Lisa and Michael

It’s Shelby’s 21st birthday today, heading out to drink and gamble! (Safely, of course. Congrats for being the designated driver tonight, Lisa.)

Lucky Shelby, her birthday happens to be St. Patrick’s Day. Lucky, indeed:

…a clearance sale! What a deal:

(March Madness and MacBook Pros are a source of happiness, too. But, you can’t beat a 50%+ off deal.)

It’s 68 outside, apparently summer is just around the corner. Best to be prepared.

We decided to make our own Valentine’s this year.

Here’s one of the many I received from Lisa:

Lisa is much more creative than I am!

I love you Lisa, happy Valentine’s day doll.

I’ve been complaining for weeks that we haven’t had any snow at all this Winter (or any moisture at all, for that matter).

Fortunately, turning into February changed all that. So far have about 6 inches at the house here in the foothills, supposed to get more, but I don’t trust the local weather forecasters.

If you don’t have one, GET ONE!! Michael surprised me with one this weekend and I can’t tear myself away from it. I think the iPad is the greatest creation ever! I do believe it will keep me well entertained while Michael is in grad school.

Too dark to be a Big Jim. Discovered at the Alvarado Transportation Center waiting for the number 11. Only in New Mexico.

The holidays may be over, and they were awesome, but we’re still busy. Grad school starts tomorrow for me, we close on our mortgage refinance Friday, and Lisa’s own classes begin next week. Whew. And here we thought we wouldn’t be busy this year since our big remodels are done!

…except it’s not. Unless you hate weeks of sunny, blue skies with temps in the upper 50s and lower 60s, and absolutely no moisture whatsoever, that is.

Quite honestly, New Mexico has the most boring weather around. It’s almost perfect. To add to my misery, it’s also one of those La Nina years, which means we’re expecting a really dry, mild winter.

Blech.

Lisa loves it, but I don’t. It would be nice to actually have some snowy weather this season, but I’m not holding my breath.

Regardless of the beautiful weather we’re seeing, however, the tree is up with presents underneath and the outside lights have been hung. Now, snow or no snow, I love that part! We made hard candy to give away this year, and you can still smell the wonderful, toxic cinnamon fumes. Definitely Christmas-y here at the house! If I had my choice, I’d have Christmas every month and keep the lights burning. But, no, we’re not that house on the block… the first week of January the outdoor lights come down and the tree gets stored away for another 10 months.

Ah, the holidays.

Very nice man, funny too. Puppy was having nothing of it, though. He was squirming to get down to keep walking around Old Town.

Re: the last post and the iMac… I knew Lisa would come around.