Saturday at the Bloggerpalooza II....Hijinxs in Lewes & Beyond--Part II

After getting all the goody bags finished and a quick shower and lay down on the motel bed to re-energize, Mark was banging on the door, ready to leave for Lewes and that evening's festivities.

One of the finished bags all decked out with curled ribbons.

 A goody bag with Thyme seeds in it.  The tag ready, "Hope you had a good "thyme".  Your friend, Sluggy.

 

 

The back view of a bag....peppermint patties and a "rainbow" candy stick.

I also brought a shopping bag filled with tubes of toothpaste, all obtained for free at Rite-Aid.
Anyone who wanted some was free to go shopping in that bag.
Once I held it up and told people to "come get it", I never saw that bag again. lolz

I also brought some homemade relish.....

 I dubbed this "No Rubbish Relish" after Dr. Spo's favorite saying.  Of course, I presented him with a jar and shared more jars with anyone else who wanted to try it.

I didn't forget the ladies at the gathering either.
Java and anne marie got their own bag of goodies......assorted CHOCOLATE(of course!) and they had to duke it out to see who took home which yumminess......

Of course I don't have a photo of them pawing through that bag since I was standing there handing it out.

I also brought a giftie for Jay.  I remembered that he collected "rainbow" Santa ornaments for his tree.
And since he did me a BIG favor, which I'll talk about after Saturday, I thought it only fitting that I make him something.....a ceramic Christmas ornament.

Again, I don't have a photo of me giving him his present so I lifted these photos Jay posted of it on his blog.....

I use to paint and sell ceramics professionally so I dragged out my paint boxes and brushes and plucked this Santa ornie from the piles of ceramic bisque still in my basement and painted him up specially for Jay.
I am a bit rusty after all these years but I think it came out respectably.  8-)

And then for my buddy Mark, of late from the blog "Our Simple Lives", I just had to bring him a present too.

I found these Adult Juice Boxes aka miniature containers of boxed wine, the size of a kid's juice box, and it just screamed his name.

Here he is posing with it......

I gave him two.
I wonder if he shared them with Fred and how long they lasted.....not very, I am thinking.....hehehehe

So we arrived at the Bloggerpalooza II Dinner.
We were greeted by anne marie aka THE Warrior Gate Keeper.

Only those who paid their admission fee were allowed to pass.....

 

We sat in the outer room, chatted and consumed cocktails.

 

And Ron handed out goody bags with noisemakers and bubble stuff.
Many bubbles were blown in short order.

Then it was time to go into dinner.

 

             Smile big now Fred!

 

       
Hey, what's going on over at THAT table?!

 

 
Maybe we sat at the wrong table....Dr. Spo is here so this must be the "B Table".

 

Is it time to eat yet?

 

After eating our table got up a rousing game of "bat the balloons around"......

Everyone had a good time!

 

 I do want to lodge a complaint though.
Seriously, Jay looked much better in a tiara than moi!!!
WTF?!?

Then the A Table, not to be outdone, started Bubble Blowing......

After dinner there was the giving out of prizes.
Dr. Spo and Ron were the presenters.....

The emcee must wear a fashionable red sequined bowtie.....

Many prizes were given out, most of them silly.....

First up was a pair of red glitter cha-cha heels for Randy....

I don't think you're in Nebraska anymore Randy! lolz

Lar snagged the other prized heels.  I wonder if he has anything in his closet that will go with them, hmmm?

A coloring book for Jay....

Hey Fred!  Who do you think you are, Emeril? lol

Mark and his "take no hostages" shirt....

Doug's prize shirt....ready for Key West baby!!

Todd inspecting his light-up drumsticks or batons. 

And anne marie got a cute little dolly.

 There were also hula hoops at the dinner and I caught Mark giving it a try......

Here's the bling I came home with.....

a feather boa and Viking helmet(more my style than a tiara), Mardi Gras beads, a spikey ball that changes colors.....

And in my goody bag was a noisemaker, a flute, bubbles, balloons and candy......

And Pat brought everyone maple syrup from Canada.
Pat gave me a second bottle for Hubs who couldn't come to the shindig......

 

Thanks Pat!

 

 

After all the prizes were given out, it was time for the entertainment.  Ron had engaged a local Stage Hypnotist for the evening, Marshall Manlove.

