Jorge and Debbie's Family Corner

Christmas Holidays 2011

2012-01-08T16:53:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed the holidays this year at home and took a couple of trips. I had 2 weeks off work and needed it as this year has been very hard at work... but that is another story for another time. Whitney came to see Mark and spent some time with us. Then on Wednesday before Christmas we went to my parents in Florida. The weather was great...just like fall instead of winter. Debbie and I walked every day at the beach and all of us took a trip to St. Augustine, billed as the oldest city in the US... a very interesting place for history buff, and shoppers. :)

Later in the week we went to North Carolina with Whitney's family to go skiing, but there was not much snow. We only were able to ski one day, but it was nice to be with family and friends and enjoy some leisure time around the fire and exploring the town in the mountains.

Disfrutamos de las vacaciones este año en casa y tambien haciendo un par de viajes. Yo pude tomar dos semanas de vacaciones...y las necesitaba ya que este año ha sido muy duro en el trabajo ... pero esa es otra historia para otro momento. Whitney vino a ver a Marcos y se pasó algún tiempo con nosotros. A continuación, el miércoles antes de la Navidades nos fuimos con mis padres a Florida. El tiempo fue genial ... al igual que la temperatura, pues parecia Otoño en vez de invierno. Debbie y yo caminamos todos los días en la playa y luego todos hicimos un viaje a San Agustín, considerada como la ciudad más antigua de los EE.UU. ... un lugar muy interesante para el aficionado a la historia, y las compradoras. :)

Más adelante en la semana fuimos a Carolina del Norte con la familia de Whitney para ir a esquiar, pero no había mucha nieve. Sólo pudimos esquiar un día, pero fue agradable estar entre familia y amigos y pasar un rato agradable en torno al fuego y explorando la ciudad en las montañas.

A visit to Atlanta and An Early Thanksgiving Dinner

2011-11-21T18:04:00.000-08:00

Al comienzo de Noviembre mis padres vinieron a ver a los bisnietos y como siempre una foto alrededor de la mesa. No hay visita sin una buena comida. Y dos semanas despues otra comida. Como no podemos estar juntos para Thanksgiving, pues preparamos una comida cubana americana con pavo y moros con cristianos para comer con la familia de Dany antes de ir para mis suegros a celebrar Thanksgiving.

Y ahi estan la fotos.

An early Cuban-American Thanksgiving Dinner. :)

Now that I ate, I can take it easy. Ya que comi ahora puedo descansar en paz.

London Visit June 2011

2011-06-18T18:11:00.000-07:00

Debbie and I had been planning to go to Europe since the first of the year, but had been undecided. I wanted to go to Rome this year since we had such a good time in our tour of Spain 2 years ago (look here)when we went with my sister and brother in law. But Rome lost its place because I try to follow the travel rule of "wherever the fares are best, that is where we're going", specially since there are so many place we have yet to see. It also lost its place because when I called a friend of ours in London for a place for meeting, she mentioned that convention was that same week we were planning to be there. That decided our trip. And what a "lovely" trip it was. (Like the English say.) Everything was beautiful in England that week, even the weather. It was sunny everyday except for two periods of rains in the morning on a couple of days. We were told that was very unusual for London. So we were very lucky. I was fascinated by the history lessons during a couple of tours we took outside the city, and of course Debbie enjoyed the roses at Regent's Park.

Buckingham Palace

Trafalgar Square

The London Eye: A great view of London from the top.

Big Ben at Parliament House

Tower Bridge: Another London Landmark.

At the Tower of London.

At Convention, we met one of our friends from Atlanta who was also there. What a pleasant surprise.

Our friend from London who not only told us about Convention, but also took us there. She lived in the States for a few years where we first met.

And what a small world. These folks we met there have relatives in Jacksonville whom we know very well.

A memorial to Bill Fiske, the first American pilot downed during the Battle of Britain. The inscription on his gravestone says "An American citizen who died that England might live."

The famous White Cliffs of Dover: The cliffs have great symbolic value for Britain because they face towards Continental Europe across the narrowest part of the English Channel, where invasions have historically threatened and against which the cliffs form a symbolic guard. They were popularized during World War II by the song of the same name "The White Cliffs of Dover"

The Canterbury Church. Canterbury was famous in the Middle Ages for its cathedral and for the "Canterbury Tales", a series of stories written about the middle ages. It was fascinating to see this cathedral I had studied about so long ago in college.

There I met Lady DaTorres

Windsor Palace and the changing of the guards.

In the town of Bath where the Romans built their spas with warm springs water.

Stonehenge. It was fascinating also to see this place I heard so much about since I was a child. I had an uncle that loved to read to me and this was one of the things he often read to me about when I was little. He taught me how to love history and travel: something of the former he knew about a lot through his readings, none of the latter which he was not privileged to do.

