POD "Prego Shado"

The POD today is my PREGO SHADOW! You see, somedays, when I'm getting my "walk on," I don't feel all that big! I feel good! In shape, healthy, maybe even semi-athletic... and thennnnn I catch myself in a mirror. Or WORSE! A SHADOW! CRIKEY! I look like an oompaloompa! :) Ah well. The good news is that I'm almost in third trimester land I still feel great!

POD "Chilling on the Patio"

The POD for today is just a simple picture of da puhppies. 9:15pm here, after a BEAUTIFUL 80 degree spring day, and they STILL aren't ready to come in. They are LOVING this cooler evening weather and the start of longer days. I can't blame them. :)

POD " A Taste of the Quilt to Come"

Today was the MOST amazing day! I went with my friend Shelley to pick out fabric for our lil man's baby quilt! Shelley has (SO GENEROUSLY!) offered to make a baby quilt for us and we couldn't be more ecstatic!

As many of you know, our baby room's theme is celestial with stars, moons, suns and deep shades of blue, purple...etc. :) SOOOO we dug through rows upon rows upon rows in this tiny, but FANTASTIC, lil fabric shop in Puerto, searching for JUST the right patterns, prints, colors...etc. to piece together for the PERFECT quilt.

Here's the bag of colors we left with! I just cannot WAIT to see the whole thing done and I'm SO excited to be receiving such a special keepsake! Of course, there will be pictures of the finished product, but for now, all I can give you is a taste of what's to come!

S Words and Fun with SNAILS! :)

Snails are so great. They're strange, slimy, sleepy, slothful, succulent (as I now know after living here in Rota), stimulating, and a whole slew of other S words. I mean, they are comPLETEly underrated! Well, atleast to Matt they are.

The other evening, I was lounging on the couch while Matt finished cleaning up the paint supplies used in the nursery. I could hear the sound of water running through the pipes and assumed Matt was outside rinsing out his paint brush. All of a sudden, I was summoned to "COME QUICK" to the patio and "BRING THE CAMERA." Matthew excitedly bragged that he had my "photo of the day" ready and waiting. Little did he know, his photo of the day would turn into a full fledged photo SHOOT! :)

I rushed to the patio, camera in hand, to find him leaning over the drainage grate in our lawn. A snail. Albeit, a very LARGE snail, but still... just a snail. Did I really haul my prego arse off the couch and make a mad dash for this? I wanted to remind him that snails don't move ALL that quickly and that he probably would have had time to get the camera himself. :) But I didn't. I just snapped a few half-hearted shots and headed back inside to the comfort of our worn doggy-dog sofa.

WELLLLLL, that wasn't good enough for Mateo. He took the camera and spent another 30 minutes in the dark snapping away. After a while, I even called out to the strobe light in our backyard and asked if he was okay. :) Finally he came inside.

I must admit. He got some cool shots. Here they are!

SLIMY: Check out that SWEET slime trail through the painty-purple water!

SATISFYING (and accd to Takoda, SMELLY): Takoda was NOT missing out on the evening's entertainment.
SOCIABLE: It's officially a party now.
STIMULATING: Hell, did you know that snails could even be motivational?!!!
When life decides to throw you a big fat roadblock, what do you do?
Give up? NO.
Go around it? NO. Takes too long.
YOU CLIMB OVER THAT roadblock like it ain't NUTHIN!
And you just keep on truckin along...

:) Oh snails. We heart you.

Spring Break Week: Un Paseo en Rota

This week, I'm lucky enough to have a week off from work! The kiddos are on spring break which means no tutoring and no subbing! I woke up to fabulous weather so to kick off the week, I decided on a nice relaxing afternoon stroll in Rota. I just needed to get off the base and have some quiet alone time to think, people watch and relax! :) We all know that once baby man arrives "me time" will probably come few and far between (did I get that saying right?) so I am treating myself now while I still can!

So to document my afternoon for my family and friends who enjoy living la vida fantastica along with me... of course... I took some photos! Disfruta!(Enjoy!)

After just a smidge of walking my bladder was calling to me, so I found a nice bar where I could give the baby a little more room (if you know what I'm saying) and get a snack! I settled in the shade of this small little plaza (Plaza de Andalucia) and snacked on some olives with my coca cola.

Wait... the menu says they have chocos fritos. Well of COURSE I have to order some! For those of you who don't know, chocos fritos are fried cuttlefish and if you're a calamari fan, you'd like these too. They are great with lemon! :)

Enjoying the view from my table.

After my salty snack it was time to slide next door and pick out a little gelato! :) YUMMO! I opted for a cup of nata con oreo (cream with oreos) and strolled with my sweet treat through the streets, headed for the ocean boardwalk.

While lounging on this long tile bench and overlooking the quiet and tranquil beach, I licked the cup clean! The beaches are SO peaceful this time of year. Rota is SUCH a fun place to be in the summer, but the beach will be swarmed come this time in July!

The one of the many entrances to the beach from the old town. :)

Time for a stroll on the shore!


