NaBloPoMo and Other Letters in the Alphabet

A million years ago, back when blogging was at its peak, some wordy bastard declared November as National Blog Posting Month, quickly creating the NaBloPoMo acronym and challenging bloggers everywhere to a thirty-day posting streak. I never personally participated, as I was mainly posting during the workweek while living my life on the weekends.

A lot has changed in the blogging world, thanks to the stratospheric rise of social media, and I'm pretty sure NaBloPoMo went the way of the dodo bird, but, since I've been such a slacker in this space this year, I have decided to challenge myself.

Don't get too excited, I'm definitely not posting daily, but I am going to make more of an effort to be present in this space, thanks to a handful of casual comments my kids have thrown out recently about this space being a time capsule of our lives. They aren't wrong; I've been doing this for almost twenty years and a lot of our memories live here; I'd like to think that the kids will still have access to this space long after I am gone, and, with that, will be able to easily recall our shared history.

Anyway, I'm going to try.

What better way than to document the fun and productive weekend I had?

Hugh and I were disappointed that we didn't have many Trick-or-Treaters on Halloween, but we sort of expected it because of the Trunk-or-Treat downtown. The Man-Cub was the happy beneficiary of our leftover candy, so we at least managed to make him happy. In hindsight, we should have made him dress in costume when he came by to pick up the candy on Saturday. Missed opportunity.

Saturday, I got up early to take down all of my Halloween decor and to pull out the boxes of all/Thanksgiving decorations that were taking up space in my attic. I went through the boxes very quickly, setting aside items that I no longer use for a trip to the Goodwill donation center.

My sister, Barbie, was in Hooterville at Mom's, and we planned an afternoon of thrifting and antique shopping, so I figured I could drop the boxes off, then. When I mentioned it to Mom and Barbie, they were more than happy to look over the items and, in the end, took everything that had been destined for donation.

Fine by me!

That gave us more time to peruse the Goodwill shelves, where I scored BIG time on several pieces for my Dickens Christmas village! $5.99 for a limited-edition piece that I know for a fact sells for over $100 online? Uh, yes, please!  

After the Goodwill, we grabbed lunch at a new place in Hooterville that I had been interested in trying (verdict: limited lunch menu (though breakfast is served all day), good food, a little on the pricier side; will return for the breakfast mimosas, for sure). Then, we hit every thrift and antique store in town before grabbing Happy Hour fountain drinks at Sonic and returning to Mom's house for a marathon crafting session.

Barbie had picked up a ton of vintage Christmas goodies at the Goodwill Bins in her city, and we sifted through them to make a few holiday decorations. It was fun! And, it's always good to spend time with Mom and Barbie.

Sunday, I got the house decorated for Thanksgiving, and Hugh and I joined Shanti and the Man-Cub at Mom's for dinner with her and Barbie. Mom made her famous homemade fried chicken, which she hadn't attempted in years. It must be like riding a bike, because the chicken tasted just the way I remembered.

It was a great way to cap off a great weekend.

 

Pictures Or It Didn't Happen: Halloween Decor 2025

Two posts in one day! I'm on fire!

Just kidding, I'm barely smoking, but at least I'm making the effort.

Tomorrow, the Halloween decorations will find their way back into the attic, so it's time to immortalize them in this space. It's important for me to do that, so I have some inspiration in future years, when I am struggling to create new, fresh displays with long-loved pieces.

I honestly didn't go all in this year because I felt a need to keep my spaces clutter-free, and, strangely, I didn't miss the chaos. I loved the displays that I did put together and enjoyed the streamlined effect.

I also didn't purchase much new stuff, save for the three Cracker Barrel witches that adorn the fireplace mantle (and that's a story in itself, wine and eBay were involved, and I'll leave it at that), and a couple of prints that I framed myself.

The mantle display may be my favorite, ever.

I posted several of the pictures that I took over the past month on my social media, although not daily, as in years past. Some I edited and some I didn't. There's no consistency among them, but I'm posting them here anyway.

Because it's my blog and I'll brag if I want to 😂

Skeletons 2025: Hay, There!

Happy Halloween!

I've been a slacker in this space, but that doesn't mean that I've been slacking out here in the real world. This tends to be evident in my holiday decor, starting with Halloween and going strong through Christmas.

Tomorrow, the Halloween decorations will come down and Thanksgiving turkeys will take over, so today is a great day to highlight our skeleton display.

When we were talking about what I wanted our theme to be this year, Hugh practically begged me to incorporate my skeleton horse, so, after some thought, a haunted hay ride seemed like the best idea.

But! It wouldn't be Halloween at Casa de Chelle without a little witchy representation, so I knew I needed to make space for my witch trio as well.

The absolute beauty of this year's display is that I didn't have to purchase a single thing! I used costumes from years past, which means I more than got my money's worth when I originally purchased them. It also gave us a chance to reminisce about past displays, which was fun.

The display also went up really quickly and will also be a breeze to take down tomorrow, which makes it one of my favorite displays, ever.

Until next year, boney buddies!

Weekend Road Trip

 Friday, October 17th, Queen B and I loaded up the car and drove to Hooterville to pick up Mom for the drive to New Mexico for my nephew's wedding. Shanti and the Man-Cub drove separately, following us on the roughly four-hour-long trip.

We took a route that was new to me, so I wanted to stay together, despite modern technology making it nearly impossible for us to get lost. I'm Gen X, don't judge me.

We made it to our destination, and since Mom had arranged early check-in, we were able to relax for a bit before getting ready for the wedding. Then we posed for some mirror selfies before grabbing a quick bite to eat at the nearby Dairy Queen. Because we are fancy like that.

When we arrived at the venue, we were greeted by my niece and nephew (longtime readers may remember them as The Rodeo Princess and the Rebel Without a Pause). The wedding was a low-key affair, to the degree that there was no formally hired photographer or DJ, so Queen B was tasked with running the music from my nephew's cell phone. This came as a surprise to her, but she rocked it.

My nephew's relationship with his parents is sadly lacking, so he asked Mom if she would do him the honor of dancing with him for the Mother/Son dance, and she was, of course, happy to accept.

After the wedding, we joined my Aunt and Uncle at a local Italian restaurant for dinner. You wouldn't expect to find good Italian in New Mexico, but we were pleasantly surprised.

The following morning, we parted company with Shanti and the Cub, as they were joining the rest of the wedding party for a golf outing. Mom, Queen B, and I took our time getting home, stopping to visit a Native American jewelry store so that Mom and Queen B could peruse the turquoise, as well as at the largest antique mall in the area.

I scored two new pieces for my Dickens Christmas village (new to me, but older pieces), as well as another hen on a nest to add to my growing collection. It was a great stop.

By the time we got home, we were ready to relax and enjoy the remainder of Queen B's visit. It was so nice to see my nephew happily hitched, to see my Aunt and Uncle, and to have my little family together. These are the things that matter, and I am so blessed when the universe throws opportunities to be with them my way.