Halloween Twenty Fourteen

Tomorrow when I hand in my midterm project to my instructor, I'm going repress every violent impulse I've had over the weekend to pinch her. For the last 3 days I sat isolated in my basement with a light box on my lap and a fat fistful of cool gray Prismacolor markers and black Micron pens. I celebrated Halloween by tracing typefaces and photos, resurfacing only to grab handfuls of candy reserved for Trick-or-Treaters from my Mom's witches' cauldron. Then, hours later with my teeth full of Butterfinger, I went to bed so I could wake the next morning and begin again. 

At my office party on Friday I wore all black and threw on some of my flapper girl accessories so I wasn't a total party pooper - I had a large feather boa, headband, and a long pearl necklace. Not very exciting, but my original plan to dress as a female Bilbo fell through. The costume would have been easy enough to throw together (no that I normally dress like a Hobbit), except I needed a few key pieces, namely the One Ring and some Hobbit ears. Maybe next year... Besides, I still probably would have lost our office costume contest to the guy dressed up as a large Whoopee Cushion. 

I did manage to fit in some Halloween festivities with my cousins and their families on Thursday. We had a potato bar dinner and watched Hocus Pocus while carving pumpkins. I felt ambitious and decided I would try carving Sherlock's face for my pumpkin. I printed off a photo and mapped out where my cuts would go, but it was a disaster. So I flipped the pumpkin around and carved a cute Jack-O-Lantern face instead... Boring. The idea was to carve Sherlock and place it in what I would call my Benedict Pumpkin Patch... Again, maybe next year. It'll be great.

4th of July Weekend

Eberspachers & Waters... Park City... Chick's Cafe... 1776... Cascade Springs... Fireworks... Reverse Charades... Disney Charades (lots of charades...) The Secret Life of Walter Mitty... Jetted Tub... Would You Rather?... Provo River... Cafe Rio... Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory... Shadow Ridge... Heber City... Canyon Drive... Catch Phrase...

I only wish the Declaration of Independence had been signed in May. May temperatures are much more comfortable.

A Proper Galentine's Day

Happy Galentine's Day! "It's only the best day of the year..." And for this Galentine's Day, I made a major coup. For months now I've tried to persuade my sister to watch Austenland with me. I didn't want to come across as overeager, but I just knew she would love it...

 "Try it, try it and you may!
Try it and you may I say..."

  "I do not like this Austenland, 

I do not like it Sam I Am..."  

This is never the best practice whilst trying to persuade a person to do anything - it's like a death sentence for whatever your objective is. So I kept the hype to a minimum. "Will you PLEASE watch it with me?? It's SO GOOD... But, like, whatever... Do what you want..." Well, the movie was released last week and sure enough, Redbox (well, the second Redbox I tried) had a copy! Now was my chance... While my mom was on board, Katie still protested. Don't worry - I soon wore her down with some sisterly manipulation and a promise she could choose what we watched next time. 

And didn't she just love it as much as I thought she would! She is ogling pictures of JJ Field online even as we speak. A proud moment for me... Even if it is one of the silliest movies I've ever seen... A good silly.

It's the GIF that keeps on GIF-ing...

Then Pealed the Bells More Loud & Deep

There is a long list of Christmas to-do ahead of me today... This evening the Waters' will play host to our cousins and their families as well as our dear Grandmama. My list starts with "Make Jello salad" and ends with "Clean bathroom." But there's still plenty of time for all that...

As with every Christmas, this year I've felt my fair share of holiday cheer as well as holiday humbug... The humbug is usually at its worst whilst shopping for gifts - fighting insane crowds (that's quantity, not quality... though some shoppers are insane), air-polluting traffic, freezing temperatures, and my own gift-giving indecision. Thank goodness I can usually find my way out of this ho-humbuggery. So instead of dwelling on the joyless moments of the holiday season, here are some things that have cheered me most this year...

...Beautiful snow!

...Being among friends and family more regularly. 

...Giving of my time and resources, even if only a little. Very little. It should be more.

...Singing... A lot.

...A snowy sleigh ride complete with sleigh bells.

...Holiday movies. Even the cheesy Hallmark ones... Sometimes.

...Forgetting the over-commercialized, mass-consumer mumbo jumbo of the season and finding the Savior. 

