Thanksgiving Day

Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes of which all men have some.--Charles Dickens

We've had a lovely Thanksgiving. We spent the holiday in Las Vegas, stayed at the Venetian, and ate Thanksgiving brunch at the famous buffet at the Wynn. It was a great time, but what made it a wonderful Thanksgiving was that I was with the people I love most. For them and for the fact that we are so blessed to be healthy and fortunate enough to be able to enjoy such a day, I am thankful.

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 11

Now thank we all our God,
With hearts and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done,
In whom his world rejoices...--Johann Cruger



Okay, so sue me. I didn't post yesterday.

I saved Rebecca for last, because, of all the people for whom I’m thankful, she is the one about whom words could never fully express. To say that I’m thankful for her seems like such an understatement, for she is my every breath and heartbeat. I am humbled by the enormous responsibility of being her mother, of teaching her the things she will need to know as she grows up, guiding her in the right direction, and watching over her as she discovers the world around her. I am enthralled with the newness with which she sees the world, the unbridled joy she has for most anything her daddy does, and the innocent belief she has that kisses and snuggles from me can make everything right in her world. I am besotted with her personality – the fighting spirit she had long before birth, when she would ferociously fight against me if I dared roll onto my right side, her unabashed laughter in girly giggles and not-so-girly chuckles, and her sensitive nature. As much as I’d love to claim her as my own personal creation of perfection, I know that she was only entrusted to me for safekeeping for a short while, and I treasure the gift of this tiny little person who brightens every day of my life. I’m thankful for the joy she has brought to Ramy’s and my life, for her infectious laughter and her funny words and her sweet smile and her cute little tushie and her merry little face. I am thankful to know the blessing of motherhood and for the opportunity to be Rebecca's mother.


And here was what I meant to post yesterday:

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 10

So often we dwell on the things that seem impossible rather than on the things that are possible. So often we are depressed by what remains to be done and forget to be thankful for all that has been done.--Marian Wright Edelman

I don’t want this series of posts to be total schmooze, so I’m dedicating this thankful post to silly things for which I’m thankful.

Trouser socks – because they aren’t pantyhose.
Eyebrow wax – for helping me not have a unibrow.
Crock pots – so that I can actually get dinner on the table before 7:00 p.m.
Cell phones – my recreational pastime, and my cell with the QWERTY keyboard makes it even better.
Les Miserables – because it’s the greatest play ever.
Barbecue potato chips – because they’ve been my faithful companion at any late-night session I’ve spent typing papers, dissertation, or internship application.
Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Tea Lattes – because they are soooooo good, and I can look like a cool coffee drinker even though I can’t stand the taste of coffee.
Take and Toss sippy cups – because they have no valve, don’t leak, and are super cheap so I don’t worry if we leave one somewhere.
Trader Joes – where else can you get organic blackberry juice, honey whole wheat fresh pizza dough, and good wine for less than $3 a bottle.
Panera Bread – for orange scones and tomato basil soup and shortbread cookies and really good iced tea.
Janie and Jack – for making my fabulously cute little girl look even more absurdly adorable
Eyeliner – for allowing me to look semi-awake even when I’m not.
Southwest Airlines – for having infant fares, good snacks, and not charging for extra baggage.
Sharpie Accent highlighters – for getting me through college and graduate school.
The Food Network and Bravo – for providing me with hours of mindless television.
Disposable diapers – no explanation necessary.

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 9

I've also been quite blessed by a wonderful extended family, some of whom are related by blood and many who are not. My Aunt Margaret ("Aunt Marmot", as I called her as a child) has always been very special to me, and Rebecca already loves her like she is a second Grammy.

Over the years, I've also collected a number of "second mothers." These have included Helen and Sue Towry, my babysitters from the time I was 10 weeks old until I was in the 7th grade, Joy Rodriguez, who has been a special friend and fellow sunflower lover, and Donna Thomas, who was one of my comrades at Amtec.

I've been so blessed to have had all these wonderful women who are part of my life. I've learned much from all of them, and I carry them all with me in my heart. I'm thankful for their influence on my life and their love and support throughout the years.

