Welcome To Laurieville! Population 1.

The 4th Pain of Christmas Made Easy :)

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 02:51:00 +0000

Nothing like 6 to 12 inches of snow to get you thinking about Christmas. I know, I know… it’s not yet Halloween, but except for one class party and the trick-or-treating, that holiday is dead to me. Thanksgiving doesn’t get me too inspired, so I just stuff my face and nap. Then it’s on to Christmas.

In my busy, crafty mania, I typically fall apart on one thing! The Christmas cards. Last year, I mailed them the week after Christmas. In 2009, I mailed them on January 20th. How do I remember that? It was the day Obama was inaugurated.

So, this year, because I am not crazily sewing Halloween costumes or crafting the perfect giveaway treat for the classroom AND I received a reminder email from Shutterfly I have started to think about this year's Christmas cards.

Last year, I signed up for a promotion with Shutterfly that in exchange for a blog post containing my honest review, I would receive 50 free Christmas Cards. I said, what the hey, I would give it a try! And I am glad I did. The cards were amazing. The quality was superb, the choices, original and the selection, huge!! This is the one I finally chose:

So, this year, Shutterfly is again wooing me with free cards. But they didn’t need to woo me. I would have bought them.

I encourage you to take a look at their Christmas card selection here.

They also have cards for other occasions, if you already have your handmade Christmas cards ready to be mailed. You can check them out here.

I would also totally recommend them for their photo books . I used to scrapbook back before the kids. Now, I have no time, no space and no pictures to look at because they are all still on the memory card or in some folder on my hard drive. This year, after we returned from a fabulous St. John vacation, I decided that I wanted something to show my friends. So I created a photo books . Oh. My. Heck. Best thing ever. Simple to create, easy to carry around, fun to show off. And if you have kids, Grandparents love this stuff. Theese books would make a fabulous Christmas or birthday presents.

In conclusion, I highly recommend Shutterfly. As a bonus, once you get signed up, not only do you immediately get 50 free prints, they are always sending nice offers for more free prints or free product. And everything I have gotten from them has been top notch.

Give them a try, you won’t regret it.

Do you blog? Want a chance at 25 free cards this holiday season? Register HERE!!

Don't have time to blog? Don't worry!, Shutterfly has offered me three promotional codes for 25 free cards. An excellent way to try them out and see what you think. So, if you leave me a comment, I will draw three names on November 1st and the winners will receive a code via email.

Disclosure: I am being compensated by Shutterfly for this blog post, but all these opinions are mine, mine, mine!!

Breaking News

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 02:10:00 +0000

Smalltown, USA - In what can only be described as a tragedy, a number of Smurfs appear to be victims of a hit and run in Smalltown, a suburban neighborhood near Laurieville. An anonymous tip from Linnea L., of Smalltown, led authorities to the scene of the crime.

Authorities say there are no suspects in custody at this time. However, a source close to the investigation told Laurieville affiliate, WLJM-TV, that police have identified two persons of interest. Investigators have also interviewed a witness who reported overhearing a comment "and for the record, those Smurfs had it coming...I mean...they were already an ink blot before I got to them".

We warn our readers that the pictures to follow are graphic and may not be suitable for all audiences.

Hurray, it’s Hobbit Day!

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 16:09:00 +0000

*spoiler alert ahead*

A little side story. Back in 2001, I saw a preview for a fantasy movie … Lord of the Rings. I didn’t know anything about it other than what the preview showed. Looked like a lot of Dungeons and Dragons, elves, wizards… things my husband and I both enjoyed. I had never heard of the book, much less read it. I tried once to listen to The Hobbit on tape (you young-uns know what a tape is?) but it had too many different voices and I couldn’t get through it.

So, Dave and I went to see this Lord of the Rings movie. It had me at “The world is changed.” They kept me at this hottie…

And this hottie…

I sat totally enthralled for 178 minutes. Waiting for Frodo to throw the ring into Mt. Doom. Crying, nay, SOBBING, for Frodo “So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you.” Sobbing as Sam chases after Frodo, “I made a promise, Mr. Frodo. A promise! ‘Don’t you leave him, Samwise Gamgee.’ And I don’t mean to. I don’t mean to.”

