Dental work is unnatural, even when surrounde...

December 31, 2008 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Dental work is unnatural, even when surrounded by family. Jennifer was wonderful to arrange time in her dental office. Dad heroically filled my four cavities. I’ve scraped the crusted blood from my forehead (how does it get everywhere?) and am waiting for the feeling that I got punched in the face to subside. Like most teeth surgery, it feels like torture for the first twelve hours but I feel fine in the morning. And at least I can tell my dentist that I hate him without him taking it too personally.

Emma called me at work this morning to see if...

December 30, 2008 by Adam in Emma

Emma called me at work this morning to see if I was feeling better since I was so sick yesterday. It was very sweet, and evidently she did it all on her own. When I talked to Jamie afterwards, she had no idea Emma had called me up.

Emma's been a treat this winter vacation. We've drawn together, pretended to be assorted creatures, and spent a long time playing in the snow. For some reason, her voice sounds different to me these days. I can't tell if it's deeper, or if her conversations are just more intellectual.

I went running yesterday, my usual six miles ...

December 30, 2008 by Adam in Adam

I went running yesterday, my usual six miles on a treadmill. It was pretty tough, and took me longer than usual, probably a result of not running for over a week.

When I got home, I started getting a headache and by five o'clock, it had turned completely debilitating. I stayed in bed until close to six the next morning, briefly emerging to eat a couple big bowls of cereal. I feel basically fine this morning, other than a slight overall ache.

I guess the moral of the story is to take it easy after a break.

I'm back at work after many days away due to ...

December 29, 2008 by Adam in Adam

I'm back at work after many days away due to the holidays and weather. While it's been fun to hang out at home, sleeping in late, and indulging myself playing video games, it does feel like time to get back into the routine again.

I had over 150 e-mails to pour through and have yet to dig myself out yet. Still, I'm getting closer and hopefully the most critical issues are done with. Even better, most people seem to be away from work, so I think I can catch up without too much insanity.

We made it to Portland, safe and sound

December 27, 2008 by Adam in Family

We made it to Portland, safe and sound. The roads were clear right up until we got off the freeway and into the residential area. After that, there was lots of melting snow and slush. Josh, Sam, Emma, and I spent the afternoon rolling massive snowballs and making snow forts. I was cheerfully tired by the time we opened presents and ate Christmas dinner.

Today I think we'll try the local park and see if we can turn a cardboard box into a makeshift sled. Jim and Judy are taking the kids into the city to see the lights, and I think Jamie and I are having dinner somewhere by ourselves. Such a treat.

It looks like we're about halfway through our...

December 26, 2008 by Adam in Family

It looks like we're about halfway through our various Christmases, which is increasingly a multi-phased holiday. Yesterday we went over to my mom's house for brunch. There was huge amounts of food and people, and presents scattered everywhere. The kids returned home with vast quantities of goodies, and I managed a few of my own. My personal favorites are the spoon lightsaber and the ventriloquism book. Awesome.

Afterwards I pretended to be a teenage girl and we all went to see Twilight. It was pretty much everything I expected, with my favorite part being sitting next to Sadie who informed me when I was supposed to squeal and giggle. Good times.

We're off to Portland today, though I'm not sure for how long. Because of the weather, we've put off Jamie's family Christmas until now.

Sam and I have been playing Grand Theft Auto 4

December 25, 2008 by Adam in Adam's Games

Sam and I have been playing Grand Theft Auto 4. One of the great things about it is the ability to create cutscenes within the game, and then edit them together into a short movie. I took a break from the typical mayhem to put together "Vegetarian Vigilante", a tale of a seemingly innocent dietary fad turning to extremism and violence. In the end, our young anti-hero must come to terms with who he has become, and face what he must do to atone for his actions. Remember parents, don't let your kids get hooked on veggies.

