Omigosh----I really need to think twice about this....

I have to admit,  I'm usually kind of a Scrooge or Grinch when it comes to Halloween.  I love answering the door and handing out candy,  but when it comes to getting an invitation to an adult Halloween costume party,  I break out in a cold sweat.   I've always hated the dressing up part----at least as an adult..  I think it's cuz I was never very creative in this department,  and my costumes would usually really suck.  I always enjoyed the huge college toga parties----it's hard to go wrong with a sheet.  Who wouldn't want to dress up like a Greek goddess?  And there's always the discussion as to what  (if anything)  should be worn underneath.  I'm not saying, but you can probably guess.   

Before................                                                                                    

 
                                                                                                                ........and after.


One year for Halloween,  my college roommate and I dressed as mummies.  We were so well-wrapped!  What the heck were we thinking?  Did we forget that when you drink copious amounts of a little beer you sometimes need to use the facilities?  Ugh....major problem.  Not enough forethought on that one.  The next year,  we went as bags of leaves.  Hello......did we not remember the fiasco of the prior year?  We were now ensconced in Hefty bags filled with leaves (and whatever might be lurking among the leaves).    They itched.    A lot.     Stupid idea.     We'd see all of these fabulous costumes down on State Street and wonder why we couldn't come up with something funny/cool/shocking.  It's difficult to imagine seeing anything down there though---there were wall-to-wall people .   (I'm thinking that I was dating someone at the time who got arrested......but the facts are a little fuzzy in my mind.  Don't even want to venture a guess as to what that was all about.  It was Madison in the early 80's.  Nuf said.).

I don't have a lot of memories of my costumes as a kid---I'm guessing most of then were of the ballerina variety---depending on the weather up north, sometimes necessitating a snowsuit thrown into the mix.  Try fitting a tutu over that!

But today,  something changed.  Mike forwarded me an invitation to a party,  and the more I thought about it,  the more excited I became.  Get this-----you have to dress like someone or something with your initials.

Little detour here......Just about the time I got the email,  I was dropping off a trunkful of stuff at Goodwill.  Decided to park and go into the store looking for some stuff for Jackson's Halloween costume.  I have never been to a Goodwill Store.  (I guess I should have thought about Goodwill when I was in college when I desperately needed ideas).   I felt so at home. It's all organized by color----just like my closet. lol !!!  I must say,  I had an absolute blast browsing. You wouldn't believe the stuff they have there.  (I've probably provided a half-dozen van-fulls in the past year,  but I didn't see anything that used to live in my house. That would have been a hoot!).  I did find a pair of pants for Jax---he's going to be a hippie.  They're striped and are pretty retro-looking,  but they're not bell-bottoms.  Maybe my sister-in-law can help me change that. (I found them in the women's section,  but don't tell Jackson!)  They will look awesome with his fringe vest,  tie-dye shirt,  round pink wire rim glasses and peace sign necklace.  I had to buy him a wig, as I don't think there were many buzz-cut hippies back then. I got 2 of them so he can choose----one is an  afro (those of you who knew Mike in college will probably remember his hair!) and a long-haired wig.  So it's his choice.

Ok,  enough about that and back to me and the party.  So my initials are JG,   or JLG if I want to really go overboard and use my middle initial too. Hmmmm......Judy Garland......Jane Goodall.......Jersey Girl.....or maybe Jersey-licious Girl!!!!  That's it----one of those famous-for-no-good-reason women on Jersey Shore---SNOOKI!!! .  I've never seen that show,  but I'll have to watch it before the party.   I found a slinky animal print halter dress at Party City.  And a wig.  But I'm definitely going to need a major-league push-up bra so my boobs are just beneath my chin.  Hoping I can pull this off.  What do you think?

When I talked to Mike about his costume,  he suggested Michael Grimm  ( you know, the guy with the hat on American Idol?).  Maybe I can talk him into piercing his ear (I've been known to do that before).  lol.  I suggested Mel Gibson.   That could be interesting.

 the next day......Saturday........

