Black Friday.

Last night I slept on the cell phone. Not even my cell phone, it was my dad's cell phone. I needed to be able to hear my sister calling me. We had plans to head out early with the masses of people in hopes of snagging some fabulous electronic product at deep discount. The phone rang at 3:05 a.m. or something close to that. I was out the door in under 30 minutes. Sweet.

We drove in the darkness of night to some famous Mart and easily strode through the store. They did not have locked doors, so we walked right in and positioned ourselves right next to rows of boxes which held the bright and shiny toys. We were not the only ones. Within minutes more people joined, they stood near us, parked their carts near ours as they too peered at the carefully stacked boxes.

We were elbow to elbow, cart to cart, yet we were not allowed to handle or touch the merchandise until 5 a.m. So we waited.

I drank coffee and joked with the other patrons. I posed for pictures. Don't laugh. At least I had enough sense of mind to dress myself. There were actual adults in the store who failed to shed their p.j.'s. Really, I'm not kidding.

There was a little chaos in the beginning, but no fights broke out. Nobody was trampled, or hurt, no smashed fingers and no name calling. All was a success.

Ah, the joys of Christmas shopping! Why do I do this every year?? Anyone?

Turkey Time

Thanksgiving day is one of my favorite holidays. Mostly because we can sit around with our entire family and we can spend the day cooking and eating. Before kids, it was even acceptable to nap too. Sometimes we have been known to go to a movie on Thanksgiving, sometimes not.

For me, the best time is spent sharing the day with loved ones. My family has grown throughout the years, and now I am thankful for more than I ever have been before. I am so thankful that my kids are here and they are getting a chance to get to know my family.

I am blessed in so many ways. I try hard not to take the little things for granted. But I truly am thankful.

I hope all of you out there can recognize the little blessings in your life. Enjoy your holidays, and have a Happy Turkey Day!

To here from there.

Trying to leave one country to fly to another is serious business. Depending upon the length of your trip, it might be necessary to pack like there's no tomorrow. And I'm a packing kind of fool. I like to shove a suitcase full of junk. Or things I think I need.

In my attempted departure, I was caught up in the customs check point. I was there for 5 minutes while the young lady tried to explain to me that I needed to fill out 3 additional forms. All I wanted to know, was whether I did something wrong or not. I hadn't. But still, she sent me over to the immigration police. That was fun. I was greeted by 3 men who didn't seem to possess the best customer service skills on the planet. I managed to scribble through the forms and make my way once again to the officials who would either allow me through or deny me passage and send me sadly on my way back home with my dh. During this process, my two children took this time to let me know that they were not happy. They were fighting over cookies. The cookies spilled and went all over the floor. I think I cursed the country under my breath while my babies were throwing more crumbs on the floor. People were giving me the evil eye for my misbehaving, overly tired (because you know that at 10 pm it was passed their bed time) and cranky, whiny children. I wanted to get on the plane. The kids were crying. They called out for daddy. And the lady at the window could not have moved any slower. I was starting to think she died right in front of me. Or fell asleep.

I shall fast forward to the part where I am actually on the plane. We played musical seats. The kids slept on and off. And both needed to go pee at the same time. The bathrooms are very small. The flight attendant told me that I couldn't take both kids in there at the same time. I just ignored her really. But when I started to go into the tiny closet like room, the flight attendant charged me and ran up into the doorway. She blocked the door with her body and she stood just inches from my face. She began yelling at me very loudly. She said, "I TOLD YOU NOT TO TAKE BOTH KIDS IN THERE!!" She brought her tone down only a notch and said that I should have left one kid strapped in the seat alone while I took them one at a time. I briefly played out a scene in my mind that would have ended with me getting handcuffed at Dallas Ft. Worth airport and leaving my children stranded in the care of some child protective service agent. I decided not to go that route. Instead, I stood there with the door open, and my children using the potty in plane sight of the people standing in line. That woman was just plain wrong.

For that display, I had two other flight attendants at my seat apologizing profusely for this woman's behavior. They said that they would have let me go in without a second thought. They offered me a bottle of wine or champagne from first class. I accepted.