This was the year that Christmas was canceled

December 23, 2008 by Judy in Hanes

This was the year that Christmas was canceled. Snow here in West Linn is about 15 inches, with more expected today and tomorrow. We're going to try to catch Jamie et al by the weekend, and are trying to meet up with Jeff and Cari at the beach over New Year's. What a mess!

We celebrated our Christmas yesterday

December 23, 2008 by Adam in Family

We celebrated our Christmas yesterday. Since so much is going on, we've been doing things early for several years now. The kids immediately opened their stockings, running around with their walkie-talkies and having fun. After breakfast, they dug into their presents and played with them.

I didn't really get much for Jamie, though she liked the digital picture frame I got for her and Emma. There were video games galore, so they kids tried a sampling of them all. I got some great stick figure warning stickers from Jamie that the kids quickly stole a few from.

For the rest of the day we hung out and didn't do much. Our plans for today were to go to Portland, but that's all up in the air with the weather so bad. We'll see what happens today.

Isabell went for a sleep over at Niamh's hous...

December 21, 2008 by Robbie in Cortez

Isabell went for a sleep over at Niamh's house today so I could go to a co-workers birthday party. I'm just realizing that half of Santa Fe smokes dope. No one at the party did this of course, but mention of previous parties obvious had this element. It was fun to talk to my other teaching partners and learning the gossip of the directors. Obviously no one is fond of Nancy nor Stephanie. All of the teachers are frustrated and are eventually leaving in the next few years.

I left around 11:00 drove back to Penasco where they had their version of a Rave. I stopped by to check it out and stayed for over an hour dancing and having fun. It's amazing to see all of the different people who show up for this. Not the hippie type but the funky type who listen to techno rave music. I saw one of my parents from Dragonfly School there, it's kind of strange seeing a parent going wild on the dance floor. Know when I see her at school, I'll have a different vision of her.

I'm going to pay for this tomorrow morning that's for sure.

The week is coming to a close

December 19, 2008 by Adam in Family

The week is coming to a close. It snowed and schools were closed again. I decided to throw in the towel and not try to go to work.

We headed out into the winter wonderland around ten, though Sam was reluctant to leave the warmth of the house. We made our way to Metropol, everyone's spirits perking up as we frolicked through the snow. I gobbled down a bear claw and downed another mocha. Afterwards I managed to sneak in a hair cut and Jamie picked up groceries.

After we got home, Sam played with the neighbor kids and I had some time to myself. Tonight Seraph and Sadie come for dinner. I can't wait.

When I arrive in Oregon next week, please

December 19, 2008 by Robbie in Cortez

When I arrive in Oregon next week, please...please...I don't want any family drama. I just want a quiet week, where I can get up in the morning, enjoy a cup of coffee, with rum, watch a bunch of sappy Christmas movies and enjoy being with family.

Thursday was so mind boggling at work, I have no idea how I survived. I got to work, and I realized I needed to sign up for an early childhood class for January and the registration date was yesterday. There's scholorship forms to fill out, and expensive classes to take, and the whole enchilada. The kids were on speed, it started to rain, and it ruined all of the beautiful snow. The whole school prepared food for all of the animals in our school yard, so we had kids all over the place make projects, but half of them were bored and were running all over the place. We had an inside recess with all of the kids running wild. I really wanted to go and hide.

I finally managed to leave around 2:30 so I could drive to Taos to finally pick up my Subaru. This has been a hastle for over a month trying to get my car out. I did get 10% off my deductable. My rental car was quite expensive, and I then rushed home to watch Isabell in school winter performance. When I got there, they canceled it do to the weather.

However, things went a little better. We Had pizza at Sugar Nymphs, a bistro in Penasco. While there, a family came in and they have game night every Thursday. They invited Isabell and I to play Scrabble, and it was really fun to play with them.

Today has a half day of school, and I'm off for the holidays, so I will go in and help Isabell with her party. Her friend Niamh will be coming over for a sleep over, and then on Saturday, Isabell will go over there and have a sleep over, so I can go to Sagitarius birthday party at one of my co-worker's house. Should be fun.

