There's a Tickle in my Throat and I Don't Think That's Funny

I am incubating my first cold of the winter season which makes perfect sense because, yesterday, I renewed my gym membership; I always get sick just as I rededicate myself to my health and fitness. It's a conspiracy, I'm certain.

Thankfully, I am sleeping quite well. The secret appears to be having a small, warm, purring machine tucked under my chin which, is Finnigan's favorite place to sleep. In the morning, when the alarm sounds, he shows his approval of the snooze button by patting my face with his paw each time I hit it, then; he purrs us both back to sleep for another nine minutes. Awesome.

Also awesome; pomegranates are in season and relatively affordable (10 for $10 at my local supermarket). The Teenager and I have been eating one a day for the past several days and I'm sure the antioxidants can only serve to diminish the severity of this cold. Also, they are delicious and fun to eat, despite what Hugh  and the Man-Cub think (they are not fans of the pomegranate).

In unrelated news, I made my first Christmas purchase, yesterday. I am on track to finish my shopping before Thanksgiving, allowing me to enjoy the weeks leading up to Christmas, as is always my goal. This year, we are headed to Mayberry to celebrate the holiday with my family and I am very much looking forward to it.

 In the meantime, The Hallmark Channel has already started showing holiday programs on the weekend, in fact; I spent a couple of hours on Sunday, working on scrapbooks while watching A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion. At one point, The Teenager and her girlfriends came into the room and asked me what I was watching and it took every bit of my self-control not to cry when they asked me who the Waltons were.

 That, right there, is the problem with today's youth.

Goodnight, John-Boy.

I'm a Believer

Not to be confused with a belieber because; I can't stand that kid.

Nooo, I'm a believer in salon quality hair dye. Because, I'm one day short of a week in and I've noticed not one bit of fading nor have my roots made a reappearance which, with store dye; they totally would have, by now. And, please, oh, please, oh, please, Gods of Hair Dye; don't strike me down with gray roots for saying this, but; I'm pretty sure I will be cancelling next week's appointment for a do-over.

I mean it, GOHD, please don't strike me down.

In less vain news, I was informed today that I am in charge of decor at the gala being planned by our local Community Foundation. The gala is in February and I am envisioning a wintry color palette, shimmering snowflakes suspended from the ceiling, arches constructed of birch branches, dripping with crystal accents and cool metallic flourishes. I know; I have no idea why I was volunteered for this job, either.

Speaking of decorating; my woman's club annual Festival of Trees is a week from Friday. I decorated a centerpiece again this year and, because we were having a hard time finding decorators for several other items; I did a wreath as well. I'm pretty happy with both items and am hoping that one, or both, of them will come in with the highest bid of the evening (in each of their respective categories) since I had the highest-grossing centerpiece two years running and don't want to ruin my streak.

And, speaking of streaks (Smooth Segue Train is leaving the station in three, two, one...), have I mentioned how much I like my new haircolor? Yes? Just checking.

I Love It When a Plan Comes Together

My weekend went exactly as planned; scrapbooking, reading, movie viewing and relaxing. The same could not be said of my husband's weekend, however; he and the Man-Cub went hunting yesterday and found themselves stranded in the foothills when Hugh's truck refused to start. Luckily, they were hunting with friends so Hugh sent the Cub home with one of them while he stayed behind until a tow truck could arrive, otherwise, I'm pretty sure my relaxing weekend would have turned into butt-clench misery faster than you can say "broken fuel pump".

As it was, Hugh finally made it home at about 1:00 this morning. He did manage to get a cell signal (by standing on the roof of the truck and holding the phone high over head, Say Anything style) so, I was in the loop and knew not to worry. Hugh certainly wasn't worried; while he waited for the tow truck, he built up a nice fire and cooked a couple of steaks from the deer that his friend had managed to kill that day; it was quite the moonlight picnic, I'm sure. Also, have I ever mentioned that he is an Eagle Scout?

Actually, I think the Man-Cub was the most worried out of any of us; he really didn't like leaving his father alone on that mountain.

Anyway, as I said, the remainder of the weekend was delightfully relaxing and ultimately productive. I caught The Teenager's scrapbook up to 2010 while supervising what turned out to be the loudest giggle-fest slumber party in household history (Note to self: certain teenagers + sugar + scary movies = a late and loud night) and did some socializing of my own at the purse party held at a friend's house.

Today, I'm continuing the relaxation theme with a massage. Granted, I have to work first but, the massage should work out all the kinks and I should be completely blissed out for the rest of the day. Of course, now that I've said that, Murphy will turn my day to shit, somehow.

But, let's hope not.

A Weekend Without Obligations, Whatever Shall I Do?

Any damn thing I want.

Seriously, though, I can't even remember the last time I had a free weekend but I'm guessing that I spent it cleaning the house. Not this weekend, though, instead; I fully intend to take advantage of my free time by catching up on my Kindle downloads, Netflix queue, and scrapbooks; all of which have been terribly neglected of late.

I also plan to treat myself to an OPIcure, to pluck my eyebrows and to revel in my still-brunette hair (Look, ma; no roots! Two days in! Can I get a woot-woot!). And, while The Teenager does have a houseful of girls scheduled to spend the night tomorrow, I don't plan on doing more for the slumber party than tossing a few pizzas in the oven, popping some popcorn (I might even break out the old fashioned popcorn popper, you know, for the second time, ever) and occassionaly venturing dowstairs to ascertain that the movie selection is appropriate for its' audience. Otherwise, I plan to take a nice hot soak in the tub with my iPod and a nice glass of wine.

