Monday, October 28, 2013

Friend Makin' Monday - What if?

Happy Monday!  The extent of my day yesterday was going to get some pumpkins and carve some jack-o-lanterns!  Other than that - it was recovery.  Saturday was crazy, I got my house mostly clean, folded a couch full of laundry, set the fence up around my cemetery outside & rearranged a few props.  Then I had to get witchified!  I've been looking forward to this Witch Crawl for weeks!  We spent an hour or so at Bar #1.  Then 50 or so of us witches got onto 2 buses and rode for a good 30+ minutes to bar #2.  It was fun - lots of people in fun & creative costumes besides us.  Piled back onto the bus and right back off (I think we drove next door) for bar #3.  Patio area & upstairs were lame, lower floor was where the dancefloor was - yay! Finally got back to bar #1 shortly after 1am.  Some people stayed there, not us.  One of my sisters was staying at my house, so hubby was our DD.  I let him know when we left bar #3 and he was waiting for us. 

me, Laurie & Linda

Judging the condition of some of the witches, I'm sure there was a nice chunk of change donated to breast cancer research! 

Onto FMM - 


If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section over at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

What If?

1. If you had something in your teeth would you want someone to tell you, or would you prefer to figure it out on your own?  Tell me!

2. If you had to listen to one song on repeat all day today, which song would you choose? Anything from Def Leppard.

3. If you could trade places with someone famous, with whom would you trade? Ugh.  I don't know.  I'd hate for paparazzi to be stalking my every move.

4. If you could speak another language fluently, which one would you speak?  Spanish.  Of course they'd love me at work, since we have a lot of Mexican truck drivers that don't speak English well.

5. If you could read one person’s mind right now whose would you choose?  There's not anyone I'd really want to read!

6. If you were forced to go back in time, which period of your life would you choose? Of MY life?  Probably my Navy years.  I loved the travel & seeing new things & places.

7. If you had to be trapped in a TV show for a month, which show would you choose? I don't watch much TV, so I can't even begin to guess one.

8. If you had to give up twitter or Facebook, which would you choose? I don't Twit, so I'll keep my FB.

9. If you could have a present today, what would you want? A new car!

10. If you had to choose between celebrating Halloween or Christmas, which would you choose?  Halloween!  Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, but Halloween is my day!

Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions! Don’t forget to come back and link up in the comments! Happy Monday!

Monday, October 21, 2013

Friend Makin' Monday - a New Season

Whew I was busy this weekend!  Homecoming is finally over - Our Varsity team stomped the competition 40-8!  And the dance sounded like more fun than anything I had ever experienced when I was in high school!  
Shelby is technically wearing heels - those red tenny's have wedge heels built in. 
Angel opted not to wear her hip-hop kombat boots.  I'm sorta glad! 

No, she's not a ham at all! 

I'm slowly but surely getting ready for Halloween! I spent a lot of time dis-assembling part of the cemetery to mow the lawn, then reassembling it with more. I brought out the skeletons!  They've been chilling on lawn chairs on the patio for probably 2 weeks.  


Oh yeah, then wind happened.  I heard it after we got in bed last night and mentally toured the cemetery and decided everything was OK.  I'd forgotten about the sign with the cemetery name on it!  The wind blew it over (again! ) and broke one of the legs off.  Crap!  I'd just fixed it from last year!  Grrr. 



If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section over at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

A New Season

1. What is your favorite thing about Fall? Clearly Halloween!  I also love the smell of fall and seeing the trees change colors, hearing them crunch.

2. It’s not Fall until…after the girl's birthday (9/28)

3. Apple cider or hot chocolate?  I have some awesome mint hot chocolate from Trader Joes that is amazing. Cider is nice, but you need donuts with it.  That's a bad trigger for me!

4. Share a happy Fall memory. Going to the orchard, hay rides, trick-or-treating.  Also, my dad's funeral was 10/27/09. A sad time, yes. But while at the cemetery, as the workers closed the file cabinet door (he's in an above-ground crypt and that's how I think of it), the sun made it's only appearance of the day just for a brief moment, as if a door had opened & closed.  That really made me happy.