Well, I'm involved in a discussion of how to ...

December 17, 2008 by Sue in Wielesek

Well, I'm involved in a discussion of how to kill a lobster in a humane fashion, so you can tell that Sadie made it home safe. Her plane, but not her luggage, arrived at 1:45 last night. The roads were iffy, and we borrowed Adam and Jamie's Subaru wagon - we didn't really have any problems.
Seraph called in, and she will try to take the train down from Portland this afternoon. Sadie is reading one of the Twilight books, reading choice sections to us in a breathless voice. The last one included our hero facing a
"horde of bloodthirsty vampire newborns." Oh, what the hell, my generation had "Peyton Place".

News of Sadie and Seraph

December 17, 2008 by Sue in Wielesek

News of Sadie and Seraph. Seraph made it into Portland fine and called around one pm from her house. Sadie wasn't so lucky calling to say that her 5:20 pm flight was delayed until 8:10 pm. She's scheduled into Denver, where she'll possibly catch a flight into Eugene, or a later flight into Portland. If into Portland, she'll take a cab to Seraph's and they'll come down on the bus tomorrow.

Do you know that feeling of trying to please ...

December 17, 2008 by Robbie in Cortez

Do you know that feeling of trying to please everybody and you seem to fail miserably every time. Arlene is a lot like that. I try so hard to keep the house clean, I shovel the parking area, and I break my back doing everything to be polite, however Arlene always finds a way to be disappointed. I shoveled for an hour and half, trying not to put snow in her parking area. (We all share a parking area.) I thought I did a pretty good job...then Arlene and Anne are shoveling later on, and she tells me I shouldn't be blocking her area. Wow...watch the air come rushing out of a balloon. I was so proud at what I did and then this. I know I shouldn't worry about what she thinks, but it's hard since I like to please people.

I ventured out today and made it to the post office and sent off all of my Christmas cards and presents. I actually did Christmas cards this year. Amazing! I can hear the angels singing "HALLELUAH!" Anyway, I drove 10 miles an hour and eventually made to and from the Post Office in under six hours. Just kidding. All I want for Christmas is a sleigh and eight minature reindeer. Horses will work fine too. If your still wondering what to get me, I'd like the Planet Earth DVD set, and all of the Charlie Brown DVD holiday set. If that is too hard, I'll settle for Peace on Earth and Goodwill to all men.

It's been a bit crazy the last couple days

December 16, 2008 by Adam in Family

It's been a bit crazy the last couple days. Yesterday was fun and I opted not to try and work. Sam in particular spent a ton of time in the snow, ending the day tired, sore, and happy. We are now the proud owners of a snow fort in our front yard, complete with an arsenal of snow weaponry.

Today has been a bit more strained. The kids didn't have school again but I've been trying to work. Everyone is a little on edge after so many days inside, plus we didn't have hot water until I went out with a blow-dryer to melt the pipes to our gas hot water heater.

Now Sam's playing with the neighbor boys again and the girls are taking a walk through the snow. I'm trying to get on top of e-mail so work doesn't get too crazy. I did promise the kids I'd let them open one Christmas present if they were on their best behavior. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

No School Today! No School Today! We are snow...

December 16, 2008 by Robbie in Cortez

No School Today! No School Today! We are snowed in, with more than seven inches of snow on the ground. Sipapu Ski area eight miles down the road reported 18" of new snow in twelve hours. Taos Ski Valley reported 20" of snow. It seems that all of Taos is closed today, with people calling in and saying they are closed.

Seraph leaves for Portland today, and I hear that Portland is also covered in snow today! I hope she will fare well in this winter wonderland.

Yesterday the roads were in poor condition, and Seraph and I left the house at 7:30, and when we were close to Las Trampas, our car started to slide and we were lucky enough to slide into a snowbank. We tried to dig ourselves out for a half an hour without any luck. Several nice people stopped by to say that they would drive down the road and call a tow truck. Finally a snowplow drove by and the man was nice enough to pull us out. I was very grateful for the help and we were on our way driving 20-25 miles an hour.

