HALLOWEEN 2005

This is me, and Nissa, taken around 4:30pm, before the trick or treaters started coming. I had forgotten to put my bright red lipstick on yet, though. I was horrified when at 5:20 we started getting rain and high winds. It kept up for awhile, then calmed down, but began again periodically during the evening. I was so surprised that we did so well with trick-or-treaters in all of that. In fact, we did better than last year. We had 121! YAY! I was so busy that I couldn't keep up with everything but, I think princesses were about the most prolific costume. There were a few soldiers, 2 cowgirls, a cowboy, 2 fairies, one cheerleader, many general scarey-ghosty-zombie-like costumes, a cereal killer, a few witches, 2 devils, a bee, a ladybug, a bunch of brides (all from one family), a lot of various super-heros, and one really neat Dr. Octopus?/Doc Oc?, I think they said it was. The boy had a kind of suit on, and silver pleated ducts attached to his back, that came around the front and had mechanical-looking claws on the ends. Very striking. I love homemade put-together costumes.
The adults I remember were Amy in her Lucy outfit (looked GOOD!), a soldier, three scarey 'hag' type costumes, and a glittery mismatched type costume. I was surprised there were no Fridas.
I have a LOT more photos, but I guess I'll dole them out one night at a time. The trick-or-treaters started coming at 5:45 and the last ones were around 8:30. Then Reagan, Amy and the boys came by again afterwards. When they stopped by the first time on the hayride/float, everyone said that there were not as many houses to stop at as years before. Many people who always participate, weren't doing it this year.

PUMPKIN PARABLE

Zach had a goat show today, so they dropped Mathieu off with us bright and early this morning. He went to Mass with us, and then to religious ed. afterwards. After breakfast for the students, I had the yearly Halloween/All Saint's Day/All Soul's Day object lesson, using a pumpkin/jack-o-lantern. (removing yucky stuff, 2nd Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 2:10, Matthew 5:14-16, new creations, letting your light shine, lights going out and being restored, etc.) After that, Mathieu(3) went with the pre-K/K class, and I worked with the jr. high/high school group. When the classes were over, quite a few of the kids came back to get pumpkin seeds to take home and either toast or plant.
In the photo, you can see one side of the pumpkin; the other side had a face. And then one of the turkey boxes-in-progress is on the right side. I didn't get a good angle on it, though, so it's hard to see how the head is....and of course there is no autumn colored tissue paper in it, yet, either.

FALL BACK

Carl is just here to remind everyone that the change in daylight savings time is tonight. I'll have to turn the clocks back an hour right before I go to bed.
Today I put the third scarecrow upright again, and moved it over somewhat. I also picked up some junk from the front yard and threw it away. All the pots with nothing in them but dirt reminded me that my green thumb has turned purple the last year or so. I still have a lot of picking up to do not only in the front, but in the backyard too. I'm finally going to get rid of all those nursery pots I've saved forever.
I had Zach drag that interesting cedar stump, that I bought from an Amish man, a year or two ago, from the back deck to the front driveway. I stood it on the corner and put one of the pumpkins on the top. I should have taken a photo. I will try to remember to do that tomorrow. I also loaded my biggest pumpkin in the van and took it to the breakfast room when Zach and I went to Mass this afternoon.
I have been reading a lot today. I took up 'The Second Summer of the Traveling Pants', again, which I had started ages ago.

TAGGED!

Well, I've seen all kinds of these things around, and this morning I finally got tagged by Nutmeg from her blog, 'Life in A Nutshell'. So, okay, I guess I'll play. Here goes:

1. Go into your archives.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Post the fifth sentence (or closest to it).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five other people to do the same thing.

Here's what my sentence is:
Afterwards, I went back to the church with them and did some work - hot glued wooden crosses to the top of the stations of the cross plaques, moved tables, watered the flower pots, planters and flower beds.

Yeah, I tend to have extremely wordy sentences, with lots of dashes, elipses, and parentheses, and a liberal sprinkling of 'illegal' clauses, commas, grammar and dangling thoughts....not to mention mispellings and left out words. Actually, I have many sentences much more convoluted than this one.

Soooo... I tag:
Natalia (NaTALLia TALES)
Amanda (Of the Best Stuff, but Plain)
Carrie (Thorn GoblinGlitter Blog o' My Life)
Laura (winterpast)
Corazon (Chatter by Corazon) Update your blog, woman! Did you get my mail art?

