My Favorite Holiday

Now that the weather is getting chillier, the lights are going up around town, there's a bit of spirit and cheer in the air, it's time to talk about my favorite holiday--Halloween!  Yep, I'm a little behind on the blogging.

I said in an earlier post I'd explain why we were so busy until three weeks before I wrote that entry.  When we moved into the house at the beginning of August, we were totally daunted by all of the unpacking, painting, and decorating that had to be done.  So we decided to give ourselves a deadline so that we'd buckle down and get things accomplished.  What better way to make sure we followed through than to invite all of our friends over for a haunted Halloween hootenanny?  If we didn't scramble and make the work happen, we would be embarrassed to let our friends walk through the door.  Well, it worked!  By All Hallows' Eve, the place was sparkling.  We even decorated the front yard!  What do you think?

We also got the chance to go to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom.  We wore some costumes that have been in our family for a number of years, but they're classics.

 We rode the Haunted Mansion...

 ...watched the fireworks...

 ...met the Seven Dwarfs...

...and ate lots and lots and lots of candy!  What fun!

In the Air Again

Thank goodness for free Wi-Fi at Hancock International! Now writing this blog post on my iPod will keep me occupied until our flight back to Florida leaves in an hour and a half. We always arrive early to airports just in case (there is actually an Eric Brown on the Do Not Fly list), and today it was a good thing we did. We didn't have to do the new body scan, but they did unpack and inspect literally every piece of luggage we brought: we each had a carry-on and a personal item, and every last square inch of space is full. (I'll be darned if I'm spending $100 round trip on bag check fees!) It took us a good 15 minutes and excellent teamwork to repack everything at the security checkpoint. L.L. Bean and American Tourister get a big thumbs-up for durability. These things are bursting at the seams. I wish I could take a picture because I feel you just have to see Eric's backpack to appreciate the true Mary Poppins carpet baggedness of this piece of luggage.

Our visit with Eric's side of the family was very restful and festive. We were very sad to say goodbye to the whole family, of course, but it was especially heartbreaking to leave our nephew Andrew and his sweet mommy Laura. Here's hoping he'll be ready to go airborne soon and he can come for a visit soon to his cool uncle Eric and aunt Katie in Florida!

Next on the agenda, making a trip to Apopka tommorow to pick up...my brand new car! Yes, my trusty Honda Civic, which I personally drove for 10 years, finally bit the dust last Monday. Eric is planning to fix it up nicely enough for us to sell or donate it and I'll be driving my 2004 Saab 9-3 just like my Civic--until it dies!

Aftter that will be a slew of holiday gigs stretching into the year, beginning with opening for the Walk Through Bethlehem this Friday night in Winter Park where my newest winter piece, Winter Carol, will be premiering! Then the next day I will be taking part in the filming for the Disney Parks Christmas Parade once again this year, this time with a mystery celebrity diva! I've heard dumped about who it may be but I'm sure I'm not at liberty to share the hunch with the world wide web until it's for sure. So on Saturday afternoon check back for another post :)