Secret sister language

I have a “secret” language with one of my sisters. We didn’t develop it on purpose, it just happened naturally over the years. It’s a combination of inside jokes, allusions to shared memories, lolcat speak, word plays, quotes from random movies/shows, purposeful misspellings, conflated words and made up words.

If you ever hear us talking to each other in our secret language or read through our text messages to each other, here’s a glossary of commonly used terms and expressions.

• ennen – and then
• I has a sad – something mildly disappointing happened to me
• mmm, let me taste your tears – This expresses schadenfreude or a lack of sympathy for the other’s sad. It is a quote from Southpark.
• oar – our
• be a good squirrel – save your money
• is it Lacroix? – we use this quote from Absolutely Fabulous when we ask where a piece of clothing was purchased.
• wot – what
• horkay – okay
• lonche – lunch
• pre-eat – eating before a meal that will likely be small and unsatisfying. Pre-eating prevents hunger headaches.
• pro-ana! – a battle cry for low caloric intake
• hrm – hmm
• b – back, indicates that you have returned after saying “brb”
• eng eng – to drive
• rabbet, dado – carpentry work
• hoary – hairy
• dere I fixed it – used to indicate a sloppy, patch-up repair job. This is a reference to the There, I Fixed It failblog.
• gah – an expression of frustration derived from “omigah.”

Then of course, we have fun with emoji:

And we also have fun modifying French terms:

Christmas 2011

We hosted Christmas at our place for the very first time last year. My mom and sister came over on Christmas afternoon and we had a simple  meal together. It was a meal of firsts, we served dishes that neither of us had made before. Thankfully, it turned out well.

Christmas tablescape. I'm trying to let the wax build up gracefully on the candlesticks but that's not going so well.

As an appetizer, we served roasted Brussels sprouts and beet salad with fried goat cheese. I only started liking Brussels sprouts this year so I was a bit hesitant to make it. I might have overcooked it a smidge but it was still good. Confession, I baked the loose leaves separately to make Brussels sprouts chips and I ate it all before the guests arrived.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

The salad was good but the cheese didn’t hold its shape. We’re going to have to read up on the proper method for frying goat cheese.

Salad with Roasted Beets and Fried Goat Cheese

As an entree, V made squash risotto. This turned out nicely too but V and I disagreed about the garnish. He’s in a sprinkle-everything-with-chopped-herbs phase and I’m in a make-it-look-modern phase.

Squash Risotto

For dessert, we served my second attempt at Brazo de Mercedes. I modified the recipe a bit and we were able to roll it this time!  We didn’t quite achieve the log shape but I think it’s close enough.

Brazo de Mercedes

After the meal, we opened gifts and took a siesta. Then we woke up to a Christmas miracle — all the dishes had been washed while we were asleep! It was a good Christmas.

Looking back on 2011

2011 has been a good year. I already wrote about some of the major changes in our life in a previous post so I thought I’d recap 2011 a little differently.

January

I planned to adopt my sister's cat but my mom decided to to adopt him instead. Unfortunately, Shadow passed away from anemia in October. He was a good cat.

February

Hosted our annual Super Bowl party. I used felt to create a table cloth that looked like a football field.

March

I visited London and Edinburgh. I spent time with one of my best friends and even met up with a classmate from Montessori school!

When will I be ready for a baby?

V and I have been married for a little over two years and V’s parents are getting impatient for a grand kid. This Thanksgiving, V’s dad appeared to have recruited an unlikely new member to team baby – my mom. Before dinner, V’s dad made a pitch for why we should feel ready to have a baby now. He unveiled a plan for helping us with childcare. I could tell that he had put quite a bit of thought into it

He suggested that my mom could move in with them (their 6-bedroom house currently has several empty rooms) and take the day shift. Then after he comes home from work, he would take over. He also offered free food and diapers for the baby.

At first, I laughed and dismissed it. But now that I’m no longer on the spot and I’ve had time to think about it, it sounds awesome! I know that childcare is expensive and it’s hard to find trustworthy and reliable baby watchers. I’ve heard that diapers are expensive too.

I really appreciate that V’s dad is offering to clear potential obstacles for us though. I’m glad that instead of just nagging us about procreating, he actually goes the extra mile by developing a turnkey solution to childcare. But at the same time, it shows that he’s really serious about it which scares my ovaries. At this point, my ovaries are so scared, they are  probably cowering behind my kidneys.

But before I even consider procreating, there are some things I must accomplish first…

Fitting in with the Family

This Christmas, V and I split our time between both our families. Fitting in with each other’s families isn’t too hard as long as some basic rules are obeyed.

My family
#1 You have to eat a lot. If you don’t eat a lot, my mom will think you don’t like the food and she’ll stress out. V broke this rule when we went over to my mom’s for lunch the day after Christmas. V didn’t go back for seconds and my mom took me aside in the kitchen and asked worriedly if he didn’t like the food. I said he did but of course, she didn’t believe me. She then proceeded to ply him with desserts until she was satisfied that he had (over)eaten a satisfactory amount of food.