Do I offend??

Tuesday when I was walking to the door of my condo, my neighbor gave me a toothbrush.  We were chatting and she just reached in her bag and gave it to me.  Hmmmm  Was she trying to tell me something?  I think she must work in a dentist's or something.  

Kobieta y mężczyzna jedzą (woman and man eat)

Sunday dinner was delicious.  We went to Tavira for dinner.  We had a Groupon that we had to use before October 1.  Cod fritters and avocado stuffed with crab for the starters.  I had Arroz Valencia, which is basically paella.  Yum!  Bread pudding for dessert.  I was so full I could not even finish my coffee.  If you're looking for a place to have a nice dinner, give Tavira a try.  It's on Connecticut in Chevy Chase, not too far past Jones Bridge.  It's tricky to find because it's in the basement of an office building.  Turn onto the side street when you see the building.  The parking is in an underground garage.  It's free but there is a gate blocking the entrance.  It should open up when you pull in.  Get your mouth ready for delicious Portuguese and Mediterranean food around.

Kobieta Spi (the woman sleeps)

I slept like the dead last night.  Nothing like a stressful day at work to wear you out.  I passed out on the sofa right after I posted the last blog.  I woke up about 11, emptied the dehumidifier and crawled into bed.  Slept straight until the alarm work me up this morning.  I didn't even wake up to go to the bathroom.  I always wake up to go to the bathroom.

Mi escuela

There are so many changes at work.  I can't keep up.  I'm so tired of being stressed out and tired.  I want to do what the Suits tell me to do but I'm having a hard time keeping up with what they want me to do.  My head hurts...Is it June yet?

Poseidon Adventure

The Rio Grande flowed through my kitchen walls when my neighbor's washing machine overflowed.  The pipe for the waste water was clogged.  Thankfully, I was not home.  Sadly, I came home to puddles of water in my kitchen and bathroom about a week ago.  It was a nice day up until then.  I woke up and went to 8am Zumba and then had a nice visit with my parents.  Quick trip to Home Depot for a kitchen and bath back splash tile class.  I walked in, turned off the alarm and started noticing that something was different.  Could not quite put my finger on what or why.  I noticed that the ceiling in the hallway was drooping.  "Maybe, it got damaged during earthquake." thinks I.  On to the kitchen where I notice 2 strange puddles.  Now I started thinking that there was something really strange happening.  I checked the washer, dishwasher and disposal...no leaks.  The water was in a weird spot in front of the stove and a leak just didn't make sense.  I had to go to the bathroom and that's where it all became clear.

There was water on the floor and the ceiling drywall was wet in several places.  I figured out that the upstairs neighbor had a leak.  To make a long story short, I went up and she apologized profusely for the trouble.  She would pay for repairs...everything is golden, until, Monday morning.  Frantic emails from the Condo office talking about a leak from my condo.  Blah blah blah.  I call back and tell them that it was NOT me but it was the lady upstairs.

Lots of promises to bring over a dehumidifier and to inspect the damage yet no one calls me back to DO ANYTHING.  On Wednesday I finally got a dehumidifier.  On Thursday the contractor was supposed to come by and give me an estimate but he never showed.  I sent and email expressing my irritation with the lack of communication.  Guess what?  The guy I emailed, didn't email me back.  Ha.    The contractor showed up on Friday morning, before work, but I was not ready for him.  Cue me running around half dressed running around like a headless chicken trying to get dressed to let him in.

Bathroom and hall ceiling need to be ripped out.  Overhead light fixtures to be checked for water damage.  Getting special clearance to check the "wet wall" for mold.  They don't want to do it but I'm going to insist because the water gushed inside of the walls down to the condo below me.  If the walls are not opened up to dry, then mildew and mold will grow for sure.  That is not gonna work for me.  

I can't wait to see what happens next week.

Superheros

I was messing around this weekend and took this crazy picture.

What should my superhero name be?

Maps

MAPS~~
On Monday we played Carcassonne and the map was really cool so we took some pictures.  You've gotta check out German style board games.  There's a lot more than Sorry and Chutes and Ladders in the board game world these days.  We currently own Carcassonne (with most extensions), Settlers of Catan, San Juan, Puerto Rico and Dominion.

Check it out

Cheese, maps and superheros

Cheese~~
We used our last Arrowine groupons over the weekend.  Mmmm Cheese!  Lots of delicious-ness...  We got more Brude Basil and it was smokey and delicious.   For new cheese my favorite was Brillat Savarin.  It was a triple cream with a buttery, cream cheese taste.  It literally melted in my hand.  At the urging of my friend Mike, we tried something new, quince Membrillo.  It is sweet, like a jam but solid.  You buy it by the slice.  You put a little on the cracker with the cheese.  Yum!  Apparently it's a Portuguese thang.  The next cheese was also Portuguese, Serra da Estrela.  Nice, soft a little pungent at the end.  Next was some French cheese that was liquid at room temperature.  St Marcellin comes in a little ramekin type container.  Not as creamy as I like but still pretty good overall.  Next we have Arzua Ulloa which was soft and mild.  It had a rind but not thick or chewy.  Last we had Butterkase.  The name would have you think it was buttery but not so much.  It had a strong bitter after taste.  It was solid and swiss-like.  I don't like swiss.  The pictures show all the stuff on the plates.  The labels are there but you have to zoom in.