Happy Birthday

To my best friend

To my whole world

To the man that makes me laugh uncontrollably and loves me unconditionally

To my husband

Happy 30th Birthday to you.

PS- It's Beat Michigan Week - GO BUCKS!

I'm a Reader

1. Finger Lickin' Fifteen- Janet Evanovich
2. The Lace Reader- Brunonia Barry
3. Julia's Chocolates- Cathy Lamb
4. Knit the Season- Kate Jacobs
5. Garden Spells- Sarah Addison Allen
6. The Sugar Queen- Sarah Addison Allen
7. Full House- Janet Evanovich
8. Full Tilt- Janet Evanovich
9. The Help- Kathryn Stockett
10. Memoirs of a Shopping Addict- Avis Cardella
11. The Girl Who Chased the Moon- Sarah Addison Allen
12. Out of Eden- Beth Ciotta
13. Something Borrowed - Emily Giffin
14. Eat, Pray, Love- Elizabeth Gilbert
15. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen- Christopher McDougall
16. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner- Stephanie Meyer
17. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- Steig Larsson
18. My Fair Lazy: One Reality Television Addict's Attempt to Discover If Not Being a Dumb Ass Is the New Black or a Culture-up Manifesto- Jen Lancaster
19. Dismantled - Jennifer McMahon
20. The Girl Who Played With Fire- Steig Larsson

Currently Reading: The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

Fill in the Blank Friday

1.   My Thanksgiving plans this year will include       a scary 5k Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. Scary because I've only run a couple of times since the marathon and um, they weren't 5k. But it's up to Britt. If she is game, so am I! Then you know, gorging on tons of great food.

2.  My favorite Thanksgiving was   I'm not quite sure. I love every holiday, though stressful leading up to it, it all turns out fine and they are awesome every year.

3.  My signature Thanksgiving dish is       pumpkin roll. It's been a huge hit in the past, though for the last couple of years we have been in charge of the mashed potatoes. It all started when they asked us to bring potatoes and we brought a HUGE vat of it. complete with lots of butter and milk. Some claimed best potatoes ever so we've had to keep going with it .

4.  My favorite Thanksgiving food is   stuffing. I don't feel right eating it on any other occasion and I just gobble it up on Thanksgiving. oh, and the leftovers. Leftovers are one of the best parts of Turkey Day.

5.  Thanksgiving free association!      food, fun, family, football! (free association AND Alliteration- ha!)

6.  Thansgiving is       A time to stop and reflect on what makes us thankful to be who and where we are. It's a time to reconnect with family and friends, laugh our butts off, eat great food, and take time out to enjoy the company of people we love.

7.  I am thankful for       oh goodness, I need my own post for this... which I will do next week. Check back!

What up Oprah!

You can't accomplish anything worthwhile if you inhibit yourself.

 

If life teaches you nothing else, know this for sure: When you get the chance, go for it.

 

~ Oprah Winfrey

Cat, Hat

In French, chat, chapeau.

in Spanish, el gato in a sombrero
in German she's a Katze in a Hut, and don't you know,
she's a guanka in a bunkaquank in Eskimo

 

Happy Monday!

Fill in the Blank Friday

1.   The most spontaneous thing I've ever done was       decide to run a half marathon. The decision was spontaneous. The training was grueling and took a loooong time. I'm surprised I made it all the way through but I'm ready for more!

2.  The best gift I've ever received was    from God. I have an awesome (yet full of drama) family that I absolutely love and that loves me back. I wish everyone was able to receive that gift. It's a blessing.

3.  A time that I was truly and genuinely surprised was       when Stephanie told me this morning that 30 minutes before her alarm went off to go to the hospital for her sceduled c-section... Her water broke and she went into LABOR!!! (Hugs and Kisses Steph! Love you! Can't wait to meet William!)

4.  I can't leave the house without        clothes. I might get arrested... just kidding. My cell phone. I literally feel lost without it. And the new smart phones we got are making my need for a cell even worse!

5.  My favorite day of the week is      Saturday    because      we can do anything and everything that we want. There are so many possibilities. Our Saturdays in the fall are meant for football and tailgating, summer is spent at the pool, spring is spent outside planting flowers and enjoying the recovery from winter, where most saturdays are spent indoors with my knitting and staying warm!.

