Georgia Pumpkins!

From ghosties and goulies and long legged beasties, and things that go bump in the night ... Good Lord deliver us!

Well, the pumpkins were lit in Georgia last night! Hmmm ... can we figure out which one Dan carved and which one Meghan carved? Let's just say that Meghan thinks Dan's was missing that 23rd chromosone!

Here's a few more pictures of the master pumpkin carvers and their creations!







I'm kind of surprised there weren't any little "ferret" pumpkins, but perhaps Dan and Meg were afraid it would become Charlie's newest and best hiding place! Ha Ha!

Major Paine and Rascal the Bee

I couldn't let Halloween pass without posting a few pictures of our own Trick or Treaters!

Bree was a "Major Paine" this year. The seniors all got to dress up and parade around the elementary schools today... one of those senior privileges. She had a blast and her costume certainly pulled together!


And then there's Rascal! It wasn't enough to show off his costume at Trunk or Treat yesterday, he went to Lakeside Beikirch and made Mo smile today too!

Trunk or Treat!

Just a few pictures of the Trunk or Treat event at church yesterday. I wasn't able to take too many pictures as I had a little bumble bee in my arms most of the day.

But I did manage to catch a picture of a tiger that came looking for candy ...


Pastor Brad and Melissa performing for everyone ...


Harry giving hayrides ...


and Pastor Brad giving rides on his quad ...


It was sure a lot of fun! And it was great to see all the kids laughing while playing games (and jumping in the bounce houses), and enjoying cider and donuts at the bonfire. Of course, there was WAY too much candy floating around -- you could almost smell sugar in the air!

Crazy Pet Costumes

There's an email circulating on the internet that has all sorts of pets dressed up for Halloween. Some are adorable and some make me wonder, "Who thinks these things up?!"

But this is my favorite. It reminds me that we can become anything we want if we're willing to just get out of our comfort zone a little and DREAM BIG!

The King and I ...

Are you wondering if I'm reminiscing about that classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical starring Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner? You know, the one where the English widow accepts a position as the live-in governess for the children of the King of Siam (Siam is the former name of Thailand, right?)

Well, I'm not. I'm not even sure that I've ever seen the whole movie. And if I were to watch it now, I'd probably opt to watch "Anna and the King" because I'm a Jodie Foster fan. But it's not about that either!

Actually, "The King and I" is a Thai restaurant on East Henrietta Road. Dave and I met Dan and Marilyn Lansberry there last night for dinner.

What a nice place! And a totally different experience for us. Dan and Marilyn had been there before (thankfully!) and were able to help us maneuver through the menu and make what we hoped were good choices.

While I couldn't begin to pronounce any of the dishes (well, except for Dave's choice -- the Evil Jungle Prince Shrimp -- which he probably chose because his middle name is Elvis and Elvis had the "Jungle Room" at Graceland ... yada yada yada) the menu luckily provided a description of the dishes and seasonings used in them. Very helpful to Thai cuisine newbies like us.

And I learned a few things too -- I've heard of curry spice, although I'm not sure that I've ever tasted it and I'm a little afraid to venture into trying different spices while out at a restaurant and the enjoyment of my entire meal depends on it. But I digress. My point is that according to the description on the menu, there are at least three different kinds of curry -- red, yellow, and green! I have absolutely no idea what the differences are but I thought it was interesting to note curry comes in a variety of colors (and perhaps intensity?)!

I had Chicken Phat Prigkhin -- delicious! I picked this dish because it comes with a spicy chili ginger sauce which I was rather certain I would like. And it also has green beans, basil and ginger, all of which I like.

I think Marilyn had Panang Chicken and Dan had Masamaun Shrimp ... everyone seemed to enjoy their meals. Of course the best part was having a chance to sit down and chat with good friends and catch up on what our families have been doing and all that fun stuff.

We're thinking about trying an Indian restaurant next... I'll have to try making something with curry between now and then and see what I think. And I'll check with Josh because I know he's gone to the "India House" with friends who apparently know what's safe to order if you've grown up eating American cuisine.

Above is a picture of everyone (well, except me ... I was taking the picture) as we were leaving. You can see a little bit of the restaurant decor in the background. I just wish I'd thought to take a picture of the beautiful tiger painting they had on display. You can see it in the background if you look very carefully. It was very striking!

Addicted to Panda VideoCam

Hello. My name is Barbara Paine and I'm totally addicted to Panda VideoCam.

What is it about watching that live feed into the den of Mei Xiang, the giant panda and her cub, Tai Shan that gets me so excited? I haven't a clue.


