Life in the Logan-verse

Well new for me is my position as barista-of-the-morning at Hot Rocks Java cafe. Now I rise as early as "in the fours" to go make lattes and such for the lovely folk at Los Alamos National Lab. I'm actually delighted with my little job (even though I get up at hours I didn't actually believe existed ) and I enjoy all the seemingly trite aspects of this new adventure. People are so friendly here and I think its fun to start their day off with a smile and a warm brew. I beam with pride when a customer complements a drink I crafted for him. The people I work with are great too, and help me feel better adjusted to being here. I never knew I had missed my true calling in life.

In other news, today we saw a parade. I've had "it's a parade, it's a parade, it's a parade, it's a parade..." (to the monotone mar-lu ditty) running through my head all day. Anyways, the whole town I believe turned out for this parade, actually, let's say half--and the other half were in it. It was pretty cute, especially since the only occasion warranting the event was the highschool's homecoming. This town is small, let me stress, and pleasantville. We got quite a kick out of it. Babies were unenthused and fell asleep. I ate smarties.

Also exciting, we're under contract for the house we were scouting. HURRAY! I can't wait to move in, I want to finally be somewhere I can unpack and make a home and know I won't have to move again for a loooonnnnnng time.

close to the sun in lonely lands

we saw the most amazing sunset the other night, after picking ben up in Santa Fe after his 24hr jaunt into Colorado. The Entire valley between the Jemez and the Sangres was covered with clouds and grey, except one large window which revealed a blue-gold sky in the distance. to the west it was raining, and the light from the sun was filtered through the raindrops, spreading the sunset along the ridge. it was like the ridge was on fire, or the volcano had become active again. on top of that, there were several rainstorms in the valley, purple from the light of the sun, and lit up with bolts of lighting. It was an amazing sight, and hard to keep my eyes on the road because of the beauty of the sunset. We would have stopped to gawk, but the babies were tired and hungry and crying.

Always roaming with a hungry heart

So, the babies love the drawer under the oven where all the pans are. Our stuff still hasn't arrived (I talked to the driver of the moving van today, he said he's on his way... so that's nice) and so the drawer is mostly empty except for a baking sheet. The babies love to pull out the drawer and play inside. there are also a few toys that they keep there... whenever I find them in the drawer (the toys, not the babies) I take them out, but they inevitably find their way back in.

At least they're learning to put their toys away...

such a tide as moving

James is now old enough and big enough for his carseat to face forward, and we turned it around for the first time today, right before the short drive home. He didn't like it at first, until he realized he was face to face with his sister (who is also old and big enough to face forward, but we don't have the right carseat yet).

they spent the rest of the trip laughing and giggling and playing and grabbing each other's hands and feet. It was a good moment in their relationship. A nice way to close out their first year of life outside the womb. Helena and James have grown much and travelled much, and it is an honor, privilege, and blessing to know, to love, and to parent them.

I'm gonna drive all night (or, Mark Spurrier was right)

We saw a red tailed hawk today, and a coyote. I suppose those aren't unusual sightings for this area, but hey, I'd never seen a coyote before. He was taking a pair of jet boots from an ACME box, in an attempt to catch a clever roadrunner. The last we saw, he had chased the road runner off a cliff, and didn't fall until he realized he wasn't on terra firma anymore. Actually, the coyote we saw was just prowling the streets of Los Alamos at 9:30 at night. The streets are already pretty much empty by that time.

The hawk was on a telephone pole on the side of the road, then it swooped down right in front of an F-150. it missed whatever varmint it was going for, though, and the Ford missed the hawk, so no wings were lost and there was no injured animal to take to the New Mexico DNR for rehabilitation and use in children's wildlife show-and-tells.

I'll let you know when we come across elk. Haven't seen any yet, except in burger form.

I don't wanna grow up

James has never been one to enjoy a pacifier. from very early on, pacifiers would last about 2 seconds in his mouth before he would eject them out across the room somewhere. Once he learned to hold things, he no longer spat them out, but turned them around. He would put the "wrong" end into his mouth. the strange thing is, that would pacify him, and he'd be quiet for awhile. it wouldn't put him to sleep or anything, but it would occupy him.

Well, he's almost a year old, and neither James nor Helena needs/uses a pacifier, but we have them laying around the house with the other toys. Helena will periodically pick one up and parade around the room, showing how good she is at walking with something in her hands (as a side note, here favorite things to hold while parading are socks, preferably a matching pair). James will play with a pacifier, but still will only put the "wrong" end into his mouth.

Two cute things bear mentioning. First, while Helena was parading around on Sunday after church, she picked up one of her summer dresses and walked around the living room holding it up to her, as one would do while shopping for a dress, seeing how it might look. She eagerly let Logan put the dress on her (over her church dress!) and was so happy once she had it on, she marched around the room feeling very happy.

James is not without his cuteness, either: I was laying on my stomach, reading a book while the babies entertained themselves with fun exciting things like boxes and socks, when James crawled over near me, laid out on his stomach like me (an unusual position for James for playtime), and began to read one of his books. A chip off the old block, as the saying goes.

I seem to think alot about all the things I forgot to do

Highlights of the week include:

1. Internet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a big one, ('specially for me, logan) since I was feeling completely out of touch with everything and everyone. In my desperation for information (prior to said web installation) I bought a book on edible plants and spent the last two weeks memorizing it. When I'm out with Eric now I can inform him of the edible parts of any plant we pass. I think he finds this mildly annoying and endearing (or at least I'd like to think so). [Edit by Eric: I find it endearing and only slightly annoying]

**some persons in this houselhold remarked that my use of multiple exclamation points is lowering the literary value of this blog, to that I say "pshaw."**

2. Making an offer on a house!

Yesterday we sat down with our real estate lady and hacked out an offer on this cute house we found. The whole process seemed surreal and too grown up. We're super excited about the prospect of this house, and are anxiously waiting to hear if our offer was accepted.

In baby news, James took some real steps the other day. And I think he'll be walking like Helena soon. Hurray for James!

Man, and just think it's almost their first birthday-- where did my year go?

don't need no makeup

Our weekends here are very relaxed. Not knowing many people yet, we spend our time either exploring the area, or just lounging as a family. Since our furniture hasn't arrived yet, our lounging surface is generally the floor. The babies love it, though: Helena runs around on two feet while James sticks to what he knows, crawling on all fours. They love to laugh and play: one chases the other, then they switch. James' favorite game is being chased until he's caught and tickled.

Yesterday we drove up into the Jemez mountains. It was a rainy day, and beautiful. The drive up through the woods reminds me of Transylvania, or at least what Transylvania looks like in the rain. the scenery is beautiful, especially the Valle Grande, a huge grass valley in the Valle Caldera. We originally intended to get a babysitter and check out some of the local rock climbing, but we were shut out by the rain. We made the most of it, and had a pleasant drive over mountains and through valleys and canyons. The volcanic nature of the area means there are hot springs and interesting geological formations all over. We had dinner in a nice little mountain diner. I had an elk burger, Logan had a La Cueva dip, which is a French dip sandwich, New Mexican style.

So, a culinary aside: New Mexico's biggest crop is Green Chiles. And New Mexicans' favorite food is green chiles. They put it on everything. Enchiladas, tacos, and the usual suspects, but also burgers, soups, and more. We were invited to a BBQ where we had chicken with green chiles and cheese.

Being newly New Mexican, we have embraced the green chile. Everything is better with green chiles, especially French dip.