~~Happy Trick-or-Treat Day!~~

First to go......Any bets?

Ah yes......the decorations get to come down tomorrow.


*sigh*
I'm gonna be sad........


And the first thing down will be the "Bloody noisy stupid clock......"
Geeze he's a bigger whiner than ME!

k...so I mighta helped that clock earn the lack of love in his heart.


It makes noises.


And I mean NOISES.......like laboratory sounds, and witches laughing and cats yowling. It's probably got six different noises it makes on the hour.

And it's light sensitive....which is a good thing! That means that when it's dark, you can't hear it. But when it's LIGHT OUT.....whoa....LOL Screetching and yowling cats are gonna happen at noon......and at midnight if the lights are on in the room.


Himself's lack of love for the clock PROBABLY (k......without a doubt) stems from my undiscovered (until a couple weeks ago) playfulness around the clock.


See.......sometimes I make it to bed before himself does. Mostly cuz I'm the one up at five in the morning come he** or high water, no matter what time I call the day done.
I 'kinda sorta mighta' made it a mission to go to bed early for a few weeks--which probably added to his conclusion that I'm overworked and getting 'burnt out'.

Maybe.


But more than likely NOT. LOL

Off I'd trot to bed with a kiss to the top of his head.
And sure as heck midnight would happen.


'Meeeeeoooowwwwww, hisssssssssssssss, meoooooowwwwwwwwww, yeeeeowwwwwwlllllll"

"Dammit......" *Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump of the Brit's hurried footsteps* *snap of the coffee nook light being turned off* *grumbling of an undetermined nature*

*supressed giggle in the bedroom*

:-D

I really WAS having a good go at it.

Until SOMEone in my life decided to make note of the yowling clock........and I chuckled at the light activation feature.


"And sometimes we forget to shut the light off in the area and it goes off when she's retired for the day."

*nodding and smirking*

And he runs all willy nilly to shut it off...he's so cute.....

And SOMEONE decided to chime in with a "Do that deliberately by chance, Mel?"

Ummmmmmmmm.....

The Brit looked astounded, I'll give him that...."You do NOT."

Ummmmmmm.........well.........

"You DO NOT!"

Wellllllllllllllllll.......

"YOU DO NOT deliberately turn that light on!"

(Yaknow.......wisepersoninmylife can look really SMUG when he's helped bust me out.)

Welllllllllll......I might. There's something really cute about the pitter patter of his little feeties as he's running like mad to snap off that light.

"I do NOT believe you'd purposefully turn on that light!"

Well not EVERY time. Sometimes it's already on.




Yep. That clock's gonna be the FIRST thing in the Halloween tub.
*sniffle*

I'm gonna miss that Meeeeoooooooooooowwwwwwwwww, hissssssssssssssss, meowwwwwwwwwww, yeooowwwwwlllllllll, thump thump thump thump thump thump, *click*.......


LOLOL

EVERYBODY SING!!!!!!!!

OR...... (g'head and sing loud and proud!):

We're on sidewalks, we're on porches

Dressed in costumes to scare

Through the city we're ringing the doorbells...

Trick or treating, candy eating

Gooey stuff in our hair

But the most fun is shrieking out loud!

Shivery yells, shivery yells

That's the Halloween nitty-gritty

Moan and groan....leave us alone

Halloween's just one night a year.

:-)

TFTD........

Today, our greatest temptation may be to grab for the fast solutions rather than allowing time for small but important steps to occur.

When we are frustrated, it will help to remember the difficulty may lie in our insistence on a quick answer.

Sometimes simply being true to ourselves and standing as a witness while the answer develops are all that is asked of us.

Have faith that time is on your side and it will teach you valuable things.

Tomorrow--tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow.....

You're only a day away!

Yippee for HALLOWEEN!!!!!

And on, how much more ready can one BE?!

Yep--treat bags ready and leaves raked so the glowing feeties can be seen.

The worksite is buzzin' and the kiddos are excited beyond excited. ONE MORE TIME we'll be providing trick-or-treats to the whole sleepy little hollow.


