Gas station burritos, potlucks, snow

Second storm of the season. The mountains have been parched, so it is much appreciated.

Wyatt is now neighing when he sees horses or mules, baahing when he sees sheep, mooing when he sees cows, making engine noises and swanning his arms around when he sees an airplane. It's really quite fun and lovely. We three got out for a nice date yesterday afternoon when we drove down to Big Pine for Chevron gas station burritos (the best in the Valley - they are wrapped in foil and everything). Wyatt went down for his nap, and Matt and I chowed down on our burritos from our vantage up on Highway 168, looking back at the Sierras. It was too windy out, so we sat in the 4Runner and got some sun.

It was Marsha's birthday last Thursday. We didn't want her to have to clean up her own house, so folks like Karen, Zach, and Janet organized and we had it here out ours. Nearly 40 folks turned up on a school night, with a day's notice, bearing homecooked Asian dishes, and a good time was had by all. Bishop is good that way.

Heard from AT and Karen that they caught Beck's wee show at the Echo in Los Angeles last night. We had the feeling they'd get in.

Fixed the TV and DVD with Graham's help. The boy blew the TV circuit from his ON/OFF/ON/OFF fascination. We three grown ups watched Ray and Charles Eames' The Powers of 10 and The Machinist with Christian Bale once we got the boy to sleep. The Machinist was a bit slow, but yes, everything you heard about Bale's weightloss was probably true. Auschwitz revisited. Extreme? Yes. Did it help the story? Yes. Christian Bale is so interesting. Even my mom and teenage cousin think so. I am looking forward to the Werner Herzog film starring him. Matty and I had a good laugh reading the New Yorker article describing all the snafus during its Thai shoot.

Getting the house we are buying into shape is a Herculean task. Karen has proven herself to be Hercules, mucking out the shed, prepping the exterior walls for paint, cleaning out all the raised beds and side yards, trimming trees, etc. Getting rid of nicotine stains and smells from 20 years of smoking is the next task. The funny thing is, the house is in a million times better shape than most houses in the neighborhood.