Halloween festivities

We enjoyed Halloween weekend with a Friday night party (I won the costume contest and $100 cash for dressing as a 50’s housewife!) and a Saturday evening neighborhood gathering/pot luck/trick or treat. Justin went to a surprise birthday/Halloween party for his friend and decided to dress up as “emo”. Not having any daughters, I never thought I’d be putting eyeliner, lipstick and earrings on one of my children! He looks good though – and pretty convincing.

Above – Barbara as a cop and my winning costume. Honestly nothing outlandish but I was thrilled to beat out about a dozen trampy costumes. Nice to know you don’t have to be a tart to win something like that!

For the block party, the dish I brought to pass was the ever-popular Chicken Wing Dip. Also got a new recipe, someone brought an awesome fruit dip:

Caramel Apple Dip

1 tub Caramel sauce ; (used for apples – 16 oz.)
1 package Cream cheese ; softened
1/2 cup Chopped peanuts ; unsalted
4 Granny Smith apples ; sliced

In medium mixing bowl, combine caramel and cream cheese using a hand mixer. Transfer to a glass pie plate and spread with a spatula to smooth and even surface. Sprinkle chopped peanuts on top and use the back of a clean spoon to push them into the sauce just lightly enough to make them stay put.

To serve, place the pie plate on a tray or larger plate, and surround with sliced apples.

NOTE: To keep apples from browning, toss them in a bit of lemon juice just after slicing.

Blessed be dog forever

View more photos by clicking here

Justin and I took Duke to church today for the Blessing of the Pets – a tradition some Catholic churches observe in conjunction with the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. I think this might have been the first time St. Anne’s had it, but years back we took Lady to our old church’s ceremony.

We’ve seen lots of dogs, cats, mice, lizards, birds, guinea pigs, snakes, tarantulas and all sorts of creatures in the past. This year someone brought a sheep, which got spooked by some dogs (just doing what they find to be natural) then broke its leash and ran away! Fortunately a couple dozen people were able to help round it up before it got out into traffic.

Duke made a lot of new friends, but I think he kind of expected it to be like the dog park where he can run, jump and play. It was hard to keep him restrained but overall he was a good boy. He even laid down a couple of times, surprisingly enough.

It was a beautiful morning, and a lovely ceremony.

A prayer for our pets

O God, you have redeemed all creation
through the incarnation of your eternal Word;
Protect our pets, your creatures,
who provide us with joy
and nonjudgmental companionship;
Give us respect
for all of your Word-redeemed creation,
that we may care for creation
as just and humble stewards;
We pray this in the name of the same Word, Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
~David Bennett

Football, school, work and travels

Oh blog, how I have neglected you. I’m so sorry. I think with the advent of Facebook it’s just quicker and easier to post updates and photos there. But when this is done, details get left out and creativity is limited. On the other hand, I hate duplicating work, so I think my blog suffers for it.

We’re deep into the throes of football – yesterday was Justin’s 3rd game of the season. I have been collecting photos and videos to do another team video like last year, and hopefully even better. Terry is doing a great job of coaching the offense. It’s hard work – like a part time job. He takes it seriously and it shows in the results – the team is far better than last year at this time. It also helps that many of the players have been playing together for a couple years, and the several inches each player grew doesn’t hurt either. Justin himself grew 3″ from the end of last season to the beginning of this one!

The kids are also about 5 weeks into school. Eric is struggling as usual, but the other night he and I went to a college information presentation at the school and it was encouraging. He decided that he wants to go to a nearby community college for the first 2 years and get his Associates Degree in Aviation Electrical Mechanics or Airplane Mechanics, then continue to a state school for 2 more years and his Bachelor’s. We are thrilled that he has a plan, and also think this is a good one for him.

Justin continues to do well in school, maintaining a 3.3 GPA. He is loving 7th grade/Junior High and the world of “girls” is beginning to open up for him. The other night he went to the mall and got two phone numbers – one was for a girl in high school! Apparently he told her he was in 8th grade. Yes, looks like the fun is just beginning…

I have been very busy at work lately. I hired a new assistant who is doing well, but a lot of my time is spent training – of course I still need to get my own work done which is touch, especially since I’ve been traveling quite a bit. I was in Orlando for a site visit a few weeks ago, then last weekend was in Hollywood for a planning meeting followed immediately by a trip to Las Vegas for a trade show. Next month I will be going to the Caribbean – probably the Bahamas – for another site visit. Yes, it all sounds fun and glamorous – which I guess it kind of is – but it’s work all the same. Long days with clients, lots of walking hotel hallways and meeting space, ending with long fancy dinners, then doing it all again the next day. At least I’m raking in the frequent flyer miles and hopefully will get back to my preferred status soon – flying coach really sucks, especially when you fly as much as I do!

Of course we are very much looking forward to our vacation to Hawaii in December. That will be no work and all play and I’m even considering leaving my computer at home believe it or not. We’ll be spending 5 days on Maui (with a possible day trip to Lana’i) and then 3 days on the Big Island. I can’t wait to share a Hawaiian experience with Terry – as you may remember, when I was there last year (for work) was when he broke his elbow.

Well time to get ready for the football game – GO DAWGS!

Back to school tomorrow

And it couldn’t come any sooner. We’re just tired of our teenagers being lazy and looking forward to having them back on a regular schedule. We went to Justin’s curriculum night last week and walked through his classes with him. Why is it that kids’ schedules always cause them to walk from one side of campus to another for every period? The poor kid has Language Arts first thing (2 periods worth) followed by gym, computers and lunch. The afternoon is more hard-hitting with math, science and social studies. His SS class will be studying American history with a concentration in the early 19th century. When I was a kid I abhorred history but for some reason now I am drawn to it – I’m far more excited about that class than he is.

