Saturday, October 31, 2015

Things Could Have Gone Way Worse, Halloween TToT! Week 124

Happy Halloween!

I actually get to be happy for it this year, seeing as how it's on a Saturday. Normally, we have to race to carve pumpkins, eat dinner, get dressed up and head out to trick-or-treating in just a few short hours. And then, upon returning home, rushing the kids through their candy gazing and grazing in order to get to bed at some resemblance of a decent hour so wake up for school isn't a nightmare.

Not so this year!

Although...

If you could all cross your fingers and toes for us, that would be great. We're supposed to have rain much of Saturday, which would really put a damper on the outside fun and fright we have planned for Star and his friends. Thanks.

This week was full of gross, scary things perfect for Halloween...

1. I got a phone call from school, and, as any mom of school-aged children knows, a call from school in the middle of the day is never, ever a good thing. This time, it was because Cuckoo threw up in class. I picked him up, and he vomited over and over again throughout the day. I am thankful that he is a rock star at predicting it. He hit the bucket every single time, so I didn't have any extra laundry to do or floors to scrub.

2. I sat down to send some emails, but when I wiggled the mouse to turn the computer back on, I got a black screen with warning words on it. (You know that screen? The one where the computer forgets that it is in the year 2015 and reverts to the look of a computer from 1984.) Turken had tried to get on a site for school and done something horribly wrong. Thankfully, computers of 2015 are way smarter than in 1984, and smarter than me for that matter. It was able to diagnose and fix the problem all by itself.

3. It's Halloween and I haven't purchased or made a single costume. I haven't really even asked any of the kids what they want to be beyond Turken getting ready for his dress-in-a-costume soccer practice last week. Things could have gone really, really wrong. Thankfully, we have a box full of costume bits in the basement and kids with good imaginations and low expectations. While I was outside, Giant and Cuckoo got themselves dressed up for trick-or-treating.

4. In the town where I grew up, many years ago they decided that trick-or-treating would always be on a weekend during the day, regardless of when Halloween actually fell. Yup, they really know how to suck every bit of fun out of an exciting experience for kids. I'm thankful that where we live now is old-school. No trunk-or-treat. No daytime nonsense. Here, kids get all dressed up and go door-to-door to talk with the neighbors and have fun getting to be out walking around at night.

5. Thursday after dinner, I turned the kitchen faucet on. Instead of clean water flowing out, it gurgled and spewed black nastiness all over the sink and me. The black stuff was followed by brown water. All the sinks, all the toilets had nothing but brown water. We let the water run and run, we flushed and flushed, but it wouldn't go away. I called the water company, but apparently it wasn't an emergency. Nobody called me back. We used bottled water to brush our teeth. The next morning it was still like that, except now all of my sinks and toilets were stained brown. I called the water company again, and she said they were flushing the lines yesterday. If I run the water for 10-15 minutes, it should be fine. I ran the water for 20 before it started to look better, but only the cold water. I then had to empty the water heater, seeing as how that filled with the nasty brown stuff. It took until about 2:00 in the afternoon to get all the water from all the faucets and toilets cleaned out. But, I'm thankful that we had water, even if it was brown. At least we didn't have to start using the outhouse.

6. I lost my sunglasses. I hate driving without my sunglasses. It hurts my eyes. (Did you know that blue-eyed people are more sensitive to the light? (Science fair project knowledge comin' at ya, right there.)) This isn't the time of year that sunglasses are displayed for purchase everywhere, so I went many days without them. And then, a friend text me and said she found a pair of glasses in the couch cushion. Exactly where I had been sitting when I went to meet and cuddle her new baby. Eureka! Now, I just need to find some time to go pick them up...

7. This summer, I had a good list of families purchasing eggs. I never had to turn into crazy egg lady in order to get rid of them. Unfortunately, I've had to disappoint all of those new customers and tell them no more eggs until spring. The chickens have gone into their annual freeloading phase for the winter. No eggs for you! But, with 25 chickens, we are still getting 4-8 per day, enough that I don't have to buy them unless I want to hard-boil some.

8. Star has 8-10 boys coming over for a small Halloween party tonight. I have always wanted to have an all-out Halloween party, seeing as how we have the absolute best property to have a good one. It's never happened, though, for a variety of reasons. I'm using this as a practice party to see if we can have a bigger one next year. We're having a big bonfire and I mowed a maze into our back field. We'll be sending the boys through it, in the dark, two-by-two, with only one flashlight per pair. My family (except for Star) will be hiding in the tall weeds to jump out and scare the boys. I can't wait to see how it goes.

