Gotta Get to Work

     I have procrastinated long enough. I HAVE got to get to work now. This weekend is going to be busy with all of the running around I want to do but I am going to have to get some things done also.
     My makeup kit is packed and ready to go. I even got new liquid latex for making zombie skin and wounds. I have managed to get 2 wands started, but they still have a long way to go. I have a room to finish emptying out so that I can go in and paint it and get it ready for turning into an office for the hubby. Yes, it is SUPPOSED to be my craft room but I am SOOOOOOOO very tired of listening to him complain about not having a place to work.
     Still need to get into the attic and pull out all of my Halloween craft, costume and fabric boxes. Not to mention find stuff that belongs to the oldest so that he can get the rest of his stuff into his new place. Oh well, such is the life of a procrastinator.

Dragging My Feet

     So the oldest is now gearing up to move out. This came as a surprise to us since we really didn't think that he had the money to do so. I thought I would be saddened by this, but surprisedly I am not. It has put a slight hitch in all of my planning and prepping for Halloween (mostly a storage problem) but it means that I have a chance to get my craft room back for a short time.
     As I have said most of my usual planning and prepping for Halloween has been kinda put on the back burner. I still need to order another tea set. After much consideration I am dropping the orange color from my color scheme and just going with black and white. Now I just need to get a white tea set. Guess I should order it tomorrow. Not to mention I have quite the collection of glassware that needs to be painted. Man I need to get off my butt.
     Then to make matters worse, I want to whine and pout about how my life is going when a friend of mine shares with me the problems she has going on in her world. Man some people have life so much harder than others. Bad thing is I am helpless to do anything to make her life any easier. All I can do is be there for her. And before you say that sometimes just being there makes all the difference in the world, just know that I am one of those people that isn't happy unless I am actually DOING something to make things better. I really hate it when my friends are going through a rough patch.

The Most Wonderful Husband In The World

     I have the most wonderful husband in the world. He spoils me so much it isn't funny. We went to Fandomfest over the weekend, where I got to meet Michael Rooker, Norman Reedus, Lew Temple, Iron E. Singleton, John Barrowman, Jason Momoa, Adam Baldwin and Stan Lee. As exciting as that was it isn't nearly as exciting as what he bought me while we were there. After years of wanting a Paranormal Baby, I finally got one there at Fandomfest. I have been following Susan Andrew's work for at least 5 years now and have been so jealous of people who have purchased some of her dolls. Now I have one of my own. I have named him Patrick Michael. The thing with Patrick is when I seen him on Facebook I really didn't like him, I had fell in love with another one of her creations, a little yellow and green haired alien baby. But when I picked him up to hold him it was love. Funny part is that my husband knew before I did that I would fall in love with him. Like I said he is the most wonderful husband in the world.

Busy, Busy But Got Some Great Ideas

    Went to a training today for the FCE (Family and Community Education - it is sponsored by the University of Tennessee Extension office) and actually managed to come up with some ideas for the Witch's Tea. The major thing I thought of doing was to make wands for each person as favors/place cards. I also found some vintage hankies to use for favors (one of the FCE ladies was selling them at her booth). I am wanting it to have a vintage feel to the tea so that is why I am going with the mercury glass as accent pieces (if I can ever get them right and finished).  I still plan on having it outside at night but I am planning on using Boo's screened sun shade to try to provide protection from the bugs and possibly keep it a little warmer. Maybe drape some extra tule down the sides for a more webby look.
     My only real problem with this tea is trying to figure out who to invite. I so badly want to invite all of the girls that came to the garden party and a few that didn't come but I know that that is way to many people. Besides I only bought place settings for 6 people. So I have to figure out what 5 I want to invite, then pray that the others don't get mad at me for not inviting them.  Maybe next year I can expand and add a guest or two.

