Mid morning snack is a must in Spain. Something to do between breakfast and lunch to kill some working time, I guess. Works for me, anyway. When I go buy some groceries, I always forget about getting cookies or yummy snacks to grab a bite from time to time. My mum never forgets, luckily enough, nor does my bf. This Tuesday, he showed up in the office and brought me a big bag of cheese and garlic flavoured chips. Yeah, he is awesome like that. Which is weird is that if I don't have any snack I don't really miss it, but I know that I have some, I totally have to eat it :D

Those chips reminded me of Victoria Beckham. When she started living here (since David was playing in a Spanish soccer team until recently), she wrinkled her nose and said that Spain smelled like garlic so everyone from the yellow press and also people on the street started to call her every name under the sun. The poor thing :lol:

Calvin and Hobbes are propriety of Bill Watterson and Universal Press Syndicate.

I guess I've always been a prude :lol: When I was a kid like Calvin, I didn't pay any attention to the boys. Well, my school was exclusive for girls, maybe that was a key factor too. But I had no interest in them. No interest different than the one I could have in the girls, that is, someone to play with :|

I'm the only girl in my dad's side of the family and I was the smallest one in my mum's side until my cousin Enire was born when I was 17, so I grew up having a bunch of annoying cousins around. I only became aware of the fact that boys could be quite charming (when they intended to) when I was somewhere around 14 :P :twisted:

However, when I ask my nephews if they have any girlfriend, they always say they do. And they are 6, 7 and 10. Even Markel, who will be 3 in September claims to be coupled up, but I guess he does that only because he imitates his older brother. So, they all have girlfriends. So far so good :wink:

Then I start questioning. Their names. No problem there. Their hair colour. No problem there. Are they pretty? No problem there, either they shrug or say that they are very pretty, of course. Do you like them? BIG problem. They blush, look downwards and shout "NO" before running away. Common pattern. I go like ???? :?

Ok, after some distracting manoeuvres, there I go again. Do you play with them? No problem there, they do. What kind of games? They shrug, It's either pulling their hair or or push them into the ground or steal their lunch. Pretty much Calvin like :)

Did you have a childhood boyfriend?

On the personal note, yay!! Open air movies tonight. " V for Vendetta" will be on, I have no idea if it should be any good. And more apartment improvements in the early afternoon (so, in a while), and then we will probably go to the fairs in my quarter. I've been thinking all morning about tiger nuts (just looked it up, funny translation). Do you know what they are? I love them. And they sell good ones in the festivals here :D

On the *sigh* note, today's bullrun was a mess. A bull got lost from the herd and started goring left, right and centre. Almost 50 damaged people, 4 of them severely gored, 2 of them still going through surgery. Here:

http://www.sanferminonline.net/finales/dia12.html

I can't cook to save my life. I won't ever starve to death, but I don't have the patience to prepare an elaborated meal. I can eat pasta for a whole week, I don't really care that much as long as I stuff myself. I could eat those pills that astronauts take to feed themselves. They provide them with this full sensation in their stomachs. That would be more than enough for me most of the times :P

However, I've been blessed with a bf who likes cooking. He can spend whatever it takes to prepare a nice dinner, and I just can eat a little bit of this and I little bit of that and have enough. I go stealing his ingredients as he prepares the food which pisses him off. And I like doing the dishes, so we make a great team :)

This is gonna sound totally stupid but when I was a kid, I wanted to make the dishes and my mum wouldn't allow me. I was so angry. I wanted to make the dishes so badly. I dreamt about becoming a professional dishes washer. I would go visiting my neighbours after lunch and making all the dishes in the neighbourhood. They had to provide me with sponge and soap, of course. And then, pay me for a job well done. And I would be really happy :D

My mum still cracks up when she remembers that. But then, someone invented the dishwasher machine and thoroughly ruined my plans of future :lol:

Calvin and Hobbes are propriety of Bill Watterson and Universal Press Syndicate.

