Halloween Fears

With Halloween fast approaching and all the TV programs are running horror movies and such, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about fears. My fears are:

1. Clowns. I hate clowns at any time, not just Halloween. An irrational fear or loathing, but there it is. I can go to the circus and be ok. Freaky clowns (or any others), I am outta there.

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2. Grasshoppers. Ok, I know I grew up in Kansas and did a lot of fishing and camping. Thus starts my dislike of the Gs. You walk through a field and they begin to jump everywhere, swarms of them! The stick to you and won't come off. I am not too proud to say that I have screamed like a little girl and done the dance swatting at all the grasshoppers to get them off of me when they are around.

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3. Haunted Houses: Self explanatory. I just don't like to be scared. It is not entertaining in any way. This clip from Ellen is so me. Of course I laughed like a loon watching it, but you will never get me to go there!

4. Scary Movies: Let me just say, I can scare myself. I do not need a movie to do it for me. Still not getting it? I got scared over Sixth Sense. When Lt starts to watch a scary movie (he loves them!) I will go to another room. As a teenager I have seen at least one Freddy Kruger movie and one Jason movie. I also watched the Poltergeist movie..."They're here"...it combines my fear of spooky movies AND clowns! Enough said.

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Even though I am a big scardy cat, I still love Halloween. I could devour a whole bowl of chocolate mini candy bars, but won't even touch them this year. I love to see the kids dressed up in their costumes. Lt and I will be rockin' the monkey masks again and Gavin will be dressed up as well. As long as I don't go down the street to the spooky house, all will be well.

What are you afraid of? What do you like/not like during Halloween?

Changing leaves

Crisp air

Carved pumpkins

Hikes in the mountains 

Last year LT and I went on an amazing trip to Massachusetts and New Hampshire to get our fix for the autumn season. Let's face it, Texas seasons can be summed up by salsa hot or hotter than Hades. So for this autumn deficient gal, I take to the woods, literally. 

This year I was having a serious cause of work ethic hit me hard and I begged to do our yearly trip in the summer so I would not have to take a week off of work and we went to California to the Redwoods. So now that fall has arrived, I am wanting kicking my patootie for not holding out for a fall trip!

So I need to relive this trip just so I can get a taste of fall. Welcome to the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

At Flume Gorge I was a super woman pushing this boulder up!

We just decided to turn down this road. Gorgeous!

Hiked to this waterfall. Started to snow on us!
Best trip ever!

Love covered bridges. Icing on the cake was that it started to snow!

We also did some side trips. Of course we had to go to Salem, Mass. I had found a seafood festival in Newport, Rhode Island. They also had a park filled with carved pumpkins that you could tour through. We waited till the evening to enjoy this phenomenon. We have never done that but it was awesome! Unfortunately I can't find my pictures at the time of post, so I went to their website Friends of Ballard Park in Newport RI.

Salem in October was perfect! Spooky!

Pumpkins in the park

This in no way has helped me. It has made me crave my leaves more than ever! Alas, this is not meant to be this year. Yes, a tear just slide down my face.

NYC, Here We Come!

 

Can you feel the excitement? I am just bursting with it because we have officially got our tickets to New York!

street performers!

One of the best traditions during December is spending a weekend in New York with my sister D! We look forward to it every year. Just us two girls letting loose in the Big Apple!

Proof we rode a rickshaw!

I need to get my walking shoes ready because we do more walking there than anywhere! We have been know to walk from SoHo to Central Park, loaded with packages praying for a taxi or a rickshaw (both conveniently absent!).

Holiday Market Bazaar we stop at every year

Me on 5th Avenue!

Look out New York! The countdown has begun!

Have y'all been to New York? What should I make sure to see?

I Got Boo'd!

And I loved it!!

Getting boo'd consists of getting a "gift" from someone. Monday was my turn. Here was my cute cute cute gift: two different scarecrows, glow in the dark hand soap, a wall hanging and a basket filled with chocolate candy! 

Now it's my turn to BOO someone else! What should I include? Decisions decisions!! 

Munster Mansion

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Remember growing up and watching The Munsters? I just LOVED that show! I still watch the reruns. Well, I got to have an adventure Friday night. As much as I love them, I am not a fanatic about the show, but Chuck and Sandra McKee has built their house to be the exact replica of house on the TV show. They had to figure it out all by watching the show.

