Ginger Unplugged

As we decorated for Halloween, I let Monkey pick out some light-up shapes for the windows in his bedroom. There were four to choose from and he wanted them all up, which was fine. While we hung them he got very excited and said, "Maybe they'll scare the little girl away!" "What little girl?" "The one who talks to me at night." "Uh, what does this little girl look like?" "She's invisible." "Does she come every night?" "No, just most of them." "What does she say?" "She just says, 'Watch out!'" "Then what does she do?" "She runs away." "Why?" "The dragon always shows up right after her." YIKES! Go little light-up shapes, go!

1. My dad making sugar cookies for us all on the special holiday plate. They are THE BEST cookies. For those of you who love "Smart Cookies," he calls these "Genius Cookies." (He is not very humble about his sugar cookie skills.) 2. My mom bringing homemade socks. They are THE BEST socks. I never where any others if I can help it. 3. Crash making Halloween balloon shapes for kids if they gave him two pieces of candy. He specializes in snakes, pumpkins, bats and ghosts. Want one? 4. The realization that I will never make seven costumes in one month again. Ever. I won't. Don't ask me. 5. Talking to mom on the couch for an hour or two. 6. My dear friend making me a yummy dessert out of the kindness of her heart. 7. The show some of my favorite neighbor boys put on when trick or treating...there is still fake blood all over the porch. Very aesthetic. 8. The almost full moon. 9. The extra hour of sleep tonight. Sometimes daylight savings is a good...

When Princess was a preschooler she tried long and hard to get us to dress up the cat for Halloween. "Don't you think he feels left out?" she asked. "But cats don't wear costumes," I replied. "He could go as part of YOUR costume," (I was a witch--of course). "But he can't carry a treat bucket." "I'll carry it FOR him." "Well, cats don't even eat candy." It was obvious we'd reached the whole point of the discussion. "I'LL eat it FOR him," she offered, eyes aglow with anticipation.

Now you'll see why I haven't had much time to blog! Drove to dinner in Plain City (of all places) on Mother's Day. While Princess was throwing up in the back seat, lo and behold, I ACTUALLY FOUND THE ADDRESS with no real trouble--especially considering I was given bad directions. Most of you have no idea how miraculous this is, but some of you do. Yeah, I know...me finding my way? SCARY. I chalk it up to Mother's Day blessings from above. Spent and incredible afternoon riding my new Mother's Day bike to the grocery store up our river trail with Butterfly leading the way and Monkey in the bike trailer. It was gorgeous and butterfly was amazing. She went through at least 5 tunnels with a good 6 inches of water in them--one had a fountain bubbling up she had to go over. She thought is was the coolest thing ever. And can I just say, that pretty much NOTHING fits in my eco-friendly fabric grocery sack? The one I paid TWENTY dollars for? A couple days later another,...

It all started on Halloween when, for the second year in a row, I didn't have a costume and wanted one at the last minute. You know those emergency Halloween parties? Well, I went to one. As I stood there behind the spiderwebbed cupcakes and the green-colored cheese bread, my friend said she liked my vest. "Did you make it?" she asked (having made her Bellatrix costume herself--including the corset and everything). "Um, no," I answered. "I bought it a long time ago." At that moment I realized that the huge belt, the white shirt with the awesome cuffs and collar, the slightly big and funky jewelry, the boots and, of course, the vest that I still wear under suit jackets were all items from my own wardrobe. My own wardrobe. My personal style through the ages has been "Modern Pirate!?" Luckily, I still have both calves intact and a serious aversion to knickers (my first 6th grade boy/girl dance--don't ask) or I think people would expect me t...

"I don't think I'll dress up for Halloween this year," I told my friend. She looked at me trying to figure out if this was a joke or not. Deciding I was serious, she said, "Isn't that a little like Santa not coming for Christmas?" I wanted to deny it, and not just because my 8-month's pregnant figure is a little too close to Santa's shape for my comfort. However, as I surveyed my closet the next day, I realized that I do havee more costumes in there than clothes that actually fit me at the moment. Halloween came and I still didn't know what to be. Pregnant pirates=not cool. Pregnant Captain Janeway=too disturbing. Pregnant witches=hah! like I could squeeze myself into that little bodice right now. So I just wore an orange t-shirt with an open white button-up shirt on top and at least felt my color scheme matched the season. The first trick-or-treaters came accompanied by their mothers--women I know from the neighborhood. "Look! Ginger di...

1. Being on top of an elevator (writing names inside the shaft) when it started going up. 2. Being trapped under a kneeboard, underwater, because it was strapped on too tight. 3. Watching The Lost Boys on TV when my husband was out of town. 4. Being chased around the house by my mother weilding a high heel because I hid and scared her in the basement. 5. Watching my 3-year old stopping 4 lanes of busy traffic as she ran across the street with me yelling, "STOP" behind her. 6. Having my plane boarded and checked by men with machine guns in Czechoslovakia--not used to that. 7. That recurring nightmare that I was being forced to marry Magic Mongo when I was five. 8. Admitting to Mrs. Eggli that I was the one who stuck the pencil in her overhead projector fan--not the kid next to me who she had been solidly chewing out. 9. Going to my first writers' group to meet the writing instructor I had been fighting with for days. 10. Getting locked inside a European church courtyard wi...