it was so hard but

I kept a secret for several months at Christmas.  Eric was the only one that was in on my secret because I had to have one person to talk about it with.  The problem was every time I thought about it, I started laughing.  I ordered Prank Packs for everyone except Eric.  It's gag gift boxes and I thought they'd be perfect for Christmas.  I had to figure something out though.  I knew they all had to be opened at the same time because if one person opened theirs first, the others would be suspicious.  I wrapped them all in the same paper, put who they were to but from was all marked "*".  I explained to everyone that Eric and I had found a store online and picked out gifts for each person.  I don't know what was crazier, the thought of these actual gadgets or the pictures on the boxes.  Since Christmas, they've added more boxes.

I really think I need to order this one.  It'd be perfect for a baby shower.

Extreme Chores is like a Wii or something.  I love it too.  Washing dishes?  Doing the litter box?

Pet Sweep.  I love the pictures on the back.  Dustpan on the cat?  Pet Plow?

Click on the link and check out the boxes for a quick laugh.  Like I said, the pictures on the boxes are just as good as the actual prank.

On another note.  Remember my post from January 7 where I posted pics from my old day care turned convenience store?  It was on the news yesterday.  The schools across the street were on lock down after the store was robbed and the armed thief fled into the apartments next door.  Yeah, I know that's an "uhh... okay..." moment but I just figured I'd share since I already talked about the area.

the theme for today

is "hurry, before it expires".  We had Eric's friends over this weekend for burgers to celebrate his birthday.  I had some meat leftover and figured I'd use it another day.  This morning I realized if I didn't make it today, it'd probably end up in the garbage.  Then I thought about the vegetables I had in the refrigerator that were being neglected and decided on taco salads.  I made the meat and accidentally added too much salt.  No problem, I added a can of black beans to tone it down.  So there's dinner.  (Actually, I have a package of tortillas in the refrigerator but they're dated January 3rd... I don't know.)

All of this thought of the vegetables reminded me of the strawberries I bought.  I picked up two containers, thinking I'd send one with Eric.  Yeah, I forgot.  So once I got the meat done, I started searching all over for something to make with these fresh strawberries.  Everything sounded good but there was always one ingredient I was missing.  Wait.  I had a ready-made graham cracker crust in the pantry, cream cheese and although I didn't have Cool Whip, I had cream that needed whipping.  That's it.  I'd make my fluffy cheesecake mix and top it with the strawberries.  And dessert was settled.  I would like to note that I left it at this stage to chill in the refrigerator but there will be whipped cream dolloped on top when served.  Yum.

And I should note that both of these images were taken with a real camera and not my phone.  I'm totally productive today.

i heard this song

on the radio the other day and it's been stuck in my head.  I've always liked it and today I'm sharing it because I don't have a whole lot of anything else going on (unless you want me to talk about cleaning and going for a walk).  Anyway, it's a pretty song.  The lyrics aren't so pretty but I've always thought the music is. 

yesterday there was a

lady bug on my windshield.  I saw it when I got out to check the mail.  It was there two hours later too.  I need the luck.  The Mustang is having computer issues and not wanting to pass inspection.  Our last chance at an "easy" fix is happening right now.  If it doesn't work, costlier steps will be taken.  Come on, lady bug... do your thing.

Yesterday I bought meat and onions for sliders for dinner.  Guess what I forgot.  Buns.  I decided I'd just make hamburger steaks, I already had the meat and onions along with some mushrooms that needed to be used.  Everything was going.  The meat was staying warm in the oven while the onions/mushrooms were finishing off in one pan, rice was almost done in a pot and beans were keeping hot in another pot while I stood whisking away at gravy in the big pan.  Right about that time I wondered why I decided to get all that stuff going and not just keep it simple. 

