#the actual real life event was a 20 minute ordeal in which i attempted to convince mum to let me abandon the task she'd given me

[milf-harrington]

really short and silly munson family piece, inspired by something that happened to me literally an hour ago

cw: spiders

---

Eddie reared back with a yelp of alarm. "Oh my god- nope. Wayne!"

Abandoning the washing basket, and whatever organs had just fallen out of his ass, Eddie stomped around the side of the trailer, checking fruitlessly over his shoulder like he was being followed.

The porch lights were warm, orange and familiar, and they helped him to breathe easier now that he wasn't alone in the dark, face to face with a demon.

"What're you shriekin' about?" Wayne was settled on the front steps, smoke curling from a lit cigarette.

"There is a big fucking spider and I almost walked directly- ah!" Eddie flinched when something brushed his jaw, slapping aggressively at his neck and face until he realised it was just his hair. He sighed, relieved. "I almost walked right into it."

Wayne eyed him, exhaling smoke through his nose before nodding towards the corner Eddie had just come from. "You need me to kill it?"

He opened his mouth, prepared with an emphatic yes please, but paused. It's not like it had gone out of it's way to attack him, Eddie had just had the misfortune of almost walking directly through it - would have if he hadn't turned the torch on when he had.

"Well, it's kind of just minding it's own business."

"So I don't need t'kill it?"

Eddie glanced over his shoulder, wrinkling his nose at the inky shadows. His skin was still crawling, every unexpected brush belonging to a phantom arachnid. But a quiet sort of guilt pooled in the back of his throat, bittersweet and cold, at the idea of killing it just because he was scared. He shook his head, scratching his arm. "No."

He shuffled on the spot, hoping if he looked pathetic enough his uncle would take pity on him.

"Weren't you doing something?"

"Can't you finish hanging it out? I'm still recovering from seeing my life flash before my eyes."

"They're your sheets, Ed. I just washed 'em."

"But Wayne." He whined, entirely unrepentant about the childish nature of his behavior.

Wayne Munson remained unmoved, however, and Eddie was forced to brave the washing line all over again. God, he missed the time of about 10 minutes ago when he hadn't been aware of the hell spawn watching him mutter about pegs.

[startwreck]

WizardWorld Chicago 2018

“I’ll never fly to a con.”

That was my self-imposed rule. See, I live in the Northeast US, so there are lots of major cities within driving/busing distance, and thus lots of cons, and other fandom-adjacent events, happen within a reasonable distance of me. (I realize this is a privilege, and one I’m quite grateful for.) Anyway, when I got into the X-Files fandom a couple of years ago, I was interested in meeting Phile Phriends / Tumblr Pals in real life, and in participating in fandom or fandom-adjacent events, which I have done (and have spent money on), but I told myself that there was no need to ever fly anywhere just for a con: the cost of airfare is too much of an investment, the talent’s schedules can change, and besides, there are a disproportionate amount of options that I don’t have to make the investment to fly to. So I thought.

When DD & GA were announced for WizardWorld Chicago, I had already committed to plans for the con weekend. I was a little bummed, but thought that it was probably for the best that I already had plans, because otherwise, I would have been very tempted to fly to it. Then, just a few weeks prior to the con, after hanging up the phone call in which my last weekend in August plans were postponed, I saw a note from Kristin @kateyes224 alluding to her intention to go to the con. She informed me that @sunflowerseedsandscience, who I had been hoping to meet earlier in the summer, would also be flying in for the occasion. I took this influx of information as a sign that I should get myself to Chicago for that weekend. I justified the cost by using airline and hotel points to subside the expense. I was going to fly to a con. The next few weeks were a whirlwind of madness at work, so I was very grateful to have the aforementioned pals, plus Carrie @carrie11 who would be joining us for her first con, in my pocket to countdown to the weekend with.

I flew to Chicago on the morning Friday, August 24, laughing internally at the absurdity of the situation all the way. I made my way to Rosemont, my eyes going wide when I caught my first glimpse of the convention center, and settled myself into the hotel room before heading downtown on the train to meet Carrie. There was a food truck festival right by the L station that I emerged from, and I realized that all I had consumed only an iced coffee so far in the day, so I remedied that. Carrie was nice enough to indulge in my desire to be a tourist, since I hadn’t been to Chicago proper in years. I had never made it to the Willis Sears Tower, so we did that, and she took some fun pics of Puppet Mulder. I think this is my fav:

We then did a bit of walking -- Grant Park, Lake Shore Drive path, Millenium Park, and the Chicago River, before the rest of the crew arrived and it was finally pizza time! Soon after Carrie and I secured a table at Giordano’s, Kristin, @sunflowerseedsandscience, and Amanda @all-these-ghosts arrived. I greeted them on the patio and had an epic reunion hug with Kristin in which we made a total scene and squeezed each other so tight while squealing that I choked on some of her hair. The five us then had a wonderful dinner that I don’t remember much about except that the pizza was amazing, the company was even better, and I’m pretty sure I was just still in awe that this was all happening. After dinner, we went to grab drinks down the street. There was Shiner Bock on the menu, so Puppet Mulder joined us and confused many of the staff. Amanda especially was tickled by Puppet Mulder, while I was fangirling over her (she wrote Then The Bomb, people!!!) Truly, the con could have been cancelled and the trip still would have been worth it for just hanging out with this crew:

