Ahhh October

Ahhh Beautiful October! Don't you just love October? Pumpkins and yummy fall comfort foods....the leaves changing on the trees and the rustle of the leaves as they chase each other down the street. The sound of children playing outside that you can now hear because the temp is perfect for open windows.....

Don't be fooled....this is the official month of the beginning of all of the holiday seasons and first up we have....HALLOWEEN!!!! Yep Halloween purchases started a month ago and I'm already behind because commercialism has a months advance on all holidays. My new neighbors however started dressing their house for the season as soon as products were available. They have scarecrows, blackbirds, mums, pumpkins and graveyard markers in their yard.

Now I love to decorate and I hate being behind but this year is a financial nightmare for most of us and I have come up with a plan to decorate without spending any $$$$.

First up a scarecrow.....simple...my saintly husbands overalls (he has several pairs, he's a country boy at heart) and a hunting shirt stuffed with the dead grass clippings from the mower and whatever our lab has dug up in the backyard. Now this has the potential to smell so we will strategically place him downwind.

Second...blackbirds....easy...I will throw bird food on the roof and wait for them to come. Of course this may cause a riot with the other birds but that's just a chance we'll have to take. I think Ms. Martha Stewart would encourage me to train my own blackbirds but we haven't time for that.

Third...Mums....now it's getting tricky treatie, I have some that have come up from last year but I don't think that it would hurt to use sunflowers as a filler. They are growing plentiful on the side of the highway and I don't think it's against the law to stop and cut a few down. Of course if I get busted this could blow the whole idea of decorating without $$$$.

Fourth....Pumpkins....we have several orange t-shirts from past halloween's and if stuffed with pillows I'm sure they will look exactly like pumpkins. We'll just place them by the scarecrow, nobody's going to venture near him!

And last but not least we have the graveyard markers....well... I have been working on ours for years now. Because we know when we kick the bucket our children will have to bury us on a budget. We have matching pinewood boxes to boot!!

Happy Halloween to you all!!!! I see a busy day full of decorating in my future!!!!

Laundry

I'm not even going to begin to describe my love-hate relationship with my washer and dryer. But do you see these beauties. OMG to have one of these machines would make doing laundry feel like I had tackled Mt. Everest!

Of course the dream of owning one of these babies is just that.......a big fat dream!!! These little gems are in a financial league all their own! We're still wondering if our TV's are going to explode when the new HDTV system hits.

Ahhhhh....but my dream is to have these babies waiting for me in the laundry room. I can see it now...in candy apple red....sweeeeet.......followed with a years supply of laundry detergent and fabric softener and Clorox for hot and cold with a new laundry organization system....hey if your gonna dream....always dream BIG!!

I see a trip to the appliance section...to dream only.... in my future!!!

Mogan David

This little bottle is what I remember seeing in my Nana's fridge. Now that I'm older and into the wine phase of my life I have the ability to try this little gem.

What can I say but....ummmm.... not for me. I may not put it on my top ten but what I can say as I sip away is "what in the world could have inspired my grandmother to love Mogen David?" We are not Jewish and therefore it could not be that it is kosher. We are not vegan, it is on the vegan list for wines. I read that somewhere as I was doing a little searching for Mogen David. So definatly not that. I love me some cow and chicken and pork....my apologies to the vegans.

What it has done for me is help me to remember my Nana. And that is what inspires me to buy this little gem of kosher wine. It is approved for use during passover and this is something that reminds me of her. She loved her church and her bible and her family and I miss her more with each passing year.

I wish I could ask her about this Mogen David. And tell her that I love her. But I will continue to sip away and try to unravil this mystery that is Mogen David. Perhaps I will grab a pastrami sandwich as well.

I see Mogen David in my future!!

Tonsils

OK. I was going to post a picture of Tonsils but that's just gross! My fourteen year old son had his removed one week ago today and is still feeling the effects. He looks pretty bad, in fact he looks worse than when he came out of recovery. He can breathe easier and is getting the best sleep of his life. Kinda scary that we don't hear the snoring anymore though. We didn't realize how loud it had been or how routine it had become to hear.

Now we had a great Doc.!! The man was awsome!! He took excellent care of our son and we couldn't have put him in more capable hands. Dr. Doc. was in charge of writing the prescriptions too! Dr. Doc. gave our son the good stuff!! No skimping on meds going on in our neck of the woods!

Most people will tell you that having your tonsils out is "not a big deal" "not serious" "thank god it's not something else" this is the main response that I received when telling people that he was going to have them taken out. He's so lucky he gets ice cream all the time!! And all that is primarily very true.

What I have learned however, as a mom, anytime they put someone you love under anesthesia it's a very big deal. Suddenly statistics become a very big deal and you just pray that your loved one doesn't become part of the statistics, even more so when it's your child. While our son is fourteen we did see several other children going in for the same procedure that were far younger than him. I prayed hard for my son and everybody else who was going in for surgery that morning.

While waiting for the procedure to be done what I observed was the love that families & friends have for one another! It was amazing to see family and friends come to support parents and loved ones while waiting with them for procedures to be completed. They put their daily routines on hold to make sure they were present. They came armed with books, magazines, newspapers, laptops, cell phones (laptops and cell phones are now allowed in the new outpatient facility we were in) and for the very lucky....Starbucks!!

We are so very grateful for all the text messages and phone calls we received from friends and family who could not be there, for it's not always possible for everyone to show up. Jobs and distance always prove difficult but thanks to the miracle of technology my text message box was full that day!! We LOVE you guys and Thank You!!

I will be forever grateful to my father-in-law for he came armed with conversation. We don't see very much of him, at least not as much as we should, but he showed up and was ready to help make our wait less daunting. We mainly talked about the squirrels and tomatoes...go figure! But the fact that he was there when our son opened his eyes made me realize how important it is to just be there. Be there for support!

We love you son!!!!!! You didn't need those tonsils and adenoids anyway!!

Thankfully all went well and we were out of there before we knew it. We said our goodbyes and watched as the one retired man, we thought had nothing to do, went to his next appointment for support. Thanks Dad for being there!!! You are greatly appreciated!!!!!!!

I see volunteering in my future!!

Squirrels

Looks harmless doesn't he? He sits in a tree waiting to see if I'm watching so that he can jump down into my garden to steal my tomatoes!!! This squirrel and all his little friends are thieves!!!

Now I love nature. I'm all for these guys getting ready for the winter and having enough food. I am just a "little" upset that they have chosen my garden to ROB!! They actually sit on my fence and stare at me while they eat my tomatoes!! UGH!!!

Now in their defense (and you know they need one) they think I'm crazy and I'm more than positive that these little creatures are using me for their own amusement. How many squirrels do you know sit on a fence and watch you. It's kinda creepy. But I have provided some fine entertainment for them.

I run out my back door and yell and wave my hands trying to chase them away from my garden. I have thrown my dogs bouncy balls at them, rocks, wood chips, little cars from the kids sand box, and one morning in my desperation to save a tomato I threw my coffee! Now you know I was desperate if I gave up a cup of my precious morning mojo!!


We have gotten five tomatoes from our garden and we planted five tomato vines. That's one tomato per plant that we've eaten this summer and the squirrels have had the rest. Now I've been taken advantage of before...but never by a squirrel!!!!!!

No kidding I'm going to shoot me some squirrels!! I will start Christmas decorating early this year. I see a tree full of squirrels in blue, red, yellow and perhaps green. I think I see a paint ball gun in my future!!