5. Do you have any hobbies that are seasonally specific? Not really.

6. What do you miss most about Summer now that it’s officially over? Long days & sleeping with the windows open!

7. Do you prefer pumpkin pie or pecan pie? Pumpkin, no hesitation!

8. Do you suffer from allergies? Occasionally.  My sinuses do act up sometimes when the weather changes.  It sucks.

9. How do you celebrate Halloween?  I'd love to throw a party, but my house is tiny.  But my yard is big and I have Maple Grove Cemetery.  No one else in the neighborhood decorates to the extent I do and the kids love it!   Maybe this could be considered my seasonal hobby, even tho I prepare for it year-round?  This year I'm also going on my first Witch Pub Crawl.  It should be a lot of fun, even tho I'm not a big boozehound.

10. What is the biggest change that you expect to experience during this season? The day after Halloween when MGC goes away for the season.  Its always a sad moment.



Saturday, October 19, 2013

12 days to Halloween!

October is flying by!  I can't believe it!  I'm so not ready for Halloween.  However, on the plus side, after fretting about a fence for the cemetery, I 'm happy to say I am totally cheating. 

I picked up 4 rolls of this stuff tonight.  I figure a 2 foot fence with points on top will make it clear to NOT walk thru the cemetery!  Should be easy to store, too.

The cemetery is mostly done. I need to move these guys.....
and the coffin out into the front yard.  I also have my awesome Hunter's Moon stone that I need to display prominently.   And inside I need to call in FEMA since it looks like a tornado hit.  My apothecary is currently taking up the whole kitchen table. 

But first.  I need to mow the lawn.

And I have a darn rose blooming!

I'm happy that right now, Miss Angela is at her Homecoming dance - this has been a crazy week! I sure don't remember anything as fun or insane as this while is school for spirit week. 

Sophomores wore red, juniors blue, seniors white for the class competition / pep rally.  They played games like tug-o-war, egg & spoon races & 3 legged races.  Teachers won, juniors 2nd, seniors 3rd, sophs 4th. Yay!  The seniors also got a bit crazy - they took white window paint and baby powder to all the junior's cars.  I bet there were some pissed off parents! 

Tuesday was PJ day, Wednesday they were supposed to wear their Homecoming shirt and winter accessories (the theme was Winter Wonderland), Thursday was Ugly Sweater Day and Friday was "show your school spirit".  The school colors are black, white & orange so this time of year its easy to find stuff to wear!

I always take off early to go watch the Homecoming parade. 

 There were tons of people!!

Jack wasn't impressed. 

Angel weaseled her way onto the SADD truck with Shelby (who actually belongs).  
And stole some guy's hat. 

 I love this brownie troop's float!  They have things like "Go Football Team" on the poster - funny!

 I like how the volleyball team decorated their net with cornstalks. 

 The junior float - there was fake snow all over from the snowman! 


 The senior float - they had a sign that said "Victory was so Sweet"


And of course, the dance.  
 Shelby is such a character with her high-heeled tennis shoes. 

 She looks so grown up!

So that's all that's been doing on here.  I went out this morning & last Sunday to take care of my sister's horses while she's out of town. 

Then Randy & I used our evening alone for a date night!  It consisted of dinner at the Outback & a visit to Lowe's.  We are such party animals!

Monday, October 14, 2013

Friend Makin' Monday - All About The Blog

Aw, heck - what did I even do this weekend?

 Friday was nothing much, I've been fighting a tension headache from work so it was nice to get home after work and just hear nothing louder than a purring cat. (seriously - I'm going to throat punch this one guy who just makes me crazy, and I don't even work for him!). Saturday, Miss Angela and I went to a couple thrift stores and craft stores to find items for her Homecoming pep rally outfit. Homecoming is this Friday and today was their pep rally - Sophomores wore red, Juniors wore blue & Seniors wore white. So we found a pair of blue shorts that she could paint & also a little girl's Halloween costume (for $2 !!) with a ginormous blue tutu on it. I cut off the top and little shorts & she had her tutu!


