Happy Halloween

As you already know, we're in Disney for Halloween. OMGosh! It has been so much fun. Of late, I have been complaining about how expensive Disney is. This is the first time that we've stayed at one of their "economy" resorts. It's hard to believe that price-wise this is economy. Disney is just plain expensive. But, I do regret staying on the "economy." We love Disney and have really missed the "perks" that I didn't realize only came with the "deluxe" resorts--like--the ability to go to any of the parks with early or late hours. And, although our rooms are "cute"--they are nothing compared to the deluxe rooms. 

Okay, enough of that. Let's just say we're spoiled! Oh--and our room is a quarter mile from the main building where you have to go for everything. Seriously. I logged 9.3 miles the very first day! 

Upon arrival on Tuesday, we got on the bus for Disney Springs and had lunch--$350 worth! That was for 7 of us. One thing you can always count on--Disney food is excellent--and huge portions. Butch and I always share. 

After lunch, we had a little time to browse the shops before going back to the Art of Animation resort where we were staying. We had to change in to our Halloween costumes before heading to the Magic Kingdom. We had tickets for "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween" starting at 7 p.m. However, the price of $112 per person allowed us to enter the park at 4 p.m. 

We all dressed up. From left, Juston and Mindy were characters from Toy Story--he the pizza man, she--the alien:

Then you have Butch and I as Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head. Stephanie is Winnie the Pooh and Nicky is Christopher Robin down to his red tennies! Greg is Wall-E and Sandy is Eve:

Our costumes were secrets from each other. It was so much fun. We wore them on Halloween (today) too.

Back to the party. So, when we got to the park, we got our bracelets that says we're part of the party, Then we got our trick or treat bag. We were able to just about walk on every ride. There was a special Halloween parade that started with the "Headless Horseman."

When we were ready to start trick or treating, I realized that I had lost my bag. Honestly, I felt like I was a little kid--the disappointment of it! I went to one place and told the guy that I had lost my bag. He asked me if I had a lot of candy, I admitted that I only had the two things that cane with the bag. Then he said he was going to start me off and gave me two big scoops! We only went to about 3 or 4 places and this was our haul!

OMGosh! This is more than I ever got as a kid!! And in case you have forgotten how I felt about candy, you can check out this post, This one goes all the way back to 2011. I still stand by it. It was always about the candy!

Okay, that's enough about Disney. Here are a couple other things I want to share:

Mindy and Justin made "stuffed pumpkins" for dinner and had a caramel apple for dessert,

How cute are those?

And now, for a public service reminder:

Have you voted? We have!

What I Buy Wednesday

Well, most of you who follow my blog will be happy to know that I am NOT on top of my Christmas shopping this year! I've barely begun. I'm already making some decisions that I'm not altogether happy with. I've always felt like giving "cash" is a "copout"! To me it sends the message that "you aren't worth taking the time to figure out the exact perfect gift for!" 

I'm at a loss. Everything is expensive. I'm to the point that I don't want to buy stuff just to have a ton of gifts to open. Even the little stuff adds up. So, this year, I'm doing it--giving cash. Especially for the grands. Girls are easy to buy for, but not the boys. So, we'll see how it goes. 

With that in mind, I went to Target on Monday--specifically to be the first to check out the new "Wicked" line of products they have out. Or maybe they don't. I've seen the ads on tv dozens of times already--only to find our Target (I've only been to one so this could be wrong) doesn't have any of it.

And, you know my relationship with Target--I broke up with "him" after last Christmas. In case you've forgotten, you can find that post here! I actually controlled myself. The store just didn't hold it's usual allure for me. So, without further ado, here are my "buys" this week:

On the left are the only two things I bought from Target. The cute little leaf plates sit on top of a cute, mini Christmas cake plate. Unfortunately, you can't see the red and white striped elf feet underneath. I have some fun things planned for Christmas so this will come in handy. It's a record--I got out of Target with only spending eight bucks!

On the other side are my Michaels buys. I have an idea for a centerpiece for my Dickens Party this year. And just like that, blink and I've spent another 56 bucks!!

Travel Tuesday

We were in Richmond, Virginia last week. It was our first time there. We visited 3 battlefields.

