Lisa n Tom (n James n Joseph)

Lisa writes: She's my first cousin, twice removed, but there's a real easy way to tell we're related...

Lisa writes: In an effort to get involved with the local parish, Tom and I signed up to participate in a program called "Engaging Spirituality." I've jokingly come to think of it as "Enduring Spirituality" because it's a 21-week, every-Tuesday for 2 1/2 hours class plus four all-day retreats. (That's 84.5 hours, not that I'm counting BECAUSE I'M NOT, but just, you know, in case you were feeling like maybe it was unfair that Tom goes to 3 hours of LDS services each week while Mass is only 1 hour. If you add it all up, we're even-steven. Not that he's counting either BECAUSE HE'S NOT.) These classes start off with a prayer and a meditation on a scripture, then we listen to a couple of bearing letters [translation for Mormon-speakers: testimony letters] from people who have dedicated their lives to working for social justice issues. For example, we're heard from a couple in inner-city St. Louis who try to help formerly incarcerated ...

Lisa writes: Tom has been wearing a compression sock to try to reduce the swelling. It's working, but one of the funny side effects is that the bruising has been moving around. It looks like it's trying to move to low-pressure areas. So now Tom has purple toes.

Lisa writes: Eight days post-op, the bruising is at its finest. How 'bout this? How 'bout I post these pictures really small and then if you're interested, you can click on them and see them in all their magnificent gross glory, but if you're not interested we can both pretend this post never happened? Addendum 2/24/2010: Four days later, look how much better it is!

Lisa writes: Remember our new friend ? He has bright, southern exposure during the day and is now the saddest, saddest snowman that ever was.

Lisa's sister, Debbie, writes: I got a job for the summer! I'm going to save the threatened Pygmy rabbit!

Lisa writes: Everything is better roasted. Roasting caramelizes the natural sugars in vegetables. The only thing better than caramel on your vegetables would be chocolate on your vegetables, but that's a topic for another post. In the meantime, do this: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Chop up vegetables. Bigger chunks take longer to cook than smaller chunks. Stir them around with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Some salt and pepper is good too. Add some thyme, rosemary, oregano, garlic, or whatever if it sounds good. Dump them on a baking sheet with an edge, or a roasting pan. (We like this one .) Every 10 minutes or so, shake or stir the pan to keep the vegs from sticking. Total cook times are listed below: Asparagus 12 mins precisely Brussels Sprouts 30-45 mins Carrots 30-45 mins Onions 35 mins Peppers 5-7 mins close to flame Potatoes 20-30 mins ...

Lisa writes: We did Valentine's dinner early (Thursday night) because today Tom had knee surgery. I'm having deja vu. Almost exactly two years ago, we were at the same place, doing the same thing, with nearly all the same staff. They remembered him. It's not good when all of the staff at the surgery center recognize you on sight. I think things went a little bit easier this time around. See how happy he looks, pre-op? Now go look at the pics from two years ago . Better, right? This is the patch they put behind his ear to prevent nausea. I probably could have used one too while Dr. Pettrone was describing what they'd be doing to his knee. THIS knee, not the other one. (That's what the purple dot is for. After the doctor walked away, I embellished it with legs and antennae. Just to give the kids a fun surprise in the operating room.) The rule is "no metal in the operating room." (Not the music; the mineral.) So Tom gave me his ring and we stopped by Mordor ...

Lisa writes: In 1998, Tom invited me out for Valentine's Day. My roommate, Janine, was also playing in a basketball game that night at Columbia Union College up in Maryland. So the itinerary for the evening went like this: Get all dressed up, go to dinner at nice steakhouse (which was weird, because Tom was a vegetarian at that time), then -- still dressed in our finery -- go scream for the team in an old college gym. Since we got married, we've kept up the tradition, sort of. All the dressing up and Clyde's; none of the screaming for the losing team.

Lisa writes: So we made a new friend. It looks like it's trying to get away, doesn't it? Some mutant reindeer/snowmen have issues with Tom invading their personal space.

Lisa writes: File this under the category of "Expensive, but totally worth it." SmartWool brand midweight long underwear. Wool warmth, but soft as cotton. They fit under jeans without making you feel like a stuffed turkey. I bought these for Tom for Christmas because his old long johns were looking ratty and pilly and the elastic was failing. Since Christmas, he's probably worn them a couple of times. I've worn them nearly every day. Yesterday, he finally went online and bought me my own pair. (Hint: They're $75 at REI, but if you're not picky about color, you can use froogle.com to find them for a lot less.)

Lisa writes: Two foolhardy neighbor men up on the ice- and snow-covered roofs of their two-story houses, shoveling snow. [Kids, don't try this at home. In fact, don't try this anywhere.] Neighbor's two big, silly dogs who climbed up a drift to escape from their yard ... straight into another neighbor's fenced yard. Then they couldn't get back into their own yard again and stood at the fence, pawing and crying, until the family came out and rescued them. The cockeyed optimism of the people who dug out their trash cans and put them at the curb (or the nearest approximation of the curb) for pick up by trash trucks who will never come today. Family down the street who shirked their civil sidewalk shoveling duty in favor of building three truly enormous snowmen. Huge, hand-written sign in front of Home Depot: "NO snow shovels, snow blowers, space heaters. SORRY!" Our snow-filled backyard, completely flawless except for the foot and tail prints of the resident s...