Two hours later we finally arrived in Santa Fe, where I dropped off Seraph at the bus station, where she took the bus down to Albuquerque. I went to work, and all of the child were so happy to see me that they all rushed over and hugged me. I think it was such a relief to get to work that tears almost rolled down my cheeks when the children came rushing up to me. Love those kids! The snow didn't let up, and by 12:30, Santa Fe Public Schools finally dismissed school early. I left school around 1:30pm and headed home. When I approached Espanola, the roads cleared up, and the hills and land around it were only snow dust covered. It still amazes me at how many micro climates this area has. At around four I picked up Isabell at school and came home and relaxed.

Today I will be wrapping presents, writing cards and walking to the post office and sending off presents.

I stumbled across blurst

December 15, 2008 by Adam in Adam's Games

I stumbled across blurst.com the other day. Sam is especially fond of Off-Road Velociraptor Safari, though I'm partial to Splume. It's always a treat to find a free web game that's as fun as a full commercial game (if perhaps a little short).

Saturday we went out into the wild and bagged...

December 15, 2008 by Adam in Family

Tonight was Las Posadas on a cold and chilly ...

December 15, 2008 by Robbie in Cortez

Tonight was Las Posadas on a cold and chilly night in Vadito. It was the first Posadas here in a long time, and the community got together and did a fantastic job of putting it together. Poor Mary, was cold, but put on a brave face as she and a much older Joseph went door to door to see if there was any room for them. Finally at the community center the weary travelers were let in and a fiesta celebrated their arrival. It was really nice to be able to attend the first Las Posadas, and it felt very personal, as there was a small but brave band of followers on this first Christmas miracle.

I thought I'd add a few photos from Thanksgiv...

December 14, 2008 by Dorothy in Danica Miller

I thought I'd add a few photos from Thanksgiving in Meadville that Lohring missed. Some portraits that include Lohring, a photo of the lovely flowers he bought for our Thanksgiving table, and a picture of Dorothy sitting in the conservatory of the Baldwin Reynolds House (Meadville's one historical landmark house) where she and I went after Lohring left to see the 'Trees of Christmas'.

Winter has descended upon us in a cold and sn...

December 14, 2008 by Robbie in Cortez

Winter has descended upon us in a cold and snowy hurry. Seraph now has a job up at Sipapu Ski area, where she works in the rental office. When she left for work on Saturday there was another couple of inches of snow on the ground. Isabell and I went to town had breakfast at Michaels, went to the library and went Christmas shopping. We spent the whole day going in and out of shops until I was satisfied that I bought all of my presents. We all so took our time and finished all of our laundary that needed to be done.

Seraph was suppose to call us around three and meet us in Taos to go and see Twilight once again. At 4:25 when she didn't call, I was getting concerned about her, and horrible images sprang to my mind of Seraph stuck in a snow bank. Isabell and I raced up the mountain, and a huge sigh of relief escaped from me, as I saw her small gold Kia pass me. I turned around and we raced back to Taos. We find out that Arlene had kept Seraph later than she was suppose to work, and Seraph was not to happy about this. We missed the first fifteen minutes of the movie, and I would have been happy missing it, however Isabell really wanted to see it again, and we really didn't miss much at all.

We woke this morning with wind whistling down the stove pipes and snow drifting over the house. Seraph had to work this today, but she will take a break and come to church, so we can read the advent scripture today. I hope this job works out, Arlene is a sweet woman, but tends to be all over the place, and forgets that Seraph needs to be somewhere on time. Seraph really only wants to work part time during the week. Arlene has other ideas, and wants Seraph to replace Arlene as the assisant manager of the shop. I told Seraph if this becomes to much, that she could always find another job. Some how, it will all work out.

