THE WOMAN IN BLACK

I went to see another play at a local community Playhouse. It was a fun one!

It was called The Woman In Black. Based on a book by the same name.

It's a story about a man who had lived a real ghost haunting and wanted to tell his story to his family. Though he was frightened to do so and was not sure how to go about it.

So he hires an acting coach to help him act it out. As he relives each scary moment he takes on the many characters in his story.

This was a play with the cast of only two. The settings were simple and yet they somehow manage to bring the whole story to life with tales of old haunted mansions, fog filled cemeteries, train rides and the streets of London.

This play reminded us that it is actually our minds that can create the best stories.

Using our imagination, as we did when we were children, a simple story can come to life and turn into the best theatrical play one has ever seen.

I think this would be a fun book to read too.

A GIVEAWAY TO HELP YOU LOSE WEIGHT OVER THE HOLIDAYS

Hey ladies! Since I am having this 8 week challenge to lose 10 lbs by the end of the year, I thought I should offer some help to get you to your goal.


What better way to do that then to offer a giveaway for a wonderful cookbook from Weight Watchers!

This is not just any ol' cookbook. It's full of recipes for COMFORT FOOD! Yum!


Super great desserts like Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Icing.

Yes, you heard that right. Plus it's all diet friendly!

So now, you can have your cake and lose weight too.


Or what about a nice bowl of Chicken and Dumplings on those long cold winter nights?

Again, great flavor yet you will drop those pounds too.

We all know those parties are coming. So, how about having some great recipes for dips that won't pack on the pounds.

Like this great Warm Cheese, Spinach and Artichoke Dip. Doesn't that sound heavenly!

If you are interested in winning this super good cookbook that is full of 150 favorite home style dishes, then just leave a post here.

For a 2nd chance to win you can post about this on your blog. Just come back and let me know so I can add your name a 2nd time.

I will draw the winner on next Tues the 17th of Nov.

Good luck ladies! I know you are going to love this cookbook.

ONE WEEK DOWN AND SEVEN TO GO

Well it has been a week already since we agreed to the 8 week Challenge to lose 10 lbs by the first of the Year.

How did everyone do?

I went to Weight Watchers today and the scales showed down another 2.6 lbs for a total of 32.2 lbs! I was so happy! I broke through that 30 lb mark.

So, I need to lose 7.4 lbs by New Years to reach my goal of 10 lbs.

I really need to kick up my exercise. Even though I've tried to get more steps in every day I need to actually set aside time every week to do nothing more then just exercise.

Yes I hate this though but hey, I hate the thought of having all this fat on me more. So I'm just going to do it.

What about you? What do you need to work on in order to reach your goal of losing at least 10 lbs by New Years?

FIRST MEETUP GROUP OUTING

Yesterday was the first time I had an outing with my new MeetUp group.

It was only for lunch and to talk about what the members wanted the group to be like.

We met over at Ruby's Diners. We all had a yummy lunch and got to know each other a bit, shared some good ideas and had lots of laughs.


It was just five of us and three members who said they were coming didn't show.

We all agreed that we wanted this to remain a smaller group of women who could form long friendships and trust each other rather then to become a large group of strangers that met up every now and then.

I have about 38 women who have joined my group so far. More then I really wanted. Most of them have a long list of groups they belong to and really don't join in on any of them.

So, I sent out an email telling the group there were rules in my group. The rules were simple. If you RSVP yes to a meetup then you are expected to show up or let us know you won't be there.

I think it's rude for people to say they are coming and then don't. The rest of the people who do go are waiting around and putting off having fun just to wait for everyone to show up.

If you can't come or changed your mind, then just let us know and we won't wait for you.

Also, I made a rule that everyone has to check in even if it's just to RSVP no to at least one meeting every three months.

That way, I know the member still is interested in the group and has not moved or decided to not be a part of our group.

Well, I got some really nasty emails from some of the women saying I was to demanding and required to much from them. One lady said I was treating everyone like 12 year olds and was to stressful for her.

I thought it was sort of funny to get their emails because they were the ones I knew would not be a good fit to our group even when they joined but, I wanted to give everyone a chance so I let them in.

I was happy to get the drama queens out of the group early on. Now I'm hoping that the rest of women can just join in and have fun.

We have several things lined up and after the holidays are over I'm really going to set up some fun outings. I'm looking forward to meeting more of the women and forming some good friendships.

So tell me, do you think the rules are to harsh? Or, do you agree with me and think they are just simple rules that are showing respect to the others in the group?

AN OLYMPIC THEME PARTY

With the Olympics just around the corner, now was a perfect time to have an Olympic theme birthday party.

My friend, Sandra, gave this birthday party for her son, Jake who was turning 9.


As you walked up to the house the path way was lined with small flags from all over the world.

The Big Olympic Rings Flag and Olympic Torches lead the way into the back yard where most of the "games" were held.

The tables were set with the colors of the "favorite" home team. USA of course.

The fireplace mantle always gets decorated at their house for every party.

Goody bags with the 5 colored Olympic rings awaited the children.

