Oct. 31 October 31, 2007
I was talking to a friend last night about the issue of Halloween. She has sort of the same dilemma that I have in that one spouse loves it and wants to celebrate it and the other spouse is morally opposed to it. In her case she is the one who loves it but it is the opposite in my case. Mike loves Halloween. He had great childhood memories of dressing up and trick-or-treating.
I don’t have a ton of memories of celebrating Halloween. I was raised in a pastor’s home and for much of my childhood we lived in the country, so trick or treating was really just more like excercise. There were a few times we dressed up as Bible figures and one year we even passed out little religious messages attached to pieces of candy.
Mike looks forward to trick or treating with Luke. If I had my way we would not participate at all. We have fought about this over the years and I don’t think we’ll ever agree. Some years I have given in and put on the costume and passed out candy at the door. Other years I have put my foot down. Now that Luke is here I feel like I have to make a decision one way or the other. At this point I am leaning towards not participating, but trying my darndest not to spoil the fun for Mike and Luke.
My friend’s husband is opposed to Halloween. Strongly opposed. And he can probably very clearly articulate why. I am not so articulate but I will try. I just don’t get very excited about holidays. If I do, it’s because I feel there is something worth celebrating. I get very excited about Thanksgiving because it’s about celebrating time with family, what God has given us, and of course food. I will not get excited about a holiday simply because some greeting card manufacturer put it on the calendar and convinced us all that *that* is the day we must tell our sweetie we love them, or whatever. I do believe every day should be celebrated simply because it means God decided to give us one more day that was not promised to us and that we did not deserve.
I do not believe that evil should be celebrated. From what I can see that is all Halloween is about. Yes, there are innocent princesses and quarterbacks weaved in along with harmless bags of candy, but I think that’s just a lame attempt at sugarcoating such an ugly celebration. Can’t we just cut out all the scary, gross crap and just make it one big day of playing dress up?
*Update* My friend had to correct me because I was a little off when I said that she “loves” Halloween. I’m posting a paraphrase of her thoughts because I think they are worth sharing:
I don’t “love” Halloween and I don’t want to “celebrate” it either. I actually believe that it celebrates and honors pagan rituals that speak against my core beliefs. However, I live in a world that I don’t want to be of, but in. My discussions with my husband have been focused less on how we feel personally but more on what to actually do. Should we hand out candy and be a blessing to our neighbors? Or, do we not celebrate in order to make a point of not conforming to the world?
Tough questions. We obviously can’t take a hard stance on every little thing (unless we are interested in the Amish life) so where do we draw the line with our convictions?
Takin’ Care of Business October 30, 2007
The two items that have remained on my to-do list since… well… a long time… months and months:
- Life Insurance
- Last Will & Testament
Today I took some big steps towards completing those tasks. I purchased a template for the last will & testament from uslegalforms.com. I just have to fill it out and get it signed and notarized. I also spoke to the insurance agent who had the best rates I could find for life insurance. I just need to complete an application and physical and I should be good to go within 6-9 weeks (after that I can die in peace). With Mike’s situation (see posts on the brain tumor) it could get a little more pricey so the agent is going to call me back with quotes for him.
Once I get these two tasks completed I can only imagine the big sigh of relief that will follow. No more procrastination!!
Weight Loss October 29, 2007
I have lost 1.6 pounds since August 3rd. Not on track for losing 30 by 30, but I can settle for slow and steady. My mother-in-law suggested maybe eating smaller portions of ice cream, and maybe not every night. So now I’ll just be eating ice cream on the days Mike shaves 
Though I’m tempted to relax on the whole weight loss idea and go the optical illusion route – Slim N Lift perhaps?
Please Do Not Touch The Merchandise October 29, 2007
Tell me, what is the rule about touching strangers’ babies? I always thought it was just a no-no unless you are given permission, but apparently I was wrong. Either that or there are just a lot of people who don’t know the rule. I was in a restaurant bathroom Sunday changing Luke’s diaper when a woman walked out from one of the stalls. She walked directly over to Luke, started talking to him, and grabbed his hand. What’s wrong with this picture? One, I have never met this woman in my life. Two, she didn’t bother to wash her hands. Three, her shirt bore the restaurant’s logo (I just pray she didn’t prepare the meal I had just finished eating… have you ever seen “Kitchen Nightmares”?). I was stunned and speechless, so when she asked me how old he was all I could tell her was “Five months.” What I really wanted to say was, “Five months, and please stop touching my son with your pee-pee hands.” Come on people, seriously. I mean, I know he’s cute, but hands off!
USB Cords & Giraffes October 24, 2007
Lately when Luke gets really excited about something he shows it with this sort of breathless panting. At times he is so excited he trembles. He does this when he sees the mobile hanging in his crib, or when he sees a bottle full of yummy goodness (and I don’t mean Guinness). This USB cord in our office had him intrigued for about 68 seconds, at which time he moved on to the stuffed giraffe. He is certainly a goofy kid.
Meatloaf’s got a bad rep October 24, 2007
I just said to my manager, “I don’t know why meatloaf’s got such a bad rep.”
Her reply: “Dude, he did so bad on American Idol two seasons ago! Did you see it?”
Ha! I was talking about the food. I pretty much know why the singer has a bad rep. Meatloaf the food however, is delicious, easy to make, can feed many, and makes for terrific leftovers. It’s part of my lunch today: meatloaf, tater tots, cottage cheese and zucchini. Love zucchini. I found that chopping it up and microwaving it with italian dressing and parmesan works really well. Nice and easy and adds to a healthy lunch. I’m still making my own jello and pudding cups but I ran out so no dessert today 
About that “lose 30 pounds by 30″ thing… I don’t know if I’ve made any progress because I didn’t weigh myself at the beginning. Oops. We ought to buy a scale so I can start tracking it. I did give much thought to joining a gym but it turns out I’m too cheap. I would rather find exercise I can do for free. I did some stomach crunches the other day while watching “I Want To Look Like A High School Cheerleader Again”… does that count?
HDADD October 22, 2007
From Steven Wright’s new album, “I Still Have a Pony”:
“My nephew has HDADD: Hi-Definition Attention Deficit Disorder. He can barely pay attention, but when he does it’s unbelievably clear.”
(So it’s true what Sony says in their commercial; hi-def can be in your DNA. )
I spent the last of my iTunes gift card on the entire album and I am not disappointed. Mr. Wright is still hilarious!
