Happy Halloween!

Silly, FUNNY Halloween Card

Ultimate Toy Drive

Click Here for more information on helping.

Glitter Graphics

More fun with whacky text....this time, it's from glitter-graphics.com. These sites are great for generating silly, animated text that can be used on Myspace, bulletin boards, social networking sites, your own site, etc. They are also easy to do, so the kids can have fun with them!



I'll have to make sure I show the girls their names. Both girls like hearts, so these are both good ones for them. But they may like one of the other ones better. Maybe Taylor can add to her E-mails to friends....

This Doesn't Make You Cheap....

Need a nice dinner out? [I do, I do!!] Want to save some money, too? [Yes, ma'am!] Then check out restaurant.com. I use this site all the time -- even when I travel for work! I've gotten some great deals at really nice restaurants all over the country and saved some big $$$, too.

Right now, Restaurant.com is offering 70% off! This means their $25 restaurant gift certificates that normally sell for $10 have been reduced to just $3!! So, for $3, you get a gift certificate worth $25. Make sense? This is why I sometimes use these when I travel -- I get a nicer dinner, and keep my expenses low, so my manager doesn't get upset!

This offer is valid from October 24th to the 31st, so get yours today and plan a special night out with or withOUT the kids....CLICK HERE to get yours. And use the code TREATS. Otherwise, you won't get the 70% off.



About Restaurant.com:
Restaurant.com serves as the community matchmaker, introducing great restaurants to great people. From appetizers to dessert, from wine to dinner, Restaurant.com helps restaurant owners promote the new and unique aspects of their restaurants while providing diners with great value in a fun, new and cost effective way. Your favorite restaurant is in your neighborhood – maybe you just don't know it yet. Restaurant.com is here to help.

The Bug War

I've lived with my older brother, Scott, twice. The first time didn't end on the best terms [he's 13 years older and a "he"....and we're a lot alike]. But we gave it another try. I even helped him pack up his apartment to move into the house we would share.

Well, my brother is a pack rat, and he had tons of JUNK.....including some plastic cockroaches. While he wasn't around, I slipped them into my purse for later.

That started what has become known as "The Bug War" in our family. After we moved into the new house, I hid the cockroaches in various places -- under a phone receiver, on a kitchen shelf, etc. Once my brother started to find them, the game was on.

Next, he took a creepy spider decoration I had bought for Halloween and attached it to fishing line. This he attached to the toilet seat, so when I got up at 2:00 a.m. to use the bathroom.....yeah, I screamed when that big, black spider came flying out from behind the toilet!
This went back and forth, each trying to best the other with plastic snakes coming out of tub drains and spiders on fruit and creepy bugs under things. All fake and plastic, of course. It quietly ended, and I eventually moved out.

Years later, it was my brother's wedding. It wasn't until THEN that I learned that I had WON The Bug War hands-down....something my brother would never admit to, but I found out a funny story from his good friend, Dave. He noticed a plastic spider sitting on an apple in a bowl of fruit and asked why it was there. Mom explained about The Bug War, and Dave was laughing so hard, he was crying. He then told us the following story.....

One of the "bugs" I had hidden during the war was a plastic leach. I had placed this leach on the rim of the toilet bowl in my brother's bathroom. My brother wouldn't see it until he lifted the seat to you know......

I guess Dave was at the house when Scott discovered the leach. Dave said he was in the kitchen waiting for Scott, and heard Scott SCREAMING! [I hate that I missed this....] He ran upstairs, and Scott had somehow found a two by four [in the bathroom????] and was ready to beat the plastic leach senseless......

This story is quite legendary in our family.....how I won The Bug War with a plastic leach bought for .50.

Do I LOOK Like a Shoplifter....?

Sunday night, I was flying solo with Nicholas and decided we'd go do a little shopping. A new super Wal-Mart opened near us, and I figured we'd check it out. I don't typically shop at Wal-Mart. I'm more of a Target girl and spend scary amounts of money there, but the W-M is closer to the house, and I wanted to check out their Halloween decorations.

Mr. Nick and I had a good shopping experience. We found some light-up pumpkins and other fun holiday stuff. I let Nick pick out a stuffed animal. He had been SUCH a good boy on the ride home from Columbus and while I ran errands. He liked this little, soft dog that barked when you squeezed it, and it was only about $7.....so, I got it for him. Grabbed some dinner items and other "stuff" and checked out. Paid, loaded our bags and headed for the door.

So, they have these greeters, right? I just thought they were there to say, "hello, welcome to Wal-Mart" as you walked in. Well.....when did Wal-Mart become Costco and want to check your receipt before you could leave????

The greeter [who was this small, older man and never cracked a smile] stopped me and asked to see my receipt as I was walking by.

Uhhhhh.....what????

I gave him this odd look and pulled it out of a bag. He stood there looking over it, and I noticed one or two people pass by with their carts and bags. Why wasn't he stopping THEM? So, I ASKED.

"Sooo....do you stop everyone?"

