Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Time Warp Tuesday: First Halloween

Thank you, Jenn, for Time Warp Tuesdays.  I enjoy revisiting these special moments.  I thought a Halloween theme would be appropriate today, so here are my boys in their first Halloween costumes. Frank's a 6-week old baby leopard, and Ernest a 6 month-old baby dalmatian.  Both were threatening to bust their britches, i.e. those costumes look really tight!




Who else has posts up?  So far I've seen Jenn (of course), Gary, Karen, Janet, and Jen.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Felix Still Has Issues

You'd think they could have managed to land the phone book on the mat, but no.



Really, it's not that hard to rinse the suds down the drain.



The sour cream was white when I put it out. Where did those black flecks come from?
(Someone confessed to contaminating it with pepper.  I disposed of it.)


So, what's bugging you this weekend?

Monday, October 22, 2012

Time Warp Tuesday: Pony Pictures

Join Jen's Time Warp Tuesday!

Frank was a commuting child.  Both his dad and I worked out of town, so he went to infant care and then a pre-school near my office.  My co-workers' children all attended that pre-school at various times and everyone loved it.  One of the yearly highlights was Pony Pictures!

You can see in the first picture Frank is still sporting the Batman.  Although he was at least 3 here.  I can tell the sweatshirt has faded.



By the next year, he had progressed to other super heroes (Spiderman).


When I took this out of the frame to scan it, I found it was badly faded.  Fortunately, I think I have the negative somewhere.  I don't have a negative of the first one so I'm glad I took this opportunity to scan it.

By the time Ernest got to this pre-school, pony pictures were a thing of the past.  The beloved director was forced to leave because they insisted on hiring a church member.  Much of the joyfulness of this school had disappeared.  They seemed more intent on enforcing rules.   Ernest attended for a few months until he was potty trained, then moved on to a joyful school close to home.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Signs of Fall 2012

Only a few apples this year.  The tree is not doing well and lost a couple branches last year.

The scarecrows are appearing in town.  This one disappeared a few days later.  Who would steal a scarecrow?  They've replaced it.  I'm going to take the big boy camera out in a day or two and photograph the whole gang of 'crows.


I complimented Janet on her beautiful fall colors and said it was mostly brown here.  This is my chestnut tree.  Goes brown in August...but needs a good rainstorm to get all the leaves off of it.  People always think it's dead, but it's just on a weird cycle.  It will have spring green in February.


Nummy fall colors at the farmer's market, though.


And a very scary cat at the grocery store.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Looking up: Ceilings and Lights

If you're ever at the Britt Scripps Inn, please look up. It's magnificent.






Thursday, October 18, 2012

Britt Scripps Inn

The nice thing about having (mostly) grown children is that you can take off for the weekend and leave them to take care of the spoiled and needy cats.

A couple weeks ago we took off to San Diego to see Allegiance: The Musical starring George Takei.  It is playing through Oct. 28th.  If you have a chance to see it, grab it.

We stayed at the beautiful Britt Scripps Inn, which was just a 15 minute stroll from the Old Globe Theater.

Here's a lovely tour (by someone else, not me!)...




We stayed in the Golden Oak room, slightly small but very charming.



I was disappointed to learn that the new owner plans to refurbish ("he’ll leave as-is but fix up with modern décor").  I think that would spoil the charm of the place.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Hunter vs. Gatherer

Over the years we have fallen into certain roles, both by convenience and natural inclination.  For instance, I am the gatherer.  I gather the groceries, the household, the children, and yes, the junk around the house.  My husband is the hunter.  He hunts down big game.  The BIG weekend barbecue, the house projects, the purchasing of large items such as cars and electronics.

This has been the week of the TV hunt.  He has the sons in on the hunt right now and I am just plain tired of it.  The first one wasn't quite right so now they are auditioning another one.  Would a lion have thrown out the first gazelle because the horns weren't quite right?  I think not.  Although that would be the lioness doing the hunting, correct?

I would like to gather myself in a corner until the hunt is over with.


Monday, October 15, 2012

Time Warp Tuesdays: 2002

I am loving Jen's Time Warp Tuesdays!

It just so happened I was trying to clean up a bit and came across my unfinished 2002 scrapbook.  I KNOW.  10 years ago!  That was the year we transitioned from film to digital...once I went digital the scrapbooking went to h - e - well, you know.

As I was paging through what I had actually finished, I came across a good number of...you guessed it...theme park photos!  We had a great year for theme parks.  We visited Universal, Disneyland and California Adventure TWICE each, and also the San Diego Zoo.








I have been working on the book, and with just a few more pages from Christmas vacation it will be done!

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Case Closed

Felix can rest. Harriet has discovered the culprit. No names will be mentioned, but through the process of elimination the floor sprinkler has been identified.

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Time Warp Tuesdays: NYC 2007

Thanks to Jenn's new Time Warp Tuesday, it's a great opportunity to revisit those old photos we may have hanging on our walls or stored in a box. In my case, these were in my semi-walk-in closet. Into which I couldn't walk at all until I tidied up this afternoon.

I have mentioned before my weakness for theme park pictures. My family hates it when I stop to buy them, but really, years later, isn't it fun to look back?

These are from a trip Ernest and I took to New York in 2007. We were very brave and adventurous (for me, not for him!) and traveled all over on the subway, including to Coney Island.

Of COURSE we had to ride the Cyclone at Coney Island.


He was on a quest for a suit jacket which we found at Macy's.  So I had a handsome date for dinner at Tavern on the Green.  You guessed it, tourist pictures there, too!


*  *  *  *  
Although I was blogging back then, I only shared one picture from the trip.  Here are a few more, to complete my trip down memory lane.  Wow, Ernest has sure grown up in 5 years!

Ernest getting nommed at the American Museum of Natural History.

Donny Osmond as Gaston, closing night of Beauty and the Beast.  I won tickets from his website.

Coney Island, had to have a Nathan's hot dog!

On the Wonder Wheel.  The only other picture I have of us together.

Eating dinner at a French restaurant across the street from our hotel.

Playing the BIG piano at F.A.O. Schwartz.


Separated at birth????


 We had such a great time!

Monday, October 01, 2012

This or That?

Timon?


Or Pumbaa?


One hump?


Or two?


And the most pressing question, a reasonably attractive picture of your spouse?


Or one which should be deleted? Or could have waited until said spouse was out of the shot. Or could have told spouse her shirt was unattractively tucked up? Or could have posed her nicely on the piano bench?  Sigh.




This is why I prefer to be behind the camera, instead of the camera on my behind.