Halloween Costumes

Here are the kids and dogs in their costumes:

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween. Maxine pretty well sums up my feelings lately only it's been 24/7 for me. Someone asked what I was going to dress up as today and my comment was: "Either a witchy bitch or a bitchy witch"! She asked what the difference is. I pretended there was a difference but in reality it's perfect for me - I am just in a real bitchy mood. Too many things going on in my life and no time to get it all done.

This is actually the 1st Halloween we have been home for trick-or-treaters in about 10 years. I think they have learned to skip our house. Son says fine with him - more candy left for him to eat. Little does he know but it will be taken to the offices.

One good news for the week: daughter finally got a job (huge decrease in pay) but it is a job and has lots of potential which I am sure she will excel in.

One of these days I will let you in on what is going on in my life. Then you will understand the bitchy witch part.

TiVo

I admit. I am addicted to TiVo. There are just too many TV shows and movies I want to watch. Problem is I have no time to actually really and truly watch everything.

This past summer I whittled down what was saved. It was interesting because I got to watch episode after episode of each show which means I no longer forget from week to week what happened the week before. Watching it all at once is refreshing and sure explains a lot of things I probably wondered about.

But just trying to keep up is hard. Working 12 - 14 hour days means I don't watch anything during the week. I am lucky I get the news and weather and that I usually get from online newspapers. I decided this year to limit the number of programs I TiVo.

Here's my season's pass list:
ER
Gray's Anatomy
Private Practice
Dexter
NCIS
Criminal Minds
CSI: Miami
CSI: Vegas
Desperate Housewives
The Unit
Boston Legal
Without a Trace
Cold Case
Untold Stories of the ER
Trauma: Life in the ER
Amazing Race

As you can see, quite a few. I end up deleting a lot but I just can't stop myself from programming a new show into the TiVo. Now to find the time to watch them all.

What do you TiVo?

Fall Colors in the Chicago area

I absolutely love love love fall except for my allergies which go nuts. I took way too many pictures of the fall colors from the Chicago area so I whittled them down to the ones that I loved the best. Enjoy!

No Coffee Needed

I have never tried writing a scene but something happened in our household that merits telling you about.

Setting: our house
Time of day: wee hours of the morning
Participants: read the story

It's 5:30am on a gorgeous morning - the time most people in this household are sound asleep, snuggled under the covers, dreaming of ....well we shall leave that alone.

Dr P needs to get up and get ready to go to the hospital to operate on one of his patients. Now everyone knows Dr P is not a morning person and the only thing Dr P likes getting up for in the wee hours of the morning is to go play his beloved golf. Therefore it would be a foregone conclusion that Dr P is definitely not a morning person.

The alarm goes off and is reset to snooze 3 times, leaving Dr P with no time to go downstairs to make a cup of coffee. Now Dr P usually wears contacts or glasses, but of course since he is going to take a shower, he has neither on. So Dr P strips and goes into the master bathroom shower to turn on the water. But something furry runs across the shower door. Dr P can't tell what it is. As he is squinting to figure out what he just saw, the thing sniffs Dr P and since she recognizes him, she jumps on him. A blood curdling scream is heard throughout the house. The scream scares the furry object who now latches onto Dr P with her nails.

Dr P (with the furry object holding on for dear life) looks down and sees his son's sugar glider who was supposed to be locked in a cage in son's bedroom. Meanwhile I am rudely awakened by the screams and reach for the nearest object which is laying beside the bed (the cell phone). I still quite don't know what I was going to do with it. Dr P comes into the bedroom and relays the information that the sugar glider got out of her cage and was in the shower. Now still trying to digest this information, I asked why the sugar glider was out of the cage. I got the look.

Dr P marches down the upstairs hall and goes to son's room. He has the sugar glider firmly between his hands and said sugar glider is protesting by barking at him (she doesn't like being confined). Dr P kicks on son's door until he wakes son up (son is a very sound sleeper and has heard nothing). Son opens his door and Dr P tosses the sugar glider onto son who is just wearing boxers. Now sugar glider knows not to dig her nails into son who doesn't like it, so sugar glider sees son's boxers and goes for the boxers and digs her nails in.

2 screaming males were heard that morning. I can only imagine what the neighbors thought. Suffice to say, Dr P and son and I did not need coffee to wake up that morning. And suffice to say, all doors to said cage were firmly checked and double latched.

Here is a picture of son's sugar glider:

I have no words.