Seems like Calvin's dad is not high in the polls between tigers and kids, huh? :lol: That's funny. When I was a child my dad and my mum were the best ones ever, always highest place in my polls (well, not that they are not high at present, but now I can see some flaws between their many virtues) :wink:

I wasn't a restless kid or a prankster (that last bit came with time :D ) so I don't remember having been punished or yelled at or anything like that. My brother played the rebel role pretty fine, so childhood was a smooth path for me :)

Thinking about it, it's really sweet how incredibly amazing my parents were to me. My dad was the strongest man on earth, a cuter version of a mix between "Incredible Hulk" (my dad is huge)and "Popeye" (my dad was a sailor). My mum was the best cooker ever and she no doubt that she was the wisest too, because she always had an answer for all my questions :D

I don't think that there is any better sensation for a kid than feeling loved, taken care of and protected. It must be so nice being a small kid and feeling that nothing would ever go wrong because your parents will never let anything bad happen and will always make you feel safe. Growing up can be pretty frustrating, huh? :)

On the personal note, hmmm, nothing really going on. Back to home improvement in the afternoon. It has been raining for the whole day, so no open air movies tonight. Anyway,we recently watched "Pan's Labyrinth", so I'm not sure if wewould be going to rewatch it. The festivities of my quearter start tonight and theywill last until Sunday. I'll try and take a couple of pics of a few things that I really like. But that should be tomorrow, I guess, if the weather turns any nicer. Until then *huge hugs* :D

July 10th 2007. Happy Birthday, Ash!! :D

It is true that the smallest things are those which keep the flame burning. Sharing a coffee, going for a walk, watching a movie together, dressing up for the other, making a surprise little present in an irrelevant date, saying "I love you" each day, and "you look beautiful" often, leaving a romantic note for the other to find :) ...and apparently, bringing breakfast to bed.

However, I never quite understood this one. Maybe it is just me, but I don't like to eat in bed. I mean, I can grab a bite of something, but not properly eat. And least of all, having breakfast. I'm pretty sure that I would spill any liquid stuff over the sheets, get some layers of jam in the pillow, toast crumbs all around...what a mess :?The only thought of it makes me nervous. Do you like to eat in bed?

Calvin and Hobbes are propriete of Bill Waterson and Universal Press Syndicate.

Bath time. I don't remember bath time as a hard time. I hated it when the water went inside my ears, because when I was a kid my ears ached often. The doctor said that it was too much beach or too much pool and that I had to use some pink wax plugs, which I hated. I felt as I had a diving helmet on or something. I felt this vacuum sensation which was just annoying not to mention that I couldn't listen to my cousins when we were playing in the water and I hated it so I hardly used them :|

I remember that I always covered my ears with my hands when my mum was rinsing my hair. Apart from that, bath was fun. It was nice having these massages in the back with the sponge and bringing all the toys and dolls inside the bathtube. It was funny how my hair was all nice after the bath, whereas my doll's hair looked like scourer after my ruffles :DActually, it was hard to convince me to come outside, it was so warm and nice in the water

Well, I dunno if my doctor was right, but then I practiced canoeing for 15 years and my ears didn't ache one single day. And believe me, when you train kids you spend more time in the water than inside the canoe :lol: Did you enjoyed bath time?

On the personal note, back to home improvement this afternoon. The weather is just so so today so I feel a bit less lazy than yesterday. Tonight there is no open air movies either, so we'll probably enjoy a quiet dinner and then we'll watch some tv or play some cards. I guess that two brothers of my bf are joining us for diner so it would probably be cards then :)

On the pissy note (yeah, new category here, please insert huge *sigh*) well, I only needed to turn the tv on and when I was skipping yesterday's bullfights summary, I came across another "great" festivity of ours. The first weekend in July, the "Rapa das Bestas" takes place In Galicia. Herds of wild horses that during the year have been grazing in freedom in the mountain, are confined into a paddock which becomes the focal point of the struggle to tame the wild horses and get to cut their mane. How stupid is that? How stressful is it for the horses? *sigh* I promise you that my country's traditions are depressing me. Gah :evil:

Awww, the poor guy (yeah right)

The wild horses overstress and feel threatened when confined.

