Noche buena...

I feel so very happy. Safe. Warm. Fuzzy. I visited the Mission this morning with my parents. It was sad to think about the way of life that was destroyed with the arrival of the missionaries, but I didn't feel the sadness the way I usually do. I lay in the grass for a few minutes, letting the warmth spread through me, eyes closed, penetrating post-solstice sun. We went to the court house, and then with I and M to the beach. No dolphins today. They took her to the movies and then to Solvang, I think... at least that was the plan. I stayed home and read more stories, and showered and allowed myself a nap, from which I awoke a bit disoriented. M came home from his meeting bearing a huge surprise. A tree - dead:(, decorations and a trash bag full of (donated:free) presents! It was actually really exciting to put the tree up and wrap presents (we hadn't planned on any, save for the ones from my Aunt and grandmother that arrived in the mail the other day) but the idea of the surprise and joy that this would bring I. was enough to put me in a fabulous mood. There were even little gifts for Mom and Dad and for our dinner hosts as well (beyond the several bottles of wine and Asti... I can't help that I don't like champagne and that I will always have a preference for the sweet... so I might as well get what I want to drink for the brindis, right?)

We left the house with a ginger bread house perched on the coffee table, expectantly, and a tree with little wooden nutcrackers and a string of multi-colored lights with a snow man to crown its ittty-bitty tip (only other decoration available in house). I wonder what I. did when they got home? I can't wait for her to wake up and tell me all about it.

Once again, a wonderful and unexpected night surrounded by the warmth of budding friendships. Half of the dinner party was tied up in knots as they anxiously await the MLA interviews in two days, but the comida navideña was absolutely, wonderfully española, with a special cameo of a traditional Hungarian dish, and Brazil nuts, which, said Carolina, are typical for christmas in Brazil. Good food, good friends, good conversation and a plan for another larger party when all the rest of the travelers return from their respective countries, for noche vieja. After dinner politics, shooting the shit and rants about transnational corporations, transgenic corn and W. shrub's politics and their inherently negative impact on women, plus a discussion on the values of polygamy. Laughing... laughing. I really must just do this more often, no need for crying when the world is still opening its arms to invite me... there are still a million possibilities, nothing has been foreclosed upon... I can still learn the things I want.

Also, I discovered that I can indeed do a sociolinguistics specialization within the applied linguistics concentration that I am going to tack on to my degree (along with another concentration in women's studies). What is the relevance? I got so excited talking about the research that I want to do, that I am ready for vacation to now be over. On Monday I will take my books (which I have studiously ignored up 'til now) back to school and spend the week working on the paper that is due at the end of the quarter. If I finish the paper before the quarter starts I can polish the other work that I want to submit to conferences in the first weeks, and not be overloaded by taking four courses and teaching. I wish I could take more, but everyone thinks I am crazy for even taking four... but that will be one course less than last quarter, so it will feel like cake... and, then in the spring I can just take one "real" course and two other languages... This is so exciting, nothing like the new year approaching to put one's life into perspective.

I better go to bed now, must rise early to prepare a farewell breakfast for the 'rents and to watch Isabella open her varying presents (as if she didn't get enough with the 10 that my mom brought for Chanukah). I swear, even when we don't buy a damn thing, she always ends up with too much...(being the only child in the extended family, including non-blood relations) but at least the toys are art supplies, of which she can never get enough... Of course Santa won't come because he made a pact with the Reyes... They'll be by on the 6th of January to deposit a gift (also among the free) in lieu of her shoes. Silly? Sappy? Sure, but it is nice to make other people smile, especially when they bring me so much joy every day.