At Regent's Park. A beautiful garden filled with Roses in honor of Queen Mary.

At Covent Garden Market: Good ice cream, good free shows by street actors and musicians and good food.

Picadilly Circus: The Times Square of London.

Leeds Castle: Billed as the most beautiful castle in the world.

Westminster Abbey where Kate and William were married. Also the burial place of many kings and Queens from the Middle Ages, actors, Scientists, poets. King Richard III, Mary Queen of Scots, Isaac Newton, Lord Byron, to name a few. Very interesting place.

England also has its "Dollar Stores", excuse me, "Pound Stores".

Window Shopping at Harrods Store

At our hotel near the airport on our last night of a wonderful visit to London.

A Texas Surprise

2011-04-26T20:14:00.000-07:00

We had a very special surprise from Texas a couple of weeks ago when Kristen came to Georgia, unfortunately David could not come, but we got to see mom and the kids. And of course the grands and great-grands made the trip from Florida to see them. On Sunday we all met for a dinner at our house and had a great time. Even had an early birthday celebration for Jacob.

Hace dos semanas que la esposa de Davisito vino con sus padres a visitar a sus familiares en Georgia. Davisito no pudo venir, pero los abuelos y bisabuelos hizieron el viaje desde Florida para visitarles, y ver a los ninos pues Tejas esta tan distante que no hay muchas oportunidades de ver a la familia de alla. El domingo por la tarde nos reunimos en mi casa para comer y visitar, y hasta para celebrar, un poco tempano, el cumpleanos de Jacob.

A quick trip to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

2011-04-17T20:31:00.000-07:00

Last month ( late March), I got a late call on Friday that I had to report to work in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands on Tuesday morning. Someone has to do the tough jobs :). But believe me, it was work. The only time I had to see the sun was at lunch and then Saturday morning when I left, and then I did not have much time. I had to head to the airport early because that day there was a regatta in town and the traffic to and from was pretty heavy. I guess I'll have to plan a vacation there some day.

El mes pasado (Marzo), el Viernes, tarde, me avisaron del trabajo que tenia que reportarme a trabajar in St. Thomas, Islas Vírgenes el martes por la mañana. No me dieron mucho aviso, pero alguien tiene que hacer los trabajos dificiles (ja). Pero en realidad fue todo trabajo. La única vez que tuve tiempo de ver el sol fue durante el almuerzo y entonces la mañana del sábado en que me fui, y entonces no tuve mucho tiempo. Ese dia tove que partir temprano hacia el aeropuerto porque iba haber una regatta y el trafico era terrible. Tendremos que planear unas vacaciones alla un dia de estos. Entonces tendre mas tiempor de vel el sol. (ja)

I could not believe how big this cruise ship was!

Un Barco gigante.

The hotel complex where I staid Frenchman's Reef (Some Free Advertising). Very nice.

El hotel donde me hospede.

The only view I could get every day after work--Moonlight instead of sunlight.

Lo unico que pude ver despues del trabajo--las luces de noche. No sol.

Saturday morning I finally saw what I missed.

El sabado por la manana me di cuenta de lo que me perdi.

The sail boats coming in for the Regatta. Wished I could have staid to see it.

Los botes de vela que llegaban para la regatta.

A view from the hoter.

Una vista desde el hotel.

I excused myself, but the iguana did not budge. I had to walk around it.

Le pedi que se apartara para yo pasar, pero no me hizo caso.

The only evidence I was there. Friday evening after work.

La unica evidencia de que estuve alli. Fue el Viernes tarde despues del trabajo.

A few more friendly critters.

Alguien le estaba dando melones y les gustaba.

Someone was feeding the iguanas canteloupe and they seemed to like it. This want went into hiding so it could eat in peace. :)

Esta se escondio para comer en paz.

As I was leaving this plane was coming in for a landing. Cool!

A Visit from Spain

2011-01-09T13:41:00.000-08:00

Mi primo y su familia volaron de las Canarias, en España, a los estados este año a Miami y mi tía y su esposo de Miami los trajeron hasta Atlanta para una visita corta. Les mostramos un poco de las vistas de Atlanta, pero lo mejor fue que lo pasamos muy bien con la familia. Tuvimos un rato maravilloso hablando de Cuba, (por supuesto) recordando las historias de la familia, y comiendo y teniendo unas buenas risas mientras recordábamos las historias de familia del pasado. En el poco tiempo pudimos visitar a Stone Mountain Park, el museo de la Coca-Cola y el restaurante del Sun Dial en el 72 piso de un hotel para conseguir una buena vista del área de Atlanta. A mi primo le encanta la Coca-Cola así que él no podía irse sin probar todos los savores allí del mundo entero. El tiempo estuvo un poco frio pero cooperó la mayor parte del tiempo como ya pueden ver.