"No." Pause. Then he mentioned something about an "item" being outside the bags, and THAT is why he stopped me.

Well, that item was the $7 stuffed dog. I had pulled it from the bag as we headed for the door and given it to Nick. And for THAT, I get stopped and treated like I'm shoplifting....?

Come on, Wal-Mart. First off, I haven't stolen anything from a store since I was about five....not that you can tell that from looking at me......BUT I am relatively clean cut, and I'm in my late 30s and a mother with a toddler. I don't look like I need to steal, because I can't afford to buy something, and I'm certainly not a teen looking for a rush or thrill. Plus, if I were going to steal something, then do you really think I would run the risk of legal action over a stupid $7 stuffed animal??? The light-up pumpkin cost more! Heck, the raw chicken I bought cost more!

On top of that, the "greeter" wasn't all that friendly or nice about stopping me, because he felt the need to confirm the purchase of that stupid stuffed dog. And he had to MARK my receipt with his little highlighter. Are you KIDDING me????

As we left the store, I said to Nicholas, "We won't be shopping THERE again, baby!" And we won't. I doubt anyone at Target would have stopped me.....

Homecoming

This past weekend was Ohio State homecoming. We made a quick trip up North to visit the 'rents, see some other relatives and watch the game. Fortunately, the Buckeyes beat Michigan State and remain number 1. Woo hoo! I'm hoping this winning streak continues....I remember many years of being disappointed in the team....those would be the Cooper years. I'm a much bigger fan of Tressel.

So, this morning, we all met for breakfast at Bob Evans [minus the hubby who was on a plane headed for California]. Nicholas got to meet his Great Great Aunt Dorothy. She was sisters with my grandmother, Effie. And Dot and Nick share a birthday.

Well, off to bed! My brain is blah, and I'll have a busy week flying solo with Mr. Nick.

Happy Happy...

Happy Birthday to me AND Happy Anniversary to us.....a doubly good day.

Her Eyes Just Sparkle!

Lately, I've fallen in love with Adobe Photoshop all over again. I've been using that program for about twenty years, but I am learning ALL sorts of new, cool, crazy and exciting things....and I'm having a blast!

This week, I've been going crazy with brushes. Last week, it was Styles, but this week it is definitely brushes. Who knew so many existed??? Who knew they came in so many funny, funky, cool and unusual shapes??? Well, now I know, that's for sure!

Over the weekend, I downloaded some brushes from deviantart.com. I kept hearing this site mentioned in some of my Photoshop groups, so I finally checked it out. What FUN I've been having with the brushes I found there!

Last night, I played around with an eyelash brush.....and sparkles. Look at the results! I know I went a little overboard, but it's hard to believe that the "After" was achieved in about five minutes. And with brushes....[okay, okay, and a little dodging, too].

Operation Buckeye, Part II

This weekend, I've been working on a new logo and Web site for Operation Buckeye for my dad....here's a sneak peek at the logo.

What's the Most Common Birthday?

I was curious about this answer myself, so I did some research. Lo and behold.....[drum roll, please].....it's TODAY.

From an article I found online:

We found several references to this question on the Web, all pointing to the same source: a survey of 12,576 Americans conducted by Anybirthday.com.

Answers like this one from the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star cite the study's finding of October 5 as the date the most people (in the U.S., anyway) are born. The 2001 report claims approximately 968,000 living Americans entered the world on that date. (The original web page announcing these results is no longer online, but we oh-so-cleverly queried the Internet Archive Wayback Machine and found it.)

So why October 5? Just a random date? Perhaps, but Anybirthday has a theory: To be born on this date, a baby would most likely have been conceived on New Year's Eve.

The survey also found May 22 to be the least common birthday. As yet, no guesses as to what it is that happens in late August (nine months prior to that date) that routinely turns so many people off. Perhaps it's just too darn hot?

Tossing His Tacos

My poor baby is sick. I heard him fussing about on his monitor in the middle of the night, and I went upstairs to check on him. Ack! He'd thrown up all down the front of himself. Unfortunately, hubby was out of town, so I was flying solo with puke duty.

So, at about 1:00 a.m., I gave Nicholas a bath and changed him into new jammies. He fell back asleep on the floor of his room, so I was able to change his sheets and mattress pad and clean everything up. I carefully placed him back in his crib and headed back to bed.

Thankfully, I am a light sleeper. At about 3:00 a.m., I heard him fussing around again. He was making the telltale "I'm about to throw up" sound, so I ran upstairs and grabbed him out of his crib.....not fast enough, though! This time, some ended up on the wall behind the crib.

Once again, he had a bath and got new jammies. Instead of putting on new sheets on his crib mattress, I covered his mattress in huge beach towels -- about five of them! If he threw up, then it would make it easier to clean up. I could just remove that "layer" or towel and not have to completely redo it all.

That was it for the puke fest, however. The next day, I worked from home and kept Nicholas with me. He seemed pretty good, a little fussy. His appetite was decreased [to be expected!], but he kept it all down......