I WILL rise from the dead once this is over!

So…it’s that time of year again!  The annual Halloween Party!  As BalletDaughter has gotten older we’ve allowed her to invite more kids.  Somehow it just seems that there’s “less” to do (fewer games, etc.) as the kids get older.  This year they are mostly 11, 12 (maybe 13) year olds.  In the past she has invited about 20 but only about 10 show up.  We’ve held it the weekend before Halloween because Halloween was on a weeknight.

THIS YEAR…Halloween is a Friday so it’s party time tomorrow!  And this year (with very little real thought on my part of the difference between child availablity on Halloween versus any old other night; or the blatant desire of parents to be rid of their kids in a safe and sane (??!!?!) environment on Halloween) we let her invite about 30 kids.  Silly me.  I assumed we’d get the usual half saying they couldn’t make it.  Silly, silly, silly me.  Crazy me.  Poor delusional, shoulda been kicked in the head, me.

So far approximately 22 kids have said they’d be here.  22.  TWENTY TWO!!!  And that’s not counting BalletDaughter!  We have a good sized living room but still.  I envision that scene from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, after the ball when the kids are rocking out.  They’re all crammed together hopping up and down.  (Actually, I bought that soundtrack so I could have that song for the kids!)  I have a few games ready but in actuality I suspect kids will come and go (they still want to trick or treat at this age) so we may just play a couple and have a costume contest.

I’m about half way through prepping the food.  Here’s the menu:

• Witch Fingers
• Ghoul Guts
• SssssssLime Punch
• Filet of Ghost with Goblin Guts
• Backbone Rollups
• Bat Wings
• Ogre Skin
• Butterscotch Bones
• Bat Chips & Spiderweb Dip
• Peanut Butter Eyeballs

There will be assorted other stuff too…candy rocks strewn about the table, bowls of M&Ms, candy corn, pretzel mix.

A few of my Plurk buddies have asked about recipes and though I know it’s close, if you can’t use any of this this year, think about next year.  Photos will follow after the party.  In the meantime, this is me:

WITCH FINGERS: Using PIllsbury breadsticks, I cut the sticks in half, prepare them, and then before baking flatten one end with a butter knife.  After they are cooked I spray lightly with green food color spray and put a drop of ketchup on the flat end and lay on a sliced almond.  Voila – witches fingers with bloody nails.

BAT CHIPS & SPIDERWEB DIP: Using bat shaped cookie cutter, cut bats out of flour tortillas, spray lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with whatever seasoning you like.  This year I’m using an assortment of Mexican related spices.  In the past I’ve made these with cinnamon and sugar!  Accompanying them is a dip with: Mix cream cheese and salsa and spread on a round plate.  Over this, but not going QUITE to the edge (so you can still see the cheese/salsa) layer guacamole.  Put some sour cream in a plastic bag, make a small snip off one corner and pipe a spiral onto the plate.  Drag a toothpick through the spirals to make a spiderweb!

BUTTERSCOTCH BONES: I made up Rice Kripy treats but before you dump in the cereal, add 3 tablespoons instant butterscotch pudding mix! (What a marvelous idea.  I can’t wait to make other versions of this!).  Spread the mixture (with the cereal, I’m assuming here that you know about making this treat!) on a half sheet pan and press out flat.  You want it about 1/2″ thick.  Chill, then cut out bone shapes with a cookie cutter.  Cool these and then melt equal parts butterscotch chips and vanilla chips, dip the flat side of the bones in the mixture, chill again to serve!

OGRE SKIN: Ha!  This one is great!  I made this for dinner and actually got BalletDaughter to eat a green leafy vegetable!  Take fresh chard, cut out the stems, toss with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Lay in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake at 375 for about 10 minutes.  Turn them over and bake about 8-10 minutes longer.  They will brown and get very crispy!  And believe it or not – a veggie is YUMMMMM!

BAT WINGS:Easy peasy.  Go to Costco, buy BBQ chicken wings, heat and serve! (SOMETHING’s gotta require little to no work from me!)

BACKBONE ROLLUPS: Spread flour tortillas with softened cream cheese and layer on sliced meats, cheeses, veggie (whatever your little haunted heart desires).  Roll up and chill.  Slice into 1″ piece.  To serve, stack the pieces, each slighly off center of the other, to resemble the bones of the spine!

