In Philadelphia

I flew to Philly this Monday. It was a horrible flight, even after 2 glasses of wine in the plane, and a screwdriver at the airport.

Monday, May 4th, I went with my brothers to see the X-men movie at the Barton Creek movie theatre.
Tuesday, May 5th, I went to have dinner with the girls. I picked them up from school, and then I took Gaby to dance and Anna to play tennis. I arrived a little bit early to see Anna play tennis. I saw a group of older men practicing for doubles. We then went to pick up Gaby - she got out late. She had lost track of time. We then went to Chick Filet and brought them to Susana's.
Wednesday, I was going to work out when I lost my wallet at a gas station. I went immediately back, and it was gone. I had about $60 dollars in the wallet. I canceled all my cards, and that same afternoon, I went to renew my driver's licence.
Thursday, I went to see the girls again, but this time I did not get in time to pick Anna up. I waited outside the house, when she arrived, and then we went back together because she had forgotten to return her racket. By the way, I brought back her racket that she had forgotten at the condo. Susana prepared some tostadas with ground meat and that's what we had for dinner. I think before that Anna practiced some songs with me. I left and went to Jairo's house where they were watching "Taken" with Liam Nielsen. I worked a little bit in the upstairs room.

When then left in Jairo's car and went to see the Star Trek movie. After the movie, we dropped Luis off at his apartment. I slept at Jairo's house, and left very early to return the car, and fly to Philly.

Saturday, Cindy and I went to a beautiful B&B, had lunch around there, and had a dinner at "The Crazy Cat." It was a very nice French restaurant. On Sunday we went to Winterthur, and then went to her Mom's to plant flowers. We then had hamburgers for dinner.

I still have a canker sore that I got the weekend of May 2nd when I played tennis with the girls and Jairo, and got a lot of sun. I also had a sour vitamin Z that probably triggered. Week and a half later, it is still painful. I hadn't had a canker sore in a while, but I hadn't sunburned myself like I did in a while. That day, we played for 2 hours in the sun, and then swam in the pool. The girls had a great time. The water was very chlorinated, and everybody had red eyes.

Flu Epidemic in Mexico

Last week I had a terrible cold. I know it wasn't the flu, as I already had the flu. Today, Marlon called me in the morning to see how I was doing. I am feeling a little under the weather, but luckily, I don't have the sniffles that I had most of last week.

With all this scare, I must thank Jairo for vaccinating me and taking care of me when I actually got the flu early this year. I would have panicked otherwise with the cold I had last week. I will be staying one more week in Mexico, and then I will fly on Friday to San Antonio, and spend the weekend with the sweeties pies. By the way, I am starting to get my middle-age crisis. I am realizing that I am certainly not a spring chicken anymore.

Just to recap a few weeks...Easter Week Marlon was in Austin, and we had a good time with him and family. I came back to Mexico, and worked long hours to prepare for the JP Morgan Chase presentation. I think that went well, and this week I was mostly with a cold.

Lazy Weekend

Last week on Monday, I flew to Mexico City. It was Benito Juarez' B-day Holiday. First day of work was Tuesday. Fernanda came to work with a sprained ankle, and had an appointment with the doctor the same day. The rest of the week she was not at the office, and I don't think she will be in next week. The doctor recommended 2 weeks rest. The project continued with the test of long term repos, and securities lending.

On Tuesday, I had lunch with Aldama at "La Raclette. " Wednesday had lunch with Arturo at the taco place; Thursday had lunch with Marlon at the food court; and Friday had lunch with Arturo at a Chinese Restaurant. At the Chinese restaurant, I had for the first time the famous crab legs that Arturo had talked so much about. We had the crab legs in a mild sweet and sour souce - they were good. While having lunch Cindy called and said hi. At the lunch with Marlon, he mentioned the possibility of a job offer. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have a stable job, and less stressful than the current one.

I've been talking to Susana about Gaby. She has been a bit selfish with Anna. She mentioned that at Tai Pei (by the way, I had dinner with them last Saturday at the same place), Gaby unilaterally shared Anna's food, but wouldn't share hers. I had a talk with her about that. This Saturday, they spent with friends over at their house. Today, Sunday, Gaby went to a birthday party (she told me that she saw an albino kangaroo). It seems the b-day party was at a ranch.

When I called for the first time, Gaby was at the B-day, and Anna was at the daycare while Susana did some pilates.

Yesterday, Cindy went to her best friend's mom's funeral. She was sad, but seemed full of energy. She is usually very fatigued from working so much, and not sleeping well. This week she spent it proctoring and we did not get a chance to talk much during the week. After the Cindy's kids' dinner she was very sad because it is obvious that we need to get a lawyer for her to move to Texas. We've been talking about that a lot.

Forgot to mention that Bella is sick, and had to be taken to a doctor (Bella is the kids' pet bird). The bill was $300!!! They love Bella a lot is really part of the family.

Yesterday, I saw "The Strange Case of Benjamin Button." It made you think a lot about how fast life goes by and how we lose our abilities as we get old. I've been reading "The News," and the "Intellectual Devotional" that Cindy brought me to Vail. I just finished watching an interview of Obama in 60 Minutes. The entire AIG bonus thing has exposed the greed in Wall Street. I've seen it for decades. A lot of people have made fortunes just for having been priviliged to go to the right school and land a job at a Wall Street firm. I hope the philosophy of short-term profits at the expense of the long-term health of a company changes.

This weekend I also worked out. I did not do any aerobics, just light weights. 3 months before the cruise, and I want to be in good shape. I also started taking some natural supplements, using a new toothpaste to help me get fewer canker sores. I am doing great in that respect. Unfortunately, I have not been sleeping well. I hope I get a good night sleep tonight.

Cindy Goes back to Work

Talked to Cindy several times during the day. She sounds much better, but is still coughing. I am doing so, so. My chest hurts every once in a while. It feels like I have stone pressing on my chest. Old age is getting to me. I am finding more and more things that don't seem right. My warranty is running out.

I went to get the statement for the Mexican 401K. They will be sending me the statements via e-mail. I had lunch at the small coffee house that Jose Luna recommended. I had a bagel with soup. I had pineapple water. It was very filling.

The C&N and custody first phase went ok without any problems.

Susan already asked for the girls's March expenses, $435. This does not include the $215 for Gaby's dance. I pay...

$100 Anna - Voice
$100 Anna - Tennis
$100 Anna - Spanish
$30 Gaby - Tennis
$80 Gaby - Guitar
$215 Gaby - Dance.

This time, I am also paying for $25 of Gaby's glasses. The girls keep busy and are learning things that will stay with them for life; although, I am not too sure about dance. However, gaby gets to meet nice girls, and builds her self-esteem.

The market was sort of stable today. No big drop, nor rally.

I asked Cindy to buy the Intellectual Devotional - looks like a fun book. Cindy continues reading the book about the American that build schools for girls in Afghanistan. Sadly...the Taliban is destroying them. There is such a cultural division between the West and the Muslim world.

Cindy's B-day Saturday

Saturday was Cindy's B-day. Her age is my favorite number. Unfortunately, she was very sick. I called her in the morning to sing "Happy Birthday to You. " Her kids gave her a surprise party at her parents. I called her in the afternoon to congratulate her again. She went shopping for her ski jacket and pants with her dad...this gave time for the kids to prepare for the surprise. Kate had asked me to go, but flights were not convenient, and we were going live with C&N in Mexico.

On Friday, even while she was very sick, she went to a bar to see some friends. Her comment was, "I got to get out of this town."

For me this weekend was mainly watching tv, reading (bought US News and World Report) watched Slumdog Millionaire on Saturday. On Friday I saw "The Day the Earth Stood Still"; I liked the original version better.