And oh what a time for the Fire Marshall to schedule his annual inspection. LOL Go figure, if he's on time, it's the 4th of July parade we're preparing for. If he's LATE--it's the Halloween Trick or Treat Gala.
OH well.......he'll tell me to have all the paper/cardboard off of the unit within thirty days.
I'll suggest he come back November 1st AFTER the doings.

No worries.......we have the monster coffin for him to get his treats from ALL prepared. LOL He'll have lots of stories to tell his fellow Fire Marshalls! *snickering*
Boring job? LOLOL I think NOT!
I'm thinkin' I'll be GLAD to take him on the walk-through.....and borrow a couple kiddos to do the treat giving....let 'em do a dry run JUST for him.

Now, see!
I was dreading the inspection.
:-D

It's alllllllllllllll about perspective!

;-)

I never stop to wonder why I'm not like other people.
The real mystery to me is why more people aren't like ME.....

TFTD

Most of us have very narrow, limited ways of understanding what happens to us.

We are generally 'practical' and if something goes wrong we immediately begin to think of how to fix it.

We take a cause-and-effect approach to understand the events around us rather than a circular or symbolic approach.

Perhaps we turn quickly to blaming instead of asking what is the meaning or the message in what is happening.

We see our own experience as the center of events.

We forget that our lives are only today's expression in a line of generations before us.

We become too self-satisfied with our ways of understanding the world.

It may be comforting to think we understand what is going on.

But when we let go of that comfort we open ourselves to a more profound awareness.

Here we learn that facts are not enough to achieve truth.

:-)

'Cuse me whilest I grin, happily of course......

Six wins, one loss.
One toss of the ball in overtime.

*snickering*
Let himself grumble--he's a Dolphin fan.

Now 'cuse me while I laugh....LOLOL

The serenade........

A mother was washing her baby one night;
The youngest of ten and a delicate mite.
The mother was poor and the baby was thin;
'Twas naught but a skeleton covered with skin.

The mother turned 'round for a soap off the rack.
She was only a moment but when she turned back
Her baby had gone, and in anguish she cried,
"Oh, where has my baby gone?" The angels replied:

Oh, your baby has gone down the plug hole.
Oh, your baby has gone down the plug.
The poor little thing was so skinny and thin,
He should have been washed in a jug, in a jug.

Your baby is perfectly happy;
He won't need a bath anymore.
He's a-muckin' about with the angels above,
Not lost but gone before.


Himself thinks we ought to tape record my attempt at sounding East London-ish.
He thinks his mother would fall about laughing. (how kind of him, huh?)
He also believes horrible impressions like mine contribute to the number of folks who ask if he's from Australia. LOL Knowing how ruffled that can make him--YIPPEE for me! LOL

I'm sure as some form of retribution he resorted to serenading me.
He's soooooo much better at sounding incompetent than I.
However--I shall endeavour to try to learn the tune (apparently 'muver' and 'fin' IS acceptable for this one) and, since I can't seemingly pronounce 'coffee', there's hope for me!

*chuckling* I think I can surpass his level of ignorance.....
It's a tough job but someone's gotta do it. LOLOL

He's just full of it......

The Leith police dismisseth us.

Right......Rubber baby buggy bumpers.

Give it a try! The Leith police dismisseth us.

'cuse me? Remember, I'm the one who can't even say 'coffee' at an acceptable level......

Oh, go on......

Nope......ain't happenin'........

Go on---The Leith police dismisseth us. Give it a try.

Fine! Law enforcement failed to read us our rights and the high priced lawyer got us off the hook.

Pardon?

The Leith police dismisseth us.
*rolling eyes* C'mon....keep up with me!


He called me 'no fun'!
ME!!
ME.

*shaking head*
Some people's kids........

*practicing*

It's not the cough that carries you off, it's the coffin they carries you off in.

It's not the cough that carries you off, it's the coffin they carries you off in.

*sigh*
*trying again*

It's not the COUGH that carries you OFF, it's the COFFIN they carries you OFF in.

*grumbling*
Darn Brit!

Off.
OFF.
COUGH.
Coffee.
COFFEE.

*grumbling*

All I want is a room somew'ere
Far away from the cold night air
With one enormous chair
Aow, wouldn't it be loverly......lalalalalalala

If he starts calling me Eliza--I'm gonna poke him in the tummy!