And then, as Frodo and Sam ponder the fate of the others before they themselves head to Mordor, the credits start rolling. WHAT THE %$*@ ??? I turned to my husband, incredulous. What? I demanded. And as casual as if saying the sky was blue, he said, “There’s three of them.” Meaning three movies. Looking at me like, you didn’t know?

Thus, my love affair with Middle Earth began.

And today, on Hobbit Day, I would like to thank the hobbits for saving Middle Earth. As the King of Gondor said to them, “My friends, you bow to no one.”

Kindergarten

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 01:19:00 +0000

WARNING: Gratuitous "First Day of Kindergarten For Rachel" pics ahead for the grandparents and the one uncle who reads this blog (you know who you are :) ... and maybe I'll get a real post in soon. But first, I must fill out 83 forms with my name, address and who to contact in case of emergency... I think it would be easier to get this tattooed to their butts. Honestly!!

Happy September, ya'll!

'ello, handsome....

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 23:30:00 +0000

Unless you are following me on Pinterest, nothing to see here. Move along.

*taken at the Westin in Grand Cayman ...

2nd Grade

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:32:00 +0000

WARNING: gratuitous "first day of 2nd Grade picture of Elena" for her grandparents ahead. Her mama thinks she is quite adorable and that she got all her beauty directly from her mama :-P

Summertime, summertime, sum, sum...

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 23:58:00 +0000

This morning, I saw my first red tree. A sign of autumn. A little over a month away, but the nights are cool and the trees are starting to think about changing.

So I figured I better blog something about summer then, eh?

When we last met, Dave was celebrating his birthday, yet again. He likes to do this every year. Only this year, he got to go to Las Vegas for the first time. To keep him out of trouble, I sent him with his 70 year old mama. They had a great time and came home with a chunk of change. Unfortunately, now Dave thinks it’s easy to make money in Las Vegas and wants to go back. Soon, honey, soon…!!

Upon his return, we went camping for our inaugural trip this summer to Connecticut. Can’t find one single picture…

Other May highlights included my 7 year old’s first dance. The school calls it the Spring Fling Dance and traditionally the girls invite their daddies. Dave got Elena her first corsage. *Sniff* It was so sweet and they were so adorable. Got their picture in the paper too!

Also in May, the groundbreaking for the new high school took place (inside due to rain). My five year old was chosen to represent the Class of 2024. She attended preschool for the last two years in the existing high school, so the committee included her and another little girl from the Class of 2025. Rachel was a superstar. And she got to keep the golden shovel. She was a bit concerned how she was going to build the whole school however and was quite relieved to find out she didn’t have to. Side story…at dance class, I heard some other parents mocking the groundbreaking and people pulling their kids out to go to it like it was no big deal. Clearly they don’t live in this town, because it is a big deal. This is the school where my children will spend some of their most formative years, not to mention the increase in taxes to pay for it. So, yeah… it IS a big deal, thankyouverymuch!

In June, we had the long awaited dance recital! It was the first recital for both the girls. They were both fabulous and adorable, of course. (Sorry for the blurry, horrid pics.)

In July, we celebrated our country’s birthday by making our annual excursion to Cape Cod, where we stayed with Dave’s sister and her husband. We ate, drank and were generally merry! The weather was perfect at the beach and the company (and the food and the wine!) quite enjoyable. And they let me drive their Jeep around all weekend. Almost made me buy one.

In July, I did have to buy a new car. However, due to the poor mpg of the Jeep, I chose a VW Passat instead. I traded in my 11 year old 2-door Honda Civic (who failed her emissions test) and bought the Passat after much agonizing and debating. Before you go thinking I am a Rockafeller, Otto Von Schnell (his name… what??) is a 2008 with 26,000 miles. However, Otto has more bells and whistles than I thought possible. I am still finding new things and it’s been a month!!

And now it’s August. We did squeeze in a camping trip with another family at the beginning of the month, which was quite a good time!!! I hope they think so too.

We also went to the Bolton Fair and although we did not get to see one oversized vegetable (sorry, Dave), we did enjoy watching the girls have fun on all the rides and spending more money than I thought possible at a small fair…

Now we are getting ready for back to school and Rachel’s first time on the school bus as she starts Kindergarten. It should be quite interesting. I am looking forward to jeans and turtlenecks and maybe a campfire on a chilly night. And a bit of routine again in Laurieville. We’ve been quite lax in that department.

