A Very Merry Christmas

With baking and gift wrapping done, we enjoyed Christmas with the family:
-mass at 8 pm with some of the family followed by a late night of drinks and cookies with friends and family
-breakfast with everyone Christmas morning followed by the chaos of kids and presents and pictures
-dinner with everyone Christmas evening
-one last movie with Dad

Like I said - a smiley kid!

These girls were entertained by the three boys running in circles with new toys.

Cole was surprised by his daddy's friends with a real dirt bike - really, who wasn't surprised?!?

Who's pointing the Nerf gun at who?  I recall Nick giving the rules to Cole, but Mom's about to break them.

 

Happy grandparents!!

 A Merry Christmas indeed!

Leading up to a very merry Christmas....

We traveled to Oregon to celebrate Christmas and family - and lots of baby time.  Flying out of Denver, we before the sun came up, and despite leaving twenty minutes later than planned, we sailed up I-25 with little traffic and arrived in Denver extra early.  So early, even, that we stopped to use the bathroom at Home Depot because nobody was open for lunch yet!  Then with front row parking for the shuttle, we got into the airport and through security without any lines.  It was easier than when we traveled in September. But the highlight of the traveling was leaning over Tom's lap for the amazing view of Mount Hood with a bit of snow - a view that we hadn't seen in a couple years.  (I always reserve seats for a good view...)

Our week was filled with kids and family time, a dusting of snow and some misty weather, much good food - including a date night out at a fancy restaurant with fresh seafood!, a few good movies, multiple games, visits with friends, and a drudgery of allergies set off almost instantly.

We started with a date day - delicious meals out, including some tasty oysters (I never thought I would call them tasty - but they were so fresh), driving around town and getting lost in the west hills, and a trip down Peacock Lane - a lot of Christmas lights on a street crowded with more people than live in our town. 

I got to babysit Hannah while the boys all scattered on Saturday.  We had a fun day of play and enjoyed the company of the Dieringer girls, too.  Evidently The Mouse in the Manger didn't interest Hannah as much as Monica.

 We joined the Greenlees for dinner and games one night.  The boys are so happy at bath time, and Teddy is so animated in the evenings.  He's just such a smiley kid!

We got to visit with the Dorsey clan over waffles and the Remien family at Pat & Amy's before a night of games with Nick and Jen.

Tom and I joined Cole for an amusing game of Trouble - Thomas the Engine style.  Not the same rules we usually play, but Cole showed off his excellent counting skills.  After that game we got to play Sequence with his parents.  It was great to hang out with Nick and Jen.  Poor Drew had a fever and wasn't himself.

A tradition we aren't usually around for is Dad's seafood chowder on New Year's Eve, which he made for Mom's and my feast day instead.  It was mighty delicious, and everyone came over (except feverish Drew) for dinner and games.  Ollie was super thrilled with a dump truck toy Cole brought to pass on.  

What wonderful family - and how blessed we were to be with them and enjoy them for Christmas once again...

By the Dawn's Early Light

I awoke in the pre-dawn dark this morning.  Liam was on my mind.  Tomorrow is his third birthday.  I tried imaging what three year olds are like.  He's been on my mind for a little while.  I decided to throw off the covers - gently, as Thomas was still snoring - and get my day started.  After a hot shower and making a hot breakfast, I realized the gift Liam was giving me - dawn.

To be up at six, I usually need an alarm and a jolting reason to burst out of bed.  To be up at seven (the usual time), I still need an alarm and usually a nudge from Tom.  I don't typically set an alarm to watch the sunrise, so it really was a gift.  I enjoyed the shift in colors every second, and though I couldn't capture it all, I tried to capture a little:

Swiveling from east to west back to east again.  A bit later as I drove on to work, the full moon sank low enough to be captured in the first rays of the sun.  The dull yellow of the dried pastures glowed gold as I drove north along the foothills in the first rays.  A beautiful morning indeed!  Thanks, Liam!

Thank God for Buffalo -

I drove to work this morning and said my morning prayers.  They don't take the whole drive, so then I get to thinking.  I asked Tom while we were in Denver last week what he misses about living in Denver.  In a word it all comes down to "convenience".  I would agree, though there are a lot of amazing people I miss even more.

A few minutes out of town is a buffalo pasture.  Seeing the buffalo grazing along the fence-line, I realized I actually had a camera in the car, but drove on into work anyway.  It prompted me to thank God that I live where I do, that the sight of buffalo or eagles or deer or elk is "normal", that in so many ways the life I live is something people pay to have on vacation.  I didn't need to take pictures as I did in Yellowstone (when I still lived in Denver).  What a wonderful thing to be ordinary, though still awesome.

The camera was for capturing my nieces and nephews at their rockin' Christmas performance after school.  The whole town tries to pack into the elementary gym bleachers, which were at least two thirds full half an hour before the show.  We managed to cluster some seats in the middle and then wait....

