So I wanted to give a great big wet smoochy to those who contributed to my compulsive book buying sickness.

autumnleaf77 and thunderer: The Annotated Dracula by Bram Stoker edited by Leslie Klinger, Forward by Neil Gaiman

mannie711: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and People of the Abyss by Jack London

chainsaw_larry and Jay from Ostara: The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood (a rec from lilychild) and The Undead and Philosophy Edited by Richard Greene and K. Silem Mohammad. No kidding. Essays outlining world philosophical positions using Zombie and Vampire culture as illustrative examples. I think isadis might be interested...hmmmmm... There's a little left on the Borders cards. I'll be back.

fuzzy1313 and eretik: The Greek Way of Death by Robert Garland.

slate1198: Inkheart by Conrnelia Funke (because the movie looks interesting) and The Widows of Eastwick by John Updike. Yup! A sequel to The Witches of Eastwick.

Eventually all the reviews will end up on my book journal: book_goddess73.

...and special smootchies to jinglebellz61, llywon and flamingonizzie for the Star Trek: Alternate Realities DVD (the one *Greg* got for thunderer for Yule) and the trippy Star Trek: TOS Pez set.

Thank you all. Greg thanks you all because this is money NOT spent from our checking account.

Today was Maddie's Mad Tea Party. Miss E. joined us early in the day so she could attend the party. Mom and dad were meeting with some friends so we had the pleasure of hosting her for the day. All the girls arrived on time and the melee ensued. Greg, Meg, Maddie and I all dressed as characters. I think by the end of the day the girls were filled with so much sugar they were twitching when they left. I told the parents to refrain from juice or fruit for dinner. It might have sent them into a coma. They made their own cupcakes and sundaes and painted tea trays. They had tea, stacked sugar cubes, played hot "cheshire cat," and ate tarts. They all left full of sugar with goodie bags, their tea cups and saucers and a copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. All in all an awesome party.

Now...if I could only get the song Painting the Roses Red out of my head I'd be getting somewhere.

( Down the Rabbit Hole )

The rest of the evening was spent with the older crew. They got to avoid the Mad Tea Party. Let me tell you, two hours between two parties just isn't enough. Period. Four might have been better.

I need to go to bed now.

Yeah, I know. It's far too early to be thinking about this...but this is me. I get an idea and it sticks in me noggin'. I've decided to do a Mad Tea Party a la Alice in Wonderland (no, not based on the Disney version). I've got a lot of good ideas including having the guests dress in their finest party wear, croquet on the lawn (I have a kiddie croquet set providing it isn't too cold), the clean cup (hot potato) game, and all sorts of delicacies. Behind the cut are some of the things I want to do. I'm going to make a chessboard checkered patterned table cloth and have their place cards on playing cards. I'll have no choice but to wear my Queen of Hearts gown and perhaps make Meghan wear either a White Rabbit or a doormouse costuem. This is going to be great! Any and all suggestions are welcome. This party will include both boys and girls so long as the boys dress up too!

It will be all too soon that Maddie will want to just play laser tag or go rollerskating for her birthday. I have to do these things while I still can.

( Down the Rabbit Hole )

We took Meghan and company to Planet Trog for her Laser Tag birthday party. She was joined by flamingonizzie, jinglebellz61 and Tim, Kat, Sky, River, Brandon, and winternighthawk. We had cake and pizza and then Mads and I went home. Everyone came back to our house when they were finished with their games and I unveiled a little buffet of food. Now, for those who know me, this was an accomplishment. I made basil and tomato pizza, barbeque chicken wings, bruschetta, and minced chicken and onion baked round things. I did burn the melted parmesan snacks so I had to dump them. It was the baking stone's fault. ;) We finished off the night by the fire drinking Strawberry Mead.

Here are the pictures!

