1. What does/did Halloween look like at your house this year? Did you
decorate? Pick pumpkins? Carve pumpkins? Expect trick or treaters? Wear a
costume to a party or event? Make a costume? Feel glad you didn't have
to come up with a costume? Cook a Halloween themed treat? Eat all the
leftover candy?
So we didn't do Halloween up very big this year. Bruiser dressed up:
We went trick or treating with cousins and Bruiser made out like a bandit. We didn't carve pumpkins or decorate at all. with the new house buying and trips out of town for that, Halloween sort of lost out.
2. What are you waiting for? Elaborate
Life seems like a whole series of hurry up and wait right now. We are waiting for swim season for Turbo, waiting for Thanksgiving, waiting for the school year to be over and waiting for the big move in June. I know that the time will go faster than I want it to, but at the same time the waiting can get monotonous.
3. Do you wish you were friendlier, braver, more creative, more athletic, or something else? Explain.
There are times when I wish I was more extroverted. New situations would be much easier to handle if I was.
4. When it comes time to paint are you a do-it-yourselfer or do you hire
someone? What was the last paint job completed at your house? What room
most needs painting now? How do you feel about wallpaper?
We are totally do-it-youselfers. I don't mind painting, but Nick hates it. The last paint job done at our house was Bruiser's room. We painted and put up a wainscoting.
Of course this was a couple of years ago. The bathrooms both need to be repainted, but with us moving, I don't think they will be done any time soon. Maybe the tenant will want to paint the upstairs one...
5. What is one specific thing you felt gratitude for in the month of October?
I was grateful that the house buying process we went through was smooth and easy. It had been 20 years since we last bought a house and the process was very smooth for us.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Last February we got a Siamese mix kitten. She is a character. Very demanding, loud and a total klutz. We love her to death but she can be completely annoying when she wants something. She loves to leap and dance after a toy when we dangle and swing through the air. She plays fetch better than the dog. She is our Freya.
I feel I did something right. Both boys appreciate Scooby Doo and will still watch the old cartoons. Not so much the new stuff they have come out with, but the classic cartoons from when I was a kid. Go Scooby!
Today is Halloween. Bruiser is a ninja warrior. Turbo will be the monster from Scream. He has a mask and robe and everything. It's cold here, so we shall see how long the kiddos want to trick or treat. It's a toss up on whether the desire for candy or the cold will win.
Last night we did some (for us) traditional Halloween movies. Young Frankenstein, Hocus Pocus, and Haunted Mansion. Good fun.
It's a slightly snowy Monday here. Since we have had snow that stuck at least three times this October, this is nothing out of the ordinary. Still can't say I'm thrilled with the cold. It's going to make trick or treating tomorrow rather chilly. Good thing Brusier's costume fits over sweats.
So we spent time in Casper again this week, taking another small load of trunks up to the new house. I think we will be trickling stuff up there until next spring.
I'm still of mixed feelings about this move. It's hard to be excited, but then again we have a great house. I'm so introverted, that making friends will be a long process. Friend "dating" is as complicated as real dating sometimes.
So on to MMMM, freebie this week and in honor of Halloween here are few songs that say Halloween to me:
Creedence Clearwater Revival with Bad Moon Rising:
Ray Parker with Ghostbusters, the Disney version:
And finally Bobby "Boris" Pickett with Monster Mash:
1. What's surprised you most about your life or life in general?
The unexpected twists and turns it can take. Just when you think you've got it all figured out, things go sideways and you have to figure it out all over again.
2. Sweet potato fries, sweet potato casserole, a baked sweet potato, a
bowl of butternut squash soup, a caramel apple or a slice of pumpkin
pie...you have to order one thing on this list right now. Which one do
you go for?
A baked sweet potato with butter and salt. Although the sweet potato fries are good with ranch.
3. What's a famous book set in your home state? Have you read it? On a scale of 1-5 (5 is fantastic) how many stars does it rate?
There are several westerns set in Wyoming, the most famous one would have to be The Virginian by Owen Wister. The small town of Medicine Bow is just 60 miles west of Laramie where I currently live. We drive past The Virginian Hotel every time we pass through Medicine Bow. I have never read The Virginian, but my mother did and she quite liked it.
