BAD HALLOWEEN DECISIONS!

I like to celebrate Halloween these days enjoying that I no longer have to obsess and freak out about what we are all going to dress as.  So, in honor of Halloween weekend, I decided to post a "never before seen picture" of HUSBAND and me in one of our worst Halloween costume moments on record.  This was a "what the hell were we thinking" decision, clearly.  SON was 11 months old,  his first of many, many agonizing costume demands he would face.  He didn't care about this one, at least.

Here's the short story......  (there's a long version that I think included name-calling, door-slamming, screaming, the mention of divorce, etc, etc, etc.)  But, I'll stick to the short version.

We had close friends 30 years ago who had the wildest, most elaborate, drunken, costume parties imaginable.  You did NOT show up un-costumed.  You just didn't.  Prizes and awards were given for the BEST costumes.  Everyone tried to one-up each other. This was a big event.  The day after Halloween, we immediately began thinking about next year's costume.  Actually it was two days after Halloween when we started thinking about next year.  The day after was spent trying to remember what we said at the party, and if we did anything embarrassing, then calling people to apologize.  Luckily this particular year, 1983, HUSBAND and I had an 11 month old, so we had to be responsible.  At least I think we were.

So after weeks and weeks of debate, we decided we would go as CAVE PEOPLE, the little Cave Family.  Jeez.  I can't remember why we came up with that ideal, or why we thought it would be clever.  It was long before the caveman commercials on TV.

I made all three costumes - from scratch, all of them.  And we paid SON $100 and promised him a car to just keep it on for an hour or two (he hated pants and shoes at the time).  We gave him some rocks, too.  His favorite toy.

So here we are, fake teeth, fake hair, fake dirt, real rabbit pelts on our shoulders (sorry!).

(Check out the Harvest Gold stove in our kitchen!!)

Here we are at the party.  I don't think we were speaking to each other at the time this was taken, having just gone through the insane stress of getting dressed LIKE THIS!  We got over it.  SON is enjoying his rocks though, and he kept his costume on all night!

We ALMOST won The Best award.  Almost.  But see the dwarfs in the background?  A group of friends came as The Seven Dwarfs that year.  All seven of them.  They won.  They were impressive.  Damn them.

Other costumes from our years going to that party were Mimes, Santa and Frosty (I was Santa, and pregnant), a pregnant nun and devil (when I wasn't pregnant), the Sand People from Star Wars, Nuclear Patrol Agents (gas masks and all, in the days of the South Texas Nuclear Project), among others.  By the time DAUGHTER was born we decided a babysitter was the ticket for this party!  She didn't like pants or shoes either.

But this costume idea .......!  I haven't looked at these pictures since then, for obvious reasons.  HUSBAND loves the pictures.  Thinks they're hilarious.  Thinks we look great.  Then again, he looks better than I do.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!

AMAZON LOVE & THE UPS MAN.....

That title sounds like a romance novel, doesn't it.  And there's probably already a porno movie with that title.  But here's MY story.......

Some dear friends gave me a very generous Amazon gift certificate for my birthday a few months ago.  I've just now taken advantage of the gift.  And let me tell you, I'm like a 5 year old waiting to open the big box!!

These friends gave me a condition..... it had to be spent on "just me".  So I've saved it, trying to decide what I wanted the "just me" gift to me. It's been a while since I bought a toy for "just me".

I carry around at least three books wherever HUSBAND and I have to visit.  I don't want to be in the position of being FORCED to read just one, and sometimes visits are longer than others!  So I have to be prepared!

So.... Here's what I did.....

I ordered a Kindle!!

A huge commitment for me, because I like my books!  I like the way they smell, and I like to dog-ear pages, highlight things, add sticky notes. (Oh, Sticky Notes, those are another thing that I LOVE! - another post though.)  But I did my research on the Kindle vs the Nook vs the TOO EXPENSIVE iPad.  Lots and lots of research.

Sooooo, trying to move on here...... Most people who know me know that I love the UPS Guy, whatever he looks like.  :-)
They just bring you good stuff!  Stuff you wanted.  And they don't bug you.  They just ring your doorbell and run away.  Love them.

And, OMG, I love Amazon!  They really need to get me to do PR for them!!  Ask anybody.  Since I'm a mall-o-phobic, I do almost all of my shopping online, AND on Amazon.  You have to love a company that, once you order something, gives you a button on your account page that says, "where's my stuff".  That's really all it took for me!