It doesn't need much for two people who are in love or even for two people who get along well to have a nice time. I'm the happiest woman if I go for a walk to the docks and sit down there, having a nice chat, catching some breeze, listening to the seagulls, smelling some iodine, eating some seeds, catching a tan... I'm such a fishermen village girl :P

I can have a nice time at the mountain too, not being for the insects. They freak me out. But it's great drinking out of a natural fountain. The water is the so fresh and delicious. Well, I know it doesn't have any taste but still it's yummy. Have you drank out of one of those? There are loads around my place. It's he freshest water I've ever drank.

I never thought about it until someone pointed it out to me, but I'm really lucky to have both sea and mountain at a 10 minute walk from my place. Cool :)

Calvin and Hobbes are propriety of Bill Watterson and United Press Syndicate.

Hmmm, kinda serious theme today. Do you think that our lives are predestined? That the things we do are inevitable? I don't believe in fate or destiny, but I do believe in coincidences. Wether if it is the same thing or not, I'm not sure :|

I'm just not comfortable with the idea that everything I do is somehow cosmically prescheduled. That no matter what I do, I would end up in some predestined point. Why do we take choices in life for if it is so? Why so much thinking? Why to weigh up things and think and rethink about the consequences that every single one of my actions may have? We could actually spare all the angst. It's really scary :?

I prefer thinking that I and only I am the owner of my will. That I can choose, take options, decide about my future. I don't like to think that I am like a grocery, being born with sell-by date. So, I am supposed to be best before some prearranged date? So if I decide to throw myself out of the balcony the second after I write this blog, that was predestined too? What if I don't scratch my itchy cheek? Was I supposed not to? (Gah, I scratched it, it itched loads) :wink:

I won't throw myself off the balcony though. I'm wearing my pjs but I still have my makeup on and my jewelry. I look like a weirdo. Although on second thought, that's pretty much me :D

On the personal note, I'm off to keep on with my apt improvements for the whole afternoon. Yeah, how boring, huh? Anyway, I talked to my boss this morning and I arranged my holidays so I can do two things I wanted to do:

-attend my friend's wedding in Galicia (8 hour ride) by the end of this month. So happy about that. Yes, I don't like weddings but I love to watch my friends getting married. Yes, I cry. What? :P

-go pick Penny up at the station. Yes, my tv.com Irish friend is coming to visit me this summer. It would only be a weekend but hey, at least I'll be able to hug her. I'm totally excited about her visit. I have loads of plans already :D

So I really need to speed up with my place. Because she is gonna stay with me, of course. Soooooo excited!!!! :)

I've been asked to tell a bit about what a bullrun consists of, and today's bullrun was the perfect example of it, so I'll write about a few facts that people usually don't know. I know it maybe really boring for some of you, so if that's the case, do not bother to read, I'll understand :wink: Today's bullrun is worth watching though. Mind you.

Calvin and Hobbes are propriety of Bill Watterson and Universal Press Syndicate.

Yesterday's bullrun ended up with 104 hurt people, 4 of them badly hurt, 1 of them in a serious condition (the gored guy). I'll tell you about today's numbers, but it's clear that it's gonna be worse. Where's the fun in that?

Today's bullrun was the perfect example of how accurate maths are: Sunday morning +loads of drunkards + Miura bulls + loads of ignorant braggarts = loads of gores. I'm not good at maths, but I gotta reckon that sometimes they are pretty useful to exemplify this: (sorry, there's a little commercial at the beginning).

http://www.sanferminonline.net/finales/dia8.html

Have you watched the bullrun? If so, here are some facts:

Ok, explanation to the equation:

Sunday morning: You can't even imagine how massive Pamplona's festivities are. There are crowds everywhere. People from Pamplona leave during this week, because it's no possible to walk around, to park the car and above all, to sleep at night. Most of them rent their places are incredibly high prices, most of all if they have balconies to the streets where the bullruns are held. Everysingle room is booked almost one year before. It's just amazing. I've hang out in Pamplona during the night. It's just multitudes filling the bars. It's a nice ambience though. Biggest days are of course Friday and Saturday night. That's why Sunday bullrun is full of drunkards. So, Sunday morning means crowd.

