tom jones, of course

i always think of a million things i'd love to write about, but when it comes time to actually do it, i can't think of an eloquent, intelligent way to explain the things i do and see every day. so apologies in advance for the randomness...

my babies are good - we are up to 8 in the house now, ranging from 4 months to 2 1/2 years. they are fun and funny. i did fingerpainting with the two oldest on tuesday and they loved it. i'll take a picture of their art soon and post it. it's definitely promising.

i stepped in dog poop for the first time today. the tias laughed at me while i frantically scrubbed my sandal through the grass and told me that it would bring me good luck. keep your fingers crossed.

i love when people here speak in english to me. it happens a lot - usually whenever i say anything in spanish to them. at the doctor's office the other day, an x-ray tech asked the tia i was with why i wasn't answering his questions. hmm, maybe because my default mode is to smile and nod. when he learned i spoke english and bad spanish, he shared what english he knew (with me and the entire waiting room): "Everybody needs to be loved by somebody" and "Will you still love me tomorrow?" it was impressive.

for whatever reason (and seriously, i don't understand this), chileans love tom jones. to the extent that our head tia has "she's a lady" as her ringtone on her phone. but she didn't know what he was singing. so i spent some of my precious time here translating the words of tom jones into spanish:

Well she's all you'd ever want,
She's the kind they'd like to flaunt and take to dinner.
Well she always knows her place.
She's got style, she's got grace, She's a winner.
She's a Lady. Whoa whoa whoa, She's a Lady.
Talkin' about that little lady, and the lady is mine.

needless to say, she loved it, and i now own that song.

and, my friends - logan and sharah and josh!