4. There are 60 days until Christmas...have you started your shopping? How do you stay organized for the holidays?
I have done some shopping, but will save most for after Thanksgiving. Nick, of course, will wait until the last minute. Lists are my friend for keeping track of holiday to do stuff.
5. October 26th is National Tennessee Day. Have you ever lived or spent
any time in Tennessee? Is this a state you'd like to visit one day? The top rated tourist attractions in Tennessee are-
The Great Smoky Mountain National Park (Gatlinburg area), Elvis's
Graceland (Memphis), Birth of the Music Biz (Memphis and Nashville),
Dollywood (Pigeon Forge), Tennessee's Military Heritage (many
battlefields), The Hermitage (Andrew Jackson's home), The Parthenon
(Nashville), Oak Ridge American Museum of Science and Energy, Chattanooga and the Tennessee Valley Railroad, Downtown Knoxville,
Lookout Mountain, The Titanic Museum (Pigeon Forge), The Museum of
Appalachia (Clinton), and The Lost Sea Adventure (Sweetwater)
How many on this list have you seen? Which one on the list would you most like to see?
I have not been to Tennessee, but I have a friend who wants to go to the Grand Ol' Opry so I might get there some day soon.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Sometimes it feels as if we are taking two steps forward and then four steps back. Nick has bronchitis and last night took a tumble down the stairs. He's really not feeling well. My old friend insomnia came to visit last night as well. This afternoon is the beginning of parent teacher conferences, they finish up tomorrow morning. Have I mentioned I hate parent teacher conferences. Yeah, not really feeling the mojo today, but I am trying.
On a lighter note, I got kitty snuggles this morning, right up in my face kitty snuggles, but still, kitty snuggles.
Now that we have a new house the joy of packing the old one up has arrived. Thankfully, I have until next June to do it all so I can do it gradually. Not a fan of the packing. Nick keeps threatening a small house fire and we start over.
Parent Teacher conferences are this week. This will be the first year that I think Turbo will get a fairly good review. He loves High School. And his grades reflect that. The kid has the best grades he's ever had.
Bruiser has started reading the Harry Potter series by himself. I had read the first two books out loud to him a couple years ago. This year he needed a book to read at school, what they called a Good Fit Book. He took the first Harry Potter book and is over halfway through it. I have a reader!
My friend got me several paint by numbers for my birthday. Should be a fun way to pass the cold winter days.
Nick and I have been trying to get out of the slump we have been in for the last year or so. It's a process to get out of a rut. Date nights and trying to rediscover conversation that is not work oriented is helping. However the up shot of our conversations has been we need to travel more.
So, hi everybody! Yeah, not so many of you left these days. I have fallen off the blogging wagon of late. But I'm hoping to get my mojo back and start blogging again.
We have had some changes. The biggest is we just bought a house in a town about 150 miles north. Work is moving us there so there we go. We did find a fabulous house though.
It has tons of space and a truly huge backyard. We do the big move next June so the boys can finish the school year out here, but we will be trickling up various things for the rest of the winter.
We took our first load up this past weekend so we could make the house livable for Nick. He gets to spend a couple weeks a month up there for work this winter.
So MMMM this week has a theme of Cars, Trucks, Boats, things that move, so here are my picks:
Yes, I have been terribly inconsistent with posting. I think I needed to get my mother's estate finally finished and over with to be able to move on. It's like I have been frozen in place and now I'm finally thawing out.
So how about we get on with this whole blogging thing. A little Hodgepodge?
1. May 17th is National Pack Rat Day. Sidebar-should we be celebrating this? Hmmm...
Are you a pack rat? Even if you're not a full fledged pack rat, most
people have one thing or another they struggle to part with. Tell us
what's yours.
I'm a bit of a pack rat, but Nick has helped with this admittedly learned behavior. My mother was a definite pack rat. I learned from her, but Nick is a clean it out kind of person (with the exception of his clothes) so I have cleared out a lot of unnecessary clutter. I still have a bunch of boxes from my mom that I need to sort through and put things away and get rid of the unneeded things.
2. What are two things you know you should know how to do, but you don't?
Change the oil in my car. My parents wanted me to know how but they sent me to the garage to get it changed and I'm not the most assertive person and I just avoided the process and later said I watched. Yeah, introvert here.
