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An Eventful Halloween

This was the most eventful Halloween ever. Well, maybe not ever, but at least in a long time. In the morning, I did my first 5k in Ocean City, Maryland (more on that tomorrow). In the evening, it was trick or treat time with the grandkids.

Their Dad, who is away doing Army training, was not able to be there. So Hubby and I went along to help. Not that Amy really needs help, because really is the best Mom ever, but because it’s fun.

Whenever I see this picture, I’ll forever remember hearing Joey, very loud yet muffled by the mask, saying, “Cheese! Cheese! Cheese!” The boy has been trained well.

I’ll also remember Gaige, strumming his sister’s pink guitar while serenading us with “If You’re Happy and You Know It” to keep us entertained as the other kids got dressed.

After Brianna got her costume on, she joined the singalong.

Transformer Gaige was definitely the most pumped up of the three.

Although Brianna was excited, too. I even got her to vamp for the camera. (For the record, I wouldn’t usually say my almost-9-year-old granddaughter was “vamping,” but she is dressed as a devil.)

As for the little guy, he came running out as a growling, muscle-bound Power Ranger and promptly tackled his still-singing brother. So I think it is safe to say he was excited, too.

Finally, the trick or treating began. I wouldn’t have thought an almost 26-month-old would be so into trick-or-treating. But Joey loves doing the same things his big sister and brother do.

Even if he did struggle to keep up at times.

He didn’t care. He was having FUN.

Here’s Amy with the kids as they patiently wait their turn.

Joey was a real trooper. It was obvious he was getting tired, but he never once got crabby. He didn’t complain a bit when Pop started carrying him from house to house and I carried his bag. He’d come right to Hubby and I after doing his thing at the door, say “there you go” as he handed me his bag, then turn to Hubby, raise his arms and say, “Pick me up, Pop.”

At the end of the night, the kids surveyed their loot.

Throughout the evening, Hubby and I kept remarking at how fast the kids are all growing. Compare the pics you’ve seen here to Halloween 2008 and you’ll see for yourself. And look at Halloween 2007, which was even before I had a Blog…

Time does go way too fast. The older you get, the more you realize that. Which is why, I think, grandparents tend to appreciate the grandkids so much. Because we know it wasn’t so long ago that their Mommy looked like this…

I hope your Halloween was equally as enjoyable!

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Cutting Edge Electronics Locator

Let’s say you’re out for the day, all set to tour some famous sites and take lots of pictures when you realize your camera battery is almost dead. You’re in the middle of a big city, but really need to find a camera or electronics store. You have no map, no telephone directory, no broadband Web access device.

In short, you’re screwed.

What do you do? You Call SONstar.

Yes, the makers of the wildly popular MOMstar Navigation Support System recently expanded their family of products. Now, parents can get directional assistance AND help buying electronics using the new SONstar Remote Navigation System.

All you need is a cellular telephone. Dial the toll-free number to reach an operator. “Did you just wake up?” is just one example of a mutually agreed upon code-word that indicates you are a paid subscriber in need of help. You might also use, “What time did you get home?” Or, perhaps, “Did you take out the trash?”

After establishing your identity, and verifying that you are a hopeless adult, the operator will ask what sort of help you need.

Using our example, we’ll pretend you are in Washington, DC. “I need to find a Best Buy (electronics box store) in Alexandria.”

“What do you need to buy?” the operator asks.

“A car charger for my camera battery.”

“Don’t you already have one?”

“Yes, son, but it’s at home in my camera bag.”

“That sucks,” he says. “Well, where are you now?”

You give him your location.

“Okay. Hold on,” he says. There’s a loud bang as he drops the phone. You wait as he consults a map. After a minute or two, he tells you there are three of them in the area. He’s mumbling so you have to ask him to repeat himself at least three times.

“The closest one is on Jefferson Davis Highway. So you need to turn around. It’s just past East Glebe Road.”

“Okay, thanks son,” you tell him. You’re just about to hang up when you remember… for a limited time only, if you nag the operator at the end of the call, too, you get a 10% discount on the service. You just have to remember to say something like, “Did you let the dogs out yet?” Or, “Clean your bedroom.” Perhaps even, “Don’t forget to mow the grass.”

The sound of the telephone slamming down is your acknowledgment that the bonus nagging has been received.

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And She’s Off

Aside from today being Eric’s birthday, which was traumatic enough, today was also the day Shannon set off for Europe. That’s just the first stop in her round the world tour.

Hubby and I drove her down to Dulles Airport this morning. Of course I had to take my camera. And make them pose for a goodbye pic.

They were both looking all sad, so I had to give them a hard time.

“Come on. Smile,” I commanded.

And they smiled. Sort of. But that’s better than being all sad, right?

I mean this is a great adventure for Shannon.

Then it was my turn to say goodbye…

‘Nuff said about that being sad stuff.

Hubby made us smile, too.

Then she was off…

At 5:08 PM ET I received an e-mail from the SPOT Satellite GPS (mentioned in yesterday’s post) that Shannon’s carrying with her. The automated message, set up to let us know she’d arrived safely as soon as she turned it on, said “Checking in to say that I’m okay and having a great time!” There was a link, too, which showed her exact location. See picture below or click here to follow the link for yourself (you can zoom in if you do).

