Living in Munchkinland

We had a wonderful weekend. Friday I met Elizabeth at lunchtime at the Alamo Drafthouse to see The Heat. I love that movie theater and it was so fun to get to spend some time catching up with Elizabeth. I went from there to pick up the kids from Magic Camp where Davis got to demonstrate his new unicycle skills. He has a new obsession. That evening we made homemade pizza and watched the Muppet Movie for family movie night. Saturday we cleaned the house and did chores. After lunch, Martha and Clark came by to show us their new car! It is gorgeous. Then we drove to the courthouse square to enjoy Foodstock, an outdoor music festival which raises money for the food bank and put on by our good friends Kyle and Alex. Many of our friends were there and we all sat together on the courthouse lawn and had a great time. Our UU church had a booth as well and it was nice to see our church community out and about. Sunday morning we had planned to go to church, but Michael got on the phone...

1. I'm driving 180 miles a day to take the kids to and from Magic Camp at Highland Mall. They love it. I'm hanging in there. By the way, what happened to Highland Mall? It's a ghost town in there. 2. Michael has been having a rough half of the week. We are all suffering through it. I think all is better now, though. *fingers crossed* 3. I am doing a lot of party planning for our August family birthdays. I love party planning. I'm weird, I know. 4. I am still functioning with only one hand. And I am still overheating. I think I am faulty. A lemon, perhaps. 5. I got TWO gorgeous new bracelets from my parents. I am so happy! I keep falling down, because I am looking at my wrist. (faulty. again) 6. I thought there were six things. I suppose I've forgotten the last one. And now I have to go drive again. Happy Wednesday!

Michael and I celebrated ten years of marriage this last weekend. On Thursday morning I took the kids to camp and the dog to my grandparents and then Michael and I headed for the airport. We flew into New Orleans and arrived around 1:30. We took a cab to the condo and quickly unpacked. We walked down St. Charles to Fresh Market, a fabulous new whole foods-like grocery store in our neighborhood. We bought breakfast essentials and snacks and wine and walked back to the condo. After we deposited our groceries, we caught the streetcar into the French quarter. It was very hot and humid and street car was very crowded. I got progressively hotter and hotter and sicker and sicker and we had to hop off before we reached our destination. We took an airconditioned taxi the rest of the way to Frenchman Street and this was a very good thing. We got to the Three Muses around 4:30 and claimed an excellent table for two. We ordered off the happy hour menu. For five dollars each we got cros...

Saw the dr this morning and got good news. Extensive triquetral bone bruising. Takes 4-6 months to heal. No fractures. No cast, just a fancy new custom fitted brace and I take 2 Aleve morning and night ( or 4 ibuprofen three times a day) a month. I got what I wanted- they saw what was wrong, they know how to fix it and it doesn't require surgery. If I'm very good about not using that wrist at all, this brace is all I will need. If I keep moving it she will put me in a cast. That's good motivation! Cheers to the best news!

Remember when I fell on my butt and fractured my tailbone and sprained my wrist at the beginning of April? Well the butt healed. But the wrist never did. It got better, but I just couldn't get it well. The evening before we left for Taos, I was cutting some vegetables with that hand and all of sudden something in my wrist just popped and exploded into pain. I called the doctor and he said to get a brace, take my pain pills and call a specialist when I got home from my trip. I saw the specialist on Tuesday and she thinks I might have fractured my scaphoid bone during the fall. She said sometimes that kind of fracture doesn't show up on the initial x rays. She sent for an MRI on Thursday and I have my follow up appointment to find out the results on Monday morning. If it is a scaphoid fracture, I either get three months in a cast or surgery. If it's not then we don't know why I have so much pain. I don't know which is worse. I got through the trip with lots...

Our next morning was the 4th of July. I made a big edamame sushi roll salad for an early lunch and then we all took off for our days adventure. First we drove out to Arroyo Seco and parked down a side road and walked for quite a ways, stopping at an enterprising youth's lemonade stand. We thought that the parade started at 1PM and so we aimed to arrive around noon. Turns out the parade began at noon and was just beginning as we got to the crowd. This was a very crowded, but fun and eclectic parade. It reminded me a lot of the Just For Fun Parade here in San Marcos. It was full of colorful costumes and colorful personalities. I really enjoyed it. After that parade, we drove up the mountain back to the ski valley. We bought a number for the rubber ducky race and got free balloons and then the kids were invited to ride on a big float in the parade. Everyone accepted except for Sam who thought he might get more candy if he watched the parade rather than rode in it. The para...

The next day we packed up for a hike. We drove up toward the Taos Ski Valley and did the Italiano hike. Stacey picked this one and it was wonderful! We crossed the creek over and over again and everything was so lush and cool. I even found some wild strawberries to pick and enjoy. I LOVED this hike and the weather that accompanied it. We went as far as our smallest could go and then turned around. We continued to drive up the mountain to the ski valley where we had a wonderful lunch at the Stray Dog which I adore. I had their wonderful frito pie and TWO Norteno margaritas which are the best margaritas in the world and which also knocked me on my rear end. I slept all the way down the mountain. I also took a nap when we got back to the house while the kids watched a movie and Michael and Rob worked. The Gardners took a trip to see family in Santa Fe. That evening, Cheris made a yummy dinner of coconut chickpea kale soup with crusty bread. Mmmmmmm. Then we took the kids on ...

On Sunday we all had brunch at Old Martina's Hall. My parents love this place and though service had been bad the time we went before I thought we'd try it again. Service was bad again and there was nothing vegan for me to eat, despite the fact that they had said otherwise on the website. The whole brunch felt like a disaster to me though everyone seemed to reassure me that it was fine. After brunch we went across the street to see the most photographed church in the nation. I know this because two different people informed us of that fact. It was pretty and we all went in and blessed ourselves and said a little prayer. After that, Cheris and Stacey took their younger kids back to the house and we went on to the Taos Drum Company where we got to have the tour and bang on the thunder drum. Chris especially enjoyed this and it was fun to watch his enjoyment. We spent the evening in. The guys helped me chop veggies for dinner and then we all sat around outside on the pat...

Saturday morning we woke up early and were in the car by 6:30AM. We stopped at a grocery store for more snacks and a chai tea and hit the road. We drove all morning with only a bathroom break and rolled into Taos by 12:45PM. We stopped at Gutiz, one of our very favorite restaurants in Taos for lunch. We sat outside and had a wonderful lunch. We went on to the house and unpacked and opened all the windows as a rainstorm blew in and cooled everything down. Soon both the Gardners and the Liffords arrived right after each other and the vacation had truly begun. We sat outside and visited and opened beverages and enjoyed the weather while the kids happily played in the yard. We ordered pizza and Michael and Cheris were heroes and went to pick it up. We enjoyed our evening and fellowship so much. The joy of being together in Taos again was palpable. It was a great way to begin our vacation.