to the kitchen for a couple of days so that I could visit with Cosme while he's spending so much time on the computer.
10/26/2023
Then I missed another day.
Yesterday I went to West Columbia with Cosme, Paige, and the granddaughter for the CHS Halloween festival and a walk through the haunted woods. I wasn't going to do the walk, but Cosme insisted. It was a little intense for the granddaughter so one of the workers let us sneak out an early exit. It was the chainsaw that did it for her. I can't say I was upset about cutting it short.
10/28/2023
Haunted houses and trails just aren't my thing. I like to scare, not be scared.
went. We went with a Coco theme since I'd already decided on Day of the Dead.
I was no one in particular and Cosme was Miguel, the main character. Well, I bought him a red hoodie to be Miguel and suggested he carry around one of Eric's guitars but he was too tired to be in on it. A group of kids yelled "COCO!" when I answered the door but I let them know that Miguel was too tired to come to the door.
That was that. Yeah, Thanksgiving is next but let's focus on Christmas. I've had two presents wrapped and ready to go under the tree but look at this.
It's been hard trying to keep the baby away. I don't know how the gifts will last until December 25th. I think I might need to buy packaging tape and suggest everyone bring a pocket knife and/or scissors. This should be interesting... and exhausting.
done tonight as I can. I'm not doing a whole lot and I don't even think I'm decorating the porch this year. This is what I've done to the entryway.
I don't have the actual papel picado for Day of the Dead, this is just a generic fiesta banner from Walmart. I bought another one and that's what I'd hang outside if I do anything. I have a few more of the tissue flowers so I'd probably do a couple of those out there too. I'd like to have done it tonight but it's raining so...
Side note: this is the ladder I got for Christmas last year. I really like how it's adjustable, even though it is a little heaver than my last ladder. I didn't think about one thing though... how big it is. I found out exactly how small it isn't when I had to change a light bulb over the toilet.
Oops. I got stuck.
Anyway, I got the garland and banner up and then went to light all the candles to get an idea how it'll look at night. I made another trip to Dollar Tree for all the candles. These are the type of candles I like to keep in the cabinet for emergencies.
I need to add some framed pictures of the grandparents up here and maybe a table cloth or runner.
This is the opposite wall. I don't really know what to do there.
And then I'll leave my candy bucket here. If the baby's here, those two candles will for sure go somewhere else (along with the candy).
I collected the flowers leftover from the headband and candy bucket and put them in this thing by the buffet.
I need to figure out what else to do. I still have tomorrow but I'm just trying to get as much done tonight as I can. I'll be babysitting tomorrow and certain things won't be so easy. Oh well, looking at it now from the blog, maybe I've done enough tonight.
been writing the names in the book of the dead for the church. When they asked me if I knew calligraphy, I told them I did when I was 10. We went with it. When you're not an expert on calligraphy and you're writing names in an official book with permanent ink, things can get a little intense.
Take, for example, this name. Vincent. That's V-I-N-C-E-N-T, definitely not VinE...
Yeah. That happened and I was stressing. We discussed my options and figured whiting it out would be the best option. I thought I'd try looking online for off white correction tape or Liquid Paper.
Believe it or not, it's a thing.
WHEW! Wite Out called it buff while Liquid Paper called it buff for ledgers or something. I had to get a two-pack and fast shipping, but hey, I needed it. It was delivered today and after a quick little dab of the sponge, Vine was back to Vinc and all was good.
Now I just hope this stuff lasts since the writing's only done once a year and I've got two whole bottles.
Speaking of the dead, I thought I might dress up in a Dia de los Muertos theme for Halloween. I made a trip to Dollar Tree and Walmart today for costume supplies.
I decorated a headband
and a pumpkin for handing out candy.
It's supposed to be the coldest Halloween we've had in a long time, with a low of 37. I don't know how many kids will be out so I started pulling out the stuff I don't like to fill my distribution bucket. You know, just in case the crowd dwindles down fast and we're stuck with a lot of candy.
