Thursday 13: The Halloween Edition

In honor of what could possibly be my favorite holiday- Here is a list of 13 things I loved about Halloween 2008.

1) time with friends- we had 11 adults and 2 kids hanging out in our driveway tonight.

2) the incredible dinner- Bonnie always cooks us something awesome and this year was no exception!

3) The beacon of light- Mr. D. took off work today and I came home to see this Halloween beacon of light that he constructed to go on a pole at the mailbox. It was the welcoming ambassador to our Halloween extravaganza.

4) I had a super cute orange and black witch hat-- but believe me I was a good witch. 5) Welcoming Meghan to her first Halloween at my house. (this is our 4th annual bash)

6) My super cool calderon of glow bracelets- they were a big hit!!

7) The Halloween buffet- this is what we called our candy table since there were so many different treats for the children. I did have 2 treats,a fun sized pack of Reese's Pieces, and a Halloween kit kat ( which wasn't orange flavored as I had originally guessed).

8) The luminaries that lit up our drive way.

9) My new mug- my secret pal gave me a skull mug and I drank out of it all night.

10) The weather was cool enough to enjoy a fire in the outdoor fire place- but not so cold that we were freezing.

11) The scene of my house--- you can totally tell it is the place to be.

12) I love the excitement in the air!

13) And last- but never least, especially in my book- I love the KIDS!!

my crazy week

This week has been exhausting already. I have been busy busy busy- and the week will just get busier before it is over. This week I need to:

~organize lunches for my class park trip
~re-organize chaperons since the trip is rescheduled from last week
~laundry- laundry and more laundry
~straighten the house
~touch base with the other neighborhood block party planners
~create a bouquet of marshmallows for roasting
~finish shopping for the kids table at the block party
~send out the rest of Mr. D.'s b-day party invitations
~buy candy for my trick or treaters
~create kid's gift bags for the block party

I am sure there is more on the to-do list, but this is all I can think of off of the top of my head..
OK- back to work!!

heaven on a plate

Today Meghan and I decided to try a different place to eat lunch. We went to a local fish house that we had been wanting to try. It was so very very good. We ate lunch, and it is now passed 9 and neither of us were even hungry for dinner. I ate shrimp and stuffed crab, she had oysters and catfish. Their hush puppies were the best I had ever had. MMMM!!!

BOO

Tonight, I went to Boo two little girls I have become friends with in neighborhood. I found this little "boo" bag at the store and couldn't resist. In their bag I put candy corn (because one of the girls LOVES candy corn), chocolate bars, girly hair things, a glow in the dark fairy wand for each girl and playdoh. The premise of the "boo" is that they aren't supposed to know who sent the stuff. However, in this day and age, I called their Mother to let her know it was me and that the items were safe for her children.

catching up with my readers

Sorry- once again for the delay in updates. This weekend I had a chance to go to visit my mom and a few grandparents. Meghan went to help me with a project or two. I was so glad to have her help. Here is a picture of one of my hometown places I took her.

We had some projects to work on but still found time to visit. Mr. D. spent the entire day doing things that needed to be done yard wise. We ate some super yummy barbecue. I love white barbecue sauce- and if you have never had it, you should try it. We stayed until after dinner and the drove the hour south to come home. On Sunday, I made a big pot of chili (even though I don't eat chili). Mr. D. enjoyed it, and I loved the cornbread muffins for dinner.

School is going right along. I love my class this year and enjoy spending my day with them. We are taking a field trip to the park on Friday- so I am hoping the rain will stay away! I love Park Day.

On the political front, at lunch today a 5 year old in my class asked me who I was voting for. I asked him what my choices were and he said that I should vote for Obama. A 3 (almost 4) year old in my class looked at him and said - or she could vote for McCain. I think it is funny seeing such political alliances at the preschool level.

Tonight I am going for sushi-- and I have probably told everyone I know- because I am that excited about it!! Whoo- Hoo!

I am a take care of yourself kind of girl

So this afternoon I got in the car and my tire pressure light was on. I had to get gas, so I drove to the gas station and while I was pumping the gas I looked at the tires and didn't see anything like a nail or a flat or anything like that. I then took out the gage and realized that my driver side tires were a little low on pressure. I saw the air machine and it was 75 cents. Thank goodness for the 4 quarters from Camille- since it only took quarters. I properly inflated the tires and I was on my way. I felt very proud of myself for being independent.

what's in the bag???

