This pumpkin has been in my family for years... and I am tickled that it's sitting in my own yard right now! I can't recall the exact day that we got it, but I was a child. It's actually a plastic toy box w/a light inside! My parents live in the country, so we never really saw many trick-or-treaters. But every year, that pumpkin sat out on our deck, big and bright. No one else had one, and I was so proud of it. I also can't remember the day that my mom stopped putting it out - maybe late high school or when I went off to college. So it's been in the attic for at least 10 years.

I caught a glimpse of it this past weekend when I was visiting. I almost dismissed it, b/c it was WAY too small to be that big and bright pumpkin from years ago... but it was THE pumpkin. It's hard to believe at one time I could actually fit inside of it! I mentioned it to my mom and she urged me to take it, ON LOAN (haha), for this week. I gladly accepted. It's even got the same little lamp we used in it back then!

Of course this "family antique" has finally put me in the mood to give out candy... but not for too long this year. It's definitely nice and chilly out like it used to be when I was growing up!

Awesome Message

http://www.godtube.com/view_video?viewkey=139f9c4c0036b123ee12
I think we can all relate to this skit... it gives me chills and puts tears in my eyes. Watch it!

Trick or Treat

I'm debating not giving out candy this year... call me crazy or just plain lazy. Is that bad?

My husband won't be here, which depresses me - this is his favorite time of year and he doesn't even get to celebrate in his Michael Myers costume! I've included a pic from last year, b/c it's just too great, haha!

I don't know... maybe I will. It's fun until you run out of candy too quickly and/or you start getting teenagers. I'll never forget the first Halloween in our house - I opened the door and looked UP to see Donald Trump standing on my doorstep. When candy grabbers are taller than you are, it's a bit ridiculous, don't you think?

H2O

Not going to write about the drought and the recent announcements that we only have 120 days of water left in Atlanta... and there's no need to get into how outrageous it is that GA's water is going to 2 states that don't even have water restrictions... it's absurd! I'm starting to thoughtfully turn off the water while showering, while people are still watering their lawns?!!! It has made me wonder if we'll really get down to a point when an announcement is made that there are only 5 days... 4 days ... 3 days ... 2 days ... 1 day left of water. WHAT are we gonna do?!!! It's going to be absolute chaos people! Of course, this made me remember a time that I was without water. So I thought I'd blog about it, for entertainment purposes. This story is called Hurricane Wilma.

Picture it - Fall - 2005... (Lil' Golden Girls humor there, haha.) My husband was hopeful and persistent that we keep to our travel plans... a 9 day Caribbean cruise leaving out of FL... despite the many warnings and predictions of a hurricane. With tons of hesitation on my part, we headed on down to Ft. Lauderdale, 2 days before the storm. The town was empty and businesses were boarding windows - this did not phase my husband, who nonchalantly assured me that everything was going to be fine, that it wasn't going to be as bad as they were saying. You know it though, just as predicted, it hit. I can remember watching the weather channel, right before the power went out. We were right above the eye, which was not good! We charged our cell phones and waited. Was a scary time, wondering how much damage was going to occur. We were on the top floor of our hotel, rain leaking in through the windows, no power, watching power lines zap and trees fall. We quickly moved down to a lower floor in the midst of all this. After a few hours, the winds and rain subsided, and there we were. No cell phone signal, stranded at a hotel with no power and no water. It was one of those situations where you go to sleep and dream things are normal... but you wake up to realize you're still in the middle of a nightmare! I remember the hotel opening up the kitchen, but there wasn't much to eat... I ate dry cereal mostly. I think we had 2 or 3 bottles of water that we rationed. We took our trash cans down to the pool and got water, to fill our toilet tanks for flushing. Feeling stranded with no way out is THE WORST. Long story short, we were stuck there for 2 more days before we hitched a ride with 5 other strangers to Orlando. What would have normally been a 3 hour drive took over 6 because everyone was headed north. Can you imagine?!!! The only "good" thing we could take from all that was being able to tell the story. On a side note, we took another cruise days later and caught the tail end of another tropical storm, haha. We were NOT meant to travel that year!!! I'm so glad I can laugh about it now.

All that to say I do NOT want to experience a complete water wipe out... you just don't ever consider something like that happening. I pray for rain, and I pray that the leaders who can make a difference DO make a difference.

Good News for PR Lovers!

I was misinformed! Instead of having to wait till December, we only have to hold out until November 14th! YAY! I was so excited to see this in a mag yesterday! Not that I don't have enough shows occupying me now... I'm keeping up with the Bachelor, House is good, I'm getting into Private Practice, The Office is great as always, and Grey's is awesome! As if that's not enough, my guilty pleasure is Gossip Girl - who knew?!!! I've seriously got to get a life! :) Haha, speaking of too much time in front of the tube, it's time for Desperate Housewives - yep, I watch that one, TOO!!!

Turning 30

Been meaning to write my thoughts about starting this new chapter in my life, the 30s...

I just turned 30 on Sunday - "30 on the 30th" - I thought that was pretty neat, along with getting to spend a long weekend with my twin sister, the other birthday girl, and my mom. We had about as good a time as humanly possible, and I couldn't have asked for anything more!

I didn't really "notice" that I was about to hit 30 - wasn't depressed or feeling like I needed to bask in every last moment of being a 20-something - wasn't really thinking about it at all in the days and weeks before my birthday. Perhaps all my energy was wrapped around my lil' getaway with my mom and sister. I don't think THIRTY really hit me until yesterday. I was looking through my hometown's newspaper and for some reason, it just occurred to me that I was not in my 20s anymore - that I was even MORE of an adult now. I thought back to college, and how I'd pictured myself at 30: married with at least one child, probably two; free of debt; maybe/hopefully owning my first brand new car; good job; nice house. I started to feel bad, thinking about not being a mom yet, but then I realized: I have a husband who is crazy about me, I have great credit, I've put a huge dent in my school loan, I love my home, and I have a new vehicle! I'm so tremendously blessed, and the only thing I can feel "bad" about is not giving more praises to God on a daily basis.

So, all of that said, I refer back to my life list down there and pray I make a real effort to accomplish and experience those things I desire for myself. Turning 30 is a good thing. It is a new chapter of my life, and I'm excited about that!