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.