( Laser Tag Fun )

Sounds like a great book title, doesn't it??? Well, fall has arrived. Whooo-fucking-hoo! I despise summer. I hate it hate it hate it. For three months there is no decorating possibilities (except 4th of July. Blah.). But come September 1st it's ON! I've been busy as a bee digging out all the fall decor. I have to be good. I don't put up the Halloween stuff til the last week of September so I've kept it packed away. For now, rich yellows, oranges, and burgundy reds are strewn throughout the house! Yeah!

So we had Greg's chess friend Eric and Meg's boyfriend over last night for her birthday dinner. Greg grilled some very tasty steaks with oven browned potatoes, green beans, and brocholi and cheese sauce. Meg picked out a fantastic peanut butter/chocolate cake. She'll get her regular birthday cake at her party on Sunday. We ate well and laughed much. One highlight was when I somehow managed to pass the potatoes over Joe. Greg yells, "Sascha...what the heck is wrong with you?! Never, ever skip an Irishman when you're passing potatoes! That would be like offering everyone a beer but the only German at the table!" *head dropped in shame*

So later in the evening, when Meg went to bed and Eric went home, Greg went out to clean the grill. He comes in and asks me if I want to see the two skunks in the back yard. Sure, I say. We go outside and can't see them. He walks over to the fence between our and the Hristofis' yard. He sees them at the white fence in the front of the yard. I'm standing by the grill so I can't see them. "Come here," he says. "You can see them." I move closer but still can't see them. "They're right over there," he points. I finally see them and reply, "Oh! you mean the two skunks that are charging your position?" I don't think I've ever seen Greg run so fast in my life. The two skunks started to fight right around the swingset (Greg was safely on the porch). One thing led to another and they sprayed. I've never smelled skunk spray so close and so concentrated. It wasn't pretty. We sealed up the house quickly and managed to get to bed and fall asleep before it really permeated the house.

I love fall!

We had a grand time at Greg's birthday party and I'm happy so many people could come and share some fellowship with us! Old friends and new gathered to celebrate the most wonderful day in 1972. Greg's parents were visiting so they stayed for a few hours. I was thrilled to finally meet Josh (yeah!) and bummed that Serge was a poop and didn't want to attend an afternoon party (ah, this young jetsetting crowd...). One of my favorite moments was when Greg's ultra conservative father asked if we were hosting a "Jesus Christ Hippie Revival" because all the men present had either long hair, facial hair, or both. LOL

The only really weird event of the evening was some strange drunk woman from the end of the block (Greg and I know our neighborhood well and we have no idea who she was) came out and started screaming at us that we were too loud and needed to go inside. o.O She was going to call the cops and we'd all go to jail. Greg ran out to see who she was and she was staggering back down the alley. ::shrugs:: Let me note that it was 9:45, the city ordinance for noise is 11PM AND it was only about 7 of us out on the patio talking and laughing. No music, no screaming, nothing. In fact, the neighbors directly near us never heard a thing. Oooooo...Kaaaaay. Whatever. Kind of fun waiting for the police to arrive. Apparently earlier (and I missed it) one cruised down the alley, looked at us, shook his head and kept going without even stopping. In other words, crazy fucking drunk bitch.

Josh and Christine left around 10ish this morning and when I laid down for a nap, Greg watched "Letters from Iwo Jima." He was so relaxed that he forgot he had to work. I woke up and he got a call asking if he was coming in. Whoops.

Well, I can honestly say I'm partied out. No more gatherings here until October for Halloween. Gotta rest. hehe OK, on to the pictures.

( A Gazillion Pictures )

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY lilychild, my new LJ friend!

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In other news, yes, I got to the pool this morning. I wanted to start slow since I haven't swam in a while. I figured I'd be happy with 800 meters. Screw it. I did 1100. Heart was pumping a mile a minute but it was worth it. Looks like I'll start with Wednesday mornings AT LEAST. Adult lap is every morning but I think I'd die if I did it every morning. Perhaps thrice a week. I hate to sweat and more importantly, I hate to sweat while I'm wet. LOL

Now, on to my day. I have 10,000 thank you letters and cards to write and mail today.

