And, well, I hate to say it, but the women stay in the kitchen and assemble the strudels.
Then we take a little break for dinner and samplings of sausage, strudel, wine and beer.
And then it's back to licking the chocolate off the spoon. I mean, finishing up the strudel and drinking more wine.
And that's a typical pre-Oktoberfet Friday.
When pure sincerity forms within, it is outwardly realized in other people's hearts. 
— Lao Tzu
The crowd as the party grew...
My brother drank a beer...
And then he drank some more beer...
Then Dalebert came out to play...
Happy after eating
Ivan's first Oktoberfest. He's such a cutie!
Who drinks wine at a beerfest?!?! Oh wait, I did too...
Sisterly love.
Everyone squish together.
Over the years I have learned that what is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it. — Yves Saint Laurent
Being the genius that I am I traced the frames, then hung the traced papers to figure out a layout.
Only problem was the tape and wall paint didn't want to "bond". So I had to use a lot of tape. Kaitlin can attest to this. I was on the phone with her while I cussed at the paper for falling every 3 seconds.
But alas, TADA! I got them all up. Only problem was that I wasn't happen with very many of the pictures on my computer. So I only had 2 printed for the 8 frames. Who cares! They are all hung, and some are still waiting for pictures! And there is room to grow and add more frames as they are needed.
I also got a picture to hang in the bathroom. See the blank, boring wall above the toilet?
How about now? Much better!
And then I brought a picture over from my parent's house that I still needed to bring over. It's actually a picture that I took and developed when I took photography in college. Go me!
So...
Then we saw cable cars.
Oh, and McCovy Cove while we were on the "Ride the Duck" tour.
Ok, I get it, you want to see pictures of Dennis! Not the silly things we saw or did! Plus they're a little out of order up there.
Dennis doesn't like this picture. But I do. I look good, what can I say? You'd never know that just an hour before I was a sweaty mess from our 15 mile hike down Market Street.
Doesn't this picture look like it belongs in a magazine or something? Dennis found a little nook on the island and crawled in it. I love the brick in the background.
So after Alcatraz, we moved down to Pier 39 where we had a not so yummy lunch. Then we moved down to Fisherman's Wharf where we should have had lunch. We decided to take the "Ride the Duck" tour. That's where some of the pictures from above are from.
We walked around downtown some before heading home. We knew our time together was coming to a close. Only one day left... *sniff*
We walked back to the car then drove out to Carmel Valley to taste some wine. Plus Dennis wanted to get a bottle for his best friend/roommate/children's godfather/current babysitter. So we went to Bernardus, which comes highly recommended by my brother and mom.
We then met Chris and Colleen at Forge in the Forest for a very early dinner/late lunch. That was good that Chris got to spend some more time with Dennis being as he was very skeptical at first. Then we headed home. I admit here, I cried a little because I knew that tomorrow I had to drive him back to the airport. He told me to stop, but that he was touched because that shows that I truly do care. And I do. And then he fell asleep.
But it's kinda special because every time we see each other will be like another first kiss. Sorry mom... But you said you were surprised that we weren't affectionate around you and dad... We'll do better at that next time. I promise.
I miss everything about him.RELATIONSHIPS:
When a relationship ends, a woman will cry and pour her heart out to her girlfriends, and she will write a poem titled "All Men Are Idiots". Then she will get on with her life. A man has a little more trouble letting go. Six months after the break-up, at 3:00 am on a Saturday night, he will call and say, "I just wanted to let you know you ruined my life, and I'll never forgive you, and I hate you. But I want you to know that there's always a chance for us." This is known as the "I Hate You/I Love You" drunken phone call, and 99% of all men have made one at least once. There are community colleges that offer courses to help men get over this need; alas, these classes rarely prove effective.
MATURITY:
Women mature much faster than men. Most 17-year old females can function as adults. Most 17-year old males are still trading baseball cards and giving each other wedgies after gym class. This is why high school romances rarely work out.
HANDWRITING:
To their credit, men do not decorate their penmanship. They just chicken-scratch. Women use scented, colored stationary and they got their "i's" with circles and hearts. Women use ridiculously large loops in their "p's" and "g's". It is a royal pain to read a note from a woman. Even when she's dumping you, she'll put a smiley face at the end of the note.
COMEDY:
Let's say a small group of men and women are in a room, watching television, and an episode of the Three Stooges comes on. Immediately, the men will get very excited; they will laugh uproariously, and even try to imitate the actions of Curly, man's favorite stooge. The women will roll their eyes and groan and wait it out.
BATHROOMS:
A man has six items in his bathroom – a toothbrush, toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, a bar of Dial soap, and a towel from the Holiday Inn. The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 437. A man would not to be able to identify most of these items.
GROCERIES:
A woman makes a list of things she needs and then goes out to the store and buys these things. A man waits till the only items left in his fridge are half a lime and a beer. Then he goes grocery shopping. He buys everything that looks good. By the time a man reaches the checkout counter, his cart is packed tighter than the Clampett's car on Beverly Hillbillies. Of course, this will not stop him from going to the 10-items-or-less lane.