Linking wouldn't work for me for some reason.

MONSTER MASH...AND CEMETERIES

This is some surprising and very creative mail art I got yesterday, from Heinz Lotz in Germany. Thanks! I love it! If you can't tell from the photo, it is a piece of styrofoam that has jack-o-lanterns glued over, inside the original nightcrawler bait label. I took a photo of the other side too.
Lydia called today to see if I wanted to have lunch with her at the cafe. So I met here there before going to town. My mission today was to find a CD with Mathieu's new favorite song on it - Monster Mash. Amy mentioned yesterday that he had heard it on the radio, and immediately started singing it afterwards....over and over. She was going to try to find it for him, but didn't plan on going to town until Saturday. She thought it would be a great CD to have playing for my cousin's annual family and friends trick-or-treat hayride/float. I was pretty sure any CDs like that would be disappearing fast, if they hadn't already. And since we don't have many choices for shopping for things like that here in the boonies, I told her I'd go today and get it for him, if they had it at Walmart (our only choice). Alas, I was too late by far. But I did get a relatively cool Mannheim Steamroller Halloween Monster Mix CD. No funny lyrics...or any lyrics at all...but it is really enjoyable music. I think I'll borrow DH's CD player from over at the cabin and run a cord and play it outside on Halloween night. I wish I could find Saint-Saens Danse Macabre somewhere. Andrew called and I told him my dilemma and he suggested I just download Monster Mash as an MP3. I never thought of that. But I don't know how to do that... I mean, I looked for it and the sites look all spyware-ish, spammish, virusy... So.... I have Panda and all that, but...
Last night there was a really interesting show on PBS - The Cemetery Show, was the name of it, I think. I love cemeteries! Well, the older ones or ones with character, anyway. NOT the modern carpet grass, all flat, even, mow over the top tombstone types. Some towns are taking advantage of the beauty and history in their cemeteries by making them places of active learning and recreation. Brilliant! They have tours that relate the history of the place and the people buried there, tours that go into the culture and meaning of the statuary and customs of the times, plantings that people come to for photographs, such as lush daffodil parks or abundant wildflower spreads...dramatic performances, poetry readings, music of various times...lots of things, all bringing the treasures that are our cemeteries into the life of people today. I would love something like that here. Our little cemetery is getting some activity soon, since our gorgeous, huge oak tree that is in front of it is getting some recognition. (Are you reading this, Keith?) But I was appalled last spring when our thick, abundant and varied wildflowers were all mowed down WHILE THEY WERE STILL BLOOMING, before they went to seed. ARGH!!!! I've got to see who to talk to, to try to keep that from happening next year.

COSTUME TEARS AVERTED

Here's what I got for our granddaughter at Walmart this morning. I mailed it off priority, so HOPEFULLY it will get there in time. Everything was picked over and there just weren't many choices, and we don't do evil or gory, but I think I did okay...'scaredy cat' t-shirt, striped cat socks, cat ears, sparkley hooded purple cape, princess make-up, purple nail polish, 9 light-glow necklaces in various colors, a purple candy 'bucket'. And I got a package of pencils, a package of puppy and kitten stickers in little boxes, and some plastic bugs, rings, spinners, bats etc. for her to share, hand out to friends at school, or have for any trick-or-treaters that may come to her door. I would have gotten something for her two little half-sisters if I could have found anything appropriate. But they are babies, so are too young to care anyway.

COSTUME EMERGENCY

Today's pumpkin mail art came from Ellie B. THANKS, Ellie. I love it!
Our granddaughter, who used to stay with us, and just recently moved fairly far away, called this afternoon. She got the package I sent and wanted to say thank-you. We were talking about Halloween and she started crying because she didn't have a costume and her mother and step-father were not doing anything special for Halloween. They will let her trick or treat in the apartments, but she didn't have a costume. I told her I'd see if I could find something for her in Walmart tomorrow and mail it, priority, to her. Hopefully she'll get it in time. But, costumes will be scarce by now, and I doubt they have a 'cheetah girl' type costume anyway. But I'll get her something, and hope she gets it in time. She also wanted something to take for show-and-tell. She planned on taking her flute that we got when she and I went to Mexico, but her little half-sister broke it. So I told her that the drum (also from Mexico) was still here, and I'd send that along too...and some coins from Mexico, Canada, Kuwait and Iraq. Maybe tomorrow I'll get copies made of the photos of her in Mexico too, to go with the drum and Mexican coins.