My cousin and his family flew from the Canary Islands, in Spain, to the States this year to Miami and my aunt and her husband from Miami brought them up to Atlanta for a short visit. We showed them a little of the Atlanta sights, but better than that we had a lot of fun with the family. We had a wonderful time talking about Cuba, remembering family stories, eating and having a good laugh going down memory lane. In such a short time we made it to Stone Mountain, the Coca Cola Museum and the Sun Dial Restaurant to get a good view of the Atlanta Area. My cousin is a big Coca Cola fan so he could not leave without testing all the savors there from the world over. The weather was a little chili at times, but it cooperated most of the time as you can see.

Appalachian Ski Trip Dec 2010

2010-12-22T19:02:00.000-08:00

What better time to go skiing than when there is a lot of snow. The weather has been so cold in the last few weeks and it has snowed so much in the area this year that it was a perfect time for a ski trip. We were a little concerned about th roads, but everything worked out fine. We met Zacks family and Daniel and Whitney made it to the cabin with us. The view was beautiful from the cabin and from the slopes. The snow was packed and plenteous... just pefect. It was great to have such good fellowship with family and friends.

The driveway was very steep, but David took good care of it for us. The chains we bought were the best investment we made this year. :)

Daniel and David checking out the snow.

Zack, Mark and Daniel getting ready for a run.

I got on the diamond slope and survived. If you believe that you are indeed gullible. I played it safe and stayed in the easy blue slopes.

The snow was beautiful. It had snowed two nights before and it had blanketed the area.

We could not keep up with the young ones, so we used skis instead of boards.

On the way to the top.

On the way to the bottom...literally.

Lydia trying to catch up with Zack waiting on her.

Zack speeding on.

David jumped through all those hoops and came out without a scratch. At least that is the way it looks, but we actually avoided those jumps.

Whitney getting the hang of it.

Taking a break at the ski lodge.

Calling it a day. They could still smile.

The ski was great, but the food was even better.

No, Liam, don't hide the food under the plate. :) Noah found a spider web on the lamp.

Three nice little children enjoying their books.

Aunt Debbie, I just want to hold Rudy.

The kids were seeing some dinosaurs from cousin Lydia grow before their eyes in the cup.

Everyboyd taking turns spoiling Ella.

Look, Marky!! What kind of dinosaur is this?

No! I don't wanna do that.

Cousin Lydia with another of her projects for the kids... decorating home made cookies.

I caught them red handed... a romantic couple. You'll have to guess who.

Some parting shots.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-03T20:16:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving weekend was a great time to celebrate with family and friends. We started early Thursday with a game of Disc Golf and a dinner with Steinbrechers. Then Friday we continued our celebration with our Traditional dinner at Debbie's Sister. Lydia had to work Thursday so our "big" celebration was at the Spath on Friday. Whatever the place, the family time and the food was plentiful and great!!!

Even Tucker came out to play Disc Golf.

That was a hole in 1...plus 5, probably.

Oh, oh! I think I just lost my contact.

Look at that form!!

" Bridge over... no water." That part of the lake was completely dry.

Check out that style. No wonder he won...Well, he was also keeping score.

At home with the Steinbrechers.

Mark entertained the kids with his clown balloons! Even Ella got one.

Looks like Ella is saying, "Marky, I want one like Noah's."

Aunt Debbie can really make me smile!!

Look here! Isn't that neat!

The chef carving the Turkey.

Oh, mine! Do you think we can eat all this food!

Lydia serenading her papaw!

Everybody say "Cheese!"

Tucker! What you do to my I pod?!!

Fall Picnic and Granma and Granpa's Visit

2010-11-12T21:03:00.000-08:00

We had company last weekend from Jacksonville. The grandparents and great-grandparents came to visit the kids and it happened to be at the same time as our friends had a Fall Picnic at their farm. Lots of good food and fellowship. Then that evening, Lydia and Zach came to our place for supper and I was the cook, as you can see. We had a great family time.

Mom and Dad at the Jaemor Farmer's Store

Lydia jugando con granpa.

The Chef

It was also our 27th Anniversary.

Since the family was home, it was appropriate to show the 4 Flags over the Torres: America, Spain, Cuba and behind the American Flag, barely visible, France (Debbies grandparents)

Las anclas de la familia

I'm not so sure about what you are doing, Lyd.

Let me rest a minute, mom. Then I'll eat the rest!

The Doctors are in.

And my office where all my blogging takes place.

A Fall Housewarming Dinner

2010-10-30T11:55:00.000-07:00

Lydia and Zach along with their friend Ivy had a fall dinner at their house. They served Zach's signature chili. Later the kids sat by the fire to roast marshmallows and take in the beautiful fall evening.