After traipsing through the battlefields and up and down through the woods, I realized that Butch said the same thing over and over---ALL day. Apparently, "Watch your step!" is his new "love" language! I posted on Facebook that I never thought it would come to this!

That evening, he took me to this restaurant: The Tobacco Company--which was actually in an old tobacco warehouse. It was so awesome with a fabulous ambience. He knows I love a tablecloth! And beautiful chandeliers! The food was fabulous! 

We shared the fried green tomatoes and we both had the crab bisque. They are known for their meatloaf, so he got that while I got a wedge salad. That turned out to be the best wedge salad I've every had. It had candied pecans and onion jam. It was so huge, I couldn't even finish it! I would love to go back, but that's unlikely.

As you are reading this, we are on our way to Disney. We're going for "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween" at the Magic Kingdom, The "Food and Wine Fest" at Epcot, and the 5K--which will be my first and last marathon! Sandy, Stephanie, Mindy and the boys are going too. We'll have fun for sure. I'm looking forward to getting a little relaxation at the pool. It's going to be hot!

Monday Mystery

When we were in Richmond, we stopped at Bojangles for lunch. When we finished, we cleared our table and proceeded to the trash receptacle. Then we saw this sign. 

I'm confused. Are you not supposed to clean your table?

Or, is this just a sarcastic, snarky way to get you to do it?

Either way, we did it ourselves. We're used to it. I guess it's just a mystery!

Something for Sunday

This post is appropriate for Sunday since it's church related.

So I’ve always professed to be an irreverent Catholic. Now I’m not really sure what that means, but to me it means, that I'm someone who believes in her faith, but doesn’t necessarily like all the pomp, circumstance, and extra stuff. 

Specifically, I don’t really like going to Mass—although we do it pretty consistently. We enjoy going to Mass in old churches while traveling and often do. But my dislike of going to church comes from going to Catholic school as a child, We had to go to Mass every single day! Actually, we had Saturdays off until the nuns would say on Monday morning, “We didn’t see you at Mass on Saturday”—in the scolding way those mean nuns had of showing their disapproval (in fairness, a few of them were nice). They knew that we lived about 5 houses down from church so we didn’t really have a good excuse not to go. We certainly couldn’t say we were watching cartoons! And, if you didn’t go on Sunday, you were going to HELL so skipping wasn't an option! Outside of Sunday and Holy Days which are obligations, it is hard for me to drag myself to extra Masses. 

That brings me to this past weekend we spent in Richmond, Virginia. We belong to an organization that, frankly, is a little too “churchy” for me, I feel like I’m a kid again with a dress code (black at all times—and dresses only. If I wanted that, I would have become a nun myself)! 

It’s just too much. There are other things I don’t like about it, but the main thing is all this going to church business! Had I known, I would never have joined, to begin with. But, here we are. There are times when I just can’t do it—like this past weekend at our annual meeting. 

I’ve been dreading it so much. Maybe now you will be able to understand me. I had to go to 3 different things at church. On Friday, the first one was a Memorial Mass for the deceased members of this group. It was 2 HOURS—okay, that includes bus time getting there and back. The actual service was an hour and a half.

And then there was Vespers. Vespers is a liturgy of evening prayer in Catholicism. I think it’s just another way to get you to go to church. That was ON THE SAME DAY as the Memorial Mass—and was from 4:15 to 7 p.m! That does include about 40 minutes of bus time. OMGosh! TWO THINGS ON THE SAME DAY IS JUST TOO MUCH! See what I mean? I’m just not that good of a Catholic. I never professed to be!

Prior to Vespers, there was a lecture on the Shroud of Turin. In case you don’t know what that is—it’s the burial cloth that Jesus was wrapped in. It’s a real thing and resides in Turin, Italy, The lecture was interesting with all the facts about how science has been able to authenticate it. Some of it was above my head. I’m mentioning that because I want to get credit for another hour and a half of some sort of “holiness!”

When I got back to the room, I told Butch that I wasn’t going to go to Vespers. He said, “Well it wouldn’t take much for me to skip it either!” Are you kidding me? Now I feel like Eve and influencing my husband to not do something we’re supposed to do. Needless to say, we didn’t go. But, in our defense, this wasn’t over yet.