The show was worth waiting for: band performance by beginning band (Maya) and regular band (Andres) and singing and dancing from Headstart - forth grade (Sara).  Sara's class had lots of singing and dancing.  It was extraordinarily entertaining.  My only regrets are not being able to see Maya through the band director to get her picture and not capturing a photo of Marie in her cuffed jeans and 50s rocker look. 

Preparing for Christmas...

Should I worry that I'm not ready yet?  We've been so busy on multiple fronts that we haven't decorated, shopped, or sent out cards?  I have a feeling we might not put much effort into any of those things given everything else that is more important.  As it is, none of those things are the "true meaning of Christmas" - or at least that's what a bunch of third and fourth graders told me last night.  They said it is about spending time with family, spending time with family, and spending time with family - oh and it's about Jesus.  That would be what I love about Christmas - spending time with family and Jesus!

So what have we been preparing for - making a house more of a home.  Still not livable, but closer every weekend.

A couple weekends ago we worked some more on the southern siding, so we could close in the wall on the inside.  The wind managed to stay at bay until the last 40 minutes of daylight.

This past weekend Andres had a good excuse to drive the tractor again - moving the clawfoot tub inside.  With his and Pop's help, we were able to muscle it in the front door and into the living room.  I cleaned the outside and painted it a light yellow.  We've tentatively agreed on a color for the brass claw feet if we don't leave them brassy. 

Getting the tub ready is a sign that the bathroom is nearly ready for it.  I've textured all the walls and primered the edges.  Once the primer and paint is finished, we'll be ready to install the tub and toilet.  Wow - that will be cool!

Our bathroom is getting a little closer to the stage of texturing, etc.  The corner piece of drywall was waiting to be hung for a while, as we actually ran plumbing out the wall for a spigot outside.  

Thomas picked up the six foot tub for our bathroom last week.  We'll set up a shower over it, but it's large enough for Thomas to take a bubble bath.  We might have to let Andres come over and enjoy a soak, too.

And though there are other temporary lights installed, I really like our kitchen light.  Hard to tell, but it is a vine/leaf pattern.  The others are, too.

Won't be settling in for Christmas, but every weekend we get closer to the dream.  Who knows what we can still accomplish before the year is out!?!?

Heavy Heart...

The past month has been tough on this girl's heart.  Bad / Sad news steadily streams over the phone lines, as tears streak these cheeks.  I'm reminded over and over of blessings and goodness and gratitude, which all help to temper my emotions, but don't ease the suffering of others or my empathy for them.  I am also reminded of my fragile faith and the joyful, quiet strength I would prefer to embody, the trust in God's plan that I would like to have in place of fears and doubts.


The heaviness on my heart feels out of season amidst the pre-Christmas joy, but I can't deny it.  I especially hold my little brother in prayer, as he continues to suffer from pain and hopefully will begin a course of treatment soon.  It sucks to hear the pain and frustration in his voice. 

Yesterday was truly a day of celebration - surrounded by people who loved Marypat, miss her so, but remember her genuine love and welcome and fullness of her life.  Her funeral was unlike most - emotional, to be sure, but full of hope and inspiration by her life, and also full of color - as we were encouraged to leave the black of grief at home.  She is remembered.  I met her through the friend of a friend, and I can only say that my life in Denver could not have turned out as it did without her influence.  Nor could my marriage - as she and her husband prepared Tom & I (over some delicious meals) for our big day.  The anticipation of her passing was heartbreaking, as one more light dimmed among us, though an even brighter light now shines in Heaven.

The night before the funeral I learned of the passing of a friend's father and that of a neighbor.  And we continue to pray for my family's pastor back in Oregon who was transferred to hospice just before Thanksgiving. 

Now if only I can "keep the faith" and remember that this season is really about the anticipation of a little baby's arrival...suffering and death belongs to another season entirely.

Pictures of the House

Already December - where did the time go?

 We replaced our blue door!  Thomas chopped this door in half, so we will have a dutch door into the mud room.  It affords a little air flow, light, and is a whole lot sturdier than the last one.  We'll find a way to use it somewhere else - maybe a cold frame for growing greens?

Thomas asks why our guest room is the one nearest completion for tape and texturing.  I think it has mostly been where I have been practicing my skills (or lack thereof).  Still have drywall to hang, but we're getting closer each weekend.

This past weekend we came home from church on Sunday to calm skies.  The wind came back before we could finish, but we used up the last of the day light to hang some more siding on the south side in an effort to close in the outside before closing in the inside.  We are ready to hang more interior drywall, which will mean the kitchen will get closer to cabinet-hanging.

The guest bathroom cabinets are in, and it won't be long until it is sanded, textured, painted, and ready for flushing  ("It won't be long" could refer to a couple weeks to a couple months....)

Saturday we did the pressure test of the hot and cold water lines.  All systems are a go!  Our appliances have arrived, so as soon as the kitchen is ready, they will be, too.  Tom and Pop have been working hard and teaching me much.  I am grateful, grateful, grateful.