Saturday morning, Kristin procured Starbucks and we all readied ourselves to be presentable for photo ops in the late morning. We met Carrie, Clarice @contrivedcoincidences6, and @albanyparkavenue in the lobby and headed to the convention center. The security line coming from the hotels was long but moved fast. At this point, I had only pre-purchased a dual photo op (and Saturday ticket) but while we were in line I accidentally-but-it-was-bound-to-happen-anyway purchased GA & DD autographs on the ticketing app on my phone. Oops! Once we got in and procured our wristbands, it was already time for those of us with dual photo ops to get in line, so we did. In the midst of a lot of line waiting, Kristin perfected Puppet Mulder’s hair (we decided on Season 4 / Paper Hearts classic floops aka Backstreet Bangs). Puppet Mulder also made friends with a tiny Supergirl, which Carrie captured in a couple pics, and my day was made. Soon, it was go time. I was to go first so that Kristin could do last looks on Puppet Mulder’s hair immediately before the photo. As we approached the final holding area, I situated Puppet Mulder on my right arm and was prepared to pose him in an arms-spread position using the armrods in my left hand (we had been practicing in line.) When it was my turn, I approached, and I was told by those in line behind me that Gillian gave an exasperated “Ohhhhhhhhh boy” while I announced “Puppet Mulder is here!” in an attempt to preemptively stave off any questions about who he was and prevent myself from having to make any awkward hand gestures like I did in Montreal. As we were getting in position I asked, “Can he get in between you? I don’t know that I want to be in it” since I didn’t really care about my face being in it, but also didn’t want to crouch down without warning and confuse everyone. But David insisted, “Ah, no, you gotta be in it!” to which I conceded “I do? Ok.” and stayed put. With that, the photo was taken, I said thanks, and moved out of the way. As the rest of the crew emerged from the Tunnel of Love Anxiety, we went around the corner to retrieve our photos, and I think everyone in the group was pleased with the results! I was pleasantly surprised by mine (even if Gillian is doing her nervous hands.)

I even bought a photo protector sheet after being called out by DD in Montreal for not treating our photo with the utmost respect and bending it a bit. After this ordeal, we realized that we needed drinks and to regroup, so we acquired alcohol (beer is a reasonable lunch, right?) and found a path of floor outside the main hall to make our own. We were joined by some more pals including @dahlia-ships, @observeroftheuniverse, and @perplexistan.

After this recovery period, it was time for Gillian’s autograph session. I had the pleasure of being behind Natalie for this and got to listen to Natalie give the most eloquent, heartfelt litany of thanks to one of her favs. Also, somehow margaritas came up and Natalie and I were like “Yesss we just drank before this!” so clearly my 20 seconds were much less profound, but here’s the rough transcript after that:

Me: Thanks for putting up with us. GA: This was one of my favorite photos of the day. Me: Aww, really?! GA: Yeah, it’s between this one and maybe one other. Me: Oh, what was that? GA: Someone had an alien. Me: Oh yeah, the big blow up thing? [Had spotted this in front of us in the photo op line.] GA: Yeah. Me: *nods* Thanks!

When I emerged from her booth and realized she inscribed “My favorite photo of the day” on the photo, I was both heart-eyed and in awe. See, I am a terrible multi-tasker and thus continually in awe of Gillian’s ability to have a conversation while simultaneously making a non-robotic inscription. Like, yeah, she’s pretty good at acting and contributes to humanitarian causes, but I’d like to give her an award for speaking and writing at the same time. Was this talent born from some crazy avant-garde theatre warm-up? Is this some kind of Mom superpower? Really what I’m asking is: Is there hope for me yet to learn this skill?

Anyway, after the crew got their Gillian autographs, some more drinks were procured, and then we decided to go wait in line for the panel (which was actually a solid 9 minute walk from the main hall.) At this point, I started bothering Kristin to come get a DD autograph with me before the panel, because I’m a bad influence like that. She was unprepared with what she would have him sign though, so we started brainstorming, and landed on possibly The X-Files: Earth Children Are Weird picture book that I had brought a copy of so that Kristin could do a dramatic reading. Since that was back in the hotel room, a few of us darted back to grab it (and to grab our leftover deep dish, which my growling stomach was very grateful for.) We brought the remaining pizza to the line-sitters, and at around 4pm, I successfully convinced Kristin to come grab a DD autograph with me. Shayla @thatredhead00 joined us and her tale of a DD interaction earlier in the day made me howl with laughter. We made friends with a couple of local guys in line, and I connected with a woman I recognized from a previous event, which was funny. Anyway, DD made it back from his afternoon break, the signing session began, and soon enough, Kristin went first with the picture book, and I globbed on to her convo. Here’s the rough transcript:

DD: [signing on the title page] What am I signing? K: The X-Files picture book! DD: [Turns to the front cover] Aww, it’s cute! [Genuinely, high-pitched] DD: What happens in it? K: They go camping in the woods. Me: And Scully’s parents are aliens. Me: Whoops, I gave away the twist ending. DD: Yeah, you ruined it for me. Me: Yeah, it was gonna take you so long to read… Me: Thanks so much!

For those keeping score at home, this brings my record of accidentally-but-lovingly making fun of DD to his face at con autograph sessions to an even 2-0. Interestingly enough, I’ve been to two of his book signings and complimented him (well, his writing) at both of those. Not sure what gives.

Anyway, we decided that we needed more drinks before the panel so grabbed those and then made the journey back to where that was. Our pals were already seated, and the question line had already started forming, so Kristin and Shayla hopped in that while I took a seat with the crew. The panel was perfectly fine in person. Per usual, a few cringey questions (thanks Natalie for letting me squeeze your arm through these), but also a few great questions and responses. Kristin got to ask her question (and, as predicted, Gillian couldn’t remember specifics, and the morgue scene in “Ghouli” was David’s answer, but it was still nice to hear it.) Other highlights included a thoughtful question and response from Gillian on how the show might have been different if written from a more feminist perspective. Also, there was a fleeting moment when I thought the tell-all book was going to be spoiled, plus the infamous “Who tops?” question. All in all, not bad at all, though this was the first panel I’ve attended with just the two of them, so I admittedly don’t have any equal comparison points. Soon enough, it was over, and it was time to drink (more!) with Philes. All of the aforementioned crew from the day joined, plus Amanda, @datanullyx, @redscully, @xfilesgeekery, and @anicepieceofash.  We started in the hotel bar but, in the interest of cost savings, eventually procured liquor and ordered (more) pizza and moved to our hotel room. There were lots of hugs and snuggles, lots of loudly wondering “What is my life?”, platonic handholding, one human/puppet makeout session, an impressive demonstration of Kristin’s ability to sleep through anything, and some amazing cheesecake brownies . As the evening got late, Puppet Mulder even changed into his red Speedo (and put on his to-scale legs.) Needless to say, it was a night both wonderful and strange. Here’s some of the crew at the after-after party:

I feel so lucky to have gotten to spend time with everyone I met or re-met this weekend, and if I start calling out the specifics of why you’re all so great, I’ll make myself cry, so I’m going to stop here. If you’ve read all of this rambling (whether you were present or not), I’m very impressed. Thanks to everyone who shared in this weekend with me from both near and far, and thanks to Gillian and David for giving us an excuse to meetup.

