7 kids - 4 adults

That's the scope of the trick-or-treaters to our door tonight - I have TONS of candy - guess I will take it to work tomorrow. It is getting on towards 8 p.m. so I doubt that (m)any more will show up. (maybe it's the poem that scared them off.

And, the seven and four? Well, they HAD to come, of course. The grands and their parents came to retrieve the goodies that we had set aside for them.

First group was the Ladybug family . . .

It's Count Dezcula!

And Timothy Square Pants

joined by Tinker-Kinzie-bell

and the Great Zay-Zay Pumpkin himself!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Then the Lessa Household came to the door.

bwahahaha - it's Count Sean-cula!

Rock Star DivaMairi

and, last, but by NO means, least . . .

It's the Diva, herself . . . JessiAnna Dove!

Such delights they are. Hope your Halloween was fun and safe.

aaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnddddddddddddd . . . .

here are the Top 10 Signs You Are Too Old To Trick or Treat
10. You get winded from knocking on the door

9. You have to have another kid chew the candy for you

8. You ask for high fiber candy only

7. When someone drops a candy bar in your bag,
you lose your balance and fall over.

6, People say, "Great Boris Karloff Mask."
and you're not even wearing a mask.

5. When the door opens you yell, "Trick or....."
and can't remember the rest.

4. By the end of the night, you have a bag full
of restraining orders

3. You have to carefully choose a costume that
won't dislodge your hairpiece.

2. You're the only Power Ranger in the
neighborhood with a walker.

1. You keep having to go home to pee.

Small Town Granny – a Hallowe’en Tale
(C) by the PurpleMoose in her own name

Ghosties and Goblin swarm up to my door
to ask the Gramma for just one more
My candy and sweets are yours tonight
come closer, dearies, I will not bite . . .
. . . your fingers or even your tiny nose
Come into my house – what? No pretty bows?
You’re made up as clowns and telly-tubbies too!
Come closer, dearies, I’ve a message for you
I whisper to all who knock on my door
Come in, my sweets, come in for more
more candies and iced cakes and treats for you
No, dearie, no – I have much more in here for you
I’ll fatten you up until you are ready to burst
like Christmas pudding or juicy bratwurst
and when, my dearie, you look again at me
no little old granny will you then see.
When you’ve fattened and can no longer run
I’ll ROAST YOU and TOAST YOU until you are done . . .
. . . then the toe-meat from your chubby little pins
will melt in my mouth as grease runs down my chins.
No more will you wish for candies and cakes
when I’ve had my way with you – why, for goodness’ sake . . .
What? Why do you run from me in such haste?
Can’t I have just one little taste?
Ah well, looky here now, what do I see?
More Ghosties and Goblins coming to visit with me.

. . . my candy and sweets are yours tonight . . .

Posted by Purplemoose at 07:43 PM | Comments (4)

Drat! Missed it

One of my favorite things to do at this time of year when I was a kid was to go with my family to the Circleville (Ohio) Pumpkin Show. I haven't been for years, but I can still remember the feeling of walking through the dark night from the parking area towards the fairway in the center of town.

Fall has a delightful smell to it . . . crisp, dead leaves crunching underfoot bring a mixture of odors and sounds. The smell of burning leaves (back then that is how they were disposed of - big burn piles) hung low in the air . . . Children's squeals as they jumped into freshly raked piles . . . the smell of the wind as it plucked at your too-thin coat . . .

And, then there was the Pumpkin Show. The closer we would get to the fairway, the more intense the odors would become. We could find just about anything we could think of made of pumpkin. There was pumpkin pie, of course . . . including the "World's Largest Pumpkin Pie", which this year is touted as being "Bigger than ever!!!" You might ask what goes into such a pie and what comes out . . . well, according to the site it weighs 400 pounds and is 6 feet in diameter. The ingredients are: 100 lbs. cooked pumpkin, 40 pounds of sugar, 15 dozen eggs, 26 gallons of milk, 42 lbs. of pie dough. Yumm! And cooking time? 6 hours to bake.

I'm just wondering who in the world has a pie tin that big, huh?

Other treats available were pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin cotton candy, pumpkin candy, pumpkin fudge, pumpkin burgers, pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin! Yumm!

ooh - hey, there be recipes there, too.

As with any fair, there were midway games, parades, queen pageants, music, rides, etc. Much great fun.

Sorry I missed it - but glad I remember it.

