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So I guess I developed a brief allergy to blogging. It was not personal. I swear. We even did some fun things – like go to California for Thanksgiving and Christmas. 2009 started after a great shindig with the Williamsons and the Griffins. I had a student teacher for the first time. That was pretty great because he was super helpful and really nice. Meanwhile, Phil was working way too hard volunteering to get the sets done for his school’s play. Too much work = grumpy Rowlands. Not nearly as much fun as Dirty Rowlands.
March rolled around and I started the final term of the year at work. The play at Phil’s work ended. And we got some time back. Yay! We got back from California last Friday. We got to hang out with the Koehlers for four nights! It was so great to see them and relax and crack jokes. They have been really busy lately too, but they seem to be turning a new corner, sort of entering a new season of life.
In a sense, that is kind of how Phil and I feel considering, despite the blizzard today (photos above), spring really is here. In fact, last weekend, I spent a ton of time outside in the garden, pruning, raking and tidying things up for the bloom of spring. You can tell I was really productive because:
I got to work in the dirt and start to build up my sandal tan again.
So underneath all that snow, my tulips are getting watered and hopefully I will be able to post some photos of them in just a few weeks.
I know, I know. I am late. That holiday was almost two weeks ago! The good news is that my Christmas cards were not late. By the way, if you think you should have gotten one from us and you didn’t, then you should call me or at least leave a comment on this post. Unless I really don’t know you, don’t leave a comment, that is just creepy. Here are some photos from the Rowland Christmas in Colorado.
Above we have the Rowland tree and gifts. Being the magnanimous wife that I am, I got Phil a thickness planer. Note to anyone purchasing a thickness planer – get someone to help you, those things are hea–vy! Meatball was guarding the tree from Smudge – who is that blurry bottom right corner of the photo. We definitely have had some cold, frosty mornings here – that was my windshield , from the inside. And last but not least: baby Jesus, who was mysteriously relocated while we were in California…
Also, during an unusually blustery night, a stuffed Santa Bear blew into our yard while we were gone. That is right folks. While we were gone, Santa came to stay.
Admittedly, I know next to nothing about fishing. But when Phil and I pulled up to the Conoco (a gas station), even some guys in a diesel pick-up were as surprised as me to see the live bait vending machine just chillin’ outside the convenience store. Alright, alright, I’ll give you night crawlers, but Balls o’ Fire? Hmm. (Dad, does it have anything to do with that song?)
And think about the logistics of a live bait vending machine: what is it in there that keeps the bait alive? How often to they restock? What happens if the refrigeration mechanism breaks? How would you clean that out? How often do they restock – once a week whether the machine is empty or not? And really, how much live bait does the Conoco station (not next to a lake or river) sell?
These are the tough questions we wrestle with here in Loveland.
Hey, I just wanted to let you all know that I had a great birthday. Thank you for your calls, emails, coming over and hanging out. Especially all you Coloradans (transplants though we mostly are), both Phil and myself have really been blessed by your friendship!
Sarah
This spring (yes, we have seasons here in Colorado and spring is the best one so far) a lovely pair of robins decided to nest on our porch pergola.
Here the robin sat for quite some time despite wind, rain and a Meatball running around the yard. Luckily for the robins, Meatball took the entire incubation period to realize he would find the birds if he just looked up. Three little baby robins hatched right on our pergola and the robin parents were always flying around bringing them a balanced diet of caterpillars and worms.
One day we had some really stiff wind around here – actually it was the day all the tornados kept popping up. Luckily, two of the birds had already learned to fly and had left the nest. We weren’t sure if they had flown away yet, but luckily my husband Phil is a genius and reached up to take this photo.
That day as I was weeding in the yard, I found one of the baby robins. At first I was completely afraid it had died, but it was alive and just a little stunned. It fluttered around the yard for a while under the watchful eye of its parents until finally making its escape. I love a happy ending!
Sarah
The school year is almost over for me. I made it through AP exams, end-of-the-year art shows galore and have started finals. And, as is not that out of the ordinary, I have caught a cold. Dumb, germ-y kids.
However, this is my third slight illness of the year. And each time so far, after some rest, I got better. I cured myself! I know, I know. It sounds normal, I got over it, right? Well, for my whole life until now this is not happen. Instead, I would get sick and stay sick for a few weeks and go to the doctor and get some antibiotics and those would kick the crud about another week later. But in the land of Colorado, I can get sick and then my body cures itself with this handy dandy immune system I apparently now have. Sweet.
Sarah
PS More writing next week when I am cured.
For those of you who don’t know him, this is our dog Meatball. He is the manliest chihuahua on the block. When we first drove into town here, Phil convinced some unknowing Lovelanders that he was an East German Shepard. “They breed ‘em small behind the Iron Curtain,” Phil assured the family.
After his first encounter with snow this winter, Meatball is frolicking around his newly fenced in backyard. He is eagerly awaiting the day he can take a bite out of a squirrel and is chasing birds left and right since they’ve returned with the spring.
Sarah
We are recent transplants from Southern California to lovely Loveland, CO. We haven’t totally left our SoCal roots though: case in point, we have caved to the pressure of blogging and this it, baby. Thanks Bret, Amanda and Liana! Springtime is here, so we are inundated with manic weather patterns and the return of many outdoor excursions. More posts to come on life in NoCO (Northern Colorado).
Sarah
