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.