Happy Halloween

The trick-or-treaters started this evening around 6:15.... it's a warm and beautiful night, so there was a steady stream of kids (and parents) walking around the cul-de-sac. As I type, it's 8:30, and the curfew has begun... all kids are supposed to be heading towards home now, and by 9:00 there shouldn't be any more door-bell ringing. Usually, the last kids who come by are older boys, looking to get what's left of the candy. So far tonight, that hasn't happened. Maybe the older boys who always used to do that are now too old to be trick-or-treating.

There have been more boys tonight than girls.... and I know that because I have two boxes on the foyer table by the front door. One is marked boys, the other is marked girls. In each box are little toys/trinkets that would appeal to either boys or girls..... and the boys' box is nearly empty tonight. I had bought Halloween coloring books after last year's Halloween and put them away for this year..... I give those out to the little kids who look like they still enjoy coloring books and crayons. Just as I thought, the coloring books were a hit tonight. I also had Halloween pencils, for both the boys and the girls, and they just loved those as well. I had found a whole box of those (brand new) at a yard sale, and I knew they'd come in handy for Halloween.

I mean, really, how much candy can kids eat? And the parents tonight who saw the pencils and the coloring books and the little toys yelled out "Thank you!" as their kids showed them what they got. I had also bought some small boxes of animal crackers, for the really little kids... the ones that don't know what Halloween is really all about, but the parents dress them up in a costume and take them to just a few houses so they can take pictures for the grandparents. Those kids got the animal crackers, instead of chocolate, and the parents really appreciated that, so I'll do the same thing next year.

Just about every kid who came to the door tonight said "Happy Halloween!" as they ran down the walkway. Every single kid said "Trick or Treat!" and every kid also said "Thank you!" Last year, there were so many kids who just stood on the front porch after they rang the bell and they didn't say "Trick or Treat!"--- not that that's such a rigid rule, but it's just nice to hear their little voices saying it.

While I was waiting for the doorbell to ring tonight, I was de-Halloween-ing the inside of the house. All of the Halloween decorations from the party are now put away, safely up into the cabinets in the laundry room. Tomorrow, I will take down the outside decorations. Then the fun begins.... out will come the Thanksgiving and Christmas boxes.... one box at a time, a little bit each day. In two or three-weeks time, the house will be all Christmas-ed up. I won't decorate the outside of the house till after Thanksgiving, though, so my neighbors won't think I have lost my mind.

I also started to wrap Christmas gifts today. We had bought a bunch of Christmas books for my husband's great-niece and great-nephew, so those are all wrapped up and ready for mailing. I took out the shopping bag that I've been filling up for my sister, and those gifts are all sorted out now and ready to be wrapped. Some things were too summery for Christmas gifts, so I put those back in the shopping bag and I'll save them for her birthday.

I'm way behind my usual schedule, but it will all get done. Right now, we're concentrating on Thanksgiving.... deciding if we should invite more friends to join us and young C and her parents. One holiday at a time, one day at a time.

My cousin never got back to me about her visit here in November, so I'm guessing that she's not coming down as she had planned. Her original thought was to be here over the Election Day and Veteran's Day holidays, but I guess she couldn't arrange that. I'll call her this weekend, but I would think that if she was indeed going to be here then, she would've already called to give me the flight information. She had also planned to go dancing with our friend J when she came down this time, but J will be away on a cruise next week, so she wouldn't have been able to go dancing anyway. Both my cousin and our friend J are excellent dancers.... both have given dance lessons, taken dance lessons, and they can dance rings around mostly everyone else on a dance floor. It would've been greaet to see them dancing together. Oh well.... maybe it will work out next time.

The doorbell hasn't rung now since I sat down to type. It's now nine o'clock.... the curfew has started and Halloween trick-or-treating is officially over. Gracie and the cats are probably very happy about that.... I've had Gracie in the laundry room all evening, and the cats have all been out on the screen-porch. It was safer that way.... I didn't have to worry about Gracie barking by the front door, and I didn't have to worry that one of the cats would get out of the front door.

Young C and her mom stopped over here tonight, so C could borrow a tube of silver glitter and some glue for one of her school projects. As they were going out the door, C saw the Halloween pencils in the girls' box by the front door. She asked me if she could have the pencil with the yellow puppy eraser, and of course I said she could. C's mom asked her: "Aren't you getting a little too old for those?" Before I caught myself, I said You're never too old to have fun!..... C's mom thought about that for a moment and said "I guess you're right."

It takes so very little to make young C smile..... sometimes I wish her mom would remember that.

Halloween Eve

We went out to dinner tonight, to Babbo Bruno's..... our friend and favorite waitress K wasn't there tonight, so dinner wasn't quite the celebration that it is when she's there to make everything extra-special. Food was great, though...... I've been ordering the fresh shrimp and crab salad now for the past few months-- boiled shrimp and lump crab meat on top of fresh greens, sprinkled with chopped tomatoes and avacado. Delicious salad.... and tonight I ordered a cup of Stefano's homemade tomato soup. Over 80 degrees, and I was eating hot soup. (As if I hadn't had enough soup all those weeks I was sick.)

I was at the local bookstore today, looking for Thanksgiving books. Last year, I found wonderful Thanksgiving cookbooks and bought those to give as favors for our friends who came here for Thanksgiving dinner. I also bought one for myself, to give me some new ideas so we don't have the same vegetables every Thanksgiving. This morning, I found books by Susan Branch, called "Autumn." They had three copies, so I bought all of them... nice little books filled with pretty drawings and great recipes and crafts for the Thanksgiving season. Although, the way the stores are stocking up their Christmas items already, they're sort of skating through Thanksgiving in a heartbeat. But I guess I can't complain about that, because I do the same thing. I'll be decorating for Christmas next week, and just having a Thanksgiving theme in the dining room. The rest of the house will soon be all Christmas-ed up. I do that for the simple reason that we have a lot of holiday decorations, and it takes time to get them all around the house. Every year, as I go through the boxes, I end up putting some not-so-sentimental things into the donations box.

We're still talking about Thanksgiving.... C and her parents will be here, and that will make it fun and easy, with just the five of us. So now we're talking and deciding who else to invite, or not to invite. I had enough invitations left over from last Thanksgiving, so I didn't buy new ones this year. I did, however, use a glitter pen to fancy-up the invitations....... the bouquet of flowers on the invitation cards has been embellished with gold glitter. Just a little extra sparkle to make the same invitations look a little different. And we must have invitations..... and placecards-- young Miss C saves them all, and I know she loves all the fuss.

I've been saving the invitations and placecards as well..... I have a "party book" where I keep a log of all the dinners and parties we've had in this house. I save one invitation from each party, and I also save the placecards for my husband and myself..... this way I don't do the same thing twice. Got to keep it a little different, to keep it interesting and fun.

Tomorrow is Halloween..... the kids will be coming by around 6:30 or so. The Trick-or-Treating hours here are between 6:30 and 8:30.... then the Halloween curfew is enforced and the town wants all kids in their homes by 9:00. When I think back to Halloweens when I was a kid, my sister and I would start Trick-or-Treating right after school (or after lunch if it fell on a weekend) and just keep going and going till we got tired. When our shopping bags got filled up, we'd just go home and empty them out and start all over again. Our neighborhood in NY had a lot of apartment buildings, as well as private homes, so kids really got lots of candy every Halloween. We didn't have to worry about going out after dark, and we didn't worry about going out alone.... Halloween was just fun and worry-free.

Not these days, I would imagine. For as long as I've lived here, I've never seen groups of kids on Halloween night without at least one parent with them.... and we live in a safe community. Special rules apply here on Halloween night.... kids aren't allowed to be out walking the streets without someone over 18 with them, and they can't Trick-or-Treat before 6:30 or after 8:30.... no exceptions, no matter what day of the week Halloween happens to fall.

Times have changed... the world has changed.

Gorgeous Sunday

What a glorious day today was....... bright and warm, sunny and clear.... so pretty that we went to the Kemah waterfront and had lunch at The Crab House, watching the boats sailing on by. We got there just before noon-time, and by the time we left at 2:30, there wasn't a parking spot left. Cars were just circling around the lots, waiting for people to pull out and leave an empty spot. Seems like just yesterday that the Kemah area was a tiny little sleepy town that was a nice little secret.... now it's a tourist destination for half of Texas, for goodness sake. I liked it better when just the locals knew about it.

We spent most of the morning talking about last night's Halloween party....... it truly was so much fun, there was so much energy last night it just felt "electric" in our house. My husband said the same thing I did last night... he predicts that next year, more of our friends will be showing up in costume.

One of our friends and neighbors has already asked us to "save the date" for her Christmas party. The date she picked would've been the same Saturday night for our Christmas Open House, so if we do that again, we'll have to pick either the Saturday before or the one after. We've been talking about doing a smaller Christmas party this year, rather than the big Open House thing that we've been doing these past five or seven years.

That big party, with more than 60 people here, gets just very overwhelming. We usually hire music, and I have a girl (a local waitress) who comes in to help me with the serving and clean-up......... but still, it takes so much planning and preparation-- and usually, by the time Halloween gets here, I've got those invitations all written out and ready to go, and I've got most of the Christmas favors all wrapped up. Not so for this year..... we've just had a busier-than-usual summer, so my Christmas plans are still up in the air.

One holiday at a time, says my husband. So at lunch today, we talked about Thanksgiving. When we got home from the restaurant (after driving from Kemah all the way to Friendswood for gelato), we called up young C's mom and asked her if she had thought of Thanksgiving yet. She's still working on Halloween, she said.... but she told me they'd all be happy to join us for turkey-day. So that makes five of us, and my husband and I will talk this week and decide if we want to invite anyone else, or just keep it small. (Or, as young C says--- just us family.) We also talked about having Thanksgiving up at the cottage, but we thought it would just be easier to have it here, rather than having to bring all that food up to Mayberry, or having to drive up there and buy all those groceries at the last minute up at the lake stores. I think here is just the easiest way to go........ and we can always go to the lake afterwards and bring the left-overs.

So at least that's set...... Thanksgiving here, with C and her parents, and we'll see who else we'll add to the mix.