Have you noticed how many people were fallen in the floor even before the bulls reached them? People poke each other to get the best place in the street. You can't even imagine how many people are assisted by the sanitaries once the bullrun ends. Over than 100. Mostly bruises and sprains, either for being run over by other people or by the bulls themselves or for falling down the fences. Do you know how much does a bull weight? Something around 600 kg, that's it, some 1,300 pounds. And you can't even imagine how many shoes are lost in a bullrun. Hundreds again. Which make people keep on falling to the floor. People are not allowed to run with shoes wich are not laced or with bags or any complement which could get hooked in the horns. Loads of people were wearing every kind of weird stuff today.

If you have watched the video, you should probably have noticed loads of paper in the floor. Bullrunners carry a rolled newspaper in their hands. The proper way to run a bull, in placing oneself between their horns (believe it or not, its safer than being by their side because they can't gore forward, only sidewards) and extend the arm so you keep the bull at the newspaper distance. You are not allowed to touch a bull. That can make him turn around and run backwards. People kept on leaning against them today.

Loads of drunkards: As a result of partying all Saturday night. Local police makes a human cord and doesn't allow people who are not sober in the bullrun. I personally don't care if they end up wounded or not, they big enough to know what they do with their bodies. But they may put the other runners at risk, and that's not acceptable (not that I care much about the other runners, but still). However, the bullrun route is a long distance one, so people end up sneaking in inevitably.

Miura bulls: Miura is a well-known cattle which always means risk. Miura bulls are pretty fierce and they usually gore loads of people when bullrunning. Today was a good example of that.

Loads of ignorant braggarts: properly helped in their poise and bravery by alcohol. As I commented yesterday, bulls are too scared as to pay much attention to the people around them. They just run forward, trying to keep in track with the rest of the herd. They don't know where they are, so they just keep running to find a place where to take shelter from the scary crowds that surround them. If they wouldn't be hit by the shepherd's sticks, they wouldn't leave their pen. (Have you noticed those men dressed with green t-shirts and carrying a long stick?) They run after the bulls to force them to advance forward. And together with the bulls, several other bulls (called leading oxen) are released to guide them to the bullring, where the bullrund ends. These oxen are not brave and they are not killed afterwards. They are only used for leading purposes. They are bigger, they are usually white and brown and they wear big cowbells so the bulls can listen to them above the crowd's roars. So, that's they way a bullrun should be: fast forward all the time.

Expert bullrunners choose a short path, place themselves in front of the bulls and run some 100 metres only and then back off. You just can't run more because despite being in a sleepery surface for their hooves, bulls are faster than people. So the rules are that once the bull overpasses you, you gotta stop running and leave the route. Even shepperds are scattered along the route and join gradually, because they wouldn't resist running all the time after them. So no one but the shepherds should run after the bulls. Which is never the case. You know why?

•a) Because it shows how braggart they are : "Hey, I run a bullfight. Yeah, I was behind the bulls but still"

•b) Because it grants free access to the bullring. Once the bulls are in the ring, the doors are closed to avoid them to go backwards. So people have some 10 seconds to get in. Why do they want to get in? Because after the bullrun, little cows are released to entertain people. They are not as fierce, and their horns are filed not to gore, so they just make people good bruises. You gotta pay to watch it, and if you enter with the bulls, you enter for free.

Ok, so the bullrun should be fast and straight forward and no one should be running after the bulls. You know why? Because if one bull falls and gets lost from the herd, he does not know anymore where to run, he gets more scared and totally pissed off, so he has the tendency to run against people. Like today. The bull that get lost today started to run against people like 3 times. No one should have been there, only the shepherds. But it wasn't the case so he gored several people. He almost gored one of the shepherds as well. In those cases, the sheppers are perfectly allowed to hit people with their sticks so they back off. The more people the bulls sees, the more he gets pissed.

