Life: Idiotropic

Groceries stores in Spain carry cleaning supplies and paper products, bug repellent and batteries, but not tape. It's the week of Christmas and I can't find one roll of any kind of tape at Mercadona. Went looking at a larger store - Alcampo which has everything from toys to camping gear to household items and food. I'm sure there's tape there, but I couldn't find it. Again, Christmas week. Tape. I'm thinking there should be entire tape displays at the end of each aisle. May be a giant Christmas tree created just from rolls of tape stacked on top of each other. Ok, so children here don't get their presents until the 6th, but still... it's getting close and I'm down to wrapping gifts with duct tape. (Note: I had three rolls of packing tape. Turns out their smell, rollability, and easy grip design make perfect dog toys. I discovered this after several "I've lost my mind, just set the tape down 2 seconds ago and now it's gone" moments and complete top to bottom searches of the house. Now I still have three rolls of packing tape, but they are so badly dented with puppy fang marks that they are completely useless.)

Luci fell in love with a hollowed out bull horn at the medieval fair last month, but I didn't have the cash to buy it for her, so I ventured downtown to find the little crafts market by the church on Monday to find it. The vendor said he'd be there, but he wasn't. Amazing how difficult it is to find bull horn crafts here. Next time I find one, I'll buy a few. They are kind of a special thing. Anyway... wasn't a wasted trip. Kirk and I enjoyed a train ride, a nice walk, and lunch together.

He's off and that's nice. Luci and Elise both had birthday parties. Kirk went to Luci's party at Liza's house and was able to meet and chat with the husbands of my two closest friends here. I went to the party at the school where Elise was. It was Alec's party. His mom is Dutch, his dad Spanish and they were both very nice. I was greeted with "Oh, so you're Elise's mom!" and "This is the mom of the famous Elise." About 5 ladies claimed that their boys are Elise' boyfriends. And when I did see her dimpled face, she was running full speed from 3 little boys, then reverse and she's chasing them. A fun party and amusing to see the following that my little one has. She loves her class and is enjoying her popularity.

That was Monday. Tuesday is a blur of errands and poor weather - the last day of school for the girls before the holiday and two kids sick at home.

Today we shared our gingerbread tradition with our friends. I made pieces and frosting enough for three gingerbread houses and my friend's Sue and Eva both brought their girls over to decorate gingerbread with our family. It was loud, but fun and everyone went home with a brightly colored sugar laden house to eat. Ours stood tempting the girls. Do not cut until Christmas.