Halloween 2008 At Work...

A few highlights! You only get once a year to make a complete fool of yourself and get away with it!!

Co-worker Pat was rather creepy!

And yes, I reprised my role as Rosie the Riveter - those mom jeans are awful high-waisted, but damn, they're comfy! And those Dickies shirts are rather slimming! Patty was Cat Woman - and she was quite pleased that the costume still fit her! She looked purrrrfect.

Here's Pat and Tim - I told them to stay the hell away from the obituary desk today!

Hope came as Jimmy Hendrix! Almost believable - except for the boobs and the white hands!

OOOOOH...Spooky.

On Monday afternoon, I settled in with some wine and caught "Shadow of the Vampire" on our new 42" flatscreen TV that Jim decided it was time for.

I cannot believe I missed this in 2000 when it came out.

Its got John Malcovich, Eddie Izzard (one of my FAVORITES!) and Willem Defoe as Max Shreck. Kinda.

It's based on the filming of the 1920's "Nosferatus" - and it was sufficiently creepy, just in time for Halloween! Perfectly weird and eeeeerie!

If you haven't seen it, you must!! If I hadn't known that Willem Defoe was playing that part, I would not have believed it!

The Perfect Gift.

The gracious and talented Miss Oppenheimer took some pictures for me a while back. I'd asked her to get some shots of the little service guy in front of the convenience store on 13th Street, in the Indian Hills area.

There's a story.....

This is a Gino Selerno carving, one of a few thats left standing around the ITC, and he has great meaning to my husband and I.

He was created in my late father-in-law's image. Jimbo and his dad used to own an AMOCO station there. His hat reads "Indian Hills AMOCO" and his nametag says "Ed" - that was Jim's dad.

I recently visited the store and asked them to sell the statues to me, but to no avail. They said he was "part of the community" and didn't think it was a good idea.
So thats when I got Miss. O. involved. She took many for me, and they're all FABULOUS.

I had the first two pictures here enlarged and printed for Jim and his twin brother's birthday. I noticed a few weeks after I had asked the new owners if I could buy the statues that someone had sawed his hands off. WHO DOES THAT?!?

Jim was blown away, and fought back a few tears. Even his brother Tim, who is developmentally disabled, was shocked and tense with emotion.......so Miss Oppenheimer, mission accomplished!! Thanks again! You are fantastic!

F***in' Wildlife!

Jim decided not to hit the casino for his birthday, so instead, we went out to 183rd St. & Maple to the Tanginyka Wildlife Park.

It was amazing how close you could get to some of the animals. A lot of stuff was closed off because they're still working on it, but we did get very close to some of the wildlife....a very sweet camel, the giraffes, and the lemurs.
And, Austrailian Parrots. Oh, yeah, they were pretty.........
But things turned ugly for me very quickly - as more than 5 at one point, decided the product in my hair was WAY tastier than the apple cider/apple sauce they gave us to feed them.
If Heather was there, she would have flipped the F*** Out! They were coming from EVERYWHERE and headed straight for my head.I shit you not, it was frightening, and what did Jimbo do?! Laughed histerically while I got my scalp pecked and my hair pulled. By the time we got out of that bird area, there was NO product left in my hair. I'm not generally scared by birds, but this was a first for me. I had them climbing into the hood of my jacket, even.

At any rate, it was a nice day, and tomorrow evening, Jimbo and his twin brother will get their SUPER FANTASTIC BIRTHDAY PRESENTS from me, courtesy of
our own Jamie O.

Pics of the pizza, cake and gifts to come.......

A New Read . . .

For this fine Spooooky Season.

A co-worker loaned me this one, and so far, its pretty darn good! I do love a creepy story, and this one is right up my alley! Just in time for Halloween!

Its a bit of a "life of the dead among us living" kind of book. And I'm diggin' it.

I Still Love This Guy....

Come on ladies, you do too....admit it. I've loved him since "Heathers", but "True Romance" is the bestest ever.

I just watched a bit of "Inside the Actor's Studio" on BRAVO, featuring Christian Slater. I love that guy, thanks to Jennifer Noone.

Jennifer Noone, God Bless that girl, introduced me to one of my favorite cult classics, "True Romance".......and from then on, I was hooked.

Well, I learned something just now, about our guy Christian, that makes me love him even more.

His performance in "Interview With a Vampire" came by default, as the original actor to play the role of the reporter, River Phoenix, overdosed outside the Viper Room shortly before filming started.

Here's the kicker: Christian Slater agreed to take on the role under one condition - every cent he was to be paid for the role went to all of the charities that River Phoenix was involved in. He didn't make a dime - it ALL went to River's charities, mostly aimed at children.

I love that guy.......and damn he's aging well!

Christy's Birthday

Saturday, some friends from my hometown of Great Bend, Kansas came in to celebrate a big event! One of them, Christy, turns 40 on Monday! This is a big reality slap not only for her, but all of us. So we figured we'd better get out our freak flags and fly 'em!

We had some dinner, and it was the first time I've had sushi. Not a fan.

And then we proceeded to get rather intoxicated.

This is Jennifer, my very best friend since kindergarten, she's also Christy's sister.

Christy got crazy!

They both got a little out of control, but Christy was determined to fight 40.

This photo is VERY incriminating. Jenn is a high school guidance counselor, and has always been Susie Straightlace. I have a feeling she hasn't been out in a while.

Too Many Kids.....

In one place at one time, sends me into a glazed-over state that makes me want to drink. Anyone who knows me fairly well, knows this. Funny, I can spend an entire weekend with developmentally disabled people and be just fine. But perfectly normal kids freak me the hell out. I only have one child......there's a reason for that.

Monday night, while my brother and his family were in town, we had dinner with them and my sister and her family. This was a huge test of my patience and there was excessive use of my "bullshit face" as I spent the evening smiling politely and gritting my teeth.

These are my nieces and nephews, and this is the longest they sat still that night....just long enough for a group photo. Left to right: Taylor, Olivia, Joshua & Brady.
This is my brother, David, and his daughter, Olivia. Please note that this gorgeous and very stylish gal has Robyn hair! Spikey Spice Jr. A mini-me of sorts.

I'd like to say I love my family, but there's a history, and suffice it to say, I'm the middle child and therefore am treated like the crazy blacksheep. They don't get me, and thats okay. I don't need them to.

At any rate, it was real good to see my brother and his wife and kids. I do love my brother - he seems to be the only one that accepts my odities and loves me back anyway.