christmas in old town

mikah stayed an extra day or two at thanksgiving because she didn't get called back to work.  for once. so we took her to old town and ate probably the best sopapillas i've ever had.  and we found a giant christmas tree that was made out of, oh, 50 normal sized christmas trees?
here is what alrey says about old town, and anywhere else in new mexico:  my favorite food is any food that starts with "carne."
i probably shouldn't even say it because we've all heard it at least 7 times…

3 or 4 stories tall?  i believe so…

actual christmas always feels weird after thxmas (i think it looks cooler spelled like that) has happened.  i want to be all christmasy and festive, but it's all already happened, so why bother?
what i really want is to decorate a house with lights.  i don't remember ever having outside decorations.

worst. drive. ever.

try to not calm down then you hear these voices

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once upon a time, we decided to drive from albuquerque to texas during bad weather.  it can't last all the way through texas can it?  it will warm up and at least turn to rain, right?  definitely.  right.
WRONG.
so. very. wrong.
the first 50 miles of the trip took 2 and half hours.  that should have been our sign to head home and wait a day or two.
then we got lost.  and added an hour to our trip.  because my phone didn't have enough service to use the gps.
and then we got lost finding our way back after getting lost.  another 30 minutes or so.
and then we finally got on 10, which would take us straight into san antonio.  home free?  NOT.
that was when we came upon and ICE STORM, which is real.  it is not hail, it is not icy snow.  it is raining ice.  ice is falling from the sky and covering the roads with black ice.  so the last 120 miles took us, oh, 4 hours.  we couldn't drive faster than 30 miles per hour, or we would slide all over the road.
the 11 hour trip ending up taking 20 HOURS.
it was so horrible.

water was freezing on the windshield.  if we weren't driving it would have been so pretty!

mysterious

if not for the open kitchen door, this mysterious red hallway could have had the full creepy effect.  it's in old town at some restaurant.  to deter anyone from using the bathroom, probably.  i think because none of the stall doors closed…

although it may have been a pink hallway, in which case, all mysteriousness would be off.

pre-cycling. yay!

i like the girl/boy mix of voice.

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all this spring cleaning and throwing things away is weird and fun and a little sad.  i have been doing some pre-cycling, though.

i have found some fantastic lipsticks.  weird? maybe.  but a good 'ole swipe with some tissue, or a clorox wipe and then some tissue, and they're good as new.

i've never had a drawer this big for this kind of stuff.  i feel super fashion forward.  or something.  maybe just organized, which makes me happy.

oni being herself.

oni has discovered that she is a cat.  sort of.  she has figured out she can jump up on arley's saddle, which is acting as a "don't-run-your-face-into-this-hanging-light-fixture" piece of furniture.  she loves the saddle blanket.  i think she loves to roll around on it because it is so full of dirt, and she is trying to rebel about the fact that we won't let her outside.  

oni being herself.