And now, 'Apio Verde' to me!!!

Let me explain what happens when you have decided you really don't want to celebrate your birthday (and yes, I am modeling this blog after Melanie's own birthday blog):

#1 - Nobody listens to you, which means that not celebrating your birthday is no longer a viable option. To prove this point, continue reading.
#2 - Your in-laws take you to a fantastic dinner of Greek food and give you a beautiful tote bag and a gift card to Barnes and Noble, which is essentially like giving crack to a crack addict.
#3 - Your mom writes you an email reminiscing about the day you were born, which she ends by saying "Lucky ME."
#4 - Your BFF shows up in your classroom with a cup of your favorite Chai, a beautiful daffodil plant, and the coolest birthday balloon I have ever seen.
#5 - You get phone calls, messages, text messages, and Facebook/MySpace comments ALL DAY from your favorite people in the world (i.e. mom, Lisa, David, Dianna, Tiffany, Gavin, Bonnie, Alissa, Megan, Chris, Bethany, Farouk, Brandon, Katy, Ryan, Des and the girls...I know I am missing people and THAT fact is unbelievably humbling and overwhelming).
#6 - One of your students shows up in the morning with another birthday balloon and a gift bag full of candy, lotions, bath gels, a gift card to Starbucks, and a note that says, "Don't feel sad about turning older. Feel happy because it just means you're moving closer to getting everything you want out of life."
#7 - Another student shows up after school and presents you with a birthday cake that looks a little something like this:


I know, I know. My beauty is really overwhelming.

#8 - And then you walk out to your van to go home, and you find this:

The morale of this story is this - when you say you don't want to celebrate your birthday, those who you love the most remind you why you have sooooo many reasons to celebrate yet another year. Funny how that happens. :)

"Apio Verde" to Yooooouuuuuuu!

Today is my best friend's birthday, and in honor of her birth on this day 32 years ago, I have written this poem:

Oh, how the last decade has flown by

Since we met in that dorm room

Oh so very high up 

In that crimson Pullman sky 

I was so unsure about Tony

And then I met you and said,

Inside of my little round head,

"I love her! She is no phony!"

And so our friendship began

And many memories were made

Like the good ol' Shermer's bus

And sleeping between you and your man

What we didn't know then

Was what the future had in store

For these two Pullman girls

Whose paths were to cross again

Somehow and someway

Our dinners turned from simple chit-chat

To the bearing of souls

And today there is nothing we will not say 

You have become more than a friend

You're a sister of sorts

In fact, there really is no word

That captures all you represent

What I do know for sure,

Is when people ask who I admire,

who I love, who I adore

I point at you and say, "Well, her."

"Apio Verde," my friend Melanie

Thank you for loving me and making me shine 

But MOST, MOST, MOST of all,

Thank you for making me your family

 

  

Today we rejoice...

...because today marks the beginning of HOPE and CHANGE. I, for one, have never hid my liberal and prgoressive leanings, and neither, for that matter, has Trevor. I do admit that we both have at times been quite vocal about our feelings of disenchantment during the last eight years, and I admit that at times, I do not look at politics through a very objective lense. With that said, it comes as no surprise to those who know both of us that by simply being Democrat, Barack Obama won major points in our household. The thing is, I have voted for other Democrats to be president, and even when he (i.e. my friend Bill Clinton) won the election, I didn't feel THIS. I didn't feel like buying an American flag and hanging it in my front window. I didn't feel like stopping eveything I was doing to watch the inauguration. I didn't feel like, well, like THIS. Today I am reminded of why my grandparents left everything behind in Cuba over 40 years ago. Today I am reminded of what my dad meant when he said, "We left everything in order to be able to think FREELY," and of what my mom means when she says, "We left because we wanted more for YOU" (even though none of her children were even a glimmer in her eye when she left). Let me make it clear that by no means do I think Obama is perfect or without flaws. What I do believe in is the ideals this country was founded on - that anybody from anywhere can be anything he or she wants to be if others - like you and me - offer doors of opportunity, and I believe that Obama represents those ideals better than any other president in history. Today, I am proud to be an American, and today is the first time I have said THAT in years.

Beaches and Brews

Let me begin by saying that prior to this weekend, I had never been to a Bed and Breakfast before, but now I am pretty sure I want to live at one. Trevor and I headed to the Oregon Coast to celebrate (a week early, mind you) our two-year anniversary of our very first date. The weather was unbelievable - between 60 and 70 everyday - and we literally soaked in the sun for hours on end. We ate incredible food, spent hours walking on the beach and watching the sunset, consumed cheese and ice cream at two different cheese factories, hiked down a cape and back up a cape (yes, I thought I was going to die), hugged a lighthouse, found a sand dollar, and watched movies at our Bed and Breakfast. Of course, Trevor enjoyed many an Oregon beer while I enjoyed feeding seagulls at the beach, much to the chagrin of passers by. What more can you ask for? Watch out all Bed and Breakfasts within driving range...here I come!

To my husband...

This blog is for my husband, who lets me put headbands in his hair and then take pictures of it. I have spent the last couple of weeks contemplating what I should blog about. Should I reflect on 2008 and all that we learned? Should I make a New Year's Resolution that, in my heart, I know I will not ultimately keep? Should I share with the blogging world how fat I feel and how angry I am that I have to think about it? Maybe I should write about the hell of finishing the first semester at school when it feels as if so many students' graduations are riding on my shoulders. I have even contemplated sharing about the excitement we experienced for the first three weeks we found out we were pregnant, and the grieving that followed when we learned the pregnancy was simply not to be. The thing is, the more I thought and the more I reflected, the more that what I needed to say became clear...this man, the one  I call my husband, NEVER ceases to amaze me. When I call myself fat, he tells me to be nice to his wife. When I cry because I can't ever seem to catch up at school or because I just feel like I can't change anything, he actually listens. When I go on my cleaning rampages, he starts vacuuming. When all I want is a Dairy Queen Blizzard, he grabs the keys and off we go. When I ask him if fixing up my mom's kitchen is feasible, he says yes, even though we both know he's starting a new job in only a matter of days. When the doctors tell me that it's now time to let nature take it's course, he sits with me on the couch for hours, never once complaining that "The Real Housewives of Orange County" is my drug of choice. And when I ask him to let me put a headband in his hair, he offers me his head. As we get ready to celebrate the second anniversary of our first date, there is so much to be thankful for, but first and foremost, I am thankful for HIM - for his unwavering love and support, and for making me BETTER. I love you, Trevor Alan Smith, bigger, bigger than all the mountains.

It's done.

For Christmas this year, Trevor and I wanted to give my mom something we knew she would never give herself, which of course meant that anew pair of Birkenstocks was out of the running. After much contemplation, we decided we wanted to spruce up her kitchen, which has been stuck in the 1950s since she purchased the house almost seven years ago. Our dream became a real possibility when mom decided she was going to spend six days in Vegas with a longtime girlfriend of hers. So, after several trips to Home Depot we made a plan, and after we dropped mom off at the airport last Sunday, we began our grand Christmas surprise. Here are the before pictures...

After six days, four cans of paint, 17 new handles, a few rollers and paint brushes, a couple of sheets of MDF, one sheet of bead board, one sheet of laminate, unbelievable support and help from Tony, Melanie, Aidan and Nadia, and a partridge in a pear tree, here is the final product...

And the best part was when she walked into her new kitchen and switched on her light, I had to tell her to LOOK UP! She cried, I cried, we all cried. There is nothing like a good surprise pulled off! Merry Christmas, mom! We love you!