Poofy Dress Greetings

Here, finally, are a couple of shots of the girls at Cousins Mike and Ann's wedding. Unfortunately Dayssi isn't smiling in the close up because she doesn't like to have her picture taken. I don't like to torment her with the camera, which is why there aren't more, better, shots. But, even without a smile, you can see how magical they were in the dresses which, after a crazy shipping fiascoe, finally landed at our hotel, smooshed into a small Fed Ex box, exactly one hour before we left for the ceremony. Phew.

Ring around the Rosie was lots of fun though, and the girls were mesmerized by "the bride." Ann, you are officially a legend in our household, right up there with Kim Possible, Oprah and Barbie (who tends to rescue her nameless male counterpart rather than the other way around). Our girls tend to think of themselves as knights in princess clothing. I love that. There's also been a lot of wedding talk, especially from Dayssi, who told me the other night with determination, "Mama, if I can't marry Daddy then I'm not getting married."

Anyway, the wedding was beautiful and it was especially magical for the girls. Thanks Mike and Ann, for including us!

Granny and Grandad were here for Christmas; they just left today. It was a nice, long, 10-day visit, but I think there are still unopened gifts lying around. Granny and Grandad LOVE to give presents, and the girls kinda like it that way!

The holidays have been fun but I have to say I'm exhausted. Jim and I went to the movies today and I started crying during the previews and didn't stop until the feature was done. We saw Dreamgirls -- it isn't THAT sad, either. But I thought it was very efficient of me, to be able to cry on a dime during the only two hour period that I've had to myself (no kids, no guests, no parties) in the past two weeks. I'm kinda like that.

Among other things, I'm very emotional these days about friends. There are some people in our lives who, especially during the past 8 months, have stunned me with their unflinching stamina and presence. We have not always been available, reliable, responsive, or very much fun. We are rarely proactive. Dayssi has often felt yucky, looked scary, and had an immune system that requires constant vigilance on everyone's part to avoid the spreading of germs. But nothing seems to drive these folks away. They aren't afraid of reaching out or assuming too much or saying the wrong thing. They understand that sometimes you need to talk about how awful it is to have a kid with leukemia, and other times you need to laugh at the insanity of it, or just talk about work, or gossip. They ask how we're doing and, whatever comes back, they take it, they listen, they laugh or cry with us, and they do us the great courtesy of trusting us to be able to bear the weight of their own struggles, which allows us to stay close to them.

It is another great gift of Dayssi's leukemia that these kinds of people have appeared and revealed themselves to be the remarkable people they are, showing me, without knowing it, how to be a better person myself.