Monday Madness- Happy Halloween!

It's Halloween!  Always fun for the kids. I must admit, this year I've been a bit behind in fall decor. I just last night pulled out my Trick-or-Treat sign and jack-o-lanterns. I've been busy with other things. AS well, I'm a little jaded this year. Someone stole my kids' pumpkins right off my front porch. And I really don't have much of a porch. It's more like a sidewalk leading up to the front door with a nice sized landing space. Which means they had to come right up to my front door. Hooligans! May their candy be absolutely rotten and give them a good old fashioned stomach ache tonight. Hhmph!


And last night, in another brilliant move, The Hubs and I watched the end of, uhm, I THINK it was Halloween. It featured Jamie Lee Curtis and some guy in a mask and there were axes and knives and running people over with trucks. Pretty gory stuff with the masked guy popping out of creepy corners. Which was perfectly fine- until I had to take Lola for a walk on our deserted streets at 10 pm. Leaves make an eerie sound swirling in the wind. Quickest potty run ever!


Tonight we will also celebrate my mother's birthday. Yes. She was born on Halloween. A lot of things about me make sense now, don't they...  ;)


Yours, hoping you have a fun-filled trick or treating night!


Melissa

Saturday Sass

Most of you know I've been training for a marathon, which I ran on Sunday. There may be more posts and pictures about that, but take a look at the one above. That's my Daddy, running with me at mile 18.5.  It was a sweet precious moment, when he was a little worried about me, came out to find me, and ran me to mile 19, where The Hubs was waiting to run with me through Mile 22. (Miles 18-21 are mentally and physically the most difficult. You're close, but not close enough.) So I posted this picture on my fb page, and someone commented:


"Did you ever pass the dude in jeans?"


Not.even.kidding.


I'm considering if I want to edit my friends list. ;)


And in other news: CONGRATULATIONS CARDINALS!!!


Yours, soaking in the weekend,


Melissa

What IS That Stench?

It was just a routine night. I let the dog out one last time. He stood on the patio, staring at something in the yard, then took off after it. I was unfazed. He’d done this thousands of times before and never caught a thing. Only this time, he came back very quickly and stood at the glass sliding door waiting to be let in, all the while shaking his head like he was trying to get something off of it. And what looked like drool was flying everywhere. It looked odd, so I just watched him for a while. And slowly, the smell started to make it’s way around the glass door, into the house. Oh…so…slowly…until it hit me…

SKUUUUUUUNK!!!

Oh, the horror! The stench was overwhelming! The first thing that came to mind was tomato juice, but being a household that doesn’t like tomatoes, I had to start calling around to the neighbors. Of course, that alerted them to the fact that WE were to blame for the horrible smell that was very quickly spreading in the neighborhood!

Anyway, all the internet sites said that tomato juice doesn’t really work. So in addition to several shampoos, we tried the hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dishwashing liquid solution that everyone recommended. Nope. All the “experts” were WRONG!!!

So the next day, I first tried Pepsi. Yeah, not so much. Next I tried a product that was “guaranteed or your money back” from a pet store. Uh huh, I’ll be getting my money back from them! It helped, but didn’t get rid of it all the way. Then I tried the tomato juice. Better. Then more shampoos. Getting there. Finally I just sprayed him with Fabreze. Closer, but I can still smell him. Not bad, but every so often I get a whiff of it.

My sister thinks it’s just on me now, but I took a shower. Really! Who knows, maybe it’s just sticking to stuff in the house now. Either way, this has been one eye-watering, nose-agonizing experience!

Karen

Monday Madness!

It's 12:45 AM on Monday morning. Yes, A.M. I can't sleep. I can't figure it out. You would think I would be totally sacked out by now. But I'm just hungry.  I ran my marathon today. It was an amazing experience. I started in corral 15 with hundreds of other people. 21,000+ people ran today. At mile eight, the path splits and you realize just how crazy you are when 80% of the people stay on the other path and you take the one with virtually nobody on it. The Hubs, Z1, Z2 and my parents showed up at mile 12. That was so unexpected! And again at mile 15.  By then I had shaved 25 minutes off my half marathon time from last year. I was going to need that extra time because my hardest miles were up ahead. Seriously, by mile 16, pushing through Carondelet Park, I was ready to beat the heck out of the path planners. I had been going uphill for at least 14 of those miles. And the park was one big uphill. Finally I reached the turnaround point. At mile 18, my dad- who just turned 70 last week- ran half of that mile with me. The Hubs ran me from miles 19-22. That was crucial. Six to 7 miles out is still a very long way to go. Once I got to 4 miles out, it felt achievable. And then when I thought I was coming up on mile 23 and the sign ready 24, I could have danced!  By the time I finished I was having an out of body experience.  Once they got me home, I was in bed and my mother brought a huge meal over for me.... pot roast, potatoes, chocolate cake. YUUUUUM! (Confession: she had left the cake here earlier and when I came home, I took a fork and dug right into the cake pan. I NEVER do that. But then again, I had never run a marathon, either). I've tried to sleep, and I've already had another beef sandwich at 11:30, but to be honest, that chocolate cake is sounding pretty darn good right now.


Yours, cutting myself a healthy slice, Yes, at 1 in the morning!


Melissa

Friday Fun!

To give you an idea of how the B house operates on a Friday morning, take a look at this video of Zoe and Lola. We're pretty go with the flow, because, well, Friday is SO close to Saturday that we should kinda have a Saturday feel, right?

So we continue to play. :)  


Yours, waiting for Sunday to get here so I can finish!


Melissa

IS YOUR TEEN DRIVING? NERVOUS?

I am (thankfully) still several years away from having a driving child, but when I saw this article in Family Circle, I knew I had to pass along this information. Did you know there are some GREAT apps out there to help you regulate your teen’s driving? Take a look:

• SPRINT DRIVE FIRST: Locks your teen’s cell phone when her car goes over 10 mph. (I don’t know if it can differentiate between HER car or anyone’s car…I think not, though.) Sends incoming calls directly to Voice Mail and texts get an automated message back. 3 phone numbers and 3 apps are allowed in case of emergencies. $3 per month from Sprint.
• TEENAGE SPEEDSTER: Sends a message to parents when their child is in any speeding car. Available for just about any smart device. $2
• PHONEGUARD DRIVE SAFE: Blocks incoming texts and sends an automated message back while car is moving. Sends a Google map link showing location and speed of the vehicle. Allows 911 calls. Free
• CAR PARENTAL CONTROL: Follows the position and speed of the car with a color coded map showing the route. Only available on iStuff. $2
• SPEEDBUMP: Gives you updates on your teen’s driving skills and patterns. For Android phones only. $10
• DRIVESAFE.LY: Text messages are read aloud without the driving even touching the phone. An autoresponder option is included and can be customized. Free

Aren’t these great? I imagine that by the time my boys are able to drive there will be even better apps out, but I love these! Happy hovering!

Karen

Monday Madness- A DOUBLE Post? WHa? Wha?

Dear Readers,


A personal friend of mine started this non-profit organization over five years ago. It's called Music For the Soul and the specialize in putting together music projects that reach out to specific, life-altering events. I really believe in this organization. Steve, the founder, is one of the most generous, compassionate people you will ever meet. He walked away from his full time career as an established Nashville writer doing what he does best to help hurting people. His organization, Music for the Soul, is in the running for a $2,000 grant. They need votes. That's all you have to do- follow this link and vote for Music for the Soul!  Sooooooooo easy. (Just like the other ones Karen put up on Saturday. Click on them all!!!) 


Thanks in advance!


Yours,


Melissa