ANNNYYYYYWAY...... MY KINDLE has been traveling across the country (sort of like Flat Stanley).  From a place called "US" (hum! Not sure if that is "US" as in them, Amazon, or "US" as in U.S. - still funny), to Tempe, AZ, to El Paso, TX, to San Antonio, TX.  When I saw that it was in San Antonio on Friday afternoon, I thought about calling UPS and just saying hey guys I'll meet you half way, ok?  But then it was scanned as a departure before I had time to call, and it arrived IN AUSTIN at 10:20 LAST NIGHT!

Unfortunately, it's still sitting there - didn't get to me today - no departure scan for Saturday.  :-(  Amazon told me it would be Monday, but since I was watching it travel, I thought that if they hurried up just a little bit, it would get to me today.

Monday will be fine, though. I trust that Amazon and UPS did the very best they could.  I'm feeling a sore throat coming on so I might be home when it gets here.

AND, I ordered MY first KINDLE book today.  For $5.24.  I got an email from Amazon saying that, even though MY KINDLE hadn't yet arrived, the book was being "sent" to MY KINDLE.  While it sits and waits at the UPS warehouse in Austin.  How cool is that!  I'm pretty excited.

I'll give you a Kindle update soon, because I'm sure everyone really wants to know.

Thank you, my Amazon gift certificate friends!!

NOTHING NEW HERE RIGHT NOW

I haven't posted anything recently, because........
No extra time.
I'm busy.
I'm tired.
I don't sleep.
Laundry.
Luci.
Dishes.
I have to put gas in the car.
Food.
Answering emails.  :-)  (love you all!)
Trash.
Pancho.
Recycling.
Sifting the litter box.
Feeding the cats.
Feeding HUSBAND.  (just joking, HUSBAND!)
Showering.
Putting air in the tires.
Taking allergy meds.
Putting on makeup before work in the mornings (thinking about giving this one up!).
Pancho
Watering my THREE plants.
Sifting the litter box.
The Dishwasher.  (Not to be confused with "Dishes".)
Going to the mailbox.
Sorting through the mail.
Throwing out bad mail (doctor's bills!).

Trash.

Recycling.
Sifting the litter box.
Luci.
Changing a lightbulb.
Work.  (love work!)
Luci.
Luci.
Sifting the litter box.
Sleeping.
But here is where we live, so.... not so bad........

Nice place to be.

TWO FRIENDS

I found this picture tonight.  And the frame it was in is hysterical. I must have thought so when I bought it, because it fits these two perfectly.  I had forgotten about it.  I think this was from their middle school years.

They are both girls who "like to share their feelings".  Lovely & loving. Sweet. Independent. Hard-working. Sympathetic. Conscientious. Dedicated. Aware.  AWARE!  Never a question about how they feel about anything.  They will TELL YOU!  I love that about them both.  These two could always make you pay attention, believe me!!!!!

They first met at two or three, when their older siblings were in kindergarten - INSTANT friendship.  The two families became instant friends, as well.

Twenty-two years later, they are roommates, in a cute house in South Austin (with another sweet friend).  And they take care of each other.  I called a couple of nights ago.  DAUGHTER said she was playing Skip-Bo with FRIEND, and being silly. My stomach and my heart  flip/flopped.  Still the same friends.  So glad.

Nothing ever tops good friends.  Ever.

I promise to NOT be sappy anymore, for a while.

YOUNG LOVE, OR WHATEVER....

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I have been going through boxes and albums of pictures for the past year, and why I've been doing it.  I've been re-living memories... things I thought I would never forget, but, after seeing some of these pictures, I had.  So, I thought I would force HUSBAND to remember these things too, whether he liked it or not, but, (sadly for me!) he remembers way more than I do.  I'm not happy about this fact.  Women are supposed to be the "remember-ers", not men.  NOT so in my marriage, it seems.  He probably remembers the band we saw at Magic Music in Waco in 1973.

HUSBAND and I grew up in the same small town and have loved each other since 5th grade, so he says.  I remember 7th grade, but whatever!!  He can win that argument!  This past weekend I attended a beautiful, sweet wedding of a young couple who where together in high school also.  It made me smile.  And think.

Just tonight I found these pictures, taken in one of those little photo booths at Six Flags in Arlington... I got chill bumps.  I'm pretty sure the year was 1972, and I was a junior in high school, he was a senior.  But I'm sure HUSBAND will correct me if I'm wrong.

