What are you doing, New Year's Eve?

As I crank out another year of life, and bring in 2008, I was not sure what I wanted to do but I did know that I was not up to getting dressed up. I also knew that I had no interest in dancing all night and sweating like a oinker. I also knew that I had to be mindful of Clyde so this pretty much meant I was going to be home.

With the old wheels in my turning slowly, I thought why not have a nice quiet dinner with a couple friends. So I called a dear friend and asked her, "what are you doing New Year's Eve?" Well, dinner sounded quaint, something simple and casual.

The next an invitation went out asking for immediate response as I was going to host a 7 course New Year's Eve dinner. My friend called and said "I thought this was going to be simple!" Well, yeah simple but this could be executed very simply if I plot, plan and prepare.

So that is what I am doing for New Year's Eve, plotting, planning and preparing! I also am trying to set some personal goals, but real goals that I can work toward not the goals like - lose weight and keep it off - ha, you crack me up. Things like be a better save (not green as in the earth, but the green that I can buy Swiss Cakes with). Travel - take adventures to places I have never seen and may never see again. Be a good friend .... catch you all in the New Year!

Anne Cochran with Jim Brickman on piano

Thursday night, Anne Cochran came to Fort Wayne and performed at the Embassy Theatre. Jim Brickman was there too, he played piano, but Anne was there and she lit the house!

Have truly been a huge fan of both Brickman and Cochran and over the near dozen times I have seen them in concert, I have had the chance to meet them, talk to them and actually before the Thursday show was back stage before they went on.

Many years ago I made the comment, and perhaps a bit too Carbo-loud, to Anne that I loved her voice, her music and it is great to have Jim accompany you. This was at a meet and greet, so there was a line of people and Jim was standing next to Anne. He stopped and she barrel laughed and I do believe that still to this day he recalls that moment. When I was back stage, someone had said to him that I was Anne's biggest fan and Jim said, "Yes, I remember" and laughed.

If you have not seen a Jim Brickman concert, you should it is entertaining, warm and most of all Anne Cochran is on vocals.

Finally the end is near ...

September was the kick off month for my Gourmet Club and what fun we had and have created since then ... it is an amazing group of friends and then add food to the equation and you can't ask for anything more. September the passing of one of my favorite 70's personality - Bret Summers from Match Game fame and also the passing of Marcel Marceau. I attended the 70's dance held by the Junior League. Michigan football season started off scary and finally the words which people in Angola hate to hear "we are the Limo people" ... as we celebrated a birthday of a friend in style.

October saw one of my friends depart for Chicago as she starts a new chapter in her life. Finally in October, Michigan began to play football! Clyde celebrated his 7th birthday! He had a cake and a small party. The election fight began to heat up as conspiracies began to finally fall into place -- squish the young guy (sure, yeah, that is what happened). October 15 bloggers nationwide spoke about environmental issues. The taco invitation was delivered for MEXICarbO!! Finally, YLNI the Vote made history with its comprehensive information booklet and held an open forum to discuss the topics of the candidates. This is where we learned about the "Said-g-Way"

November is Thanksgathering month. The annual potluck for a Thanksgiving style meal. I want to Savannah and drank the city out of house and home. Took a few cooking classes and began the preparation for the annual Holiday Open House. My stain glass arrived for the front doors and the half circle. My Dinner for 5 at Six takes its holiday break and I fall deeper into the Women's Murder Club with Angie Harmon.

So folks, you now have a snap shot of what has happened in 2007 and we are just days away from 2008. Make some goals and make new friend and your year will be filled with greatness.

Part Two ...

Now, if you are reading this post and it starts with June, you missed the post that proceeds it that begins with January. You may not really care, because perhaps January was a bad month.

So, June the IPHONE was introduced. I did not rush out to get one and for that, I did not make history. Oh well, one less thing to put on my resume. According to pigs in many farms across America, there is still rejoice that Bob Evans passed away, rest in piece of strawberry pie with whipped cream, Bob. Oh yeah, June was the month that the recalls went into high gear (or will there be more later ... stay tuned -- thanks China!) Finally the biggest news was on June 11 when Dolly Parton became an official Girl Scout.

On to July, Three Rivers Festival drug (perhaps the wrong word) to town the Georgia Satellites. Festivals were rampant at Headwaters Park. In my backyard a tanker truck goes off the road and blows up (just a typical day ho-hum). Linda Jackson and I kick off the American Red Cross' Capital Campaign Community phase. Willie Nelson cancels his visit to Fort Wayne - heat extreme heat hurt the pot crop so he can't travel without it. Walked in a parade and went to the Ann Arbor Art Fair and purchased some new additions to the house.