Sometimes ya need to say "pshaw" to acceptance!

If I accept you as you are, I will make you worse;
however, if I treat you as though you are what you
are capable of becoming, I help you become that.

Another stuck song brought to you by your favorite 'tune for the day' person---

Okay, this isn't my fault.

I'm blaming ILTV.

And JUST for the record, it sucks to forget a line when you're singing in the bathtub and himself isn't within shouting distance to make it all better!

All I want is a room somewhere,

Far away from the cold night air.

With one enormous chair,

Aow, wouldn't it be loverly?

Lots of choc'lates for me to eat,

Lots of coal makin' lots of 'eat.

Warm face, warm 'ands, warm feet,

Aow, wouldn't it be loverly?

Aow, so loverly sittin' abso-bloomin'-lutely still.

I would never budge 'till spring (<--forgotten line!)

Crept over me windowsill.

Someone's 'ead restin' on my knee,

Warm an' tender as 'e can be.

'ho takes good care of me,

Aow, wouldn't it be loverly?

Loverly.

Loverly.

Loverly.

Loverly........

One to remember---

"The most exhausting thing in life is being insincere."

He's so funny........

I just got a cuppa coffee brought to me by 'im indoors.

And I got a kiss to the top of the head!!

"Every once in a while it just hits me...... I'm in Iowa. Stirring a cup of coffee for my wife IN Iowa who says 'cawfee'......"

*shrugs* Like there's another way to say 'coffee'?

"You don't do that? Every once in a while doesn't it just 'hit you'?"

Uh huh.......but sometimes I say 'java'.

"I'm in Iowa. And my wife says 'cawfee'......"

Sheeeeeeeeeshhhhhhhh.......they give up coffee and they start hallucinating about how to pronounce things!!

QOTW 10/28

Are you attracted to people whose personalities are very similar to your personaltiy or very different?

Heck if I know!

Hold on........*thinking*

I don't know that I'm attracted to people, let alone personalities!

*sigh*

Ya know, if I take a look around at the people who surround me, they're from all walks, all personalities, all professions, a whole array of folks who sometimes possess the principles I live by and sometimes don't......dunno that I could say any of them are 'alike'.

I know that I'm drawn towards those cranky, mean, crusty old fart wisepersonsinmylife--the ones who care more about my life than they care about my widdle bitty fragile feelings. I make it a point to grab a chair next to them when I cross their paths.

I enjoy the crabby ones.
The ones other folks steer clear of and want no part of.

Part of it's the challenge to weasle my way into their crabby widdle hearts......LOL.......I do so love a challenge.
And, truth be told, I enjoy the controversy it creates.

Eyebrows go up. LOL

*gasp* People TALK! Wooooohooooooooo! G'head--it just means some other poor sap is being left alone.

Frankly, all that just seems to make the quest all that much more 'fun'.

I figure there's something IN there that's waiting to be offered to me and I'll never get it if I sit all comfy and not chase after it. They're not offering it up and I WANT IT. ;-)

Yep.

I REALLLLLLLLY like the crabby, 'unapproachable' ones.

I suppose that's easy enough to 'analyze'..... truth is, they're a whole lot like I WAS once upon a time.

And once-upon-a-time someone cared enough about my sorry little rearend to not let that crabby, crappy attitude get in their way------and I have a LIFE today as a result.

Oh, what a mess I have.......

This morning it was frosty out.
And I mean frosty. Hard frost time, frost on the pumpkins and the grass and the bouncy horse at the park...It looked a bit foreign, but there you have it--frost happened.

Which means plants have seen their last days.
Which means they need pulled, tossed and dumped.
Which implies that I oughta be outside doing that instead of rounding 'stuff' up for doing Holiday cards.

Yep..........Holiday Cards.
Remind me to actually CHECK to see what supplies I actually have before 'oooohhh-ing and aaaaaahhhh-ing' the new pretties that hit the craft stores. Ohmygosh....up the ying-yang....as in I have 'stuff' coming outta my-----ears? LOL

I think the responsible thing to do is to do some weeding.
NOT of the flowerbeds.....LOL.....of the card 'stuff'.