There are times you get a phone call and a person tells you something and they are relaying this description to you, and your mind is forming an image (not always good). Yesterday it was mentioned that my blog had gotten maybe a wee bit depressing. Well, today's post should take care of that.

Caller: "Well, I got Elsie today."
Me: (Doing a zillion things so not all there...ok ok maybe not all there most of the time but that is beside the point). "What?"
Caller: "They put Elsie on and she is one sucking machine."
Me: "Ok, stop right here." (Paying total attention now). "What did you say?"
Caller: "My sucking machine was put on today and boy, does she suck. I named her Elsie."
Me: Hearing the strains of The Twilight Zone spinning through my head, I cautiously ask, "Ummm....milking machine? And just what part of the body is this thing attached to?"
Caller: "Well, I guess it could be attached in many different places." (Note - caller didn't say this but my mind sure went there.
Me: "Have you ever breast-fed and used a breast pump?"
Caller: "No way. What does that have to do with Elsie"
Me: "Well, caller, follow my mind."
Caller: "That's scary."

Yep, twas a full moon. Now I am not saying the picture below denotes what the caller was talking about. All I am going to say is that our phone conversation was (in my mind) kinda out there and since it was a full moon yesterday, I felt this picture was appropriate. Maybe Elsie can go and do what Fabio and Valentino couldn't. They just laid there. Elsie sucks and according to caller, she is a pretty good sucker.

Happy Full Moon Day!

Although I am dreading today since it is a full moon and I will be training today (a friend who will start working for her husband doing what I do), plus our software vendor decided to print statements for us for our patients even though they were just done 10 days ago and we are going to have zillions of calls, I wanted to wish all of you a bright and beautiful day.

Of all the days we have (yesterday and tomorrow), today is the one you are living right now. It probably will not be perfect nor everything you want it to be, but it is all yours and yours to decide how you are going to spend it.

Look around you. Here in the Chicago area, the leaves are changing. I will try and get some pics because the colors around us are amazing. As many of you know, we redid our landscaping last fall in preparation for our daughter's wedding this past spring. We are now getting to see the fall beauty of the garden and I must say, the landscaper was amazing. He picked up what I wanted perfectly.

Take this day to remind yourself how precious life is and how thankful you are for your life even though it might be on a roller coaster right now. Find things that are filled with joy and find meaning in the little things.

Spend time today focusing on your thoughts on what's right with your life right now. If you can't look at the big picture, look for smaller ones. Find things to be grateful for.

And above all, appreciate today.

It's Monday!

Nuff said............Calgon take me away!

A favorite of mine....

I use this picture as my wallpaper at times. I not only love the quote but I love mountains and snow so I tend to use this wallpaper a lot. If you are looking for inspiration, I highly recommend Ralph Marston's website and just can't say enough about it. I love reading his quotes and messages.

(***http://***greatday.com/motivate/***) - as always remove the *** until I learn how to insert a website link.

Have you ever.....

felt peace within yourself? Have you ever felt that you will be able to handle anything that is thrown at you? I have a pretty good relationship with my spiritual side. When I am troubled, that is where I go in search of my peace. I always find it although I tend to be a bit stubborn and therefore it takes time.

The past few weeks I have been dealing with a lot, mainly the thought of how I would go on if I lost my husband, my rock, my lover, my friend.


God was there when I lamented if I would ever find someone I could love and trust who loved me and trusted me as much as I did him. I was sent my husband.

God was there when I personally lost each child. In return I was sent other blessings.

God was there when I was diagnosed with cancer. In return I learned that one does not know how to live unless they know how to die.

Last night I turned it all over to Him. What will be, will be.

Defining Husbands

I am sure my definition will differ from others.

I definitely know it differs from Dr Laura's who basically states that "man is a very simple creature who only needs direct communication, respect, appreciation, food, and good loving". She claims that if a wife does the above by preparing dinner, caring for their children without complain, greets her husband with a kiss and engages in sexual intimacy, she will have a deep and satisfying marriage. Umm....are we stuck in the 50's? I suppose we are to wear dresses while we mop the floors too?

Not too long ago, Oprah had this marriage counselor M. Gary Neuman on her show. Normally I halfway listen and usually turn off Oprah but his discussions got my attention. According to Gary's research, if you want to prevent infidelity, a woman needs to #1 appreciate and admire her man; #2 have more sex with him; #3 have open conversations when he is ready; #4 allow your husband time to see his friends even if you don't get time; #5 or basically do whatever he needs to be happy. Yeah.....is he living in the 50's too? Is he related to Dr Laura?

