Living in Munchkinland

This was the year's busiest weekend and we made it through! 6 soccer games, Outdoor Family Movie Night, Victoria's birthday party, Fraserrand Family Day, Anne Halsey for SMCISD school board fundraiser/housewarming, our first swim in the river of the season, and two pinatas. What fun! I'm exhausted!

Two kids in spring soccer. I think that's the tipping point. I've hit that point where I can't keep all the balls in the air. (Insert ball joke here.) I'm screwing up royally lately. I pride myself on keeping organized and controlled and being on time and getting things done and yet, for some reason, this week I have lost all ability to do so. We have been late to multiple appointments, I forgot to bring soccer game snack for the whole team, we were late again, had no uniform, almost ran out of gas. Michael's snack bin is empty. I forgot to call the school counselor, I've made commitments to so many people, I can't remember who I've made the commitments to, let alone what they were. And Davis has entered the tween phase and I can't understand his reasoning and he finds me idiotic. And Samuel refuses to practice guitar and we are at a stonewall. The boys have spring fever too. They just want to play and do their activities and not study ...

We had such an amazing week in Taos. We flew in on Friday and got there late. Saturday was my birthday! My mom decorated the house while I was in the shower and then Michael kept the boys while my mom and dad and I snuck off to the farmer's market and the Millicent Rogers Museum for a show by the local pueblo artists. It was great. When we got home, Odille and Tom and Tommy had arrived. We all went out for lunch at Lamberts and I had an amazing jalepeno margarita and fish tacos. That evening we got a sitter and Marcie and Ann brought their kids up and we all went out to the Taos Mesa Brewing company for dinner and a concert by Taarka. It was fantastic! I had the best green chili stew and I loved the band. Michael had apparently run into my friend Marjorie while he and Tom were registering the boys for snowboarding that afternoon and she surprised me at dinner. What fun! The next day the men and boys went snowboarding/skiing and Mom, Dad, Odille and I drove out to Chi...

We had a great ranch happy hour on Thursday evening celebrating my grandparents. They have been married 25 years. Before that, they were each married to their previous spouses for 43ish years. That is a lot of married life! The love that my grandparents share is a beautiful thing. They hold hands all the time. They are each other's best friends. They are a beautiful example of love.

I had a good weekend. Friday was a difficult day and Michael and I decided to give up former commitments and get in our PJs and watch a movie in the lounge. We watched Mockingjay and it was good. Mostly I love being comfortable and warm and cozy on my lounge chair in the dark with my sweetie and a glass of good red wine. You know. Saturday I spent the whole day at the Southwest Unitarian Universalist Women's Conference. It was fantastic. I loved being surrounded by so many open, liberal, intelligent, loving women. I was inspired and moved to tears and embraced. I attended a great workshop about keeping your brain healthy and led another workshop on living a plant based lifestyle. Michael spent the afternoon with my dad and the kids in front of the fire playing monopoly while my mama joined me. Everyone had a good day. It was a win. Sunday I worked out (good for my mental health as well as body), went to church, had lunch with Michael's cousin Erin and her kids at...

Davis has found his calling. He did a science fair project this year and it was amazing to see him become so passionately interested. Michael and Davis worked together for hours and hours. Davis loves engineering and cars and is always wondering how and why things work. Here is what he did in his own words: My project is about how we use electricity to power cars. It has motors, solar panels, diodes, capacitors, batteries and lots and lots of wires. It was very hard to get the connections correct. Sometimes the descriptions didn’t match the technical drawings. It took some time to find out which wire went where. After we built the car and tested on battery and then capacitor power I found out something interesting. The car went faster on the capacitor but didn’t go as long as it did on a battery. I learned that a capacitor sort of works like a battery in some ways but not in others. Using a voltmeter I discovered that the capacitor could hold more energy than a AA battery but let...

We have had cold, wet weather since we've been home from Mardi Gras. I have valiantly fought and defeated the worst sinus infection of my life, undoubtably exacerbated by our exhausting fun at Mardi Gras. I have given up alcohol and friend and sugary things for a time and slept at least 11 hours every day. I am finally back to normal(ish). The weather has kept us mostly inside and it is a cozy place to be. I have read several great books and we have made many fires in the fire place. The kids love to help place the paper and wood and carefully scrape the flint and strike the steel. The dogs have moved in with us and we have enjoyed their loving adoration. I have spent lovely long days with my father as his health has improved as well and we have ventured out on small errands and built our own fires in his fireplace. I chaperoned the fourth graders in Davis's class to the Bob Bullock Texas History museum on a day when all schools in Austin were delayed for weather. We...