HAPPY WHOO!LLOWEEN

Boo!

Since owls are all the rage now I thought I would post these cute vintage post cards today.

Whatever you do today be happy, be safe and don't eat too much candy.

Happy Halloween!

Amber and Dylan went to a party last weekend. Amber was a Eskimo girl and Dylan was a Pirate!

A WHOLE LOT OF NOTHING

That's right, there is a whole lot of nothing in my head these days! I have actually been deep in thought and doing a lot of soul searching. I guess that's what turning 60 does to me. I am working on a post about it but it may be awhile before I actually get it together. Thank God for the memes I do or maybe you wouldn't see much of me.

I went on Pinterest yesterday morning and all my boards were out of place! What's up with that? It took me about half an hour to get them back the way I like them.

What is the price for FREE? Well yesterday it was about 3 hours. There was a freebie at Veggietales but they were so overwhelmed with people that it took me forever to finally get the order placed. I did read some blogs while I was waiting.

Ever since Windows wanted me to do an upgrade blogging has not been easy. I really have to jump through a lot of hoops to get posts together. I can do them quickly on my netbook but then my pictures are not there. Also since the upgrade photobucket runs really slow for me so it takes a long time to get my pictures ready for my Debby's Tree blog. Needless to say I have been a little frustrated.

I haven't even gotten around to taking pictures of Skye for Halloween. I guess you will see them when you see them! I think the fact that we have been having some things breaking down around the house has fueled my frustrations.

There is a new post at Debby's Tree . Check it out....it's a mystery!

Hope everyone has a nice weekend. We have plans to go to the Apple Orchards on Sunday with the kids. (our adult kids)

WEDNESDAY HODGEPODGE

1. What gives you goosebumps?
I usually get goosebumps when I hear a really sad story.

2. Halloween-are you a lover or a hater? Okay, that sounds harsh...Halloween-yah or nay?
I enjoy the kids coming to the door. I won't get dressed up or go to a party.

3. Can you respect someone you do not trust, and can you trust someone you do not respect?
I don't trust the President yet I will respect him for the position he holds. I think it may be possible to trust someone you don't respect, not easy but possible.

4. Apples or oranges? Yes, you have to choose.
Granny Smith or Rome Beauty apples.

5. What is something you wish was in your town? (shop, restaurant, attraction, etc)
Easy peasy! I would say Gino's Pizza, Aurelio's Pizza, Lou Malnati's Pizza and Barones Pizza.

6. What non-food item is in your refrigerator or freezer?
In the freezer we have one of those ice chest things to keep food cold. We do have baking soda in the refrigerator. I know you can bake with it but I don't think of it as a food item.

7. Are you at all superstitious?
No but I use to be a little bit.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
Get a pencil out so you can mark this date down. I watched a documentary on the OWN channel last Friday called Miss Representation. It was excellent! They will be reshowing it on November 12th at 11am ET so mark your calendar to set your DVR. It has been shown at nine Film Festivals and is worth watching. Here is the link to their web page.

If there are any Big Brother fans out there Rachel and Brendon are going to be on The Bold and The Beautiful this Friday and next Monday. (Halloween) It is a half hour soap on CBS. FYI

PICTURES TO SHARE AND WINNERS TO ANNOUNCE

So wasn't it just a week or so ago that I said "On a clear day you can see forever?" Well it hasn't been that way for two days now. The fog isn't burning away until after 2PM. Just thought I would share this with you because I know you always want to know every detail in my life.

Of course being in Southern California we have flowers year round so I thought I would share some roses that where opening up on one of our trailing bushes.

So one day on Pinterest someone showed a picture of these, M&M Candy Corn, and I knew I had to try them. I am a fan of white chocolate and candy corn. (I didn't buy any candy corn this year because I can't stop eating them) These are really good in my opinion. They are pretty rich so you can't sit and eat the whole bag which is a good thing! Also they have pumpkin peeps this year and I wanted to show you my cute little candy corn tin. I don't just like the candy I like all things that look like candy corn too!

I recently had two giveaways and I wanted to share the winners with you.

The first one was over at Debby's Tree for a darling ornament. I decided to pick up another ornament and give two away. The winners are Saskia from Join My Joy and Laurie at Bargain Hunting and Chatting with Laurie. Congratulations ladies!







The second giveaway was for a book called Baby Dust by Deanna Roy which I was giving away on For Your Tears. I also decided to give away the book I bought for myself because I know that it's important for Baby Lost Mothers to read this book. The winners of these books are Amy at Keeping Up With the Schultz Family and Bree at 365 days of Evan.