...Seeing my sister walk away from a terrifying accident involving a collision with a semi after an 180 degree spin across 3 lanes of traffic. Her bruises are pretty gnarly, but they're preferable to other frightening alternatives. One or two angels definitely earned their wings that day.

...And lastly, these verses from "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day"... Because some of the topics trending online lately have fueled my holiday humbug. People really are the worst sometimes, you know? And good will seems in short supply...

And in despair I bowed my head: 

"There is no peace on earth," I said,

"For hate is strong and mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,

With peace on earth, good will to men."

 So if you're reading this and are in need of and extra dose of holiday cheer, I hope it finds you. And Happy Christmas!

Halloweening

This is the first Halloween in a few years that I've carved my own jack-o-lantern. Our family joined my cousins on Tuesday for our annual pumpkin carving party. My pumpkin was pretty lame - I'm lucky I had enough creative energy to carve out eyes and a mouth. After pumpkins we watched Watcher In the Woods and laughed at some pretty terrible acting. Poor Betty Davis... She was better than that movie. 

It pays to dress up for Halloween. For kids it means free candy and for adults it means winning cash prizes at work for best costume. Last year Candle Warmers didn’t do anything for Halloween, but this year we had a potluck and the promise of Subway gift cards for the best costume. I recycled my Mary Poppins costume from a couple years ago and WON! So hooray! Another co-worker won for most original costume by wearing a white t-shirt with Wilson from Castaway painted on the belly. She’s 7 months pregnant so it was perfect.

Later at school I was sitting in the computer lab when this guy started pulling out a bunch of stuff from his backpack. He put on a black robe over his clothes and hung a large wooden crucifix around his neck. Before I knew it, he was decked head to toe in a nun's habit. He was quite the sight walking out of the lab with his backpack on over his costume. Especially since he was still wearing jeans and sneakers underneath. Then as I was driving home after school, I spotted a car covered in crazy bumper stickers. It was a pretty nice car, so as I passed I looked over to see the person driving. I was startled to see a man with a painted white face, teased black hair, bushy mutton chops, and a goatee. He wore sunglasses and a black and white striped suit. I assumed it was just a costume, but it was still pretty terrifying. 

At home we had family over for dinner and a movie. Katie made all sorts of cute, Halloween-themed goodies for us. The cheese for our cheeseburgers even had little jack-o-lantern faces cut out. The dinner was great, the movie was... The Shining. I don't know why I admit to watching such horrible movies (or why I keep watching them), but after last night I'm swearing off scary movies. Even if I try to justify watching them because maybe I've seen them on TV before. IT'S NOT THE SAME THING. And how does Jack Nicholson even have a movie career after playing that role??

Next year I'm hoping to have a new costume all worked out. The Sisters 3 (Lauren, Alisa, and Katie) want to dress up as another infamous trio of sisters, but it will take a lot of planning. 364 days left! 

Mum's the Word

Today is Mother's Day! So if you are a mother, were a mother, or have yet to be a mother...

Katie Daisy

You sure are great!

Good News & Bad News

Good... I'm seeing Singin' in the Rain (complete with rain) at Olympus High School this evening with some friends and family. It's their closing night!

Bad... This marks the last musical performance EVER on the old stage in the old auditorium in the old school. We're saying our goodbyes - the new building is finally completed and the old building is scheduled for demolition sometime next week. My siblings and I are second generation Titans and have performed many times on that 60-yr old stage in various musicals, choirs, ensembles, orchestras, etc. As has my mom - she was a nun in The Sound of Music. 

...I don't know about my fellow Titans, but my most terrifying and triumphant moments at Olympus took place in that sound vacuum of an auditorium. It's the end of an era and it makes me sad. 

Good... Comcast installed a new, all-powerful router at the Waters residence. Hail, Comcast!

Bad... An all-powerful router with a signal that doesn't extend past the room where it's installed. My parents bedroom is a hot spot for the Wi-Fi, but I'm currently typing this on what little internet juice I can get in my Dad's den. Most of the time it just spins... Spinning, spinning, spinning... The promise of loading with no actual loading. Comcaaast!... shakes fist...

