A Clothes Horse/Bargain Hunters Heaven

These are all my finds today from two Ropa Americana's I hit while I was in town. A "Ropa Americana" (literally American Clothing) is basically a second hand clothing store. There are several of them in our little town of Tactic and they are great fun to peruse. I've always been a second hand store fan but places like Value Village in Canada have lost a bit of their allure since they've jacked their prices.

All the clothing you see in my photo was purchased for the grand total of...drumroll please...Q103.50 (or $14.09 for those of you who don't use Guatemalan currency:) My haul included a pair of Levi boot cut jeans, an Abercrombie & Fitch shirt, a pair of Puma shorts, and a Carters sleeper for Acadia. The other finds were all things I liked but weren't any big brand names. I don't feel guilty about any of the brands I buy because the companies don't benefit at this point from my purchase. I do always check lables to see where the clothes were made and places like Mexico (Levi's) and Malaysia (A & F) make me wonder...

The owners of the Ropa Americana's buy bundles of a thousand items of clothing and pay Q1000. It's hit and miss a lot of the time, with some of the clothing being in rough condition or just downright tacky. But that doesn't stop me from looking, and often finding some great stuff! It's my kind of treasure hunt:)

Pretty in...

Green! What a relief to see Acadia in something besides pink! Why are the majority of clothes for baby girls pink anyway? I love these little green overalls with small purple and blue flowers that I found at a Ropa Americana. What is a Ropa Americana you ask? Stay tuned to find out more...:)

I Love a Man with Dishpan Hands

Friday Afternoon we fired our housekeeper Lidia. We suspected her of stealing but she denied it when we confronted her. Although we never caught her in the act I believe she stole some of Acadia's disposable diapers. The culture here seems to be that people don't confess to any wrong they've done, and if they do get caught they claim they only "borrowed" the stolen item or money. I felt really awful about it all weekend, what if she was innocent and I had wrongfully accused her? I've always struggled with indecisiveness and after we let her go I was doubting myself. So after talking with Zaak, shedding a few tears, and praying, I came to the conclusion that I need to trust myself and live with my decision. Sunday morning I woke up at peace about it.
Strangely enough I am feeling good about doing the housework now. Zaak and I are quite able to take care of the house ourselves, it just means divvying up more responsibilities. Like tonight after supper Zaak played with the kids while I tidied up the kitchen. Lidia was a great worker, but she would do funny/annoying things like rearrange all the food in the pantry, wash the shower curtain and leave it hanging outside to dry, wash Zaak's work clothes and shoes un-asked so he wouldn't have them the next day, give Blaise snacks and drinks without asking, clean Blaise's sippy cups so vigorously that all the spill preventor things broke, and so on. We like that we can find something where we left it now, as long as it's out of Blaise's reach:)

Mariposa Bonita

Acadia joined me for my walk the other day and since she was in the stroller I stuck the camera in it too. I really like taking photos when I go out but feel like a walking target with the camera around my neck, so if I can take it with me less conspicuously I'm happy.
There are always lots of butterflies at this one sunny spot on my walk, and this one is my favorite. I've always loved butterflies, and if I ever got a tatoo it would be of a butterfly. This one is amazing! Wild black and white design on the outside with a splash of red, then it opens up to reveal velvety black and brilliant blue! Incredible. I tried to search for what kind of butterfly it is, but no luck. I need a guide to Central American Butterflies I suppose, since I couldn't find it on the net.

Pretzels and Reality

We made soft pretzels the other day. Blaise loves getting involved in whatever I'm baking or cooking, and I generally enjoy having hin "help" me:) These pretzels turned out WAY too fat, I guess I needed to roll them much thinner. Next time. And here's an unrelated shot of Acadia because she's just so adorable. She's started cooing and singing a lot now when she's happy.

Blaise has been sick for over a week with a bad cough and cold. He's on some antibiotics now since it was getting worse instead of better. So with a baby and a sick little boy to care for I'm feeling a bit frazzled. I love being a Mom and wouldn't trade it for anything. When I'm away from Blaise and Acadia for more than 2 hours I miss them terribly. But sometimes I do get a bit jealous thinking of my friends and family who are not yet parents. The freedom! The huge amount time you have to yourself! These days when I get some free time I just want to sleep! It's 1:30 in the afternoon and I still haven't changed out of my pajamas! So I know, I know, I just need to enjoy this time when my kids are babies and all that, and I am. I just get weary sometimes. Plus the grass is always greener on the other side, and there are lots of lonely people out there who would love to have an amazing couple of kids like mine. So that cheers me up:) Zaak is a great partner and father plus he makes me laugh too when I'm down so I appreciate him. Life just can't be gumdrops and rose petals all the time I suppose - darn hey:)