halloweenie

I handed out candy tonight. I bought what I thought was enough candy to kill an army, not realizing that the army I had been joking about killing all day would actually arrive at my door dressed as everything from ninjas, princesses, every super hero in the book, punk zombies, Elmo, vampires and even a Jehovah Witness* (no I am not kidding, how did I know this is what the young child was you ask, because his (assumingly) hysterical parents had him dressed in a 3-piece suit, painted on mustache, a mini devil pitchfork and a Hello My Name Is: Jehovah Witness sticker). With the candy on a seat next to the door and me wrapped up in my cozies and my favorite blanket I settled down ready to watch Pumpkin Wars on HGTV - ummmm, quick and humble shout out to my hometown-   WAY TO EFFIN GO KEENE NH, you totally showed Chicago what is up and did it by coming together and rocking the pumpkin carving world! now back to the task at hand - I patiently waited to see little ones dressed up approaching the house. It started slow with a group of toddler aged kiddos (I let them take as much as they wanted noticing that there were no other children in sight), adorable by the way and then pretty much died off, leaving me staring at a huge bucket of candy scared that it would end up being my dinner. But then much to my surprise our street was lit up with headlights and I realized the army had arrived, now they may not have been from our neighborhood but they were here and they were taking over. My night of the occasional candy passing had turned to chaos in a matter of minutes. The second that sun went down it was on like Donkey Kong. At one point I just stood at the door and stopped closing it, it was about this point when I realized how freaking cold it was out and that maybe I should not have been as generous to that first group of kids... I also didn't realize just how excited I was to be passing out candy on our door step. It was so awesome. How lame is that?! I just stood there remembering how much fun I would have with my sister and our friends dressing up and collecting the goods, I can only hope those kids will look back and think the same thing one day. Maybe they will even be like -  "This one Halloween, this awesome blond lady let me take as much candy as I wanted!" I am sure this is unlikely but oh well, I can dream. It was also at this point when I realized the overwhelming amount of candy I had was dwindling FAST and I needed to do something, no I was not just going to shut my light off, I made the ultimate sacrifice, I went to the cabinet and pulled out the candy I had stashed for a later day, the candy that is my absolute favorite and sacrificed it for the joy of mask wearing kiddos. I also threw in some snack size packs of Goldfish and all of the granola bars I could find in the house. Needless to say the house was not egged, there were no tricks, everyone left with a treat, I missed almost all of Pumpkin Wars (thank you DVR) and I started ignoring the doorbell and closed the shades at 9, thinking anyone still asking for candy at this point is old enough to have a job and buy there own...

sandy... aka "frankenstorm"

Well it has begun, that wonderful time of storms, wacky weather, unpredictable patterns and of course panic. No potential nor'easter would be complete without panic. For that last 5 days meteorologists and news broadcasters alike have been predicting the storm of the century ... SANDY. A crazy mix of a hurricane and nor'easter that have combined and plan on taking over pretty much the entire East Coast. This wacky combo of weather promises hurricane type winds, rain, snow, power outages and flooding. Sounds awesome right? Well honestly to me it kind of did, after stocking up on essentials (Velveeta- this can be melted on the stove or grill to make a wonderous amount of things, bread, bacon, spaghettios, fruit, water, ginger ale and batteries) I was more than ready for a day or two at home cuddled up with no power playing board games and reading books. Sort of like a long extended vacation (without any political jib jab clouding the tv and radio) minus the sun and palm trees that I would normally associate with a vacation. Don't get me wrong, I was not hoping for this bad boy or more appropriately bad girl to destroy any homes, or flood NYC or do anythign drastic, I just wanted that cozy stuck at home relaxed feeling. But as it turns out Sandy had other plans, not for us here Massachusetts, or Western Massachusetts rather, she actually decided to pretty much skip us all together, after pretty much everything in the state was closed down, including work -Thank you three day weekend. But she did decide to make a quick visit to NJ and NY and CT causing some pretty unreal damage and flooding. The pictures and news casts have just been amazing. There have also been quite a few fake images that have popped up all over and it always makes me laugh at the reaction they get, or the poor people who get wrapped in them thinking they are real. I am sending many positive thoughts to all of the individuals seriously effected and I hope they clean up well. But this entire experience was almost a let down here, I know better safe than sorry is a great motto and I appreciate and respect it but sending entire states of people into a widespread panic almost takes away the actual message for those that really do need to be prepared, although again I thank you weathermen for allowing me a lazy day at home yesterday. It just seems to me that there should be some sort of happy medium... Hey world a bad ass storm is coming so we reccomend we have yourselves prepared but there is no need to tackle people down for generators, I MEAN YOU LIVE IN NEW ENGLAND - you should be ready for these things on the drop of a hat!