FIRST COLD FRONT OF THE SEASON

Today's mail art was this very well-executed collaged postcard, from Carrie, and this really cool 8"x10" painting on backed canvas from Natalie O. Thank you both very much!!!
We had our first actual cold front early this morning. The temperature dropped to about 68*, it was dreary looking, and I was COLD this morning. But by the time I had to go to town, the sun was shining and it was t-shirt weather again, thankfully. The wind blew my scarecrows over at the waist, for about the 20th time, so I gave in and bought some Gorilla Glue, and Reagan (#2 son) and I glued the 'pelvises' and shoulders this afternoon. At Walmart, I got more gloves for more scarecrows, so hopefully I'll get the last two that I have planned, done tomorrow. Hopefully. Reagan also replaced the two flood lights on the front of the house, that have been out for ages.
I got the box of books (12 Junie B. Jones books, an I Spy type book and an animal question and answer encyclopedia) mailed off to Ashlyn and Alyson, our granddaughters in Florida, today.
I almost had to go to Mexico with a friend tomorrow. She has to go, and doesn't like to drive alone, so asked me as a last resort, since she couldn't get in contact with the lady who was going to accompany her. Luckily, she did manage to find her later this evening, and she said she'd go, so I am off the hook. Actually, I am to the point where I 'need' (ha!) to go again, but I've been having so much trouble with insomnia lately, that leaving at 6a.m. and getting home around 5p.m. just seems like misery. I felt awful today.

WEIMERANERS AND FEATHERS DO NOT MIX

This postcard is from Brenda, in answer to my pumpkin/jack-o-lantern mail art call. THANKS Brenda! It absolutely glows! :)
Sunday morning was busy as usual. I went to the classroom building early and took supplies, and got things distributed and organized. Then I went into the church for Mass. By that time, Chuck and Zachary were already there. Afterwards, the person who was supposed to bring breakfast forgot, so fortunately I still had some breakfast bars and peanut butter crackers for back up. Someone went out to get orange drink, and so that was breakfast for this morning. There were more kids there for my older students' class, and I tried to combine the lesson and the ongoing outreach crafting project, but it didn't work too well. But I am getting a little anxious that we need to be farther along with the project than we are now, so that was my reasoning. Tony, my assistant, wasn't there this morning. He had a family emergency out of town. He sure is missed when he's not there. Since there were more students, and we were working on the craft thing, I had 'class' in the conference room instead of my office. Things kept coming up where I had to go back and forth from the office to classrooms to the conference room for one thing or another. People kept coming in and needing something.
Then to top it off, we had a very large, extremely energetic four-legged visitor this morning. A HUGE weimeraner dog from the neighborhood was thrilled to see so much activity going on. He joined us for breakfast, until we had to close the door, and wanted to join the kids in the classrooms too. Our conference room door was open to the walkway because the air conditioner doesn't work effectively in that room, and so he joined us for craft time....and had a fit to eat the colored feathers we were using. I had to dig an icky wad of them out of his mouth at one point, when he bit a handful of them from the table and it became evident he was actually eating them, and not intending to spit them out. He did manage to eat two, though, over the course of the morning. His head was nearly level with the table tops, so we had to move the feathers and other items to the middle and try to keep him away from them. We did just get him out, and shut the door, but with people in and out, he kept charging back in. He is a sweet dog, in spite of his lack of manners, but I hope he is not planning to attend EVERY Sunday morning.

ART & ANOTHER SCARECROW

This is some of my art work from about a week ago. One postcard went to Carrie, and the squarish painting went to Kayley. Today I picked up the front yard a little bit, and I got another scarecrow done. I still need gloves for it, though. Then I got the idea for two more, so I'll probably wait until I finish the whole 'scene' and take a photo of these three and the shoe tree that Carrie asked to see. These scarecrows will be on that side of the yard, instead of the corner like the first two.