Games were played and races run. The First, 2nd and 3rd place winners all were given either an award or a Metal to wear.

Cupcakes were cute with the different flags of the world in them.

A table full of candy in Red, White and Blue (USA colors) were enjoyed by the kids and a few adults too.

But, it wasn't all unhealthy sugar food. There was also fresh fruit to snack on.

The kids all had fun playing the games and enjoying the nice day outside.

The thing I thought that was great about this party was that not only did the kids have a great time, they also got a lot of exercise by running, jumping, throwing and playing outside.

This would be a fun theme for grown ups to do also.

You could have foods from the different Countries, do some track and field against your guest or just have fun watching the games together.

Of course with the Winter Olympics coming up it would be fun to host this theme at an ice skating rink.

PLANNING FOR THE MAGIC!

This January, Trinity will be turning 9. Her party theme this year is MAGIC!

So of course, I'm busy in the Party Planning Mode.

The room will be having lots of Silver, Purple and Blue stars hanging.

The color theme is Purple, Blue and Silver.

The Tables will be decorated with Magicians Top Hats, Magic Wands, White Gloves and colored scarfs come out of the hats. Cards and stars too.

Posters of Famous Magicians will be up around the room.

Everywhere you look will have touches of Magic...though I have to admit this is a hard theme to decorate for. Not a lot of stuff out there. So I'm doing my best with this one!

These are the plates we will have. The cups will be blue plastic with silver stars stickers decorating them.

The tables will be covered with a blue tablecloth and a purple with silver stars runner going down the center.

We are going to have a magician at the party showing the kids how to do magic tricks.

We will play games with Magic theme tied in. Any ideas you may have would be great!

This is the Pinata that we bought. It will be full of treats and tricks that the kids will grab as fast as they can.

Since the last several Pinatas we bought ended up coming apart and falling off the rope before they broke, I got the pull strings to use on this one.

This will be a first for me. Hope they work. Has anyone had them before?

We are not having a lot of food this time. Most kids don't really eat much at parties so we decided to just do snack food, cupcakes and ice cream.

The food will have names such as, Magic Wands which will be chocolate covered pretzel sticks, Houdini dip and Hocus Pocus Chips.

Again, if you have any ideas here I would love to hear them.

Kids will be sent home with fun Magic items like Disappearing Ink...sure hope this works or there will be a lot of mad parents out there. LOL

The cup with a magic ball that disappears.

I remember having this as a kid and loved it. I really thought no one knew how it worked but me.


Of course, every magician needs to have his/her magic wand. So, everyone will get one of these too.

Magic 8 balls to magically get the answers to questions will also be given.


Magic Dipping Candy will also be enjoyed by the kids.

Since many magic tricks are done with cards, they will all need a set of cards too.

Making a coin disappear is a good way to make money, don't you think? So everyone will get a coin trick to take home too.

Several other magic tricks and treats will also be found in each child's goody bag.

These Magic Top Hat bags are the goody bags that will hold all the items for all the little Magician's to take home.

Since these will be given out last I will have the Magician say something along the lines of "Now that you have have learned several tricks and have received your own bag of Magic it is time to turn around, grab your parents and make yourself disappear until next years party."

I did this with the Pirate Party we had for Halloween. It was a perfect way to let the kids and parents know that the party is over and it was time to leave.

I've found that if I don't do something like this then people hang around for hours after the party is over.

As you well know, giving a party takes a lot of planning and you are super tired when you are finished. Yet, even when the party is over you still have a lot of clean up and packing to do.

So, you want the party be over and people gone so you can finish up and then finally sit down, relax and reminisce about the day.

I don't want to be rude and just tell people to go. Rather by ending the party with some cute saying, people get the idea and pack up their things and go home.

So here is where I need your help! What other ideas can I use? I need ideas for games, other items to decorate with and food names for snacks we can have.

Thanks for your help. I know it seems like January is a long way off but to me, it's just around the corner.

THE BEACH IS EMPTY

On Wed. I went to Newport Beach to go for a walk. It was so empty there.

No one on the beach at all. It was overcast and almost eerie out there.

The life guard stations are all closed up until next Spring. The sand has been smoothed out and everyone is staying away.

A lot of the houses right on the boardwalk are vacation rentals and now the signs are back out as the houses sit empty.

One rental sign had the rental price on it. I almost fell over when I saw it was $4000 a month for a 3 bedroom place.

That was the Winter rental rate. What in the world do they charge for Summer time? How can anyone afford to pay that?

I loved these chairs. They look like they were freshly painted and already to go for next Spring/Summer.

I walked 3 miles and hardly saw a soul the whole time. A lone bike rider went by and a few mothers with a stroller went by but other then that...no one.

Yes, the Beach is a different place in Fall/Winter but I love it. I find it to be peaceful and a great place to walk in silence.

I felt like I could have walked even farther then I did but I was running out of time as I had to get to an appointment I had.

I'll be back though. I'm sure I'll be back several times before the crowds come back.

Thank you to everyone who offered up well wishes for my sister. She came through the procedure with flying colors and is feeling fine.