I spent part of this afternoon taking down some of the Halloween party decorations...... just the large crape-paper pumpkins that hang down from the ceiling in the living room, dining room, kitchen and breakfast room. They'd been up since the beginning of October and when I took them down today, the rooms just looked so much bigger and brighter. I left the outside decorations up, since the kids will be coming by for Trick-or-Treating on Tuesday evening. The day after Halloween, everything pumpkin-y will come down and go back into the cabinets in the laundry room..... and up will go the small Christmas trees.

Even though we have Thanksgiving here, I usually start in with the Christmas decorations right after Halloween. Just the dining room gets decorated for Thanksgiving, with the rest of the house by-passing turkey-day altogether and being decked out with table-top Christmas trees and Santas.

Once Halloween is over, Christmas is here and gone in a heartbeat. Which reminds me.... my husband and I also have to talk about New Year's Eve. Last year, we had a gourmet pot-luck dinner here, with four other couples....... that was a great night, but should we do something different this year?

Whose idea was it to put all these holidays so close together?

Post-party....

As I type, it is after one o'clock in the morning........ our Halloween party was a blast. I know I've said this before, and I'll say it again...... these Charades parties just keep on getting better and better. And as each party ends, my husband looks at me and says This was the best one yet!

More of our friends came in costume tonight than ever before....... and the others wore Halloween colors of orange and purple and black. We had ribbons and prizes for costumes this year--- Best Costume went to our friend C, who came dressed up as The Bride of Frankenstein.... she was all in black and white, with long strips cut into the hem of her gown, and strips of black and white cut into her veil. The Funniest Costume ribbon was given to our friend S, who came dressed up in the "mod" fashion of the 1970s........ S had gold-glitter eyeglasses, a black wig with pink streaks, tight-black stretch pants with a multi-colored blouse and a long vest..... she had on lots of bracelets and necklaces, and fringed boots.... everyone burst out laughing when she walked in the door, and she kept up her "mod" character all night long.

The ribbon and prize for The Cutest Costume went to our young Miss C, who came dressed up as a Halloween teapot. She used her hula-hoop as the bottom of the teapot, and stretched a colorful Halloween fabric up to her shoulders. For the lid of her teapot, she wore an Oriental bamboo hat. Miss C couldn't figure out how to make the spout for her teapot, so she just kept her arm curled up into a spout-shape as much as she could during the night. C's friend M dressed up like Jim Irwin (the Crocodile Hunter).... he had on brown shirt and brown shorts, brown boots, and he brought along a large green crocodile (the kind that fills up with air and floats in a pool)--- it was the perfect outfit for M because his family moved here from Australia a few years ago and he still has most of his Australian accent.

The food tonight was a riot also.... our friends C and L always bring something outrageous for Halloween. Last year, C made dinner rolls in the shapes of fingers, and little chocolate mice. Tonight, C and L brought a talking skull that was wrapped up in slices of fresh ham, with large green olives for the eyes. Around the skull were all the bones--- thin slices of tortillias rolled up with ham and cheese inside. When someone touched the skull to remove one of the "bones" or take a slice of ham, the skull's mouth started to move and it would talk to you.

We ended up with too many desserts, but that's what happens with a potluck dinner. There were hot casseroles on the table, and sandwiches, and a big bowl of chili, homemade potato salad, the tortellini/vegetable casserole, a bowl of barbequed chicken legs, "moldy rolls" (small croissants dotted with pesto sauce).... and taco chips made in Halloween shapes (ghosts, cats, pumpkins). We had more than enough food, way too many cakes.... my husband will bring two whole cakes into work with him on Monday so we don't have all of those calories in the house.

Before we played Charades, we gave out the prizes for the guessing games.... it's always so funny to see the numbers..... I had this tiny little jar filled with 212 pumpkin seeds, and the largest number guessed was 600-something. The person coming closest to the right number wins a prize, and the one whose guess is the farthest away wins the little jar of pumpkin seeds. We did the same thing with the bag of chocolate pumpkins..... with that game, the "loser's" prize of the bag filled with chocolate pumpkins was as much fun as winning the real prize.

As always, the Charades game was just so much fun, and we all get so loud that it's a wonder the neighbors all over the street don't hear us all. The men won this time, by just a few points, so they were happy about that--- the women usually win. The men's team had to guess the movie "The Godfather," and one of the teenage boys got to act that out. Within just a few seconds, he made the sign for a movie, then made the sign for two words, and then he put his fingers underneath his chin and flicked them towards the group of men. In just those few seconds, my husband called out "The Godfather!" and that's when the men's team got ahead of the women's team. It happened so fast, and it was just so funny, that we were flicking our fingers underneath our chins for the rest of the night.

My husband and I predict that for next year's Halloween party, we'll be seeing even more costumes on our friends. This year, we had two witches, two gypsies (me and our friend V), Zorro, The Crocodile Hunter, the little teapot, the 1970's mod girl, an Olympic athlete, a hippie, the Bride of Frankenstein, The Phantom of The Opera (my husband), a Hawaiian tourist, and a cereal killer (a box of Grape Nuts with a plastic knife through it-- worn around the neck of our neighbor B). Our friend K dressed all in black and made herself a beautiful cape with a sheer black fabric embellished with glittering purple spider webs.... not exactly a costume, but very Halloween-y.

I had orange and black Mardi Gras beads to give to everyone as they came in..... and mostly everyone not in costume was wearing either black, orange, purple, or a shirt or sweater with either pumpkins or black cats on it. But wait till next year.... especially now that we've started giving out ribbons and prizes for the costumes, I just know everyone is going to get more creative. (Which means I'll have to get more creative and think of more prizes to give out.)

As for me....... I'm tired.......... mostly everything has been put away, except for the extra tables that I set up in the living room. Tomorrow is another day, Scarlett. (Now that could be a costume for next year....) The Phantom is already sound asleep, and has been since I started typing this.

Plastic Ghosts

Taking a break here, before I get started on the last-minute things to do before tonight's Halloween party.

Young Miss C rode her bicycle over here early this morning, to give me a bag of white plastic ghosts. She made them last night while watching Charlie Brown and the Peanuts Gang on TV--- I think "The Great Pumpkin" was on. C's little ghosts are made of white plastic bags.... you fill the bottom of the bag with balled-up paper napkins, tie string around the ball to make the head of the ghost, paint a face on one side of the round head, and the long part of the plastic bag hangs down for the body of the ghost. C used a needle and thread to make a loop at the top of each ghost's head, to make them easy to hang.

So there I was this morning, after C went back home, using fishing line to hang the plastic ghosts from the crape myrtle trees on the front lawn. C couldn't tie them in the trees for me because she's quite petite and I didn't want her standing on a ladder out there on the lawn. There are 19 little ghosts out there, and my husband thought that could be another guessing game for the party. We've got two guessing games for the adults, and one for the teenagers, so the ghost-guessing will be the second game for the kids. I called C and told her not to tell her friends how many ghosts she made, and she liked the idea of her ghost project becoming one of the games. I made up a ghost-shaped sign, and after the party begins, I'll have C's friends write down their guesses for the number of ghosts.

C also came by here with a tape measure this morning.... to measure the width around the dining room table, and the width around the two tables that are set up in the living room, and also the table in the breakfast room. Apparently, she is using a hula-hoop for part of her costume, and she wanted to make sure she had enough room to get around the house. A hula-hoop is pretty wide, and there will be 27 people here tonight.... it would be a tight squeeze in some parts of the rooms for C and her hula-hoop costume. She went back home and decided to use a smaller hoop, because she wanted to be able to get around more easily, and be able to sit in the chairs comfortably. I have no idea what her costume is, so it will be a surprise when she walks in the door tonight.

Everything else is just about done now.... or at least everything that can be done till about two hours before the party. I have to make the tortellini casserole, so I think I'll do that now, before I get dressed. Then I'll do my hair, put on my gypsy clothes, then do my nails. Then I'll have about an hour to just relax, let my nails dry, then plug in the coffee urn. I also have to make those pimento cheese pumpkin-shaped sandwiches, but I'll do that during the last pre-party hour, so the bread stays fresh and the filling doesn't get mushy.

Every time we have a party, we think of our friend Frankie. She always, always got here before anyone else, so she could get a parking spot right in front of our house so she wouldn't have to walk down the block, and she always liked to sit and chat with us before everyone else got here. Miss Frankie... we miss you still.... but I'll bet you're still here on party nights.

Day before party-day....

We had such loud thunder last night, plus very bright lightning and heavy rains... so much so that we brought the cats inside, rather than letting them sleep on the screen-porch. They're all afraid of storms, and last night was a big one. I put AngelBoy in the laundry room, and shut the door, even though he doesn't like closed doors. I just can't trust that cat to be in the house all night long, because if he gets scared, he's likely to find a corner instead of finding his litter box. So into the laundry room he went, and he kept "knocking" on the door with his paw for about an hour after I put him in there.

ShadowBaby went right into our bedroom when I let them all in from the porch, and he curled up and just went to sleep. I thought Mickey Kitty would do the same thing, but that just didn't happen. He slept mostly all day yesterday, because of the heavy rains, so by last night he was wide awake, and ready to investigate all the Halloween decorations. Well, I couldn't have that, so I sat myself down on the sofa in the living room and stayed there for about an hour, praying the storm would quit so I could put the cats back out on the screen-porch so I could get some sleep.

That's what I eventually did.... at about 1:30 this morning. And just who is it that said having cats lowers your blood pressure?

This morning was sunny and bright and clear... gorgeous day. I let ShadowBaby and AngelBoy out into the yard when I went to feed the birds. While I was having my breakfast, I noticed that ShadowBaby was sitting on the outside deck with a little sparrow in his mouth. Poor bird was still moving its wings, so I knew he didn't kill the poor thing. I went out there and held ShadowBaby by his front paws and kept telling him to "Drop it!" Our dog Gracie knows what those words mean, but I guess ShadowBaby didn't have a clue.

I finally tickled ShadowBaby on his little nose and he let the bird drop into the grass. As soon as the bird hit the ground, he got up on his feet, spread his wings, and off he flew up towards the bird feeder. A big price to pay for a little birdseed. ShadowBaby watched the bird fly away and then he looked at me and sounded off with about half a dozen meows, as if to say He was mine! And you let him get away!