Promised Pictures of Life

Wouldn't you know - I forgot about some other pictures on the camera - in part because Thomas took the Halloween one.

Fall is a magnificent time - and on this particular day, Oct 30th, the sun dropped into the crook of the mesa and mountains, casting some of the land in shadow and illuminating this tree out in the field northwest of us.  It was really glorious.  I was out cleaning the wood porch and stocking it when I noticed the light turn the tree into gold!  Two days later, a drop in temp changed everything brown and dropped the leaves to the ground.

Trick or treaters - a carebear, bumble bee, and dia de los muertos chica overshadowed by leatherface

These guys brought their parents in to celebrate with some pumpkin pie and fresh whipped cream - a wonderful tradition from my days on Henderson.

 Sunset falls around 4:30 - the colors are so amazing.

And then there were two - Crusty (left) and Not Peanut watched me load wood from the porch to inside from atop a ladder.  At times Tiger was up there, too.  Not Peanut hasn't been seen in a couple weeks....ah nature!  Was I really worried about having eight cats for a little while?

Thanksgiving was also a day to celebrate David and Julie's birthdays.  Thomas was quite pleased with himself for finding a "1" candle for Julie and a "?" candle for Dave. 

An Attitude of Gratitude

I have a lot.  I can't take credit for it.  I am very blessed.  I am super grateful! 

Sometimes I wonder, has Thanksgiving been reduced to eating and football and Black Friday ads?  The holiday seems to be caricatured with buckled hats and feathers, turkeys, and cornucopias of food.  And of course, the narration of things and people for which we are thankful. 

Today, hanging out after work to attend mass for Thanksgiving, I am caught up thinking about the act of giving thanks.  I feel it is a privilege to attend mass to thank God for all my blessings, though I will be pleasantly surprised if more than twenty others feel the same way at 6 pm the night before game day - turkey day - or whatever.  But curiosity is getting the better of me. 

At least this one day, we seem to get the part about being thankful for stuff.  But then I wonder to whom people give their thanks?  Surely there will be lots of thanks to the cooks in the kitchen, but the whole chain of gratitude keeps traveling back to the Source, right?  It makes me wonder who people thank for all their stuff, for all their family and friends, for their blessings.

I'm certainly thankful to God for my family and friends, for a roof over my head and food on the table, for a job that affords me a great many more things.  I'm thankful for all the tasks and trials Thomas and I share building a house together, as they help us to practice patience, to be grateful for the things that go right, to care for each other better, to celebrate the accomplishments along the way, to learn how to accept our faults, and to appreciate all the time and labor our friends and family have contributed to it.  I'm thankful for many trips to see family and friends out of town, the trips they've made to see me, and the trips I only have to take "across town" to celebrate with family and friends here.  I am grateful for the people no longer with us, those lives that remain a memory in my heart.  I am grateful for the miracles I've witnesses or heard about this year, especially Mighty Max.  And hard as it might be, I have to thank God for the struggles that teach me to be a better prayer, to be more faithful, to trust in God's plan.

"If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough."  Meister Eckhart

If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/meistereck149158.html#tZiWyILjLRSruHjL.99

If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/meistereck149158.html#tZiWyILjLRSruHjL.99

Latest on the House....

I will get pictures up after Thanksgiving.  It's not that I don't want to take pictures of that mess, but it seems like we are in the middle of all our projects.  We've been less successful checking off the to-do's, seeming to have started nearly everything.

It's been chilly, chilly, so we took a break for a temporary hook up of the kitchen baseboard heater.  As well, Tom's been working on changing out the kitchen door into the mudroom - and sealing it up.  We decided that lovely old blue door was really not weathering so well and might not hold up.  We found a similar door - so it will still be a dutch door.  With that sealed up better, it will likely stay warmer, not that the house gets really cold if the sun is out.

Plumbing : the cold and hot water lines have been stubbed in all over.  I enjoyed spending the day with Pop last Saturday "apprenticing" with him on the hot water lines.  This literally means I got the purple stuff all over my hands and did the gluing.  I also helped measure and cut the pipes.  I think I did a good job, especially proficient in getting the purple stuff all over me.  Next up: hooking all those stubs to faucets, toilets, etc.  Then we will do a pressure test before closing up all the drywall.

Drywall: we have finished the guest bathroom, the guest bedroom (save for the piece we took down to negotiate the plumbing lines), and most of the master bath and bedroom.  The guest bath and bedroom are about 75 % done with taping seams and mudding over the screw heads.  Next up: going back over my crappy job taping, sanding, and texturing - as well as getting the rest of the drywall up.

Electrical: Tom has been chipping away at hooking up the outlets and lights.  The kitchen light is such a beauty.  With our mirrors and bathroom lights picked out, he's been able to place the outlet boxes for the lights, etc.  Next up: hooking up baseboard heaters after the walls are textured, more connections...