SSsssssLime Punch: I’m using lemonade mix and ginger ale, mixed with lime jello that has been set and then stirred up to be goopy!  I’m putting in the usual frozen hands, using blue jello for flavor and color and gummy worms frozen inside!  Adding flavor to the water keeps it from watering down the punch.  Be careful about what color you use for the hands ‘cuz you don’t want to change the color of the punch too much.  (I also added neon food color!)

FILET OF GHOST WITH GOBLIN GUTS: Cube of cream cheese covered with green pepper jelly.  (Hey, I never said I was clever!)

GHOUL GUTS: Spinach Dip.  (I was realizing there are only so many minutes in a day!)

PEANUT BUTTER EYEBALLS: 1C peanut butter; 6T butter (softened); 2C sifted powdered sugar.  Mix, form into balls and chill.  Melt 8 oz candy coating.  Dip balls to coat.  Dot colored (I used blue and purple) icing on the middle and set in M&M for pupil.  Chill again.  Add red gel squiggles for bloodshot!

I’ll let you know how it turns out.  (Now, what am I going to wear?? Costume?? Me??? We don’t need no stinking costumes!)

 

Big City Women!

Ever since we moved to Eureka, Kiddlebiddle and I have taken one day of our summer visits to go to San Francisco.  When she was little it was the zoo.  A year later, Chinatown.  The next year, Fisherman’s Wharf.  Always touristy kind of stuff that could be done in a day.

This past year we’ve been to the city for very short overnights when we went to the ballet.  And as we drive through the city every three weeks on our “visit with Dad” drives, I’ve begun to think about showing her more of the city of my birth; the city I love dearly; where I went to college and where I lived for several happy years.

This year I decided to do just that.  At 11 she’s actually interested in learning more about mom’s history.  So I began a search for a reasonably priced hotel and was lucky enough to find  a package deal at what turned out to be a wonderful hotel!  The Galleria Park Hotel on Sutter, right in the financial district and just 3-4 blocks from Union Square (major shopping!) and Chinatown!  It was a FANTASTIC weekend!

First, the hotel was a renovated old building that was in outstanding shape and perfectly located.

 

OMG - ACROSS THE STREET FROM OUR HOTEL!!!

in the lobby of the hotel

On the way in to San Francisco Thursday afternoon, I took her by two of the places I had lived.  It’s been almost 20 years so though I knew where they were, finding my way wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped.  The trip down memory lane was pleasant for me and Kiddlebiddle seemed to enjoy it as well. 

 

Kiddlebiddle’s Swan!

Kiddlebiddle has auditioned again.  Last year she won the “Stars of Tomorrow” talent show for the elementary school division with a dance she choreographed to a number from Cats (see earlier post).  This year she decided to use her number one love – ballet, and choreographed a number to “Dance of the Little Swans” from Swan Lake.   I surprised her by ordering a tutu and we embellished it appropriately and I made an “Odette” headpiece.  (If you are EVER doing ballet costumes, you’ve got to check out www.tutu.com.  They are fabulous!) 

 Here’s Kiddlebiddle posing before the audition (should have taken off the watch!)

  My regal swan….

 And here’s the headpiece.

The audition went well in spite of some poor planning on the management’s part.  After all the work on her costume, they made her pin a huge number on herself so the judges would know who she was.  She managed to ignore while she danced but during the children’s auditions (all the elementary school kids went first), a local newsman wandered the stage with a video camera.  I could tell that even the singers, who primarily just stood there and sang, were a bit uncomfortable, but can you imagine what it’s like to be a dancer with someone else on stage that you DIDN’T choreograph into your dance? Can you say distracting??  Kiddlebiddle is a very serious dancer with a drive and passion you see in a professional.  She may only be 11 but she knows what she’s doing.  And with this guy on the stage she had to watch out for him while she was dancing, hoping he wouldn’t get in the way!  She had worked hard on her choreography and rehearsed and rehearsed and here she was having to “wing it” because someone else was on the stage!  And to top it off, they wouldn’t move the grand piano 3 feet upstage so that she could make the exit she had planned – a magnificent leap off stage.  Instead, she had to maneuver her way upstage (making up new steps!), around the guy with the camera, and changing the ending of her dance – without the grand movement! 