After that little adventure, my husband went off to work and I set out to clean the house and get everything set up for tomorrow's party. Back to the screen-porch went all the cats, because once I start to get party-ready, they don't come back into the house till after the last guest has said good-night and all the food is put away. Had it not been for yesterday's rain, the cats would've spent all day yesterday in the porch as well.

So there I was, vacuum in hand, trying to get all the carpeting done. And wouldn't you know it... the vacuum starts to make a funny little noise. And then it gets harder and harder to push around the carpeting. Jeez...... Do I try and push that stupid thing around all these rooms, or do I just put the silly thing into the car and go to the vacuum store and have the man fix it? I opted for the second choice, and off I went. Turns out that something had gotten stuck in the roller-brush, or whatever it is that spins, and that stretched out the belts and bent the brush-bar thing. Sixty dollars later, back home I drove to start all over again with the vacuuming.

I picked up young Miss C after school this afternoon, and she helped me do the fun part of the party to-do list. She had offered to help me clean the house, but I never let her to the work part of it, so I made sure that was all done before I went to the high school to get her. She had a blast arranging the tables and chairs, putting all the tablecloths and centerpieces on the tables, arranging the prizes and the "Best Costume" ribbons, and she set up the sideboard with the guessing games (the bag of chocolate pumpkins, the little jar of pumpkin seeds, and the box of chocolate eyes). She set up the cups for the hot apple cider, and arranged all the little sugar cubes decorated with tiny pumpkins, and she did a trial-run of the pumpkin-shaped sandwiches.... the pumpkin cookie cutter worked great on the whole wheat bread, and she spread the pimento-cheese on them as filling, and topped each with some fresh lettuce. I'll have to make the sandwiches tomorrow afternoon, though, so they stay nice and fresh for evening.

After C finished one thing, she'd say "Now what?!" or "What's next?" or "What can I do now?" She loves all these parties so much, and she likes to be part of the preparations as well. Before I knew it, my to-do list was all done, in much less time that it would have taken me to do it myself. The only things left for me to do tomorrow is to make the tortellini and vegetable casserole, put together the pumpkin-shaped sandwiches, make a large salad, and (most important) polish my nails and get into my gypsy costume.

I'm so glad the rain has quit..... it wouldn't have been a good thing for a hard rain to be falling on a party day.... you never know which roads are going to flood, so people would've not been able to get here, or not been able to park on the street.... definitely a good thing that the weather is back to normal again. Sunny and warm, just a little crispness in the air.

Another rainy day......

The skies opened up early this morning and the rain just didn't hardly quit all day long. Once again, during the worst of the rain, our street filled up with water right up to the curb. It didn't take long for the water to go down the storm-drains when the rain let up, but then the street filled up again when it started to pour. I'd say we had a good soaking, drenching rain every hour during this entire day. When my husband came home from work early this afternoon, he couldn't even drive down our cul-de-sac because of the high water level. He parked his car in the driveway of a neighbor on one of the through-streets, and called their house as soon as he walked home to tell them that his car was in their driveway. It didn't stay up there for too long... as soon as the pouring rain quit, the water went down and he walked back up to get the car.

I'm so glad I decided to go grocery shopping yesterday, rather than my original plan of going this afternoon. The only reason I had changed my mind on that is because I had made arrangements to pick up little Miss C after school today and keep her here till this evening while her mom had appointments at her doctors for her yearly check-up. Thankfully, when it was time to get C at school, it was just drizzling outside and the streets were all cleared of water.

My husband and I were going to take C out for dinner tonight (we're still working on those coupons I had given her for her birthday last March-- C has been stretching all 15 of them out so they'll last till her next birthday)... but it had got to raining so hard that we thought it best if we just stayed here, rather than take a chance that the roads between here and the restaurant were flooded.

I didn't have anything planned for dinner, so we made do with what I had in the house. I opened up some cans of Progresso Clam Chowder, and I made "Monte Cristo" sandwiches. Haven't made those in quite some time, but I had sliced turkey and swiss in the fridge, so I quickly put the sandwiches together, soaked them in beaten eggs, and grilled them up as you would do for French Toast. C hadn't tasted those before, and she liked the idea of a French-Toasted turkey/cheese sandwich that you could eat with maple syrup. I also had some real New York cheesecake in the freezer, so I defrosted a thick slice of that and we all shared it for dessert.

We had gotten that cheesecake from my husband's sister..... she had it sent to us for some holiday or another. As soon as we opened the box and saw what it was, I cut it into thick slices and froze each one separately. That NY-style cheesecake is so rich that you just need a very thin slice of it to feel like you've died and gone to dessert-heaven. And I don't care where you live.... there's nothing that can compare to a NY cheesecake.

C is getting more and more excited about the Halloween party on Saturday night. She wanted to help me get things ready for the party while she was here today, but I told her we had to wait one more day to start setting up the tables and chairs. Tomorrow, when I put the cats into the screen-porch and leave them there till the party is over, I can start doing some of the last-minute things on my to-do list. So of course, when her mom came to pick her up tonight, C asked her if she could come over here after school tomorrow, then asked me if I could pick her up again, and also asked her mom if she could ride her bicycle here on Saturday to help me with the "really last-minute things" for the party. That child...... she is so easy to please, and the tiny little things in life just make her so happy.

So that's been the day here.... rain, rain, and more rain. The cats slept all day long... even little Mickey Kitty.

Early Voting

I stopped in at the local library yesterday, to look around their book-sale room. Now that we have a newer and larger library building here, they've devoted one nice-sized room just for sale books. It's always open, with one staff member there to take the money and arrange the books for sale..... most of the books are once-read, in excellent condition.

I stop in from time to time to see what they have for sale, and I always find a new copy of something that I've been looking for..... and with their price of just one dollar for hardcovers and 50 cents for softcovers, you just can't find a better bargain in books. Yesterday, I found a new hardcover copy of "Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil." I always find someone we know who hasn't read that book, and I give it to them. Such a great book...... so much so that it prompted this past summer's trip to Savannah, Georgia.

Anyway, in the midst of yesterdays errands, I stopped at the library along the way while I was passing that road. I didn't realize that the "early voting" was going on at the library, and the voting machines were set up in the small meeting room, right across the hall from the book sale room. Well, how could I resist that? There wasn't a line, just a few people at the voting machines. (Which is also an improvement, because we used to vote with a pencil and paper when we first moved down here.)

Who to vote for...... I swear, all these people running for all the offices of the city government.... you don't hear from them or about them until they're ready to talk you into voting for them on Election Day. And my pet peeve, this and every year, are all the political signs that crop up all over town at least two months before the election, and don't come down till everyone starts putting up Christmas decorations.

In our subdivision, we're not allowed to post signs of any kind.... the only exception being real estate signs when a house is being sold. Used to be that we would see just one or two political signs in this entire neighborhood, and they wouldn't be on someone's lawn for too many days before the "subdivision police" sent them a letter requesting they look at their deed-restriction rules against signs and take the sign down.

Well, I don't know if the subdivision police are slacking on the job or have disbanded altogether, because this year, political signs are popping up on lawns like wildflowers. My neighbor next door (who hasn't ever put up any sort of sign) has three on her lawn, the neighbor at our corner has two, and the neighbor on the other corner has one. Every time my husband and I see those signs, we say that we should sneak out in the middle of the night and take them down--- or at least switch them around, to see if anyone is paying attention. Of course, we wouldn't do that, but it sure is fun to talk about.

So there I was in front of the voting machine yesterday.... who to vote for? Well, of course...... I found the names on the ballot that I hadn't seen on all the signs in our neighborhood. Most of the signs are from the Republican and the Democratic parties..... the other names (not on the seven-zillion signs) are from Independent parties. And that's who got my votes yesterday....... the candidates who haven't littered the community with all those blessed signs.

Now that isn't exactly the smartest way to cast a ballot, but it sure did make me feel good yesterday.

Painted Toe-nails and SteinMart

Well, I guess I'm really feeling more and more flu-less..... I stayed up till after midnight last night..... reading James Michner's Hawaii and polishing my toe-nails --- in bed. My husband hates the smell of nail polish, so I don't polish my nails in the bedroom when he's here, or in any other room that he happens to be in at the time. So it was a treat last night to spread out on the bed with my book and the nail polish. I haven't polished my nails since before we went to Hawaii....... couldn't polish them after that trip because I got sick two days after we got home and up till just a few days ago, I haven't felt un-sick.

But today is a new day...... woke up at 8:00 this morning and my rib cage has stopped hurting so I guess every bit of the congestion is finally cleared up. I spent the morning doing a few things on my pre-party to-do list, like making extra ice, moving the large table lamp away from the living room sofa (so it doesn't block the view when we play Charades on Saturday night), and I dusted/cleaned everything in the coffee-bar, so that's all set to go for the party. It's really a wet-bar, but we don't drink and we don't serve drinks at our parties, so the wet-bar is used as a coffee/tea bar and it works out really well.

This afternoon, I drove to the jeweler's to give her my charm bracelet so she can attach the silver palm tree charm I bought in Hawaii. She'll have it ready for me tomorrow and I'll pick it up as I head out of town towards the airport to get my husband. Being that I was so close to SteinMart when I finished at the jeweler's, off I went to see what was new in that store. I can't even remember the last time I walked around SteinMart.

I love that store because it isn't too big. They also have enough employees so you don't have to walk around looking for someone if you need help, and they keep that store nice and neat at all times, no matter how busy it gets. It has beautiful wooden floors, and it's just one floor, not two or three. They don't carry everything, but their selection of clothing, accessories and housewares is just enough to give you a very good selection without getting you crazy with way too many things to choose from. I didn't even look at the clothes today........ after going through my closet looking at possible outfits for Halloween, I knew that I didn't need one more pair of slacks, one more blouse or sweater, or one more skirt--- so I just stayed away from the women's clothing racks. If I look, I'll find something. If I don't look, I won't buy a thing.

I found some Christmas gifts for young Miss C....... holiday earrings, warm slipper-socks that she likes to wear around the house, and a dress-up purse that I think she'll love. They also had a sale on bras, so I bought myself three of those. Before I put those bras away, I went through my dresser and took out some bras that I haven't worn for months and months. I'm at the age where if I don't like the feel of the material, then I won't wear the clothing. I don't want anything scratchy, itchy, too tight, too loose, too long, too short, too-anything. So the old bras went into the donation box right away. One thing in, one thing out...... I try so hard to stick to that rule.

