After I had returned from my fabulous 2005 California trip, it was quickly back to business as usual as I returned to work on Monday, October 10. That following weekend, my A-Haunting We Will Go Tent held the third annual Charley Chase-a-Thon meeting at the Habitat Party House (hosted by Larry Smith and Jenny Paxson), showing a great array of Chase’s short subject films both sound and silent. I always enjoyed paying tribute to Chase during our four such tributes from 2003-2006.
Image made by George for our meeting
Halloween pumpkin made up to look like Charley Chase. The straw hat makes it.
And speaking of Laurel and Hardy related stuff, I immediately set out to try to gather the funds from Carolyn to purchase the autograph book from Mildred Kornman that I had been introduced to during my trip. You can see the full album here. I didn’t actually obtain it in my hot little hands until well over a month later.
With Ashleigh back in school and the approaching holidays, there was a bit more of a sense of calm in our household. We got back into our routine of attending Bear Creek Church. Ashleigh and I often tended the nursery, and Carolyn and I even taught the high school Sunday School class one week. We would often follow church with lunch at Friendly’s or some other restaurant. The photos below are one particular trip home from church and our stop at Arby’s drive-thru. Don’t ask me why.
Ashleigh and Briana in the backseat at the Arby’s drive-thru
I’m not even sure how to describe this pose
Getting ready to kiss off Arby’s, 2005, my marriage, and about 40 pounds
The drive-thru attendant, now famous
October also saw a party for Carolyn’s brother-in-law Dustin on October 29, the start of her ‘Woman’s Night’ where she hosted our Moms, Grandmas, and aunts for a movie at our house, and my Mom’s third big Halloween party in her back barn. Carolyn and I didn’t dress up this year, but Ashleigh, Briana, and Ash’s friend Maggie did.
Ashleigh, Maggie, and Briana at Mom’s Halloween party
Briana came dressed in the wig that I wore to the previous year’s party when I was an out-of-work porn star
Ashleigh was an 80′s aerobics girl, as in let’s get physical…
Briana was always exceptional at mugging for the camera. Here she strikes a hilarious pose inside Bob’s boat
November of 2005 saw Carolyn’s friend Bekki’s son Nicholas baptized on November 13 and Carolyn’s cousin Matt and Leah’s wedding. This was a pretty fun wedding, and I ran into a guy named Brian who I used to work with at the Dorothy Lane Kroger some six years earlier.
Carolyn’s friends Katy and Bekki at Bekki’s son Nicholas’ baptism
Carolyn’s cousin Jackie joins her in a photo at Matt and Leah’s wedding
At some point in November, we babysat Creed and I got this cute picture of him in the bathtub
For Thanksgiving this year, Carolyn decided to host her family at our house. This may be the first and only time that our ‘dining room’ area was actually ever used for a sit-down meal. She did a great job with this gathering. We hastily cleaned up the mess and then we went on to Diana & Tom’s for my family event. It was during this holiday that Bob would tip my cousin Lori’s daughter Elise back in her chair and she coined the new phrase, “Do it a-din, BOB!!” I also coaxed Abbey (with Elise now also joining in) to reprise her rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”, which she had unveiled at Indian Lake that summer.
December 3 brought our last Laurel and Hardy meeting of 2005. This was a nice Christmas-themed meeting at my house, showing almost exclusively 16mm films. I was pleased to show my Little Rascals Christmas Special cartoon that I had purchased – my only 16mm movie to date!
Carolyn and I also attended our final La Comedia performance of the year, a play called Reviving Mr. Scrooge during December. This transitioned us nicely into the Christmas season. We began work on our annual family Christmas Newsletter and put our tree up in the living room. I recall distinctly seeing Carolyn in front of the completed tree and wondering if this would be our last Christmas together.
Up next: the 2005 Christmas Newsletter…
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