Here I Go Again

     As per my usual self, I have decided to go ahead and plan the Witch's Tea. I really want to kick myself for doing this but then I can't help myself, in my head it is going to be sooooooo much fun. I have already bought plates, cups and ordered 2 tea sets. Yes, I said 2 tea sets. I couldn't help myself. One is all black and the other is all orange. Very basic and plain but I so can't wait to get them. Actually everything I have gotten so far is just that, plain and basic. Yet in my mind's eye I can see how beautiful it will all look when it is pulled together.
     Don't worry though, I still plan on doing the Kid's Party. I really don't have much to do for it besides repaint the pumpkin for the bean bag game and get the food and treats. But then hot dogs, chips, cookies, cupcakes, and cotton candy is the usual fare. Have thought about doing mummy dogs also this year since they are relatively easy to do. And I am all for easy when it comes to the kids.  Heck who knows, maybe next year I will do a kid's tea party. Nah, to much work.

Struggling With Time

     I decided last year that I wanted to completely change up the front yard this Halloween. I still do, and I still plan on going with the original thought of monks but I am not so sure that I can pull off some of the ideas that I had along with the Kid's Halloween Party and the fact that I want to have a Witch's Tea this year also.
    The Kid's party is pretty much set as far as games go but it is the food and treats that are the set back. I really haven't been buying things along the way like I have in the past. Then to add the fact that I want to have a Witch's Tea is just more baking and planning to go along with the building and baking and planning and organizing and all that other stuff that happens on a daily basis. I guess what I really need to do is pull out all of the stuff for the Kid's party and go through it to see what I need to do to get ready for it and build 3 monks this month. And think about the Witch's Tea for next year.
     Not really sure on the exact number of monks I am going to need but I think that if I can build 3 or more monks each month I should have hopefully 12 by Halloween. That should be enough I hope. The only other problem I foresee is tombstones. But I will cross that bridge when I have more time to think about it. Right now I must focus on making the monks.
     Ya know, sometimes it really sucks having ADD.

The Smoke Has Cleared (Thank God!!)

     Thank goodness that the 4th is now over and I can fully immerse myself in Halloween. My BBQ went okay. It would have been soooooo much better if Mother Nature hadn't decided to dump about a half inch of rain on us all morning. It was so soggy by the time everyone showed up that we all hung out inside for a while. Mind you my poor kitchen/dining room is NOT that big and to have 15 people and two tables in it made it quite snug. Only 3 of my mason jars went home with people (which is better than I thought would happen) and we didn't get stuck with a lot of left over food. So all in all I call it a success. 
     I am hoping that the weather will be better this year for the Kid's Party. I really want them to be outside so that they have more room to run and play.  Besides, I think that they missed the Doughnut Tree last year. I am already picking the 19th as the date. Figure if I go ahead and lay claim to it people can plan around it. Now to figure out what the colors are going to be this year. Thinking I might even have a small Tea for the Ghoulfriends, we will see.
     Hopefully Hancock's will have plenty of brown material for me to start stocking up on for my monks habits. I still haven't really decided on a patter for them yet but then I don't have any material for them yet either. Dang I gotta get to work on that.  So much to do and so little time and motivation. Really need to work on that.

Wow, What Have I Got Myself Into

     I am nervous. No, down right scared. This 4th of July BBQ is starting to get out of control.  I had originally planned on 20 to 24 people (including the 4 of us) to come. Now the list of people invited has mushroomed to 35.  I realize that that isn't but 11 to 15 more people, but when you are feeding and trying to entertain them that is a whole different ballgame. Now I am soooo glad that I bought another brisket, I just hope that with the hamburgers & hotdogs that it is enough.
 

   I am still working on the mason jar cups. So far I have 24 done. Got the tops drilled on the last 12 and have the rubber grommets on 6 of those. Need to run to Lowes to pick up more grommets. Thinking I might just run by Big Lots and pick up more mason jars also. I would so much rather have to many than not enough. I will have to wait until Monday to get the rest of the bandanas since Hobby Lobby isn't open on Sundays. Will also have to see if they have any more pails while I am there. Something tells me that 16 peanut buckets are not going to be enough. Silly me thought that I only had 2 more shopping trips to make. Oh well. I just hope everything goes okay.
     Which reminds me I have to go pick up a few more pieces for the fireworks display. UGH!!!!! Well off I go...........

