All Hallows’ Eve
And a full moon tonight. The sky is clear enough and there is no wind. It’s a damn tragedy the free candy holiday is over for us now. I was able to get low census at work (yay!) which means I don’t have to go in tonight! It’s true that I don’t get paid, but I will take the trade. I just got done making a giant pot of kick-ass chili (10+ pounds of heartburn in a cauldron) and I’m about to bake out some corn muffins and boil some elbow macaronis for the girl. Add a little cheese, onion and sour cream and it’s our meal. We got the pumpkins and ghosts lit up around the house and this afternoon is slowly, thankfully, slow slow slowly, edging into night. I poured myself some of the reddest wine I could find in the house and I am sipping it like a shipwreck survivor so I don’t lose any of my brain function. It’s an enhancer not the main course sillies! There are scary movies ready to roll but for now we have a running stream of The Most Terrifying Places In America. I do miss the old days a little. I would walk them around the neighborhood until we were freezing and so bogged down with candy we could barely carry it all. Then we would go home to our nice, warm, cozy, little house and the kids would dump all their stuff onto the floor while I made something real to eat. Easy stuff, like tonight, chili or soup, frozen pizzas or crazy spaghetti (that’s just sauce with different kinds of noodle shapes), and then we would watch Sleepy Hollow and call it another Halloween. The kids could eat some candy that night, but for the most part they were in it for the chase as opposed to the kill. I usually ended up taking almost all of it to work with me a week later. Oh memories. Hmm, I think the girl is about to go do a quick run down the block. I see she is getting a costume together so I should wrap this post up. I do have more to say (of course–as always) but I have to finish this dinner. And speaking of costumes, here is mine. It’s not really a costume if it’s your job, but I was already wearing my uniform when they called me, in fact I was already driving to work, but I left it on for effect. My daughter thinks it looks like I am cooking brains. Stay safe out there and get lots of candy! Happy Halloween!
Oh candy…I almost forgot the garbage can full of candy we bought. Seriously. It’s the kind of garbage pail you would put into a bedroom or next to a desk. Ridiculous right? Too much money. Too many raw pounds of chocolate, because of course it’s all chocolate. Why would we waste our time eating leftover smarties and jolly ranchers? That’s right. We wouldn’t. Here’s to another year without cavities!
Pink Sky At Night
And that about wraps it up for this month. It wasn’t every day but it was pretty close. And a lot better than I have been doing. It’s time for the annual candy run around here, except this year my kids really are done with it. I had to buy my own candy. You know, for the trick or treaters. As if we really get enough kids around here anymore for the obscene amount of candy I spent my good money on. I see nothing ahead for the next few weeks except chocolate zits and thunder thighs. Next post, candy and a costume. And one more sky pic for good measure:
Pink Spider!
You will just have to trust me that this pink-tinged photo of a Wolf Spider is better than my cardboard “cure” stand that I was going to post. Of course I have more pictures of spiders. They crawl all over the place right now. And they’re big. Giant one in the bathroom trying to sneak along the bathtub edge; super fast, rounder, black one trying to dash across the living room floor from the safe couch to the safer fish tank spot; bold and sassy one sitting right on top of the counter next to the paper towels trying not to move, I swear it felt like a spider stand-off; and of course old faithful here, and most likely a hundred or so of his/her relatives, that seem to camp out near the back door when the weather starts turning cold. They grow bigger and bigger and try to build a web across the patio almost every night. As long as they stay away from our “walking zone” we let them be. You have to respect the kind of nature that can survive and thrive in these harsh times. Besides, these kind of spiders aren’t poisonous and they don’t hurt people intentionally. Heart attack inducing creepiness and the ability to jump-lunge at threats or rear up on some of their back legs to look menacing, not withstanding. I definitely don’t want one on me, but you know that spiders do crawl on you at night sometimes while you are sleeping and you don’t even know it! So think about that tonight when you are all tucked in and feeling cozy! Also, it’s a major heat wave going through today and tomorrow, so all the creepy crawlers should be peeking their heads out from wherever they have been hiding in your house to see what the hell is going on. Why is it 80 damn degrees again?!? Let’s walk around this nice warm house tonight and see if we can all figure it out! At the same time! More soothing bedtime tales! I just scooped up one of those long, skinny, brown, caterpillar like bugs, that curl up into a spiral, bulls-eye shape when you touch them, last night after work. He was just scootching across the kitchen floor, going somewhere. I nearly stepped on him because he wasn’t there when I walked through, like, 10 minutes before. Late nights on a slab house. Yeek. (Throw me a comment if you happen to know what they are called. I used to know, but I am too time crunched to look it up right this minute.) Maybe I will post all my creepy-crawly pics the next few days…it’s still pink October, but it is getting close to Halloween and my fav holiday, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), and I have alot of “natural” decorations all around my house. Outside and inside. What can I say? I’m kind of a lazy cleaner and those spiders are relentless in their web building! And if you are looking up into my corners instead of focusing on my fabulous, engaging, sparkling company, then you deserve to see the cobwebs! Anyway, here is one more fun fact before I hit the showers and go to work: The debate rages on in the internet world but…people, in general, swallow about 3 to 8 spiders in their lifetime! Some say 3 spiders per year get swallowed up. Some say maybe 8 in a lifetime. The figures vary because no one can really know exactly how many spiders you may be munching on. I believe it is possible, and here is why: because some people leave an open glass of water on their nightstand and drink from it through the night. A spider crawls onto the cup, falls in, and cannot get out. You wake up, you drink, you feel something, but you are half-asleep, and it’s not like you turned the light on to see, did you?? Nope. You swallow, you go back to sleep. That’s one. Now repeat every few years. There you go. And I know for a fact that my daughter has already eaten at least 3 spiders, because she used to grab them right off the floor when she was small and eat them! She was so fast I couldn’t stop her. They were small too. And slow, apparently. She never got sick and she seems fine and normal today. I mean people do eat them as actual food in some countries so it’s not crazy. But I have to go now. Everyone get out and enjoy our last 2 days of sunny warmth. And when you go to bed tonight, keep your mouth closed and a cap on your water bottle. Sweet dreams! Later.