 

Being prepared is always a good thing, especially if you are a boyscout!!!

 

Ok... I can't help it, this one cracks me up, mostly because we made out quite ok up here BUT you have to admit is is well done! Thank you http://movieline.com/2012/10/28/hurricane-sandy-grease-meme-frankenstorm/ for sharing!

 

 

 

here we go again...

Well, here I am again, back at it. It has been awhile - maybe even a little bit more than awhile at this point but it is time again. I can just tell, the last few weeks I keep thinking (yes, I think!) I really should be keeping track of all of this, or man that would be a funny story. So after some debate and review of my old blog, here we are at the beginning again, ready to chit chat and share my everyday crazy take on the world and the weirdness it has to offer me in this life. I am not sure that this random blog could ever be as exciting and out there as my chronicles of Paris but I am damn sure going to try and keep it that way. Even though I am not in Paris any more and I have settled back to a semi-normal life here in the good-ole US of, things haven't necessarily settled down for me. There is so much that has happened in the last 5 months now that I am thinking back on it all, I am not sure where to even start... So I guess a rundown is in order. I moved back in June and went to the happy little countryside in NH, thinking yup, I can totally move back in with Ma and Pa, no problem at all, I can handle this, to be totally wrong. I found myself driving here there and everywhere just to keep myself busy and to fill my unemployed time. Speaking of unemployment, it is not something I would recommend to anyone BUT if you have to go through it, summer time is key. So keep that in mind if you have any say what so ever when laying people off. There really isn't much to complain about when there is a pool in the backyard and the sun is out almost every day. I accepted a job that I knew deep down I didn't want so I then declined the same job. Also not something I recommend to anyone, this is one of the worst feelings in the world. It is not fun and I felt like a big giant piece of ______________ <insert some awful word here. When they say listen to your gut, they mean it. That grumbly, squishy food processing center really knows what it is doing. There was a Burgerfest reunion which was an awesome time for all, I love my college friends, they are a whole new level of extended family, I have been truly blessed to have them in my life, although there were two incredibly important people missing. One being Jane, who passed on last August, I think this weekend and even leading up to it made me realize that it was all real. Being across an ocean really had allowed me to sort of loss over some of those emotions, well because at the time it was just easier. The second being someone who I will forever love more than life but just couldn't be there, we maybe going in separate directions but I still don't let a moment pass without thinking about him. So although there were some gaps, we managed to fill that weekend with so much laughing and drinking that I think we represented ourselves as well rounded adults who still know how to come together and make it happen. I visited my Partner in Crime and her amazing kiddos in Chicago, which was just amazing. Not only have I wanted to see that damn mirrored bean for a LONG time, I miss that silly Asian and her spawn (I mean children...hehe) more than anything. We rocked that city, zoo, pier, bean and double decker busses. I am pretty sure Annee and I are some sort of weird soul mates. I attended unemployment classes, visited family, helped Britt and her boyfriend move from one snowy cold place to another, at least this one is within a reasonable driving distance, finally found a job that I think is just right for me (and I work with some of the most caring people I have ever met in my life), moved back to Mass, visited the olden day at Sturbridge Village with two crazy gals that always make me laugh and I have missed Paris and my family there dearly every day since I came back. I also have realized how hard it is to stay in touch, I have always known that I sort of suck at this but man oh man it managing time differences, schedules, unemployment and then employment make it hard to keep those who mean the most to you in touch on a regular basis. And that my dear friends is just a quick run down. Trust the nitty gritty details are just way to much for a recap of the last few months.

Being in Paris and away from my life here made me realize many things, one of which being I don't really have it all figured out because each and every day a new challenge will be tossed out there. Some are small and trivial and some are seriously life changing. But it also made me realize that I can handle any of those things because deep down I have to make me happy and even though how to do that maybe a mystery at times, it is the most important thing someone can do for themselves.

So... here is to a new chapter, a new beginning, the next page, another challenge and endless adventures... bring it on life, I am going to try like hell to handle you... and all the while I am going to write about how exactly I am trying to do that!