A Bike Trip to Botanical Garden and Piedmont Park

2010-10-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

Took a bike ride to the Botanical Garden and Piedmont Park. Beautiful fall day for such an outing. There were people everywhere at both places.

The park is well guarded by the watchful eyes of steel and glass buildings always in the background.

A dog fight ensued at the doggy park. But never fear, the fight moved from the dogs to the owners after the dog fight was broken up.

A canopy walk. Unfortunately I could not ride my bike up there.

Raise the Flag

2010-10-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago when I was a teenager in college (ha,ha) I worked in the bookkeeping department of a small bank during the summer months. One day the bank President asked me if I could work as the parking lot attendant for a week because the regular attendant had to be out and, of course, I agreed.

During that week I had to be at the attendant's booth very early in the morning. That first morning I reported for work at the attendant's booth, dawn was fading away as the golden sun began to slowly light up the city when I saw the custodian come out of the bank carrying a flag not realizing that I was observing him. He walked to the mast and very ceremoniously and respectfully, making sure the flag did not touch the ground, he attached the flag to the rope and hoisted it up the flag pole slowly.

The respect and care he practiced during the short ceremony made such impression on me that I wished I had had a camera to capture that moment, but for lack of it I used some parking tickets and a pencil and on the back of the tickets I wrote what follows below. And to this date, the image of the custodian raising that flag in the early morning light is still imprinted in my memory.

RAISE THE FLAG!

Raise the flag citizens of America!

Raise the flag.

Let no enemy take it;

Let no citizen forsake it.

In the battlefield it saw the strife

Of each man who so bravely gave his life

So that it could freely fly

As a symbol of liberty in the sky.

Raise the flag, citizens of America!!

Raise the flag!

Raise the flag and proud of it be

That its splendour all the world may see.

Raise the flag and keep it free

From the hands of all enemies!

A Fishing Trip

2010-10-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

Noah and Liam spent Friday night with us and Mark took them fishing at a park nearby. Noah was really excited when he caught his first fish and there was no leaving the park for a while. We later had a picnic and more fishing.

The Golden Bee

2010-09-30T21:24:00.000-07:00

Not much going on lately so here goes a little entertainment.
Something I wrote a long time ago when I was a young "dreamer", based, loosely, on a Spanish poem of long ago. The excuses we used to make although this one is a little farfetched. (ha).

Your lips were parted in a smile
So tender, so bewitching,
That my head spinned for a while
As your smile I kept watching.

Your lips were so pretty, so red,
That they looked like a rose.
A rose, which in its bed,
So bloomingly, so nectarly grows.

And suddenly!!!...A golden bee
Looking for honey reposed
Upon your crimson red lips
Mistaking them for a rose.

In your lips your smile was no longer
For now there was pain in your lips.
And your pain grew stronger
Each time the bee took a sip.

I know that in a short span
I, for your sake, became terrified.
But, please, tell me madam
If your ire toward me is justified?

Please, tell me madam
If there was another gentle way,
In that short, horrible span,
Of scaring from you the bee away.

It is true I had to kiss you
So that the bee I could kill.
But look, it stung me too,
And my own lips are swollen still.

For killing a bee in a rose
My lips are now in pain.
But if another bee on your lips do repose,
To save you, I will kiss you again.

Don’t look at me with such displeasure

For I beg, madam, tell me:

Was there another gallant measure

For killing the golden bee?

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-11T19:44:00.000-07:00

We had company from Florida for Labor Day Weekend. It was a long holiday weekend and my parents and sister came to visit us and meet Ella, the new great-grandbaby. The weekend started with a meal at Zack and Lydia's house where we waited for my parents and sister, where my parents met their 6th great-grandbaby, 4th of Daniel's, for the first time. She is a doll incarnate. Magdeline and David stayed with Daniel and my parents stayed with us. Saturday we went to see the Cyclorama which is a historical depiction of the battle of Atlanta during the Civil War. My dad and I are history buff so he enjoyed that for the first time and I for the N...th time. But even my mon enjoyed it also. Later we visited one of my favorites lunch restaurant in Atlanta that I visit frequently at work. The weekend ended with a visit to the park with Daniel's kids and as you can see they had a great time and it was a good weekend for the most part.

A few pictures of a mostly nice weekend.

At Zack and Lydia for dinner.

Admiring the new grandbaby.

Cuando vayas a la carniceria...

The Battle of Atlanta at the Cyclorama

Admiring the Exhibits

A toast with strong cuban espresso to stay awake after Sunday lunch.

Roommates

2010-07-24T21:26:00.000-07:00

I was transferring some old home movies to the new Media of CDs when I located this video I made several years ago and thought I had lost.

