Random Thoughts and Musings

Time to random it up with the stand in queen of Random Tuesday, Stacy.  So here goes:

• We have so much candy in our house right now we could start our own candy shop.  We wouldn't be in business long, but holy heck those plastic pumpkins hold a lot of candy.  And when you have two little minions out begging for treats you end up with quite the hoard.  Or, you know, a honking huge bowl of candy on the counter.
• I was so proud of Bruiser last night.  After playing mute downtown, I was unsure if he would even say anything while trick or treating last night.  Not only did he talk, he said trick or treat without prompting, thank you when prompted, and happy Halloween to most of the generous people the kids hit up last night.
• We are expecting more snow today and tonight.  Like 5-9 inches.  The last snow storm has not melted away yet.  Winter is here.  Oh well, it just means we can get out skiing sooner--cross country anyway.
• I'm really hoping to sleep in this weekend.  Nick is hoping to do home improvement.  Otherwise we have no plans.  Right now anyway.
• I may be missing on Thursday.  Both Nick and I have a training class to attend for work.  Shhh, but this gives us a trip out of town without the kids.  Bliss.  Even if we really have a long day in a class and then along drive home.
• Tootsie rolls are good and addicting--no really, try eating just one.  I have to have at least two.  After that I need to wait a bit before I have another two, but I really can't eat just one at a time.

So that is my random for the week.  Go see Stacy for more.

And double dipping for Talk to Us Tuesday with Seriously Shawn and Impulsive Addict.

Happy List

Things making me happy this week:

1. Hearing Trick or Treat coming from Bruiser, also thank you and happy Halloween as he trick or treated last night.
2. Seeing Turbo make sure his brother got candy too.
3. Getting away for an over night with just my hubby, at a nice hotel, even if it is for work.
4. Having a clean bathroom, all of it.
5. Wine.
6. Seeing Nick be satisfied doing little things around the house.
7. Melatonin, for a better night's sleep.
8. Getting new stuff, or new to me stuff.
9. Dinner out--that I don't have to cook or clean up after.
10. Being able to cook all those winter time favorites, cause it cold outside now.

Now go see Mamarazzi for more happy.

What a fun weekend!

We had a great weekend here--even if it was a bit chilly.
We headed down to the Scaramie--the downtown trick or treat Saturday morning and the boys had a blast and came home with quite a haul.  Bruiser would not talk to anyone, but then he is our shy kid.  He would hold his bucket up to get candy, but that was it.  It was chilly, windy and cloudy but it was fun.

An unsure dragon/dinosaur.

The force is strong with this one...

Getting the loot.

Ring the fire bell!  Bruiser would have nothing to do with it.

Then our cousins called and asked if Turbo could come over and spend the night, so we headed over and had dinner with them and left Turbo to have a fun evening.

I cleaned like a mad woman on Sunday--the upstairs bathroom got cleaned from top to bottom--mostly.  It hasn't had all the parts clean at the same time for quite a while--I clean what needs to be cleaned as it needs it.  But now it's all clean.  I like it, but getting it that way, not so fun.  I also had my date with the vacuum--demanding bit of machinery.

Around 3:00 Sunday afternoon, Turbo came home and we all--cousins too--carved pumpkins.  The results:

Carving away!

The four results this year.

Cousin T's.

Cousin H's

Bruiser's(that mom carved).

Turbo's!

We will be putting them out tonight and letting the light shine in them.  But we won't be handing out candy at home--early anyway as we are taking the boys over to trick or treat with their cousins.  It should be a good time.
So a busy weekend but a good one too.  More Halloween goodness tomorrow.  If I remember to take the camera.

GlassesUSA

Do you remember when they would do the eye test at school and then send a note home with the kids who needed glasses?  When I was eleven I was one of those kids.  I took my note home to Mom and off we went to the eye doctor.

Turns out I needed glasses, but my eyes were not equally bad—one was near sighted and the other was far sighted with a slight astigmatism.  So I saw lights as a fairly clear center but they had a halo around them.  I put on my glasses for the first time and what do you know, lights didn’t have halos.