We were in the air for 9 hours and 30 minutes. It was a long, mostly sleepless flight for me. The kids did pretty well on the plane, considering that they are 2 and 3. Upon touchdown in the U.S. I was overwhelmingly happy to be in my home country. And even at the Dallas airport I encountered a handful of happy chatty travelers. It felt warm and welcoming. I smiled all the way through.

Our next flight was 2 hours and 5 minutes. We arrived early. But it was the longest flight. I was so tired, and felt like I could almost fall asleep while standing straight up. There is no better thing than to see your family waiting for you as you get off the plane. However, I did not see them for a bit. I had to walk down the ramp, get on an elevator and then go down to baggage claim. It was there that I saw them all standing. Backs to me. Looking at the escalator. Waiting for me and my two kids pulling their rolling backpacks and me pushing the stroller. They were waiting for me to come down that escalator. Only I had too much, I surprised them by coming up behind them. And it was good.

I slept for hours when I got home. The food is good. The milk is good. And there was even some real feta cheese and sour cream! Feels good to be home. There is only one thing missing. And he is back in Chile. Wish he were here~

You know what time it is??

That's right folks, it's time for a video. It's Monday. I've made it safely to my destination. Having a lovely time so far. I'm beat tired. So I will save the details of my trip for another post. Since today is in fact my video day, I'm going to share an older video clip with you guys. It was from Thanksgiving time last year. Makes me smile every time I see it. Please feel free to share any video that you have with me. Doesn't matter the topic, or even if you made it at all. Just post a video on your blog and post the link back here. Don't forget to take a button, and leave me a comment.

<a href="http://eddienalexa.blogspot.com"><img border="0" alt="Video Me Mondays" width="200" src=" http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/lesneddie/videome1.png" height=" 118" /></a>

Saturday in the USA!

If you are reading this post, well depending upon the time, I should be in the air. My flight leaves at 11 PM my time. Check my clock on my side bar, I will be flying until 6 AM (That will be the time at Dallas/Ft. Worth airport.) And then for another 3 hours and 50 minutes I will be dragging luggage and kids through the airport. My next flight will be the short but hopefully much sweeter one. Like I said, hope. I should land at about 11:20 a.m. mountain time. It is there that I will be greeted by my dear family. I've missed them!

Think about me, good thoughts and well behaved children. I will be relaxing the remainder of the day, and hopefully I can squeeze in a nap somewhere to try and regroup and feel human again. I regret to say that I probably won't see Twilight on this day. But perhaps Sunday or Monday? I'm not at all upset about the delay. You see, it's no delay at all. I wouldn't be seeing it at all if I remained in my host country.

So, to all my bloggy friends, ciao from Santiago~ Next time I post, it will be from the good ole U.S. of A!


God Bless the USA - The most popular videos are here

Favorite Friday!

Hey and howdy, going to be brief today. My keeds are acting like they've just eaten a heaping spoonful of fire ants. They are ~c-r-a-z-y~ Must have something to do with the fact that we are leaving the country on a jet plane in less than 12 hours. Yeah, maybe that's it.

So I'm participating in Favorite Friday today. It's where you write a post about your favorite and not so favorite things. So go on over to visit Spoiled Mommy here.

One of my very favorite make up products is Bare Minerals Mineral Veil. It's a very light powder cover up. I absolutely adore it. It makes your skin look so fresh and clean. I highly recommend this product to everyone. If you haven't tried it, you should! Of course, I also love all of the bare minerals stuff too. But this one, is my favorite.

As for not so favorite? Standing in line at the grocery store, and having the people behind you standing so close to you that they are touching you. Or if you take a small step backwards, you step on them for being so close to you. Definitely not my favorite thing. ugh! OK, I think that about covers it.

If you are a lovely follower of mine and would care to participate in this coming Monday's Video Me Monday, I would like for you to post your favorite video clip. It can be of anything! Your video that you made or someone elses! Make me laugh, make me cry, just share something with me! Post it on your blog, grab a button and link back to me, put your post in Mr. Linky. That's the drill.

OK. Time to feed the monkeys. Oh and for those of you that asked if I will be blogging while in the US, the answer is yes. I will be borrowing my parents laptop. Sweet!

