Happy Halloweenie :)

Look what washed up on the lakeside this Halloween! OOOooo...scary! The famous mermaid and merman costumes were finished in the nick of time. The pictures above were taken before Crystal and Amber went to school today (no makeup/hair color was allowed there), and in the last Crystal is ready to go out trick or treating with full tattoos and spray painted hair. Amber was a little self conscious around her mermaid ..ah-hem "chest" but loved her long blue hair and dangling earrings. Crystal loved her "Shark King" chest tattoo and stuffed six pack abs. Plenty of securely wrapped Halloween candy was enjoyed by all :)

Sharing the High Point of my Day

Today was the first fitting of the fishtail portion of the Halloween costumes for my nieces. I must admit, I never learned to sew well on a machine but I generally make up for this in hand sewing skills and design. Each fishtail has taken quite a bit of time to complete, and since they are somewhat form fitted they had to be tried on each child today for final alterations. After school my niece Amber came over and tried on her fishtail for fit, and I once it was on I watched her little face light up like a Christmas tree when she first saw herself in her "real tail". It was worth every hour of sewing to see such delight. :)

Crossing Over the Covered Bridge

I have been traveling the past week, mainly for business as we were involved with the massive Covered Bridge Festival in Indiana. Ten days, 2.5 million people, blown over festival tents, major weather problems, and a hotel hours away from the festival itself made it grueling to do. But the best part was the turning of the tree leaves, every imaginable color along small country roads. It was still unseasonably warm, but there was a bit of fall peeking around the corners. And those little snack packs the hotel packed for the residents every morning felt a little like school lunches made by Mom, a nice thing to see at 5 am. :)
Returned to a ..slap.. instead of a kiss of Autumn in Illinois. It became very cold last night and the night was clear and full of stars. Another reason I do like living here is seeing the constellations so clearly. Received a sweet birthday gift from Rogie today, and I couldn't be more delighted with my new book and various accessories, thank you. I hope everyone in life has a friend as kind as Rogie has always been to me.
I am busy finishing up fish tailed Halloween costumes and enjoying the peace of my home tonight; everything feels right in my world, and for that I am grateful.

Can ART to fight Hunger 2007

Amazing what a couple of architects armed with canned goods "can" do. This event is getting bigger and here are some of my favorites from this year.

Update on Life in the Heartland

Wow, I have never felt so silent in my life. Every day I try to remind myself to BLOG and by the end of the day I haven't. I guess all the confusion and anxiety the last few months have taken their toll on my voice. So those of you that read this looking for me I am sorry. I am struggling to find my routine in my new surroundings, and I miss my blogging too.

Patty is healing up well, and I spent a lot of time taking over her life last week. And what did I learn from this? Her life is hard, she is welcome to have it back. I knew making the decision not to have kids was a sound one for me. Love 'em when I rent 'em, but I like getting the deposit back at the end of the day. (LOL) My nieces took the opportunity of me hanging around a lot to con me into building elaborate mermaid/ merman costumes (three guesses who is gonna be a merman...) for Halloween. I will post pictures before they get out the door and get sticky candy all over them.

Judy called from New Zealand last night to wish me "Happy Birthday" and it was good to talk to her. Today got a birthday giftie from Genie in the mail. Totally unexpected and welcomed, thank you Genie. :) Tomorrow (my actual birthday) Patty and I will be taking a girl's day out. The only thing I really know we will do for sure is "shrimp"...(LOL) I guess that's the word that jumped out at me in her birthday plan description. Since we are the only family members that adore them we sneak away and do "shrimp" whenever we can. My birthday is as good an excuse as any.

It is terrifically hot here still, I am waiting for the kiss of crispness that means fall has arrived. It usually arrives around my birthday, but this year only steam heat. So my Meez character chose to be a devil this year for Halloween, figuring if you can't beat the weather join it. :)