Today's assembly was basically to compete & see which class was most obnoxious. I do believe this year's seniors made have screwed over a lot of the classes to come. She texted me a while ago & said someone had gone into the junior's parking lot (they have to park across the street from the school) and all their cars had gotten covered in white paint. I'm so glad she's not driving yet, I'd be pissed! Can't wait to see the consequences of this!

So tomorrow is PJ day, Wednesday is wear your Homecoming t-shirt day with winter accessories (the theme is Winter Wonderland), Thursday is Ugly Sweater day and Friday is Show Your School Spirit Day. The game is Friday night & the dance Saturday night.

Anyhoooo, Sunday I took care of my sister's horses since she's on vacation, then went to get pics at a couple neat old cemeteries. Then the hubby had volunteered us to do radio for a church's food / $ raising Crop Walk. There were actually extra Hams there, so Angel & I offered to be the rear-flank. We followed behind all the walkers so the church people along the route knew that there weren't anyone else coming. It was a poor choice. Neither of us were wearing good walking shoes, especially for 4 miles!

Damn, I'm hawt!

Onto FMM....



All about the Blog

1. How long have you been blogging? Since July 2009. I waffled a bit whether or not I wanted 1 blog or 2, but now I have 3.

2. What is the overwhelming theme of your blog? Going back to the 3 blog comment, this one is mainly about losing weight / getting fit / Weight Watchers. Tales from the Love Shaque is just random thoughts & happenings in life. Maple Grove Cemetery is my Halloween blog - I'm posting daily over there right now for the Countdown to Halloween!

3. Have you connected with people in person after meeting them through blogging? Not yet.

4. What do you enjoy most about blogging? I like getting my thoughts & plans in order & mainly is like a journal.

5. How often do you blog? Obviously with the Countdown to Halloween, daily! I post here a couple times a week and really need to post more on TFTLS.

6. Share one thing that you don’t like about blogging. I can't say that there's really anything I truly don't like about.  I do tend to get wordy.  Oh, and people who have Captcha on !

7. Do you talk about your blog in everyday life? Somewhat. Hubby & Girl know that I blog, but I don't think they read any of them. I've been known to announce that something is blog fodder.

8. What is the coolest and most unexpected thing that has happened to you as a result of blogging? I won a drawing from one of the bloggers that I follow and got some awesome custom made Halloween display items that they were passing on.

9. Are there topics that are off-limits on your blog? If so, name a few… I don't go out of the way to avoid certain topics, but I don't talk about some because I simply don't find them interesting.

10. If you could accomplish one thing through your blog before the end of this year, what would you want to accomplish? Hmmm. I haven't thought of accomplishments. Hopefully I can share a good idea or some kind of inspiration that helps someone.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Belated Birthday Post

This past week has been insane, so I'm finally getting around to posting about Miss Angela's Sweet 16 birthday weekend. 

We started out with Friend #1, Brittany, over after school on Friday.  Her parents were going out of state to pick up a new dog, so she stayed with us.  We went to Lowe's & Taco Bell for excitement. 

Saturday was Angel's birthday.  I got up early and acquired many balloons.  It was hard to drive since they kept drifting into the front!


 We got Randy these balloons a couple years ago.  I just brushed off the dust & reused them!  
She knew I was doing this, so it's cool. 
That is a bottle of Detroit Red Wings nail polish!

 Out & About for the day. 

1st stop - the local tattoo place to get her belly button pierced!  She's been wanting this for a while & I told her on her 16th birthday we'd go.  We stopped in there a week or so before so she could meet the artists and see the shop.  Super nice people.  I'm going there when I decide to get more ink!

 This is literally within the first minute of getting it done.  
Complete with iodine still on her belly.

