Happy Halloween

Halloween

Scary     Fun

Frighting     Laughing     Looking

A day of excitment

Candy     Children     Bags

Sweet     Colorful

Treats

 

A diamante poem to celebrate :)

Dreams

Simply write down a full account of a dream you’ve had recently.

I don't know if it is the upcoming All Hallows season or just the weather, but frankly I have been dreaming, Alot....

 

Most I can't remember, some I really don't want to ever remember and some are just not memorable at all.

 

Still recently, I did have one that I do remember and I think the cat is the cause. Will explain this more after the dream.

He was the main character along with some feral kittens that somehow managed to get in the house. Cat is, well, cat and part mouse, part dog and thinks he's human. So he was rather intimidated by the tiny furballs and they so enjoyed hiding from him and then jumping out when he was least expecting it. On and on it went all day. When Pan and I finally came in, you could feel the relief flooding off him. That is until we just sat down and watched.

 

Not much in the way of a dream, but it did seem to go on forever. And I think it was probably due the fact that he was being a pest all night. Wanting to knead, snuggle and play. I wanted him to get his just desserts and the only way I could accomplish it was through dreaming.

Monday, Monday

Yesterday I told you about Pan taking this week off. Now I will get a chance to find out what it will be like when he actually retires. We are not going anywhere, staying at home, playing domestic. I sure hope I survive the week, lol.

 

That's almost scary... just in time for Halloween. Of course, two of the days I will be at work for half a day, so it shouldn't be to hard, right?

Tomorrow starts

Pan's vacation. I know that it seems like he takes on all the time, what, with our trips to Vegas, Orlando and such, but those are only vacations for me. They are business trips for him. But this year he is managing to take two weeks off. The first was in June when we took the grands to Universal in Orlando and now this week.

 

Now he will have time to plan how the Halloween decorations are going to be put out. Still, he won't put them there until the day Halloween treaters are coming. Don't want to give anyone in the neighborhood any ideas and then outdo him. Talk about a Tim Allen complex, hahahahahaha.

 

He has picked up a few extras for this year, mainly in the lighting department. I really wanted to get the remote control spider from Edmund's Scientific. Maybe next year. And, of course, I will be posting pictures once the big day has come and gone. Probably next weekend sometime.

This time last week

I was at my mom's house while Pan was spending the day with his dad and mom. He got a great picture of the two of them. I really need to get it from him, get some more ink for my printer and print it out, have it framed and give it to them. Especially since Pan's dad gave me a wonderful, but early Christmas present.

 

Pan's mom is now in a home specializing in Alzheimer care. It's been rough on the family and they have been trying to slowly clean out the house which their dad is still staying in. One of the things that Mom P and I have in common is knitting. One of the things that is filling up the split level home is yarn and books. Dad P gave me a chance last week to go through all the books and yarn, taking what I felt I could use. I came home with enough yarn to make several (like 10 or 11) articles. I even managed to locate a couple of those yarn by the pound skeins which will go to the Princess as a gift from Dad P.

 

That has been another thing that has kept me pretty busy this week. Sorting them all out and trying to find a place to store them. That and trying to clean house for next week, lol.

Whoops

The days have gotten the best of me lately. Must be the Halloween season coming up next week. MUST do better. It's just sometimes I can't think of anything to put down into words. Even with prompts to help me along. Like today. Mind is a complete blank. In fact, this is the first time in two days I have even been on the computer for anything other than reading.

 

Speaking of reading, I just finished Rick Riordan's newest book, "The Mark of Athena." Any of you that follow the Percy Jackson stories have probably already gotten and read it. I know, I know.... really more of a book for a pre-teen than for an aging adult. But sometimes I just need the entertainment. They are a fast read, but still with twists and turns to keep your interest going.

 

I think the only problem I have with this newest book is... Percy and Jason. You come to love Percy in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Then you are introduced to Jason in the first of the "Heroes of Olympus" series of which "The Mark" is the latest. Herein Percy and Jason meet. So which is it going to be?

