I had to get to Gabriel's Day School by 8:30 to get in line to register for next year. (Everyone had been warning me that the two-year-old class fills up quickly, and Julie, you scared me into believing them!). It paid off and I got him in, and so did the Mom of the triplets that he shares his current Wednesday class with. So he will at least have their familiar faces.
Then we had a picture scheduled with our church for the new directory (they do this to us every five years). Jav talked me into getting a "generational" picture with his parents and sister, instead of separate family units. This seemed strange to me, but is the norm in Mexico, so I decided to do it. I really love his family more than I can say, and afterwards felt bad that I had even given it a second thought. We all ate at Mexican Inn after the session and had a great time.
When we got home I had alot to do while Gabriel napped. I walked poor Molly, who didn't get a walk all last week because of Gabriel being sick. Then I went to work on the Sticky Toffee Pudding I was going to surprise Jav with for Valentine's. Because I am not good at it, I am not fond of baking at all and I think because of my poor attitude something always goes wrong. I need to be more like Carla, the contestant on Top Chef who claims that you have to think loving thoughts while you're cooking and they will be part of the food. She's actually made it into the final, so maybe there's something to it. (This reminds me of Like Water for Chocolate and makes me want to read it again).
Then it was time to get ready to exchange Valentine's gifts and cards. Gabriel and I had made homemade ones for Jav (we had to do something to fill up all that time this past week!), and he was very moved. Gabriel got his daddy a new picture of the two of them cuddling in the rocking chair that he can take to work for his desk. Jav and Gabriel got me the sweetest cards, and Jav "surprised" me with Richard Thompson tickets. Ok, so I knew about them, but that doesn't make me any less happy that we're going!
We all got ready and went to Mass to fill our minds and hearts with gratitude for having so much love in our lives. We got to see our favorite violin player, who now knows what fans we are and gave a big wave to Gabriel when we walked in, which just made his whole day! This guy is amazing. He is very young, but has God-given talent dripping from his fingers, and improvises with every hymn. You can just hear these beautiful, soaring notes either along with or in harmony with the melody, and it actually takes my breath away to watch and listen to him. I feel like I'm in the presence of something I don't quite understand.
We had take-out for dinner, then Jav got Gabriel bathed and cozy and ready for bed while I played with the cats, something I never have time to do. I can always see a difference in them when I do this. They just seem more happy and content that they got a little attention. After I read Gabriel his books and the lights were out, and he had one of my hands tucked in his while I stroked his back with the other, I told him Happy Valentine's Day, and that I loved him and wanted him to be happy-always. He repeated the word "happy" back to me, so I asked him, "Are you happy?" And he emphatically said his new favorite word, "YES". This made me happier that I can put into words.
Then Jav and I curled up with our Sticky Toffee Pudding (which came out strange but tasted good), and watched Vicki Cristina Barcelona. Last Saturday we saw Slumdog Millionaire then watched The Namesake early in the week. Both movies are about or take place in India, and we felt as if we'd taken a journey there after watching both movies. With this one we took a detour down to Spain. The visuals and the story are great, but Woody Allen movies have become all about the music to me. I would really like to ask him if the music inspires the movie, or vice versa. This one is full of lovely flamenco guitar and folk-sounding music all the way through.
The day was so special, and I feel like I had the time to show each member of the house how much I love them, and feel very loved back.
2 comments:
How exciting about the Richard Thompson tickets! I'm assuming it's the show at the Lakewood Theater, where we saw him last(?) year. One of the best shows we've ever seen. Be forewarned, it will be weird because you and Jav will be some of the youngest people in the entire audience.
That will be refreshing, although it was kind of like that at James McMurtry also. I think we're sitting pretty close - 7th row or something. I can't wait. He's been on my "People I Really Want to See Before Either I or They Die" list for about 4 years now.
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