Peaches visit Buckeyes

I love when my family from Georgia come to visit. Technically, my cousin's family lives in North Carolina now, but I still lump her in with the "GA" group since that's where they're from. We try to see each other as much as possible but it gets harder and harder the older we get. Remember the days when you were a kid and your whole family would go on week long vacations to see family? I miss those days. Things were simple. Now it's quick trips back and forth before everyone has to get back to work. We went down to Georgia in September, but I think we were only gone 3 or 4 days, including traveling. Now this time, the fam is up here but only for 2 or 3 days. It's never long enough, but that's life.

The clan rolled in on Friday so after work, Brandon and I headed out to dinner with everyone. We stayed out at my Dad's house until Monday morning, so it was a lot of not sleeping in my own bed, time. Saturday was pretty much a Thanksgiving since everyone was in town. But sub turkey and dressing for shredded chicken sandwiches and pizza. Same thing, right? When this group of 13 of us get together, you never know where the conversations will go. I think we talked about everything from politics (briefly) to Todd Rundgran concerts and embarrassing your kids. Oh and watched a lot of football. I mean a lot, a lot. Georgia won (go dawgs!) but Notre Dame also won (boo).

On Sunday, Brandon and I took my Dad to see Bill Engvall at The Midland. It was fantastic. Even Dad, who wasn't really sure if he wanted to go, laughed through the whole thing. Even snorted a time or two. Then almost fell down the steps when it was over, nearly giving me a heart attack. He said "missed that step" like it was no big deal. Ugh. Monday morning, bright and early we met the gang for breakfast before everyone headed home. It was good to see everyone. Now it's back to the normal routine.

 

Happy Birthday D squared

Two of my favorite people share a birthday. Oh and they happen to be mother and daughter.

Donna and Danielle are like family to me. I mean look at them! How can you not love these two?! Danielle has been my best friend for nearly 13 years. (I think, is that right?) Donna, a second mother. I've been through it all and they've stood by my side. When Danielle and I ran cross country together, Donna was there cheering us on in the cold. At 7am. On a Saturday. When Danielle has a Halloween party, Donna's right there dressed up with us. Danielle has been there for me through all my highs and lows. And there have been some extremely tough lows. Somehow, she keeps me together. We have a "non-mushy" friendship and it's perfect. She gets me. We don't hug because we both like our personal space. We use sarcasm in most, if not all of our conversations. Ok, definitely all of them.

But enough talk, let's get to the embarassing photos...



Parents at one of those cross country races



Halloween

Homecoming (2000 maybe)



Pep Rally

Oh the things you take pictures of in high school...



Prom 2003

Freezing at a cross country race

High school



Danielle's graduation party 2003



Graduation 2003

There's that husband of hers

Couple years ago

My wedding 2008

Danielle's wedding 2009

Her adorable daughter, Leah (who's way bigger now)

The Color Run 2012

Happy Birthday D squared!
PS - I wish I shared a birthday with Ryan Gosling.

 

Our fur babies

It's now been 6 years since bringing our kitties into our home. Well, technically we lived in our apartment at the time but you get the point. I've always been a cat person. Brandon, not so much. I grew up with cats and never had a dog. Brandon was the exact opposite. We had only been dating for a little over a year when we got them. One week later, I left both of them home with Brandon while I went on a three week trip to Africa. He had never been around cats and didn't really know what to do. Oops.   

Brandon's black & white cat, Santa was abandoned by his mama in the woods and found my Dad's cabin. He fell down into the window well and couldn't climb out so he meowed until my Dad noticed. Then he hung around on the porch pestering Dad's cats. When it was clear that he wasn't going anywhere and no mama cat came to claim him, I got a phone call to "come get this thing" because he "couldn't keep another cat". When we got to the house, Brandon played with him and decided we would take him home. But not before stealing a dead mouse from him and throwing it into the woods. Which made our great hunter sad. Or pissed, I'm not sure which. He was hardly bigger than a Beanie Baby. These days, Santa is both mellow and high maintenance at the same time. He meows louder than babies cry, and for no apparent reason. Yet, he wants to be everyone's friend and hang out. You can find him watching water drip down our glass shower door or in a cave of blankets on the couch. He's our alarm clock on the weekends and our companion while watching TV. I think Brandon likes him better than me.     

