Snow, love, life.

I am busy. Parties, people, laundry, house cleaning. Oh yeah, and some pictures. :) The usual. Please take a moment to enjoy the pictures. We will be back to our regularly scheduled blogging shortly.

Another winter storm heading our way. How did we get SO fortunate?

Stay warm!

Stay-cation

Yeah, that's me. The new, improved 'vacation' is to hang out in your own locale, and chill. And I have a WHOLE week of stay-cation. Ahhhh, it's so nice be home and hanging with my peeps and the Handsome One. But more of that to come, so on to the good stuff.

The pumpkins Paul carved were terrific. His had an intricate design requiring carving tools and a drill; mine just required brute force and awkwardness. But in the end, we had two awesome looking pumpkins.

The weather on Halloween was something that couldn't have been written better if it had been scripted. It was warm enough to wear only long sleeves, no coat required. This was the first year of such a late daylight's saving time, so for the first hour, it was light out. It was sort of peculiar. As the sun started to set, we were treated to some lovely colors. With the onset of November, those clear nights will be less and less. As ghouls and goblins flit around, we took a few minutes to revel in the beauty of the sky.

We enjoyed the company of our friends and neighbors. We handed out 100+ pieces candy. adult beverages and some jello shooters. Paul eventually started a fire as it got darker and cooler. We hung out until about 8:15 at which point I was pretty darn hungry and we called it a night. It was a blast.

Saturday night was the Kitchen Warming Party. Since the completion of the kitchen, we have not had a proper party, so we decided that it was time. We had a keg of Bell's Amber Ale, a bunch of party trays including some healthy snacks and a load of fun and funny people. It was standing room only and it certainly seemed as if all enjoyed it.

At the stroke of 7pm., guests starting arriving and the last of our friends didn't leave until well after 10pm. After the last of our guests departed, Paul and I stayed up to clean up a few things and then reflect on his retirement and the past year. We marvel at the blessings of good friends, wonderful jobs and a full life. In our wildest dreams, we couldn't have imagined a full Naval career for Paul, a tour in the midwest and a chance to settle in such a terrific place.

Location is always so interesting to me. There have been a few acquaintances in the last couple of years who couldn't stand living in Michigan. In (individual) conversations, each complained about the people, the weather, the roads, the fill-in-the-blank. I know that feeling well, only it's the feeling I had living in southern California - and I did have authority complain about the traffic! ;) You just have to find where you fit. Each of my acquaintances have moved on - to new locations. Hopefully they each will find where they fit. We fit here. With our friends, our neighbors, our neat house and our Mr. Handsome.

We are enjoying post-party leftovers with friends stopping by this afternoon to help finish the food and beer. If you are in the area, swing by! Enjoy the weekend.

How I spent my fall vacation - day 1

It's my fall vacation - I have a whole week to sit back and relax, do nothing and chill. Of course if you believe that, I have a bridge in Arizona to sell you .... ;)

Last night, we carved our pumpkins. I use the term 'we' loosely, with poetic license since well, I actually never even got my hands dirty. Primarily because I don't like getting my hands dirty and two, my left arm is KILLING me from the flu shot. So Paul took care of the hot, dirty, man work and I took care of the photojournaling. (And because Henry can't be here and I promised him pictures). You have to know that carving pumpkins in our house can't be anything like any other house. Why? Because we have an engineer in our midst and the carving must be precise. We have patterns (that involve extensive annual research), pumpkin carving tools, isopropyl rubbing alcohol to CLEAN the pumpkin and flour to outline the pattern once punched into the pumpkin. This is a multi-step process to ensure a perfectly carved pumpkin. And they are. Pictures tomorrow. ;)

So tonight, we celebrate our annual Halloween ritual of building a fire, hanging out with our neighbors, enjoying the kids and their wild costumes and having just a grand time. Lots of friends swing by to say hello, have a jello shooter or two and enjoy an adult beverage around the firepit. It has become quite a tradition.

Mr. Handsome, curious about the pumpkins (but not the taste) will be enjoying a luxurious weekend at the Whiskers Spa - one to avoid his herding instinct from going into overdrive (and he has a VERY STRONG herding instinct) and to avoid chaos and confusion at the party Saturday night. He would go nuts with all the people in the house - more herding - so it's a win for everyone.