August another fun month and for some reason I always struggle writing "8" for it ... mental block but on to the wrap up ... Well, the top story may have been I tried my first rotisserie chicken from a plastic container from Krogers. Okay, I do live a shelter life but it was a first. Also, I earned my B-17 rights when I purchased a 1964 juke box. Radio airwaves in Fort Wayne lost Paul Harvey (he is an idol for me) and I bought two ears of corn at the YLNI Farmer's Market only to be near stoned in the street.

Coming up ... September's loss of a superstar game show figure and the other thing I want to say out loud, I can't ... he couldn't and I won't (hint, hint, hint) kicks a bucket without making a sound!

Looking back on 2007

This has been an exciting year for so many reasons!

Hmm, let me think the year started out -- January with the death of that horse from the Preakness, name escapes me, but I do believe he is now available in most schools labeled "Elmer's". The city coins itself a place where there is "room to dream" or something, I must not have received my bumper sticker yet.

At the Grammy's in February the Dixie Chicks somehow won multiple awards. The album sucked but oh well, the entire music scene does too, so I guess scum can rise to the top. Perhaps this is an out cry because of the devastating passing of Anna Nicole Smith. I still can't talk about it, she was a legend, a leader and a ... fricken loser folks, what?!? She helped Fort Wayne lose our fattest city award, which we lost the title in February ... what a bad month.

March was the month I sat through City Council meetings so long that I may not have my name on a chair, but my ass imprint has to be engraved somewhere down there. Thank the stars that the Harrison Square Project went through. Also, Sanjya became a household name but where is he now!? Where he needs to be, some place getting a haircut.

April saw the opening of the Willis mansion on Forest Park Blvd, the hosting of Patty Duke and Jana Stanfield for IPFW's Tapestry - A Day for Women (and Mark). We all celebrated April 19 ...National High Five day (or as I renamed it 'Bitch slap day') But the biggest story was Don Imus and the fact he called black women basketball players "ho". Thankfully, the story has calmed down and Imus is back on the radio with the new motto "ImusT Not Say HO"

May ... and this is where the flashback column will stop for today ... Well, I turned 39 years old, had a breakfast brunch, sprayed a chipmunk with water, went on a food binge in Minneapolis, made my way to Caruso's for dinner, Melinda Doolittle lost out on her bid to be the next American Idol, (not sure who did win), lost seven pounds watching Stomp at the Embassy because the temperature had to crack 100 in there, the price for a stamp went up 2 cents (I nearly forgot that moment in history, did you remember?), finally I took my mom to Indy for Mother's Day to see Norah Jones. All and all the year seemed to start out okay, except for the primary when Nelson Peters got squished by Matt Kelty, but (foreshadowing) he does not stand up straight for too long before he gets a lesson on winning.

Special lunch encounter ...

I took a personal day on Friday but somehow worked a good portion of it, but that is not really important. I have to pause a brief moment to say that in the Fort Wayne Blog world there have been many discussions bantering about the purpose of blogs, the truth in reporting and the value that they bring to our community.

Well, this blog will never bring great value to the community. I am a simple guy who writes about the thoughts that roll from one side of my head to the other. Growing up Carbo, I used to write journals and have a box of them yet in the house (oh yeah, one more thing I received in the divorce but then again, they have no value) anyway my blog consists of random thoughts and happenings, views of likes and dislikes and perhaps a community PSA to just boast about something everyone should know ... with that said back to my lunch.

Okay, so at 3:00 p.m. last night I stopped at the Carlos O'Kelly's near my house to order my favorite (and only thing I would eat at Carlos' and that is the Chipolte Chicken Burrito.) Well low and behold, there are three tables of people and we are all sitting right outside the kitchen. The waitress, a middle aged woman with JET BLACK hair and someone who just got upgraded from perhaps her long standing gig at Walmart or Big Lots. She came to the table and said something close to, if not exactly, "they said I had a table and woohee here you are!" I think I was expecting more of "Welcome to Carlo's O' Kelly's can I get you a drink, we have Pepsi products"

I did not open my menu and said actually I am ready to order. She tuffed back "You want me or a taco (pronounced Tak OOOOOOO". I was thinking if there is a fricken camera on me, I sure don't look the best. I said "Neither appeal to me, I would like the chicken chipolte burrito". She literally took a step back because I may have offended her, but for some reason I think she forgot what i said and and...

She asked, would you like beef or chicken? Huh?!?

