Things That Saved My November

1. My job. Whose heart wouldn't melt if you were given a picture of a rainbow panda or a Halloween snowflake or your name spelled with one backwards letter? (Interestingly, my job also ranks high on the list of things that almost savagely murdered my November. If you want that list, though, you'll have to wait a few minutes for my good mood to pass.)

2. Children's picture books translated into Spanish - mainly Jorge y Marta, La Hora de Acostarse de Francisca, and Gracias, Sr. Falker. If the employees at the Bothell Public Library are wondering why there has been a recent surge in the number of these books being checked out, that would be me. Sorry. And yes, I am four. And I may or may not have to look up an average of ten words per ten-page story, including words that I apparently needed to look up twice. 

3. Brainstorming how to condense my entire life into a catchy memoir title while maintaining the high level of self-abasement that you've come to expect from me, and on which I pride myself greatly. Titles so far include:

-How to Be a Pushover

-How Not to Be a Pushover (and Other Things I Don't Know)

-It Made Sense in My Head

-Open Your Own Damn String Cheese: A Tale of Dexterity

-Seriously, I Will Hit You in the Face

4. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I gasped. I shouted. I squealed with delight. And then I called my friend Casey (or rather, she called me) and I did it all over again. 

5. This one has to do with my Sounders so I'll save you all the drudgery and give you the abridged version: something great happened, something amazing happened, and something spectacular happened (but not necessarily in that order).

6. Casey Lynn Langford and our wonderful two-person interstate book club.

7. The photography of Arturo Torres. 

8. And, of course, my sweet little Taffodil. Mostly I just included this to remind you how adorable she is.

Honorable mentions: my bed, European soccer, literature, Thanksgiving dinner rolls, and my scarf collection.

Destinos

Hello, my name is Olivia and I am addicted to a Spanish soap opera called Destinos.

I don't think I can fully express the magic that is this telenovela. The clothes are outrageous, the hair is gigantic, the plot is forced: everything a soap opera should be. This show is more '80s than M.C. Hammer pants. It's fantastic.

The plot goes like this:
Upon falling gravely ill, elderly Don Fernando Castillo Saavedra receives a letter from a woman in Sevilla, Spain telling him that his former wife did not die in the Spanish Civil War as he had thought. The Castillo family hires Raquel Rodriguez, a lawyer in Los Angeles, to find Don Fernando's wife Rosario and her child. The investigation takes Raquel from Don Fernando's home in Mexico to Spain, Argentina, Puerto Rico, and back to Mexico. Along the way she learns the following: 1) Rosario and her second husband have both died; 2) Rosario had two sons, one of which is a doctor named Arturo who lives in Buenos Aires; 3) Rosario's other son, Angel, broke ties with his family and Arturo knows nothing of his whereabouts; 4) Angel is actually dead but has two children, Angela and Roberto. Angela lives in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Roberto is in college in Mexico City. 

Raquel and Arturo being
extremely awkward. And
don't even get me started
on that outfit, Raquel.

Raquel and Arturo are kind of an item but Raquel is being very angsty about a long-term relationship. The Castillo family is facing bankruptcy. Don Fernando has taken a turn for the worst and is being flown from Mexico City to see a specialist in Guadalajara.

Riveting, right?

If that doesn't just ensnare your attention, allow me to recount for you some of my favorite moments in recent episodes:

1. Raquel's parents have an unexpected visit from her ex-boyfriend Luis, and they decide it would be a brilliant idea to send him to Mexico to meet up with Raquel who is there to see the Castillo family with Arturo. As I'm watching this disaster unfold in front of me, I can't help but shout, "That is a horrible idea!" and "Go back to Nueva York, Luis!"

2. Angela goes to the hospital to visit Roberto who was trapped in a mine during an archaeological excavation. I absolutely understand her desire to sit with her unresponsive brother while he recovers; what I don't understand is why her first inclination once she's there is to balance her checkbook. In the dark.

Raquel Rodriguez, sporting her
trademark patterned blouse.

3. It makes me so very happy when, at the end of each episode, Raquel begins her recap with the phrase, "Well, here I am." Was it touch-and-go there for a while?

4. This show's idea of a cliffhanger is the following:

At the end of one episode: "Will Raquel be enchanted by the framed photograph given to her by Arturo?"
At the start of the next episode: "Yes. She is indeed enchanted."

At the end of one episode: "What has Pedro Castillo said in the mysterious message he left for Raquel at her hotel?"
At the start of the next episode: "You left your wallet at my house last night."

At the end of one episode: "Where is Gloria?"
At the start of the next episode: "In the kitchen, Carlos, making you a sandwich. Relax."

(Oh, the suspense!)

5. Raquel and Arturo just met up for a drink at their hotel, and what did Raquel order? An apple juice. Seriously? Apple juice? You're really going to discuss your romantic future by candlelight with an attractive Argentinian doctor over a cup of apple juice? For shame, Raquel Rodriguez. And, to top it all off, she didn't even drink it. That's just rude.

I'm telling you, this show is magnificent.