A friend recently complained to me that her husband wouldn't go shopping with her. I asked her why she needed him to. My husband happens to love to shop. Sometimes I go with him and sometimes I don't. He can easily turn a simple shopping trip into an expedition while I tend to stick to a list and go in and get what I want and get out. He can't wait for grandkids because he loves Toys R Us (I usually plan on hitting here once a year and give him 2 hours so he can catch up on all the new things out). He loves clothes shopping with me and has really good taste although I have gotten things on my own and surprised him. He is a better grocery shopper than I am and a huge bargain hunter. No - you can't have him. He's also a pretty good cook and does all the ironing. Still can't have him although you can ask me on any given day and the answer will be different.

So when it comes to defining husbands, I think my definition is different. Our marriage is unique in that we work together too. Things in our household are divided 50/50. I work as many hours as he does so there should be no reason why household chores can't be shared too. Plus appreciation goes both ways in our house. If I don't feel I am getting the attention I want or need, I open my mouth (I don't have a problem doing this) and say so. If it doesn't get his attention, I yell louder and more often until he does. His ways of stating he needs attention though are a bit different - he finds fault in every single thing I do and when he does this, I know he needs attention which I smother him with until he leaves me alone again (j/k).

Are there times when one of us has needs over and above the other? Yep, happens in every household....as long as the other picks up the slack somewhere else.

Lately, I can tell his mind is on a zillion things because he keeps asking me what the schedule is for tomorrow. I finally wrote it out on a piece of paper and put it in his wallet. An idea a friend had for me earlier when she called is pretty tempting: take a heavy pan and zonk him over the head.

No more politics please!

Do any of you ever feel like me? I am so split and torn with our current political arena. I don't know who I am voting for and frankly I am beginning to not give a shit. I am tired of commercials bad mouthing and mud slinging each other. If any of you are perfect, please raise your hands and let me know because I sure don't know anyone.

Lately my inbox of email has filled with emails about both parties. Smear tactics I call them. I looked up each and every one on snopes and every single one has maybe 0.1 teensy ounce of truth in them but 99.9% is false and proven false many times over. So putting you all on notice, unless it is a sexy male or a joke, any political crap will be instantly deleted.

I go to the office and get slammed with it by the patients. I can't even play online anymore with friends fighting - each side swears they are right. I have stopped blog hopping because every single one is full of politics.

Has anyone noticed the economic crisis? Has anyone cared that the top execs of AIG after receiving their bailout, went to the most luxurious spa resort and spent thousands of dollars on themselves with YOUR money???? Where is everyone?

I, for one, am dedicating this last month to a no politics blog. Not one word will be mentioned. So it will be safe here to pick your nose or anything else you want to do. Just no politics. I am putting my head in the sand and not listening to anyone unless you have something to say that isn't political.

end rant/

Mondays

Meme'd by Z

Z tagged me.

Here are the rules: Grab the nearest book. Open the book to page 56. Find the fifth sentence. Post the text of the next two to five sentences in your journal/blog along with these instructions. Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the closest. Tag five other people to do the same.

This is going to be funny. I had this book out when I did a workshop at Romance Divas. It's the book closest to me - actually the only book sitting on my desk. Those of you who know me probably won't be surprised.

Sexual Reflexology by Mantak Chiaare

Page 56, Next 2-5 sentences after the 5th sentence:

Have your partner lie in your lap or between your legs so that it is easy to
massage the face. No formal techniques are required, just good intention and a
soft touch. Begin exploring your partner's face with a light and gentle
touch. Massage around the eyes, across the forehead, over the cheeks, and
around the lips. Feel the unique quality of the face.

And that's all you are getting - ya just have to buy the book to see what comes next.

So I tag anyone who wants to do it.

Banned Book Week 2008

Celebrating Banned Book Week 2008!

Here is the ALA’s list of the Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books in 2000-2007.

How many have you read? I picked up Zeek's tag on this because I couldn't believe how many books I either have or have read were on the list.

How to Play:

1: Copy this list.
2: Highlight the ones you have read (or at least remember reading) in RED.
3: Tag five people to play.



Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books in 2000-2007

1 Harry Potter J.K. Rowling
2 Alice series Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3 The Chocolate War Robert Cormier
4 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
5 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou
6 Scary Stories Alvin Schwartz
7 Fallen Angels Walter Dean Myers
8 It’s Perfectly Normal Robie Harris
9 And Tango Makes Three Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
10 Captain Underpants Dav Pilkey
11 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain
12 The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison
13 Forever Judy Blume
14 The Color Purple Alice Walker
15 The Perks of Being A Wallflower Stephen Chbosky
16 Killing Mr. Griffin Lois Duncan
17 Go Ask Alice Anonymous
18 King and King Linda de Haan
19 Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger
20 Bridge to Terabithia Katherine Paterson
21 The Giver Lois Lowry
22 We All Fall Down Robert Cormier
23 To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee`
24 Beloved Toni Morrison
25 The Face on the Milk Carton Caroline Cooney
26 Snow Falling on Cedars David Guterson
27 My Brother Sam Is Dead James Lincoln Collier
28 In the Night Kitchen Maurice Sendak
29 His Dark Materials series Philip Pullman
30 Gossip Girl series Cecily von Ziegesar
31 What My Mother Doesn’t Know Sonya Sones
32 Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging Louise Rennison
33 It’s So Amazing Robie Harris
34 Arming America Michael Bellasiles
35 Kaffir Boy Mark Mathabane
36 Blubber Judy Blume
37 Brave New World Aldous Huxley 38 Athletic Shorts Chris Crutcher
39 Bless Me, Ultima Rudolfo Anaya
40 Life is Funny E.R. Frank
41 Daughters of Eve Lois Duncan
42 Crazy Lady Jane Leslie Conly
43 The Great Gilly Hopkins Katherine Paterson
44 You Hear Me Betsy Franco
45 Slaughterhouse Five Kurt Vonnegut
46 Whale Talk Chris Crutcher
47 The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby Dav Pilkey
48 The Facts Speak for Themselves Brock Cole
49 The Terrorist Caroline Cooney
50 Mick Harte Was Here Barbara Park
51 Summer of My German Soldier Bette Green
52 The Upstairs Room Johanna Reiss
53 When Dad Killed Mom Julius Lester
54 Blood and Chocolate Annette Curtis Klause
55 The Fighting Ground Avi
56 The Things They Carried Tim O'Brien
57 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Mildred Taylor
58 Fat Kid Rules the World K.L. Going
59 The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things Carolyn Mackler
60 A Time To Kill John Grisham
61 Rainbow Boys Alex Sanchez
62 Olive’s Ocean Kevin Henkes
63 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Ken Kesey
64 A Day No Pigs Would Die Robert Newton Peck
65 Speak Laurie Halse Anderson
66 Always Running Luis Rodriguez
67 Black Boy Richard Wright
68 Julie of the Wolves Jean Craighead George
69 Deal With It! Esther Drill
70 Detour for Emmy Marilyn Reynolds
71 Draw Me A Star Eric Carle
72 Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury
73 Harris and Me Gary Paulsen
74 Junie B. Jones series Barbara Park (Some at least! Read them to my nieces!)
75 So Far From the Bamboo Grove Yoko Watkins
76 Song of Solomon Toni Morrison
77 Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes Chris Crutcher
78 What’s Happening to My Body Book Lynda Madaras
79 The Boy Who Lost His Face Louis Sachar
80 The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold
81 Anastasia Again! Lois Lowry
82 Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret Judy Blume
83 Bumps In the Night Harry Allard
84 Goosebumps series R.L. Stine
85 Shade’s Children Garth Nix
86 Cut Patricia McCormick
87 Grendel John Gardner
88 The House of Spirits Isabel Allende
89 I Saw Esau Iona Opte
90 Ironman Chris Crutcher
91 The Stupids series Harry Allard
92 Taming the Star Runner S.E. Hinton
93 Then Again, Maybe I Won’t Judy Blume
94 Tiger Eyes Judy Blume
95 Like Water for Chocolate Laura Esquivel
96 Nathan’s Run John Gilstrap
97 Pinkerton, Behave! Steven Kellog
98 Freaky Friday Mary Rodgers
99 Halloween ABC Eve Merriam
100 Heather Has Two Mommies Leslea Newman


Out of 3,869 challenges reported to or recorded by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, as compiled by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association. The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom does not claim comprehensiveness in recording challenges. Research suggests that for each challenge reported there are as many as four or five which go unreported.

I tag anyone who wants to keep the ball rolling!!!