Halloween helpers

Randy's kids ended their Halloween trek around the greater York and Polk county area by coming to my house. After taking photos of costumes and me giving them their treats, they helped hand out candy to the kids who came to the door. Last year Wyatt was afraid of them, but this year, when the kid with the bleeding "Scream" mask came up the steps, Wyatt thought he was cool!

At first, Wyatt would hold out the candy basket and say, "You want candy?". :o) Pretty soon, Garett was handing it out while Wyatt held the basket. Definitely video moments, but the battery on my camera died after taking a few photos. :o(

Anyway, here are the boys, handing out some treats. Grace was safely ensconced on her mommy's lap, watching with interest, but not getting close. The little boy they're treating is from our church, but since he doesn't belong to me, I've obscured his face.

Happy Halloween!!

(Randy, Arlan, Tammy, Alan, Tonita)

I'm very behind in my blogging, but wanted to share this "Blast from the Past" from the Regier kids' photo archives.

This was taken after the Halloween party at the York Community Center. I think the CC had just opened that Fall. Alan won a prize for most creative costume. We all enjoyed ourselves. Halloween was a huge deal for us. We usually would trek down to Hested's and pick out one of those cheap, hot, suffocating plastic masks with the rubber elastic that wrapped around your head (see everyone but me in the photo has one - I was a hippy and got to use make-up...).
Then we'd have to bundle up in our winter gear to walk around the neighborhood. We usually carried pillowcases for our candy, but I remember taking brown paper grocery bags, too. I think we got those plastic pumpkin buckets once or twice just before the last time I went trick or treating.
We had tons of kids in our neighborhood, and most of the time we walked around in a large group. We'd hit every house that had a porch light in a 2 or 3 block radius, then one of the grown-ups would load us all in a car and take us to the other side of town for a little while.
After we got home and inventoried our stash, we'd go to bed. Then Mom would rifle through our bags and take any and all full-sized candy bars. She'd hide them away and put them in Dad's lunches for the next few weeks. Grossly unfair, yes, but that's what she did. I don't think we suffered any because of it - there was plenty of stash. My favorite was always homemade caramel apples and homemade chewy popcorn balls. Yum.
I don't expect many kids here tonight. The number of trick or treaters is less with each passing year, but I have a big basket of candy already sitting by the door, waiting for them!

Chillin'

It's raining again today. After watching the news about Atlanta and the water shortage there, I'm sure not going to complain about the rain. Yet. But this area is +8" for the year in rainfall. I think we're good. The rain can go away now.

I don't like when it's so dark during the day, and opened all the shades to lighten up the inside of the house a bit. This little guy is what I saw when I pulled the shade in the bedroom. He's been there for hours, just snuggled up in the wet grass.


Tomorrow and Saturday are supposed to be nice, but I think we're going to have some cold weather next week. Might have to turn on some heat then. I mentioned at work that I hadn't turned on the heat at home yet (after complaining about melting at work) and they called me "Menopause Woman". I guess that's better than some other things I could think of...


On Tuesday I bought a heated mattress pad for our bed. After sleeping on a heated water bed for 26 years, we made the switch to a regular mattress last June. We're not so much loving the cold bed when we first get in. I got a dual control, so my side will just be warmed before I climb in, then I can turn it off. Greg can put his on "roast" and be toasty all night. Anyway, I told Greg that night, "I bought you a present today!" Now it could have been ANYTHING, right? You know what he said? "Is it a heating pad for the bed?" Yeah.

Spots of Autumn

We don't have much pretty autumn color outside just yet, but that doesn't mean we can't have it inside. :o) Autumn is my absolute favorite season. Cooler temps. No humidity. Gorgeous color. I know I share my love with many of my online friends, and we've been sharing photos of some spots in our homes where autumn is highlighted. Here are a couple of mine:

Catching up - again - this is long...

Sometimes it seems there is nothing to blog about, then life gets crazy busy and I don't have time to blog all the fun.

Just before my last post, I went to Maryland with Alan, Randy, and Jessica. We attended the 2007 Motocross of Nations at BuddsCreek.

Our motel was in Colonial Beach, VA, and only a city block from the Potomac River. There was a large pier we went out on and watched people fish. One guy pulled in an eel, about 10 or 12" long. He tossed it in his cooler to take home to eat. (Um, eww...)
We flew into Washington D.C. and we took the Metro to the Mall where I got to show the boys some of the monuments. When I was last in D.C., five years ago, the Archives building was closed. It has since reopened, so we were able to see the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Very COOL.

After about 4 hours of walking, paying $5.50 for a hot dog, and getting a sunburn, we took the metro back to the car rental place and headed for traffic gridlock. Took us two hours to go about 4 miles. Fun. Not.

We spent Saturday and Sunday at BuddsCreek at the track. It was hot and dusty, but the track was beautiful, the bathrooms had running water and AC, and we got our t-shirts first thing. The bad part was that my shoes gave me blisters and that was the only pair I'd brought along. I spent a great deal of time barefoot at the track, but still had to wear flip-flops for a week after we got home.

You can see some of the photos taken at the track here. I'll be adding a few, and making another album of D.C. and other miscellaneous photos after I get Alan's, Randy's, and the rest of Jess's pictures.

So we flew home on Monday the 24th. On Tuesday I was exhausted and slept most of the day. Turns out I was getting sick. Spent Wednesday and Thursday pretty much as a slug with a head cold. Worked at the theater Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday nights, slogging my way through.

By Monday I was feeling some better, still had a cough, but was well enough to start my new part-time job at Fitness Worx. I'm working the 5 - 8 a.m. shift at the front desk. Yes, that was 5 A.M. (though I really have to be there by 4:45). Yes, I'll still work at the theater since neither job interferes with the other. Anyway, I tried to keep busy during the day after I got home so I wouldn't be tempted to sleep.

Monday night I taught my Freezer Cooking class for Community Ed. It was a small class, but went really well. I like when there is a lot of conversation and sharing of ideas.

Worked Wednesday night at the theater, then Thursday night I babysat Randy's kids.

By Friday afternoon, I was more than happy to snuggle into the sofa cushions for a wonderful afternoon nap. Did it again today, too. :o)

Tonight I'm not feeling too great - I think I may have that tummy bug the kids had last week. I wish they wouldn't be so willing to share, but I love them anyway.

Tomorrow will be Greg's first day off work since late August. I think he plans to sleep most of the day. :o)

(The photo is Jess, Alan, and Randy walking next to the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial.)