I had dropped off my husband's car at the repair-shop after dinner-time yesterday, and they gave it an oil change today, rotated the tires, checked all the fluids and checked everything else. It was ready this afternoon, and they came to pick me up so I could get the car. Great service at this repair-shop, and they're right close to the neighborhood. They give your car back bright and shining-clean....... they wash it, vacuum the inside, clean the seats and the dashboard--- everything. My husband doesn't often think of making time for car maintenance, but the repair-shop sends a postcard when the oil changes are due, so I thought it would be easy to get it there and just let them do the work while my husband was out of town. So that's another thing I got to scratch off the to-do list.

Tomorrow will be grocery shopping for the party. Hate, hate, hate grocery shopping..... but it has to be done. That's one thing I didn't miss while I was sick. I didn't mind a bit when my husband went out to Kroger, list in hand, to get what we needed. If it were up to me, I'd have a long salad bar installed in our kitchen, so it would look like those salad bars in a restaurant. Then I'd order all the salad stuff, to be delivered twice a week....... and all I'd have to do is just re-fill all the containers and bowls in the salad bar. Voila--- Lunch! Dinner! And for breakfast, I'd have my usual oatmeal sprinkled with crushed pineapple, chopped dates, and a spoonful of Grape Nuts Trail Mix. Delicious!

But the salad bar in my kitchen is a fantasy....... the reality is that I'll be walking around every aisle in Kroger tomorrow, list in hand, hating every blessed minute I'm in that store. (Nothing against Kroger.... I just hate the mindless chore of shopping for groceries.)

Autumn-like weather....

The evenings and nights have turned cooler (around 70 degrees) but the days are sunny and warm and crisply gorgeous. We turn the heat on in the house when we get up, just to take the chill out of the house. I start the day with a sweater or jacket, but by noon-time, off it comes because the temperatures have risen into the 80s. Perfect weather, although I could do without having to wear the jacket. (Picky, picky.)

I drove my husband to the airport this morning...... by now he's in Las Vegas, attending his last conference for this year. It's funny that the only reason he submitted a paper to this conference was because young C and her family had been planning to move to Vegas this past June. We thought we'd both fly out to Vegas for the conference, and surprise them with a visit.

Thankfully, for C and her family, they didn't have to move to Vegas...... but my husband was already committed to this conference when we found out about their change of plans. I was supposed to go to Vegas also, but then Barry Manilow's shows at the Las Vegas Hilton have been suspended till early November because of his recent surgery. So...... no Barry..... which means no reason for me to go to Vegas right now. While he's out there for the conference, my husband got tickets to see "The Blue Man Group" again, and he also got a ticket for Louie Anderson's comedy show.

Just as well that I didn't go to Vegas anyway, being that I'm finally feeling better..... and I will be getting things ready for our Halloween party this weekend. By the time my husband returns on Wednesday, the house will be party-ready..... all except the last-minute cooking. I'm not doing any baking for this party because enough people are already bringing desserts.

I took care of some errands on my way back from the airport this morning. Seems like so many little things had just piled up on a to-do list while I was sick. Little dinky things that weren't important enough to bother my husband with while I was home sick with the flu. Even after a few hours of driving back and forth to the stores this morning and afternoon, I didn't come home and collapse on the sofa in the breakfast room, so that means I'm finally over being sick. Yeeeee-haaaw to that!

I also spent some time dusting all the bookshelves in this house...... between the built-ins in the living room and the TV room, there are a lot of shelves here, which hadn't been dusted since I first got sick. What a treat that was to do, but it's done. Not a speck of dust in sight and I hope it stays that way till after the party so I don't have to do it again this week.

Then I got to the next thing on my list.... deciding what to wear for the Halloween party. I had it narrowed down to either a "Flapper" or a gypsy. The flapper-style dress that I have is perfect, since the bottom of it has long fringe....... but I've worn that dress for two New Year's parties and a Christmas party, so I decided to let that one stay in the closet for a while to give everyone time to forget it.... then when I take it out again, it'll be "new." The gypsy-style skirt that I have is brand new, bought this summer when I was looking for clothes to take to Hawaii. I didn't but it for Hawaii, but it was just a pretty skirt with lots of great colors, and it looked like the perfect skirt to wear on Thanksgiving.

However..... that colorful skirt, along with a lace-y top, a beaded shawl, lots of beaded necklaces, bronze-colored sandals....... instant gypsy! I even tied a silk scarf around my hair and it looked great and very gypsy-ish, but I don't know if I will be able to stand having that around my head for the entire party, so I might not use the scarf.

My sister would be appalled to know that I can go right into my closet and pull a "costume" together...... but I probably won't go into too much detail with that when she calls. What's the point of having a closet filled with clothes if you don't have some fun stuff in there?

This afternoon was so nice that AngelBoy spent a couple of hours out on the back deck. When he first got out there, he looked around the deck for Rusty. I know he was looking for him because I actually saw that cat peek underneath the chairs, and he walked around the wicker table to the spot where Rusty used to sleep. No Rusty... not anymore. So AngelBoy jumped up into Rusty's favorite chair and curled up for a nap. I swear, not one of the cats ever put a paw into Rusty's chair while he was still here. Now it seems that AngelBoy has claimed that chair as his own.

We got a very nice card from our vet this week, telling us how sorry he was that Rusty had to be put to sleep. We've never gotten a card from our family doctor, for anything. And our vet makes house calls...... our family doctor does not. Tell me what's wrong with that picture? I swear, the next time I get the flu, I'm going to call our vet.

After the dance....

Our young Miss C rode over here on her bicycle today, to return the shawl I let her borrow for her Homecoming Dance last night. Come to think of it, nearly every time that girl has a party or dance to go to, one of my accessories goes along with her. Kind of nice, in my opinion.

The weather is cool today (mid-70s, I think) so I made us some hot chocolate and she had some cookies and told us all about last night's dance. Her comment about the entire night: It was interesting.

Interesting? I was waiting for all the adjectives like "Great! A blast! Perfect! Fun! Can't wait to do it again!" Those never came out in her description. The dance was held in the lunchroom of the high school. (The lunchroom?) C said the decorating committee did their best to cover up the walls and the kitchen counters, but she said "It still looked and smelled like a lunchroom." Well, that didn't make me happy, to know that The Powers That Be at the school couldn't do more for the kids to make the Homecoming Dance more memorable.

C's group of friends stayed at the dance for under two hours (after first having dinner at a local restaurant), then they went to the bowling lanes, then they went to one kid's house and watched a movie. C said that she and her group of friends vowed not to go to next year's Homecoming Dance. And me being me, I suggested that she and her friends get together and make their own Homecoming Party at one of their homes. My idea was to see whose parents would host the party, and everyone could either chip in money for catered food, or everyone could bring food to the host's house, as we do for our "potluck dinners." I told Miss C that they could get all dressed up, and make it a special night of their own if they didn't want to be dancing in the high school's lunchroom. C thought that was a great idea, and she's going to try and get her friends to do just that next year.

While C was here this afternoon, we looked through another photo album.... this album was one from 1993 - 1994. She saw pictures of the small house we rented when we first got down here, and she saw photos of Rusty when he was a much younger, just-found stray cat. I had lots of pictures of the mansions in Galveston in that album, and I was surprised that C has never been on a tour of the inside of those hundred-plus-year-old homes. Her eyes lit up-- she didn't even know you could go inside of them. We put that on our list of things to do. I swear, this child loves old things, antique treasures, and loves to see how people lived way before she was born. Such a natural curiosity in her, and such a gentle spirit....... makes for a beautiful, well-rounded child. Child? Teen-ager.

My cousin R called me up this morning...... she's thinking of flying down to Texas again, during the upcoming Election/Veteran's Day holidays in early November. She has days off from work then, and she thought it would be a great time to visit here again. I told her that was fine with me.... and I suggested that she call the airlines ASAP to see what tickets she can get at this short notice. I also told my dear cousin that we wouldn't be spending all our time in SteinMart. I have lots of friends here who want to meet her, Miss C being at the top of that list. C wants to know what a real city girl looks like. And my cousin is indeed that..... more so than me, and I think that's going some. I'm trying not to get excited..... I won't get my hopes up until she calls back to tell me she has bought the tickets.

Homecoming Saturday

Tonight is the "Homecoming" dance at the high school....... young Miss C is there with all of her friends, and I hope she's having a great time. My husband and I drove to her house early this evening when she had finished getting dressed up, and she looked perfectly adorable. The turquoise dress just shimmered with silver sparkles in the fabric, and she found silver sandals and a small silver purse.... she looked like a Barbie doll, honestly.

My husband was surprised, I think, to see her looking so lady-like. We usually see Miss C in jeans or shorts, with tee-shirts and tank-tops, and her hair is usually pulled back into a pony-tail. Tonight her hair was straight down to the top of her shoulders, and she put on just a tiny touch of eye make-up and lipstick, plus little earrings and a silver rhinestone necklace to go with her dress. A walking, talking little Barbie doll, I swear.

Earlier this morning, C and I went to some of the local yard sales. I picked her up at 7:00 and off we went before the sun came up. Didn't buy all that much today, but C found a few dolphin things for her ever-growing collection of dolphins up at the lake cabin...... and I found a vintage wooden chair for just five dollars. Nice chair that had been painted white, and the woman who was selling it had recovered the cushion with a pretty floral fabric. I was going to bring the chair up to the cottage, but right now it's in the screen porch here and Mickey Kitty has already claimed it as his. I also bought a very pretty Lenox serving plate for seventy-five cents.... perfect to use for the parties. And I also found some vintage things to sell on eBay.... and a few books....... and a carved wooden bear from England (for the cottage)........ and a croquet set (also for the cottage). Come to think of it, I guess I bought more than I thought I did.

I made some phone calls today, to some of our friends who haven't RSVP'd for the Halloween party.......... "Of course we're coming... that's why I didn't bother to call.....!" The same thing happens for every party..... Everything is just about set for the party, except of course for the last-minute things. Favor bags are all ready, for everyone who is definitely coming..... and as I get the last few RSVPs, I have enough things to fill the rest of the party bags. This week starts the harder stuff......... rearranging some of the living room furniture to make room for everyone, cleaning the house, keeping the cats in the screen-porch till after the party is over, and going to Kroger for the groceries. I haven't decided yet what to cook for the party. I may take out the punch bowl and toss up a huge fresh salad........ there's always so many sweet things and covered casseroles at these Charades parties, and never enough green vegetables, so I may do that.