When I first moved to Atlanta in 1978 I had the privilege to room with 3 other friends. Leonard, Tim and Ron, and toward the end, another boy Mike, moved in with us, but did not stay long. (We drove him crazy, probably.) We were like the 4 Musketeers, always going places and doing things together--when I was not traveling with my job. Leonard and Ron had come to Atlanta to study electronics, Leonard to study Chiropractics. Tim and I worked. During that time I traveled a substantial amount, but on weekends when I was home we always had a full weekend playing tennis, basketball, swimming, and driving up and down Cobb Parkway, in Marietta, in Leonard's blue hearse (thats what we called it, but it was really an antique DeSoto, a really neat car).

After we all parted ways, Leonard came back to visit about ten years later and we had a mini-reunion with our other roommates. That's when I made the video to kind of honor and remember the "old times". Today, some 30 years later, it is really neat to see what we looked like back then, and the things we used to do.

While I made this video for the roommates, I could not leave out of the memories Jimmy and Mary and their family because they opend up their homes to us boys during those years we roomed together and they made us feel as part of their family. It was like having "a home away from home." Through their hospitality and care, they became an intricate part of the history of "The Roomates."

Enjoy it.

A Day at the Park

2010-07-22T19:01:00.001-07:00

You can tell these kids love the outdoors--even baby Ella, la recien nacida de Daniel y Cindy, lying on the special blanket made by cousin Lydia.

Ice cream time.

Quit tickling me, Marky!!!

What? Aunt Debbie. I'm not doing anything--just getting wet.

These kids just can't be still for a picture.

I Love New York

2010-06-21T19:12:00.000-07:00

I didn't think I would ever say that... but I just did. I was in New York City on business and took some time in the evenings to look around and took a day off to sight see on Friday before returning. What a great place to visit--the crowds, the buildings, the history, all blended as one. Loved it all and I'm ready to return on a non-business trip. Got a chance to even go to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I got chills walking the halls of Ellis Island and approaching the Statue of Liberty from the Ferry as I thought of all those immigrants (like us) who left it all behind and traveled thousands of miles by boat to start a new life and come to the Land of Liberty and Opportunity.

We too had our Ellis Island, but it was called...Miami (ha). And in our case we traveled by air, but as I tell my kids, we traveled 3,800 miles to go 90 as shown in the map below.

Me encanto Nueva York. Estuve ahi en un viaje de negocios, pero tome tiempo por las tardes y el Viernes antes de regresar para actuar como un turista. Que gran lugar para visitar--la gente, los edificios magnificos y la historia de la ciudad. Aun tuve tiempo para visitar la Estatua de la Libertad y Ellis Island. Me dio como escalofrios caminar por los pasillos de Ellis Island y llegando en el buque hacia la Estatua de La Libertad pensando en todos esos imigrantes que, como nosotros, lo dejaron todo atras buscando libertad y oportunidades viajando miles the millas por buque para comenzar una nueva vida.
Nosotros tambien pasamos por nuestra Ellis Iland, pero en un lugar que se llama...Miami. Y en nuestro caso viajamos por avion y como les digo a mis hijos, recorrimos 3,800 millas para viajar solamente 90 como lo demuestra el mapa abajo.

We traveled 3,800 miles to go 90. The easiest way to get to America.

This was a test given to immigrants to determine their level of intelligence since most of them could not write. They were asked to draw a diamond. The top diamonds were drawn by people that had never held a pencil in their hands. The second group by people who had never been to school. The last group, by people who had had less than two years of schooling. Interesting.

The hall where immigrants awaited to be processed. I can imagine the noise due to the echo in this hall even today.

I was fascinated by the crowds. Look in the background. This was normal every night.

Could not see much of ground zero. It was still surrounded by chain link fence, and sadly nothing has yet been done in terms of a memorial.

The grandiose Empire State Bldg.

The Old and the New.

The Waldorf Astoria Hotel Lobby. A magnificent place. As a little boy my uncle always talked about this hotel. It was quite impressive to be there.

Found a statue of Jose Marti in Central Park. The George Washington of Cuba.
Another monument to Cuba. The Maine Monument.
The Wall Street Bull. Should it not be now changed to a Bear?

St. Augustine Beach

2010-06-07T10:56:00.001-07:00

We spent a week at the beach in St. Augustine this year and had a lot of sun and sand and food.

The entire family.

All the grand children and great-grand children.

" Ella va the todo juego con aro, balde y paleta..."

With granma and granpa

The kids found a new beach toy.

With tia Sonia from Miami.

Enjoying the sun under the shade :)

With the master cook. We got him to smile.

The chef and the food tester. Humm, good!

The three lions in their cage... so they said.

Cousins bonding together.

Lydia and Lia having fun at the beach.

A walk on the beach.

Mark found his favority life guard at the beach.

The beach wore him out.

You can tell she was having a good time.

