Halloween hits the neighborhood

The girls got all kinds of stuff. Our area had trick or treating today. They had fun running around the neighborhood. I gave out candy here while Jay took them around.

One kid was dressed as a Sumo wrestler, his costume was filled with air. It was so funny. He barely made it up the steps. I gave hime extra candy.

Some "kids" weren't dressed up and were about 25 years old. I still gave them candy. I figure if they want candy, they can have candy.

One guy had a pumpkin head and gave the kids the big candy bars. He asked Tara where her teeth were. :) Next year I'll have to give out the big candy bars. I gave multiple candies but they were small sized. One kid saw that I gave him gum and he shouted to his mother, "I GOT GUM!!" I like that kid. Now I'm off to bum some candy from the girls. :)

Fairly wet.

Every year the church we attend has a little fair for Halloween. The kids dress up and it's fun. Last year it was rained out. Today, it rained off and on all day. The girls were afraid it would be cancelled again this year. They went ahead and held the little fair - thank goodness. It rained, no I'd venture to say poured on us. But it was still fun to see the kids having fun.

Tara, being the optimist she is, jumped up and down the entire time proclaiming this to be the best fun ever. Tara said the rain made it more fun because the jumpy slide thing was even more slippery. You've gotta love that kind of temperament. We were all so wet that our coats changed color.
My camera is broken so I had to take pictures with a (gasp) disposable camera. No immediately seeing my pictures. That's probably for the best since we probably looked like drowned rats. :)

One of my profs, one that I like, was discussing a movie. Then she stopped and said that we might not remember it because we are all so young. Then she looked at me briefly as if to say, "that is except for you." Thanks a lot! I've got my AARP card and I'm not afraid to use it! Oiy.

Our house is surrounded by huge trees that are dumping immense amounts of leaves. Yesterday, Jay and I were out trying to make a dent in the leaves. Meanwhile the neighbor, who gets only our residual leaves, was literally picking up leaves BY HAND one at a time. Now that kind of dedication is laudable but it makes us feel like the neighborhood Clampits. We lost Millie in the leaves yesterday. I feel like a skit of you might be a redneck if... ") Where's my banjo and corncob pipe?

Tuesday

I wrote that I thought Dancing with the Stars was a bit boring. I tuned in after the whole fainting issue. I guess it wasn't so boring.

My midterm is over. Relief.

Jay made the girls turkey legs for dinner. He videotaped them. He asked Tara what it was and she said pig. He said turkey. She shrugged. She doesn't care. It tastes good.

more on monday

#The girls had fun at Brownies tonight and received their pin in the bridging ceremony.

#Then the troop leader told us about camp while the kids played a game in another room. There is quite a bit I have to get for them- hiking boots, sleeping bags, flashlights, duffel bags.... but the kids should really have fun.

#Tara hadn't realized that it was overnight( actually two nights). They've never camped. My girls are not going to like latrine duty. I think I'll work up to telling them about that....

#Big Big midterm in Pharmacology tomorrow. Much cramming will take place in the morning.

#I had to call the school numerous times getting my spring schedule, with special permissions here and e-mailing there... very draining stuff. I'm still not done. One class more to get permission for. Please oh Please let me in.

#The girls have a new obsession - apple dippers at McD's. They love it.

#Poor Jay has a cold.

#It's a Monday... what can I tell you?

#Dancing with the Stars was a bit boring tonight.

# Jay is watching Heroes.

Fall days

We want this one- the one that weighs 57 pounds!

Children of the corn- sorry I couldn't resist.

Today we went to May's Farm in Randolph. I lived in Randolph for years and never heard of this place until today.

Emily liked the animals the best. There was a little petting zoo. She got the goat food and got spooked by the goats and dropped the food right in front of their cage. The goats looked at her like, "Are you KIDDING me?" Pun intended.

Tara liked the playground area.

Those were essentially free. They could have taken or left the six dollar a piece hay ride. Go figure. Give them a toy and they play with the box...

Wherever we stood the sun was in thier eyes, so they were in perma-squint mode.

Elephant memory

We picked up the girls from their church class tonight and they had made these paper bags filled with paper. I asked Tara what it meant.

"I don't know."

Then I asked Emily.

"I don't know."

Well that message really got through!

Then I pressed them for details about what they learned.

"Bats", said Emily.

Bats?

Then she recounted something about someone living in a cave and then it gets fuzzy. But they did tell me in great detail about their snack... :)

I asked my prof how long my presentation needed to be. I was thinking about 20 minutes tops. I have to do a presentation, since I'm the only graduate student in this particular class. ( If you take a class at the grad level, you have to do something extra that the undergrads don't have to do, like a paper or short presentation.)

"The whole class." She looked at me flatly.

Oh.

The class is over two hours long. Sigh.