So, cheerio… Will I see you in September or lose you to a summer love? Or should I wake you up when September ends?

Smooches,
Laurie

These are the Daves I know, I know...

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Mon, 09 May 2011 16:25:00 +0000

Useless fact about myself that you NEED to know. I have an abundance of Daves in my life. I originally typed “over”abundance, but the truth is, I wouldn’t give up any of the Daves so, I am just simply blessed with an abundance of them. They are, in no particular order:

David, my father
David, my brother
David, my late father in law
David, my pastor
David, my husband

At any family get-together, with the four Daves in the room (not including my father in law, who is no longer with us physically but definitely with us in spirit*), you can easily see where it gets confusing. I call my father “Dad”, my brother, “Brother” using my best Lost Desmond accent, my Pastor “PD or “Pastor Dave”, leaving my husband, who we all affectionately call “Chefee”.

Chefee is a chef by trade. He attended David Hale Fanning Trade School for high school, so he could take the culinary arts program. At the time, Fanning Trade was predominantly girls. Chefee was one of maybe fifty guys out of four hundred and fifty students. Upon graduation, he continued his education at the esteemed Johnson and Wales University in Rhode Island for Culinary Arts. He has worked in the culinary industry since he was fifteen. He owned his own restaurant in upstate New York called Chefee’s Seafood and Grille (hence the nickname).

I dare say, Chefee is a phenomenal chef.

Several months after my first daughter, Elena, was born, both Chefee and I were in job transitions. We made a decision to have me pursue out of the house employment, while Chefee became a stay-at-home Dad.

Chefee has excelled at being a Mr. Mom.

My family and I are blessed to have Chefee in our lives. He is a sincere friend to everyone (and I mean everyone!). He feeds the masses at church (with help) on a regular basis. He is an amazing dad and an awesome husband. Just ask my friends, they will tell you how spoiled I am :)

And today is his birthday!!

Please join me in wishing him the happiest, most fabulous day ever!!

*Elena has seen and spoken to my late father in law. He passed away two years before she was born. He doesn't talk to me. Which is wise, because then we would have to move IMMEDIATELY!!

Hokey religions and ancient weapons

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Thu, 05 May 2011 01:20:00 +0000

May the Fourth Be With You!

Yes! It Is Star Wars Day!! I like to say I am a Star Wars geek, but according to the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, a geek is defined as “a person, especially a man, who is boring and not fashionable.”

What? ME? Boring? Not fashionable? I dare say (my phrase of the week) I am nothing if not fashionable.

Case in point:

You may recall there was a wedding last week. You may have missed it since it wasn’t a big deal in the American press. But to remind you, (and bring you right back there in case you have moved on), Prince William and Kate Middleton were married on Friday.

As part of the festivities, I was planning to wear a tiara on Friday, April 30th, the day of the wedding. However, my good friend M-Cat got wind of this and triple dog dared me to wear one every day of the week. Yes, a TRIPLE. DOG. DARE.

Well, once the proverbial glove smacked me across the face and the gauntlet was thrown down, I had to oblige.

M-Cat posted all about it here:

A Royal Triple Dog Dare

Go visit. See my royalness. Give M-Cat some love! Let her know I sent you.

So until next time, with fondness,
Countess Laurie*

*Who is STILL waiting for her royal invitation. What? Yes, I realize that Laurieville is a small sovereign nation, led by a dictator, but really… to not get an invite? Shun me, will you? You will rue the day, royal guest list writers…

Happy Easter !!

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 00:30:00 +0000

Hallelujah!!
He is Risen!
Amen and Amen.

Not so sneaky, after all...

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 00:52:00 +0000

So, I am the cool one, right? I buy a domain name, hurray, through GoDaddy.com. I link my blogger to it. Yay! I don't happen to mention to my husband that I spent nineteen american dollars because we are being fiscally conservative. But hey, I throw away nineteen american dollars at Wal-Mart on crap, so I thought, what the hey?

It's not that I was lying, per se... just omitting certain details about what I did that day.

So the time comes that I am going to 'fess up to my crazy spending spree of nineteen american dollars. So, I ask him if he's been to my blog lately? Did he notice anything new?