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BOOTS

This is the photo of the other sides of the boots that I promised some readers that I'd post tonight. Nothing of note happened today. Amy and Mathieu came over. Amy searched eBay for some goat clippers (about $140 - OUCH!) while Mathieu and I had some art time while eating Halloween M&Ms. Chuck came home from work early. Normally, he doesn't work on Fridays, but today he did. Ashley, our daughter, called and we talked for a good while. I had to go to town again on some errands, which really wore me out. While I was at Walmart, I bought every Junie B. Jones book they had (Good grief! - who knew they'd have THAT many!!), since Ashley said that Ashlyn (our granddaughter) loooooves them....and she's having issues with the school library about their lending policy. ;) Then when I got home, Amy called twice, and then Jan, my sister, called and we talked and laughed for a long time. She says I'm really weird, and always have been...but in a good way. Imagine that! ;)

BOOTS, HEELS, FLIPPERS

These are some boots and a high heel that I altered recently. Amy came by, so I asked her to help me hang my newest acquisitions to my shoe tree - a pair of diving flippers. I painted one pink and one baby blue. I'm kind of running out of limbs on that crepe myrtle tree.
I'm still behind in my mail outs, but got three packages sent today, and have two mail art envelopes ready to go in the morning. Hopefully more, before I go to bed tonight.
Our previously live-in granddaughter called late last night, and is wanting to come here, so badly. She would like to come for Halloween, with the big deal we all make of it, but with it being on a Monday, school the next day, and her being 4+ hours away, that is just not possible. It doesn't look like she'll be able to come until the Christmas holidays. We miss her terribly.

COOPERATION

This photo was taken last Friday at our post office. It was a mail art object and those are traditionally mailed 'naked' - that is, without packaging. Any stamps, labels, scuffs or dents are part of the ambiance of the 'finished' art work. It arrived safely in Maryland yesterday. Surprisingly, the post office guy, who I sometimes have issues with, let this go with no problem. I told him 'THANK YOU!!!', and said that I had thought he and I would be having one of our fights that day. I even took his picture with it and he is SMILING! LOL! So I was a happy camper.
Today, my husband was home, sick. He was feeling really week and dizzy last night, then weak again today. He should go to the doctor, because he does have some serious medical problems, but he won't go. He says he is going to work tomorrow.
Reagan, Amy and Mathieu went to another town this afternoon, to get special goat feed, so DH picked Zach up after school. They came by here before going to the cabin, and I gave Zach that metal windmill model that he put together a couple of weekends ago. I was going to use it for a 'Wandette' (non Barbie) scene, but it isn't the right scale, and I don't want to have to attach it to an outside surface somehow, for a weather vane, which is what it is supposed to be.
I went to 6p.m. Mass, then stopped by the junior high and high school Wednesday evening class for a while...then came home to watch Martha Stewart:Apprentice.

TIRING DAY

This is today's mail art! The jack-o-lantern is from Denis Charmot in France and the fluxus bucks, and other interesting papers are from Ex Posto Facto in Texas. Thank you both very much!!
Today I had to take a friend, who has a broken wrist, to the city to do some things she needed to do. We left first thing this morning, and had lots and lots of stops to make, and it was really, really hot. We went to her bank, a Goodwill store (diving flippers for my shoe tree!!!, and a book), Barnes and Noble (a book on Mother Angelica, a tiny garden gnome with a tiny book, and Somerset Studio magazine), Half-Price Books (where I made a little money), Academy, Petsmart, The Chinese buffet (yum!) and SuperWalmart. At least those were the highlights.

GOLDENROD

Here is one of many stands of goldenrod that grow along the highway. I really love wildflowers. And right now the smell of the Fall herb, tormentil is frequently in the air, too. Hopefully I can find some time to go gather a little bit and dry it for tea.
Today was a busy day - lots of typing for religious education newsletters, then I had to go into the office to copy, collate and mail or distribute various forms and papers, then to the next town for banking, shopping and errands.
I mailed out some of the mail art that I stayed up late working on, too.

MONIKER!

Here is a close-up of buZ blurr's moniker I spotted yesterday on my way home from my meeting. I was really happy to finally find one, since trains are pretty scarce around our whole area. You'll have to click on it to be able to see it, and even then it's not too plain, and I can't read the wording on this one, but it's there. buZ, if you read this, would you leave a comment with what the wording is?
Today was a typically busy Sunday morning. Zach and I got there early and he swept the long walkway on one 'L' of the classroom building. I felt like I was moving, with everything I had to haul in to the breakfast/conference room and then distribute to my office, the classrooms and everywhere else things had to go. For once, I think I got everything done that I needed to do, on all fronts. Before Mass, I talked to Diana and she said she would be glad to take the Pre-K/K class that morning. After Mass, I caught Mr. Hernandez, and he agreed to play the guitar music for the nine days (evenings) of the Posada Dec. 16 through 24! YAY!!!! So this year, I will again organize it, and hopefully it will go well.
I gave my two talks to the gathered classes during breakfast, and before they broke into separate classrooms, and they went well too. We even had 3 more students register this morning. I took the junior high group and we had class in my office, although it is getting kind of crowded.
Tony was there this morning, recovered from what he was last week. He has diabetes and his counts were dangerously low last Sunday. He took care of a lot of the administrative stuff for me, ran lots of errands and even emptied the trash from my office and the breakfast room, and did most of the pick up/clean up in the breakfast room.
All of the classes are going to be making turkey boxes filled with food, for the elderly shut-ins of our parish, and the pre-K/K group got started on one this morning, after their storytime and discussion time. I want to take photos when they are finished. They are going to be so cute.

