Another Day, Another Wall and More

For a quick update on the construction front, we have a mess and it will only get much worse.  You can see the new brick wall with an opening for a window.  On the other side of that wall is the old kitchen which soon will be torn down and converted into a patio/garage for a second car.

All of my kitchen stuff is now strewn all over the dining room and living room.  I didn't take pictures of that because it drives me crazy and I don't want it recorded for posterity.  It's coming along though and it's not like we haven't lived through these messes before.  This is about the seventh time we have gone through major house construction and reconstruction between Mexico City and Chicago.  At a certain point tempers will flare and furniture may fly. We haven't reached that point yet but I have noticed that we are both snapping at the other just about every time we occupy the same room.  This better be worth it.

I bake a lot so I decided to make some banana bread on Saturday.  One loaf for us and the other to take to my mother-in-law's for dinner.  I quickly found out that the thermostat on my oven doesn't work.  Within 10 minutes the house was filled with smoke and the smell of carbon.  Who knows what temp the oven was at by then, but Arturo said that a little bit of burnt crust wouldn't bother him at all.  So I turned the oven way way down, I opened the door every few minutes to let even more heat out, and I groused about how nothing ever seems to work right.  My daughters can tell you that I take on that world view every so often.

So, the top picture is self explanatory.  The bottom is what was left over after I cut off the burnt part.  Our house smelled of burnt bread for two entire days.  Arturo claims that it smelled good.  That makes me worry.

And to end off today's post, I read this interesting article that Madeleine Benzing posted on Facebook that discusses why French kids aren't diagnosed with ADHD to the extent that U.S. kids are.  The ADHD rate for U.S. children has reached the astounding level of 9%, while the French rate is .5%, according to the article.  What struck me, or hit home, is the difference in attitudes and theories of child rearing between the French and the American styles.  If you have the time or interest to read it, I'd love to know which child rearing philosophy you subscribe to.

Happy Wednesday!

A Mish Mash on a Rainy Day

It's been raining for the last 36 hours give or take a few minutes.  I am not a rain person.  I can only survive when it is sunny outside.  It doesn't have to be warm but it has to be sunny.  Mexico needs the rain so I'm grateful for it, but I really think it should only rain at night when I'm in bed either sleeping or reading a good book.  I took this photo at 10:30 a.m. and it could be mistaken for a nighttime photo.  Eventually the sun will return so until then I will just drink lots of coffee to stay awake and I'll think good thoughts about how green everything will become.  

On the house reconstruction front, they haven't started with the inside yet but are working on the patio/garage as it is going to be enlarged.  So while that is a muddy, wet concrete mess, the house is still workable.   Next week we dismantle the kitchen and then it gets torn down.  That should be interesting.  The good thing about that is that I won't be able to cook.  I don't have anything against cooking but I'll always willing to take a break from it when I can.  As long as I have a place to plug in the coffeepot I'm good to go.

Notice that blue covered thing in the picture below in what is currently part of my mostly cleared out kitchen/eating area? (We don't usually eat at a plastic picnic table - we put away the good furniture).  That is Arturo's 30 year old cross country motorcycle.  Obviously we have to protect what is most important to us, right?  Really?  A motorcycle in my kitchen?

Citlali has the right idea.