I mean---where are the flowers gonna go?!
The 'stuff', however, will be spread all OVER the coffee nook if I don't spend some time sorting and putting away.
One oughta be organized, afterall!

"I take it that means you don't want to pull up plants in the cold?"

*rolling eyes*
He's such a smartie pants........

What IS this world coming to?!

'im indoors informed me last evening that he's decided to stop drinking coffee.



Now, this only added to the shock and trauma I was experiencing from OTHER folks' decision to not indulge in the nectar of G-ds.

GIVE UP COFFEE?!



k.........I suppose with his ulcer this isn't a bad plan.



But........ what about ME?!

I mean, whose coffee will I steal?!

And what am I suppose to do to exercise my brain if I don't HAVE that plotting and planning for the coffee thieving TO do?!

And what about all those whitecups?!?!



Oh man......this is bad.

VERY bad....



Selfish, selfish, selfish!









(him, of course.........LOL)

Ta Da!! Introducing Mr. Jack-O-Lantern(s)

Oh, I'm a happy person!

:-)

I don't believe I did this........

Ready, set....
<----- Slippery
Definitely slippery and goopy and slimey....ick








Diamond--*snickering* How's THAT for creative problem solving? LOL -------------->



<---Branch ?


Inside dryer
------->
Inside pumpkin drying counts!






<----Engine AND engineer. That oughta count double!
Four legs......times TWO.
------------------>
That sooooooo counts! :-)






<------ Music!
G'head and hum the Adams Family Theme Song if ya like. I STILL AM!! *grumbling*




Water -->
Cleanup after the slippery goopy guts.







<------Smells devine! k...well, perhaps not the burnt pumpkiny smell. I could be stretchin' it a bit, huh? LOL

And last but not least, hands -->

What fun! Even if himself thought I was a bit on the nutzoid side!

Just another message from the reading fairy......

We will not be free from all difficulties today, or during any period of our lives.

But we have the personal power to eliminate the threat, the sting of any challenge.

It's our vision of circumstances that gives them their interpretation.

At this moment, we are defining our experience.

We are labeling events good or bad, valuable or meaningless.

And our growth, particularly this day, is greatly influenced by the value judgments we attach to our experiences.

As we grow stronger we learn that all difficulties are truly opportunities for exceptional growth and increased awareness of the truth of existence.

All experiences can be taken in stride if we are trustful of their intended blessing.

We need not worry about any circumstance.

We can let go of our problems.

It's ourselves and that attitude we have cultivated that makes any situation a problem.

We can turn it loose and therein discover the solution.

Problems have only the size and power that we give them.

FOUR days...

Treat bags with toys done
Inside decorated
Outside decorated
Costume standing ready
Filled Candy bowl with extra goodies
Cards sent
Silly string stocked...........

SILLY STRING!!!!!!!!!

Crud, dangit and shoot!

Four days and NO silly string?
AUGH!

Guess that means a shopping trip.
Oh darn. *snickering* Gosh.....what if I find something new and different in the Halloween department that I MISSED in my previous escapades.....whatever shall I DO. LOLOL

Oops.

No individual raindrop ever considers
itself responsible for the flood.

Oy geeze......AGAIN, Ms. Reading Fairy?!

We are changed through loving and being loved.

Our attitudes are profoundly and positively affected by the presence of love in our lives.

Each time we offer a loving response to a friend, co-worker, even a stranger, we powerfully influence the dynamics of the interaction between us.

Every response we make to someone changes us while it informs him or her.

Dagnabbitall.......

Right then......on to the Wednesday Whine!

*thinking*

Shoot. LOL

I'm so tickled by today's camaraderie of the folks I've crossed paths with out here that I canNOT, for the life of me, bring myself to kvetch. LOLOL

Dear LORD....... I think I just cancelled Wednesday's Whine due to too many good belly laughs.

This space reserved for Whining on Wednesday

RSVP'ed!

Hopping into Wednesday......

I'm going forth with love in my heart and a song on lips.