It is Friday and my carry all bag is stuffed to the gills. I thought I would empty it out and let you all know what was hiding in there. Here is the clutter- removed from the bag.
It contained:
4 quarters taped to a card from Camille thanking me for the stamps
$2.28 in cash
a plastic grocery bag (we use them at school for potty accidents)
a cd for Meghan
a mirror
my purse
sunglasses
3 ink pens
a mechanical pencil
a screw (I found on the playground and meant to throw away)
sudafed
5 receipts
a candy bar wrapper (mini milky way)
a package of travel wipes I forgot to put in the package to Kuwait.
a Bed, Bath and Beyond coupon
my BlackBerry
my keys
a bandaid
2 notebooks
a planner
a check for $22.17
charging cord for my Laptop
battery charger for my camera
cord that connects the camera and laptop
1 alcohol swab (for cleaning my blackberry- something was on the camera lens)
a box of raisins (also for school- but that is another story)
2 bags of mini pretzels
a soup to go (chicken with mini noodles)

I have since cleaned the bag out and things look are a lot more organized now!

Thursday 13: thirteen things I like about fall

I am getting this one in just under the wire. Here is a list of 13 things I like about fall.

1) the cooler weather-- or should I say the lessening of humidity.
2) sweaters
3) boots
4) our Halloween tradition with the neighbors.
5) crunching leaves
6) candy corn
7) the fresh Reece's peanut butter pumpkins.
8) carving pumpkins
9) scarecrows
10) the Fall Festival at my school (this year my classroom's booth is Karaoke)
11) popcorn balls
12) long sleeves
13) mums

rumor has it...

... I may actually see Tiffani this afternoon.

This week, I have........

...had a day off.
...trick or treated Parker- but didn't score candy.
...bought 150 super cool glow bracelets for giving out at Halloween and only spent $10.
...went to dinner at a neighbors house and planned the homeowners block party.
...I procrastinated about making the invitation for the party... maybe tomorrow.
...I mailed a package to Kuwait.
...I went to the store and about a million (O.K. 25) tshirts for my class.
...I watched TV
...worked
...juggled friends and fun
...emailed, texted, faxed, ect.- ok I didn't fax

PetSmart

I guess I have become somewhat of a regular at the PetSmart. As you already know, I have my favorite fish-whisper, Hannah. I went in today and Hannah was there and she had a gift for me. Eight baby mollies. Meghan and I were hoping that our mollies would give us a few babies- but this didn't occur. Someone had dropped their babies off today, and Hannah gave them to me. They are so tiny and cute. Hopefully, they will be able to survive in the tank.

scarecrows

Today, we met the Young family at the scarecrow walk at a local botanical gardens. These two are too cute to scare the crows, but they had a great time. Afterwards we went to dinner. It was so much fun!!!

Meet Sheldon

Here is a picture to Sheldon- my shark I bought last week. He is my favorite guy in the tank.

Thursday 13: the revisit

I am copying Stephanie and revisiting a Thursday 13 from a year ago-- my revised version is in Blue. This is a list I made last October of things I needed in my fall wardrobe. It was actually 14 things- because that week- I didn't get my list done until Friday.

1) a smaller pair of jeans (yeah!) I have plenty of jeans.
2) a black turtle neck Oh yes- I still totally need a new black ribbed turtleneck!!
3) a new sweater I need more than one as I retired several last year.
4) a new pair of black shoes Yes, and I really need comfortable black shoes for work.
5) a new pair of brown shoes I no longer need these
6) some cute boots-- maybe in pink Yes, I want boots- but more like brown cowgirl type boots.
7) a few new pairs of striped socks.. fun ones! I need to find matches for the socks I do have.
8) a lightweight jacket I still need this.
9) new undies Who doesn't need these.
10) a cozy pair of fall pajamas Always
11) a sweatshirt (that is not sports related) I no longer need this.
12) something dressy for the fall holidays This would be nice to have
13) a cute fall headband This too
14) new fall skin care and makeup! yes, my skin is already dry dry dry!

Trick or treat- night 2

This is my first blog video! I haven't gotten that far in the manual, so I am sure it wasn't on the right setting. Hopefully they will get better-- but this is too too cute not to show. This is a video of trick or treat practice tonight. They came in costume and I think it is adorable. Parker is Batman and Caleb is Robin.I told them I would see them tomorrow-- same bat time, same bat channel.

a nice surprise

A sweet new friend of mine made cookies for me today. LOVE IT!!!

trick or treat

Tonight Parker came over and we practiced Trick or Treating. He would go outside and ring the doorbell. I would open the door and he would say "trick or treat" and get candy. It was precious. I love having such a cutie next door!!

the bread bowl

After trying for-EVER to get this picture rotated- I just decided to go as it. Here is a picture of the bread bowl. Inside is Paula Deen's Creamy Shrimp Bisque. MMMMMMM

It's fall- ya'll

So Today, Meghan came over and helped me fall up the outdoors. This is one of the little scenes that we made.