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 8

We give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.--Sacred ritual chant

Compared to all these people, my friend Julie Woltil is a relative newcomer to my life, having “only” been friends with her now for just over four years. I met her my first day of class at LLU, and she had just gotten married that summer like I did. We’re in the Ph.D. program in Clinical Psychology together at Loma Linda, and she has been my sounding board for the challenges, frustrations, and victories that go along with graduate school. Now that we both have little girls, I affectionately call Julie my enabler, because she enjoys shopping almost as much as I do, and I can count on her for participation in retail therapy as we’re going through internship application season together. Although she’s applying to sites all over the country, I’m still holding out some hope we could end up together on internship.

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 7

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. --Albert Schweitzer

Then there’s the Girl Posse. I am a firm believer that if everyone had a Girl Posse in their lives, people would never need psychotherapy with someone like me. This group of girlfriends can accomplish anything, and if any one of us needed something, the rest of us would practically fight to see who could do it for them first or best. Even though I’m an only child, these are the sisters of my heart. When I was sick, there were precious few days that I didn’t get a visit from at least one (and often several) of them. With my Girl Posse, we’ve gone through surgeries and long illnesses, deaths of friends and parents, births and adoptions of babies, several degree programs, plays, weddings, moves, house renovations, vacations, movies, New Years Eve parties, Dirty Santa, and enough cheese to keep the dairy business afloat even in the midst of a low-fat craze. Each one of the Girl Posse is unique, and I’m thankful for the blessing that each of them are to me.

Brenda Wilkes is the embodiment of a loyal friend, and I admire the fortitude she has. Of the GP members, she's the one I've been friends with the longest, and of all the friends I have, we're probably the most similar (I hope she thinks that is a compliment - I do). Brenda and I share a love of procrastination, reality television, Les Miserables (which we got to see it on the front row of the Broadway stage before it left NYC). Being friends with Brenda also gives me opportunities for her mom's amazingly good homemade angel food canke and pimento cheese.



Terry Anderson is our nurturing Girl Posse mom, and I love her sweet, tenderhearted nature. Her precious, adorable, perfect son Will is Rebecca's older buddy. Of all the gifts she has gotten, the ones he has picked for her have been among her favorites (i.e., Chucky Puppy).



Lisa Adams cries at movies like I do, and I like to imagine I could sing like she does. She has an infectious youth about her that never gets older, and she and I share a penchant for the Food Network.


Sandy Williams is the person who keeps me updated on all breaking Fayetteville news by sending me text messages like, “The Barbecue Shack is burning down right now.” And you know, that's a pretty cool way to stay in touch with what's happening in my hometown. The thing I love most about Sandy is that she has this quietness, but lurking beneath is a hilarious dry humor.



Lucy Carter has a quiet, gentle spirit, and I'm so proud of all the changes in her life these last couple of years. She glows with a new appreciation of life. AND Lucy is our resident artist!



Kathy Lowks is an inspiration in her thoughtful but relaxed approach to life.


Jackie Cashion has it all together and yet has an amazing ability to not take herself too seriously, and I particularly admire the close relationship she has with her teenage son.

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 6

Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel. --Anonymous

As a high school sophomore, I took Spanish with crazy Mrs. Shelton, who seated us in alphabetical order. Behind me was seated a tall, skinny, quiet guy named Brian Rives, and Mrs. Shelton was a tiny bit enamored of him (or was at least bowled over by his charm). Brian and I both got the inside dish on what words were on the vocabulary quizzes, and we shared this information. Brian and I grew up and both ended up at UAH, where we took a history class together and never lost touch. When I was so sick, one of my first memories was of a visit from him (and he came to see me more times than I could possibly count). Brian is probably the most genuinely nice person I know, and I’m a better person for having been friends with Brian for about fifteen years now. I’m so thankful that he and his sweet wife Stephanie are expecting a precious little baby.

(What's up with my lack of pictures of my friends? I have to correct this!)