It was so cool inside! You walked in to the house you see Spot looking out from the raised staircase. The downstairs is lit by mostly candle light. There were cobwebs everywhere! It had everything...coffin phone, Grandpa's electric chair, Lily's harp, the stove, hidden passages, spinning suit of armor and everyone's bedrooms.

The McKees open their house for two nights in October for people to visit. They do it as a charity event. This year they chose their local Salvation Army. There is also a slew of volunteers that help out those two nights. The McKees dress up as Lily and Herman Munster. Friends of theirs dress as Eddie and Grandpa.

When you are in the house you can not take any pictures. Why? Well, the McKee's live there! How cool would that be? Click Munster Mansion where you can see some video clips of their house. Chuck McKee is working on the Mobile, the Munster's car. We got to see that, and it started up! But trust me, don't touch the car.

Oh and Pat Priest was there! I got to meet her and get my picture taken with her. Butch Patrick as been there also in the past. Take gander of my pictures. Sorry for the quality. I switched cell phone providers and am using a phone that is less quality than my previous one.

On the Salvation Army bus going to the Mansion!

My sister and I got a picture with "Grandpa".
He was always in demand for pictures.

The Munster's Moblie. It really does start up. It is still a work in progress

My sister, "Herman" and myself enjoying the night.

Pat Priest in the House! It's cool that I got to meet her!
FYI: She also did a movie with Elvis. Had to pick her brain about that.

We had a great night. Spent a couple hours there. And ended the night with a full moon over the spook Munster Mansion. Awesomeness!!

October always starts the whirlwind of activities for the holidays. You can sit on your laurels and what for things to happen, you need to plan! plan! plan! (yeah I know I am OCD when it comes to having plans and contingency plans, Lt is trying to ween me off of it) Linking up with Joy at Sowell Life for Friday 5. So the 5 things that are in the works... 1. Red Ribbon Week at school. Remember when you were in school and they dedicated a week to promote being drug free? Yeah, it is that time of year again. We are planning what our daily themes are so the kiddos can dress up (yeah I will be too!) Plus we have to decorate out door. I am working with negative creativity here. Pinterest is not helping me out either! Got some ideas?? 2. Munster Mansion in Waxahatchie, TX this Friday...TONITE! There is a couple that built their house inside and out to look like the house on the TV series, The Munsters. For two nights in October only you can tour their home. Super Psyched! 

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3. Territorial Christmas in Guthrie, OK. They do an old Victorian Christmas where all of downtown decorates and dresses in Victoria Era. We are planning to meet up in Guthrie with the our families from Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas! What a great way to stay in the holiday spirit!

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4. LT and I are planning a trip to Houston one weekend in November for a little getaway and of course a little putt putt in Galveston at the Magic Carpet Mini Golf Course. It is right on the seawall across from the ocean. This is one of our first summers together getting our putt putt on! It's an annual trip and we haven't been there all year! That's not like us. 

Pre-putt putt battle

Didn't win, but got a snow cone!

5. Annual trip to New York City with the sister. We take our annual pilgrimage to our Christmas Mecca. I can see us now walking up and down 5th Ave looking at Christmas decorations, eating at new and exotic places, checking out Times Square and shopping in SoHo and NoHo and a little Christmas craft bazaar close by, which we will eventually end up walking back to 5th Ave exhausted. Those little rickshaws better be ready!! These pictures are from last year. 

Rockefeller Center

Radio City Music Hall

Across from Radio City Music Hall in Times Square

Small Town Quintessential

Yesterday got me to thinking about my little town in Kansas. Priceless memories tumbled over in my brain. Take a stroll with me down memory lane and relive what living in a small town means. More about my small town can be found here.

        Saturday night dates with Grandma for a rousing game of Bingo

The trickle of a creek (pronounced crick), flop of a fish, lazy picnics

Family gatherings happened more than just on holidays. Rivalries of 

Pictionary, Pitch or Charades rounded out many an evening

  

  Neighbors talking over the bushes, helping out, making rhubarb pie

Having the freedom to ride like the wind on a bicycle, but return 

when the church bells beckon you home  

Playing Kick the Can at dusk with the neighborhood kids 

Slowing down and not having to rush to be anywhere.

The peacefulness I get when I sit on the front porch with the breeze 

tickling the leaves and hearing them laugh. 

Looking out and seeing a sea of wheat dance in the wind. 

To actually hear the locus serenade me at night. 

