Happy Halloween!

Although today is Halloween, we celebrated last Sat night by going to a costume party at a friend's house, followed by going to the Blue Moon to check out other people's costumes.

Spouse went as Fred Flintstone

and I went as Boy George

Tonight we actually got a couple trick-or-treaters for the 1st time.  Since last year we got 2 new neighbors who have children, so those kids came.  In past years we've had no kids.

After Sandy

Hurricane Sandy is over.

Yesterday we lost power at 4:15.  Spouse & I lit some candles and sat around and talked for a while.  A couple times we dozed off.  Finally at 8:30 we were both bored and a little tired so we decided to go to bed.  This morning the power came back on at 7:45.  The driving ban was lifted at 10am so   Spouse & I took Marvin for a good, long walk and then went for a drive to see how the area fared.  We were pleased to see less damage that we expected.  We had lunch at one of the places that had re-opened and then came back home.  

We were SOOOO fortunate compared to the NJ shore & NYC.

Hurricane Sandy

Mine & Spouse's offices are both closed today today due to Hurricane Sandy.

We are not in the mandatory evacuation zone (just 3 blocks away) so we are not required to evacuate.  Since don't feel we are in danger of flooding, we are hunkered down and riding out the storm.  There is a ban on non-essential driving in place, which is further reason to stay home.

Yesterday Spouse brought the porch furniture into the garage, made sure all the windows were closed tightly and locked, and went to grocery store.  We have enough food that doesn't require refrigeration or cooking to survive at least a week with no power, including Fritos, cookies, Pop-Tarts, and candy.

So far we've had lots of rain and a lot of gusty wind.  We've been told to expect power outages but so far so good today.  We're just relaxing and watching TV.

Marvin does not like going out in the wind and rain to pee and poop.  But since he's a small dog it will be much easier to clean up any accidents he may have in the house.

Every once in a while the wind whistles like a horror movie and it gives me the chills!

Make it sexy!

This year Halloween is on a Wed, so all the costume parties seem to be happening this coming Sat.  Spouse & I are going to a costume party/potluck, and will then go to the Blue Moon to see lots of other folks in costumes.  We're recycling costumes from previous years since we aren't likely to run into the same people at this party. 

Fellow blogger BosGuy included this article about 10 Rules for Sexy Gay Homosexual Halloween Costumes.  (I'm not sure why the need to include 'Gay' and 'Homosexual', but whatever.)  There are several examples of regular costumes made sexy by The Gays.  I thought the article was cute and encourage you to take a look at it.

Its not that hard - you can make almost any Halloween costume sexy simply by removing all non-essential pieces of clothing.

Regular Indian:

Sexy Indian:

Regular Firefighter:

Sexy Firefighter:

Honestly, which would YOU rather run into at a party??

Whatever costume you choose this year, please be SAFE and have FUN!!

Holiday return address labels

This year I'm well ahead of schedule by ordering my holiday return address labels today.

Yep, that's right - its not even Halloween yet and I ordered my Christmas card labels today.  I love to write and send Christmas/Holiday cards to friends near and far and although I hand-write their names and mailing address for that personal touch, I do use return address labels.

But not just any old return address labels.  I order special ones for the holidays.  This year I ordered them from Personalization Mall.  Its a great resource for all things personalized, not just holiday stuff.  Here are my holiday 2012 selections:

They come in quantities of 64 so I ordered 1 quantity of each design above.  I think they're super cute!!  You may notice there aren't any Santa Claus or reindeer.  I tend not to favor those 'folksy' images of Christmas.  Instead I prefer themes that center more on ornaments, snowflakes and such.

Click here to read about my Christmas card writing/addressing ritual.

Indian Summer

At the beginning of the month we had a very cool spell and I was really afraid we wouldn't have an Indian Summer.  It was only in the 50s for several days, so I had to wear socks and shoes to work instead of my Sanuk knock-offs, and long-sleeve shirts and pants instead of polo shirts and shorts.  It was a real downer.

But fortunately it was just a cool spell and here we are at the end of Oct with daytime temperatures in the 70s and I'm enjoying a gorgeous Indian Summer.  

Somehow it feels luxurious to have the convertible top down during the day at the end of Oct.  Once the sun starts to set the temperature drops pretty quickly, so I wear a lightweight hoodie at night when I walk Marvin.

I guess I am just wired differently than those people who can't wait for fall weather so they can bust out their sweaters, coats and scarves.  I couldn't care less about those things.  To me the arrival of fall simply means the end of summer and the casual sense I have then.