On Sunday, Jana and I are meeting up with one of the Porch Ladies to carpool to a purse party and, by Sunday evening, I should be blissed out with all the relaxation. God willing.

Speaking of being blissed out...

Finn is as relaxed as a kitten can be. Probably because he got himself a piece of tail...

Rowdie, as you might imagine, was somewhat less than impressed (Also, second porniest blog post, evah!).

There is no dignity in this.

On a completely different topic, the Man-Cub's basketball team lost another close game, yesterday. The score was back-and-forth for the entire game and came down to the last seconds which, makes for an extremely exciting game. My nerves are still all tangled up, however. Hey, good thing I'm going to be doing all that relaxing this weekend, huh?

 Three-out-of-four of the Fearsome Foursome, in uniform, even. I'm getting closer.

I Am Cautiously Optimistic

I realized something about myself at the hair salon, yesterday; I like having someone else do the heavy lifting involved in dying my roots. I was afraid that might happen.

Not only did I not have to engage in the mental and physical gymnastics required to see the back of my head (Mirror in the left hand, dye wand in the right, comb clenched between the teeth, rotate to the left, rotate to the right, wait, everything is backwards in the mirror, or is it? Do the reflections in two mirrors cancel each other out? Wait! Is that my hand? Oh, shit, glob of dye on the counter top! Kill me! Kill me, now!) but; I got to sit in a comfortable chair and to read a magazine.

Which, by the way, Kim Kardashian? My new dye job will last longer than that marriage did. Um, I hope.

On the off-chance (according to my new best friend, otherwise known as my hairdresser) that the dye job starts to fade in the next week (like it ALWAYS does), I have an appointment to return to the salon for Round Two. New BFF believes with her whole heart that I will cancel that appointment, so pleased will I be with the longevity of the new color. I am less convinced but, I chalk that up to Hair Dye PTSD and am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

I do have to say, today, the color is gorgeous. I would post a picture but; I didn't shower for fear of washing out even a smidgen of the color. Maybe tomorrow.

But, probably not.

Organized Disorganization. That's How I Roll

Yesterday, I gathered up all of my Halloween decorations and stored them away for another year. While I was in the attic, storing the boxes, I got a wild hair to organize and now my holiday boxes are in pristine order; I even sorted through ten years of Halloween costumes, bagging and tagging as I went and, people? We have a lot of really cute costumes. You know, if you're ever in need or anything. Anyway, this..

...is now neatly stored away and Thanksgiving decor has taken over the house.

While I was in an organizational mood, I rearranged the furniture on the porch in anticipation of Christmas decorations (Ugg, I said the C word before Thanksgiving! Forty lashes!). I was amazed at how warm it was outside, then, this morning; I woke up to an inch of snow. After forty-some years as a resident of Colorado, you would think I would have learned that a snowstorm is generally preceded by a warm front but, you know, I'm special that way (Or, as one of my Southern friends would say, "Oh, bless your heart").

In kitten news, Finnigan went in for his first shots, today. He was a trooper through the process and the vet couldn't believe what a love-bug he was, considering that she had just stuck him with a needle, shoved a thermometer up his butt and squirted foul-tasting liquid down his throat (Porniest blog post, evah!).

Later today, I am visiting the salon to have my roots professionally dyed. I have low expectations given how stubborn my gray is but, fingers crossed, anyway. Also, if I drop a bundle of cash on this process and I'm sporting granny-hair again by this time next week, I may have to picket. Who, what or where, I have no idea but; everyone else in the country is protesting something so I might as well get myself a cause.

Down with prematurely gray hair!

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

No, not that friend...

You don't realize how lucky you are to have good friends until those friends spend their Halloween helping you scare the beejeezus out of small children. Thankfully, I have very good friends.

Yes, this friend

Hugh spent several hours yesterday, setting up his haunted porch for the neighborhood Trick-or-Treaters.

It would have taken him even longer and he would have been up past midnight tearing it down had it not been for Chris helping him. Plus, he wouldn't have had a "scare buddy" with whom to terrify the children and; that would have been most unfortunate.

The Man-Cub is also lucky to have good friends and, while not all of the Fearsome Foursome were available  to join him, Mikey was. Combine those two with Darren and the result was a rambunctious and awesome scare team for which, we were quite grateful.

The Teenager and Kaley spent the majority of their time laughing at The Teenager's boyfriend who, along with three of his good friends, spent the majority of the evening trading masks and "haunting" locations on the porch. They were super good sports and we appreciated not only the help they provided but the large bowl of candy that one of their mothers contributed for the cause; I couldn't have fended off the Trick-or-Treaters without it as I was already running low on candy by 7:00.

I'm sorry, we are out of treats; would you care for a bone? Wait, come back!

We finally pulled the plug on the fog machine around 9:30 despite the fact that there were still a few stragglers roaming the neighborhood. Then, following an inventory of the cupcakes and caramel apples eaten by the teenagers; declared Haunted Porch 2011 a complete and total success.

And we really could not have done it without our friends.