Taking a huge breath when I cross the Kansas border and a reluctant 

goodbye when I leave.

Memories by the thousand assault my mind bring happier, fonder times.

I don't want to live back in that small town, but I remember it fondly and am ever so thankful I grew up there.

Where are you from? What do we have in common? Are there really any differences?

Riddle Me This

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Driving to work and yeah it is a little rainy (finally) and there are kiddos waiting on the corner for the school bus. Hate to be therm! But what do I see but a dad and his kiddo sitting in their SUV parked at the curb waiting on the bus.

Now I ask you, why wait in a vehicle for the bus? I totally understand staying out of the rain, but you could have drove the kid to school in the amount of time you sat at the curb! And what about the other kids standing out in the rain while you are in the car? How rude is that? These are kids that are in your neighborhood!

I thought you had your kiddo ride the bus because you were unable to take them to school because of time or traveling in the other direction, etc. If you can sit for 10 minutes until the bus shows, I would think you could drive them to school. It's not like you are saving money on gas because you are running the car while it is parked on the side of the road!

Riddle me that!

Now mind you, growing up we never had a bus to come around and get us. We either had our parents take us, walked or caught a ride with friends until we were old enough to drive ourselves. For the most part my parents drove me to school until high school and I always walked home. Once I hit high school, I caught a ride with my friend until I had a car to drive to school. It was good enough for me!

I also do not have children so who knows what I would and would not do. I am not bashing parents. Please don't think I am. I am just trying to figure it all out.

Maybe it's the kiddos. It seems to me, high school kids are acting more and more entitled to things. They are being more disrespectful (or it seems to me) to their parents. It is scary to think our youth is growing up with a give me and I'll do very little if anything to get it attitude. What will our future be with this mentality?

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Or maybe I was just having a bad day when I saw this going on at the curb. Being a high school teacher, maybe my mind has become warped and it is really not as bad as I perceive it to be.

What are your thoughts?

Weekend Recap

It just doesn't last long enough does it? The weekend is quick and then Monday sneaks up on you before you know it!

But it is all good because my weekend was very relaxing! Let's break it down...

Saturday:

Hooves and Paw day baby! My sister and I went and got mani/pedis at our favorite place. Sorry I didn't take pictures. I was so relaxed!

After that it was all about errands. Just a lazy day of getting stuff done, having girls lunch out, laughing like loons.

Wrapped the whole evening up in iPad puzzle-thon. I love to put jigsaw puzzles together. My momma and I would put a couple together whenever I would go visit, but her Macular Degeneration is getting worse and we have had to put up the puzzles. Good news for me! I found an app on my iPad that allows me to put them together! Love it!

Sunday:

Of course came way to quick! Lt got off work and we made plans of a date day. This consisted of going to visit his parents and eating Mexican food. Oh so good! We followed that up with a trip to PetSmart. Here is the best story every...

When Lt and I started dating and he found out I dressed Gavin up for Halloween, he decided that was too much. So he makes this elaborate story (that continues every year) about how Gavin and he talked and Gavin asked him to make sure that he doesn't get dressed up for Halloween anymore because the other dogs were teasing him, yada, yada.

Fast forward 3 years later and what does Lt go and do? Get Gavin a Halloween costume. So this year Gavin is going as Chief Fire Dog!

So my plan is for Lt and I to don our monkey masks and walk Gavin, who will be dressed up as well, through my sister's neighborhood. Wouldn't that be a hoot to see?! Trust me, pictures will be coming for this one!

I'm also joining Mingle Monday with Life of Meg for the first time. Welcome new readers!

Ode to October!

O is for the obvious anticipation of Halloween, orange leaves and pumpkins signaling it is fall.

C is for the creepy, crawly things like spiders, chill in the air, cozy blankets, candles with smells of spice and pumpkins, costumes, children and candy  

T is for toilet paper used to wrap houses, trees with colorful leaves enticing me to explore their charms, trick or treaters, and tons of scary movies.

O is for odors of cinnamon, spices, and fireplaces, observing All Hallow's Eve, and owl's hooting. 

B is for the Brrrr of cooler weather, black cats, beautiful long shadows from trees, bats decorating houses, and bobbing for apples.

E is for the Earth preparing for it's winter hibernation, early morning fog blanketing the ground, eerie sights and sounds giving goosebumps and chills, eeks screeching from haunted houses, and events such as Fire Prevention Week and Breast Cancer Awareness.

