halloweekend in ATX

bits and pieces include:

austin texas is my favorite city in the US of A.

new life goal is to grow old nestled into the hills near lake travis.

i've been on a white wine kick lately... it's odd, but let's go with it.

howling fantods also come in the form of edward gorey spoof tarot cards.

recipe invention goals:

"accurate replica of fricano's meatballs," 

"how-midestern-can-i-make-this-cranberry-salad,"

"some kind of apple and possibly other fruit crisp"

"suspicious casserole"

halloween is my favorite

october has the best weather in htown.

happy halloween!! (quick picture post)

i eventually learned this sign on my cubicle is actually intended for our accounting director whose office is through the adjacent doorway... or so they tell me...

are we having fun yet?

my office gets pretty enthusiastic about seasonal decor.

my grandma and her cowgirl neighbor!

pumpkins meow and writer nerd updates

happy friday y'all (look!  i've managed to blog two days in a row now!  i must have lots and lots of free time again right?  ...right????)

okay, maybe i'm still feeling a little swamped attempting to find invitations as pretty as these ones for less than $9 a pop.  thank goodness the weekend is tomorrow.  the bags under my eyes are getting a bit too persistent even for clinique quick-corrector concealer (a travesty i say)!

bert is also one pissy monkey these days and will not stand for the idea of me getting a full night's sleep, no sir.  he isn't coping well with being left alone on weekends (sorry cat that's the reason we got you--a cat, instead of a golden retriever puppy.  deal with it).

in other news, our halloween pumpkins have apparently been bothering the stevedore with their lack of being cut open.  last night he caved to temptation (or perhaps he just wanted to entertain bert so he'd let us sleep through the whole 7 hour night) and carved bert's little pumpkin into the cutest cat-o-lantern i have ever seen in my life!  i sure am lucky to be marrying a guy patient enough to carve those intricate little whiskers.  you've got to be patient to sign up for a lifetime with little 'ol me (especially a sleep deprived version).

but now, for my totally self-centered, self-important, self-satisfied news:  i have officially passed the 100-page mark of my work in progress.  i haven't had a chance to celebrate, but it's really a very exciting accomplishment for me (i suspect there might be an extra big glass of wine for me tonight).  i could go into all the details of how proud i feel, but in order not to sound like a twit, i'll keep my comments to this:  if you've ever considered punching self-doubt in the face with a creative endeavor, i highly recommend it.  it's stellar.

now let's just get through these last few hours til the weekend is officially here.

word count:  30,726

summer is over and the cat is wet

let me tell you, there's nothing like having a mantle to get me jazzed up about seasonal decorating.  i am in no way emotionally prepared to let go of summer, but whether i like it or not the cold weather is on its way (spoiler alert: i don't like it at all).

on the bright side of all of this, jeff the cow, our resident dead animal and living room focal point extraordinaire, now has some cute little gourds and pumpkins to help me get on board with the upcoming fall.  all this has made me realize that i am completely behind the ball trying to come up with what steve and i should be for halloween this year.  i doubt we'll ever manage to top 2011's calvin and hobbes, but i've got a few ideas rolling around in my brain.  wesley and buttercup?  pinky and the brain?  decisions decisions....

don't mind the cleavage... it was college, after all...

and just to add an extra bit of fun to today's blog post here is the only picture i got of bert after we gave him a bath on monday night.  he now smells significantly less poopy and he appears to have forgiven me.  if you're considering bathing your cat, i highly recommend it.  it really is fun for the whole family.

happy hump day!

word count:  24,710