Surprise, surprise!

Yes, we are still here! It's been a LONG few weeks, and I couldn't blog about any of it because we were keeping our move to Portland a secret from Michael's mom, Becky (top photo), and his dad and stepmom, John and Janet. These photos are were taken about the time they figured out the secret (we wrapped change-of-address forms in Christmas packages for them).

We have been in town a little over a week, staying in Vancouver with Michael's sister, brother-in-law and niece Rebecca. They have graciously let us and the dogs crash in their basement, eat their food, watch their digital cable and use their washer and dryer. Thanks, guys! LOTS of free babysitting in our futures.

Michael's parents didn't know we'd be here for Christmas, let alone that we were moving here for good, so it was quite the double whammy of surprises. On top of all that, it was Rebecca's first Christmas!

The movers are showing up tomorrow, so we're still not settled or feeling like we are actually living here. Will post more once we get in the house and get our Internet service hooked up. 

In the meantime, happy new year!

This year's model

I got Michael a gift certificate a year ago for a straight-razor shave at a men's spa. He decided to make the most of it before it expired, so for the first time since I've known him (our first date was Dec. 18, 2002), he's clean-shaven.

It's like having a whole new, younger-looking husband! I love both versions, of course, but am definitely in favor of the change. Yay!

Bonita birthday

Not unlike South Park's Cartman, we are psyched for our visit tomorrow to Denver's famous Casa Bonita. Figured it would make for a memorable birthday, even though from everything we've heard, the food is wretched. Hey, they have Skee-Ball! And sorry for the YouTube link on Cartman; I couldn't get the embed feature to work today for some reason.

Check back for photos of cave-divers and the crazy gorilla.

And sorry I've been a blog slacker lately. You can blame the aging process. : )

Dr. Kiley redux

We caught a sneak peek last night of "No Country for Old Men," the new Joel & Ethan Coen movie. Really well-done, and Javier Bardem's character was super-creepy, down to his modified Prince Valiant hairdo.

I was surprised by how much Josh Brolin, above, looks like his dad. James Brolin was one of my childhood crushes when he played Dr. Kiley on "Marcus Welby M.D." We all know I had my Donny Osmond-style teenybopper crushes as a kid, but there were also a few older men I loved at the time: James Brolin, Charlie Rich, Joe Namath and Beau Bridges (huh?).

I remember watching "Marcus Welby" every week (we even named Chihuahua No. 2 Esther Consuelo Hernandez after Nurse Consuelo) and loved Dr. Kiley on his motorcycle. I had pretty much always dismissed Josh Brolin for some reason. I couldn't remember having seen him in anything before, and I had just taken him for some second-rate second-generation actor. But in "No Country" he channels 1970s James Brolin.

And now, James Brolin, much like Charlie Rich before him, is a silver fox. With any luck, Josh Brolin will follow in his dad's footsteps in that way. (I have seen Charlie Rich Jr., and he's nothing to write home about.)

R.I.P.

Just found out tonight in passing that Osmond patriarch George died on Tuesday at age 90. If you know me, you know I have a nearly lifelong obsession with the Osmonds, so you know better than to crack any jokes in the comments section. Forreals.

Donny was my first love (I was 4; he was 13). I still note his birthday each year (six days after mine, though obviously a few years earlier) , and he's probably the one celebrity I'd still really flip to meet (OK, and David Bowie). I actually blew my chance when I was living in Oregon. I had a tryout in Seattle for the new "Pyramid" game show, with Donny as host and appearing at the tryouts, but it was the same weekend as Bob Geldof's concert in Seattle, and both logistics and figuring my brain would explode if I got both in one weekend forced me to cancel my big "Pyramid"/Donny Osmond moment.

I did see the Osmonds in concert at the Kentucky State Fair when I was about 7 or 8 (my first concert) , and I got Marie's autograph on the tour program from that same concert when Stacy and I saw her onstage in "The Sound of Music" many years later. Unfortunately, she had hurt her ankle or somesuch and didn't come out after, but one of the von Trapp kids took the program backstage for the autograph.