Another very important person for whom I am thankful is Nanny Rebecca. When I recall how stressful things were when Rebecca was not doing well in daycare, I say a prayer of thanks for our glorious Nanny Rebecca. She is pleasant and cheerful and responsible, and she absolutely loves our Rebecca. Our Rebecca is happy to see her when she arrives at the house and happily tells me goodbye when I leave. They go to the park, take walks, swim, draw with sidewalk chalk, sing, and dance. Knowing that she is taking good care of Rebecca and that Rebecca is content in her own environment makes life good on those days when I am away from her.

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 5

I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose. ~Woody Allen


When I was in the 6th grade, I made a best friend on the playground. Her name was Shannon Fry, and we were fast friends for many years. She shared my New Kids on the Block infatuation, and we planned how fabulous life would be when we were married to Jonathan and Jordan Knight. I spent so many hours on the phone with Shannon that I’m surprised my neck wasn’t out of alignment permanently (maybe that’s why I have a standing chiropractor appointment). In the throes of teen angst, we split ways, but we found each other again on the internet and have kept up communication and got together last month and are planning to meet up again in December. I’m thankful for the opportunity to catch up with an old friend.

Here is Shannon's little girl Brooke and Rebecca:



In high school, my love for theater united me with my chums Melissa Smith and Beth Crews. We drove around in the White Whale, pooled our money to buy Beth’s dinner at Sonic, swooned over boys who were in plays with us, and predicted each other’s fortunes at Shoneys. We also logged a whole lot of hours doing play after play after play, looking for the ghost of Adnia Rice in the theater, being in tech hell, feeling under-appreciated by our drama teacher. I can’t think of either of them without some insane memory bringing a smile to my face. Arguably one of the funniest memories of my life involved Melissa and me shopping for prom dresses and deciding to try on body shapers to wear under them. Between the body shaper being too small and us laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe, I’m still surprised that I ever got free of the lycra. Although college sent us all our separate ways and we weren’t in daily contact anymore, when I was sick, Melissa came to visit me at Vandy every single day. And Beth, the girl who didn’t get a drivers license until she was in her 20s, drove from Chattanooga to see me. I’m thankful to have lighthearted, carefree fun memories which I inevitably link to Bef Croos and Melly Bob.

I have no digital pictures of Beth and Melissa! Must correct that!

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 4

For what I have received may the Lord make me truly thankful. And more truly for what I have not received. --Storm Jameson (Journey from the North, v.2)

Alright, so I've done three days of complete sap. So, I thought I’d start on my friends tonight (not that I don't love all of them - you'll see that I do. But I've never looked into any of their eyes and seen forever!).

I’ve been blessed to have always had awesome friends, and this blessing started at birth. I’ve known Molly Caudle Fincher since…well, before I remember, because I probably met her in the church nursery when I was a couple of weeks old. We grew up at the Fayetteville Cumberland Presbyterian Church together, playing handbells, writing notes on the back of the church bulletin, and wishing we were part of the older kids who got to do more on the Christmas floats than just stick batting on with spray glue. We didn't go to school together until high school, but we took LCHS by storm, where we made up ridiculous nicknames for boys we liked and girls we despised (and, if one of us had a person we were currently loathing, the other was on board with that hatred too), shared lockers, faked an interest in soccer, and went on an awesome trip to Germany, where we learned about culture, history, and the song "Hey ho, Captain Jack, bright me back to the railroad track." We went our separate ways for college but celebrated with an infamous trip to New Orleans and some fun times at Pat O'Briens that neither of us will forget.

Ahhh, good memories. Eventually we grew up, and we're still good friends. I’m thankful for Molly, because we are so much alike and yet completely different, but understand each other in a way no one can unless they’ve seen you go from smocked dresses and ruffled panties to braces and bad hair to prom dresses to maternity clothes. I’m thankful we have little ones born the same year and that they’ll grow up as friends like we did.

I have a couple of super-awesome pics of me and Molly as four-year olds and then again when we were in junior high. And I'm all for humiliation, but alas, I have no digital image and we got rid of our scanner because we never used it. I like these better though...

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 3

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~Thornton Wilder


Ramiro Perez Cisneros is the greatest blessing of my adult life. I fell in love with him and envisioned a happily-ever-after future with him. I remember looking at him as he was proposing to me on the beach at Corona del Mar and thinking that I could see forever in his eyes.