Good... Easter weekend is upon us! I plan on watching Easter Parade at least 3 times ("In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it...") and eating as much stuffing and sweet potato pie as humanly possible. We're having Thanksgiving dinner for Easter Sunday this year instead of boring ol' ham and potatoes. Give thanks.

Bad... Chocolate Bunnies and Peeps are also upon us. 

Good... When I lost my glasses, I agonized over finding a new pair I would like just as much. After searching online I found the same frames for only half the cost! I'm cheap and resistant to change.

Bad... My previous prescription has expired and I haven't gone in for another eye exam yet. My new frames are currently sitting in a box in my closet where they're not doing anybody a lick of good. Until I get a new prescription filled, I'm afraid my driving will continue frightening those who brave my passenger seat... Need a ride?

Good... Drop Dead Diva WILL be back for a 5th season! They teased us for awhile, announcing the show was cancelled but never making it officially official. Official or not, I was very displeased. Voicing my outrage via Facebook must have contributed to its miraculous revival.

Bad... The end of Season 4 was so stoopid. Hopefully they'll deliver the goods for Season 5, especially considering they almost cut the show altogether. A fickle fan am I.

Good... I had a missionary experience on my flight back from Missouri last week. The nice, older gentleman sitting next to me was apparently feeling very chatty, so I indulged him. This detail isn't as important, but he somewhat resembled Russell Crowe... We covered many topics - 7th Day Adventists (now there's a Word of Wisdom), his recovering alcoholism, mountain ranges and freshwater lakes in Utah, the U of U, politics... Soon we were chatting about the Book of Mormon, the organization of the Church, and our religious practices.  I'd have spoken to him about anything - it was a nice distraction from the flight itself. Especially as things got bumpy.  

Bad... I may have done more harm than good - he was very gracious, but he had lots of  questions. If I confused him, hopefully it was just enough to pique his curiosity and motivate a search for (better) answers elsewhere. He mentioned he'd once stolen a Book of Mormon from a hotel room (probably a Marriott), so I encouraged him to read it. I even had the presence of mind to ask his name and where he was from. We'll let the missionaries clean up my mess, okay?

Good... Our ward choir has performed 3 musical numbers THIS MONTH alone.

Bad... I've aged about 10 years as a result.

Good... My sister Katie has started watching Lost on Netflix. She's nearly finished!

Bad... She's made me relive the series with her. Not every episode, but enough to remind me how frustrating and wonderful it was the first time around. Mostly frustrating.  

Good... Did you know that David Tennant and Billie Piper are returning to Doctor Who for the 50th Anniversary Special? Did you know there was a brief time that I was basically in a committed relationship with this show? I've scaled back a bit. Now we're more like good friends who respect each other's boundaries.

Seizure inducing GIF... Sorry.

Bad... They're back only for the one episode and I will miss them terribly after the special airs. I hope they make the most of it. 

...Also, I just realized 3 of my items in this list are about TV. That may be the best/worst news of all. 

"Are you kids hugging the TV??"

This Valentine's Day, I Choo- Choo- Choose You!

Today is St. Valentine’s Day! 

To: Lisa Simpson - From: Ralph Wiggum

Though I realize there are some who don't enjoy this holiday, I don’t mind it. It’s cheesy, commercial, indulgent – another holiday for the sake of a holiday. What do I like about it? I like the combinations of red and pink. I like "punny" Valentine cards and fat cherubs slinging arrows. I like seeing a grown man holding an armful of flowers as he waits in line at the grocery store and knowing that he’s about to make someone very happy. I like having an excuse (though I don’t need one) to watch rom-dram-coms (romantic dramas/comedies) and film adaptations of Jane Austen novels. I like conversation hearts. I like making and giving Valentines. I wish I could still make a Valentine’s Day box like I did in elementary school and put it on my desk at work. Not that I would expect it to fill up with anything, but I like the idea regardless. And I love chocolates.

What don't I like? (Because we know there's always something!) I don’t like some of those ugly, abstract heart-shaped pendants you see advertised exclusively for Valentine’s Day. (Jane Seymour, anyone?) Or the displays with tacky lingerie. Do people wear or use either very often? Maybe once... On Valentine’s Day itself. That's perhaps the point. I myself am wearing (don’t worry, it’s not lingerie… Sick-o) heart-shaped earrings that never grace my ears the remaining 364 days of the year. They were a Valentine's Day present a few years ago. I also don’t like it when single people raise a stink about being single on Valentine’s Day. Save the whining for your diary and send a cheesy card to someone you have a crush on, signed “Your Secret Valentine.” Or omit "secret" if that sounds too creepy... I don’t like the movie Valentine’s Day at all. And I hate the abomination of cherry-filled chocolates. Some things should never be paired with chocolate. 

