All Hallows Eve

You know you want to...put on a cape, a wig and paint your face some erie color. Stand by the fence and lurk behind the neighbor kids as they bounce from house to house. Run your long finger nails through the hair of the cute neighbor...ok, ok this is supposed to be spooky don't go that direction. It's not really about the candy for me...it's about the scare factor. Come on this is the only day where you can really do stuff like that and (maybe) get away with it. Let's just hope you know your neighbor really well...and it wouldn't hurt to hand him a peppermint schnapps laced hot chocolate after you scare the crap out of him. And really there is a point to all of this. We are celebrating the end of the harvest, protecting the dissolution of the boundaries between the deceased and ourselves...oh and our harvests too. If we walk around looking half dead perhaps the spirits will confuse us with themselves and leave us alone...or perhaps they will want to party with us. Maybe I should whip up a princess costume instead...wait that's what I wear everyday.

Ahh...Fall Leaves.

This is what I am talking about. If you know me at all you know that I have a down fall for frosted sugar cookies (and my mother's plain melt-in-your-mouth sugar cookies and well...yes rice krispy treats too and sometimes a girl just has to have a piece of expensive chocolate). But it is hard to find a good sugar cookie...and even harder to make them-way to fussy and they never really look that good anyway. However, last weeked I happened to stumble upon a place that has huge frosted cookies...the best tasting, flaky yet soft, sweet but uber flavorful "melt in your mouth" cookies. I bought enough for the whole family, but I couldn't drive the car with a bag full of cookies sitting next to me so I ate mine on the way home. That left 4, but there were only three people at home...one was out with friends. So I got to thinking, if I ate the extra before that person got home, maybe they would never even know we had cookies...I was hoping no one else would bring it up. I weighed my options and thought I would wait until later that night-give the crew a chance to talk or keep quiet. I left the bag in plain sight (stuffed in a corner of the kitchen) and thought I'd sneak a bite later. Well, later the cookie was gone, not a crumb to be found. I'm not sure who ate it cuz if I asked they'd know I was looking for it. Good thing I knew where to get more. Everyone must know about these cookies cuz I had to stand in line and wait for them to frost me up a batch...hey I wasn't leaving empty handed. This morning when I got up there were two cookies left...see I do have a little bit of self control. But the problem is that there are three Wild Ones and only two cookies. I did that math pretty quick and hid the box...and now that the Wild Ones have departed on the bus I am running on a sweet sugar high. So much for my self control.

Fighting it Every Step of the Way.

I woke up this morning to find frost on the ground and covering my windshield (that voice in my head is sooo helpful...perhaps it could have told me last night to put my car in the garage). Let it be known that I do not like to travel to the bus stop when the temperature is below 40...thank you. Right now it is 26 degrees and I have already made one trip to the bus stop and getting ready for another...still not above 40. I will ignore the crunch of ice under my feet and concentrate on the few flowers in my gardens that seem to have forgotten (or choose to dismiss) the fact that winter is closing in. I will not complain forever. When the snow starts piling up and I can no longer see the heads of my flowers poking through I will bundle into my snow things, run through the yard and colapse into the form of a perfect angel (with visions of summer passing under my closed lids)...but until then I will hold out with the best of them.

Would You Like a Pillow With That?

I was finally sleeping last night when a strange noise right by my head kept waking me up. It was kind of like a knocking, but more like fingernails scratching. I was afraid to open my eyes...but also afraid not to. I turned over and peeked and all I could see was black...and then I realized I was looking at the Rotten Dog. Although I was no longer sleeping, he was sawing logs-chasing demons or a cute little Terrier through dreamland and hitting my door with his nails every time he moved. I was almost too tired to move, but I made myself get up and all I could do was throw a huge stuffed yellow dog between Rotten and the door. Yes, I know now in the daylight with caffein buzzing through my veins that I should have just made him move...but, I did not know that at 2 am. So I crawled back in bed, covered my head with my fuzzy blanket, then realized he was standing over me sniffing my head. You see Rotten follows me every where (more on why another day) and I guess he thought I might be headed...oh I don't know...perhaps to the kitchen to make him some prime rib...at 2 am! When he realized I wasn't  going anywhere (not even back to sleep with hot dog breath hitting my nose) he walked around and found a new place to sleep. Unfortunately he curled up on a plastic bag...which ruffled every time he breathed. By this time it was after 3 am and I was not only tired, but awake enough to be pissed. I got up and walked into the hallway (pretending I was on my way to the kitchen to see about that prime rib) and as soon as he trotted off I pushed the door so it was just open a crack (so I could still hear the Wild Ones if they needed any prime rib) and threw the stuffed dog behind it. Rotten was on to me by then and was back sniffing at the door...and whining to come in. I stopped breathing so that he wouldn't know I was in there (yes, if it had been daylight, caffein, etc I would have realized he could still smell me) and I thought it worked...I could hear him walking away. But just as I was snuggling back in I heard a pounding in the hallway...Rotten was running...toward me. He ran down the hallway and threw himself into the door and right into the room. Then stood over me looking all proud like he had just saved me from the boogie man...waiting for me to thank him. I pushed aside the stuff on the bed and invited him in...to snuggle next to me...better than prime rib any day.

Yo, Mama.

It is really hard when your kids are sick. They don't have the energy to get off the couch or make a lot of noise. Remember these times when the illness starts to fade and the craziness begins to creep back in. I kept this Wild One home an extra day to make sure he was 100% before unleashing him back on Mr. A. I had a couple of errands that I had to run and he had to go with me. As the day passed, the squirrellness increased along with my impatience. We were in a craft store searching for a couple of items for a party this weekend and I asked him to help me pick out a few things that he thought "Miss Lisa" might like. He starts talking in a funny voice and tossing silly things at me. He hands me some cowboy stickers and when I roll my eyes at him this is the conversation we have (still in his goofy voice-that others in the store may construe as his own):

Me:   I don't think Miss Lisa will want cowboy stickers.

Boo:    You don't love me do you?

Me:    Yes, I love you, but Lisa likes sparkly things.

Boo:    So you really don't love me then.

Me:    Let's just get this done so we can leave.

Boo:    But you don't love me.

Me:  Yep, you're right, I don't.

Boo:    (Laughing and in his goofy voice) Oh...You...Mother.  (meaning I am his mother and he knows I love him, but sounding to others like something that could be followed by the F word).

At this point I look up to see two women looking at us from down the aisle with their eyebrows raised.  

Me:    (Grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the exit) Come here sweetie, let's go see if we can find your mommy. 

And this my friends is the real reason they invented schools.