As she left my table as I answered the questions (and YES there are dumb questions in the world), she walked through the opening and yells out "Thumbalina". Well, as the meal unfolded and more crack pot moments occurred I just let them all roll away. However the consistent thing stated by her was "Thumbalina" every time she walked into the kitchen. Perhaps a Mexican ritual to ward off ghosts, who knows? I can tell you that she was 10 cents short of a dime.

The meal was good and it was chicken, but then again it was a chicken burrito. Why we all had to sit in the same section as one another and right out side the kitchen still puzzles me. Everytime she yelled Thumbalina, we all started to look at one another like ... what the ... Oh, and one finally occurrence, one of the other tables were exchanging gifts and the waitress came back a few times to see what everyone got and asked if she could see them and put them in a bag. It was a classic moment in the Creative Mind of Carbo.

No branch left unturned ...

If anyone has ever wondered about my circle of friends, you would have to assume that they are the most amazing people that have ever walked this earth. For all except about two (and you know who you are haahaa, just joking), I do.

I am very diligent to make sure that I never share my friend's name in this blog because I don't feel I have the right to blurt it out. People who I don't know, may not care about, or those who have found public light for some reason, that is an entirely different story. (Wait until my year end wrap up!)

Anyway, last night a group of my closest friends went to one of our mutual friend's home. Does not sound too crazy or wild or even unusual. However, what was so special about last night was our friend had suffered a devastating fire and has been displaced. Even the imagine of losing a document to me is a crisis, I can not even imagine what she has endured. We all brought a smorgasbord of food and wine, we even brought Christmas ornaments to decorate a tree so the spirit of Christmas will continue to radiate from her temporary four walls.

It was wonderful to see that in times of crisis or even in times of celebration the two really are the same, at least with my friends, we relish in the moment of making peace on earth and goodwill to (wo)men.

Giving something back ...

I spend nearly 3/4 of my noon lunches in a restaurant. I seem to haunt the same places like the Cork, Chops, Hartley's, Flat Top and El Azetca. I enjoy the menu, or a specific item they serve (like the salad bar at the Cork, or any of the wraps at Chops, or the fresh squeezed grapefruit martini at Hartley's, or my table 49 at Flat Top or the Chicken Enchiladas at El Azetca.

When you go to the same restaurant you get to know the staff and it becomes like a proximity friend (someone you know and talk with but when you are not there you don't make efforts to contact them). Anyway, I have made a habit that the month of December I pay extra attention to tipping not just 15 or 20% but I tip at least 50% to say thanks for a great year!

It was kind of funny, I was down at Le Peeps (which for some reason I always call Little Bo Peeps which I am sure they do not find funny at all) with a friend just a couple weeks ago. She was dynamic and fun and made the breakfast better than it actually was. I did give more to say thanks.

So, my Carbo moment of advice, this holiday season ... tip extra for those who are in your proximity. Your wait staff, your hair salon or other people who are expected to know you but you are not expected to know them back ... Happy Holidays.

Answers ...

Well, if you were not able to figure out the lyrics to the songs I posted yesterday, hear are the answers:

Let your heart be light from now on, Our troubles will be out of sight... [Have Yourself A Merry Christmas]

Thumpetty thump thump, Thumpetty thump thump.... [Frosty the Snowman]

But she forgot her medication, and she Staggered out the door into the snow. [Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer]

Why lies He in such mean estate Where ox and ass are feeding? [What Child is This]

Long lay the world In sin and error pining, Till He appeared And the soul felt its worth. [O Holy Night]

Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas... Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas... [Carol of the Bells]

What are those kids singing...

When I was growing up Carbo, I remember a time of the year when a group

of us would walk around Pine Valley and sing Christmas carols. So, if you lived in Pine Valley in the mid 80's now you know that one of those "Christmas Punks" grew up to be a blogger (good for nothing as you may have thought). Anyway, we sang for food I think, albeit cookies.

Now I would sing for Swiss Cakes, but that is an entirely different story. I thought it might be fun to test your music lyric knowledge. I still am trying to figure out what a "round yon virgin" is, perhaps I do know that after all.

Let your heart be light from now on, Our troubles will be out of sight...

Thumpetty thump thump, Thumpetty thump thump.... (always a nice sound, isn't it ... reminds me of my days living in Canterbury Green Apartments)

But she forgot her medication, and she Staggered out the door into the snow.

Why lies He in such mean estate Where ox and ass are feeding? (really? I have been singing this song SO differently for years!)

Long lay the world In sin and error pining, Till He appeared And the soul felt its worth.

Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas... Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas...