Change a tire. I have a vague idea of the process but I have never done it myself.
3. Do you crave sugar? Do you add sugar to your coffee and/or tea? Do
you use artificial sweeteners or sugar substitutes? When dining out is
dessert a given? Are you someone who has slain the sugar dragon, and if
so tell us how you did it.
Not really a sugar fan. Oh, I like sweet stuff, but I like it tempered with the savory. I can take or leave dessert, but I like ice cream. I like dark chocolate. I like homemade cookies. Just not a lot of them. I am not a big fan of artificial sweeteners. They give me headaches.
4. What's a trend it took a while for you to come round to, but now you can't imagine living without? The smart phone. At times I feel a bit too connected, but it is nice to be able to call/text the teenager and know what he's up to.
5. What's a song that reminds you of a specific incident in your life? Please elaborate.
Savage Garden's Truly Madly Deeply
This song takes me back to Nick and my wedding. It was 19 years ago this summer. Here we are still together through the ups and downs. Love him so much.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
We went as a family and saw Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2. I was a bit worried about whether Bruiser would be able to sit through the whole thing (it's a long movie) but he was fine and loved the movie, especially Baby Groot. I liked the movie, but thought the family is what you make theme was pushed a bit hard. Hopefully the next one will be a bit less touchy feely and more standard superhero like.
So, it's Tuesday and I haven't blogged in over two weeks now. The urge is there but the follow through is lacking. And strangely, right now I have stuff to blog about. Ss let's get this train rolling again with some Tuesday random thoughts:
I'm getting my hair cut tonight. I'm seesawing between just getting it trimmed and getting something more drastic. No, not going short. Just some layers and some shape around my face. I love my long hair, but it looks very similar to how it was my first year of college, some 25 years ago. I think I might need a bit of a change. How ever, I need it to be quite simple to style. Right now I scrunch some styling gel in it and give it a shake and a finger comb and call it good. I'm just not one who can devote 20-30 minutes to doing my hair any more. So I'm looking. Hopefully, I'll be brave enough to play with it with my stylist tonight and see where it goes. After all, it's just hair and it grows back right?!
We get to go see the Harlem Globe Trotters next week. It sounds like it will be fun and an evening out of the house with friends and the kids. All plusses in my book.
I am finally almost back to normal after my back went out last month. Stupid snow and stupid snow shovel. All I did was turn around, OK, maybe a slight twist with an empty snow shovel in my hands and holy mother back spasm. I've been moving like I was 90 even since. So much fun getting older.
Our cat Freya has discovered that she must kill the toilet paper so it does not attack us while we are in the bathroom. Or she just likes playing with it, either way we must now hide the toilet paper from the cat.
We only have one cat but she still spends time plotting...
Or Weekend happenings. Either way, it's currently Monday and here we go off on another hectic week. No, really, this week is wildly busy.
For starters, today Nick is taking his truck in to get the back up camera fixed. It stopped working about three weeks ago or so. It is such a handy thing to have. Cuts down on the frustrating directions from me when hooking up trailers and campers and such. With luck it's an easy fix.
Then tomorrow all the fun starts. Nick has to go to Casper for work. Turbo has a swim meet in Casper, and I am going to the Eric Church Concert, in Casper. I will be the only one staying over night. I am so looking forward to the concert. A friend got tickets for us and let me know at Christmas. Looks to be a fun time!
On Thursday, Turbo has another swim meet here in town against a junior high from Cheyenne. We will be there to root him on. After the diving is over of course. He did take second in his Backstroke race last Thursday. We were so happy for him.
Now, I was going to tell about our weekend, right? So here it is:
There was archery shooting. Nick took the boys and they had fun shooting balloons.
There was naps. Mostly me.
There was wine consumed--two particularly good merlots.
Swimming happened. All four of us. It was fun.
I got some girl time watching the ACM awards.
We watched Transformers--the first three movies.
Overall a good, busy, but not too busy, relaxing but not lazy weekend. We need more of these.
Now for MMMM. It's a Freebie week and in honor of the Concert I will be attending tomorrow night, here is some of my favorite Eric Church songs:
