Happy Halloween!

More fun than a barrel of monkeys! Many greetings to all of our ghost and ghouls worldwide.

This yummy graveyard cake was made from Cook's Country's Lost Recipes cookbook (another branch of America's Test Kitchen) Chocolate Blackout Cake. It's apparently based upon a legendary recipe from now defunct Ebinger’s Baking Company in Brooklyn. It sure was delicious. Love the Peeps!



As always, the guests make the party. Zorro and I are with some scary hockey player and a diminutive cowpoke.








Later on we
ran into Vampire Alex and our Egyptian yoga instructor. What an excellent array of characters we know!

Ack! It's almost September?

What happened to the summer? It seems to have completely missed me by this year. Must be working too much. Or at least too many hours, if not actually working too much. Even with all the rush of days this year, we did get to squeak in some really good memories.

Back in May, I was able to take a week to visit the parental units in their new Texan mansion. I slept in my own wing of the estate. (Dad points out that indeed, it has its own Air Conditioning 'zone') I think the whole state of Texas is just crazy because of all the land they have available. Who really needs that much sprawling space? Ok, so I'm a little jealous. I flew out in time for Mother's day. It was a whole Mom-themed week too! Not only did I get to hang out with my own mom, but with my sister Kate and all her motherly existence.

I even was able to attend one of Lily's ballet classes. She was most definitely the most adorable, smart and energetic of everyone. I can tell that by the fact that she was running all over the room, and nobody got upset that she wasn't paying attention to what they rest of them were doing. Obviously, someone so adorable knows they can get away with that kind of thing.


Of course she was also 9 months pregnant. At least for most of the visit. The last two days, she was actually not pregnant any longer. Instead, I got to meet our new niece Penny! Yay babies! Although, to be honest, it looks more like an alien for our family. Who ever heard of one of our family members being so non-Scottish looking? It's like my sister married an Italian or something. Dark curly hair and cute little dimples. It also may have something to do with the fact that this is the first relative, at least to my knowledge, to be born in the foreign country of TX. Yes, Penny was born at the Smith and Wesson hospital, in Temple. Or something like that.

So now the two cutest and adorable kids live in Texas. Sisters. I am going to see if we can't at least get them to wear the same kind of clothes, so people actually believe that they are related. Except for it may backfire, because little Penny is just too cute to believe, and she looks more like Lily's baby-doll, dressed in matching clothes.


We also were able to spend time with the most coolest of our nieces. Hannah came for a visit this month and we took a stay-cation in the DC area. We had an excellent time up in Baltimore, toured a submarine, then ate a Peking Duck. In DC we went to the Smithsonians, then she ate a Banana Split. Afterwards we saw a great Thai film "Tears of the Black Tiger" and then she had some Panang Chicken. We also drove down to visit Lurray Caverns, and then had an ice cream Sunday at Giffords. Monday, Dan & I actually had to appear at work for a few hours, so she was able to hang out and play Fallout 3 mostly, after which I took her out to our favorite Pho spot. All in all, we've discovered that not only is our niece Hannah smart, good looking, and fun to be with, but she also is a teenager. And eats like one. I needed to go back to food rehab afterwards. We had a great time though.

Also sometime this summer we fit in a visit from my parents, and went Blackberry picking. *Yummy Blackberry Cobbler!


AND we gained yet another niece! Our nephew Josh got married in June to Sarah. Sarah is now the newest, yet oldest of all our four nieces. Welcome to the family Sarah! Congratulations to All!

Mutant City Blues

There's another new RPG which was just published, that Dan got me involved in... Mutant City Blues.

The game setting is kind of a CSI meets X-Men environment. I was tempted into getting involved when they put on a who-dunnit competition. I guess it must be my competitive nature or something, but both Dan & I submitted entries.