Even though I was head over heels in love with him then during that time of blissful, giddy, infatuation, I love him infinitely more now. We’ve held hands through my parents’ transplant, our wedding day, strolling by the canals of Venice and the catacombs of the Vatican, at movies, through concerts, while splashing in the Pacific Ocean, through intrauterine insemination and ultrasounds and the birth of our daughter, at his dad’s hospital bedside after his strokes, and at my father’s funeral.

If patience is a virtue, then Ramy is a saint. I’ve been impatient since before I was born (that’s probably why I came earlier than expected), but Ramy is always willing to delay gratification, like in waiting for me to finally be done with my Ph.D., waiting for us to buy a bigger house, patiently waiting for Rebecca to come along long after I was frustrated with the process, and enduring a long and difficult separation during my pregnancy while I was in Tennessee taking care of my dad. He is the embodiment of selflessness.

My dad often told people that if he could have put together a man for his daughter, he couldn’t have done better than Ramy. And it is true that we’re well suited for each other. I don’t think there are many people on this earth who have the sense of humor that Ramy and I share (and the rest of the world is likely eternally grateful for that) and who spend as many hours talking about both serious and esoteric as well as juvenile and inane things as we do. I wonder how many laughs we’ve shared in the past four and a half years, and I pray that we’ll have many decades of laughter together. On our first Valentines Day after we were married, I gave him something where I'd written 101 reasons why I love him on it. He seemed pretty surprised by it and I think he couldn’t believe I spent that kind of time in thinking those up, but what he didn’t know was that the hardest part of it was in narrowing it down to just 101, for there are infinitely more.

Seeing Ramy with Rebecca is my heart’s joy, and I have some of the most beautiful images of them laughing together and him holding her that will stay painted in my mind’s eye for all my life. Even as I type this now, I hear him downstairs talking to her so sweetly and patiently, which is punctuated by both their laughter. Nothing could possibly be sweeter than the adoration with which Rebecca looks at him, and it is deservedly so. I’m so thankful God blessed me with Ramy and that he blessed Rebecca with her daddy.

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 2

Thankfulness is the memory of the heart.--Massieu

I’m thankful that I was blessed with the most amazing and wonderful father. I’m thankful that I have nothing but happy and pleasant memories of him – of the songs we made up together about silly things like bicycling along and cumquats, of the tricks we played on my mother, of the many ziplock bags of kisses I packed for him to take on trips, of the playhouse with its white picket fence and big E in the eaves that he built for me, of all the dogs we raised, of the pumpkin pie and boiled custard and pound cake that I loved making for him and he loved eating, and of his gentle, generous, caring spirit. I’m thankful to have been a daddy’s girl for so many years, and I'm especially thankful that I don't have regrets or things that I wished I had done or told him and never did. I’m thankful that it was his last Father’s Day weekend that we found out Rebecca was on her way and that it was to him we announced the news of my pregnancy. I'm thankful to have been there as one of his caregivers and advocates while he made a miraculous recovery long enough to see his granddaughter. I'm thankful that I can still see him every day, because he lives on in Rebecca in so many ways.

12 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 1

Since there are twelve days of Christmas (just 12? Really? I think I need more than 12 days of Christmas because I love it so much), I think there should be 12 days of Thanksgiving as well.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how incredibly many things and people I have for which/whom to be thankful. I’m going to do my best to do a thankful post each day between now and Thanksgiving. Let me preface my posts by saying that I’m not doing any sort of ranking. I’m not saving the best for last or starting with my greatest thankfulness and working my way down. In other words, don’t read any preferential treatment into my randomness of thankfulness. (Huh?)