Homework possibilities

Monday through Wednesday and some Thursdays, I skype with Indy to help him with his homework. It's a great way for us to stay connected and keep up with what he is doing. I also get to lesson to him practice his piano and watch movies with him when he has completed his work. At least his work is something I don't usually have trouble with.

 

The Princess on the other hand.... She called me with help last week. On algebra. Come on, it has been 30 years since I have done algebra. I was okay with the formulas, but then came the variables and theories. I was calling Pan in a panic. She that it was funny and spend the time laughing at me.

 

But I am glad to see that I am not the only one. I was telling my boss about it and he let me in on the fact that he went through that with his daughters, only to decide that at some time they would have to figure it out themselves, because he couldn't remember. Oh, that sounds so familiar.

Back to my regularly scheduled something

or another. hahahahahaha.....

 

I have been busy trying to get my digital scrapbooking supplies organized. I want to be able to do a quick search to find something without having to look through every folder I have. Once I finish that I will be back onto my vacation book. After which I think I will take one of the genealogy folders and start a book on that.

 

Speaking of which I missed with the family reunion in Mississippi this past weekend. I have never been and only learned about it last year. Maybe next year Pan and I can schedule some time to visit. But I do want to buy at least one of the books that they had available there. One is a collection of letters written during the Civil War. How cool would that be?

Pokemon madness

Yep, I broke down and bought the new Pokemon game Black/White 2. I got the Black but will probably buy the White eventually. I don't know why I like the games so much, other than they are mindless fun. And I can compete/trade with the Bug, who got me started on them. On my original Black version, I am just shy 13 pokemon from having them all. And I have nearly 100 of them at level 100. Okay, I've got to get back to battling the gym leader.....

Busy Weekend

In just a few short hours we will be heading over to spend some quality time with Pan's dad and my mom. Dad G was so excited to hear we were coming and taking them out to dinner, I just hope that Olive Garden still has their 2 for $12.95 special going on. It's not that I am cheap (okay maybe I can be), but when we eat there, mom ends up taking half her dinner and half my dinner home to eat later in the week. This way she can get nearly a week's worth of dinners out of it. LOL.

I must remember to take my camera and try to get some pictures to post. And get some pics at the Olive Garden so that I can start scrapbooking those memories as well. Just wish I had thought of it sooner while Pan's mother was joining us.

Eating fetish

What is the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten?

Some soup in Hong Kong that tasted and looked just like Pepto Bismol. Never did find out what it really was. Maybe I just didn't want to know.

Resemble who?

What famous person do other people tell you that you most resemble?

Use to be Linda Carter. Haven't had any compare me to a famous person lately. But I definitely do not look like Linda Carter any more.

Unhappiness just a frown away

Do you feel that children should be sheltered from unhappiness?

Absolutely not. And there really is no way to do so. No matter how happy you try to make them, there is going to come a time when they are just going to be unhappy. It is better to help them deal with it and explain that it is a part of growing up.

Restaurant Reveal

 

Not so much a reveal because I'm not going to let you in on where this gem of a pub is located. Great service and the cozy atmosphere where we can play NTN while dining, has made this a favorite haunt for many a local in the area. It is definitely our favorite place to dine.

A home away 3

Continued from yesterday:

Next up was California. And to be perfectly honest. I don't recall that much about the place. I do remember playing hopscotch, falling and getting a concussion. I remember that Bug had to be taken to a hospital around Sacramento for some tests one time. They gave her some medicine to make her sleep, telling mom and dad she would be out for some time. She woke soon after getting in the car to go back and it was like watching a little drunk. I'm sure that if she remembers it at all, she doesn't have fond memories.

To be continued sometime in the future when my memories catch up.

A home away two

Continued from yesterday:

 

The house in Arkansas is the one I remember the best. I don't know why. Maybe because until dad retired it was the one place we lived the longest. It is also the house in which I had the chicken pox, measles and mumps. All the childhood diseases. We got the best Barbie furniture and clothes ever while living here. Mom made everything. The clothes with wonderful detail and dressed with loads of lace. Furniture made out of milk cartons and beer cans. It was padded and upholstered and no one in the world had a matching set.

