What should I be???

There's a Day of the Dead party my husband and I are invited to on Saturday and I haven't decided what I should go as. I bought a giant Whoopie cushion costume which is easy. Or, I could borrow my daughter's Mother Nature costume that I'm currently assembling. I'm still toying with the Sarah Palin idea but don't want to kick the poor woman while she's down and don't have the $$$ to dress like she does, so that one is probably out! In the past, I've been a carrot, a gypsy, an alien, Sally from A Nightmare Before Christmas, a devil woman, and a hippy so I don't want to do a repeat of any of those. I could just go as the character that my family has type-cast me as which is a drunken, belligerent, provacatively dressed Obamamaniac...... maybe not. Suggestions?????

Hippy Ellie - Halloween 2005

Me as Sally - Halloween 2006

Keeping busy

This activity was a hit this weekend! It kept my and the neighborhood kids occupied for an hour or so. I just bought these foam pre-cut pumpkins and let them decorate with Sharpies, pipe cleaners, and googly eyes. They used glue dots so there was no messy sticky glue to deal with! We stuck self-adhesive magnets on the back and they're going all over my refrigerator.







We also did these baked apples which were quick and easy. I found them on The Crafty Crow blog which linked me to Little Momma and Company . This is a blog worth visiting just for the fantastic playlist she's put together for you to listen to as you peruse her blog!

If I make them again, I will have the kids pre-mix the ingredients in a bowl before stuffing them into the apples and add oatmeal.

I love the fall!

Letter to a fake plumber

Dear Joe the Plumber,

I’m used to politicians misrepresenting themselves, but you?! A blue collar, nine-to-five, hardworking father out playing football with his son in northern Ohio? I didn’t expect YOU to be a fake! What a slap in the face to find out 1) you’re passing yourself off as a plumber when you’re not licensed, 2) you’re passing yourself off as undecided when you registered Republican and voted in the Republican primary, 3) you don’t make anywhere near $250,000 (unless you significantly bumped up your earnings since 2006 when you made $40,000) nor (by your own admission) do you have the money to purchase this plumbing business as you told Barack Obama, 4) you OWE back property taxes which means you can’t even pay your fair share under the CURRENT system.

To steal a quote from Ms. Palin, who stole from a White Sox fan, “Say it ain’t so, Joe!”

Sincerely,

Life Junkie

So good!!!!

Just finished this yesterday. What an awesome read! Even though I'm forty-three and this book was written for young adults, I highly recommend it. This is the perfect month to read it too because of the vampire theme.

Now I'm excited because the movie is coming out November 21st. Here's the website.

I watched a few clips and the character casting looks right on the mark - especially Edward.

I'm going out and buying the next one in the series right away!

Do I want a smart president? You betcha!

On CNN, Paul Begala recently called George Bush a 'high-functioning moron.' Far be it from me to argue with his judgment on our sitting president. Can we all agree that G.W. will probably not go down as the most intelligent president in our history? If so, and seeing where his leadership has taken us, can we also agree that our next president should be a little more intellectual? That would be a good thing, right? With that being said, here are the four candidates and their educational accomplishments:

John McCain - BS. Ranked 894th of 899 in his class. No post-graduate degree.

• United States Navel Acadamey. Class of 1958.

Sarah Palin - Degree in Journalism. GPA not released by the campaign. No post graduate degree.

• Hawaii Pacific University - Fall 1982.
• North Idaho College (2 year college) - Spring 1983 & Fall 1983.
• University of Idaho - Fall 1984 - Spring 1985.
• Matanuska - Susitna College - Fall 1985.
• University of Idaho - Spring 1986 - Spring 1987.

Barack Obama - BA Political Science. Concentration in International Relations. Law Degree (Magna Cum Laude & President of Harvard Law Review).

• Occidental College - Fall 1979 - Spring 1981
• Columbia University - Fall 1981 - Spring 1983.
• Harvard Law School - Fall 1988 - Spring 1991.