I said I’d never fly to a con, but I’m so glad I did.

Author's note: I always hate writing these because a) it means it’s over, and b) I can never fully capture the awesomeness that is meeting up with fandom friends. Also, I have a shit memory, but jotted down notes about stuff right after it happened on Saturday, so hopefully I’m not misconstruing anything too terribly. If you were present, feel free to correct me!

[happy2bmyownboss]

How’s the weather where you are? It’s been a bit nippy this weekend and I actually plugged up one of the heaters yesterday morning because it was so chilly in the house. It’s looking like I’m gonna need to dig the heavy blankets out of the shed soon. Luckily today has been quite a bit warmer and seems like it’s gonna be a nice day… which is a blessing as I really don’t like hanging clothes out when it’s cold! We’ve had a pretty busy and interesting weekend! So busy that I’m feeling a little like this right now:

New House Update

We’ve also been dealing with yet ANOTHER SNAG as far as our NEW HOUSE goes… we’ve already closed but now the bank (and the county) are asking for a NEW SURVEY! We did ask about this beforehand and we were assured that it wasn’t needed. Now we get the ‘this has never been required before‘ and ‘we’ve never had this happen before‘ from the dealer… sigh. Honestly, I’m really quite sick of the whole mess and I’m gonna give real-life updates about the situation from here on out and not hide the messy part of it because I know if we are dealing with all of this there will be others as well. Maybe reading about our ordeal will help prevent someone else from having the same issue.

We are kind of in a waiting game at the moment as they’ve sent us the invoice and they seem to expect that we are going to come out with even more money now… not happening.  We’ve had to handle so many other issues and we’ve had to wait for so long because of things they didn’t handle correctly that we don’t have the time, patience, or funds to handle anymore at this point.

I’m sure I’ll be writing some more posts about this not so fun process but right now I can tell you that is has been anything but fun. The whole process has quite honestly overshadowed the joy and excitement of getting a new house and has me wanting to cry every time I get a text or email from the dealer.

LONG POST ALERT!

Square Dance Costume Party

Last week was Halloween, as I’m sure many of you with kids or grandkids know, but we didn’t go trick or treating… more on that in a bit. We did have a costume dance at one of our local clubs and the kids went as…

Can you guess?

Square dancers… lol… I’m just kidding… the boys went as cowboys and called themselves ‘The Three Musketeers’ and the girls put on a couple of their dresses and witch hats. One of the dancers brought some other masks and such that the kids played around with too. Here’s a couple of pics from that dance:

            Here’s a couple of pics of the decor that they had:

    That was on Monday… later in the week we had a meeting to go to so we stopped by one of the dancer’s place before the meeting to check out their Halloween decor which the kids loved:

    Horrible Internet

All week long I have been fighting with the internet trying to get our latest Academic Adventure completed and finally on Thursday I had it pretty much through the planning stage… now to get it all put together into our weekly studies. I think on Friday I did manage to get two weeks’ worth of lessons published but it was torture with this internet going in and out… hopefully, this week will be better. You can click HERE and HERE to see what we’ve published so far. I think this unit is going to be SUPER EXCITING!

Our internet has been so bad lately… I’m gonna post my ‘laundry breaks’ along with this post so maybe you can get an idea of just how bad it is. Normally I can whip out a post in 10-20 minutes… maybe 30 if I need to look up a bunch of links or photos. My ‘laundry breaks’ will happen about every 40 minutes… it takes me about 5-10 minutes to unload/reload the washer and hang out a load of wash. We will have a new washer/dryer set for the new house… whenever that may happen to arrive.

<Laundry Break>

I did manage to get a little bit of Christmas shopping done as a few places were offering some ‘pre-holiday’ specials this week.

Friday Dance and a 911 Call

Then Friday night we had another dance at a new location, Monday’s dance was actually at a new location as well, and we had some new dancers come to visit us. Everyone had a blast and we were actually a couple of ladies short so two of our ‘experienced’ guys helped out the new dancers and attempted to dance the ‘ladies’ part… they were HILARIOUS! I’m telling you that you need to find a square dance near you and check it out because we have TOO MUCH FUN!

It’s always late when we head home and it takes us about an hour to get back home from any dance that we do on a regular basis so we know to be a little more careful than normal… especially on the weekends.  This past week we had Mr. Awesome’s two kiddos with us so we had even more precious cargo onboard than normal. About halfway home we got behind a vehicle that was driving VERY ERRATICALLY.

After following them for a few minutes it did seem that the driver may have been impaired or possibly be having some kind of medical emergency so we decided to call it in. We ended up behind the vehicle until they made their way home and I stayed on the phone with the operator the whole time praying that no one would get hurt before the police got to him… which they didn’t. The closer we got to where this individual lived, the more erratic and scary his driving became… at one point he even cut off his headlights and continued down the road.

Many of the roads we travel are rural country roads and police response time can be a bit slow so were just thankful that the individual did make it home without causing injury to anyone or anything, including himself. This was a very frightening thing for some of the kids as they could hear me on the phone and they weren’t exactly sure of what was going on. We now know to be even more wary of this particular route home.

If you have ever wondered if you should make the call to report a suspected drunk driver then you can read this article for more information. Personally, I would rather make the call than to find out that someone was seriously injured or died because I didn’t. 

Norwex Booth at Middleburg’s Historic Fall Festival

Saturday was a long day for me as I had a Norwex event to do at a local historic fair. It was a ton of fun and I love learning more and more about these wonderful products.