All thankfulness has to begin with the woman who gave me life, showed me how to live it, and then cheered me on as I set about creating the life I wanted. I’m sure I’ve told this story before, but, hey, it’s my blog and it’s a good story. When I was little, I recall thinking about all the kids I knew and feeling sorry for them because none of them had a mom as good as mine. I recognized that some of my friends had mothers who were better than average, but all were still inferior to my mother, who was the greatest mom of them all. She was my mother first when I was growing up, but as an adult, I would choose her as a friend. My mama is my inspiration and my role model. She took care of me as a baby and when I was sick and as helpless as a baby again. Even though she worked when I was growing up, I don’t think she ever missed a school party or field trip. From her, I get much of my energy, my strength, my gift of gab, my sharp tongue when it needs to come out, and my love of shopping. She’s smart, wickedly funny, courageous, and faithful. I hope that Rebecca and I will always have the kind of relationship my mom and I have shared for 30ish years. As much as she is an awesome mom, now she’s an even better grammy!



O Lord that lends me life, Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness!
~William Shakespeare

Fire update

Chino Hills is part of the "triangle fire" or the "freeway complex fire" as it is being called on television. The area of Chino Hills affected is Carbon Canyon, which is still pretty far away from us. The hills behind us aren't connected to Carbon Canyon. We aren't under evacuation orders or anything like that. Still, it is a little too close for comfort! Hopefully the winds are going to die down today and will let them get a hold of the fire. At this point, it is only like 5% contained, although they have set some back fires in Chino Hills to clear a fire break.

Typed too soon!

In my post this morning, I said that the fires weren't anywhere near us. That's no longer the case. There is a fire in Corona, which is the city just north of us here in Chino Hills, but it seems to be moving in the opposite direction from us. There's another fire in Brea, which is where I was shopping yesterday, which is also nearby us. It appears to be moving west, which is away from us also. So, we're in no immediate danger, and fortunately, the hills behind us are pretty well cleared of brush (they were also sprayed with fire retardant earlier in the year, but I have no idea whether or not that would be of any use at this point). We can't smell any smoke from our house right now.

Please say a prayer for all of those who are affected by these fires. Southern California is a tinderbox, and the low humidity and very high winds make for the potential for more and more of these fires to spring up and to spread rapidly.

Laughing Rebecca Face

I just loved this whole series of snapshots of Rebecca's face as she was laughing at the park last weekend. Since I couldn't narrow it down to just one to post on the blog, I decided to just give a whole bunch of them to you. Now, after looking at that giddiness, is it even possible to not smile?

I've had several emails this morning inquiring about the fires. So far, none of the fires are very near to us, thankfully. The Montecito fire is a couple of hours north and west of us. The Sayre fire in Sylmar is about thirty miles west of us and more to the north. However, it is screwing up our plans for socialization! We were supposed to be going to a dinner party in Northridge tonight, but even though the fire isn't too near there, they've lost power in Northridge so we may not be able to have it there. The conditions are certainly prime for wildfires anywhere around here. We're having 90 degree weather, extremely gusty winds, and single digit humidity.

Our weekend is off to a good start, in spite of the face that it is mid-November and still feels like July and I can't put any of Rebecca's cute fall clothes on her. All day yesterday, I thought it was Saturday. It was Ramy's day off, so we went out to eat at BJs for dinner Thursday night. Then we walked around in our new ToysRUs and watched to see what things Rebecca was intrigued by as ideas to give Santa Claus. After Rebecca went to sleep, we packed the huge balikbayan box to send to our adopted family in the Philippines. It was crammed full of everything from Spam to Hannah Montana notebooks to crayons to clothes to National Geographic magazines. Fortunately, everything we had been getting for them did fit in the box, thanks to my superb packing skills I've honed in all the trips back and forth from Tennessee to California. The company that will be shipping it came to pick it up yesterday morning, so it is on its way to Cawayan, Dalaguete, Cebu, Philippines. (Note: that link doesn't belong to us in any way. I have no idea who took the pics or when. It was just the only link I found on the internet that has pics of the village where Ramy's dad was from). That's the whole address. Just a village in a province on an island in the Philippines. No street address whatsoever. We are excited to send it to them and hope it will make their holidays happy.

