Trick or Treat

Our parents would let us keep going until we were ready to drop. our grandmother hand made each of us our own pillow case sized trick-or-treat bags. Mine was green with a plastic lining sewn on the inside. Every year, (at least my elementary school ones), my mom and aunts would break out the sewing machines and think up our costumes. The five of us, our parents, and one aunt who was short enough to trick or treat, loaded up in the back of my dad's truck, exited to the point of bursting. Trick-or-Treating here we come! back to the truck we'd clamor, neighborhood after neighborhood. Our parents probably took bets on how long we would last. But patiently they'd wait, no matter how many times we came back saying, "just one more block!" *smile* Then to the house for the painstaking waiting. Waiting for mom to complete the meticulous inspection of the loot. *grins* I bet it didn't take the hours that I remember.

Now it's my turn to inspect the candy. Last year Phoenix got dressed up only to go to the neighbor's houses and come home. This year Daddy and Chris are taking him out and Mommy is passing out candy at Jenny's. He's still a little small for the marathons, so I'll join them next year. I hope he grows up to have as many happy Halloween memories as I do.

"Mom there's a raccoon in the palm tree"!

Lynn: "What did he say?"
Mom: " Yeah, I seen him yesterday. At first I left the door open so he could come inside. Then I thought raccoons are smart. I don't want to deal with him getting in the fridge, in the middle of the night, and making a mess. So I just left some food and water out on the porch. He's just a little one."

This is not an unusual phone conversation with my mom. I remember growing up there. Being late for class because my brother and I picked up an injured baby hawk on the way. Rachel, my mom's best friend, and the baby opossums she was raising in her living room. A few dogs, a couple of birds, some fish, three pet chickens, and my mom's herd of Siamese cats.

Then it dawns on me. Up to this point my ultimate dream life would consist of going to school forever. What about animals? A wild life refuge? We want to be away from hordes of people don't we? And I've taken to naming the random creatures that frequent my front lawn. (We aren't allowed to have pets here) There is a lot more to my epiphany, but it would be pates long were I to try and writ it all here. Suffice it to say, who knew something my brother said in passing could possibly steer me in a new direction.

Movies Revisited

So a few days ago I posted a list of the top ten movies that day that I would watch over and over. Of course, the second it was posted I thought of more, lots more. So here in and in no order, are the movies that I could think of off the top of my head to watch over and over. Also is a list of categories that are personal favorites also.

1. Swiss Family Robinson
2. The Explorers
3. The Goonies
4. A Christmas Story
5. Wizard of Oz
6. The Princess Bride
7. Buffalo 66
8. Pumkin
9. Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
10. Grandma's Boy
11. Saved!
12. The Nightmare Before Christmas
13. Boondock Saints
14. Trainspotting
15. Zoom
16. Flight of the Navigator
17. The Life of Bryan
18. Death Becomes Her
19. Hocus Pocus
20. Bubble Boy
21. Fight Club
22. Donnie Darko
23. Rock and Roll High School
24. Sky High
25. The Dark Crystal
26. Blazing Saddles
27. The Lost Boys
    

And the favorites that it's just easier to list the whole category than the film title are

1. Documentaries
2. Harry Potter movies
3. Kevin Smith films
4. Johnny Depp movies
5. Movies that have vampires, ghosts, goblins, etc.
6. Happy-Madison films

I'm sure this is going to be one of those things that is continually evolving. Up next is probably going to be a list of my favorite books as of right now.

Fairy Make-Up Mother

Five years ago I had a nice corporate job. I could buy all the shoes and make-up that I wanted. But at that time I hadn't discovered my inner make-up maven. *smiles* I still have some shoes that have managed to survive my periodic purging of things. But as it stands in the make-up category I own, oh, about four barrels of MAC eye make-up. I haven't been bothering with cosmetics too much these last couple of years, I've been too busy being somebody's mama. So it's getting a little easier now to sneak a few "me" minutes and put on some color. Now, I don't bother with foundation, and I can't put on blush without looking like I'm heading to the circus for work, but I love the other stuff. I love lipstick, and mascara, and eyeliner, and especially eye shadow. These are the ones I am actually good at. *sigh* I have also spent my whole life being the person who just couldn't spend money on me, when I could spend it on you. So while I rediscovered the joy of make-up I still won't be buying any more. There is always going to be diapers, shoes, food, toys, or something else that Phoenix may need or want. I will probably always wish I had overflowing tins of cosmetic goodness like my friends do. Too bad for me, there is no such thing as a fairy make-up mother. So I will continue to use what I have until I run out, or before it becomes too toxic, or until Phoenix is 18+. If not I will be happy being plain jane mommy, he loves her just the same.