Then I fixed my plate and sat down to eat.  That's why.  It was exactly what I wanted.  And let me tell you this.  Leftover rice is almost never good... unless you mix it with gravy.  Guess what lunch was.  Rice and gravy.  (FYI, there's a smile on my face.)

yesterday i

had one Coke.  Yes, I had numerous Diet Dr. Peppers and several glasses of tea but only one glass of Coke.  Same goes for today.  While my DP is artificially sweetened and my tea is only a little artificially sweetened, neither compare to the sugar in my Coke.  Also today, I read that new findings show that artificial sweeteners cause depression.  I can't win.  I just can't win.

I hit pause on the tv so I could show something to Eric.  I was watching the news at the time.  I can't figure out what she's saying but he's agreeing with me.  "Nope.  You just can't win."  Maybe she's telling me to have 2 glasses of sugar.  Yeah, I'm pretty sure she is. 

Either way, I'm positive the sugar in my lemon pound cake will even out the whole depression brought on by the artificial sweetener.  If not, I'll have another Coke.

you know it must

be bad if you go to the dentist to have your teeth cleaned and you're excited because you just have one cavity.  Let me stress some stuff here.  You JUST have one cavity, as opposed to needing a crown or root canal.  I left with a fluoride varnish on my teeth.  The hygienist asked if I'd like a bottle of water and my reply was, "No thanks and I'll be totally honest with you.  As soon as I leave, I'm getting a Coke."  And I did.  And it was awesome.

I went riding around and passed a few things from one area where we lived when I was a kid.  This was my first daycare.  I cried all the time.  I had friends but I just wanted to be home.  One of those friends told us her cousin was John Travolta.  Please...  Anyway, the front of the building looks different but they clearly didn't renovate the sides.

I didn't go to National Daycare after we moved from a nearby apartment.  Instead, I walked to and from school with friends who lived in the same townhouses as us.  Those townhouses aren't in the same shape today either.

Back then it seemed like our school was SO far away.  We'd stop at my friend's grandmother's house to take a break.  Looking today, that house was actually only about two or three doors down from the school.  Now I see how all those walking uphill in a snowstorm stories get started.  I'm sure it seemed that bad.

Then I decided I needed to get home because I had a chicken to put in the oven.   And that's what I'm about to do.

i haven't used my

camera in about a month.  I didn't use it for Christmas either.  Yeah, we had a photo booth at Christmas but we used Mom's camera.  The last few things I've used it for have been "work" related.  I use the word "work" loosely because seriously, it's still fun.  I haven't been out doing my own thing is what I'm getting at.  I've had prints and canvases coming in and seeing it all is making me wish this rain and cold weather would simmer down.

Speaking of canvases, all this canvas stuff had me wanting my own.  Here's two from our last trip to New Orleans.

They're not level or in a permanent position, I just wanted to get an idea.  I took down all the plates.  I think I'm still trying to get used to the plates that aren't there anymore and trying to figure out if these need to be lowered/raised and all that mess.

So, back to doing my own thing.  Being stuck indoors for now, I will NOT resort to the cats.  I WILL not resort to the cats.  I will not resort to the cats?  I guess it depends how desperate I get.  [Insert sigh with a look of defeat here.]

i'd like to start the

new year off with a movie recommendation.  Go see Django Unchained.  It's good.  I'm not big on Quentin Tarantino films, I'm not a fan of Jamie Foxx or Leonardo DiCaprio but I'm here to say it's a good movie.

Speaking of the first day of the new year, I have some cabbage and black eyed peas to make.

i'm not one for

new year's resolutions.  Let's face it.  Anything I need to change, I don't have the will power to and the things I do have the will power to not do, I don't do anyway.  Prime example: Coke.  I'm drinking a Coke as I type this.  Sure, I've tried to cut back and I have... for a while. 

Have you ever sat though and thought about things that have changed from a year ago?  I have and I did it this morning.  It was actually more like looking at things that I hope will change by next year.  Let's start with my living room furniture.  It was on it's last leg a year ago.  Today it's just sad.  By next year I really hope I have new furniture.  I've been looking for a long time.  I go back and forth between leather and fabric.  I just don't know.  I want something that's easy to care for but will work well for this environment.  We have two cats but sometimes I feel like this


It can be a little overwhelming at times.  For now, I'll just keep looking and being indecisive.

