Lessons Learned in October

Happy Last Day of October! Most call it Halloween; I prefer "costume day" or "trick-or-treat day." As always, the month flew by and I'm catching my breath before a busy afternoon handing out candy to the children who visit Charlie Barnes to share 10 things I learned this month.

Do NOT leave a carved pumpkin on your porch step. Apparently it looked delicious to a 4-legged creature (deer?) and the next morning the face was missing! My hubby had worked so hard on it and I never even snapped a picture of the finished product. I did take a picture of the monogramed pumpkin he made for my nephew’s rehearsal dinner. Given that our name is CARVER, he has natural carving talent.

If you live at the end of the island buying candy is cheaper.

Halloween has changed at my house now that my kids are all in their twenties. A decade  ago I had four kids figuring out costumes, cookies to bake for class parties, candy to buy for the entire town (it seemed as if EVERYONE came trick-or-treating to our former neighborhood...we had policemen making rounds and at one point I counted over 700 kids coming to our door!) Now only one child and I need to dress up for work and I bought two bags of candy. I was smart and bought candy I don't like so I won't eat the leftovers~a tip I read on the Weight Watcher's website.

Weight Watchers requires math skills. Everyone who knows me, knows I hate math! (Except math skills taught to preschoolers, Kinders and 1st graders.) My man and I joined Weight Watchers online two weeks ago after returning from our Indiana trip. Keeping track of my allotted daily points requires some adding and subtracting~sometimes even problem solving. If I have a Margarita with my girlfriend does that mean I’ve blown my free points and it’s not even the weekend? I have developed a bit of self control and am learning to make healthier choices. I’ll let you know how I’m doing next month. 

I am officially kind of old. Case in point; several people I work with who are much younger than me had no idea what I was talking about when I said I was dressing up like "Calamity Jane". (Did they not, at least, watch Toy Story 2 and meet Woody's girlfriend? Oh, that came out in 1999...) Also, I am experiencing Personal Tropical Vacations without leaving the room so I'm often stripping off layers, I need that fan pointed at me every night and a tiny one to work, I'm forgetting simple things...what was I writing about?? Can anyone over 50 relate?...

I should have bought that Bissell Carpet Cleaner years ago. I can't count how many times my girlfriend Tonja loaned me her carpet cleaner (thank you again friend!!) She moved to Nevada and Sydney moved into our home. While Mommy was in Indy, Sydney "did her business" up in the Bonus Room again!! grrr! Thanks to the machine, everything is clean. Until last night. Somehow she got locked downstairs last night and I woke up at 4:00 a.m. to a bark and a "pile". Guess that machine will be getting another work-out... Speaking of poop, have you heard of the new product called Poopourii? 

According to last fall’s Redbook magazine dancing is reported to boost brain power and  lower dementia risk. Yay! Now I totally have an excuse for dancing and not caring if I look ridiculous. Wedding receptions are the perfect place to take advantage of good music playlists and time with my favorite dance partner. He even took me to Steel Creek in Tacoma since I love country music. If you see me dancing, you'll know I'm doing it for my future health.

Stitch Fix, the online personal styling service, is fun to try. At the beginning of the month a box arrived containing Kut jeans, a cute open cardigan, two dresses and a necklace. If I had kept all five items I would have received a 20% discount. I ended up just keeping a blue dress that I intended to wear at one of the Indiana weddings. It was super easy and free to ship back the items I didn’t keep. I’d be happy to answer any questions you have about how Stitch Fix works and I’d love it if you’d use my referral number if you ever place an order:  https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/3186352         Thanks in advance!

Back then, I knew what I was talking about. My Indiana small group always brings up the fact that I let my kids eat cereal before bed. Guess what? It is a fact that cereal and milk makes you sleepy and it's even mentioned in a Mayo Clinic report!

A room full of babies in costumes is the cutest thing ever! I got to "crash" a Halloween party last weekend at my sweet boss's home and there were 23 babies in attendance, plus their Mommies and Daddies. Our town seems to be having a population explosion! 

Aren't they adorable? So here's a trick I learned~sing the ABC's if you want a bunch of babies to all sit still and look in the same directions. Little guy passed out on the couch was just too tired to participate. Sometimes we need to take naps~even during a party!

Even Christians can "celebrate" today~check out this poem:
Being a believer is like going from a pumpkin to a Jack 'o lantern: 
God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off you may have gotten from the other pumpkins.
Then he cuts the top off and scoops out all the yucky stuff.
He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc.
Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see."

Whether you'll be handing out candy at your door, or taking little ones Trick-or Treating, have fun and be safe!

In His Grip, Jane