"Hey, waiter!"

Thought Amanda (left) and Elizabeth (right) could use a little exposure. Lizzie is definitely her mother's child!

We saw them last weekend (the 29th and 30th) when we drove up to Denver with Harv's sister for a short (!) visit. Not being as young as we once were, we took two days to drive the 900+ miles up, two days there and another two days back. But, it was worth it.

Just getting out of town was an adventure. We had intended to leave on Wednesday afternoon (the 26th) after Harv's eye appointment. Linda and I were waiting in the car since the chairs in the waiting room are nortoriously uncomfortable. We decided to go in and "use the facilities" after about an hour. I shut off the van, we went in, came out after a bit and the van wouldn't re-start. As soon as Harv came out, dilated eyes behind wrap around sunglasses, we had it towed to the dealership. Other sister Donna picked us up and we unloaded most of the contents of the van into her PT Cruiser. I had NOT packed lightly! We were planning to picnic along the way plus we had to have winter clothes, you know, in case of cold and snow. (After all, our blood has "thinned" a lot and Linda is from Florida.) But we managed to jam most of it in her car.

Thursday morning, the 27th, we learned that the "main brain" computer had died--be lucky to get a replacement by Monday (the 31st) since there was "only one in the whole country and it's in Detroit". We mulled it over and decided to take the Buick and go ahead. So, we did--without the picnic supplies and a few maps and informational pieces we'd thrown in to use during our sightseeing. We didn't even have the car chargers for the phones and we'd be sorry about that.

We took off after hurriedly loading what we did have into the Buick. We took the cold weather stuff, too, and needed it--or Linda did, anyway. We made Albuquerque Thursday and were at Ellen's Friday afternoon late. We had a full, tiring weekend but it was worth it. The girls were a lot of fun and were quite willing to play with us as much as they could. Grandpa and Amanda juiced lemons for lemonade, Grandma and the girls had "coffee" for breakfast, Grandpa and Lizzie played on the swings and Aunt Linda was always good for snuggles or play time, too. On Sunday Ellen, Linda and I left Grandpa (Bob had to work) babysitting and went antiquing in Ft. Collins. It was raw--cold, rainy, blustery. Monday we saw lots of fresh snow on Long's Peak and quite a bit along the roadside as we drove through Monument and south. Linda was not thrilled!

We made Albuquerque Monday night and then ambled through west central NM Tuesday--El Malpais, the ice cave and Bandera Volcano, El Morro and Inscription Rock, the Zuni Pueblo where we bought jewelry and snitched ideas for decorating a dry bar. We drove down off The Mogollon Rim after dark--not recommended during rut but we saw no elk. Since we were supposed to be back in AJ in time for dinner, we called Donna to let her know we'd be late. We must have called a half dozen times as we were slowed by sightseeing, construction, truck traffic on two lane roads with few passing zones and then there was the drive down the rim. My phone was nearly dead by the time we got to Mesa--Harv's phone, which is no good outside a metro (government always has lousy contracts for services), was dead.

Oh yes, the dealership called Friday, the 28th, when we were having lunch in Raton, NM. The van was ready! So, Harv and I took care of getting it on Wednesday morning. Since we'd bought an extended warranty on the thing it didn't cost us more than our minimal deductible.

Today we put Linda on the plane for Sarasota. She was flying an airline which shall remain nameless but for whom one "cousin" works. Check in told her A-2, when they posted the flight for A-2 it did NOT go to FL. She asked and then ran to B-2 as they were just making the boarding call. After that they announced the Sarasota flight had been changed from A-2 to B-2. The gates are, of course, on opposite ends of the terminal. But, she made it. Now she has one day to readjust to eastern time. I don't envy her.

Ellen is doing fine. She's not as uncomfortable as she was before Lizzie came nor has she gained as much weight as she did with Amanda. Consequently, she has more energy and is more agile, if you can call a woman who is 32 weeks pregnant agile. The delivery has been scheduled for 27 December. So, we will probably go up on the 22nd or 23rd--depending on the weather. We'll stay about a week and, hopefully, Ginny and Steve will be able to come around New Year's. We'll overlap a day or so and then they'll stay a week. Ellen hopes to be back home on New Year's Eve.

Although the doc and the ultrasound technician refer to the baby as "She", Ellen still says "It". They are discussing girl names, though, with a flower for a middle name (Amanda Iris, Elizabeth Rose) but they aren't saying what. We'll find out her name when Bob calls the house to tell us she's been born.

Nothing much else goes on here. We'll start the minor landscaping project this coming week and then not plan anything else until #3 has arrived, I imagine.