Scuttle is my calico cat. We got her 1 week after Santa from my cousin's farm. She was one of the many strays running around out there and they had been calling her Pumpkin because of her orange patches of fur. She, too was tiny but finally ready to be adopted. We brought her, and those very sharp claws of hers home in a cardboard box. When we introduced her to Santa she hissed at him. She wouldn't let him get near the food if she was eating and would spin-kick him without warning. They clearly did not get along at first. Brandon didn't know if they were playing or killing one another. By the time I got back from Africa, they were best friends and Brandon had bonded with them. We should have named Scuttle, Moxie instead. She rules the roost around here. She'll run and hide when people come over and she doesn't like babies at all. You can find her laying in the sun or on my lap. She loves car rides. We'll even take her out of the carrier and let her look out the window like a dog. She's afraid of Brandon's feet. Perhaps she was stepped on when she lived in the barn years ago. She doesn't meow. She'll open her mouth, but only a tiny squeak comes out, if anything. Sometimes I like her more than Brandon. 

So happy adoption month, kiddos. Our little family wouldn't be the same without you.

Wildlights

I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but next weekend the Columbus Zoo will flip the switch. I love going to see their Christmas lights! Last year they had over 3 million to turn on. Can you imagine how long that would take to put up? They get started early, but still. It's always a treat to go to Wildlights, even if you freeze to death. They normally have fires going in barrels throughout the zoo so you can stop for a moment and warm up your paws. Or do what I do and take the best invention since gloves: Hand warmers. I don't know how I ever went anywhere in the winter without these.   

 

When hand warmers just aren't cuttin' it, you must buy hot chocolate. Be warned that they do not give you a lid, though. Apparently people were careless and lids and straws were ending up in the animal habitats so they got rid of them all. This makes drinking and walking virtually impossible without spilling hot liquid on yourself. I always have to pull off the the side away from kids who like to bump into people until I drink enough of the scolding coco. This takes time because I'm not a big fan of burning my tongue or the roof of my mouth. I would almost rather just hold onto the hot cup until it's almost cold, then chug it down so I can free my hands and send them back to their warm caves known as my pockets where the hand warmers live. Yea, that sounds about right. But enough of that.

 

    

The zoo has lots of things to see and do this holiday season. Click here for a full list of activities. I think they always do a nice job. I've never done the kiddy stuff because I don't have any kids. Maybe this year I'll snatch my niece and go see Mr & Mrs Claus. I think it's adorable that the website says "Please note that the Claus Family has requested time off after December 23 and will not be available". I think I'll take the train ride around the zoo for $1 this year. That might be a fun way to see more lights too. I take a camera every year but always forget my tripod so the pictures turn out less than magnificent. But I never take my hands out of my pockets long enough to take any pictures anyway.

 

So if you're in the Columbus area, you should really go to the zoo to see the lights. I normally like to wait until at least after Thanksgiving, but that's just me. Oh and if you're still freezing after hot chocolate and hand warmers, pop on into the reptile building. It's always warm in there, I promise. 

 

Post Secret

If you've never heard of Post Secret, you really need to check it out. It's a place to share secrets with people all over the world. They mail them in and every Sunday the creator of the site, Frank Warren chooses some to post. WARNING: Not all secrets are positive. Some are disgusting, perverted, sexual, scary, horrible, tragic etc. Read with caution and never with your kids until you've screened it. If you're easily offended, it's probably not for you because it has any and every opinion out there.

 

I like the postcard shown above because it's a "good" one. According to the site, there are millions of people who read Post Secret every week so to think this may have sparked something in another person is pretty cool. And as a matter of fact, after it was posted, someone sent this one:

 

 

I have all four hardback books that have been published full of even more secrets that never made it to the website. Go to the library and find them. You may be interested enough to read them cover to cover in one sitting. Sending in a secret is on my 30 before 30 list, but coming up with one is hard. For now, I'll just read everyone elses. Here are some more totally random secrets that I like:

 

 

 

Click here for more info on sending a secret to Frank!

 

13345 Copper Ridge Road,
Germantown, MD 20874

 

It's Ok Thursday

 

It's Ok...

That this is the first "it's ok" post I've done since Aug 9th. Seriously, I just looked.

To walk past the food donation box at work, see Thin Mints and for a split second think about taking them. Calm down, I would never ACTUALLY take them. Who still has Thin Mints anyway? Mine were gone the same week I got 'em.

To spit a little when you yawn REALLY big. Don't lie, it's happened to you before.

To think Emma Stone is a porcelain Goddess.

