"This is the BEST Halloween EVER"

Granted that only means that it beat the prior FOUR - at least two of which she can't remember - but it still warms my heart to hear it. Keelin and I. Walking with the flashlight down our street. We dropped off the menfolk a few houses back and the girls pushed onward for a few more. Batgirl was in seventh heaven. And it was a wise move - we found the primo house that doles out FULL size candy bars.

Between last night's party at work with the post-soiree dinner at J&Ds to tonight's perfect timing at the Thomson's house (we set out with their gang), Keelin was elated. The weather was practically balmy and Keelin was so into the concept of Halloween this year. I think it all met her expectations.

Believe it or not, this photo was taken BEFORE we went out! Poor Loch is already out of it. He had a great time too - lumbering along like the stegosaurus he was... and yeah, we found purple hairspray at CVS this week.

Batman was ready to head home after about 5 houses. Practical one that he is, Finn thought it best to head home to help Grandma give out candy to other kids. Plus - he said - "we're only going to eat one piece of candy a day. That's the smart way, right?"

Anyway - Halloween is almost over. Another one bites the dust. But I have to say, I'm going to side with Keelin. It was certainly the best since SHE was born!

The Blackout of 2008

YEAH! POWER! This morning our power came back on after about 10 hours of darkness last night. Thank goodness Duff & Gail were eager beavers and came over with firewood earlier in the evening. The fire was stoked and blazing before the lights went out. Finn was in charge of helping the firemaster - then he was quite distraught by the sudden lack of electricity. Who will fix it? How did it break? Where does it come from? When is the electric man coming here?

Rob & I spent the afternoon at IKEA (again) this time for the basement closets. He's been installing the storage system for about 10 hours now - the lack of light last night really put a damper on things!

Anyway - it is a beautiful day here and we're going to try for a quick trip to the playground before Keelin's friend's costume party at 2. Batgirl's second trial run!!!

Out on the Weekend

Yesterday we hit up the Harvest Fair in Easton. Twas a tiny little bumpkin of a harvest fair, but perfect size for us. Heck, we even left with a bunch of unused tickets. Mom and Gail both came - and Peggy M and her granddaughter Holly were there too. There were cute little games with honor system prizes (Twizzlers, stickers, candy corn), pony rides and yup - even a tractor ride. It was a gorgeous day and the kids were having a blast.

After we left the fair, we went to Peggy's friends house to see the newborn goats, about 4 dozen chickens with a rooster and two rescued thoroughbred horses. Oh yeah - and two rhodesian ridgebacks that didn't seem too psyched that my three little kids were there. I was happy to beat it on out of there without any stitches required - but the chickens were a riot. And that rooster - he was about as pleased to see us as the dogs. COCKADOODLEDOOOOOOO. About 20 times. Too bad I was out of space on the camera by then. Oh yeah - and the electric fence around the horses. Now that I think about it, that was a BRILLIANT place to take the kiddies. (note to self... no more visiting Peggy's farm friends)

Oh Yeah - THANKS SUE

Hess phoned me up today to give me props. At least someone reads this thing. (yeah like I care)

You all DO know how to comment - RIGHT??

Practice Makes Perfect

Ignore that ac unit that I'd like Rob to put away tout de suite (hint hint honey).

Batgirl and Batman build a bat mansion in our playroom yesterday. Keelin's costume is the bomb - arm and leg bands, rad bat mask, cape, belt. She loves it.

Finn also loves his - but the mask/cape combo is a tad too big - so he can't see squat. You may notice it is sitting on his head. I've got to figure out a way to rig that for Halloweenie. That said - Finn is so excited that he's running around the house trying to watch his cape fly out behind him. It is so cute to watch. I wish I still believed that a fake-muscle chest and shiny black cape could make me fly.

Loch is a dinosaur - and none too thrilled about it. He pretty much got the batjip because they didn't have his size and his Mom liked the dinosaur. Really. I swear. They didn't HAVE HIS SIZE!

Nick Chapman has arrived!

David just IM'd me - little Nicholas was born last night. Can't wait for a pic - I'll update the post when I get one. Kewlio.

I'm back again.

Yeah - I came back then I left for Orlando for 4 days. Symposium season is upon me - but luckily i'm only going to Orlando - and now done.

For all you Gartner neophytes, Symposium is a big freaking deal for us - and this year proved to be action packed as usual. No late nights like the olden days (this year I had 7 AM client breakfasts which curbed my party time and overall consumption) but it is always a high point of the Gartner year. And this is one high point I am glad is behind me!

This weekend Rob is in Minnesota killing things, so I'm home with the gang of three. Luckily Stella offered to stay with us, and we're planning lots of physically exhausting activities. Tonight after I got home from the office we went straight to the playground. Dinner was very civilized and, as evidenced by this firstpostinages, the kiddies went to bed right on time. Woo hoo.

Home. WAHHHH.

We're back on the mainland. UGH. Even a rainy cool week on the Vineyard beats coming home to the rat race! Back to work and school tomorrow. We are sad.

This week flew by - faster than usual for some reason. I think the rain really kept us from doing alot, but we neglected to realize that we'd never fit all the usual stuff in. The week was just gone all of a sudden.

We did get in many favorites though - arrival meal at the Quarterdeck (greasy greasy, but tradition and then it's out of the way!), afternoons on Chappy, the Derby weigh in, strolls through Edgartown galleries, shopping at Island Pursuit, driving to Menemsha, windswept jaunts on South Beach. And then the food - lunch at Edgartown Deli, scones from Katama General Store, zucchini bread and blueberry pie from Morning Glory Farm, dinner at L'Etoile, and plenty of good meals at home. I will be hitting the treadmill in the morning. Tooooo much food.

We also had our annual scallop dinner with Alberto and Marika - known on the island as "the Italians". It's always great to have them to dinner. Rob spends mornings fishing with them - or at least Alberto - every day, but I only get the dinner to catch up on their lives - and this year - their new TV show! Alberto and Marika are professional models turned professional fly fisherpeople. They are such a breath of fresh air - so funny, genuine, grateful and Alberto's obsession with fishing is orders of magnitude greater than Rob's. They stay in a hotel for most of their 3 week stay on the island, so dinner in a house is always appreciated - and relaxing I hope! The boys & I actually ran into Alberto at the weigh in on Friday morning - with a nice striped bass. He was bounding out when he saw me, then he exclaimed "oh! this is for you!" and was going to hand me a large (dead) fish. Needless to say I requested the fish go back to the beach with him and Rob brought it home later. But we had already eaten so much bass that we donated it to a friend's chowder-in-the-making.

But home we are. I'm spending lots on time on kitchen design web sites - we need to get this beast done. Back to the real world.