Many Gracias

I am thankful for (in no particular order)...

• half-days of school
• the joy and excitement of knowing I will be watching "New Moon" in approximately 6 and a half hours
• students who say "thank you"
• hooded sweatshirts and pajama pants
• long hair
• vacuum cleaners and Swiffer dusters
• dishwashers
• a husband who loves to cook
• McDonald's french fries
• Dairy Queen Blizzards
• people who drive the speed limit
• a healthy and vibrant mom
• a brother and sister who I genuinely like
• a niece who cracks me up
• friends who share their kids with me
• friends who bring me Chai tea at school
• geese flying south for the winter
• my cat, Norah, who greets me on the driveway everyday when I come home
• my cat, Olive, who loves you even after you toss her across the room for jumping on your boobs
• my puppies, Powder and Moo Moo, who are ALWAYS happy to see me
• trips to Disneyland
• the beach
• blasting music in my car and singing at the top of my lungs
• Reality T.V. and cooking shows
• new pens and pencils
• Adam Lambert, controversy and all

Deep Thoughts From Students, Entry 3:

This is the conversation I just heard in my yearbook classroom:

Jordin: Oh my gosh! Look at that huge cleavage hair!

Girls Around Jordin (as they all look down at their cleavage): What? What are you talking about?

Jordin (who pulls a gigantor piece of hair off of Reyna's shirt): Look at it! Cleavage hair is a real problem these days.

Me (only speaking inside of my head): Yes, yes it is.

Goodbye Molly...

To the kitty we affectionately called Fluffy...Thank you for the last 13 years. We love you and will always miss you.

Nostalgia

My Pullman Checklist:

• Dinner at New Garden - Check
• Catching up with my dad - Check
• Sleeping in until 11 - Check
• A burger and fries at Cougar Country - Check
• Watching the Cougs play their version of football - Check
• Kicking Katy and Trevor's butts in a rousing game of "Life" - Check
• Sleeping in until 11 once again - Check
• A quick trip to the Bookie - Check
• A small green salad with a bread twist at Sella's - Check
• Enjoying the view of wheat fields and old barns - Double-check

A Confession...

Here's the thing - I wasn't raised in a materialistic home. Our mismatched couches came from garage sales, our silverware came from Goodwill, and to this day, my mother finds no pleasure in shopping for things for her house. I think that's what happens when you've watched your parents literally "give up" all of their posessions in order to come to the United States. And let me make it clear that in Cuba, my mother's parents had LOTS of posessions.

With that said, I'm embarassed to admit that I have an obsession with a possession.

Okay, in all honesty, I have three obsessions with possessions.

#1 - Books. I love them, I need them, I literally surround myself with them. They are my friends and if I am really honest, they are also my trophies. I don't have trophies for any athletic accolades and reading has always been something I am good at. I think I can kick a little ass in reading. And so my books are a non-negotiable. They're staying put, people.


#2 - Dishes. I love dishes. I love dishes that match. I especially love crisp, white dishes and dishes that are accented with red. Perhaps this comes from some deep-rooted feeling of inadequecy, being that in my childhood, our dishes never matched. Never. This is probably why when my mom bought her home several years ago, I bought her a dish set.

And last but not least #3 - Bedding!!! - which is what prompted me to write this post to begin with being that today we purchased a new duvet and new pillows. This particular obsession stems back to "The Sound of Music" and the bed Julie Andrews had. I wanted that bed, I wanted that comforter, and I have worked very hard to get it in my own way.

Books, dishes and bedding. I love them. I confess.

Bow Down to the Sausage

A week ago today my family gathered for the annual Sausage Fest, and the reason I haven't blogged before now is because 1) school is taking up way too much of my time, 2) I continue to hack up a lung every few minutes, and 3) I subsequently have no energy left for anything. With that said, to not post about Sausage Fest would be sacreligious being that for the last 25 years of my life my entire family has gathered together to partake in the festivities. For the last 3 years, Trevor has graciously joined us.



This year my sister, brother, their spouses, my niece, and our friends Scott, Margaret and their boys all drove down from Seattle to do the following:

1) Partake in the rousing carnival games, including but not limited to "The Duck Pond," "Scat Cat," "The Lollipop Tree," and "Shooting Hoops," as seen below. Please note both my niece's and my sister's natural shot, yet neither of them made a shot. I, however, the one with no athletic ability, did, and came home with a coupon for a free McDonald's ice cream cone. Ah, sweet victory!!!

2) We played bingo. None of us won but we sure enjoyed giggling when "O 69" was called...every time.

3) Of course, we ate sausages. Please look closely at the kids' drawings below. I believe they capture the essence of Sausage Fest.

4) We watched the fabulous entertainment. Our favorites every year are the dance teams. Adam and Austin were completely mesmerized.

5) And lastly, we celebrated our family's September birthdays with a DQ ice cream cake.

Until, next year, my dear sausage. We will meet again.

Meet Travis and Tara

You may think the picture below is of Trevor and Sara but you are mistaken.

Meet Travis and Tara, a happily married couple who spent the weekend in Matlock, WA at the beautiful wedding of our friends Nate and Maya. I swear to you we introduced ourselves as Trevor and Sara but nonetheless we became Travis and Tara. Instead of fighting it we embraced it. After all, apparently many of the wedding guests had changed their names at some point in their lives. Take for instance Lulu. She said to me, "Hi, I'm Lulu." I said, "Hi, I'm Sara." She said, "Nice to meet you Tara. Actually, my real name is Pat but I don't like it so I call myself Lulu." I didn't have the heart to tell her that my real name wasn't Tara and so my new alias began.

The wedding scene was absolutely stunning. Everything took place on Maya's mother's property. The weather was perfect and the colors of the surrounding gardens and forest were gorgeous.

Nate and Maya - who we hadn't seen since our visit with them this summer in St. John - got married under a pair of married trees (trees whose trunks are growing into each other). I, of course, cried and Trevor didn't. Imagine that.

The food was the BEST wedding food I have ever had. Everything was homemade, from the beef loin with a cabernet mushroom sauce to the salmon with lemon butter sauce, I am pretty sure I died and went to heaven.
And then there was the dessert buffet. Need I say anymore?

The evening sky was breathtaking...

...but not at breathtaking as my husband's belly painted with a face. If you must know why, I will tell you in private.
Congratulations, Nate and Maya! We love you!