He called for volunteers and about 7 suckers people who were game got up on "stage".
I was one of the volunteers.
And we were the evening's entertainment. lol

Ron filmed and posted the hypnosis session on YouTube.
You can go watch Part 1 HERE and Part 2 HERE .

I have never been hypmotized before.
Let me just say it was an experience.  8-P

After the show we repaired to the Hospitality Suite one last time for a couple more drinks and conversation.

 I love this shot of Mark........I think he is partied out!  That's what happens when you have kids and get old, right Mark? lolz

 Cubby, Randy, Dr. Spo, Fred and anne marie

 Tim, Java, Mark(a little perkier now) and Cubby

Then Dr. Spo(lovely chapeau by the way) and Fred played a little trick via text message on one of Dr. Spo's friends in Canada, Laurent.  He had Fred(who is from France)text Laurent en francais pretending to be Dr. Spo.  It didn't take long for the friend to realize that Dr. Spo's French was not actually Dr. Spo's and that he had been HAD. ;-)

And all too soon it was time to head back to the motel and my evening came to an end.

I had a fabulous time but I think I slept for 3 days after I got home to PA.
Partying just wears this old gal out, ya know?

Thanks  to Ron for putting this all together and thanks to everyone for making me feel so welcomed.

Ron put together a nice movie HERE with all the photos that Mark took of the 2 days of events.
It's worth watching when you get the time to see it all(it's about 27 minutes long).

I'll leave you with the group photo that was taken of all the attendees.....

back-Jay, Ron, Java, Lar, Tim, Cubby, Pat, David, Jay, Fred

front-Todd, anne marie, Sluggy, Randy, Doug, Dr. Spo, Mark

It was a great experience which I will treasure the rest of my days! 8-))

Sluggy

 

Proud Mama Here

Ok, time for a little bragging on my kid, #2 Son.

Yesterday we went to his flute and piano teacher's recital for all her students.
After about a half a dozen 4 year olds banging out simple songs on the piano I am so over recitals. lolz

#2 was one of the last students to perform, since he is the oldest and this is his last year studying with her.

 

                           
Waiting for his turn.  He doesn't look very happy now, does he?

After 1.75 hours(ugh!)it was his shot.

His teacher gave a nice introduction(talked about getting into a music program for college and how far he has come in 2 years of studying with her, etc.)but you probably can't make much of that out at the beginning of this clip, since she talks too fast and the acoustics in this church weren't so hot.

Anyway, here he is playing "Rêverie et Petit Valse" (1897) by André Caplet.

 

Make sure you have some time to spare because this clip is about 10 minutes long.

And to show you that he is a true musical Renaissance Man, he spent 10 hours on Saturday with his band, recording tracks for their 1st CD at a professional recording studio.

If you want to hear a couple of the songs by the band he is in, go HERE.
The band is called Docile Sponge and #2 Son plays the bass in it.
They don't do covers, just original compositions.

And in his spare time, he works on flute beatbox.
He wants to be THESE GUYS when he grows up.

Whether classical flute or alternative rock, this guy is into music.

Sluggy
 

Saturday at the Bloggerpalooza II....Hijinxs in Lewes & Beyond--Part I

**Now Improved with Photo Captions made up in my head.**

So Saturday all the attendees, or rather, all the attendees who wanted to be silly, rendezvoused at The Old Time Photo Shop in Rehoboth Beach at the appointed time.

We were there for the next activity of the Bloggerpalooza II Weekend.
A costumed group photo.

     Doug, Jay, Fred and Randy seem apprehensive to get started.  Everyone is waiting for somebody else to "go first" I think.....

    Everybody starts loosening up to the idea in short order.

And we all ventured into the "Inner Sanctum".

Jay getting assistance getting into his gambler garb....
"Hmmm, which fake bottle of booze should I pose with this year?"

Tim being Velcro-ed into his Yankee uniform pants. 
"If only they had had Velcro back during the Civil War.....All I need is the formulation and a time machine!"

Doug adjusting his "duster" coat....."What do you guys think....does this make my butt look big?"

Java all set as a lonely cowpoke...."Let's get this thing over with."

Dr. Spo, "Does this color bring out the blue in my eyes?"