Although I felt she was stupendous, she was pretty upset.  And though my usual video camera wasn’t charged (oops) I used my Canon’s video capabilites.  You’ll see the guy in the way; that I was so busy watching her that I didn’t watch through the camera; and you’ll even see the other kids waiting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Haircut – redux

Got my hair cut again.  I had found a hairdresser I really liked but she’s moved.  I tried a new salon last time and while the girl (woman?  She’s a girl to me!) was good, albeit young and so probably not terribly experienced, the cut wasn’t quite what I had in mind.  I almost went back to have her tweak it but decided to work with it myself and grew to quite like it.  This is it then:

 Over the past month or so though I realized that the color (yes, I do color my hair…since the grey started taking over!) was too blonde and not at all like my hair was when I was a kid/young woman.  So with that in mind, and wanting a bit more of an “edge” I brought in a photo of my hair color 30 years ago (when I was 2 months old…right….) and reiterated the style that I had requested, but this time shorter in the back.  Lindsey went to town and I quite like this look.  What do you think?

 

lipstick!

Yeah!  Lipstick!  Finally!  (though in real life I’m not wearing it at the moment…it is the ONE makeup I generally don’t go out without!)

 

My Meez

I love my Meez!  Have you tried it?  www.meez.com  You can make an avatar that looks EXACTLY like you!  OK…so this isn’t really how I look.  It’s about 30 pounds too light; the face shape isn’t quite right…and today the “meezmaker” just refused to put lipstick on me!  But I do live in the Pacific Northwest and I do knit!  And my hair kinda sorta looks like that now.  And I live in jeans, sweaters, and clogs.  So yeah…this is me.

 

Wheeeeee!

Kiddlebiddle got a new bike for Christmas.  Actually, she got two!  One at her dad’s and one here.  We got her a great mountain bike so she can ride some of the trails around the area (with us, of course).  But yesterday was the first time she was able to get out and about on it.  (We had to get her a helmet!)  She loves it and though mommy is a bit apprehensive about letting her grow up and be independant, I did let her ride around a few blocks.

               

WOW!  While I was typing this, Tim came in and told me there was snow mixed in with the rain!  We live on the northern California coast and while we can generally drive to the snow within 20-30 minutes, it rarely snows here on coast (we can see the bay from here).  Big soft flakes are mixed in with the rain.  Not sticking though…

 Lastly, holiday knitting.  I did go on a “warm up the family” bender and knit hats, scarves, etc.  Here’s KB with the Koolhaas hat from Interweave Knit’s Holiday issue.  It’s a gorgeous hat (knit in Cascade 220) even though I had to rip it out three times before I got the repeat correct.  I need to make me one too — as soon as I finish my fingerless mitts I’m working on….

 

Every morning I get up, get coffee, feed the cats, and have a few quiet moments before I get Kiddlebiddle up for school.  This is what I saw about a week ago:

 

I’m baaaaaack!

Whew!  Bad blogger!  I have this “thing” about getting stuff done (I don’t).  And I didn’t want to post until I got the photos from our trip to Canada (back in August!!!!) up and available.  I did it today.  They’re over the on the Flickr site but here’s a taste.

  

 So much has happened since I last blogged.  Kiddlebiddle did have another recital and I promise I’ll get what photos I have of that up within the week.  I only took a few shots during the dress rehearsal so they’re not the best but I have put the videos up on YouTube. 

 Knitting…been busy with knitting but, as usual, for everyone else.  I knit the cutest hat for Kiddlebiddle, a scarf with Noro Kuryeon that I ended up giving to hubby (though I like it…he’s out in the cold more than I) and a hat with Debbie Bliss Cashmerino that I enjoyed knitting but I’m not as crazy about how it fits me so…hubby gets that too.  I really wanted to knit myself some more fingerless mitts but haven’t started them yet.  The weather’s been cold enough that I’ve really wanted all these things which is sort of unusual for me.  I do think I’ll start the mitts or another pair of socks tonight though.  I’ve got all sorts of lovely yarns from Yarn Pirate (so much so that I didn’t “join” the sock club this last go-around!) plus some lovely Dream in Color Smooshy that I just got from the lovely Sheri at The Loopy Ewe.  Can’t wait to start with it!

 So, now that I’m back, I’ll try to blog more often and let ya know what we’re up to!