Now I just need to figure out what to wear because the skirt I thought I still had isn't in the closet. I might wear pants instead. I don't know. I need to do some trying on and checking out. I also need to go back to the store and buy some candles. I think I might set up a Dia de los Muertos altar. I was reading up on it all, wanting it to be right but then I started thinking. What if I only make part of it right? Like what if I only get the part that "calls" my loved ones back for a visit right? What if I mess up on the part that "sends them back" or tells them to leave when the party's over? Are they stuck here? Are they going to haunt me? I have another day to research... and possibly change my mind. If I don't follow through, at least my costume was just stuff I found at Dollar Tree and Walmart.
Okay, I need to go check the score. Last I saw, the Astros were behind. That's when I turned the tv off.
look at my Facebook memories today. It's Halloween and for the first time in a while, we're not doing anything grand to scare all the kids. Then again, Halloween has started out that way a few times before and ended with me in costume on the front porch with lights and smoke. This year though, not only am I thinking about getting my Christmas tree up this weekend, but it's supposed to rain. Thinking back though, it was supposed to rain last year AND the Astros were in the World Series so we had two things going against us... and it ended up being awesome. I don't know. I'll probably drag out my hooded robe and a mask at the last minute. I might even change out a light bulb or two. One thing is for sure, Eric and Paige are coming over and we're watching Ghost Adventures. I'll make burgers and chili con queso for this evening. Anyway, that's that.
I tend to buy the same candy every year. I make sure to get Snickers (Cosme's favorite) and Kit Kat (my top pick among Halloween candy) and then there's everything else. Like most people, we spend the few days before Halloween picking through and snacking on what we like. When Halloween comes, I make sure to give the little kids Dum Dums and for the rest, I focus on getting rid of everything else (going easy on the Reece's cups), hoping any leftovers will be what we like. This year though, as I was dumping all the candy into the tub, I noticed the assortment bag also had Heath bars. My absolute favorite candy bar is Skor... so basically, Heath. And once again, because I can't go to the store and buy an actual candy bar for myself, I've been digging out and hiding all the Heath. They might only be about as big as my thumbnail but it's the first time I've had them in the mix and I like it.
Okay. I can't take it. I just had Alexa play some creepy music and ate a Heath. We won't be going all out tonight, but I will scare a few kids. It just won't be Halloween if I don't. Now I need to start planning and setting up. I know it's supposed to rain but I will at least set up the entryway to scare a few kids. Hopefully, we'll still have candy left.
yesterday, I'm back with news of no rain and lots of trick-or-treaters. We had a good night, well, evening and night. It all started around 5:30 since so many people were wanting to get home to watch the Astros.
We had screaming. We had crying. We had running. And there might have been some chasing/following. What more can you ask for? There were also people asking for pictures with us. I noticed there were quite a few videos made too. At one point, I accidentally dropped the smoke machine remote into a kid's candy basket. I noticed after a we handed them candy and their mom requested pictures. They left and I went to fog up the porch and the remote was gone. I was able to do it manually but then a little later, the mother came back saying it was in one of the candy bags. I guess for her to know which house it was, we were the only one with a fog machine going. We decided to come in around 8:00. We were hot and tired but I left the lights on. Cosme went to get in the shower and I was in the kitchen. The doorbell rang and I could see it was a bunch of older kids. I snuck up to the door and slung it open honking my horn. They screamed. I handed out candy and then Cosme came rushing out in a panic to see what was wrong. I had no idea what he was talking about. He said he heard me scream. Then I let him know it was just me scaring kids.
A few minutes later I was ready to turn out the lights. One little girl came back to bring two smaller girls. I gave each of the smaller girls two big handfuls of candy and asked the other girl if she had her bag. She said she'd already been by and I told her that was fine and I was about to turn off the lights. She said she didn't bring her bag back with her. I just handed her my bucket with everything that was left. I heard them back at their car, "MOM! SHE IS TURNING OFF THE LIGHTS AND GAVE US THE REST OF HER CANDY!" then I heard another kid's voice, "I WANT SOME!!!".