6.  Something that can always make me laugh is      Mr Buckeye. I get to belly laugh each and every day because he really is the most witty person I know.

7.  My perfect day would include      I'm not completely sure but it would involve a little bit of sleeping in, a morning run, lunch, dinner, hanging out with the Mr. maybe a movie, and some knitting or sewing.  

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday To You!

Happy Birthday To You!

Happy Birthday To My Dad!

Happy Birthday To You!

We will pretend you are still as young as you are in that picture...
I won't remind you how old you are today.

I'll do that tomorrow.

You're welcome.

How I spent my Monday Night...

I multi-tasked.

Sitting at the car dealer for almost 3 hours.

Reading The Girl Who Played with Fire.

Knitting.

Waiting...

At least they took pity on me and didn't charge me for the scanning of my check engine light. (HOLLA! $90 savings!)

Pst- Hey Steph! That hat up there? Yeah, that is for you! Hoping to have it done this week and on it's way!

I'm a Reader

1. Finger Lickin' Fifteen- Janet Evanovich
2. The Lace Reader- Brunonia Barry
3. Julia's Chocolates- Cathy Lamb
4. Knit the Season- Kate Jacobs
5. Garden Spells- Sarah Addison Allen
6. The Sugar Queen- Sarah Addison Allen
7. Full House- Janet Evanovich
8. Full Tilt- Janet Evanovich
9. The Help- Kathryn Stockett
10. Memoirs of a Shopping Addict- Avis Cardella
11. The Girl Who Chased the Moon- Sarah Addison Allen
12. Out of Eden- Beth Ciotta
13. Something Borrowed - Emily Giffin
14. Eat, Pray, Love- Elizabeth Gilbert
15. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen- Christopher McDougall
16. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner- Stephanie Meyer
17. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- Steig Larsson
18. My Fair Lazy: One Reality Television Addict's Attempt to Discover If Not Being a Dumb Ass Is the New Black or a Culture-up Manifesto- Jen Lancaster
19. Dismantled - Jennifer McMahon

On a spur of the moment trip to the library I picked up Dismantled. I saw it on the Books A Million Book Club and since I've had pretty good luck with them I decided to give it a try. Less than a week later and I'm already through it. All I wanted to do was sit down and read this book. I kept thinking about it and wanting to know what was going to happen next. It's a bit supernatural, a bit mystery, some psycological drama. Overall it's awesome.

Here's the description from Book A Million
 
Dismantlement = Freedom
 
Henry, Tess, Winnie, and Suz banded together in college to form a group they called the Compassionate Dismantlers. Following the first rule of their manifesto--"To understand the nature of a thing, it must be taken apart"--these daring misfits spend the summer after graduation in a remote cabin in the Vermont woods committing acts of meaningful vandalism and plotting elaborate, often dangerous, pranks. But everything changes when one particularly twisted experiment ends in Suz's death and the others decide to cover it up.
 
Nearly a decade later, Henry and Tess are living just an hour's drive from the old cabin. Each is desperate to move on from the summer of the Dismantlers, but their guilt isn't ready to let them go. When a victim of their past pranks commits suicide--apparently triggered by a mysterious Dismantler-style postcard--it sets off a chain of eerie events that threatens to engulf Henry, Tess, and their inquisitive nine-year-old daughter, Emma.
 
Is there someone who wants to reveal their secrets? Is it possible that Suz did not really die--or has she somehow found a way back to seek revenge?
 
Full of white-knuckle tension with deeply human characters caught in circumstances beyond their control, Jennifer McMahon's gripping story and spine-tingling plot prove that she is a master at weaving the fear of the supernatural with the stark realities of life.

Positivity

In all the horror and terribleness that was those top 5 incidents on Halloween, I totally almost forgot one of the most postive events of the night.

Towards the end of the night, 3 high school girls came up. They were adorably dressed as princesses and politely came up for trick or treat. Only they threw me a curve ball. Instead of trick or treating for candy, they were asking for canned good for a local food pantry.

Of course we gladly obliged and while Mr Buckeye was collecting some cans from the kitchen I asked what they were doing it for, how old they were, etc.

They were juniors at our local high school and involved in a club at school that focuses on outreach and community service. They all decided that they were too old to trick or treat but could use it as a great opportunity for the club. They had been out collecting cans all night and said they had pretty good response from people. They had collected over 4 wagonfuls of cans between just the 3 of them, AND and they were still out there.

