Halloween Can Be Scary

It's that time of the year to begin to look for Halloween costumes. A trip to costume store or surfing the internet for ideas makes one thing painfully clear:

Unless you dress as a whoopie cushion or a ketchup bottle, the Halloween costume industry is convinced that all women want to dress sleezy for Halloween.

Want to be a cop? A princess? A pirate? Only if you want to show the world what only your spouse and gynecologist normally see.

I had to take an extra trip to Walmart for an additional purchase just to remain with local decency laws.

A sexy nun? A sexy bug? A sexy Mary Had a Little Lamb?! Why? I miss the days of buying the costume in the box with the cellophane window. I didn't have these things to worry about when I was Darth Vader.

Disney List

Things I Did on My Whirlwind Three Day Trip to DisneyWorld

• Wore a Hawaiian lei



• Saw a Beatles cover band



• Drank real French champagne in "France"



• Swam every night after the sun went down



• Rode a monorail, a boat, a bus and a train



• Got my picture taken with Mickey (and Pluto, and Lilo and Stitch)



• Ate dinner next to the window overlooking Cinderella's castle at the California Grill restaurant



• Drank a lemon flavored Grey Goose vodka slushie in "France"



• Bought a Mickey t-shirt



• Rode "Pirates of the Caribbean" 3 times



• Rode "It's a Small World" 3 times



• Had chicken so good that I actually used the words, "I didn't know that chicken could taste this good."



• Wore a poncho in the rain



• Watched fireworks



• Ate fish and chips in a pub in "England"



• Won one of the million prizes given away in 2007 for Disney's "Year of a Million Dreams" campaign (a Fastpass to get on rides faster that day). Husband won one too.



• Rode the Tower of Terror multiple times and screamed (with feeling) each time.



• Actually caught myself considering the logistics of trying to get a job with Disney.



• Tried really hard to learn how to say "Please stand clear of the doors" in Spanish because I heard it about 100,000 times on the monorail, but couldn't get past the "por favor" part.



• Ate sushi



• Saw a family made entirely of Lego's



• Took the soaps and shampoos from the hotel before I left



• Bought two magnets



• Ate a waffle shaped like Mickey



• Had the most wonderful time and really want to go back again soon

Revenge Fantasies Are Normal, Right?

When I moved back to Tennessee in 2004, I took a job working for an individual who was less than desirable. When I worked for him, there was nothing that I could do that was right. If you did 9,999 things out of 10,000 correctly, he would focus on the one thing that went wrong. He apparently loved to yell at his employees and at his wife (who also worked there). I began to doubt my actual effectiveness. He made me doubt my abilities. I felt terrible and my confidence was shot.

I quit after working there after about eight months.

Yesterday, I had one of those "full circle" moments. I received a written appraisal from my current boss at my current job. I had received great written appraisals in the past from other bosses, but this one took the cake. Words were used like "valuable", "irreplaceable" and "exceptional". At the end of it, my boss even recommended me for a promotion. I actually thought to myself at the end of reading it, "Wow, how am I supposed to top this next year?"

Deep down, there is a part of me that desperately wants to take this appraisal and duct tape it to the windshield of that old boss's obnoxious sports car. Maybe even super glue it. And write on it in big red letters...

Did you ever stop to think that maybe YOU were the problem?

I won't...(mainly because I don't actually do those sort of things and I like the fact that I don't have a criminal record or restraining orders against me) but just fantasizing about it makes me smile just a little.

Does that make me a bad person?

Twilight

I have a friend who constantly makes fun of any movie, television show, book, song, situation, etc. that depicts two people longing for each other with some sort of obstacle in the way. He calls this phenomenon, "They wanna be in love, but they can't be love."

For instance, if I wanted to see a particular romantic comedy, he might say, "Let me guess--'They wanna be in love, but they can't be in love'". (The part in quotation marks is usually said in a high voice with emphasis on the word "love".) This is a constant source of teasing and again, it usually voiced in reference to any movie I like, book I am reading, or television show I enjoy. My husband has now picked it up as well and they take turns bringing up the "wanna be in love" issue.