Neither of us won, but Hey! I got Honorable Mention! (and a $30 voucher)

Remembering Pascal

We lost our sweet 16 year old Pascal last month. She has left a huge empty hole in our lives, which our other kitties have been trying hard to make up for with extra purring and snuggling. She will always be our princess, the elegant girl among the rabble rousing boys. Although I know she lead a full and loving life, every day I'm so sorry she's gone. We miss carrying her around like a baby, having her wake us up by petting our nose, seeing her cross her delicate little legs to look ladylike, and we even miss having her knock everything off the table until Dan moves off her spot on the sofa to watch TV with us.

We love our Pascal with our whole hearts and will never forget her.

Just say Cheese!

As much as I hate to say it, Bush really gets my goat; or today, France's sheep. In his last days of office, he decided that he would enact one of those most effective and necessary items that somehow will add to his legacy of presidency.

He effectively has banned Roquefort cheese in the US. Yes, there will be no more Roquefort. He enacted a 300% import duty on Roquefort cheese as a knee jerk reaction to the EU restrictions on hormone-treated beef. What the heck? How does this help us, our economy, or how we will view Gov. Bush in the future?

All I have to say is that he has no taste in quality cheese.

It's Snowing!

So, the car was covered in snow this morning. It's a light snow, the kind that's easy to wipe off the car windows and would make a really awesome snowman. That is if I took the day off... tempting, but no. Montgomery county schools are closed for the day, but the federal government is opened for business as usual. Dan's convinced that because our new president is from Chicago, we won't get a single snow day off for the next four years. I can't even imagine that Obama is the one making the call for snowdays. Wouldn't that decision be one that is staffed out?

Anyhow, since schools were closed, the snow was scheduled to continue all day, and I was going to be coming home early for another Vet appointment, I was able to work from our branch Rockville office today. I SO want to reduce my daily commute and work from there all the time, but it's a process... I'll probably work there again tomorrow, since tonight we're expecting more snow and freezing rain. Traffic certainly won't be improving with that kind of weather.

This past weekend we had a new furniture addition to the house. We'd been looking for a long time to find a good looking buffet for the dining room. With vaulted ceilings, a contemporary home, and specific tastes (and limited cash) the choices seemed very limited. Nobody seems to make decent buffets any longer! Those in catalogues are too shallow, just for show, or too darned tacky. Craig's list to the rescue! We found this beautiful mid century modern teak buffet for a song. It's six feet long, and the left two doors open to pull out shelves. Each of the doors has wood inlay with a hourglass design, and the handles are angled to match the inlay. Slowly I am moving stuff into the buffet, but it's a good time to sort things to head down to the basement.

We also had another vet visit today; a dental for Pascal. After last week's surgery, she's doing well. Unfortunately, after having blood drawn today, she's uncomfortable and whiny. She stands in the hall and wails loudly, making full use of the echo to make sure we notice. Upon going to see what's up, she changes to a pitiful mew and watery big eyes. All she wants is to be held really. So, this blog has been typed one-handed, and with full assistance from Pascal. (She is purring now as I hold her wrapped in a blanket.)

Footprints in the Snow

Lately it's been really cold in DC, as most of the TV watching world heard about last Tuesday the 20th. Further north, we did get a little bit of snow. Because it's so cold, the snow stayed on the ground all week. The benefit? We get to see where our little critters in the yard wander. The photo on the left is one of our bunnies. The one on the right, I'm not sure of, but they have itty bitty feet (the foot prints above the little ones are the bunny tracks again.)

Even without much snow, it's still been so cold in the area that the Potomac has frozen over. It's not the smooth ice that I remember ice skating on as a kid, but a big chunky ice over the whole river.

Time for Change

In DC, it's time for change...

Since I work downtown, and drive down Constitution every morning and evening, I've been watching all DC get ready for the inauguration. Last Saturday, in came the Port-a-potties. Monday, more port-a-potties. Tuesday, more port-a-potties... (you get the idea.) I can vouch for DC... they're ready for all the *stuff to hit the city. If I were coming into town for next Tuesday's events however, I think I'd bring my own TP. I haven't seen truckloads of that being shipped in yet.