I don't remember WHAT the deal was with the hat.  I'm sure it was cute at the time. Hum. I remember the shirt I was wearing, and I remember the beads HUSBAND was wearing - like it was yesterday.  I remember standing in long lines for rides, and making out!  :-)

And being very happy.

THREE THINGS - UPDATED!

The past 4 days have been wonderful.  I was worried about it when I wrote the last post.  Wasn't sure I was up to it.  I'm a homebody right now (and really aways have been, but....).  I tend to whine a lot, and feel sorry for myself WAY too much.  Sometimes I'm just really pathetic.

But, I puffed out my chest, and took it all on this past week, with the encouragement of Husband and Daughter, and friends.  I was able to spend time with those wonderful friends, and celebrate two memorable occasions....

#1  - The first was spending time with these girls......

I'll write more about these three another time, but just know that I LOVE these girls more than I can say. They each have a charm I gave them a little over a year ago, a milagro, which means love and joy.  They are amazing young women - have been friends since before kindergarten.  One of them is getting married next October, to a young man we also love! (Thank goodness for him!!)  I can go on and on about them, but I'll stop! I just love them so much!

#2  - The other thing I was fortunate enough to be a part of was a wedding of sweet, young friends, under this huge oak tree, at a beautiful park in East Austin.

This picture was after everything had been cleared away, but it was beautiful.  Enhanced by baseball games going on close by, a birthday party with a loud pineda bashing, jump-rope songs, etc.  It was an hour I will never forget - the sweetest wedding I have ever attended.  The couple has been together for 8 years.  An aunt of the groom officiated the wedding, and at the end, she respectfully said,  "By the power invested in me, by the Internet, for $30, I now pronounce you husband and wife."  It was priceless!  None of the 75 people present had a tearless eye!

#3  - And the third thing on my previous list, ironing.... I avoided as much as possible.  Nobody said to me, hey you needed to iron that.  So..... another lesson learned.

THREE THINGS

I have three things I have to do over the next three days.......

#1  A party with dear friends.  So excited.

#2  A wedding for sweet, young friends.  So excited.

#3  Ironing.  Shit.

Life.

OPTIONS

I was at the grocery store last night, needing eight things - I had a list.  Things I needed to make food for the football-watching guys who were coming to our house today.  It's THE BIG GAME in my world.  (Sadly, it didn't turn out as anticipated.)

I also needed to pick up some meds from the pharmacy.  I am at that pharmacy A LOT, believe me!  But, it was 6:30 on a Friday night.  I guess, a "heavy-traffic" time.  I was fifth in line at the pharmacy.  Four of us were humming elevator songs in our head, I'm sure, trying not to make eye contact with each other, just wanting to pick up our pharmaceuticals, go grab the chicken and the eggs and the toilet paper, and get ON WITH THE WEEKEND!

So, I really had time to study THIS.....

(I took this picture from my phone, discretely, for fear of being labeled a pervert!! )  What I really wanted to do was scream at everyone around, "People, come look at THIS!"

This display case is in front of the pharmacy at this particular store.  I mean RIGHT in front of the counter - attached to it.

AND IT'S LOCKED!  IT'S LOCKED!

I assume "they" think all the good stuff is in there, so they have to lock it up.

And FORCE PEOPLE TO WAIT IN LINE AND ASK FOR CONDOMS!  Or for YEAST INFECTION cream.  Or a pregnancy test. Or for A LUBRICANT.  Geez.

So,  again, here is what was in the case.......

Condoms, pregnancy tests, vaginal lubricant, yeast infection cream, bladder infection meds, condoms, condoms, condoms.  And condoms.   And you see that empty space?  I think that was for more condoms.  Sold out of that one.

  

Women's' products took up half the case.

Condoms took up half the case.  (That's a whole blog in itself!)

So, the most private, intimate parts of a person's life, and this store wants people who want and/or need these items to WAIT IN LINE AND HAVE A CLERK COME OUT AND UNLOCK THE CASE SO THEY CAN GET. WHAT. THEY. NEED.   While everyone else standing in line is watching!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Just wrong.

Most women wouldn't have a problem with asking, however.  They would just go up to the window,  no matter who was around, and tell the Pharmacist, "I need this pregnancy test you have locked up out here, so get the keys and get it for me!  Right now."

I'd like to watch a man go through the same process to buy condoms.

(Sidebar - And WHY are we locking up condoms???  Shouldn't they just be in a big bowl on the counter by the mints?  Again, a whole other blog!)