Wood work: The ceilings in the bedrooms and  bathrooms have all been sanded, and Tom just loaded up on lemon oil.  Tom has cut down a couple of tall pantry closets for linen closets in the bathrooms (cut down so they're not so deep).  Next up: oiling the ceilings already sanded, sanding the rest of the ceiling, finishing the center peak of the ceiling

Oh and there are floors to work on, kitchen cabinets; more of everything, it seems.  We just keep pushing along and chipping away.  We agreed on a bathroom paint color, though when it comes to those decisions, I am completely clueless how to choose.  Part of me wants to be bold, and part of me is nervous - I'm convinced we won't end up with an all beige house, but there's so many colors to choose from that it can be a little paralyzing. 

And we will be home for a long Thanksgiving weekend, and maybe the message that comes with pictures will show lots of progress?!?

Snowing and Blowing

The last several days have been chilly.  We woke up to a fresh blanket of snow on Friday, Sunday, and Monday.  It's much needed moisture, for sure.

Friday I headed into the office only a little bit later than usual.  About a mile from the house, the first traffic popped up in my mirror - a big truck I hoped would be dropping sand or something.  I pulled into a neighbor's drive, so it could pass - not a sanding truck.  I continued on my way and with my prayers.  Driving so slow, I finished my first rosary rather quickly and started on a second.  The road was a combination of thick snow, slush, and frozen slush.  It was icy, and the car wiggled from side to side as the layers of ruts pulled in different direction.  More Hail Mary's and a stronger grip on the steering wheel.  About the halfway point, I saw the next "traffic" behind me.  It was either a neighbor or Daniel - the car too far away for me to differentiate.  I considered pulling over, but headed on given the distance between us still.

Made it past the halfway point, and I was climbing.  I panicked at a short, steep section, fearful that I was going to slow to maintain traction and forward momentum and that the road was too slick to accelerate without losing my traction.  I gassed it just a little, swerved just a bit, and up and over I went.  The car behind me continued to get closer.  I pulled over at the top of the hill, aware that I didn't want a vehicle close behind me through the crazy curves and the upcoming drop.

I took a couple breaths and rolled down my window to the slowing vehicle pulling alongside me.  Daniel asked if I was okay.  Fighting back tears I proclaimed my need for a shot of whiskey.  He laughed and agreed and offered to follow me.  I insisted I would feel more comfortable following, knowing that I would be dropping my speed down the curves.  Having his bumper to keep an eye on kept me focused forward, and I eased my stranglehold on the steering wheel.  Forty minutes of tension left me in front of the office and still poised to breakdown.  I felt it all day.  At the same time, I worried for Thomas who had an even longer (and earlier) drive back and forth to Santa Fe.

Gratefully, the sun did its thing (certainly no help from snow plows), and my drive home Friday was far less stressful and shorter, too.  And Daniel humored me and left work early, so I could follow him back.  Such a generous guy!  Thomas pulled in shortly after I did - thank God!

Too Cold to Think Straight

Gratefully, my lunch today is heated in the microwave.  And gratefully, it is hot.  Mondays are a late day for me.  Rather than come in at 11 am for an eight-hour day, I just come a little bit later and make up the difference somewhere else.  At 7:30 am - the time I would normally be heading out the door - the phone rang.  I was snuggled warm under the covers reading, Thomas having already stirred and headed off to work.  There was another blanket of snow laid over our part of the world, and everything was chilly.

I hustled to the phone, expecting it to be Daniel checking in to see if I was heading out for my commute (more on that another time), but it was someone from town.  She'd walked by the church and office where I work and smelled gas.  I am not the gas company, nor am I a dispatch.  I am glad she let me know, but I wouldn't be in town for another ninety minutes, and there are protocol for reporting smelling gas.  She said she'd take care of it.

I hustled back to bed and my book.  Once comfortable and cozy, the phone rang again.  I hopped up one more time to another call from her.  Who does she call?  Her several year old phone book for Taos didn't have the number.  Would I want to call?  I gave her a phone number from our phone book, but suggested it would be more appropriate for her to report her own experience.  I'm now wondering if that was the wrong answer.

Four and a half hours later, I am huddled over my bowl of noodles wearing my hat and fingerless gloves, a wool sweater over my down vest.  It is about 55 degrees, and it won't be long before I can see my breath.  The gas was turned off, and the servicemen left.  There was nobody here that early to let them in and check things out.  When the news reached a council member with a key, she offered to meet them here, but they didn't show.  Forty minutes away on a good day, they drove to Raton to deal with a line that had been hit and was spraying gas.  No sign of them yet.

Praying for heat....

Crazy Cat Lady Stories...

The cats are entertaining.  They require a bit more maintenance than a TV, but the value of entertainment is often worth it.  Especially these days when we don't have to feed them - Pop is still cleaning out Granny's freezer from decades old meat, and the cats haven't noticed that their daily meal is past the "best used by" date.  In fact they turn tail on the dry food we put out for them - tough.

