I clearly have Trick or Treat issues

I don't normally hand out candy for Halloween, we go to my parents house and my mom hands it out while Hubby and I take the kids around. This year I went to help my cousin out while her sister and brother in law took their kids. (our ToT is tonight)

I was amazed at some of the RUDE kids.

And here are my issues...or as I like to call them:
The Rules of Halloween
that everyone should abide by because I said so.

1. You must wear a costume to get candy. I will give you a single tootsie roll if you are not in costume. I don't care how old you are, you can be 25 and if you are in costume, I will give you candy. If you are 14 and are too lazy to throw a mask on or some face paint? Too bad.

2. You do not drive to houses. Ever. If you want to trick or treat, you walk. I don't care where you live or how cold it is. If you can't walk it, you don't go. So help me if my kids ever ask me to drive their asses around.

3. Trick or Treat and Thank You. Yes, I will be the bitch that makes you say Trick or Treat before I give you candy...unless you are tiny and cute...in which case you will probably get extras.

4. If you trick or treat, you give candy. I may let this one go if you really can't afford to hand out candy but don't want to deprive your child of Halloween. I'm not totally unreasonable.

5. When given candy, you do not request something else. (oh, I really wanted a kit kat. I don't care, take your butterfinger and move on)

6. If you leave your light on but aren't home, you are an asshole. Please check your trick or treat schedule and be sure to turn outside lights off if you aren't participating. Do not make me walk my 2 year old up your long ass drive way only to realize there is no candy. Annoying.

The End
Happy Halloween!! It's going to be a cold one here, but it's all good. I love how excited the kids get for Trick or Treat! Despite my rules, it really is one of my favorite holidays. I just don't think it gives kids or adults a free pass on forgetting manners and common courtesy (and really, common sense).

I understand remembering the good

What I don't understand is why death makes people want to rewrite history.

My grandmother passed away last night. It's sad, I'm not denying that. She was in her 80's and had some pretty serious health issues. Recently she caught a virus that they simply couldn't fight off.

I loved my grandma, I did. I spent many weekends with her as a child, I was thrilled when she and my grandpa surprised me on my wedding day. They are my grandparents and I love them.

That being sad, my grandmother was not the nicest person. She was funny and sarcastic but she was also down right cruel and hurtful. The older I get, the more I try to understand what makes me the way I am (the good and the bad) more and more goes back to my mom, and with that comes understanding what made her the way she is. Aside from some pretty tragic events in her childhood, a lot of it comes down to the way my grandma has treated her.

Now, I'm not going to speak ill of the dead...but I'm not going to be all rainbows and sunshine about her either. I have a lot of really fond memories of her. She taught me to play Rummy, she used to cut HUGE pieces of watermelon for me and we'd sit in her living room and eat while we played. She let me stay up late to watch movies. In the one bedroom of their house they had at least 10 layers of paint, you could see all the many colors in places where it had chipped. There are a lot of very good memories...but why is it that when someone passes, those people who know better want to suddenly make everyone believe that they were some kind of saint? She wasn't, and I don't think she'd want people to rewrite history to turn her in to one. I'm not saying now is the time to air all of our dirty laundry...but let's at least keep it real. Remember her for the good things that really were good and let go of the rest. She's at peace now, probably yelling at some poor kid for not wearing an undershirt and slippers and stocking up on Vernors.

Oh, and as a side note. I was 30 seconds from finding out that she passed away via Facebook. So, for anyone reading this, if you have news (good or bad) do not post all over Facebook at 4am before you've notified the important people in your life (immediate family in this case). It's wrong. Facebook status updates are a great way to get info to a lot of people at once...but there is a thing called tact...and consideration of others feelings. Luckily, my dad called to tell me the news just as I was sitting down to log in....I'm not sure the rest of the family was so lucky. :/

My boys

Have I mentioned that I LOVE October?? I am a total Summer girl at heart but being that I live in OH, Summer just doesn't last all that long. Luckily...Summer goes in to Fall and I adore Fall. I like the smell in the air, pumpkins, sweaters, hot apple cider and Halloween. I wish I could live in a constant rotation of Summer and Fall all year long.

