Bless Your Heart

This weekend my Mom, Morgan and I went to Wilmington to visit my aunt and uncle and their 2 kids (the cutest kids ever). We toured around the cool, funky downtown area, stopped by the beach for a little while, and went out to dinner with the family. We had a great time. My uncle teaches computer classes and has a new iMac. I’d never used a Mac before and it was so cool. The screen on the iMac is amazing. I loved how there’s not a huge tower so it doesn’t take up a lot of room. And the commands made sense. It was really easy to use. I want one.

We had a big time this weekend in Wilmington. Today has been so busy at work I haven’t had a chance to update. I fell in love with a Mac this weekend- more on that later.

We had so much fun last night with our trick or treaters! We had path markers with candles in them to light the way. We had spooky purple lights in the window, and creepy bat candle holders that gave off great shadows. We had our pumpkins and bales of hay. And of course we had our jack o lantern.

We had a ton of kids! At one point this flat bed hayride stopped off right in front of our house with at least 25 kids on it! We ended up running out of candy and had to turn off all the lights and sneak around in the dark so no more kids would ring our bell.

The kids had great costumes! We saw a Spongebob, a hooker rock star, vampires, etc. There were a couple of kids in just regular clothes though- come on, at least put on a sheet and be a ghost! And one little boy just showed up in a suit. Maybe he was going as a lawyer?

So I was asking each kid what they were dressed up as. And then it happened. This little boy and girl were at the door. Their parents were standing at the end of the driveway with a flashlight. I guessed at her costume (rock star/diva) then turned to the boy. He was in all black with a black hood that had a red border and black fabric that even covered his face. So I said to him “And are you Death?”. He doesn’t say anything, so I figure I need to be more specific. I lean in all close and I said “Are you the Ghost of Death?” All loud and enunicated as I put candy in his bag. Then the little boy who just had this woman (me) basically yelling in his face, makes a grunting sound and starts signing. Yep, I was yelling at a deaf boy asking if he was “Death”. Which I’m sure sounded to his parents (who were standing a good bit away) as if I was yelling “Are you deaf?” No wonder his sister was the only one who said “Trick or Treat”! No wonder when I first asked if he was Death his sister said “How did you know?”. No wonder when I walked back into the living room in complete shame, my husband says to me “Why were you asking that kid if he was deaf?”

I’m so getting my house egged next year. His parents are probably coming over tonight to beat me up. My house will be boycotted from here on out on the trick or treat route and I’ll be marked as the worst candy giver ever!

I hope everyone has a fun Halloween! As soon as work is finished I’m rushing home where we’ll finally carve our pumpkin, spook up the house, and get ready for our trick or treaters. We have way too much candy so hopefully we’ll have a ton of trick or treaters!

I can’t wait to see all the costumes. I remember quite a few of mine as a child- but I don’t think I have a clear favorite. The most memorable was when my mom dressed my younger sister Sara and I up as aliens. We had the standard plastic sheath and she painted our faces- I was green and Sara was yellow I think. Then she strapped the other part of our costumes on our heads. You see, our faces blended with the costume and there was a HUGE inflatable alien head that strapped onto our heads. So it appeared that we were waaay taller than we were. Well, if you believed we were actually aliens. Those huge heads bobbed around and dipped and slid as we sweat underneath the plastic. Our face paint mixed with our sweat and dripped down the sides of our faces. We bumped into many things including each other, because this was in the late 70’s/ early 80’s, way before safety was a concern when dressing up your child. We had a ball as aliens- we thought we were completely authentic. Then we went home and changed into our pajamas, and that’s when things turned tricky. The face paint would not come off. We went to school for a week with a faint green & yellow pallor. In fact, people thought for sure that Sara had jaundice! It had smeared to our hair too so I had a nice green tint to my blonde hair. Nothing boosts a kids confidence like looking like the Incredible Hulk’s kid let me tell you!

What was your most memorable costume?

I wish I wasn’t too old to trick or treat. I want to be a kid again, just for tomorrow. I love Halloween- and the best parts of it. The costume/sleepover parties where your friend’s dad sneaks in after you’ve all just drifted off and scares the bejesus out of you with his wolfman mask. I really loved it in elementary school when we could wear our costumes to school for the day. Then when Morgan, my little sister, was born I was given the chance to re-live all the fun of Halloween through her. We would all take her trick or treating. Here’s this little child in her costume, perhaps a little friend of her’s would come along, and this big gang of adults roving through the neighborhoods. We’d dress up sometimes too, and we’d have the best time checking out all the decorations and scoring some candy here and there. It was always such a great start to the night. Trick or treating would be over around 8, just in time for the adults to go out to whatever party was planned. I’ve always had fun in the haunted houses or mazes. And our local theme park transforms into one huge haunted place during October. But, I haven’t been there in a couple of years.

Morgan is 12 years old now. She stands 5 feet 9 & 1/2 inches tall. She still loves to hang out with her big sisters, but she’s traded trick or treating for parties now. So now, tomorrow, I’ll be assuming the role of handing out candy to trick or treaters at my house. I hope we get a bunch! We’re all prepared with decorations & loads of candy!

…from our mountain trip are up here. More to come when the next roll of film is finished and developed!

Why does the US postal service hate me? I send lots of mail. I buy stamps. I do my best to keep them in business. And yet… Almost two weeks before Rachel and Brian visited I sent them a way cool package with tons of fun things to keep them entertained on the road. J said he’d mail it for me and to this day it still hasn’t reached them. I’m so mad. I spent time & money on that package and who knows where it is!

Example #2 of why the post office hates me: On Oct. 15th I dropped a card in the mail to my friend Stacey who lives 20 minutes down the road. On Friday, the 25th (!!) I get an email from her that she just got it that day. I could have crawled to her house with the card and it would have gotten there faster!

Example #3: J & I sent out our wedding invites in late January and got married March 3. My uncle Bobby never RSVP’d and I was worried because he has a big family, and you know, you want to make sure you have enough seating, food, etc. So one day in September I check the mail to find the following: Uncle Bobby’s RSVP and a gift check postmarked in February, J’s W2 that was mailed in January, a letter from my great aunt Margaret dated in May, and various other items all postmarked waaaay before that fateful day in September.

Postal Service, if we have in any way upset or offended you, we’re very sorry. Do you keep our mail in a special box and deliver it only when the mood strikes you? I swear Postal Service, we rarely if ever use UPS and Fed Ex. (but let me tell you, we will now) I know I said I don’t like the song “Fly like an Eagle” when you chose that as your theme song. But please Postal Service, don’t let that come between us.

Starting to feel much better. Taking Biaxin and Guaifenesin. Not quite sure how to pronounce the last one, but they appear to be working.

We think we have the arm licking problem licked, so to speak. Tea tree oil applied to Nelson’s arm twice a day is keeping him from working his little arm into a sore. Hurray!

Just got back from the doctor and pharmacy. Turns out I have a sinus infection. Fun! So I’m off to take my various drugs now. Hopefully they’ll kick in nice and strong so I can make it to work tomorrow.

In other news, last night J and I watched Insomnia. Not the feel good movie of the year, let me tell you. But it was really good. Robin Williams makes an excellent bad guy. So creepy. I can’t wait to see One Hour Photo now!

It seems that whatever was making my mom sick last weekend has worked it’s way into my head. I started feeling all ick last night and now it’s really taking hold. I hate being sick! I’m going to go drink some Nyquil now.