The nights have been beautiful here with the full moon illuminating the snow and leaving long dark shadows transversing the land. When you walk out around nine o'clock, it feels as if night has become day and the moon has become the sun. It's so beautiful seeing all of this snow and I'm still amazed at all of the wonderful cloud formations. Yesterday, as we headed back to Taos after finding Seraph, the mountains were shrouded in an orange mist from the setting sun and it all felt so surreal!

In a moment of weakness this week when I shou...

December 12, 2008 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

In a moment of weakness this week when I should have been writing, I made stockings for 34 Appleton Street.

The 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforc...

December 12, 2008 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

The 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act and I are officially finished with each other! You know, all that "tough" rhetoric was sexy at first, but let me tell you- in the end, punitive prison policies make horrible bedfellows. I'm starting packing (and reading all of Seraph's wonderful books) right now.

Another Friday, another mocha (soon, anyway)

December 12, 2008 by Adam in Family

Another Friday, another mocha (soon, anyway).

I woke up at 4 am with a huge list of things I needed to accomplish for the holidays. So far, things are coming along fairly well, with all the assorted electronic gizmos bowing to my will. I can feel my stress levels going up these last few days as my lack of time becomes even more pronounced.

The shed is coming along nicely. They turned off the power for part of Wednesday to get lights and power to the shed and hook our main power to the roof. The shed now has a door and single window, with another soon to come. We're doing the painting ourselves, so I suspect I'll be out some cold weekend mornings with a paintbrush in hand.

Emma continues to have a cold, though I think she's on the mend. We have a fairly busy weekend ahead of us, though hopefully we can get a Christmas tree, do our assorted events, and have a little time to relax.

I just turned in my statistics final, the Jap...

December 11, 2008 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I just turned in my statistics final, the Japanese American assets paper is out of my hands tomorrow, and then its just me and the 1994 crime bill. Home stretch!

We had a somewhat exciting project day yester...

December 11, 2008 by Adam in Adam's Projects

We had a somewhat exciting project day yesterday, though fortunately I didn't have to do most of the work.

We were without power for the middle of the day. There were some power lines that had to get moved for the balcony remodel. At the same time, they ran power to the shed. The shed itself now has a roof, though it still needs tons of other things, like windows and a door.

On an unrelated note, we got our digital converters for our television sets. It was relatively painless to get the tvs currently on analog hooked up to a little box and switched over. As a bonus, our older televisions now get the higher channels which they couldn't before.

Tomorrow is one of those boring phone-call, p...

December 11, 2008 by Sue in Wielesek

Tomorrow is one of those boring phone-call, paperwork days which I dread. The last couple of days have involved long hours on the phone, internet, and standing in line geting
land-line, internet, and Comcast bundled. We actually found both the Comcast and Qwest sales people really helpful. I got my new cell phone, one I can use with a Sim card in England.
Bob and I are going to combine our Verizon accounts and add
a line for Sadie. To think that the first telephone I remember in our house had a crank on the side and our phone number was three longs and two shorts (three complete rotations and two half rotations.)
I forgot to say that Ripley had a fitting burial, under a big pine on the hill, with mushroom fairy circles all around. It was sunny, and Sarah and Nate took us to see their chickens and chicken coop. The farm is always lovely in the winter. The neighbor is deternined I should thin the trees and make a truckload of money, but I can't bear to yet. Think I'll let God manage the forest for awhile longer. He, she, or they have been doing a fine job for several billion years now.

The UIM approved our world record! A much be...

December 10, 2008 by Lohring in Lohring

The UIM approved our world record! A much better video is now on youtube.

Emma's struggling with a cold, having been ou...

December 09, 2008 by Adam in Emma

Emma's struggling with a cold, having been out of school since late last week. She has a red eye too, probably some kind of secondary infection. Other than the occasional headache, she seems to be doing okay. Yesterday she was looking like she'd fall asleep at dinner, then afterwards was doing Kung Fu flips in the basement.