This weekend was awesome. On Saturday we celebrated the High Holy Day that is the day of my birth. The actual day is the second, but we partied early. Greg made a fantastic pork dish and katsakitty filled in with appetizers. My friend Jim brought excellent shrimp egg rolls and we were set. greenmanrn served his first homebrew beer and it was a hit. I don't think there is any left! Everyone stuffed their faces and then we did the whole cake thing. I had a Philadelphia Eagles cake (duh). We saved the center logo for greenmanrn and I to either chuck if the Eagles lost or eat as a victory cake on Sunday night. All of my most special friends were there (a few of them weren't able to make it which sucked) and we had a great time. List of attendees included mirrorflash, Kat and Matt, Dani, jinglebellz61, her hubby Tim, flamingonizzie, Eric, Dave, Jim and Penny from Chess, Steve and Dusca, and thunderer and autumnleaf77 came a little later. I got tremendously awesome booty and the people that got me stuff that wasn't on my wish list were so in tuned with me that it was like they knew what I was going to put on it but didn't.

It's Sunday night and we just got back from the Eagles/Falcons game. At the middle of the season we were 5 and 6 and sucked. Somehow we managed to win 5 on the road and take the NFC East Championship!! It helped that Dallas choked (ack! hack! ack!) and lost to the Lions (the second worst team in the NFL) but we won this game clean and fair and square. We were the better team, period.

The game itself was awesome. We tailgated for a bit when we got there at around 1PM (for a 4PM game). We went with his boss and her husband. Much beer was drank well before they even got into the stadium. Then much beer was drunk (by Greg) once we got into the stadium. Yes, sports fans, he was slightly intoxicated during the game. LOL Our seats were awesome. We were directly behind the south uprights about 30 rows up. Fantastic! The weather held. No rain and in the mid 40's. I brought my wool blanket and we were quite toasty. The best part was when we scored a touchdown. Fireworks and the whole stadium singing the Eagles fight song. We were high-fiving total strangers. After the game was over we were high-fiving security on the way out. It was just wonderful. Here are two very special highlights.

1. Shortly before halftime Greg went to use the facilities. He was in line when all of a sudden a man wearing a Falcons jersey was crowd-surfed out of the bathroom and gently released to the ground at the back of the line. Greg said somehow his hands just instinctively went up and helped this fine gentlemen out. At first he thought that this gentleman was simply being told that Eagles fans got to pee first. Later he found out that this guy was talking a lot of shit (and was very drunk) and to see to it that he didn't get himself killed, the Eagles fans bodily removed him and took him to safety outside in the walkway. Eagles fans aren't really that bad.

2. For some reason, some MORON decided to wear his Cowboys jersey (I'm sorry, his T.O. Cowboys' jersey). Once the fans noticed him, about 3/4s of the stadium turned toward him, pointed at him and led a chant of "asssssssshooooole" over and over again. Then chanted "Dallas Sucks" at him. Now I need to ask why this guy would set himself up like that. Honestly, it was just to incite the Eagles fans. That was all. There was no reason to be wearing a Cowboys jersey at a FALCONS game except to BE an asshole.

I think I had the best time I've had all year. As soon as the Cowboys lost and we won the Championship, Reid pulled all the 1st string. We did have to watch the scrubs play but they still beat Atlanta's 1st string. It was cool no matter who was playing. I will be going back next year.

We're done for the night. No staying up for New Years. We're going to watch the Green Bay game and go to bed. BOTH of our throats are really, really sore. Pictures tomorrow!

EDIT: Oh, and by the way, I mentioned in my last post that I was upset that I didn't lose as much weight as I wanted to. My David Aker's jersey is normally a little snug. I had to wear a shirt under it to be warm for the game. I figured it would be REALLY snug with the shirt under. I put on the thick shirt under and slid the jersey over it...there is actually room in it! So apparently I lost more weight than I thought I did. Wheeeee.

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To the most \m/ guy in the world!

