Happy Halloween!!

I've always liked to celebrate Halloween but I've never been a huge fan of dressing up and begging for candy. I prefer to decorate my house (in more of a harvest theme than Halloween) and buy candy to stash around the house. I do enjoy passing out candy to YOUNG trick-or-treaters. And I thoroughly enjoyed dressing my little one up and taking him to a handful of pre-selected neighbor's houses dressed as the most adorable lion I've ever seen before we passed out candy from home. (Yes, I know that I'm biased.)


The other side of Halloween is the Dark Side. And I do believe that there are all kinds of people out there who truly believe that the evils of the world freely walk the streets on All Hallows Eve. Which brings me to the point of this post...

DO YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS?

Honestly, I have mixed opinions about this topic. I've had some strange things happen to me, unexplained noises and things breaking that shouldn't. And our late Lacie dog used to stare into the same corner of the living room while barking and growling for hours upon hours sometimes. Micah often looks up to this same spot while pointing and talking his baby gibberish. IF there is indeed some type of something lurking in our house, it really doesn't seem to bother anyone. I do get a little weirded out when I think about it sometimes. But for the most part, ghosts, spirits etc., are not something that I take too seriously nor do I think every single person who claims to have some type of paranormal experience is making it up.

In the comments...what is your opinion on this matter or do you have your own experiences to share?

I think just may be time to let this blog go...I just can't seem to ever find the time...

I've Discovered a New Disease, Where Are My Millions?!?!?

I'm am waiting on the delivery of my 3rd cell phone in about a year and a half. I don't try to pretend that I take extra special care of my devices. I've been known to allow Micah to play with my handheld computer that no child should ever be allowed to touch let alone viciously throw onto the cement during a walk. But hey, after that one was rendered no longer viable because I could only make calls using the speakerphone (which is evidently considered to be rude in public, humph) I purchased another. This time I tried to be sensible. I bought the phone used in order to side step the outrageous cost of buying from T-Mobile before my contract was set to expire. I gave up some features that I really enjoyed (wi-fi, windows mobile) but I gained a touchscreen and a 5 mega pixel camera, super cool, eh? And ever better, I tried my hardest to take care of THIS one. Micah's sweet little hands only touched this phone if he was successful on one his his gazillion telephone robbery missions of the day. (My baby is obsessed with the telephone, he OBVIOUSLY gets this from his father.) And as far as I'm aware, he never dropped it. Well the other night the damned phone started acting like a touchy menopausal woman. Evey attempt at touching the screen yielded and unwanted and WRONG response. Never doing what I wanted. I tried to remedy the problem several different ways only to end up being told by the tech guy, "There are no other possible fixes. I'm sorry, you'll have to replace the device." WTF!!! Didn't I just go through this, not even 2 months ago!!!! So much for actually trying to take care of a phone properly. And don't EVEN tell me that I should have refrained from purchasing a used phone. I was being economical, remember? So anyway, this all happened last week. Mind you, the broken phone is a touchscreen with a virtual keyboard. When the screen is acting like a psycho by responding as though you've touched whatever option is to the left of what you're actually gunning for, texting is virtually IMPOSSIBLE! Alas, we come to the discovery of the new disease. Drum roll please...

TEXTING WITHDRAW

I text all day everyday and am very grateful for our unlimited texting plan (otherwise we'd be paying some serious overage charges). I have not been able to text in a timely fashion for about a week now. I'm getting a little anxious. I've even taken to using the husband's phone to text my sister just for the sake of texting when I don't really have anything to tell her because I just like to text. And the funny thing, I never used to like to text. I was all about texting being too impersonal, pick up the phone and talk to me dammit! But now, I really enjoy the convenience of it all and not being able to send a quick message about the awesome new thing my genius baby just did (LOL) is driving me insane!!

So just remember that you heard it here first. When something happens and the cell phone towers across the nation go down, millions of people all will find themselves experiencing strange sensations that will later be diagnosed as Texting Withdraw. Hell, it may even not even be too long before we see those in recovery on some funky VH1 reality show.

And So It Goes...

At what point in life did you start to feel you're running out of time? Or have you not yet reached that point yet? I'm 31 and all of a sudden I feel as though I'm not going to get it all done. Things are starting to feel impossible. Starting to feel like I've got to do some rearranging. Is this just a phase because the end of my child bearing years are quickly approaching or maybe just because life in general has been so unpredictable the last 6 months or so? I'm not sure. But I don't like these feelings of uncertainty and maybe just putting them "out there" will help to dissolve some of the anxiety.

Yes, I'm Still Here. Promise.

I should probably be but on some kind of blog probation...almost 2 months since I last posted anything. Shame on me! Well let it be recorded that I have often thought of sitting down to write and something always comes up (kids,husband,dogs). Often I'm out and see a blog worthy situation and never quite make it to the computer (kids,husband,dogs). So I am here in attempt to redeem myself and hope that at least one person stops by to see that I am still here :)

So, a quick recap of the last two months, shall we?