Phoenix Rising

We spent Labor Day over at Chris and Jenny's house. On Saturday I was surprised to find a card containing a couple of snapshots from that day in our mail box. I don't have a camera so here are the most recent pictures of him that aren't taken on a camera phone.

Coming soon!

There are several posts that have been renting out space in my brain and it's eviction time. So in light of organizing my brain I am going to commit myself to writing previous thoughts before the new ones pop in. As it stands there are about fifteen taking up memory space. Here are the first couple on the list.

1. Fairy Make-Up Mother
2. Movies revisited
3. Rich girl, poor girl
4. Mom, there's a raccoon in the palm tree
5. Phoenix Rising
6. My Fluffy Pink Dream Christmas

Happy Almost Halloween!

There has been a ton of talk about Christmas lately, but Halloween is only a week away! So I wanted to wish every one a safe and happy one. Last year Phoenix was a pirate for Halloween. It's way cold here in October, and when it's time to Trick-or-Treat there is always a 50/50 chance of rain. This year my parents came up for a visit and bought him an Elmo costume. I will take pictures on the crappy phone as I still have not replaced the camera that blew up.

My Favorite Ornament

Wow, this is going to be sort of strange. I only just began having my own tree to decorate in 2005. Money has been tight and so the decorations I bought then, are still the decorations I have now. They consist of sparkly snowflakes, blue and white swirly Christmas balls, and some clear ones. I would have said my favorite was the iridescent angle tree topper, but it broke beyond all repair last year. So my favorite ornament is one I have yet to get. This year I am really excited to hopefully be changing it up a bit. Who knows, maybe I'll meet a crazy Christmas decorator who wants to downsize their collection, *smiles*.

Don't be shy! Write about your favorite Christmas ornament and leave a comment here to enter the contest:

Christmas Giveaway Contest

Movies according to Lynn

Today I thought I'd share my top ten favorite movies to watch over and over. They are in no particular order.

1. Swiss Family Robinson
2. The Explorers
3. The Goonies
4. A Christmas Story
5. The Wizard of Oz
6. The Princess Bride
7. Buffalo 66
8. Pumkin
9. Grandma's Boy
10. Lost Boys

Crap I just thought of another. So the bonus movie is Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Allie's Writing Contest

Okay I am computer challenged today. My best friend is holding monthly giveaways on her blog. Part of the deal is linking the contest to your blog so other people can participate. For some unknown reason, I am unable to accomplish this feat. So I am doing the next best thing. To enter the contest please go to www.curvatude.blogspot.com and look under the GiveAwayContests lable. You're blogger challenged bud, Lynn

edit: I may have got it, try this

http://curvatude.blogspot.com/2008/10/10-weeks-giveaway.html

Surprise, surprise!

At five o'clock this morning I was unable to go to sleep. Sometime last night during my normal conversation with my mom, I realized she was up to something. I knew she was driving and I knew it was later in the evening, and she's a bad liar. So in the back of my head where the voice was saying, "they are on the way here", was also coming the thought, "you better drink some coffee". But, there was a slight miscalculation on my part. I figured that they were probably farther away than I thought they were, and I was going to have to stay up later waiting for them to call. So I drank two cups. Not only is two cups more than my brain can handle on Mike normal uber coffee, he bought something different yesterday. Apparently it was cut with rocket fuel. I literally could feel my brain twitching. Even worse, they called at oh, eleven, the normal time I try and hit the hey. There were no dishes to do, there was no laundry to fold, there were no beds to be made. I am a reformed Pepsi addict, and have had no form of caffeine for at least a few days, (hey everybody has relapses), and two cups of this stuff was all around a bad idea. I thought about blogging, but I couldn't sit still. I thought about calling A. back, but I'd already all but talked her ear off, geez, her head was probably spinning already. So I watched comedy central.

