Yesterday, Monday, was raining so we all decided to go to see "Rogue One," the new Star Wars movie. Rachel insisted that Auntie Rachel and Daddy sit next to her, so I was relegated to the aisle seat (I really didn't mind; the Rachels don't get to see one another that often, so the more time and space they can share, the better).
It really was an amazing movie, but we all felt logy at the end of it, and both Rachels said they wanted naps. I had to go to work, so after a quick stop at Trader Joe's to get me salads, we came back home, I made hot chocolate from scratch because the Rachels both decided they wanted to watch the very first "Star Wars" movie, and we had a quick Skype session with Tia Daniella and Valerie before I left for The Post.
As we were walking back from the movie to the car, RD (as opposed to Auntie Rachel, who is RJ), and I got into an earnest discussion about how to eat various junk foods. She says she eats popcorn (like she did in the movie) by holding it in her mouth before it disintegrates on her tongue. Then I said that I eat Cheetos by letting them melt in my mouth, and she said that she eats Doritos by licking the cheese off and eating the rest. I mentioned that that was totally gross.
"The fact that we're talking about ways to eat food shows that we have a lot of time on our hands," she observed.
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Happy New Year!
One of my new year's resolutions is to write more on this blog, and I apologize to everyone for shamefully neglecting it. Um, I've been a little bit busy. As blog entries happen this year, I will fill everyone in on what has been going on.
We welcomed in 2017 with style, and in a way that I hope will create lasting memories for Rachel. A few highlights:
--Our friends Jeff, Crystal and their not-quite-3-year-old, Julia, joined us for a New Year's Eve/last night of Hanukkah dinner at our house. They arrived at 6, and we had a lot to do before then -- last-minute errands, food prep, setting the table, etc. I reorganized our tablecloths and cloth napkins and was pleased to discover, as was Drew, that we could return $65 worth of linens to Bed, Bath and Beyond. Then I laid a lovely Hanukkah-themed tablecloth down on our table, which we expanded to two leaves to fit everyone, and the cloth fit perfectly. Yay! We roasted a capon and I made latkes and brussels sprouts, with the welcome assistance of Rachel Jones, who is staying with us through next weekend. Jeff bought a homemade chocolate peanut butter cheesecake that he had made in his pressure cooker, and I don't even like cheesecake but it was FABULOUS. Little Rachel was lovely with Julia -- at one point, when Julia said she wanted to go to the potty for the 3rd time and poor Crystal and Jeff had barely started eating, Rachel offered to take her upstairs. And when they were getting to leave, Julia said to Rachel, "Go upstairs and take nap?" And Rachel very quickly and wisely said, "You can go to your OWN house and nap there!" I tell ya, that kid will be a great babysitter someday.
--Then, after we had gotten a good head start on cleaning, the second wave arrived -- Moriah and Lenore. I work with Moriah at The Post (she's an education reporter and is constantly telling me how smart Rachel is) and Lenore is Moriah's friend. They were all dressed up to party, but stopped over for dessert and brought pecan pie. They had my homemade cookies (I had baked five different cookies to distribute to friends and neighbors but still had a lot left) and we chatted a bit. Rachel had been asking all night, "When are the YOUNG people coming?" and she had a great time dispensing relationship advice to Moriah and Lenore, who are single but recently have had their share of boyfriend mishaps.
--About 15 minutes before they left, the third wave arrived -- Jamila, a friend of Rachel Jones's, and her friend Daniela, who is from Brazil and is a PhD candidate at the University of Texas in Austin but is visiting Daniela for the weekend. They were similarly dressed up in shimmery outfits, and at one point, Jamila (who has met Little Rachel before and is charmed by her), took it upon herself to teach her to salsa dance. We captured it all on video, and it is HILARIOUS. They had a great time, and when Jamila and Daniela mentioned that they hadn't eaten dinner, we pressed them to try our leftovers -- we had enough capon, latkes and brussels sprouts to feed them -- and they were so grateful! They loved the food and the homemade cookies.
