all hallows eve

My favorite costume of the evening

I've felt disconnect from a long-time friend. Nothing major happened, but she moved a few miles away and I started a job with more regular hours. Then more time passed and it started feeling awkward.

We keep in touch through facebook and an occasional text or e-mail. I've been meaning to stop by her house like the good old days. But I was afraid that I'd be dropping in at a bad time.

What better time to ring the door bell then Halloween when people are expecting visitors? Sweetie joined me and we had a great visit with Kassie's family. It was wonderful to catch up and rekindle the friendship.

If I was a kid I'd mark their house for trick-or-treating next year. Kassie gives out the giant candy bars!

not good

It's not looking good for my work laptop. Luckily it is only a few months old and under warranty.

So now I figure that I'll only be about eight days behind in answering e-mails.

I'll bring my MacBook to work tomorrow, just in case.

robots in church

Robot Girl ring was a gift from Annie 

I was exhausted after the long day of traveling and waitressing Saturday Night. I had time to grab a quick four hours of sleep before it was time for church Sunday morning.

I have to admit that I did minimal preparation before I walked out the door, including grabbing the jewelry I'd worn the day before on the way out the door.

I have the honor of being an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist for my parish.  While distributing Holy Communion this week I realized that I was holding reverently presenting the Holy Communion and offering the Body of Christ to parishioners with a robot ring on my finger.

God loves robots too, right?

hayride

A good time was had by all. The hayride/costume contest was a great mix of Dad's Second Helpings volunteer friends, family, neighbors, and Sweetie's family.

The weather was just right for bundling up, a bonfire, and roasting weenies.

I swear there is no better sound than hearing kiddos giggle as they are bouncing around in the back of a wagon.

click your heels

Phoenix Airport, Southwest terminal 

I guess there is no place like home, but sometimes you want to slow the process down a little bit - and not by having your flight delayed by two hours. Luckily I got a text alert before Annie dropped me off so we were able to goof around a bit more. We peeked in on the yoga class that Tim teaches at a local park and photographed some fun murals and signs downtown.

This sign is for a pest control company. I need to download the photos from my camera, these are the cell phone versions.

Rooster on the side of a bar.

While I loved the bonus time with Annie, it was a long damn day. I went straight from the Indianapolis airport to my Red Key waitressing/cooking shift. Luckily it was busy enough to keep me from falling asleep.

foreign state fairs and snickerdoodles

Me as Martha Midway, the Arizona State Fair mascot 

I couldn't believe my luck. The Arizona State Fair was happening in Phoenix while I was in town!

My conference ended after lunch so Annie and I spent the afternoon running errands, baking cookies, and taking a necessary nap.

I don't want to say that I was disappointed, because I have a special place in my heart for State Fairs and the states that still have them. But there's no place like home, really.

The open class culinary depart consisted of three lonely cases tucked in the corner of the commercial building. The other open class division had more entries. Like Indiana quilts were popular. There were other interesting entries that you don't see in Indiana- gemstones and Native American crafts.

The 4-H projects had a little bigger presence, although this is THE culinary display. I comforted myself with the fact that Arizona only has 15 counties vs. Indiana's 92, although I'm not sure if the State Fair 4-H projects funnels through the counties like Indiana's does.

There were several cool exhibits. One to fallen Arizona soldiers that was sad and lovely and a whole space dedicated to an exhibit of giant electronic bugs with the requisite photo opportunity.

I'm not a corn dog eater, but the addition of bacon does make it more appealing. The usual Fair foods were represented with some ethic twists.

Indian Fry Bread tastes suspiciously like an Elephant Ear. The Indiana State Fair is 'dry.' It was odd to walk by tents selling Bud Light.

And there was a rocking face painter somewhere on the grounds.

I'm glad that we went and I loved spending time with Ann and Tim. And it's always nice to return home feeling smug about something about your home state, especially when you're leaving sunny Arizona and fly into cold and dreary Indiana.

poptarts for grownups

Ann and Tim and I went to dinner tonight and explored one of the downtown Phoenix's newest restaurants/pubs, Angels Trumpet Ale House. I had a great salad to balance out the homemade potato chip appetizer and this tastes better than it looks dessert.

The homemade poptart featured a pumpkin/ginger filling and warm vanilla icing. May I suggest pairing it with the Lefthand Milk Stout beer?

We had a grand time on the outdoor patio looking a dogs, chatting about our lives, the neighborhood, and other exciting topics. On the way out we were lucky enough to meet the owners. I wish I lived close enough to check out TV Dinner Tuesdays.