To hang up your jeans in the closet. I know it's weird, but I HATE creases!

To pretend to be super impressed with your co-workers crafts at the sale at work, even if they're REALLY bad and you're not about to open your wallet for any of them.

To search YouTube for hours for new (old) movie trailers & make a list to rent at the library.

To ask your husband to "guest post" for you one time. Stay tuned later this month for that ;)

To not want to hear one more thing about the election.

To wish there was a soft serve yogurt machine in the cafeteria at work.

To watch reruns of The Big Bang Theory twice a day.

To blow off work to write this list on nonsense.

Parenting blogs

I'm obsessed with parenting blogs and I don't even have any kids. I don't mean the boring advice kind, I mean the kind of blog that's devoted to the funny things kids say and do. It all started when I was stalking reading my friend's Facebook page and saw that she shared a link to the blog Crappy Pictures, by Amber Dusick. She said it was hilarious so I checked it out. I was hooked from that day forward. In fact, I'm sure I went back and read every post ever written. It took me over 3 hours but I laughed so hard, it didn't matter. This is taken straight from Amber's "about me" section: "I started this whole thing because I was going crazy and needed a place to vent. Since I don’t have a photographer following me around, I wound up drawing some crappy pictures to illustrate the day to day things that happen as a parent". You really need to check out her blog. Like, now.



 

Then in October, Amber did a wonderful thing and start collaborating with other funny parent bloggers. That's how I found Jason Good, Divine Secrets of a Domestic Diva and Five Kids Is A Lot Of Kids. There were others, but these three stood out for me. I look forward to getting my email notifications of a new post. Sometimes when they all write on one day it's like I've won the humor lottery. On occasion, I'll even read them out loud to my husband because they're that funny. But don't take my word for it, read them yourself. I get to sit back and read all the fun stories about what kids do without dealing with the yelling and temper tantrums. It's great!  What blogs do you read?

 

Not your typical election day post

Today is the big day. I'm so ready for the commercials to be over and life to go on. I'm not going to tell you who I'm voting for. It's none of your business. I would hope you've already made up your mind.

 

What I will tell you I'm voting for is a flatter stomach. You heard me. Today I'm going to start working out again. Ever since my marathon accomplishment back on October 21st, I've been taking a bit of a break. That was a long 18 weeks of brutal training and I needed to rest. Then came Halloween and I ate my weight in Kit Kat bars, I'm sure of it. Plus, remember how I mentioned eating 3,136 calories for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory? Now it's November and that means Thanksgiving is right around the corner. I have a pretty good metabolism, but my body was used to exercise and is now confused.

 

Brandon wanted to start another round of P90X like we did right around this time last year. He did it for a week and now remembers how much he hated it. And by hate, I mean like a love/hate relationship. He hasn't popped the DVD back in yet but I'm sure he'll come around. I'm not sure if I'm feelin' Tony Horton anymore. Maybe I'm just tired of the same old stuff. I've been told to try Insanity, but I'm too cheap to buy it. I would go run, but it's cold outside and only going to get worse. The feeling of running in the winter when your chest and lungs are burning is not in my top 5 favorite things to do. I have an elliptical and recumbent bike in the basement but I get tired of them after about 15 minutes. I could break out the Wii Fit, but those "workouts" are kind of a joke and not at all challenging.

 

So what's a girl to do? Eat less Cheesecake Factory. Done. But where has my motivation gone, and more importantly, how do I get it back? I hope I snap out of this funk before Christmas so I can eat as many gingerbread cookies as I want. I don't like this lazy side of me. I liked being active and feeling less... sloppy. Now I'm kind of a whiner. Just like all the poeple I can't stand who complain about how they look or feel but do nothing about it. I guess that's my motivation! To get back to being me again. 

 

What are you voting for? Turns out I'm voting for an attitude adjustment, not just a flatter stomach.

 

Our Cheesecake Factory Adventure

 

It all started back in April. We gave our truck to Brandon's parents because we found a more fuel efficient car to get us to and from work on a day-to-day basis. We love the truck, but this made sense for all parties involved. Plus, we can always borrow it any time we need to haul something. Or if I just want to feel the heated, leather seats one more time. But the truck came with demands conditions.