School Pictures

Ten on Tuesday

* I'm going to take a midterm and have another class in a few hours. Cramming will take place in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
* Aunt Dee sent the girls Halloween cards, stickers and money. The kids are happier than Jay when he organizes his Magic decks. (That's REALLY happy!)
* Rachel took pictures of us all at the Gorge on Saturday. Jay and I were self-conscious but Rachel is so warm that we got over ourselves. hee hee. The girls loved it. They're such hams. Thanks Rachel. I can't wait to see them.
*I am getting over a really croupy cough.
*We got Tara's seed project done.
* Tara was a turtle in blankets all of last night. I love that she's still little.
* Emily is making an alarmingly expensive list for Santa. Santa better get busy.
* I want to have a party but can't get my butt in gear. I miss all my friends from UPC.
*Jay loves to walk around the house yelling silly things. It's a bit disconcerting but cute. That's my Jay.
*Oh yeah, back to the real world of studying....

Yesterday my mom and dad came over to visit after having gone to the market. It's nice to have them so near. For many years they either lived in Connecticut or England and seeing them was a once a year event at best.
Tara placed herself at the foot of my mom's wheelchair and began to read to her. Mom listened attentively. Tara has a special love for her grandma. A love that sees the wheelchair, but takes the time to see the person in it, too. Sometimes I will come in the room to find my mom covered in a mound of toys that Tara has brought to her. My mom good naturedly tries to hold 30 toys on her lap, while listening to all of Tara's stories.

My mom has a box of stuffed animals at her house that the girls like to play with. People like to give my mom stuffed animals as gifts. Since she has a lot of limitations, it's sometimes hard to know what else to buy her. Tara assumes, in her child mind, that my mom is a child, too. So having toys is normal. We have explained that she is an adult and she raised me, but that concept is lost on Tara. Sometimes she asks my mom if she knows how to read or if she is allowed to do something. It's sweet and sad. Sad because she doesn't know my mom like I know her. But it is what it is. And Tara doesn't shy away from her and, I hope will always have a soft spot for the disabled, knowing they may be a bit like her grandma.

Brownies

Costumes abound!

Last night Jay measured my arm with paper and glued hay to it and it's on the table drying. That's love. I bought a straw hat at Good Will yesterday. The kids laugh at me when I wear it. I guess that's the point. I have straw for my shoes, too. I'm ready to be a scarecrow for my college class.

Then the girls and I looked at Good Will, Target and Walmart for Halloween costumes. Em wanted to be a witch or maybe if she had to a cat. I saw the most adorable hand made M&M's costumes. I pushed those real hard. They were a "no go" with the kids. So Tara found a princess dress and we bought the Tiara and wand and jewelry that has already broken. Emily held out for the witch and we compromised and she is now a good witch, thanks to Missy and S. Thanks so much for giving me advice. Emily looks like a princess with a pointy hat and streamers. I can totally live with that.

Then last night I remembered that their Brownies starts tonight and I hadn't ironed on/stiched the vests up yet! So this morning I was very busy doing that. I think I am more excited about them starting scouts than they are. I just remember it was so much fun and such a good learning experience about team work etc.. much like a sport.

Fun comparison

Here is a picture of me as a Girl Scout and Emily trying on the very same uniform last year. She's taller now, so it may fit better now.

Just some Friday stuff...

For our project, my college group decided to be characters from The Wizard of Oz describing NCLB, inclusion, teacher's surveys, etc. I am the scarecrow. Now I have to figure out how to make a costume and a script for Wednesday. It seems kind of dumb (no pun intended) to me but I'm trying to roll with it. :) I'm just getting through this year of school... Thanks again for those who responded to the surveys. They were immensely helpful.

Emily wants to be a witch for Halloween. I told her that I am uncomfortable with that because they are perceived as evil. Am I just overreacting? She doesn't want to be anything else, of course.

I signed the girls up for Brownies. Several trips to the Council store later, they have their uniforms. I didn't even buy the shirts and the bill came to $112! I bought some white shirts at Walmart. I still have my sash from Brownies and a bag, but the girls wear vests today. I have my entire Girl Scout uniform from when I was a kid. I will post a picture of me in it as a kid and Em trying it on later. We look very similar. Emily will be a Junior Girl Scout next year.

Stuck in the elevator

My classes are like the proverbial squeaky wheel. One starts squealing (assignment is due) and the others get mildly neglected. Then the other classes get jealous of all the attention one is getting and they give a test or project. This is fine until all the the classes start "squeaking" at once. Right now they are all squeaking.

Now the building itself is attacking me. I got stuck in the elevator tonight. There was a power outage and guess who was alone in the elevator? Me.
I found myself getting that panicky feeling of, how long will this last, will they know I'm in here? I started pushing the buttons and then the elevator lurched and stopped. The only thing keeping me from freaking was that I had my cell phone with me and the optimism that this wasn't really happening. But it was happening. Finally after probably 3 minutes that seemed like 20 the elevator moved again and stopped at the second floor dinged and still didn't open. I was losing a bit of my optimism. Finally, the doors opened as the elevator crawled to the third floor and I got out went,straight to the bathroom and stood in stunned silence until I could have a semblance of composure. Well, at least I didn't start screaming. ha ha.