Lisa n Tom (n James n Joseph)

Lisa writes: Here in suburbia, we take our lawns seriously. In the Fall, there are only types of neighbors: leafed and deleafed. Umm, that's us on the left.

Dad, Mom, and "the girls" aka Breanna, Madison, and Taylor (with a cameo by Tim) Don Don and Brooke Christi Us

(Click on any picture to see it larger) Tom, carefully working his way up or down the stairs from our loft bedroom Dad, wondering when dinner will be ready The kids, accustomed to a gas fireplace, asked repeatedly, "Grandpa, how do you turn the fire off?" Mom and Dad returned from Guatemala bearing gifts: alpaca wool caps and dolls (Christian didn't quite stay awake for this part) A trip into Vail Village with Tom and Madison This looks promising

Lisa writes: We made it up the mountain okay, but only one of us came back down standing on our skis. Tom took a wrong turn about 200 feet from the top, felt his knee pop, and spend the rest of the day relying on the kindness of the Ski Patrol. Christian thought Tom's crutches were pretty cool.

Tom writes: This is the kind of thing that bosses don't like to hear about. Sound interesting? For the past years I have nurtured a dream of studying acupunture and setting up shop somewhere. Despite its image, acupuncture can be more than just needles - it can help people address how their mind, body, and spirit are interconnected. And there is something about watching people become engaged with the question about who they are that fascinates me. But there are a couple of nagging questions, like how would I pay for going to school? Or more importantly, is this something I am passionate enough about to dedicate that much time and energy? I like my job right now; it has a reasonable degree of security and room for growth, but this dream keeps pulling at me. So what do I do with it? My guess is that I am not the only person who has asked these kinds of questions. What have the rest of you done?

Lisa writes: Three times we've left little potted plants out on the deck, and three times we've come home to find the pots shattered. We thought maybe there were strong gusts of wind blowing the pots to the ground. But last week, after a completely still day, I came home to find this. And I know who's doing it. Behold: Evil Squirrel. (Click to see it bigger. Look hard right at the corner of the rail. He's hard to photograph. Like vampires. That's one way you know he's evil.) Now it's us vs. him. Bring it on, Squirrel.

Lisa writes: Benjamin's one-year-old birthday pie, before. Benjamin's one-year-old birthday pie, after.

Lisa writes: Here's nine minutes of joy right here, folks!

Lisa writes: Now that we've solidly established ourselves in the ranks of the married , we're starting to make little inroads into the ranks of the with children . We attended the 3 year old birthday part of a friend's little [genius] boy. That's him in the white shirt. When we last visited, nearly a year ago, he was singing the alphabet, counting to 100, and programming the Tivo. The trick at these parties is to find a job -- something to do so you don't have to make conversation the whole time. Tom snagged the good job right away. He spent a solid hour on the floor inflating and reinflating balloons for the kids to release and sail across the room. It was like a room-full of flying Whoopie Cushions. I picked up the secondary job of making balloon animals. As the majority of these kids were boys, and as I didn't think my one boy-friendly balloon creation (swords) would make for friendly inter-kid relations, I had to improvise. Kids are very sophisticated these ...

Lisa writes: My parents just got back from a trip to Peru and the Amazon. The pictures to the right are of a floating reed island in Lake Titicaca. The islands are built and inhabited by the Aymara Uros people. They build them by cutting and laying reeds. Each island lasts about 30 years, then they start to leak and sink. Then it's time to build a new island. There is also an 8-minute highlight reel of the trip which features the world's largest rodent, a brief lecture on seasonal water tables, and a spectacular air gun shot by Mom. Mom went native with the pink pom-poms. Click on any picture to see it much larger.

Lisa writes: Hello, all of Tom's Tai Chi friends that we meet at dinner last night! You're here wondering where that video of the Chinese culture festival is, aren't you? It's back down in October a ways and to get there faster you can click here . Also, here's the story I was telling you last night, in my friend Jenny's original words: "Kim and Red MADE me go to a kabuki play. I did not want to, and offered to wait at a lovely bistro. They lured me by saying the play featured a monkey. DO NOT FALL FOR THE KABUKI MONKEY TRICK! The monkey only came into the play in the last, painful minutes. "If anyone tries to get you to go to kabuki at all, they are not your friends. "Full grown men screeching at the top of their lungs and prancing around in elaborate costumes is NOT entertainment. (I'll get off kabuki now.) "

Lisa writes: Mom requested a photo of the 11-foot black trashbag spider on our roof. Believe me, it's much more menacing in person. Especially since the legs keep rolling off the roof and hitting people.