Luckily enough, it didn't take long for the bull to be put back in the right track. But there is a second and even a third bunch of oxen waiting in the starting pen, to be released so the lost bulls can be guided to the bullring. Sometimes, more than one bull gets lost and things get pretty difficult to handle.

And to make things worse, you know what? Once the bulls are about to leave the pen, a rocket is thrown to let people along the bullrun route know that the bulls left. (Expert runners tend to do some warming up before and stuff) A 2nd rocket is thrown when the bulls enter the bullring, and a 3rd one is thrown when the bulls are inside the bullring pen. But the 3rd one was thrown even though the lost bull was still outside. I mean, c'mon...can't people in the ring even count up to 6?

On the personal note, yesterday we didn't go to the open air movies. "Miami Vice" was on, and we didn't feel like watching that one. Anyone has seen it? Is it any good? We went to the festivals in this village near us, and spend the afternoon with the nephews in the attractions, mostly the clash cars *sigh*. It was fun though. We will probably go this afternoon again. There are a lot of craftsmen selling nice stuff, and I may buy some toe ring or something :)

Love is the sweetest thing. It really is. And not only love between lovers, but love between brothers and between friends. You all know that I went through a bad time this week, and I just found loads of signs of love in my pms and my blogs. Really sweet, nice and comforting words. And that's pure love guys. Thanks everyone :)

So yesterday night bf brought me again to the open air movies. Yes, he is that sweet. We watched "Casino Royale". I'm not a fan of James Bond's movies, but this one was kinda alright. And part of the action was set in Madagascar (winks to fellow Pirates), which made me giggle for a while. Bf gave me that quizzical look, but he is used to me acting like a loon twice a day or so :wink:

Ur...the movie? Too many special effects and c'mon stuff (who stands such hits in the balls?), but at least it had some nice intrigue too. Not to mention a prawn guy (winks at Jenn). Yeah, Daniel Craig guy is a perfect example of what I call a prawn guy. Everything in him is yummy but his head :lol: (God Blu, you cracked me up with your pm). What's wrong with his face? I like his hair and his eyes, but there's something wrong with his mouth, I guess. (But how sweet was he in the shower scene??!!) Another example Jenn and I came up with was Patrick Swayze in "Dirty Dancing" And I also discovered that some of my friends seem to like dancing around in their undies, but *ahem* I'll save you the details :D

What do you think? Do you like the latest 007? Any prawn guy you can think of? :wink:

Calvin and Hobbes are propriety of Bill Watterson and Universal Press Syndicate.

Back to the food issue. Calvin doesn't like the smell of it but hey, he won't starve to death, will he? He's got resources in his hands. Let's wait and see who pays for that :wink:

On the personal note, I'll probably be pretty reiterative this week, so you can stick to the strips and laugh instead of reading my angry rants. Because as I anticipated yesterday, I am going to rant long and angrily. About the darn "San Fermines" for thewhole week. Spanish exultation of cruelty, savagery, barbarism and slaughtery. And it turned out to be one of our most well known tourist attraction around the world. Meh, it makes me sick I promise :evil:

So this morning was the first of the bullruns. Here you have a link. I'm afraid you'll need Real Player, because it is not still on Youtube.

http://www.sanferminonline.net/finales/dia7.html

So, what do you think? At the very beginning one guy is gored not too badly and some others are run over throughout the bullrun. I know this is gonna sound hard, but sometimes, I just wish that the bulls just turn around and start running against all that bunch of braggarts, goring here and there. But they are too scared to do that. They try and stick together, because they are totally lost. They have just been dragged out of their well known lands, and they are forced to run on a surface which is too slippery for their hooves. And more important than that, they are not mean by nature. They don't intend to kill anybody just for the fun of it, like they would be killed this afternoon. Slowly and painfully. Animals are way better than some humans. Yeah bite me. As if I care. And if some of you still think that it looks like fun and that I'm being hard, just have the guts to have a look at these blogs of mine. See if you can stand the pictures, or the videos. Especially the videos. Just watch one single bullfight video and tell me that I'm wrong. I will spit in your face :evil: (Gah, sorry, I feel really strong about this).

