All Hallows Eve...

My daughter is cleaning & working on her costume.  I'm printing off brochures & starting to work on adding more Winter Holiday stuff.  Today will be the last day for Halloween & Breast Cancer Awareness.  Hmmmm, I think I need to make at least one errand run before I start... and take some meds.  I seem to have done something to my left knee, which is a Bad Thing™ since I already have bad knees!!

So last night I was icing it down, and Star started to make his nightly journey across my legs.  He stopped short at my calves as he often does and then looked askance at me.  Ice pack.  Cold.  This was obviously Not a Good Thing™.  Now I happen to like having Star laying in my lap at night so I called to him.  No, he didn't think that it was a good idea.  Which left only one option.  Bribery.  This was not a problem since I keep a very small plastic container of treats in the headboard.

So I carefully eased out the container.  I swear, if he had them, you could have seen one eyebrow lift like a Vulcan.  I pulled out one treat and put the container back.  He slinked up on the left side making sure to avoid the ice pack.  Oberon raced from the other side of the house going, Treat?!  Treat?!  I like treats!!  However, I did not give him one.  Nor did I give Zaphy one when he came wandering in a minute or so later wondering how many treats he could sucker out of me.  In the end I had Star on my lap, Oberon flopped over my calves (one of his favorite spots and not toooo bad for a 15 pound cat!), Thomas snuggled up to my left hip, and Zaphy trying to see if I might let him lick my ears.  I'm not sure what the attraction is for Zaphy and everyone's ears but he is quite persistent.

My daughter had just come in asking if we have duct tape and that's a sign that I'd best be getting to other things!!  She has also reminded me that she took pictures of the cats all about me.  Now if she'll just send them to me!!  As well as some of Oberon in the sink.  ::grin::

Poor kitten.... (and Halloween)

..okay, three year old, fifteen pound kitten... Vicious Miette Pumpkin Thunderblaster Knives Pterodactyl aka the Kitten aka Trouble aka Oberon aka the Cat With the Identity Crisis  You see, one of his most very favorite places to sleep was unavailable this morning.  Yes, that's right, my husband was taking a shower so he couldn't get to our master bath sink.

I just so happened to go into the other bathroom (the 'kids' bathroom) to find Oberon curled up in that sink!  It was a pity that I didn't have a camera with me.  Oh, and how do I know how much he weighs?  Not by the vet's office, as one would think... nay, not Oberon!!  He and StarWalker have been taking turns getting up on our scales.  So today after I'd chased him off and noticed that it was ready to weigh, I set him back on.  Yep, you guessed it!  Fifteen pounds.  ::shakes head::  I was not surprised in the least.  The scariest thing about it all??  It's not fat!!  Be afraid, be very very afraid!

In the meantime, I've had some daywork.  This is a Good Thing™ as always.  I actually had someone hit the shop up for a Breast Cancer poster.  If you're reading this & want something in the Breast Cancer Awareness section or the Halloween section, get it before Saturday!!  I'll be taking these down on Sunday (this is presuming that my health behaves!  ::grin::)

In between cleaning house for my daughter having friends invade for trick or treating.   Hey!  She's 16... this is probably the last year she can get away with it... no, not really... our neighborhood is very cool about older kids who actually have real costumes.  Many of our neighbors go all out with decorations for Halloween & Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa.  This is just one of the many reasons I love our neighborhood.  As for me, I've got three electric pumpkins (I don't like cooked pumpkins so I don't carve), a spider my son made in elementary school, a flag with a cat sitting on pumpkins, and two plaques with cats on them. 

We'll be handing out toys as usual.  I've been doing this for years.  I remember as a child getting all that candy, and then sorting it all out by individual first followed by putting them in groups such as "chocolate with nuts" and "chocolate without nuts".  Then I would allow my parental units access to the candy I didn't like.  ::grin::  But it was rather disappointing that I never got something that "kept"... except at this one house in my grandparent's neighborhood.  I can't remember what it was now, but remembering that was one of the reasons I chose toys when I had my own house.

I pick them up from Oriental Trading for the most part but also get some from the after-holiday sales.  So I'll be decked out in some sort of costume on Saturday night.  I always seem to wait until the last minute, but because I have so many costumes to choose from (comes from having done cons & plays for my dad & medieval reenactment) it's not a problem.  Then I'll sort out the toys in a tray so that the children can each choose three things.  There will be rings, erasers, spinners, and such.  Amazingly enough, the big favorite seems to be pencils!!  Now I just have to figure out what to do for the babies & toddlers.  People don't expect things for them but I like to have something.  I may break down and get some food treats for them this year.

Day? What Day?

I blame my daughter.  I had to take her and her brother to the doctor yesterday.  So, of course, I was sick today.  And had a feeling better but not fever free for 24 hours 16 yo daughter roaming around my bed wanting me to help her cut out the Herald's court costume (Mercedes Lackey anyone?)  It was also raining much of the day so that the cats would go to the door, want you to walk them out to the porch so that they could think about if they wanted to actually be outside or not.  Ergo, not much got done today.  Other than supervising cutting out fabric, discovering that there wasn't enough white fabric (but we found white fabric with butterflies & dragonflies on it so... as well as huge hook & eye strips on 80% sale but I digress), cutting out more fabric, going to get the son from choir practice, and then collapsing.  Star supervised.  Except in the car.  We don't let him drive anymore... although I did have to actually physically remove him from my van when I went to get my son.  Which was odd.  Ah well.  Off to collapse again!!

and kudos to my adoring and adorable husband who came through and hit the high school choir trip meeting... late because my daughter got the time late!  He da man!!