( More birthday stuff under cut! )

Thursday my old friend John M. and his son Byron came for dinner. I haven't seen him since I sued him for back rent about 12 years ago. I won. He was bitter for a while. I was bitter for a while. 12 years is too long to stay bitter. Anyway, his son is awesome! He's 5 years old an has a gruesome imagination so he fits in with us really well. He regaled us at dinner with stories of his 100 year old dead brother (father looked on shaking his head mouthing "He has no brother...never had one"). Loved the torture chamber at the Ren Faire and insisted his dad take him in. That kid rocked!

Anyway I made a sucky vegetarian lasagna for him (ours was better cuz it had meat). I had no idea how to cook with just...eee gads...VEGETABLES! So it as bland as Hel. I'll have to learn how to make at least on veg meal. The conversation was great. A lot of catching up. I'm glad we found each other after so long.

Saturday was Matt V.'s birthday party. Before we went, greenmanrn hung up the Yule lights. We don't light them til after Thanksgiving but we decided to use the nice day to our advantage. It's better than trying to hang them while sliding on ice or a wet roof. 911 on speed dial was the order of the day.

The party was great. We broke in the bottle of Absinthe. It was awesome and did exactly what it was supposed to do. It started green and then when we added the ice water through the sugar cubes it turned pearly white. It tasted like liquorice. Mmmmm Mmmmm Good. We toasted a la Moulin Rouge..."truth, beauty freedom and that which we believe in above all things; Love.” hehe Actually the toast came after we swigged the drink. I got so excited I forgot.

The party was great. katsakitty made the most awesome food. She got a new cookbook. We all benefit when she learns new recipes. :D Maddie had a splendid time playing with the little ones. greenmanrn got into some deep discussions with a few Christians. By the time I left he was busy telling one of them that there was no way he'd convince him that there was only one god; much the way he would never be convinced that there were many. Just as I was packing up to leave, they were setting up for spoons. The last thing I heard was greenmanrn pulling a chair out and beckoning the Christian to sit next to him. I believe the quote was (as he patted the chair) "Come...sit by me monotheist boy!" I figured Matt V. was about to have a holy war in his living room. Well, no such thing. greenmanrn behaved himself. He rolled in sometime after 2 AM. hehe I let him sleep til almost 1PM Sunday. He needed to sleep.

I got my rough draft back from the prof. She was supposed to give feedback for 5 areas of improvement on the paper before we submit the final copy. My rough draft had no areas to improve and no corrections. I was to submit it as is. That's way cool. I have to drop off the research note folder tomorrow morning so she can grade it. Whooo Hoo.

So that was my weekend. No holy war. No husband falling off the roof. No corrections to make.

AND THE EAGLES FINALLY WON!!! 27-3 against the Skins!!
Life is good right now. Knock on wood.

Much exhuberant jocularity today! All of immortallunaris's friends showed up at our house for her birthday. Blue hair, black hair, men in kilts, a Marilyn Manson affecionado, and multiple teenagers in knee high studded boots showed up at our door to celebrate. greenmanrn commented that he wasn't sure what concerned him more...the fact that his daughter looks like these children and associates with them, or the fact that not only doesn't it bother him, he thinks its cool. LOL immortallunaris, her friends, greenmanrn, jinglebellz61, flamingonizzie, Tim, Kat, Skyler, River, Paul and Amy all went to Planet Trog and played Laser Tag for her 15th birthday. I'd never been there before.

We started out with pizza, soda, and cake. There was a big screen that flashed "Happy Birthday Meghan" all afternoon. Everytime it showed up, all the kids screamed and hailed her. The other "normals" at the arena seemed ill at ease being in company with such weird children dressed all in black and with highlighter marker war paint all over them. greenmanrn joined in on the festivities drawing battle Runes on his face (he possessed The Runic Marker of Power). LOL

After eating they all went in for three games. I didn't get to see any of it. jinglebellz61 and I hung out and talked for the 45+ minutes. We got score sheets in between games. Most of the kids did fairly well but Amy KICKED ASS! She came in first with the highest hit level in games two and three. She probably would have won the first one but her gun didn't work. She didn't even know she had won til they all came out and got their sheets. She was so humble but she knew she rocked!