Spanish slaughtery 1

http://www.tv.com/users/boom-moo/profile.php?action=show_blog&entry=m-100-24969982

Spanish slaughtery 2

http://www.tv.com/users/boom-moo/profile.php?action=show_blog&entry=m-100-24969980

P.S. I know most of you will be happy to know that the content in my blog is going to be used in a anti-bullfight campaign. Yay!!!! :D

Love is...taking your eye off the ball. Well, it's a pretty real statement. When one is in love, one's mind takes these funny trips of its own. That, and a loony-ish smile almost everpresent. Not to mention a crazy beating of the heart each time the cell rings :D

Well, time moderates its intensity. But it never disappears. I know that my bf is scuba-diving at present. Still I'm wondering if he is fine, I keep checking the weather from my window because he told me that the sea was a bit rough and I'm counting the minutes for him to call me and tell me all the great catches he's made. Not that I eat a single one, but still :lol:

You know? He is working the early shift this week, so he gotta wake up at 05'00am. And since I'm a bit sad, he took me yesterday to the open air movies. They are held during summer and they are free. Yesterday was the first show. And I LOVE those, I love listening to the film rolling, the atmosphere is totally different to that inside a theatre.

So we watched "Munich" which was pretty long, so we arrived home by 01'30am. Which means that he hardly caught any sleep. And he did that for me. How come I'm not going to take my eye off the ball? :)

What about you? Who makes you take you eyes off the ball? :wink:

Calvin and Hobbes are propriety of Bill Watterson and Universal Press Syndicate.

Nature is the most powerful force ever. There is nothing we can do against it. We are exactly as Calvin depicts: just tiny mountains of sand under the threat of a bucket of water. It has been proven time and again, and we still tend to forgive it :|

I lost a cousin at the age of 9 when he was camping. The camping was set up at the bed of a river which was diverted some years ago and forced to take and alternative route. So, it rained heavily and the river took its natural route, devastating the entire area. It took almost one week to find my cousin's body between the mud. He was found some kilometres away from the camping. This was 10 years ago, and only a couple of months ago my uncle and aunt received this big amount of money. Yeah, so what? They will never embrace their son again :( :evil:

And it was only natural, right? It was obvious than sooner or later the river would take its course. Who was so stupid as to give the permission to build a camping in there? This is just an example of how stupid we can be sometimes. I mean, c'mon, even Calvin notices it, and he is just a kid :roll:

On the personal note, I'm a bit mad today about the "Sanfermines", which are the biggest festivities that are held in Pamplona. Yes, the ones with the bullruns. I guess I gotta thank Hemingway for spreading the brutality and slaughtery of the "Sanfermines" *swings fist* Tomorrow morning is the first bullrun. I'll link it, for you to check. It may sound fun, but it's not. Not for the bulls, anyway :evil:And you all know how do I love animals. Gah, you'll see it for yourselves.

July 5th 2007

Respect. Key word in any relationship. Between lovers, between brothers, between friends, between partners... respect is the best base to set up love, friendships, comradeship, brotherhood...in a fruitful relation :)

Just like I've never read anyone's letters or checked anyone's bag, I've never scrolled through anyone's cell phone. Well, I actually have, but like in this curious way to check how the menus are arranged in my friend's cells, to check the music they have and share ringtones and stuff. But I haven't checked out my bf's cell in a jealous way. He is too absent-minded and messed up as to try and conceal any physical evidence :lol:

Both me and him leave our cells to each other's reach. So, no reason to suspect when I can grab his cell anytime, huh? Which I actually do, because he has a great deal with some numbers and I take advantage of it often. I mean, of course I've gone trough his numbers and even his texts, but when he was present. Like "Who is this Rober guy?", or "What the hell is Cris telling you here?" :question:

Yeah, I'm one of those weirdos who writes texts using full words and full punctuation. Most of the times, I just can't figure out what those abbreviations mean. Not to mention if they aren't in my language. I have this friend in the States who texts me often and her messages are pure hieroglypics to me :?