What exactly IS wrong with me?

There was no post yesterday. It wasn't because I could think of nothing to say, it was because I had entirely too much too say, and I didn't know how. I wanted to write a post to my son. My best friend writes posts to her daughter often. They are wrapped in love, and sealed with a promise. We talked on the phone last night and I started to tell her of my dilemma. I love my son more than the picture my humble words could ever paint. But it's just hard for me to put these types of sentiment down sometimes. She said it was hard for her at first, but it got easier, and she wanted her to know how she felt should something ever happened to her. I expressed my newly realized fear of this now. She tried to be helpful and said she would tell him I liked him. Someone beeped in for Mike, and I was left alone with my brain to ponder this last statement. At first my feelings were bruised. Why wouldn't she tell him I LOVED him? I know she would, and being as she is my best friend, she was probably trying to make me laugh. I was a little too far in the trapped by my own thoughts phase though. Oddly the phone was busy last night, and it wasn't for me. I spent a lot of time on auto pilot, lost somewhere inside me cerebellum. Thinking about the fact, that there is no forever, and so many people have had to leave my life early, and I've already been handed my ticket, that I've got to figure out some way for him to know. My own little private random thoughts book is not enough. Besides what if he never found it. So while I know that after I'm gone people will tell him he was my everything, it's up to me to do it while I'm still here.

I got tagged

...for a photo blog, unfortunately I don't have six people to tag. I do have a photo though. I was lucky enough to have a bunch on my desktop, because if I didn't I'd spend half the day trying to find one in the maze that is our computer. Mikey puts everything in a different place, and I usually give up in frustration before pictures ever get posted. The rules were to pick the sixth photo in your folder. On this I also lucked out because the sixth picture on my desktop is one Phoenix's Godmother took of him on his second birthday. She takes good pictures. Next year I think I'll pay her instead of the studio, as they don't do so hot...but that's another post. So here it is, the sixth pic on my desktop, and the seventh too because I like it too. *smile*

When OCD's collide

Okay I admit it, I have a problem with incessant cleaning. It could be worse though...right? I am continually bleaching, and sweeping, and mopping, and laundering... you get the point. So a few days ago, when I literally had nothing left to clean, I picked up one of my old video games. When I got my guitar hero, I had to try to get a one hundred percent on everything. I had to buy all the extra guitars, and songs, and whatever other accoutrement there was to be had. When I got my dance dance revolution, I had to try every single fricken song before I could try something else. When I got each of my Final Fantasy's I spent enormous amounts of time making my characters "awesome". Final Fantasy Ten was a good hundred and fifty hours of time I'll never get back. But at least then I had two things to do, go to work at my kick ass job, or play my play station. Hey I was 21 okay? I could have been way worse. So the other day when I busted it out for the I think third time, I figured, what the hell, I won't over do it this time, I'm much older. Last night when there were five dishes in the sink and I was feeling guilty about them, but too busy making my characters more uber, I came to a realization, rather two realizations. One, I will always have some kind of mild OCD. (But truth be told, I don't think having a tidy house, is a bad one, after all I could need to repeat the same action 8 times every time). And two, the only thing that will stop me from OCD cleaning, is *sigh* OCD something else, usually video game related. Oh well, I've heard guys dig chicks who play video games. Mike doesn't complain about it anyway. Lmfao

