Friday, October 16, 2009

Revelations and Choices

Oh my, what a day ! It's been one of those days when it's just go, go, go, and the list of things that need to be done just never ends. Yesterday, I spent the day totally rearranging my living room. ( I don't know why I do these things - I just lay in bed at night and these crazy little ideas dance around in my head.) So today, I had a ton of cleaning, carpet shampooing, and catch - up work that needed to be done - in between doing my regular Thursday laundry routine.

In addition, as I laid in bed last night trying to sleep, I vowed ( a vow is a solemn commitment that cannot be broken, you know?) that I would somehow, find a way to get my dogs out for a walk in spite of the cold, wet, and yucky weather that has descended on Kansas for the past week and a half. It's been SO dreary, for SO long, that I keep expecting everyone to start speaking with a Brittish accent! So . . . in between loads of laundry and dishes, I grabbed the leashes, bundled myself up, and strapped the back packs onto my "hounds of Hell" and off we went. Before we had even gotten past the first potty stop, I managed to twist my ankle! You see, the walking trail behind my house has several uneven spots where the black top has shifted and buckled. When Olathe parks and recs sponsored their annual September 11th "freedom run," they carefully marked all the rough spots with bright yellow spray paint so that all the joggers would be sure to see them. So obviously, I felt like a complete idiot; unfortunately, I still had three more miles worth of dog walking to do. ( a vow is a vow, you know?) So now, after hobbling around all evening, I'm sitting here with a swollen and painful ankle watching old 1940's horror movies. *sigh* At least my dogs are content.


Anyway, enough complaining. I had planned to post some more photos of our Halloween Yard haunt set up tonight.  (which I think,  was the last time we actually saw the sun shine around here) As I was sorting through them, I came across this photo . . .
While we were all setting up the cemetery fence, Jen got a shot of Nick with their new baby girl, Brooklyn.  When I look at this picture, all I can do is feel so proud of my son.  This little girl is his world, he absolutely adores her.  Both Nick and Jen are such good parents, but I always knew that having a child would have a profound effect on Nick, and it has truly changed his life - and in Nick's case, that's a very, very GOOD thing. 

Just felt I needed to share that.  Okay, Yard Haunt photos . . . hmmmm, here we go.

This is the grave yard (partially set up, we have since added more vines on the fence, the cemetery sign, and plenty of cobwebs and creepy cloth.)  Nick is hanging the Asylum sign, and of course, Jack and Mary, our crypt keepers are back this year.  (Heather and I are thinking that after three years together, maybe next year we'll plan a zombie Wedding?)




Of course, Haunter, Elizabeth, Crazy Daisy, and B.K. Crawler are back again, but this guy is new . . .

This is Bubba, our deranged, redneck, little midget that Daisy seems intent on slashing to pieces.  All the neighborhood kids are absolutely fascinated by him. I think, because they are just about the same height.  I made him out of paper mache and I'm really surprised that he's tolerating all the rain so well.

I'm really hoping that the rain lets up this weekend so that I can get some night shots with the lights on.  I'm just a little worried that the weather might not be very welcoming for our trick or treaters this year.  Actually, I've been worried about  a lot of little issues and deadlines concerning Halloween this year; I had a lot of big plans and projects that just aren't very likely to get done.  And I may have mentioned before, (once or twice?) Roy is really struggling to find time to work on the garage part of the asylum.  Sure, I could knock myself out working night and day on props, and I have no doubt that I could put the Asylum together on my own; but this is supposed to be a family FUN thing,  something we do together, as a family.  So, I have decided that I am just NOT going to stress and nag about this. Eventually, it will all come together, and if I don't get all my plans done this year, there is always next year.  I refuse to turn something that makes me happy into another chore that stresses me out.

Right now, I think I need to go ice down my ankle again, pop some more pop corn, and watch another movie.

Sleep tight everyone.

1 howled back:

jasminharrington said...

Your yard looks amazing but I have to say... I love the picture of Nick and Brooklyn the most.