I have a cold. I am tah-red. I just want to go to bed, but I’m a little bit afraid. No, I’m not afraid because tomorrow is the first day of NaBloPoMo. My concern is how I will awaken in the morning. Will my neck or shoulder be stiff and sore? Possibly. When that happens, I just attribute it to sleeping in a strange position. What I can’t explain are the mysterious bruises of unknown sources, heretofore known as BOUS’s. The BOUS’s must come from injuries in my dreams. I should be careful what I watch on tv before bed each night. Either that or I live in Disney world. This morning? This morning I woke up and my toe was bleeding. I have absolutely no explanation for that one. My blanket is just not that scratchy. I didn’t dream I was Charlie Brown. How can I relax and sleep tonight? Maybe I should just stay awake all night and rescue the children from some of their Halloween sugar. Maybe Doug needs to protect me in my dreams.

While Doug wallows in self-pity over blown up van tires, he neglected to sing about two things that made us smile today. First, Sarah’s phone that has been missing for several weeks has been found. It was found under the bed in the hotel where Sarah slept during a band competition. It was found by a guest, which means the cleaning staff NEVER cleans under the beds. Hooray for honest people who go the extra mile to find out who owns a phone instead of keeping or tossing it. The second unexpected joy was the High School’s after graduation party planners have agreed to set-up a LAN area for all the gamers who are graduating in May. This makes me happy, happy, happy. LAN Club has been Tommy’s only club or activity during his entire school career. It has brought him joy and allowed him to interact with NT peers. Tommy won’t go to Prom and he wouldn’t have gone to the graduation party, but with a LAN area . . . he will be excited about attending a school event. Now, I need to figure out how the family will celebrate Tommy’s achievement. Thinking . . .

Since everything happens in threes, I know there’s another good thing coming. I’m going to focus on that instead of getting an early start on the Christmas problems.

Don’t all Kindergarteners know about blogging?

My stage blood recipe is a mix of glycerin, food coloring and chocolate syrup. I think I need something less staining for Halloween.

FYI - I am stunned at the number of people who have NOT seen Shaun of the Dead. An intervention must be planned.

While spending an inordinate amount of time shopping for anything non-Croc that Evan would allow on his feet, we crossed paths with another couple searching for shoes for their toddler. Every time I glanced anywhere near the other mother, I would find myself staring and divert to looking at the ground. Look at the shoes. Glance on another rack and see the other mother. Count the piercings. Wonder why she chose that hair color. Staring again. Look at the ground. Look at other people’s shoes. Glance at sale shoes. Accidentally walk past other mother. Wonder how she could walk in her shoes. She’s bending over and I can see the huge tattoo on her lower back and I’m staring again. Look at the ground. Her husband stepped in my line of sight and I breathed a sigh of relief. Relaxed, I looked around to find Doug and located him just as the other mother’s husband saw him. He whispered in her ear and pointed at Doug, “Will you let me dress like that?” Her pierced lips replied quickly “*#@^ no!”

Newscoma and Cuppa Joe are celebrating Halloween with scary movies this weekend. I’m not a big fan of horror films. Life is scary enough. I’ve had to deal with real gore and know that I react on auto-pilot until the crisis passes and then collapse into a puddle of weeping goo. Why would I deliberately make myself feel uncomfortable? If I get sucked into watching something creepy, Doug knows he’s going to spend the night being awakened every few minutes and sent to look for the source of every noise I imagine hearing. Still, I do have a few guilty pleasures that fall under the Halloween category. Some scary, some campy and some that are just plain embarrassing. My Halloween movie fest includes:
Ghost Story
The Lady in White
Shaun of the Dead
The Frighteners
Poltergeist
Fright Night
Lost Boys
An American Werewolf in London
House

The bugs at our house don’t believe in fall. They are still out in force, denying the imminent cold.
Evan: “Ew! Fly! Yucky! Eeeeek!”
Amy: “It’s alright Evan. Flies don’t bite. I’ll kill it for you.”
Amy chases the fly until it is trapped and proceeds to squash it. With her bare hands.
Amy: screaming “It bit me! I’m bleeding! Ow-ow-ow!”
Doug and I look and tell her she’s fine. Her screaming and howling get louder. Doug takes her in the bathroom and washes the fly remains from her hands before disposing of the dead fly. Amy continues to cry.
Amy: “It hurt real bad. Daddy washed off the blood but it still hurts.”
Mom: “I think you are feeling the fly’s pain.”
Amy: “The fly doesn’t feel anything Mommy. It’s dead.”