SCARECROWS!!!! :)

These are the two scarecrows Zach and I put together yesterday. I put the finishing touches on them today. I am really happy with them, and may make some more before the season is over.
Chuck was home last night, but had to go back down near the border this morning. He'll be home again Sunday afternoon, and then will be working at a different location where he'll be home each evening.
I had to go to an out of town meeting for directors of religious education this afteroon. I sure felt like staying home, but as always, I was really glad I went. I always enjoy them. I offered to hold the next meeing (Dec. 3) in our parish. I took some photos on the way home that will be in this blog in the coming few days.
Zach is spending the night tonight. He is asleep, and I should be. I needed to go over a presentation for in the morning. I need to get up early enough in the morning to go over it all again. One of the teachers called tonight and said she was not going to be able to have class in the morning. Soooo I'll have to cover that somehow on the run, in the morning.

SLEEEEEEEEPY!

Today was a great mail art day. Buzz, Spanky, Rocko, Jocko, and Olive Oyl are impressed with the great ATC from Sherry L., that she sent in response to my Pumpkin/Jack-0-Lantern Mail Art Call. That's Rocko with his hand in the atc envelope getting the little sticker out. The atc is textured and the atc envelope is SUPER textural. Very rich and interesting. THANKS Sherry!
Today has been a really good day. I took Amy and Mathieu to lunch at Subway, and we went to the bank and Walmart too, where I got two pots of red mums, another pumpkin for Mathieu, the LARGE bags of dog and cat food, more Halloween candy, a Christmas Pack-O-Fun magazine, some cute light-up Tinkerbell pens for the granddaughters, and a Peter Pan one for Mathieu since he wanted one too.
(Just so you know I didn't leave Zach out, he got an unopened set of 12 National Geographic videos and a really cool vintage cowboy book from Goodwill yesterday.) I requested Zach's help after school today, putting the two scarecrows together (more about them when I get a photo taken), getting them dressed and staked outside. I had him get the Halloween/Fall/Thanksgiving decorations, etc. from the attic too, and we went through them and put some up. Then Chuck came home a day early and said he'd pay for dinner wherever we wanted to go get it, so Zach and I went back to town and got pizza....and also went back to Walmart for gloves for the scarecrows. Then I got him home in time to work his goats. Reagan, Amy and Mathieu were already sitting out there by the goat pens when we got there.
Well, a lot got done today both in the house, the yard and elsewhere. I am really, really sleepy, since I only got about 3 hrs. sleep last night.

"WANDA NEEDS"...

Try this. I found it on someone else's blog this morning. Go to Google, type in your name and 'needs'. Remember to put it in quotation marks. See what you get. Here are some of mine...
wanda needs to come to WICHITA. (Um, no I don't.)
Wanda needs a sweater. (No, not that, either, really.)
Wanda needs your help. (Well, sure. Help readily accepted.)
Wanda needs positive reinforcement. (Sure, I like that too.)
Wanda Needs Money. (Right again.)
Wanda needs to get a boyfriend so she's a bit more stable.(No thanks! And who says I'm not stable?!)
Wanda needs a new strategy. (Huh?)
Wanda needs to keep working the jab, or it could hurt her in the later rounds! (Double 'huh?'! No thanks! I concede or chicken out or whatever!)
Wanda needs to get in to see the Nutcracker ballet. (Okay, I'd like that. It sounds safer than the previous suggestion.)
Wanda needs 15 tables. (Actually I do. Maybe not 15, but 8 would be perfect for now. But first I've got to sell about a gazillion school desks.)
Wanda needs reconfiguring. (Ha! Don't I know it!)
Wanda needs prayers. (Always!)
Wanda needs to wait to restore her powers between Hex bolts. (Huh?!)
Wanda needs a few volunteers. (Yeah...anyone want to declutter my house?)
Wanda needs more tacky jewelry. (Hey, this one I can get fully behind. Send it on!)
Wanda needs to seek out and defeat the colossi wandering around the world. (Hmmm... think I'll pass. It sounds a trifle strenuous.)
Wanda needs to take some lessons from Mike Tyson. (Again, no thanks.)
Wanda needs beauty sleep. (And how!)
Wanda needs anger management classes! (No, I don't. And why the #@)($#&$%^@& would you make such a ()#&&%#@* suggestion?!)
Wanda needs to keep benadryl on hand for these type of reactions. (Okay, that's better.)