So it is getting dark early here.  On our side of the road, the sun is setting by 4:30 pm.  We're closer to the mesa, so more quickly in its shadow.  For safety I have been walking our road instead of the highway - also, the cats will likely follow me.  Usually I can put food out for them, and they will stay at the bowl as I walk away.  Given the cat-feeding elf that keeps filling their bowl and their current attitude to what I offer, this trick is less effective.  Oh well - I'm all for not having to feed them.

I took a brisk walk as soon as I got home one afternoon last week.  All three kittens dashed out with me, but were faked out by my abrupt turn away from the highway.  Not Peanut stayed behind, likely because the last time she followed me in that direction, it was to the neighbors for eggs, and their dog scared her into a barn for half an hour until I walked home.  So Tiger and Crusty followed.  Crusty fell behind pretty quickly, and Tiger soon did, too.  I could hear a truck on the highway and turned in time to see it was a neighbor from farther south on the road.  I tried meowing for Tiger to catch up with little effect.  I kept looking over my shoulder to see where the truck was, so I could step off the road when he got close.  As I passed our neighbor with the chickens, their dog sighted Tiger and ran across the yard barking all the way.  I turned back in time to see the black mass of fur speed across the road and through the barbwire fence towards Tiger, who bolted straight up a tree about eight to ten feet up.  I couldn't stop laughing.  At the same time, our neighbor had slowed to as stop as the dog chased the cat right in front of his truck.  When I looped back to the tree, Tiger had already climbed down in hiding, but came running out to walk at my feet like some well-heeled dog as I passed home.  Crusty was at their driveway in a culvert and joined us, too.  I laughed and laughed.

Last night I tried the feeding method before walking to Mom & Pop's.  I was meeting Thomas over there to unload the stove.  It didn't work, and the cats all followed.  I tossed Not Peanut back a few feet, and she went back to the house to wait, but the boys followed.  It was already dark, so it was hard to see if they were following.  I tried to scuff my feet in their direction to scare them off, but Tiger persisted.  Heading down the highway, I did some ridiculous flailing in the middle of the road trying to shoo Tiger back to the house, but it was only a game or a dance to him.  Gratefully, it was dark.  I sped up, knowing Tiger wasn't one to keep up, and hoped he would turn back.  I visited with Mom while I waited for Tom to show.  As we were unloading the stove, Tiger came prowling into the garage.  I was barely able to catch him to haul him home. 

They really might make me crazy, though.  Working in the house in the dark, our house sounds like it is haunted by old ghosts scratching at the walls.  Really it is the cats clawing on the house, climbing onto window ledges, scaling the walls to look into windows.  It isn't so bad when you can look out and see them, but when they are all on a different side of the house making noise in the dark, it can be a little unnerving.  Still - better than half the shows on TV...

Waiting, Waiting, and Here It Is!

Thomas and I made a list last Thursday of what we need to accomplish on the house and when, so we can move into it before next summer.  It is ambitious and doable, but as we have come to know all to well, the best made plans are tossed out the window as soon as they are written down.

Case in point: this weekend our goal was to get up all the drywall, install the bathroom cabinets, and lay down our support base for the kitchen cabinets.  Some of the drywall was already up, and much of it I can do by myself while Thomas tackles some of the cabinet work.  And that was how it played out on Saturday.  But Friday I got notice that the big appliance sale at Sears that we have been waiting for arrived.  The Veterans Day sale is their end of year biggie, and we waited for it.  Consequently, Sunday afternoon and all day Monday were no longer working on drywall days.

However, in the world of checking things off our list, we purchased our kitchen appliances - oven, microwave/vent, fridge, and dishwasher.  Even better, they will be delivered in December, and we weren't unloading them in the dark on Monday.  With an empty trailer and truck bed and the appliances ordered, we were able to know off a whole bunch else on the shopping list - bathroom light fixtures, bathroom mirrors, bathroom faucets, a door between the kitchen and mudroom (the old dutch from the original mudroom when we bought the place isn't going to hold up), backer board for the bathtub tile walls, and hopefully the last of the electrical line, among other smaller items. 

As we cruised around town, we were keeping an eye out for a wood stove, but upon calling a place in Trinidad to check on the price for one stove, landed another stove at less than 50% the original price.  It is a perfect little stove for our house, not real bulky.  The markdown was simply because it was the last of that model and had been hanging around for too long.  It isn't mobile-home approved, and it is for a smaller house, so I am guessing most people in the market are either looking for something larger or approved for a mobile-home.  Tom brought it home yesterday after work.

Woo hoo....now to get back on track with the house work!  The guest bedroom is nearly finished - just the peaked ceiling over the closet needs to be drywalled.  Then I can begin laying the floor!  It won't be long now....

Crazy Cat Lady Stories...

Day of the Dead

What do you bring to a "Day of the Dead" themed potluck?
- one person "chopped up a head" of cabbage and made a tasty coleslaw
- another made chicken mole
- there was a ghost shaped cake and a squash-y quiche
- not sure of the chips/salsa or crock of BBQ ribs were theme-related
- the loaf of charm bread was really fully of curses

I brought two of my grandma's recipes - her baked mac'n'cheese (in the green pot she baked it in - thanks to Uncle Pat for giving it to me) and her mom's pumpkin pie with fresh whipped cream.