'night, friends.
>..<

Pollsters

Hubby took two calls from political pollsters last night - Alaska is in the midst of an ugly (and getting uglier) US Senate election campaign.

After he left to go to a meeting I settled in to watch a bit of mindless tv. The phone rang again and the following conversation took place:

May I speak with Mr. Moose?

I'm sorry - he is not home.

May I speak to any other male of voting age in the household?

Sorry, he's the only one.

Thank you . . . . sounds of rustling and then I call the youngster back to the phone . . .

Wait a minute . . . you know I probably would not have answered your questions, but don't you think that it is rather sexist to only ask for males?

Sorry, ma'am. We only need male responses. We have enough women already.

Well, humpf!! I say as I hang up on the young upstart.

And, then I begin to laugh - because, unbeknownst to these earnest and sincere young folk, my hubby is playing mind games with each and every pollster who calls to speak with him. He gives half answers, changes his candidate depending on his emotion at the moment, gives Mickey Mouse the nod more often than not, and generally has fun at their expense.

How their stats must stack up is beyond me. He sounds so very sincere when he is doing it and they (mostly) buy it hook, line, and sinker.

And, all I have to say is this . . . November 2 canNOT come soon enough for me. I am so tired of the hype on tv and radio for one candidate or another . . . for this side or that of the marijuana issue . . . for this side or that of the bear baiting issue . . . and for the local state election issues as well. Sigh.

And, did you know this? FCC regulations require tv and radio stations to bump advertisers in the event that a US congressional candidate might want advertising. A lot of the local candidates are up in arms over that. Advertising is hard enough to come by because of all of the spots already purchased by the biggies . . . and then to know that they will likely be bumped should one or the other decide to further denigrate the other - or to refute denigration from their opponent.

I repeat - November 2 canNOT come soon enough for me. ;-)

Have a great weekend everyone - and, when the next pollster calls, play with 'em a bit before you let 'em go. An old Alaska favorite pasttime - Hook and Release.

I live in Alaska, I make my own fun.

coming next entry (hopefully) links to some sites that daughter Lessa has been developing. In the meantime, here are her two newest that are fully up and ready to go:

J and R Limousine

Xtreme Wildlife Magazine (not necessarily work-safe - guess that depends on where you work, eh?)

The kid does some good work, doesn't she? She's fast and she's good and she's not all that expensive. Go on over and take a gander - and hire her, too. ;-)

the above message was brought to you with extreme pride and prejudice

1st of the year

School program that is. Miss Jessi's kindergarten class put on a show all about insects tonight. We got to see birds . . .

by the way, all of the kids made their own headgear showing who or what they were. She's a bird, of course. A pretty smug looking bird.

Poems and songs about insects delighted us all -

The birds made noise. Jessi's whistle had water in it to make the whistle. Very cute. (by the way - the baby in the foreground - born just yesterday! And, yes, that is a biiiiigggg newborn - 9# 10 oz.!))

We heard about the old woman who swallowed a fly - I don't know why she swallowed a fly . . . . and about the spiders who invited the various insects to come for dinner - but of course, the birds accepted that invitation.

And, we got to learn about how many parts insects might have - demonstrated in dance . . . head, thorax, ab-do-men . . .

Mrs. (Ladybug) Bryson was the ab-do-men in Jessi's group - Jessi was the head and her sister, Mairi, was the thorax.

These programs are always so cute - the kids are always so boisterous - the parents (and grandparents) are always so delighted - the teachers are always so patient. This is just the first in a long line of programs this year, I'm sure.

We have one pre-schooler, two kinders, one third grader, one fifth grader, and one 7th grader this year. Somebody pass me a cushion, please.

Well and truly loved . . .

That is how I feel whenever I receive a hug from one of my grands. Just now the 12 year old boy came and gave me a bear hug. Ooompf! But I love it. Great kids, these grands of mine. I so enjoy them.

Today was Miss M’s shopping trip. She chose a cute top that was on sale instead of a toy. She is growing up so fast – they all are. She is past my shoulders in height now and the previously mentioned boy is as tall as I – if not a wee bit taller. Oh, my!

Their cousin, the youngest in the whole clan, surprised his mama yesterday by saying, well, by saying “Mama” whenever she put him down in his bed. We, of course wondered how dast she put the young princeling down, of course. I also wondered why in the world that child was crying “Mama” when he should have been crying “Nani”, but I guess it is only fair, since she has the goods that he needs.