And I've got that huge cookie-cutter in the shape of a pumpkin........ I had planned on cutting out pumpkin-shaped sandwiches from dark whole wheat bread, filling them with pimento-cheese spread........ I thought the orange and brown colors would look very Halloween-y. I will look through my recipe books and see if I get inspired to make anything else. We usually have more food than we could all possibly eat........ and three people are bringing desserts, so I'm not even going to bother with baking anything.

By the time next Saturday night, we will all be laughing so hard at the Charades clues that our sides will be hurting.....

Busy Friday.....

Back to a somewhat normal day here..... but still, I can feel a tightness in my ribs..... remnants of the flu still lingering, I guess.

I took care of lots of little errands today that had been piling up while I wasn't feeling good. Nice to get out on this gorgeous day and drive around to take care of everything. I found a "Scrabble" dictionary at the used book store, so now we'll be able to leave that up at the lake cottage for our Scrabble games there. I'm still winning more Scrabble games up at the cottage than here at home, for some reason which my husband and I can't figure out, but I'm not complaining.

On my way out of the subdivision this morning, I stopped at a yard sale and found a Halloween-tree centerpiece..... just $10.00 and it looks brand new. I usually wouldn't pay that much for a centerpiece at a yard sale, but just last week when I stopped in our local gift shop with young Miss C, they had Halloween trees priced at $59.00. So this $10.00 tree was even cheaper than waiting for the gift shop to have their 50%-off sale after Halloween. The tree is a spooky-looking thing, standing about three-feet high....... a black and purple tree growing out of a pumpkin base. It looks wonderful on the dining room table and will be lots of fun for the Halloween party next weekend. I had some tiny pumpkin ornaments, so I used them to dress up the branches of the tree...... I'm sure I'll find other Halloween ornaments in my travels, and this spooky tree will be part of the Halloween decorations from year to year.

Young Miss C was here this afternoon after school today......... I had taken out one of our old photo albums, looking for a picture of Rusty when he was younger, and C started looking at all the pictures in the album. She was positively enthralled with each and every picture....... I had to tell her who the people were, where the picture was taken, and give her the "story" behind each photo. It took us an hour just to go through that one album, and when she saw that I had half a dozen more albums, she made me promise to go through all the other ones with her, one at at time, every time she comes over here. What a kid, I swear....... it was just very touching.

Tomorrow is the "Homecoming" dance at the high school, and Miss C will be getting all dressed up in her party dress tomorrow afternoon. I promised her that I would drive over to her house before she leaves for the dance, so I can see her all dolled up. And tomorrow morning, C asked if she could come to the yard sales with me, so I'll be picking her up bright and early for that.

We went to Babbo Bruno's for dinner tonight..... we hadn't been there since before I got sick, which was about four weeks ago now. Our friend K wasn't working tonight, and we miss her when she's not there. She is such a sweet girl, and such a superb waitress, that we feel something is missing when she isn't there, no matter how good the food is.

Anyway....... today was one of those days when I was wishing for more hours, so I guess my system is just about back to normal.

And now there are three.....

Early this afternoon, I carried Rusty from the backyard deck to the screen-porch..... I thought he might like to spend some time in there with AngelBoy, ShadowBaby and Mickey Kitty. AngelBoy cuddled up to Rusty right away.... AngelBoy has always cuddled up with Rusty when they're close together. ShadowBaby only cuddles up with either me or my husband or young Miss C, so he just sniffed around Rusty and then walked away. And little Mickey Kitty just kept his distance, not wanting to get too close, I guess. Mickey probably still remembers when Rusty kept hissing at him when he was still such a tiny kitten. When we found Mickey last year, Rusty wasn't in the mood to be hospitable to yet another kitten.

We took Rusty to the vet's office for the four o'clock appointment today. Just like yesterday, Rusty didn't howl in the car, not even a tiny meow. When we got to the office, we opened the door to his carrier, but he didn't come out. Rusty wasn't walking too much today, and when he was able to get up, he could barely walk a few steps.

I held myself together for all of the day, until we got Rusty to the vet's. Then my eyes started to tear up and of course I started to wonder if we were doing the right thing. Of course we were, but that reality is harder to face when it's about to happen.

Our friend and vet explained to us what he'd do to Rusty........ I decided not to stay in the room, but my husband wanted to stay with Rusty till the end. I waited out in the car....... and what a beautiful day it turned out to be. This morning's dreariness disappeared before noon-time, and the sun was out, the sky was blue, the temperature was nice and warm.... a perfect day. For us, if not for Rusty.... Somehow, today's trip to the vet would've been even sadder on a rainy, drippy day.

The backyard is cat-less now.... and the open part of the covered deck no longer has Rusty's bed and food dishes out there. AngelBoy and ShadowBaby have been out in the yard for just a few minutes, when we got home from the vet's office. I don't think ShadowBaby will be looking around for Rusty, but I'm sure that AngelBoy will miss him out there when he goes out into the yard every morning after his breakfast.

My husband asked me today if there was anything special about Rusty that I would always remember. It didn't take me too many seconds to come up with the answer--- Rusty and the rain puddles. Rusty was always a true outside cat.... he would rather drink water from puddles than from a bowl. No matter how young he was or how old he got, no matter how fresh the water in his bowl, if there was a rain puddle in the yard (or a puddle from the sprinkler) Rusty would always prefer to drink that water. I used to tell him to stop being such a hobo-cat, but he would keep on lapping up the water from the puddles. Rusty was a cat's cat... a guy cat..... a man's cat.

And my husband was the one who saved Rusty from being named "Marmelade." When we first found Rusty, I looked at the color of his fur and thought he looked like someone dipped him in a vat of orange marmelade........ so I suggested that we call him Marmelade. My husband said that no cat of his would be named Marmelade. So he named the cat Rusty, because of his "rusty" color, and also because there was a baseball player named Rusty Staub. (I think that's the correct spelling of his last name.)

That's how Rusty became Rusty...... We'll miss him. He was a part of our little family for more than twelve years.

Dreary day.....

Well, I was hoping that Rusty's last day with us would be like yesterday...... sunny and bright. Not going to happen. It's been cloudy since this morning, and we've had a little bit of rain now and then, and it looks like this is how it's going to be for the rest of the day.

Sad to think that this will be Rusty's last day with us. We've had this cat since January of 1994, and he's been a good cat, for the most part. I say that with a smile, because Rusty was always a "real" cat..... not a "puppy" cat, as our others tend to be. Rusty was always the old man cat, even when he was younger. I would guess that living on the street for the first year or two of his life hardened him a little bit. All our other cats have been with us since they were tiny kittens, so they never knew what it was to not have a meal or a place to hide from the rain.

I can remember the day we brought Gracie home from the SPCA... she was just a tiny puppy, no bigger than Rusty was at the time. We had Gracie out in the backyard with Rusty, and that cat just sat there looking at Gracie as she pranced all around him. The look on Rusty's face was just priceless, as if he were saying "That four-legged thing is not a cat, you know...... you need to bring her right back where you got her and tell them they gave you the wrong thing."

For the longest time, Rusty wouldn't stay in the same room with Gracie, and would hiss at her if she got too close. Slowly but surely, Rusty and Gracie made peace with one another...... Gracie is wonderful with all of our cats, and they all play with her like puppies. Except, of course, for Rusty. He's a cat, and that's that, and he has to desire to play with a dog. Beneath his cat-dignity, I guess.

Speaking of dignity, I hope this afternoon goes easy and quickly for Rusty. I'm sure this will be harder on us than on Rusty. He's going to be in his crate again, and in the car, and I'll be telling him we're going on a little adventure, as I say to all of them when we have to take them in the car.

So far, it's not hitting me hard, and I don't feel as sad as I thought I would. I have no regrets about our decision because I know it's the right thing to do. And I know we've taken good care of Rusty since the day we found him, so I have no guilty feelings about what we need to do today.

Our young Miss C was here after school yesterday, and she said her goodbyes to Rusty. She was out on the deck with Rusty, whispering in his ear. Poor Rusty couldn't even get up to walk over to her, as he usually does when C comes to our house. C got down on her hands and knees and crawled behind the little table on the deck where Rusty was curled up. Whatever she whispered into his ear will forever be a secret between C and Rusty.

Rusty

I had to take our oldest cat to the vet today. Rusty is over thirteen years old now.... we don't know his exact age because when we found him (or when he found us) he was already over a year old, as estimated by the vet we took him to at the time to make sure he was a healthy cat.

And Rusty has been just that for all these years..... a healthy cat. He's an orange and white Manx, which makes him bigger than most male cats, and his adult weight always hovered around twenty pounds. Today, Rusty weighed seventeen pounds..... amazing to me that he had lost weight, considering how much he likes to eat.

But the weight loss isn't the worst of Rusty's problems today. Our vet, who is also our friend, told me this morning that Rusty has severe diabetes. His blood sugar count should be around 100, and Rusty's count was 375 today. Not a good thing.

I had noticed, these past couple of weeks, that Rusty was getting slower and slower. Which really didn't surprise me, because he had been slowing down a lot over these last couple of years, and we attributed it to old age and arthritis. However, being that I was so sick with the flu and I spent a lot of time on the sofa in the breakfast room, I was watching Rusty a lot as he made his way from the covered deck on the back porch to the grass of the backyard. Poor Rusty was having a real hard time with his back legs. He was still walking, and jumping up on the low table on the deck where his food dish is, but I just knew that something wasn't right with that cat.

The reason that I kept putting off the trip to the vet's office is that I just assumed that Rusty's problem was his arthritis, which the vet had diagnosed last year. So I figured the arthritis was getting worse. I called the vet's office yesterday, to ask if they could give me a pain medication for him. When I described to our friend the way Rusty was walking and standing, he asked me to bring him in so he could run a few tests.

The first test confirmed what our friend suspected..... diabetes. So there I was this morning, listening to our friend the vet tell me what we could expect to happen with a diabetic cat. And none of it was pretty, to say the least. He also reminded me that Rusty wasn't our only cat..... taking care of one diabetic cat, plus three other cats, plus the dog.... well, how many hours in a day did I have?