On a different note, for the sake of blogging, I just had a piece of cheesecake.  I needed to post a picture along with the recipe on the recipe blog.  This is the best cheesecake ever.  I think my great-grandfather got the recipe somewhere.  At one point I heard it was from Lindy's but that couldn't be because it's nothing like their cheesecake recipe.  It doesn't matter because to me, it was something my grandmother made so I consider it her recipe and it's delicious.  Sometimes I sprinkle a little extra cinnamon in the crust just for the heck of it.  You can see it here. 

Now I need to get some chores done.  We're going to see a movie and go out to eat today.  As much as I dislike Jamie Foxx, we're going to see Django.  It all evens out though because while I might not have the same political views as him, I equally dislike Spike Lee, who wants us all to boycott the movie.  Plus, Eric already saw it and said it was good.

Cats, cheesecake and Coke, I'm signing off for now.

and just like that

Christmas came and went.  And just like every year, it was filled with joy, laughter, anger and swearing.  I also probably gained 5 pounds off hors d'oeuvres and sweets.  On that note...

bacon.

it's a stones

throw from being stoned.  They started yesterday morning at 9:30 and this is how it was when they left yesterday at 5:30.  They're fast.  A lot faster than me.  I'm totally stoked and can't wait for them to finish today so I can figure out the lighting situation and put the fire pit together... just in time for all the rain in this weekend's forecast.

I thought about posting "Everybody Must Get Stoned" but I don't like Bob Dylan.  I thought about posting The Black Crowes version but then I decided not to.  I thought for a second about any other songs containing "stone" in them.  "Like a Rolling Stone"... ugh... Bob Dylan.  Then I remembered a few months ago.  I was listening to the radio and heard a song and knew it sounded familiar so I Shazammed it.  It was Jimi Hendrix with his version of "Like a Rolling Stone".  The following week I heard a song and thought it sounded familiar so I Shazammed it.  Again, Jimi Hendrix with his version of "Like a Rolling Stone".  So on that note, I'm posting Jimi Hendrix (which, by the way, is MUCH better than Bob Dylan).

our cats are indoor

cats.  Lucille could go outside but long story short, she's an indoor cat.  Yesterday, when I was waiting for the patio to start, I went out to clean out my shed.  It's chilly and it's a shed and that tells me one thing.  There are probably a few snakes hidden in there.  I thought I would feel a little better if I had a snake killer with me.  That's where Lucille enters the pictures.  I don't have a leash so I went and got some ribbon.  (Can I just say this moment is SO Melanie and Lucille.)  I picked my ribbon with wine bottles because I've had it for a few years and have never touched it.  I tied it to her collar and picked her up.

I held her at first because she gets scared easily.  I don't really think she was liking it.  It was windy and chilly.  I decided to put her down in the grass and let her check it out.

She was biting at it and meowing.  (It looks like I'm pulling at her, judging by the awkward position of her head, but I wasn't.

I picked her up and brought her back inside where we both stayed for the rest of the day and forgot about the shed.  It didn't take Lucille long to find her happy place.

ps - They still haven't made it over to start on the patio.  If everything goes as planned, they'll be by this afternoon to see exactly where and how I want it so they can start digging in the morning. 

i'm ready to

get stoned... or at least to have my backyard get stoned.  For the longest time I've been thinking about an extra space in our backyard.  Our patio is long enough but it's narrow and makes sitting and talking a little awkward.  For Christmas I decided to ask for a stone patio in our backyard.  I had it all planned that I wanted it going, as you walk out my back door, off to the right in a big empty spot.  And I wanted it round.  I went on Thursday and bought stones and now I'm waiting for them to come and dig up the grass.  I have decided to change a few things though.  The round patio will now be square and instead of going off to the right of the patio, it'll head straight off the back of the house.  Here are a few pictures:

This is one of the stones with the granite gravel.  I'll have granite gravel instead of grout.  This way, if I ever need to get under the patio or say, I don't know, move it to put a pool in, it'll be a lot easier.

This is standing and looking straight ahead at the area I'm dealing with.