Now it's November 1st and I've got a lot of cleaning to do. Masks and accessories all have to be boxed up (at least one of the costumes is going in the garbage, maybe the only downside of paper costumes), craft supplies can officially be put away, cords and lights all need to go back to their places, the outside light fixtures need to go back from red to clear... All that preparation and excitement and when the next morning comes, it all has to be boxed up like it never happened so I can focus on Thanksgiving.
minute preparations... and sinus headaches. I took Benadryl earlier and it knocked me out. I also had peppermint oil going in the diffuser AND was a couple of hours in on a decongestant. This weather needs to make up its mind because my head needs a break.
I was out in the yard at 5:30 this morning positioning all the lights for tonight. I think we're just about set.
We're stocked up on candy.
Why is it that we pick through it, trying to get the "good stuff" before the trick-or-treaters come? We bought it for the trick-or-treaters. Also, I go to the store several times a week. In one of those trips, I could easily pick up a Kit Kat bar. I'm calling it Halloween Logic... and greed.
Speaking of candy, Lauren said I need this sign hanging in front of one of my spotlights.
I'm waiting for it to dry now. I probably won't put it out until just before the kids start to come because I checked my weather app and it'll probably rain. That SUCKS. If it rains then all of this might just go into a box for next year. I'm also hoping that if it stays dry, that there are enough people out there who aren't baseball fans. Seriously. The Astros only need one win and that game is tonight. That also sucks.
There is some good news though. I got the costumes splattered with blood yesterday and
vampire blood's stain doesn't stick around too long. It's already gone.
Oh, more good news. I stopped by Chicken Express for a $5 kids meal today. My total was $1.24. Also, instead of 1 tender they gave me 3. That's cool but I still couldn't finish one tender. Now I have two left. How's that for some math skills?
Hopefully I'll have more good news tomorrow morning by reporting back that there was no rain, it was a beautiful evening and we scared so many trick-or-treaters.
I'm almost ready. Plan B after the whole blue light discovery is creepy clowns and so far it's all coming together. I went to the Halloween store to pick up a couple of masks and wigs. (I try to do the masks because seriously, trying to scrub off all that makeup at 9:30 when you just want to get in bed isn't any fun... especially for Cosme whose bedtime was an hour earlier.) Anyway, I found a couple of masks and then started to look for Costumes. I found one that was meh. This meh costume (which does come with a mask) was $50. That's more than I wanted to pay, especially since I needed two. I found another clown costume but it was $60. Nope.
Time for arts and crafts. I started thinking. What if I got two of the white painters onesies from Home Depot and just splattered them with fake blood? That was the plan... until I got to HD and realized that if they were suits to repel paint, they'd probably repel fake blood. I was talking to another customer who overheard me asking the paint guy's opinion. This customer said he has a few in his "graveyard" but it wasn't the painter's kind. We looked and couldn't find those so he suggested scuffing them with a steel brush if the blood wouldn't stick. Done. I bought the suits. Afterwards, I decided I'd hot glue felt dots to them for decoration. I bought a few fuzzy things for fake buttons.
I came home and started cutting felt dots. Halfway through I wondered if I would have arthritis or carpal tunnel by the time I was done.
My hand was still hurting yesterday with what felt like a possible blister in the making. After finally finishing the dots, I started gluing.
Just an idea of where it was headed left me feeling pretty good about my crafty clown suit.
The next dilemma was the clown collar. I cut the hoods off the suits but they still needed some kind of flair around the neck, whether it be a ruffled collar or big bow tie. I thought hard and searched and then I saw the tutus in the Halloween store. I felt like one of those girls when I bought this thing, which was totally embarrassing. I just wanted to explain to everyone that I was NOT buying this thing to wear as a tutu.
I made it home. I figured if I couldn't make the costume work with just one tutu, for $12 I'd just go back and get another. Once I opened the package I realized the tutu wasn't $12 but $21. I wasn't about to spend another $20 on these costumes so I started cutting and gluing.
The clown suits are just about done. Here's a preview.
I've already cut the booties off the suits and we'll just wear black boots. I also have white gloves for us. Oh, I also bought one of these from Walmart. (not my video)
Today I'll need to splatter the blood so it can start drying. If it doesn't work well on the suit, that should give me plenty of time to try to wipe it off. I guess the gloves will need blood too. I've never heard of anyone splattered with blood with clean hands. I guess I also need to come up with a box to keep the candy in, something a crazed clown might carry around.
