Bittersweet...

The bitter: Ralphie's moving to NYC right after the New Year and we are really going to miss him and his happy little dance moves.

The sweet: My daughter's moving into a real dog friendly apartment and little is sweeter than your kid reuniting with their dog after spending over a year apart.



(I drew this cartoon of Ralphie which does capture his always worried look and wagging anticipation. There really should be a slight jiggle in there somewhere in the hindquarters. I actually had a vintage overnight case that I painted "Brooklyn" on, just like in the drawing. Then I packed it well with his stuff and he was ready for his first big road trip.)

Let the Holidays Begin...

Thanksgiving was nice. My favorite part is the kids. This year I let my three-year-old nephew take the photos. Here's his shot of the table that his older brother properly set for dinner, from the perspective of a three year old...



Two days later there was a surprise 50th birthday party. It was a success. Valerie was horrified as she walked into her kitchen to find people screaming at her from every dark corner. SURPRISE!...!! Seriously, once she settled into the idea, she had a great time and I’m certain she felt older the next day.

I helped with the invitations. I decided we should celebrate turning 50 with the color blue rather than that trite, black "over-the-hill" attitude (I think a really mean person came up with that theme). It’s really cool to feel the "getting older” blues - it brings on introspective thought while considering your options, then you smile and get on with your life. Turning 50 is just a really cool shade of blue.



Of course, the next morning came too soon. There was still another party to attend! We drove out to the country for Linda & Joe’s Annual Christmas Open House. Everyone raves about Joe’s great gumbo and then there’s Linda’s amazing art glass. Quite a variety of shiny and bright pretty objects for sale, I felt like a little bird being drawn to this, this, this, and... that!

This is just one of many interesting things Linda creates with glass. (See more at http://glasscompositions.com)




All together a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.
(Only five things would have made it perfect... visits by my two brothers, sister-in-law, nephew and of course, my daughter.)