And, speaking of “the goods” . . . I know that you all know by now that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. A friend sent me the following in an email yesterday. It’s a cute way of reminding all of us to get those special tests done . . . so, read, and then go on out and

Get Your Mammies Grammed . . ..

For years and years they told me,
Be careful of your breasts.
Don’t ever squeeze or bruise them.
And give them monthly tests.

So I heeded all their warnings,
And protected them by law.
Guarded them very carefully,
And I always wore my bra.

After 30 years of astute care,
My gyno, Dr. Pruitt,
Said I should get a mammogram
“OK,” I said, “let’s do it.”

“Stand up here real close,” she said,
(She got my breast in line),
“and tell me when it hurts,” she said,
“Ah yes! Right there, that’s fine.”

She stepped upon a pedal,
I could not believe my eyes!
A plastic plate came slamming down
My breasts were in a vise

My skin was stretched and mangled,
From underneath my chin.
My poor breast was being squashed,
To Swedish pancake thin.

“Take a deep breath,” she said to me.
Who does she think she’s kidding?!?
My chest is mashed in her machine,
And woozy I am getting.

“There, that’s good,” I heard her say,
(the room was slowly swaying)
“Now let’s have a go at the other one.”
Have mercy, I was praying.

It squeezed me from both up and down,
It squeezed me from both sides.
I’ll bet SHE’s never had this done
To HER tender little hide.

Next time they make me do this,
I will request a blindfold.
I have no wish to see again,
My body parts getting steam rolled.

If I had no problem when I came in,
I surely have one now.
If there had been a cyst in there,
It would have gone “ker-pow!”

-----------

and, now that you have all had your laugh . . .

go have your breasts checked out and stay healthy!

Pass the message on to your mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts, cousins, friends – and even your enemies –

--because the WORST enemy is Breast Cancer!
--------------
p.s.
Okay - sorry, but I canNOT resist . . .
Intelligent Riddle.

::snort::

Lettin' go

and watching them grow . . . .

hard enough when they are littles. But when it is your partner, well, that's a little tougher.

It's my goal for this week.

>..<
-----------------------------------------------------
oh - a thank you to Memento Moron A Lesson from Lessons.
-----------------------------------------------------
Road trip Saturday - off to Anchortown. See you later, friends.

Credit where

Credit is due:

The following photo is of part of a group of young men who came to our agency last week. They were sponsored by BP and were taking part in the United Way Day of Caring. They are part of the local high school junior varsity football team.

Oh, I should tell you what the two in the back are doing. Such inventiveness. They found a kids' sled and filled it with leaves and schmutz and tossed it over the fence into the woods. They were ingenious - they held onto the rope and then hauled the sled back up and over to their side of the fence afterwards in order to refill it.

Now, their coach does not want me to send their photo to the local paper. He wants to build character in the young men and says that getting publicity is not why they do such things each year. So, I had to agree not to send it to the paper.

But you know, these were some of the most polite 14 and 15 year old kids I have met in a long while. They said "Yes, Ma'am" and "No, Ma'am" and smiled quite a bit even as they worked.

I took a group photo of all of them (for their sponsor) and made them all smile when I said "repeat after me . . . . I have a girlfriend." Big grins from all of them on that.

Nice kids. Hope you have some of the same type in your area. I'm sure that you do.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In other news . . .

the "easy" way to get your 10,000 steps in. Yeah, easy, that's right.

Ran into acquaintances at breakfast Saturday morning. They shared that a local group was starting a walking program utilizing a church's gym from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Erm, yeah, you read that right - 7 a.m.

So, bright and early this morning - at the crack of blackest morning - I jumped out of bed and threw on my exercise togs. Okay, "jump" is a relative term. But, I was up and ready before the radio station played the second song. I'd laid out my things the night before - including a change of clothes for work and shower supplies and towels. My bag was packed and I was ready to go . . . .

Across town a little ways - and I was the first one there. Before I could get the car in park, however, my friends pulled up, also, and opened the doors.

We walked the perimeter of the gym and on an upstairs loop as well, so even got in some "stairs" activity. Well, they did. I went up and stayed up there until I was ready to come down for a cool down period.

Walked for almost an hour - 4 ten minute laps (reversing direction every ten minutes) upstairs, then down the steps and cool down laps for about 15 minutes. Did some stretches and then went in to the shower area. Very nicely done - two showers, with curtains even! Lockers available if wanted. Large mirror for fixing of hair and makeup if wanted.

