Cast No Shadow

Despite being overwhelmed at time, we did finish all we set out to do before all our company came on Wed night. The Phelps' drove in from Wichita and my mom flew in from FL that evening, and really the only thing I didn't get to do was hang my wire in my room, which will require the use of the Pythagorean Theorem. Anyway brunch was wonderful, and Dick & Merrily both stopped by for that, and Sarah & Tobi drove down for the day. LA made her famous Breakfast Casserole, we drank mimosas, and we had strudel from "Like No Other" Bakery. Lunch was a little hit-and-miss. We under-ordered the sides, but had plenty of honey ham, beef brisket, and pulled pork, however Front Range's famous Banana Pudding wasn't set, and therefore a little runny. Here's some photos (and I'll post some of our new Ikea stuff soon) (click on the slideshow to see larger photos)...

We've crammed so much stuff into the past 2 or 3 days its not even funny....put together platform bed and bookshelf, washed/waxed VW, washed Honda & replaced rotor button (still getting misfires), fixed the jammed cd player, groceries, dinner at Dick & Merrily's, raked leaves, swept garage, unpacked suitcases, picked up artwork at Edifice, errands at Home Depot, met Merrily at the antique mall, Hobby Lobby for Cmas decor, listed an Obey print on eBay, picked out another piece of furniture for the office, and there's probably several things I'm forgetting, not to mention, We're Not Done!

Yes, we finally made it home. We left Tues at noon from Williamsburg and got in this afternoon at 3pm, with plenty of daylight to unload the autos. Man that's a long trip! And to make it longer, my cd changer got stuck and wouldn't eject, right in the middle of Ken Burns' The War! I had to rely on radio through Kansas (not much frequency there) and my mp3 player on my phone. We stopped last night in Abilene, KS at the newish Holiday Inn Express. Nice bedding, a hot tub, and those yummy cinnamon rolls! We ate at the Brookville Hotel and wow. That's what we needed last night. The menu last night (its family style) was 1/2 skillet fried chicken, biscuit, sweet & sour cole slaw, mashed potatoes & gravy, relish, cottage cheese, creamed corn, and ice cream! Talk about good ole home cooking. Unfortunately we forgot our leftovers in the fridge and came home to no food in the house. It was a good trip overall, and a great year. We accomplished alot around the

I don't know if we're in OH or IN tonight...we just drove . We had a lengthy stopover at Ikea in West Chester and managed to pile the cars to the breaking point.....rocking chair, 2x bookshelves, platform bed, headboard/shelves, 2x tall chairs, project desk, plus other misc items. Its a long drive home from here, about 16 hours, compounded by the fact neither one of us can see out of the rearview, and I have to bend over to see my passenger side mirror. Thankfully the town we're in tonight has an older, but updated Holiday Inn with nice bedding and a big bathroom, and less than a mile south on 41 was an Outback. I knew we hung on to those giftcards from Dad & Jenny for a reason--a night like tonight! We enjoyed a couple of bacon wrapped filets with asparagus and some adult beverages to wash down the road dust. The dogs have been out sniffing and got to see 3(!) rabbits, so they'll sleep good tonight. Boots is ready to cuddle and fight tonight, and I'm look

Last week wasn't particularly bad...the work went smoothly and we drove down to Chesapeake to meet the rest of our group at a Japanese steakhouse for dinner. Its just the fact that I spent all weekend sequestered in our hotel room doing write ups each day. Today was supposed to finish it all off, but now I think I'll have to take paperwork home with me :( My 2nd write up of the day turned into a resurvey, which meant an hour drive to the survey and an hour back. In addition, my Check Engine light on the Honda CR-V has been on due to 3 cylinder misfires. I finally bought a new distributor cap & rotor, but had to run to Lowes for a tiny screwdriver to get the cap off. And I have no idea how to remove the rotor! You'd think it would pull straight off, but NO. So I just replaced the distributor cap, reset the Check Engine and took the CR-V out to do a close survey. Check Engine came back on....same 3 cylinder misfires. I also had to come back to the hotel, because before an

We're right on schedule to get out of Williamsburg and head home next week sometime. We've been having a good time around here....Colonial Williamsburg was a little bit of a bust, but not as much as Virginia Beach. Aside from the Cape Henry Lighthouse, PI Pizzeria, and the Neptune statue, much of VB feels like any other tourist beach town. We did get some fresh seafood at Berrett's here in CW, though overpriced a little. We also explored the growing VA wine industry with a tour & tasting at the Williamsburg Winery.

New Art Addition: 2 Cents' 'SF Ate My Heart' exclusive to Gallery 1988 in San Fransisco. I already have Love & Hate by the LA based street artist. (PS--Gallery 1988 is having a 15% off sale, which more than takes care of shipping) While we're so worked up about politics, our falling economy, Iraq, and our own little lives, there is virtually no US news coverage of the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo). A quick Google news search reveals 36,000 news articles in the past day regarding the current civil strife. That's a great thing about BBC World News on NPR...they have such an international focus, realizing that no country is an island and we only ignore world issues at our own peril. I hope all the Obama-mania dies down soon; I think some people (especially in other countries) have some unrealistic expectations of him. I just want him to get into office and get to work. I heard Desmond Tutu (a South African Bishop) hope that Obama would a

Well the election went my way! Obama is now the President Elect, Udall--that "Boulder liberal"-- won the Senate seat, and outlandish Proposition 48 was soundly defeated (even in El Paso County). Tell me what I've had to be excited about in my generation's history. The fall of the Berlin wall happened when I was 10 in '89....what's been really monumental since? I was moved by McCain's acceptance speech. He seemed to speak from the heart and I really did like him and his political views, but as previously stated, the GOP and President Bush made winning almost impossible for him. If he had run at a different time, maybe 4 or 8 years ago, he would've gotten my vote. Now was just not the time for McCain. I was also moved in a different direction during McCain's acceptance speech when a portion of the crowd booed Obama's election. That was completely disgraceful and unpatriotic. Democracy chose our leader and we should be cheering that democra