LUNCH WITH LYDIA

Okay, so she's not Donald Rumsfeld or Condelezza Rice, but I bet I had a much more relaxing time. Lydia called me about 11am about some paper work, and so I invited her to lunch at the cafe...if she would come pick me up, since I STILL have a flat tire. Afterwards, I went back to the office with her and got a few things done.
Yet MORE packages arrived today for Stewart. I'll be glad when he lets me know about the mysterious change of address, so I can send on the ones that go to him. They are filling up my living room.
Today's great mail art was from Troy Thomas - "As Far As The Eye Can See" and "Golden Bars in a Box". THANKS, Troy.
This afternoon around 5:30 I noticed a rainbow from my window to the east. I ran out in the street to take a photo, but the rainbow was fading fast, and I didn't get a very good picture. I wish I would have noticed it sooner.

LUNCH WITH DONALD RUMSFELD?!

Our daughter, Ashley, called to day to say that Roy (our son-in-law) (and two others) had lunch today with Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. Roy is a Marine and he and Ashley and daughters are in Florida.
Meanwhile, Amy and Reagan got a letter in the mail today saying that Zach had been nominated for People to People Student Ambassador Program to spend a very educational summer in Australia.
And here is the mail art that arrived today. Thanks Corazon and A.A.Berry!

AGGRAVATIONS

Today has been an aggravation for the most part. I finally started my Martha Stewart Coming Home poncho, and it is looking kind of 'twisty'. The pattern instructions are not that explicitly plain, which is what I need. But it seems to be a pretty easy pattern, so I think it will be wearable when I am through... but it sure does strain my eyes to crochet things like that, any more.

I was hungry for 'real food' so called down to the Cafe and ordered a bbq plate. My front tire is very low, nearly flat, so I stopped to air it up on my way. The air machine at the first place was broken, and at the second, I wasted my money because I couldn't get the hose to connect properly to the tire thingy. It was like the hubcap prevented it from fitting correctly. I even got down on my hands and knees and struggled with it, thinking I had it several times, but didn't. Sweat was pouring down my back, face and everywhere else. My hair was blowing all in and around my face, sticking to it, and it was just awful. I finally gave up, having wasted all the quarters, and got my meal and came home. I called Amy to ask Reagan to pleeeease come air it up for me when he gets home this evening, but he may be working late.

I have been trying to grow my hair long enough to donate to locks of love, but I don't know if I'll make it or not. I took some photos of the back of my hair, and -good grief! There were so many broken hairs from where I often put it in a pony tail! I was shocked because I only use soft scrunchies - no rubber bands or elastic bands or anything like that! So I guess now it is either braid it (which is actually the reason I started to let my hair grow again in the first place) or twist it up and clip it in back. But the washing, combing out, and fooling with it is driving me crazy.

Amy came over to see if I had any homecoming mum stuff left over from last year, and to also borrow a cookbook. I did have one sack full of leftover mum makings and a how-to book that I gave her too.

LOOOOONG NAP

I went to bed with a headache last night and woke up with one this morning...and it lasted most of the day to some degree - even through my 5 (yes, 5) hour afternoon nap. I frequently crash on Sunday afternoons. It seems like the previous week catches up with me then. The headache might have been allergy driven, since so many people were missing from Mass this morning, and most of the ones there had either swollen, red eyes, scratchy throats, or were coughing or sneezing. I guess something came in with our 'cold' front a couple of days ago.
Nothing out of the ordinary happened today, really...but then how would I know since I slept most of the day? Chuck took Zach to town and got him some new boots. He and I opened all of the packages that have been delivered here in the past week, and photographed everything in them, so I could send the photos to Stewart and he could decide what he wants me to send him, what stays here, what goes to Andrew and what goes to Reagan. So tomorrow, I have to repackage most of it, and send it to Baghdad.