"Another one bites the dust...."
k.....wrong song!
*reminder to self---pick a different tune!*

It's Team day. Clinical 'stuff'....lots of adults to meet with to talk with, to challenge and have conversations with. I love being challenged and the look on people's faces when I say "Ya know, you could be right!" Actually, I love that I mean it and somefolks actually think I'm being patronizing.
No.....really.......they actually COULD be right!
Maybe I need to practice putting it another way.

"Wow.....now there's a different way of looking at it and approaching it!"
Maybe that'll work. LOL

Wisepersoninmylife had me practice saying "You could be right" for a very, very long time. I had a weeeeeeeee bit of a problem entertaining the possibility that I might actually be WRONG. And shutting up and listening to other ideas was something I was good at APPEARING like I was doing--all the while manipulating the other person to come around to my way of thinking and doing it my way.

Manipulation of that sort isn't always bad....LOL.....but there's more than one way to do things and I'm not always 'right'. Plus I'm more than willing to let someone else give it a whirl and let THEM take the responsibility for the idea(s).
Yes.....self serving.

Where the heck was I going with this when I started.....
Oh yeah.....it's Team Day.
*sigh*

I get to fill people in on some wonderful (read that dripping with sarcasm) changes that are already affecting us without our knowledge or the knowledge of the people who are evoking the change. I know that sounds strange...LOL....but to the best of my knowledge that's a true statement. The folks that are newly signed up for a new 'position' have no clue what they signed up for and I'm about to 'get to' help them learn their job and show them what to do......and they're not 'my people'. LOLOLOL How insane does that sound?!
But we're talking "Human Services" and that always gets a bit nutzoid and muddled up--kinda like human beings are prone to BE, dontchathink!

I 'get to' explain all this murkiness to the staff who work with me.
And they're going to be sooooooo thrilled.
Actually, I'm going to help them be thrilled.
Cuz clean slates/new positions without definitive descriptions means you can help write what's on the slate!

I say we make pictures of bunnies hip hopping through a field of flowers!


Hmmmmmm...bit like what it's feeling like! LOL
What IS it with this bunny business, lately?


*shrugs*

Yeah yeah yeah.......

The specter of change builds dread in most of us.
We fear the effects on our personal lives.
We lack faith that the impending change will benefit us.

Only time can assure us of that.
And it will, just as every change we've survived up to now has done.
Changes are gifts, really.
They come as hallmarks to our present attainments.
They signify successful growth.
And they announce our readiness for more growth.

How we struggle to understand this, and how quickly we forget it once we have adapted to the change.
The struggle is then repeated the next time change visits us.

We long for permanence, believing it guarantees security.
If we were to experience total lack of change, we'd find death.

Life is challenge, continued change, always endurable and growth enhancing. We can reflect on what's gone before, and trust that which faces us now.

Exempting myself

It's midnight.
It's late and my mind is a bit scrambled.

But frankly, I don't get human beings.
I mean, I DO....but I don't.
*sigh*

The good news is---- I consider myself an alien.

k......NOW I can go do that tenth step! LOL

Bunny chasin'........

"If you chase two rabbits---BOTH will escape."

Now....give some thought to that, Mel.


*thinking*

If you chase two rabbits.......... there's two rabbits. LOL

Define 'chase'? :-)

Chase could mean you lay in wait and let them come to you.

THEN you could chase two rabbits and catch 'em both!

WHY, oh why can't I NOT mess with simplicity?
Yeah, yeah....it's that oppositionalness in me that just won't let it be what it is cuz I don't HAFFTA.

*snickering*

C'mere widdle bunnies.........

TFTD

Change is good...


Uuuumm...you first!

*snickering*

*sigh*

Laptops are suppose to make your life more simple, right?

*nodding*
An hour of upgrading and scanning -- I'm NOT feelin' the simplicity happening.

Yaknow....it'd be a whole lot simpler if I stuck with one 'puter to do battle with instead of having.......oh......lemme count.....
His desktop.
My desktop.
The infamous notebook on loan to the girl.....hmmm..... LOL Like I need that one back?
The newly scanned and updated laptop.
The Mac.
The desktop downstairs.
*counting*

Oh yeah.
I can feeeeeeeeeeeel the simplification! LOL

Apron shopping......

