Ten years

Ten years ago, I was terribly busy. I had a big party to throw and it required a bunch of planning beforehand. I had to find a fabulous dress, pick out the perfect music, send out lots of invitations, locate a place to have it, and so much more...

I had to pick out a menu, then feed dinner to a huge crowd, including a fancy schmancy dessert.

There was major gardening involved - thousands of rose petals had to be gathered and distributed to all of my guests.

I even had to find a horse and carriage, right in the middle of a big city!

It took me about a year to plan this party, seriously. Isn't that crazy?

All so that me and this guy that I hooked up with in New Orleans almost 3 years earlier could officially spend the rest of our lives together.

(Here we are at Cafe du Monde, blurry pic'd and bleary-eyed after a night on Bourbon Street.)

It sure was a lot of work. But ten years after that party, I still think it was worth every little bit of it!

Happy Anniversary, B! I love you!

aaah, that's better

In just a few minutes it will officially be the first day of Autumn! How I love the names of the seasons. Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer. The words themselves are so lovely and evocative. Every season has its merits, but this, this is my favorite one. Cool mornings and evenings begin, accompanied by warm and sunny afternoons. Rainy days return as well, bringing desperately needed liquid relief to a land parched from the harsh days of summer.


I took the first two pictures last December so we still have some time to wait before it actually looks like fall around here, but no matter. It's the state of mind that I love most: A time for introspection and daydreaming, a warm cup of tea enjoyed with a purring lap cat and an engrossing book, steaming bowls of soup and freshly baked bread, vast and low-slung orange moons, the soft hoots of a visiting owl, a far away train whistle in the middle of the night, pumpkin patches and hay rides and tromping through paths strewn with crunchy fallen leaves, scarecrows and apple harvests and light jackets and beloved quilts taken out of linen closets, muted harvest colors and brilliant glowing foliage, graceful and dizzying ribbons of black birds streaming over the highway at dusk, Halloween and headless horsemen and haunted houses and all things creepy, spooky, dark and mysterious.

The mercury may climb to 90 degrees here today, but in my mind and heart there is a most welcome chill.

Oat & Toffee Grahams

Mmm-mmmm, my friends, these are a winner! I got the recipe from Culinary in the Country, one of my favorite cooking blogs. Joe's post about these, and the link to the recipe, can be found here. I followed his advice to brown the butter rather than simply melting it, and that definitely added an extra depth and yumminess factor to these bars. I also took his suggestion about the crushed salted pretzels as a topping (instead of almonds), which was inspired and delicious. Finally, I used semisweet chocolate instead of the bittersweet he calls for, as I was making these for co-workers and thought bittersweet might be too much for them. (However, if I were making them just for me, I would have used bittersweet.) One note of caution: do be sure the oat topping covers all the graham crackers, I did pretty well but left a few slim edges exposed and had to cut away some burnier bits.

These are decadent and pretty sweet, so pace yourself. A strong cup of coffee would be a perfect accompaniment, to cut/balance that sweetness.

These bars are highly recommended. Enjoy!

ninja cat video

Several things are annoying me today, but this video made me laugh, a lot, so I thought I'd post it in case other people are also having an annoying day so that they can laugh too, because things seem a lot less annoying when you're giggling your head off.

Kitty reminds me of that chick in The Ring that comes out of the TV. (Not too many things truly creep me out in movies, but that chick did!) This guy is eleven bazillion times cuter though!

a lament for Crystal Beach

For the past few years, around this time, B and I and a small group of friends would head to the coast for a long weekend. It was one last chance to enjoy the long lazy days of summer before the crazy too-short days of fall and the holiday season began. To get out of town for a change of scenery, to wade in the ocean and listen to the crash of the waves and the constant lull of the singing surf. To watch the kids' fascination with catching fish, with riding the big waves, with building sand castles and collecting seashells; timeless activities that have made memories for generations of children before and will continue to do so. A chance for us "grown-ups" to hang out with each other late into the evening, without having to worry about getting up and going to work the next day. A chance to enjoy a home-cooked breakfast together, to enjoy cocktails in the middle of the afternoon, to enjoy the latest stories and news from each other's busy lives.

The last two years we spent this long weekend in Crystal Beach TX, on the Bolivar Peninsula just outside of Galveston. We stayed in rented beach houses just yards from the ocean. We got out of our cars on the ferry ride over, to feel the wind whipping our hair and to look for dolphins, always thrilled when we spotted them. Several of our group even saw an actual live shark get (inadvertently I assume) caught by a neighboring fisherman! And on the last day, some of us stopped for lunch in Galveston, somewhere along the Seawall, for one last group meal before heading back home.

We did not take a beach trip this year. Our core group has basically disbanded. One couple has moved away, another is in the process of divorcing. It makes me sad to know we will never have those happy times together again, but, life happens and change is often good, in the long run if not in the short.

Still, the nearly complete loss of Crystal Beach and the massive destruction of Galveston due to Hurricane Ike has just made me all the more wistful about the loss of our own group. If any of you guys read this, please know that no matter how much or little we see each other in our future days, I will always remember how many fantastic times we had together. And I will always care about each and every one of you!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Obviously my feelings of loss are miniscule to the thousands of people along the coast who lost everything. From the reports I've heard so far, loss of life was thankfully minimal, but the destruction to the area is massive. Even downtown Houston took some big hits. Please keep all of the people affected and devastated by this storm in your thoughts and your hearts, and remember them with your wallets too if you can. There are several charities with Ike relief funds, and don't forget the animal victims too!!

Finally, here are a couple of striking photos. The first is a before and after shot of a section of Crystal Beach. Of course living on the beach will always carry the risk of total destruction. But it is still a hard hit to take when it does happen.