Ok,  so I'm still excited about the party. However,  I tried on the Snooki dress. The package said it fits up to a Size 12 dress.  Figured I'd be fine since I usually wear an 8.   OMIGOSH!!!!!  For one thing,  there is absolutely no room for a push-up bra.  Might have to use duct tape to hoist up the girls!  It is so tight....and short.  Not sure if I have the guts to wear it .  But..........the invitation said  "Prizes awarded for most clever,  most elaborate and the one it took the most nerve to wear."   Ok,  that just might be me.  I've got the shoes and the wig.  Maybe tomorrow I'll try it on for Mike & see what he thinks.  I guess with my wig on people wouldn't have to know that I'm his wife  (if he's embarrassed).

Sirius-ly

I recently got a letter welcoming me to Sirius Satellite Radio. Apparently I get a free 3-month trial membership for buying my new car. I'm tickled pink with the fact that I can go from 0 to 80 in just seconds my new vehicle, but this is a little icing on the cake. But I've never subscribed before, so I'm looking to see what y'all listen to on satellite.

I'm perusing the listings and can see how I might enjoy this----Howard Stern (is he still funny?),  Eminem's Uncut Hip-Hop (I had better not tell the boys about this one---they only hear the bleeped-out versions of his songs, but I can listen, right?), oooh---40's Big Band (love it!!), Siriusly Sinatra (hey--I thought that I came up with Sirius-ly first), International Talk French Language (could this be a way to brush up on my French?), Playboy Radio (really---is there really such a thing? Off to check it out!), The Virus (irreverent and uncensored---I might like that).

So what do you enjoy listening to? Please feel free to leave me a comment below. I'm getting better at moving out of my comfort zone, so if there's something you enjoy, I'll give it a listen. And if I don't respond, it's probably because I got sucked into something and I'm out driving around and don't want to stop. Who knows where I'll end up one of these days?!

Somebody slapped that bulls-eye on my back again!

Why am I such a magnet for all things weird? Does this stuff ever happen to anyone else?

So here's the deal. I'm driving home from Pilates class (my first time back in 2 months!!!! Yea for me for finally dragging my butt out of the house and back to class after the trauma and drama that I've been dealing with) and I'm cruising through Greenway Station (an outdoor shopping area) when I see a huge tower of orange. I drive a little closer and see that it's a pyramid or tree-like structure made out of pumpkins. I thought "cool". I'll take a picture (now that I carry my camera everywhere). And they're real. Kind of interesting looking. So I'm about to pull over to park and this crazy scary-looking nice elderly woman jumps out at me (while I'm still driving) and starts waving her arms and knocking on my window. What the heck??? So I hit the brakes and cautiously roll down my window to see what she wants.

She starts yelling at me!! She said "I want to know where University Avenue is....and don't give me a bum steer cuz I've been driving around for 25 minutes......blah blah blah". I calmly interrupt and say "Ma'am, if you settle down for a moment I'll tell you, but you can't hear me when you're yelling at me". So here I am nervously glancing in my rear-view mirror looking for cars---see, I'm just stopped in the middle of a lane, and if someone hits my pretty new car, I'm not gonna be happy. So I very calmly explain how she can get there---less than a minute away. Not even sure if she thanked me, but I couldn't get my window up fast enough and drive away.

And of course, I forgot to take the damn picture.

Back to Normal---is there such a thing?

Who knew that this blogging thing would be a monthly event? In the beginning, I had planned to write whenever the mood struck me---thinking probably every couple of days.(My mouth runneth over on Facebook sometimes, so I thought this would be a good outlet for my ramblings). Obviously sometimes life gets in the way of our intentions. The following was written last week, prior to my mom's surgery. Thoughts came tumbling out of my head as I was getting into the shower one morning, so I did what any normal (and I'm using that term loosely) person would do----turned off the water, grabbed a pen and sat on the bed naked to write everything down before I forgot it. (This happens often, so I tend to have pens and paper scattered throughout the house in the event that an idea comes to me. For me, it's a use-it-or-lose-it kind of thing, so if it's not written down or left on a voice memo on my iPhone, there's a good chance that it will be forgotten in the next 10 minutes).

