You can have one of your very own (of your family, not mine)! My friend Lynette is auctioning off some of her amazing work for a good cause. For more details click here.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
You're FIRED!
I've never had to fire anybody before. Until today (ok, so I haven't done it yet, but it will be happening). So I interviewed a lady to work as my maid. We got along. She has a lot of experience in her profession (26 years to be exact). She's good with the girls. After she left today I went into the laundry room and smelled something strange. Then I went into the maids room and bathroom. WHAT!?! She had been smoking the whole time she was ironing our clothes! I honestly didn't think I had to tell her she couldn't smoke in my home. Now I know that I need to be more specific in the future. I'm off to RE-wash our clothes. And to look for another maid.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
The Little Pink Restaurant
Little Pink owner surprised by award
For the Daily [Wisconsin Rapids] Tribune • August 16, 2008
Helen Ponczoch, a woman small in stature but big in personality and cooking talent, was surprised by a visit to her Wisconsin Rapids restaurant from Discover Wisconsin television and radio host Stephanie Klett.
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Klett stopped by to present Ponczoch with an award naming the Little Pink Restaurant as Discover Wisconsin Radio's Restaurant Pick of the Month for August.
"I had no idea we were being checked out for an award," Ponczoch said. "I feel like 51 years of hard work has paid off with this beautiful honor."
Helen and her husband, Melvin, have been in the restaurant business their entire life, and make it a family affair. When entering the restaurant, diners can see a blessing from the Pope with the official Vatican seal commemorating their 65th wedding anniversary, which they celebrated last year. There are also photos on the wall of the Ponczoch children, 28 grandchildren and 42 great-grandchildren.
Even the restaurant hours assure that the Ponczoch's family comes first.
"We are open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. We are always closed on weekends and holidays, because that's when you should be with your family," Helen said.
The food is classic American fare, serving breakfast and lunch.
"Our cooking is all home-made and done from scratch. Nothing fancy, just fresh, great tasting food," Helen said.
Discover Wisconsin host Klett couldn't agree more.
"The Little Pink Restaurant is the epitome of a down-home diner at its best, only very, very pink."
In order to be considered a restaurant pick of the month, the Discover Wisconsin team must dine at the establishment a minimum of three times. At each visit the restaurant must pass the test: high quality food, excellent service and a unique atmosphere. The restaurant has no idea that crew members are checking it out for an award.
The program on the Little Pink Restaurant can be played at www.discoverwisconsin.com.
The Little Pink Restaurant is at 910 Dura Beauty Lane in Wisconsin Rapids.
"Wisconsin Rapids should be proud of this tiny Wisconsin treasure," Klett said.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Rain, Rain... Go AWAY
After seeing only one real rainstorm in Antofagasta in 3 years, we had quite the welcome to Santiago this past weekend as we received 3" of rain in 24 hours, along with about 6 water leaks in our home. We are very glad that we are renting and did not purchase our home, so we are not the ones that need to fix these problems.
We are starting to get more settled. The house is not yet picture-worthy, but I'll post some as soon as we get things a little more in place. My mom seems to think it's funny that it takes me so long to accomplish things without a maid;). I had planned on getting the house exactly how I want it before hiring a maid, but the girls have been sick and so it seems that I don't have time to set up a new house, sweep the floors, keep up with dishes (the dishwasher is arriving on Thursday... wahoo!), and blog. By the end of the week I hope to have some help again. I can't decide if it's embarrassing or hilarious that this adjustment to real life is being so difficult for me. Maybe it's both.
Our new ward (the La Dehesa ward) is so different from our previous ward that I think we're experiencing a bit of culture shock. There are so many gringo families... probably about 8, and I guess that there were twice as many until recently, when they returned to the States for the new school year. Those that aren't gringos are either very rich Chileans, or incredibly poor Chileans or Peruvians... when I say poor I mean they work as maids and live in shacks. In Primary there is an English class, and you can choose to be in the English or Spanish class for seminary. It's almost sad to me that the English classes are even an option (especially for the Primary age kids). Those attending these classes go to the International School, where they learn no Spanish, and while they have classes with people from all over the world, they aren't getting a real Chilean experience. I guess I figure if you live in a country where they speak a foreign language, your children should have the opportunity to learn the language; it seems that some people are sheltering their children from Chile. Time to get off my soap box...
We have met several families from church and from Dave's work. It has been really great to get to know people who live close to us, but we're still missing our friends in Antofagasta terribly. I was telling Dave that in Michigan I had book club, in Antofagasta I had cooking club, so I need to find some sort of club in Santiago once I find some good friends.
Oh, our friends, the Zeballos family, are in our new ward! Dave met them while on his mission 11 years ago, then we lived by them until they were called as mission presidents, and now they just moved to Santiago last month! It is so nice to see such familiar faces at church.
Well the person who is changing all of the locks on our doors will be here any minute, so the update must stop... hopefully I'll get a maid soon so that I can start posting more;)
We are starting to get more settled. The house is not yet picture-worthy, but I'll post some as soon as we get things a little more in place. My mom seems to think it's funny that it takes me so long to accomplish things without a maid;). I had planned on getting the house exactly how I want it before hiring a maid, but the girls have been sick and so it seems that I don't have time to set up a new house, sweep the floors, keep up with dishes (the dishwasher is arriving on Thursday... wahoo!), and blog. By the end of the week I hope to have some help again. I can't decide if it's embarrassing or hilarious that this adjustment to real life is being so difficult for me. Maybe it's both.