Speaking of Secret Valentines (or not so secret if you've been here before)... I decided if I could spend my Valentine’s Day with anyone, fictional or otherwise, I would really, REALLY like to spend it with one of the following... We're not talking small potatoes here. We're talking impossible. But altogether agreeable...  

Josh Groban – For serenading.

The Doctor – For traveling.

James McAvoy – For smooching.

Mr. Darcy – For vexing.

Kevin Bacon – For dancing.

Shawn Spencer and Burton Guster – For laughs.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt – For dimples.

John Keats – For poems.

Steve Rogers (aka Captain America) – For muscles.

Neil Patrick Harris – ...For kicks.

MMMUAH!!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Images generated by Pixenate.

Fish Cookies and Bridget Jones

My last post was a little high-octane, was it not? I guess I had some writing withdrawals while off on vacation. The result was the equivalent of projectile vomiting a bunch of random nothings onto the blog. I am feeling much more subdued this time around, due in part to a nasty, phlegmy cough I picked up somewhere this week. (Cough, cough! Wheeze, wheeze!) I wanted to hibernate for the day, but had to finish up a project at work. Why can't one ever just enjoy being sick? 

Last night I joined a friend for some Valentine treat-making. Actually, I mostly watched her make the treats since the likes of cake balls are just a bit too advanced for me. I was, however, most useful at consuming the rejects. Not that there were many. Sadly. Later we frosted and decorated some cookies, during which I did participate in the creative process and not just the consumptive process. Here are a few cheery photos of our work...

The fishy one (if you could even tell it was a fish) was a failed attempt at a cursive "L" made from m&m's. As you can see, I ran out of room. It started looking like a breast cancer awareness ribbon so I stuck an m&m in the center. Fishes have kiss-y faces so it works somewhat for Valentines. 

While we frosted, we watched Bridget Jones's Diary. I needed something funny and cute and English. I will watch pretty much anything starring Hugh Grant playing his token role as a sexy, albeit floppy-haired, "prat." And it goes without saying I find it most (MOST) agreeable whenever Colin Firth stars as a Darcy, whether it's Mr. Mark Darcy or Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. So versatile... And so handsome!

Observe...

How would one ever choose?   

Two Oh One Two

Glancing back at my endeavors for 2011, I realized something very troubling. I didn't really succeed at any of them. Maybe there were a few where I saw some improvement, but frankly, some were complete disasters. And now I have the task, woeful as it seems, of compiling another list of endeavors for 2012. So do I try and repeat my efforts? Do I try to think of new ways I can ultimately let myself down? YES. Because though no one really cares about what I decide to do, it's important that I keep doing it. The pessimist in me says, "Why bother?" and the optimist in me (if you could even call it that) says, "Yeah, listen to that guy." Not really. Optimist Lauren says, "Okay, let's try..." 

This year I decided that it might be good if, while engaging in all these worthy pursuits, I focused a bit more exclusively on one each month of the year. This doesn't mean I will let the others fall by the wayside. Rather, as I begin 2012 I will take things slowly and concentrate the bulk of my efforts on just one item every 30 days. There are only 6 items on my ambitious list. So, I'll have the opportunity to revisit each of them at some point during the year. I just think if I start the year running on all cylinders, laboring to achieve everything all at once, I will most definitely burn out. They say it takes 20 days of doing something before it finally becomes a habit. I figure I could use a full 30. And hopefully by the end of the year, I will have cultivated a set of useful habits or qualities where before I had perhaps been too weak or lazy to care.

So... Realizing no one cares much to hear about others resolutions, my endeavors for the New Year are as follows...

January/July - Dance or walk everyday. Every. Day. I seem to enjoy these two activities the most as far as exercise. I'd prefer to start the year off trying to get my body on board for the rest of the year. My work-out routine will also include ignoring the number on the scale as I try to focus mostly on how I feel. Losing some poundage is the main objective, but as long as I'm working hard the weight will come off. Oh please.