1) A very small amount of money
2) Jar of honey from the neighbors who have lots of bees
3) Take us out to dinner somewhere we wouldn't normally go

Kelley Blue Book said the truck was worth $7,000 - $8,000 so I think they got a steal! Then we had to decide where we wanted to eat. We're not super fancy people so we didn't really want to dress up and go somewhere that the portions were small, all the side dishes are extra and a server treats you like a snob. Sorry if that's your thing, We chose The Cheesecake Factory. Both of us had only been there once or twice ever and it was probably 10 years ago. Ok, so maybe we don't get out much. Don't judge us.

After months of forgetting about it, then having other things come up every weekend, we finally picked a day. Last Saturday. We didn't leave the house until the Ohio State football game was over so we didn't get to the restaurant until around 8pm. Honestly, I thought the rush would have been at 6 or 7 but oh I was so wrong. We walked into a sea of red buzzers and impatient patrons. Brandon gave the hostess our name and reported back, "45 minutes to an hour". Ok, no big deal I guess. After all, it was a Saturday night at a popular place. We should have expected this. So we waited. And people watched.

I understand that restaurants want to fill the place with as many tables as possible, but I don't understand how they couldn't bump it out a little further and put more space for those waiting to be seated. Instead, what you're left with are people standing all over the entry making it impossible for staff to get through and customers to make their way to the hostess stand. Or the bathroom. Also important. They told us the buzzer is only guaranteed to work inside the building so we can't leave. We stood as close to the wall as possible, but even then we practically got felt up every time someone tried to squeeze through behind us. Or my favorite, when I would get checked with a woman's purse.

The only logical thing to do was count people in North Face jackets. Actually, less counting and more babbling "North Face" under our breath when one would walk by. I think 1 in 3 people had one on so it became a good distraction. Brandon's mom hadn't heard of the brand before, I'm not sure how, but she has now seen them in every color. At least twice. Long and short. Fleecy and non. All bases covered.   

Then there was a party of six standing next to us. The dad was a tool. We'll call him Mr. Jerkface. See Mr. Jerkface was tired of waiting so long to get a table, even though his family had gotten there after us and at this point we had waited for about 45 minutes. Cool your jets, Mr. Jerkface. All these people around you are waiting too. Next thing you know, he's talking to a manager who takes his buzzer to "see what he can do" about the wait. Roughly 10 minutes later the manager came back, menus in hand to escort Mr. Jerkface and his 5 minions to their table. My first thought was "you've got to be kidding me", then our buzzer went off. Hungry meltdown averted. We were seated around 9pm.

On a typical day, I'm in bed by about 9:30pm because I get up at 4:15am for work. So eating dinner at 9pm isn't my favorite thing in the world. However, I was very excited about it being free and couldn't order an appetizer fast enough. The whole meal was great. I got their Spicy Chicken Chipotle Pasta and couldn't have been more pleased. We all chose to have our food boxed up so we would have room for cheesecake. I mean, how do you go there and not get dessert? That's insanity. By the time we were ready to leave, we had 10 boxes and 4 bags of food left over. Oh and it was nearly 11pm. Ugh.

So why do people do this? Waiting for an hour to sit down doesn't appeal to me. Yes, the food tasted great but is it really worth the 3,136 calories I ate? (Yes, I just added it up. But technically, I had leftovers on Sunday so it was only 1,568 each day.) I don't know how I did this all the time in college. How was I not broke? And 400 lbs. Going out to eat all the time just isn't our thing anymore.

Now I know why it's been about 10 years since the last time we went to the Cheesecake Factory.

Photo an hour

I thought this post would be easy. Until I forgot to keep taking pictures around, say 6pm.

7am - My cat was my alarm clock, meowing in my face. Typical.

 8am - Time to start the 11 loads of laundry I've been putting off.

 

 

9am - Caught up on a little People magazine with my kitties.

 

 

 10am - Finally got ready for the day, makeup and all.

 

 11am - Took the recycling to the fire station. You throw everything in one big dumpster: plastics 1-7, newspaper, magazines, cardboard, cans, glass... anything. So no, it doesn't matter that nothing in this picture is separated. We're not those people who do it wrong.

 

 

12pm - Put away the Halloween decorations and broke out the Thanksgiving stuff.

 

 

 1pm - Supervised while Brandon put air in all our tires. 

 

 

2pm - Raked some leaves.

 

 

3pm - Finally brought in and cleaned the hummingbird feeder for the winter.

 

 

4pm - Jalapeno poppers for the OSU game. Looks gross, but they were actually pretty good.

 

 

5pm - Watched two movies with Brandon's mom while he and his dad watched the OSU game and drank these gross beers. And yelled really loud the whole game because of them. 

