3:30

3:30

Coming home after work is nice, but today it was extra nice because it meant that I didn't have to drive one more mile.

-Erika

Why Not? 1:30 & 2:30

I've discovered that I love a project.  It sparks my creativity when I feel myself start to slug along.  It forces me to look for beauty every second of the day.  And lately, that's been challenging.  Work has been extremely busy.  One would think that traveling is a portal for new beauty, but one would not be a veteran of the road.  When I'm really busy with travel, I have one mission: get home as fast as possible.  Don't look to the left or right.  Don't gaggle or get lost on purpose.  Get home & take care of that place.  Finding & taking pictures for the 365 was getting boring & robotic.  I needed a kick in the ass & that's just what 30 Days/Gratitude '10 provides.  "Thank you can I have another," is what I'll be screaming all November.

The purpose of the project is to focus on your own gratitude.  To cultivate that attitude all year long.  Reading a few entries, I've been moved & even shed a tear.  I know I will have those moments with my own photos & words.  But I also know that every single entry will not have that heart wrenching emotion.  Sometimes I'm extremely grateful for a morning where I know that I'll get to take a nap in the afternoon.  Or one day, I'll be thrilled that I start my period (sometimes I'm afraid the big Cut didn't work).  Some days I'll be grateful that I didn't lose my shit on my loved ones.  But most days I hope that I'm grateful for the good that is showered on my life.

1:30 {When they sit & work together}

2:30 {Not having to cook dinner}

-Erika

Halloween Pictures!

Halloween 2010 from Erika Ray on Vimeo.

It's in the can!  And now it's time for Christmas.  I can't believe I just typed that.  I'm screwed.

-Erika

"It's Friday & I'm in Love" Halloween Party

Since the party hasn't happened yet, I figured I'd throw up some photos from Trick-or-Treat.  Because a post without photos is rather boring.


Halloween.  Oh Halloween.  I love & hate you.  Hate passing out candy.  But love watching other people smile when the kids scurrying  up to their door.  Hate how materialistic Halloween has become (the decorations have gotten more expensive in the past 3 years).  But love to see my favorite retailer's spin on the holiday.  Love having the Halloween party at our house because the kids can go to bed & we can keep scaring up a good time.  Hate the work & stress it brings.  However, the minute the first guest arrives the Hate dissipates like fog on Dracula's castle.

Since college ended, one of our friends have always had the Halloween party.  In the past 7 or 8 years, we & another couple take turns hosting it.  It appears the current cycle is two years on & two years off.  This works for me because Mark loves Halloween.  Actually, Mark loves making projects for Halloween.  Every single year, he promises "Nothing new."  And every year, we add a new zombie/coffin/green guy in a vat of crap/tombstone/etc. to our collection.  If the party is at our house, the projects are larger.  If the party is at their house, we put together a box of Halloween stuff.  It's our year & we got their stuff last night.  Today, he spent forever pulling & positioning cobwebs over a black trash bag covered wall.  He tilted the tombstones one way & tiled them another.  Our garage smells like a Laundromat because before he locked it down, he sprayed detergent on the walls.  In black light, it looks like eerie goo had been sprayed all over the place.  He loves Halloween & now so do I.  Today as I stomped off to work full of piss because I had a ton of errands for the party, I declared "No Party next year!"  He told me that we were only having the party because I OK'd it.  That he & our good friend were ready to let it go & I'm the reason we're having it.  First, that's bull-shit.  Second, he's sort of right.  Third, he'd miss it.  So I agreed & there I was pissed because I had one more grocery stop after work.  Enough bitching.  For the most part, we have everything down.  We know where stuff is & how to pull it all together.  Finding the time when work is at its peak & juggling two kids makes it more difficult/stressful than it actually is.

But there's one more aspect to the party that adds a monster amount of stress: the costume.  If I haven't mentioned it before, I have an extremely creative bunch of friends.  Almost every single one works in a creative field from marketing to design.  Many have a second income that comes from something artistic.  And every single one has a hobby that is such an important part of their personality.   We have friends that work in sales & engineering that were hiding their creativity.  And then one year, they came in costumes that were rental quality (an Oompa Loompa & Baby Stewie).  "I got out a sewing machine & just put it together" was the theme of the night.  There's never anything boring or cliche about the costumes.  If someone is a ghost, it's the best fucking ghost you've ever seen.  And every year people start saying in the middle of October something like, "Mine is so bad this year.  We got lazy."  But I've never seen one lazy year or one half-assed costume.  The end of summer is when Mark & I start throwing out ideas.  Sexy alien chick & sexy zombie are always first & never win.  And every year it ends with us saying, "Fine.  Let's just do that."  We suit up & wait for guest.  And when everyone strolls in, that's when having the Halloween party is all worth it.

The house & food are almost ready.  Cookies & bread have to be baked.  Veggies need to be chopped & candy set out.  The keg will be picked up tomorrow.  I'm debating on making mulled wine in the crock-pot.  I'm guessing the wine will win.  The costumes aren't quite finished because we ran out of ink, but they should come together quickly.  Rain isn't in the forecast, but a chill is.    I'd tell you our costumes, but I can't take the chance.

Right after I took this, he asked me to call a friend & ask if he had any extra fake blood.  Not many wives get to make that call.  I guess I'm lucky.

Check out the Other friend.  How were they going to let the Halloween party go?  How?!

Happy Halloween!
-Erika

It's that time of year

He had his mind set on this one.

I wish I had some good words for this post, but I really don't.  It's just that time of year.  We're hosting the Halloween party this year, so I'm in planning mode.  I thought I'd share some pictures from last night's pumpkin carving.  I'll whip up a Friday post explaining the party.  Until then, here's how we spent our night.

Dad had to start the pumpkin.

 

 

 

Pumpkin smell.

He's not sure about Halloween yet.  This was the "scary" pumpkin.

It's coming...

-Erika

Night and Day, You Are the One

I spent the whole day grading . . . I plan on spending the whole night knitting.
I spent the whole day listening to music . . . I plan on spending the whole night listening to a new Sherlock Holmes.
I spent the whole day wishing I had a new computer . . . I plan on spending the whole night hoping my sister's Mac is salvageable.

Day

Night

Jill, who sincerely hope that Cole Porter doesn't haunt her dreams for bastardizing his lovely tune

Here Jill...

Lately, I spend a good part of my day singing this song.  Jill hadn't heard it, so I was trying to sing for her before our movie started.  I'm sure the people around us did not enjoy my OOOo-ing.  There's something so Nineties about it.  I'm waiting for a young Drew Barrymore/Milla Jovovich/Moria Kelly (Toe pick.) to come running out of the party.  Instead of having my rendition stuck in her head, I thought I'd share it.