Merry Christmas 2010

Kind of quiet this year with all the kids gone. We will be getting the Princess in about an hour to head over to my sister's to celebrate.

Here's wishing all my blog friends the best of the holiday season and a most joyous New Year.

Happy Birthday Pan

I hope you have the best day ever and I am more than thrilled and grateful that we shall grow old together. You are the best.

Love you Dad

Six years, some times it feels like an eternity, others just like a few moments. But a day doesn't go by when at some point I don't think of my father. I really miss him. I miss the "bah humbug" when he answers the phone at Christmas, I miss seeing him lean up against the bar to annoy my mom. I miss hearing his voice...

And I hope that he was looking down with a smile as Nuke and his fiance exchanged vows today. Congratulations children. We are looking forward to the reenactment wedding in February.

Happy Birthday Mom

I got you a card. Really I did. It's sitting right here beside me. I just keep forgetting to post it. I will get it in the mail no later than Tuesday :) But I do want you to have the best birthday ever...

Clouds rolling over the moutains
as I watch from our window at the Bellagio

More Halloween Pix

Not going to give a running commentary this time. The only thing here is that I shot these with my T-100 Olympus point and shoot camera using their "magic 2" setting giving the pictures a darker, eerie look and a round vignette. Enjoy

They always come back

Halloween just wouldn't be Halloween without a guest appearence from the Wicked Witch in the Snow White stories. It was an exciting start to the evening.

Bright orange and organza were apparently the "in" fashion for up and coming witches. No more ratty black and long crooked noses for these gals.

A cute little bumblebee buzzed right through the graveyard only stopping to smell the bubbles.

More parents in the fray. Not afraid to dress up in unusual costumes and parade around with their children.

So much for timing. He would jump up when no one was around, once again proving that dead men can't dance.

If you look closely into the door, past the little trick and treaters, you can see the green light of Pan's new laser light show. Skulls danced around on the floor made all the more interesting as the laser lights passed through the fog.

A sailor, Mario and Luigi. Mario and Luigi costumes sure were popular this year. They must be making a comeback after their, what, 15 year hiatus.

The little ones were so delighted with the bubbles, they didn't have the same qualms about the "scariness" surrounded them. Not so for their parents and older siblings though.

Must be getting later... the trick or treaters are definitely getting bigger.

Oh, here come some more little ones.

Back to the big ones again. Note the mother not watching where she's going.

Yep, she walked right into the spider as it dropped down on her.

Look, another guest appearence. This time by none other than Harry Potter.

The eyes see all...... Every moment, every gesture. Not these, of course, but my camera which was placed over by this bush.

I just love these kind of pictures. Bright greens and oranges among the dark of the night. Really sets the mood, don't you think?

And what is this? A skeleton all lit up. I want what he's been drinking.

Tomorrow I will try to post some pictures taken with my Olympics point and shoot. It had an interesting vignette setting that really made the pictures look eerie. Till then.

Preparations get underway

Even my wine bottle gets a make over with its own witch's costume.

The Princess' spider takes a break on Pan's papasan chair before the festivities begin.

And death graced the dining room for awhile before heading out the door.

One of Pan's new toys. And to think he was going to try and make one himself.

Another new accessory to the haunted graveyard scene

Had to check out the bubble machine before the night began. The breeze took them up, up and away.

It's all starting to come together now with the fencing up and tombstones all placed.

The bat found his familiar haunt but the deathly witch got moved from the trees to the front of the garage.

Looks like the spider found a good meal to keep him busy throughout the evening.

kfkap's nemesis peers around a tombstone. I don't think kfkap realizes this one isn't real.

The Borg pumpkin found a new home near the door.

Cauldron full of candy was nearly depleted by the end of the evening.

A kitchen make-over and our Halloween toasting glasses.

My world famous bloody mary. For those who want to know: Mix 1 tbsp onion powder, 1 tbsp garlic powder, 1 quart v8, 1/3 quart vodka, 1/4 cup spanish olive juice and toss in 5 or 6 pepperoni slices. Stir and refrigerate.

The Great Pumpkin (aka ex son-in-law) was very good to me this year with peppermint mocha kahlua, black cherry vodka (okay what do I do with this? I don't normally drink vodka) and a bottle of pure agave tequila.

Look, I spotted a ghostly apparition in the graveyard and Halloween festivities haven't even begun. Tomorrow I'll post some of the evening pictures.

pumpkins, pumpkins

Everywhere. One with Tinkerbell, just for me. Another hiding in a corner in the kitchen. Gosh it is hard to believe that Halloween has come and gone another year already. Soon it will be Thanksgiving and Christmas and THEN a whole new year starts. I'll post more Halloween pics tomorrow, but I realized I needed to get something out today as it has been a week since I posted here. Then sometime I need to get my Vegas pictures posted too. So much to do LOL.

Not winey at all

Yesterday a friend and I headed over to a wine festival at a local winery. Originally there were suppose to be 6 or 7 of us, but between unexpected company, migraines, general sickness and working to much, just the two of us went.

We had a wonderful time looking at all the wares of the vendors, listening to music from our era and, of course, wine tasting. You got about 2 teaspoons of each wine you tasted. Just enough to rest on your tongue and absorb the flavors. I tried their spumante, white zin, merlot, carbernet sauvignon, noble muscadine, wild honeyflower, blueberry, blackberry and chocolate port. Just about all their wines were on the sweeter side, except the cabernet and merlot. Much sweeter.

Small glasses (and I mean small) of the blueberry and blackberry would be a great accompaniment to cheesecake. And the chocolate port would be great with a copy of dark rich coffee. I only came home with the merlot though. I wouldn't drink enough of the others.

They had a great sangria slushie made with their noble muscadine. DC and I each had a glass of it and sat at a table to talk and listen to the music. Shortly after we headed out, buying those things we saw along the way. I got a really cute painted wine glass ornament, a copper & bronze bracelet to wear to Nuke's wedding (if I remember it) and a darling denim skirt purse for the Princess.

On the way back we stopped at a local seafood restaurant for lunch. DC had an oyster sandwich, I had the shrimp. The food was good but the service was lousy. Took nearly 30 minutes to get sandwiches. When they came there was only the seafood and bun, no lettuce, tomato or pickles. Loads of cocktail sauce and tiny containers of tartar sauce. Once I got extra tartar sauce I dove into mine with gusto.

Afterwards I took DC back home and she showed me the work she had done to her patios and what she had been doing in the yard. All with a real glass of wine, LOL.

As for the picture below, any of us who live in a certain part of the south, no doubt recognize this stretch of road and for us old fogies remember when it was the only way across the bayou.