10:00 PM

Okay, this post is not for small children or conservative Christians.

Every night about 10:00, there is an even that happens in our house. It's not pretty, it's not fun to watch, but it's how God designed things. Gipper decideds to have his way with Nancy. Now, Nancy has never actually let Gipper go all the way (she's got her morals) but it's quite a show.

The thing is, sometimes we have company that will stay past 10:00.

How do you explain this to friends or family? Inside, outside, even locked in the bedroom, it's obvious something is going on. And yes, before the comments come, they are both fixed (or altered as the vet now says).

So consider yourself warned. 10:00 can be dangerous.

Mother's Day Restaurant Happenings

For Mother's day Jose and I took his mom out to dinner on Saturday, May 10th, which is Mexican Mother's day (for those of you who like me until recently were Hispanic Holiday's challenged, Mexican Mother's Day is always May tenth unlike US Mother's day which is always the second Sunday in May -- sometimes they're the same day, but not often. I think next year they will be). We went out to Carmine's in Arcadia, it's just great Italian food. Then on Sunday Jose and I and Jim and Stacy took My mom and Stacy's mom (and dad) out to a cute restaurant in Laguna called "the beach house". It was a very popular place and good food... but have you ever had a waiter that just didn't get it? It actually became a funny experience (only funny upon reflection by the way, not at the time). Let's just say that at Denny's I get better service. Including a cleaner bathroom. It's probably a lovely place on a non-holiday, but I am just plain restauranted out. I think Dad's get it better on Father's day. It's really hard to screw up a BBQ in your own back yard. The parking is good, the food is cheap, and the bathroom is nearby.Who's with me?

Running the Race

This weekend Jose Ran a 5k! I don't have any pictures because I wasn't able to go, as I was setting up the children's ministry at church.
But Jose did great, coming in at 27 1/2 minutes, which is awesome. If you see him, give him a shout out.
I can't believe it's already May. When you're a little kid, the time seems to go by so slowly but the seasons seem to change faster and faster each year. Summer will be here before we know it! (as well as summer school)

Introducing Nancy!

Name: Nancy

Nickname: Nancy Pants, Mrs. Gipper

Age: 1 year this July

Gender: Female through and through

Marital Status: Trying to trap Gipper

Occupation: Lady of luxury

Describe your ideal first date: Starts with a chicken strip from costco, a stroll through the dog park and then cuddling by the fire.

Meet Gipper

Name: George Gipp

Nickname: Gipper, Puppo, Skipper Gipper, et al

Profession: Guard Dog/Comedian

Age: 2 years this past Januaray

Marital Status: Single, but I think Nancy Pants might be the apple of my eye

Gender: Male, although I suppose now that's debatable

Where do you see yourself in 5 years: Performing in New York

Facebook or Myspace: I don't have opposable thumbs. What do you think?

Obama, Clinton, or McCain: I still heart Huckabee

France and Spain 2008

This Spring Break was our fourth trip to Europe together. Jose has been more than that, but before me, does it really count?

So we started in Spain. We arrived in Madrid at 7:45 AM local time making for a very long first day. Jose, Melissa, Lindsey and I even ended up finding a park where we could fall asleep. And we did. Good thing the students didn't see us. Better yet, what were the students doing while we were sleeping!? Since we all came back in one piece I'll assume nothing bad happened!

In Madrid, we saw a flamenco show, ate Tapas, and saw the Plaza Mayor (where the movie Vantage Point was filmed - check out the second picture), ate really gross ham, tried Sangria, went to the Prado Museum and the Royal Palace (Beth is going to get married there) saw first hand how messed up in the head Picasso was (but the Guernica was cool), lost Melissa, found Melissa, spoke Spanish fluently, and got a starbucks mug from Madrid.

The 3rd day we went to Barcelona. On the way we stopped at Carsacone for lunch. VIPs was great. Not V.I.P.'s, but VIPs. We switched busses and headed towards the former olympic city. It was cool to see the Sagrada Familia -- the church that has been under construction for 200 years or so. We got familiar with Gaudi's archetecture and saw the Mediterranian first hand. We ate Paella, saw the new Olympic center, bought souveniers, saw statues of Christopher Columbus, saw a building shaped like a pickle, went to a local food market, went to the Parque where one of the seasons of America's Next Top Model was filmed (and one of the Cheeta girl's movies), drank coffee, and got a starbucks mug from Barcelona.

Two days later we went to Paris! We took a night train from Toulouse to Paris. It was not comfortable but slightly better than a bus. At least we got to lay down, but Lindsey and I were put with our tour guide Vera and then two strange guys. Lindsey tried to speak to them in French, but they weren't having any of it. When we got to Paris we had breakfast and then hit the pavement. We first had a bus tour of the city, saw the Eiffel tower, went to Versailles (personal favorite place of mine), ate Chinese food, ate crepes, went up the Eiffel tower (this year to the top), walked up and down Champs d’elysee, went to the Louis Vuitton store, walked out of the Louis Vuitton store very quickly, remembered why I love Jose, ate more crepes, saw Napoleon's tomb, visted St. Chapel and saw the stained glass, and amongst other things, got a mug from starbucks.

All in all, not a bad trip. But after 4 years in a row, I might be ready to take a year off. If we go somewhere next year, where should we go?

Signing off for now...

Jill

I think I'm ready to go live

So I'll add some pictures soon, because a lot of the fun of blogging is getting to see pictures of people. Jose and I just got back from our trip to Europe over spring break so we have some fun ones to add. Maybe I'll add some of Gipper and Nancy too.
Stay tuned!