Let me tell you that the silicon lids have definitely made my ‘must-have‘ list… right under the mop system (which is on sale RIGHT now) and the bath towels (the striped ones are my favorites)! These lids are AMAZING… Ms. Cyndee was showing someone how you can put the lid on a glass bowl of water and once the lids seals you can actually lift the whole bowl by the lid handle without breaking the seal! I wish I had gotten a video to share but I was just AMAZED and later during the day I was more than happy to demonstrate these amazing lids! They come in a variety of sizes to work with just about any dish that might need to be covered. You can see more about these oven/microwave/dishwasher safe lids below:

This company is more than AMAZING with EVERYTHING they do. Not only do they offer different specials for the customers and consultants each month they do a lot of work for charities around us:

If you haven’t checked out my Norwex site then maybe you should do that now… and be sure to sign up for my newsletter as well. If you are on Facebook you can also join Susie’s Chem Free Zone VIP Group for specials, sales, and giveaways that I can’t post publicly.

    <Laundry Break>

We also had the pleasure of meeting some really interesting people while at the event. We met several who were already using Norwex and loved it. We also met some other ‘consultants’ who had actually only signed up for the discount… you can find out more info HERE. We also met Mr. Frank and his wife Ms. Dora who were the sweetest people ever! If you happen to be in my area and see a Norwex booth be sure to stop by because I’d love to meet you in person!

Ok, enough about Norwex for the moment… during the event Mr. Awesome had messaged me about some plans for the evening. I had wanted him to bring the kids up to the festival but he had promised to help someone with something that day so he decided we would do something together that evening. We had planned to possibly go to a ‘trick-or-treat event’ close by but then we found out that it was going to have a haunted house and some other really scary things that just wouldn’t work well with some of the kids. So Mr. Awesome and the brood decided they would rather go to putt-putt instead.

A Boy’s Night Out

When I finally got home that evening the kids were ready to go, all but the girls, and they loaded up. I then learned that the girls, who have been quite sassy here lately, had later protested against putt-putt because they wanted to go somewhere else. They basically insisted that they weren’t going if they couldn’t have their way… so they stayed home with Nanny and Papa! Their plan backfired on them and I think they may have learned some important lessons.

The boys had a blast at putt-putt, I was so tired that I just followed them around and kept score while snapping a couple of pics:

    It was a good thing that Mr. Awesome was driving as I could barely keep my eyes open on the way home. The kids all slept well that night which also happened to be the night we set our clocks back…

A New-To-Me Jacuzzi and Camera

Sunday morning I tried to insist on ‘sleeping in’ but Mr. Awesome kept trying to reassure me that this wasn’t the time we needed to ‘sleep in’ to adjust… lol, my body was saying differently. Last week I had been working with the dog (and the kids) to get everyone on the new schedule because time changes can be a nightmare around here!

He had an event that he was planning to go so he was up early and then he couldn’t find his keys. I told him I was pretty certain that I had hung them up but he still couldn’t find them so I got up to help… guess where I found them? They were hanging up… sigh.

In the process of helping to find the keys, I had to walk past Ms. Comet’s crate which resulted in her wanting to go out… yep, I had to walk her before I could get back to ‘sleeping in’. After getting settled back in bed my phone rang… it was Mr. Awesome who was calling to let me know that his plans had changed. He needed me to contact a guy on Facebook about a tub that we were planning to get.

Luckily the man was super nice and we were able to pick it up earlier on Sunday than we had planned. It also turns out that he is a plumber… and he has offered to help us out when we get our new house as we have some bathroom projects that we will be tackling… God really does work in mysterious ways, doesn’t he?

Isn’t it lovely? It is a perfect fit for me too! I gave it a test try while it was still in the back of Mr. Awesome’s pickup… he offered to pull me into the sun so I could ‘sunbathe’… he is too funny!

    Then while I was relaxing and imagining how nice a bubble bath would be I happened to see a large buzzard swoop in… within a minute I had a whole flock of them circling overhead! I guess they thought I really had died and gone to heaven… sorry guys, I’m not quite ready to be buzzard bait!

We unloaded the tub and put it away for safekeeping until our house gets here…

<Laundry Break>

After Mr. Awesome got home I made a quick errand run to Sam’s Club to pickup up a few essentials and grab something for my sister-in-law to be. The kids and I then met up with her and exchanged her items and I got a camera that my brother no longer needed… yippee! Y’all know I have been talking about getting a new camera… new-to-me is new enough!

This actually happens to be the same camera that was used at my daughter’s wedding so I know how well it works and I’m excited to play with it and start taking some awesome photos!

Super Easy Dinner

By the time I got home, I was so ready for a nap and EVERYONE was starving. I decided to make a quick sheet pan dinner with some Super Yummy Caulitaters. This meal was so simple…

Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner

Set the oven to 350.

Spray a large baking pan with nonstick spray.

Place your chicken legs/thighs on the pan.

Add some fresh/frozen veggies around the chicken. (We used some frozen broccoli from Southwestern Produce Company.)

Mr. Jacob sprinkled everything with some lemon pepper seasoning… we would’ve used our favorite garlic salt but I really need to do a Walmart Grocery Pickup soon.

Bake for 45 – 60 minutes, check with a meat thermometer for doneness.

I also made a simple cheese sauce to go with it as Mr. Awesome can’t have broccoli without the cheese. (I’ll be posting this recipe soon and I’ll try to remember to link it when I do.)

I should have doubled the recipe as EVERYONE DEVOURED it.

I went to bed early last night because I was just plain exhausted. The kids slept in late this morning as well as we’ve all had such a busy weekend. I actually started on this post before 7:00 and it’s 11:30 now… yeah, feels like I’ve accomplished absolutely NOTHING so far today but I have done a few things in between internet lags.

I have managed to get 3 loads of clothes washed and hung out to dry. The kids have gotten a pretty good start on our House Blessing and they have had a snack but they are ready for lunch now. I’ve also got dinner in the crockpot… one of the freezer meals I made last month. (I’m excited to try out some of the recipes HERE for this month’s freezer cooking!) I also attempted to put in another support ticket for our internet service… I guess we will have to wait and see if they actually come to fix it.