Par for the course

Yesterday started with the realization that I only had three eggs, no mustard, and one dryer sheet. *Sigh* I cooked one of the eggs, and of course Phoenix decided he didn't like eggs today. Joy. I talk to my BFF for what is never enough time... we both have very willful toddlers. *Smile* I inevitably unload more of my current inner turmoil than I wanted to, and today feel guilty about that. *Sigh* I'll do better tonight... if she calls. I wouldn't blame her if she needed a break from me. But I digress, back to Craptastic Sunday. Phoenix refuses lunch and is sent to his nap, screeches rivaling a howler monkey. I get in some more BFF phone time, and do some character leveling on Final Fantasy while getting an hour in on the exercise ball. Endorphins my ass. I do not feel better. In fact, I'm not sure what you do with this thing besides bounce. Oh well, at least the heart rate is up. Phoenix wakes up in a less than stellar mood and is immediately sent back to his room for assaulting his mother with a kick to the shin. He throws things, screams things like "why" and "noooooo". Punctuating this mammoth tantrum with a horrid guttural noise that he picked up from an eight year old menace. Terrible twos suck ass! The foray into holy terror lasts for forty five minutes, no joke. I wish I was exaggerating. Now I need to drag the garbage can up the hill. So I unlock the door and then nearly pull my arm out of socket when it refuses to budge. What now? Apparently the doorknob is broken. Enter "manly man" who practically shoves the "little lady" aside to fix the problem. *Grrrrr* Um, who was on HER way to take care of the garbage? I'm just saying. An hour later Phoenix is banished to bed. Oh yeah, he refused his dinner too. Full on melt down. Any way the door eventually has to be pulled off the hinges. It's Fifty degrees outside. Brilliant. When it does come off, the inner workings of the doorknob disintegrate and fall to the ground like a bag of candy. Crap. So at 7:30 p.m. Mike's dad is here with a new doorknob and a receipt for the landlord. Awesome. An hour later I have a new doorknob, a child who is still not asleep, and a headache. But I've logged another hour on the exercise ball. For what is I think the first time in my life, I am looking forward to Monday.

More comic relief

There will be another post either today or tomorrow with actual content, but for now an excerpt from this weeks "Coffee Break" that I found a little funny.

A little boy needed $50 very badly and prayed for weeks, but nothing happened. Then he decided to write God a letter requesting the $50. When the post office received the letter to God, USA, they decided to send it to the president.
The president was so amused t hat he instructed his secretary to send the little boy a $5 bill. The president thought this would appear to be a lot of money to a little boy.
The little boy was delighted to have received the $5 bill and sat down to write a thank you note to God, which read:
"Dear God: 'Thank you very much for sending the money. However, I noticed that for some reason you sent it through Washington D.C., an, as usual, those turkeys kept $45 in taxes.'"

A-Z survey

Today I checked A's blog first, and there was a survey. I am addicted to surveys. But it's a good one, and I hadn't got today's blog fully thought out yet, so here goes some filler!


-A -
Available: Only on days that end with "y", yeah I'm a loser
Age: 28
Annoyance: Science has yet to give me a teleportation device, or Washington, or the 600 or so miles between me and home
-B -
Best feature: my heart
Beer: Yes please, oh wait, its 8:35 in the morning
Birthday: April 14
-C -
Crush: Orange, grape sucks
Car: crashed it 5 years ago
Candy: Abbazabba you're my only friend, (in Washington)
-D -
Day or night: doesn't matter, it's always dark here
Dream car: 1934 3 window coupe
Dogs or Cats: Both
-E -
Egg nog: not right now
E-mail: No one ever does
-F -
Favorite colour(s): Chrome
Favorite Band: Me First and the Gimme Gimmies
-G -
Gummy Bears or Worms: Sour patch kids
Giver or taker: Giver
-H -
Hair Color: Dark brownish red
Height: 5' 1" if measured with thick shoes on, ;)
Happy: One of my favorite dwarves
-I -
Ice Cream: gives me heart burn, but I still eat the Raider's one
Instrument: Phoenix's accordian
Idol: my brother Amos
-J -
Jewelry: Three rings, one from my mom, and two that were my grandma's
Job: domestic engineer, music maker, dreamer of dreams
Jail: not yet thank God
-K -
Kids: Phoenix
Kickboxing or karate: Mui Thai
Kindergarten: I used to practice counting at recess, I didn't have any friends
-L -
Longest Car Ride: To Missouri and back for my brother's graduation from Basic Training
-M -
Meat: I heart poultry
Most missed person: Robert Virgen
Movie Last Watched: Zoom
-N -
Number of Siblings: I have a brother
Name: apparently yesterday it was elephant, thanks son
-O -
One wish: I'd really dig that teleporter
One regret: That I can't go back
-P -
Part of your appearance you like best: yellow converse
Perfectionist: I try
-Q -
Quick or Slow: Quick to notice, too slow to catch him most of the time
Quiet or loud: loud
-R -
Reason to smile: Phoenix
Reality TV Shows: I like game shows
-S -
Song Last Heard: Superman by Five for Fighting, it was in the movie
Season: There is only one in Washington, WET
Shoes you're wearing: none
-T -
Time you woke up: I got out of bed at 7:30
Time you went to bed: I tried to sleep all night, but I went to bet at 10:45
Time Now: 8:49 a.m.
Time for bed: can't come soon enough
-U -
Unpredictable: I'm so damn unpredictable you already know it's coming *smile*
Underwear: polka dotted
-V -
Vegetable you hate: I don't do radishes
Vegetable you love: broccoli, squash, potatoes, ah I heart most of them
Vacation spot: beach
-W-
Worst habit: self deprecation
Where are you going to next: the post office
Weather: Rain
-X -
X-tra special someone: I can count them on my fingers
X-rays: I glow now, probably shouldn't have any more if possible
-Y -
Year it is now: 2008
Yellow: I vaguely remember an orb in the sky that was that color, I believe in California they call it the sun
-Z -
Zoo Animal: Bush babies
Zodiac Sign: Aries