Giggling cousins.

Testing cousin Lydia's shoes for the party tonight.

Dreaming of old times.

A Cuban Lunch

2010-05-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

Been promising my sister in law some cuban food, so we finally made it. It helps me to practice also to preserve the good cuban food from my parent's tradition.

I fixed some Arroz con Pollo a la cubana (Chicken with rice cuban style) with all the trimmings and tostones (green plantains; could not find any maduros--sweet plantains), while Lydia and Debbie added the black beans and salad. Don't usually fix black beans soup with Arroz con Pollo, but got a double taste of cuban cuisine.

Try the recipe sometimes. You'll like it. A little bit of this and a tad of that cooked for 20 minutes, then decorate it with asparagus and red pimentos, and it's ready to eat. :)

Try the recipe sometimes.

2 to 3 lbs. Chicken pieces (I prefer boneless, skinless, breasts, but always include thighs and/or drumsticks with bones and skin – they add to the flavor. Cut the breasts to your favorite size.)

1 jar red diced pimientos (reserve a little bit for garnish)
1 can peas (reserve about a third for garnish)
1 can asparagus
3 cups rice (long grain)
------------------------------------------------
Sofry the content below with olive oil on the pot where you are going to cook the rice.

4 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 large onion (diced)
1 bell pepper (diced)
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Pepper
Olive oil

When it all smells good pour the chicken in there and stir until meat is just a little brown, then...

Add the following:

2 cups dry white wine
1 small can tomato sauce
Juice from peas, asparagus and red pimentos

Enough water to barely cover the chicken
2 Bay leaves
1 tsp. Cumin
1 tsp. Oregano
1 or 2 chicken bouillons
Bitter Orange (powder or marinade)
1 Goya Seasoning with Azafran

Cook chicken until it is soft

Add the following:
Rice
2/3 of the peas
½ pimentos

Cook for 20 minutes or until rice is soft and all water is almost gone, then place in oven until water is gone.

Use the asparagus, peas and pimentos to decorate.

Kids Play Anywhere

2010-05-08T08:57:00.000-07:00

After dinner we talked about taking the children to the park to play, but it was getting a little late so the kids found a place to play--in Tio's truck bed. They can play anywhere.

A walk on the backyard

2010-05-01T15:51:00.001-07:00

Liam wanted to get out of the house so we went for a walk on the backyard. We've been doing some clean up this spring and fixing my "backyard trail through the woods" path. He wasn't too sure about the deer Mark uses for his bow and arrow target practice, but eventually and slowly, he warmed up to it. At first he wanted nothing to do with it, but at the end, he wanted to go back and "ride" it again.

What? You want me to ride this thing?

I'm not too sure about this.

Let me see what he does if I touch him.

Peek-a-boo!!

I don't think I like this!

I got to get out of here quick!

Tio, I want to go back!!

Birthday at Papis Cuban Restaurant

2010-04-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

The food was not quite as good as Madrid's Restaurant (my mom and dad's when they had it) but it was authentic and pretty good. Was taken there by my kids and Daniel and Cindy to kind of celebrate my 17th, 40th birthday.

Odds and End

2010-04-11T15:51:00.000-07:00

Getting a little lazy to post because it takes so long to upload a few pictures, but here are a few Odds and end from our trip to Fla in March, spring around our house and pictures of the kids at a park nearby.

Enjoy.

Winter Wonderland in Atlanta

2010-02-13T07:33:00.001-08:00

Our first real snow of 2010. We had about 2-3 inches over the weekend and it was beautiful.

Some night shots.

Where is your coat.

New Years in New York

2010-01-10T13:27:00.001-08:00

This is old news now and a little late, but for New Years we went to New York City with some friends. It was cold, but it was a great trip. I was fascinated by the city, the people the environment. We've decided we are going back in the summer to really sight see other places around when it is not so cold. We went to see the New Year Ball drop to bring in the New Year at Times Square. There must have been a million people there doing the same thing. We go our place around 5:30 p.m., but around 9:30 it started to drizzle, rain and drizzle and with the wind, it was not fun. Most of us in the group called it quits around 10 p.m., but 3 stayed for the whole thing. We had a great view of it, though from the hotel :).

It was quite an experience. Below are some pictures.

In Times Square.

Waiting for the Metro. Contrary to what I had heard, it was very clean, and felt pretty safe. (I believe the entire NY PD was on the streets, metro stations and everywhere.)

At Central Park. I got really excited when I saw a statue in honor of Jose Marti (the George Washington of Cuba)

They say we have a twin somewhere. As you can see I found mine in New York City :)

Waiting for the New Year Ball to drop. This was around 6:00p.m. (Six more hours to go) Crazy, you might say. Maybe, but you got to do it at least once.

Walking in Times Square.

