Carrie flew down here yesterday evening to visit and take care of Marolynn who had meniscus repair work done this morning to her knee. It's kind of a mini-family reunion because Chris Suski (long-term friend) is getting married this weekend and Mike will be down to attend that wedding.

The blue tubes leading up to Marolynn's knee are attached to an ice water chest with a small pump to keep the knee cool. So far, the operation has turned out very well and we're thankful for Carrie's presence during what otherwise is a very busy work week. It's just nice to see her in any event.

Marolynn just got back from Las Cruces where the annual "Battle of the Books" contest was held this year. There's a list of books given out at the beginning of the year and those who want to participate, read the books. The students are all mixed up into different teams and the contest is to answer questions about the contents of the books. She's pretty tired now -- the trip down and back is almost the same distance as driving to Utah. She left at 4:30 am. and got back around 6 pm.

This was Librarian's week at the school and also the week of the Spring book fair. Marolynn got some recognition as you can see by the sign and also from the administrative staff - the Vice Principal is on the right of the group.

Not quite done with winter yet. A weather warning was posted for Santa Fe this morning, but I didn't think much about it because it was just cold in Albuquerque (haul in the tomatoes again), but after arriving at work, 3 hours worth of snow set in. The ground is warm enough that nothing really stuck for long, but we're in for 20's again tonight. I've been tracking Alta, up in the mountains above Salt Lake and this storm passed their way yesterday bringing 6 inches of snow, with a total of 124 inches on the ground, just 10 inches below the maximum snow depth for the season. One of these days soon, all of it is going to run down off the mountain and I hope it won't be too much for folks up that way.

This is why Santa Feans don't plant tomatoes in April. We had to haul our plants in to protect them from the 25 degree weather
Another Saturday at work getting ready for budget hearings, and while it was just cold in Albuquerque, a couple of inches of snow visited Santa Fe overnight. It is springtime though, and the weather warmed to 70 in Albuquerque on Sunday and is expected to reach 80 for the first time this season on Monday. Subtract about 10 degrees for Santa Fe's temperatures. This morning's paper featured an article on how we might deal with melting of the biggest mountain snowpack in years in northern New Mexico and in Colorado, with Rio Grande levies constructed in the '50s after a huge flood in 1948.

The tempo has been with budgets in the daytime and taxes at night. Thankfully the taxes are all done and will be mailed out in the morning. I'm one of those old fashioned kind who will electronically submit my taxes when they stop charging for the service, or until a stamp costs $18, which might not be long from now.

Maria Owens got married today and I thought I'd take the iPhone to the reception and try its picture-taking capabilities. The iPhone captured a lot of light in a quite dark hall, but at the expense of a slow shutter speed, so I'd recommend it for posed pictures rather than ad-hoc pictures where movement blurred many photos.

Maria Owens, who is Marolynn's visiting teaching companion, married a tall (6'5", I'd guess) handsome man, Paul Bain whom she met at work. For years, she was single-handed, but very faithful in raising her children; particularly her youngest son, Tyler. When Tyler entered his teens, the Bishop asked Verl Soderquist, a rough-hewn but active Scouter, to look after Tyler and provide an example that Tyler needed in his youth. Tyler came along fairly well in the Ward and after his 19th birthday, was called to the Portland, Oregon mission. Something happened and he was sent home, but he worked it out and returned to the mission field six months later, where he served well until his release early this month. The Bishop in his final field of work wrote Maria a letter expressing to her his thanks for such a fine young missionary. All of her prayers had been answered, allbeit the road wasn't entirely smooth. Verl had moved to Idaho, but he drove down here to meet Tyler when he was released. Tyler is the blurred figure in the middle picture between Maria and Paul.

It was a typical "cultural hall" (not sure what that big room is called anymore) reception, with plenty of goodies. Sister Clark arranged a group of young fiddlers who supplied the music. I had to take a picture of a boy in the group with his cowboy hat. In Santa Fe, older versions of these groups have their distinctive dress in cowboy and spanish decor.

It was a Saturday at the office in Santa Fe as the time nears for budget hearings. The computer was at home recording conference with mouse-click help from Marolynn. One good thing about going to Santa Fe today was that I stopped at a nursery that was advertising four-inch pots of tomatoes for a buck a pot. What I saw were these big plants that the nursery had grown, and they'd sort of gotten away from the growers, getting big way too early for Santa Feans to consider planting this early in the season. But there are bags of potting soil and plenty of gallon containers at home, so I bought my year's supply of plants, drove them home and quickly switched them over to the bigger containers. They will be kept in the wheelbarrow and rolled out in good weather, and in near the house in colder times. It's tomato-roulette, but if they make it to the first of May, they'll be planted all around the house and we'll have a great head-start on the season.