 

There was teen club across the street where my friends and I would play. Behind it would be broken bottles of varying colors that we would gather, pretending they were exotic gems. There was also a chimney back there with a few bricks that were loose. We would remove the brick, put in our gems and replace it. We definitely had some good times.

 

To be continued

A home away

Draw, label, and share the layout of your childhood home.

I have done something similar in the past so instead of drawing and labeling a layout of my childhood home (there were a few), I think I'll take this moment to reminisce about some of them.

 

When very young, possibly even before ddpuppies was born, I remember sitting at the kitchen table with my dad, each of us with a cup of "coffee." His was, mine was warm milk with about a tablespoon of coffee added to give it some color and make me feel like I was special.

 

I think it was also around this time, I remember walking into a living room with a Christmas tree that must have been 100' high. Now, I know it wasn't but I was so little.

 

To be continued

A scent of the past

As I walked into the room, I noticed a light scent of something in the air. I stood there racking my brain trying to figure it out. It was a scent that I should have been able to identify immediately. There, a light breeze blows it over this way. The air conditioner fan must have turned on. Still, I cannot place it. Where I have a smelled it before?

 

It is bringing back memories of an small, old house where the rooms just seem to run into one another. We had some fun times in that house. Or more importantly in the yard, where a magnolia tree scraped the sky and bamboo held our own private jungle. A walnut tree perfect for climbing and spiky walnut husks that dug into the skin.

 

Still the scent eludes me. It is from that place and time, I just know it. But I cannot seem to identify it. I must move on, people are staring at me wondering what my problem is. It is rather silly for a grown person to stand and stare into the distance.

 

Maybe tonight I can relax at home and ponder the meaning of the scent. That is if I remember it or remember this moment in time.

Leave, Leaves, Leaving

Write a blog post inspired by the word: leaves

Well, it doesn't say what kind of "leaves" and the beginning of the fall season always brings about the children leaving. Always such a sad time. Very melancholy (Indy's new word). Daughter shows up or we have to meet half way and then we watch as she leaves with the kids. I do like when she gets to spend a day or two here before she leaves. We don't get to see much of her anymore.

I need a fall up north

Fall is here! List your top 10 favorite things about this Fall season.

Can't think of any write now other than at least it is in the high 60's in the mornings. Still by 10 a.m. it is back in the 80's.

 

But if I had to write about what things bothered me about fall, it would be:

 

1. Still too hot.
2. Isn't it ever going to cool down?
3. It sure gets foggy around here in the fall.
4. Kids running across the street without looking.
5. The grands have to leave to get back into their own school :(

Irritation abounds

Tell us about the last thing that irritated  you.

Pan's friend was over a couple of weeks ago. He's spending more time over here since he and his wife are living apart right now. Not a problem. He keeps Pan company watching the movies I just truly hate.

 

BUT.... he keeps using my coffee cup. The last time he was here, I asked him if he was still a guest or not. He looked at me funny and said "it depends. What's the difference?" So I told him "if you are a guest, you ask before you touch anything. If not, clean your own glass if you can't find one, instead of using my coffee cup."

 

He's says he's no longer a "guest." But we will have to watch and see, won't we?

They’re smarter than they look!

Write about a time your child was on to you.

My kids (and grandkids) are always on to me, so I'm going to share a story when Scamp showed my parents just how much he was into them. (mom, I'm sure to get some parts wrong, just correct me).

 

Seems dad asked mom if they were going to be cooking the roast on the grill that night. And she decided that she would cook it inside. Dad heads out to the patio, beer in hand (I am sure) to sit and relax. A little later Scamp heads into the house to, well you know, and when he came back out he told my dad "mamma said to get your rear in the kitchen and get the roast."

 

Now anyone who knows my dad, knows that is going to set him off in a big way. He goes storming into the house yelling at at mom, wanting to know what she means. She did say she was going to cook it inside. She is puzzled, until they both head outside and see Scamp laughing his a$$ off.