Today I had a meeting at JP Morgan. We reviewed the middle office process for the brokerage house. I went with Jose Antonio. I got there just on time. Jose Antonio stayed later to review the process in more detail. I saw Paola Rodriguez.

I got to Deutsche Bank at around 9:40 AM, and started the "go live" of Call & Notice. I had lunch at the apartment, and watched the market news. Very scary situation - the economy. The market was driven down by additional help to AIG. I think AIG has received around 130 billion already. I spent the entire weekend figuring out the best way to invest the savings.

Today, I read Warren Buffet's quarterly report, and it was certainly not very optimistic. They except stocks and houseses to continue droppings in price. With the billions of dollars spent by the democrats, they also expect high inflation in the future. This where I need to plan.

My beautiful wife continues to be sick with a cold. She wasn't feeling too well today. I called her several times. She worked from home, as a big snowstorm fell in the Northeast. Love her a lot, and wish she can get over it. Personally, I've been fighting my cold for a while.

I stayed late at Deutsche Bank in case anything happened with the batch. Fernanda ordered pizza.

I had pain in my chest, and it got me a bit scared. I cannot wait to be in the US to have this checked.

I talked to the girls very quickly. I miss them. On Friday, we are going skiing. I also stayed on the phone with Cindy and filled out the Charles Schwab form for the community checking account.

My eyes are all red...I think I should be in bed. I am very tired and my chest hurts. I also reserved the car for Denver, and also for the days I will be staying in Texas.

I hope we all get back to health. Cindy 42, and I 45 means will be getting more illnesses. I wish I could take a long vacation. Things are getting very scary with the economy. We are lucky we were frugal during the fat years.

Cleaning the Garage

Today I got at 8:00 AM to take the garbage out. Cindy woke up at around 9:00 AM and had to work for 1/2 arranging families to provide comments about an article that came out on charter schools. I stayed in bed and finally got up at noon.

I called the girls later and they told me that yesterday they did not go to Sea World, but instead went to Fredricksburg. Today they went to Sea World and to a Spurs game. I was not able to talk to them from late afternoon on.

We went to Java Joes again for breakfast, and I had an Italian Roll, egg, and pepper sandwich. I really liked. You eat it with ketchup. We had a couple of wheatgrass pills, and vitamins.

Later we went to cut my hair. The same lady that shaved my head by mistake cut it this time. Cindy also tried a different haircut. The hairdresser showed us some styles in a couple of magazines, and we picked one.

Cindy had much more energies today, and threw away the Christmas tree. I worked in the garage re-arranging and putting things away. Cindy started organizing her papers that were in the basement. Cindy prepared the juice immune booster and we had it together - nasty stuff.

Much later at night we went to Cindy's Mom's house to pick up some receipts, and then went to King of Prussia. Her grandma did not like Cindy's new hairdo. At the mall, I bought some shoes, and Cindy some corduroy pants. She bought them at JCrew. We also returned a couple of things. We were very hungry, so we went to a Chilis nearby.

Donation Day

Woke up a bit earlier today (10:00 AM). Cindy got up at around 9:00 AM. She had a little pain last night. She took urelle. We think it was the vinegar and tomatoes in the Cuban food.

We had french toast, eggs, and bacon for breakfast. The day was cold, but sunny.

We worked on the basement and donated a truck full at Goodwill. We then went to look for wheat grass. We decided to get the pills instead of the actual grass. We had a late, very late lunch at Panera. I had tortilla soup in a bread bowl, and Cindy had a salad.

Cindy prepared the immune boost, and I had some of it. It tastes terrible. We packed some the Christmas decorations.

We talked for a long time sitting in couch, and then watched the History channel. I stayed up to watch Mad Money an Fast Money.

In summary, we did not do much...but the relaxation was great.

My girls woke up late. They cleaned their rooms. They went to Sea World. They are spending time with their cousins from NY.