Is there ever really a time that's "back to normal" ? I've put various things on hold during my life recently (exercise, artistic endeavors, blogging, finding an organization to which I want to donate my time, etc.) thinking that I would resume them once life got back to normal (or as normal as things can possibly be in this household). For instance, after I had fully recovered from my pneumonia, once my mom got through her tests and possible surgery, etc. But you name it, and it's going on in someones life at any given time. I don't know of anyone who doesn't have something that they're dealing with, that they'd probably rather not be saddled with. But no matter how thinly you are spread, sometimes you just have to jump back in and do it.....regardless of whether it seems like the right time.

Driving down the street yesterday, I saw a tiny, old-fashioned church set amongst the most beautiful trees in various shades of red, orange and gold. I said to myself "what a striking picture that would be." (and trust me, I actually said that out loud to myself, as there was no one else in the car). I had my camera (I've learned to always have it with me----you wouldn't believe some of the missed photo opps) but did I stop and take the picture? No--I had other places to be (ok, getting my nails done isn't really a good excuse). I think today will be the day. And I think it's worth sharing because it's so beautiful.

DISCLAIMER -- I used to fancy myself as a good photographer, but in reality, I suck. I've surrendered my Canon Digital Rebel to Mike for all of the ski jumping photos (after coveting this for months a couple of years ago, then receiving it for Christmas). In reality, what I envision just doesn't turn out like said vision. Maybe some classes would help. Oh yeah, I did take a basic class on how to use my Rebel, but for goodness sake, even that was too advanced. And as for reading manuals.....it's probably just not going to happen. Anyway, back to the disclaimer.....the pictures that I include in my blog posts will not be good, but hopefully they will get my point (if there is one) across.

You kind of get the idea, don't you? It was so stunningly beautiful in person. I didn't even feel stupid when I had to find a spot to park my car, then jog through the intersection dodging cars, trying to find the perfect vantage point. Wish I could Photo Shop out the traffic lights, but that would probably require me to be somewhat adept at that kind of thing. Or at least require that I read a manual, so never mind. Just squint and try to imagine how pretty and idyllic this must have been.

That's just a little example of what I mean. I need to try to live more in the moment. And on the way home to Madison, after my mom was comfortably recovering from her surgery, I found numerous opportunities. But I realized that I should only stop to take a picture if it can be done safely, without the possibility of being hit by a car speeding past me at 87 mph, or causing a chain-reaction crash when I try to pull over onto that non-existent shoulder. I wanted to stop to take a picture near Beaver Dam of at least 1000 ducks in a pond--- all facing the same direction (did you ever notice that cows do that too?), the big field of llamas, and the Adult Superstore out in the middle of nowhere. I did, however, drive past, then turn around to go back and take this shot, just outside of Two Rivers.

People in this neck of the woods have been known to to put various "lawn ornaments" in their yards. Sometimes it's a toilet or a bathtub (seriously!!!!!) with a plastic Virgin Mary (I kid you not!). Click on this link to check out a picture of one:  http://www.answers.com/topic/bathtub-madonna
But this picture that I took is one of the larger, more unusual ones (for Wisconsin anyway). I drove past this house several weeks ago when I was up by my mom. This time, I was determined to get a picture. See? It's a start for me.

In the past week, I learned of the deaths of two high school classmates, their lives both taken way too soon by cancer. Life is short; life is fragile. I realize that I need to sometimes pry myself off of the sidelines or out of my car with camera in-hand, and be a part of the action while I can. Here's hoping that you do the same.

 *** I know that in the past, some have been unable to add comments to a post. Please let me know if this is still an issue. I have adjusted some of the settings, but if there are still difficulties, I may have to read the manual. ***