I came home with Rusty, to discuss the situation with my husband. I already knew what had to be done as I was driving home. I just wish that I had asked my husband to come to the vet's office with me this morning, because we could've made the decision right then and there. It would've given Rusty a little more dignity, because for the one time in all the years we've had this cat, he didn't get car-sick in his carrier during the drive to the vet's office today. And when we got to the office, he didn't howl his little whiskers off while we waited our turn. He just sat there in the carrier and he looked around the office as I told him "Don't worry, Rusty.... this is just one more little adventure."

Little adventure indeed. Tomorrow will be a big adventure. We will take Rusty back to the vet's office and have him "put to sleep." Such a proper little term, but the words are soothing. My husband and I cried a little bit this afternoon, but I'm sure all of this will be hitting home a little harder tomorrow when we drive to that office with Rusty for the last time.

It's for the best........ this will only get worse.... much worse. And Ive always been determined to do what's best for our pets, not for us. Keeping him alive on shots and insulin and special food and twice-weekly trips to the vet isn't the way to go...... not for a thirteen-plus-year-old cat. Even our vet said he wouldn't suggest doing that, but he would agree to do whatever we chose to do.

We're chosing to give Rusty a dignified goodbye, rather than a prolonged illness.

What a difference a day makes........

...... as that old song goes..... recently recorded by Barry Manilow on his CD titled "Greatest Hits of the 1950s," by the way.

Yesterday (as well as the day before) was dark, dreary, and rainy, rainy, rainy. The water level at the intersection at the end of our cul-de-sac was knee-deep. Not that I was walking in it, but most of the neighbors were, and they were covered up to their knees in the water. Yuck, and double yuck. I would never walk in rainwater that's swirling around in the streets.... you can't see the frogs, and worse still-- you can't see the snakes and fire ants.

Along our cul-de-sac yesterday, during the worst of the rain, the water covered the curbs, the grass next to the curbs, and the sidewalk. The neighbors who were outside yesterday said this was the worst rains they've ever seen here. Thankfully, the homes here are built way back from the street.... so the rain has a good ways to go before it even gets near the front porches. The rain stopped after dinner-time, and within an hour, the water had gone down the storm-drains. I'm sure the bayou that runs along the middle of our subdivision had over-run its banks yesterday and had spilled out into the park.

But today...... the sun came out this morning and hasn't left for a second. Yesterday's temperatures were in the low 90s, and today's temperature is close to 100, I would imagine. I went out this morning, for a trip to Kroger to get groceries. Whoooeeee...... how can I stand such excitement..... That store was too cold, as always, and I wanted to rush up and down the aisles and get what I needed and just get out of there as quickly as possible. But neither my mind nor my body is back to its normal speed, so I had to be content with my mosey-ing along pace and just grin and bear it as I made my way from one end of the store to the other.

I found some creepy-looking Halloween candy that young Miss C and her friends will love...... chocolate-covered eyeballs. They made me cringe, but they'll make the kids smile. I bought a bag of them for the Halloween party. I'm going to count the eyeballs out into a jar or a bag, and have the kids guess the amount....... I'll have a prize for the one with the closest guess, and the one whose guess is the furthest away will get the bag of eyeballs. That was about the best part of my grocery-shopping experience this morning. The next-best part was coming home with fresh fruits and vegetables, and I made huge salads for lunch today for my husband and myself. I truly missed having salads every day while I was sick........ all that chicken broth was making my brain mushy.... and I still say it's a wonder that I haven't turned yellow and sprouted feathers.

Under the rainclouds....

That's right about where we've been for the past couple of days. The rain just hasn't quit for more than a few minutes at a time. It's a day like this when I thank my lucky stars that I don't have a job to go to, or any place in particular to be, because I would not have wanted to be taking my car out today.

It has rained so much today that the water level in the middle of our street has now covered the curbs. It looks like a lake outside, and the intersection up at the corner of our cul-de-sac is much deeper. We needed the rain, but not this much all at once. Classes have been cancelled, businesses have closed early....... and still, people are out there on the roads, and getting stranded in high water. I watched part of this evening news and there were dozens of cars on the Gulf Freeway that were totally immersed in rainwater. I have to wonder-- did those drivers just move here a few days ago? Surely they can't be long-time residents who should know better.

My friend in North Carolina called me this morning, to say hello and see if I was over the flu. As soon as I answered the phone and said hello, I heard A laughing at the other end of the line. She was surprised that my voice wasn't totally back to normal yet. Then she apologized for laughing because a year ago at this time, she was sick with her own flu. I remember that, because she had eMailed me to tell me that she had gone to her doctor for her yearly check-up, and his question to her was "Well, how are we doing these days?" A's answer was "I'm doing just fine.... I couldn't be any better if I tried." And the very next day, she got sick with the flu, and she stayed sick for the next five weeks. Of course, it was my belief that she picked up the flu germs while in her doctor's office.

I've been in the house all day today, and I stayed in all day yesterday as well. The two weekend trips downtown, to see The Blue Man Group on Friday night, and to see the movie on Greece at the Science Museum on Saturday afternoon..... both of those outings just wore me down, I guess. I am amazed myself at how many weeks this flu is staying with me. And I'm determined not to go to the doctor now. I'm guessing that these germs are nearly done with me, so I don't want to be picking up any new ones.

This living in slow motion is getting to me as well. I usually go through my days on fast-forward, doing one thing after another, wishing for more hours in a day. I haven't been able to move at that pace since I got this blessed flu, and it's making me just a tad bit cranky at times. Oh well, this too shall pass...... (my new mantra).

Pouring rain for Sunday

Rain, rain, go away........ It's been raining since early this morning, with just a few breaks during the day when the clouds weren't sending down torrents of rain. I'm sure the news tomorrow will be filled with stories of the areas in and around downtown-- the same places that get flooded each and every blessed time it rains.

Speaking of the news, I've cancelled the daily paper..... we're just getting Sunday's paper from now on. I truly used to enjoy reading the paper from cover to cover every day, but for the past few months I can honestly say it was getting to be a chore. I couldn't ignore the paper, since I feel that as long as we're paying for the subscription, then I ought to be reading it and getting our money's worth out of it. My husband was just glancing at the daily paper, reading the headlines in the main section and the sports section, then reading his favorite comic strips.

Well, surprise, suprise...... the comics are available on-line, and so are the day's headlines. I called up The Chronicle and changed our subscription from every day-delivery to just Sunday delivery. I'm finding that I don't miss the daily newspaper, and that surprises me. When we're up at the lake, we don't have the paper delivered up there, plus we don't have a television up there either--- which means we don't know all about the bad things going on around the world, which we don't miss.

Speaking of bad things..... we heard on CNN tonight about the earthquake in Hawaii. I still haven't gotten all the details yet...... I don't know which of the islands was hit by the quake. Was it the big island of Hawaii? Or was it one or two of the smaller islands? I wish these newspeople would be more specific when they give you a 15-second bulletin. Is that too much to ask?

I am still reading James Michener's Hawaii, and I'm enjoying every word, every page, every chapter. Amazing to me that the first missionaries to go to the island of Hawaii couldn't get past the fact that the Hawaiian people treasured their history, their customs, their gods. And why couldn't the missionaries have been more patient? Seems to me that their only goal was to go to those islands and convert everyone... just so they could say they "turned heathens into Christians."


Our friends have been calling to RSVP for the Halloween party.... I will end up calling the usual small group of friends who just never seem to RSVP. When I call them, they tell me Well of course we're coming, that's why I didn't call. Still others will say We can't make it to this one, that's why I didn't call. What I'd like to do is give everyone a teeny lesson as to just what RSVP means, but of course I wouldn't do that. I've just come to know, over the years, who will call and who won't, and that's just that.


My husband and I have bought tickets to see a Christmas show downtown with our young Miss C and her best friend L. Last December, we took the girls to see "The Nutcracker" ballet downtown. This year, the Rockettes from New York's Radio City Music Hall will be in town with their "Christmas Spectacular." My dad used to take me to Radio City every year to see the Christmas Show, and we went to Radio City during the year as well for movies and the stage show. I haven't seen the Rockettes since the last time I went with my dad, so I thought this would be a fun thing to do with the girls. In all the years we've lived here, the Radio City Christmas Show has never been to Houston, so I thought we should all take advantage of this December's performance. It will be a nice Christmas treat for the girls, and of course my husband and I get to enjoy their excitement as well, which is a treat for us.

I'm way behind on my Christmas preparations..... usually, by this time of the year, I have our Christmas cards all written out and ready to go, the Christmas gifts are all bought, wrapped, boxed and ready to mail, and the favors for our Christmas Open House are all ready. Not this year........ between all the trips we took, and being busy with the lake cottage, I've just not been able to get around to all of that. With the Halloween party coming up this month, I will just have to wait till that's over before I can get to thinking about Christmas. Jingle bells...... once again, Christmas will be here in a heartbeat.

Greece at the Science Museum

We drove downtown again today, to see an IMAX film about Greece at the Science Museum. Beautiful movie, showing not only the history of Greece, but the country today. I didn't realize that Greece had so many islands. Miles and miles of beautiful beaches surrounded by blue-blue water. White-white houses built onto the sides of cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean.

The roads are so narrow, winding up and down and around all those cliffs.... there were more scooters and motorcycles than cars in the film, and I would imagine that people walk more than ride. One thing was puzzling...... I didn't see many gardens surrounding the houses. Don't people grow their own vegetables there? Or maybe that's just not possible in the cliff-side areas, unless they have small container-gardens set outside their kitchens. Mostly all of the houses were painted bright white, with an occasional blue house dotting the mountainside. Personally, I'd choose one of the blue ones.

There was a small hotel set into the side of a cliff.... lots of beautiful views from all the rooms, I'm sure. Small enough to make your stay more authentic, rather than staying at a Hilton. We learned that during our trip to Hawaii........ one Hilton is the same as another, and you could be anywhere in the world when you're in one of those American-owned hotels. Better to stay at an authentic, privately-owned hotel, to get a better feel of wherever you are.

