We decided to each say one thing that we were thankful for as we went around the circle. I think this should become a tradition because we have all been so blessed. God is good!
We had the adult table set in the dining room
and the children's table which was in the kitchen. The little boys can do what they want to when they have a table to themselves and I think they enjoy that at this stage of their life (then again, we'd ALL like to do what we want to at ANY stage of life!) 
and of course, our traditional silliness that the big boys have fun with. It's always great to see what cute little things they will come up with to teach the younger ones. I had no idea that napkin rings could be so versatile.
After the "feast", the boys went to the Cowboy game and I decided to paint. I haven't painted in watercolor in so long that I was afraid that I might have forgotten how. Let me back up. A dear friend is printing my book on China for me, so in return, I decided to do a painting for her guest house, "Bearadise".
I have clients who came to get a commimssioned painting. While they were here they bought two more of my paintings. They had always liked "The Wine Connoisseurs" 
so when I said that I would sell it, they decided to take that one for their bar in their home in Dallas. She had asked me right after I painted it if it was for sale and I had said no, but she really liked it and it will look great in their bar. It's the painting that was on our Christmas card in 2005. I also gave them the Bar Bill since she thought it was great fun.
so when I said that I would sell it, they decided to take that one for their bar in their home in Dallas. She had asked me right after I painted it if it was for sale and I had said no, but she really liked it and it will look great in their bar. It's the painting that was on our Christmas card in 2005. I also gave them the Bar Bill since she thought it was great fun.Well, one thing led to another, and she wanted to know if I could paint something for their lake house. I told her to send me a photograph that she liked and we could work from there. To make a long story longer, Frank showed her one of his favorite paintings and she said that it was perfect for the lake, so she bought it as well!
I started thinking about selling his favorite painting out from under him, and kept thinking about it all night, so the next day I decided to drag out the watercolors and see if I could come up with something similar. I worked on this for a couple of days and he loves it! That's when I got the watercolor bug again (it's contagious) and painted these brooms that I photographed in the Houtongs in Beijing. 
Now I'm searching for something else to paint in watercolor. I'll probably do something else from China or New Mexico as I have many photographs from both places. I'm donating a large black and white image of these brooms to the fund raiser at the Arlington Museum of Art. It's called a Black and White Gala this year, so I thought that would be appropriate. 
Since the Houtongs are heated with lumps of coal like the ones in the photograph, things that were once white turn black, so this seemed like a good idea!
Now I'm searching for something else to paint in watercolor. I'll probably do something else from China or New Mexico as I have many photographs from both places. I'm donating a large black and white image of these brooms to the fund raiser at the Arlington Museum of Art. It's called a Black and White Gala this year, so I thought that would be appropriate. Since the Houtongs are heated with lumps of coal like the ones in the photograph, things that were once white turn black, so this seemed like a good idea!Guess I'd better get busy to do my household chores and running around. We'll be going to a movie this afternoon and I have a lot to do before time to go. I love Fridays since the new movies are always out on that day. I'll keep blogging if you keep reading.
Pcasso
Our business is booming and we have another major project in a couple of weeks. Holiday Magic is a big benefit that is sponsored by the Junior League and we will show and hopefully sell our work there the last weekend in November. I discovered a painter that I like so I painted my rendition of one of his pieces for our bar. It's a very silly little painting entitled "The Bar Bill" but since I drink martinis, I really like it.
We had a great dinner at Cafe Pacific in Dallas. They were here taking a course in pearl evaluation. Her daughter owns a company that sells exotic pearls. I told her that quite a few people had asked me to try to publish my journal that I have posted here on line in 
We also were told by our travel agent, Ruth Turpin, who owns Cruises, Etc., in Fort Worth that she had sent a hard copy of my "manuscript" from the trip to the President of Viking River Cruises. Keep your fingers crossed. Maybe something will come of this!
There were about 250 people there and it was a GRAND time! They had friends who had come from as far away as NYC, as well as California, Seattle and New Mexico. Our niece and nephew, Gary and Theresa Salazar were here as well.
The evening started with a band called "Save the Assassins" and the lead guitarist was our 10 year old grandson, Ian. We'd never heard his group play before and we were really surprised at how professional they sounded. He's the youngest member of the band but in our opinion, the best!
They played 7 or 8 songs and then Connor, the 8 year old, played Happy Birthday on the piano for his Mother. When that portion of the entertainment was over, Frank presented Beth with a birthday cake that I had made for her.
She is very calorie conscious so unknown to her, it was made of Styrofoam with real frosting and a fake carrot on the top. 
Since it had real frosting on it, she assumed that it was a real cake. About an hour later she brought plates, forks and a large knife to the table, but when she tried to cut the cake ... alas ... Nothing Happened! It was only then that she realized that it was a joke. Everyone got a big laugh out of that, especially Beth.