HUSBAND, MAIL ART, GRANDSON...

This is today's mail art - an amazing compilation booklet of documentation for a sheep postcard mail art call from Isabelle Vannobel in France, a really interesting (the raised outlining on the face is so original!) postcard from Nate Hein, from Kansas, and a postcard of one of Fat Red Ant's great new designs. And this one I had to take two photos so I could get the other side too - gorgeous!
Chuck came home today. He's been working out of town for awhile. He'll be leaving again early Monday morning. Zach is spending the night. Right now he is trying to put together that windmill I bought at Goodwill. It seems to have a flaw in the design of one of the crucial pieces. But, we'll see how it turns out.

PUMPKINS!

We got our first cold front of the year, overnight. It dropped the temperature down to about 68. I was glad to turn off the a.c. when I got up.
Chuck called, and he'll be home tomorrow sometime. Luckily, I am in a kind of cooking mood. I went to town and got groceries, including oysters which I coated in cornmeal and fried for my dinner. Yum! I also bought a bag of small 'tiger pumpkins' and 4 large pumpkins. Four, because that was as many as I wanted to deal with today. I'll get more later. I waited until it was a little bit too dark for a photo, so that's why it looks kind of grainy and odd-colored.

THURSDAY, THURSDAY

I got some really great mail art today! First of all, from Kayley I got a fantastic drawing of two people on a horse! Notice the fancy framing she did around the outside of the picture. And she decorated the envelope creatively, too. I love children's art! Her mom, Carrie, drew a very nice mail box with flowers on the back of her business card. Then I got the latest of Pablo Wright's thought-provoking postcards - ("C Corporations, Consumption, Globalization - Businesses and advertising are major engines in promoting the consumpton of products. Globalization and trade agreements strengthen the political and economic power of multi-national corporations, in part because they shift decision-making from democratic politics to bankers and technocrats who serve transnational corporate interests. The More You Consume, The Less You Live.")
And, um...speaking of advertising and consumption *blush*, I got two more Happy Meal-Madame Alexander dolls today from McDonalds. These were #5 and #6. I am still 'needing' (yeah, right.) #3, then #7-#10. The other item in the photo is a potpourri oil lamp that Andrew's girlfriend Samantha made for me. Very cool!
Today Andrew called and wanted me to come pick him and Buddha (puppy) up so he could do some yard work here. I did and he got a lot of weedeating, weed pulling, and misc. stuff done. I got some watering, and weeding done too. Then I had to pick Zach up after school, since Reagan, Amy and Mathieu left early this morning to get two more show goats. From school, we went to town and took Andrew home, and went to McDonalds. We arrived home at the same time Reagan, Amy and Mathieu returned with the goats. That's about it for today.

BLUE SKY AND CONTRAILS

These are photos of contrails taken this morning. Actually, it's the same 'lines' only farther along. Nothing too remarkable today... except that we got some much needed rain. Amy and Mathieu came over for a little while, and Mathieu and I watched a couple of the Sponge Bob cartoons from my new DVD set. He is crazy about pumpkins. Even last year, he was! He played with the miniature ones I have, and took one home. Anyone who, like me, is so attracted to pumpkins should have plenty of them. I plan to buy enough for both of us to have a bounty of them. ;)
Andrew and Samantha (and Buddha) came and picked up some of the new computer stuff from Stewart, that arrived by UPS and FedEx a few days ago. Two more boxes were delivered today, but those, I have to send to Stewart in Baghdad.
I called Zach this evening to see if he wanted to go to Mass with me, and he did. I took him home right afterwards, then returned for the parish council meeting. After that, I went over to sit in on Sylvia's high school class. It was going really well.
That was about it for my day.

