hell. colder than hell, but what kind of stupid expression is that?
first, more of hawaii. after spending a lot of time at the arizona memorial at pearl harbor, we drove through Honolulu and it was lots of big buildings and traffic. we went to a botanical garden because it sounded neat. it was called the foster botanical garden, and it was a tranquil oasis in the midst of all the traffic. you could hear the roar of the highway, as a matter of fact, because it was right next to the garden.
here’s me in front of a gigantic tree. we got a little booklet when we went in that told all about the trees and i read all there was to read but of course i remember nothing of it now. i just saw that little brochure around here somewhere the other day, but i’m not about to get up and look for it again because i probably wouldn’t find it and that would make me crazy (not such a short distance currently) and then i’d probably start trying to organize things and put them away and since it’s almost 11 at night it’s really much too late to start that kind of thing.
unless one was going to work right now, which i’m not. i’m thinking about bed pretty seriously, as a matter of fact.
anyway, me in front of tree.
there was a greenhouse that had lots and lots of gorgeous orchids in it. here’s one of the pictures that kevin took.
ok, never mind, i had to go find that brochure because i couldn’t remember that they were orchids. i swear, tonight i feel that all my brain cells are literally washing right out of my head.
so i think that giant tree is the Kapok. in the brochure it says “the most important product of this useful tree is the floss encased within its seed pods. This floss consists of hollow, waterproof filaments and is used for stuffing life preservers, pillows, mattresses and upholstery.”
just so you know. i’m pretty sure this is the tree they’re talking about; there are some blurry photos next to some of the tree descriptions. unfortunately i don’t think we have a picture of a tree i remember reading about but mysteriously it doesn’t seem to be in the brochure which leads me to believe that there was an insert in it and maybe it fell out, maybe it’s in the bedroom but i will not get up and look for anything else. but this one tree, it was another huge one, and its base was so wide that they (i have no recollection of who “they” might be) put prisoners in there. it was used as a cell, and maybe also as temporary housing, but it does sound like i’m probably making that up.
here’s one more lovely photo, i have no idea about this photo at the foster garden except that it’s very pretty.
ok, back to the party. bev asked randy WHY IS THERE NO PICTURE OF ME? bev was very funny on halloween because she wore sunglasses as part of her costume and they were so vital to her look that she never took them off. all these photos look bright because of the flash, but it was actually kind of dark in the house so i don’t see how she managed to see anything.
anyway, this is a great shot of bev and erica.
erica is wearing a lovely and authentic-looking elizabethean gown. i don’t think that’s the correct spelling of elizabethan, but that doesn’t look right either, and i’m just guessing about the time period anyway. old. she told the story of the dress – she had to wear it in a wedding, as a bridesmaid. a little much, maybe, but that’s not the bad part – the bride decided late in the game that she wasn’t going to wear her period costume, and the groom and the groomsmen backed out, too, so it was just the bridesmaids stuck wearing the gowns they’d been forced to have made.
at least it’s a great halloween costume.
bev was that lady maxine, the crabby lady from the cartoons. greeting cards? the funny thing about that is that i don’t think i’ve ever seen bev crabby, i’m not sure that she’s capable of crabbiness. i mean, i’m sure she can be crabby, but always with a smile on her face. she can’t help it. she kept dragging that giant dog around with her, too, and i tripped over it a couple of times.
mollie the dog, by the way – WHERE’S A PHOTO OF MOLLIE? she was good during the party. at first she barked a lot at everybody who showed up, but after a while she realized that EVERY SINGLE PERSON WAS A NEW OPPORTUNITY FOR TREATS. somebody would be sitting there eating and she’d come up to them and just sit quietly looking plaintive and pitiful and adorable, so of course she scored big with the treats of all kinds.
i like this photo of mom and dad and jim. note mom’s GIGANTIC water bottle. i can’t remember where she bought it, i know i was with her but like i said, brain oozing right out of my head, but she fills it all the way up and drinks it all day long. i don’t even think i noticed that night that she was carrying it. mom’s cute mustard bottle won her a prize, i can’t remember which one, maybe cutest costume? no, that was shirene and troy. most creative? can’t remember. dad won most obscure (not that kevin and i were being at all nepotistic in our selection of winners) because he never would say exactly who he was supposed to be.
this is bill and tracy; he was kevin’s best man, she took many great photos at the wedding.
they brought kevin a cute halloween basket filled with good sugar-free chocolates. so i’ve been forced ever since to eat all the sugar-full chocolates, but i’ve almost taken care of all of them. except for the huge handfulls of candy that i passed out to kids last night…was halloween just last night?
ok, i know this is kind of retarded, to have a photo of food here, but you know i love to make and eat food. i made many halloweeny dishes, including pumpkin cheesecake and a coconut chocolate cake that i decorate with green icing and tombstones made out of graham crackers and devilled eggs the whites of which looked like they were bloodshot eyes. i made little name cards out of the leftover placecards from the wedding, and wrote on them stuff like “smashed brains” and “bloody goblin eyeballs.”
steve parker, radio CELEBRITY, was there with his girlfriend jane except i really didn’t recognize her at all because i only remember meeting her once and she, too, kept her sunglasses on all night plus she had that crazy blonde wig.
actually, this picture perfectly captures mollie’s mode of action, waiting for the food to drop into her mouth.
shirene and troy, right b4 they won “cutest costume.” troy (on the right) was in “noise off” with me last February. gee, that was a very long time ago.
and this is karen, proud and rabid cardinal fan. i watched that final game on friday night, at first because i was PRAYING THEY’D WIN because otherwise i knew that people would want to watch the game during the party and that would be incredibly dull and i was contemplating dragging the TV into the bedroom so they could watch in there. but then the game was actually good and i watched all the way to the end.
whew. that’s a lot of pictures for one night. wednesday already, a new month, i bought many fabulous halloween decorations at World Market today that were 75% off, for next year’s party, which is going to be bigger and better than this one was.
goodnight. unless you’re just starting work, in which case, try not to fall asleep and drool at your desk.
ok then,
november and i wish i was back in hawaii right now grace.