Calvin and Hobbes are propriety of Bill Watterson and Universal Press Syndicate.

Calvin wants to help her mum driving the car. First time we are introduced to his mum. We don't know her name, she will always be addressed as "mum", just like his father is always addressed as "dad". Hobbes is not present in this strip. It doesn't happen often, but this one is the very fist one where he is absent.

Being a kid is sometimes frustrated, isn't it? There are a lot of things that kids are not allowed to do. And those things are always the funny stuff, of course. Like, I wanted to bring any single abandoned dog or cat home. Which, of course, I wasn't allowed to do. And I hated it. I couldn't understand why. We had room and our own pets already. And I hated it. I cried loads and threatened my mum with having hundreds of them whenever I was living on my own. Which was just fine to my mum. And pissed me even more :D

How about you? Any kid frustration you especially remember? :wink:

On the personal note, I'm totally overwhelmed. I hardly have time to answer to all the comforting pms I keep receiving. Thank you very much guys for your nice words. I'm truly blessed to have found so many great friends here. I know that I'm not alone, and that means a lot. Though I should have to learn and let things that hurt me out, but that's me.

At the beginning I was so mad that that I couldn't even talk about it. My favourite auntie was dying, and I didn't know if she was suffering or how long would it take. But now that everything is overI'm fine. Well, maybe not fine but I'm doing well. You know? Deaths are not the worse part, but the morgue, the burial, the funeral....dealing with people is really hard. Even harder for me, being so emotional and weepy. Of course they want to be close and hug you and everything because they truly care and because they feel for you, but that just a bit too much for me. Not to mention for my mum :(

But now it's over. We are far better when we are at home, on our own. Last night, we were even able to talk about some funny stuff concerning my auntie. She was funny and adorable. It has been a great loss, but at least she didn't suffer. That comforts me a lot, because we knew that shewas going todie a long time ago.The doctorstold she would live 6 months, but that was 4 years ago.And she didn't know about it.She always said whe wouldn't want to. So, in the meantime, she had 2 grandchildren and enjoyed a fairly decent quality life.Not we have to move on and time will heal. It is supposed to, right? And I know I have all of you around to lean on, which means loads to me :)

Thanks again for everything. For being there. So far but really close. I can't find the words to express myself but I truly appreciate. THANK YOU. From my heart :)

Sorry, it ended up being too long.

Oh my, those family get-togethers. As fun and as crazy as they can be. It wasn't that long since Suz and I were talking about them. I bet we all have that funny member of the family who tells loads of jokes, that other one who gets funny when tipsy, that other one who tells the same stories and anecdotes once and again, and we still love to listen to them, that other one who insists on doing all the job, that other one who blatantly skives off... :lol:

We may be family, but we are also a group of individuals with different characters, opinions and life s t y l e s. It is nice to get together, but it requires a great effort to get along and contribute to a nice mood. I like such meetings, but they are exhausting. Nothing really like home :wink:

Calvin and Hobbes is propriety fo Bill Watterson and Universal Press Syndicate.

Calvin is determined to have some rest. Despite scary monsters not acknowledging their presence, he decides to lie as well and threaten them with his superpower guns, to be allowed some sleep. He both imagines the worry and the solution. His creative mind is awesome like that :D

On the personal side, and in case you are wondering what peaches have to do with my blog today, I just lost my favourite auntie. She died yesterday and it sucks. So, that's one of the reasons why I haven't been much on lately. Now I'm kinda fine. I freaked out when I was broken the news that she was admitted in the hospital ina terminal state, because I hated the idea of her suffering. But she was unconscious for most of the time and died peacefully, so I guess that was the better outcome and what we all were wishing for.

