Other new pics of Rebecca

Family Portraits

3 Generations

Christmas Portraits of Rebecca

Ramy's sleepyheads

Poor Ramy has to go to work while Rebecca and I are nestled snug in our bed!

American Airlines SUCKS!

I despise American Airlines. Their customer service is really shitty. But I always end up taking them, because they're the only ones who connect halfway between TN and CA (with Delta, I have to backtrack and go through Atlanta).

Last night, I looked at my flight information to discover that they have changed my flights. Instead of leaving LAX at 11:20 and arriving in Chicago at 5:15, departing Chicago at 7:40, they now have me on a flight that leaves LAX at 11:55 and arrives in Chicago at 5:55, then I depart Chicago at 7:10. So whereas I was supposed to have a 2.5 hr layover, I now just have a little over an hour. Of course, if there is any kind of delay, then that makes it completely impossible that I'll be able to make our connection (unless the connection is also delayed).

So I called and talked to a total bitch of a woman named Lynn Pierce. She very sarcastically told me that my concerns as a parent traveling with an infant were not the concerns of American Airlines and that this was a very minor schedule change. She could put me on a flight that connected through Dallas, but they would not be able to seat me and Rebecca together. Of course an infant cannot travel not next to the parent, so basically we would not have any guaranteed seating assignments. So if the flight is oversold, then we are screwed out of a seat, and then who knows when we would get on a plane.

Of course they will not put me on a flight into Nashville instead, because I booked to go into Huntsville and changing my flight destination isn't something they'll do. If we miss the connection in Chicago, the next one to Huntsville isn't until that evening.

I hate American Airlines. They're so bitchy. I'm going to write them a letter with all my grievances against them. Maybe I'll get a free ticket out of the deal.

Words?

Rebecca definitely knows who "mama" and "dada" are. She uses many exclamation points after she hollers at one or the other of us. And if she cries, it's "mama!" in a very pitiful voice. This morning, Ramy kissed her goodbye and went down the stairs like normal. She was standing on the landing (her lookout point) and peering down to him below. He waved and said, "Bye bye, baby" like he does every morning. She said, "ba ba, da da". We don't know if this was coincidence or if it was "bye, bye, daddy."

This afternoon, we had our holiday music class again. She made friends with a little girl named Amanda and got to spend more time with her friend Ryan (look out Jack and Will, another little boy is trying to make his move). Rebecca sang along with the music and loooooovvvvvves the jingle bells and the drum (in fact, she likes to bang the jingle bells on the drum). We are definitely signing up for the long "Kids Love Music" class that starts in February. They have even more activities and classes available for toddlers who are at least 18 months, so we'll do more of those next summer and fall. In the meantime, we may start going to Gymboree or Little Gym, just to have more socialization opportunities.

It was a crazy, crazy day at Chaffey College. The holidays can definitely bring out the kooks! Hopefully it won't be a zooey at Redlands on Thursday night, but I have my doubts about that. I sent my "breakup" letter to my old dissertation chair today. He was very nice about it, although I think he was surprised I was jumping ship. Oh well.

Yesterday, I made candy all day and packaged it all up to give as gifts to coworkers, our secretaries/receptionists, and other random people we feel the need to give something to at the holidays. My kitchen was covered in a fine mist of powdered sugar, cocoa, and candy cane dust. But fortunately, I got it all cleaned up last night, and Ramy took his boxes to work today, and I'm doling mine out at the various places I go during the week. Everyone likes Christmas candy! I have one suitcase packed and ready to go to Tennessee. Not sure when I'm going to pack the others, but hopefully most everything I need will make it to Tennessee! Pray for good weather and no flight delays (or worse, cancellations!) for our flight Friday night.

It's over already?

I can't believe our three-day weekend is already over. I told Ramy he should call in sick tomorrow so he could have another day of hanging out with me and Rebecca. But darn him for having a work ethic! He has things on calendar, so he won't.

It was a fun weekend for us. Friday, it was rainy, and we all slept late. Soooo nice. We took Ramy's car to be serviced, then we went to Carrows for breakfast, and then we basically hung out and goofed off all day. Friday night, we went to church. Saturday was a Holy Day of Obligation, for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, so we went to the vigil mass on Friday night (for you non-Catholics, since we consider that the day begins at sundown the night before, we can go to a "vigil" mass the evening before a particular holy day).

Saturday morning, we worked on cleaning out the garage. Then Rebecca and I went to stand in line to see Paula Deen at a book signing. I got to meet her and Michael, and Paula recognized my southern accent. She said, "Hey! You're from the south!" I told her I was from Tennessee, and Michael said, "Well, you're like home folks!" So I got my Christmas cookbook of hers autographed by both of them. Too bad Bobby and Jamie weren't with them. Then we rushed home to get ready for the party we went to last night. Our friend Paul's firm hosts a big fancy party for friends and family of the firm, so we always look forward to that. It was a lot of fun.