No, we won't be heading down to the mall this Tuesday. With all those crazies standing around in the freezing cold? what? no way. I think maybe we'll go out and pick up this great PEZ Star Trek collector's set. It's pretty nifty. Look how young William Shatner is. I can't believe we don't already have this. (sarcasm)

We'll probably stay in and cuddle with the kitties. We can play forever with Sinbad in the bag. Or maybe spend extra time snuggling Samwise... he obviously doesn't get enough cuddles.

Obviously, it's true what they say... the internet is for pictures of cats.

Picture Album

I've been holding out, and have a few pictures to put up. Without much fanfare, here they are... Obviously not in chronological order even.

This past October, Rebecca and Hannah came to visit us in Maryland. While here, we spent some time at Homestead Farm.


















Even though Katie & Lily weren't in Maryland at the time, they were with us in spirit.


Even earlier, in November...









Dan and I went to see Cirque de Soleil, the Kooza show, when it came to the DC area. Not only did we get to see Kooza (awesome, by the way) but we also got to see the new National Harbor and spend some time with our friends Karen & Alex.



In December, Dan & I drove up to NYC with our friend Cory. Cousin David, who is of course the best actor in the whole world was gracious enough to help us get tickets to come see him in Spamalot, where he has been playing Patsy with much enthusiasm and dirt on his face. The photo I have right now is a bit wobbly, but it was just after the show, we had visited David backstage, and it was snowing! I have a better photo to post, so look for an update shortly.


Finally, some Christmas photos!!!











We had a cozy livingroom with stockings hung by the chimney with care; one for Dan, one for Me, and one for each of the five little kitties. I just have to put up this photo of the cutest little girl in front of her own Christmas tree.

Happy 2nd Birthday Lily!

Niecelettes

Flags of the world!
The Nation of Lily and the Republic of Hannah are both represented here.

LILY
This weekend at the comic shop, we found a new book to read... Good as Lily! Not only does it have our littlest niece in the title, but it also is covered with little piggie pictures. Piggies are Lily's favorite animals! It's gotten great reviews. I'll read it this week, and get back with my own review.

HANNAH

A second book we bought this weekend was Polly and the Pirates, another graphic novel by Ted Naifeh. This one reminds us of Hannah for several reasons; One - Pirates. duh. Two - This is the same author who penned the Courtney Crumrin Tales which we have already introduced to Hannah. Three - It's about a seemingly sweet and innocent 13 year old who comes into her own shortly after learning that her mother was actually Meg the Pirate Queen. Hannah, we never told you before, but your mother used to be Becca the Pirate Queen. Suddenly, Peg is capable of death defying feats that rivals Jackie Chan moves. This picture of Hannah by the way is from Halloween. She is not always a Japanese pop star. At least she doesn't always dress like one.

If a tree falls in a forest

On the commute to work the past several days I noticed a fallen tree along the ramp to the Roosevelt bridge. It wasn't until today that I remembered early enough to pull out the phone to take a picture. Why? This is the strangest way to fall for a tree. At least it's pretty darned weird. Instead of just falling down like any normal tree, this one seems to have spontaneously collapsed. The branches just fell where they were, all around the trunk.

We is Literate!

"Drawing from a variety of available data resources, the America’s Most Literate Cities study ranks the largest cities (population 250,000 and above) in the United States. This study focuses on six key indicators of literacy: newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment, and Internet resources."

Washington DC came in THIRD.

Dr. Who?

It's official. Matt Smith is the new Dr. Who. I will miss David Tennant.


"...Moffat, who created TV comedy dramas Press Gang and Coupling, said: ‘The Doctor is a very special part, and it takes a very special actor to play him. You need to be old and young at the same time, a boffin and an action hero, a cheeky schoolboy and the wise old man of the universe.'"