Or when you're standing from the back porch, it would have been out over here.  It would've been a great spot but I had my doubts for a few reasons.  First of all, even though it's not right up on the neighbor's house, it's the closest spot to their bedroom window.  Our group can get a little noisy and I really don't want problems.  Another doubt I had was the fact that the gate and driveway are right there.  That means I just felt a little exposed.

So after looking around and measuring over the weekend, I decided to have the patio come straight off the back porch.  There are more trees around, it's further from the neighbor's bedroom window and it just feels like the right spot.

The plan was for them to start today but when I called around 10:00 to see if I'd miss them if I made a quick trip to the store, I found out I had plenty of time.  The main guy has been at the hospital with his daughter all morning.  Now it's looking like my roast will be done before they get here.  I'm not worried though.  It should only take a couple of days to complete and a week from now I might just be doing a post from my new patio.

i'm home alone because

everyone else is hunting.  I'm not crazy about being home alone.  I'm scared of the dark, scared of noises, I have a crazy imagination and I had nightmares all night.  I did watch a chick flick, extremely bad chick tv last night and I've had the tv on HGTV and Food Network all morning.  Actually, I had the ironing board set up in front of the tv.  You wouldn't believe how much better the tv makes ironing.  Oh, I also dyed a shirt I'd been planning on dying for about a year.  (It's amazing how a bottle of brown dye can bring a white shirt with motor oil on it back to life.  Today's just full of revelations.)  But we'll see how it turns out.  I didn't leave it in very long and what looked like a maroon has gone through the washing machine and is now a camel color.  So as I sit here waiting for my shirt to dry and have a frozen dinner with a glass of iced tea, I thought I'd share a few things.

First of all, I had to hit pause on my chick flick to get a drink.  I caught Emily Blunt in a not-so-attractive moment.

Next up, a screen shot of advice on wrapping Christmas presents.  "Wrap Gifts to Match Your Decor".  I want to visit whoever has decor that involves a disco ball.  Actually, I want to go to one of their parties.

Speaking of dancing and having fun, somebody's got priorities.

This next screen shot is something I had to do.  There was a video I was trying to find to share.  What it came down to was a guy dancing to "You Sexy Thing" by Hot Chocolate.  He was stripping down but when he got to his white underwear, the girl screamed because of a mess in the back.  I had to find the video to share so I did a search.  If somebody didn't know what I was looking for, these keywords might seem weird.  Yes, it does seem weird to want to search for that video but imagine if you didn't know the story and only saw this.

 I'll spare you the video but just in case you're curious, those keywords will get you there.

just like the

little things can get me really worked up, it can take little things to put me in a happy place.  I like running my dryer when it's chilly out so I can see the smoke/whatever coming out of the vent.  No, there's nothing great about that but it's what it means.  I spent a lot of years working for the county.  Each of those days I wished I didn't have to be there.  In the mornings when I'd drop Eric off at school, I'd see the other mothers who weren't wearing dresses and pantyhose (we were required to wear pantyhose at one point, and some Fridays we couldn't dress casual if there was a chance we'd end up in court that day).  Anyway, back to the other mothers, the mothers who would drop their kids off and even volunteer at the school.  I'd see them and wish I could wear jeans and not have to work.  I made a promise when I was watching them doing their non-working thing that if I could ever not have to work, I would volunteer in some way.  Here we are now and I'm outside staring at my dryer vent.  The dryer vent means that I'm home and not sitting at a desk on the county's time.  See?  It's the little things that make me happy.

Speaking of work, I used to work at JC Penney.  On long days I'd come home for lunch and take a nap.  On days I went in later, I'd try to get a nap in the afternoon.  One thing that always helped me sleep was soap operas.  They were so boring they became my midday napping material.  I always ended up on one, Days of Our Lives.  I don't know why but for some reason it always ended up on NBC.  It's really similar to now.  My morning station is NBC (unless I need some kind of motivation and then it's HGTV or Food Network).  While Eric was in school it helped me keep up with time.  Now I think it's just out of habit or comfort.  The other day I walked in the room and Days of Our Lives was on.  I didn't know what was going on but I knew I needed to pause it for a picture of the ridiculous characters.  What the heck?