It was lucky I made it with anything, as I was perpetually stumped by time on Saturday.  Tom and I got a bunch of wiring done for the baseboard heaters.  We mostly did electrical projects on Saturday.  I went in to prepare the mac'n'cheese in stages.  I am not sure what I thought would happen if I left the dry pasta in a pot of cold water for too long, but it turned to mush.  I cooked up another batch with bowties - though not the best shape for mac'n'cheese, it was that our spaghetti.  After throwing it all together and sticking it in the oven, I realized I was an hour ahead of myself - only 4 pm, not 5 pm.  Alas, it was ready, and I didn't have any more noodles to waste.

Sunday, with Pop's help, we were able to get the guest bath drywalled.  It won't be long till we can get plumbing and cabinets, toilet and tub set up.  Yikes - I don't even have colors picked out!

November Is Here!

October ended with fanfare!  We had nine trick-or-treaters last night, including four fantastic kids who brought their parents over for pumpkin pie.  It was a nice way to end the evening, especially after the excessively garlicky mashed potatoes I made for dinner.  We sent away most all the candy we bought, though I still managed to nurse myself through the day on chocolate of one form or another.

This past week has been productive for me, though our energies of late haven't been directed toward the house.  A week ago Thursday we took a day off to hit the stores in Pueblo.  It was a nice day off for us to stock up on 2-foot baseboard heaters for the rooms, some supplies for doing the floor, and some other odds and ends.  It was also a treat to eat out.  Instead of waking up Saturday morning reading to work, we woke up in the middle of the night Friday to a feverish Tom.  I did all I could to keep him comfortable and sleeping and hydrated, but he was feeling pretty puny all weekend.  I managed to get on the roof of the trailer and patch a leak along the chimney, clean out and stock the wood porch, take a long walk, do youth group on Sunday.

Then I took another day of Wednesday to manage our irrigation.  I was pretty pleased with myself (still am) for all I was able to do - walked the ditch a couple times, mudding the spots around our neighbor's where the water was flowing into his ditches; baked a couple pumpkin pies; picked up pumpkins from Pop, cooked and pureed them; filling several quart bags for the freezer; pickled a few beets; whipped up some chili and cornbread; chopped down a couple small pine trees that didn't make it; and some other things.  All in a good days work!

So this weekend we have more ambitious plans, or so I think.  Hopefully we both stay in good health and can get some walls up, some electrical lines laid for the heaters, and maybe even a few more lights on. 

the good kind of exhaustion

Thomas and I were eager to start the weekend on Friday.  We puttered around, checking out the temperature in the house - pretty warm for not being all sealed up yet. 

I just love the pine ceiling we've already got up!

The north half of the ceiling was beckoning for our attention.

I baked a pumpkin pie bar, and Thomas and I made up the futon.  We were biding our time, eagerly awaiting late night visitors.  Not little green men and not Santa Claus this early, though you could have called them that for all the great cheer they brought.  Jennifer and Claire arrived in the dark of a bright full moon after a full week of work and a long trek from Colorado.  They brought treats and laughter and a willing spirit to work on the house with us.

After some late night chatting and a tour of the house in the dark, we all settled down for some much needed rest.  Surprisingly, Tom and I were ready to roll early, so after making some coffee and warming up zucchini bread, we snuck out to get set up.  It wasn't long before the girls were joining us.  All day the three of us girls worked on the ceiling on the north half of the house.  First we finished the bedroom, then the guest bathroom, and finally the master bathroom.  We took a short lunch break, but those two wanted to work and to finish all the rooms.  Thomas checked out early, cleaned up, and started on dinner.  But those two wouldn't let up until the last of the ceiling in the rooms was up and nailed - even though that meant finishing in the dark!

We had an amazing dinner - Chef Tom pulled together what we affectionately call "pupu platter night": spring rolls, crab rangoons, lettuce wraps, and sushi rolls.  He had the fire roaring, and we were nice and cozy for the rest of the evening.  It was a great way to celebrate our accomplishments.

Ever the joker, Claire had us laughing about something.

a shot of the north ceiling these girls worked so hard to put up

Sunday, after another yummy breakfast, we headed back out to put up the last of the ceiling before the peak.  It didn't take long, so we showed them around a bit, including checking out the firehouse and a ride on the pumper.  I could have come up with a million other things to stall them, but alas - they needed to head home.   

Niffer was a force to be reckoned with on the scaffolding.

 I didn't know she could frown, since she's always so jolly.  Probably that board was giving her a hard time, huh??

Dubbed the strongest woman by herself, Claire showed those boards what's what!

