I suppose my only complaint about Fowler Fest 08 would be that our comcast remote control for the bedroom television has walked away.  I mean, really though, who steals a remote control?  So, I can’t quite figure out what has happened there.  We’re still looking around the house.  Maybe its in the freezer, or something.

I would go so far as to say that Fowler Fest 08 was a sucess.  Our intention this year was to throw a good ol’ fashion party with loud music and keg beer, and to recoup our cost of the whole shindig.  Which is exactly what happened.

The sheriff was promptly called at 11 PM with a noise complaint, but shook his head in disbelief when he got here.  He had said he rolled his windows down, and strained his ears to hear anything.  I told him that we had milked the time for every last second, but promptly unplugged at 11 PM.  He was appreciative, and left pretty quickly.

Both kegs were drained completely, I was told.  Interestingly enough, I didn’t have a drop of alcohol this year.  I was throwing back the Diet Cokes like no ones business, though!  And, honestly, I didn’t mind not drinking.  I think I’m on to something here with this paxil I’m taking for anxiety.

There were a couple near-altercations that were quickly resolved with a little help from a sober homeowner (that would be me, by the way).  Not between any of our friends, mind you.  It was between drunken neighbors.

And, one kid (I say ‘kid’, I sure hope he was 21) tried doing a keg stand on my keg, which I abruptly stopped also.  I strongly let him know that he was not at some college frat party and standing off of my keg was not okay, and to drink out of a glass like a human being.   He quickly apologized and stepped away.

Past that, there are some pictures on myspace and facebook.  If you have any pictures of Fowler Fest, please let me know.  I’d love to get copies!

We’ll be having Fowler Fest 09 next fall.  Start saving funds so you can come too!

I believe every year since Tom has been hurt, we’ve had a party.

Well, at first they were benefits.

Now they’re more like a huge crowd of people that need an excuse to get together to listen to live music and drink beer.

After five years, I’ve finally realized that this is nearly an expected annual event throughout our friends and family.

Thus, our annual autumn benefit/party will henceforth known as Fowler Fest.

And, to celebrate this year’s Fowler Fest, I have created Crap.

(Yes, that is ‘Crap‘ with a capital C.  You’re welcome.)

Therefore, even if you are unable to attend the amazing wonder that has become the annual Fowler Fest, you can still own some Crap that can and will make your friends and family jealous.

So, go forth, and purchase Crap!

(And, if you really do buy something, send me a photo of the item being used / worn!)

PS - Calling these items Crap no way infers that these items are truly Crap.  In fact, I like ‘em.  So, you should too, dammit.

Everything went off without a hitch, thank goodness.  Our wonderful friends started filling in and out all night long, keeping me very busy playing hostess.  We had a stage set up in the back yard for the bands to play, and had our first (and only) noise complaint by 3:30 PM.  When the Sheriff came by, I could tell that he was not happy to be there, but had to do his job.

I would say that we had a constant 40 - 50 people through the party, with at least another 50 - 75 filtering throughout the day.  We made a decent little bit of cash, and now have to figure out the most responsible way to use it.  Obviously, we’re trying to figure out the best shower chair option for Tom first.  Then, if their is any left over, it’ll probably go towards filling our propane tank.

There are some pictures up on facebook and myspace, if you’re interested in checking them out.

• I still need two more people to participate in the GSE2007.
• I mailed my socks today. And two other packages to a couple of lucky bloggers.
• I took pictures of my sister and her ‘friend that is a boy’ today.
• I took pictures of Elizabeth and Lauren on Saturday.
• (yes, the photos are at the same location)
• Tom got all craaaazy and decided to blog. On his own. Weird.
• It feels like Sunday to me.
• I’m tired.
• The benefit is in less than two weeks!
• I need to clean my floors… (Miss Ann, wanna do that for me? Kthx.)
• I started Christmas shopping yesterday!!!  WHOO-HOO!

• Turns out that Tom’s wonderful shower chair that was purchased for him is too small. Who knew it was such a curse to be over 6 feet tall?! So, now I have to figure out how to return the one we have and get one that he can sit in without his feet dragging on the floor, without costing extra cash. It sure would be great if that were a simple task, but I know it won’t be.