In the end, I saved a little. The store bought suits started at $50, not including masks (except for the one I have pictured) and accessories. My homemade suits ended up costing about $35 each and that includes the package of glue sticks. They could've been cheaper if I'd gone a different route with the tutu. Also, I have enough felt dots for another costume but whatever. I saved and I'm good with that.
I've got to get busy with my to-do list. I volunteered to make rice krispie treats to drop off at the church tomorrow and it's not like those clown suits are going to get themselves bloody.
the white walker mask under a blue light yesterday. Yeah, that won't work for Halloween. I spent five minutes out in the garage with the blue light on and that made me feel sick. Afterwards I had a headache and was starting to feel sick at my stomach. There's no way I could sit there for three hours. I felt so bad I came inside and stretched out on the couch. I had chicken in the oven and all of a sudden I couldn't even handle the smell. I had to open a window to air it out. I remember as a kid being told not to look at either blue or purple lights or maybe it was both. I decided to google it. It ends up that blue light leads to macular degeneration. Oh, it also causes migraines. I would post the picture here that I put on fb and instagram but it still hurts and gives me flashbacks.
So, no white walker Halloween. It wasn't all for nothing though. When I started feeling bad, I came inside and put the mask down on the first available surface (the washer) on my way to the couch. I forgot about the mask but when Cosme walked in from the garage, I heard a few bad words. I asked what was wrong.
He wasn't expecting that guy's face to be staring him down when he walked into the dark laundry room. So yeah, the mask wasn't a total waste of time. That had me laughing pretty hard.
Now we're moving on to plan B. Scary clowns. I hate clowns. Always have. Always will. The only problem is Cosme won't be able to help me because I'll be too scared if he's walking around in a scary clown mask. Maybe I should come up with a plan C. Plan C might just be turning off the light and going to bed. Halloween is starting to be a lot of work.
coming. (hint) Everyone knows I like a themed Halloween with costume and decorated porch to scare everyone. Our big one was The Walking Dead. That one was pretty epic and we even had Eric's friends dressed up and helping. Last year there wasn't really a theme but it was just spooky. I guess the theme would be "spooky". I had clamp lights positioned with red flood lights and my smoke machine. I have an idea for this year but the costume might be a little difficult. Instead of red lights, I want to use blue flood lights with the smoke machine and dress as a white walker. Cosme said he'd participate if he could be The Night King. So far I haven't found the mask. I did start working on my white walker mask yesterday though. If it turns out decent, he might agree to do that with me. The next task would be finding a costume. I have several ideas so we'll see what I can come up with in the next week. I say week because if it's not going well, I'll have to ditch that plan and go with my backup plan of creepy clown. I'll be happy with either.
As for the mask I'm working on, I found an old man mask at Walmart. This is before I got started.
He doesn't really look like a white walker but it's as close as I've found. The nose is bigger than I need but it will be darkish and foggy on the porch. I'm hoping that'll also help hide the mustache, that can't be cut totally off.
I started with greys and black, mainly for a base to cover the flesh color.
I started to add white and kept flipping through my different examples on Pinterest.
His nose was also indented so I stuffed paper towels in there to push it out while the paint dries.
Oh, maybe I'd get a better idea of it if...
I put blue paper in the eye sockets.
I definitely won't have blue contacts in while I'm handing out candy but OH! A NEW IDEA JUST POPPED IN MY HEAD! If I can't come up with a costume, I can chain him up in a chair and maybe put blue Christmas lights in his head for eyes and use our other GoT costumes from a few years ago! AWESOME!!! I could be Sansa or even Jon Snow and Cosme could be ZOMBIE LITTLE FINGER!!! I would probably need to hang a spoiler alert sign on the walkway. This will be awesome. I need more participants now!
Okay, back to the mask. So I added the blue paper and this is where he is now.
Better lighting.
I still need to figure out what to do with the hair. He's got long hair with a long mustache and beard. I have a can of grey hair stuff I can use to touch it up. If I use it on the mustache, it'll hopefully blend in with his face and won't be as noticeable. Also, Cosme used that grey spray for his temples when he dressed as little finger before. See how things just come together? Anyway, looks like the white walker will be getting a trim today and maybe a few touches of grey.