Feel free to go over and congratulate all the winners. Also you can visit my other posts to read a little more information on the winners.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

WEDNESDAY HODGEPODGE

1. How do you typically react in a sudden, extreme, pressure-filled crisis? Would we want you nearby in an emergency?
I can be a take action person in a crisis but really don't have much experience with it and pray it stays that way. Yes I think you would want to be around me.

2. Caramel apple - caramel sundae - caramel corn - caramel macchiato...of the four, which caramel treat would you choose?
All of the above but because I have to choose one I will say Caramel Apple. Especially a Mrs. Prindables Gourmet Apple.

3. Is there such a thing as destiny? Explain.
I believe being in the right place at the right time can change your destiny but that to me comes from God. I have not seen many things in my life happen where I haven't seen the hand of God there. I do believe that prayer can change your destiny too.

4. What's your favorite piece of furniture? I'm referring to something currently in your possession as opposed to something on your wish list.
I am going to say my Singer Sewing Machine No.66 which belonged to my grandfather who was a Tailor. I even have the instruction booklet and an old wooden ironing board that he used at home.(the machine is inside the cabinet)

5. Wednesday night marks the start of the 2011 Baseball World Series. Did you know? Do you care? Will you be watching? Ever been to a professional baseball game? If you're not an American do you find the title 'World Series' annoying or amusing?
I kinda know but no I do not care. I will not be watching. Yes I have been to several professional games and had a great time.

6. A sound that takes me back to my childhood is____________.
All I can think of is the crackling leaves burning at the curb in the Fall. That was years before pollution laws.

7. On average, once you've linked your hodgepodge post to mine how many other participant blogs do you visit? Do you ever come back to the Hodgepodge later in the day or even the day after to read posts?
I read at least 15+ each week. No I do not come back later in the day. I have at least 50 other posts that I read each day on top of the 15+.

8. Insert your own random thought here. (thought this was cute)

Two elderly women were out driving in a large car - both could barely see over the dashboard. As they were cruising along, they came to major cross road. The stop light was red, but they just went on through.

The woman in the passenger seat thought to herself "I must be losing it.

I could have sworn we just went through a red light." After a few more minutes, they came to another major junction and the light was red again.

Again, they went right through. The woman in the passenger seat was almost sure that the light had been red but was really concerned that she was losing it. She was getting nervous.

At the next junction, sure enough, the light was red and they went on through. So, she turned to the other woman and said, "Mildred, did you know that we just ran through three red lights in a row? You could have killed us both!"

Mildred turned to her and said, "Oh! Am I driving?"

Thank you Joyce for the questions. Click on the button to join in!

2 ON TUESDAY

What are your two favorite restaurants?

I would have to say the Westside Tavern in Los Angeles. That is where I fell in love with Risotto and their Warm Sticky Toffee Cake Mascarpone Cream. Yum!

The next one would be Mario's Place in Riverside, CA. We usually go there for a Christmas party each year from my husbands office. They have risotto too and delicious steaks.

These would be my two favorite here in California. My most favorites would be in Chicago!

If your here for POST IT NOTE TUESDAY you can find it here.

POST IT NOTE TUESDAY ~ EARLY EDITION ~

A YEAR OF SLOW COOKING

FOLLOW FRIDAY FOUR FILL-IN

Thought I would join in with Hilary's Follow Friday Four Fill-In today.

1. _Changing the sheets on the bed__is my least favorite household chore!

2. _Blogging at starbucks__ is my guilty pleasure!

3. In the __middle of the night___, I think __about what I should blog about___.

4. My favorite __creamer__for __coffee___is __vanilla__.


Want to remind you that I have a giveaway over at Debby's Tree. If you haven't left a comment yet head on over to do it!!

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND


P.S. I had to come back and tell you that Skye pushed enter on my computer and published before I was done. She comes over and paws at me to go out but she loves to hit my keyboard with her nails!!!

WEDNESDAY HODGEPODGE

Click on the button and head on over to Joyce's place and join us!


1. Have you ever been 'asked' to report for jury duty? Were you chosen to serve? If not, were you happy or disappointed?
Yes I get asked almost every year. Yes I was chosen once about 10 years ago. I thought it was very interesting.