Lisa writes: LDS services were cancelled today due to snow, but Mass is always on. The priest lives at the Parrish so it's not like he has far to commute. Tom and I walked to Mass then rounded up a little bunch of neighborhood Mormons to have mini-church at one family's house. It was a sweet little meeting. We had a heady rush of euphoria when it came to the part of the meeting where the Bishop usually makes announcements, and we realized we could announce anything we wanted. Anything! Drive-in Sacrament meeting! Free buckets of hard red wheat to the first 10 people to sign up for the ward talent show! Outsourcing Primary to India! But we got over it. After church(es), we finished clearing the driveway. We made an 18" wide path yesterday that just about killed us, but today, with a burst of energy fueled by dozens of oatmeal cookies, we got the rest of it done. When I say "we" I mostly mean "Tom." But I helped. I made the cookies. (I'm kidding! I sh...

Tom writes: They promised us a major dumping today, and Mother Nature delivered. Our next door neighbor measured 22 inches. But see for yourself! Sadly, most of it fell overnight, so you don't get the full effect. It seems like the local road crews learned from our December blast and our street was plowed several times as the snow fell, as opposed to once two days later (and rather poorly at that!). Here's to lessons learned!

Thank you, Betsy, for finding and sending these pictures .

Lisa writes: Here's the latest on the potty time adventures. We're getting bids from two contractors. One has been sick for the past week. In a casual conversation (with no official measurements or anything) the sickie contractor said that this could put us back $10K. The healthy contractor came by twice with his electric and plumbing guys, looked and measured and poked around, and quoted us about half that price. A lot depends upon what kind of tile and fixtures we'd want. We'll be doing the demolition and hauling stuff to the junkyard ourselves. (Sidenote: If you're ever looking for a really interesting field trip to take kids on, go to the junkyard. Absolutely fascinating. I'm serious.) At the pricepoint of $10K, I was starting to chicken out of the bathroom expansion idea, but at half the price, maybe I'm still in. It would only be a couple thousand dollars more than just remodeling the existing space and we'd get a bigger bathroom. Still waiting fo...

Lisa writes: It's snowing again. Six inches on Tuesday and another 18-24 predicted for today. Tom has the camera set up on a tripod in the window and is taking shots of the backyard every 30 minutes so you can watch our woods fill up with snow after we stitch all the frames together tomorrow ... or Monday ... or whenEVER it stops snowing. No church tomorrow. No nothin' tomorrow. We're in for the long haul. Tom has never seen "The Shining." I think that's probably for the best.

Thank you, Betsy, for finding and sending this picture. Tom is the oldest of two or the 4th of five, depending on how you count it. His father had three children in his first marriage and two more in his second marriage. There was a big gap in between the two broods. Tom is 17 years younger than his nearest older sibling, Betsy. Despite the age difference, Tom and Betsy have always been very close. I think they are the most similar of all the siblings in temperament and world-view. What's funny, though, is how other people have perceived them. When Tom was little, people on the street always assumed she was his mom. Later, Tom started looking older, but Betsy didn't. (She miraculously never ages.) People started to assume she was his wife!

Lisa writes: I made a quilt for my friend, Kristin's, next baby. You will have to take my word for it that the quilt is a little bit cuter (and less wrinkly-looking) in person than in the picture below. The back is red polar fleece. The birds are applique. The branches are thread-sketched . The free-hand quilting is the lyrics to a song my mom always sang, "Way up in the sky / where the little birds fly / Way down in their nest / where the little birds rest ..."

Lisa's dad sends these pics from his phone and writes: Your inheritance is increasing.

Lisa writes: This is the aftermath of tonight's 2nd Annual Closet Swap (also known as a Clothes Swap or Frock Swap). You can read about the 1st one here . Despite a sudden snow flurry, we still had about a dozen intrepid attendees and much swapping. You can tell we had a good time because it looks like a clothes bomb went off in my house. The pictures above are what was leftover after everyone went home -- at least 50 lbs. of clothes. They will be donated to ECHO , a local food and clothing bank. And I'm kidding about the lousy t-shirt. I think we all came away with most excellent hauls. I got a brand new (with tags on!) pair of Talbots khakis, an Ann Taylor long-sleeve knit V-neck shirt, a Brooks Brothers button-down shirt, and a perfect t-shirt to wear to the gym. Turns out the secret to a successful Closet Swap is to have friends with better taste than you.

Lisa writes: We're trying to memorize some scriptures with our Sunday School kids. I found some sites online that have put verses to music, so we tried that last Sunday. Halfway though, I looked up and the two boys in class were doing the macarena to Genesis 1:26-27 .