Chinese New Year - More curious than usual

Intermittent rain. Endless chill. Self-portrait.

Well, no wonder I's been grumpy for these passed few days! I lost the battle with the relentless 'cool' and now have the start of a sinus infection. Extra internal fighting makes one tetchier than usual. When that oddly named blizzard dumped all that snow, I was miserable to the bone- like give me a dreamy book, read aloud, wrapped, bubbled and snuggled  in bed dressings straight out of the dyer, eyes half closed, soft focused light, myopic clarity of a world shrunk to the spaces just around gently warmed and slightly aching limbs...
But that isn't the focus of my post. No not at all.

TIE Fighter and X-wing Included! Some assembly required.

Yesterday was carnival meets sci-fi meets Chinese new year meets a 12 year old girl's birthday in Baja. I was at the computer and suddenly I am called to come quickly to see... see what?! I am not wearing my glasses! But I go out (in  my slippers even) and find the Millennium Falcon parked outside my house just across the boulevard! I had heard about a parade that was going to go through,, but didn't think much of the celebrations leading to Mardi Gras. Never would I have thought Darth Vader would be seen with showgirls, cowgirls on horses AND Spiderman-- right in front of my house- for Carnival! This was beyond fantastic. It was mind boggling. I ran back in for a coat, my eyes and camera. We were right at the start of the parade that was going to head to the outdoor arena near the center of town! I almost wanted to run and get a head of it and see all the dancing and general happiness but I knew better than to go far feeling like a rain puddle.

Yeah. Showgirls are officially aliens. Illegal even.

 Besides, Human and I had been invited to a family party- we were bribed with brownies... yeah that is what it takes.. ;)
So we both did some work until 4pm and headed out with gifts and thoughts of those homemade brownies.
I was excited to see my friends we hadn't hung out since the all the end of the year festivities.
Erica was busy in her kitchen domain making pizzas and pasta along with dessert. Their random neighbor kept wandering in and out (exactly like a in sit-com!!) talking about something spicy he was cooking up- which turned out to be a pot of three hour extra spicy ceviche he wanted to share with the family.

Tiara with her candled brownie a la mode

We chatted of over coffee with Raul at the table and Tiara (the happy birthday girl) brought her two best friends over. They were delightful kids! I had almost forgotten how wonderful normal kids are. They had manners and were not too shy or obnoxious or not rudely buried in computer devices. We play the 'light as a feather' game. They sang an ode to a mathematics book to us. And I got dizzy in a couple of laughter-ridden, bilingual rounds of Harry Potter UNO.

The Little Bear

Once Raulito/Oso woke up, he brought nothing but extra happy to the room. This kid is amazing! I  still want to write something about his history, but that is for another post.
From his spying his homework, I learned a few animal names in Spanish. If you know anyone  named Caterina, you know a ladybug! (which none of the online translators are telling me.. hmm.) Hippocampo is the seahorse- the shape of a part of the brain. Medusa- jellyfish. Ciggara- cicada... Yep, learnin' kindergarten Spanish. Yep.

Raulito wanted a candle too! 

We shared a happy time. And that completely made up for my glumness. Today, is a day of work and more rest for the body, but not too much. I have been still already too long and I can't feel my toes!!