He says, "Oh yeah. GoDaddy called. They wanted to congratulate you on your new domain name."

Dang it!!

Dreams

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 03:58:00 +0000

It is not an exaggeration when I say I haven't slept through the night since the third trimester of my first child...seven and a half years ago. There have only been a handful of nights where I enjoyed uninterrupted sleep for more than four hours. Recently, we have made progress in this department and I am actually reaching a level of sleep where I dream again.

Of course, my first dream in seven and a half years was a busy, bizarre non-sequitor that left me exhausted and confused when I awoke.

Dreams have been on my mind lately. I starting thinking about dreams in the sense of goals, aspirations, desires.

At seventeen, I dreamed that I would be a rock star/actress/russian translator, living in LA or Moscow.

In my twenties, I dreamed that I would meet Prince Charming and be rich rich rich living in a castle, with my fabulous best seller topping the charts.

(In my thirties, I was too busy for dreaming.)

Now, as I begin my forties, I wonder if my seventeen and twenty year old selves would be much disappointed that none of her dreams came true. I moved two miles from my childhood home, I am not an actress and the only russian I learned was from watching Sean Connery in "Hunt for Red October." I did not write my best seller. I do not live in a castle.

However, I did marry Prince Charming*, gave birth to two beautiful princesses and have riches that money can't buy. And I am happy. Contentment wraps around me like a snuggie fresh from the dryer.**

I'll still dream about the future, but I'll do so without regret for those dreams that might not come true. Now, if I could just get Dave to build me that castle.

*Actually, Prince Philip. He was more my romantic style. Dancing in the woods and all that.
**I do not actually own a snuggie. Maybe in my fifties.

I shouldn't have taunted Mother Nature ...

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 00:53:00 +0000

Remember this picture? It was December 11th and approximately 48 degrees.

By January 9th, we got some snow...

Then on January 12th, I complained we had too much snow.

SHAME ON ME.

I then went to Killington, Vermont for our annual Sales Meeting. I took my husband's four wheel drive. While I was gone. It snowed. It also snowed in Killington, but I didn't have to drive. Here is a picture of snowy Killington.

Oooh, then I went to St John. That was niiiiiice....

But then, two major snow events in two weeks. With no thaw. I remember the good old days when we only had two feet on the ground.

Our little tree, hidden behind the mound. This is what I see when I walk out the front door.

Side note: this is what I saw when I stepped out the door in St. John.

But I digress...

Here is the little snowman. The pathway is to our oil tank fill nozzle, so the oil man can come and take all my money in less than ten minutes.

Here is Elena, running the gauntlet. This path leads to the road, where the bus picks her up. Elena is 46 inches tall.

Our backyard or Antartica? We don't know. I was going to ask the penguins wandering by, but they were busy and wouldn't stop to talk.

According to the Weather Channel, as of February 4th, we had total snowfall of 74 inches. That does not include the 2 inches we received today. That is 41 inches above average. OY! Global warming, where are you???

All in all, this winter thing isn't so bad. As long as you live in St. John.

Nor'Easter Update

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:32:00 +0000

Because Mom can't view YouTube at work, here are some stills ~

this is from Sunday 1/9/2011:

This is from Noon today:

Anybody see a Honda??

The snowman is a native of Remulak, a small town in France...

Elena

Rachel

Daddy

That's all. Still snowing. Wind is blowing. But I don't know if it's accumulating much more.

Time for snuggling in front of the fire...

For Mom and Dad

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:23:00 +0000

A bit of weather so my parents can see what they are missing :-) For the rest of you, move along... nothing to see here.

Oh sweet turtle ...

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:45:00 +0000

Yeah, you want to be on our Christmas list this year.
Heck, I want to be on our Christmas list this year.

Dave made these turtles. Almonds, homemade caramel, some meltable white chocolate... sweet manna from Heaven. Can I get an amen?

Are you making anything to die for this Christmas?

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 01:15:00 +0000

'Tis that time of year again where my husband insists on "getting into the Christmas spirit." While I have been known to partake of the Christmas spirit (usually in my orange juice on Christmas morning) I ~~am forced~~ participate in some of the preliminary events.