Maybe it's because I started following Tai Shan's life story shortly after he was born at the Smithsonian National Zoo this past July. I had read a blurb on the internet that just 2 minutes after he was born, the mama panda was holding and cuddling him. There was a link to the video cam that I clicked on. And I was hooked.

At first I couldn't see anything other than the mama panda ... I'd keep an open browser while I was at my desk just to see if I could catch a glimpse of the cub. Every now and then I thought I just might have seen him, but it was hard to be sure.

Then one day I clearly saw him lying near his mother. I saw him get up and walk around... I found myself saying to no one in particular (by the way, that means Rascal -- who doesn't really qualify for a person, except in Dave's eyes, but that's another story) "There he is! Look! Isn't he adorable?" Hmmmm. No response. Yep, that was probably the first sign that I had a Panda VideoCam problem.

Since then, Tai Shan (pronounced tie-SHON) has grown up quite a bit. I've watched the video footage on the Animal Planet website showing his first medical exams and watched as Mei Xiang (pronounced may-shong) gradually ventured further and further away from her cub. I even cast my vote to help pick his name and possibly win a trip to Washington, DC for a private tour of the pandas. I didn't win the trip but my name won.... the cub was named Tai Shan which means "peaceful mountain".

Here's a picture of Tai Shan being checked by the vets on October 21st. He's a whopping 14.1 pounds and is 27" long.


Pretty cute huh?

By the way, Mei Xiang means "beautiful fragrance". What do you think that chances of that being true are? LOL!

Here's a picture of Mama Panda and son after his October 21st check-up:


I hesitate to post the link to the webcam in fear of creating more panda junkies like myself, but it sure would have been nice to have someone to call the other day as I was jumping up and down when mama picked up her cub by the back of his neck and then started cradling him in her arms, rocking back and forth... it was just such a wonderful event to watch! I wanted to know that someone else was taking in this moment!

So, just in case you want to take a peek, you can find the panda video cam by clicking on this link -- Panda VideoCam.

Don't say I didn't warn you!

Dinner at Bellancas Portside

What better way to spend a rather cold and rainy Saturday night in Rochester than having dinner with good friends?


Dave and I met up with Kathy and Clint List and Steve and Marie Horton (our long-time friends but new in-laws!) at Bellancas Portside Restaurant in Charlotte last night. What a nice, cozy place to have dinner... soft lights, lots of picture windows that allow for a great view of the lake and river, and a beautiful stone fireplace. Last night just a menagerie of candles kept the fireplace lit but it made for wonderful atmosphere. We'll definitely go back!

Since Kathy's been craving artichokes for the past several weeks, we all shared an appetizer of Artichokes French. Since I'd ordered Chicken French for dinner, I knew I was in for a treat when I tasted the artichokes. And I wasn't disappointed. My dinner was delicious, served over Angel Hair. Dave had the same and totally agreed.

Everyone seemed to enjoy their dinner and the chance to catch up on what we'd all been doing. After a relaxing dinner, we headed back to the List's house for some dessert and kisses from Scrunt (their "almost as adorable as Rascal" dog). We got to see a beautiful slideshow of their recent family trip to Hawaii and do a little more visiting.

What a great evening! And the host at Bellancas was nice enough to take this picture to help us remember the occasion...

The Adventure Begins ...

I've always admired my mother-in-law, Glennys, who has faithfully recorded the happenings of her life in her diary for the past, well, for as long as I've known her. And that's a long time!

No matter what information we've wanted to recall, she has always been able to go back to her diaries and find the details that our memories had long forgotten -- Josh's first word, when Daniel took his first steps, when we got the news that Breanna was on her way... all the important events in our life that we mistakenly believed we could never forget.

Imagine my delight (and complete surprise) on May 10th, 1999 when Dave picked me up from work and pulled out a fancy gift bag and handed me a card. I couldn't imagine what the occasion was. Lo and behold, it was the 22nd anniversary of our first date. The card spoke of love that had lasted through the years and the gift -- well, Dave had rented "Annie Hall", the movie we'd gone to that night so many years ago.

I couldn't believe that he could remember the exact date. And in fact, he didn't. But Mom's diary had made mention of the fact and all it took was a wee bit of searching to track down the day. Imagine that! I guess that's the magic of just jotting down a few thoughts each day.

Despite my best intentions, I just never seemed to be able to get into the diary mode. And yet there are so many things happening in my life that I want to remember and be able to look back on. Perhaps a blog is the answer.

I plan to jot down occasional musings of the events taking place in the Paine family's lives. I'll add pictures to help bring the details alive and keep them fresh in our minds. Perhaps there'll be a comment or two from the family and friends who may happen to stop by and read along...

Let's see where this adventure leads!