Check back tomorrow for the answers to the Christmas trivia. There are no prizes if you win, as this is the season of giving ... I just gave you a quiz you will give me the answers. We all will feel the warmth in our hearts (yeah, right! where is my money!)

Trust me, we ARE the Limo People...

After a weekend of snow fall auctioniering ... the on going "2 inches, four ... I hear 6 now 12 do I hear 14?" has run its course, the Limo People part deux were not going to let a little of the white stuff stop us. (no not sugar, flour or powdered sugar all snow baby!)

So our gang started at 6 pm and devoured crab cakes, gourmet cheese-toasties, chocolate bark an assortment of cheese and meats plus some nice Prosecco with cranberry juice to fuel us to get to the next home. The first home had a tree that was jam packed with round ornaments and the tree was 15 feet tall (as tall as the amount of snow we are getting!) It was decked out like it was Rockefeller Plaza and it was a beautiful delight.

The gang loaded up in the limo, as we slid down the driveway and smack dab into the limo to find this was going to be a night to remember.

The next stop was a home that had four Christmas trees: flocked, animated, black and sparkling silver. The food on this stop was everything from a rum cake that was sweet and rum-o-liscious, stuffed mushrooms, gourmet meatballs (which were like a mini meatloaf) cheese balls and dips, shrimp the size of Clyde's leg and an assortment of wines.

The next stop started out with a bit more hazard as the roads were just a tad hazardous, but we found blueberry pomegranate martinis awaiting us and the rest is a blur. There was a massaging chair that did not leave any part of my body untouched and I nearly proposed on sight haha. Homemade cookies and a platter of speciality dips and crackers were all for our tasting as we viewed a Christmas village with a new plump tree that sparkled with all the Christmas joy. We knew it was time to go when we heard splashing noise but realize it was just one us pouring our drink on the floor hehe. But we did pack up and find the roads were even less traveled (so we knew that this was Jack Frost's version of the road not chosen).

Our last stop, though we wanted to go on longer but the roads were getting to the point that we may never make it home at all, was in a quaint neighborhood community that felt like we walked into a New York condo! Our host and hostess had a party already in progress and we joined in. The hit food item at their party were Rosemary cashews. Yumo! There was more wine selections than people and their tree glowed. I say glowed because the female of the house just had a baby 6 weeks ago and she looked smashing and the little guy, he got to see the Limo people and for that he will always be honored.

Well, the fun had to end at some point and we paid off the limo driver to keep much of what happened a secret, however I wanted to share the highlights of the annual "come visit my tree and we will feed you" adventure!

On strike!

Hollywood is shut down ... and the Creative Mind of Carbo will be off until Sunday ...

Coming up - The Limo People ride again!

What's love got to do with it ...

And the winner is Tina Turner.

After being knocked around, beat up, tossed into walls, Tina Turner has become victorious in this circle of life as her ex husband finally kicked the bucket. Seems that he never did get what was coming to him, but somehow, he finally gets to pay for his actions. In Hell there is a nice river deep and mountain high that he will either be pushed off the mountain or dunked into the nice river. Amen!

Tina, though I do not know her, but I am sure she would love to know me, had no comment concerning the passing of her ex. They have not spoken in 35 years. I need to take a page from her playbook, because that is the way it should be.

You may recall, that Ike claims the abuse never happened. Right! I still side with Tina and the fact that no law suits came forward when she wrote her book, had a movie of her life and all he could do was snort more coke. Farewell.

Global Relocation?

This has become my favorite time of the year when people can still cry about global warming, the rapid death of our planet one minute and then break into scheduled programming to tell me that ice is falling from the sky!

Major ice storms have hit the states, it remains winter as long as it has in the past but we have people in parkas, ear muffs and mittens protesting that global warming is killing our planet. Keep marching! Keep telling me that the world is near the end, because as I sit in my warm home (with the heat going fueled by natural gas) and you are outside in sub zero weather touting doom and gloom, I will just wait to hear the weather forecast about pending winter like conditions.

Some say that we are suffering from Global Relocation, that the cold weather and climate is shifting from the North Pole to ... heck, Boulder Colorado, I guess. Which only means I can go to Colorado to see the march of the penguins, which actually I embrace entirely!

On the first day ...

With just 12 days before the big Christmas holiday, I thought I would rattle off my version of the 12 days of Christmas (and yes, it is Christmas and not Kwanzaa).

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me (this is all made up, so I can say that I have a true love!) ... an IPOD

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me two boxes of Swiss Cakes ....

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me three black gel, medium thickness, pens...

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me four friends to join me for dinner 4 five at 6 ...

