Halloween fun

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope that it’s been a spooktacular day! (Okay, I know that was cheesy but I couldn’t resist.)

I must admit that most of my Halloween fun has already taken place. It started with our floor Halloween party on Friday. I’ve included photos here so you can see for yourself. I don’t know that I’ve mentioned it before, but my floor gets really into Halloween.

I did choose to participate knowing that I’d feel boring if I didn’t. This year I was a Zions zombie. And guess what zombies do best? Yup, dance to Thriller. I was all about doing something completely unexpected and out of the ordinary, so I determined that I was going to perform the dance and by myself no less. It worked out better than I would’ve thought. And, yes, everybody was surprised by quiet little Tammy’s performance. Mission accomplished. Now I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

Our cute (pregnant) Minnie Mouse and the Hispanic Harry Potter casting a spell.

The Fashionista and me in our costumes. We both won awards this year, mine for Spookiest decorations and she for Best Costume.

And now for the most Thrilling (haha) part of my post. . . In case you’re wondering, yes there’s a video, but I probably won’t be posting it because a) I don’t have a copy of it and b) it’s in a really weird file type that requires downloading a separate program to watch it. You’ll just have to look at the pictures and imagine for yourself. And, no, I don’t think they’re in order of the moves from the dance.

I even gave a dance lesson after my performance for those who wanted to learn. I got interrupted by actual work before we finished though. Dang it!

On Saturday I had some more Halloween fun by going to a corn maze with my aunt and two cousins. We’ve been trying to coordinate our schedules so we could go for the entire month, but it just didn’t work out until yesterday. Unfortunately we got rained out, so I don’t necessarily feel like we got our full money’s worth, but oh well. It was still fun.

Check this out: there’s a speed limit for going through the maze! How silly is that? The second picture is us just being puzzled, or pretending to be puzzled.

This one’s just so you believe I was actually there. And the one next to it is us going up one of the several bridges for a better vantage point.

This is just so special that I had to take a picture so you would believe me. Some genius came to a corn maze wearing spiked heels! I wouldn’t have believed it myself but the prints speak for themselves. Seriously? Did this person not think about the fact that they were going to be walking through packed down dirt that just might not be heel friendly? When we got to a crossroads with the heel prints, I recommended going the other way because I just couldn’t believe we’d be better off following this person’s footsteps. I’m not sure if you can see them in the photo or not, but I promise they’re there.

Still not ready. . .

Since I live in Utah and it's definitely a winter state (our state motto isn't "the greatest snow on earth" for nothing now is it?), I always know that eventually the weather is going to turn cold and there will be white flakes falling from the sky at some point.

But that doesn't stop me from hoping it'll be later rather than sooner. Or that it'll come at a time when I don't have to go drive around in it.

Alas, my wish is not usually granted. And I have been spoiled by relatively mild winters for the last two years, so I can't complain too badly. When we did have a pretty bad winter a couple of years ago I actually got pretty good at driving in it too.

But I still found myself feeling distressed when I walked outside this morning only to discover about 4 inches of snow on top of my car. * Sigh * I had heard snow was in the forecast this week but secretly hoped they were wrong, as they often are. Such was not the case. But I swept said snow off my car and headed my merry way on to the train, glad that I didn't have to drive all the way into downtown. I was sure the freeway would be clear, but it's amazing how people magically forget how to drive in it at the first snowstorm of the season.

One of the difficult things about living in the suburbs I realized today is that down south often gets more snow than downtown. That's going to be something I'll have to live with this winter. But, I'm a tough girl so I know I can handle it, even if I choose not to like it. Luckily winter doesn't last forever here like it did in Rexburg. There's something to be happy about. :)

Pumpkin Walk 2010

So this weekend was exciting for many reasons. But for purposes of this post, I’m going to talk about one that’s become a tradition for me in the five years I’ve been in Salt Lake: the Pumpkin Walk!

Every year the city of Logan puts on this fun family event that involves making scenes with pumpkins, gourds, etc. It may sound weird, but it’s really fun to see. Of course there’s always a theme too. This year’s theme was much better than last year’s. It was “The Magic of Animation.” I don’t know if it just lent itself better to creative scenes or if this year’s entries were just more interesting, but it was definitely better.

I haven’t mentioned it yet, but it was also freezing! I was glad it only took us about an hour to go through. We may have (cough, cough) cheated just a little bit and gone through backwards because the line to get in was way too long. But it all worked out just fine anyway because although there’s a bottleneck right at the beginning as you walk through it spreads out and doesn’t matter anyway.

Since pictures can illustrate my point so much better than words can, I hope you’ll enjoy seeing for yourself just why I love this.

First off we have Toy Story. We discovered that they hid one of the little green aliens in every scene, but didn’t know it until we were halfway through. My nephew took great delight in finding them before we’d even had a chance to look.

This one’s a tip of the hat to my home state. :)

These two are for the Fashionista who loves both (Veggie Tales and SpongeBob). These are just too darn cute!

 

Come on now who doesn’t love “How to Train Your Dragon” and “Up”??

Lest you think I took only pictures of the scenes (trust me when I say I didn’t), here are a few people pictures too. It was just a little bit crazy so I didn’t get as many as I would’ve liked, like an entire group shot. Oh well! Bumblebee was being so silly and kept making faces when I took the pictures. Since it was dark, I didn’t know until after the picture was taken. Oh well!

Okay, I’m pretty sure that I got completely carried away but bear with me for two more pictures. One is the Fab Four (as the Fashionista likes to call them) and the other is for Miss Sassy

Technorati Tags: Pumpkin Walk,traditions

pants, who loved Fablehaven.

Parking lots and people

So what is it about a parking lot that makes even sane and rational people behave like idiots? That’s what I’d like to know.

Yesterday I went to Costco to pick up a few supplies. I know that Saturday afternoon is really not the ideal time to go to Costco because that’s when everyone and their dog goes there, but, really, there was no choice.

Anyway, as I drove around the parking lot looking for a place to park, I was appalled at all the dumb things I saw people doing. From walking right down the middle of the row with no regard for the fact that’s where the cars need to be driving, to pulling out of a space without even looking to generally making a nuisance of themselves, I pretty much saw it all. Even the four-way stop seemed to stump a few people.Seriously? A four-way stop? It’s not that hard. Every side takes a turn and that’s it.

Except for the people yesterday.

I’m sure people don’t mean to make fools of themselves or act in less-than-intelligent ways. I just found it annoying when I was trying to hurry and just wasn’t in the mood to deal with people’s dumb behavior. I just hope to avoid becoming one of them myself.

My poor future children!

I had an experience the other day that made me fear just a little bit for my future children. I’d like to share it now so perhaps it can help one of you.

I should preface this post by explaining that I’m very much of a child person. My first niece was born when I was 14, and I’ve pretty much grown up around children with 11 more children born in the years that followed her birth. Anyone who knows me knows that my nieces and nephews are the delight of my heart, which I take great pride in.

Anyway, the other night I got together with a close friend of mine. She has an adorable almost three-year-old daughter. I’ve always loved this little girl, headstrong and stubborn child that she is. But on this particular night, I found myself struggling around her more than I’d like.

Her mom told me she had been sick, so that might’ve been part of the problem. She just seemed to be extra whiny and clingy that night, alternately seeking comfort and then being ornery and difficult. Normally I can handle this behavior without any problem. I mean, kids will be kids. They don’t mean to be annoying or to do things that drive us crazy, and I understand that.

On that night I am ashamed to admit that I found the behavior difficult to deal with. I was getting so very impatient and frustrated while her mom was taking it all in stride. I suppose she’s used to it because she deals with it on a daily basis, and mommy usually knows her child best.

It had been an extremely long day at work so that might’ve been part of the problem, but I just really felt bad that I was responding to a difficult child by being stubborn myself. Ugh! Who’s the adult here again? Oh yeah, that would be me! I just felt like I should’ve been acting more appropriately. I know that no parent is perfect and they all have days where they find their children easier to live with than others. I guess I had my own taste of what that’s like. I still love this child very much and I hope next time I see her that I can show her. Maybe I don’t need to be fearing for the children I hope to someday have after all. . .

Technorati Tags: children,life lessons

Re-connected at last!

Good afternoon my dear readers! Greetings from my new home at last! I’ve wanted to write from here for the longest time, but, alas, I’ve been unconnected to the Internet until now. I’m happy to report that my hiatus is over and I can now blog from home once again. Thanks to everyone who has allowed me to blog and/or use the Internet on their home computers for the last little while. Trust me when I say that I very much appreciate your assistance. I’m sure it’s thanks to you I haven’t shriveled up and died from lack of Internet in the last six weeks.

In fact, I now feel slightly extravagant because I’ve been able to use the Internet for two days in a row. Sad day when two days of Internet usage feels like a lot to me! I’m sure I’ll get used to having it again in no time though. It’s meant to be enjoyed, and I intend to make sure that I do.

A special thanks goes out to my brother-in-law, whom I’ll nickname Indiana, for his help in making this possible. He not only facilitated the hub through Verizon Wireless that is now my Internet portal, but he also helped me to purchase a very nice new toy, or I mean tool, that I can use to do so.

I’m pretty sure I could’ve used this mobile Internet on my old computer, but trust me when I say it’s getting closer to retirement all the time. It often sounds like it’s going to take off when I turn it on, which I’m not sure is a good thing. I’m hoping it can enjoy a nice rest now that I finally have my own laptop. Wa-hoo!