OK, I know you are just dying to comment; so have at me, just leave my Osmonds alone. : )

A picture worth a thousand Benjamins

My old friend Todd in Kentucky (not to be confused with my crazy ex of the same name and state) and I have recently renewed contact through e-mail. I had to share this brilliant photo of his son Malcolm's Benjamin Franklin Halloween costume.

A guy at work said his son dressed as a chick magnet, though the only image I have of that is in my head.

Kids in their costumes made me wonder anew why there are no childhood photos of me in mine. There are photos of birthdays, Christmases, Easters but not a single Halloween that I know of. It's not like my mom's not a pagan. I remember being a geisha girl, a gypsy and a witch, but that's it. What's up with that, Mom?

The great pumpkin inquiry

Does anyone remember a movie (or maybe a "Night Gallery" episode or somesuch) from the '70s where a kid put toothpick arms and legs on pumpkin-shaped cookies and moved them through a dollhouse for a voodoo-doll effect? For instance, if a pumpkin cookie fell down the stairs, so did a person. I thought of it the other day while eating a Halloween cookie.

I have asked a few pop-culture-savvy friends, but no luck.

I swear I don't think I'm making this up. If I am, then I guess my dreams are even crazier than I realized!

Outsoxed

Rockies get swept -- and lose at home, no less.

Followed by more sad news: Grand Old Opry legend Porter Wagoner dies at 80.

In the pink

As long as Leah keeps sending new photos of our niece, Rebecca, I have fresh blog fodder. She's crazy with the dimples!

So far, so bad

Game 1 of the World Series (the first time I have ever cared) went really crappily. We went to a co-worker's a few blocks away for a party. Lots of drinks & food and between-inning prizes (thus our Rockies caps, though you can't tell Michael is wearing one).

Our Wisconsin friend Barry (a Brewers fan who also loves the Rockies) is confident the Rox will win tomorrow and will take the Series in 6. If tonight was any indication, I am not so hopeful. Not throwing in the towel after one game, but it was a pretty embarrassing loss.

Can you tell from the photos that one of us had more cocktails than the other?!

Schwag

Michael signed up at the museum for a drawing for a light-pole banner -- the kind you'll see advertising museum exhibits, sports teams, etc. His name was drawn, and we picked it up today.

I had no idea these things were so huge. It fills most of a wall in our parlor, and we have about 12-foot ceilings. It's heavy vinyl (to survive the elements) so very sturdy.

This is a Modigliani; the flip side is a Toulouse-Lautrec. Like the rug in "The Big Lebowski," it really pulls the room together!

Our parlor has a whole new vibe now, what with new furniture and a 37-inch LCD TV.

Bob Is Bob

Check out the short film "I Am Bob," starring Bob Geldof as himself in a case of mistaken identity. Love it!

(Don't go there if you are offended by frequent dropping of the F-bomb!)

I think we're in Colorado, Toto

Yesterday, 70 & sunny (I wore a cotton skirt and T-shirt to work). By nightfall, cold front moving in and raining. This morning, 35 & first snow of the season. My poor herbs and chiles!

Forecast for Wednesday and Thursday: 67 degrees and sunny.

Babes in the 'burbs

Just had to share some cuteness. We visited our friends Jon & Franchesca in nearby Centennial recently and caught up with Keona (born in March) and Emma. Gorgeous girls (they've got exceptional genes).

The dogs went with us and behaved -- unlike the time Angus peed on the back of Michael's cousin Erin's couch!

You can see Angus in the top photo soaking up the attention. He loves Emma.

Rox roll!

Wes Anderson weekend

Michael and I went to our neighborhood theater, the Esquire (with a burned-out Q), last night to see "The Darjeeling Limited." To my delight, I had found out earlier in the week, the Friday-Saturday midnight movie was my favorite, "Rushmore," also by Wes Anderson.