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me five ten dollar gift certificates to Flat Top (and receive the triple chocolate box set for free) ...

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me six pack of root beer ...

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me seven gift certificates to Barnes and Noble...

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me eight new every day drinking glasses ...

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me nine coconut cream pies ... (Yes, cuz I love me PYI's)

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me a ten piece band to play at my 40th birthday bash (date undecided, but there will have to be a party)

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me a new way to spell eleventh, I hate the spelling of that word, so in my anal approach to life, someone found a new way to spell it!

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love (who does not yet exist) gave to me (which if you are like me keep thinking who needs 12 days for Christmas) new silverware for my upcoming Seven Course New Year's Eve Dinner!

And so you have it my wish list for my true love to hustle out there and get me some stuff.

Decorated for the season

Last night as Clyde took me for a walk ... I was in awe of the glass tree in my front yard. Every single branch was perfectly outlined with ice. It was a gorgeous view.

Side note: Clyde does not find this amusing! Somehow as he could not find traction to do his business, he looked at me like I had something to do with it. He was kind miffed at the entire situation, so I was outside crunching up iced grass to help him with his nightly adventure.

Be safe!

Oh what a feeling ...

This weekend, a very good friend and I went to Indianapolis to do our Christmas shopping (yes, I did it during Hanukkah). We also had our fortunes told. It was a very good and wonderful experience.

First things first, the reading gave me some ideas of who, where and what could happen to me through a chance meeting ... I am to meet an exotic looking person, who has no baggage my age that is looking to start a life with me. Oh, and it should be in a Barnes and Noble or a Borders. So, effective immediately, I will be moving to Barnes and Noble waiting for my future partner!!

Second, we went to Bonefish for dinner. Had a great meal. The funny part of this adventure was we drove around the parking lot for about 10 minutes attempting to find a parking space, but there was no spaces and no one was coming out so we could take their space. So went behind the building and found one parking space. We pulled in and we gathered ourselves to get out. Just as quickly as we did this someone came to the drives side and said that we could not park their because it was for valet parking only. I handed him my keys and said "want to park my car?" He looked befuddled, as most 18 year old kids do and said "but you are parked" and I replied, "I know."

Next we get to our hotel room and we are sitting out in the living quarters watching television, 20/20 mind you, and I have to tell you I am not sure I have laughed more in a such a long time. So, if you did not see the show, they were talking about how mean kids can be. Well, they show two teenage boys in a car driving around screaming out their car window at people. One screamed a bunch of tiny kids "there is no Santa Clause". One was an overweight man, in a speedo, watering his lawn and the kids screamed "put some clothes on, pervert" (and I must agree, it was disgusting) and the one that dropped me was an older lady who had fire engine red hair and they screamed "nice hair, whore!" I am sure you had to watch it but I still chuckle, yes I know kids are mean ... oh well, so am I.

Finally, we shopped until we dropped and made our trek back to Fort Wayne a few dollars less than we started but filled with great memories and fortune (or so we hope!)

I was meant to do the news...

%1

I went to myheritage.com and did a celebrity look a like photo morph.... who knew!!!

Not so nICE of a drive

Well, yesterday's trek to the office was sure an adventure in being calm and patient! I departed my home at 6:00 a.m. I hopped on 69 and was going maybe 20 mph and my car was sliding like I was a figure skater at the Olympics.

When I came to the first exit, I got off thinking that I may be safer going through town. The road conditions were not much greater however I could keep my speed at bay. I got to Ardmore/Hilegas and thought to myself "I am half way there". This would be the last time I would actually think this thought.

My car would not go up the hill, now as you know this is not a mountain, it is just an incline. So I thought I will back up a bit and then go forward well that did not work in the least bit. Next thing I know there is a line of traffic forming behind me, and the first car just so happens to be a police officer.

The lights went on and the officer pulled to my left and rolled the window down. I thought, on lovely, a ticket for being a nuisance of a public road or the police finally tracked down who hauled a donkey into the Haunted Hamlets! Though neither was what happened, the female police officer smiled and I said that I am able to go backwards at greater speeds than forward... she laughed and said that she would stop traffic and allow me to back up and get some traction. I thought to myself, I am actually stopping traffic pretty well myself, but I thanked her and began my backward slide. Literally.

Eventually I would slide backward the entire length of the hill until I slid back to Illinois Road. (Everyone in the line had to back up also, which trust me was not a happy moment for anyone in this conga line!) She came back to my window, large smile and all, and I quickly said, I think I should try a different road. She laughed and said I think you should too. Well, she stood in the middle of the road and stopped the other direction of traffic and I was able to donut my car and head back on Illinois road. As I got the car in a forward motion, I really just wanted to run out into the street and give her a big hug, but I figured I was already in enough trouble ... I am sure it is not legal to hug an officer.

