Karma - Thanks CJane

Monday night I had FHE with Ann Dee's family and Kathy and River at the Bean Museum.

Afterwords I talked them into getting ice cream at the Cougareat rather than the Creamery on 9th ... so much less busy on a Monday night. So there I was at the ice cream counter looking like this:

and the girl in front of me was about to write a check for $1.25. I stepped in and paid for her purchase. I wasn't being nice, I just didn't want to wait for her to write the check cause I really wanted my ice cream. I put it on my signature card which comes out of my paycheck so it was like free money anyway, right?

Well ... a couple of days later, I ran into my good friend Courtney (CJANE) at Days Market and we walked around the store together chatting. I needed to buy a cake for a birthday party I was hosting that night and Courtney insisted on buying the cake for me, which by the way, cost more than $1.25. KARMA. What goes around comes around, so they say. Well I agree.

THIS CAKE IS SPONSORED BY CJANE

It was so nice and I told her in return for her kindness, I'd blog about the experience and let all my readers know that this cake was donated by cjanerun.com ... cause you know, I have lots of readers and she needs help in that department. ;)

In other news, tonight I went on a walk with Jewel. As I was helping her zip up her coat I said, "just be patient, I'll get the "bugger." She laughed and then said "well, if you're going to use that language, you might as well go all the way." So then I said, "ok, I'll get the s**&^#$d." We both laughed hysterically. It was a beautiful night for a walk.

Guess what I'm going to be for Halloween

Here is your clue:

Halloween 2009

COSTUME #1

Costume 5K at Kiwanis Park with some of the Divas


COSTUME #2

Can you tell?

Here is a hint ... I threw a Halloween with Hitchcock theme party

Here we are watching bits of Psycho ...
"Why won't you leave my boy, my Norman, alone?"

Here is Drew's cut from our karaoke number ... Total Eclipse of the Heart

NYC with Joe

Can you see me? Does this mean I'm famous?

Monday:

Joe’s driver picked us up from the airport and took us to our hotel in Manhatten.

Ate spaghetti and meatballs at Carmines - Joe left with both copies of the bill – guy came running after us

Saw Rock of Ages

Ran into some guy in Joe’s ward

Ate again at a really good Cajun restaurant with Joe's friend

Tuesday:

MORN: ran and ran and ran

Ran to Central Park, ran around Central Park for at least 3 miles

Ran to find the LDS temple

Ran from store to store

Ran to NBC store

Hotel to shower, and get dry – completely soaked

Lunch in Times Square

Hour and a half in TKTS line for discount tickets – got good seats for Next to Normal

Headed up to Letterman show – got my ticket, shopped a bit in the CBS store

Got to sit close enough to Courtney Cox’s mom that I made it on TV twice – when Dave climbed a ladder to give her flowers for her birthday.

Met up with Joe, walked around, sat and people watched at Times Square

Went to see Next to Normal

Wednesday:

Rain Rain Rain

Picked up another piece of my Halloween costume

Walked around

Subway

Hard Rock for lunch – Bono singing Sunday Bloody Sunday at Red Rock live – the old U2 rocked

Yankees pep rally in Times Square

Went to say hi to Rupert – missed him yesterday

5^th Ave – NBA store

Rockerfeller Square

What are you going to be Halloween for?

Van keeps asking me this question. And Ann Dee doesn't want me to correct him cause she thinks its cute.

When I told him I was going to be Superman he said No - he was going to be Superman.

I came back and said No - I'm going to be Superman. Then he got mad.

I only teased him cause I knew he was going to be this:


Anyway, I'm going to do this 5K on Halloween morning.
I'll be the really slow Superman.

My question to you: What are you going to be Halloween for (or your kid for that matter)?

Ghosts of Halloween Past

Oh so cute...

Can you find me? I wasn't too happy that day for some reason.

This wasn't really a Halloween costume. I played Aunt Polly in the Wasatch production of Tom Sawyer

This was my disco queen outfit

8th Grade - remember last year's Halloween post

Junior in high school


Senior in high school

1996

2000

Last night - Halloween 2008

We went to the BYU volleyball game and used Drew's condition as an excuse to get good seats where we could see the world's best ball boy in action. Check out his moves...

What is more scary? Rollercoasters or Scary Movies?

The other day Dan told me that I'm missing out on a big part of life because I don't like roller coasters. I told him that I was missing out on a lot of big parts of life but roller coasters is not one of those that I'm all that concerned about.

I know many people who would way rather ride a scary ride than watch a scary movie.

Not me, I do not like to physically feel like I am going to die. I rather like the creepy feeling of being spooked.

Larry doesn't really like either. He once walked down the middle of Center Street at night by himself so he could stay in the street lights because he was so scared after seeing Dracula.

The only movie that I have ever watched that actually woke me up because of a bad dream was this one:

Scary movies I remember watching as a kid:

• Watcher in the Woods
• Cujo
• Lady in White
• When a Stranger Calls (the original)

Classic Scary Movies (that I've seen):

• Psycho
• The Shining
• Wait until Dark
• Room with a View
• North by Northwest
• Charade
• Jaws
• Arachnophobia
• Rosemary's Baby
• Cape Fear
• Silence of the Lamb
• Exorcist
• Halloween
• Carrie
• Night of the Living Dead
• Blair Witch Project
• Misery
  

Really dumb scary movies:

• The Grudge
• The Ring
• When a Stranger Calls (remake)
• What Lies Beneath

This Halloween I'm going to watch the Changeling (the original) and I'm excited cause I hear it is good. What do ya'll think about my list? Am I forgetting any?

She's back ...

