I knew that it was supposed to snow last Friday night but I wasn't expecting so much. It was great though because the kids loved it. Our blizzard warning for Saturday proved to be fruitless where we live as we didn't see much snow from the storm at all.

As suspected, our night out never happened-again. I guess that we can celebrate our anniversary next time around! My mom was going to watch the kids but because of the blizzard warning we cancelled so she wouldn't have to drive in the storm. It is ok, we enjoyed playing in the snow with the kids and ordered pizza from my favorite pizza place...Lisa's on Oakland. Someday I will take the time to set up links, sorry about that. I am still new at this.

Kosta and I are talking to realtors in Greece. We also spoke to our Koubaros ( Iza's Godfather and his partner) in Thessaloniki and they are willing to check out properties for us. My only wish is that if we live in a suburb...I really just don't want chickens running around next door. I am a city girl and sometimes those smells can well, you know. Blah! I know that the kids wouldn't mind buy mommy really would. There is one property that we have our eyes on and it has a view of the sea, a big yard, a barbecue in the back and of course, chickens next door. I really don't know if I can do it. Although, the house is really beautiful. I guess even the thought of a rooster crowing scares me. I guess I would welcome it more than the drunk college students in this neighborhood. It really might be better. Maybe I can convince myself because the property has olive trees, tomato plants and did I mention a view of the sea?

We are also looking for a place to rent near the family's summer house. Yes, we could stay with my mother & sister -in-law but it would be too crowded. We are a family of five now, adding 2 adults to the mix would make staying in a 2 bedroom condo a little tight, to say the least. There are a few great places in the village. What village? The village of Polihrono, Halkidiki. It is so beautiful there.

Tomorrow I will attempt to contact the owner of the Montessori school that I am looking at for the kids. So far it has been a complete game of phone tag. It is difficult because the hours that the woman is available in Greece are the same hours that I am getting Kosta and Iza out the door in the morning. I seem to miss her every time I have called. Wish me luck.

This Wednesday Iza's school is having an ethnic potluck. I am making the famous Greek potato salad. I can't wait to see what else will be available. Iza's class is going to sing also. I just love that she is in this school.

Well, my time is up. I hope that everyone has a great week!

Merry Maids aren't so Merry!

Izabella's "Blue Bird with Fish"

It is Friday once again. My weeks really fly by now that I have children. I remember a time when my days would just drag on forever, especially at work. Now it seems as if I blink -2 hours have just flown by!

Ok, what's this about Merry Maids? I fired them this week. Some of you already know the story so I will try to keep it short.

As the kids and I were sick last week things seemed to pile up a lot faster than when I am not sick. Ok, the Merry Maids were cancelled our sick week and I rescheduled them for this past Tuesday. As they arrived I explained that we have been sick and that I have lots of laundry to fold and iron, in piles here and there...so just clean around them. The cleaning crew seemed fine with that. Next, little Ms. Merry Manager drives up in her ridiculous little VW beetle with the company logo painted all over it. Her job is to do a walk-through to assess the amount of work that the crew has. After walking through the house she sheepishly approaches me and says, "well, I have never done this before," -she hands me her phone and says, "It's my manager". Ok, so the manager on the phone says to me that the girls are concerned with the amount of work that they have to do. They don't want to fold my laundry or organize my children's toys. I assured the manager on the phone that I never expected anyone to fold my laundry or organize the toys...CLEAN AROUND THEM! Am I missing something here? I am paying them to clean my house...and they are complaining about cleaning it? There is definitely something wrong with that picture. I had to go get Izabella from school so I left them to clean. The more that I thought about it the more disgusted I became. When I got home I called the manager that I talked to on the phone and well, gave her an earful . I told her that I was insulted and offended by their "assessment"of my home. She explained that the girls were concerned with the amount of time that they would have to spend here. Ummm......how about...plan for it! They arrived here at 10:15am and were gone by 11:30am. For those of you that know how big my house is...you will understand that it is totally unrealistic for the maids to clean this house in an hour or less, which is what they would prefer to do. Unbelievable! The manager asked me what she could do and I said, "never come back". And that was that. There was no apology for insulting me, nothing. Bottom line- if these ladies don't like cleaning, then they shouldn't work as maids!

I have been trying to keep up with the Anna Nicole Smith story. It is very sad. What a sad way to end her life. I know that she wasn't the greatest celebrity but she did provide me with a lot to laugh about. I will admit that I did watch her reality show from time to time a few years back. My favorite episode was the one in which she visited the dentist in her pajamas because she wanted to be comfortable. Wouldn't it be nice to not care about getting dressed to see the dentist? Anyway, may she rest in peace...soon.