We came back home and Kat and Matt brought a most excellent spice sausage stew. We had veggie burgers for Amy and Paul (I always keep some in the freezer for just such an occassion). At some point Matt ran home and brought back padded weapons...lots of them. Then I had a yard full of teenagers beating each other senseless SCA style. They played "Chivalry" rules which meant they couldn't fight dirty. I'm still trying to figure out what the point was then. Mellen and Nikki got attacked by the rose bush. A couple of black eyes. Numerous bruises. I'm expecting some phone calls from either parents or guidance counselors tomorrow morning.

It was a good day. Good friends. I think I talked Paul and Amy into getting LJs. I'm sending them an invite this week.

immortallunaris finally understands just how much I love her. I did not watch the Philadelphia Eagles season opener game today because of the party. I taped it. They did win (of course), Cincinnati won whoo hoo! (EDIT: Just found out Trent Green was knocked out for 12 minutes during that game. I hope he's alright. Scary shit.) and most importantly DALLAS LOST. What a WONDER-FABULOUS DAY!

( Meg's Party Pics...You gotta see them! )

Well, here's my first try at LJcuts. I had to lower my head in shame, put my tail between my legs and ask my buddy Angstpuppy how the hell to do it!

We had a great time at Greg's birthday party. The last person left around 2AM. There was a full days worth of drinking, Kubbing, eating, and the comparison or sword lengths. Sunday morning Greg lamented drinking the Guavaberry rum shots, but if you can't be sick the day after your own birthday party, when can you?
( Pictures )

I finished Greg's Kubb set this morning. He cut out the pieces last night and I painted them to his specification (5 kubbs are white with a contrasting green stripe and 5 kubbs are green with a contrasting white stripe: green AND white king...). I finished polying them this morning. I turned on the air conditioner so that the humidity might drop in the living room to maybe, say 99 FRICK'N PERCENT!! I hate humidity. Anyway, they should dry for his party on Saturday.

I'm so excited about Saturday (even if it's going to be 90 degrees!). I LOVE to throw parties. I have so much fun. Most of our friends are coming with the kids. We'll be setting all the kids outside with the Elmo sprinkler, water balloons and the "kiddie" pool. The adults will probably want to be indoors with the food and AC (except those outside playing Kubb). I'm sure there will be more fools (other than Greg, that is) outdoors playing. Craig is probably coming and Sara and Jake will be here! So far, Justin and Melanie, Leslie, Tim and Jill, and Matt and Kat, Rose and Roger are my definates. Eric and Marcus Aurelius will probably be coming after Chess Club. I'm quite sure most of the others will be there, however, my friends always seem to be religiously and morally opposed to RSVPing. :D

I rearranged the bedroom yesterday. I did it during the day so that Greg didn't come in for bed and trip over things. He's done that in the past. It's kind of funny. Once, I moved the bed to the other wall. He came in and kept the light off so he wouldn't wake me. He sat down where the bed USED to be and it wasn't there. Fell right on the floor. It was really rather funny. Anyway, there's really not to many ways to move things around and I was sick of the bed being on the long wall. I just had to imagine the room with no furniture and think of something different. I think it looks pretty darn good.

I've spent the last week getting ready for the party. I FINALLY hung Gimli's battle axe. It's pretty low and my mother was concerned that Maddie-cakes would pull it down on herself. I told her that that would never happen. When my other friends come over with their kids, the little ones are always touching the weapons, trying to screw with them. I explained that Maddie is just used to them being there and never touches them. Sort of like the way Meg is used to all the mead in the cellar but has never (even though a teenager) tried to take any. If you don't make something a big deal, kids won't really be interested. De-mystify them as well. Meg's had mead before. It's not a big deal to her like it is to her friends. My mother didn't agree with me, but I had to point out my brother. When he came around she was a raving prohibitionist/Carrie White's mother with alcohol. It was evil, the tool of the devil, etc... Well, he got fascinated with what he COULDN'T have and is now, unfortunately, a boozer. That's not the only reason, but I think it's a big one. Me, on the other hand, grew up before she went crazy (LOL). Never a big deal to me.

