note to self

1. remember to turn off the tv before midnight. otherwise you will stay up all night watching 2 reruns of without a trace and 3 episodes of cold case and before you know it the sun will start to rise and it is 5 am.

2. remember to buy alka seltzer. (this is needed after eating too many corn chips and salsa at 2 am)

3. remember 2 am feedings are for babies only and not insomniac middle aged women who stay up all night watching tv.

true confession

every year someone in our wonderful, friendly, caring neighborhood makes up a couple of plates of cookies or cupcakes or carmel apples along with a picture of a ghost or witch or something halloweeny and secretly delivers them to a neighbor. the treat comes with a note saying that the receiver must now, as they are enjoying the goodies, make up two more such goodie plates and pass them along secretly to someone else in the hood and thus by halloween everyone in the neighborhood has been treated. (you put a picture of a ghost or witch in your window to indicate you've already been treated so you don't get it twice) the first year i was "treated" made me feel so special. wow - somebody liked me enough to choose me as their friendly "ghost or witch" neighbor. i excitedly made up my two plates, made copies of the instructions along with copies of the ghost or witch picture, placed my picture of the ghost or witch in my front window and promptly delivered my other two. i was happy. .... that was until i got home and discovered i had failed to put a second picture in my back door window and had been treated again. now don't get me wrong, i loved the treats and love my neighbors, but now i had to make up two more plates of goodies and deliver them to two more neighbors! the next few years this "tradition" took place i was sure to place copies of the ghost or witch in both my front and side door windows. this year i noticed that cori had received her halloween witch and had the treats ready to deliver to her neighbors. i had not been treated yet, so while no one was looking, i made copies of her witch so i could place them in my windows and pretend i already participated. but i decided to run an errand before taping her to the glass - when i got home i said to myself, "self - you better put that witch up". so i checked the side door, no treats yet, good and i taped my witch for all to see. the front door was next and as i finished taping my second copy to the window i glanced down and saw a paper on the doorstep. i opened the door and low and behold there was a plate of cookies with a note of instructions and a copy of a witch. so today i will make up my two plates of goodies and find a neighbor who has not been treated yet. moral of this story - it never is good to be a bah humbug at christmas or halloween!

doing my part for the economy

cori tells me it has been too long since i last blogged! look who is talking. but since i always listen to my "elders" and since i have, actually both connors and i have a large wedding party coming to stay at our houses tonight and i need to finish changing the sheets and cleaning the guest bathroom and clean the kitchen, i decided to sit down and post! i believe avoidance behavior runs in my family. because, after i finish this post what i really want to do is go to bukoos and the 5 hour store and bath and body works, etc.
speaking of shopping - i have done my part to help spur the economy on lately. the only problem is that my new toys are making me very sore and tired. last week i went to lowes and bought a new edger and trimmer and blower for the lawn. just a word of caution for any future home purchasers out there - avoid corner lots! my next purchase ended up being a new dyson vacuum. cinny got a new one and i wanted one too! found a good bargain at .... bukoos of course, so after edging my entire lawn i went inside and vacuumed the house, just to see how much dirt my old vacuum left behind. (note: dyson's pick up more dirt than old kenmore's). while at bukoos i also found a cool kitchen faucet and since i needed a new one i bought it. jordon promptly installed it for me and i have enjoyed doing the dishes and cleaning the sink. i saved well over $400 dollars on these purchases. gotta love a bargain. my next and final purchase - so far - was a new dining table. it is 96" long....that's 8 feet!!! will sit 12-14 and if we want to we can add a leaf or two. there is also no "skirt" so mom can roll right up and not bang her knees. now more people can sit at the table and eat. lest anyone thinks i am rolling in the dough, i'm not ... i just got a really good buy. table sells for $1300 - $1500 or something like that. (i verified online and didn't just believe the salesman.) guess how much I got it for ----- $325. and when i die i can be laid out right on it and you guys can have a good ol wake for me. sooooo.... come on over! how about thanksgiving?!