And, when I left I had walked over 7000 steps - before 9 a.m.!!! Looks like I am finishing the day with nearly 12,000 steps. Woot! And, oh my oh my . . . . the endorphin rush after I was done!!!! Oh, yeah, baby. I'm going back Thursday, Lord willing.

Did get a tad stiff at work, though. Had to remind myself to get up and move around. If I sat in my chair (working on the computer, of course) for too long, when I did stand up I had to teeter for a moment or two to get everything loosened up again. May be a bit sore tomorrow. But, I'll be back for more on Thursday.

So, that is my exciting news from Alaska. Hope that your day was a great one - and that your Wednesday will be a fine one, too.
>..<

Just in time

Hope you get lots of balloons and some flowers and a low-calorie cake! Have a happy birthday.
>..<

A little bit early

but I think I am safe enough - most of my "three faithful readers" have probably gone on to bed by now . . . hopefully the one for whom I have been counting down will have at any rate. For the rest of you who might be peeking in late on Thursday night . . . . I'll let you in on a little secret . . .

Yup, it is our favorite "girly girl" artiste's birthday on Friday, October 8th. Have a happy one, Lo.

>..<

Ummm still counting down

Two more days - nope, Ladybug, sorry - that's not it. (although I just might make that appointment for Saturday - I have to work this Friday).

Saw the doctor today and we went over my xrays so she could tell me what is happening with my neck and why I am having trouble with my arm and shoulder.

Even I, with my untrained eye, could see the problems with my neck on the films. I have no curve in my neck - we are supposed to have a curve towards the front - mine is mostly straight, although around the 6th and 7th vertabrae it is curving backwards a titch. That's not a good thing.

In addition I have osteoarthritis developing with little calcium projections beginning to impinge on the disks there as well.

And, if you will check out the photo on this page you can see what represents the nerves coming from the vertabrae. On the x-rays you don't see the nerves, but you see the holes from which they come. Mine are starting to close up - from the osteoarthritis. This can't be fixed - no way that a doctor can go in there and burr out those holes without damaging the nerves. ;-/

Soooooooooooooo we are going to try to get rid of the inflamation in the disks and get some curvature back into the neck and get the spine all realigned and holding in place. ;-)

Today I spent 15 minutes in neck traction. Yup, that was fun. Well, it wasn't uncomfortable - in fact I felt better afterwards and had a lot less pain in my arm. So, I think we are on the right track.

I go back Friday and will have another massage therapy treatment - didn't get one of those today due to the time spent going over the xrays. After that we will decide on a long range treatment plan. (including projected cost for budgeting purposes - my insurance will only cover a portion of it).

Soooooooooo - how was YOUR day? ;-))

All in all mine was peachy keen.

'night, friends.

(pssstttt - did I say - only TWO more days)

Yup I did

Nah, it's not too early hereabouts. We hold our city and borough elections at this time of the year. I actually voted absentee last week - but the election was today.

Our ballots were pretty short - not too much in our town to vote on. Looks like it was a fairly decent turnout - not ideal, of course, but decent nonetheless.

Watched the Veep debate tonight. And, I came away with the same feelins as with the first presidential debate: I doubt anyone who watched either debate will come away changing their minds about who will garner their vote in four weeks. I don't think that either side will convince those on the other side to come and join them.

It's just not in us humans to do that old switcheroo if we are party animals.

I have my own private feelings on both of the debates held thus far. However, as they are private, I will keep them to myself. There are enough blog-pundits out there - some with catchier words than I could form - some not so catchy. However, that is their thing and this is mine. ;-)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
ummmmm - only 3 more days . . . .

yes, you'll have to wait (three more days) to see whatever the moosie might mean by that. However, you are free to take a guess if you like. (heh)

Strengthen the Good

Click the button below and follow the link to the latest Strengthen the Good "micro-charity". Read about Debi Faris' Garden of Angels. Check it out and help if you can.

I noticed on neat thing as I read about this tonight - the STG page suggests that you go directly to Debi's page, read up on the Garden of Angels and, instead of donating through STG's page where p-a-y- p-a-l takes a portion of the money, giving directly through Debi's page.

As with anything of this sort - please, please - read up on it yourself and decide for yourself if this is something you can support. STG is simply about raising awareness of different charities - different causes - and then allowing you and I to choose where we can best Strengthen the Good in our own hearts.

Have a great week, m'friends.