Christmas Lights

I was 0-3 in 2008, as far as seeing Christmas Lights goes.

Last year was almost magical for our two visits. Our first visit was to Way of Lights in Belleville, Illinois. It had snowed recently, and in addition to the lights, they had a petting zoo, laser show, Christmas tree and wreath contest, choirs, and a gift shop. We bought a stuffed camel as we were leaving and the proceeds from the sale of camels benefited some Catholic charity, so it was nice to know your money was going someplace good. Plus, I kept the camel out all year and everytime I looked at it, it reminded me all year of the great night I had with Jeff.

Our second visit last year was to visit Grant's Farm. That one was my favorite visit. I love Grant's Farm. They had Christmas Lights everywhere and you took the train/trolley to the mansion area, where you get two free beers, a gift shop, there were children's crafts, hot cocoa, and heated tents. There was a group of acrobats performing in the cold when we arrived. They gave a great show, and then shortly after they ended, a madrigal group started singing and performing which was also very nice. It was another incredibly romantic night and I have such great memories.

This year we tried to go to Tilles Park. We were going to watch the lights from a carriage ride, but when we found out the 20 minute carriage ride was going to cost $60, we changed our minds. So we tried to go on a Friday night when it would still be open to car traffic. We went to dinner and then I got lost trying to find Tilles Park. We spent almost an hour looking for the place and proceeded to get into a huge fight before finally giving up.

Our second try this year was to Grant's Farm again. I had tried to verify this year's activities online earlier in the week. I found a web page and the information sounded exactly like last years activities, so I tried to find a year mentioned somewhere on the page and couldn't, so I just assumed that the page I found was for this year. When I tried to show Jeff the page shortly before we left for dinner, I couldn't bring it up, which I thought was odd. We had dinner and then drove towards Grant's Farm around 8:30 on a Saturday Night. As we got closer we saw that there were only a few strings of lights up which was very different from last year. When we got to the parking lot, there were no cars and the gatehouse was empty. For those of you who don't know, Anheuser-Busch owns Grant's Farm. Anheuser-Busch was bought out by InBev this year. I don't know this for a fact, but InBev is known for trimming the fat and I'm assuming the running of Grant's Farm is considered a big piece of chub. The hours and days that Grant's Farm is open was reduced this year, right after the approval for the takeover was announced. So, our second try at a romantic Christmas evening bit the dust.

Our third try this year was a half-hearted effort at best. Jeff was late, as usual, and it was cold and our furnace wasn't working. He wanted to try Tilles Park again. I wanted to head towards Way of Lights. We settled on dinner and him getting my furnace working again. Which he did. Thanks, Jeff! I ended up sleeping on top of the covers because it was so hot in my room thanks to the furnace working again. Yay, Jeff!

So, no romantic Christmas activities for us this year. Sad. Maybe it'll be better in 2009.

Decorating the Trees!

I decorated 5 trees this year. We put up my parents 9 foot fake tree at their house in Springfield. I put up the 4 foot fake tree in my apartment in St. Louis.

One 3 foot tree with a University of Kentucky theme at my sister's office in Clayton. And two 3 foot trees at Michelle and Preston's office at the Shell building in downtown St. Louis. They had a St. Louis Cardinal theme tree for Preston and a University of Missouri-Columbia theme tree for Michelle.

When we were decorating Michelle and Preston's tree, Michelle brought her two foster chihauhua puppies and then chewed on and ran off with the tinsel and lights while we were decorating.

They are the cutest little guys ever!! I want a puppy for Christmas.

Thanksgiving!

I went home to Springfield, Il for Thanksgiving this year. We packed up the animals and headed home. Our turkey was a free gift that my company gave to every employee this year. My sister made the side dishes. She did a great job and they tasted even better this year, than they did last year. For dessert we had Sara Lee pumpkin pies with whipped cream. They may not be homemade, but they are a tradition in my family.

November 4, 2008

Today's election was a big one for me and the country. I'm a Hilary Clinton supporter who voted for Obama, but I still have to say that I am very happy that Obama is going to be our next president and I'm proud that I voted for him. I look forward to the next 4 - 8 years and seeing the changes he is going to be making.

Today was also a big day for casinos in Missouri. Proposition A passed! The useless $500 loss limit is over. The number of casino licenses in Missouri is frozen at 13. Hopefully, the President Casino will be making it's move up North soon.

Pumpkin Carving

This year's pumpkin carving had it's plusses and minuses. I was able to carve two pumpkins this year. One for my mom and one for myself, which turned into two carvings for myself. My mom's pumpkin carving kit included a stencil that you taped to the pumpkin and then you use a pushpin to outline the drawing. Then you removed the stencil and use the tiny knife to cut your pumpkin using the pushpin holes as a guide. Her pumpkin turned out well, but I didn't get a picture.

My pumpkin carving kit contained stencils that you had to tape to the pumpkin and then use a marker to draw the stencil outline on the pumpkin. My first cut out was okay, but I realized when I was done, I only like pumpkins with faces. So I flipped the pumpkin around and used the back side to cut out a face. I liked my face, but I didn't like the imperfect skin of the pumpkin. So as long as you don't look too close, my second pumpkin carving turned out okay.

So this year was a learning year. Next year I will pick a kit with a pushpin for stencil outlining, and I will stick to faces for my pumpkin.

This is my pumpkin with Baxter standing next to it. Isn't she cute!!

Happy Halloween!