It backfired

This morning I was getting ready to go to the post office to see if something I'd been expecting had arrived. Of course this meant that Mike was going to ask me to get him cigarettes because well, he's trying to quit. Yeah I don't get it either. Anyway if I'm going to have to get his cigarettes he's going to have to deal with me getting something for myself. I break down and get myself a Pepsi and a bag of salt and vinegar kettle chips. When I get home I open the bag, and of course, even though he doesn't know what they are, Phoenix starts in with "I want one!". Now, I never give the boy chips, the only time I think he really gets them is if someone else gives them to him before I realize it. Anyway I decide that there is no way that he's going to like them, and thus giving him one will be the easiest way to deter him from chips. Wrong. The funniest face I've ever seen was quickly followed by an "Mmmmmm" and a salty little hand reaching up for another one. Damn it, it backfired. Now I should have known better, because about a month ago the same thing happened with green tea. He kept asking for a drink and I figured that the tea coupled with the fact that I drink it with no sugar, would not be something he was into. Wrongo buddy! Needless to say, he had a few chips this morning.

I WANT MY DADDY

I know, I know, I sound like a spoiled rotten brat. Oh well. *grins* My parents and I try to see each other at least every couple of months. And the last time I seen them was the middle of August, so it's time. At first I didn't think they were going to be here until November. Ah, but in true dad fashion, my mom said last night that they would probably be making a trip in the next couple of weeks. Just a little nod to them, they live six hundred miles away and still see their grandchild more than some closer living relatives. At any rate I am so excited. They have yet to get to spend a Thanksgiving with us, and there are some things that I really wish they could be around for, like when I was a kid. This decision to come early is great for two reasons. Number one I can go with MY mom to get Phoenix a Halloween costume. Without worrying about taking too long, or being a burden with every breath we take. We can go to the pumpkin patch. And even better I can have a Thanksgiving dinner with them. I thought about it, and you know what, the third Thursday in November means exactly that to me. It's the third Thursday in November. I don't really have a desire to celebrate the ruin of an entire indigenous people. Thanksgiving is just that, thanks giving. And for me personally, it's about thanking God for the things he has blessed me with. Another year with my dad, the son they said I'd never have, the kidney I haven't had to receive yet. I thank him daily for giving us another day. And the prospect of getting to have a big dinner in celebration of that, with my parents, almost makes me giddy. It actually changed my morning routine today. For the first time in ages my OCD ebbed. Instead of doing the magic overnight dishes, I fished out the dusty, all but forgotten recipe box and picked out pie options. I've narrowed it down to like 25, *smiles*. And that's okay because that's what I remember when I was young. A whole table just for the different pies. Of course I won't make 25 pies, but ten is definitely an option! Oh and the turkey, and stuffing, and deviled eggs, and Swedish meatballs, and chili beans, and cornbread, and mashed potatoes, and corn, and taco salad made with extra loves, and Hawaiin bread, and fruit salad, and I'm rambling on about today's happy so I'm gonna close now.