Maybe I'll have a finished white walker mask to post tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have a few extra pics too. I want to go the the fair this evening and walk around. I just read that today is free admission so what better time to go if my only goal is to take pictures and have a funnel cake? Who am I kidding though? I'd pay the admission fee even it was only for a funnel cake.
for a few days because I've been feeling blah. Not even blah, more like blgh. I've been convincing myself I will not get sick. It started on Halloween. We had already decided not to do anything. We'd stayed up late watching the Cowboys WIN on Sunday night and then we figured there wouldn't be very many kids out on a Monday. I picked up a few bags of candy a few days earlier and figured the less candy I bought, the earlier of a night it would be. That morning I was fine and looking forward to my early night. Then noon rolled around and I started seeing costume posts on fb. That did it. I took the bait. I wasn't going to get too elaborate with it. I figured a couple of red flood lights and a fog machine would work (all left over from our Walking Dead theme). The only problem was that just after I got it set up, I started feeling a little lousy. I ate some Airborne gummies and that had to work. (I should mention I was totally out of Zyrtec and nasal decongestant.) I pulled myself together at the last minute and painted my face. I put on one of Dodo's old wigs and ran to the kitchen for several spoonfuls of black frosting. I went back to the bathroom and just about wet my pants from laughing so hard.
Dodo's wig wasn't really working with my cape and I looked a little more crazed escapee than ghostly vampire. I couldn't find my straight black wig so I went with the curly and had to tie it back because it was looking a little on the crazy side too. Then I decided to ditch the cape because the string was totally blocking the "gash" in my neck. I pulled out the fortune teller shawl and went with it.
I wasn't feeling my setup but stayed on the front porch and stuck with it.
Then the sun went down. This was my view.
This was me on the front porch.
I heard different reactions from parents, everything from "this is amazing" to them telling their kids to "just be brave". It was awesome.
What was even more awesome was the fact I only had two flood lights and a fog machine to put away the next morning, especially since I wasn't feeling the best. Yesterday I was feeling even worse and finally made it to Walgreens to pick up some Zyrtec. Between Zyrtec and ibuprofen, I'm feeling much better today... but I won't be for much longer if I don't go take some now.
I'm also thinking about going back to that Wordless Wednesday I did several years ago. We'll see. Now I'm getting up while I have Zyrtec on the brain.
Halloween cupcakes I had talked about. Well, the vanilla looked like Halloween cupcakes. The chocolate looked like Sesame Street cupcakes.
I wanted to try a different frosting tip to make the creature look hairy. I'd already decided to go with purple because I'd seen the eyeballs on it and I thought they looked good together. The chocolate cupcakes had a plain vanilla buttercream frosting... with eyeballs.
Halloween cupcakes, the Sesame Street edition
Some with smaller eyes and after with bigger, bloodshot eyes
I tried using black frosting to add a mouth, like maybe the monster was screaming or scaring someone. It didn't help. It just made it look more like a muppet.
The vanilla cupcakes had almond buttercream and those could pass for Halloween cupcakes.
Halloween cupcakes, the Psycho edition
I didn't think to try the red gel before adding so much to the cupcakes. I didn't care for it.
I took some up to Eric and left some here for us. I've been working on making them disappear.
I didn't make a special trip to drop off cupcakes and bread though. I was headed to a Capture Crawl with Houston Center for Photography on Saturday morning. It was a walking tour of The Heights. Go ahead and ask me how many pictures I took. Two. I took TWO pictures. I didn't plan on only taking two pictures. (And by the way, I haven't even bothered looking at them.) It was a tour pointing out the different types of architecture through Houston Heights. Forget about the fact that as a kid I would sit around with pencils, paper and a ruler and design houses for fun but this house tour was also basically a history tour. So yeah, I didn't get any pictures because I was too caught up in the story and our history lesson. So I pretty much failed at the Capture Crawl but the tidbits of info I picked up balanced it out. I kind of feel like I could use a redo though, maybe one that isn't so interesting.
I guess I should find a way to get motivated before I fail at Monday too.
