Birthday Boy

Today, the 31st, was Tim's 31st birthday. We didn't do much since he got home a bit after 6 pm and had to go to bed at a reasonable hour, but we did have some dinner followed by birthday cake, and then watched some episodes of his new Red Dwarf Series 7 DVDs. While there are amusing moments, I still don’t really get the show, but Tim loves it and it was his birthday so I wasn’t about to complain about watching Red Dwarf. Now he’s asleep (and has been for over an hour) and I should soon follow. Here’s a picture of Tim with his new giraffe, which my mom and I made for him at Build-a-Bear. We had a lot of fun making it, and gave it to Tim a couple of weeks before his birthday so that we could both give it to him together.

Finally Registered

On Thursday Tim and I headed over to the DMV (or whatever they call it here) to get our cars registered in Arizona and also to get our new driver’s licenses. We had been there the previous week around noon and had only managed to get his car inspected because we found out that they required forms of ID that we hadn’t brought along. Besides, they told us that there was a 2 hour wait. This meant we had to come first thing in the morning. Anticipating traffic, we left home an hour before the place opened. Said traffic didn’t happen, so we were there half an hour early. But that was fine—at least we would get out of there at a reasonable time. I knew about Arizona’s pet-friendly license plates and really wanted one, but wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get one that day or if I’d have to order it. Luckily they did have a few of them there and so now my car proudly displays one of them. The plates have a cat and a dog on them and say “Pets enrich our lives,” which is absolutely true. Not only that, but a good portion of the registration fee goes towards the spaying and neutering of dogs and cats. Right up my alley! I’m glad Arizona offers these plates. Actually so does Oklahoma, but I found out about it after I had already registered my car. I thought that I’d get one when it came time to renew my car’s registration, but then we moved away and came here. The lady who processed my license plate and driver’s license application told me that those license plates aren’t so popular, which is very sad considering how much help those pound puppies and kitties need. But the plates are fairly new, and I hope that as more people put them on their cars, others will become aware of their existence and might be willing to get one as well.

Lena’s Outdoor Adventures

Lena has been enjoying the move to Arizona. Not only does she like the house, she likes the backyard as well. Back in Boston she loved spending time on the balcony we shared with our neighbor. She would spend long periods of time sitting among my neighbor’s plants and would look at another neighbor’s cat, who was a safe distance away. When we moved to Oklahoma I tried to let her out but she ran right back in. I think she smelled too many other cats out there, and that scared her. After that one experience, she never showed any interest in going out again. When we moved here, however, she looked like she wanted to go outside, so I let her out. The first time, she went out tentatively and came back in. After that she showed interest in going out again and this time she sniffed every plant and walked all the way along the wall separating our house from our neighbors’. Since then I’ve been letting her out with some regularity, and every time she seems to really enjoy herself. Sometimes I even see her rolling around on the ground. The other day I was transplanting my plants from the communal pots in which they traveled to Arizona, and Lena kept me company. Anytime I walked around with an empty pot in my hand, she ran up to me expectantly. Each time I had to disappoint her by showing her the inside of the pot, which did not contain cat food or fresh water as I’m guessing she hoped. A few times when I’ve let her out she has looked at the wall with some interest, but luckily she hasn’t tried to jump. I do keep an eye on her anytime I let her out and follow her around so she can’t get too far from me. It seems most of our surrounding neighbors have dogs, so I don’t think she really wants to go into their backyards. Since we moved to Arizona, Lena has been more vocal than ever before. She meows and squawks frequently and I’m taking that to be a good sign that she’s happy here.

Cool Vegetation

Here are a few pictures of cacti. The saguaro and the prickly pear grow locally, but I'm not sure about those round cacti. In fact, I'm not even sure what they are called. I saw them at the Desert Botanical Garden and liked the way they looked. Next time I go, I will have to find out their name and whether or not they are native to Arizona. Cacti are truly fascinating!

Also Growing Up Very Fast

Here are Juan and Pedro in a picture taken just a couple of months ago. They are getting huge!!

Growing Up Fast

I have realized that because I didn’t have internet access for most of the 2 weeks I spent in OKC in December and because I moved out of the apartment on Silvi’s birthday, I never posted a note about her 10th birthday. Silvi turned 10 on December 16 and is getting very tall, as can be seen in this picture taken last month at the botanical garden in OKC. I have been fortunate to have been able to spend time with Silvi over the past few years since she lives in Tampa, which is obviously much closer to Boston, OKC and Phoenix than Buenos Aires or Montevideo! While I haven’t been able to visit her as much as I’d like, I have managed to make a few trips down to Tampa and then during spring break last year they all came to Oklahoma. That was really fun! I hope they will make it to Arizona soon.

Silvi is very bright, creative, and funny and has many talents, including dancing. She recently participated in a production of The Nutcracker with a Russian ballet that auditioned young dancers to take part in their shows. This was a wonderful experience for her, and I wish I had been there to see her perform. Maybe next time! Silvi has also written a number of beautiful poems, and was even published on Poetry.com. We are always amazed by the sensitivity and depth of her poems.

Silvi spent a good part of her 10th birthday en route to Oklahoma to spend Christmas there, but a few days before the beginning of that voyage she had a great birthday party. Her friends came over for a pizza party that involved not only eating pizza but making it from scratch as well. She and the other girls had great fun and it was clearly a good start to this next year of her life.