The first solid-butter morning of the season

As the wheel of the seasons turns, different areas of the country note the changes in unique ways. The most obvious image of fall is often the autumnal foliage of the northeast. One of my favorite and most peaceful activities used to be my annual pilgrimage to the Carolinas at the end of October. Departure typically began the night before. So by the time the sun rose, I would find myself right smack-dab in the most gorgeous foliage territory imaginable.

Fall in Florida I recall often being somewhat severe. The intensity of the Summer could and would often shift to the opposite extreme - frost and freezing rain. Not fun.

Here in lovely so. cal., people often joke that we do not have "Weather." We have "climate." And for the most part, this is true. The summers have maybe 2-3 weeks of somewhat uncomfortable heat. The winters are often mild. The only weather variation we tend to have involves Santa Ana Winds and the rains of December and January. This past year, of course, was freakish in that we saw much more rain than normal. Flaaaarida boi that I am, it was no big deal to me.

This past weekend, the backyard registered fall quite a bit. Oh sure, the camelias, azalias, mums, and gardenias all still have their lovely flowers. But most obvious is the shedding of the leaves from the pecan tree. Typically, our herring-bone brick pathway is visible. Not now. And walking along its winding ways, the crunch of the leaves is a welcome and pleasant entry into the season.

I'll update y'all on the holidays in another posting, as this one is already finding itself at a good length. In the meantime, here is a picture of me and my hubby at the Black Rose Ball last weekend. Don't we just look mischievious?

Another turkey come n' gone

Alas, poor Tom Turkey... I did not know him well... but I sure enjoyed eating him.  (I don't know if that sounds more rude, or more Tim Burton).

Of all of the typical Thanksgiving Day weekends, this one was a bit more unusual.  Mostly, I believe, because at the end of the weekend, we did not find ourselves having another room of the house completely dolled up.  Alas, no happy sense of accomplishment for da guppy.

Having family obligations to attend to, my hubby travelled down early in the week.  Hoping to avoid any more driving than absolutely necessary, I woke up early on Thursday and caught the train down to San Diego.  What an enjoyable experience that is - truly!  With side-dishes in tow, along with the newspaper, I planned on a quietly uneventful trip.  That is... until I met the guy in coach.

His name was Carey.  Picture him - black hair... nice build... piercing blue eyes... and a nicely trimmed chest that I could just notice peaking out from above his tank-top undershirt.  I only had enough time to register that he lives in Hollywood as a security guard.  Hmmmmm...  Alas, his final destination was Irvine.  We shook hands, smiled, and bid adieu.  Is there a "mile high club" equivalent for Amtrak?  Alas... I shall never know.  :-)

When I arrived, I found my hubby dutifully waiting for me to whisk me away to his brother's home which was, for all intents and purposes in the "there be dragons" portion of the San Diego map.  Talk about rural!  OY!

Dinner was fine.  We ate like pigs.  We sat like lumps.  We travelled back at our leisure.

Friday - fabric mecca.  georgie_bird , Octavio, and I headed off to the fabric district.  I made some really nice killings, and oddly enough did not purchase any fabric for me - mostly a good thing.  Following a visit to Hollywood for brunch and drinks at the Abbey, and then off to Hollywood to Grauman's theater, and the walk of stars, we returned to the O.C. for dinner with the gang at the Lazy Bitch.  I LOVE that place!  Great mojitos... great food... handsome waiters... Ahhhhh...

Saturday - garage clean-up and power-slugging.

Sunday - An early morning baptism (in which I actually BEHAVED myself), followed by a loverly brunch.  Gang, ya gotta give me credit.  Picture it if you will - me... sitting in a church... Giles to my left... Leonora to my right.  I did not get smacked, slapped, or even a hairy-eyebrow-of-doom from either of them!  And YES I was awake.  Add on the pressure of Bart in front of me, and Finella in back of me.  SAINTLY I was! 

All in all, I'm glad the weekend is over and that I can once again focus on the immediate to dos and perhaps spend time working on a project for... get this... for me.

Onwards.

Damnit!

I just got the following email...

"...was an accounting clerk for ASF and left in September of 2004 to move back East to be close to his family died on November 22nd."

DAMNIT! Another one.

I'm so sick to death of this f#*$%ing disease. I'm in good health. My husband is in good health. But I'm sick of seeing good people suffer. Damnit!