There was a beautiful snow fall while we were there. Here we are with our friends near the hotel waiting on the bus that would take us into town.

Early Christmas Meal

2009-12-20T12:05:00.000-08:00

We had our traditional Cuban Christmas Eve meal early since we are all going different ways for the holidays now that the family has enlarged. Lydia and Zack are heading to his family's and Debbie, Mark and I are heading to Florida with my parents for the holidays. Debbie, Lydia and Mark started their Christmas vacation from school and this was an ideal weekend for our early get-together with Daniel and his family also.

Oh, oh. I see some green beans. It must be a Cuban-American meal!!

No Cuban meal is complete without espresso coffee. I'm glad I had Daniel to join me.

Cuban espresso on some Italian demitasse. :)

What could be so interesting that is keeping them glued to the sofa?

Oh, well so much for that. Mark is making Noah come alive again.

Liam is walking!!!

And while he waited for dinner, Mark was working on his new project. He is building a model airplane with an 80 inch wing span and a weed eater motor. I can hardly wait until it's finished to see if it flies.

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-28T08:56:00.001-08:00

We hosted the Thanksgiving Dinner this year at our house. It was nice to have a house full of family. As usual, good food and good family bonding and after a full meal we went to walk off our dinner at the park playing disc golf.

Anyway, I'll let the pictures do the talking. Enjoy!!!

Four Flags over the Torres--American, Cuban, Spanish and French (Debbie's side). But the dinner was definitely American.

With Debbie's parents.

My sister in-law and her family. (Mi cuñada y su familia)

A little game before and after dinner.

Relaxing after the big meal.

Playing off the meal at disc golf in a park nearby.

I can't believe I was that close to the basket...and I missed.

But at least I did not have to "fish" it out of the pond.

Fall and the Farm

2009-11-13T18:43:00.000-08:00

A few pictures in one of our Friends Farm. The kids (and adults) had a great time riding the horse and buggy cart, visiting, playing horseshoe and, of course, there is never lack for a good pot luck dinner.

Hey, kids. Say cheese!!!!

Umm!! That cup cake Tio is holding sure looks good!!!

"Country roads, take me home..."

Pumkin Lips!!

"Oh, say, can you see..."

And a few pictures around the house.

The dogwood tree at the end of our driveway.

Our neighbor's Japanese Maple. Beautiful fall color but the picture does not do justice to its beaty.

I don't know what this is, but I'm sure Debbie knows :) It's green all year round.

Just as I shot this picture, I saw the deer in the background, but it never moved. Then I realize it was Mark's bow and arrow target practice deer :).

"The fallen leaves, drift by the window; the fallen leaves of red and gold." Actually they are all brown by now.

A Journey Down Memory Lane

2009-10-17T20:24:00.001-07:00

I visited "home" last weekend to see my parents and took the opportunity to go down memory lane. These are some of the places of my childhood and adolescent years. Even after all these years they still hold a special memory. A lot of changes have taken place but this is where we "landed" when we came to the States. And along with the pictures a few little details for your enjoyment as I traveled down memory lane.

This was our first apartment in the USA on the top floor. My sister and I named it "El Palomar" or the bird house. It used to have a huge tree in the front that came up to the balcony and made the place very dark and dreary and to newcomers and the first impressions in our new land was not very pleasant as described in the following incident that took place shortly after we moved in.