Izabella just woke up from her nap and she is drawing pictures of goats and horses on her doodle pad. Yesterday she drew a bunch of cat pictures to give to our neighbor Bonnie. She wanted to thank her for the tomatoes and garlic that she left on our door yesterday morning. Thanks Bonnie! (aka Vegetable Fairy) :)

I am looking forward to this weekend as Kosta and I have planned to go out for dinner to officially celebrate our anniversary. I think that we are going for Chinese food, not sure. Anyway, I am looking forward to it. We need a little time together!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Here I am!

It has been almost 2 weeks since I started this blog and I have only 3 posts thus far. What can I say? I am a busy woman! Our family is just finishing over a week of fevers, sore throats and misery. Ízabella has missed a few days of school and now Foti is suffering from this virus. I had it for about 4 days. I can't tell you when the last time that I had a fever was...before this. It was, needless to say, a difficult and tiring week.

There were several wonderful things that happened amid our virus though. First, my husband brought me 1 dozen peach roses last Monday, just because. Next came Valentine's day and my wonderful bag of Ghiradelli chocolate. Finally, my husband and I kind of celebrated our golden wedding anniversary this past Saturday. I say "kind of" because we didn't get to actually go out and celebrate since we were all sick. We celebrated in spirit and laughter. We just laughed about how much has changed since our wedding 17 years ago. We were so young and no one thought that we would last. I noted that who would have ever guessed that we would have 3 beautiful children at this point? I also laughed about how pathetically overweight we both are. We have got to exercise! Oh, and my wonderful husband bought me the dream camera that I have been eyeing for about 2 years! I can't wait to get the PC set up so I can download the pictures! It is a Canon EOS and it is fabulous! Thank you Kosta!

I had to take Iza to a birthday party for one of her classmates on Saturday. It was her first invitation from a classmate, she was really excited. She wore her black "party" shoes and little red jumper. I think that since it was at the tail end of her sickness it lifted her spirit a little. She had a good time.

Here is a picture of us 7 years ago! We were in Greece for 1 month. We renewed our vows that year as it was out 10th anniversary. I love this picture.

Speaking of Greece, the cat is out of it's bag! Kosta told his company that he will be leaving this summer so that we may raise our family in his "mother land". He had a great week with that because it could have gone worse. So, we are really going everyone. I know that a lot of people had their doubts but they can rest their little minds now, it is official. We will move this summer. I will probably use this blog to document the process of relocating. I think that might be fun and interesting for everyone. The adventure begins!!

Still freezing!

Ah, thoughts of sunny days! This is a picture that I took from the porch of our family's summer house in Greece. We need to think warm thoughts today....and tomorrow. Izabella had another day off of school because of the cold. We stayed indoors AGAIN! I am glad that I refused the urge to drag the kids out in the cold. I went out to some stores tonight and froze my tootsies off! Anyone that knows me knows that I was dressed appropriately. Yes, I wore the big white hat! I wish that I had a picture of me in it, it's a good laugh.

Kosta experienced Alexandra's demands tonight. I always feel bad when I go somewhere and come back to find out that she has cried the whole time that I was gone. That is why I rarely go anywhere. My time will come again.

So, today there is this news about one of our female astronauts going nuts on us. Apparently she drove from Texas to Florida in a diaper to confront another women. Ok, so she is a rocket scientist?? The world is full of surprises. This story will be interesting to watch as it unfolds.

It's freezing!

We have been in since Friday afternoon as it is freezing! Iza doesn't have school today so I have to come up with some more creative activites or we will go nuts! Our dentist called to cancel the kid's appointments last night. The wind chill factor is - 30 F! Yes, it even shocks those of us who have lived in Wiscosin for most of our lives.


Alexandra is teething and won't let me put her down too much. I can see the edges of that first tooth ready to poke through. I wish they would! She needs a little relief!

Kosta and I tried to watch the SuperBowl last night but it was a little difficult as Iza and Foti wanted to play "Pet shop"...and Alexandra was whining. Thank God for DVR! Now I can watch Prince's performance without interuption! I love that man! He is just a genious!



Here is a picture that our friend Cris sent us yesterday. I brought her the tulips on Friday. She has a great view of the lake from her apartment. It is wonderful that she added a little "primavera"to her picture. We need to think spring! I hope that the ground hog's prediction is right this year! BRRRRRRR!

1st blog

Well, here it is...my first blog. I have been wanting to do this for about 2 years and I have finally decided to just do it. As I am a stay at home mom I feel that I need a place to call my own so that I can express my thoughts and ideas. Actually, I have been blogging forever! I have a tendency to tell anyone and everyone what I am thinking so things could get interesting (or not) here.

I vow to keep things positive! Also, I am going to post lots of pics of my family...the loves of my life...so............be warned!