Happy Halloween!

We had SO much fun today at the office!  It was our Halloween party/birthday party for Dr. Niebaum all rolled into one good old time.

I dressed up as a hippie chick.  No real stretch there!  :)  It was Larry's idea for me to wear his Army helmet liner.  I added the peace sign and daisy.  I thought it turned out so cute!! 

I think this is all us girls except for Michelle and Dr. P.  Left to right, it's me, Lisa S as Spiderwoman, Shannon as a hippie chick/Diana Ross, Lisa P as a GOOD witch, Cheryl and Norma, AKA Spongebob.

We had lots of yummy stuff to eat!!

 Chicken and dumplings

 

Norma made Mississippi Mud for Dr. Niebaum.

It's his favorite!

 Witch's Brew

(a really good cider that Norma makes!)

 My personal favorite, Norma's cheese straws.

 Cheryl's yummy cheesy apples!

 Caramel cupcakes

 Popcorn balls!

 Lisa carving a pumpkin

 Norma getting ready to carve hers

 

Lisa thinking Norma needs a little help!  Ha!

Lisa's jack-a-lantern that she gave me to put on my porch tonight for my little trick-or-treaters.  I had 22 tonight!  And enough candy for 82.  I had zombies and vampires and a princess and a clown and Mario and Luigi and more zombies and vampires.  No ghosts, witches or Spideys.  

I enjoyed every second of it and it was over waaaaay before I wanted it to be.

Spidey Sunday!

 Spidey helping me get the candy ready for tomorrow night!

He just HAD to try on a pair of the vampire teeth.

Fill in the blank Friday!

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a nurse when I grew up.  Now that I’ve worked in a doctor’s office for 32 months, I know why that didn’t work out.  :)

As an adult, my dream job would be working for a company or organization that protects the environment.  I really don’t know where I’ll be in the next year or so but I do know that I want to be somewhere making something greener.

 

When I was a kid, I wanted to be just like Mary Ellen Walton.  I sure had the sassy mouth for it! 

I scored many a wax lip with this old girl.

The childhood costume that I remember most was THIS WITCH AND I ACTUALLY FOUND IT ONLINE!!!!  I remember this costume and mask SO well.  It was awesome.  HOT but awesome.

My favorite Halloween treat when I was a child was homemade Rice Krispy treats.  I’m a child of the 1970’s and we got lots of homemade stuff on Halloween.  Cookies, brownies, caramel apples, Rice Krispy treats.  You didn’t have to worry about folks putting harmful things in your candy bag. 

The time I got in the biggest trouble as a child was when me and Ricky were staying with Grandma when Ami was born and Grandma’s neighbor had a horse that got out of his pen.  We chased that horse down a very busy Highway 49 with Grandma hollerin’ at us to come back, waving her pink bedroom shoe at us from the front porch.  She tore us up when we got back and then Daddy tore us up when he came to get us.  I can’t even remember what happened to that horse.

I get daily inspiration from sweet toothless baby grins.

Happy Weekend!!

What I'm loving Wednesday!

Today I'm loving this blog post that Brandy wrote about "sticking it to the man".  It's hilarious.  Brandy mentioned some things that she and her family do to stick it to the man and I just loved it.  I just adore her. 

Just in case a hippie heart doesn't beat inside you and you have no idea what we're talking about, sticking it to the man just basically means bucking against anything that is in a position of power over you.  That could mean the electric company.  That could mean the government.

Here are some other ways you can stick it to the man.  Just do ONE.  I promise it will make you smile.

Don't buy anything new.

Don't get into debt.

Wear socks with holes.

VOTE!

Get your books from the library.

Don't pay ANY fees at your bank!  Move your money!!

Walk on the grass.

Do random acts of kindness.

Grow your own food!  And when you can't, buy local and buy in season.

Write a blog!  :)

Be socially and politically aware.  Don't be so subjective to mainstream media.  Seek out independent sources of information, listen to people from different walks of life and those whose opinions may differ from your own.

Refuse to be one of millions in that docile herd of mindless consumers who...hey, pull over!  McDonald's!!

Dance!!

Spidey Sunday!

Me gettin' a little help from Spidey 

(who's gettin' a little help from me!)

raking the backyard!  :)

Spaghetti with garlic bread crumbs and parsley

I saw this on Pinterest last week and I decided to make it today!  I used everything I already had and it turned out really, really good!

It's super easy, too.

