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.

Being Carded

Well, not really. Yesterday, I went to a card making party. It was fun, it was interesting and I learned something new. Now I can put some of my paper scrapping supplies to another use. Everyone loved my little Xyron sticker maker (thanks mom) as it was perfect for applying "glue" to the back of the ribbon like pieces of paper. Now I have 20 more cards (5 of each type of card) to send out this year along with the 10 that I got from Shutterfly. I just don't think the recipients will really believe they are from us :)

More on the horizon

Well, Pan's vehicle is fixed and it didn't cost an arm and a leg as I thought it would. But I guess that will make up for the fact that one week this winter we will be spending in Key West. Family reunion thing.... :) Although that was where Pan spent part of his childhood, I have never been. I wasn't really looking forward to it, but have since changed my mind. Of course, that could change again. LOL.

Whichever way, I do hope to get a lot of great photos while I am there.

Oh what a week!

It appears that I need a vacation from my vacation. Ever so tired, going to bed at 9 p.m. and not even wanting to get up at 7. Ugh. I was hoping that once I started on the thyroid medication that I would start feeling a little more perky. Guess this is going to be a long term wait. Better that than overdoing it to begin with.

Pan's truck bit the dust and I had to drive forever to go get him. I was really hoping my truck was going to be paid off this year so we could get him a new vehicle. But looks like it will be next year. He so needs one. Though I told him that if he got a new model, then next truck I get will be brand new too. Only fair don't you think?

Friday night he played with one of his new toys. He had gotten his super duper professional portable bubble machine (there is one bigger but it is not portable). He filled the house and the cat's water bowl with bubbles. The cat, who I thought would be running all over after them, went and hid under the bed.

Last night he brought out his new zombie. It lays on the ground and has a foot control to make it rise. Makes a lot of noise too, LOL. I later found the cat on the bottom bed of the bunk under the covers cowering. He's such a wimp.

But it looks like this Halloween is going to be full of new toys (although not animated, I bought Pan a gravestone with a skeleton crawling over it, covered in spiders) and surprises. Only thing missing is that the children won't be coming down this year. Maybe next. Or maybe I can talk Nuke and his fiance to coming down. That would be so much fun.

I've got to get to work on getting the inside of the house ready as I'm hoping some of our friends can make it over for wine and bloody mary's while Pan is handing out the candy. Then I can get them to do the death voice over, so I don't have to.

But if you can't wait to see what we are doing this year, you can always check in periodically on the Insights of 2 Scrappy Sisters blog where I will be posting scrapbook pages of last Halloween (at last count it was going to be 11 pages long and no they won't all be posted at the same time) throughout the month.

We made it back

and all in one piece. Our plane left Vegas at 1:50 Monday morning and with a 2 hour delay in Memphis, we landed at around 9 a.m. By that time I had been up for 28 hours and decided that if I was ever going to sleep at night, I needed to stay up, LOL. So walking around like a zombie (or someone who had to much to drink), I did manage to stay up until 9 that night.

This time around I really did enjoy my time in Vegas. I went to the shark reef exhibit at Mandalay Bay (where we were staying), & the Titanic exhibit at the Luxor next door. As you know we went to see the Wayne Brady show. We ate at the Golden Steer, the StripSteak and Batista's Hole in the Wall. My favorite steak was from the StripSteak, the most entertaining was Batista's.

All in all it was a good trip.

The Wayne Brady show

was absolutely awesome and my feet are blistered from all the walking. I may be staying in tomorrow and soaking my feet. But grandma's viginer will forever be etched in my memory. I am so glad we went.

Why is it

That when one fingernail breaks they all start breaking? I just broke the last one on my left hand and Pan has the fingernail clippers with him. At this point I really ought to just clip them all and be done with it.

On another note, G & I went to the shark reef today and it was really interesting except neither one of us figured out how to use the audio. You know how they make you take pictures up against a green screen when you enter? Well I just figured they were out to get us both. Pan has already seen the pictures and laughed his head off, now just have to see what G's wife makes of them, lol. Fortunately she has a wonderful sense of humor.

Made it by the Titanic exhibit too. No photos allowed so had to stow my camera in a locker until finished. This time I asked how to use the audio. Lot of interesting artifacts and facts. When you enter, you get a boarding pass with the name of an actual person that was on the Titanic. At the end there is a wall with the names of the survivors from each class and crew with those who perished listed below. You were then to locate the name of your passenger on the list. Mine was a survivor.

If you get the chance you really need to see the exhibit. It is my understanding it will be at the Luxor for the next 10 years before they move it on.

Tonight we are headed to the Wayne Brady show at Planet Hollywood. I really liked him on Whose Line and am looking forward to seeing him live.

Ta ta till later.

We made it

Have crappy view from window, but a gorgeous room. A tv in the bathroom that we can watch while bathing, but not from the separate shower. Pan is registered and we are at Starbuck's for coffee & muffin. I'm going to hit the shark reef today and head to the Luxor tomorrow. I think they have a Titanic exhibit. Til later...

