Halloween on the Homefront...
Before heading over to the MonkeyGrinder's at Velour, a swashbucklin' Liz decked out the front porch and handed out loot to the trick-or-treaters. without her, the kids' would have gotten nada! Every year Halloween means a LOT of work. And this year was no different. I helped my former co-workers with the downtown events...and then when things were finally over and all 1100 trolls, princesses, and masked what-have-yous had made the rounds...and the carnival games and pop-up tents were down...we hit the road, carpooling to Salt Lake...for our annual fix of Halloween at the Hayes'.

Sunday Dinner...
Lace bell-sleeved shirt? gift from designer/seamstress Becky Neely of Mode Boutique.
5 delicious curry dishes? made by Janice.
Amazing conversation with featured guest Joseph Tainter? organized by Charles.
2 nights of sleepless panic? ALL MINE.
Hmmmmm...when Ollie & i have the privilege of sharing a meal with one of the foremost experts in the fall of civilizations (who was interviewed in the film the 11 Hour) we have opposite responses. i head for the corner, hug my knees to my chest and plead with my brain to rearrange its anxiety-laced thoughts while O'lover...he gets excited & rolls up his sleeves. So...how do you react to all of the peak oil and global warming news?
xoxoxo!

More from last night's halloween rounds.i'm wearing a costume Becca Mae made for me and Natalie went as a sexy Swiss chic (aka herself).
we didn't shoot any more pix but here's a dark video of O'lover, Duane, and James shaking it.

O'lover's Halloween Costume...

He wanted to go incognito.
With peels of laughter this is what we came up with.
Isn't he lovely?
Doesn't he wear it well?
There's something about my husband complaining about his makeup and how hard it is to walk around in a dress that's very very beneficial to my sense of wellbeing! Where is my sympathy?

signed,
endlessly and thoroughly amused

Great find of the day....a black crow with pin cushion from Man in the Moon Antiques.
i love felt and i love black crows and i love sticking pins in things. oh and the dangling basket has been removed. didn't like the wicker-on-felt look.

Can you tell what's taking shape?
the principal builder and his second-in-command call it the "pirates nest...argh".
i call it a room with a view or...a sanctuary....or a platform for a zip line...or a way to spin around and induce vertigo...or... "hey, ollie does the tree house count as increasing our square footage and maximizing the value of our home?"

Happy Birthday Pops!

instead of a cake we made 8 quarts of lacto-fermenting apple cider and then belted out our version of happy birthday. the farmer doggie joined in by whining and jumping on us. he looked pained.
so my Pops passed away unexpectedly four years ago. i was with him.

RRRRRRandom Dad Things

first off- he was great with languages -he spoke 7. word from our argentine familia was that he could speak better than natives.

I wish he'd gotten to meet the O'lover. He would be ecstatic to see how rrrrrrrare a trrrreasure the lover is and that Ollie and i are the perrrrfect match. Ok i'm rolling all the rrrrr's just to annoy the hell out of Ollie because he can't roll his rrrrrrrs and i'm a jerrrrk.
I think about how my sons are genetically destined to be bald. I liked my dad's head.

The O'lover is massaging my back right now trying to help my melancholia let up already. It's working...but keep massaging...
My Dad always used to say to me, "Raquel, you have the hands of a milkmaid, can you loosen up my shoulders?" as a dorky kid i was ridiculously proud of my strong peasant hands. ok still am.

mom and dad at their engagement party in Argentina.
We were raised on cross-country road trips. Once we took 18 months to drive around central and south america in a baby blue VW bus. Dad excelled at being instant best friends with people of any age or background. He was very approachable.
Me and Pops in Panama.

He was frequently picking up hitchhikers. The last time i was with him we picked up a family that had walked all the way from guatamala to tucson. we took them to the quaker church where they'd receive good care.

Dad could speed-read novels and drive cautiously at the same time and i swear you would never be scared to be in the car with him while he was doing this. he was a pro.

I'd call him and put him on speaker phone so my friends could hear him S I N G. He'd take requests. He knew some mean latin opera.

He'd always sign letters he wrote to me, "God speed beautiful lady." that made me feel good.

he was a hard core fan of his kids.

I love you my Numero Uno Dad in the whole world.