And this is daytime drama?

Another perk of staying home, besides watching quality television, is being able to bake at anytime.  Yesterday morning I made banana bread.  We've almost finished one loaf and I'm keeping another for us.  I called a friend to stop by this morning so I could give her some and I'll probably run the last loaf to West Columbia today.  Again, it's the little things that can make me happy.

 Tomorrow's topic: how easily little things get me worked up and make me flip out.

and just like

that, Thanksgiving came and went.  We did things a little differently this year.  We had company, in-laws and a brother-in-law.  I made plenty of food and even forgot to put one of the sides out (corn casserole).  I made my first turkey and it was very moist.  I pulled the neck out and was looking for the giblets but couldn't find any.  I went ahead and stuffed the bird with plenty of vegetables and seasoned it and stuck it in the oven.  Approximately 3.5 hours later, we had a juicy turkey. 

Here are the desserts.  I made pecan pie bars and baked frozen apple and pumpkin pies.  I hate pumpkin pie but Cosme eats it so there it was.  Guess which pie wasn't touched and got thrown away this morning?  If you said pumpkin, you are correct.

As everything was coming together and being pulled out of the oven, Strat waited patiently.

He was watching everything going on.

I think I was taking too long but he wasn't about to give up his seat.

Everything went well and Strat eventually gave up his seat.  When I was putting everything away and getting the last of the meat scraped off and put in a container, I found the giblets.  Uh oh.  They were neatly packed in a little plastic bag, wedged in a crevice somewhere.  Oh well, nobody knew and nobody complained.

Last night I ordered Chili's and went to pick it up.  I saw this sign and thought it needed to be shared.  I guess they got tired of being courteous, along with getting an order right.

Now I'm off to get busy on my Christmas lists.

i made two sides

yesterday, leaving me with three sides and one dessert to prep today.  That's what I'm in the middle of right now.  I baked pecan pie bars earlier this morning, I just pulled a sweet potato casserole out of the oven and I have potatoes coming to a boil as I type.  I do not like sweet potatoes.  Everybody goes on about sweet potato fries and to me, it's still a sweet potato and I don't like them.  I eat sweet potatoes one way.  Sweet potato casserole... and especially hold the marshmallows...YUCK.  My sweet potatoes have to be topped with a crumbly streusel mix.  So this morning I was mixing the topping.  It looked different than normal.  It was really wet, really, really wet.  I double checked the recipe.  Instead of adding 3/4 of a STICK of butter, I added 3/4 of a CUP of butter.  (That's 1 1/2 sticks versus 3/4 of a stick... double.) 

See the difference?  The bowl on the right is correct.

I hurried and mixed the proper topping to get it in the oven.  Then I started thinking.  What would happen if I put my mistake on a sheet and baked it.  I did.  Can we say "happy accident"?

I had a few bites.

the tree is

up, garland is on the mantle, a turkey is in the refrigerator and I'm ready to finish getting ready for the holidays.  I've never made a turkey and this will be my first time.  I've done some researching and I think I know what I'm going to do.  Today I'll probably make a side or two to pop in the refrigerator.  I've got 34 sticks of butter.  Tomorrow I'll probably make pecan pie squares and another couple of sides.  I'll probably pull out a few more decorations today, along with doing some dusting and floor cleaning.  I really need to get a lot done today which after a great sleep, should be fairly easy.  My one complaint is the trash pickup.  I hate that our trash day is on Monday and Thursday.  This means I won't have trash pickup again until Monday.  So I'm trying to put everything I can in recycling bags which gets picked up tomorrow.  I'm pretty sure I'll have to buy a new can by Saturday.  I don't have any related pictures to share so I'll just share these:

I don't know what the green spots are on the first two pictures.  Maybe they're green orbs.  Or maybe they're reflecting off something.  I've seen blue orbs float across the room here at home but I don't know what green would be.  I'm not even going to get started on this because I'm home alone.  If there were going to be orbs though, I'm surprised there wouldn't be any in the following picture.  I was between a church and a cemetery.