R is for the roundness of pumpkins eagerly waiting to be carved, raised hairs on neck and arms in anticipation of fright, red maple leaves, and Red Ribbon Week at schools. 

What does October mean to you?

An Attempt at Crafting

Lately I have been getting the crafting bug. I have been wanting to do some crafty things and dang Pinterest has been feeding this need. I have been pinning like crazy on my craft board! So I finally took the plunge last Sunday and did a project. Here is what I found on Pinterest for a Halloween project... 

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I found the letters at Hobby Lobby. It took forever to find them! I swear everyone was doing this project because I could not find the letter "B" for anything! Finally I found them! I was first thinking of putting this down my door, so I wanted some bigger letters. Also I took into consideration how they would hang. I love the scrolly (yes that is a word in my dictionary!) letters but did not think it would hang well when I tied them together.

How did I do this, you ask...easy. After I found the letters, I bought black matte paint and used a sponge brush (I don't know if sponge brush is the way to go, but that is all I could find at the time!) and away I painted. I made sure to paint the top and the sides both on the inside and outside. 

After it dried, I took some raffia and tied the letters together. When I found my picture on Pinterest there was no directions, so I had to wing it. I wrapped the raffia around the letters once on the top of one and the bottom of the other and then did a bow tie. Repeat with the other letter. I liked the raffia to be a little longer so I did not cut them as short as the picture. Don't forget to do the top. I wrapped the raffia around the top of the "B"twice and then made a longer loop to use as a hanger. Again, I did a bow tie to keep uniform with the rest. 

Now I will admit, I attempted a burlap bow for the top, but alas, my crafty skill only went so far. I think I slept on bow making day. Anyway, I ditched the bow and just left it o' natural. The cool thing about this project is you can change up the bow, or use ribbon or colored raffia to tie the letters together. You could decorate each letter, glue spiders on them, or glitter them! The sky is as wide as your imagination.

Oh, and I couldn't make it work on the door because of the door knocker. So I just threw it up on the wall in the entry way. I took down the other stuff because I am looking at redoing that area. That is why it looks so bare on that wall!

This was an easy project for me because it did not really require any skill. Just my type of crafting! Plus I really like the black letters on the wall and the raffia keeps it simple and natural, not too primitive or "countrified". I got the seal of approval from LT and that is good enough for me!

Next project...Stamping letters on burlap! Always a first in this house. 

Share your first project. What was it? How did it turn out? I love to hear and share stories!

Soda Monkey

Psssst....Can I confess something to y'all? I have a soda monkey on my back and having a heck of a time getting it off!

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Growing up, we had pop. Yes I am from an area that says "pop". Not "coke", not "soda", but "pop". Momma would get Classic Coke and we would not refrigerate it. OMG! It was so good hot! I think it had more of a burn to it.

So I grew up, still enjoying my coke, soda, pop, addiction. I would occasionally jump on the healthy wagon and drink only water. But like any addict, I would have that first sweet wonderful taste of cola and it was on again!

Lately, I feel the addiction has been the worst it has been. Like today at work. I got me a 52 oz water. It was still sitting on my desk at 2 pm. However, I had a ginger ale and no cola. I just can't get past whatever hurdle I have to get this soda monkey off my back!

I need help! Advice! Therapy! What have y'all done to overcome unhealthy eating/drinking? 

Took the Leap!

Ok, I did it. I still can't believe I actually did it! I took the leap and darkened my hair.

You see, when I feel the need for change, my go to is my hair. Right be for graduating high school I went from long hair (past my shoulders) to super short (just below my ears). So when the need for change came, you bet I did the hair transformation, but I learned to keep my length and just change the color.

The moral of this post is to stand by your decision even if it is scary. I made this change for myself. I was wanting a change and felt this was the easiest and really, safest change I could make. I am sorry Lt is not on board with it like I am, but as he says....I have to wear it. The best thing is, even if it is not what he hopes for, he stands by me and my decisions and supports me. That is the love of a good man. 

I am learning to do things for me and not to please everybody. Ok, I confess, I have to please everyone first. One of my journeys is to curtail that need to please and focus it on the need to please me! It is scary, but I am doing it one baby step at a time.

Thanks being here to share my "transformation". I think we might be going down a new path. Who knows where we are going, but we will enjoy the view because...WE GOT THIS!