Football Is Over!
His pic. His post and Facebook status. He was very happy. The last game was actually Thursday of last week, but I am slow. The season ended with the team record of 4-5. Not a terrible finish. Too bad the last game had to be against an undefeated team. Seriously. 8-0? Man, they were good. At least we scored and didn’t get completely blown out like some of the other teams they played during the season. (Granted it was against the third string players but who cares. Points is points. Respect the pigskin.) And it was cold and windy and raining sideways for most of the afternoon. Football in the Midwest. Fun! Anyway. I just wanted to use this picture because he looks so cool and happy and thin. Now I have to keep him slim until the next sport starts in a few weeks. An indoor sport. I will keep you posted. And because I have 2 children, and my girl likes to see pictures of herself whenever possible, and she took a pretty cute picture of herself in his football helmet, I am putting it right below here. It’s not exactly a Pink October post but it will have to do for today. Later.
Salt. For The Cure. Better Than Nothing?
I had to post something. It’s been too long and I have no time, but I have to get the word “booger” off of my front page. It’s just does not reflect the seriousness and maturity that I bring to the table every day. Ha. Table. Like table salt. Ewww. That was a stretch. Anyhow, here is something new with the pink ribbon on it. We had it in our cabinet. Didn’t even realize we bought it. Plus it’s really raining out there today so it fits for more than one reason. I need to get to work. They refuse to pay me for sitting at home. Boo hoo. Everyone have a safe and happy day. Later.
Your Boogers Are In The Chicken
This is the kind of thing I say on a regular basis in my house. We stay up way too late. When we stay up way too late, we get silly. When we get silly, we laugh and make jokes. When we laugh and make jokes, we sometimes say hurtful things to each other. When we say hurtful things to each other, one of us storms out of the room like a little bitch. When one of us storms out of the room like a little bitch, the rest of us just laugh harder. Don’t make the rest of us laugh harder. Stop being a cry baby. Put in a tampon and get back in the game. Wait. No. I think I might be mixing up my metaphors with commercials and football pep talking. At any rate, this whole scenario just played out in the living room about 10 minutes ago. Well, not that scenario. That scenario was based on the above chicken and my sister’s birthday present to my son. Cash and a box of Boogers. Leave it to my sister Noelle to find something gross and hilarious. And we keep all our “back-up” candy in the chicken. (That’s the candy that won’t get eaten right away, but we don’t throw out because you never know when you might need some sugar in any form available. You know, stuff like DumDum’s, Smarties, LifeSavers, Cheap Chocolate Coins, etc.) Like my cousin Linda just said to my daughter today, “We are silly people. It’s in our blood.” Yes. Yes we are. But sometimes it can be a curse. Deep sigh. Insert picture of “Boogers” here:
See? It’s my own fault. I am not a strict mom. I make too many jokes and am never serious enough. My kids like to run off the rails with their witty humor and fast comebacks. Because I let them. And they can. They have the good sense of humor that will be a bonus when they are older but can get them in serious trouble right now. And they like to use my own words against me. Usually I can get everybody back on track without a lot of effort. But this time there were too many wheels in the gravel and the cars were piling up behind the engine. Nobody was listening to the engineer. Me. And the only way to get the control back is to pretty much do a “Hancock” and stop that train dead in its tracks. What this means though, is that I have to get angry and abruptly end any kind of night we are having to get my point across and then send everybody off to bed. Unfortunately, just like in the movie it causes a lot of extra damage. Actually now that I’m thinking about it, it is exactly like that. Everybody starts complaining about the way the train was stopped and its like the train is still moving but now its slowly sliding down the side of a cliff into a ravine with a rapid river at the bottom. (Say that five times fast) It’s no good. Then the train falls into the water and lays there, still complaining, filling up and sputtering for air instead of just getting up, saying it’s sorry and being glad we are all still alive. I might have mixed up my metaphors again, but you get the idea. Focus is obviously not my strong point, at least not here, or when I write stuff down. I have lots of thoughts and slow typing fingers. And I can really lose my own track when I get going so I am not surprised that my kids may act the same way on occasion. Especially when it’s late. And they are tired. My kids have these crazy, smart, dazzling personalities that I am so impressed and fascinated by. I want them to have the big life. But sometimes they have got to just stop when I say stop. And that’s where our weak spot is. We don’t have a good switching system in place. We need a better way to flip the switch and change the direction of the train before it crashes into the abyss. We are working on that. Everyone is still in bed and this night is most definitely over, but we are all thinking about it a little more. And since we never end the night on a bad note, because you just never really do know what might happen, here’s another picture of that Booger box:
Picked out especially for you! Maybe tomorrow I better just post a breast cancer thing. I have a store display, so unmagnificent, to put up here, that you will be sorry you wasted any of your valuable computer time clicking over to my site to even look at. But it’s like a train wreck. You have to look. The picture. Not the site. Well, maybe the site too. Come on! What else are you gonna do?? Click. Scan. Move on. Oh, hey, one last stopping-the-train thing. Spider Man 2 has an excellent train stopping scene in it. I was going to use that as my movie reference but it’s not really a “dead stop” and the people are all grateful in the end. Not applicable to my situation. Plus I don’t feel tired after. I am just glad it’s finally quiet. Anyway it’s a good part in the movie. And finally, here’s one more, completely random, and unrelated to any of the above 900 words, picture, of my children doing something together, and in sync (Comma alert! That last sentence may be a record holder for me. Count em’ and weep.) Here’s that pic:
Happy Birthday, Take 15!
This is from his Homecoming dance last week. Yes, he is that good looking. Period. I will take a break from the pink posts today (and yesterday and the day before, tsk tsk) so I can put up a picture of my handsome son on his birthday. My site. My rule. Besides I think I’m scraping a barrel bottom with some of these forced “pink” postings. Seriously. Cardboard food displays? Toilet paper? It’s getting kind of dry over here. Another picture. It’s just a big awesome face…
Anyway, he’s an easy birthday boy. He played football this morning. It was raining. It was windy. The ground was wet and getting muddy. A fight broke out between the teams 34 seconds from the end and everybody rushed the field. And we lost the game. Plus, there were 4 hardcore October bees buzzing around in the stands trying to sting a fan like it was their job. Isn’t it too cold for bees? Shouldn’t they be flying south for the winter? I mean, even when the rain really started pouring down, those bees hung out, hovering around our heads like we were going to forget they were there. At any rate, the game was over and the team had to wait , dripping outside, for the bus to come and take them back to school. Picture time…
At home, my mom (who did not sit in the cold and miserable rain–ya’ big chicken!) came over with a card and some cash, which is really the only way to go at 15. He got a few more cards in the mail. More cash. He requested a Pepe’s dinner with an XBox afternoon before and an XBox chaser after. So here we go. He’s showered and fresh and ready for the food part of his big day. I imagine the XBox part of tonight is going to be a long one, unless I can get him to curl up with me on the couch while I tell him sentimental stories of the day I birthed him. Yeah right. Sleep in Sunday. We can dig it. Alright, the natives are restless. And hungry. One last picture. Happy birthday my beautiful boy! I love you! XO Mom.
Even Our Cars Can Get Fancy
I hope Susie doesn’t mind that I put her license plate here. This site is not that mainstream or world wide so I think I will be ok. Plus it is on a car that drives around in public anyway and she must be proud, so…I will leave it at that. I saw my first Breast Cancer plate in the store parking lot but I wasn’t quick enough to get a picture as it was driving away. I didn’t even realize these were available. I felt kind of bummed, but figured at least I have my food stand pictures to go with. Exciting, I know. Then, lo and behold, I am dropping my daughter off at her friends house and there it was. My second chance. So there you go. A picture and a story! The gripping tale of how I captured the elusive BC auto tag. Don’t you feel lucky today? Now I really must B–C-ing myself off to work. I am going to apologize for that right now. But I am leaving it in. Later.
The In’s And Out’s Of Product Placement
Hoo–ahh I am funny. I am cheating a little by back dating this post for Tuesday but that’s the beauty of having your own media outlet. You control what the people see. And when. Well, don’t I just sound power crazy. I’m not. I’m just trying to hurry and I want my little calendar to the right to have a blue date every day. It’s nuts how these small things can make a difference. Or not. Personal demons and neurosis aside…we went shopping and of course I took pics of all the Breast Cancer displays. People in the store were kind of looking at me, probably wondering why the hell I would be taking pictures of food shelves and cardboard stands, but that’s ok. Anyway this is product I buy. They roll out the pink packaging once a year and we go for it. Looks pretty. Now let me see if I can post this and then get another one out before I leave for work…it’s always a crapshoot. Ha. I said crap. Nice ending huh? Classy. Later.
Nice Cell!
Thank you low census Monday and Columbus Day. I get to hang with my kids and they finished all their homework! Then we got to bowl, have dinner, watch movies and football and go to bed way too late when we all have to get up early tomorrow. From one, many. Goodnight all.
just shy of pretty 