My Thanksgiving

After we dropped off Grandma Dulce and Sweet Sudie Pearl in Waco, we stopped off to see Emily, Jenn and Anth and the two growing kids in Pflugerville.








The next morning we went over to Steph's to see that she had decorated the outside for Christmas.

A Little Taste of Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Grandma Dulce got a ride in the Aston Martin.........








And we had a terrific dinner with Kistler to go with the butternut squash soup Nana prepared and Fort La Tour Bordeaux to complement the tenderloin and smoked turkey we had.

Here's the table before we messed it up.



And here it is after we started...



Graham and Paige dressed as a Pilgrim and an American Indian



Pictures of the ladies who flew in to be with us for our Thanksgiving celebration.



And Graham after the feast asleep with the dog-----the flash did wake him up!




And Paige licking the whisk....followed by Dulce getting a pedicure.







It's no wonder these ladies don't want to go home..


Finally Nana and Evelyn

Grandparents Day

Paige and Graham both had Grandparents Day at their school last Tuesday. I went with Paige and Nana went with Graham.

It was a treat to go around these two prestigious schools and we took a few videos and pictures.

Here is Paige standing outside the Computer Lab.



Here's Graham explaining his work to Nana.......



At Paige's school the kids did a little program where they gave information on their family tree and talked about their Grandparents. Paige talked about me.




Our friend Henry W. recited the words of wisdom he learned from his Grandfather.......


Graham's class did a song or two for Nana...




Paigie's did too....




Here's Paige showing me her work at her desk. Her teacher Susan Spitzberg thinks PK is brilliant. I do too.


Here's a cute one of a couple of kids talking about Grandparents...


For those who wanna see more vids of these events, search 'get2eric' on youtube.

Been a While Huh?

When I left Houston on Wednesday headed for Newark and then Rome I forgot my camera.
What an imbecile I felt like. I had the charger , the extra memory cards and batteries ------but no camera.

So I bought a new one at Liberty Airport and read the instructions. But it wasn't till a week later that by accident I found it could do videos. So, no vids till late in the trip.

I got to Rome, Business/First, and took the train to Termini and another to Civitavecchia. I had been to the port a few years ago but I didn't remember it being so far from Termini.

When I got off the train I was not feeling too tired although it was 4 a.m. my time.
Here's my pic at the station in Civi...


Anyway got on board at noon and was thrilled by the elegance of the ship. I stayed awake until after dinner and even went to a show and then crashed. But it turned out to be good because I was adjusted to Greenwich +1 immediately after that.

Next morning first stop was Marseille. The port is full of sailboats and yachts like many towns in the South France are. Vieux Port is a big U shape and you can walk completely around and take a ferry from the tip of the U back to the other side. At the bottom of the U is a fish market on the open quay.





There are coffee shops and restaurants lining the side of the street across from the wharf. I really enjoyed walking around.





Next was Barcelona. The Ramblas on Saturday was crowded and never fails to entertain. How this guy sits here is a mystery........



And in this picture you can see a policeman walking off with a pickpocket/scam artist.


Next day, Sunday, was Palma Majorca. Never been there before. Beautiful city with clean streets and wide avenues with first rate shops. Being Sunday not much going on. I looked all over for Rafael Nadal but only saw a poster..........

Next day was Cartagena. Went there last year (on a Sunday) but this time I was there on Monday. All the shops were open and I was able to buy some refreshments and a few cigars. I went back to the ship and got the banned spirits O/B without a prob. So, even though it was a 1 mile walk to the shop, I went off the boat again and made another run. This time upon boarding I was asked if I had liquor and I said "Just a bottle of wine" and the guy let me go with it. Lucky.

The next port was Lanzarote and while I will show you some pics, it ain't worth a spit. Being 75 miles from Morrocco it is swamped by Africans who have makeshift booths and counters and hawk junky trinkets from one end of the dockside to the other end. About a mile of junk.







Tenerife was the last call before the crossing. Here's a video taken on Thursday as we were leaving Tenerife. and that is a really nice place.


Can't say enough about the difference in quality between RCI (Royal Caribbean) and Celebrity. Food, service, entertainment and just about everything was superior on this cruise.
Here's a couple of elevator shots.


I was particularly enthralled with a group of musicians from Ukraine who performed 3 times a day almost every day during the crossing. The night before arrival in FLL the group played and I was the only audience they had for 40 minutes. While everyone else was packing they played just to me. Finally a few people drifted in for the last 15 minutes or so. Magical! A personal concert. At this point in the voyage the group recognized me since I had been a constant member of their audience for the past 10 days-- 15 or so performances.

Hallowe'en in Houston

The neighborhood party at Del Monte is unbelievably good. It starts at 5 pm and goes till dusk. Afterwards everyone goes trick or treating.

Here are a few pics .....





















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And a few vis...
First one is Evie and Nana playing on the floor.


Second is a little more of that..



Next is little Kat dancing. She is not yet 2......

Another Old Feller's Thoughts......

I got so many responses from the post last week. All were well received.

This one I thought I would post for all to see since it came as an e-mail.

It's from my my brother Ken,

Hi Eric
Playing around on my PC, I came across your blog and it was great!. Singing along with the old tunes that you posted I was back in my younger days. Yes ! we had the get together's with Mum and Dad and all their friends and especially on New Years Eve when Dad had the task of 'letting in the New Year'.

Having been around a number of houses in the street and (having lots of drinks at all them ) he then proceeded to organize the family. Everyone had to do a TURN!!, I remember Rene would do a piece of poetry, uncle Wilf would play the piano, uncle Alf told a few jokes and yes! Mum would sing, I remember it to this day, i.e 'An old fashioned house in an old fashioned street, where the cobble stones harrass the feet,' I could go on but enough is enough.

You might be wondering what my contribution was?

Ha ha well!

I sang , It was a song that Dad sang to me, about a group of young soldiers at a camp before going off to fight in the first world war.Dad contributed with his medley of songs including 'I'm going back to imas' , 'Forget me not lane' ,'Confidentially',and 'with 'er head tucked underneath 'er arm'.
I remember when Norma was born and growing up and Dad had her tap dancing and singing. He was very proud of her! "a real trooper that girl" was his remarks!!
I will say cheerio for now and thanks for taking me back to those happy childhood days!!!
Lots of love to you all.
Ken

Cruising

I watch the deals being offered to airline people every week.

Now and then there is a special that snaps your neck. This week Celebrity is offering and incredible deal.

It is a brand new boat.......

And Here




The deal is from Rome to FT Lauderdale, balcony cabin for $499. Of course as a single I would pay $1000
The flights from IAH to FCO are wide open as is the return from FLL.
I am tempted, what do you think?