We slept in yesterday morning, and then I made scrambled eggs for Rebecca and omelettes for Ramy. Then he took Rebecca to visit his dad at the nursing home, while I went out to Brea Mall. Janie and Jack was having their first ever Friends and Family sale, so I had to take advantage of that (my mom was doing the same thing in Nashville). But my real purpose in shopping was to look for interview suits for myself. I totally lucked out in finding several that I liked. I ended up getting a black suit that has a nontraditional cut to the jacket at Nordstrom and a brown suit at Talbots that is also kind of a nontraditional cut. Apparently, I never like normal suits, because I always think I end up looking like a linebacker in them. Plus, that whole lack of proportionality between my waist and hips and legs doesn't help. I'll look for shoes and accessories and such next weekend. I'm just excited that I found suits that I love and that fit perfectly.

We went to the park with Rebecca yesterday afternoon and I spied on two wedding parties taking pictures there. Then we went to Costco and Target and got dinner at Panera Bread and watched tv. We got up early this morning, and Ramy is hard at work on some project in the backyard. I'm trying to pull outgrown stuff out of Rebecca's closet to pack away or to give away. Then hopefully we'll be going to a dinner party tonight somewhere - it may be in Glendale now instead of in Northridge.

A year ago....


Now...


Busy week so far for us. I've gotten back a lot of confirmation postcards and emails that my internship application materials have been received. I am checking my LLU email much more frequently, in hopes that an industrious training director has already seen that I'm clearly a superior candidate and wants to interview me. :-) Ramy asked me tonight about what kind of celebration I wanted to have for graduation. Because my husband generally doesn't like to think about things that aren't in the immediate (and by immediate, I mean, what's for dinner kind of immediacy) future, I got a little excited! If inquiring minds want to know, I want a party in Tennessee for all my friends and family but probably a nice dinner celebration somewhere in Pasadena or L.A. for anyone who wants to make the trip out to see me get hooded! Casa Colina has been pretty slow. I wonder if the bad economy leads to fewer rehab admissions. Maybe people stay home more because of the economy and are less likely to be eating saturated fats that lead to strokes and less likely to get in car accidents that cause TBIs. On Veterans Day, one of my patients was on a nationally-broadcase morning talk show talking about his TBI in Iraq and his recovery of over a year thus far. We are getting quite a few returning soldiers who are choosing to go away from the VA System for rehab. Interesting...

Rebecca still has occasional snottiness, but nothing alarming and nothing like it was. She's back to her happy self. She waves goodbye to me in the morning when she is finishing up her breakfast and watching Little Einsteins and content to have Nanny Rebecca with her. When I come in, she greets me with, "Hi, Mama! Hi, Mama! Hi, Mama!" until I pick her up. She is still enthralled by her newfound jumping ability and likes to dance more than ever. She's gotten very interested in books, and every morning we have a parade of at least four books. Tonight, we read everything from a story about Daniel in the Lion's Den to Biscuit's Halloween Surprise to Dr. Seuss' Oh The Thinks You Can Think to a Baby Einstein color naming book.

My mom's dog Lillie Belle unfortunately kept getting worse. She lost bowel and bladder control and couldn't move around. Sadly, she was suffering too much to go on. My mom has understandably been very sad, because Lillie Belle was her Christmas present from my dad almost three years ago, and she's always been kind of a special needs baby. She still has Daisy and Shakespeare to keep her company and keep her entertained with antics. And, luckily for her, they don't have the body odor problem with which my cocker spaniel is plagued.

Off to bed, finally!

Happiness is a furry vest

I'm stoked about my super awesome deals I got today. Last week when the new Gymboree line (Winter Snowflake) came out, my mom asked if I had seen the white vest. I hadn't noticed it. Then I found out that this week's super-special Jingle Deals at Gymboree were going to be $15 vests and jeans. Awesome deals, since those vests are normally $40 and the jeans are $34.50. I had bought one of the sweater vests last week, so I went in to do the price adjustment to get it at the cheaper price (the joys of having a Gymboree three blocks from the house) and I saw the white furry vest. So adorable. Rebecca saw it too and thought it was a pet and carried it around hugging it. So we came home with the white furry vest. Rebecca LOVES it. I think she thinks it is a dog. I also got two of the vests for Christmas gifts. $40 vests for $15, then I layered a 20% off coupon on top of it to make them only $12 each. My dad always said I had a black belt in shopping...