Just because

Eating out

If you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, you already know that Spouse & I tend to eat out a lot.

Its not because we have a quest to try every new restaurant that opens here in the resort area we call home.  Its mostly because we're lazy and often don't feel like cooking.

If only I had a penny for every time I asked Spouse where he wants to eat and he replied "I don't care - where do you want to go".  Although this may sound like I get to pick the restaurant, that's not really true because after listing 3 or 4 different options for him, he will often say "Uuuuhhh, how about..." and then he says the name of some place I had not suggested.  In reality he's not giving me option to choose the restaurant, he just wants me to list some to jog his memory so he can then pick something else that suddenly comes to mind.

At one point when asked where I wanted to eat I simply said "I don't care - you choose.  You're just going to pick something different after I choose anyway."  He seemed stunned at first, as if he hadn't realized that's what he'd been doing.  But then he tried to turn it into a joke so I knew he understood.

So nowadays I will say something like "Oh, I really have a taste for ______" and name some place I'd like to go, and he will often follow suit.  Somehow him believing that I've been anticipating going to a particular place makes a difference to him, which is good I guess.  It shows he cares!

Beardy boy

Cause of death

This cracked me up!!!

Just because

Dream

This cracked me up!

Weekend highlights

Sat I worked just a 1/2 day so Spouse & I could once again run back to DC.  This time it was for our friend Jon's 40th birthday party.

The party was held at the Goethe Institut Art Gallery in the Chinatown section of DC.  Because parking is notoriously bad there we decided to take the metro in, which of course took 3 times longer than if we'd driven, but at least we didn't have to worry with parking.  There were passed h'ors deourves and an open bar as everyone was arriving and getting acquainted.  A little later we were invited to an Octoberfest-themed buffet dinner, followed by music from a DJ.  It was a very sophistocated party which reminded Spouse & me how different DC is from the quiet and casual life we lead at the beach.  We saw old friends and made new ones, and had a great time.

We stayed the night at Spouse's mom's house and since we had nothing planned on Sun we met up with the contractor to see the finished condo. We were very happily surprised with the completed project.  Click on the photos to make them larger.

The old carpet, dining room floor and kitchen floor:

Now there is just 1 type of floor that is consistent throughout the entire condo:

But even more dramatic than the flooring is the new kitchen.  The old cabinets were 50 years old and we'd done as much as possible to them:

Everything was ripped out of the kitchen and all new cabinets, counters, sink, faucet, appliances, and backsplash tile were installed:

We even relocated the stove in order to improve the layout and have a larger uninterrupted span of counter.  We are super-happy with the end result and are sure the condo will rent quickly and for a lot more money than before.

We left directly from the condo and headed home.

Relax this weekend

National Coming Out Day

Today is National Coming Out Day!

What is it, exactly?  How/when did it start?  Should I be doing something about it today?

All these questions are answered in this article found on AmericaBlog.com.  

Will I be coming out to someone today?  No, because I live an 'out' life so there is no one to whom I should come out, except maybe the cashier at the grocery store.  But I think she's seen Spouse & me checking out together for long enough to know.

Just because

Oh snap!!

Weekend highlights

Spouse & I took off work last Fri and headed back to DC.  We had lunch and visited with his mom and sister for awhile.  Then it was time for me to get ready.

One of the reasons for the visit was so that I could attend my 30th high school class reunion.  That's right, despite how young I look and behave, I really have been out of high school for 30 years now.  Spouse went with me to my 20 year reunion but decided to pass on this one.

It was held at a hotel and I must give lots of props to my 4 classmates who organized the reunion.  A lot of time, work, and energy went into it, I'm sure.

At check-in everyone received a badge with our senior photo and name on them, which was very helpful.  You can imagine how much some people's appearance has changed in 30 years.  Then each person was photographed during cocktail hour.  Then we moved into the banquet room and eventually sat down in preparation for the meal.  

Toward the end of the meal there were a few presentations, and after the meal the DJ cranked up the volume of the music for dancing, which made it rather difficult to have comfortable conversations.  But I saw several old friends I'd known since elementary school, and met some new friends I didn't know when we graduated (due to my large class). 

I had a very nice time and was really glad I went.