9. I have been on the ball this fall getting neglected projects done. On Friday, the Tub Doctor was supposed to be at my house at 10:00 to strip and reglaze our tub. He didn't get here until 1:30 and finished up at 7, as we were eating dinner. It completely messed up my plans for the day, but my tub is now done. He did a great job. And, he completely looked, sounded, and talked like Zach Galifianakus. It made me smile to talk to him.

10. My oil light in the van came on every time I accelerated from a full stop. I called my mechanic, seeing as how we're such good friends (He knows my voice.), and he told me either I needed oil desperately or I needed a new engine. I could not for the life of me find the dipstick to check my oil, so I ran into a JiffyLube. I felt better (and less like a dips***) when it took 3 guys who do this for a living to locate and remove the dipstick. It was bone dry. No oil whatsoever. Zip. Zilch. Nada. This makes me nervous, because I'm good about getting my oil changed regularly, but I'm glad that it was a simple fix for now. I won't be breaking down in a blaze of glory somewhere on IN-135.

And that's 10.

Anything scary happen to you this week?

Have a great time trick-or-treating or passing out candy or eating candy or partying or whatever it is you plan on doing today/tonight.

Link up your thankfuls if you have them!

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31 comments:

  1. I love your thankful posts.

    Yikes on the icky water. I wouldn't have liked that one bit, but you could still flush. I'd be thankful for that too.

    Have a fabulous day and Happy Halloween. ☺

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    1. I do believe you've mentioned that. :) I'm glad. I like writing them.

      With the number of people in our house, the ability to flush the toilet is a huge thankful. :)

      Delete
  2. Sounds like you've had one hell of a week one way or another - I'm glad you managed to get the water problem sorted.

    I don't 'do' trick or treat - to be honest I hate it - so I'm in hiding in the spare room with no lights on at all in the house. With a bit of luck I won't get any knocks on the door. Your Halloween party sounds like it could be good fun though, and I like the idea of the maze - now THAT I wouldn't mind experiencing :)

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    1. It certainly was. Seems like every day I had some sort of thing to deal with.

      The maze was fun. Now that we've done it once, I'll know how to improve it for next year. I'm thinking a bigger party will be on the calendar. :)

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  3. My boys are 20 and 24 - the dogs are better about asking to go outside than either of my boys are about making it to a pail or toilet when they get sick. I have no idea what's up with that.

    I'm glad your icky water got sorted out - that sounds like it would be a real pain in the behind.

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    1. Ha! Seriously, by their 20s, you'd think they'd have that down.

      I'm glad, too. It was nasty.

      Delete
  4. having come to know your approach to family fun (i.e.the road trips and surprise vacations), #4 did not surprise me, rather it reinfornced my total respect awe of your sense of enhancing and supporting 'the kid experience'.
    Far too many adults seem to forget that kids, and the world they inhabit, is different and they so are not just a scaled down adults.

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    1. :) Glad you approve. Kids are different, and they need to have some fun. Of course, I'm going to say that adults could use some more childlike, silly fun.

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  5. Your house and property do sound like the greatest venue for a Halloween Party. Sound's like fun and the whole family getting in on scaring Stars friends would be fun to watch. We have well water out here, so if it turns brown we're in deep you know what. We had no water at all for 8 days during Hurricane Sandy (3rd anniversary this week) and it wasn't fun, that's for sure. Glad all is clear. Have a good week. I'm off to see your photo challenge.

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    1. I get scared going outside by myself at night, so, yeah, it's creepy. The boys were definitely creeped out, even without people to jump out and scare them. :)

      Eight days is a loooong time to go without running water. How many of us are actually prepared for such circumstances?

      Delete
  6. The scary maze sounds like fun for everybody! Hope the flu bug doesn't attack the rest of you. And no oil??? Yikes. I once blew up an engine in a little lemon on wheels that I owned when I was twenty that way!

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    1. It was fun! Even the little boys got in on it.
      No flu, thankfully. There is a nasty cold floating around the family, though.
      Yikes! I lucked out, 'cause the light was blinking for a couple of days before I finally got it checked.

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  7. Wow! What a week! Eventful is an inderstatement!
    I want to be at your house tonight for the Halloween party!! Sounds most excellent! I hope right now it is not raining there!!
    Poor Cuckoo. That so sucks but good for him for having such good aim lol
    Talk about scary!! No oil in the engine! If it's nothing mechanical, may I suggest next oil change checking to make sure the plug's been tightened all the way. A friend of mine nearly lost her engine to a slow leak from a loose plug :)

    ....whoah, wait....the light in the distance...that you? LOL Have fun!!

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    1. Well, it did rain, but it didn't stop the fun. It was never a pouring rain, and we had ponchos for the kids who wanted them.
      Thank you for the suggestion! I will be keeping a close eye on things.