I've been wanting to get out and play with night/lights like this and with it getting dark at 6:00, it's easier on me with my 8:30 bedtime.

i'm taking a break

for lunch.  Speaking of food, I sent a message to a cousin on Facebook.  I found out she has the cookbooks of my dad's grandmother and she's sending me more recipes for the recipe blog.  This will be cool.  Speaking of grandmothers, I used one of my grandmother's recipes for a photography thing the other day (see pie recipe picture).  I thought I'd stick with the same theme for the still life assignment.

Speaking of photography, my mother crossed over to the dark side.  She got a Nikon.  We might not be able to share lenses but I'll have a new partner for a photo walk and guess what.  She's the one that suggested we go on a photography outing.  I told her I'd think of places.  I started thinking of all the wildlife areas around here and suddenly the zoo popped in my head.  That might be a good one.  Speaking of animals, it sounds like one of the cats is trying to eat my Christmas tree (yes, it's up).  I better go stop a possible situation.

not only did i deserve

a trip to Moeller's Bakery after my trip to the dentist, but I figured I needed a pie too.  Not really.  Like I said, I'm trying to work my way through my grandmothers' recipes.  I found a chocolate pie recipe and wanted needed to make it.  (Face it, the recipe blog really needs pictures.)

As for the pie filling, I thought it was really good and I whipped up some cream for the top.  Let's talk about that crust though.  blgh.  The next time I need a pie crust I will probably not turn to the frozen section at the grocery store.  I've NEVER had a problem with store bought pie crusts but this one had a weird taste to it.  When I'm having to actually cook the pie filling and not pour it from a can, I should take the time to make a good crust.  Next time I'll try one of the crust recipes on the following pages.  I think I'm done with store bought crusts.  This one just wasn't good.  Maybe there's a better brand, I don't know.  yuck.  There has to be a better brand.  Want to see how the pie turned out?  Click on the link to the recipe blog.  Since I couldn't stand it and had to cut a slice before it was completely set, it's not the prettiest slice of pie.  Actually, it's technically not even a slice.  It's a blob of pie but it was a tasty blob.

before i totally drop

the topic of my tooth, I figured I needed to share what I used for my temporary filling.  I already told Mom and Lauren about it so I'm just going to put the info out there for the world to use, I mean since the dentist went on about how well it held up.  It's less than $6 at Walgreens.

Now, moving on to other matters.  Remember the photo challenge I was doing for a few months?  I'm still doing it I just haven't been posting it here.  Sometimes the pics make it to Facebook and sometimes they just end up on Instagram.  Either way, I've created an Instagram tab up above that links directly to any and all photos I've posted to Instagram.

Next up on today's agenda, after the usual chores of course, I bought a new memory card for my camera and I can't get it to work with my card reader.  When I had my last HP, I couldn't connect my camera directly to the laptop to get my images.  I had to change up my system, get a card reader and come up with new steps to accessing my images.  Now that system is messed up so I'm having to come up with a new system.  I hate that.  I liked the way I was doing it but I have to find something convenient and easy.

Today I'd also like to post a recipe or two to the recipe blog.  I'd be super stoked if I came across my grandmother's lemon cake recipe so I could not only post it but bake it too.  I'm not getting my hopes up.