Snow (shot) Snow (shot) Snow (shot)

Fortunately for some, you know the rules of "Seven Day Weather Forecast", last night watching television could have been a drunken stupor if I had a bottle near me.

Thanks to 'coverage you can count on" as I watched Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer, I was greeted with a banner in the corner that said snow and I heard snow sound bites too.

Growing up Carbo, I used to enjoy watching the land of misfits, and seeing Charlie the Box and of course that tart, Clarisse! Nothing says Christmas more than Burl Ives! Anyway, last night it was nostalgic to see the show and have the modern twist of the drinking game combined. Made me feel like a real kid at heart.

This marks our first official snow for the snow cone factory in Fort Wayne and I can't tell you how happy I am that it finally has happened. Enjoy the snow, drive safe cuz we need a little Christmas, right this very minute!

Packin' up the fun

Well, the house is almost back to near normal condition. Each room still has something in it that does not belong, but at least 85% of the dishes have been cleaned and put away.

At the same pace are the uploading of the pictures. You will find a link on this page that will take you to the MEXICarbO photo page, the Open House.

I am hopeful to be back up and talkin about more things which are important to us all, like bad restaurant food, crazy drivers or even celebrity mishaps ... until then, as the clean up continues please be patient.

By the way, Clyde did not notice the smell of the donkey, it must have been the lavender that threw him off.

MEXICarbO ... a few pictures

Oh my the morning comes quick ...

I will need to keep this post brief, but I have to share that over 100 people fought the snow and ice to see the donkey, drink, dine, dance and do the seven day weather forecast!

I will upload pictures soon, but here are two that you have see ... My friend Keli, who will be the next super model, and my friend Pancho were both hits. The party ended at 3:00 a.m. (so if you left early, you have no idea what you missed!)

Just hours away ...

It is just after noon, and I am taking a quick breath ... so far the guacamole, salsa, cheese dip, tomatoes, peppers, beans have all been prepared and waiting patiently for the first guest to arrive. Both levels of the home are cleaned, the bar is fully stocked.

I have a bit more yet to accomplish ... like the cheesy rice, the chicken, the sausage and shrimp and the Mexican fondue. I will put all the photos on the MEXICarbO link that was used for RSVP ... but it may take a day or three to get that accomplished. To all who will be attending ... enjoy and those who didn't, couldn't or won't be in at the celebration check out the fun later this week.

Clyde's Christmas Picture

This little guy stood proud for his Christmas picture!

The day before MEXICarbO

Yesterday I spent about 6 hours going from store to store gathering the food to be prepared for MEXICarbO.

So far no surprises!

Today is tidy up the house the best I can, Clyde will go to his northern vacation home for a couple nights (because he and donkey may not get along), I need to make the salsa today so it has time to let the flavors invigorate a bit.

So I am on the final day of prep for the party which will still include getting the margartia machines (that will hold 14 gallons of drink --- this could be a challenge for someone haha), the warming boxes for the food and the ice chest for the drinks.

Tomorrow is the day on wheels where everything is made fresh, and nothing can be made until noon if it is going in the slow cooker or later. So it is a mad dash to make the meal grand!

Really excited about MEXICarbO, looking forward to seeing my great friends on this great occasion.

The buck stops here ...

Driving last night, listening to some loud and pulsing dance music in my car, I was winding through a nice good old fashion country road. Well, in the city not sure if you can call it that ... it is the road that has a couple names like Liberty Mills, but it takes you back toward Fox Island. It may at some point be called Yohnie heck I don't know....

Anyway, as I am driving something catches my eye. I am one of those crazy fall drivers who watches the side of the road more than the middle as I drive because I am always afraid I am going to have a deer dart out and attack my car. Well, by now I have realized he is not only a deer, but he has antlers like a coat rack.

Since I am not a hunter, I do not know how many points he has, if that is even the right term, but he was very impressive. Reminded me of the old Mutual of Omaha pictures of a deer. So, I am now near a complete stop in the middle of the road and he is standing there looking at me. The funny thing, he was turning his head to the pulsing of the music. I sat there for a couple seconds and just watched him. He had perfect rhythm.

So I went from high adrenaline pulsing through me to a sort of chuckle as I watched my new buck of a friend enjoy the sounds coming from my starter mercedes. I eventually started the car in motion, and he never left the side of the road for as far as I could see in my rear view mirror.