This was Rebecca, jumping and dancing on the landing of the stairs. Or, as we refer to it, her stage. She knows it is the perfect vantage point for everyone to view her jumping and dancing prowess. I'm not sure where she gets her tendency toward performing. ;-)

I got up at 6:00 a.m. to make cinnamon rolls for Ramy to take to work. Stupidly, I didn't keep any of them at home to enjoy for myself. Rebecca slept late, which was nice because I used the time to grade Rorschachs. I'm so tired of looking at Rorschachs! I dreamed about the image in one of the cards last night, after my co-TA and students had called or emailed me a dozen times with questions yesterday.

Saturday, Ramy had intended to sleep late, because he's been getting up at 4:00 a.m. to get to work before 5 to work on his trial. Unfortunately, he still woke up before 5, and by the time I got up and came downstairs, he had a guy working in the backyard clearing the brush off the hill. We spent most of the day on Saturday running around and picking things up to send in our huge box to the Philippines. We have "adopted" a family Ramy knows in Cawayan (village where Ramy's from) and have a tradition of sending them a ginormous box of presents for Christmas. We're sending clothes for all of them, food (lots of Spam and sardines - delicacies there), books, magazines, games, toys, toiletries, you name it. I'm excited about this tradition, because it goes to a family who truly needs and appreciates it and it is someone we (well, Ramy anyway) actually knows, instead of to strangers we'll never meet. They have two elementary-school aged daughters and a high school-aged son.

Saturday night, we stayed in, ordered pizza, and watched the movie Where In The World is Osama Bin Laden. It was done by the same guy who did Supersize Me. It is very interesting and enlightening, and I highly recommend it! Yesterday morning, we went to 7:30 mass and were quite annoyed by rowdy kids and their parents who make no effort to make them behave. I think we're going to stop sitting in the cry room and just keep Rebecca with us in the regular seats. We're concerned that she may learn more bad examples by us sitting in the cry room. Yesterday afternoon, I prepared meals for a few nights this week, did some laundry, and shopped for a new suit for my (hopefully) upcoming interviews. I didn't buy one yet - just getting an idea of what I want. Ramy took Rebecca to his mom's house to visit for awhile. We also took Rebecca to the park and had a blast. You'll be seeing pics from the park sometime this week, I'm sure.

My mom's dog Lillie Belle is very sick. She was diagnosed with epilepsy sometime back, but she seems to have gotten worse. What's more, yesterday she couldn't move her back legs and wasn't going to the bathroom. Dr. Warden met them at her clinic, and she's been on steroids, but she's not sure what is going on. Doggies are such sweet additions to our family, and Lillie has always been a "special needs baby." But she's loveable and adorable, so we're worried about her.

Weekends go by so quickly...

What a shame that weekends go by so quickly! I had thought that tomorrow was Veterans Day and was looking forward to having a three-day weekend with Ramy. I was so disappointed when I realized that Veterans Day is actually Tuesday! And even though he'll be off, I have to be at Casa Colina all day. Bummer! But we had a nice weekend, even though it wasn't a long one.

On Friday, I had to get up early and get Rebecca up early, because I had to meet one of my students I'm supervising at 8:15 at Loma Linda, which meant we had to leave our house by 7:35. ACK! Luckily, Rebecca awoke in a good mood and was cooperative in that process. Even better, she was absolutely angelic while I was giving supervision, so she and I went to breakfast at Panera Bread in San Bernardino. She enjoyed an spinach and cheese baked egg souffle and I had my favorite scone. We did some more running around and errands and Rebecca slept the whole time, and then headed out to meet my friend Julie and her daughter Adelaide at Victoria Gardens. We met up with them for lunch at the Corner Bakery and hit up Baby Gap and Gymboree. Then we ended up getting coffee (tea latte for me) at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and just sitting outside and enjoying the nice weather and the cooperative babies and chatting about internship plans and gossip in our department. It was a lovely way to spend the day!