I’ve also dealt with a couple of minor squabbles, a meltdown, and a few phone calls. The dog also got a bath and the bathroom floor got an unscheduled mopping… 🙂 I also had to deal with a fallen monkey and lost thumbtack on my bed… long story.

Why we don’t ‘do’ Halloween

I get lots of frowns and questions from nay different people about the choices that we make. Many of them question my choice to limit sugar and this past week many of them have questioned our ‘Halloween Routine’… which does change from time to time.

I have never really been BIG on Halloween… we didn’t really do the whole trick-or-treating thing when I was growing up and although I did take my older kids a few times, it wasn’t something that we planned on doing EVERY year. We did go to our church’s annual Fall Festival and had a wonderful time. The kids could dress up in non-scary costumes and we always loved the event.

When I moved to Florida in 2010 my older kids were pretty much outgrowing the whole ‘trick-or-treating’ thing and we really didn’t even give it a thought. Then right before Halloween, we were blessed with our three unexpected blessings which changed our lives overnight! Our new church informed me that they also had a big ‘trunk’or-treat’ with lots of activities so we attended that.

Loud Noises and Scary Masks

Whew… what an experience that was. We had meltdown after meltdown as I was new ‘special-needs’ Momma and I didn’t know all of the triggers at that point. We left the event early and it took quite a few days to recover from it.

Since then I have learned that loud noises will almost always trigger a meltdown as Mr. William is deathly afraid of loud noises… especially helicopters and chainsaws. I later learned that his bio dad would often chase them around the yard with a chainsaw while wearing a scary mask… no wonders the poor kid is terrified!

Bad Behavior

We’ve all seen the ‘funny’ videos where people are jumping out and scaring people around Halloween. While I do admit some of them are funny, I also see a lot of bad behaviors being modeled.

When you have young children and/or children with limited comprehension skills they may not be able to differentiate what is done ‘for fun’ as something that shouldn’t be done normally. Why cause confusion?

Sugar-Laden Candy

We all know how addictive sugar can be and some of us know how much it can affect behavior. Not too mention all of the negative effects sugar can have on our health… yeah, I’d rather not deal with that if we don’t have too.

Cost

I have seen the cost of some of those costumes and it is scary how much is made from this one holiday. I could make our own costumes, and I have in the past, but that would take a bit of time which is something we really don’t have a lot of at the moment.

I’d rather spend our time doing things together instead of worrying about who is dressing up as what and who has the best costume… fewer arguments that way.

Various other reasons

We’ve all heard the stories about the tainted candies and dangerous items found in treats which is why parents have always warned kids not to eat the candy until they checked it first. This is one worry I don’t have because we don’t do Halloween.

There are really just so many reasons not to celebrate Halloween like some of the ones found HERE and HERE. I think it’s OK to be different and this is just one way that our family is different from others.

What we do instead of trick-or-treating

We are not against going to Fall Festivals and/or Trunk-or-Treat events that have fun activities for the kids when they are held at times that don’t conflict with other things we may have scheduled.

Often we will have a club or two that has a special costume dance around this time of year and the kids do dress up in something that we already have. Occasionally we will paint faces too.

Sometimes we will pick up a bag or two of candy to have as a special treat. This year everyone voted to make cupcakes and watch a movie at home and they enjoyed some strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese icing and orange sprinkles while watching a favorite movie.

We also try to do something fun, like putt-putt, so they don’t really feel like they’ve missed out on anything. Mr. Awesome and I do not necessarily share the same point of view on this but he does respect my stance and we work together to find ways to make everyone happy.

Conclusion

All in all we did have a lot of fun this past week and we are looking forward to what this week will hold for us. I know the FedEx man just delivered one of our Christmas packages and I have another at the post office to pick up but that will probably wait until tomorrow as I still have quite a bit to get done.

I think I’m gonna give up on the internet work for today as this post has taken longer than expected to get finished. I still need to pull out a couple of things to go with our dinner tonight. I also need to pull out an outfit for myself and one for Mr. Awesome so I can get them steamed and ready to go for tonight. I think the kids have already picked out their outfits so it’s just a matter of getting them into them later this afternoon.

I also need to finish cleaning up a bit around here. This is what the house looks like right now:

It was worse when I walked in Saturday afternoon and I wanted to cry but I didn’t. Pretty much everything from Friday on has just been dumped at the front door area so I need to find a home for everything and get it situated again. I am so ready to have a little bit more room when our new house gets here.

Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we deal with the whole house situation. I plan on adding a prayer page to my blog as well. I will put the names of everyone I have been praying for and some new ones that I gathered from this weekend on there. If anyone wants to be added or if you know someone that needs to be on there please let me know in the comments, just a first name and last initial is fine as GOD knows what we need.

If you get a chance check out the Prayer Requests Page and take a minute to say a quick prayer for all of those on the list.

God Bless!

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 –Thank you!

Life Update: A Jacuzzi, A Boy’s Night out, And Why We Don’t ‘Do’ Halloween How's the weather where you are? It's been a bit nippy this weekend and I actually plugged up one of the heaters yesterday morning because it was so chilly in the house.

