Rio's Birthday Cookie

The Birthday Cookie Aflame

After the Song

Yesterday was the real Big Day for the Leo; Rio was born 9 years ago at 8:42 p.m. Glad it's not 9 years ago, but even Rio, when asked by my dad long-distance on the phone how he felt about being nine, said, "Part happy, part sad." After the pause while my dad questioned the "sad" just as you and I would have, Rio replied, "Because I'm growing up really fast." Um, if I'm not mistaken, you and I couldn't WAIT until we "grew up," and although we might take it back now if we could, we didn't have that insight THEN.

We ended up at Auntie's house - that's Sandra, John's sister, and her husband Rick. They are like extended parents of Rio's, and Sandra is probably one of the most "sisterly" relationships I have, since I don't have a biological one. A friend of theirs came over with 4 pounds of scallops fresh from the Mexican cleaning lady's father in Baja California. Rick played chef, Sebba (the friend) played wine distributor/bartender, I played tourist guide through my HK slideshow, Sandra played waitress, Randy played scallop consultant, and Rio and Trey (my nephew) played Playstation 2. All players simply stood around the kitchen counter for the entire evening, and fortunately we all agree this is the preferred organzational method as a group. I just now realized others might find this rather odd... I have stood for more meals at their house than I have sat for. I think it's because we like to stay near the source of food and drink. The dining room table is in another room, which can feel a world away from the action.

Rio's birthday dinner request was cheddar grilled cheese on sourdough, and his wish was granted by Auntie.

Rio doesn't like cake. My Brat friend, upon learning this, accusingly asked, "What did you do to him?" Look, I don't know, he just figured out at a young age that he doesn't like cake. He liked refried beans until he was 3, he hated them from 3 to 7, and then at 7 he announced that he loved refried beans (again), but not with cheese. The rest of the world orders bean burritos with cheese. But if the burrito comes with cheese, Rio wants a new one, or we will unwrap it and pick the cheese out. Yah, same kid who wanted a grilled cheese sandwich last night. But burgers have to have cheese. This is NOT my fault! He doesn't like avocados either, but nobody gives me crap for that...

So I asked Rio what he wanted his candles stuck in, and his request was a chocolate chip cookie. So I got the best cookie I know of, Paradise Bakery. As you can see from the photos, he made his wish and blew out his candles, and everyone had a Paradise cookie. Yes, their own; no, we did not cut the one cookie into 7 pieces.

Earlier in the year Rio requested a bike with handle brakes instead of little-kid foot brakes. So we used the birthday occasion to get the bike on the way home. Of course it's Phoenix in August, so this child will never have a birthday party in the park, and most outdoor-activity type birthday presents are deferred for use until October. I wish I were being sarcastic, but this is reality. However, the monsoon rains have come lately and cooled things off each late afternoon, and at night it is darn un-hot. So he may actually get to ride it in the evening this week without risking sun poisoning, dehydration, and heat stroke.

I've been here 17 years, but I still sometimes feel shock at just how stupid-hot it gets in the summer. Then I block it out again in the fall like a traumatic memory. Do you KNOW that the steering wheel will sometimes get so hot in a closed-up, sunned-on car here that you really can't touch it to drive until the car airs out a minute? When you first open the door to your four-wheeled broiling oven, you CAN'T HOLD the steering wheel without at least mildly burning your skin! But because you are in denial of how stupid-hot it is, you refuse to actually put oven mitts in your car as a solution; it would be admitting something is wrong with one's choice of habitat. So you do the tip-of-one-finger steering thing, punctuated with "Oh, ooh, @%$!, aaack!" until the air blowing across it begins to cool it down. But there are many incredibly good things about the Sonoran Desert, which I will skip for now, and it is alternately just as insane to have to plug in your engine to keep it from freezing in Montana, or to live in Florida where they have have permanent "Hurricane Pickup Site" bus signs, which implies a matter of when, not if. I digress.

At the end of the night Rio and I were talking in his room. We considered what happened 9 years ago - I was alone in a sense, with no known biological family (I'm adopted), and then that night at 8:42 p.m., I had a person here on the planet that I was fully connected to, who I cared about more than myself. I told him once again that I am thrilled he came to join me in this life, and that he is my absolute favorite person here. He replied that he too is so glad to be here with me as my son. I am biased, but anyone who gets to know him agrees he's one of the sweetest, kindest, most easy-going, funny, wise, common-sense kids you'll meet. Since before he was born, I consider it my job to assist him in becoming exactly who he came here to be, while having a great, adventurous time together on the way. I've been here longer, so it's my job to show him around the planet and give him tips, but also to listen for his fresher perspective, because I certainly don't know everything, and "my" way has definitely not always played out to be the best (understatement). He most often reminds me to listen to my intuition, to follow that voice inside, and all will be well (I told you...he's a freak). So for the official World Wide Web record, I, Jennifer, am honored to hold one of the most privileged roles in this amazing person's life - that of his mother. How did I get so lucky??!