First of all, if you didn’t make it to the performance  of “A Winter’s Journey” by Quintessence Choral Artists of the Southwest tonight, they are performing tomorrow, December 2nd at 3:00 pm at St. John’s United Methodist Church, 2626 Arizona NE. The concert was fantastic and the “Jingle Bells/Hallelujah Chorus” medley is not to be missed.

On the way home from helping Tristan get ready for Goth Night, Laurie are I were wondering how we fit so much into the day. Laurie made two chocolate, chocolate chip angel food cakes first thing this morning, then we did a photo shoot of her outfit before she ran off to choir practice for the Messiah. I hung the photo backdrop from the ceiling, extending the width by 3 feet and allowing me to take down the stands. Then I gathered up parts from different water filters and put together a new water filter to replace the one that broke from a hard freeze a few weeks so I could run drip systems when the hoses thawed out. I cleaned out vines and scraggly growth from what we call the “north house” garden, worked on the bathroom remodel, went to the post office and Lowe’s, and herded cats. After Laurie got home from the rehearsal, she cut up the cakes and I bagged the pieces so we could freeze them, then we got ready to go into town. We did another photo shoot of Laurie’s outfit, and went to pick up Tristan. Tristan had to try on some new clothes we ordered that came in yesterday before we headed to the photo show. We finally got to the ANMPAS show, but we missed Susan (one of her entries is the triptych on the left side of the B&W photo below). We went to the concert after the photo show, which was great, as I already mentioned, then we went by Target so Laurie and Tristan could get some clothes and makeup. I was one of a couple dozen men pushing shopping carts behind their women in the clothing and makeup isles — all of us men looked rather bored and longingly glanced toward the tool department. Three hats, exercise tights, a pair of shoes, various shades of lipstick and an eye shadow kit later, we headed to Tristan’s to help her get ready for Goth Night. Tristan had sworn off make after the years she performed Flamenco with Laurie and I, but makeup is a necessary part of Goth Night along with high heeled footwear and corsets.

In the first photo, Rosencrantz was playing on the backdrop, jumping around and attacking the folds. Meanwhile, Guildenstern was hanging out on the couch with Cthulhu — both of them look like they could use corsets. The third photo in the series is of Susan’s triptych of the demolition of the houses on our property. The rest of the photos include Tristan and Cat getting ready for Goth Night, and then both of them all made up, dressed in proper Goth black, corseted, high heeled, and ready to have a great time.