*Boffin = egghead

Point Lookout

What a beautiful day! Visiting my good friend Roz, we took advantage of the clear skies and picturesque Southern Maryland and went for a drive. With little-bit in the back seat, we drove to the tip of Point Lookout, and looked out... at Virginia on the other side of the Potomac.






We also drove through Historic St. Mary's City. I'd love to come back and visit when the historic area is open for visitors. I have a feeling I've only scratched the surface of learning about the history of this area.

Ice is Nice

Isn't it supposed to be cold and snowy in January? I know some who won't live here because of all the horrible snow (you know who you are!) but all we get is cold wind and a little ice. Our lake is starting to freeze over and the ducks are finding their paddle area limited.

We have a new Ice Skating rink for the winter set up in our town center. There are kids out there almost any time of the day. It's picturesque, almost Norman Rockwell-ish. The area ice production is apparently limited locally, because this ice rink... isn't. Instead of ice, our kids skate on Teflon.

I remember skating on the Potomac when it iced over, and on the C&O Canal after sweeping the snow off. I remember skating on rinks on the DC mall. I just can't imagine having wonderful memories of... Teflon. Maybe this generation, the good memories just won't stick...

Neighborhood Watch

First a picture of Pascal, the actual sleeping cat from previous post. Now, she is sleeping on the sofa in 'her spot' having harassed me first complaining that I am on the computer way too much.

We had been invited to an open house gathering in the neighborhood from 2-4pm today, and in the spirit of happy neighborhoodliness, we joined the gang. Walking from no.10 (our home) to no.2 (party home) lasted a good 2 minutes in the cold weather. Even with the ultra cozy coat and scarf of protection, the wind licked behind my ears, down my neck and swirled around my ankles. Upon arriving at our party, I was already chilled and wishing to snuggle on a sofa wrapped in a blanket. Now I remember why we try to stay inside the warm place we call home.

After the extremely brief chill factor, the party was worthwhile and we spoke with many neighbors we had not previously met. We met the guy across the street who obviously has much time on his hands. In the past we had only waved to each other as I began or ended my daily work commute. He and his wife have the odd tendency to collect leaves and branches, leaving the ground spotless. This, I may note, is not all that odd if it is your own yard. I do think that it's odd that they collect leaves and branches from our driveway and surrounding cul-de-sac across the street from where they live.

We also were pleased to meet the original owners of our own house (no.10). Quite a lot is now clear to us... We heard how she used to be a dog breeder while living here (There were FOUR Labs living in our little back yard) and how when they sold the house, she had left a full map of what and where she planted in the yard. I learned sadly that we used to have beautiful lilacs in the back. Alas, there are no signs of these lost plants. There are still remnants of the plants in which she obviously took great pride; snowdrops, daffodils, bluebells... The few straggler tulips were originally from friends of hers who brought them directly from Holland. Gardening however will be another blog for another day.

Happy New Year!

Why drop a boring spherical shiny object? Here in Maryland, we like to spice things up a bit (Old Bay style that is...) In Easton, MD they proudly have the dropping of the crab. Being about 80 miles from Easton, Dan & I chose not go to view the annual Crab Drop, but instead opted for a much quieter evening at home with friends. Anyhow, you know how raucous those Crab Drop party-goers can get. Dinner was Thai food, delivered of course, and we caught our friends up on the most recent season episodes of The Guild. Afterward, I tromped the competition to win the first round of Carcassonne. Afterwards I was stomped on by Mike, but that's all for the best. We had an excellent time of things, and finally crawled under the covers around 1:45am.

Right now, Dan is making waffles! and I am stuck under sleeping cats. We send to you all our best wishes for a wonderful new year. Remember, every day is fresh, with no mistakes in it.

By the way, this picture of a sleeping cat is not the one actually sleeping on me. This is Neko, sacked out on the porch after a hard day of pouncing. The current sleeping cat on me is Pascal. I can't even move to get the camera for that picture.