After the IMAX movie, I stopped into the museum's gift shop, fully expecting to see some displays of items from Greece. Nothing. Not a thing from Greece. Which is unusual, indeed, because the Science Museum has always been very good in coordinating the items in the gift shop to whatever is being featured within the museum. Oh well. That's the way the baklava crumbles.

We stayed downtown for lunch, and went to a Thai restaurant. Now you'd figure we would've gone to our favorite Greek restaurant downtown, but being that we had just finished up all the Greek foods we bought at the Greek festival last week, my husband had a taste for Thai food, so that's where we went. Very different than our Thai restaurant here...... the food was very good, just cooked a different way. I'm sure there are dozens of ways to cook Shrimp Pad Thai, just as there are dozens of recipes for lasagna or spanikopita or anything else.

Downtown restaurants are more artsy than they are out here. Our restaurants here have a more homey, nautical, traditional flair. Downtown restaurants are likely to be more modern, more simplistic, more cutting-edge. And the parking lots are smaller there, which makes for interesting angles when you're parking your car, and the sidewalks are more crowded in the museum and the university areas because more people are walking instead of driving. A whole other world in the downtown area here.

As we drove past the park in the center of town, there was a wedding party having photographs taken by the water fountain. It never fails...... whenever we drive past that park, there is either a bridal party or a Quinceneros princess having pictures taken. The Quinceneros is the Mexican celebration of a girl's 15th birthday..... and the parties they give are equivalent to a wedding party. The birthday girl is dressed in a long gown, complete with gloves and tiara, and she has attendants dressed in long colorful gowns as well. Thousands upon thousands of dollars are spent on these lavish birthday parties..... the Mexican families go all-out for the 15th birthday, similar to what American parents do for the Sweet Sixteen parties of their daughters.

The weather has been beautiful...... warm days, lots of sun without broiling hot rays, and cooler nights...... "sweater-weather," as we call it, when the temperature dips down below 80 degrees.

Blue Man Group

My husband and I went downtown last night, to see a performance of "The Blue Man Group." We had seen them in Las Vegas (when we went there to see Barry Manilow this past January), but last night's show was very different.

First of all, when The Blue Man Group performs in Vegas, they're at a much smaller theatre at the Venetian. The smaller the theatre, the more you feel like you're part of the performance somehow. Last night's show was at the Toyota Center, which holds thousands and thousands of people. My husband had bought these tickets months ago, as soon as he found out The Blue Man Group would be in Houston. Even so, our seats weren't on the floor in the center, they were on the side. Good seats, but being right in front of the stage (rather than on the side) is always much better.

Last night's performance seemed more like a rock concert.... when we saw The Blue Man Group in Vegas, it was more of a show than a concert, if you know what I mean. My husband knew most of the music that was played last night..... songs from Led Zeppelin and The Who, among others. Still, the concept of The Blue Man Group is just wild. It always makes me wonder how the group got started.

I can imagine one person coming up with the idea and trying to convince others to join him: "Listen to this... we wear black jumpsuits and black boots. We cover our hair and our ears with blue latex, paint our faces blue, and wear blue gloves. We don't say a word when we're on the stage.... all our expression has to show in our eyes and on our faces. And we play famous rock songs by hitting red drumsticks on PVC pipes....... and then we can we toss paintballs at a canvas to make abstract art that fans will pay hundreds of dollars for after the show."

I know that I'm making their act sound very simple, which in reality it isn't. The energy of The Blue Man Group is just boundless, and once they come onto the stage, they've got everyone in the audience hooked and you're almost afraid to blink because you don't want to miss anything. The lighting effects they use are amazing throughout the show, which only adds to the visual magic of the performance.

And when you think of it, The Blue Man Group keeps their anonymnity once they're out of the blue make-up. You really can't tell who they are, not even when you're up close to them. After their show in Vegas, the group members were out in the lobby, posing for pictures with anyone and everyone. Still keeping their silence, they never said a word.... they just stood there for the pictures and they all gave their blue-lipped autographs. Instead of writing their names if you ask them to sign a program, they kiss the program book, leaving an imprint of blue lips on the paper. They didn't do that after last night's show.... way too many people in the audience.

The other day when my husband and I were in "The Fun Shop" looking at Halloween costumes, he was wanting to buy Blue Man Group make-up, so he could dress in black and be a Blue Man for our Halloween party. They had that make-up in the shop...... blue cream-paint, plus a latex cap to cover hair and ears. The man in the store said the entire process would take at least two hours to do, because once you put the latex cap on, the entire cap had to be covered in the blue make-up, so it would look seamless. Then, once all the blue stuff was on, you couldn't eat or drink, and you had to make sure you didn't touch anyone or anything, because your body's temperature would keep the make-up moist. As much as my husband wanted to be a Blue Man for Halloween, after hearing the down-sides of the process, neither of us thought it would be a good idea for the party.

Last night was fun, though. I was worried that I wouldn't be feeling well enough to sit through the performance, but I was just fine. I took cough medicine just before we left the house, and I had cough drops in my purse. As soon as I felt my throat getting dry, I took out a cough drop and I was just fine. This flu still lingers with me a little bit..... my ribs are a little sore still from all the coughing I did, and I'm not moving as fast as I usually do. This too shall pass. This too shall pass. I keep saying that over and over these days.... knowing that everything I'm feeling from this flu is just an teeny-tiny miniscule drop in the medical bucket. My friend has begun radiation treatments.... they're hoping to shrink the tumor that's wrapped around her larnyx. What she's going through, and will be going through, is not a teeny-tiny drop in the medical bucket. It's more like a waterfall. Niagara Falls.

More rain.....

Another evening of soaking, pour-down rain. The morning started out just fine, with lots of sun, but quickly turned dark in late afternoon. What followed was a heavy rainstorm, with lots of good hard rain.

This morning, my husband and I drove to one of the waterfront communities, to have a look-see at "The Fun Shop." We spent nearly an hour and a half in there, looking at the Halloween costumes. The shop has lots of party things, for every occasion you can think of, but right now their main focus is on Halloween. My husband was looking at Halloween costumes for our party. He got some great ideas...... everything from Elvis to The Phantom of The Opera, from a pirate to a monk........ and everything inbetween. You can spend as little as $10, and as much as $200, depending on how elaborate you want the costume to be.

While we were in there, I also got ideas for costumes of my own. I didn't buy anything...... I can just go into my closets and put an outfit together. Like a 1920s "Flapper." The costume they were selling for nearly $50 had a short dress with fringe on the bottom. Well, I have a short black dress in my closet, with fringe on the hem, with a matching shawl with lots of fringe. I have long pearls to go with the dress, and black stockings and black heels.... and I can find some feathers and beaded things to put into my hair. Voila! A flapper! Without spending a dime.

Then there was the gypsy costume, also for close to $50.... they were selling a colorful skirt with lots of beads, a white blouse, lots of beaded necklaces. Well, I can get that out of my closet as well.... I have a few long skirts that are very colorful..... I have white blouses and beaded blouses, and I also have a bunch of beaded necklaces that I can put together.

I also have a long black skirt with an uneven, jagged hem...... if I put that together with a black top, plus black tights and heels, I could be a witch. I even have a witch's hat, found a few years ago at a yard sale for just a dollar. Usually, I put the witch's hat on the statue of the Victorian lady that's in our living room. Depending on the holiday, that statue is always "dressed" for the occasion.

I was able to keep my dental appointment this afternoon, and even managed not to cough or sneeze once during the cleaning. A new bakery opened up right next door to the dental office, so I went in there for a look-see after the appointment. Nice bakery, small in size, but big enough to offer quite a nice variety of cakes and cookies, muffins and scones, plus homemade soup. I bought a few things to bring home....... all very good, as close to a New York bakery as we can get down here. They had "black and white cookies," which sort of looked like the NY cookies, but my husband didn't think they were as good as the ones sold in the NY bakeries.

That seems to be the rule..... anything we remember from NY is never as good as whatever is offered here. Such as pizza, bagels, and those black and white cookies. Oh well...... click your red shoes together and repeat after me....... you're not in NY anymore.

Pumpkins.....

Our young Miss C called us on her cell phone this afternoon..... could I pick her up at the high school? They're having mid-terms this week, so her schedule is off a little bit, and rather than waiting over an hour for her mom to get finished with work, C wanted to know if I could come and get her. Well, of course.

So off I went, and I know that C was pleased to have her friends see her getting into my little two-seater Thunderbird.... she had that little glint in her eye, being that most everyone else gets picked up in an over-sized SUV, or whatever they're calling those gas-guzzlers these days.

Instead of driving straight back to the subdivision, I decided to drive to one of the local gift shops to see if they had anything interesting for the Halloween party. The shop I went to didn't have all that much, and what they had was very over-priced, so I didn't buy a thing. But C and I had fun looking...... that girl loves to window-shop and doesn't mind just browsing.

I was heading towards the second gift shop in our area, but I felt myself getting tired again (more post-flu stuff) so I decided just to head back home. On the way, though, we passed one of the local churches whose property was filled with pumpkins. This particular church sells pumpkins every year.,... they put down hay all over their lawn and make the church grounds look like a pumpkin farm. All the money from the pumpkin-selling goes to the church and its programs. I'd rather give my pumpkin-money to a church than to a supermarket, so C and I stopped there and I asked her to pick out a dozen pumpkins for our front yard.

When we got back to our house, she helped me arrange them in the flowerbeds, and it looks very Halloween-y out there now. I must say that the twelve pumpkins looked like enough when they were in the trunk of my car, but out in our yard, it looks like we could use a few more.

Miss C asked me if I could pick her up from school again tomorrow afternoon, so I may just drive back to that church and buy some more pumpkins. We don't usually carve out the pumpkins.... it's too hot here, and they'll get all mushy and smelly if you carve them, plus the ants get into them and that's just a positively gross sight--- zillions of black ants crawling in and out of the face of a jack-o-lantern. Yuck... just the thought.......

Sunny skies again....

Yesterday's rainstorm was much needed..... I just hope that the places that needed the rain most got some of the downpour. The rains were so heavy here that some schools and businesses closed for the afternoon and evening. Some states get "snow days," we get rain days. And I still have to wonder why the City Powers That Be just don't get working to fix the areas that get flooded each and every blessed time we get these heavy rains.