Joe Biden - BA - (Majors: History and Political Science) Ranked 506th of 688 in his class (not quite as bad as McCain). Law Degree. (where by his own description he underperformed - but still... he completed and graduated on time)

• University of Delaware - Class of 1965.
• Syracuse University Law School - Class of 1968.
  

Now I know education is not the only factor in measuring intelligence nor is intelligence the only factor in the making of a good president. It is interesting to compare, though.....

Dustin is HOT and VOTE!

Muslims are just people!

So I just watched this clip of a bunch of McCain supporters talking about crazy stuff. They all are convinced that Barack Obama is a closet Muslim or something (he's not). What really gets me is that, in their minds, Muslim = Terrorist. McCain and Palin KNOW this and are feeding this frenzy. I find it completely disgusting and feel sorry for them.

I just want to share a few examples of nice Muslims. Just in case anyone else is thinking Muslims are scary.

Benazir Bhutto - First Muslim female head of state for Pakistan. Assasinated on December 27, 2007. She was a brave woman. She had been exiled twice and came back to again run for public office. She knew her life would be in danger but she did it anyway. Now THAT is putting your country first!

Kareem Abdul Jabbar - I guess he's a famous basketball player or something. I've seen him on TV (not playing basketball). He seems nice.....

Dave Chapelle - Now he's a funny guy! OK - he looks scary in this picture but that's only because he's playing the artist formerly known as Prince. Prince is a scary person (not Muslim, though)! His music is awesome, but he gives me the heebie jeebies! But, back to my point. You see?! Muslims can be funny too!

Keith Ellison - Congressman representing Minnesota. Has anything blown up since he's been if office (he started January 2007)? NO. That just goes to show you that Muslims can be just as ineffective in congress as Christians, Jews or Atheists. Rep. Ellison doesn't flaunt his religion much but can you blame him with the climate out there?

I think everyone who is scared of Muslims should go to therapy where they have to sit in a room with a Muslim and see that they're normal people who share many of the same beliefs as the rest of us.

Everyone say it with me, "BEING MUSLIM IS NOT BAD OR SCARY."

A fall walk

After picking up the kids from school, we all went out with the dog for a fall walk. Here are the highlights:

Learn about gasses

My kids love inhaling helium! I better not show them this video.....

Well, he has imagination.....

A story by my 2nd grade son:

Todd and the Magic Surfer

One day in the 1580's, a boy named Todd, well he's not really a boy, he's an onion, met a magic surfer. They met on the battlefield in the desert. Todd and the magic surfer said hi and they started to fight. They made a bunch of people start fighting. Then, somebody said, "Will you hang me?"

Everybody said, "YES!"

So Todd's friend said, "Ahhhhh! I am hit!" Todd tried to kill the evil monster that hit his friend.

"Hiya," said Todd.

Superman fought and fought and fought. Batman came out of nowhere...BOOM... POW... KICK... CRASH... DONK... DESTROY ... KILL... BOOM... DESTROY... CRASH... BOOM! Then Superman turned to the dark side. Batman said, "No, not again!" BOOM!!!!!!!!!! Batman killed Superman? "Yes," said Batman, "I did!" Catwoman hurt Todd.

The End.

I love it!!!!

No thanks...

My son came home from school the other day begging to go to this:

He has a little friend who doesn't believe dinosaurs existed who was handing these cards out in class. It was a tough explaining to a seven year old that as cool as it would be to see a strong guy rip a license plate in half, it was a trick to get him to go to church. You could see the wheels turning. How come we don't have any WWF wrestlers standing next to Father Joe on Sunday and squeezing washcloths (what exactly is that guy doing???). All our lame church does is sing and pray and stuff! I was more thinking, "What kind of bizarre church lures people in with greased up muscle men?" I looked 'em up online. It's very cryptic. I can't determine a denomination. I guess this Power Team spectacle is their way of not being "a bunch of bologna."

I don't think this church is the answer to all my religious uncertainty, though - muscle men or not.

Homer wants change!