Odds and Ends

Just a few tidbits to make you all realize how just absolutely ROCKING my life is:

* I just did a "no cost" refinance of my home. My mortgage broker said it would be free and it would lower my monthly rate nearly $100 bucks a month. Guess how much this "free" refinance costs? $1818.92. Which I don't think we really have right now. I should be fair. I have to pay $1818.92 up front and then I'll get back more than $1300 in a few weeks. So it really IS saving us money this month, but I just have to bring in the initial money to close it tomorrow. THEY ARE VERY LUCKY THAT MARCELO AND I ARE FREAKING RICH AND WE CAN AFFORD THEIR LITTLE "NO COST" FEE OF $1818.92!! They are lucky we use $100 bills to wipe our butts every night. I'll just grab a few of those next time I'm by the toilet.

* Marcelo is OBSESSED with the elections. This also happened 4 years ago right after we were first married when we lived in that horrible little apartment in the ghetto of Provo. He would watch the presidential debates (sometimes on the Spanish channel becuase his English wasn't so good at that point) and he would comment on them continuously, asking me what they were trying to say. He had lived in this country for about 2 months, but he LOVED every minute of it. He's in FULL election mode now. As I type, he's watching and getting excited for "Super Tuesday." I LOVE the fact that he doesn't try to talk about crap that he doesn't know anything about. He just loves to listen and take in the whole experience. I think that his happiest day will be when he gets his citizenship and can vote for himself.

* My dog smells like corn chips when she wakes up in the morning. Like FULL ON smells like Fritos. And not just when she wakes up in the morning. When I come home in the evening she's been in her little cage in our pantry closet and that WHOLE room smells like Frito Pie. (FYI Frito pie is made up of Fritos, a layer of chili and cheese on top. I know you were all wondering) It's not a good smell. Sometimes Marcelo will wake up really early at go to the gym at like 4 am and then come home and walk in our bedroom and immediately have to leave becuase the Frito smell is over powering. We WOULD leave the door open, but she might run down and start pawing through the trash in the middle of the night. (I think that sometimes my pregnancy gas contributes to the horrible smell, but we'll just go on letting Marcelo think it's all the dog)

* I love TiVo. It's like the greatest thing since, well, since TELEVISION. The funny thing about TiVo is that it's like Big Brother. It tracks your watching habits and then records things that it THINKS you will like. The problem is that if you record something ONCE you can never get that memory out of TiVo's mind. It's like a resentful spouse. For example, Marcelo recorded something on QVC the other day. Yes, you read that correctly. QVC. What must've happened is that he was flipping through the list of shows, and he liked the title. He didn't happen to notice that it was flipping QVC. (Well, maybe he DID see that it was QVC, but he didn't know what that meant) Anyway, when I showed it to him (laughing at him in the process, of course) he said that he didn't mean to do it and we recorded it immediately. But TiVo still continues to torment me and record at least one show from QVC every day. CURSE YOU RESENTFUL TIVO MEMORY!

* Marcelo has the best/worst stories from growing up in Ecuador. I'm pretty sure that I've told you the story about how his oldest brother was stolen from the hospital just hours after he was born, right? If not, let me know and I'll retell it the best I can. I know I've told you all about the "worm" that attacked him and almost killed him when he was like 8. Anyway, if given reign over the remote, Marcelo will IMMEDIATELY turn it to the crappy Spanish channels. We used to not be able to watch ANYTHING together because I couldn't stand his shows and he felt the same about mine. Well, that has changed because there are now several shows we can watch together. But that doesn't change the fact that he will go RIGHT to those channels if given the chance.

So last night, that's what he does. He starts watching this show on "Univision" called "Los Cinco Magnificos". I don't get the ENTIRE premise, but from what I understand and from what he tells me (but who knows; he could be BSing me) there are several groups of circus performers and one of the group is a novice who they are teaching. Almost like Dancing With the Stars. But with elephants. And trapeze artists. And leotards with sequins where men's packages are VERY well displayed. Anyway, all of a sudden Marcelo starts to tell me about how he used to take care of the animals when the circus would come to town.

You should know that I am pretty gullible. But when Marcelo tells me something and I want to make sure that he's not lying to me, I say "jurame" which means "Swear to me." If he answers "te prometo" I will repeat "jurame." If he STILL won't "Jurar" then I know he's trying to BS me.
But he didn't do it this time. I didn't even have to ask him if he was being honest: you could SEE it in his eyes. He said that he was 9 or 10 when the circus came to town, and one of the workers asked him if he wanted to make a little money for the week. He was in charge of getting a hold of all the food the animals would need while they were there. Straw and hay for the elephants; raw chicken for the lions and tigers and so on. He said he got to help feed them every day, he got to ride the elephant and he even got some free tickets to the show. (He said they were really good seats, and he actually sold one of them for even more money. That's my boy) He was all excited talking to me about it and I could just see the excitement in his eyes to remember it. Good times in Ecuador.

I wish I would've known him when he was that age. I bet he was fun to hang out with. I will just say it again: I think Marcelo had the craziest, saddest, happiest, best, worst and greatest childhood ever. I hope that our kids have HALF the experiences (the good experiences that is) that Marcelo has had.

*Last item. Marcelo commented today on how he's sad that his family is missing out on all the big experiences in his life. No one was here for our marriage, and now no one will be here for the birth of our first child. It really made him sad to verbalize that. I think that no matter what, we HAVE to get his mother here for the birth of at least ONE of our kids. My mother in law is awesome (I think. I don't really know her that well. But what I know of her is awesome) But guys aren't supposed to miss their families. And to know that Marcelo was lamenting that loss, that thought made me a sad panda.

Here's to Super Tuesday!!