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Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/kim-kardashian-admits-oversharing-plus-caitlyn-jenner-making-kris-jenner-nervous/

Kim Kardashian admits to oversharing plus Caitlyn Jenner making Kris Jenner nervous

Promptly after the whole robbery incident went down in Paris involving reality star Kim Kardashian, people began noting the dangers of excessive social media use. Prior to the robbery, Kim was known for her frequent – nearly constant - social media posts. Almost every hour, Kim would post something on one of her many social media pages, such as Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter. In the teaser for the upcoming episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Kim opens up about how she thinks her former social media habits may have led to the scary Paris robbery that occurred in October 2016. In the short clip, a notably emotional Kim is seen discussing the terrifying ordeal with her sisters, Khloe and Kourtney. During their chat, Kim admits that she had been basically documenting her whole Paris trip on her Snapchat, which likely helped the robbers plan out their break-in. The 36-year-old also reflected back on her stay in Paris, noting that she had actually told her entire fan base (via Snapchat) that she “was home and that everyone [else she was with] was going out.” While talking with her 2 sisters, Kim is heard saying, “What I think happened now, after thinking about it so much, is that there was probably a group of guys that were following us the entire trip…I was Snapchatting that I was home and that everyone was going out…So I think they new [our body guard] Pascal was out with Kourtney and I was by myself.“ Post-robbery, Kim has made some changes to the way she uses social media. While she continues to have a strong presence on many of her online platforms, she has definitely taken a step back from sharing everything with her followers. While the robbery was undoubtedly a terrifying and undeserving event, hopefully other celebrities are able to learn from Kim’s experience (and just how dangerous social media can be). In other semi-Kardashian news, former Keeping Up star Caitlyn Jenner is gearing up for the release of her tell-all memoir. In the book, which is titled The Secrets of My Life, Caitlyn shares stories and details about her life – going from a male US Olympian to a female transgender reality star. With the impending release of The Secrets of My Life, insiders are telling various media outlets that fans can expect some pretty in-depth secrets from Caitlyn’s unique life journey. According to one source, Caitlyn discusses her marriage with Kris Jenner in the book and even accuses Kris of previously disapproving of her female identity. The insider went on to tell the press that Caitlyn felt Kris “made her suppress her true self” and even “pushed her into the closet” during their marriage. The palpable tension and underlying issues between Caitlyn and her ex Kris Jenner were very evident on both I Am Cait and Keeping Up with the Kardashians. However, after attempting to hash things out (on multiple occasions), it seemed as though Kris and Caitlyn agreed to let bygones be bygones, mainly for the sake of their 2 daughters, Kylie and Kendall. Nonetheless, if the speculative contents of Caitlyn’s soon-to-be-released book end up being [even somewhat] accurate, it is safe to say that Caitlyn and Kris’s relationship will once again be on very shaky ground. RuPaul is a newlywed. The host of "RuPaul's Drag Race" announced Wednesday that he married his longtime boyfriend earlier this year. The 56-year-old entertainer said he and Georges LeBar tied the knot on their 23rd anniversary in January. RuPaul revealed their recent nuptials during an appearance on TV's "Hollywood Today Live." He said he and LeBar met "on the dance floor at the Limelight" in 1994. RuPaul said LeBar owns a farm in Wyoming and "doesn't care about show business at all." Ivana Trump, the first wife of President Donald Trump, is writing a memoir that will focus on the couple's three children. "Raising Trump" will be published Sept. 12, Gallery Books told The Associated Press on Wednesday. According to Gallery, Ivana Trump is writing a story of "motherhood, strength and resilience" and also will reflect on her "childhood in communist Czechoslovakia, her escape from the regime and relocation to New York, her whirlwind romance, and her great success as a businesswoman." "As her former husband takes his place as the 45th president of the United States, his children have also been thrust into the media spotlight - but it is Ivana who raised them and proudly instilled in them what she believes to be the most important life lessons: loyalty, honesty, integrity and drive," the statement reads. Donald and Ivana Trump divorced in 1992 amid revelations that Donald Trump had been having an affair with Marla Maples, who became his second wife. (They divorced in 1999 and six years later Donald Trump married Melania Knauss.) Gallery is calling the book "non-political," and it's also unlikely to be critical of the president, whose candidacy Ivana Trump supported. Her divorce from him included a nondisclosure agreement, and her children with him - Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric - are close to their father and are contributing memories to the book. The three younger Trumps said in a statement that they were "excited" about "Raising Trump" and called Ivana an "amazing mom, teacher and inspiration to all of us." Ivana Trump said in a statement that "Raising Trump" was in part a response to compliments she receives about her children. "I was a tough and loving mother who taught them the value of a dollar, not to lie, cheat or steal, respect for others, and other life lessons that I'll share now in 'Raising Trump,' along with unfiltered personal stories about Don, Eric, and Ivanka from their early childhood to becoming the 'first sons and daughter,'" she said. Ivana Trump has written books before, including "The Best Is Yet to Come: Coping with Divorce and Enjoying Life Again" and the novel "For Love Alone," which led to a legal battle with her ex-husband. In 1992, Donald Trump sued Ivana for $25 million, claiming the novel was based on their marriage and violated the nondisclosure portion of the divorce decree. Ivana Trump countersued over other parts of the divorce agreement and, in 1993, the two settled their differences. Gallery is part of Simon & Schuster, which under its Threshold Editions imprint published Donald Trump's campaign book "Crippled America," released in paperback as "Great Again." You can be sure there won't be any salacious parts in this book as Ivana redacted her long ago claim that Donald Trump raped her during their tumultuous divorce. MSNBC’s big “Trump tax return” scoop has caused friction between the cable news network and parent NBC, according to insiders. “[MSNBC] announced it on Twitter, and [NBC] found out when [the general public] did,” said a source. “[MSNBC president] Phil Griffin was trying to undermine [NBC News president] Noah Oppenheim. There was never a conversation. They overplayed their hand in a huge way.” Host Rachel Maddow teased the story on Twitter, then withheld the story till later in her program, revealing in a big ­anticlimax that Trump paid $38 million in taxes in 2005. “It’s their cable network, but it’s still NBC News. [NBC] did not appreciate being kept in the dark . . . To hype such a big story and not really deliver is a bit embarrassing. Airing a story you’ve hyped 20 minutes into your broadcast makes it a lot less of a ‘breaking news’ story.” A rep for NBC insisted there’s no tension between the execs. “They’ve been friends for 20 years — ever since Phil hired Noah straight out of college to work on ‘Hardball.’ They’re supertight.” A new war of words has broken out over Leah Remini‘s show, “Scientology and the Aftermath” after A&E renewed it for a second season on Wednesday. Remini — the “King of Queens” TV star who broke from the religion about four years ago — said in a statement of her show being picked up, “It became clear to us that although we were telling painful stories of former members of the Church of Scientology, this show was resonating strongly with people everywhere.” She added, “The show is really about standing up for what is right and not letting bullies have their way. I feel it is important for people to know that you can take action to bring about change, both for yourself and for others.” A&E’s prepping an Emmy campaign for the series’ first season, which has been pulling in solid ratings with an average of three million viewers, according to The Hollywood Reporter. But a rep for Scientology responded on Wednesday by alleging Remini’s “teamed with A&E to shamelessly turn religious hate into a commodity by treating it as entertainment” and accused the network of “compensating Remini’s sources” for the show. “Real transparency would be for A&E to detail all forms of compensation made to sources spreading religious hate and bigotry on Leah Remini’s show,” a Scientology rep said in a statement to media outlets. “When the network cancelled ‘Generation KKK,’ the network claimed that paying sources violated company policies. Yet at the same time it was hypocritically compensating Remini’s sources with money and significant in-kind payments. A&E can’t have it both [ways].” Last year, A&E canceled a series on KKK members before it aired, saying it learned that producers paid some participants. TMZ reported in December that a lawyer for Scientology wrote A&E alleging a double standard by canceling “Generation KKK” while keeping Remini’s on the air. But Variety reported an unnamed TV source saying of the situation, “We’re talking about payments made to hate group members versus payment to Leah, the [executive producer] of the show” and “It’s apples and oranges.” The religion’s rep further alleged to media outlets, “A&E has a duty to conduct a thorough investigation into the extent to which Leah Remini’s show violates its own internal policies,” and, “The Church has repeatedly asked A&E to investigate the production of the Remini series and financial payments, especially in the wake of numerous violent threats generated against the Church, its leaders and parishioners coinciding with the airing of the series. Those hate crimes include death threats and acts of vandalism, many of which have been and are now the subject of law enforcement investigations.” The church — which has created an entire Web site dedicated to Remini’s show, leahreminiaftermath.com — alleges that one person paid for the show is former member Mike Rinder. An A&E rep declined to comment. Meanwhile, the first season of Remini’s show has already sparked controversy. The LAPD is investigating actor Danny Masterson after three women — reportedly inspired by Remini — came forward with allegations of sexual abuse against the “The ’70s Show” star. Masterson has vigorously denied the allegations, and his rep turned the finger back on Remini for instigating them.

