Mango Soy Candle Causes Trouble

Last night, on Christmas Eve, we wondered to ourselves “Hmmm....does it seem smoky in the house?" Anna had made parmesan toasties for dinner and worried, “Did I turn the oven off? Baby? Does it seem smoky in here to you?” “Maybe a little but I think it’s my glasses”, Christie replied. Anna then went upstairs to check her eyes, to see if her eyes were cloudy. Or was it the stove that caused the extra smoke? Maybe something was left on the bottom of the oven burning. She went back downstairs to check the oven. Nope. Oven off and no smoke bellowed. Yet our home still seemed smoky. Anna then asked, “Is there something wrong with my eyes? Everything is cloudy or smoky looking. Ok, well, I'll wait ‘till the morning to see if I have the same symptoms or if it goes away”. Christie said, "it's just because you're tired baby!” Anna, still worried, remarked, “I am 41 years old and I have cataracts!”

And then,

BEEP....BEEP....BEEEP.....BEEEEEEPPPPPPP!!! Anna thought to herself, “why is the smoke alarm going off upstairs?" As Anna ran upstairs, she saw a flutter of light in the bathroom. It suddenly dawned on her "THAT'S WHY THERE IS SMOKE IN THE HOUSE!!!!"

Christie had lit a mango soy candle around 3pm (it smelled so pretty) and it had burned slowly since then, filling up the house with smoke. We had no clue. Since it has been so cold (around 40 degrees) at night we’ve had most of the windows completely closed upstairs. So the smoke slowly filled the upstairs and then moved quietly downstairs. We had no clue. It smelled so pretty. It played tricks with Anna’s eyes, caused her to worry that a trip to the doctor was in order, and filled the WHOLE house with smoke. We had no clue. The house smelled so pretty!

We hurriedly opened all the windows in the house and turned on the fans to filter all the smoke out. “Brr!” Christie said, “Baby it’s cold outside”. Anna threw more blankets on her. Once things settled down and the alarm stopped ringing, Anna went upstairs to use the bathroom. As she got up, she noticed the toilet set was all black. The first thing she thought was, "Is my ass black?" NOPE! Whew. She grabbed some extra toilet paper to wipe the black soot off the toilet seat and it wouldn't come off. Yes, the black stuff was soot burned off from the mango soy candle. BUT…the house smelled so pretty! The soot just couldn’t be wiped off so Anna brought in the big guns: bathroom cleaner. Just what she wanted to do on Christmas Eve. Clean the bathroom.

Happy Holidays!

Overheard by Traveling Gals

A few nights ago we relaxed with some Kir Royales at a bar in Little Italy before catching a show at a local concert spot (all shall remain nameless to protect the privacy of those involved). As a venue manager and a bartender chatted, we overheard some interesting things about famous people. Now, keep in mind one of us is hearing impaired so bits of the conversation surely got scrambled through translation.

"Erika Badu is a witch. She insisted that her green room be entirely black".

"Alanis Morisette's staff demanded some green M&M's before her show. She ate 600 green M&M's".

"Pat Methany would not perform with video screens streamlining his performance. Something about seeing himself play and it being distracting to his art. They turned off the screens for his show".

"In the middle of a performance a fan got sick (yes, that kind of sick) and collapsed , the show stopped, the fan left the venue to recouperate and then insisted on returning to catch the last of the show".

Disclaimer. These statements are likely false and not meant to slander these talented artists for whom we have a lot of respect for. This blog post was created for entertainment only and not meant to be taken too seriously. Besides, who knows what Christie really heard, especially the part about 600 M&M's.

Exploring Recycled Books

Our group got cold while touring the downtown area of Denton, Texas and after roaming just two blocks, we decided it was too much and slipped into a used bookstore to get warm.

When we first walked into Recycled Books, we were thrown back to our old school library days. Musty, old book smell. Shag carpeting. We could never have expected the treasures that lay ahead of us!

This store is incredible with a HUGE selection of used books, records, and CDs. Miles and miles of books is not an exaggeration because Recycled is a 17,000 square foot store! This place truly has something for everyone. We saw sections devoted to art & music, children’s books, science (and metaphysics!), business, travel, sociology, literature (both classic and contemporary located in the large mezzanine), fiction and non-fiction, paperbacks and hardbacks, and so much more. Every nook of this place has books in it. Christie was so impressed with the massive art section she had to walk away to avoid buying everything she saw!

Aunt Anna took the kids exploring through all the books in the basement and snapped a bunch of funny pictures of each reading their favorites. Texting these images upstairs to the rest of the group proved to be hilarious. You can imagine the giggles.

So, the next time you visit Denton, Texas you must add this 3-story gem to your itinerary. Here are the details you’ll need: Recycled Books, 200 N Locust Street, Denton, Texas 76201. Look for the big purple (and historic) Opera House on the corner of the square.

The Jimenez Family Goes Roller Skating

“That there is a convoy”, remarked Anna. To get to the roller rink, it required three vehicles full of Jimenez family members. Two of the vehicles were mini vans. We followed each other carefully for a half and hour and arrived safely at Skate Park.

17. 34. 136. 2,000. Organizing seventeen excited Jimenez family members in the roller rink is quite a challenge. That’s 34 roller skates, 136 polyurethane wheels and at least 2,000 falls while rolling around the track. Actually, this is an exaggeration. Really only half of us roller-skated. 8. 16. 36. 1,000.

There was no “shooting the duck” with this clan. There were, however, many wobbly legs, which caused a quite a few falls (kids only; impressively, the Jimenez sisters did not fall once!). Lisa, Anna, Kelly, and Melody boogied around the rink, boogied to really bad muzak. Think really bad cover songs performed by really bad Disney artists. What could we expect on a Saturday when every 7-year old is celebrating birthdays at the rink? All in all, we had a great time yet suspect the roller skating sisters will wake up with very sore muscles tomorrow!!!

Peanut Breath

We love Southwest Airlines, especially all the complimentary items. No charge for baggage. Open seating. And, the beloved free honey roasted peanuts. We do not, however, love the peanut breath of all the passengers. Boy is it strong! But that’s Christie thinking it’s all the passengers – Anna claims it’s just her!!!

No matter. Our flight attendant made up for it with funny announcements.

“Smoking is prohibited on this aircraft but there is a smoking section out on the wings. If you can light it, you can smoke it. Smoking in the lavatories is against federal law and comes with a $2,000 fine. If you had an extra $2,000 we all know you wouldn’t be flying Southwest”.

“Oxygen is free for the first 3 minutes after that it’s $1 a minute. We figure it’s better than charging you for bags”.

We love Southwest Airlines. Thank you very much.

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Yee-Haw!

We are getting ready for our next adventure - Texas!

Since Spain was the first country to claim the area of Texas in the early 1800's , it makes complete sense that we would journey here after our Spain-filled vacation last month.

So stay tuned y'all. More news to come. In the meanwhile, enjoy some of these facts about Texas:

• Dr. Pepper was invented in Texas. In Waco.
• Bluebonnets are the state flower. Purty.
• Texans eat hot sauce on nearly everything. Hamburgers, hot dogs, rice, beans, scrambled eggs, and potatoes.
• All the cool kids are wearing cowboy boots.
• Texans pride themselves on being friendly-and tough. Don't mess with Texas.
• Rattlers are Texas snakes and are common here . Yikes.
• Texans like pickup trucks.