Halloween Prep

less than one week until Halloween (unless tropical storm sandy comes this way and rains us out) and i'm still pulling together costumes.
this year i put my foot down and delcared, "we are not buying halloween costumes - we can be creative with what we have."

maggie has decided to be an eighties girl - i wonder if, in 25 years or so, her kids will be dressing up in the clothes of her youth? a 20 teens girl maybe?
anyway, my friend christine and i had lots of fun shopping at the salvation army for eighties wear - neon colors, ugly belts, lace, and beads.  after scoring great deals there, we ended up at claire's and justice for the finishing touches.  let's just say our deals weren't so great at those places.  after all was said and done, i probably could've saved money by going to spirit halloween or the party store but at least her costume will feel sort of homemade.

matt usually leans towards the scary/bloody/gory costume which i hate. last year i caved and let him buy the scream halloween costume.  though he hasn't seen the movie (and won't for several more years if i can help it) he wanted that rotten costume and i couldn't talk him into anything else.  since he was 9 going on 10, i decided to let that one go.

i was comforted by the fact that we ran into at least a dozen other 10 year old boys in that same costume.  he doesn't win points for originality but that isn't really important to him.

this year, he has declared he wants to be a rapper - eminem specifically.  i'm a little horrified that he even knows eminem - it's probably my fault for the one eminem song i have on my ipod (disclaimer: i only listen to it for serious hard-core cardio workouts and i always download the clean versions when available).
but at least we didn't have to buy much - i did score a great thick gold chain in the belt section of the salvation army.  he's been wearing it around the house with his puffy vest.  i guess that's what rappers wear?

i'm not a huge fan of halloween.  i know in a few years, the kids will either not go out trick-or-treating at all, or they will go with their friends like i did at that age.  i'll be left home to hand out the candy and hope they are safe.  and even though i usually dread the whole costume wearing,  candy hoarding madness that is this holiday, i'm sure i will feel at least a twinge of sadness when i am no longer needed as part of the event.

Welcome

this post has been rattling around in my head for weeks now
in truth, i've been working on it for months.  trying to figure out what my first ever blog post should be about, who might ever read it, what i really want to say...i've been an avid blog stalker reader for about a year now and i always thought, "i should do that."  but then I told myself, "who wants to read about your life?" and i'd forget all about it.  

a part of me thinks my life isn't interesting enough, my house not pretty enough, my message not noteworthy enough...but i came to realize that even if no one ever reads, i never get a comment, or i can't figure out how to post a picture, i would still have a written account of our life.  and really, though i'd love to have a layout like meg's, or take beautiful pictures like paige, or have a beautiful home like darby, i will at least have the memories of these precious days that seem to fly by. 

so today it begins.  this could be the first and only entry. and i'm not attempting any pictures though i am pretty pleased that i figured out how to post links to three of my favorite blogs, blogs that have inspired me to jump into the blogosphere without any idea what i'm doing (and fyi - all of these women have beautiful blogs, take gorgeous pictures, and have homes to die for. check them out).

and in case you're wondering about the name...my wonderful husband helped me with that one.  when we were discussing the whole blogging thing, i told him what my hopes and goals for this were.  this past year has been hard.  i lost my mom on january 1, 2012 to leukemia.  part of my struggle this year has been trying to move on, to come to terms with my loss, and to channel my grief into something positive.  so far, i haven't figured that out - i keep moving but i'm not getting anywhere.  i'm marching in place.  maybe we can figure things out together?  

***edited*** i''ve made a name change to the blog to reflect more of where life is right now.