Warms my heart.

* I did ask if they would like candy too. Of course, they said yes. What teenage girl will refuse chocolate and taffy?!

Trick or Treat? Beer or Bomb?

I have to say I am disappointed in Trick or Treat this year.

While I am not the biggest fan of Halloween, I appreciate it for what it is, and I abide by the rules and do my duty by passing out candy for the Trick or Treaters. This year, we failed to carve pumpkins, but I did have my ceramic jack-o-lantern filled with candles so that our house was adorned with a bit of Halloween spirit. We were ready and waiting at 5:59 for the trick o treaters to make their way. And beg us for candy.

This year I was appalled at the lack of creativity, and in most cases, lack of costume in general. I handed out candy to no less than 25% of children who were wearing jeans and t-shirts. (Though I will give props to a girl who was wearing a pink, “smarties” t-shirt and had taped smarties all over her jeans… she was a “smartie-pants”)

Let me break it down in list form. My top 5 ridiculous incidents during Trick or Treat 2010.

5.   Parents- yes, I understand it was football Sunday and you’d probably been indulging in an adult beverage or 2. But to use your children’s wagon as a carry-all out in the open for additional brew-ha-ha’s while trick or treating is just not classy. Seriously, there was an adorable set of children being pulled in a wagon- the one child held her pumpkin and politely asked “Trick or Treat?” and I gladly gave the candy- while the other was a bit shy so I reached over to put some candy in his pumpkin and right there by their little feet were 6 cans of Bud Light. I mean, if you are going to do it, fine, but really? Put it in a bag, a cozy, a cup… not right there in the open!

4.   Again, on the booze. Cans are one thing but to be pushing your sleeping bunny in her stroller while holding a GLASS BOTTLE of beer. (again, no cozy, no cup, nothing, just beer bottle. Out in the open.)  Not to mention there is an open container law in Ohio and we have 2 sheriffs that live on our street.

3.   There was a kid, in his teens I’m sure, that once again was wearing a sweatshirt and jeans. But at least he had a chicken hat on his head. I could hear him talking on his cell phone then entire way around the cal-de-sac. As he approached me, still talking, I wondered if he would get off the phone. Nope. He walked up, pulled the phone away, said Trick or Treat, I put candy in his bag and he immediately put the phone back to his ear and said “okay, I’m back- go ahead.” No thank you, no acknowledgement, nothing.  The nerve of some kids just kills me. Would it kill you to turn your phone off and actually act like a kid if you want me to give you candy?

2.   This one ALMOST made my number 1 spot. ALMOST. I kid you not, and I can’t even believe this happened. I had 4, not one, two, or even 3, but FOUR! Grown, adult women. Probably in their early to mid 30’s approach me for candy. They came up (again, jeans and sweatshirts) with their pillowcases. No asking trick or treat, no costumes, and even worse- NO CHILDREN!!! I looked all around and they were just 4 grown women walking around getting candy. I almost couldn’t give it to them but I was not about to get into it and cause a scene. That was pretty much the nail in the coffin for me.

1.   I was witness to the absolute, most inappropriate costume I have ever seen.  Again, male child, most likely early teens. Walking around alone. Wearing a long, thick, scraggly black wig- baggy fatigues- mustache and beard- bandana type thing around the wig. Around his neck is what looks like- from a distance, an etch a sketch. He stops at the bottom of the driveway and stares at me. Creepy. He then starts doing something with his left hand- like he is pushing a buzzer on a game show. He slowly walks up to me, stops, stares, does it again. And again (seriously took him 5 minutes to get up the driveway) He finally throws his hands in the air, starts screaming and running towards me. I didn’t even know what to say. He asked politely for candy, which I gave. And then switches to an accent talking about Al Qaeda and how he doesn’t know how he is supposed to blow people up when he can’t get a bomb that works. (that thing- around his neck? Was supposed to be a homemade explosive.)  I have absolutely no words to describe what was going through my head.

**Please note: we actually live in a really nice neighborhood with great kids and families. I have no idea where these people came from. If they do live in my neighborhood- they hide themselves really well.

Tell me- Am I being ridiculous to think this stuff was inappropriate?

What crazy shenanigans happened during YOUR trick or treat 2010?