While we were out yesterday morning, before the rains came, we stopped in at our local Half-Price Bookstore....... so different from the teeny bookshop up near the lake. I found some mystery books for the Halloween party, to put in the gift bags for young Miss C and the three friends that we told her she could invite. I also found a book on Savannah...... a souvenier booklet with lots of beautiful pictures of the city's squares. I had seen that book when we were in Savannah, but didn't get it because even though it was very pretty, I didn't think it was worth the $15 price....... the price at the bookstore yesterday was one dollar. So of course I couldn't leave it there. We loved that trip to Savannah...... such a pretty city, with all those beautiful homes.

The one thing that I had wanted to look for in the bookstore yesterday was a "Scrabble" dictionary. We have one here that we use all the time, but I wanted to get a second copy for Mayberry. We've been playing Scrabble up there every night, and we're using a plain old dictionary, which doesn't have a lot of the two-letter words that the Scrabble dictionary has. I got so busy looking through the clearance racks in the bookstore that I forgot about the dictionary. Back I will have to go......

But not today. I need to get to the post office this morning, with one last eBay package that has to be mailed. And I also need to get to Kroger..... we're out of fruit, orange juice..... and I'm down to very little cough medicine and very few cough drops. This flu still lingers on. I feel good in the morning, tired in the afternoon, then I start coughing at night. I'm still sleeping on three pillows, because I don't feel so congested when I'm raised up like that.

My husband suggested that I may want to see a doctor......... might not be a bad idea, but now that I'm so close to getting rid of this flu, I'm afraid to go into a doctor's office and take the chance of picking up more germs. I think I'm better off just keeping my own flu germs, rather than finding someone else's.

As I type this, Mickey Kitty has wrapped his tiny body around my foot and he's using his little paws to hang on to my ankle. He's such a sweet little cat........ and he still has that sad little meow that got him into this house in the first place.

Back into the real world....

After these weeks of being sick with the flu, this morning was an adventure. We both went into League City for haircuts, then I walked around J's antique shop for a little while. Didn't buy a thing.... J's friend L told me that I must still be sick if I didn't find one little thing to buy.

My husband and I drove to one of our favorite Chinese restaurants for lunch..... even that didn't taste as good as I remembered it to be. (Not so with the Greek food from Sunday's festival-- every bite of that has been delicious, and there's still some in the fridge.) On the way back from the Chinese restaurant, both of us noticed all the road work being done...... which only means that this entire area is just being over-built and is over-populated. We just hate that. I remember years ago when we bought this house and I vowed that I'd never be moving out of this house or out of this area. Now, seeing how many high-rise condos that are being planned for the waterfront here, I've changed my tune on that old song.

While we were eating our lunch, my husband and I talked about our trip to Hawaii..... how beautiful it all was, how under-populated...... and we again discussed the possibility of moving there. Of course, before we did something like that, we'd be doing more research other than talking about it while eating vegetable dumplings and fried rice. How would it really be to live there? How convenient or inconvenient? And we'd be surrounded by water........ could I deal with that?
A lot to think about, a lot to look into, a lot more discussions, needless to say.

Anyway....... yesterday during a burst of post-flu energy, I started to decorate the house for Halloween. Out came those huge honeycomb-crape-paper pumpkins that I hang from the ceiling, and the porcelain pumpkins, and the tiny plastic pumpkins.... the same decorations that I use every year, but I keep using them in different places so the house doesn't look the same every year. Out of the closet came all of the Halloween party favors that I bought during the after-Halloween sales last year.... good thing I looked at what I already had before going shopping for more goodies. I also found the Mark Roberts' Halloween ladies that I had bought last year-- also after Halloween, so the prices were much cheaper than the retail price. I've got one of those ladies in the middle of the dining room table-- I've got her sitting on top of a porcelain pumpkin. Wildly funny, with her dark red hair tied up in a bun, a spider hanging from the strands of her hair..... a mole on her cheek, a very pointy chin, high-heeled shoes decorated with rhinestones, and her outfit is black and gold. The expression on her face is priceless, and seems to be saying "I can trick your treat, honey!"

The other, larger Halloween lady is sitting on the buffet in the dining room...... a taller version of the smaller lady, more ornately dressed in black and gold and orange, with lots of spidery-lace on her cape. The same crazy red hair, more spiders dangling from the top of her bun, long eyelashes..... she will be the hit of the party, I'm sure. I will have to remember to check that gift shop after Halloween this year, to see what I can buy for next year when they discount the prices. Hate to pay full-price for things, especially the way these stores discount everything as soon as the holiday is over. They'd rather sell it cheaply than store it for the following year.

Pouring rain now, and the sky is getting darker. Guess I'd better shut this computer down before we start getting thunder and lightning.....

Wild Kingdom

There was a television show years back called "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom." I forget just now the name of the man who hosted the program, but it was a wonderful wildlife show for families to watch together.

During our last few days at the lake cottage, my husband and I kept referring to that old program. First of all, the alligator is back in the lake..... our neighbor hadn't seen him for a few days and she thought the gator had found another place to hang out. Wrong. The alligator was right under her boat-dock this weekend........ we think she was looking out in the middle of the cove and just didn't notice him right under her dock. Huge gator...... I swear that thing is as long as my husband is tall, and that's right about six feet.

Secondly, my husband had bought some bait at Wal-Mart (fresh earthworms). Yuck. Out he went to our dock, bait and fishing pole in hand. And what does he catch? A turtle. Not an itty-bitty turtle, but one big enough to make a pot of soup at a dinner-party for twelve. Well, turtle soup isn't exactly on our list of favorite things, so we had to get the turtle back into the lake. My husband had to "walk" the turtle around the peninsula of our property so he could get the long-handled fishing net.... he didn't want to pull the turtle up out of the water, for fear that the hook would do more damage than it already had.

Of course, once my husband got the turtle up onto the grass, the poor thing pulled his head (and the hook, naturally) inside its shell. How to get the head and the hook out of the shell? There was my husband, gently pulling the fishing line, which gently pulled the turtle's head, which gave my husband just enough of a chance to reach in with a little tool to release the hook. This process wasn't complete with just one try, mind you...... it took three or four tries before we could get the hook-less turtle back into the lake.

Then....... our dog Gracie always walks around the entire back peninsula of our property, and this visit to the cottage was no different. All of a sudden, I see her ears go back, her tail go down, and she's sniffing the ground near the very tip of our peninsula. The same tip of property where I sit down (on the grass!) when I feel like fishing. Of course, my curiosity got the best of me and I went to see what Gracie had found there in that spot. Lord have mercy on my sorry soul........ there was a snake skin there, about four, maybe five feet long. Just the skin. Where's the snake? My husband tells me that the snakes shed their skin when they've outgrown them. Oh goodie..... so that means there's a six-foot-long snake somewhere on our property? Well, I will give you one guess as to who won't be sitting on that peninsula with a fishing pole in her hand from now on.

We never did find the snake, but my husband did keep that snake skin..... he put it on a shelf in the boathouse, so we can show it to young Miss C the next time she comes up to the cottage. Wildlife lover that she is, she will truly appreciate it, and will most likely add it to her collection of treasures in her cabin. Yuck. Double yuck. Alligators.......... snakes....... lake-living in Texas at its best.

On the way back home from the lake, we stopped downtown at the Greek Festival. They don't allow dogs onto the grounds, and we had Gracie with us, so I waited just outside the gates while my husband went inside to get Greek food to go........ boxes of spinach pie, cheese pie, pastitio dinners, Greek salad, baklava. Enough to last for most of this week, without me having to bother much in the kitchen, except for making fresh salad or using the microwave to reheat the Greek foods. We go to this Greek festival every year..... the food is always hot and delicious, the entertainment (Greek dancing and music) is just fantastic, the displays and the Greek bazaar held in the school building on their grounds is always filled with interesting things to look at and buy. And the interior of the Greek church is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen.... so that's always worth a look-see as well.

Gracie didn't know what was going on today, but she didn't take her eyes off of the gate of the festival after watching my husband walk through it. She sat there till she got tired of sitting, then she laid down in the grass, all the while keeping her eyes on everyone passing through the gates. People stopped to talk to her and pet her, and Gracie just sat there with her doggie-smile on her face as I told them she was waiting for her daddy to buy Greek food. Gracie was wearing a pink bandana today....... had I given more thought to her accessories, I would've had a blue and white bandana on her (the colors of the Greek flag). And if we could've taught her to bark Opa! maybe they would've let her go through the gate.

My flu is just about gone now..... the past few days at the lake were very relaxing. I didn't even go into town to look at the antique shops while we were up there, which is another sure sign that I wasn't feeling entirely well. We did drive into town to check out the one bookstore and the library. The bookstore was, for the most part, a disappointment. The bulk of their inventory consisted of paperback romances and western novels, but I did find an excellent copy of "No Ordinary Time" there, by Doris Kearns Goodwin. My sister has been after me to read that book for weeks now. At the library, we browsed through the room where they keep their sale books, and wonder of wonders--- I found a hardcover copy of "Hawaii," by James Michener. I've been meaning to buy that book since we got back from Hawaii...... and this vintage hardcover was just one dollar. That book alone was worth the trip into town and then some.... I've started reading it and it's wonderful.

While we were in town, we had lunch at "The Whistle Stop Cafe." And yes, one of their featured items on their menu is Fried Green Tomatoes. I've had them there before and they're actually very good. I wasn't in the fried-green-tomato mood this time, so all I had was half a sandwich and a cup of their homemade vegetable soup. The best part of the lunch was the Halloween display outside the cafe------ they took a vintage bridal gown and put it on a dress-dummy, and then they used a pumpkin for its head, and dried flowers for her bouquet. Well, of course I looked at that and just laughed out loud, and I'm still wondering if I can duplicate that for our Halloween party. I think that would just be a hoot, so I'm going to try it.

Also, while we were in town up at the lake...... the courthouse is on the town's Main Street, and every weekend, now that the temperature has cooled down into the high 80s, a live country-music band will be playing in the gazebo on the grounds of the courthouse. Being that the center of town is so small, the music can be heard on all the streets surrounding the courthouse. It was a nice country-touch..... listening to that music while the pumpkin-bride stood on the sidewalk outside the Whistle Stop Cafe.

And how do I know that I'm getting over this flu and my voice is returning to normal? My husband has finally stopped saying to me: "Repeat after me: I coulda bin a contenda."