I'm slipping away

Actually it seems more like I'm slipping into old habits. There really is a reason I haven't posted much the last couple of days. Work has something to do with it, LOL. I've been working a little more lately than normal, but hopefully next week I'll be back into the routine I'm familiar with and really like.

Also I have been doing posts for my sister, the Bug's other blog: Insights of 2 Scrappy Sisters. It was born of the idea that she had of having a place where the answers to all the questions regarding scrapping, paintshop pro and photos she has asked me over the years could be put down. She asks the questions, I write the posts. I know there are people out there who are much more knowledgeable, but apparently the Bug likes the way I explain it to her. Must be all that sighing and exasperation she hears in my voice, LOL. Anyway, you are welcome to check it out. That is where I am posting almost all my layouts now, using this one for my photos and occasionally special layouts like the brag book I am trying to make for the Princess.

Until next time.....

Oh what a wonderful feeling

after spending the afternoon, evening, night and morning with our parents. We got over around noon. Pan went over to his folks, my sister came by to mom's and the three of us headed to Hallmark for the Star Trek Enterprise ornament. Then I found a Dr. Suess one for Indy; a tree ornament decorated with shoes for my daughter; 2 Star Wars ornaments from years past at 60% off; a witch's costume for my wine bottle, but could not find an ornament for the Princess yet. We have plenty of time.

When we got back the sis, showed me some apps I had to download. A wine app and a grocery app that allows you to scan in the bar codes for making a list. I can store my favorite wines in the wine app; but I love the grocery iq. With it I can make a list of things I'm running low on and then when I head the grocery store, I have it right there. Very cool.

My absolute favorite is the google sky map. Start the app; point it and it will show you which stars, planets, constellations you are aimed at. If you are looking for a particular one, it has a search and then you just follow the arrow until you locate it (it tells you when you have found it, actually it prints it at the bottom of the screen.

We took the folks to Olive Garden for dinner and, oh boy, did we have a good time. Good food, good wine and excellent company. Lots of laughing and lighthearted teasing. By the time we started home the weather turned bad. We got Pan's parents home safely but once we got to mom's the heavens opened up and we got soaked headed to the house. Still lots of laughter.

Once we got in and changed I noticed I had missed a call from Nuke. It wasn't all that late so I called him back and he put his girlfriend on the phone. It was her responsibility to tell me that he had popped the question. I am so excited for both of them. They are both big into the renaissance re-enactments so they are going for a Viking wedding. Ought to be interesting. Though he won't let me wear one of the helmets with the horns. :(

I'm going to have to start working harder to lose weight so I can wear one of those bustiers like the opera singers wear. That's allowed, just no helmet with horns. Pan will be wearing chaimmail. Said he was going to have to start practicing carrying around an additional 30 pounds.

It's been a great weekend.

A trips away

Soon, like when Pan gets up and starts moving, we will be heading to visit our parents and taking them out to dinner. Hopefully I will get to see my sister as well so we can do some "geek" talk about our new phones.

I hope all you have a great day and a great weekend. Looks as if it is going to rain here :)

I just am

I took Pan to dinner last night. We trade off like that from time to time. He takes me out to be romantic; I take him out because either 1) I don't want to cook, 2) I didn't want to go grocery shopping. Yesterday it was the latter. First though we were going to head to PetSmart to get some litter.

After waiting in line several minutes to get across the bridge, we figured that there must have been an accident (oh, darn, I forgot to call the office today to find out what really did happen) and as soon as we could, turned around and headed to the restaurant.

Walked to the a cheery voice asking if we wanted full service or self serve. Huh? Self serve, we fill out the menu, turn it into the kitchen and get our own drinks. Interesting. But we wanted a beer with our dinner and I don't think that's included in getting our own drinks. Besides we went to a "restaurant" to be served, right? Service was not what I would call great with their full service, but not bad either. Just not what we were used to.

But anyway, to where this is leading. As we were sitting there eating our pizzas and drinking our beer, Pan pipes (ho ho ho, that's a good one) with:

"I'm not going to work tomorrow."
Me: Oh, have you told anyone at work? (I assumed he was joking)
Pan: No.
Me: Why not?
Pan: I just now decided it.
Me: Oh

He deserves it, really. He has been traveling a lot lately. Last week was South Carolina, before that Carson City, Nevada, and next week Las Vegas. He has worked most weekends and even through Labor Day. I think he just wanted to make sure we still had a house. And I won't complain as he got some much needed yard work done and tonight he's treating me to dinner out. Can't get better than that.

Close Connection

Computers have really brought us closer together and that's not a bad thing. I couldn't get back to sleep yesterday morning after taking my medicine so got up to play some games on facebook. Lo and behold, I was getting a chat message from my darling granddaughter. We got to chat back and forth for nearly 30 minutes before she had to go to school and I had to go to Curves.