It's OVER!!

I just took my final exam in my grant writing course. I made a 92 on the exam. Whoo- hooo- now let the money start flowing in to my school!!

I am baking

Tonight, I decided to attempt sourdough bread bowls with my bread starter. We are having shrimp bisque tomorrow or Wednesday and I thought these bowls would be a perfect addition. I started making them around 6:30 tonight. It is a long process (mix, knead, rise,punch down, rest, shape, rise). In about 5 minutes I will get to bake the bread. I am having a new respect for Panara.

blonde moment #6342

This morning was a little crazy in that I had to rush around and get ready a little earlier than usual. I had to go to the store on the way to work to get something my class needed. I was leaving and I went to the car. I put the garage door up and then looked in the rear view mirror. It was so dark behind me that I thought I hadn't put the door up. I had to open the car door and look back to make sure. Crazy huh?

Today I...

...moved the white Pfaltzgraff dishes into the kitchen cabinet. We have service for 12 so there is definitely more dishes to be used. I also discovered I am missing 2 of my plates--- so neighbors and friends- check your cupboards. Here is what it looks like.
I also added 6 crystal tea glasses, (also a wedding gift) so that we had all matching glassware in the cabinet. Project completed--- check!

our new dishes....

...have not been located at this time.

I have laughed so much today that my cheeks ache. We had so much fun looking for the dishes. Mr. D. has since informed me that it isn't the dishes he hates, he doesn't like that we only have 4 of them. He also told me he hates our hodge podge glassware as well.

We went to the Old Tyme Pottery. Nothing caught our eye there. I did however find 24 plates/bowls for the kids in my class to eat their snack on. We went from there to a variety of other stores. I fell head over heels in love with these dishes. Mr. D. informed me that he would rather drive a pink car than have to eat one meal off of these dishes. I told you it was a funny day. I also liked these dishes-- but again I was the only one.

Mr. D. liked these dishes. I thought they were fine too.

However, he wasn't 100% sure, and we have a motto of "if it isn't a yes- it is a no". So, we decided to give up the dish search and start the fish search. We went to the fish store where we saw lots of great things. My favorite PetSmart employee- Hannah was there. She helped us to pick out a new filter for the tank, 2 fish and a baby shark. We also ran into the lady who fostered Brady until we adopted him. All in all, we are no better or worse off than we were before.

and then he said....

" when we go to Old Tyme Pottery tomorrow-- do you want to buy new dishes for the house"
Let's dissect this statement...
when WE go to Old Tyme Pottery--- We? I mean how many times have we all heard how OTP is like a torture chamber for him.
buy new dishes for the house--- My head was swimming-- is this a trick of some sort? I mean, yes I totally would love to feed my lately neglected addiction to the purchasing of dishes-- but is there a catch?? I think the conversation was inspired by my commenting on the lovely dishes at the sushi restaurant we went to with his cousin Lily last night. (We had an incredible time!!)

For those keeping score, please note the following...
I have 7 sets of dishes.
china (which we never use)
Fall Dishes (I TOTALLY need to get those down from the attic)
our "everyday" Pfaltzgraff from our wedding (rarely used)
our actual everyday- as in used everyday plates. They are Asian inspired stoneware which I hauled back from a trip to NC a few years ago.
Winter Dishes
Spring Dishes
Summer Dishes
Actually, 8 sets if you count the lovely chinet that I occasionally serve on.

Then the hammer swiftly dropped as he confessed his hate for the dishes we use every day. I even think I heard the word "ugly" - but I am not sure as I was in a state of complete and total shock. My head was swimming at the insanity of it all, and it still is.

I will keep you all posted on what happens when "we" go to the OTP today.

Thursday 13: thirteen pictures from my afternoon with Parker and Caleb

my skills (could also be titled- I am a nerd)

So tonight, I was studying for my final exam in my Grant Writing class. Mr. D. was on the laptop and starts asking me the 100 questions on the new citizenship test here. I missed 10 of the questions. I think he was impressed. Try your luck at it.

Wednesday

It is Wednesday-- and my living room is actually clean. I am blogging in an effort to procrastinate from taking my next quiz. My class will be over soon!! I am hoping to get a couple of good grants for the school with the knowledge I have gained. I have mostly learned that grant writing will be like having another full time job.

I am glad that new shows are on. Who knows-- maybe tomorrow you may see 13 shows I am watching.