GOING OUT:
When a man says he is ready to go out, it means he is ready to go out. When a woman says she is ready to go out, it means she WILL be ready to go out, as soon as she finds her earrings, finishes putting on her makeup…
CATS:
Women love cats. Men say they love cats, but when women aren't looking, men kick cats.
OFFSPRING:
Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and soccer games and romances and best friends and favorite foods and secret fears and hopes and dreams. A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.
DRESSING UP:
A woman will dress up to: go shopping, water the plants, empty the garbage, answer the phone, read a book, get the mail. A man will dress up for: weddings, funerals.
DAVID LETTERMAN:
Men think David Letterman is the funniest man on the face of the Earth. Women think he is a mean, semi-dorky guy who always has a bad haircut.
LAUNDRY:
Women do laundry every couple of days. A man will ear every article of clothing he owns, including his surgical pants that were hip about eight years ago, before hi will do his laundry. When he is finally out of clothes, he will wear a dirty sweatshirt inside out, rent a U-Haul and take his mountain of clothes to the Laundromat. Men always expect to meet beautiful women at the Laundromat. This is a myth perpetuated by re-runs of old episodes of "Love, American Style."
WEDDINGS:
When reminiscing about weddings, women talk about "the ceremony". Men talk about "the bachelor party".
SOCKS:
Men wear sensible socks. They wear standard white sweat socks. Women wear strange socks. Socks that are cut way below the ankles, that have pictures of clouds, that have a big fuzzy ball on the back.
NICKNAMES:
If Gloria, Suzanne, Deborah, and Michelle go out for lunch, they will call each other Gloria, Suzanne, Deborah, and Michelle. But if Mike, Dave, Rob and Jack go out for a brewsky, they will affectionately refer to each other as Bullet-Head, Godzilla, Peanut-Head and Useless.
EATING OUT:
…and when the check comes, Mike, Dave, Rob and Jack will each throw in $20 bills, even though it's only for $22.50. none of them will have anything smaller, and none will actually admit they want change back. When the girls get their check, out come the pocket calculators.
MIRRORS:
Men are vain; they will check themselves out in a mirror. Women are ridiculous; they will check out their reflections in any shiny surface: mirrors, spoons, store windows, Joe Garagiola's head.
MENOPAUSE:
When a woman reaches menopause, she goes through a variety of complicated emotional, psychological, and biological changes. The nature and degree of these changes varies with the individual. Menopause in a man provokes a uniform reaction – he buys aviator glasses, a snazzy French cap and leather driving gloves, and goes shopping for a Porsche.
THE TELEPHONE:
Men see the telephone as a communication tool. They use the telephone to send short messages to other people. A woman can visit her girlfriend for two weeks, and upon returning home, she will call the same friend and they will talk for three hours.
DIRECTIONS:
If a woman is out driving, and she finds herself in unfamiliar surroundings, she will stop at a gas station and ask for directions. Men consider this to be a sign of weakness. Men will never stop and ask for directions. Men will drive in a circle for hours, all the while saying things like, "Looks like I've found a new way to get there." and, "I know I'm in the general neighborhood. I recognize that 7-11 store."
ADMITTING MISTAKES:
Women will sometimes admit making a mistake. The last man who admitted he was wrong was General George Custer.
RICHARD GERE:
Women like Richard Gere because he is sexy in a dangerous way. Men hate Richard Gere because he reminds them of that slick guy who works at the health club and dates only married women.
MADONNA:
Same as above, but reversed. Same reason.
TOYS:
Little girls love to play with toys. Then when they reach the age of 11 or 12, they lose interest. Men never grow out of their obsession with toys. As they get older, their toys simply become more expensive and silly and impractical. Examples of men's toys: little miniature TV's. Car phones. Complicated juicers and blenders. Graphic equalizers. Small robots that serve cocktails on command. Video games. Anything that blinks, beeps, and requires at least 6 "D" batteries to operate.
MOVIES:
Every actress in the history of movies has had to do a nude scene. This is because every movie in the history has been produced by a man. The only actor who has ever appeared nude in the movies is Richard Gere. This is another reason why men hate him.
SPORT ARENAS:
Simply put, men can always find their way around stadiums and arenas. The women usually end up following men.
TIME:
When a woman says she'll be ready to go out in five more minutes, she's using the same meaning of time as when a man says the football game's just got five minutes left. Neither of them is counting time outs, commercials, or replays.
CONVERSATION:
Men need a good disagreement to get talking, e.g., "Wow, great movie.", "What are you, nuts? No REAL cop would have an Uzi that size.", "Well, maybe he got it because he knew about those Mafia guys", etc. Women, not having this problem, try to initiate conversations with men by saying something agreeable: "That garden by the roadside looks lovely." "Mm hmm." Pause. "That was a good restaurant last night, wasn't it?" "Yeah." Pause. And so on.
FRIENDS:
Women on a girls' night out talk the whole time. Men on a boys' night out say about twenty words all night, most of which are "Pass the Doritos" or "Got any more beer?"
RESTROOMS:
Men use restrooms for purely biological reasons. Women use restrooms as social lounges. Men in restrooms will never speak a word to each other. Women who've never met will leave a restroom giggling together like old friends.