That's funny

I've been meaning to post this for a few days, but since Mike is pretending to quit smoking, he has created a permanent butt dent in this chair. He says it's keeping him from smoking, except the only time he walks away from this thing is to smoke. I however, am on day six! Yay me! But enough on that. Over the last month I have heard some really funny things out of the mouths of children, most of them all around the age of eight. All of these are reactions/questions or caused by a commercial they'd seen on the television.

1. When Chris and Jenny came over for the fourth of July this conversation took place. : "Chris you'd better not forget to put on your sun screen, you do not want to end up with skin cancer". "Yeah dad, or genital herpes". And they say having Valtrex commercials in the middle of after school programming doesn't matter. *grins*
   
2. Upon seeing the KY Yours and Mine, (I think that's what its's called), commercial. "Is that a hair care product, because that's the only thing I can see that's different about them"
3. One of my cousins saw the Activia commercial and proceeded to exclaim, "That is so cool, a yogurt for your period!"

I'm just saying I won't be terribly surprised if I hear a small child's commentary on Viagra sometime soon. I think it's funny though, to hear how a child's mind interprets things. That whole genital herpes thing cracked me up.

The end of day 2

Okay so technically I am at the beginning of my 3rd smoke free day. Unfortunately I feel like I am at the end of a very long second day. The first day I was crappy and exhausted. The second day I was crappier and more tired. So imagine my surprise when I could not catch 5 winks let alone 40. At 2:00 a.m. I was in horrible stomach pain, but I thought, it will pass and I'll still get at least four hours. Nope, do not pass GO, do not collect two hundred dollars. The last time I looked at the clock it was 6:38 a.m., the funny thing is that I was surprised at this. I throw myself back down into my mountain of pillows and contemplate on whether I should just get up and get a head start on the overnight dish appearances. Wouldn't you know it, I fall asleep...for a split second. No sooner had I closed my eyes, (or so it felt like), did I hear hey mom...Momma, breakfaaaaast! Momma get up! Yeah, that was at 7:18 a.m. Forty minutes, forty blasted minutes, and now even though I had a perfectly good post formed in my head for this morning, this is all I could get out. All I can even think about it sleep. I love sleeping. Why is it that people who love sleep so much, often have a hard time doing it?

I can see the light...

...at the end of the tunnel that is. I made it completely through yesterday without a single drag of a cigarette! Yay me! Today should be easier right? I sure hope so, because yesterday was out of this world hard. I'm not sure if I just forgot, or the overall crappiness I felt when I was pregnant masked it, but I felt like total crap all day yesterday. With Phoenix, I just quit, not even a "well I'll have one last one". Nope, the stick turned pink, and that was that. This time, there is no little one to do it for. It's all on me, and up to my will power. It hadn't went well, I'd been trying now for at least a week. I believe it was two days ago I asked my BFF to please pray that I might have some will power. I know she prayed for me, and I prayed for me. To tell the truth I was very disheartened when I sent the message. I was about to just give up all together because I couldn't do it. And in true Lynn fashion, the more I tried to quit, the more stressful things came my way. My family's entire future as we were trying to get to, may never come to pass. NO, I do not want to smoke. The feeling will pass. The cupboards are getting uncomfortably slim. NO, the last thing I need is another cigarette. Leading to another expensive cigarette. By about 2:00 p.m. yesterday I knew I was going to make it. But with all the emotonal stuff going on, and the nicotene making it's way out of my system, I was also completely and utterly exhausted. I don't know what time I went to sleep last night, but I know it was pretty early. And even though I still didn't sleep through the night, I only got up twice I think. That by itself is an indicator of how tired I was. On a normal night I'm up about fifteen times. I'll take it! So here we are at the beginning of my second smoke free day, wish me luck.