Click here

And Soopy was his name OH

When I was a Freshman at BYU I took an oil painting class and one of our assignments was to paint something from our childhood. I painted a picture of Soopy - my most vivid memory. I would walk home from Wasatch Elementary and this dog would stand on the balcony of my neighbor's home and bark at me. I was too scared to walk by him so I would turn and walk all the way around the block to avoid him.

This painting hangs on the wall above the toilet in my guest bathroom.

The following exerpt was taken from my personal history that I put together for my mom and dad for Christmas:

When I was little there was a girl who was two years older than me that lived across the street named LB. Ann Dee and I played with her and she would always have this dumb little dog with her named Soopy. Soopy was not her dog, it was another neighbor’s dog and I was terrified of him. I hated Soopy and he would always bark at me. LB thought it was funny and so she would say, “sick her” all the time and I really thought that Soopy was going to "sick me". Whenever we played with LB, I’d make Ann Dee go over there first and then call me at 377-9083 and let me know if Soopy was there or not. Then I’d go over if it was safe. My mom used to make Ann Dee and I take some meat cuttings to Susan Ream’s dogs. She lived on Briar and that was seriously the scariest thing in the world to me because although she never let her dogs near us they would come to the door and bark when we rang the doorbell and they were BIG dogs. I HATED HATED HATED doing that but my mom was all about facing your fears.

The other morning on my walk with Larry these two dogs were let out I'm sure to go pee or something and they came running over to me and started barking and jumping up on me. I froze, closed my eyes, grabbed Larry by the arm and started saying, "Save me, save me". I was terrified.

That very day at work my student employees at the museum (the ones who give the live animal shows) were joking about how they were going to sneak a snake into my office. I overheard them and I proceeded to give them a big lecture about being sensitive to people's phobias - I even told them the story of my walk with Larry and about the dogs that jumped up on me. I could tell that they didn't really relate.

When I was a missionary, the first thing I always told my new companions was that they were responsible to keep the dogs away from me whenever we went into a home with dogs. Luckily I never had a companion that was as scared of dogs as I was so this plan worked.

This photo was copied from Naomi's blog

My favorite all time movie is the Sound of Music. I think I like it so much because I could always relate to the song "My Favorite Things". Remember the line ... "when the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad ...".

It was months before I finally went over to Sam's house when they first got their dog, Roxie.

I'm starting to wonder if this is a problem that I need to face. I have a hard time feeling compassion for people who are sad about the passing of their pets. I mean they tell me that their dog was a member of their family but I really just don't get that - it's a dog. I know this is a controversial subject so please don't be offended. When Vega died on Halloween and I sorta joked a bit about it at a work meeting, I could tell that some of my student employees at the Bean (the hard core animal lovers) did not appreciate my humor. It seems that I need to be a bit more sensitive too.

One of my friends told me recently that I needed to get a dog so I could learn to be more affectionate. While this plan may work just think how gross that would be. I might learn to be more affectionate but then what? I start hugging everyone while I'm all covered in dog hair? SICK!

Remember that being offended is a choice especially when no offense is intended.

Do I have a problem?

Halloweenie ...

This is my favorite part of Halloween. Who needs creativity when your main goal is to eat these?

Today as I walked from the Bean to the McKay and back - I saw various "zoobies" dressed up like pirates, football players, speed skaters, and cowboys etc. I don't know if anyone could tell what I was. Here is a hint:












New Subject: Trick or Treating
This is the best age to go - old enough to go without adults, young enough that the people behind the doors aren't annoyed.

Today as my mom and I were leaving to come out to see some cute kids and their costumes, we took a drive down University to see all the Trick or Treaters in the shops. It was so cool - Provo felt like a big city. It made my mom cry. I asked her why she was crying and she said becuase, "They are so cute and their parents are so cute."



Now that Halloween is over, it is time say goodbye to these:



and Vega. Yes Vega chose the spookiest day of the year to leave this life and the Museum's live animal show rotation. I guess she wasn't made for the big time. This is the report I got from my student employee in charge of the live animals:

"I'm sorry to tell you that Vega is no longer with us. She passed away sometime last night. I think she may have had what the first salamander had, because they both had raw bellies. The rawness seems to be exhibited right before or post mortem, because when i saw her yesterday her skin wasn't raw, but she was shedding. This past week she became lethargic and wouldn't eat, and she kept scratching. I thought at the time it was just because she was shedding, the snakes act the same way, but seeing as she is now dead, I see a correlation between her behavior and the first salamander. The first one never moved and always hid, and when we found him he had raw underbelly skin. I had just put Vega on towels last night because I wanted to change her dirt to see if that was affecting her. It wasn't because of the cage though, the first salamander was kept in an aquarium. I'm going to see if I can find anything online, and I have contacted Dr ---------. I will let you know as soon as I find anything out."

RIP Vega.

It is not time to say goodbye to these:





I asked Tyson (Captain Jack Sparrow) and Luke (the Black Power Ranger) if they knew who has candy at their house every day of the year and they both answered, "Katy does". I must keep my place as #1 favorite aunt. Who am I kidding - I keep the candy around for intuitive eating purposes.

Other cute kids that I made an effort to see in their costumes:






I tried hard to get Ann Dee to let Van be this:


But then he'd be a Halloweenie.


PS - In light of my last post, this is what I dressed up as for Halloween in 8th grade.



PPS - My mom had to comfort my dad because he gets scared at Halloween and she doesn't. She grew up in a mortuary after all.

Oh and one more thing - I mentioned the Bean and Halloween (hey that rhymes) earlier. Well, check this out.