• Cook some thin spaghetti and drain. 
• Saute some parsley, oregano and garlic in olive oil and a tablespoon of butter.
• Toss spaghetti in oil mixture and top with some roasted garlic bread crumbs.

A delicious simple way to make spaghetti!

Fill in the blank Friday!

Nothing says fall like pumpkins and mums on the porch.

My favorite autumn tradition is carving pumpkins, dressing up for Halloween and going to the fair.  I don't even mind raking leaves anymore.  Much. :)

My favorite fall treat is pumpkin anything (muffins, breads, coffee, bubble bath)!

Fall makes me think of what's to come.  The beginning of my favorite part of the year -- Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Autumn's free-form word association, GO!  Crunchy leaves, rosy cheeks, brown, orange, pumpkin pie!

My go-to outfit in the fall is guess??  :)  My yoga pants and a long-sleeved cotton t-shirt!  Also, my flannel jammie pants.

My favorite fall holiday is Thanksgiving.  I love, love, love Halloween and giving out candy to my little trick-or-treaters but there's just no comparison to Thanksgiving and being with my family and eating my mama's turkey and dressing.  Y'all.  If you ain't never had none of my mama's dressing, bless your heart.

Happy Fall, y'all!  Do something warm and cozy this weekend!

I vant to eat your cereal!

Count Chocula was my most favorite cereal when I was growing up.  You couldn't get it all year, just in the fall around Halloween.  Mama got us all of the monster cereals, the Count and his buddies, BooBerry and FrankenBerry.  But the Count was our favorite.  It was more chocolatey than Cocoa Puffs and it was full of those yummy crunchy marshmallows.  This is what the box looked like in the 70's when we were kids and gobblin' that cereal up while we watched Saturday morning cartoons.

I even remember having these toys!  

This is what the box looks like today. Or rather tonight 'cause I got me some!

He looks a little skinny these days.  Must be the whole grain.  :)

What I'm loving Wednesday!

I'm loving that today actually feels like fall!!  It's a brisk (and windy) 55 degrees!  The high was 62 and that was this morning.  It's 'sposed to be 37 tomorrow night!  Woo hoooo!!  I might get to wear my boots this week!  Fall is my favorite season. I wish we could stay like this until April. I hate winter.  Ugh.

I'm loving the chicken and dumplin's that I made today!  We were talking about them at work today and how gooooood they'd be in this cool weather so when I got home, I made some.  I'd never made them with store-bought dumplings before, I usually just make them the way Mama does, the dumplin's I was raised on that look kinda like this:

Mama's looks better but this was as close as I could find online.  I don't think I've ever paused long enough to get a picture of her dumplings!  Ha!

This is how mine turned out today!  Pretty dang tasty, too.

I boiled a couple of chicken breasts, shredded them and added a can of cream of chicken soup, cooked the strips in the broth with some salt and pepper and mixed it all together.  Easy squeezy!

And I'm loving Words With Friends on Facebook!  It's just a simple Scrabble game but you can play real time with your friends or just whenever you have a minute.  LOVE.  If we're friends on Facebook, let's play!

Spidey Sunday!

Here he is trying on Larry's old Army helmet.

He really liked that it says "Spider" on the chin strap.

Seven random things...

 

...about ME!  My friend, Kim, nominated me for a Tell Me About Yourself blogger award 'cause she thinks my blog is great!  :)  Thanks, Kim!!  I think your blog is pretty great, too!  And funny and inspiring and just what I need to read sometimes!


To claim this award, I have to do a couple of things.  I have to tell seven totally random things about myself, pass the award on to seven other awesome bloggers and thank and link back the person who awarded me, which I think I've already done.  I hope.  :) 

So here we go!

Seven Random Things About Me

1.  I have a little scar on my right cheek that has been there since the moment I was born.  From forceps pulling me out.  I didn't want to come out.  Me and Mama had us a good thing going and I was FINE with it.

2.  I hate yogurt.  Of any kind.  I don't care if you put chocolate sprinkles on top, I can't eat it.  I know it's good for you and would be oh-so-helpful in my weight loss journey but dang, it's clabber.  Jerry Clower said so.

3.  I love to watch scary movies!  Alone.  At home.  On my sofa.  Where I can scream and sometimes let an ugly word slip and laugh and yell at the victims and if they're real stupid, tell 'em they NEED killing.  

4.  I can wire up a circuit that will light two LEDs that blink.  :)

5.  I cannot stand a ringing telephone.  Or talking on the phone.  And in my current job, I'm a receptionist.  I know.  Makes no sense.  