2. On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being very), how mechanically inclined are you? Give an example to back up your answer.
So are you talking about cars, then I am maybe a 2. But I am really good at other things like setting up things like a VCR, DVD stuff, DVR stuff or putting things together like a BBQ grill, etc.

3. Beets-cabbage-cauliflower-butternut squash....of the four, which is your favorite fall vegetable?
I will say cauliflower.

4. What do you recommend to overcome self-pity?
Maybe a good therapist.

5. Do you enjoy classical music?
Not very much. I am more of a smooth jazz person.

6. October is National Book Month...what's on your reading list this month?
I am currently reading Happy Birthday by Danielle Steel.

7. What is your idea of 'cute'?
Usually a baby or a sweet little puppy.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
Had a nice time in Las Vegas. Did some gambling. Had a wonderful dinner at Carnevinos at the Palazzo. (Partners chef Mario Batali and winemaker Joe Bastianich) We stayed at the Venition. Actually we were so tired after dinner that we ended up going to the room to sleep. (too much wine) So I got up early Tuesday morning, showered and was downstairs gambling around 7am. I actually won 1000 quarters which is $250. so I ended up even going home. I love when you can go and bring your money back home with me. Doesn't happen very often. Then we went to have pizza at Aurelio's away from the strip which is one of our favorite thin crust pizzas in Chicago. (We love that they opened one in Vegas) That was a great treat. Then we stopped at an outlet mall. Mark needed a few things for a golf trip he is flying to on Thursday. He got a few Tommy Bahama shirts and some Tommy Hilfiger shorts. He meets up with his college friend for 4 days of golf. So I am home and will try to get caught up on reading your posts.

A BLAST FROM THE PAST ....

....the past few weeks that is and technically that is the past.What I have for you are pictures, pictures and more pictures. Enjoy!

Remember to click on them to enlarge.

A few weeks ago Mark was doing some trimming in the front yard so I went out and took a few pictures. Love my ficus in the large crock that we got from Mark's grandmother years ago. Our Norfolk Pine is doing great but at some point it will be too large for where we have it. We do things like that all the time!

Some flowers in the backyard.

On a clear day you can see forever. We do love our view. My new love is Naked Juice. My Eiffel Tower charm from the Art Fair in Mammoth Lakes this summer. Dylan trimming the weeds on the other side of the fence. They bug us! Dylan at his birthday dinner. Some of my favorite berries. My most favorite is blackberries. A fire in the distance that we could see a few weeks ago.

A storm that came up really fast but never amounted to anything at all!

My little tomato plant. I think I got about 8 tomatoes from it. They are a small tomato but about 3 times bigger then a cherry tomato. I don't remember the name of them.

Mark and I went to La Jolla on the 29th of September for the day. The sun never came out but we had a nice time walking around. We use to live near there and wanted to visit one of our favorite restaurant. Of course it's all about the deep dish pizza! I was so excited to eat that I didn't even take a picture :(

We also enjoy walking around the coves and seeing the seals. The three pictures on the right is a seal who was having a lot of fun rolling around on a rock out in the ocean.

Some views of the ocean.

I was trying to get the water as it exploded against the rocks.

This was on Friday September 30th. The skies looked like they were on fire. See the rain over the mountains?

I will be in Las Vegas on Monday and Tuesday so I won't be around to visit with you.

I will see you for Wednesday Hodgepodge.

FYI: Monday night on LIFETIME is a story called FIVE that sounds like it will be very interesting to watch. It is an anthology of five short films exploring the impact of breast cancer on the lives of women diagnosed and their loved ones. Directors include Jennifer Aniston, Demi Moore and Alicia Keys. Set your DVR!

"CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE TONIGHT"

I certainly felt all the love on my birthday and I am here to say Thank You. It was beautiful and perfect. I had two blog friends who posted about my birthday. I had a few friends who tweeted about my birthday. I received 41 birthday wishes on Facebook and 48 comments on my blog. I received over 28 cards from family and friends not to mention the phone calls I received.(a special blogging friend and her daughter sang to me:)

At bowling on Tuesday there was a cheesecake, party hat, party necklace and decorations to celebrate my 60th birthday. (Thanks Kendra:) The outpouring of love from everyone was just what I needed. And to my immediate family I want to say thank you for the wonderful party on Sunday, I love you more then you will ever know.


Thank you for loving me.

((HUGS)) to each of you.

I will never forget this birthday.







There is a new post over at Debby's Tree with a "Giveaway" just for you. Head on over to enter!!!!!!