 

That has always been one of my favorite stories. Guess it always will be.

It's all so overwhelming

Share a moment when you felt overwhelmed.

Small overwhelms are felt daily such as right now when I know I should be vacuuming, cleaning the toilet or some such activity instead of sitting here writing on my blog. But I can usually ignore the small ones.

 

Then there are the mid-range overwhelms, usually at work when I have three or four people wanting something from me while I am in the middle of something else. Little harder to ignore.

 

The really big overwhelms are when something happens and I cannot control it. When the kids left for another state; when I have to return them at the of their visits. These are times when I can't ignore and sometimes feel like I don't want to go on. But I do and thankfully.

Plaids of all kinds

What comes to mind when you think of the word ‘plaid’.

Stripes in varying degrees of size and colors all intertwined with one another in straight lines vertical and horizontal. I've been seeing a lot of plaids in my efforts to clean up and organize my digital scrapbooking kits.

The new and the old

So many of the television shows I love are meeting their demise. Eureka is already gone. This is Fringe's last season. Warehouse 13 and Haven seem to be on their last leg. More and more are being replaced by reality shows. I wonder who makes that decision? Most people I talk to are not into reality shows (or maybe they just can distinguish between them). I'm glad to see the Big Bang Theory is still on. And I do want to catch Elementary and Arrow. I'm wavering on Arrow though as I really would have thought Justin Hartley would have had the roll.  

The house

Mother bellows for the children to come to breakfast before the day begins. Father is already on his way out to tend to the fields below but he will expect the rest of the family to join him shortly. No one is spared from the hardship of gathering of the harvest. He knows that each will do their best, as he had done for his father before. Each year the crops had been smaller and withering sooner, but it seems this year has been extremely bad.

The drought had been going on for many years now, just enough rain to provide for the family and even that was dwindling.  Soon, he ponders, they may have to move on. But to where? This has been home for several generations of his family and thought of leaving wrenches at his heart. Still he can’t just stay and watch his family shrivel one by one as the shortage of food continues.

Soon, he thinks, very soon. He had heard of work in a mill up north where he had cousins living. They would put the family up for a while. At least until he could get on his feet. Mother would not be happy, he knows. This has been her home for more years than she would like to let on. She will get over it. She is a strong woman, practical. And once there the children would have the chance to attend school regularly. She’d like that idea.

That evening after supper, he broaches the subject with her. He smiles, as she reacts just as he assumed she would. Then reasoning took over and she began making plans about what to take and what to leave. They just couldn’t afford to take everything with them. As soon as those decisions were finalized, a date was reached. They would be leaving on the third Monday of next month. That would give him time enough to get a letter to his cousins and get a reply back.

Sunday before was spend packing and loading the wagon that they would haul behind the aging vehicle. It groaned and creaked as they started, but managed to pull the load. Father watched out of the rearview mirror as the house shrank in the distance. He wondered if he or any of his family would ever see the place again.

This once stately home now lies in disrepair, crumbling under the weight of time and weather. Father nor his children have traveled back to see the old place. And soon it will be lost along with the stories contained within

The shoe has it

When you play Monopoly, which figurine do you usually grab?

I never really thought about it before, but yeah, I always try to take the shoe when I play Monopoly. Or the top hat. Makes you kind of wonder if there is something to it huh? Both are articles of clothing. I think most people would probably pick the car. Speed thing. What would you pick?

Oh the snack of it

I don't eat many snacks. Mainly because when I start I tend to over-indulge. Not good when you have to keep track of your blood sugar. And I definitely don't keep them in my drawer at work. I do keep a protein bar in my purse for emergencies (like when I work later than I expect and can't make it home or out for lunch).

It's raining

and I love it. Now I wonder why I'm not still snuggled up in bed with a good book and a hot cup of coffee, instead of sitting at the computer playing Words with Friends with mom and writing this post. Yesterday was like this, too, and Pan and I played Marvel Ultimate Alliance together so that he could get the achievements for playing two people.