• Our power went out during the beautiful, clear skied day. For some reason, it’ll go out on gorgeous days… but we’ve not really had it go out due to weather. I don’t get it. The whole neighborhood was out for about an hour. Which really sucked because Tom’s air mattress that helps prevent pressure sores is powered by electricity. As soon as it looses power, it immediately begins to deflate. So, instead of leaving Tom’s sensitive skin pushed against the wire framing of the bed, I quickly got Tom dressed and up in his chair. Of course, not even 15 minutes after getting Tom up, the power comes back on. Go figure.

• I’ve decided that November 3rd is the best date to sneak in a fund raiser here at the house before next year. I think we’ve got 3 bands that have volunteered to play a little while. I’m going to have to ask some people to bring a finger food, also. I plan on finding someone to lend me money to get a keg, and request that the guests donate a couple bucks each to pay it back. Maybe we’ll be able to raise enough money to pay back the guys that opened the credit card to make Tom’s bathroom accessible.

• I still have to paint the bathroom. Elizabeth is coming over tomorrow night.

• I have yet to start cleaning, although Paul has, to a degree… thank God.

• We’re supposed to go to a routine doctors appointment tomorrow morning, but I’ve had to stay up ridiculously late trying to finish Tom’s program. I doubt we’ll make it to the appointment tomorrow. Its nearly 4 AM. A smidge late in the night, if you ask me. No, we didn’t start late… its just being difficult.

• (If you don’t know what the ‘program’ is, be thankful. And don’t ask.)

• We had nachos tonight for dinner and they were wonderful. I haven’t had them in forever!

• I’m busy every Saturday until the week after Thanksgiving. I’m supposed to work on Saturdays. I’ll have to figure out how to manage that pretty quickly! I might have to start going in the morning. *gasp*

• I’m tired and I still can’t go to sleep yet…

Every year some friends of ours throws a Halloween party. Halloween is their favorite holiday. Costumes are highly suggested at this event.

Every year Tom and I attend. Rarely do we dress up. We just… I don’t know… don’t have the creativity to come up with clever costumes.

I’ve taken up smoking outside the house (this does relate to the story - I promise). Its been pretty frigid in these here parts. I’ve donned a hooded sweater while running outside to get my quick nicotine fix.

While outside the other night, I glance at my reflection in the window.

I’m the frickin‘ unabomber, dude.

I immediately tell Tom. He finds it quite entertaining.

We discuss how simple a costume this would be for the Halloween party. Yet, we can’t remember exactly what the freak looks like, so I google ‘em.

I suggest to Tom that it might be better if he dresses up as the unabomber because, well, they are both males… and Tom has a mustache. (And I don’t - for those who are paying attention here). All we have to do would be find those huge sunglasses that were so popular when I was like… oh, ten years old. That shouldn’t be too hard, right?

Anyways - the whole point of this post is that I have no idea what I should be at this party.

I’m looking for simple here. Like, stuff I already have in my closet or in my house.

Ideas?

Anyone? Anyone?

I wanted to thank everyone that made it over on Saturday. I think it was a great turn out.

I felt very scattered and wanted to spend more time with each visitor.

I regret not sitting down with my family longer, especially my Aunt Lisa whom I rarely get to see! Hopefully she’ll be able to make it back sometime soon.

I feel I don’t really have the hostess position figured out. Or, maybe the ideal hostess feels scattered and like she didn’t talk to each individual visitor as much as she should have.

If that is the case, I make a great hostess.

I hope this isn’t the last gathering at my house. I really enjoyed the fact that I had enough room to have company over without everyone stepping on each other.

The night was over late. I think my head finally hit my pillow at 5 am. I’ve still not fully recovered from the long evening!

Bless Paul, though. He had the house cleaned up and the dishes done before he went to sleep that very evening! It was wonderful to wake up and not have to pick up everything from the night before.

Hopefully work didn’t suffer too much from my bad timing. I went in for a while Sunday evening and attempted to help catch up. I’m fairly sure that there will not be a cake in the store come Monday morning. Which, in all honesty, is a great thing. I just hope that there were enough for all the customers!