 

 

 This is where I forgot to continue my picture taking. Like I said, I watched two movies so there wasn't anything to take a picture of really. Oh well. When the game was over and our movie ended, it was around 7:30. We finally headed out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (more on this adventure tomorrow). We didn't get home until 11:30pm. Ugh. I did manage to get one more photo for the day. Don't mind the quality. Turns out my phone takes terrible pictures and the lighting in the Cheesecake Factory is poor. It's their Oreo Dream Extreme and it's everything I could have hoped for and more. Seriously, get it. It's insanely good.

 

 

So there you have it. My day in pictures. Who knew I didn't do much of anything all day? Maybe the next "photo an hour" post will be more exciting. Nah, probably not. 

 

 

That time I met Angela Lansbury

 

Have you ever met anyone famous? Perhaps you live in New York and see them at the market like it's no big deal. But I live in Ohio. No one famous randomly walks down the street. 

 

I met Mrs. Potts in New York City. I was in eighth grade on a trip with my mom's students. (How cool is that school field trip?!) Don't mind the over sized t-shirt I'm wearing in the picture. I clearly knew how to impress on 5th Avenue. No, actually it was pouring down rain all day so my first shirt of the day was soaked. I popped into The Gap and this shirt was the only thing in my price range. It was actually an XS in the women's department too, thankyouverymuch. I just happened to be a whole 90 lbs in eighth grade so nothing fit. Wait, where is this going? This is supposed to be about meeting someone famous... 

We were walking down the sidewalk when we spotted a hunter green limo. Next thing we knew, Angela Lansbury popped out from the building right next to us. There were no big groups of people with cameras or lots of security or anything, it was just like she was an average Joe. With a hunter green limo, of course. We asked if we could take a picture with her. She smiled and said "certainly". Afterward, she told us to be safe and hopped in the car. We went on about our day with a story to tell later.

This was my one random, stumble-upon-a-famous person moment. Sure, I've been to concerts and athletic events and have seen "famous" people that way, but it's not at all the same. Who have you met or would love to run into by accident?

What happens in traffic

We all have those moments in the car when a song comes on that you LOVE. You can't help but dance.

Clearly, the only reasonable thing to do is crank the radio and sing along. Bonus if you sit in traffic long enough to find the same song on two different radio stations. Let's face it, they all replay the new stuff about 3 times an hour. My husband and I have become big fans of Carly Rae Jepsen's, Call Me Maybe. And by big, I mean huge. We blame it on the Olympic swim team's video for being so amazing. It got us hooked. We break out all the classic moves like the fist pump. Everyone has thrown a fist pump or two in traffic, right?

 

Brandon never lets me videotape him dancing in the car, or anywhere for that matter, but he has some signature moves when a good song comes on. This unusual dance move, whatever it may be, was caught while drinking. That'll teach him to let his guard down. I was caught mid sentence yelling "tell me you got that". Now if only it were a video instead. Blast!

 

Anyway, back to the car. I'm pretty sure you should get extra points if the person next to you in traffic starts dancing too. It's too cold this time of year to roll down the windows to let them hear the music, but they get the idea that you're singing to your favorite song. No explanation needed. Sometimes I even scare my husband when a good song comes on. I'll gasp before reaching for the volume and he goes into panic mode looking for a homeless man that is surely about to run into the road based on my brief hyperventilation. I'm not sure why he has to be homeless.

 

The worst is when you're flipping through your presets and you find the very end of your favorite song. How disappointing is that?! You go from cloud nine to rock bottom in 2-point-5 seconds. There should be a repeat button in cars. I'm not sure how it would be possible, but someone needs to figure that out, stat! I'll wait right here.

 

 

Candy and Creepers

I’ll just come right out and say it, I despise passing out candy on beggar's night.

 

It’s always cold and kids are greedy. That pretty much sums it up. We spend a decent amount of money on candy and don’t even get to enjoy it. Normally we buy 1-2 bags each week at the store starting at the beginning of October to spread out the cost. Yes, we’re cheap frugal, that’s not the point. We don’t open the bags because it’s too tempting to eat it all the entire month and then be left with nothing to pass out. Although, this year we broke the golden rule and I’ve eaten more chocolate in the past 2 weeks than the entire year leading up to Halloween.