Recently, I started reading a book (more on that later) and after describing the basic storyline to my husband, he said, "So, what you're saying is, they wanna be in love, but they can't be in love." I laughed. Then, I started to give it some thought. I thought about some of the greatest love stories of all time. Romeo and Juliet. West Side Story. Beauty and the Beast. Aida. Jim and Pam on "The Office". They all have that underlying common factor that "They want to be in love, but they can't be in love." They had obstacles.

Now, back to this book I am reading...

I watch/listen to Good Morning America when I get ready for work every day. A few weeks ago, there was an author on the show by the name of Stephenie Meyer. What struck me most was the fact that she had fans who came to GMA just to see her. It made me stop and pay attention for a moment. She was promoting her latest book, Eclipse. The fans were excited. I heard something mentioned about vampires. What stuck most in my head, was the fact that the story of these characters came to her in a dream. I thought that was fascinating.

Later, I found myself in Target and curiously walked into the book section. Sure enough, there was the book. I picked up the first book in the series, "Twilight". I flipped it over and read the back. This is what I read:

"About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him--and I didn't know dominant that part might be--that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him."

I was hooked. I did not care that this was a book was in the "young adult" section. (I know lots of adults who read Harry Potter, so I refuse to feel guilty about this.) This truly was a classic case of "They wanna be in love, but they can't be in love."

376 pages later, I am almost finished with the book. I can't put it down. The story affects me physically. While reading it on a plane, I found my heart racing. The attraction between the main characters is so strong and so well written that I am just completely drawn in. Let me be clear, these characters have barely had any physical contact whatsoever thus far (for obvious reasons--she is human and he is a vampire) but the passion between them is unmistakable. Before this, I had no real interest in reading a book that involved a vampire, but this is different. This vampire is a good vampire. He is polite and sweet--but also a little dangerous (again--for obvious reasons). He and the girl in the lead female role are both just so gosh darn likable, and such interesting characters, that you can't help but want to see them together.

I went to Stephenie Meyer's website and I saw that this story is being optioned for a movie. I can tell you now that I will be there opening weekend and I don't even know yet how this story ends. And when that day comes, I am sure my friend will complain that we are dragging him to a movie where "they wanna be in love but they can't be in love."

Should you choose to read Twilight, you won't be sorry. It is only $8.09 right now at Target and I can tell you that I have already gotten much more than $8.09 of enjoyment out of this book. (Click the link on the title to see some of the reviews on Amazon).

Okay I have to go--I have some reading to do!

Labor Day Weekend - Part 2 - Yuengling Brewery

I recently discovered, through the beauty of the Food Network, that I grew up very close to the oldest brewery in the United States, The Yuengling Brewery, in Pottsville, PA. So, while we were visiting PA over the holiday weekend, we decided to visit and tour the brewery. I am so glad that we did!



Here are some of the photos:

Horses used to travel up and down this road for beer distribution instead of tractor trailers.

The Yuengling family chose Pottsville because of all of the coal in the area. It takes lots of fuel for a brewery to function.

Here are the caves they used for refrigeration before there was such a thing. You can also see the brick wall where the government came in and bricked the caves over during prohibition. The caves were HUGE. It took ten years for men to dig them out by hand. Amazing.

The company survived prohibition by selling some of their beer for "medicinal" purposes. (I know it makes me feel better.)

We even were given a free taste at the end of the tour.

We just found out that even though Tennessee has not previously distributed Yuengling, it will soon be distributed here. Rumor has it--we will be able to purchase here by the middle of this month!

If you ever find yourself in Pottsville, PA, I recommend the tour. It was really interesting--and free! Cheers!

Labor Day Weekend - Part 1 - Allentown Fair

Over Labor Day weekend, the husband and I went up to visit my family in Pennsylvania. When we weren't visiting family, we squeezed in a little sightseeing on our own. The first stop was The Great Allentown Fair.

My favorite part of the fair this year: the signage for all of the "freaks".

The pictures say it all. Enjoy!