Halloween

Ahhh...Halloween. You gotta love a holiday that makes cake and cookies look healthy by comparison.

This year, I had my usual battle with Derek to try to convince him to be something not bloody and oozing. Guess that's part of my lot in life with a house full of boys. I finally put my money where my mouth was and bought him a pricey Jango Fett costume just to avoid the $13 bloody face guy. But, hey... how can you put a price on winning the battle of the costumes?

Nathan was a doctor - not because he wanted to be a doctor, but because the costume came with fun toys. Later he changed his mind, but I told him he could pick a different costume next year. Score two for mom!

Finally, little Trevor was a tough-guy hockey player. Derek wore this same "costume" (really just a Flyers jersey) at Trevor's age, but had a real black eye to go along with it. Trevor sported his eyebrow scar, but you couldn't see it. We managed to get Derek's hockey helmet on Trevor, which covered his entire head and neck. He loved it and wore it the whole time trick or treating - until he discovered he couldn't eat chocolate with a full face mask. Priorities, you know!

Halloween is one of those times I feel just a *tiny* bit jealous of the moms of girls. The boys costumes just aren't that fun and the older they get, the worse they get. I loved seeing all the little girls in their sparkles and foofy dresses. Guess with a house of boys handing down their costumes to each other, there's more money in the budget for my Cinderella costume ; ).

On Being Grateful for Gifts

During a Sunday sermon, something our minister said broke through my internal running to-do list and sleepy no-caffeine-yet fog. It wasn't something new, but for some reason it happened to resonate with me. "Be grateful for the gifts you've been given." Of course - it's not a lightbulb moment, more like a "duh" moment (yes, I know next week's sermon will be "give us more of what you're grateful for," but we'll worry about that later). But, I took it to heart and spent the day trying to be grateful instead of complaining. It didn't work so well when I tried it on someone else...

Rob: This traffic is terrible. We are wasting our Sunday sitting here burning up gas.
Me: But, think of the time we have here together to talk, freed from the stress of being glued to the TV all day watching football. You have two good legs with which to drive, two good eyes to see the road and the means to afford a car!
Rob: We are wasting our Sunday afternoon sitting in traffic and I'm missing the games.

So, I can't fix everyone. But, I did spend the day trying to see the glass as being half-full and taking time to appreciate our home, that Rob has a job, that we have three mostly good and healthy kids and that Rob and I are healthy and mostly fit and happy. It's a refreshing way to view things and I will try to add a little more gratefulness to my life...so right now I'm grateful for a two year old who can speak his mind and is tearing me away from the computer.

I Love Carbs

To the tune of Sesame Street's Oscar's "I Love Trash" song: Oh, I love carbs...anything cereal or pastry or bready; anything sugary or sweet or oven-ready; oh, I love, I love, I love carbs! *sigh* Yes, I do love carbs and I especially realize it now because I'm trying to cut them out of my diet little by little. I'm hoping it will help squelch some of the sweet cravings, but for now, I'm just dreaming of having a big fat bowl of cereal for breakfast instead of an egg - blech!

The 80s Called...They want their pants back!

I got a flyer from Limited Express recently. That I know it as "Limited Express" and not just "Express" shows my age because I remember when they were just getting started. In fact, some friends and I helped them open their location in Lancaster when we were in high school. My friend stayed on to work, but I went elsewhere (can't remember where for the life of me!).

In any case... clearly they never heard of the saying "if you were old enough to wear it the first time, you're too old to wear it the second time around." There were many old-school fashions in the Express flyer, but this one in particular made me laugh.


I think they should have fine-tuned their mailing and removed anyone over 35 - and everyone over 100 pounds. I'm certainly no fashion maven, but these pants are just screaming for the "what was I thinking?" list of the future. Also, the large horizontal-striped shirts - I know I had a couple of those in my closet in Jr. High. The only thing I can't figure out is where are all the bangles and multiple earrings in one ear hole? The lace in the hair and fingerless lacy gloves? What about the big, roller-coaster bangs and foofy permed hair? Guess that would be taking the retro look a bit too far? But, at least a little purple eyeshadow past the eyebrows...give me *something* to hold on to!

Had I found these pants before my "seriously" post, they would have made the list ; )

Rolos...Meet thy Destiny!

Today was a day like any other...struggling to get through the grocery store with Trevor and trying to remember everything I need and not come home with a bunch of stuff I don't need. Reaching the checkout seems like the end of the battle, but it's still a huge hurdle to overcome. The trick is to load everything on the conveyor belt without having Trevor transplanting it back into the cart or on the floor AND while keeping him safely seated in his cart and his mitts off the candy next to him. It's really a cruel joke to believe that this endeavor could end successfully and I consider myself fortunate if we get through the mess with both Trevor and eggs in tact.

As I had my back turned for about 15 seconds today, it was enough time for Trevor to grab a pack of Rolos, strip off the top of the package, and jam two into his mouth. So, the rest of the Rolos had to come home with us. And I wonder why I can't rid the house of junk food! : ) His defense: "Good Chocolate!" I concur.