The Best Birthday Surprise

I am long over-due for a post, I know.  April has flown by.  Lately I feel like the scene in an old black and white movie when the wind blows away the calendar pages to fast forward.  Seriously, where does the time go?  Does this sensation come with motherhood? 

Whatever the reason, I can't seem to keep up with myself these days, much less blog...and yet when I sit down to reflect I can't really say what it is I do with all my time.  I have undoubtedly been busier in the past and still managed to blog or read for pleasure or keep up with email correspondence; and yet now, just the thought of any of those things seems like a far off luxury most days.  I don't think I'm wasting my time in any way; I don't think I've suddenly become lazy.  Anymore, I hardly ever have a proper siesta, so you can't blame my adopted culture either!  Don't get me wrong, I am happy, healthy and in love with my life; but it is perplexing when month after month flies by and each time I feel as though I've hardly had time to blink.

...But I digress. 

I wanted to post about the most wonderful and by far the best ever birthday gift from my "Mom".  I say, from my "Mom" because as many of you already know she had the idea and organized the logistics of it all.  She even brought a fair share of the gift over herself when she visited (the other half or so was snuck over unbeknownst to me by my wiley sisters in March);  but in fact, the actual gifts so to speak were from various important people in my life--friends and family. 

I had told my mother, an incessant and prolific gift-giver, specifically NOT to bring me a birthday present (her visit coincided with my birthday).  I asked only for her to bring me a good book in English.  It's not that I can't read Spanish or don't enjoy it, I do; but I sometimes get the feeling that I need to work on my English skills as much if not more than my Spanish.  It's not that I forget English per se, but it is true that many times the words come to me first in Spanish.  And my sisters have endless fodder for teasing when I inadvertantly let slip a literal translation from Spanish: It makes such good weather today! (Not joking, I have been known to say such things).

So I wanted an English book to keep my brain working in English, plus it seems as though more often than not I am attracted to books that were originally written in English (coincidence?) and reading a translation when I could read the original is just silly!  And why didn't I just order a book off Amazon?  Well, it's true that I could have asked for a recommendation and then ordered the book myself, but knowing my mom, she was bound to bring me something no matter what I said to her and so I figured it was best to play it safe and just tell her what I wanted.  What I was not planning on at all were the 22 books I was presented with when my mom lugged her roller bag adorned with a ribbon down the stairs on April 18th. :)

As it turns out, my mother, queen of gifts and surprises, had braved the mysterious and unknown realms of social media to track down college friends of mine and ask them to please send me a book.  She got a book from most of my family--my sisters, dad, aunts, uncles and cousins; and she asked for books from my closest childhood friends and their families. My sister Maggie dubbed it the "Viola Wilbanks Charitable Book Foundation". ;)

I didn't cry, when I opened the suitcase, but I was close.  I was so touched to be receiving this palimpset of love: authors who loved their books into creation; family members who deliberated and carefully selected a book with me in mind--many of them used copies, which I like to think were their own that they have read, lauged and cried with and whose pages they have caressed; my sisters and mother whose love defied the baggage weight limits hauling them all the way across a continent and an ocean to me.  I was struck by the beauty of it.  And of course reading the lovely inscriptions and beautiful birthday wishes from so many of my loved ones, was a gift in itself.

Needless to say I have plenty of reading material for the summer.  Now I guess I'll have to make time to curl up and treat myself to a few pages.  I am tickled to have my own little library.  I've got fiction and non-fiction and virtually everything in between: from historical novels to science fiction to autobiography.  Reading each one throughout this thirty-third year will be a wonderful reminder of how much I am loved and a great excuse to write and thank each one of you who took the time to send me a book.  I can't wait!

I promise more soon, but my book is calling. ;)

The new hire

Just another benefit to having my mom around: endless video footage of Emily. :)  She loves cleaning...truly a Spanish baby, and so we bought her a little broom and dustpan to help out when we clean the bar weekends.  She enjoys it, as you can see in the video, but the jury's still out as to whether or not she is very helpful!