all good things must come to an end ...

... and unfortunately our winter break is one of them. Today is our last full day off and tomorrow it's back to school and "real life." Although this time together has felt more real than the other stuff. But we have had a great time while it lasted ...

We saw a bunch of shows at the Kravis Center - Cinderella, So You Think You Can Dance, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Guys and Dolls

Great (early) Xmas with Grandma

Beautiful light displays

We even got to paint a little

Lion Country Safari is always fun

Angel was even to into the spirit of things

happy veterans day

Some of my dad's WW2 destroyer escort shipmates. And puppy.

happy labor day

Happy Labor Day! Enjoy your day at the beach, or however you choose to relax ...

decorations are up!

Little by little this holiday weekend we put up the tree and our other holiday decorations. The cats love the tree and can be found frequently batting ornaments from the branches when they aren't in alien kitty mode:

Of course we could only put up unbreakable ornaments. All my glass treasures are put away for the foreseeable future. We also decided to mix some of our holiday lights and figures with the kid's Lego Harry Potter castle, so it's Christmas at Hogwarts with Snape and Harry. The video really shows off the lights and castle:

And who could forget Shrek, who is still a big favorite of the kid's. Once again he is hanging out with Rudolph and his crew.

Ho ho ho!

happy thanksgiving

I am thankful for very many things.

My beautiful daughter.

My mom still knowing my name.

My health.

The gorgeous place where we live.

The ideas that continue to pop into my head.

My crazy menagerie.

My interest in the world around me.

All the wonderful caring people that I know.

The ever-changing world we live in — I just hope that more and more people can be thankful for an increasingly diverse and evolving world.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

xoxoxo e

it's beginning to look a lot like ...

... Oh, you know.

Thanksgiving may be less than a week away, but the kid has gone full steam ahead towards Christmas. She has already drafted a list to Santa and scoped out our home for optimum tree placement. She has also been urging me to start putting up decorations. I am trying to resist, but her excitement is kind of contagious. And adorable.

We will be having family here for Thanksgiving, folks we won't be seeing over the Xmas holidays, so putting up the tree right before, or while they are here might actually be fun. The only question is, how long will I be able to hold out until she has me trimming the tree and decking the halls? Stay tuned. Holiday decoration posts are probably in my near future.

She's gotten a little too big for that pony.

Related articles

• push back the season

push back the season

We just took down our halloween decorations, which of course mean that the Xmas decor will soon be looming. I'm used to the fact that the Xmas stuff is already up and available at places like Target, but just when I thought I had become inured to the pushing up of the season, I got thrown another curve. Can someone please explain to me what all these early Black Friday ads are about? And why opening stores at ungodly hours the Friday after Thanksgiving still isn't early enough? Now many stores are planning to be opened on Thanksgiving Day.

Who do they think wants to shop on Turkey (or in some cases, Tofurkey) Day? Why should anyone? Can't there be one day where people can loaf around and overeat and argue with their relatives and watch sports or some other marathon-like programming on television and then a few hours later get up and raid the fridge again? Do we have to lose our Thanksgiving holiday to stand on line and get trampled at Walmart?

I say no. We should be giving thanks for being warm and safe, if we are lucky enough to be so. Or helping those in storm-hit areas that need us most, not trying to encourage horrible behavior at the local box store. Enough with all of this pushing the season. I say we push back.

veterans and anniversaries

Many members of my family have served and protected their country and for this I am extremely grateful. Armistice Day, or Veterans Day, as we now refer to it, was first proclaimed a national holiday on November 11 1919, by President Woodrow Wilson. I searched our family flickr archives and found some photos of family members who served in wars post-World War I. These are not the only relatives who have served their country, just the ones I am lucky enough to have a photo of them in uniform.

Edwin H. Cassels (standing, third from left), my great grandfather

Albert S. D'Ippolito, my grand-uncle

John M. Periale, my uncle

Joseph F. Periale (lower right), my dad

John J. Periale, my brother

November 11 will also always signal another special day for me. It is aso my parents' anniversary.

it only comes once a year ...

... so why do we have to be in such an all-fired rush to push the season? 

It's impossible to go anywhere and not be assaulted by holiday merchandise, it seems. There is no way I'm buying any thing Christmassy at the moment, it's not even Thanksgiving fercrissakes, but I did let the kid have fun with some of the stuff on display ...

merry xmas!

Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.Waiting for Santa, Xmas loot, Parfaits are the best damn thing on the planet, New toys, Yorkshire pudding and potatoes, onions and radishes, cookies, roast beast, gingerbread house, camel, trees, putti, two front teeth, lights, family, ocean, cats in a Xmas tree, donkey, angel wings ... merry Xmas!