Back in the work track, bad bronchioles and four januaries
Happy Monday. I can say this now that i've sipped into my second cup of coffee. Lots of news today, from days before. Lots of information that may spice up the week. Right. First things first. I got a job. After endlesly looking for some sort of work and thinking i'd be stuck in a shitty place or, worse, stuck with no job at all and no welfare. I was starting to get nervous. But then, wouldn't you know it, i got three interviews in 48 hours, i got an offer, i lingered on about it, i said yes, i got happy and jumped a little around the living room.

It's good to be back in the market. I'll be working at a small to medium communication agency, doing journalishy stuff. Not a lot of pressure. Quite a lot of hours (well, the usual amount but with Bruno around all timetables seem impossible to me). I haven't got the slightest idea of how we're going to organize schedules with Muffin, who will take care of him in the evenings, how and when will this be sorted out. I've had my share of worries this weekend. I still shiver a bit but there's not much i can do just now, so. Let's stick to the good news. I got a job. And not a lousy one, at that.

Downside: Bruno is sick. He has bronchiolitis. Poor babba has to take yet another round of antibiotics and have two doses of ventolin every four hours. Nightmare. He looks mellow and tired, he sounds not well. I have him with me in the house and i'm glad he's sleeping a great deal since it will certainly do him good and it gives me time to (not) meet my freelancing deadline. Juggler.

Third piece of news for you today is about something belated. This blog, whose redesigning is starting to sound more like a planned joke, turned 4 years old on January 25th. I expect cards and pressies. I also expect world peace and an ugly Brangelina baby.

On the move
I went into the city yesterday morning. Did a few tests, had a bit of an interview, went back up to collect Muffin at kindergarden. Had lunch, gave snack to Bruno, left him in the glorious care of my sister and the rest of the family, took the car back down into Madrid again. Went into interview, then had a beer with Pablo, went into the Mountain House to get Muffin, finally arrived home at 11.00 pm. This morning i was in town again, finishing an interview that was left a little open the day before, went into Pablo's work building to retrieve car, headed home. Phone rings in the middle of a green traffic light, i pull over, have a short conversation of three minutes, change my path and go to an unscheduled interview. Rush onto the road again after that, collect Bruno, and go home. I never mentioned i promised myself not to leave the house until i meet my freelancing deadline. Oh boy, am i on the move.

The M&m's and Pink Friday
Big M is quickly leaving childhood behind. She is tall and smiling and teenaging. She plays her sax and piano when she can. She has this peculiar look in her face. Something that gives the rest of us little hints of what she may become. She says she wants to be an actress. But only a stage one. She still likes to eat her cabbage.



Little M is also growing tall and strong. She has a great accent for English and she loves to practice it. She is incredibly open about her feelings and can go from almost fake sadness to bubbles of giggles in nanoseconds. She's the one portrayed in the picture. It was taken when she was about 4 years old, going to a school costume party. I love that she looks so pensive in her festive outfit. And i retouched the picture to give it a pale background. So now it's a firm candidate for Pink Friday.

2005
I don't want January to slip by as fast as the previous months did. I want January to stay here and give me time to collect some memories, put them together nicely and offer, yet again, my particular view of 2005. I always do this. I'd done it for ages. Except this time it feels different. The year that just left us was made of a new unknown material i need to get acquainted with. The material of which new lives are made. And i don't mean only Bruno's new life. I mean, of course, mine too. Maybe yours. So tell me, while i clip the monthly souvenirs together: what was 2005 to you?

Ex Half Mad Spinster
Sometimes the pressure of keeping your blog nice and updated and clean of sillyness is too much. I know this. I've been there. Maybe i'm there now. Sometimes you stop writing for a few days, a week. You take a slow month to recover and let things happen to you so you can go back to business telling the bored world about the adventures. Been there, too. Often, you openly apologize in your blog. And yet sometimes you do neither. You pull away. Close the shop. Perhaps you don't even offer an explanation: i want my privacy back, i've said what i wanted to say, my life is far more interesting than this blog, etc.

