Haunting Halloween

I don't post very often lately because I'm working a second job.  I work in a large department store in the local mall in the home department.  At our store, there is a rumor about a ghost who lives in the second floor bathroom.  One of our custodial staff, a man, also claims to have seen her.  I'm sure other people have, too, but I haven't heard their stories, only his.  He says that he called out to see if anyone was in the lady's restroom so he could clean.  Hearing no one, he went in and started working.  Then out of nowhere, there is a woman (wearing cowboy boots) who walked right by him and out the door without looking at him or saying anything.  He thought he had been alone in there, so he came out and asked who else had seen her, but no one had.  So we assume she's our restroom ghost.

Tonight, Halloween, I was in the stockroom organizing some products for about an hour.  When I was almost finished, I heard this wailing.  It happened twice. Loud and mournful.  Scared the crud out of me!  When I came out of the stockroom, I asked a co-worker if she heard anything, and she had only heard a loud bump.  I was telling my department manager about it, and she says, "Oh, yeah, that's our ghost.  I hear her all the time."  What?

I guess she really exists!  I'm a believer!

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Wordless (almost) Wednesday

My sweet angels with their homecoming paraphernalia.

I'm linking up with WW.

Homecoming Part 5

Where my kids go to school, the seniors wear white and silver mums for homecoming, and the girls often add a color of their choice.  Although this year, my daughter has a boyfriend who got her a mum, I wanted to make one for her anyway.  I decided to add a little pink to it.  I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.  She liked it, too.

Here's a closeup of the three flowers.  There is a bear in the middle.  I put a tiara on her, although you can't really see it in the picture.  There are two pink hearts on the top right, a homecoming arch on the top left, and a senior start on the bottom.  I also used silver star garland.  I wish the backing showed up more because it's the part I thought I really did well on.

Here is the entire mum, complete with three foot ribbons in different patterns, colors, and styles, a boa, bells, trinkets, and curling ribbon.  It sort of looks gold, but there is no gold in it.  I guess it was just the lighting.  I wish it showed up better, but you get the general idea.  I had fun making this!

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Homecoming Part 4

Here are some more pictures from twin day. 

This is my daughter and her good friend dressed as pink power rangers.

My daughter and her boyfriend (who is also a power ranger).

And my daughter in her sailing senior shirt.

She also came to me at the last minute and asked me if I would make her boyfriend's garter because she didn't have time.  She had the ribbons cut, the backing made, and the trinkets picked out, so I put it together for her.

I hope he liked it.  She gave it to him on Friday morning.  Next up... her senior mum from me.

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Homecoming Part 3

One of the themes for homecoming week was twin day.  My daughter and 3 of her friends dressed as power rangers.  My daughter has on the pink tights, black skirt, and pink shirt.  A different friend of hers also dressed in pink, while this one was in blue.  Her boyfriend dressed as a white power ranger.  They are having so much fun!

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Homecoming Part 2

This is homecoming week at my children's school, and they are doing dress-up days every day.  Monday was Disney day.  My daughter made t-shirts for her and her boyfriend.  His says, "You are the Dory to my Marlin."  Hers says, "You are the Marlin to my Dory."  Aren't they cute?

I'm linking up with Wordless Wednesday, even though I just can't do wordless!  LOL

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Homecoming Part 1

High School football in Texas is BIG!  And the biggest game of the season is Homecoming.  The true purpose of Homecoming is to welcome back alumni and/or residents who have moved away.  It is a time for them to "come home" and celebrate.  Did you know that the birthplace of homecoming is considered to be the University of Missouri or Baylor University (here in Texas), depending on whom you ask?  I didn't, either, till now.  Baylor's first homecoming was in 1909.

Homecoming in Texas is more than BIG! It usually includes pep rallies, the homecoming court, dress-up days at school, tailgating, parades, a football game, a dance, and don't forget... mums!  I only came to realize about a month ago that homecoming mums are pretty much a Texas thing.

What started out as a sweet gesture has turned into a monster.  When I was in school, we used to make our homecoming mums with real chrysanthemums and lots of ribbons.  Now, for homecoming, the mums are silk flowers and the bigger the mum, the gaudier the mum, the better.  Boys also get a piece of the action they didn't get when I was in school.  They wear mums on a garter on their arms.  In our school, students wear their school colors except for seniors who wear white and silver or white and gold

My twins are seniors this year.  My son went to the homecoming dance as a freshman, but he hasn't gone since and doesn't plan to this year, but since he's a senior, I decided to make him a garter anyway.  Typically, if the student has a date, the date has the mum made.  Parents also buy or make them for their kids, and sometimes friends make them for each other.  They can get expensive when they're store-bought and done by professionals.  They're pretty expensive even if you make them yourself, but it's fun!

This is the mum I made for my son.  It's  a smaller version of a traditional Texas mum attached to a garter.  I always think that what I make isn't good enough, but my daughter said she liked it, so maybe I did okay.  Now, will he wear it to school and the game?  That remains to be seen.

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Shutdown

Does anyone remember the government shutdown 17 years ago?  I do, and I don't remember it being such a media frenzy like it is now.  I also remember that it was over fairly quickly, and we were none the worse for wear in the long run.

A few, quick bi-partisan thoughts about our current impasse...

I don't believe Congress as a whole will enact legislation that is in the best interests of the Average Joe if that legislation does not affect them.  Perhaps their salaries should be suspended until an agreement is reached.

I am wondering for whom the Affordable Care Act is going to be affordable and why Congress has exempted themselves from it.

If our nation runs with all of these non-essential services suspended, do we really need them?  Exactly what does non-essential mean?

And last, I wonder if the rest of the world is laughing at the US.  If we can't run our own government, what makes us think we can take over other country's governments or tell them how to run theirs?

No matter what, I am glad to be an American!

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