Siete!

It's true, I haven't posted in a bit.  Meh.  We're still here, living and loving it up in Dominica.  Wonderman started his fifth semester yesterday.  There are things that make me anxious for these eleven weeks to hurry by (can you say "heat rash?"), but generally I'm already getting pretty sad that we'll be leaving, most likely forever, Dominica so soon. 

On a more important note (I may catch up later, but we're going to start with current news), today is Bean's SEVEN MONTH BIRTHDAY!  We are having tons of fun.  She is getting bigger and cuter and more fun every day.  She is a pro roller and she's getting really good at staying upright when I sit her up, but she has yet to find that sitting position on her own.  She is toothless, but I can't say that I mind.  She is loving solid food and thriving in the warm weather.  I have to admit I already wonder how I will function if I have babies that I can't just leave naked when it's convenient, because it's too cold.  Especially as she begins eating, naked is MUCH easier.  Maybe Alaska really is out of the question.  Sigh.

Anyway, here's a naked picture of her and her daddy (only Bean is naked, don't worry) at exactly seven months:

I know, she's a little weird-out-of-focus, but it's by far the cutest one we got today.  Gosh, I love that kid!  And her daddy!

Conclusion: Seize the pineapple!  Celebrate the day!

Syndicate Falls

Ross has free trips to cool places in the weeks before a new semester.  We've gotten to be a part of a few good ones (that's how we got to Red Rock).  It definitely was a mass hike to Syndicate Falls, which is never my favorite, but it turns out, it was worth it. 

Here is Wonderman helping a small child cross a river:

Here is how we do vacay photos (we actually had a number of others taken by very helpful and nice people, but they're all out of focus, or we have lame expressions, or the reflectors on my backpack caught the flash and totally over-took the picture, or something).  Still, it's us and Syndicate Falls:

This is a tree next to the side of the falls that is growing horizontally from the side of the cliff.  It was pretty crazy.

This is a family here that we really like:

This is my new friend, K.  She wears black nail polish, loves mountains, and wants to live in Alaska when she grows up (ok, technically she is a grown-up, much more so than me since she has two kids, which automatically qualifies her as a grown-up, but still.  Alaska).

These are the plants along the trail that totally look like something plastic I would buy at Michael's, were there a Michael's nearby and had I a reason to buy green plants.  The point is, they were so perfect, they didn't seem real.

This is my attempt at capturing the sweeping vistas from the hike.  It's a little bit hard to convey, since it's all green, but still it was incredible. 

We ended the hike with fresh sugar cane.  It was strange, but sweet.  I think that I had enough to be good forever.  No need to suck on fibrous sweetness again.

It was a good hike.

Focus on Science

Last Friday was the White Coat Ceremony for Wonderman's class at Ross University Medical School. It was like a sort of graduation, but at the beginning of the process.

Waiting for the ceremony to begin.

There were lots of official people and speakers and stuff, then the whole class had the chance to have a professor, all of whom are doctors themselves, help them on with a white coat. I went because it seemed the thing to do, but I didn't think too much about it. I snuck in and sat at the very back with some other spouses (a term that is used SO MUCH here and I find it strange, even though I am, technically a spouse. I've just never felt so defined by a simple relationship; however, that is all I am here. Sigh.) even though Wonderman was told there wouldn't be room. I just went in to see and simply stayed. I was so glad I did.


Like a graduation, there was a keynote speaker who said nice things, but was still long and boring. A necessary evil, I suppose. The great part was the change that occurred in me as I listened and thought about what all this symbolized. Wonderman is going to be a doctor. The whole time I've known him, there has been great focus on getting him to medical school. Not an issue anymore, he's here. Now I need to move my focus ahead a few years and visualize him as a doctor. When they put him in his official lab coat I could actually see it. It was a good moment for me.


I was just like a proud parent, down there crowding in where I shouldn't have been, taking pictures and getting a little veclemt (sp? talk amongst yourselves? anyone?). Sigh. I never wanted to be a doctor's wife, but now I'm all proud and so excited for him to be living the dream. Way to be, Wonderman.
PS - The pink umbrella is mine. He's being a gentleman, not a pansy.