Well, it's official.
There's a few torn ligaments and what they're thinkin' is a messed up rotor cuff.
Uh huh.......and if I had some exciting story to spin about how himself managed to do all this, I'd spin it. Unfortunately it's simple. He reached backwards/awkwardly to get something from the bookshelf behind him. End of interesting story. LOL

Voile'. One screwed up shoulder.
*shrugs*
Hey....I blew out my back by emptying compost from a large can. Dumb things can create dumber problems.
He's feeling dumb and I'm naggin' cuz he's doing stuff he ought not to do.
But I had cheesey potatoes for dinner tonight.
And the laundry's done!
And the dishes are all done and put away.......he oughta not work more often, don'tcha think?
Ummmmmmm......he WILL not work more often. He doesn't GET to work for a while.....period.

And he's not extremely happy about it.
He assures me that this doesn't define his 'manliness'. ROFL
Riiiiiiigggggggghhhhhhhhhttttttttt!
Then hows come he get so uptight when I make note of the 'baking with a towel in his pocket' Dear Liza moments!

We've done cortisone in the shoulder and that's given him a reprieve--which actually is a good sign and hopefully decreases the need to do some kinda invasive surgery. He ain't no spring chick who oughta be laid open to mess with the innards. *chuckling* He's 'old peoples'! LOL Face it, stuff just is NOT gonna work like it used to!

And besides---do I sound the least bit upset that himself is home doing home-ly things? Absolutely NOT.
I rather like him traipsing around with his widdle towel in his widdle pocket. LOL
He's meeting and greeting me at the door with a fresh cuppa java, forcryingoutloud!
What's to NOT like about THAT?!

*shrugs* I guess we see where all this takes us.
Personally, I think retirement looks good on him.
And I really will get him a cute little apron next time I'm out and about.
I'm a woman of my word, dangit! ;-)

QOTW 10/22

Typically, are you on time or late?

I'm rarely on time. Mostly cuz I'm always early.
And I mean early, early.

Wednesday it was a 8:45a.m. when my cellphone rang. (I was pulling into the parking lot, btw...)
The staff were concerned that I was ill cuz I was late.
Now, mind you, I was due in at nine.

What in the world is a pangolin?

The Brit and I have a 'habit' of listing off all the wonderful things we see after we have an adventure.

Yesterday it went something like this:

We sawwwwwwww two hawkie guys and a robin and a redwing blackbird and little flittery skittery birdies.

And we saw a turtle.

Annnnnnd we saw leafs! And we saw berries on the trees and growed up frogs and baby frogs.

Tadpoles.

Yep, those too! AND we saw giraffes!

We did NOT see giraffes.

You missed 'em. AND we saw puddles and a lake and rivers. AND we saw flutterbys and yellow flowers and dandelions!

There are no giraffes in Iowa. We saw a seagull.

See what happens when you don't pay attention! AND we saw MORE leafs and mushrooms and red trucks and corns and wagons and dragonflies........and LOTSA corns and lotsa beans...and cows!

And milkweed pods.

AND we saw.....AND we saw..... Fishies! And big rocks and acorns and squirrels and rabbits and MONSTER leafs on that one whozit tree that giraffes eat from!

There are NO giraffes in Iowa, you keep making that up!

Did NOT, are too, are too, are TOO! ANNNNNDDDD we saw purple flowers and ducks and wiggly catty-pillars AND we saw funky grassy thingies.

Weeds, dear.....weeds.....

Uh huh....lots of funky fuzzy weedy grassy thingies. AND we saw an effalant.

And a hippopotamus and a kangaroo AND a pangolin.

And a giraffe....don't forget the giraffe!

There ARE no giraffes in Iowa.

Geeze.......just cuz they're smart enough to hide in the tall trees doesn't mean they're not there.......

Hmmmmmmph!
If you look real close you can see him hiding in the tall trees.
So THERE!

Mr. Smartie Pants.......pfffffffffffffffftttttttttt!
*nodding smugly*

The little things....

It really IS all in the little details, isn't it.......

A walk in the park......

:-) Leafs!
Betcha noticed that silly blogger finally posted photos, huh? LOL