Wednesday update

Sun night and Mon we had snow. It was very windy, causing the snow to drift so I really don't know many inches we got. The wind also made the screens rattle in the windows. I woke up several times thinking the dog or cat was getting into something, but it was just the wind. Both Spouse & I had a 'snow day' on Mon, which completely floored me. I mean, I work for a company with clients all over the US, Canada, and some in Europe. It didn't snow everywhere! But some folks had to work in order to produce our clients' scheduled events, and I worked a little too. But mostly Spouse & I had a nice day watching TV, looking at the snow, and eating snacks.

Speaking of eating snacks, you may have noticed there was no weigh in last Tues. That is because I didn't lose any weight. Same goes for this Tues. I seem to have plateaued; or maybe its those snacks! I'm usually not a 'snacker', but for some reason we both feel like snacking on a snow day.

Work has been really busy this week, hence the sparse posts of late.

We had a wonderful time at our young friend Emely's Quinceanera! I got upset at first because our NEW camera was not working correctly. For some reason it kept reading "Batteries exhausted" even though I changed the batteries out with new ones 3 times. Can anyone explain why this would happen? Fortunately my good friend Kerry is never without a camera so I got these photos from her.
This is Emely with her brother Javier and her parents Ana and Jose.

Here is Spouse, Emely, and me. (Ssshhh... don't tell Spouse I posted a photo of him.)

My dear friend Kerry, the source of these lovely photos.

Spouse's mother Evelyn, Spouse, and Kerry's father (and our friend) George.

Emely's mother Ana told me the cake came from Wegman's, and had a vanilla layer, a chocolate layer, and butter cream icing. I was disappointed that we left before they got around to cutting the darn thing!

During the delicious sit-down dinner, the DJ began playing a mixture of 80s songs and Mexican songs. Then, as is the Quinceanera custom, the DJ played a waltz and Emely danced with her father and 2 uncles, each for 15 seconds or so. As one passed her off to the other they would twirl her around. It was so cute!

Then many others joined them on the dance floor. Above Kerry is dancing with Emely's father Jose. Behind Kerry you can see a screen where a photo slideshow was playing. Kerry did a fantastic job of showing Emely with her family and friends at some of their many activities. It was really beautiful.

Emely's uncle Jorge and aunt Terri 'cut the rug' too! (I love this picture!)

It was such a warm and loving affair! Everyone was smiling and laughing; there was no 'family drama' or competition. We were so happy to have been invited and to be able to make it back to VA for the party.

Crush du Jour: Jimmy Clabots

Quinceanera

Tonight we're having dinner with 'the usual suspects' as we usually do on Fridays, and tomorrow morning we are headed back to VA for the weekend. We'll visit with Spouse's family, and attend a Quinceanera.

In the Latino culture, a girl's 15th birthday is a very special one. Its like a 'sweet 16' birthday party, only for Latino girls its their 15th birthday. Our young friend Emely turned 15 earlier this month, and invited us to her Quinceanera tomorrow evening. We were honored to be invited, and are looking forward to it! Her parents have rented the banquet room at a restaurant, and in addition to having dinner there will be a band and dancing. It should be fun!

We met Emely several years ago through our dear friends Kerry & Hugh. Kerry used to work with Ana, who is Emely's mother. Ana and Emely have come with Kerry & Hugh to visit us several times since we moved to DE, and we have enjoyed many, many activities with them over the years. They are like family to us.

We are undecided what to wear. This is definitely not a jeans-and-button-up-shirt kind of thing. Spouse thinks we should wear suits and ties, but I think we can dress a little less formal than that.

By the way, there's a terrific film called Quinceanera that I would highly recommend. The central theme is a young girl's Quinceanera, but the film is really about much more, including neighborhood gentrification, faith, coming out, and acceptance. Check it out.

Crush du Jour: James Guardino