Lisa n Tom (n James n Joseph)

Tom writes: Few things are more joyous than a snow day. Sadly, they are hard to come by as adults. In my current job, there is no such thing as a snow day. If the weather is bad, you can work from home, make the time up, or use a vacation day. In other words, you get to choose between bad, bad, and worse :-( However, sometime you can get pretty close to one of those old fashioned snow days from those halcyon days of childhood...

Lisa writes: Right this moment there is a guy named Olaf in a red minivan driving through Kentucky, and Tom and I are partially responsible. Last night, a friend called to ask a favor. Her husband is out of town, friends of theirs who recently moved to Mongolia left their minivan in her driveway as they tried to sell it over eBay, and now tonight a guy named Olaf was flying in from Kentucky at 10 p.m. with his three kids to pay cash for the minivan and drive it home. Could we come over? Absolutely!

Lisa writes: I don't care where you are or what you're doing right now, Christi's family is having more fun than you are. It's just a fact. And the sooner you accept that, the easier it will be for everyone.

Lisa writes: Happy Pig Year! As part of the celebration, I shot hours and hours of video of students from Tom's Wushu school performing at a New Year's celebration in Gaithersburg. It will be posted someday -- mostly just so you can see how cute Tom is in his white silk uniform. March 8 - Tom writes: The video is now up! Check out portions of last-minute preparations for a dragon dance, some devilishly cute little kids, and a slower, more sedate version of martial arts with my peers and me...

Lisa writes: Very cool friends from church invited us to a "white elephant" party at their house tonight. It was fun, and I am really looking forward to showing up to work on Monday with the item I scored in the gift exchange.

Lisa writes: We've been on the hunt since last September. Northern Virginia is an interesting market because you're looking at construction between 1890 and 2007. A lot of them were built right after WWII as homes for returning GIs and their new brides. Back then, these little 3-bdrm 1 bath bungalows sold for $7,000. Now, they are going for $450,000. Here are some samples of things we've been considering. The first house to the right is in Fairfax. Built 1955. 4 bed / 2 bath on .27 acres. Mucho, mucho wallpaper upstairs and wood panelling in the basement. What you can't tell about the next house is that it has amazingly steep stairs leading down to the basement and an awesome homemade Tiki bar. 3 bdrm/2 bath for $429K on .17 acres. Built 1956. We haven't gone to see this one yet. It looks great on the internet, which makes us suspicous about why it's priced so low. Only $449,900 for 3/2 on .28 acres built in 1970. This one was fun because the basement ceilin...

Lisa writes: Our first Valentine's Day together was 1998. Tom made reservations at Clyde's at Tyson's Corner and we dressed up, had a lovely dinner, and then went to watch my roommate's college basketball team play (and lose). I was wearing a new top for the occasion: a form-fitting dark green top that I kept hidden under an ugly brown and orange sweater all night because I was too self-conscious to unzip the sweater. The next year, I spent Valentine's alone with a bouquet of red roses that Tom ordered for me while he was away for a week-long retreat of silence. That's a whole other story. Tonight, we're headed back to the same Clyde's. Not quite so dressed up -- or self-conscious -- this time. There was a ice storm last night and we've been home playing hookey for two days now. Happy Valentine's Day!

Lisa writes: Lori sent this picture of Cameron and the Valentine's card he made for her. He wrote, "To Mom: You are the best Mom. I love you mom. If you were in a Mom contest you would win! Love, Cameron" Lori captioned the picture: "This is STILL hanging on my fridge and I'm getting it laminated :)"

Lisa writes: You know what it means when your tire is going "wunka wunka wunka"? It means one of the ding-dongs at the auto repair shop you took your car to two weeks ago because the brakes were making that winter squealing noise forgot to tighten two of the lug nuts and they have fallen off . At least, that's been my experience today.

Lisa writes: Tom's hobbies include swimming! Cycling! Tai Chi! Eating vegetables! It is a fact, universally acknowledged, that guys who play guitar are hot. The little guy here is Peter. Peter can kick Tom's tail, but only if Tom stops holding him off at arm's length with his hand on his head. Not every guy can pull this outfit off. Or on, for that matter.

Lisa writes: Last year's hobby was quilt making. If you want to get into quilt making, it helps to have a roommate who just happens to have several hundred pre-cut quilt squares from a project that she lost interest in. That really jump starts the process. And then you have to have lots of friends with babies to give the quilts to because, really, what am I going to do with all these quilts? This one went to Elias. You can see it in action here . This one went to Harrison. This one went to Tessa. This one went to Mackenzie. And this one went to Ava. And here she is! Along with Jack Jack, the world's most patient guinea pig.

Lisa writes: On this date, one year ago, Tom proposed. Tom, tell the story again. Tom says, "We were in Colorado, at Lisa's parents' house. Lisa says, "And you herded all of my family into the living room." Tom says, "Like cats. It was like herding cats. And then I babbled something about how I've loved your daughter for years and I'd like to ask for your blessing to marry her." Lisa says, "And then you asked everybody." Tom says, "Madison said, 'Yeah, okay.'" Lisa says, "Christian just shrugged." Tom says, "Your mom was excited. And then everybody started talking, but I still hadn't asked you. I sat on the arm of the couch and said it as awkwardly as I possibly could. Like, 'WOULD you marry me?' I didn't say it like I meant to say it. And I forgot to kneel." Lisa says, "And I said yes." Tom says, "And then you burst into tears and I gave you the ring." Lisa say...