When we left Victoria Gardens, I realized it was after 5 and Ramy had called. He was calling to tell me that his jury had come back with a NOT GUILTY verdict! WOO HOO! We went out to dinner to celebrate his big win. Tradition is that whenever a PD gets a Not Guilty, they have to bring in snacks for the whole office. So I'm making cinnamon rolls for him to take tomorrow morning and some kind of cake for Wednesday (since a lot of people will be out tomorrow).

Bedtime at the Cisneros House

One of my favorite times of the day is when we're getting Rebecca ready for bedtime. There's just nothing cuter than a baby in a sleeper or a toddler in pajamas, except for maybe a tiny little girl in a nightgown. This was a video I took tonight of Rebecca jumping after she'd had her bath and we were getting her ready for bed(why she's holding a bottle of water, I'm not sure).



Here are a few pictures of Rebecca sleeping that I've taken the last couple of nights. I love her sleeping face, so I take a lot of pictures that way. Her favorite sleeping position is with her hands behind her head.



Oh yeah, in the one where she's propped up on pillows, asleep in our room, you'll notice some pink blotches on her face. No child abuse going on - she fell asleep watching television and eating strawberries in bed with Ramy. She's got strawberry juice all over her face.

Cinnamon Rolls (and GO VOTE!)

Okay, I know no real way to tie these two things together, but don't forget to VOTE today, if you haven't already done so. We sent our ballots in a couple of weeks ago, so no standing in the poll lines for us. There are a lot of important things at stake, so citizens, do your civic duty and VOTE! (And if you're not sure who to vote for, just vote a straight Democratic ticket, and all will be well, okay? And vote No on California Propositions 4, 8, and 9 and Yes on Prop. 5).

So while you're waiting on all the returns to come in so that we can celebrate this historic election night, you might want to have some snacks. This is a great recipe (if I do say so myself) that I adapted from a Paula Deen recipe in a moment of desperation for something sweet. It now bears almost no resemblance to Paula's recipe, but I actually think it is better. And it is really easy!

Easy Mini Cinnamon Swirls

6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup pecan, finely chopped
Two 8-oz. cans of refrigerated crescent rolls
1 egg white
32 pecan halves

Glaze:
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
4 tsp. milk or heavy cream

In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, vanilla extract, and confectioners' sugar until fluffy. Fold the pecans into the mixture.

Separate 1 can of dough into 4 rectangles. Firmly press the perforations to seal. Pres or roll each piece of dough to form a 7x4 inch rectangle and spread each with about 2 Tbsp. of the cream cheese filling to within 1/4 inch of the edges. Starting at the short end, roll each rectangle tightly into a cylinder. Repeat with the other can of dough and remaining filling. Place on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350° while the rolls are chilling. Remove from the refrigerator and cut each roll into 4 slices. Place 1/2 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, combine the egg white with 1 tspoon water. Brush over the swirls. Press one pecan half gently onto top of each swirl.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, until light brown.

While the swirls are baking, combine the glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Cool the swirls for 3 minutes on wire racks placed over a sheet of waxed paper. Drizzle the icing over the warm swirls.

All Saints/All Souls

In the Catholic Church, this weekend included the feasts of All Saints Day (yesterday) and All Souls Day (today). On these days, we celebrate and remember those who have died in Christ and are in heaven or are on their way to heaven. I won't turn this into a lesson on Catholic doctrine, but it is always one of my favorite feast days in the Catholic church. It is nice to pause to remember those who have passed away and the contributions they made (and still make) to our lives and to ask for their intercession on our behalf.

It looks as though fall has returned to Southern California. We're having highs only in the 60s for the next few days. I'm glad to be able to put long sleeves on Rebecca finally! Last night, we drove into Los Angeles, had dinner at Louise's Trattoria, and then we drove around in Los Feliz and looked for the houses on the show Flipping Out. We ended up at Glendale Galleria, where I found a pair of pants I'd been looking for at Janie and Jack. Although we set our clocks back an hour and got an extra hour of sleep, somehow we still slept late this morning and just barely made it to 7:30 a.m. mass. We ate pumpkin pancakes at Mimi's, did the grocery shopping, and now Ramy is watching football on television and we're both wishing Rebecca would take a nap (it isn't looking promising).