We had a pretty significant ice-storm in Midland, which took out quite a few trees, including our own Crape Myrtle in the back. We also lost a few branches in the front and wondered if we would have to cut down some trees. One selling feature of this house was the shade in the backyard, so we were sad to lose any trees.
We were particularly sad to lose the Crape Myrtle. I had visions of sitting out beside the Crape Myrtle in the spring, eating a pan au chocolat breakfast in the crisp spring air. Now I'll just have to eat Dunkin' Donuts at the kitchen table.
Crape Myrtle tree. So pretty.
I walked the neighborhood and discovered heaps of broken branches in everyone's yard.
We even got a little snow!
Feeling a little cabin feverish, we decided to take a break to Ruidoso, New Mexico. I wanted to get my fix of snow and Mary wanted to ski, so Andrew arranged a weekend trip with some friends. The last time we came to Ruidoso, we camped at a private little campground and spent a day at the horse races.
This trip, we stayed at Village Lodge and were pleasantly surprised. For $120 a night, we rented this nice little one bedroom apartment, fully and tastefully furnished and complete with kitchen and king bedroom.
While Andrew, Mary and Dustin spent the day at Ski Apache, Shirene, Finley and I took a walk around Ruidoso. For the record, pushing a stroller on snow is not easy. At all.
Friendly deer!
We drove the road up to Ski Apache and stopped for a few scenic views.
Sunday, we headed downtown Ruidoso and fought over who got to push Finley in the stroller. I let Andrew win because I knew all about the snow/stroller business.
Just off Sudderth Drive is a little group of old rickety looking buildings housing a couple of antique shops and Tina's Cafe. The food here is home made, fresh, and very tasty. The jalapeno peach pie is delicious!
In other news, I tried Ugli Fruit. Meh. I will stick to oranges and/or grapefruit in their own right.
This was also Girl Scout Cookie season. We trailed the streets of our neighborhood, stood out in the freezing rain at weekend cookie booths, and gained 7 lbs each from eating all the Caramel Delites.
We sold the boxes for $4 each. Our troop made 50 cents per box. I don't think that was a good deal. It was almost worth it, however, because now I have discovered Caramel Delites and my quality of life is forever improved for that.
We discovered that there is a fine line between ordering enough cookies to fulfill your orders, and being left with $3,278 worth of cookies that you now have to pay for.
Incidentally, if anyone needs any Citrus Cranberry Crisps (the ones nobody really likes), I can totally hook you up.
Also incidentally, did you know that you can buy a box of Caramel Delites at Big Lots for $1.40?
Door number 4,362
My daily allowance.
I am now fully weaned, although this photo made me a drool a little on my keyboard.
Mary got into the Rubik's cube and ordered a special smooth-action model from Amazon
Door number 13,571
Tie-Dye T-shirts. And socks.
Of course, I took a million photos of Finley...