The Dust is Trying to Settle

     Well the son is all moved back in. That has been an experience. Needless to say neither of the cats are happy about the situation. My Boo is pissed that there is another cat in the house and poor Prometheus is pissed because he has been uprooted, rode in a Uhaul truck for 10 hours and put into a small bedroom with an angry female cat on the other side of the door. Hopefully my son will find employment soon and be able to move into a place where his cat can run freely throughout the place. That and he can continue with his young bachelor life. (Yes, I am realistic and know that he is not the innocent little boy any more.)
     I have gotten back to prepping for the 4th of July party that I was planning before. I think it has kind of gotten blown out of proportion. What was going to be just a gathering of 18 or so has morphed into 30.  At least I thought ahead enough to get 3 cases of mason jars. Now I just need to find 3 or 4 more pails and grab a few more red and white bandanas. Not to mention get more hot dogs and chicken.
     My youngest is worried about parking since he is the one responsible for the fireworks portion of this shindig. He is afraid that people will be parking right where he will be firing off the big stuff. I keep telling him that we can rearrange cars when everyone gets here. But I do understand his concern. With that many people showing up there will be quite a few cars around. Oh well, we can deal with that when it comes time for it. Right now I have to worry about feeding all of these people.

Hockey, Planning & Moving

     Tonight is the first night of the Stanley Cup Finals. I really wish that I could get more excited about it but #1 my team didn't even make the playoffs this year & #2 the husband will be home since it is a week night.  So that means he will go to bed halfway through the game and I will have to suppress any desires to yell and go it.  Saturday promises to be a better night for hockey, he will go to the deli and play cards with his friends leaving me to watch the game without worrying about bothering him. Really wish he enjoyed sports more. Oh well.
      Plans for the 4th of July BBQ are coming along nicely. The volleyball set that I ordered will be here tomorrow, got a horseshoes set today, already have badminton rackets. So games are pretty much taken care of with the exception of something for the not so physically active kids that will be there.  The menu is still a little up in the air. I need to find out what everyone is bringing so that I can fill in the gaps. Then it is just a matter of decorating and cooking.
     Swapped one problem for another one today. The oldest is getting out of the Navy and was supposed to have them come and do a survey for packing his apartment up tomorrow but he found out that his paperwork hasn't even been processed yet. So instead of him coming home this weekend we don't know when he will be home. Or if I will have to drive to South Carolina and help him pack up his stuff and move it ourselves. I would love to go back to Charleston for a few days but not under those terms.

      After many months of not posting, I am back. Been doing the "girly" thing lately. Hosted a Garden Party for Mother's Day. Was more fun than I thought it would be. Right now I am in the harried housewife phase. The oldest son is moving back in so I have to empty all of my craft stuff out of the room so he has a place for him and his cat.  He should be here by the end of the week and I still have quite a few things to get packed up and moved. Oh well, no one said that life was easy or fair.
     Haven't done any Halloween related work yet. I really need to get off my arse and get something done. Guess after the son gets moved in and settled, the Stanley Cup finals are over and we have our 4th of July party I will buckle down and do something. I really need to start work on my army. Especially since pool noodles are all over the place right now. Just need to find a place that sells burlap cheap.
     It is so hard to believe that the year is already half over. Father's day is this weekend, the 4th of July is just 3 weeks away, then the neighborhood kids go back to school and before you know it, its Halloween. Actually only 141 days till Halloween! Man time seems to fly by the older you get. Well, this isn't getting anything done so I guess I should go for now. Ta-ta!

New Year, Not Much Has Changed

   So there has been little progress on the new haunt this year. I have managed to sort and organize some of the craft boxes so that when I finally do get to work things will be easier to find I hope. I also have started gathering some of the materials that I will need to start building soon. Big problem now is the fact that the weather sucks. That and my oldest son is coming back home. Don't get me wrong, him coming home isn't the problem. Me cleaning and packing up my junk so that he has a room of his own is the problem. I am horrible when it comes to throwing out stuff and right now the room has a whole lot of stuff that I don't want to get rid of because I have plans for it. Just don't know when I will ever get around to actually doing anything I have planned. Oh well, guess I need to get to work.