Our Christmas tree tradition usually begins in a neighboring town where a little farm stand sells trees. These trees are fairly priced, but they don't get many, so by the time we go, pickings are a bit slim. And since we start there, I am still being a little choosy. We then go a mile down the road to the hoity-toity farm that is a bit pricier. Depending on how many degrees below 32 it is that night will depend if I find one there I like. We then usually end up 25 minutes in the opposite direction buying a cheap tree from a guy on the side of the road.

This year, however, my brother invited us to join in his traditional excursion to the tree farm. The last time my husband and I cut our own tree, it involved climbing down an icy hill in the bleak cold, trudging through a snowy forest, picking a tree and then lugging it back up the icy hill, where the tree guy asked if we had cathedral ceilings. We did not.

I had a lot of wreaths that year.

So, it was with mixed feelings that I anticipated the trip this year. The first blessing however is that unlike my Utah friends, we have no snow on the ground yet. So that was the first plus. The second is that yesterday was a gorgeous, almost balmy 45 degree day, with abundant sunshine. Not too tough to take. And then they brought us via wagon ride to the area with the tree types that we wanted. We simply had to pick one out, chop it down, bring it to the path, tag it and then they would pick it up.

We did have to walk back (it was rough :-).

I brought the camera and got a few pictures while trying to find the perfect tree.

Rachel immediately found the perfect tree for her:

Daddy had loftier ambitions:

I am not sure what was happening here. Bears? Aliens? A horribly misshapen conifer?

In the end, it was a fun trip and everyone found the perfect tree for them. And yes, my brother has a cathedral ceiling. Still...

The Dreaded Task

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 01:52:00 +0000

Every year, I dread picking out the Christmas cards. Since we've had kids, we moved on to the picture cards. I usually just go to a local retailer to do them, but this year, Amy did a blog post about Shutterfly. They have a promotion for bloggers. I liked what her post showed me, so I checked them out. And I liked what I saw.

In the past, I have done the 4 x 8 inch flat card. But I've been wanted to make a change and looking for something different. Shutterfly offers

In addition to Christmas and Holiday cards, they also have an extensive variety of cards and stationery for all kinds of different occasions, including birth announcements, moving announcements and even sympathy cards. I am totally wanting to have another baby so I can pick out some cute birth announcements :-)

The more I explore Shutterfly, the more I like what I see. They have photo gifts like coffee mugs, puzzles, books, even wall decals (drool!!).

And don't even get me started on their photo books... I think it might be love...

All photos courtesy of Shutterfly. In exchange for writing this post I will receive 50 free cards from Shutterfly. This promotion is open to all bloggers great and small.

Day of the Dead

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 23:59:00 +0000

How do I know it's the Day of the Dead? The Día de los Muertos?

Because 2 Halloween costumes...

50 cupcake toppers*...

4 carved pumpkins**...

and 83 houses later...

I feel dead!

Next year, remind me to buy all this stuff, would ya?

*Dave baked and frosted all the cupcakes, so I only had to make the toppers. He is THE BEST!! Also, please note that the pumpkin in the background is a ceramic decoration my mother gave me and I FREAKING LOVE IT!
**As my precious (almost) five year old daughter informed me, everyone's pumpkins were better than mine. Yeah yeah...

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:59:00 +0000

Autumn. Fall. The only season to have two names. Why do we call it Fall?

Because the leaves are falling to the ground.

Because I am falling into the back-to-school routines.

Because I am falling into bed at 7:30 because it’s already dark.

Because I am falling in love with God’s gloriously colorful trees.

Because I am falling on dropped apples because I am over-reaching for the perfect one, just up there.

Because I am falling back into my jeans and sweatshirts, my long lost lovelies.

Because I am falling into a depression over the fact that Winter is only 90 days away.

Because I am falling into a deeper depression over the fact that Christmas is only 92 days away.

Fall. I do love ya! Don’t tell the others, but you are my favorite.

*Sorry for the old pictures. I am falling down on the job :-)

It's Hobbit Day!!

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 18:09:00 +0000

It’s true. It’s on the calendar my daddy made me. And because I love to google everything, I googled* “Hobbit Day”

To save you googling time, the top two hits this morning are here, so you too can celebrate Hobbit Day with me.