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Happy Birthday, Eric!

I am now officially old. My “baby” turns 20 today. Twenty!

Here he is with his Mawsie, my Mom, at Christmas 2008.

I know it’s a cliche, but I don’t know where the time has gone.

Our youngest is no longer a teenager. Wow.

Pretty soon, he’ll be getting married. And having kids.

Next thing I know, he’ll be visiting me at the nursing home.

Yikes.

Happy Birthday, son!

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The Final Countdown

There’s an 80s song stuck in my head today. And I know exactly why (for a change!).

It’s The Final Countdown by Europe.

Shannon, who is asleep in my guest room as I type this, having completely checked out of her apartment, leaves for Europe tomorrow.

She has a countdown timer on her blog, which has been slowly but surely ticking off the days as she made all kinds of preparations to get ready for the trip.

It was really weird to see it at ZERO days! When I did a screen shot so I could show the timer, there were just over 17 hours left. Now it’s down to 16:47:03.

It really is the final countdown. She flies off to Barcelona, Spain tomorrow morning. That is in Europe, by the way. So, see? My song of the day really does fit!

We’re really going to miss her, but are very excited that she gets to do what many, many people only ever dream about. I’ve already told her that if she meets up with someone and tries to stay that we are going to hunt her down and drag her back.

I got to test-fit her backpack last night. It contains all the stuff she’ll need (hopefully) to get through the next year. She’s been very thorough in her preparations. She’s been fully immunized. She’s hooked herself up with a huge network of folks at Couchsurfing.com, which is basically people from around the world who have agreed to let complete strangers sleep on their sofa, in a spare room, on the floor, whatever, at there place for a night or two. She’s equipped herself with a satellite tracking device so that if she can’t get to a phone or computer, we’ll still be able to tell where she is.

In other words, she’s really ready. As ready as she’ll ever be, anyway.

Jack Kerouac would say “crash at their pad” or some such dated expression. Who’s he? He wrote On the Road, which is touted as one of the most important novels of the century. Though I’d been wanting to read it for a while, when I finally tried, I couldn’t get into it because of words like “threads” and “pad” and other hooey from the Beat generation.

I bring that up only because I really am a nomad at heart. And as much as I’ll miss Shannon, I look forward to following along on her voyage of discovery. Her crazy, solo, backpacking trip around the world.

I’ll be taking her to the airport before the crack of dawn tomorrow.

Wow. This is really happening.

As a friend of hers said, “How exciting. How exhilarating. How enviable. How BOLD.”

This friend of hers has always had a way with words. So I’ll quote him again in closing, because he really did have the best parting words for her…

“Godspeed as you traverse the map, safe travels as you find new adventures, and warmth as you find yourself; the self we know and love.”

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Lite Margaritas… It’s About Time

Can you guess who joined Hubby and I for dinner last night?

C’mon, take a guess. The passport and Thailand paperwork are your clues.

It was Shannon, our eldest, who is less than a week away from setting off on her year-long, around the world backpacking tour.

Less than a week. Wow.

I’m changing the subject now…

Can you guess who made dinner? How about the pretty, blue beverage?

HINT: It wasn’t the same person.


It’s Hubby’s week to cook. Tonight, he made southwestern egg rolls with yummy, completely-from-scratch Mexican rice, which he served topped with some kind of green sauce and a dollop of sour cream. They were delicious.

I made the beverages. My famous blue margaritas. The two key ingredients, in addition to ice, frozen lime juice concentrate and salt, of course, are…

… DeKuyper Blue Curacao (orange flavored liqueur, blue in color) and Sauza Hornitos Reposado tequila.

Those two things have been staples at my house for a couple of years now. But tonight, I learned something new. Something very exciting. A bit of information I so wish I’d picked up on earlier in the year.

You see, I’ve been dieting. So I’ve been avoiding high calorie stuff like margaritas. It wasn’t until tonight that I realized the folks at DeKuyper had finally come out with a low-calorie Blue Curacao.

The weird thing is, it seems they’re trying to be sort of hush-hush about it. I have no idea why. I mean, I truly think lower calorie margaritas are a breakthrough. Don’t you?

So why not do a shout-out to the world announcing the fact? The label seems a bit, well, understated if you ask me. See for yourself…

All it says is “LITER.” At least it’s in uppercase. But why not something like, “ALL NEW, lower calorie, liter Blue Curacao. Same great flavor but with less sugar and fewer calories”?

Assuming there is less sugar and they didn’t use some other trick to make the stuff lite. It would be nice to know how much liter, too. Like, is it liter by 20 calories? Or 100 calories liter?

The DeKuyper marketing folks must not be the brightest bulbs on the string. Or maybe they’re dual-purpose marketers/taste-testers, never quite sober enough to realize or care that being LITER is a good thing.

Maybe we’ll get lucky and the people at Sauza will start offering a liter tequila. Maybe I should start a letter-writing campaign. What do you think? Wanna help?