OK. Rambling done for the moment. Maddie-cakes is tearing apart the basement I just finished cleaning. NAP TIME!!!!!! WOOO HOOOO!!!

Today was the honey man's birthday. 34 years old. Once again, I reminded him that I was indeed, still, 6 months younger than he is.

We'll do all our actually birthday celebrating on Saturday. It's looking like its going to be a good party. Going to the Farmer's Market on Friday for fresh clams so we can steam them. Dogs, burgers, beer, clams. Can't beat it.

Made him a nice dinner. We grilled sirloins (mmmmmmm mmmmmm tasty), had baked potatoes, and crab cakes. Followed by a white cake with raspberry filling in honor of the DE-licious raspberry mead that is currently finishing in the basement.

Getting the crab cakes was an event. I went to the market to the premade seafood (most people do know that I can't cook). There were some awesome stuffed crabs, lobster cakes, and crab cakes. The lady at the counter was quite angry that I asked to see the ingredient list. She asked why and I replied that my husband was allergic to FINNED fish and since most imitation crab/lobster meat was made with cod or haddock, I had to make sure it was REAL crab and lobster or I'd be jabbing my husband with an epi pen on his birthday (for those who don't know, Greg almost had to have a hole cut in his neck several years ago when he ate cod by accident...he swelled up that quick).

Well, apparently I offended the counter person because HER crab and lobster were genuine and not imitation. "Well, with all due respect, I STILL need to see the ingredient list.". Huff, puff, huff, puff. She got it for me and LO AND BEHOLD...ingredient #2: imitation crab and lobster meat (pollack, haddock, and cod). I showed it to her and then purchased the blue crab cakes because the ingredients were pure crab. That lady was very quiet after I read off those ingredients. Never ceases to amaze me how dim some people are. I've never seen my husband in full anaphalaxis and I didn't want to start on his birthday.

Well, so the kids are in the kiddie pool outside and Greg's carving and sanding his altar. I'm taking a moment of sanity and it's been a good day.

Just added my userpic. I must admit, I was much prettier about 10 years ago. Well, it's the closest pic I have to me now since I forbid photos to be taken of me. Don't want my soul stolen...actually, no, I'm just pretty hideous lately. Tired. A little too fluffy for my own good. sigh.

There is tons and tons and tons of stuff to do. I've got to get the "teenage" Pagan workbook done for Summerset. 'Chelle and I working together this time. Elric totally screwed up my listing for the "Pagan's Jeopardy" game. I needed Saturday to have people take the written exam. I believe I told him that 3 times. Still, he lumped me into "Pagan Game Night" on Friday. I called Lonnie and bitched. Elric was supposed to call me to straighten it out, but I don't think he will. Well, regardless whether or not I do the event, I still get the "presenter" price for entrance cuz he screwed it up, not me. Sigh, again.

Greg and Meghan are at eretik's birthday party at Fuzzy's house. I hope they are having a good time. I would have loved to have gone, but my and the little buddy stayed home. I've got a few things to finish here anyway. I've been working on a picture of Frigga for the East Coast Thing art contest (if they do it this year). It's cool. Highly stylized. I'm not Da Vinci, but I think it's cool. When it's done I'll upload a pic of it. Maybe if I like this one enough I'll do other Goddesses. Might even be able to shrink them down into my own Oracle deck. Hmmmm.....

OK. I'm going to become addicted to these stupid things. A couple of friends sent me the links...

You scored as Dracula. You are the smooth sexy cool Dracula. Patient and lustful. If you were any cooler youd be ice. Great style with a way of seducing those around you. And three brides who wouldn't want to be him. </td> Marius 100% Dracula 100% Spike 83% Lestat 75% Louis 67% Armand 67% Deacon Frost 67% Blade 42% Angel 33% Akasha 8% Whose your Vampire personality? (images) created with QuizFarm.com

Enough for tonight. I'm going to work on some art now and get even more sleepy sleepy sleepy...