TODAY'S FINDS

We got a little rain today, and the wind was blowing from the east. Still hot, but I don't think it was triple digits today - just in the 90's. I went to town and stopped at the Goodwill Store, where I got the 17" metal windmill model that is supposed to really work, and act as a weathervane, I think. Maybe I'll let Zach assemble it when I keep him Thursday after school. I hope it has all the parts! I also got the two little wooden bowls, which I thought I would paint faces in....but now I am not too sure. I may just keep them as is. For some reason, I have a thing for old wooden bowls, and I don't have any that size yet.
After Goodwill, I went to Walmart and got some boring stuff, AND the 'Complete 3rd Season of Sponge Bob Squarepants DVD Set'!!!! Um...for the grandkids to watch when they come over.... um, yeah. Of course, I'll have to preview it first... a lot. I got a Taste of Home magazine too, but wish I hadn't. It really doesn't have anyting in it this time that I am interested in.
Then I went to McDonalds and got three Happy Meals, because that's the number of doll styles they had available right now. Aren't they cute?! Then it was the supermarket and home. The van gave me no trouble at all. I think it's lulling me into a false sense of security. It worked, because I may go into the city tomorrow...but maybe not.

SUNNY RABBIT

This is Sunny. Shabree got him for Easter when she was 3. So that makes him 6 years old. He hadn't been inside in a long time, so I let him come in today. He has seemed a little 'off' lately and I was worried about him. It's probably the triple digit heat we've been having all summer. Poor 'wabbit'.
I'm feeling kind of down tonight for no real reason. I think this happens when I don't get out and do enough during the day, which kind of sets me up to be 'sensitive' at night. I did get a package put together to mail today, and sent off some mail art too. Fed the animals, worked on next Sunday's lesson, made a couple of phone calls, fielded a couple of phone calls and that was about it! My van is acting up again, and one tire looks bad, so I am hesitant to go to town unless I really have too.
One man called from across the country to compliment me on a newspaper story I wrote 4 years ago! Yes, 4! He talked a long time about his family genealogy research, DNA genealogical testing etc. It was very interesting.
.........paragraphs deleted here.....re:broken stuff, lost stuff, kids, people not doing their jobs like they should, people not raising kids like they should.......
Sigh...yeah, another whiney blog entry.

MCDONALD'S MADAME ALEXANDER DOLLS

This is a photo of some of the little Madame Alexander dolls made for McDonald's Happy Meal toys in the past few years. Since it is October, I photographed several of the ones that could be trick-or-treaters in costume. I really like these little dolls. This year's Madame Alexander - McDonald's girls' Happy Meal toys are being given away now. They don't seem as cute to me this year, but they are still worthwhile as toys or collectibles. The theme is outdoor activities - jumping rope, soccer, tennis, etc.
This morning was really busy, as Sunday mornings always are, with me. I took a three hour nap this afternoon, but woke up with a horrible headache....which made me realize I had forgotten to take my pills for two days! YIKES! Anyway, I am still in a lot of pain, and it seems to be getting worse, so I think I'll try to keep some Tylenol down, and go to bed.

MORE PUMPKINS! :)

Here is the mail art from today and yesterday. Thank you, Joseph Brann and Bonnie Ashurst!!
Today was a busy day, again. Not too bad, though...lots of phone calls, lots of loose ends everywhere. I picked up Zach, early, for Mass, because I had to lead prayer before Mass, and he had to help with preparations for a baptism. Afterwards, we went out to eat, then came home. As soon as we got home, I had to clean up the big messes I left scattered out all over the table and kitchen bar. Then we played a couple of games before I got started with paperwork and preparation for class in the morning. He watched a video about snakes, then got about halfway through a Ma and Pa Kettle movie, before I made him turn everything off and get to sleep.

BUSY, BUSY DAY

This is Nissa, on her way to the vet, first thing this morning. She contacted feline head mange (sheesh!) and today was her second trip to be dipped. She takes it well, and was actually playful on the way home, squirming upside down, reaching through the cage and batting and grabbing my purse strap. Carl had to go along too, this afternoon, when I went to pick her up. I told him 'No', but he pushed through the door with me anyway, and since he 'rarely, if ever, does that, I let him go with me.
My phone was ringing when I got up, and Lydia wanted me to come re-write part of the grant application. I read it, and boy did it NEED to be rewritten. But I took it home to do it. Then she called again to see if I wanted to go have lunch with her, so I met her at the cafe for a Friday special - fried catfish, hushpuppies, okra gumbo, coleslaw, fries and peach cobbler.
Other highlights of the day - evening Mass, rounding up stuff with Zach for a school project, unloading the 4 sacks of stuff that have been in my van for a week, into the religious ed. building.
I was in and out all day - mostly out. You KNOW I was busy when I didn't have time to relax at the computer until 7pm today. ;) There were so many things I wanted to do tonight, but now I am so sleepy I can hardly keep my eyes open. I'm heading for bed.