Josie helped out, of course. The surprise was she did not do much (any?) sampling of the construction materials. Maybe the psychedelic colors were too novel for this all to register as candy. Maybe it has been twenty months of grownups saying, "don't put that in your mouth!". My daughter, of course, is past that, and has a sweet tooth. As Jen says, "it's all good." Her suggestion for the unused candy cane: Mint (candy cane) chocolate chip cookies

Merry Christmas to all.

Oh, and I think the commenting is still broken.

Jordi could find no way to light a few candles in a fondue however. So dessert was cupcakes. Here Jen gets some assistance in making her wish come true.

Oh, the name of the hotel was Soylent Green Inn.

But wait, there's more. My cousin Sue and hubby Jeff had all of us over on Friday after. The configuration of the table did not lend itself to a classic photo, but this pic of our hosts looks pretty good to me. Pie was mincemeat, yum.

On top of this we had a couple of surprise additions. Did you know it is not possible to set up a new bank account without a sanctioned photo id? We are told it is a Homeland Security rule. Ruth's drivers license had expired, and an expired license is not good enough. So after a phone call to set up an appointment, we go off to find the Florida DMV. The appointment is an appointment to stand in line. The October 30 photo shows the door to the DMV office.

What's worse than waiting in line at the DMV? Waiting in the ER! Karen's ankle apparently was looking delicious to some Miami insect or spider. We had it looked at on Friday by Ruth's physician, and he didn't think it looked like anything. But it was worse on Saturday, and fearing an infection, we stopped by Mt Sinai Hospital, conveniently halfway between Ruth's old and new digs.

Whats worse than waiting in the ER? Waiting twice in the ER! Yes, the oral antibiotics from Saturday did not seem to be doing the job, so we returned on Sunday. Karen got additional meds via IV. Tere and Gilbert were in touch and were generous enough to swing by to help. Tere stayed with Karen at the hospital while Gilbert and I joined Sheila and Ruth for more packing.

The move finally occurred on Monday with minimal fuss. Ruth is getting settled in her new apartment. Karen's ankle is looking pretty good after a follow up visit back here at home and a switch to a new antibiotic that is better tolerated. Whew!

It is certainly true that a bigger lens and bigger sensor makes for better pictures. That makes gathering light so much easier with a never-sit-still Josie. But still I say it is the photo subject that counts most.

On a side note, you may notice the site's new "piebee" image. The bee portion of the original image was borrowed from some now forgotten place on the web. A few weeks ago, an honest bee was spied in the back yard. I macro-stalked the busy one as it buzzed around some flowers behind our bedroom. One of the lucky shots, photoshopped and paired with an old blueberry pie photo, is the result. I may have to tweak some other style elements of the site to match the pink behind the bee.