They left around 11, and Drew and I finished almost all of the cleaning. We had a fire gong, and Rachel Jones and I had some whiskey that we downed at the stroke of midnight, and Little Rachel shrieked, "Happy New Year!" (We had allowed her to stay up after she promised to get washed changed into her jimmies and go right to bed and go to bed early tonight, which we are holding her to if it kills us.) We all hugged and kissed, and then Rachel Jones and I decided our new year's resolution was to "Own It." She went up to bed, then I helped Drew a bit and then I went up to bed, and that was the end of a wonderful, chaotic, heartbreaking, life-affirming 2016.
Bring it, 2017! I'm ready for ya.
We welcomed in 2017 with style, and in a way that I hope will create lasting memories for Rachel. A few highlights:
--Our friends Jeff, Crystal and their not-quite-3-year-old, Julia, joined us for a New Year's Eve/last night of Hanukkah dinner at our house. They arrived at 6, and we had a lot to do before then -- last-minute errands, food prep, setting the table, etc. I reorganized our tablecloths and cloth napkins and was pleased to discover, as was Drew, that we could return $65 worth of linens to Bed, Bath and Beyond. Then I laid a lovely Hanukkah-themed tablecloth down on our table, which we expanded to two leaves to fit everyone, and the cloth fit perfectly. Yay! We roasted a capon and I made latkes and brussels sprouts, with the welcome assistance of Rachel Jones, who is staying with us through next weekend. Jeff bought a homemade chocolate peanut butter cheesecake that he had made in his pressure cooker, and I don't even like cheesecake but it was FABULOUS. Little Rachel was lovely with Julia -- at one point, when Julia said she wanted to go to the potty for the 3rd time and poor Crystal and Jeff had barely started eating, Rachel offered to take her upstairs. And when they were getting to leave, Julia said to Rachel, "Go upstairs and take nap?" And Rachel very quickly and wisely said, "You can go to your OWN house and nap there!" I tell ya, that kid will be a great babysitter someday.
--Then, after we had gotten a good head start on cleaning, the second wave arrived -- Moriah and Lenore. I work with Moriah at The Post (she's an education reporter and is constantly telling me how smart Rachel is) and Lenore is Moriah's friend. They were all dressed up to party, but stopped over for dessert and brought pecan pie. They had my homemade cookies (I had baked five different cookies to distribute to friends and neighbors but still had a lot left) and we chatted a bit. Rachel had been asking all night, "When are the YOUNG people coming?" and she had a great time dispensing relationship advice to Moriah and Lenore, who are single but recently have had their share of boyfriend mishaps.
--About 15 minutes before they left, the third wave arrived -- Jamila, a friend of Rachel Jones's, and her friend Daniela, who is from Brazil and is a PhD candidate at the University of Texas in Austin but is visiting Daniela for the weekend. They were similarly dressed up in shimmery outfits, and at one point, Jamila (who has met Little Rachel before and is charmed by her), took it upon herself to teach her to salsa dance. We captured it all on video, and it is HILARIOUS. They had a great time, and when Jamila and Daniela mentioned that they hadn't eaten dinner, we pressed them to try our leftovers -- we had enough capon, latkes and brussels sprouts to feed them -- and they were so grateful! They loved the food and the homemade cookies.
They left around 11, and Drew and I finished almost all of the cleaning. We had a fire gong, and Rachel Jones and I had some whiskey that we downed at the stroke of midnight, and Little Rachel shrieked, "Happy New Year!" (We had allowed her to stay up after she promised to get washed changed into her jimmies and go right to bed and go to bed early tonight, which we are holding her to if it kills us.) We all hugged and kissed, and then Rachel Jones and I decided our new year's resolution was to "Own It." She went up to bed, then I helped Drew a bit and then I went up to bed, and that was the end of a wonderful, chaotic, heartbreaking, life-affirming 2016.
Bring it, 2017! I'm ready for ya.
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