Will you be giving out candy to trick or treaters this year? If so, what goodies can the ghosts and goblins expect to bring home?
Ohhh....I have all kinds of candy and goodies to give out. Gum, Snickers, Tootsie Rolls, MIlky Ways, Reese's and all kinds of things. This is our first year in a real neighborhood since leaving Missouri eight years ago. Jordan missed out on all of the Halloween fun that kids have. We really hated not being in a neighborhood. This year we are getting our yard all spookied up and setting up some party food in the garage. We will be showing scary movies/music on the TV and playing darts while we wait on the ghouls, goblins and witches to come trick-or-treat us.
oh...and uhm....This morning I listened to _I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas_. :D I can hardly wait to decorate for Christmas. This whole house is going to be so awesome and pretty decorated for the Holiday season.
Have you ever returned an item to a store for a refund after having used it?
Probably. I honestly can not remember. But, having worked at the service desk at Wal~Mart for many years I can tell you that there are many people out there that don't hesitate to try and return things even after being used many times. I have horror stories from people trying to return old over-used roach infested items. There was a time that Wal~Mart took back anything and everything that was ever carried in a Wal~Mart store. Times have changed and now they are much pickier about what they will take back and what they won't. One of my most memorable customers was a lady that walked into the store, put her 'return' on the desk and went to find a replacement. When she returned I told her very nicely that I was sorry but I couldn't give her a refund or exchange on her coffee pot. She immediately got on her high horse; started ranting and raving about how wrong I was, I would take the coffee pot back and other wise verbally abusing me. I just let her rant. I knew I was right so I wasn't going to let her get to me. When she finally paused to take a breath after demanding to know why I refused to take her coffee pot back I simply explained: "Ma'am, the coffee pot did not come from Wal~Mart, it says on the box and on the reciept that you got this at Sears. She snatched up her coffee pot and walked haughtely from the store. I waited until after she was out of the store before laughing but several other customers that were in line behind her did not wait.
I really liked working at Wal~Mart...I loved the customers and helping people. I did not like the bosses/managers so much.
Who would you most like to be stuck in an elevator with? Least like?
Most like: My son. But only if I could get him to talk to me about his hopes and dreams. He is growing and changing so fast that I am starting to feel like I don't know him anymore.
Least like: There are so many that come to mind. Bad guys (or girls), an alcoholic jonesing for his next drink, a druggie needing his/her next fix, any of the ex's family (with one or two exceptions), a smoker, someone that needed a shower, anyone with too much perfume/scent on, anyone sick---the list coulc go on and on.
But, if it is only one or two floors I take the stairs: I need the exercise and sometimes elevators make me feel light-headed, dizzy, and nauseous.
Totally Terrible Things on Tuesday:
- Gaining more weight
- The Bears lost.
- I have no clue what to fix for supper tonight
- My office is a disaster area. I need to clean and declutter before someone gets hurt.
- Feeling a little down this evening. Don't like it. Need to find my 'happy' again.
Totally Terrific Things on Tuesday:
- The Patriot's kicked butt and took names
- Chris really seemed to have a good time--even if the Bears lost
- The kid pulling his grades back up.
- The kid has also been spending time in the afternoons talking with a couple of girls down at the bus stop. He's been as late as 30 minutes getting home. Oh, and they stopped and knocked on the dorr yesterday asking him why he wasn't at school.
- Decorating for Halloween.
- A possible party on Halloween.
We got to our hotel in Douglasville and I took a nap while Chris and Jordan watched some football on TV. Then we went out in search of the TGI Fridays that we saw in the yellow pages. We didn't find it so we settled on Logan's Road House for supper. Then we headed to the game. We only took one wrong turn before we were able to find the stadium. Parking in and around the Georgia Dome is scarce and we ended up having to pay $25 to park and we still had a pretty good walk to get to the stadium.
The security in and around the stadium was good, we all had a pat-down before they let us in. The women had a choice of two lines to go through while the men had about 10 different lines they could go through. Got through security and then set about trying to find Chris a Bear's shirt. We found a LOT of Falcon's stuff but no Bear's stuff. :( We stopped at a vendor and got two sodas and a beer---with our pockets $17 emptier we found out seats.
Hey, guess what? I'm afraid of heights. Yeah. Not a good thing when your tickets are in the nose bleed section. So, in that picture of Chris and me---yeah, that's not so much excitement in my eyes as much as it is fear. Luckily the people that were sitting in front of us sat down fairly early and with someone sitting directly in front of me I was able to settle down and enjoy the game.
We enjoyed watching the teams doing some basic pre-game warm-ups and we enjoyed people watching. As kick off time was drawing close Chris made a comment about how empty the stadium was. I looked around and saw that it didn't even look half-full. Then we got caught up in watching the teams take the field, the singing of the National Anthem and the coin toss. When the teams were lining up for the kick-off I looked and the stadium was completely full. It's amazing how fast a stadium can fill.