 

Blues by the Bay

Boy oh boy are we lucky!  I live in an absolutely gorgeous town in Northern California, the redwoods, the ocean…and every summer: Blues by the Bay.  We go with a group of friends; arriving a couple of hours early to secure our spots and prepare for two days of glorious music and relaxation.  And I guess global warming is really doing it’s thing because the pacific northwest is SUPPOSED to be foggy and cool in the summer but this year it was hot and muggy.  (Not a good thing….)

 The lineup was fantastic as always.  Every year there are some acts that I’ve never heard of and it never fails that we’re blown away by one or more.  And this year they were celebrating the 40th anniversary of the “Summer of Love” and had some old favorites that took me right back to junior high school: Big Brother and the Holding Company, Canned Heat, Elvin Bishop, Charlie Musselwhite…  Wow!  You would have thunk that Big Brother couldn’t be “the same” without Janis…but they got a female singer that, while she does have her own sound, does a fantastic rendition of Janis.  Close your eyes and drift back 40 years….  And I’ve got to tell you — this is the second time I’ve seen Elvin Bishop at this festival and does he ever put on one heck of a show! 

The audience is all ages, babies to grandparents.  Everyone groovin’ and having a wonderful time in a wonderful location.  Take a look at some of the fun:

Elvin Bishop brought down the house!

And here’s part of “our gang”

 

Big Brother took me back….(waaaay back)

While the music rocked…I knitted. 

 

Told ya it was sunny!  (My man…)

The festival went on for two days and the final day we had some overcast but still, a lovely sunset.  This shot was taken right at the festival. 

  I can’t wait ’til next year!  Gotta arrangae it so Kiddlebiddle is here too.  I know she’d love it!  (you might have noticed…I got a haircut!  Love it!  Makes me feel young!) 

 

Visiting with Kiddlebiddle

KB spends every summer with her dad down in the SF Bay Area.  It’s a six hour drive but I go down every three weeks to spend 3 days with her.  This is her fifth summer down there and we’ve developed a “routine” of sorts.  Generally, there are three weekends during the summer when I visit.  On one my hubby comes too and we do family stuff.  On another it’s a “mommy and me” weekend and we usually shop (back to school clothes, etc.) and have fun fun fun!  The third weekend we generally tie into our vacation so we have a full 10 days together.

This past weekend was split: I picked her up on Thursday evening, took her to dinner and shopping (hey, two girls can’t hang out without visiting a store can we?  And Macy’s was right there…right next door to the restaurant.  On Friday I went with her to her ballet class  (observed – it was a good class and she works hard!); then took her to tea!  Yes, tea!  A real “English” tea in a tea room in Campbell.  Lisa’s Tea Treasures.  I had been there when KB was just a baby and always thought that as soon as she was old enough to appreciate it, I’d like to take her.  Well, at 10 she’s perfect!  She was soooo impressed with the details and decor.  She kept saying “whoa” with her eyes wide!  It wasn’t a cheap lunch, but it was well worth it!  I think we’ll make it another tradition.  

On Saturday hubby joined us and we all headed to the Tech Museum.  We saw an IMAX film on Greece and played in the museum for a couple of hours.  If you’re ever in San Jose and want to have a good time, check it out!  www.thetech.org  In the photo below she’s doing a DNA experiement.

 

After a break (aka, nap!) we took Kiddlebiddle to dinner at a favorite of ours when we’re in the area: E&O Trading Company.  I’m not sure just what to call the food but it’s fantastic.  Kind of far east eclectic with influences from India, Japan, Thailand, China.  Again, KB’s eyes were big but for once, so was her stomach!  She was willing to try just about everything — everything except spinach that is.  (Can’t figure that one out.  When she was a toddler, she’d gobble it!  Around 4 or 5 she got to where she wouldn’t touch it!  Go figure!)

   Hubby said/did something that had KB in absolute stitches!  It got crazier and crazier!  And he looks so innocent here!

Unfortunately, even fun times have to end and Sunday (after a quick search at another Macy’s for a jacket she’s craving) I took her back to her dad’s and headed home.  I hate that drive with a passion!  But I’m heading down there again in a couple of weeks ‘cuz I love KB with more of a passion!  My baby is getting to be a young woman.  Jeesh!  (More photos on the Flickr page.  Just click)