this week to be over…

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Longest. Week. Ever. 

Friday is gearing up to be a busy busy day, it is our feria day at work. Feria is similar to a Spanish county fair and it is a pretty big deal down here in Andalucia. It is a ton of fun, everyone gets to dress up in a flamenco-style dress and look fabulous. Anyways, there has been a ton of planning and decorating going on and it’s really kicked into high gear this week. I’ve made so many tissue paper flowers it’s not even funny.

Immediately after work on Friday I have bunco, which I happen to be co-hosting this month. Co-hosting is actually stressing me out more than just doing it on my own because I can’t nail down a menu or a who is doing what. I need to go over to the location tomorrow and set up tables. Also I don’t have the bunco kit of dice and whatnot and I think the lady that does have it is in the states so I may have to round up 30 dice. Yes, 30 because we are going to have 24 ladies at 6 tables. It’s going to be crazy! We’ll see how many drop out at the last minute because it always, ALWAYS happens. The problem with that is that you have to have multiples of 4 or it doesn’t work.

Crap, now I am worried that the tables at the building are going to be too large. I think they might be the big round tables. Not going to worry about it until tomorrow. 

So instead of doing all the stuff I could be doing to get ready for the day, I am instead shopping for vacations. I need to go somewhere but I have no idea where I want to go. Well actually I have too many places I want to go. Mallorca, Greece, Croatia and Holland are on my maybe list. Trying to get to one more place we haven’t been before we leave. 

Now I am going to try and go to bed before midnight tonight, if my brain ever decides to shut off!

Done!

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I am done with school! I can’t believe it, it only took a decade, but I am finally a college graduate! Well I still need to get my final grades back and actually graduate but I don’t have any more WORK to do!

It’s amazing how stressed out just knowing that I always had school work to do, or a test coming up, or a paper to write. Now I feel like I can actually relax! When I turned in my final research paper last night (at midnight of course!) it was the BEST feeling ever!

So of course now I can’t wait to get that degree in my hot little hand and maybe even get a REAL job one of these days!

Of course my husband is pushing for me to go back to school when we move but I told him he needs to ask me in a year, I can’t even think about it right now!

To cut or not to cut…

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Okay, I am trying to get to the salon in the next week or so and I am feeling that itch to chop my hair off… I need some opinions.

Here it is now (it’s not normally so wavy, it dried in a bun) (also sorry for the blurry pic I am the worst at self portraits)

 

Here is the length I am thinking:

I am going to get some more highlights put in for sure and I think I may go a touch lighter for summer. Cut or not? I don’t know what to do! I have this notion that everyone is Hawaii is going to have long, flowing hair so that is making me lean toward keeping it long.

Hair ladies, help me out!

My brain is tired…

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So after working all day long (okay I had lots and lots of breaks, taught Omar how to ride a bike and made dinner in there) I am STILL not done with either my final or my final research project. This sucks! I am so tired! I am realllly trying to get my final done tonight so at least that is one thing I can check off. Only two more essay questions to go and I’ll be good.

Does anyone feel like writing a couple of pages on limiting water consumption on Naval Station Rota? So close to being DONE! I swear to God, any ideas I had about going back to school for my Master’s degree? Forget it! I am never going back to school EVER!

I was an absolutely beautiful day and I was very upset we couldn’t be out enjoying it, but I was stuck at home with schoolwork and hubby was sitting in class himself. 

Also? It looks like we won’t be getting orders until a month before we leave. Great.

Hope you are having WAY more fun that I am this weekend!