Late November - clean up with help!

I don't know how it is that my parents at 57 have WAY more energy than Adam & I do (put together!) but they do. They are incredible - busy & helpful & efficient & darn productive. Every time they are planning a visit they tell us to come up with a few projects to tackle - sometimes big things like painting every room in our new house or remodeling an entirely gutted room. This was a shorter visit, so we just cleaned up the entire yard & took 3 massive loads of junk to the dump...all in a weekend's work for these "grand" parents!

Late November again

Even though my birthday was at the beginning of November and we spent MOST of my parents' visit celebrating Simon's birthday which was just a few days away, we did go out for a classy & delicious dinner one night at Adobe Springs Cafe.

Mom & Dad left a few days before my Chamber Singers choir rehearsal, but Dad came to rehearsal, made a few musical observations (as a music man himself) and snapped a few photos.

Late November

My dad decided not to completely neglect our four-footed friends...Simon certainly gets the limelight, but I thought I'd share the other "kids" in the house. Especially b/c the picture of Paladin is so darn funny.

Paladin, aka Tubby or Tuba

Rogue, aka Tuna

The Sunday my parents were here we extended an impromptu invitation to Rob & Tyler for brunch after church. We polished off an egg & sausage & cheese casserole awfully quickly...

Lighted Christmas Parade - November 24

Most of the stories & pictures from my parents' recent visit are shared through Simon's blog at www.simongerard.blogspot.com, but I have a small sampling of photos to get out there before I post Christmas ones.

Me with my two favorite men - Dad & hubby - at the Christmas Parade

Tyler & Rob - our dear friends (my two SECOND favorite men) staying warm in their store & watching the parade through the window

Mom & I came in to warm up a few times

My Birthday Purchases

As much as I love Ren Faires & the medieval era, every year I realize how little I have to dress the part. This year my goal was to find some good clothiers and purchase an outfit or two. I found a bonus - a reversible "corset" of sorts - and a skirt that matches both sides. So I only bought two snoods for my hair & two blouses, and the rest works together for two full outfits. I thought I looked younger in the white and older in the red, but Adam thought it looked more like the white was poorer (peasant) and the red was wealthier (maybe a landowner's wife?)

Renaissance Faire weekend

The first full weekend in November is always the Renaissance Faire in Las Cruces, which is about a 2 hour drive from Silver City. Adam and I met and became friends because of the fact that we are both medieval/renaissance geeks, so finding a way to indulge in our anachronistic tendencies for a day or two is a high point of our year. Seeing as the first weekend in November is always relatively close to November 2, my birthday, this is how we celebrate my birthday. This year we decided to get a hotel "suite" for the night so we could have a little space, Simon could go to bed, and we could still stay up & revel in the free HBO. My dear friend Tyler, who isn't quite as anachronistically geeky as we are but still likes to join in for a bit of the fun, came on Saturday but had to head back to Silver after one day. Here are a smattering of photos from the weekend, and Simon's blog has a few more at www.simongerard.blogspot.com.

Our medieval family.

Tyler & me in full garb

Tyler & Simon & I take a break from the sun.

Medieval Simon & Daddy

November 2, 2007 - My Birthday

A little out of order, but I wanted to share a few photos from my 28th birthday with my family.