Pinkalicious Costume!!

Halloween hop... continued:

We had a Halloween party at church today, so, yay! I have pictures of my costume :) I'm not sure I'll have the energy to pull this off again...actually I'm about 99.9% sure this was it, but I might wear the tutu for the real day...and the pink shirt, because why not?

Pinkalicious, Pascal, Rapunzel.  

Pascal couldn't be bothered to look at the camera 

when there was a pink tutu to be eaten... 

One of my sisters looking pretty saucy.

Lets get these kids on home!  It's way past bedtime--8:30. Holy cow, I know! 

That's my other Sis as Flo, from Progressive :)

sooo pink

 Happy Trunk or Treat :)

Halloween Hop

Yay!  I LOVE Halloween.  Not all the creepster stuff, but dressing up, carving pumpkins, baking seeds, eating corn-dogs--because you HAVE to eat corn-dogs on Halloween, caramel apples, and candy--or really CHOCOLATE, because who has time for that fruity crap.

My favorite monster movie (okay confession, I HATE all things scary.  I don't do haunted houses or scary movies) so therefore, I'm going with:

La belle et la bete 

And here is some Halloween through the years...see if you can guess all of them. 

This year I'm going as... here's a hint:

I so want a cupcake right now.

PINKALICIOUS! 

You'll have to come back and see my costume of awesomeness... I'm sooo excited.  

Getting rid of writer's bum

Phew, so I'm know the size of my rump isn't completely attributed to writing, but every time I sit down at the computer (okay maybe not every time) I think about how sedentary this hobby of mine is...which is why it is good to have other hobbies.

I got on the scale this morning (which doesn't always make me happy,but today it did) I have eight pounds to go before I'm at my pre-baby weight.  Huzzah!  That calls for an ice cream sundae! jk.

Anywho, my success is attributed to the two things above--and the pulling out of the double stroller.

Man, the 30-day shred (maybe if you were in shape already you'd scoff at this) holy crap for one who was looking to get back in shape, this kicks my writers bum.  The best part about it, the workout is only 20 minutes, which means I don't really have an excuse not to do it.

The Good Mood Food diet (which I tweak because I am nursing my kiddo) is awesome.  It's all about what to eat.  Which is good because when I have a list of things I shouldn't eat, all I do is eat them.  I don't follow it perfectly, but I've been eating way more vegetables consistently than I have my whole life, and I like vegetables--so that's saying something.  

My double jogger--I found this puppy at a consignment shop before my second kiddo was even a twinkle in my eye, because it was $60 and they can run hundreds of dollars.  The Bob double jogger is $500 bucks. Ouch.  Anyway we've been going on walks after dinner, and it is so nice--hopefully the weather will stay good for a while.

  Okay, guilty, this wasn't Halloween either, it was however a dress up day at school, and I was so exceedingly nerdy I took every opportunity to not be myself.  :) I got over that.  Although I still love dressing up.  

Ghost of Halloweens past

Wow.  Yes, I am the kid with the dreads.  I'm  not really sure what I was going for here.

  

Day 2

So the following isn't a Halloween pic, but it's kind of scary that Mom let me run around the backyard like this... and what's weirder is I have no idea who the kid next to me is...probably one of the neighborhood crowd that hung out with my older brother, that or some lost jungle boy who popped out of the bushes.   

This was my room last night. One box down... three more to go.  

(I knocked three out pretty easily at my parents house, now I have the hard ones left.) 

I found this gem while sorting:

My best friend wrote that in the 9th grade, in response to something I must have slid across her desk.  I laughed out loud at that one, seeing as I became a Spanish teacher.  

Would you change anything?

I'm a future person.  I don't really enjoy the past, or at least I thought I didn't.  Let me clarify--I love history and all things old, but my own history and memories--I don't relive/revisit them.  When I move on, I move on.  Period.  I never visited old teachers, and when I left for college, I didn't keep in touch with my friends back home.  I made new ones who I didn't keep in touch with when I left again.  I don't visit old jobs, I don't like seeing people in Walmart I haven't seen in forever.  I like keeping people in these little boxes in my mind, where they stay in the time they should.  When I've completed a chapter in my life--I shelf it and don't look back.

Do I think this is a good thing? Not really.  
Did I have some horrific childhood/teen/young adulthood?  Nope.
So what's my problem?  I have no idea, other than I love reaching forward and trying to figure out what I'm going to do next.
Do I want to be stuck in the past?  Not at all, but remembering, cherishing, learning from it--that would be a good thing.  

I just pulled out the boxes I'd left in my parents attic eight years ago--when I moved out and went to college.  Basically my childhood in seven boxes.  I'm still sorting through everything deciding what's worth hanging on to.

And I realized I'd forgotten.  So much.  So many friends, so many memories.
As I showed some of my high school pictures to my mom, she asked me: Would you change anything if you could do it all again?

And honestly no I wouldn't, except one thing.

I'd appreciate it more.        

When I got home with the boxes, and I had to rush around putting the baby to bed and getting big girl a snack and doing all the 'mom' things.  It hit me.  I need to appreciate it now, because this will be gone just as fast.

That is one gift writing has given me.  I'm starting to remember.  High school and middle school and growing up and how hard it all is, and yet how carefree.  All these pictures and memories are a boatload of inspiration I'm so grateful to have.

I have to say that there is hope for me yet.  I had one of the best friends I've ever had move away in June.  I know it's only September, but we call each other about once a week.  This is the longest I've ever really kept in touch with someone (I don't count facebook...) so wish me luck. :)

P.S. In honor of reliving memories...I'm going to post a picture each day this month.  31 days of Halloween.