My home, as I've told you before, is freakishly small cottage-like. Accomodating my big, fat, Cuban family for Nochebuena takes quite a bit of planning and hard work and a little bit of creativity. Actually, a LOT of creativity. My family is full of extroverted, noisy people. (Hello? Cubans!) They are easy conversationalists and will most ...
My Kids
My Two Favorite Dolls
As a child, I played with dolls. A lot. In fact, constantly. I had two that were my favorites. I had a Chatty Cathy doll. The kind with the pull string in the back that made her talk. And talk. And talk.And a Skipper doll. Barbie's little sister. She had the coolest wardrobe ever.I loved these two beauties so much that one day, I decided ...
The Kids Are Alright
My kids are all gone this Thanksgiving weekend. And I'm okay with that. No, really. I am O-KAY. I don't know when this cataclysmic change happened inside of me. But I know that it did. Adam, whom I haven't seen for months because he moved to Northern California, was here for a few days and took Lucy and Jonathan back with him and ...
“Cubanism can strike at any age.”
Me: "I made 'fanguito.'" (FAHN-GEE-TOH) Amy Kikita: "Fanguito? Really, Mom? Wait! Is that another Cubanism? Isn't 'fango' the Spanish word for 'mud?' Where exactly are you??" She sounds puzzled, and I picture her tilting her head to one side (kind of like a German shepherd). Me: "In the ...
Mooove it!
One of Lucy's creative writing classes involves creating a literary magazine. In fact, I think the name of the class is actually "Literary Magazine" or Lit Mag for short. (<--That's cool & hip student jargon in case you were wondering.) The title of this fledgling Lit Mag is The Invisible Cow.* [*The Invisible Cow refers ...
Home Alone
For years now, Eric and I have been home. He works here at home. I have been homeschooling for years. Our house is always full of noisy, happy, busy people. Whether they are our own kids or their friends, we've always had a full house. But now, Adam is gone. And Amy, who has spent the summer here with us, is leaving, too. Lucy and ...
Gleeks in Training
Lucy is a senior in high school this year. We've been talking about college options for a while now. But our conversations began in earnest at the beginning of this year. She's already taken a few courses at the community college level, but what did she want to do? Where would she be interested in going? What schools best provided what ...
Seventeen
She is completely present when she speaks to you. That is, unless she's spacing out. She has lots of great ideas. But isn't always willing to share them. She is beautifully feminine. And yet, she holds her own with the big boys. She wants to do everything, go everywhere, experience it all! Except for when she just wants to be left alone, ...
Hasta La Vista, Baby!
We've been talking about this for weeks (maybe months) so the actual day came as no surprise. Adam has been planning to move to Redding, California. (There's a girl up there....of course.) Adam's 24 and has moved out (and come back home) a few times already, but he's never gone quite this far. Redding is 592 miles from Mission ...
Little Lucy Goose in Washington D.C. – Episode 4
If you have been following along, you know that my Lucy has been in Washington, D.C. for the Young America's Foundation conference and that I have not been able to focus on much else. She is finally home safe, but she enjoyed sending me emails so much (and having them posted on the blog) that she continued writing to me as if she were still ...