After a mirage return a few months back, Arwen let her blog sort of fade out. Themis murdered his site and let the first bidder take up his domain name. Logan left to attend higher callings. And now Ex Half Mad Spinster has also retired. As with the rest of you ex bloggers, I'll miss Mary very much.

Happily poisoned
Excuse me while i get my nose from out of the book. There.

Remember when i used to read all the freakin' time? And do you remember how i seriously slowed down on my reading when i got pregnant? And then how i simply stopped from even looking at books? The next stage was reading parent-related stuff, such as Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety or The Three Martini Playdate? Do you remember how it took me something like half a century to finish I Am Charlotte Simmons?

The dry page period is over. It only took a deliciously well written novel to get my eyes and mind back on track. I'm probably way late on telling you this but, if you haven't read it, i strongly recommend The Poisonwood Bible. I haven't finished it yet, so there's still a slight possibility that the ending sucks, but i'm devouring this book. And i'm so happy about it.

I love the way this woman writes. It's like the scent of slow cooking coming out of a wood shed, if that simile makes any sense to you. I like the story: how the characters are sketched out in a matter of 15 pages, the journey into Africa in the 60s, the obvious collision of cultures, the panic of sensing a green mamba approaching (psst: sorry for the snake reference, Arwen, but you did get over the Harry Potter book, so...), the tangle of feelings and views of five different narrators.

Oh. It feels so damn good to be back reading. Next on my bookshelf is Tiny Ladies in Shiny Pants. I'm looking forward to reading this first book by a Six Feet Under writer who comes up with titles such as "Courteny Cox's asshole".

The miracle T machine
My mother went and bought herself a Thermomix. For those of you not in the know, this big shiny machine is a cooking robot that's supposed to replace something like 10 kitchen tools. I lack the cooking vocabulary needed to tell you what this babe can do, but look at the picture and get an idea.

This thing doesn't retail. Your Thermomix will come to you via a fantastic looking lady with gracious manners and a huge smile who will make you a 23 course meal for 45 guests in a matter of minutes. Then she'll sell you the miracle T machine. You'll buy it feeling lucky. You'll pay the installments as long as the world turns. And you'll talk about your Thermomix in feminine, as if you had suddenly hired Patricia to help you out in the kitchen.

My mother went and bought the first Thermomix years ago, when i was a kid. I remember the green and metal machine, not as sophisticated as it looks in its 5.8 version now, but still able to take over the entire kitchen and leave all knives, blenders et all out of the job.

So after her experience and now that she's living alone, my mother decided to boost her kitchen confidence and fight cooking lazyness with this robot. Except she doesn't use it, claiming it's complicated, she doesn't have time, etc. And she has given it to me. *gasp*. I've accepted as long as it's a loan. I'll give it a spin for a few months, make Muffin's delicatessen with it and we'll take it from there.

The T machine is currently sitting on top of the dishwasher. Looking at me, surrounded by her accesories and books. I feel a little intimidated, but please keep the secret.

This afternoon
I am witnessing a breathtaking landscape from the window in the study room. There are little houses and chimneys on agains the mountain. Further away, the snow, almost like a cream dessert. And then on top of it all a rash of clouds in purple and blurry pink. The kind of stuff you feel grateful for when you live in a place like this.

I went to the park today with the Muffin. He had his fruit there. He also had a go with a swing for the first time. He seemed to like it. The whole event made me think of my own little me when i went to parks. Here's what i remember: I wasn't a big socializer. I liked playing with the sand and the dirt the most. I was afraid of heights so slides we not my favourite for a while. I was always looking around for treasures, such as sticks.

If money issues, time problems and lack of proper furniture weren't an obstacle, i'd be cooking 24/7. I've watched a chef make melon caviar today on telly. And i have a recipe for the richest chocolate cake ever. Still, learning also means failing. Last night i tried to invent Asian noodles with sweet corn and green beans in white wine sauce in the wok. It turned out mushy and plain dreadful.

I'm off to iron a pile of clothing now.

Happy New Intention
My 2006 resolution is to see more of you.
The rest is here.