On Sat Spouse, his mom & I picked up my aunt Mary and we went to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory.  I had a Mac-n-Cheese burger which was as outrageous as it sounds.  They took a patty of macaroni & cheese, coated it in bread crumbs and fried it, then placed it on top of a burger and poured cheese sauce on top.  OMG!!  After lunch the 4 of us went to see our condo that is undergoing renovation.  The demo was complete:  the carpet and flooring was torn out, the complete kitchen was torn out, and the priming and painting of the ceilings and walls was started.  We spoke with the contractor about a few things and tried to picture how the finished project would look.  Afterward we hung out at Spouse's mom's house for a while and talked.  My aunt Mary had a good time getting to know Marvin Parker who was named after her father.  She loves dogs and Marvin loves attention so they had fun together.  That evening Spouse's mom went to an Octoberfest (ticket purchased prior to our visit) so Spouse, his sister, Aunt Mary, and I went out for Chinese food.

Sun morning Spouse, his mom and I had breakfast at Kerry & Hugh's.  After dropping off his mom and picking up Marvin and our bags we hit the road for home on Sun afternoon.

Stoopid lyrics

Here is another installment of my blog feature "Stoopid lyrics" where I share with you a well-known song with lyrics that don't make sense.

Keep in mind this doesn't mean the song is stoopid or that I don't like the song. In fact, most of the time I like the songs and only discover they contain stoopid lyrics when I try to sing along.  But in all cases, the lyrics make absolutely no sense.

4 Minutes
performed by Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Timbaland

Come on boy I've been waiting for somebody to pick up my stroll

[Justin:]
Now don't waste time, give me desire, tell me how you wanna roll

[Madonna:]
I want somebody to speed it up for me then take it down slow
There's enough room for both

[Justin:]
Girl I can hit you back just gotta show me where it's at
Are you ready to go? (Are you ready to go?)

[Madonna and Justin:]
If you want it
You've already got it
If you thought it
It better be what you want

If you feel it
It must be real just
Say the word and
I'm gonna give you what you want

[Madonna:]
Time is waiting

[Justin:]
We only got four minutes to save the world

[Madonna:]
No hesitating
Grab a boy

[Justin:]
Go grab your girl

[Madonna:]
Time is waiting

[Justin:]
We only got four minutes to save the world

[Madonna:]
No hesitating

[Justin:]
We only got four minutes huh four minutes
So keep it up keep it up
Don't be a prima donna

[Madonna:]
You gotta get em a heart
Tick tock tick tock tick tock

[Justin:]
That's right keep it up keep it up
Don't be a prima donna

[Madonna:]
You gotta get em a heart
Tick tock tick tock tick tock
Sometimes I think what I need is a you intervention

Yeah

[Justin:]
And I know I can tell that you like it and that it's good
By the way that you move
Oh hey

[Madonna:]
The road to hell is paved with good intentions
Yeah

[Justin:]
But if I die tonight at least I can say I did what I wanted to do
Tell me how 'bout you?

[Madonna and Justin:]
If you want it
You've already got it
If you thought it
It better be what you want

If you feel it
It must be real just
Say the word and
I'm gonna give you what you want

[Madonna:]
Time is waiting

[Justin:]
We only got four minutes to save the world

[Madonna:]
No hesitating
Grab a boy

[Justin:]
Go grab your girl

[Madonna:]
Time is waiting

[Justin:]
We only got four minutes to save the world

[Madonna:]
No hesitating

[Justin:]
We only got four minutes huh four minutes
So keep it up keep it up
Don't be a prima donna

[Madonna:]
You gotta get em a heart
Tick tock tick tock tick tock

[Justin:]
That's right keep it up keep it up
Don't be a prima donna

[Madonna:]
You gotta get em a heart
Tick tock tick tock tick tock

[Timbaland:]
Breakdown
Yeah

[Madonna:]
Tick tock tick tock tick tock

[Timbaland:]
Yeah uh

[Madonna:]
Tick tock tick tock tick tock

[Timbaland:]
I've only got four minutes to save the world

Despite the 4 minutes they spend delivering this song, they never once indicate HOW they're going to save the world!

Rugby

Thanks to fellow blogger BosGuy for keeping me on top of what's going on down under.

Apparently there is a nude rugby team called The Nude Blacks (although the term 'black' has nothing to do with race or uniform color since they don't wear uniforms) that's been playing for 10 years now.  How did I not hear of this before now, I ask you?  

Check out BosGuy's post here.  And then if you want more, check out this NSFW video here.

Beardy boy

Thoughts on Drinking

Full frontal freedom

We're just over a month away from the Presidential election and if you're like me, you've been sick of the campaigning for about 3 years now.  I think the US should follow our neighbors to the north, Canada, and only permit campaigning for the 30 days prior to the election.

But in the spirit of democracy, full disclosure, and hot guys lounging around a pool, please enjoy this video posted by the group Full Frontal Freedom!