As the “blizzard” raged in New York on Tuesday morning, “T2 Trainspotting” star Ewan McGregor still showed up to his press day — but found no reporters there.

The actor Instagrammed an empty hotel hallway, saying, “Where are the press though?”

On Seth Meyers’ show, the Scottish actor commented on the weather, “It’s more of a sort of rainy day in Glasgow.”

He shoots “Fargo” in Canada, saying, “This is a walk in the park compared to what it’s like in Calgary.”

https://twitter.com/mcgregor_ewan/status/841676029479571464

Thankfully, plenty of people, including Helena Christensen, director Danny Boyle, Rosario Dawson, Gina Gershon and Lucy Liu, showed up to a Cinema Society screening later that night, and McGregor also took questions on Twitter, telling one fan who asked about drugs, “I got clean and sober when I was not that young of a person, 29 . . . It’s changed my life for the better for sure.”

Tori Spelling’s husband will avoid the slammer for now. Dean McDermott was held in contempt of court last week over unpaid child support — but the judge allowed him and ex-wife Mary Jo Eustace to make a deal that would spare him jail time. Per an arrangement they hashed out in a courthouse waiting area, McDermott coughed up a $2,500 installment of the cash. The next payment is due April 1. As previously reported, Eustace — who shares a son, Jack, with McDermott — will not hesitate to re-file paperwork that could land her ex in jail if he breaks the terms of their current arrangement. John Legend and Chrissy Teigen continue to define #relationshipgoals — even during tough times. “For me as a husband, it was my job to do the best I could to support her and understand what she was going through,” Legend, 38, told People magazine about Teigen’s battle with postpartum depression. “I feel like that’s the least I could do,” he said. Teigen, 31, revealed her struggles since having the couple’s first child, daughter Luna Simone, to Glamour magazine. “I think it was powerful for her to let a lot of women know they’re not alone, and no matter how much money you have or fame, anybody can feel that.” he said. And in her essay, the Sports Illustrated model described just how supportive Legend was. “John would sleep on the couch with me, sometimes four nights in a row,” she wrote. He was also present for her diagnosis during a physical. The “La La Land” musician also had some advice for other couples facing postpartum depression. “[As a man] you don’t know internally what it feels like. You should read about it and understand what it is and really just be there to help,” he said. While the Fifty Shades franchise has somehow managed to make fans out of thousands – if not, millions – of people around the world, there is one particular star who has avoided watching the racy movies altogether. In a new interview with fashion publication Elle, actor Charlie Hunnam spoke candidly about his opinion on the whole Fifty Shades frenzy. As you may recall, the Sons of Anarchy star was initially casted as Christian Grey, the male lead in the Fifty Shades franchise. However, he later dropped out of the role and was replaced by the franchise’s current star, actor Jamie Dornan. In his interview with Elle, Charlie admitted that he has not seen Fifty Shades of Grey, mainly because of his “traumatic experience” during casting. Charlie explained, “I developed a friendship with [director Sam Taylor-Johnson], but [the casting for the movie] was a somewhat traumatic experience for me. I didn’t want to open that wound.” While the actor did not offer any further details about what led him to drop out of the role of Christian Grey, previous reports claim that he was not comfortable with some of the film’s controversial and explicit intimate scenes. Later on in his Elle interview, Charlie also confessed to being “profoundly germophobic,” which inevitably didn’t mesh well with what his former Fifty Shades of Grey role entailed. On Tuesday, Batman star Ben Affleck posted a candid message to his fans via his Facebook page. Over the years, Ben has had several notable incidents involving evident substance abuse issues. However, he has continuously (for the most part) abstained from talking publicly about his substance-related issues. Subsequently, Ben’s post to his Facebook page on Tuesday caught followers by surprise, as he bravely confessed to having just completed a stint in rehab. In the post, Ben told his fans, “I have completed treatment for alcohol addiction; something I’ve dealt with in the past and will continue to confront. I want to live life to the fullest and be the best father I can be. I want my kids to know there is no shame in getting help when you need it, and to be a source of strength for anyone out there who needs help but is afraid to take the first step. I’m lucky to have the love of my family and friends, including my co-parent, Jen, who has supported me and cared for our kids as I’ve done the work I set out to do. This was the first of many steps being taken towards a positive recovery.” With Ben referring to his [possibly, ex] wife Jennifer Garner as a “co-parent,” it is unclear whether or not the 2 stars have reconciled (romantically). Back in June 2015, the duo announced that they were getting a divorce after over 10 years of marriage. However, just recently, media outlets reported that the couple retracted their divorce filing. One source told Hollywood Life, “Ben and Jennifer still have an undeniable chemistry, even after all these years. And that is part of the reason, along with their love for their children, why they are struggling with their divorce.” Nonetheless, it is good to see Ben getting the help he needs and hopefully this is the beginning of a fresh, new chapter for both him and his family. While we are less than 3 months into 