Happy Girl!
I had to take her birth certificate & my ID in with us for them to put on file. I'd also taken her school ID and my marriage license since we have different last names, but they didn't need to see those. 


There is a story behind this damn cake.  She wanted this ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins.  So I ordered it and the baker called me later and said all they had were RedHawks.  I was like WTF are the RedHawks???  She tried to explain (in broken English) that they were the ones who won the NHL!  She meant the Blackhawks who won the Stanley Cup....and why the hell would anyone who lives in HOCKEYTOWN want a Blackhawks cake????  So I cancelled it. I even called several other stores and one guy explained to me that it was the most ridiculous thing, that's the only team they'd gotten. And he sympathized with me, no one was going to buy that cake!   After I dropped her off at dance the next night, I stopped in Meijer and was looking thru their book and saw the same cake.  So I asked this time and the baker went in back and came out and slapped down the Red Wings stick & NHL puck on the counter.  Sold!  But I'd noticed the stick was cheap plastic, so I stopped at a store who carries licensed Wings & Tigers gear and got her a real wood mini stick, which is why it looks huge on the cake. 

So after the trip to get the cake on Saturday, we ended up with friends #2 & #3, Shelby & Taylor over.  We went to the mall for a while and then we had to leave so I could meet Shelby's parents before she could spend the night.  I respect that, I do the same thing.  Pizza & a movie then home for them to settle down. I was playing a game on the computer waiting for them to go to sleep.   I thought it was safe to go to bed around 12:30 am. and then I heard a random giggle, so I stayed up for another half hour or so.  

Sunday I made cinnamon rolls to wake them up (I didn't get to do the Happy Good Morning song & dance, I was bummed) and then we went to the orchard to meet the family for the usual fun.  It started to rain right after we got there, so that sucked. 

They all spent 1/2 hour doing their hair before we left.  All for nothing!

 Look at the baby goat!  So cute!


 These are the jumping pillows and are what I was looking forward to going on, but they closed it because of the rain.  Grrr.  Damn rain.  They look so sad & lonely! 

 It stopped raining long enough to go conquer the corn maze. 

 The balloons didn't like the rain. 


Shelby & Taylor left from the orchard (got to love friends who drive now!) and we stopped for a light lunch with the family to celebrate her & nephew Austin's birthdays & then stopped at a nail salon so they could fix her nails (from a previous visit).  Then we took Brittany home (and saw the new puppy - a Whippet!) then went to Toby Keith's I love This Bar & Grill for dinner and her deep fried Twinkie. 


She said she had the best birthday ever!  Yay!

A week later, the belly button is doing fine.  She kept bumping it at school one day and I got a text telling me about it.  So I told her to get a band-aid.  It worked!  She's supposed to go 2 weeks without vigorous activity.  She's still gone to dance, but has skipped acro.  She's going to try it this week.  I have to take her back so they can check it at the Tattoo place this weekend. 

September 13 in 13 late update


Sheesh, how could I have forgotten???  Oh yeah- there was a Sweet 16 birthday party & a totally insane week at work last week!

August's recap

Just quick.....I've been doing somewhat well with tracking & activity.


Didn't make all the WW meetings (and don't even feel guilty!)   In fact I missed 2.  I dropped in at another location for one of those weeks. And the September challenge was sleep.  Normally I think I'm doing OK with it, but when the thought is sort of lurking in the back of my mind, I didn't get enough!

On the plus side - I tried Zumba for the first time.  Very fun!  They didn't have it last week and I was sort of glad since I was so tired of just being on the run every night and having to cover for a co-worker 2 days and the guilt that I didn't started setting my Halloween display up yet, etc, etc, etc.

Other than that, it's better now.  We had a relaxing weekend, and I have about 2/3 of the yard display set up and about 1/8 of the indoor decor out.  I caught up on my sleep!   I got 11 hours last night and that it totally unusual for me!

Happy Week to Come!