The Tide has turned

Thanks to all of you who voted out the"Mr. T" stained glass idea.

Yesterday, the latest piece of art was added to the home, and as you can see it replaced the purple and green hearty-butterfly-family crest thing. It blends into the house just amazingly well and I could not be more happy.

In addition to changing out the former first lady's initial and mine, it is now a new wave of life with copper, amber and other warm tones which makes this just the perfect next step in the house remodel. I have also done the two side glass panels at the front door. They have a great flare, a wave as well and other super cool touches.

MEXICarbO is just days away. Plans are in high gear and I am very excited to see all my friends, family and new acquaintances I have yet to meet but I am sure I will have a grand ole time. Donkey is going to be happy to meet everyone too!

My own "Carbo" footprint!

Everyone is going green and finding out their carbon foot print to save the world from global warming.

Well companies like Aqua Net and my own famous snow cone factory are up in arms! However we know that the tide will turn. Not sure if I believe all that is said that back when I was tike in the 80's, had hair that was more like a lions mane, that I helped to destroy the ozone layer.

Okay, if you are still laughing that I had hair at one point, stop it!

I kinda believe that weather goes in cycles and sometimes it is warmer and sometimes colder. I remember last winter when Denver got pummeled with snow by the foot. I watched the March of the Penguins and those little critters would love a lighter snow fall. (Cuz they die in the winter sometimes as they huddle to find warmth - yes, I ruined the end of the show, but if you have not seen the movie yet you most likely will not)

I went to one of "those" websites that determines your carbon foot print. However I could not figure out how to enter or find the data they wanted to calculate my imprint. I guess I am so full of carbon that I could not go through every gas and electric bill that I have received in the past dozen years. Yeah, perhaps I recycled all that information!

So don't fret, it will get colder. We will see snow and we will see ice and that for some of you ... is an inconvenient truth!

Death never was so sweet...

Okay, it is no secret that if Angie Harmon was to just read a phone book, I would find it to be an Oscar winning performance. She is amazing, and if you don't think so, then you should not read the rest of this post.

Here is the deal, I was very sad when she left Law and Order a few years back, then Marshall Fields closed... I really thought that the Gods had it out for me. Well, she had a kid or something and she wanted to spend time blah blah blah who cares, but now she is back on TV and it rocks!

Women's Murder Club, Friday evenings on ABC. I have taped about six episodes and in my day of rest yesterday I watched them one after another. Four San Franciscans -- a district attorney, a medical examiner, a reporter and a detective -- pool their talents to solve homicide cases in this adaptation of a series of best-selling novels by James Patterson.

Paula Newsome was in Straight Talk and loved her in that ... now she is the medical examiner. The reporter is Aubrey Dollar, a bit annoying but we all have one friend like that, don't we? Laura Harris is the district attorney. I have no clue what she has done before, but she is somewhat forgettable at times. Like I had to look up her name to find out who she was... Then there is Angie Harmon who makes this show amazing.

If you limit the number of hours you watch of television per week, move this in and move ... I don't know anything else out. Wheel of Fortune perhaps. It is like Sex in the City without the sex but the plot is richer and more believable.

Oh and you can vote to make this your People's Choice award for best new show, guess who already voted http://www.pcavote.com/pca/?_requestid=2797634

Nothing to stew about ...

Next week, at this time, I will be in fast motion preparing for the 100+ people who will be attending MEXICarbO - Fort Wayne's only Mexican party hosted by a non Hispanic on December 1st!!! One for the record books!

The menu has been finalized, finally. After a glitch on Thursday, the menu has been reworked to accommodate my time, life and pan situation haha.

Homemade salsa, guacamole, a taco bar with chicken (because no matter what I serve, it will taste like chicken anyway), fajitas with chicken or chorrizo with shrimp, beans, rice and a chocolate fondue station. Some other items may pop up depending if I stay winded long enough to make them all. Finally, there will be a nacho bar too. So, at least on the food side, there should be something for everyone!

This is the favorite time of the year for me. Having the opportunity to host the 11th Annual Holiday Open House (or as Imus would say H.O.H) is so exciting to see all my friends in one place. Never too late to RSVP or invite yourself if I did not include you, because who can't have more friends?!?

Don't drop cuz you will be stepped on ...

Fortunately for me, I had the day off yesterday. I had ample time to read through the 15 pound newspaper and in just a short 7 hours I managed to read it all.

Stores are opening at midnight, some at 4 am, some were serving breakfast and some where giving you cash when you walked in the door.