Saturday was the Mass of the Investiture when new people are invested in the group. That was from 12:30-4:30—okay, that does include bus time and getting ready at the church to process in and pictures after. FOUR HOURS doing church related stuff. It’s just too much, I tell you! Too much. I think it's too much for others too because not everyone goes to every thing. I think I'm the only one willing to admit it.

But I made it through. Well, except for skipping Vespers. At least I’m good for another year now!

Scrapbook Saturday

1. So, I'm really loving my Cricut. It really is so easy. I paid 99 cents for this design and cut it.

I added "luncheon" to the bottom. I'm going to use it on my layout about Connie and Amanda's Halloween luncheon. Of course I'll be sharing the layout whenever I make it.

2. Here's another--I cut the riverboat to use for the title. It's our family vacation on the Rhine River Cruise. On the right is an insert I made--it's a few pages--shown below.

3. I cut the arch and lettering. There are thousands of free designs.

4. And this football!

The picture of the stadium that I put "game day" on is a Christmas card from the Titans a few years back. As for the football, I had this really cool textured--sort of like fabric paper.

Looks like leather to me!

5. I cut the glass and made the bloody Mary title too. And those olives too! So much fun. 

I didn't realize until I was preparing this post that I used the Cricut on every single layout. Of all the money I've spent on scrapbooking supplies and tools--seriously--I'm talking thousands of dollars--over the years, I'm finally getting my money's worth out of something!!

Friday Funnies

Ten Things Thursday

So, I'm taking a break from all of those lovely fall photos. 

1. The weather has been so beautiful that we've been able to resume our happy hours on the front porch.

As I was taking this picture, I noticed...

...that the geraniums look spectacular! They are so full and pretty. I love them and they are still going strong!

2. Stephanie and Nicky sent me this picture.

The beach is perfect at this time of year. Our favorite months are April, May, September and October. Not too hot nor too crowded. Just spectacular. They go down early and stay all day long! It's good to see that Nicky hasn't destroyed this cooler. He has a problem with them! Ha!

3. Matt sent me this picture.

My siblings: Matt, Jennifer and Janice. J & J are the twins but Matt and Janice look more like the twins in this picture. They don't color their hair.

4. My friend, Grenville, recommended this book. 

I had no idea that it is a huge comic book! Like 500 pages. I've barely started it, but it's definitely interesting. And very timely--given our upcoming election.

5. My brother, Matt sent me these pictures. 

He is quite the fisherman with a secret recipe for trout bait. He shared it with "the boys--Olly and Robbie" on our family vacation. They are also having much success with it!! Apparently, Matt and "the boys" are BFF's now! I love it. Matt's a sweetheart!

6. Another beach shot!

My friend, Diane! Everyone loves the beach at this time of year!

They bring their friends with them every year: from left, Grenville, Diane, Dave and Lyn. They are like Steph and Nicky--they go out in the morning and stay the whole day. Me, not so much. I'll do a few hours in the morning--okay, 2 and then hit the pool all afternoon!

7. So, on Tuesday, Nancy and I did our annual fall 6.5 mile hike. This is us at the end. I meant to take a picture before we started.

We go from her house to West Nashville, have lunch and then hike back. It's always so much fun. We do it in the fall and the spring before it's too hot or too cold. It's fun and strenuous. If we did it too often, it wouldn't be as much fun. It would just be work!

8. Well, I finally finished this pumpkin topiary needlepoint.

I've already done this one before. It was fun the first time--I gave that one to Sandy. And it was fun this time. It probably took me 6 months because I didn't work on it constantly. It could easily be completed in a month. I've taken it for framing and can't wait to get it back. It's spectacular. Here's the first one framed:

It's still one of my most favorite pieces. 

9. Morgan sent me this picture of her "boys"!

This is so darn cute: Joey, the middle boy, Marshall, in front, the baby and Finn in back the big brother! I just love that they all love to hang out together! How cute is that? Now that's a family picture--perfect for a Christmas card!

10. And finally...

I exercised my 19th Amendment right (women's right to vote)! It has never been more important than this year. 

That's it for this week. Next week, we'll be back to some beautiful fall photos!