i'm stopping in for a

little update.  Remember that magical unicorn I mentioned?  I think he was eaten by the fire-breathing dragon.  So I didn't get an appointment with the dentist yesterday but I did get a haircut.  (Woohoo!)  This morning was my appointment with the dentist.  I was really hoping that a filling replacement would work, but I had doubts.  I sat down and the tech did a couple of x-rays... "you probably need a root canal".  He didn't know for sure but sent the dentist in to check.  (By the way, the dentist kept going on at how well I did with the temporary filler from Walgreens.  I said I guess I missed my calling... yeah, like I'd EVER dig around in someone's mouth.)  Yep, it was confirmed, kind of.  It looked like I needed a root canal UNLESS... they got down in there and saw that the roots/nerves/whatever were okay.  So basically, worst case scenario I was leaving with a root canal but definitely no less than a temporary crown.  After all the bad news and headache I've endured over the last day or two, guess what.  My roots/nerves/whatever looked fine.  They want me to make sure that in the next few weeks, while I'm waiting for my permanent crown, that I have no heat sensitivity in that area.  So my prayers are being said, my fingers are crossed and my lucky charms are working at full speed to avoid a root canal.  I was so happy after leaving Dr. Schleicher's office, I stopped at Moeller's Bakery for petite fours.  Not only do I deserve them but hey, somebody has to help him stay in business.  In the meantime, I'm accumulating so many crowns, I'm starting to think I'll be mistaken for a pageant queen.

i'd like to say that

yesterday ended on a stress free note but I'd be lying if I did.  Everything was fine.  We were exhausted, went out for dinner and we were going to come home and pass out.  I was going to wake up this morning, clean while I catch up on dvr and then go for a haircut.  It all changed when we got home and I went to floss my teeth.  A filling fell out.  I don't like going to the dentist.  The people are friendly and it doesn't hurt but it seems like it always turns into something major for me.  Toothache?  Ah, I need a root canal (and let's face it, I did bust into a fit of laughter during the jackhammer portion of that root canal).  I want to floss?  Ah, a filling falls out.  I realize there are far worse things I could be facing but the dentist is just one of those things I dread.  I wait for bad news.  I stress over it.  I make myself sick.  You know those times when you stop and think "wow, everything's great right now" and then you all of a sudden remember it's not?  I had a dream the dentist looked at my tooth and said "oh, I don't see anything wrong.  It was just an old filling and you don't even need it anymore."  Then I woke up and had that moment.  Anyway, the office opens at 7:30 so my plan is to be dressed and ready to go by then.  I'll call and they'll tell me to come on in.  I'll stop for gas, giving me just enough time to miss traffic.  I'll get there, they'll look at it and say "Ah, an easy fix!  And you know what, Melanie?  It's about time.  You deserve it."  Then I'll ride off on my magical unicorn...

Speaking of unicorns and happy endings, here's a picture from yesterday.  It looks like I had a nasty lens or sensor but it was rain drops.

Now it's off to start my day by doing the litter box.  It can only go uphill from here, right?

last night was a

lot of fun and I even have my voice today.  (Last time I couldn't talk for several days after.)  Anyway, it was so much fun.  It's great when we make the people scream.  The preteen boys aren't as much fun because they try to be all cool and talk to us when they pass.  For the most part, we got them.  Girls are the best, girls of all ages.  One group was great because I scared them and they ran then the next girl scared them and got in front of them.  They couldn't go anywhere because they didn't realize I had followed them (standing right behind them and in a not so friendly voice, hissing/commanding for them to go) and they were sandwiched in and screaming.  It was great.  It was times like that where it was so hard to keep from laughing but once they left, we broke down.  We posted that it was for ages 10 and up but some parents insisted on bringing their little kids through.  For people like me, it was easier because I could see better and knew when to tone it down a little...I said a little, but other people who where hidden had no idea what was coming.  We warned the parents when the kids looked too young that it might not be best for them but some insisted.  A few only made it part of the way while others might have gone home a little traumatized.  I still think the best scream I ever heard was from a few years ago when a girl was half through and screamed, "I THOUGHT THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A CHURCH!!!"  That, was good.

Here are a few pictures

Me, on the way to church.  The glasses kind of kill the whole look but I had to see to get there.

Me, set up in my spot, warning everyone that "EVIL AWAITS YOU".  Speaking of my spot, I brought an old rocking chair that belonged to my grandmother.  It was great because it has an eerie creak to it.  And no, I didn't always look like Alice Cooper, just this shot.

This is the jar of brain and rats I put together.

And here's the graveyard after we added the music but before the moss, fog and werewolf were added.

I have a few funny stories but I'll probably share those later.  This post is getting a little lengthy and I need to get some breakfast.