And here is a pic of the highway leading into Galveston. Dang!!

a few postcards from around town

snakes and snails

On Sept. 9th, back in 1981, just 2 years after my title of Only Child was unceremoniously revoked, and the new position of Big Sister was thrust upon me even though I did not campaign for it, my official duties doubled when Little Brother became a member of the cabinet.

As with Little Sister, I wasn't as close to him as I might have been had our age difference been smaller. They were certainly close to each other... and I spent a lot of time in my room trying to get away from them.

Alas, Little Brother continued with the regime that Little Sister had started, but dangit if he, just like she, wasn't awfully freaking cute. Allow me to present Exhibit A:

(Our family has never been big on dining room furniture. Gotta problem with that?)



Once he got older, I realized that he and I had many more things in common than just bugging each other. And it's still that way... our musical tastes, for instance, while not identical by any means, are often aligned. And we certainly both love an irreverent movie. And I think we're both still wondering what in the world we want to be when we grow up. (Though I'm sure he'd be down with rock star or ultimate fighting champion, and I would be okay with professional Parisian or um, professional ice cream taster. But you know, I'm just talkin' bout these damn day jobs that keep interfering with our DREAMS maaaann!!)

I think it's so cool that he writes and plays music and has been in a bona fide band. And it's really sweet to see how good he is with our Niblings (niece and nephew types). And my word, he did grow up to be a handsome young feller! Allow me to present Exhibit B:

(Image used without permission. No endorsement of Corona Extra implied. But it is good, though, you should have some.)

Have a great birthday R! Love you!

make you a deal,

Sarah Palin: I'll stay out of your family's reproductive bizness if you'll stay out of MINE.

No? That's what I thought.

Ironic how conservatives are praising the daughter for her "choice" to keep the baby. So wait a minute - does that mean they're admitting that women ARE capable of making a choice regarding their offspring??? Oh right, just not THAT choice...

(I wonder how much of a choice this poor girl had about her impending marriage.)

Palin is for "abstinence until marriage" sex education - her own kid is a walking poster child for WHAT DOESN'T WORK. Yet, she is praised for it. Can someone explain this to me?

I have always thought that pro-life advocates, logically, should be the biggest proponents of birth control in the world, yet they are just the opposite. And I wonder how many of them are out there fostering and adopting all the unwanted children in this country? And why is it wrong to use embryonic cells - that are being thrown away ANYWAY - for research that could SAVE the lives of innocent children who have already been born and are facing terrible diseases and hardships? Why are those children not worth saving, but a bundle of cells that's otherwise going in the garbage is? Because of Jesus? Huh??? I fail to see the connection. And why should Jesus have anything to do with it anyway? Remember that little thing called the separation of church and state? Oh I know, I know, nation founded by Christians blah blah blah. So what?? What is important is that this nation was founded as a place where people have the freedom to practice any religion they choose, or no religion at all. So I still don't see what Jesus has to do with policy.

And don't even get me started on her wanting Creationism taught in school. Yes, of course evolution is just a "theory". It's a scientifically legitimate theory. Who knows what new scientific theories we will come up with in the centuries to come? Science is always evolving. (And for the record, I don't think the concept of God and the theory of evolution are necessarily mutually exclusive.) But to teach Creationism in SCIENCE class is comparable to teaching Greek mythology there as well. And hey, she's from Alaska, is she cool with throwing some Inuit creation stories in too? No? You can believe whatever you want, but that doesn't make it science. OK, I got myself started. Just one more point here. Palin is quoted in an interview with the Anchorage Daily News a couple years ago regarding her stance on teaching Creationism in schools.

“Teach both. You know, don't be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both. And you know, I say this too as the daughter of a science teacher. Growing up with being so privileged and blessed to be given a lot of information on, on both sides of the subject -- creationism and evolution. It's been a healthy foundation for me. But don't be afraid of information and let kids debate both sides.” [bolding is mine]

Irony of all ironies considering her ideas about sex ed? Am I right?

I watched most of her speech last night. I could almost hear all the Republican mommies in the country heaving a post-orgasmic sigh afterwards. I think she will be a popular pick for McCain within his own party, esp. with the far right religious members, but I'm not sure how many moderates and undecideds she'll bring in. I can't imagine many Hillary supporters jumping ship to vote for her, considering her stance on many issues is completely opposite to Hillary's. Not sure what McCain was hoping to accomplish here. We shall see, though. Maybe it will turn out to be a brilliant move on his part, and we'll get 4 more years of neo-con fundamentalist pandering. *blood runs cold*

fail

If you ever want to feel intellectually superior to someone (me, specifically), just keep in mind the following phone exchange:

Me, answering phone: "(Company Name)"

Caller: "Hi, may I speak to Lisa?"

Me: "This is she."

Me: "Wait..."

Me: "I mean --

Me: "Hold please, I'll get her."

Yep.

birthday girl

Today my little sister turns 29 years old.


We're almost 8 years apart, and growing up, we weren't really close.


She bugged me for many years.


Many many years.


She was always in my room, getting all up in my bizness. See?


(Check out the paint job on that dresser. And all my cheap crap. I used to love cheap crap.)

But as it happened, time passed and slowly we started to get along. And eventually, we even became friends.

We certainly have our differences - she's weird about cheese, she keeps having babies, and I think she's a republican.

But underneath all that, we're not so very different. We even have some of the same strange OCD tendencies, developed independently of one another.

Nowadays, I actually like talking to her and hanging out with her! I don't think either of us could have imagined that happening 25 years ago.

Look, here she is now, all grown up and lovely as can be! (I totally ripped this pic off her myspace; I hope she doesn't mind, heh heh.)



And here's a picture I made just for her. (She'll know why.)

Have a wonderful birthday, K! Love you!