My mother ran off to San Francisco!

I'm pretty sure it's just for the weekend, but we'll see.


The only instructions she left me were to take care of Luis. She told me this on a voice mail so I was unable to protest. I returned home from work, where Luis was quick to remind me that I had to take care of him. I guess he had overheard my mother on the phone when she was leaving the message, as is he wont to do. Nosy little bugger.

Luis wanted to go out and rent a movie. I had a better idea.

"Come with me," I instructed Luis. I went over to my piles of boxes and opened one up. "These are all my movies. Mom's not here, so go ahead and pick whatever you want."

He didn't even wait to look through what I had. "Edward Scissorhands!" he demanded. Hearing that nearly brought a tear to my eye, as that movie is wont to do. But then I couldn't find it at all. I was a bit upset about it. Not only is my copy of Lord of the Rings missing, but Edward too?

We ended up watching Finding Nemo. We didn't make it all the way through, because at 10:00 pm, Luis cried, "The Simpsons!" and jumped up to stop the movie.

So we watched The Simpsons until 11 pm. My niece was also running around, and she was taking great pleasure in sharing my waffles and climbing onto and off of the couch. I had to scold her a few times for deviously taking the pieces that had soaked up the most syrup. She's a clever girl, that Anya.

After The Simpsons, Luis went off to bed, completely without me telling him to. He normally goes to bed around 8 or 9, so I chalked it up to more to actual weariness than self-discipline or any kind of respect for my authority.

I went into his room to put away an overcoat and a sleeping bag that had been stacked on the box that held the movies.

"Why can't I sleep in the sleeping bag?" Luis asked me.

I thought about it for a moment. "I don't see any reason why you can't sleep in the sleeping bag!" So we unrolled it and set it up on his bed, since he didn't want to sleep on the floor. He got inside and pulled the bag up over his head so that he was completely hidden.

He listens to this AM Disney radio station at night, and at that exact moment, Kelly Clarkson's "Miss Independent" started playing on the radio. Luis popped his head out, grinned, and yelled, "I guess I'm Miss Independent now!" and then he disappeared back into the bag.

I hadn't laughed that hard the entire day. And I could hear Luis' muffled laughter coming from the sleeping bag. We laughed so hard that my older brother, Miguel, came in to see what the hell we were doing. He was a bit upset because he didn't want us to wake up Anya, who had just gone to sleep.

Which is completely understandable. But, (as I remarked to him), it's a shame she didn't inherit her father's ability to sleep through absolutely anything.

But I guess, if I have to, I will teach her that, along with how to climb onto the very top of the couch, how to open the cabinets with the "child-proof" latches, and which pots and pans to bang together to get the best sounds.

There is so much to learn!

But I don't worry about her much, though, she's a little bad-ass. The other day she toddles up to me with a very proud look on her face and holds out a clenched fist. I hold out my hand, and she hands me one one of the plastic guards that my mom had put over all of the electrical sockets in the house.

"You are right to be proud," I told her. "but in case you aren't as successful the next time, just remember that I know how to treat electrical burns." She grinned, and I grinned back.

So much to learn.