Now, I hadn't been to a midnight movie since probably "Rocky Horror Picture Show" back in the day, but seeing as how I'd never seen Max Fischer on the big screen, we had to get caffeinated and catch a double feature.

Every time I watch "Rushmore," I see something I hadn't noticed before, and seeing it larger than life brought out even more nuances.

There was also a surprise for the night: Before the movie, the midnight host said a few words about upcoming movies, then introduced a guy who was in "Rushmore." His name is Kyle Ryan Urquhart, and he played a character named Regis (never named in the movie). If you've seen "Rushmore," this kid pops up throughout. He never speaks, but some of his expressions are priceless. The only photo I could find online is of him underwater, when he swims past Herman Bloom (Bill Murray).

He's the same kid who gets shot in the neck with a blow dart by Magnus, and when Max is spending a lot of time with Herman and Miss Cross, the kid's sitting in the front seat of Herman's car wearing a silly hat.

The guy didn't say whether he lived in Denver or just happened to be in town. All he said was he spent lots of time during filming with Jason Schwartzman (Max) and the kid who played Dirk Calloway.

All in all, a fab night, even if we were up way past our usual bedtime. "Darjeeling" was a delight as well. Wes Anderson-brand humor with many tender, endearing moments and some beautiful cinematography.

Rocking my world

Now that Blogger has a video feature, I decided to try uploading one of the few videos I have on the computer. This is Cristine doing Jamie Foxx's Wanda from "In Living Color." It cracks me up every time. She's got the lips and the eyes down.

Here's the real Wanda, courtesy of YouTube:

Cheek to cheek

Leah sent a new round of Rebecca photos, including the one of me with her early last month, which I hadn't seen. The other is more recent. She's getting cuter all the time! The only bad thing for us is being far away and not seeing her on a regular basis. : (

The Backyardigans

On Saturday night, we combined two of our favorite backyard pastimes into one -- fire in the pit and video on the big screen. Since Shane & Cristine got a fire pit, we've been able to hang outside on cooler nights. And a couple of times this summer, neighbors have had movie nights in the backyard. This time our neighbor Justin set up equipment for the Rockies' third game against the Phillies.

A cold front had moved in, so the fire was much needed last night (you can see that everyone had to pull out their winter gear after a daytime high in the 70s). Beer and s'mores kept us warm too.

And, of course, the Rockies' win to advance to the National League Championship Series warmed the cockles of all our hearts!

Out with the cold ...

In bracing for another winter in our drafty old place, Michael decided to ask the landlord about getting a new furnace. Much to our delight, he was game, and he went one better in buying a top-of-the-line system with a 95% efficiency rating.Whether the efficiency can possibly be efficient when we are missing at least one storm window remains to be seen. Not to mention the door drafts.

The guys were here this week to dismantle the 50-year-old furnace we had. If you look at the bottom part of the monstrosity in the photo at left, you can see decades of dust clinging to its gut.

The new furnace is a shiny piece of beauty and is paired with a touch-screen digital thermostat.

We are hoping this all adds up to cheaper heating bills. We generally keep our thermostat around 64 in winter (and turn it off at night since we have a space heater in our bedroom), and Michael hangs plastic over all the windows, and still we pay way too much.

McLovin it: On an unrelated note, we finally saw "Superbad," which was supergood and superfun. Brings in some of the Judd Apatow regulars, who are always fun to see. Raunchy teen-sex romp but with a heart. Next up: Wes Anderson's latest, "The Darjeeling Limited."

Hair Album

Here's the second installment from my hair photos. This is from 1986, and I'm pretty sure it was before "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," which I attended many a midnight weekend. That was when you could still throw toast and rice, and a motorcyclist drove through the theater during one of Meatloaf's scenes.

During this period, my wardrobe was black, and, as if I weren't pale enough, I put rice powder on my face for added effect.