      Delete
  8. Ohhh I smiled SO MUCH reading this. Thank you. I needed some smiles. You are SUCH a great mom to those kids and I love, LOVE reading how you make their worlds just WONDERFUL. And I giggled a bit about the mechanic guys not knowing where your dipstick was. That's validating. I hope you paid attention to its location now.

    Brown water sounds horrid. Glad it's gone.

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    1. I'm glad I could help in the smile department. I'm not so good about some parenting things, like birthdays and birthday presents, but sometimes I do believe I get it spot on. :)

      I was very happy to see those mechanics having trouble. I now know approximately where it is (opposite side from where the oil goes in!), just in case.

      It was. Me, too.

      Delete
  9. I did not get any phone calls in the middle of the day from school but at the end, yes. It is the day my son had a doctor's appointment. He was late to school because of that and I signed him it "tardy" with the reason why he was late. I still got the automated notification call at the end of the day saying my son was "absent in one or two classes. Please call the school . . . " Ya, ya.
    http://www.36hourworkweek.com/2015/10/-halloween-prank.html

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    1. I've gotten calls quite few times. Mostly for illness, but twice for injuries at recess. One needed stitches and the other knocked out half his tooth.
      I've never had one from school about a kid being missing, even though I have never once called to let them know one of my kids was staying home sick.

      Delete
  10. I read this last night and came back to comment...got called away... Hope you he party was a blast!!! Sounds like it would be! Are you driving a toyota? We couldnt find the dipstick either ...had to look it up in the book!

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    1. Well, thanks for coming back!
      The party was loads of fun. I'm thinking a big one is in store for next year.

      No, a Ford. A gigantic F350.

      Delete
  11. I read this last night and came back to comment...got called away... Hope you he party was a blast!!! Sounds like it would be! Are you driving a toyota? We couldnt find the dipstick either ...had to look it up in the book!

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  12. Glad you're having some good old Halloween fun as well. Hubby and I felt that - given the Halloween experience we had in the U.S. - that the tradition has died out since Richard's been a child and replaced by no-fun stuff like trunk-and-treat. Rather have no Halloween than trunk-and-treat. Glad your car is ok now again! Engine issues are always scary and expensive! Have a great week, Christine!

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  13. 1. I can't talk about that one without getting queasy.
    2. Mine does that every once in awhile, claiming it didn't get shut down properly. So far, so good.
    3. "Kids with good imaginations and low expectations" is one of the funniest things I've read in a long time.
    5. Seems you should be notified by the water company when they're going to do something that turns your water black. And start using the outhouse? You still HAVE one? Not a fan.
    6. Charming Charlie's has them all year and only about $10 a pair. I have green eyes and sneeze when I look at the sun. So does Kyle.
    7. "The chickens have gone into their annual freeloading phase" is the second funniest thing I've read in a long time.
    10. Yeah, may have done that before.

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  14. Oh man you have had a WEEK!! SO much going on with computer hang ups, puke and brown water and no oil in the car, and losing sunglasses! I wanna hear about the party and how the maze went!! That sounds like a BLAST!!! I'm thankful no one else got sick... No one else, right? Right?

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  15. Poor Cuckoo. :( Glad he had good aim for you. ;)

    UGH to the black/brown water. But, like you said, on the upside...no outhouse. *Phew*

    How fun and scary for Star and his friends! Can't believe you even mowed your own maze! That must be some field you have out back.

    Oil. Yea. Had that happen to me too. Funny how cars react that way to no oil. ;)

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  16. I'm glad you found your sunglasses! Green-eyed people also have light sensitivity. Do you sneeze in the sunshine, too? Some people think that is weird, but others can relate. (I'm a sneezer-in-the-sunshine person.)

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  17. After all those "fun" (NOT) events during the week, I'm glad you were able to end it with a party and some family fun. Kids with low expectations and great imaginations is really when it comes to costume time. A crazy egg lady must be something like a crazy zucchini lady. :-) I hope your first week in November is much better.

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  18. Yuck. Brown water sounds no fun at all. But you're right. Better than no water.

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  19. I was done by number two on your list. WOWZER.

    At least you don't have to buy eggs yet but I loved the free loading comment and No egg for you!

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  20. What a crazy week.
    :-)
    computer problems, water problems, car problems.
    Where can you find that guy to do tubs? I need mine done and who better to do it than Zach.
    That Halloween party sounds like so much fun for all.
    I remember all those rushed nights, after school, costumes, dinner, out for candy and back to sort through our pile on the floor in the basement.
    Ah, good times.
    :-)
    That always on a Saturday afternoon thing is nonsense.
    :-)
    Being out at night is part of the mood and atmosphere of the occasion.

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