2017, singer Ed Sheeran has already made his mark on the year. After stepping away from the spotlight for just over a year, Ed recently made his triumphant return with the release of his latest album ÷   (Divide). On Sunday, music publication Billboard revealed that Ed’s album has set a new record for 2017. Specifically, Divide debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Chart with the biggest album debut of 2017 so far. Evidently a big milestone for the UK-born crooner, many of his close famous friends took to social media to congratulate him on the accomplishment. Ed’s friend, and well-known DJ, Calvin Harris took to his Twitter page to playfully call out the singer for knocking him out of the top spot in the UK. Calvin posted on his page, “Ed Sheeran just beat my UK record top 10s from 1 album in ONE WEEK. Congrats Ed, but also f*** you I love you but also f*** you.” Calvin Harris, Twitter post: https://twitter.com/CalvinHarris/status/840362015864442880 Impressively, 9 of Ed’s songs off of his new album made the Top 10 on the UK Official Singles chart – including his hit tracks “Shape of You” and “Castle on the Hill.” Prior to the release of Divide, Calvin had held the record for most UK Top 10s from 1 album with his album 18 Months (which featured hit tracks like “Feel So Close,” “We Found Love”, and “I Need Your Love”). Fortunately, Ed still has a bit of time to soak in all of the accolades and records Divide is currently receiving, as he is not set to start his North American tour until June 29. Mere days after news of their blossoming romanced surfaced, superstar songstress Jennifer Lopez and former MLB player Alex Rodriguez are already taking things to a whole new level – or, at least, a whole new place. Last Friday, the new couple was spotted relaxing at the Bakers Bay Golf & Ocean Club, which is an exclusive owners-only resort, in the Bahamas. According to news outlet Page Six, Jennifer and Alex flew by private jet to the exclusive venue. Shortly after they touched down, Jennifer and Alex hopped on a speedboat and made their way to their weekend accommodations. Onlookers were able to get photos of the 2 lovebirds, snuggling up in the boat as they made their way to their final destination. While it has not been confirmed, insiders claim that the duo is planning to spend their time in the Bahamas at a friend’s private estate. While the public has only known about J-Rod (Jennifer and Alex’s couple name) for a couple of days, many outlets are reporting that they have been casually seeing each other for a few weeks now. It appears that both stars made quite the effort to keep their romance out of the spotlight, which was evidently successful. In addition, most fans and media outlets were too fixated on Jennifer’s short-lived fling with rapper Drake to realize that she had moved on to another beau. Nonetheless, with the news of their romance now public, jetting off to a private estate in the Bahamas was probably the only way for J-Rod to get some much-needed privacy. The SXSW (South by Southwest) Festival kicked off on Friday, March 10th. At this annual event, fans and stars come together to present and celebrate interactive media. While the 2017 Festival is still underway, guests at the event have already revealed some very exciting news about what is to come in music, movies and TV. On Sunday, the show runners of the HBO hit action-drama Game of Thrones, David Benioff and Dan Weiss, told fans that they could expect to see a very familiar face in the show’s 7th season. They went on to reveal that UK-born singer Ed Sheeran did a guest spot in the upcoming season. The show runners told the SXSW audience and press, “For years we were trying to get Ed Sheeran on the show to surprise Maisie, and this year we finally did it.” While you would think there would be no downsides to being invited to do a guest spot on a show like Game of Thrones, David and Dan told the crowd that it is sometimes an overwhelming experience for those coming from a non-acting background. Dan elaborated, “A lot of [music artists] say they would like to [be on the show], and then we tell them [shooting a scene] is so boring. You’re gonna hate this – you’re going to be sitting around 3 days for 12 hours a day.” Nonetheless, the HBO team was successful in convincing Ed to schedule some GOT set time into his super busy schedule. Game of Thrones season 7 is set to premiere later this year – keep an eye out for Ed! A few weeks back, TV personality Nick Cannon shocked fans when he announced he would no longer be hosting the hit reality competition America’s Got Talent. Nick’s sudden decision to end his hosting stint on AGT came after he was accused of breaching his contract with NBC when he made a joke about the network during one of his stand-up comedy shows. In a lengthy letter posted to his Facebook page, Nick explained, “I write this from a deeply saddened and dolorous mindset. After days of deliberating over some extremely disappointing news that I was being threatened with termination by Executives because of a comedy special that was only intended to bring communities closer together, I was to be punished for a joke.” Fortunately, NBC has found a celebrity to replace Nick, who had been hosting the series for 8 consecutive seasons. On Sunday, supermodel and business mogul Tyra Banks announced that she would be hosting the upcoming season of AGT. On her Twitter page, Tyra posted, “Surprise! Ty Ty is the new host of #AGT…” Tyra Banks, Twitter post: https://twitter.com/tyrabanks/status/841067045340950528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw With Tyra now on board, the cast now includes: Tyra Banks, Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Mel B and Howie Mandel.

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