Emma's reading and writing are improving immensely. She watched High School Musical and made a Wildcats! sign for her bedroom. She needed a little help with spelling, but otherwise did just great. Of course, later she tried to get me to dance like the High School Musical people, but I wasn't quite able to pull it off.

We woke to six inches of snow this morning, a...

December 09, 2008 by Robbie in Cortez

We woke to six inches of snow this morning, and it was a winter wonderland. Trees, roof tops, and cars buried in powdery snow, I haven't seen snow like this in a long time. Of course all schools were canceled or two hour delay in the Taos vicinity. So, I expected Santa Fe to be on the same schedule, but there was no such luck. They only got a few snow flurries, and school was on schedule. I tried my darnest to get out of the drive way, however my rental car started slipping and slidding, and there was no way I could get out. I called several subs, and finally found one who could come in and cover for me for the day.

Isabell had a two hour delay,and took the bus in, and poor Seraph and I are snowed in with no place to go. We'll have to figure something out to do. Maybe a nice winter walk, read books by a cozy warm fire, play a rousing game of chess, or snuggle and drink hot chocolate. Wow, what a way to spend a snowy day. Sorry, Oregonians, I wish I could send snow your way.

^

Adam, I need to ask a favor

December 08, 2008 by Sue in Wielesek

Adam, I need to ask a favor. Let me preamble it (ooo, a noun
verbed; I too can be a 21st Century FOX) with the reminder that you'd get stuck doing this after I die if we don't do it now. I have gone through all the family photos from 1985 to the present and have dated them. I talked to Jamie, who will cheerfully give you a kid free day. Seraph and Sadie will be here about the 17th, and Robbie and Isa don't get here until the 22nd. I know that Jenny is going to take a
couple of weeks off at the holidays, and I'll call her this evening. I also want to get all the family heirlooms divvied up. Seraph and Robbie will have the U-Haul, and they
might as well take the table. I remember having a huge expense and hassle arranging for shipping the china closet Aunt Clare gave me, and I might as well give Seraph a chance to take the table. Would you figure out with your cute sisters a good time for us to get together, without
kids, to do this?

Mom's house the day I left

December 06, 2008 by Lohring in Lohring

Mom's house the day I left. Half of the snow was melted by then. It all brought back winter memories, both good and bad. I'm really glad to be home in Eugene.

My old elementary school

December 06, 2008 by Lohring in Lohring

My old elementary school. It had four rooms, one for each grade from first through fourth. I really did walk through the snow to school. It's now a doctor's office but looks the same on the outside.

My dad's old company

December 06, 2008 by Lohring in Lohring

My dad's old company. It's now very run down and home to a garbage service.

Where I lived until high school

December 06, 2008 by Lohring in Lohring

Where I lived until high school. My room window is the second story dormer window.

My old neighborhood looking up the street tow...

December 06, 2008 by Lohring in Lohring

My old neighborhood looking up the street toward my house and my aunt Alice and uncle Ben's house. Tom. Jed, and their family lived almost across the street from us. That's a brick street. It's the latest technology after cobblestones.

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December 06, 2008 by Lohring in Lohring

Sache

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December 06, 2008 by Lohring in Lohring

Danica and Amara

My mom with Jed and Alice

December 06, 2008 by Lohring in Lohring

My mom with Jed and Alice.

I did get back from Meadville, finally

December 06, 2008 by Lohring in Lohring

I did get back from Meadville, finally. The trip started with mechanical problems on the plane, so 4 hours after the flight was scheduled to leave I got rebooked on a late afternoon flight that got to Eugene via Medford! The group from Medford to Eugene was pretty loose with a group of really funny college students having fun with the stewardess. I got home at 12:00.

Meadville was in the middle of an early snow storm so I took pictures of all my childhood memories. Unlike most places in the country, Meadville hasn't changed all that much. I spent some time with my aunt Alice, as well as Jed, Amara, and Sache. All are doing very well.

