Halloween

Okay. Halloween is this Friday and as usual someone in my family is still trying out figure out what costume to wear. So I tossed out an idea. Personally it cracks me up and now I'm thinking that it would be awesome as a party event.

Come as your favorite painting. Huh, you say.

Just think about the famous paintings out there you could use as material. Edvard Munch's "Scream", Andy Warhol's "Marilyn Monroe" collage, I could go on and on.

Perhaps my husband has a point that it would be more funny for a bunch of art and art history geeks.

Vacation Revisited

I have returned! My vacation was all the things people hope for in a vacation--relaxing, entertaining, filled with beautiful scenery, lots of good food and lots of shopping. That is what people want isn't it?

I went to the Holland Museum to see their Dutch collection. Very interesting and diverse. Lots of pretty little shops are downtown in Holland, Michigan. I went into quite a few of those.

I went to Grand Rapids, Michigan and I totally and completely enjoyed visiting the Frederick Meijer Gardens! I just got back and I want to go see it again! The size and scope of the gardens is breathtaking! I highly recommend it. I was told by a well-meaning employee there,that the gardens took about an hour and a half to tour. After the first three hours there, I wondered who could possibly only take that long? It took my childlike curiosity about two hours to explore just the five acre children's garden, which was so awesome I wished I was eight all over again. It must be something to see in every season--they are open all but three or four holidays per year. Wow.

I stayed in Traverse City for a couple days enjoying a view every evening and morning of Lake Michigan from my hotel window. It was a great place to sit in a cozy chair, drink coffee and read. During the day, I visited local shops (like Cherry Republic's Embassy where they believe in free samples of the goods they sell!), wineries (like Peninsula Cellars whose shop is located in an old school house and they create wines called Old School Red and Detention) and local points of interest (like The Commons, a creative re-development of an old state hospital turned office/shopping haven--no oogy vibes, that I noticed).

The weather in Michigan last week was changeable. The leaf color made up for the rain and a dip in temperature. I had to go buy a new coat and an additional sweater to compensate--since I had forgotten to get my winter coat into my car before I left home. Oops.

In the end, each place is in my mind as a place to revisit.

Busy, busy

I've been busy, busy this month. Apparently, I forgot to mention that this is also one of my favorite things about fall. So many choices, so much to do and where to start?

Along those lines...a couple of brief updates...

A couple weekends ago, I finished the rough work on our new patio space. Soil was excavated and moved to raise beds around the perimeter. It is looking pretty interesting--if you are a dirt loving, happy digging gardener like myself. Recently, as a treat to myself, I stopped by my favorite local rock/mulch supplier and drooled on the possibilities of things I could creatively use in my newly dug space. Aah, the possibilities...did you know that rocks are expensive and are sold by the pound and ton? Astounding! What a racket!

I've been very busy ferrying children to and from various lessons--like most parents I know. This has been giving me more time to read frivolous fiction in copious amounts in an effort to save gas and entertain myself. My pragmatic side tells me all the while that I should be reading something more informative or philosophical to expand my internal horizons. I tell it to shut up and be quiet.

I took some time to make a decent resume for an interesting job I spied. Unfortunately, I was too slow out the gate and the position was filled. Only a slight bummer. At least I have a resume and I now remember how to write one. Twelve years between writings is more than a bit rusty.

I also have been taking care of the usual busy business of domestic life, fall cleanups, wearily pondering election choices and preparing for an escape.

Right now, that escape would be from a man who just called me asking for an A. McC. Amazingly, despite my insistence that no such person has been at this number for more than ten years, this man was positively insistent that he spoke to someone at this number (about a week ago) and left this mysterious A. McC. a message. Wow. Isn't the stubbornness of humanity to persist in the face of error something to behold?

Of course, this kind of thing is typical here. Unsuspecting, careless dialers frequently fall into the trap. I should clarify that our number varies by only one digit in either direction from two separate businesses--one a doctor's office and the other a gun shop. Imagine the fun we could have if we weren't tethered by a pesky personnel code of ethics? Boggles the mind.