Lisa and Michael

Here’s hoping that 2010 is just as amazing as 2009 was Lisa!

I love you so much!

Yes, once again the holidays are here! Now that the house is quiet from a wonderful Thanksgiving full of family and best friends, its nice to sit and enjoy the tree and get the rest of the Christmas cards out. It’s also a really nice feeling to know that our shopping is pretty much complete, thanks to a wonderful trip in September and other on-line shopping! I for one am ready to enjoy the rest of the holiday season relaxing and enjoying family and friends and the beautiful sights and sounds of New Mexico.

Yes, I’m still in shock! I can’t believe we went from coast to coast in two weeks. What a great time. I think Michael should plan all of the vacations from now on. He did awesome and he can keep a secret really good. We are almost done with Christmas shopping, planning our Auntie Robin Thanksgiving and also planning a wedding right now, so we really needed that vacation. Thanks so much Hubby! You did an awesome job–can’t wait till next year!

I created a Twitter account for our blog, our username is @lmza. You can see our most recent “tweets” over there in the sidebar.

I’m still not sure what to make of Twitter, it seems like a fancy way of letting the whole world see your personal text messages. On the other hand, it’ll be a really nice way to post quick Lisa and Michael updates when we’re too lazy to create a new posting or busy traveling and sightseeing to do so. It is kinda handy just texting in updates, a bit quicker than posting a blog entry via the Blackberry.

(We should be using Twitter a lot during our super secret September vacation… the vacation so secret, Lisa still hasn’t figured out where we’re going!)

There was some snow on Christmas, but we had to drive a few miles to touch it. It was another great Christmas this year, everyone had a blast and Santa was quite generous to everyone! Santa surprised me with a vintage orange Atari t-shirt and a quart of Weck’s green chile, plus some other cool stuff like a new New Mexico book to add to our growing collection, and two 12-packs of beer (yum!).

Oh, and Junior seems to be getting used to Oscar. We hope they become best friends.

So, I woke up Tuesday to the sound of Shelby shouting, “Fire! The bush is on fire!” (or something to that effect). She seemed serious about it all, so I jumped out of bed wearing just sweats and ran outside in the snow. Sure enough, the damn shrub was burning! It took a minute or so, but I was able to put the fire out. My aim is good.

Shelby and Lisa were having their morning coffee, I guess around 5am or so, when Shelby noticed the Christmas lights were blinking. She asked Lisa about it, but Lisa thought they were just turning off. But they kept blinking, and at some point noticed the flames. Hell, I’m not sure how they could have missed the smell!

(click on pic for full size)

Anyhoo, when I inspected the scene in full daylight, the bush really wasn’t that badly burned, most of the flames were coming from the extension cord, outlet, and LED lights themselves. It would seem the snow we had the night before had shorted the cheap Lowes outlet, causing a fire. It’s a good thing someone noticed the flames, since the bush is right next to the house and who knows what could’ve happened if left to burn unchecked.

It sure seems like it at the Zanussi house.  The outside of the house is all lit up with lights and wreaths and the Christmas tree this year is gorgeous thanks to Shari.  Yes, it seems like Christmas but we have yet to have Thanksgiving.  It is hard to believe the holidays are here and it has been one year since our trip to Colorado.  Time is flying.  It’s also been five months since we got married and we are still very happy!  We have been working hard on the house the past week getting ready for our Thanksgiving guests.  We are excited to be hosting this year.  It is hard work but we both agree that it is great having friends and family to entertain.

Free on November 1st at Albertson’s, and with a baker’s dozen, that means tons of baked pumpkin seeds.

And we are still very happy!  We have been busy watching the news of the economic downturn and the upcoming election.  It is an important few weeks coming up and we will be out there in the middle of it.  We all vote on Saturday, go see Mr. Obama afterward and then off to school on Sunday to learn how to work at the polls.  What a busy weekend but well worth it.  Hopefully we can sneak in a bit of Christmas shopping in there too?  What with everthing already on sale I doubt that I will have to drag Michael out at the crack on dawn the day after Thanksgiving to go shopping this year.  I will take Robin and of course Michael is more than welcome to come along.  I am looking forward to a very busy Thanksgiving at our house and a very quiet Christmas this year.  Of course I tried to talk Michael and Shari out of putting the tree up before Thanksgiving what with us expecting 12 for Thanksgiving this year.  Seems like it might be too much but I was out voted.  Me out voted??  I will of course step back and watch them put it up and decorate it and I will enjoy it more than anyone else!  I love this time of year!

Halloween is one of our favorite holidays around the house. It’s one of the things we look forward to when fall rolls around. It is by far our favorite season. Cool mornings, warm days, the first fireplaces lighting up, not to mention football, Balloon Fiesta, Zozobra, and the smell of roasting chile! Oh man, what’s not to love about it all.

Halloween 1991 – Shari and Shelby

Halloween 2006 – Shelby and Puppy