February/August - No fast food or take-out. Sound familiar? This excludes eating out at restaurants, though maybe I'll try to monitor what I order a little more carefully. The longer you go without eating a certain something, the less your body craves it. I will also make an effort to pack a lunch for work more often.

March/September - Build my testimony. Prayer in the mornings and in the evenings without fail. Writing in my journal everyday. My real live journal. Studying everyday and trying to apply what I've learned. I don't want to rely on what others say the Gospel or the Atonement should mean to me, I want to learn for myself. I want it to be personal.

April/October - Acts of kindness. For whomever or whenever the occasion arises. Everyday. Today (as I was out on my walk... One day down!) I noticed a neighbor's Sunday paper sitting at the end of their long driveway. So I decided to walk it up to their front porch. After tossing it, I saw their large, black St. Bernard come running out of its kennel, sounding the alarm. I only peed my pants a little. No worries.

May/November - Do something musical. Singing, playing the piano or guitar, getting my family to do musical things with me... Music makes me happy and I want to feel more comfortable using what little abilities I have. This may include finding a voice teacher... If I'm brave enough. 

June/December - Read. I'd like to complete a book a week if I can. I used to love reading. I still do, but I find my attention span isn't quite what it used to be. That, and I devote too much time to... other things. I have my Book Club every month, so there's a book (or two) a month right there. I would like to start by delving into some Agatha Christie. I've long been a fan of her mysteries and to tell the truth, I want to read for fun as much as I do for the acclaim.

And so I raise a bubbly glass of Martinelli's to the New Year and leave you with this little thought, just in case you were wondering what you should do for 2012:

“This year, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgigve an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and the speak it again.” 

Pres. Howard W. Hunter

I thought I'd ask you just the same...

I'm not the biggest fan of some of her music, but I do love her voice and it's perfect for this song. And she's just cute. And he's just... perfect. Apparently.

(Temporarily gets distracted by Joseph Gordon Levitt's dimples...)

So the question remains... What are you doing New Year's Eve? 

Hail the New, Ye Lads and Lasses

In lieu of gifts this year, Santa brought the Waters family a cruise to the Bahamas! I can taste the sea air now... My parents basically told us we could get stuff (stuff we didn't really want or need) for Christmas or we could take a trip. We set sail out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida at the end of January - which means there will be a longish airplane ride involved. And I hate flying... 

I love to travel... I do. But I just wish it didn't involve flight. Especially long coast-to-coast flights or travelling overseas flights. The temporary discomfort (or mind-numbing hysteria) I feel when I fly usually pales in comparison to how much I enjoy myself once we've reached our destination and my feet are back on solid ground. That's why, despite my anxieties, I can still drag myself onto a plane. For this vacation, I will try not to focus on how high or how fast our plane is travelling, how many potentially fatal little bumps we hit along the way, the likelihood of our getting caught in the middle of a storm, the number of times the fasten seat belt (because we are going to die) light comes on, or thinking "What in the hell is that humming noise!? Was the plane making that noise before!? AHHHHHH!!" Instead I will entertain visions of walking along sandy beaches, swimming in crystal waters (with the Dolphins? Oh, I certainly hope so!), lounging beneath towering palm trees, and absorbing as much warm sunshine as possible. I will. I will...

A few other Christmas items worth noting...

• I got to speak to my brother who is currently on his mission in Missouri. He's doing really well and sounds soooo happy! That's a Christmas made right there... Only one more Christmas out in the mission field and then he's home! When you think of it that way, it doesn't sound long at all. So we choose to think of it that way...

• My mom got me big ol' boxes of Crayola crayons and colored pencils to go with 2 new coloring books. No, I am not 6 years old. The books are made for adults and the pictures are really super ornate. I think I will bring them with me to church next week. Along with a baggie of Cheerios.

• Katie got me Michael Jackson: The Experience for our Kinect. Mind blown! It has a dance feature for just dancing (duh) and a performance feature if you want to sing AND dance. AHHH! I need to throw a party. And soon. Party pending.

• Alisa got me Coldplay's Parachutes and Viva la Vida songbooks for piano and guitar. Which means I will spend many a melancholy day sitting at the piano and plunking away at Coldplay tunes. That may sound super depressing to most of you, but I thrive on this sort of thing. “Sad is happy for deep people.”