My mother is not holding up as well as Alice, also over 90, because of her short term memory loss. I'm not sure how much is that and whether there are other factors. My mother can still do cross word puzzles and play bridge, but can't carry on much of a conversation. She seems fine initially, but runs down quickly. I'll post the pictures next.

This has been an exciting week with Seraph su...

December 06, 2008 by Robbie in Cortez

This has been an exciting week with Seraph surprising us on my birthday on Monday. It's a strange feeling having the full family back together, when it was only Isabell and I for three months. The great things is that I can leave for work earlier and come home earlier. When I first started working, I was contracted to work from 8:30am to 4:00pm, however I get to work at 7:45 and finish the day at 3:15. It's nice coming home to have my family back and enjoy the evening with Seraph.

I forgot to mention a very memorable disasterous birthday dinner I had with my mom, dad, Carolyn, Teresa, John, and Isabell last Friday evening. We had a wonderful day shopping around Taos Plaza, and eventually wondered back to the hotel where my dad and Carolyn were staying at. We had a few drinks while we waited for our reservations. At 6:00pm, we all sat down to enjoy a fine dinner. My dad let me order anything on the menu, so I ordered a $72 kobe steak meal. While the rest had ordered bison, ribs, and lamb shops. When the meal arrived, all of us wore stunned looks as we eyed the small portions of meat, vegetables, and french fries. The meal took up only 20% of the plate, and then when we tried cutting the meat it was tough and dry. We were so upset over the meal that we complained to the manager and we refused to pay for the meal. Luckily we had had a few drinks before hand, and saw the humor in all of this. In the process, we warned a few arriving customers, and they fled into the night. We left, and went to Ogalvies Restuarant on the plaza and had great deserts. One birthday meal I will not forget in a long time.

Today, we got our first half cord of wood, and stacked it up against our outside walls. I felt like country boy out there with our warm clothes, hiking boots, and gloves as we stacked the wood. We had a mix of cedar and pinon wood, and the heart of the cedar was colored egg plant. It is so beautiful that one doesn't want to burn it. We have another load coming in next week. Since Seraph has been here, we burned more wood that I have in the last month. It will take Seraph a little longer to adapt to the cold crisp weather here.

Tonight, Isabell had her Winter Trapezee Recital at the Penasco theater. I was amazed at how much they have learned in such a short time. Isabell did really well, and I was impressed by the artistry of all of the kids. I love living here, and seeing all of the fun activities that they have for all of the kids. They try so hard to make this a family friendly town, and I am very grateful for this.

We will be taking care of Eric and Shaun's chickens while they travel to California. In exchange, we will get fresh eggs. There are so many advantages of living out here!

Friday am, and I had my Emma Elixer while Jam...

December 05, 2008 by Sue in Wielesek

Friday am, and I had my Emma Elixer while Jamie and Angie worked out this morning. She and I were into an elaborate
role playing game (she was a wild kitty left in the desert, as well as a variety of characters prompted by her trip to see Kung Fu Panda. She loves these games, though occasionally I'm called to switch characters a bit quickly for my elderly brain.) In the middle of today's game, she looked at me and said, "You're a weird Grandma!"
Bob and I are shortly off to the farm to bury Ripley. Seraph didn't have time to bury him and he's been hanging out in her freezer compartment. (Thank heavens prospective
buyers never wondered why she had a large box marked Radio Shack, or whatever, in there). Bob went up on Wednesday to spend some time with Anna, and stayed over at Seraph and Robbie's house to see his sister, who came down from Seattle on Thursday. So he put Ripley in the trunk, and has been grousing at me all morning to get going so we can dispose of Ripley appropriately before the trunk gets smelly. The
stuff I do for you kids.
Love, The Evil Queen of the Kung Fu Kingdom, the Fierce Lion, the Kitty Owner, etc, etc...and old mom

It's been pretty eye-opening reading about a ...

