Happy Halloween!

Have a haunting-ly good day!!!

xoxo Susan

Fall Colors

Fall is showing its true colors here this week. My trees are blazing with every color possible and I am enjoying the view... at least while it lasts. It won't be long now. The first frost was last Friday and we awoke to this:

Those shingles on the roof of the shed are supposed to be charcoal grey, not white, people! Grass should be green... any other color is just plain wrong! I would have taken photos of the van but there was no time before the school bell... finding the scraper took enough time. The color of the shed itself is now correct, since I spent hours scrubbing off the green slime that had accumulated on the siding...and the north side of the house...and the white vinyl fence. My house is now all shiny and clean. Of course, after hours and hours of scrubbing and several bottles of non-toxic cleaner, using a little brush that you'd use on dishes, my friend Tom was kind enough to share his method... according to Tom, you spray on some kind of spray, then go have a sandwich for lunch. Come back out and wipe it down with a long handled brush. Go lie down and have a nap. Then come out and spray it with a hose and you are done. I think I like Tom's method better than mine, but at least it is done. Just in time for winter... {sigh}

Love this man...

I started off this morning with a phone call to one of the favorite men in my life, my Grandpa, who turns 90 years old today. The one who still calls me "Susie Blue Eyes" even though they turned green almost forty years ago. He has lived twice my lifetime and then a few more years. At an age when many of my peers are losing parents, I am lucky enough to have a grandfather, and my daughters a great-grandfather. Although he may look weathered and worn from the years, at ninety he is still a pretty handsome guy. Not surprising, since he was quite the hunk in his younger days, looking a bit like Patrick Swayze in his old Army photo. He served in Europe in WWII, something that interests all of us far more than him. He won trophies for surfcasting and shuffleboard and still beats younger men at billiards. We share our birthday month and a special bond. His mind is still as sharp as ever. Today, as always, he makes me laugh, we talk politics, the stock market and the weather. He asks about "his girls" and how "the boy" is doing...do I have him working hard enough and is he treating me good? So Happy Birthday, Grandpa...and I hope I get to make the same call again next year and the next and for many more to come...

P.S. Here are a couple of pictures that were displayed at his birthday party last week. Didn't I tell you he's a hunk? ;o)

This movie may change your life...

When someone mentioned this movie on a yahoo message board, I paid little attention. Apparently, I need more of a push than that. Then yesterday a woman walked through Marshall's, yelling "Everyone, you have to go see the movie "Fireproof"...it will change your life!!" I thought she was some kind of a nut, but with the kind of day I was having, I was ready for a little change in my life. So I went online out of simple curiosity...'what is it about this movie that makes people want to spread the word about it?'

I discovered that it is a story of a firefighter whose most important fight becomes the one to save his marriage. Hmmm, sounds like a movie we could use right about now. I was still on the fence though. Would a movie really have that big an impact? This morning I looked out the front window and saw a fire truck parked across my driveway. There was no fire. Nothing. Just a big ol' ladder truck, packed with guys in full turnout gear, sitting in front of my driveway, with one man talking to the driver of the car in front of them. Weird. It seems that when God feels the need to send me a sign, it comes with flashing lights and a siren attached.

So I asked R. if he wanted to see a movie this afternoon when we dropped off C. with her friends. By now I was pretty convinced which one we should see, but just in case I was still not sure, an hour and a half later we were at Mass and the choir began singing a familiar song, from our wedding. "OK! I get it!! We're going to see Fireproof this afternoon." I didn't tell R. which movie though. We had discussed a few and I never told him I had already researched this one or that I thought it had a message we both needed to hear. I wanted to see his reaction to it without giving too much away.

You see, stress over several issues had been building in our home and my husband and I were arguing more than we ever had. Let's face it, marriage can be effortless, especially in the beginning. And then sometimes, it can be just plain hard. Add a couple of jobs, or the loss of a job. Throw in a some kids, with school, sports, work and social schedules. Health issues. Household repairs. Worries over the economy and college tuitions.

