Party!

Finally...Here are some pics from our bash last weekend. And I ask you, what makes a party fun???

Is it party hats and champagne?



A BIG surprise??







Two kinds of cake?


Dancing?














CRAZY dancing??





A Party Dog?









Piano Playing?

Dancing with the Party Dog?






Handstands?

Yeah, I think all of those things make a party fun but none of this would be possible without....

FUN FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!! (and a big assed dog)




Oh, and this is for you Dougy...

No school

Back in the midwest we'd get snow days. Here, we get "Poor Air Quality Associated with the Wildfire" days.

I hope this doesn't lead to the black lung.

Still blazin' in OC

The Santiago Canyon fire is still not under control. It doesn't appear to be threatening as many homes but now the winds have shifted and it's made it's way into the beautiful landscape of the Cleveland National Forest. I seriously think my olfactory senses are forever dulled from 4 days of constant smoke inhalation. There are now bigger chunks of white ash that have rained down in our yard and I went to look at some of them and realized they once were pieces of paper, possibly even photographs. It's incomprehensible to watch as someone's memories are now just bits of ash floating into the sky blanketing the earth like new fallen snow. I don't know how one recovers from such a loss. And I know that if you escaped with your lives and pets then in the big scheme of things, that is all that matters. But to lose EVERYTHING else you've ever touched in this world, has got to leave you feeling so lost, so empty. Almost like a part of your identity is also floating away.

I guess you have no choice but to rebuild, start anew, adopt a simple and clutter free lifestyle. In a way it might be liberating to some degree, no longer a prisoner to all your "stuff". It's just too bad that decision had to be made without anyone's consent. And to know that these fires here in Orange county were deliberately set? I think that's the part that is most upsetting. It would still be devastating regardless if Mother Nature was the cause for this but when there is proof that some son of a bitch intentionally started these fires and this entire scenario could have been avoided? How do you accept that and move on? Or God willing, how do you forgive? I respect and admire those who can feel compassion in their hearts for people who are capable of committing such crimes, but to be honest, I'm not one of them.

Sweety

I love you.

ASPCA

This ad just came on TV and now, the tears are flowing...



Damn it's been a rough week around here. I must blog about something uplifting. Ok cute Wrigley pics coming soon!!!

What does the end of the world look like?

Blogger's acting all squirrely when I post lots of pics so you'll have to click on the background of the pics that aren't showing up in order to view them. These are pics from LA to San Diego from this week.

too close for comfort

This was taken last night from our lake. Looks like it's the making of Armageddon II.

more lake shots from this week...

It's Time to Dance

Even with the doors and windows shut, the smoke still seeps into the house somehow. I was getting overwhelmed by the smell as well as the constant news coverage so I shut off the tv, poured a glass of wine, cranked up the AC and DANCED for one hour straight! I thought about lighting some pumpkin scented candles to add to the ambiance but quickly abandoned that idea. And you know what? I feel great now! So I'm sharing with you some of the songs on my dance playlist in case you ever need a little pick me up. Once you play these songs and start movin' to the tunes, it's almost impossible to feel glum anymore.

Strict Machine by Goldfrapp
Naked Eye by Lucious Jackson
Feel Good Inc by Gorillaz
Everybody's Got Their Something by Nikki Costa
Mas by Kinky
Just a Girl by No Doubt
Freedom by George Michael
Way You Walk by Papas Fritas
Starry Eyed Surprise by Paul Oakenfold
Crazy by Gnarls Barkley

Gettin' closer

The fires in Orange County are going from bad to worse.

Here is a picture I took yesterday of our lake covered in a smoky fog...

And here is a picture I took this morning turning out of our street...

This is coming down our street, also taken this morning...


My throat is raw from the ash and smoke and my eyes are red and bloodshoot. At least now I don't have to spend any money on a Halloween costume. I'll just go as a Zombie. I let Wrigs in from playing outside and now he smells like smoke. I don't like keeping him out for very long because I don't want him to get all that junk in his doggy lungs. The news just announced that close to 1 million people have evacuated from LA to San Diego. Last I heard it was 345,000. That cannot be right. Sometimes I think the news people LOVE this shit. I mean this is Hollywood, but it seems like some of the news reporters are just a little to excited about this. Until it actually happens to them...



And here is a pic I took just a few minutes ago as I took out the garbage...


It's really sad and depressing here and everyone is very anxious. I want things to go back to normal.

Best Season Premiere Ever

Here is a 2 minute recap clip of the season premiere of The Office. It's great when you need a good laugh. The follow up episodes have been pretty good, not as great as the premiere though.

Also loved this episode too.

The fires

I wanted to post some fun pics from our party but I'm not in much of a fun mood as I'm now glued to the tv coverage of the fires. There is smoke and ash everywhere and it hurts your eyes and throat. You can't open your windows, even though the temps are going to be in the mid 90's til mid week. It feels like a hurricane outside, without the much needed rain. Fires are burning in seven S. Cal counties and it's the worst fire season the state has ever seen. Last night Tom and I drove to the other side of our lake and were able to see the flames from the Orange County fire. And it's still blazing. Please pray for those who have lost their homes and everything in them, and those who are in the process of evacuating now with whatever they can grab.

Fun with Food

We had some Tomato Basil Soup the other day and I noticed that one of my spoonfuls looked like a little yellow duck! Even the way the soup puddled in the middle of the spoon made it look like an orange beak and the 2 tiny flecks of basil above that, looked just like eyes. So of course I had to grab for the camera.









Has anyone ever eaten Trader Joe's fire roasted corn? They come in bags in the frozen section and every time we eat it we find faces in the corn pieces all the time. I've seen Michael Jackson, Tori Spelling, Snoopy, even Snoop Dog! The list goes on. Go get some and see for yourself. It's fun for the whole family.

Speaking of corn, I never knew a single kernel had so many components. And I especially never knew that there was a part of the kernel called the "horny endosperm". That alone makes this one of my favorite foods. And is it just me or does the part just above the "tip cap" resemble a human body part? And I'm not talking about an ear...

festive fall day

It's 12:30 on Sunday afternoon. Tom's watching football with Wrigs (well, more like sleeping on the couch with the game on), Chum is tucked away in his snuggly kitty hole and I'm waiting for 4 loaves of pumpkin spice banana bread to come out of the oven. This time for human consumption! The house smells soooo good and festive. I even poured myself a glass of champagne, left over from a little shin dig we had on Friday night. Can't let that go to waste!

A few of you have emailed me requesting the recipe for the doggy pumpkin cookies so I'll do my best to jot it down. I never measure anything, I just toss it in as I go along so sometimes the cookies are rock hard, other times, a bit soft. Either way, the pups love 'em! So I'm guesstimating on the measurements.

PUMPKIN DOG COOKIES
-2 cups canned pumpkin
-2 cups flour
-1 or 2 small "to go" cartons of apple sauce
-handful of oatmeal
-chopped up dried cranberries (not craisins, they are toxic to dogs)
-chopped up dried bananas
-sprinkle of flax seeds
-sprinkle of cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in large bowl and mix well. Roll into balls and then smush between palms to form a flat round cookie. Bake on a cookie sheet at 375 for about 12-15 minutes.

Brace yourself for the nonstop kisses of gratitude you will receive after doggy (or kitty) eats a cookie!

Ouch.

It happens every year, load up on those home-made roasted pumpkin seeds til your stomach's about to explode because they taste so damn good. Then the next day (or a couple days later depending on your digestive system) you really, I mean REALLY, start to regret it. You swear to yourself that NEVER AGAIN will you do this. And then next year rolls around and you're right back where you were last year, shoving those salty bastards into your mouth.