OUR FIRST impressions in our new country were some times scary, some times funny and many times embarrassing. Imagine the shock a person experiences when jumping from the heat into a pool of cold water. That was like the shock we received when we left Cuba and were transplanted into the United States. It was truly a culture shock! Everything was different: the language, the customs, the houses with the pretty lawns, air conditioners and carpeted floors, the city. In a nutshell, the entire way of life. We felt truly as strangers in a strange land. And that is exactly what we were. We were full of excitement, yet full of fears because we did not speak the language, did not understand the customs and were in a strange environment.
Our first impressions of the new land, was fear, perhaps because of the incident I am about to relate. Upon our arrival in Jacksonville, we spent our first days at the Expressway Inn, at the intersection of Beach and Southside Boulevards and a place I'll never forget if for no other reason than it was our first home for two days in our new land, until we found a one-bedroom apartment in an older area of town called Riverside. Cesar Garcia, an old friend from Cuba, had moved to Jacksonville some years before, and while my father was at the Base he shipped some boxes with household goods to Mr. Garcia who was storing them for us awaiting our arrival to the States. During one of his trips to the U.S., my father visited Jacksonville and liked it so well, he decided we would move there upon our arrival.
Mr. Garcia helped us look for an apartment and during our outings and visits with him, he would tell us a little about our new land. One of the things he told us, unknown to him, was going to give us nightmare for a time to come. He mentioned that several people died of snake bites in the United States every year. As if we did not already have enough fears on this new land ,imagine what that statement did to my mother, to my sister and to me. And to make matters worse the apartment we found was an older apartment on a second floor, surrounded by large oaks and mangrove type looking trees covered with Spanish Moss which gave the apartment quite a bit of shade but also made it dark and spooky. The apartment was located on Riverside, an older but quiet and nice area of Jacksonville at the time.
We were not used to such large trees in the city and we felt as though we were living in a forest. It was difficult to get used to these surroundings and it took us a long time before we began to appreciate the beauty of trees around the homes. We disliked our apartment so much that my sister and I named it "El Palomar" (The Bird's Nest), not only because we felt that it was up in the trees but also because of the outside shape, which gave it the looks of a large bird house.
Shortly after we moved into the apartment, one of those sudden summer storms with lightning, thunder and high winds came over the city. It seemed to us as if it would never end, and we were terrified at the force and suddenness in which it came. In Cuba we had that type of storms only during a hurricane and we thought that we were going through one at that moment. Later we found out that these thunder storms could be common occurrences at times, but at that moment we wondered why we had come to this strange and dangerous land.
After the storm was over and the rain stopped, my sister and I ventured to go outside to walk around the block to investigate our new surroundings. When we reached the end of the street and were ready to cross, my sister let out a gut-wrenching scream and pushed me back so I would not continue to walk. She pointed to the street and there, by the curve, was a large snake. Luckily it was dead. It appeared to have been dead for some time and apparently had been washed away by the recent rain. But that did not matter to us. Needless to say, we did not continue our expedition. As we went back home, Mr. Garcia's words about people dying of snake bites weighed heavily on our minds. And for the next several days, my sister and I had nightmares about snakes and could not sleep in peace.
The first impression on our new land was turning out to be, literally, a nightmare. But things became better as time progressed and we became more used to our new home.

And this is Snake Street. At least that is what my sister and I referred to it for a long time.

But at least we had a nice view of the River. We were only a block away from the river and after our initial shock we walked to watch the river quite often.

This was the first school we attended. It was here where I learned the hard and embarrassing way that in the U. S. one could not chew gum in school.

One of the staples that disappeared from Cuba after Castro took over was chewing gum. So you can imagine when as a child I arrived in the States and saw the abundance of chewing gum in every store. I thought I was in paradise. What I did not know was that in the U. S. you were not supposed to chew gum in school. On my first day of class, as the teacher called the attendance, I noticed that as she called names out and the students answered, she would pause and look at me instead of looking at the person whose name she was calling. I wondered about this but thought nothing of it while I continued to chew away. I thought she was trying to figure out who I was or maybe that it was a strange American custom. After a few minutes of this, she stopped calling the roll and looked as mad as a hornet. I knew then that I must be on some kind of trouble. She pointed and looked at me straight in the eyes and said, "Are you chewing gum?" And in what little English I knew at the time, I replied "No, ma'am, I'm Jorge Torres." The whole class burst out in laughter and I could feel my face turn red from anger and embarrassment because I thought the students were laughing at my name. Well, needless to say, I soon found out that I was not supposed to chew gum in school.

711 desk

meeting

Abbot and Costello's New Version of Who's on First

2009-10-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

You have to be old enough to remember Abbott and Costello, and too old to REALLY understand computers, to fully appreciate this. For those of us who sometimes get flustered by Our computers, please read on...

See the original Who's on First and then read on to the New Version:

++++++++++++++

If Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were alive today, their
infamous sketch, 'Who's on First?' might have turned out
something like this:

COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT
ABBOTT: Super Duper Computer Store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: Thanks. I'm setting up an office in my den and I'm thinking about buying a computer.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: No, the name's Lou.
ABBOTT: Your computer?
COSTELLO: I don't own a computer. I want to buy one.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: I told you, my name's Lou.
ABBOTT: What about Windows?
COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?
ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?
COSTELLO: I don't know. What will I see when I look at the windows?
ABBOTT: Wallpaper.
COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.
ABBOTT: Software for Windows?
COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. What do you have?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?
ABBOTT: I just did.
COSTELLO: You just did what?
ABBOTT: Recommend something.
COSTELLO: You recommended something?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: For my office?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!
ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.
COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let's just say I'm sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal.?? What do I need?
ABBOTT: Word.
COSTELLO: What word?
ABBOTT: Word in Office.
COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.
ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.
COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?
ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue 'W'.
COSTELLO: I'm going to click your blue 'w' if you don't start with some straight answers. What about financial bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: That's right. What do you have?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?
ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.
COSTELLO: What's bundled with my computer?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?
ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.
COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?
ABBOTT: One copy.
COSTELLO: Isn't it illegal to copy money?
ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.
COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?
ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!

A few days later:
ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?
ABBOTT: Click on 'START.