• My cousin Stephanie and her family gifted our family a blue-ray player with Wi-Fi compatibility. Now we can stream Netflix! Know what's on Netflix? 

               "Knock, knock."

               "Who's there?"

               "Doctor."

               "Doctor Who?"

               "Ooo-eee-oooo!" (theme song to Doctor Who)

               So yeah…  Netflix. We may be in big trouble.

• For our cousin gift exchange on the Waters side, my cute east coast cousin Olivia got me a beautiful silk Indian scarf. It's a stunner. I’ve already worn it.

• A good friend gave me a Captain America insulated lunch tote and cool bobblehead. Thanks to her, I think I’ll start packing my lunches again! Yay! Because of the lunch tote, not the bobblehead.

• Last week I got together with my girlfriends for a lunch date. Kassidy is in town for a couple weeks and despite our busy schedules most of us (we missed you Brie and Jen!) were able to go. We went to CPK (our favorite) and had our annual sock exchange. It's now annual because we've done it two years in a row. 

• On Christmas Eve Katie and I stayed up til about 3 AM making Gingerbread Houses. We watched some Horatio Hornblower to wile away the time. 3 hours later...

• My Waters cousins had a White Elephant party yesterday with just us girls and our Grandma. We had a cousin in from California and another cousin in from New York so we decided to have a party of our very own. I really wanted a set of black and brown Dachsund salt and pepper shakers so I could gift them to a friend who has  black and brown Dachsund puppies of her own. I ended up with a furry purse... Oh well. Such is life when participating in a White Elephant gift exchange.

• And lastly, but not leastly, the Holiday weekend was capped off with a mini Star Wars marathon. We watched A New Hope and Return of the Jedi. (Though I really wanted to watch The Empire Strikes Back...) I wasn't in the cheeriest of moods (probably because my Christmas vacation was ending), but there was still fun to be had. And Star Wars is never a bad idea.

Anyway, that was my Christmas. Nothing too fancy or thrilling. Just wanted to relive a little bit of it here. If you're reading this, I hope you had a Happy Christmas!

Gratuitous Halloween Post

Here I am... Watching Doctor Who and fondly reminiscing over the fun Halloweekend. There was a 1920's themed Murder Mystery party aboard the Heber Creeper, a Halloween house-warming at a friend's, and then a tri-stake dance at the 'tute. We didn't last very long at the latter. Too many obnoxious warm bodies crammed into one place. Once we abandoned the  'tute for some fresh air and open spaces, we made a late-night dinner stop (complete with costumes) at Applebee's. Though Halloween is my favorite, I don't think I like having it on a Monday, simply because you have to turn around and go right back to work the next morning. And the 3 following mornings. You enjoy the bliss of fantasy for just one evening and in a few hours it's all over. Good thing there's candy to ease our post Halloween sorrows. And that Friday is just around the corner. This year I was in luck - we had tons of Halloween candies left over because so few trick-or-treaters passed through the neighborhood. The weather was cooperative (no pesky coats to hide your costume!) but my mom said she only saw about 20 little ghouls and boys making the rounds. She blames trunk-or-treating... 

I don't think I understand the concept of trunk-or-treating. It's a little too close to dealing drugs or selling fake Prada purses out of the back of your car down a darkened alley, only instead of narcotics and poorly imitated designer bags you get candy. Is it supposed to be safer? Easier? More fun? If you parents are going to be with your children anyway why not just trick-or-treat door to door in your neighborhoods? Especially if your family and almost everyone on your block took time to decorate their homes. That's just a waste of a good jack-o-lantern. What's the point of going to all that trouble if you're just going to circle the wagons and pop the back of your mini-van open in an empty church parking lot? Pretty lame. Thanks to you we have a mountain of candy at my house and it seems I will have to take up the mantle and single-handedly (or double-fistedly) devour it all on my own. So you could probably say it's been one of the best Halloweens in recent memory. 

And now, for some Mary Poppins puns from the weekend. Or Mary Pop-puns. 

Mary Pop 'n' Fresh

Mary Pop 'n' Lock

Mary Mmmmbop-pins 

Knocking on my own front door like a crazy person. Imperfect in practically every way...