Scare in the Plaza

• not good waking up to this news; San Martin Square is one block from our current apartment.  Jake passes by it every day to and from work; he saw the man lying on the ground before he died, with police around him...reminder to all of us to always be aware of our surroundings...
• on a lighter note, watching Cake Boss in Spanish while folding laundry...makes me so anxious to be able to bake again! can't wait to have an oven!
• I got complimented on my Spanish at the dry-cleaner today! wow, what a nice lady!
• both Becky and Jake are difficult to pronounce here; dry-cleaning lady thought I said "Decky"...luckily I can just go with "Rebecca" and they usually get it; poor Jake has to pronounce his name "hah-kay", spell it, and even then they don't get it...I told him he should come up with a new name for while we're down here...and ideas?
• while at yoga yesterday, met these super fit mid-age ladies who have motivated me to bike, join a running group, and run races...provided me with some great websites! we'll see what comes of it...(one lady said she and her husband own 4 bikes, but only brought 2 with them here...see, people do these things!)
• one more thing...was apartment browsing online today...found a place that could be 'the one'...can't view 'til Friday, which happens to be Jake's birthday...can't we at least catch a break on his birthday!?!  won't get my hopes up...I'm sure it's a tiny, dirty, overpriced studio with a dorm fridge and a dead cockroach on the floor...oh the joy of international apartment searching...(saying these things so I can be pleasantly surprised when it's "perfect" :)