Auntie Rachel's here! (well, in and out for the month of December and January, anyway). Rachel Jones arrived from Africa late Monday, when I was at work, and she and her Mini-Me (aka, our Rachel) were both asleep when I got home. Drew took a photo of both of them, with our Rachel in a new leopard-print jacket Auntie Rachel bought her -- along with dresses and cloth and jewelry. (Hanukkah's 8 nights! she said when I protested. One gift for each night! I could only sigh and shake my head).
Anyway, on Tuesday, our Rachel went to a "Polar Express" party at her school, in which she got to wear her pajamas -- yay! -- and Drew went to work. Rachel and proceeded to run a bunch of errands. She bought a lovely pair of African-made chopsticks for a friend of hers in North Carolina, got a gorgeous coat at a consignment shop near our house that I really must browse through sometime, and then I picked up a winter coat that had gotten a new zipper at the tailor's and dropped off our Rachel's Daisy Scouts tunic for them to sew on petals and patches; then Rachel and I discovered a fabulous Vietnamese restaurant that served excellent pho (good for a rainy day). Then we went to the AT&T store to get her a SIM card for her phone while I picked up some groceries at Safeway; we stopped into Marshalls to get her more clothes and I got some warm socks and slippers; then we went home and I put the roast in the oven and got the table set before picking up our Rachel and heading to the library, where I finally got to see her read to a dog as part of the "Paws to Read" program. It's for hesitant readers, which Rachel definitely is not, but she gets to hang out with a dog and read to it, and since she loves animals, we figure it's a great way for her to be around them.
When we got home, the roast lamb was ready and Drew had started the batter for latkes. I proceeded to fry them up in goose fat from our dinner over the weekend while Drew put together the salad and carved the roast. Rachel was overwhelmed by the meal -- we finished off the pumpkin-cocoa cake, which she also liked -- and we lit the candles, sang the Hanukkah song, and opened gifts. Oh, yes, and Rachel and I opened a bottle of chocolate wine that that a colleague had given me for my birthday. It was FABULOUS and we drank quite a lot of it. Which is why she and I collapsed on pillows in the study afterward, along with our Rachel, who completely crashed because she was so tired from the day. Drew took her upstairs and lay her on her bed; Rachel went upstairs to fall asleep and I think I helped Drew clean up but I'm not sure. Either way, it was a great way to spend the last night of Hanukkah!
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