Before heading back to the car, I just HAD to plop down in the warm sand and take a break to enjoy the waves and sun. Ahhhhhhhh. I didn't want to leave! I procrastinated by taking a few belly shots. Here's one. :)

On the way back to my car, I noticed a cute jewelry store that was still open despite siesta hours. I popped in and checked out the charms. 3.50 euro for all three! How could I resist!

What a fantastic afternoon. Now to head back home and take my puppies out for THEIR explore time. :)

POD "Flamingitis"

It's sort of been going around here in Rota military housing. Pink flamingos, that is. The first time I saw them crowded around the front yard of someone's house, I laughed. The second time I saw them, I was confused. The third time I saw them (at a new house each time, by the way) I was CURIOUS! Who was sneaking in during the night and bringing their flock of pink lawn ornaments? Why? Was I going to be "flocked" next?

Well, when my neighbor found herself flooded with flamingos one morning, I finally got my answer! It's a "Relay for Life" fundraiser for the American Cancer Society and once you're "flocked," you've got all sorts of options including donating (to get the lovely, attention seekers off your lawn), paying to have them moved to someone ELSE'S lawn you'd love to target, or doing nothing (poo poo on you). Anyway, I just loved this idea and had to share with my fellow blog readers. I stealthily snagged this midnight photo shot of our neighbors lawn. I spotted them out my window upon going to bed and just HAD to sneak out to get a pic. Hahaha! Already in bed, they had NO idea what treat they were going to be waking up to that next morning!

POD "Goooo Huskies!"

The POD for today is a photo from about 3:30 this morning. That's right people. Three-thirty AM. I, being the fabulous wife that I am, agreed to go to bed early and get up with Matty at 3:30 to watch the live broadcast from Houston of the March Madness championship game. (*Pats herself on the back*) Here's the photo of Matty and his husky compadre cheering on the boys at the start of the game.

I must admit, I waivered in my decision to watch this showdown. Why? Well, it's just that everytime one of our teams find themselves in a game that matters, and I FINALLY sit down to watch... they lose. :) It's a curse and you can count on it. If I'm watching... we're losing.

Nevertheless, I got up and watched, hoping to break this dreaded curse. After the piss poor performance of both teams in the first half (lowest scoring championship game since the 40s) I considered going back to bed! The curse could not be broken! Still, I was not giving up. I stayed up for the second half, and although the scoring didn't improve much, UConn managed to get a FEW more bricks in the basket than Butler. ;) Hahaha Halfway thru the second half, when Butler FINALLY scored their FIRST points of the game from inside the paint, I even told Matt "Wow. Somebody get that kid a medal."

As long as UConn won, Matt didn't seem to mind how dull the game was. I felt it was a bit boring and sort of hoped for some more action. HEY... it was 4 o'clock in the morning! What do you want from me?!

I am happy to announce (incase you somehow missed the headlines) UConn won the dogfight! :) YAY! AND I got to go back to bed for 3 more hours. YAY AGAIN! :)

SO, from the Thomsen household, we gotta give a big shoutout to Takoda's family. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HUSKIES!

POD "Tis the Season"

Ahhhh spring in Spain. Tis the season of sunshine, beautiful 75 degree days, fresh cool breezes coming off the ocean, parakeets squawking in the palms, lounging in the hammock (if I can get comfortable) and grilling. Oh wait... I forgot something. It's also the season of dog hair. Piles and piles and piles of dog hair. Dog hair and mud. Doggy dust bunnies the size of small creatures that leave me with no choice but to ignore the doorbell when it rings. "Ohhhhhhh no. I am NOT letting anyone step ONE foot inside this house right now." Yeah... it's bad. People ask me, "How do you keep up with all that hair!" HAH! I DON'T! I have a hard enough time keeping up with it when i'm NOT huge and tired. SO just a warning for the next person who rings my doorbell. Don't expect me to answer it. ;)

POD "Gotta Beat 'em to the Bunk"

So this is why I insist on being first in bed. Usually I have NO problem beating the boys to bed what with my current "condition." ;) However, there ARE days when I get busy and next thing you know I hear Matt telling the boys it's time for bed. Of course there is NO way I can beat them considering I'm the only one with an evening bathroom routine. SO when I don't beat them... this is what I come in to find.

Really? Really? As if we don't ALREADY have a problem with space. Double bed + 1 man + two extra pillows + pregasaurus = NO SPACE. Add a Husky to the mix and it's just trouble. No joke, I think Takoda is smiling.

POD "Use Two Straws When Eating for Two"

Of COURSE this picture made it as the photo of the day! Are you kidding? How could it not? This batido (aka shake) is the BEST I've had since arriving in Spain and you can find this icy delight at Bombay in Rota. :) Of course I had to have Rocio, my spanish chica friend, take a picture of the dessert masterpiece. Little did I know what a hillarious picture it would be.

Side note: Things that are wrong with this picture...
1. The shake came with two straws. Ummm apparently I'm supposed to share?
2. I made the mistake of leaning my upper body away from camera, only emphasizing the largeness of my lower region. :)
3. It's my "bad side." Yes folks, now that I have bangs, I have a bad side. Which is the bad side? The side that gives you a sneak peak of the forehead.
4. My head looks too small for my body. :)