Aside with other problems, this was one of the reasons why I really wasn't in the mood for chatting, because as soon as anyone would ask me how I was, I would have started crying. And I didn't want to ruin you guys the fun. However, I totally screwed it with Lia, Kate and Jenn the other day and felt terribly bad afterwards. I know that you guys were trying to be supportive and everything, but I still I wasn't ready to talk about it, and then I felt guilty. I was trying to play strong for my mum, but I just happen to need my tears too :(

Now that everything is over I'm much better. Yesterday I saw her. She died with a smile in her face that she still kept. It was pretty comforting. I spent all the day at the morgue and this morning we attended the burial and we will attend her funeral in the afternoon. So I will join you guys soon. I would like to thank every one who pm-ed me showing your concern. You all know who you are. I would love to give special thanks to Blu and Jen, for listening to me and allowing me to spend the night over. And a truly huge THANK you to Lia and Kate, for breaking through the cocoon and getting to my heart. I Love you all guys to bits :D

Oh, the peaches, right. I don't really eat much fruit. Apart from cherries and watermelon, I hardly grab a bite of any other fruit, which freaks my mum out. She insists that I should eat fruit and I know that but ewwwww, I don't like it. Oh yeah, I happen to eat loads of strawberries at the WSDDFJ thread, but that as fictional as my kinky side, ahahahahahaha :lol:

Anyway, when I was a child I spent all the summer holidays (3 months no less) in this village where my auntie had a summer house. It was a small village but it was so quiet, that we could wander around with no risk whatsoever. There was no traffic and everybody knew each other so we, city kids, were amazed discovering a new world of country, cattle, agriculture and swimming pools, as a funny change from our beaches :)

Farmers used to load their trucks and sell their products out loud door by door. My auntie used to buy these yummy peaches, as yummy as only just picked fruit can be. I loved those peaches and she used to peel them for me. I could eat some 3 a day, which totally amazed my mum. So years passed, I grew up and spending the whole summer there wasn't an exciting option any more. However, my auntie kept on buying those peaches, and bringing some for me every summer. If my cousins went to spend one weekend, she asked them to send me over some peaches. If my parents went to spend some days there, she asked them to send me some peaches over. And when I went to spend some time there, she bought those peaches for me everyday. It's just an example of how caring and affectionate my auntie was. I love you, auntie Manoli. RIP. :)

This is the plaque with the name of the village where I spend my childhood summer holidays

Me (top second from the right) with my bro, cousins and some friends.

I've never played footsie in my life to flirt. I'm too shy to do anything like that. But I've played footsie while in a relationship, and it's a pretty funny thing to totally use it as a surprise factor while having a drink in a bar's terrace. You get a face pretty much like that of the guy in the cartoon. My bf blushes, looks right and left in shame and asks me to stop. I just giggle. He pretends to be angry. But he kinda likes it. And he takes his revenge when we are in the movies. But that's a totally different story :oops: :lol: Have you ever played footsie?

Calvin and Hobbes is propriety of Bill Watterson and Universal Press Syndicate.

Calvin is terrified of the dark. He is convinced that there are monsters hidden under his bed. Just like him, most of children are afraid of the dark and many adults still remain afraid of it. A child's imagination is able to create all kinds of monster and evil creatures with a certain taste to hide under their beds or inside their closets, only to appear at bedtime :)

When I was a kid, I wasn't scared of the dark. I knew that there were no creatures inside my bedroom other than myself and my stuffed sheep. But I was terribly afraid first ot "The Coco" and then of "The Man of the Sack", which I think it's what you know as the The Bogeyman or Boogyman :?

"The Coco" is used to frighten very little kids. It's just something unknown but evil. However, "The Man of the Sack" is based in a true story of a man kidnapping kids, whom he used to punt inside a sack. What he was goona do with them, was left to each one's imagination and how did he look like, was unkown as well. But he was used to frighten kids when they weren't behaving. "If you don't behave, The Man of the Sack is gonna come tonight and take you away". It is still used.

Well, I didn't really care much about how he looked like. I knew he was big and strong and that he carried a huge endless sack. What he was gonna do with the kids, that I didn't really care about either. It was frightening enough to be kidnapped from home. Mistery was what made him so freaking scary.

How about you, guys? Any Boogeyman in your lives? :wink: