Halloween 2009 - Hail the Heroes

Tomorrow will be my girl’s first trick or treating. We are going to a venue that is hosting an event rather than walk our neighborhood. I’m still a little antsy of doing that due to the surrounding neighborhoods not so much ours. I’m so very excited.

My first memory of trick or treating was dressing up as Raggedy Ann and going to a private Halloween party. My Mom picked it out and even though I didn’t want to be her the costume was really cute and I felt special in it. Maybe that was because my Mom had made most of the costume. I remember the party being scary and fun at the same time. The entire house was decked out in spider webs and had severed hands, bats and other Halloween ghoulish delights. We bobbed for apples, were blind folded and stuck out hands in spooky things that turned out to be spaghetti instead of worms and jell-o instead of brains. I had so much candy I clearly remember not being able to fall asleep and listening to my parents snore.

What were you your first Halloween? Did you pick it yourself? I chose for my girls last year when we went to Hubby’s work for lunch and I chose this year. I suppose next year Teagan might pipe up and want to be something particular. Until then I give you the super heroes.

A Thousand Words Thursday 10-29-2009

This was taken exactly a year ago. It is amazing what has changed in just a year. Some good, some bad, some very, very bad. The one wonderful thing that hasn't changed is the blessing of my little family.Because of them there is a constant din of laughter and joy in my life.

For anyone out there wondering if they should have kids, it is the hardest most demanding job with no sick days, vacation time and the breaks are far and few between. That being said, it's worth it. I've never had less sleep, money or time and yet I've never been happier.

Oh, and I have no idea who that chubby kid is on the left. (Just kidding, that's K-Bear).

For more A Thousand Words Thursday post please head over to Cheaper Than Therapy .

First Pumpkin Carving

Today we carved our pumpkin. I found several free templates at Scissor Crafts for Children and let the girls decide on which design they wanted. I really wanted Jack Skellington but the girls wanted the silly face. At least I didn’t have to do a cat or ghost but a real pumpkin face.

I sliced off the top and let the girls scoop out the middle. They both refused to use their hands but wanted a spoon to do the dirty work. I know they are girls, but this not getting sullied issue gets exasperating. Sharing was tested in this activity. Teagan did not want to share and showed it. Vehemently. Happily we got through it with little complaining and no tears. Not even from me.

Since the bears are so young I did the actual carving of the pumpkin. Teagan coached me and Kaitlyn nibbled on the pieces I pulled out so they technically helped the entire time. As my hand started to cramp half way through I was appreciative they didn’t choose a more intricate face. Slowly but surely we finished it and I didn’t break any of the face. I have a tendency to compromise a smile or eye during the process. All in all I think it’s the best pumpkin I’ve ever carved.

We put a candle in it and lit it up. The girls loved it. When I blew out the candle Teagan told me to turn the pumpkin back on.

I took the seeds and roasted them with some red pepper and salt. Hubby hates pumpkin anything so this is always my personal treat. Unfortunately it seems Kaitlyn likes them as much as Mommy and I was forced to share.

The night was completed by watching It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown lounging on the floor with Daddy. This is certainly a tradition I could get use to.

Pumpkin Patch

With Halloween this coming weekend we needed to go get a pumpkin. The bears have never been to a pumpkin patch so I started looking for one nearby that we could visit. Through word of mouth I found one at a local church which we chose to go to, though it did not have a hayride or animals to pet and possibly get salmonella or fleas.

There was a school class already at the pumpkin patch being read a book about pumpkins from a young black man in a pumpkin costume with an orange Pippi Longstockings-like wig on. I guess we had arrived at the very start since he was greeting the children and one of them greeted him back with his real name. So much for his convincing disguise. It was a story about a pumpkin trying to escape the patch because he was afraid of Halloween. Once finally picked, carved and put out to “shine” he was happy to be a part of Halloween. I guess he was into that self-mutilation craze.

While the class had their story time the bears wandered around looking at all of the pumpkins. They tried to pick up a few smaller ones and push over the big ones. Kaitlyn was more amused with the straw and using it to dig in the dirt.

I was trying to catch the perfect shot and Teagan started to get annoyed with me asking her to look at me and say cheese. She started to avoid me or at least keep her back to me at all times. Even the flimsy bribe of chocolate was not enough to get a toothy grin.

We finally found our pumpkin and Daddy stood in a long line of first graders buying their little pumpkins from their field trip. I should have taken a picture as it was rather cute. This tall man holding a pumpkin squeezed between these little kids giggling and playing with their tiny pumpkins. However I didn’t want to freak out any hover mothers that showed up for the field trip.

I plan on carving the pumpkin tomorrow with the girls. I’m really concerned with how they are going to react when I cut off the pumpkins scull, scoop out the flesh and seeds and begin to cut out a face. Maybe I should go borrow the pumpkin book from Pippi.

Nothing Good Lasts

Getting kicked while I’m down. I’m still not sure how much personal business I want or am willing to share on the internet. So I won’t get into the details but let’s just say that my family is a statistic. Things are rather bad and while there is a light at the end of the tunnel, it’s been placed there by faith. In all honesty I don’t think we need anything else added to our plate. That’s what I get for thinking.

Last week our Polaroid FLM 3732 decided to start dying. First it was a loud shrill that would last for about three minutes when we turned on the set. After a few days of this I stuck headphones in the side outlet and the shrill went through them instead of bothering us. This only worked because we have a sound system and don’t use the T.V.’s speakers. The band aid didn’t last long.