The first year we were in our house, we decided to buy the cheap bag of random candy no one has ever heard of. Ya know, the one with the hard candy in clear wrapping. Yep, gross. After receiving a jawbreaker or something as equally disappointing, one little girl yelled back to her friend, heading to our door, “you can skip them, they don’t have anything good”. Nice. First of all, how ungrateful. Second of all, you are so right, little witch. No seriously, she was dressed as a witch. Scarred for life by a 6 year old, we vowed never to purchase that mixed bag of cheapness again. Now we must buy the good stuff like Reese cups, Kit Kats, Crunch bars, Snickers and York Peppermint Patties. Or maybe we buy those because they’re my favorite and I’m secretly hoping no kids show up so I can keep it all. Is that so wrong?

Then there are the kids who go trick-or-treating when they’re clearly too old. Or trampy. I don’t remember how old I was when I stopped going, but I’m fairly certain I wasn’t out there as a high school student like kids are now. You probably have a job, so buy your own candy, ya jerks. Plus, I don’t want to see your tush in that stripper Raggedy Ann doll costume you’re too young to be wearing. I hate the older kids out there. Makes me want to scold them like an old lady. Or perhaps I’m just worried that they’ll judge me when I only give them one piece of candy. Hello, I’m trying to have leftovers for myself, remember?

There was another time that I gave a group of boys some candy and they proceeded to turn around and throw it all at each other! And this was good candy that year! It was all over my driveway and in the road and I came very close to going all honey badger on their asses.  Until my husband told me to bite my tongue. These were clearly the kind of hellions that would come back and egg our house. Creeps.

So why do I pass out candy if I hate it so much, you ask? Because, despite my previous statements, I’m actually not a troll of a person and I do think kids deserve a little treat on Halloween. Plus, if we ever have kids of our own, I would appreciate all the neighbors giving them candy so it all evens out.

Last night we sat in the 35 degree misting rain and waited for kids to come. The weather sucked but there were a decent amount of Trick-or-Treaters. Here are the highlights of the evening:

1) A group of teenage girls approached us with white outfits covered in fake blood. My husband said "whoa, did you have an accident?" and laughed. One girl replied "I like blood" like a mental patient while another (in fishnet stockings) said "I was murdered at the strip club". Wha?! First of all, you're like 14. Second of all, couldn't you have just said you were murdered? Which is strange enough, but why add the strip club? Freaks.

2) Four or five kids came up to the house at the same time and Brandon happened to hand a girl a Kit Kat. Her friend goes "YES! I love Kit Kats" but Brandon reached in our bowl, pulled out a PayDay and dropped it in her bag before she could finish her sentence. He goes "bummer" and she ran away telling her friend "you better switch with me". We're not giving her TWO pieces just so she can get a Kit Kat and reaching in her bag to take the PayDay back to switch out is just weird. Does this make up horrible people? We thought it was funny.

3) Our neighbors across the street just leave a bowl of candy out on the porch for kids to take. Next thing we know, a pizza delivery guy pulled into their driveway and walked to the front door. For who knows what reason, our neighbor came to the door, took the pizzas and said "hang on" shutting the door in his face. Meanwhile, kids were coming up to the porch a taking candy from the bowl. One kid said "look mom, he dressed up as a pizza man". The guy never made eye contact with the kids and was probably thinking "ca'mon lady, what's taking so long in there" trying to avoid more comments about his "costume".

4) Every year we seem to get a few parents that follow their kids around in their cars, and last night was no exception. There were at least three. Why do parents do this?! Are you seriously too lazy to walk around the neighborhood with your kid? Do you not want to be out in the same cold weather you're putting your child out in? Perhaps you have a foot injury and crutches are hard to maneuver through packed sidewalks. Ok, I'll buy that. But if you're just too lazy, I think you're pathetic. Besides, you look creepy following kids around in your van. Knock it off!

5) We have this five minute rule when it comes time to close up shop. Our fingers are frozen and our candy bowl is nearly empty but we always feel bad for those last kiddos walking around. Maybe they're parents don't get off work until later and by the time they get home and changed into costumes, it's the end of beggar's night. We have to stay out there for them. So we wait. Five minutes. If no kids come in 5 minutes, we call it a night even if it's before the official end at 8pm. Last night when our stopwatch said 4 minutes and 30 seconds, we saw another wave of kids turn the corner, heading toward our house to which Brandon said "I see at least two pirates coming for my booty" and we both lost it.

All in all, Trick-or-Treat wasn't bad this year. No jerks to spoil the fun, so I was pleased. How did it go in your neighborhoods?