My first eyeglasses were frames that were wire rimmed and square.  They were on clearance and by the time I had worn them once to school and had them called granny glasses, I knew why.  Too bad getting another pair of glasses had to wait until the next year’s visit to the doctor.

Now days it’s far easier to get eyeglasses, and without breaking the bank.  You can even get eyeglasses online easy peasy.  GlassesUSA has them on line.  Or you can get a pair of sunglasses or reading glasses that look stylish and are less expensinve than the eye doctor charges.  Up to 110% less.  They have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. 

What’s even better?  A sale!  You just need your eyeglasses prescription and you’re good to go. 

Their fall sale is in full swing:

Fall Sale:

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Buy one pair of glasses and get any other pair for FREE! Use code: BOGOUSA

Take 10% off any order. Code: Blog10


So go visit GlassesUSA.com.
Or see their Facebook page to keep up with all the things happening at GlassesUSA.


This is a sponsored post written by me and all opinions are completely my own.

Friday Confessions--Hate/Love edition.

Time to confess and link up with Mamarazzi.
And go:

• I hate migraines.
• I hate onions--especially raw ones.
• I hate crazy cold temperatures--yesterday morning it was a crazy -7F.
• I hate cleaning bathrooms and both mine are due for more than a swipe and a promise.
• I hate having to date the vacuum--but it expects attention weekly.
• I love weekends.
• I love Halloween.
• I love beaches and cabana boys--although I see far too few of either.
• I love grown-up getaways--even if they are for work.
• I love my down comforter--so cozy and snuggly.
• I love cuddling with Bruiser--and I have the bruises to show for it.
• I love that Turbo has moved up a level in reading--less intensive help, more classroom time.

So now I can head into our weekend with a clear conscience.  Pumpkin carving, downtown trick or treat here I come.  I'm thinking mad scientist/nerd for me, Darth Vader for Turbo, green dragon/dinosaur for Bruiser and not sure if Nick will dress up this year.

Happy Halloween everyone and go see Mamarazzi for more confessions. 

Spin Cycle--Halloween Then, Halloween Now

This week it's all Halloween again at the Spin Cycle.  But it's a look at then and now.  I did something similar last year showing Halloween costumes past and present, both BC(before children) and AC(after children).
So I get to go a different direction for this spin.  Jen asked how Halloween is different from when I was a kid.  Looking at the variety of places we can take the boys to get candy, I'd say there has been an extension of the holiday.  I could take both boys to the pediatricians office Friday, downtown on Saturday morning, to the university union, frat mall, and the campus cafeteria on Monday evening, and also take them normal trick or treating.  That is a heck of a lot of free candy.  I know most of those are so you don't have to take your kid trick or treating.  And we took advantage of some of them when Turbo was little--too little to really go trick or treating.  But to the older kid, most of those options are a bit lame and there is no getting out of trick or treating.
Trick or treating was the best part of Halloween.  However I only did a bit of it as a kid.  We lived outside of town and a half mile between houses did deter the whole walking around for trick or treat.  Add in the fact that we usually had snow on the ground by Halloween and inside activities were far more appealing.  We did do the church Halloween "carnival" for a few years, but by the time I was probably 13 I was done trick or treating and really done celebrating Halloween.
Until I got to college.  That's when going to Halloween parties got to be a bit fun again.  I went to a couple and then just kind of dressed up for work when I could and got the cheap candy that was in the store--for the possibility of trick or treaters, not so I could munch on mini candy bars or anything.  Things really got more fun--from the other side of the bowl--when we got our first house.  We would make sure to have the pumpkin out and the light on to see who and what would come to the door.  True, there were years when the face was drawn on the pumpkin with a marker because that's all we had time for with work and school, but we always had one.
Actually, that was the one really consistent element to Halloween.  We always carved a pumpkin--the only years I didn't were the two years I lived in the dorms.  Lots of jack-o-lanterns.  We got creative with them--Nick being artistic an all.  Then they came out with those great carving kits that make making pumpkin masterpieces easy.
We are pumpkin carving with family this weekend and Turbo is excited--he's old enough to wield the pumpkin saws this year--mostly on his own--with lots of supervision of course.
Have a happy or spooky Halloween!