They played at Gilligan's several nights a week for many years when they were young and I don't know when I remember seeing all of them having so much fun. They are are business men now, but it's fun to revert back once in a while 
They were surrounded by a room full of old friends and classmates and it was wonderful. It's a very special feeling for parents to see their children enjoying themselves so much. And little Ian was terrific. He got several standing ovations (he really IS very good) and has a stage presence that's unbelievable for a young man his age. Takes after his Father. He jumped down into the audience off of the stage at one point and danced with his "groupies" while he played, took the mike and dedicated songs to special people and even threw his guitar pick into the audience when he was finished. He thanked his father for being the "back-up" guitar. It was just terrific. 
This new airport is a huge place, but fortunately the distance between where we were to check-in and the club for Cathay Pacific were very near where our driver dropped us off, so I didn't need a wheelchair this time. 
They had us check in at the Business Class counter but due to the fact that we were flying first class, we had royal treatment again. 
When I saw the distance that we were going to fly in order to get to Los Angeles,7254 miles, cold reality set in. This was going to be a LONG flight!
The amount of time it would take to get from Hong Kong to LA was more than a little disconcerting. 
Time didn't drag by too slowly on the flight home however, since we were constantly being fed and pampered by the flight attendants and had a selection of 30 newly released movies to watch. As soon as we boarded we were offered champagne and orange juice while we waited to take off.
Then the food service started and it was a food fest.... five courses which started with a sizeable portion of Gravlax
and ended with a delicious desert.
The view from the plane window was a show in itself and every bit as good as the movies that we watched. The clouds were beautiful and it was a clear as a bell. In fact, it was so clear that could see forever, to quote Barbara Streisand.
Our personal flight attendant was darling and when she discovered that we had grandchildren, she made a special effort to get some treats for the boys. She checked with her supervisor and finally brought us the special gifts for us to take to them. When we looked inside the sack, we found things that were appropriate for a two or three year old. Our boys are 8 and 10! I'm afraid that they would have been insulted if we gave them to them. I didn't have the heart to tell her that we really didn't need these and for her to save them for another passenger. She would have been so disappointed since she had gone to so much trouble for us.
For those of you who are not fans of American Idol, Paula Abdul is an American multi-platinum selling Grammy Award-winning singer, dancer, television personality, jewelry designer, and Emmy Award-winning choreographer. In the 1980s, Abdul rose from being a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA basketball team to being a sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era, then to being a Pop-R&B singer with a string of hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She has sold over 53 million records to date. She dropped out of sight for a while and then she found renewed fame and success in the 2000s as the very nice, encouraging and very often, fickle judge on the highly rated television series American Idol. She ranked # 47 on VH1's "50 Greatest Women Of The Video Era". Our son, Franklin is an Audio Engineer and worked with her when he was in Hollywood.
And now for the business at hand. This has been another great day. We met Helen and Jack for breakfast and then took a ride over to the 
Its principal routes carry passengers across the Victoria Harbour, between 
An average of 220,000 ships visit the harbour each year, including both ocean going vessels and river vessels, for both goods and passengers. The 
When we had finished our coffee and water, we purchased another ticket 
and then came back across to the Kowloon side where our hotel is.
There are flowers everywhere ... from the very simplistic, small arrangements on every table which the Chinese do so well 
to the very elaborate, large floral arrangements seen here. 
There are banks of orchids around each and every corner. 
They are absolutely exquisite.
This young man took exceptional care of us during our stay.Whenever we needed something, he was always there to make sure that our every need was met to our satisfaction.
Even the public bathrooms were the nicest I've ever seen. This is an exceptionally nice hotel. 
Once again I must say that Viking really takes good care of their patrons. They offer only the 
to complete sets of calligraphy brushes. Of course these really interested me! 
The name of this store is deceiving because they sell every nice item imaginable from clothing to ivory, 
furniture, jewelry even candlesticks... 
everything that you would expect to find at 
Of course, we really weren't sure what we had order when we finally found someone to wait on us. Everyone there was Chinese with the exception of the four of us, so English is obviously not their first language!
Most of what we ordered was very good, but not this dish.
It was too "slick" in it's texture to suit my taste. They were some sort of pot stickers with vegetables inside, but I couldn't get beyond the wrap on the outside to see what it really tasted like. The most interesting and entertaining part of the meal was laughing at each other as we tried to eat the very thin noodles with our chopsticks. 
We really made a mess of the tablecloth.
The doormen are always on duty with a welcoming smile on their faces to greet you.
Frank went to buy us a candy bar at the 7/11 next door since we had forgotten to order any dessert after the struggle with the noodles. 
It really wasn't a 7/11, but a very upscale convenience store Chinese style. 
It was very good and only a 5 block walk from the hotel. This was a farewell dinner as this would be the last time that we would all be together.
We were back home by 9:30. Today has been a long, full and wonderful day. Since it is our last full day in China, it's been a bittersweet time.