Saturday night is the Kitchen Warming bash. Bell's Amber on tap, lots of food and munchies, lots of friends and a great way to celebrate Paul's official retirement from the Navy. I have a LOAD of errands to run (on my vacation day) but they are fun errands. Stay tuned!

It's Friday!

(For me) :) It has been a busy week. We are getting ready for the onslaught of small ghouls and goblins who will haunt our house on Friday night. Trick or Treats is from 6pm to 8pm on Friday. I expect that we will see 75+ kids since the weather is supposed to be terrific.

Every Halloween, Paul pulls out the fire pit to the front of the house, we put up the folding chairs, pour ourselves an adult beverage and wait for the goblins. We enjoy the friendship of our neighbors and the parents who walk around their children. It's so much fun!

Tonight is pumpkin carving and Saturday is our big party. I have a ton of work to do in preparation. And Samson, that lucky dog, is heading to his favorite doggy spa for the weekend.

Lots of funny and fun pictures to follow! Enjoy the day.

What's going on?

Well, it's hump day and for the short week, we are two days from the weekend!  The kitchen is unreal.  Jim has been busy with floor tile and it looks amazing.  I would haul out the camera and take pictures but Paul's work is just as good so take a peak here.  Even Jim thinks that the whole thing will look amazing.  And that is a lot coming from Jim. ;)   There is a better than good possibility that the appliances will be installed by next week.   I can hardly stand thinking about having a working stove, regular size refrigerator and -WOO HOO- a beverage fridge.   The replacement midget fridge is doing duty in the basement, where it will stay helping out with overflow during holidays and parties. I will not have to go downstairs to get food or drink.  No more rustic living! 

And mark your calendar for our Kitchen Warming party.  Saturday Night, November 1.  Food and drink (I know, shocking for a kitchen warming party) with lots of friends and conversation.  Invitations to follow.  Twitter for you cool cats, paper for those who don't Tweet. 

Mr. Handsome is spending his days at Whiskers.  He absolutely loves his friends there and the staff seem to have found a special place in their hearts for him.   The beauty is that he doesn't seem to miss us when he is there and loves coming home at night.  We seem to be done with any separation anxiety and that is a very good thing.  

I have mentioned before that I have started subscribing to a (GASP) magazine, Real Simple.  If you don't get this, borrow one and I promise you that it is worth ever single penny that it costs to subscribe.  Plus you get really cool email - recipes and daily thoughts.  My favorite?  A truly Zen thought, the obstacle is the path.  

Ponder that one friends.  And have a good one.

Transitions

Comings and goings, hither and yon....It was a nice Saturday. Friday night, it poured the rain complete with thunder and lightening. It was glorious. Mr. Samson is quite oblivious to the sound and interruption of the sounds, unlike our Allie. She hated the sound of thunder. It rained into Saturday morning and I was concerned for our friends and their schedule parties, hoping that the rain would subside before noon. And it did. For a while, it was sticky in the morning, but the breeze came in from the south and it was deliciously cool breezy all afternoon. It is perfect weather.

Mr. Samson REALLY let us sleep in today, all the way to 7:40 am....and let me tell you, that is a TREAT. Of course, we had to let him out around 6:00 am but we told him to go back to bed and he obliged. It was heaven.

Around noon, we headed to a graduation party of a colleague. We took the cameras along to take pictures of the kids and parents, friends and food. It was a delightful party and we took 300+ pictures for the families to share. The weather could not have been more perfect.

For dinner, we headed to Grandville for a retirement bbq. I use the term 'retirement' tongue in check since my friend and colleague, Jennifer, is retiring, for a while anyway. I have had the joy and privilege of working with her for the past 7 + years and I will miss her. Every day. She got a degree in computer science when not a lot of women studied and worked in the field. And she brought amazing gifts and vision to her job, the college and our office. I sure will miss her. She and her husband had a bbq for dinner and we had a blast - eating, chatting, reminiscing and laughing. She is going to take some time and hang with her kids, write recipes for the Foodies Grand Rapids blog and chat with me on IM. :) Congratulations, Jennifer.

We have the Wings on and are hoping for a victory. Sunday is our day to get it together. Laundry, shopping, cleaning, cooking...certainly NOT our day of rest as we transition to another work week. Cheers.