WWTK--Let's Go Shopping!

We Want to Know Wednesday and it's shopping time.  Queso wants to know how we shop.  So answer the questions and link it up:

1. Do you shop 'til you drop, or are you in and out as quick as possible?  I tend toward in and out.  Small kids kind of make you more efficient in the store.  But if I get to go shopping with friends, then I take more time and go to more stores.
2. Are you a price conscious shopper?  I like to think I am.  I like to get the best bargain--sales and clearance and I am a champion thrift store shopper.
3. What store could you spend hours in?  Bookstores hands down.
4. What is the most frivolous purchase you have ever made?  It's been a long time since I could go shopping for something frivolous.  I don't see books as frivolous, maybe the last time I went to the chocolate shop.
5. What is the last thing you bought for yourself?  Umm, it would have to be books at the used book sale at the library on Sunday.

Now go see the lovely hosts of this here party:  Mamarazzi, Queso, and Crazymom.  Go snoop and see how other people shop.

Randomizing Tuesday Talking

So it's Tuesday.  Better than Monday.  Mondays suck.  Tuesday isn't much better but still, it's not Monday so here we go with the random:

• Would someone tell me how to get Bruiser to stop sleeping with his cars?  He has matchbox cars and monster trucks and he sleeps on with them.  It can't be comfortable.  Why couldn't he decide to sleep with something soft like a stuffed animal or a blanket?  No it's monster trucks or Lightening McQueen.  He may not have a pacifier anymore, but I still end up hunting for small toys in the dark in the middle of the night.
• Halloween is fast approaching.  Looks like this one could be cold and snowy.  We are supposed to get  6-10 inches tonight.  Winter is here folks. At least for us.
• I dislike raking leaves--sets off my allergies, but I dislike raking wet nasty leaves more.
• I'm so happy to be in Mamarazzi's Autumn Swap.  It's so fun to get mail that isn't bills, even if there is the stress of shopping for someone and hoping they like what I pick out.
• Lego minifigures kind of suck.  Stepping on them is no fun.  Looking for them is no fun.  I do way to much of both.  They make a loud noise in the dryer.  Yeah, I'm not the best at checking pockets.  Sometimes it's scary in those pockets.
• There is something satisfying about watching things get blown up and destroyed.  
• Turbo has settled on being a mad scientist unless the Darth Vader costume I won from Geek Mom shows up.  He will make a great mad scientist.  He will have fun with the Darth costume too.  Bruiser will be a very cute green bug, unless it's very cold out then he will be a green dragon/dinosaur with red spots.  
• I have yet to see any of the new shows on the networks this year.  I have seen every new Mythbusters and all the Top Gears though.
• And as a nod to Impulsive, my Christmas list has a Kindle, a new set of wine glasses, a Wii fit board/game, time, naps, love and snuggles form my boys--big and little.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to get some of the things on my list.

So go join Stacy for more Random Tuesday thought--she has become our fearless leader.

Talk to us Tuesday with Shawn and Impulsive is talking about everything and nothing.  I'm good at that. 

Happy List

Time to think about what makes me happy.

1. New books, well new to me books.
2. My husband getting all happy because I called him dreamy.
3. My Wednesday night out with the girls for a drink.
4. Being all snuggled inside when it's storming outside.
5. Getting things organized for scrapping, even if I didn't get to the scrapping part.
6. Halloween makes me happy.
7. Having chores done makes me happy--the process not so much.
8. Putting the down comforter on the bed makes me happy.
9. Having a nice warm office makes me happy on cold mornings.
10. Hot tea makes me happy.  Chai is the best, but there are Celestial Seasonings and Good Earth that are wonderful too.

So there you have it, things that are making me happy this week.  Go see Mamarazzi for more happy lists.

Autumn Swap

A swapping I will go.  Yep I'm signing up for another swap hosted by Mamarazzi.  She's doing an autumn swap.  What better way to celebrate autumn, especially since autumn comes with a healthy dose of winter in my part of the country.  so looking forward to seeing who I get matched up with and then heading out shopping for some great autumn goodies.