We were mostly seated amongst Bears fans. But there was an occasional small pocket of Falcon's fans. Lucky for me I was sitting next to a very understanding Falcon's fan. He had his big binoculars and he watched the game through them. He didn't holler and cheer nor did he have a verbal 'sparring' contest with any of the fans around us. He was nice. The guys that were sitting behind us were drunk Bear's fans. The one directly behind Chris get spitting on the ground and rubbing it with his foot then he started eating peanuts and kept dropping the shells onto Chris's back. During half time people were milling around everywhere and someone kicked over one of their beers. I was lucky in that something made me look behind me just as the beer was headed down. I got Chris's jacket and my purse up and out of the way but the hood on my jacket got pretty wet before I could get it out of the way.
After the game I got really nervous as the crowd getting out of the stadium was so big. I was really scared that we were going to get separated. Then once the crowd started to thin out just the barest little bit some of the more drunk Falcon's fans were not being nice to those of us wearing Bears colors. THAT made me even more nervous. Once we got a little bit away from the stadium and we were on our way to the car I spent my energy 'booking it' as Jordan was saying. I just had no desire to be ambushed by drunk Falcon's fans. I wanted the safety of the car and I wanted it right THEN! We made it to the car after being shouted at by about every Falcon fan that we happened to come across.
We didn't make it back to the hotel until 1:30 in the morning. We collapsed into bed and Jordan was very nice and played his video game quietly this morning while Chris and I slept until 10:00.
It was a great time and I hope Chris really enjoyed his first NFL football game---even if the Bear's beat themselves.
...Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day.
Please join me in sending cyber hugs to all Mommies and Daddies of Heaven's littlest Angels.
I am Trish:
Mommy to three angels.
Jordan: born November 11, 1995
My Heart: miscarried August 8, 1997
Samuel born straight into Heaven Sept. 10, 1999
Totally Terrible Tuesday Things:
- Sexual abuse on innocent little children
- Parent's that do not believe thier children are telling the truth
- Jordan's progress report.
- Annoying people
- Not really looking forward to therapy on Thursday. She warned me that 'closure' will be emotionally draining.
Totally Terrific Tuesday Things:
- Jordan has pulled his English grade up from an F to a D and after more grades are posted tonight/tomorrow he should be back on track.
- At least the children were brave enough to tell thier Mom what was going on.
- Mom believed her children.
- Anticipation of 'da Bears vs The Falcons Sunday night and we will be there.
Yup, Boy Wonder has done it now. Or maybe I should say he hasn't done it. His current average in Advanced English is a 52. No, that is not a typo. He is failing English. He told me the other day that he sees no reason for this class. He thinks he already knows all about grammar and punctuation; he just chooses not to use it. So, Boy Wonder is grounded from all things electronic until his grade comes up. When report cards came out a couple of weeks ago he found himself on the A/B Honor roll for the first time since 2nd grade. As a result we've been really working on getting his Advanced Pre-Algebra grade up. He and Chris have been going over things and it seems like Jordan has a better handle on his math progress. Now, we have to worry about his English grade. English? Seriously. He needs to get his act together.
So, today is parent/teacher conference day. He's not in school today and since he's grounded from all things electronic. I have a list of things for him to do. Empty the dishwasher, mow the yard, brush Darcy and give her and Baron a bath. Heh, let me keep thinking and there will be more added. He knows that his 'job' in this family is to go to school and make good grades. As long as he is trying his best we will accept any grade that he comes home with. He has not been trying, so therefore he is in trouble.
I am waiting on a phone call from his English teacher so we can have a 'conference' to see what, if any, extra credit work he can do to pull this absolutely positively unacceptable grade up.
Nick Harkaway
576 pages
Published 2009
Sci Fi, Dystopia, Post Apocalypse, Humor
Can a book about post-apocalypse be funny? When Nick Harkaway writes it, yes. Harkaway is incredibly imaginative and extremely funny. While his style often brought to mine Douglas Adams, Tom Robbins, and Christopher Moore, Harkaway has penned one of the most unique books in its genre ever. This book threw me a bit. The first 30 pages are a bit mysterious but enthralling. Then we are jolted back in time without warning to the beginning of what seems to be an entirely different story for over 300 pages until we come back to the story started in the first 30 pages. This is not exactly a quick read. Sometimes descriptions and moments go on a bit too long. At times I got the feeling he was having a bit more fun writing then I was reading. But it is an amusing and fantastical journey and perseverance is well rewarded. I wish I could say more but do not want to spoil the fun. However, Harkaway has produced what will be one of most favorite quotes...
"Girls - at least where I grew up - tend to be more emotionally balanced and sane, and therefore find the kind of all-excluding concentration you need to care about dinosaurs, taxonomy, philately and geopolitical schemes a bit worrying and sad. Girls can grasp the bigger picture (i.e., 'it might be better to not destroy the world over this'), where boys have a perfect grip on the fine print (i.e., 'this insidious idea is antithetical to our existence and cannot be allowed to flourish along side our peace-loving, free society'). Note carefully how it is probably better to let the girls deal with weapons of mass destruction."