In a few days the picture started to get streaked with pixels and lines. Husband tried different cables different inputs and all kinds of things I don’t understand but nothing worked. At least this only lasted for five minutes when it would be first turned on.

Nothing good lasts. The picture just finally gave out. Gave out no less during a very enthralling Dora episode. I’ve never seen such genuine concern etched on my girls faces.

Quick thinking Daddy took our tiny bedroom T.V. and hooked it up for the living room.

That’s just sad isn’t it? At least it stopped the inevitable meltdowns.

I’ve been looking on line for other Polaroid FLM 3732 owners to see if they have had these issues and more importantly the fix they got. Apparently Polaroid sold really crappy T.V.’s for a few years and then got out of the business. Why? Because they manufactured steaming piles of crap. There are a slew of bad reviews on their T.V.’s just dying. My Brother has a T.V. that is over thirty years old and still works. We had this T.V. just over two years and it quits. Luckily Hubby is rather handy and I think he can take it apart and replace the “bulging capacitors”.

If not, I have a rather large paper weight.

Job Hunting Debacle

How I hate looking for a job. It is not getting easier. It seems everyone needs a job and there just aren’t enough jobs for the seekers. I have been out of work for 472 days. Now I’ve only been looking for 422 days. And I did move to Atlanta and back to central Florida during this time but my resume has this unemployment gap that is getting bigger and bigger. I might have to start lying and saying I took of time to work on my novel.

In this seeking process I have had to weed out all of the scams and sales jobs. Not to offend anyone but I don’t do sales. I’m not good at sales therefore I would starve on a commission job. Unless downing bottles of Pepto-Bismol for the stress counts as food. Work at Home. Make $75.00 an hour. Lies or just crap I wouldn’t do. Yet somehow one deceptive little one fell through the crack.

I got a hit from my resume and from what I could tell from the reply it was legitimate although a little form-ish on the request for an interview and the subsequent reply back. I suppose being just this side of desperate caused me to overlook the fine print.

I get “business attired” up and head off to my interview. I am a secretary, executive secretary, administrative coordinator, clerical guru if you will. I lay this out as the next scene seems out of place. I drive into the parking lot of where my interview is to take place. There is an abundance of people also in “business attire” parking and walking towards where I assumed my interview location was. Quick thinking I rolled down my window and asked a spiffy guy if he was going to the “XYZ Company” interview. He said yes and kindly told me there was extra parking in the back. I thanked him and drove right out of that parking lot.

Bamboozled. Hoodwinked. Duped. Tricked. Found a wool hat and made a blindfold.

No one. NO ONE, mass hires a secretary. I was so disappointed in myself for not spotting a sales job. And even more annoyed that I had put on panty hose in 90 degree weather!

The emphasis to get a job has been noticed by my children. As I was leaving the house yesterday for a real interview (which went well) my almost three year old, Teagan, told me “Mommy, go get a job.” Oh, if she only knew.

Are you hiring? I’m a damn good clerical guru. Plus I bake.

A Thousand Words Thursday 10-22-2009

Remember when I said I did a craft when I was sick. Loopy-dopey? Well here it is, Salt Dough Pumpkins. Aren’t they adorable? On that kindergarten scale? I really love crafts and I when I saw this on Craftbits.com I couldn’t resist.

Here is their original instructions with my thoughts added but please visit Craftbits.com as they have other great projects and run cool contests as well.

1 cup salt

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup water

orange acrylic paint (I had to mix a few to get the right color)
brown acrylic paint
green acrylic paint

paintbrush (medium and small)
acrylic sealer/finisher gloss spray

toothpicks, broken or cut in half

Preheat oven to 250 F. Mix together, salt, flour, and water until a dough is formed. Knead the dough on a floured surface until the mixture is elastic and smooth. If dough is too sticky, sprinkle with flour, continue to do so until stickiness is gone. BE CAREFUL. Do not add too much flour, this will dry out the dough and will cause it to crack before you get a chance to bake it.

Roll dough in your hands to form different sized balls. Line them up on a cookie sheet, touching each other so that they will be one piece after baking. Get creative. I made a few pumpkins lay on their side and mixed and matched the sizes. However work quickly. This dries rather fast. Use a toothpick to draw lines on the pumpkins.

Insert toothpick halves, point size down, into the top center of the pumpkin to create the stem. Be sure to do this step BEFORE baking.

Bake for approximately 2 - 2.5 hours. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. For best results, allow to cool and dry overnight, or for at least 4 hours.

Paint pumpkins with two coats of orange paint (if needed) allowing to dry in between coats. Then use the brown paint to paint in the lines of the pumpkin to create shadow and depth. Lastly paint the stems green. When dry, spray with a few coats of sealer/finisher. The more coats the glossier. Let dry.

One batch made 10 groups of four pumpkins. I do not advise doing the molding on cough suppressant as everything is in slow motion. However, painting them along side a glass of sangria is advised.

My girls loved the pumpkins. It took me awhile to finish and every time they saw me working on them they would have to sit at the table with me. Kaitlyn would ask over and over “what dis?” as she has not mastered her th’s. I answer “pumpkins.” Immediately followed by her saying “num, num.”

For more A Thousand Words Thursday go to Cheaper Than Therapy.