catching up

Halloween was great. E went trick or treating in our neighbourhood and in my folks neighbourhood. She actually only went to 2 houses on my parents' street because the neighbours had asked about E and mom had promised she would trick or treat there. Well, both happened to fill some very large bags full of all kinds of candy. So much so, that E didn't really need to have done anymore trick or treating on our street.We still have so much candy. Tomorrow E is heading off to Cuba with my folks and I have packed up most of her non-melting type of candy to take with her to share with her Cuban friends. I am going to miss my little girl so much. I am also a little jealous. If only I hadn't talked up the resort so much..my parents have been itching to go and they wanted to bring E with them. Today, I visited a lawyer and he notarized my letter of consent for E to travel without me. :(

So I may be blogging more or I may be blogging less in the next 7 days. I do plan to get a jump on my basement renos that I like to talk about but have yet to actually get anything meaningful done on it. If I end up blogging more it will be either due to procrastination or pride. I suppose the same could be said for blogging less. If I procrastinate, I won't want to broadcast it right away and if I am really busy renovating, I may be too tired to blog. Here's hoping for the latter. :)

There is already a bit of a wrench in my renovation plans. A fun wrench though. C is having a dinner party on Saturday and I get to go to it. Woohoo! Fun without a time limit. ;) Last weekend, E and I went to a surprise 40th bday party for V, but once E started to fade, it was time to go. It was pretty fun though as everyone brought their kids and even though E was the youngest, the other kids played with her while the oldest teenager supervised. D is V's oldest child (14) and she is simply amazing. E adores her and I think D was happy that E brought the Hannah Montana movie dvd. E could hardly care less for the dialogue but loves the song and dance parts. E watched the entire dvd with D and S at V's party but fast-forwards to the music numbers at home. It is so cute to watch her sing and dance along.

Speaking of dance, last Friday at Peruvian dance class, the teacher brought in another teacher to help the kids get ready for a show next week. Unfortunately E won't be here for that but it would have been fun. It coincides with C's dinner party so maybe it's a blessing in disguise as it does not force me to choose. I did that last weekend and it tore me up. I am so sorry M and J, I was so looking forward to your Guy Fawkes party. As for the Peruvian dance, some of the kids dance really well. The rest are getting there and some of the younger 2-3 year old's are just hilarious. After the teacher had arranged the kids in 4 rows from smallest to tallest, a 2 year old, who had been in the first row, at the end, walked in to the middle of the 1st and 2nd rows and just sat down. Well, the kids move around quite a bit when they are dancing, so I went over and picked him up and moved him out of harm's way. He looked at me quizically and then after I sat down, he got up and walked back over to the middle of the kids to sit back down on the floor. I could not contain myself. It was so funny. The regular teacher was not impressed as she walked over and picked him up and moved him outside the dancers and told him in Spanish to stay put. Mom wanted to know where his mother was and I told her that there is an adult class on the other side of the floor so she drops off her 3 kids and goes to her class. But it's just so great that there is such camraderie in this dance group that the entire family is welcome and that everyone is made to feel comfortable. They have been exceptionally warm and friendly with us. Between her Peruvian dance class and her Salvadoran soccer, E hears a great deal of Spanish and it's all part of a fun activity. E also enjoys her Spanish class but the kids speak English amongst themselves. There is no time for that during dance and soccer as the kids must follow instructions in Spanish.

Today E was watching Hannah Montana in Spanish, but the songs were still sung in English and that is the gist of what she watches. Lucky for her, pretty much all the songs she will hear in Cuba will be in Spanish. This morning she was singing Veo Veo, Que ves...a fun Spanish vowel song that she knows quite well from the mini-disco from her previous trip to Cuba. E is going to have a blast. So are my folks. It has taken me just a little over 2 years and 8 months to allow my little girl to go off without me. Someone at V's party wanted to know how long the bond took to become established between E and myself to which I answered one year and now another milestone has been reached for when I can feel comfortable with her spending a week with her grandparents, but more importantly, without me. It would have been nice for me to go too, but I really want to take time off at Christmas. Besides, there are other things I would miss if I were to go so it will be interesting to live for a week as I did before E came along. It's hard to believe but I can hardly remember what that life was like. It seems E has always been here. I am going to miss her. :(