Tom took the little down time he could for rest before accompanying me to a fiesta in Cimarron.  Sadly, his energy didn't rally like mine when we heard the music, but sore as he was, he still twirled me around the dance floor a couple times.  With a weekend so great, it is no wonder I've gone to bed at 9:30 pm the past couple nights!

Thank God!

I know that when Thomas and I were grappling with the news of water leaking in through the roof, I said something like, "At least we haven't put up the boards yet because I would hate to have to pull them down."  The ordeal left me watching to see how Thomas would take it.  Truly, we both felt frustrated and bummed about something going wrong instead of going right.  Especially after 13 months of no problems with the roof.  Especially when we were on such a roll!  We weren't feeling blessed or thankful about it at all.

Today as I told my sister about it, I realized it was a really good thing to happen.  What if we hadn't had a wild and crazy rainstorm the night before?  What if that piece of siding hadn't been ripped off on Friday, so we made all the progress on the ceiling before Sunday night's storm?  What if, what if, what if?!?! 

Of course we'd like to think there was nothing wrong with the roof at all, but given that it somehow was still penetrable by rain falling up, it is a blessing to have happened the night before we got to that section of ceiling and not the night after.  Thank God for that small favor, for showing us what needed to be done.  And please, God, let that be the last of our lessons!  No more water in the house where it isn't supposed to be, please!

A Cheesy "Holiday" Card

I almost turned back for my camera as I headed to the car this morning.  I was first out of bed, so I turned on the cars to warm them up this morning.  After a lot of rain last night, the temperature dropped, leaving the cars covered with snow and the ground very soggy.  Officially the first snow, but sadly not our first snow day.  Wouldn't that have been a treat!?!?

Somewhere west of the polo ranch the landscape turned to white.  The bushes looked like nonpareils with dots of snow all over them.  I kept waiting for big red bubble letters to appear on the hillside reading "Seasons Greetings".  Still two weeks to Halloween, but it looked like a white Christmas outside.  The sun was shining over the horizon, and everything looked so happy and dappled in snow. 

Then about halfway to work it looked like the ice queen's domain from the Chronicles of Narnia - a bitter gray blue cloud mass that blocked out the sun.  It was snowing, and the road was a bit slushy, not just puddle-ly.  In the car I didn't feel it, but it looked colder.  I could also see from some of the higher vantages the yellow of dried fields to the east.

The snow thickened on the sides of the road the further north I drove, even as the falling snow tapered off.  A brotherhood of cows nose to tail followed the powder-coated barbed wire to unseen pastures, hoping to see some green, no doubt.  Through the tree-lined section of highway, the road was littered with yellow leaves still attached to branches too weak to hold up the snow.  A snow plow rumbling south splattered my windshield with slush. 

And now, the sun shining, the scenery dripping, each leaf a leaky faucet, each roof a softening avalanche waiting to slide.  Thanks, God, for the moisture!

September progress into October

Help!  There are pictures trapped on my camera...oh wait, I don't need help; I just need to remember to upload the pictures to post them.

So the pictures from mid-September are about where we left off at the end of September.  After a party weekend with the Fords and family celebration with the Vigils, we had only the window of time after youth group on the 29th to put up some more planks on the ceiling.

However, the first weekend in October we rocked!  We "finished" the south side of the ceiling - stopping a couple rows short of the crown, as that will be a separate piece to stick in after the north side is up.  It is very beautiful, and I I'm glad we chose to go with the pine. This past weekend we progressed on the north side, but not until after dealing with the siding.

Friday was shaping up to be a decent day, until pulling into the driveway after work and seeing a piece of siding midway down the north wall hanging off.  Argh!!  We don't need anything to go wrong - we're trying to get into this house sooner than later!  Gratefully, the wind was calm enough in the morning on Saturday that we got out and did some repair work on the siding and secured the rest.  We put up the eave on that side, but then had to call it a day.  More progress to come.  Sunday, however, was too windy to get back outside, so we resumed with the ceiling when I got home from youth group.  We made good progress in our bedroom.  (Of course, I always have to suggest just two more rows when we're winding down, only to have them be especially frustrating.  I guess I don't know when to quit!)

Today we both had off, so we nearly finished the bedroom, completed the front hall, and joined those two as they climbed toward the peak of the roof.  After a quick bathroom/drink break, I got us set up to tackle the ceiling in the other bedroom.  As I prepped the space, I unleashed a shower of rain down on the floor.  A shower of rain!?!?!  After thirteen months of no leaks, now?!?!  After 11 months of no problems, the insulation goes up.  And then just last Wednesday on a day off, I finished our second insulation barrier.  And now it leaks?!?!  The only thing we could figure was that the rainstorm Sunday night that filled our rain barrel was coming sideways and even falling up because the winds were so wild.  The insulation wasn't ruined or even wet - it was between the two layers, but all the same, we pulled open that bay in the ceiling, laid a trap of drywall to see if there are any more leaks, and sealed the heck out of our roof cap.  What a day!