Soon it becomes exhausting ....frustrating....annoying...overwhelming. And of course, the person you wind up taking everything out on, is the one person closest to you. I found this quote from one of the actors in the movie that sums it up the best: "The marriage storyline is so true for many marriages today. We start off strong as a couple deeply in love. After a few years of tests and trials, we tend to fall away, forget our vows and lose our focus. God did not create marriage to be like this. I believe His purpose for us as man and wife is to love each other unconditionally in order to demonstrate to the world the love He shows for us. That's why this storyline is relevant for this time and season."

I am not going to review the movie here, other than to tell you that this movie said exactly what we both needed to hear. It involves a forty day challenge that is outlined in a book now available. We bought the book tonight. Tomorrow we start day one. Every couple married more than a week or so needs to see this movie. Every couple on the verge of splitting up definitely needs to see this movie. Every couple who has argued over the dirty dishes in the sink in the past week needs to see this movie. Maybe it won't change your life. But it will definitely change how you see your life and how you see each other.

In the movie, the lead character says "I'm a hero to the whole world...to everyone except my wife." R., You are now and have always been my hero, and I am sorry for every day I have not shown that. I love you with all my heart.

Don't wait for the firetruck to roll up with its lights flashing... Just GO!!! xoxo, Susan

Fall "free-for-all"

As it's gotten colder, it is getting more and more crowded around here! Just this month alone, we have had yellowjackets in the dining room, ants in the pantry, crickets in the garage and the deer once again chomping on my cherry tree out front. The yellowjackets in the house were the worst of it. After finding one or two per day for quite a while, Roger went down to the basement a few days ago to bring up the Halloween decorations and discovered a dessert plate-sized nest in the basement, just beneath the dining room floor. Once the exterminator came, we found out there was a second nest that was three times the size of the first. Yikes! They have since been evicted and we are going to be a lot more cautious when we find even one in the house the next time. Just imagining how many there could have been come spring gives me chills...

Perhaps the most annoying are the ants which have recently discovered a veritable Disneyland of dining opportunities, lured by nothing more than a crumb of candy corn. Just one little morsel of sweetness had fallen underneath the pantry shelves...someone was doing some sneaky snacking!... and it led an army of ants right to their happiest place on earth. They were doing the wave in the Wheat Thins, cavorting in the Cinnamon Toast Crunch, playing in the potato rolls...and we wanted them OUT!!! I went online and found a tip that said the only way to be rid of them was to remove the odor of food by plasticizing everything. Several eco-unfriendly hours later we had a pantry full of hermetically-sealed ziploc bags of food. Not to mention two garbage bags filled with boxes of still edible yet ant-infested food that I am quite certain in people in third world countries would have gladly eaten. So far, so good...they seem to have reprogrammed their GPS's...gastronomic positioning devices...and have not returned. The crickets in the garage are a lot easier to deal with, especially if you are quick enough to grab one of the dozens are shoes strewn on the floor before they scoot away. Convenient clutter. At least they haven't hopped their way into the house...yet...

The deer and I have reached a detente...I love watching them when I am up early or late enough to see them on their nocturnal raids. I don't even mind their munching on my mums. One morning just after the bus left at 6:30am, I saw a mama and two babies strolling down the street. I also love how my weeping cherry tree graces the front flower bed, despite the fact that it is the tastiest of deer treats. Once the branches start looking too sparse, however, the anti-deer spray comes out and the snack bar is closed for the season!

Looking on the bright side, at least we don't have scorpions, like my friends out in AZ. None that I have discovered yet, anyway... P.S. So, what's bugging you these days? ;o)

Happy Birthday to me...

...but this gift is for YOU!!! That is, for anyone who has taken the time to stop by. I am going to give this blogging thing a shot. I will try not to bore you! ;o) LOL I do NOT promise to blog every day or even every week, only when I have a funny story to tell you or something cool to share. This space is definitely a "work-in-progress" but hey, aren't we all?? I hope that you will bear with me while I get this baby off the ground...Please remain in your seat with your seatbelt fastened until the captain has turned off the seatbelt sign, at which time you are free to move around this blog... xoxo Susan