We've been crazy busy this month, I think we've had stuff on the calendar every weekend. I know for some people that is completely normal, but not for us. We're home bodies...and I don't like to cram one thing after another in to our weekends. I want time to curl up on the couch and watch a movie or take a nap...or just sit around and not bother changing out of our PJs. For us, that's a good weekend!
Of course, that is exactly what I am doing today...but by default. I have a sickly wee man, so we're hanging on the couch watching Dora (yes, while I blog...a girl can only handle so much Dora)

I'm going to be that mom that shows you all of the adorable pictures of my kids. 1. Because, um, they're cute and 2. Because I'm pretty proud of myself for some of these shots. I'm not professional (and really, I don't want to be) but I do like that I can take pictures of my kids that don't look like crap. Poor Aiden, he really got screwed in the picture department. I know it's usually the second child that this happens with...but not in this case. Oh well, Ian gets his fair share of neglect. Like the fact that he doesn't get the cool toys because we already have them...so he ends up with books and clothes. Oh well, sorry kid, play with your brothers toys.

Okay, here ya go: (and only a couple of my faves, I swear.)
Ian:




Aiden (and OMG, he is starting to look so OLD)

 

Get the swag

I'm not normally all about these internet schemes. I don't have time for all that nonsense, but this one actually pays off.

Here's the deal. Today is referral day at Swag Bucks. What does that mean? It means if you sign up, we both earn bucks!

CLICK HERE, YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!

What the hell are swag bucks? Virtual dollars you can turn in to gift cards (or other junk, but really, it's only worth it for the gift cards)

Does it work? Yep, it does. Granted, I don't search stuff I actually want answers for...that would be cheating on google, and that's just wrong. What I do is just type in random crap...or instead of going directly to a website, I pop over to swagbucks, type in the website and go from there.
If you search and don't hit, change a term in your search and try it again. 80% of the time, I hit doing that. Right now I have 1100 swag bucks. I have $70 in $5 Amazon gift cards just waiting to be used for Christmas.


Okay, don't get TOO excited. That's not normal. I had to do some shopping for work and checked out through the shop/earn tab. You earn 2 SB for every $1. It adds up...but only do this if the store isn't offered through Ebates. You should ALWAYS check out via Ebates when shopping online. You're ordering anyway, may as well get cash back. Don't have an Ebates account? Click Here.
I've earned $11 through Ebates but I rarely (as in almost never) shop online.

Okay, that's my infomercial for the day. Enjoy.

Wake up call

I'm over weight.
My cholesterol is high. Well, not high...but borderline
I had an abnormal pap and have to go back on Nov 1st to talk to my dr.
I finally had to admit to my husband that I can't fit in to the majority of my clothes, which is why they've just been sitting in piles on top of my dresser.
I turn 30 in 20 days.
I have no physical reason for the way I feel. Thyroid is normal, no anemia, sugar is good. In all honesty I was hoping my bloodwork would show something was wrong with me that I could fix...and then the rest would be fixed. I realize that's not the way it works, but it's what I was hoping for. So, in addition to discussing what we're going to do for this abnormal pap on Nov 1st, I'll also be discussing what I can do to be a happier more balanced me.

I'm accepting the fact that I can't do this on my own. I owe it to my husband and my kids to be the best me possible and right now, I need help to do that.

I also need help getting my ass in gear and working out. Do they make a pill that can do that? literally kick my ass out of bed to go to the gym...and slap my hand when I reach for a kit kat? Damn that Halloween candy just taunting me!!

Best comment of the weekend

We went out of town for our anniversary. Maybe I'll get around to a full review, some day....but for now, I leave you with the following conversation that happened while I was marveling at home much space we had in a King bed. (we have a queen at home)

M: wow, I feel like I'm on a different continent over here.

HH: Well if I wasn't so tired, I'd come over there and discover America.

M: Really hun, REALLY?!

HH: What? Lame?

M: It's a good thing you already have me. I'm so putting this on the blog.

HH: No you won't, you won't even remember what was said.

hahahaha, sorry hun, you should know better!