Episode IV: A New Home

We have bought a house! We don't have internet there yet, but soon. The babies love it, we love it. It's cute, but big enough for our family. God is good.

The Bonsai adventure begins!

Inspired by several trips to the National Arboretum, and sidelined from Rock Climbing while my knee heals/recovers/stays the same, I am intrepidly undertaking a new hobby: Training bonsai trees!

it's a slow process, but i've taken the first step: getting a tree. Two, actually. One's more of a shrub right now, but with a little patience and diligence (virtues I often lack, and hope to cultivate through bonsai) both will grow into great looking bonsai.

in the pictures: The little shrub is a flowering quince, and the tree is a trident maple.

Helena's Scrunchy face caught on film!

Reddening the sun with smoke; or, smells like bacon and SUVs

As we didn't bring much furniture with us across the country, some parishioners have been very kind and have donated things such as chairs, bookshelves, and a dresser. The guy who gave us the dresser delivered it the other night with his friend while I was in the kitchen cooking bacon. Logan was at first confused when he showed up at our door, because he is a cop and was still in his uniform. His buddy was another cop. We weren't in trouble with the law, they only wanted to give us a dresser. After it was moved into our apartment, I thought I would be neighborly and offer some of our food that I had just finished cooking... "Hey, do you guys want any bacon?" They accused me (in jest) of making a cop joke in poor taste, and we all had a good laugh.

Today we have just returned from a grocery trip to Santa Fe. As there is only one grocery store in Los Alamos (Well, two, but they are both Smith's) If you want anything special or something that Smith's doesn't have, you have to drive to Santa Fe. Our itinerary included four different natural food stores (different sales, stock, etc. you see.) Upon exiting the first, we found that a huge SUV had done a horrible parking job next to us. It was a foot over the line, and about a foot and a half away from our car. Our passenger side door bore the marks of a huge ding obviously caused by the urban assault vehicle's Driver door. It was ridiculous, we had to put both babies in the car from the other side because we couldn't squeeze in on that side. Some people. I contemplated writing a note, but thought that it would be useless, as the driver already knows he or she did a horrible parking job. There was about five feet of space on the other side of the car, no exaggeration. We weren't unnaturally close the the line, we were spot on in the center. The other guy had to know it was horrible, either through banging up our car upon exit, or after returning to his car and seeing how it was taking up the better part of two spaces.

We shrugged it off and got lunch at a mediocre buffet, then proceeded on to whole foods and trader joe's. At trader joes, we pulled into our spot and parked, then noticed that the car directly in front of us was the same monstrosity that had parked so poorly only an hour before! They must have been on the same natural foods tour we were. We recognized the people getting in the car as customers from the first store, so we are pretty certain that it was the culprit. Logan ran in to the store and I stayed with our sleeping babies as I watched them load their car, and leave their cart in an empty space next to them (their parking job this time was ok). I couldn't believe they would just leave a cart in the middle of the parking lot, when the store was just twenty yards away! Some people. sheesh.

In other news, the population of our apartement is going to double over the weekend, as my family will be in town. We'll see how that works out, space-wise.

How modest, kindly, all-accomplished, wise

The babies are becoming generous, offering to help out in their own special way. The other day I arrived home from work, and James toddled over to greet me. He gave me a hug and then showed me what was in his mouth (a piece of pita he was working on). He stuck out his tongue, and was very proud of the fact that he had pita, then the mushy half-chewed pita fell onto my leg. James sauntered off, happy to give his father a gift. Thanks James. This morning he also tried to feed Helena the bits of food he found on the ground after breakfast. yummy.

Helena helps out, too. Just yesterday I was changing James, who had given me a rather large gift in his diaper. Helena went for the baby wipes, which she loves. I managed to get them from her before she pulled them all out, but she still got a few to play with. I continued to clean James up, and Helena decided she would help. Squatting down next to James, she took a wipe in her hand and started to dab at his nether region. Thank you Helena! But I think I can handle this myself...

Photos are here!

Lots has been going on here. For one thing I've been on a really big cooking kick, which has resulted in some tasty delights. I was most proud of my homemade potato bread which was a hit around this place. Also, I finally made cream cheese (I've been scared to try it) and now have some whey so I can try my hand at culturing something, anything! Other cooking ventures were not as successful, for example-- my hommus. I really like garlic you see, so I thought if I just added five cloves of garlic instead of the three called for, then it would taste super delicious--right? Eric still won't kiss me, 24 hours and many tooth brushings later. The face the babies made was priceless.

Next project, PESTO!

Here is my beautiful basil plant I bought for the occasion:



Next up in our strange and unusual lives, Eric's knee decided to develope a swelling the size of a grapefruit above it. This is apparently quite painful, so painful infact, that Eric actually went to the doctor to see what it was about. The doctor ordered xrays and speculates that it's either bursitis or some sort of inflammatory arthritis. We're hoping its not the latter because that would not be very fun. Today we get to go to back to the doc to have the thing drained, I'm hoping I get to watch!

Finally some baby action-- cuteness from last night's bath. Enjoy!

we will no longer roam

There are a number of Arizona Ashes surrounding the Smith's parking lot, and as I walked home from the bus stop this evening, the leaves were crisp and rippling off of branches as the wind disturbed their peace. I got caught in a rain yellow, the clear sounds of fall all around me as I continued home. The sound of skittering leaves faded as I walked through the ghost town strip mall, an abandoned parking lot full of boarded up windows, weeds and potholes.

I learned from the residents here that White Rock used to be thriving, with a movie theater, bowling alley, two grocery stores, and more, but there had been a decline. Los Alamos (of which White Rock is technically a subdivision of) has experienced a similar decline, but has bounced back in recent years, with a variety of restaurants and stores available. White Rock has very few restaurants (2, maybe 3?) and only a smattering of other services. No fast food places can stay open, because there are no employees available... All the teenagers get enough money from their Los Alamos National Lab-paid parents, and with the increase of gas prices in the past 2 years, nobody from Santa Fe wants to drive all the way up the hill for a minimum wage job. So, the result is that White Rock is mainly a bedroom community, with a few gas stations, tiny library and beautiful parks.

On my way home I was reading a book, taking my time strolling through the suburban desert. I kept feeling small drops of water, but a quick glance up from the pages revealed blue skies and no threat. 200 yards from our apartment, the drops came more regularly, and it was then I realized that directly behind me a grey cloud was approaching. The cloud was friendly, not threatening, and the rain coming from it was hardly a bother, even to the pages of my book.

Arriving home I had a rollicking good time playing on the floor with the babies, who loved my cashmere sweater. I like it, too.qww