Eric’s schedule is about the same as usual but one thing I’m thrilled about is that he’s taking cooking 1-2 all year. Yes, it is a good life skill but I have a more selfish reason for being happy about it. Namely, someone else who can make dinner for our family!

Terry and Justin have been busy with football – they have 5-day a week practices until games start, then they’re down to 2-3 days per week. Terry says Justin has improved quite a bit, and in fact the whole team has. We’re so glad we’ve found an organization like the Dawgs – much better than the others we have experienced.

Go Dawgs!

Birthday media

First, a digital scrapbook I did with Smilebox:

You can view all the photos on Flickr.

We punk’d Justin with relighting candles. I know it’s an old trick, but really, it’s funny every time.

To get an idea of how the evening progressed, I set up a time lapse camera using my laptop. Here’s the result:

I’m really diggin’ the time lapse thing, but now wish I would have left it on all night instead of turning it off when I went to bed. It would have captured the boys playing poker and noshing til 4am.

Hot, hot, hot!

Yes, summer is here. Summer in Phoenix is serious stuff. There are supposedly thundershowers in the forecast for tomorrow though, so maybe we’ll catch a break. More likely however is that they will just up the humidity, which is already noticeable.

So, we’ve been enjoying the pool as usual. Well, Duke hasn’t. He is not a big fan of swimming. We wanted to make sure he knew how to get out if he ever fell in, so we’ve been tossing him in and guiding him to the steps. Now Terry and the kids just do it to annoy him I think. He is a good sport – he tolerates it but it is definitely not his favorite thing. He’s a pretty good swimmer but I don’t think he’ll be jumping in on his own anytime soon.

I got back from Vegas a few days ago, which was of course just as hot as Phoenix. We operated a conference with about 1,100 people which kept our staff really busy, but afterwards we had a little time to enjoy ourselves. I actually won $100 at the casino – that was fun!

I’ve been playing Texas Hold’Em poker though mostly on the computer since I can’t seem to scare up enough people to play “in real life”. Been teaching Justin the principles of basic poker games too – which he enjoys. Nothing like good ol’ mom teaching her son a life skill, eh? Maybe someday he’ll win the WPT or WSOP and I’ll get some cash out of the deal. Hell, the boy already aspires to be a rock star/bartender – why not add poker stud to the mix?

Speaking of Justin – his 12th birthday is just a few weeks away. Where does the time go? I can’t believe I’m a mother to him, and even worse, a 17 year old! Seems like not so long ago I myself was just 17. Of course I was a senior in high school and already driving, but I digress…

Well Justin’s home and I promised to play a few rounds of dealer’s choice with him so gotta go!

News… and not-so-newsworthy stuff too

Oh blog, I have been neglecting you. For that I am sorry. Life gets so busy, and I get caught up with a hellish work schedule, family activities and such – and then when I have a little ‘down time’ I just find other things to do. But I’ll do my best to get back on the wagon – writing is good for me, and I know there are people out there who actually enjoy reading the drivel.

Kids are out of school – and I can’t believe Justin is going into 7th grade/junior high. We got him a cell phone a few weeks ago and in one week his texts rivaled that of his 17-year-old brother’s monthly use (nearly 4,000 – how does that happen?). And yes, we do have the unlimited plan – learned that lesson a while back.

The boys aren’t doing much over the summer, but next week they’ll be in Austinfor a visit with my sisters and brother. It’s a nice way to break up their summer and get them out of the house a bit. It’s tough in Arizona with daytime highs near 105 – it’s not very conducive to hangin’ at the park. They have been enjoying the pool however.

Duke has not been enjoying the pool. He really doesn’t like to swim, but we’ve been trying to get him used to it in case he falls in, so he knows how to get to the steps and get out. It would be nice to have the dog join us for family swim time, but I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon.

Pretty soon I’ll be going to Vegas for work. We have a huge conference (800+ people) and I’m the registration queen for that. As with most meeting registration, there’s one day of pure hell where everyone is picking up their badges, getting their materials and sometimes arguing about whether they paid, or paid the proper rate. In this case the day will be longer than usual – working 6am to 11pm. Yes it’s ugly. After that’s over, it will be downhill at least. Toward the end of the trip we will have some free time to get out and enjoy the city a bit which I will be in total need of. We’re also going to do a site visit of the Ritz Carlton and since we’re preferred clients of theirs, we will probably get the royal treatment. That’s what I’m really looking forward to.

Ok, time to get to work – will make an effort to blog more. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

Long time, no blog

That seems to be the recurring theme here, doesn’t it? We’re busy at work, busy at home, yada yada yada. Not any of that has changed of course. Let’s concentrate on ‘real’ news then, shall we?

This weekend Justin signed up for football and it will be another season of the Gilbert Dawgs. Terry will be assistant coach again and most of the team will be the same. Usually that means they will improve over last year, with a better record – and there’s really not much else to go other than up. The most important part of course is that the kids will have a blast and as icing on the cake the coaches and coach wives do too. I think practice won’t start til August so there’s still a ways to go before we get busy again with that.

Terry’s parents and brother & family are in town visiting. On Saturday we went hiking on Usery Mountain (see Flickr feed in sidebar for photos!). They really enjoyed it – it’s much different than the hikes they’re used to in their home country of Switzerland. The whole family went including Duke who enjoyed it as much as anyone. Justin took my camera for part of the trip and he seems to be really interested in becoming a photographer. A few weeks ago (after our last photo-hike) he expressed interest in photography as a career – and when we were talking about the different types of photography “football photography” of course came up. Fast forward 15 years and we may have a Sports Illustrated photographer in our midst!

Well Monday morning and almost time to leave for work. The weekend was another whirlwind for certain.