~I've still been hitting the gym at least 3 times a week although I'd like to go more but I that isn't always possible (kids,husband,dogs). But more importantly, I'm sticking to the commitment I made to myself...yay!!!

~My baby boy is 16 months old. He's got an incredibly strong personality, which I absolutely adore, and it seems as though he's doing something different and new every single day. And he's turning into a "big boy" for sure, he's out of mommy and daddy's bed, sleeping through the night (FINALLY!) and he's not nursing anymore! Thank God for my sister and a little patience on my part that helped all this happen in just under 2 weeks. How wonderful it is to feel like a normal human being again.

~We put up an electric fence in our backyard for the dogs. Too many people freak out when Scooter gets loose and and Scrappy just causes trouble with other neighborhood dogs. I thought the training process was going to be really crazy and long. But it wasn't so bad. Scooter got it in about 3 days. With Scrappy it was a whole different ballgame. But they're both good now and I have to admit, when one of them decides to try and chase that random squirrel or rabbit and they run into the boundary line, it can be extremely entertaining. I know, I shouldn't enjoy seeing my dogs get shocked, but hey, I do. Because really, I haven't changed my mind, I'd like to just get rid of them all and reclaim my grass.

I suppose that is all for now. Just wanted to check in with the blog-world and say I am indeed still here. I'm trying to think of a new format for my blog that will allow me post more often...so look for changes soon!

I love to watch people. I can never drive past someone walking down the street without taking a peak. I like to wonder what there lives are about. Where are they going, where have they been. I wonder if the tall skinny man that I see several times a week walking with a drug mart bag who has a severe limp and deformed hand was born that way or was there some sort of accident. Is he bitter? Is is ever appropriate to ask? Probably not. I often feel sad for him. Not so much because of his abnormalities but because he always looks sad. I wonder why he looks so sad. Maybe he misses life as it once was or maybe he dreams of what life could have been. I am sad now just to wonder about it.

I wonder about the lady who wears the crazy glitter makeup and lines her lips, as well as most of the surrounding area, with a shade of red that is never truly appropriate for anyone who doesn't want to be noticed. She often acts as though she wants to be invisible, but she never presents herself in such a way. She wears her hair, or wig, I do believe it is a wig, piled high on her head and its always adorned with some type of bow or barrette that would be far better suited for a small child. I wonder why she would go to the local bar, order several beers, open one to drink now and stuff the rest in her over sized purse to drink later in the lady's bathroom. I wonder why she sometimes will speak and other times acts as if she is unable to speak and just stares. Is she able? I do not feel sad for her. Actually, she frightens me a bit. She seems to be the type who may go "postal" one day. But I do enjoy watching her, I really do. But I prefer her when she is in a non-speaking mood.

I wonder about the man who is young and handsome that walks past my house everyday to get his beer. The ambulance is called a few times a year because he often tries to commit suicide. Why would he do that? Is he just so drunk that he does not know any better? Is his life that bad and maybe that is why he is drunk all the time? He has children that he doesn't care for. That makes me sad. But from what I understand, he himself was not properly cared for as a child. That too, saddens me. Probably, I could get more answers about the handsome drunk neighbor, but then, what would I have to wonder about? And what would be the fun in that?

Some New Things, YAY!!!

A while back I promised to make myself a priority. When I made that declaration, I had no idea how difficult it would be. I mean seriously, why is it so hard to take care of yourself? Why is it so hard to take some time to do something nice for yourself? Since when did we (women) get so caught up in everyday life that we tend to forget we are actually a part of that life we strive so hard to not allow to crumble? I have a theory...motherhood.

So, obviously, I've had a difficult time since my little man arrived (nearly 14 months ago) making time for me. Because for some reason, I just wasn't as important anymore. Then I woke up. If I can't take care of me then I can't take care of my family. And so here we are. I'm trying a couple of new things and reverting to some old in order to but some balance in my life.

Priority one, get in shape. After I had Micah and things settled down a bit, I was able to focus on shedding those extra baby pounds. At first I did a pretty good job. And then something happened. Life happened; we all got sick and I of course had to be the "nurse". My exercise routine went out the window and my eating habits flew out right behind. I gained back the 15 pounds I'd worked so hard to get rid of and never really resumed my healthful ways. But I'm ready. So I've started doing Zumba. It is such a blast!!! I have never had so much fun working out. I look forward to going to the gym and some days actually wish it would last just a bit longer. Plus, it gets me out of the house. ALONE. And to top it all off, I lost 6 pounds after going just 3 times in one week. Yay!!!

Priority two, hmmm...I don't remember. Can I be honest? I've been trying to get this post up for about 3 days now. I have no idea what I was going to say which tells me that I need to re-evaluate my priorities. LOL! But I have still been making it a point to read. And I'm sorry to report (Nance) that I really don't have the time to dive into anything that is going to require tons of brain power. I have to take baby steps as my baby is running me ragged. I am thoroughly enjoying reading mindless vampire novels, for now. I have moved on to the Sookie Stackouse collection. Give me time, Nance. Give me time.