The days go by

11/8/08

Hi y'all. I started this post several days ago but didn't get a chance to finish it, so now I have a week's worth of ramblings. My dad drove out here from Utah with a big truck and trailer to help us load up a bunch of stuff that we're not going to be needing in the next 6 weeks to help us get a start on our move. It does feel good to have made a small dent in our packing, but I am even more cognizant of the giant task that still lies ahead. Oh, well.

Madelyn was so excited to have her "Crampa" around to play with her and take her "fwying."

Mark has been back and forth from Española a few times already--first, he forgot a bin full of all his toiletries, his coat, and jeans (I wasn't there to supervise, obviously), and then he came back to help my dad pack our stuff. His schedule is such that he's only working 2-4 days a week, in 12 hour shifts at the ER. Some of them are during the day and some are graveyard. Overall, he won't be working as many hours as in previous rotations, but the days (and nights) he does work will be long.

When he was going through some of his stuff in our storage room while we were packing, he came across a bunch of old photos. We hardly have any of when he was a kid, so I just had to scan them in to show you. If you had any doubt of Madelyn's resemblance to Mark:

Mark, 2 years old

He also found some genealogy papers showing that he has great-grandparents from Germany and Scotland. (Mark has never known any of his grandparents, let alone great-grandparents.) Apparently those genes were kind of trumped by his Chinese ones when it came to how he looks. Here's his graduation picture:

He graduated in 1996 from Camden County High in North Carolina. I wish I had known him back then so I could have reveled in his cuteness, tan and long hair. (C'mon--like you don't think surfers are hot.) Speaking of...

This is part of an article from the January 21, 1996 Albemarle Sunday Advance paper about Mark and his buddies George and Billy going surfing in the middle of winter. It reports that it was 36 degrees with 20mph NW winds at the beach that day. That's him out there! You couldn't even get me to stick a toe in that frigid water.

Here he is 12 years later, who told me last week that he's like a "dried up fish" since moving out to the west. Poor guy. At least he has a cute family to show for it.

This is what happens when I leave the room for two seconds. He and Madelyn are always goofing off. Also:

"Mama! Come see! I'm a number 1!"

I was kind of hoping that when I uploaded this picture, I'd look like less of a dork than I did from the preview on the back of the camera. I didn't get my wish. At least my fingernails still rock. Madelyn can look adorable even with a shirt over her head. Not fair. I want my youth back.

I love sleeping pictures, don't you? I am still wondering where Madelyn got her gorgeous complexion. And how she always manages to sleep with her arms way above her head.

Oh, yeah. This is also what I did this week. Finally finished my Christmas cards. I actually made most of them way back in January, but had to do more (193 in total, but who's counting), stamp all of them on the inside, plus make about 70 tags. Why, you ask? Because I am insane.

And now I am going to have to gloat just a little:

WOO-HOO!!!

I am so excited that Obama won! Oh, come on. There's no need to move to Canada because of the outcome of the election (some folks I know have actually been saying that). It's going to be OK, people. Really. In any case, it can't be any worse than the past 8 years, no?

And now on to my Saturday of vegging out in front of the TV. AAahhhhh.