Lisa n Tom (n James n Joseph)

Lisa writes: I have this song on constant replay in my head lately. I love it. And I still love it, even though after listening to it 27 times it starts to sound like this song .

Lisa writes: Our grass is growing. The mirror is hanging. All is well with the world. We had a busy, social weekend (by our own standards, anyway). On Friday we had dinner with Foreign Service friends who are headed off to Vietnam. The only thing I know about moving to Vietnam now is, before you go, you should buy a lot lot lot of stuff at Costco first. I also learned how to say the very complimentary phrase "You are cheap" in Vietnamese and I learned that ours isn't the only house with a non-standard doorknob. The F.S. friends are doing some renovating before they leave and it involved switching out the locks. Unfortunately, you can't just waltz down to Home Depot for these locks and so until they figure out the magic source of the weird doorknobs, they'll be exiting the house through the backyard. On Saturday, we put on our paranoia hats and went down to the Stake Preparedness Fair. There we learned about food and water storage, First Aid, and that FEMA publishe...

Lisa writes: Second time's the charm right? Right? The first time ended badly, loudly, and with the splintering of wood. I'm not sure I'm going to sleep well tonight.

Tom writes: I offer this as the latest installment in an ongoing series of interesting careers and jobs that I see on the way to work. In one sense, it is good to see the level of entrepreneurship, but at the same time it does make me scratch my head...

Tom writes: I saw this one on the way to work. I would not have thought of it as a possibility...

Tom writes: Last week was the ward talent show. And there is some serious talent in the ward. Witness this video of two of the newer members of the ward, accompanied by four other rather new members of the ward.

Lisa writes: Last night we signed and dated the forms, stamped and addressed the envelopes, and marched ourselves down to the midnight post office to stand in line with the rest of the people who had waited until the penultimate day to turn in their taxes. Tom commented repeatedly on how organized the USPS folks were -- they were clearly expected crowds and they were prepared for them. There was a cop directing traffic. There was another guy organizing incomers in the lobby, and a woman organizing people in line. Every station was staffed and the staffers were quick to call "Next!" and keep the line moving. We were only in line for maybe 10 minutes, probably less. It was almost a joy to say goodbye to all that money, just for the fine customer service experience. Almost.

Lisa writes: I've said it before, I'll say it again: Whatever you are doing right now? Christi's family is having more fun. It's just true. Take me, for example. I am sitting at home, eating a peanut butter sandwich, thinking about going out and digging up dandelions before they go to seed. And then there's Christi's family. They are hiking up to the Cave of the Winds, carrying a 2-month old puppy. (The puppy book said puppies' joints aren't made for long hikes. I think the puppies probably wrote the puppy book.)

Lisa writes: I had a ticket to fly home from Colorado Springs to Virginia on Tuesday AND IT WORKED. Unlike just about everybody else on the 2400 cancelled flights, I flew home! Granted, on a different airline, and only after two cancelled and one delayed flight, and four hours later than scheduled but STILL. There were a lot of people stranded all over the place, so I felt very, very lucky. And you know the best part? I get to come home to Tom! Incidentally, did you know you could fly to Vernal, Utah?

Tom writes: Man have I been having a blast these last few days! In an unexpected last-minute whirl of plans, Lisa headed out to Colorado Springs on Saturday to spend time with her family. So I have been batching it, just like the good ol' days. Just don't tell Lisa how much fun it's been without her. And since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'm going to give you over 6,000 words worth of details about living it up, Northern Virginia style (you may want to click on the pictures to get the full effect of the joy in my eyes): Saturday morning I had a great walk in Old Town Alexandria. (by myself) Then I came home and mowed the lawn (by myself) and tried planting some grass (by myself) I also watched "Remember the Titans" (by myself) This was me heading off to work this morning. No cats to kiss good-bye. And this was my yummy supper tonight, with all my friends gathered 'round and raising h...

Lisa writes: The is The Project that my parents are currently undertaking. Dad says it's a storage room for his remote controlled airplanes and computer stuff. Mom says it's a "dance studio." I say those support posts look awfully skinny to me and I'm neither dancing in there nor walking around underneath it during a strong breeze.

Lisa writes: I looked out my office window and what did I see?

Lisa writes: There is a typo on the deed to our house. (Thanks again, County Assessor Dude! This time, I mean it.) The deed says we own "Lot 2" when in fact we purchased "Lot 20." I have to send in the original deed to have it corrected. But, are you thinking what I'm thinking? You are, aren't you? That we should go check out Lot 2 and see if it's maybe nicer than Lot 20? You sneaky thing, you!

Lisa writes: Meet Tucker's River Scout, aka "Scout." If you've been following PuppyWatch 2008 you will note that this does not look like Bob or Caesar and you would be right . After weeks of agonizing over which puppy to pick, they drove to Idaho and got a totally different dog. Scout is a 9 1/2 week old Chesapeake Bay Retriever .

Lisa writes: Last summer and fall, Tom ripped out hundreds of feet of ivy from the yard. And if you've ever tried to remove ivy, you know that it doesn't come quietly. Tom dragged this stuff out of the ground, inch by inch, by the sweat of his brow in the sweltering Virginia humidity. The ivy had to go because it was trying to eat our house. As it stands, our house is depreciating in value every year anyway (Thanks, County Assessor Dude!), so being eaten wouldn't help matters. Pulling out the ivy saved the house, but now the bare soil is eroding every time it rains. The land has been increasing in value every year (Thanks again, County Assessor Dude!), so we have a vested interest in not seeing it swirl down the sewer system. Tom has been trying to grow grass in the bald patches for a couple of weeks now, but the seeds won't sprout. Yesterday, we finally identified the culprit: Me. The combo fertilizer/weedkiller I spread over the lawn a couple of months ago? The stuff ...

Lisa writes: It's April Fools Day and here's what you're going to do for fun. Wait until somebody wanders away from their computer for a minute. Sneak over to the computer and go to google.com Click "Preferences." At the top of the screen, change the Interface Language to "Elmer Fudd." Click "Save Preferences." Close google.com and sneak away. Wait for hilarity to ensue. Other good language choices are "Bork, Bork, Bork!" aka The Swedish Chef, Pig Latin, and "Hacker."