Hobbit Day - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
How to Celebrate Hobbit Day

Further foray into the deep, dark belly of the internets unearthed this treasure**

Leonard Nemoy's Ballad of Bilbo Baggins

As it were, I never read The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings as a child. My obsession with fantasy fiction didn’t start until I was twenty and for whatever reason, I was not exposed to these two stories. So, along comes a movie in 2001. The previews look cool. I think to myself that my husband would love this movie. So we go see it. And I was blown away. Three hours later, I am sobbing big, fat hobbit tears (you know the scene - when Frodo pulls Sam out of the water and Sam swears he will never leave Frodo) when suddenly … credits start rolling???? I turned to my husband and (I might have cursed) asked why the credits were rolling. He says ever so nonchalantly, in his best well, duh voice, "There’s three movies.” Oh ho, was I mad! I wanted to see Frodo throw the freaking ring!!! In Mount Doom. And NOW. I certainly did not want to wait through two more movies!!

Oh, the injustice.

True story.

So, in honor of Hobbit Day, I will be spending the evening with these two gentlemen*** (nom, nom, nom) and chanting “One ring to rule them all….”

"One Ring to rule them all,
One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all
and in the darkness, bind them!"

*When did “google” become a verb?
**I am, of course, using the term “treasure” extremely loosely here.
***Hot guys and a majestic movie score … sigh …

September 11

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 13:03:00 +0000

I remember.

Courtesy of the Library of Congress
By Alex Spektor,
The Sun, 2002.
www.september11victims.com
Color offset poster.
Gift of Bolivar Arellano Gallery.
Prints and Photographs Division (144)
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/911/images/02027r.jpg

Open Letter to Mother Nature

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 02:57:00 +0000

Dear Mother Nature,

First, I would like to thank you so very much for the absolutely perfect summer we have had. I mean, compared to last year, when it rained the whole month of June, this year was fantastic.

And I don't really want to sound ungrateful. Because I am not really. It's just that you managed to hold off the rain for most of August. Which was great. But we were busy in August. And I am sure everyone whose events we attended or catered really appreciated that you held off the rain.

But now we'd like to have a little us time. In our camper.

Yes, I laughed last week when we had a minor nor'easter while camping at the beach. Funny. Ha ha. You are such the kidder. However, I am starting to think that maybe you are mad at me. I mean, we haven't camped since June, so a nor'easter was a bit much. But now, this weekend coming is Labor Day. It's a big three day weekend. And you brewing up Earl in the south Atlantic and sending it our way is just a bit much, don't you think?

So, if possible, can you please send Earl to the East of the East Coast? I would forever be grateful as would a bunch of other campers I know.

Thanks a bunch!
Laurie

(who is still drying out from last week's adventure, thankyouverymuch!)

ha ha ha

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:30:00 +0000

We are leaving tomorrow to go camping.
At the beach.
Until Friday.
Ha. Ha. Ha.

Have a great week.

noreply@blogger.com (CountessLaurie) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:00:00 +0000

So last night I secured my status as major geek.

With much excitement, I went to see Star Wars In Concert.

I contemplated going in costume but I did not have a lot of time to prepare so, sadly, I did not. I did however enjoy the show almost as much as this guy enjoyed his rainbow. Fine, I'll admit it. I cried. Just tiny little tears though. Not double rainbow sobs, but little teeny tiny geeky tears.

Anthony Daniels, who played C3PO, gave a brief narration between each piece of music played. In the background, a huge screen played images of the movie set to the music. Each set was crafted as a piece of the Star Wars story showing a montage of clips on a particular theme, ie: Anakin, the Princess, Yoda, the Droids. There was an accompanying laser light show to round it out.

The show, for a Star Wars fan, is amazing. Incredible. Fantastic. If you are not a fan, and dragged there solely to please your geek wife, then it is good. But we really don't want your opinion, you non-obsessed person.

If you want a review that is not only well written but captures everything I felt during the show, you can read this one. Heck, his review made me tear up. Little geeky tears of happiness. In a way that only Star Wars can make me.

Now if you will excuse me, I am going to watch all the movies. In a row. With my lightsaber and my R2D2. And remember this, Han shot FIRST.

Photo courtesy of facebook/starwarsinconcert