December 05, 2008 by Adam in Adam

It's been pretty eye-opening reading about a half million job losses last month. It makes me extremely thankful for my job. My new philosophy is to be as positive and helpful as I can to the people around me. In the unlikely event of layoffs, everyone will think "Well, we can't lay off Adam. Everything would fall apart!"

Fortunately being in health care, our industry seems fairly stable. People will still get sick and need care. PeaceHealth also seems relatively financially secure, especially compared to other folks.

I have started to do a review of all my CDs and sources of income, along with prioritizing the "nice to have" things. Christmas will likely be a little light, though I'll probably spoil the kids a fair amount.

I'm still trying to make sure Sam and I can go to England this year. On the plus side, travel should be relatively cheap due to the incredible drop in fuel costs. I think it's about $750 per person now. Strange times.

Sam's been reading the Lightning Thief series...

December 05, 2008 by Adam in Sam

Sam's been reading the Lightning Thief series and really getting into Greek mythology. We also dusted off our Magic cards and played a bit. Add to the mix an upcoming computer game project involving a card game, and you end up with Sam making his own Greek-themed magic cards.

It's been good for his typing and research skills. He's even doing a book report that requires an art project, but I think he'd like to keep the card creation thing as his "just for fun" project.

It's Mocha Friday, though I'm still at home g...

December 05, 2008 by Adam in Family

It's Mocha Friday, though I'm still at home getting ready for the day. Soon that delicious elixir with be mine.

The big news of the week is that we're having a shed built in our back yard. I'm a little freaked out about the cost, but I suppose we're helping out the local economy and have been talking about it for awhile now. It's going up pretty quick and hopefully will be a useful addition to our back yard. Next is to replace our rotting balcony, though visions of dollar signs are dancing in my head.

Everyone's had a bit of a cold this week. Sam and Emma stayed home from school yesterday and Emma was complaining of a sore throat this morning when she woke up early. Hopefully she'll feel better when it's time to get out of bed.

Jamie went off to a Christmas party with her friend Victoria. The kids and I had a good time together, with both of 'em pitching in to help make dinner. At bedtime, everyone cuddled up in Emma's bed and I read them a story about bugs.

As for the weekend, I haven't thought that far ahead. I need to start making my assorted Christmas presents, and probably buy a few more. I'm not going quite so gung-ho this year and focusing more on event-type presents, handmade things, and buying locally. Well, mostly. I still spoil the kids horribly.

I awoke to my first NM snow this morning

December 03, 2008 by Seraph in Cortez

I awoke to my first NM snow this morning. I managed to remember all of my safe snow driving tips while taking Isa to school. Hopefully folks were not too ticked at the newbie while I crawled along at 25mph! I did tell Isa that here you get a white Chirstmas, but at least the snow disapears with winter!
I head back to PDX on 12/16, and Isa & Robbie will be coming back on 12/22. Much love & wamth to all until then.

Last night Sam ended up punching our stove wh...

December 02, 2008 by Adam in Sam

Last night Sam ended up punching our stove while reaching for a hand cloth. I asked him if the stove had offended him somehow, but he was in too much pain to laugh. We gave him Tylenol and a bag of frozen corn to put on it, along with sagely advice to hit something softer next time ("Like your sister," Jamie added).

Fortunately by this morning he was mostly better, so no permanent damage.

Hi, I talked with Seraph this morning; she wa...

December 01, 2008 by Sue in Wielesek

Hi, I talked with Seraph this morning; she was heading into
Colorado. Had a nice chat with Sadie yesterday; she spent Thanksgiving in Maine, with Greg's family. Much love to all, Mom

December already

December 01, 2008 by Adam in Family

December already.

Thanksgiving with Jamie's family went quite well. They were all well behaved, except when Nebraska was having problems in their football game. Fortunately they won, so Jamie's family was the model of polite behavior for the rest of the day.

I took the kids out swimming both Saturday and Sunday. Yesterday we went to the wave pool at Splash! and I practically had to drag them away. By the time we got home they were starving and tired, so Jamie's dinner was exceptionally well loved by all.