This morning, we went to 9:00 mass, then got a quick take-out breakfast. Then we went to Babies R Us to return something and then to IKEA. Ramy needed to work on his murder case that has a prelim coming up this week, so I took Rebecca and went to the mall to do some Christmas shopping for a couple of hours. When we got home, the garage was completely organized, but not much work got done on the prelim. Oh well, at least he is happy with the immaculate garage. Then we got Chinese takeout for dinner, gave Rebecca her weekly bath (she only gets a full bath every 5 or 6 days because of her eczema), played with her, and now we're waiting for The Girls Next Door (our new guilty pleasure reality show) to come on in a few minutes.

I'm trying to start getting things ready to take to Tennessee. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we won't get cancelled or stuck in Chicago or anything. Oh well, I'll be home for Christmas one way or another! I'm hoping it won't be too crazy of a week for me. It is the week of finals at Chaffey and at Redlands. Not too worried about Chaffey, but I have a client on suicide watch at Redlands and another couple who could melt down at any time. I actually broke one of my rules and gave a client my cell phone number in case of an emergency. I don't worry he will abuse it, but I was that worried about him.

My Rorschach class I've been teaching is over this week, so I'm trying to get all their Rorschachs and TATs back to them this week. Oh yeah, I met with Dr. Vermeersch about switching dissertation projects. It is all a go! In fact, I am hoping to do research at the University of Redlands. Dr. V does psychotherapy outcomes research, and I'm hoping to do a randomized trial comparing the outcomes of patients when no feedback is given to them about how they are doing in therapy (as based on their self-reported outcomes measures scores), when the therapist is given that feedback, and when both the therapist and the client are given that feedback. The nice thing is that it won't require any subject recruitment, which is the big bear of research. Also, it will go through our IRB as an expedited review, which should make the process easier. I told Dr. Vermeersch that my primary interest at this point was in getting the hell out of there with a piece of lambskin and some initials after my name. He was cool with that.

Party pics

Here's a pic from the party we went to last night in L.A. We had a great time! Great food, fun to see our friends, and Rebecca got a nice present and a chance to play with some other little ones. She looked rather like Audrey Hepburn in her dress, I thought!

Baby, it's cold outside!

It is cold and rainy here! In fact, today, we are supposed to get as much or more rain than we did all of last year. Unfortunately, most of it will just run off, cause flash flooding, and mudslides, and we'll still be in drought conditions. Hopefully it will at least bring snow to the mountains, which is what protects our summer water supply.

We started Rebecca on her antihistamine yesterday, and I think she hasn't had as much nose trouble today. I hope so anyway. Also, the Nystatin cleared up her yeast rash, so she's all well from that. Ramy's off today for his 9/80 day, so we're enjoying hanging out together at home. He and I were planning on cleaning out the garage while Rebecca was napping, but apparently the nap fairy attacked him also. And it would just be wrong of me to deprive him of the joy of participating in organization, so I'm wasting time online rather than being productive myself.

Wednesday

December is here and is going by so quickly! This weekend, we had some actual wintery weather for Southern California. It was cold and rainy on Friday, cold on Saturday and Sunday. Rebecca and I met my friend Julie for coffee on Friday afternoon, and we learned that Julie and her husband Derek are expecting their first baby in July! YAY! We're so happy for them!

Saturday, Ramy cooked breakfast for us, and then he and Rebecca hung out at home in their UCLA gear, while I went Christmas shopping. Then that night, we went out for Mexican. We didn't make it to 7:30 mass on Sunday morning, but we got there for 9:00, so that was still doing pretty good. We got some more shopping done and a few things done around the house, but it was basically another weekend where we all hang out and play and watch movies.

Ramy got a huge case dismissed yesterday, so he had to bring in breakfast for his colleagues. There's also a rumor still floating that he is about to get a DIC position, but nothing official yet. I want him to be in Pomona or West Covina, but that looks unlikely. I'm just hoping it won't be further than Norwalk.

Things seem to be working out so beautifully with our nanny. It is so obvious that Rebecca likes her. Nanny Rebecca says the only time Baby Rebecca cries is when she changes her diaper (she throws a fit for all diaper changes) or when is really sleepy. We've noticed that Rebecca isn't nearly as clingy to me when I come in now, and she just seems happier overall. So it was a good change. Rebecca and I started our "Kids Love Music" holiday mommy and me music class yesterday afternoon. Rebecca LOVED it! She was singing along at full volume (she can definitely project her voice!) and was completely in love with the shaker with bells on it. She also enjoyed banging on the drum. She also made several friends and seemed to have a blast. We do this for two weeks, and then we'll probably join the regular Kids Love Music class in February. It is nice to have these opportunities for her.

Today, I have to get my evaluations from two of my supervisors. I am not very worried about one of them, but I'm a little nervous about one, because she is kind of a kook. However, I also have to go over my evaluations of my students, and I will have to give some negative feedback to one of them. It is going to be hard, and I dread it. Oh well, such is life, as my dad would say.

Go Team!

Ramy and Rebecca cheered on UCLA on Saturday (to no avail - they still lost to U$C) while I went Christmas shopping. Here are a couple of pics of my sports fans.