 

   Java assisting Dr. Spo...."Come on Sweet Cheeks suck it in....."

Show off those girly attributes Dr. Spo!
"I just wanna, just wannaaaaa.....I just wanna, just wannaaaaa, giiiiiirls, girls just wanna have fun!"

 Pat all "chapped" up.
"Smile when you say that partner."

 

Larry putting on the war bonnet.
"I just can't do anything with my hair today!"

Sluggy in front of the hat wall.....
"I'm ready for my close-up Mister DeMille".

Fred as a Damn Yankee.....
Being from the South, I had better not say anything else here. lolz

Ron, as one of the "Fancy Gals", coming out of the closet, errr, dressing room.

Ron telling Tim, "I've always loved a man in uniform"....at least in my own head. lolz

It was sort of disconcerting seeing a man dress in 1860's garb checking his iPhone.....

 

 Pat, Fred, Tim & Doug getting into character

Mark & Fred aka "The South & North get Friendly."

And finally the whole crew was ready to take some photos.

And some day, after I make up my mind which shot to buy, I'll show  y'all the grand shot that the lovely ladies at the studio took.
I just can't make up my mind if I like the serious, the smiling or the goofy pose best!
Decisions, decisions.....

After we all had a good laugh, or five, at our selves, and caused a great deal of mayhen and chaos at the Photo Studio, we all changed back into 21st century garb and heading down the block.

The weather was gloriously warm(for March)and sunny and the shops were all open for business....

But our destination was an early group lunch to the The Purple Parrot

Being St. Patrick's Day Weekend the place was already packed with revelers but we squeezed our group onto a long table.....

   (l to r)Fred, anne marie, Todd, Randy, Doug, Tim, Cubby, Java

They had a drink Special of $2 Mimosas or Bloody Marys.
Our table kept the waiter hopping with refills of those.  I must confess that once the 2nd Mimosa kicked in I sort of forgot to take any more photos.
And I am still trying to figure out just how many Bloody Marys Cubby actually had.....hehehehe

Here is the last shot I took at the Purple Parrot--a photo of Dr. Spo's Seafood Gumbo.
Loking M'mmm good!  I should have ordered that......

After a leisurely lunch Fred & Mark drove me back to the motel to sleep off the booze for a nap, while they went out looking at real estate.  I had a couple of hours to myself to rest up before the grand finale of the weekend, the Group Dinner and Entertainment.
Actually I was busy putting the finishing touches on the little goody bags I was going to hand out after Dinner that evening at the Inn.

The conclusion of my report coming soon in Hijinxs in Lewes & Beyond--Part II.

Sluggy

Last of the Rite-Aid Haul for This Week

Back up to Rite-Aid this morning.

They were out of the Axe 'Poo so I got 2 Dove Men's Body Wash instead.....

2 x Dove Men's Body Wash on sale=$7.00

I used 2 x $2/1 Dove Men's Body Wash ManuQ=$4.00
I used 1 of my $2 +Up Rewards I received yesterday.....
$7-$4Qs-$2+Up=$1.00 OOP

I had my $1.06 all ready to pay(6% tax in PA)and the register only charged me $1, no tax.
Weird, huh?
I guess karma kicked in from the register overcharging me by .12¢ on one of my transactions earlier in the week.

So who am I to argue with a machine?...I paid $1.00  ;-)
And I received another $2 +Up Rewards for buying these 2 items.

Here are all the products I bought this week at Rite-Aid, in one photo.....

21 items consisting of shampoo, body wash and deodorant.
Regular retail of $131.59.
I paid $10.66, including tax of .78¢, out of pocket for it all.
That comes out to paying just a bit more than .50¢ per item.

I also have rain checks for Axe and Dove Men's shampoo to get 4 more bottles for a grand total of $1.06 more(after coupons).

Not a bad week's work.

I think we are set for men's toiletries for awhile.  8-)))

I've already got my plan for next week to roll the +Up Rewards I have left($4)--

3 transactions buying 2 shampoos, 2 deodorants, bottle of pain killer and 2 bottles of dish soap and I should spend a whole $2.57 w/tax for it all and have a $2 +Up Reward leftover at the end of it all.

Stay tuned.....

Sluggy