What I found in the ads was a bunch of odd things at low prices. I know that I am heading to Best Buy to buy "My Best Friends Wedding" for $2.99? What? If anyone is standing in that line at 5 am is more nuts than those who are over at Walgreen's getting two rolls of wrap for the price of one!

Maybe I am too old to get the entire shopping for Christmas gig. I have a niece who is 9 and after I begged for an item on her wish list, I logged on to Barnesandnoble.com and within three clicks (since I have speedy checkout set up) I made her purchase. Now, I could have asked for them to wrap it too and sign the card, which I thought about, but then I thought... Hell, I am going to be at Walgreens this morning might as well stand in line for the paper giveaway!

If you are hitting the streets this morning, good luck. If YOU did hit the streets, tell me what prompted you to go? I thought the ads were lame, but perhaps my paper was missing a section ha!

Thanksgiving tragedy

Well even the most organized moment of my life did not turn out as I had planned. I had anticipated baking a half dozen cakes today for MEXICarbO however without a pan, one can not make any cakes. So, this year there will not be a big cake display. Oh well, chalk it up to experience :) I am just going to enjoy the day in peace and quiet. I have no clue where the pan would have disappeared to ...

Dinner 4 Five @ 6

The tradition continues as Dinner 4 Five @ 6 had another installment last evening. (Thanks to my kind boss, I am using the computer in my office since my ... well read below...)

The round robin discussion spoke of everything from our careers, to Harrison Square to celebrities we look like. There is a website that you can import your picture and it tells you who you look most like. Well, I did it and my 70% match hit two well known celebrities. My likeness to Donny Osmond and Katie Courick were the matches against the picture I submitted. My toothy grin and my high forehead were the key matches, and the eyes alignment. Odd, but well, know you ...

As we all prepare for Thanksgiving in our own ways, please take a moment to be thankful for the little things (like a 3 subway sandwich high Donkey!!). This year I am forgoing turkey and stuffing to bake a frenzy of desserts for the Holiday Open House which is just more than a week away.

Dinner 4 Five @ 6 takes the month of December off, but will return in January. Who knows, you could be at the table sharing, learning and making new friends! (Our hands represent 4 5 6)

MOTHERfnBOARD

Well, I hate Toshiba! Truly hate them. Here is the deal, if you buy anything with their name on it plan to just be as mad as me.

Here is the deal. Last April my lap top, which was a major investment, crashed ... the mother board went out of it. Well, guess what happened this weekend? Yep, you guessed (or you better have by now) the mother board went out of my computer!

This computer houses thousands of songs for my DJ gigs. It hosts my Creative Mind website and that is about it. Well it is in the hands of a group of trained professionals who are hoping to resuscitate it back to life.

I did call Toshiba, but the person who I spoke with said pretty much that I owned a lemon and three mother boards are not normal but it is out of warranty so just bend over and take it. I think that is what he was saying because English was not his first nor his second language! Uggh, it is a damn good thing I don't work for the United Nations! I would be bombing a call center. (But I don't work for the United Nations and I have no explosives, so just back away from me or I will toss a Toshiba at ya!)

So, my updates may be a bit sporadic and may not be at 4 in the morning like I am normally accustomed to doing.

So, if you hate someone, give them a Toshiba for Christmas! They get what they have coming to them.

Holiday Hits

It has been quite some time since I gave a "must have" list of music. Well today, I end the waiting game.

I have selected a few of my favorite holiday CD's. Chicago, Harry Connick Jr. Anne Cochran, Jim Brickman and Chris Botti provide a nice display of Christmas music low key enough to enjoy with the lights down, Christmas tree lit and a cup of hot coco as you allow your mind to unwind.

I am an avid Christmas music junkie. I have collected over 300 Christmas CD's that have yet to make it into an IPOD. So my Christmas wish is for me to have an IPOD filled with my music which will require endless days of scanning ... ughh, so I have hope that Santa will send me an elf to work in my home for a week to make my dream come true.

In my spare time...

Over the past four nights I have slowly put up the Christmas Tree (or holiday bush or something other than Christ's celebration tree).

My tree is copper in color, with gold lights and blends into my home as if it could be up year round. Which trust me after four days of putting it up, I am thinking I may just keep it up and dust it weekly.

It has been fun as this tree really starts a new era. This begins a brand new tree with nearly all new ornaments (that are mine! all mine! and I will not give them to anyone!)

So, today marks two weeks from MEXICarbO and I have much to do to prepare for you'all who have shared their RSVP with me. Still plenty of time to let me know if you are coming :)