Our new ward (the La Dehesa ward) is so different from our previous ward that I think we're experiencing a bit of culture shock. There are so many gringo families... probably about 8, and I guess that there were twice as many until recently, when they returned to the States for the new school year. Those that aren't gringos are either very rich Chileans, or incredibly poor Chileans or Peruvians... when I say poor I mean they work as maids and live in shacks. In Primary there is an English class, and you can choose to be in the English or Spanish class for seminary. It's almost sad to me that the English classes are even an option (especially for the Primary age kids). Those attending these classes go to the International School, where they learn no Spanish, and while they have classes with people from all over the world, they aren't getting a real Chilean experience. I guess I figure if you live in a country where they speak a foreign language, your children should have the opportunity to learn the language; it seems that some people are sheltering their children from Chile. Time to get off my soap box...
We have met several families from church and from Dave's work. It has been really great to get to know people who live close to us, but we're still missing our friends in Antofagasta terribly. I was telling Dave that in Michigan I had book club, in Antofagasta I had cooking club, so I need to find some sort of club in Santiago once I find some good friends.
Oh, our friends, the Zeballos family, are in our new ward! Dave met them while on his mission 11 years ago, then we lived by them until they were called as mission presidents, and now they just moved to Santiago last month! It is so nice to see such familiar faces at church.
Well the person who is changing all of the locks on our doors will be here any minute, so the update must stop... hopefully I'll get a maid soon so that I can start posting more;)
Sunday, August 3, 2008
This is the Week
Will I ever post regularly again? I hope life slows down so that I can. We thought the 1st house-hunting trip was a success, but when it was time to sign the contract, the owner changed the whole contract and we were unable to come to a compromise. So last Tuesday we (Dave came with me this time) flew to Santiago for the day. Dave worked all morning while I looked at houses, then in the afternoon we took him to see my favorites. We agreed on one. I loved the kitchen & Dave loved the size of the house. The only problem was that we wanted one more bedroom so we asked that the owner put up a wall in the HUGE master bedroom to create 2 smaller rooms. She AGREED!!! Wait... there is one other problem... the house is Mediterranean style (aka modern & boxy). I don't like this style. The house that fell through was cute & like living in a fairy tale. Oh well... on the inside it's nice & much larger than the rest of the homes we've looked out. This week the wall is going up, the house is being painted & we're moving!
We still don't have a school picked out. I've found one that is a whole lot cheaper that I'm extremely interested in. Once we move we'll tour my favorites and make a decision from there.
This week we are tying up a lot of loose ends. It's sooo much easier in the states. Instead of calling to cancel our utilities we have to go into the office with a letter saying when we want our services cut. Instead of just letting the front office at school know we're pulling the girls out of school we have to have a meeting with the Headmaster to let him know (only to find out later that we have to pay until the end of the year unless we write a petition letter to the Headmaster , who will review it with the board of directors). And Dave shattered the back window of the car on Friday. The soonest a replacement can be here is Wednesday, but that's just not enough time, so we'll fix it in Santiago I guess. Good thing it doesn't rain here (knock on wood).
The last little while we've felt so loved from our dear friends in Antofagasta. The ward threw us a farewell party, and then posted it on the ward website... you can witness my horrible spur-of-the-moment speech, as well as many of the musical numbers, here. For those of you who speak Spanish, please ignore the spelling errors in the letter. The original one was correct & talked about how people helped us, etc. Also, please ignore my crappy Spanish... it really was not a planned speech & I was caught off guard. We've also had other little parties from friends & the expat club. This week the girls school classes will be throwing them parties as well. Although we are looking forward to starting a new adventure, we will certainly miss everyone here.
We still don't have a school picked out. I've found one that is a whole lot cheaper that I'm extremely interested in. Once we move we'll tour my favorites and make a decision from there.
This week we are tying up a lot of loose ends. It's sooo much easier in the states. Instead of calling to cancel our utilities we have to go into the office with a letter saying when we want our services cut. Instead of just letting the front office at school know we're pulling the girls out of school we have to have a meeting with the Headmaster to let him know (only to find out later that we have to pay until the end of the year unless we write a petition letter to the Headmaster , who will review it with the board of directors). And Dave shattered the back window of the car on Friday. The soonest a replacement can be here is Wednesday, but that's just not enough time, so we'll fix it in Santiago I guess. Good thing it doesn't rain here (knock on wood).
The last little while we've felt so loved from our dear friends in Antofagasta. The ward threw us a farewell party, and then posted it on the ward website... you can witness my horrible spur-of-the-moment speech, as well as many of the musical numbers, here. For those of you who speak Spanish, please ignore the spelling errors in the letter. The original one was correct & talked about how people helped us, etc. Also, please ignore my crappy Spanish... it really was not a planned speech & I was caught off guard. We've also had other little parties from friends & the expat club. This week the girls school classes will be throwing them parties as well. Although we are looking forward to starting a new adventure, we will certainly miss everyone here.
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