6.  I can type really fast.  The last time I was tested and timed, it was around 85 words per minute.  I'm pretty dang accurate, too.

7.  I almost never use my dishwasher anymore.  Unless I'm cooking a big meal for my family or something.  As much as I LOATHED washing dishes as a teenager (and that was probably because Mama MADE me), I actually prefer to hand wash my dishes now.  There's something therapeutic about having your hands down in warm, soapy water and washing dishes clean.  Just me??  :)

Okay,  I nominate these awesome bloggers to do the same!  Tell Me About Yourself!

Ami
Margie 
Brandy
Morgan 
Jenn
Amy
Shari

Spidey's fair adventures

Here we are right after I won him.

Don't we look so happy??

Here he is checking out my camera.

Here we are listening to a very good country band play.  Spidey said he never really liked country music.  That's when I found out he has a squeaker in his head.  I squeezed his head real hard.

Here he is protecting me 'cause 

I'm windblown and tired of pictures.  

 Here we are learning how to stand up.

Here he is all laid out in the grass.

We still have to work on that standing thing.

 Maybe shoes will help.

Here he is posing with the paddle boats behind him.  He said he wanted to ride one but I told him somebody would just try to use him for a float.

Here he is sharing that beautiful sunset with us.

Almost time to go home!

It was a great day!!

Spidey rested most of the day today.  He had a busy day yesterday, what with getting a new home and family and all.

Wonder what he'll be up to tomorrow??

 

Fair fever...caught it!

Yesterday, Brian, Ami and I went to the Georgia National Fair in Perry.  We had the absolute BEST time.  Pretty much the best fair experience of our lives.  We've been many times (after all, this is the 22nd year of this fair!), seen countless concerts there (Alabama, Vince Gill, Trisha Yearwood, Loretta Lynn, Travis Tritt & Marty Stewart, John Berry and oh, did I mention Alabama?  We saw Alabama every time they played there.  :D), so we've had a few not-so-good times there.  Some years, it rained the entire time, some years we had to park out in the field almost to dang Pulaski County and walk for days to get to the gate and then it took us HOURS to get out of there, some years it was summertime hot and miserable and other years, we just skipped it 'cause GOD, what a nightmare.

This year made up for ALL that.  It was perfect.

We chose to go on the last Friday afternoon of the fair, as a mini photo tour for our Facebook group, Macon County Georgia Photo Walk.  We went to just basically take pictures and eat but the fair had other plans for us.  The fair wanted us to have FUN and have GOOD memories of it this time.  We knew it was probably going to be a pretty dang good day when we got there and got to park ON THE PAVEMENT and not out there two miles from Elko.

 
Here are some pictures from our day!  If you're friends with us on Facebook, you can see SO many more.  I took 200 myself and Ami and Brian took over a thousand together.

Caramel and chocolate apples

Me picking up ducks!  :)

The girl running this game was the sweetest thing!  It was $3 to play.  I picked up one duck and it had SMALL written on the bottom.  She said "Try again".  I picked up another duck and it had SMALL written on the bottom.  She said, "Try again.  Here, get this one." and she pointed to the one that I have in my right hand in this picture, the one with the little green dot that says MED!!!  Medium!!  I get a medium prize!!  Yay!!  She told me I could have anything on that wall and I picked a 2-foot inflatable Spider-Man.  

Here we are after I won! 

Me and my Spidey.

Me trying to decide what to eat.

There were TOO many choices!

I ended up getting a corn dog...  :)

 ...and this thing here.

Chocolate-covered cheesecake.  On a steeeeeek.

It was absolute heaven.  I didn't think I could eat it all and I tried to share it with Ami and Brian but Brian didn't want any and Ami couldn't cut it because it was still really firm.  She got a little piece off, though.

 Amazing what you can do when your feet are to the fire.  Ha!

See my teeth marks??? 

 Ami's funnel cake.

 Here's a picture I took of Ami and Brian.
I think it's probably my favorite one ever of them.
They look so sweet and happy!!

We found a little grassy spot with a bench near the water and sat there as the sun was starting to go down.  I don't believe I've ever sat and watched the sun set behind a Ferris wheel so I have to recommend that you do it, too, at least once.  It was pretty awesome. 

We stopped on our way out for another snack and Brian got a pork chop sandwich that he said was absolutely delicious and Ami and I split some Mozzarella Fingers with pizza sauce.  Yum!!  Here's a pic of one of our Mozzarella Fingers and my fingers.  :)

Beautiful ending to an amazing day.