She's at it again folks.

So I'm all like minding my own business right? Yeah, and then a group of Chilean thugs bust through my 15th story apartment building window. They drug me kicking and screaming to my computer. I was forced to join twitter. I was twittering. In a sense, I think I am still. It was there that I saw OHMommy. She is having another giveaway. And why yes, she is giving away shoes. No, they are boots. And not just any boots, hot momma boots.

As I wept at the sweet words from her post, I could actually see myself being chosen this time. It's going to be fate. Or insanity. I can picture my legs wearing those. I can see them as I look down towards my feet. I can even smell the leather. I am willing myself to win.

It is only because I am a good bloggy friend that I am telling you this, but you can enter her contest too. You must visit her blog and demand that she choose Leslie. leave her a comment. I wish I could say that I hope you win. Well, I can say it, but I honestly won't feel it. You see, I reeaally want to win. So let me just say this, Good Luck! There. That's appropriate!

Edward, Bella, and some other stuff.

OK. It's only 1 day and a number of hours before I can see Edward and Bella and all the other vamps on the big screen. Even though it's technically going to be available to be seen by me, I have to wait an additional few days. Just because on the 21st I will still "technically" be out of the country, and then I'll be flying for a good portion of the following day. And then of course from my current time zone to mountain time, I will be gaining an additional 4 hours. So I might be acting a bit off. Like, I may want to go to bed when I should be eating. I guess we'll work it out. I'm just super excited to get to go to a movie. And that movie being Twilight. So cool.

Oh and as to the status of my suitcases: not all packed. OK. Just not. Why pack, when I can blog? Can someone tell me? So while I'm blogging, I too am singing. Quietly though, because Alexa is sleeping in the next room. And if my maid slams one more cabinet door, I am going to be getting hostile up in this household. Downright hostile I tell ya. So yeah, the song:

Blackberry, Blackberry, bo-berry

banana, fana, fo- ferry

Fe-fi-mo-merry

Blackberry~

I think I have a new infatuation. And I feel Christmas is nearing... and in case any of you out there have been paying attention, you will probably remember that I do not currently have or own a cell phone. Sure I have a cell phone. But I don't think they currently work, have batteries, or make or even sell batteries for such antiquities. Seriously.


This was my last cell phone. I had to put it in my rolling back pack. I was so cool. But I couldn't zip the backpack shut. The antenna stuck out and used to poke me in the leg while I walked. It weighed 9 lbs. And I could only talk for 3 minutes and 18 seconds. It was just too heavy for longer conversations.


No seriously, I like the blackberry. It's pretty, and it can hold music too. Besides, not only is my dh not letting me take our computer home, but he stole my ipod. Oh and my friend Stephanie has one. And I'm a wimp. Peer pressure is the worst. She told me she would text me if I got one. It's free. Or something like that. Oh yeah, and Spoiled Mommy wants me to twitter. Because all the cool moms are doing it. And then Mcmommy, she went all out and posted stuff about twittering. So you can see why I might benefit from this phone. Oh, and let's be practical here. If I got stuck on the side of the road, I could call for roadside assistance. AKA my brother. Because he's good like that.


Did I mention it's hot in here? I didn't? No. I'm sure that I did. Really. I'm hot and it's affecting my blogging. I must go open the freezer. Oh, and that really wasn't my last cell phone. Honest. C'mon. You seriously didn't believe me, did you?

Monday My Video

Hey again peeps! Welcome to the video version of this web page. You'll have to excuse me, as I seem to be a bit neurotic on this video. I don't usually talk so fast, er.. do I?

You'd have to ask someone who knows. Sorry that I haven't followed my own rules. But I honestly might try next week. Who knows.

So here I am, yet again:

(by the way, the rules to play along are to video tape your child either playing with or talking about their favorite toy. If you don't have children, feel free to video tape your husband or your own favorite toy or gadget. Post it on your blog, and then link the post in Mr. Linky in the box below. OK, now go have fun!)

<a href="http://eddienalexa.blogspot.com"><img border="0" alt="Video Me Mondays" width="200" src=" http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/lesneddie/videome1.png" height=" 118" /></a>