On two positive notes -
     Pop and his trusty sidekick Andres finished the septic line on Saturday, connected up the pipes, and buried it!  Of course soon after as I predicted, the house had a farty smell where the pipes were not connected to toilets and sinks with p-traps full of water.  A little tape stopped that.  And though he threatened, Tom has not yet tested out the septic line.
     PLUS -we are so excited for a visit from a couple friends this weekend!

What Love!

This weekend we continued to honor the lives and memory of Tom's grandparents.  The boys all gathered at the cemetery and poured a little sweat equity in their remembrance fixing up the family plots.  Granny's headstone was placed, and gravel was spread.  They certainly had worked up an appetite, and we girls laid out a spread for lunch.  After lunch we all gathered at the cemetery to see what a nice job the boys did and recall some stories of Granny's life.  It was a real treat to get to see all our tios and primos once again.  And God did well by us providing a beautiful sunny day with a fresh breeze!

 such a pretty marker - and with Our Lady, too

the brothers!

And then there were three...

Last year at this time we only had three cats.  Three is a good number, maybe.  This spring Felix had her second litter somewhere else and then disappeared with them.  Her first cats Spooky and Buttermilk had their first litters this spring, and we found ourselves with eight cats - four girls and four boys.

In August after my trip to Portland, we were down to six cats.  The two mommas disappeared, likely killed/eaten, as they were both still nursing.  And Smokey, the older female kitten, disappeared a week later and then was found dead in the dirt.

So neither of us were terribly surprised to come home Monday to zero cats.  The bowl of food was full, though, and the neighbors had seen the cats on Sunday, at our house - not at his, where they had gone in August.  None of the family had made off with them, either.  So when Andres told Thomas on Tuesday night that another neighbor up the road from us was trying to give away six week kittens, grey with a few with tiger stripes, Thomas and I both wondered if they were Not Peanut, Tiger, Crusty, Pete, and Roger.  After calling ahead, Thomas went to check it out and came home with five kittens in the bed.  We don't know where or why a different neighbor picked them up and why or when they were passed on to another neighbor, but there was a little bounce in Thomas's step to have them back again.

Then last night Daniel called to say they made up their minds and would like a couple kittens (to eat - he said on the phone - but I know better).  Julie and Daniel came over and just barely managed to get Pete and Roger in a box to take home.  It's been less than 24 hours, so I don't know how they've fared.  I can't tell whether the other three (tiger-striped) cats miss the little boys that made so much noise, or are grateful for a little peace and quiet.  One things for sure - they won't have to share their food with so many.  We don't have any long trips planned for a long while, so hopefully these ones will stick around.

Surprise!!

I am a liar (it's alright now, as I've already confessed this).  I sent our flight arrangements to Portland, but doctored the dates.  I led my dear dad to believe that Thomas and I would see him mid-October, and he went so far as to plan our family dinner and game night for the trip.  Really, I was able to pull off a fourth surprise birthday-visit. 

Tom and I hit the road early, early Thursday to catch a flight to Oregon.  Greeted by Marty, we headed over to hang out with Ollie before dinner with Pat, Amy, and the kids.  Fifteen minutes of quiet in between was all Thomas got.  Dinner turned into a dance party, but wound down to story-time before we headed to see Mom and the pair of pillows waiting for our heads.

 Pat and Ben after some tasty ice cream

Friday we headed out to the zoo with Teddy and Ollie.  Teddy evidently didn't like my fashion statement, as he "spit up" not once but twice before we even left the house.  Tia's pants were a bit damp from sour milk - yum!  Ollie was excited to see his friends Eddie, the sea otter, and Lily, the baby elephant.

 Tio and Ollie

Baby Lily

The boys checking out the giraffes

After zoo and some lunch, it was time for the big surprise.  Tom and I hung out at the airport briefly, waiting for the call from Mom that Dad called her.  She was who he was expecting.  Instead we fell in line behind him as he headed for his bags.  "Sir, excuse me; sir."  He didn't recognize my voice, but when he turned around to see if it was his attention being sought, he dropped his carry-on and gave me a big hug.  He was really surprised, though he then wanted to know if we weren't really coming in October.  Alas...

Saturday would be a full day, not only preparing and hosting Dad's birthday party, but we started with a celebration of Hannah's baptism.  She was delightful as ever and didn't fuss at the water or oil.

 showing off her pre-baptism spiky hair

Hannah with her godparents, Father, and parents - with her new 'do

The day was fun and full.  The party was a great chance to see family and friends, enjoy tasty treats, and even dance a little with my handsome man.  There weren't many brave souls willing to roast Dad, but there was some teasing about his years as a "cheerleader" in college when Mom met him.  After a late night, it was good to sleep late before mass.  It was really a sight to see all the family together at mass and quite a feat.  After family pictures everyone scattered for a little quiet time before meeting out for Dad's birthday dinner.

What a way to end a great weekend with the Ford-side of our family!  An early, early morning flight didn't get us home as early as we would have liked, but we made it back with a truck full of groceries.  Now we're ready to get down and dirty and get some more work done on the house.