I LOVE HALLOWEEN!

I really do. I have been nuts about Halloween for years, long before it got such a bad rap. When I was a kid, Halloween was just a day of good wholesome fun in small town America. It was an awesome holiday! It meant lots of treats, and what kid wouldn’t like that?

I don’t remember ever getting store-bought costumes, but we didn’t care. With Mom’s help, my sister and I came up with some creative homemade designs that way. I’m not always sure others could identify who we were supposed to be (see 1979 photo), but we were having fun regardless. I do recall that there was one particular red princess dress that often was fought over. What girl doesn’t like to be a princess, right? I wonder if we have any photos of that red dress. Hmmmmm???

Sometimes we would get to wear our costumes to school. It was fun to see everyone else’s costume, and typically, there was a Halloween party in class, too. We’d share treats, play festive games and color fall pictures.

On Halloween night in Michigan, the weather was usually pretty cold, but we would layer clothes under our costumes, and when necessary (as in when Mom said), we would wear our winter coats over top. My Mom would walk with us all over town. We’d cover several blocks on foot, and then she would drive us over to some other neighborhoods or to friends’ houses so that they could see our costumes. We had several required stops we had to make like Aunt Jackie and Uncle Neal’s house, Mrs. Jenkin’s trailer, Pastor Endean’s place, etc.

We’d return home a bit chilled but excited to go through our stash. My Dad and older brothers would “help” by looking through our hoard of candy to determine if anything looked suspicious, etc. RIGHT! And then we got to pick out 5 pieces or so before it was time for bed, and the candy got put up for the night. Ahhhh! Those were good, happy days!

Today not everyone celebrates Halloween. There are lots of ideas and perspectives out there on the subject, and I respect that. I'm not here to change your mind or debate the subject. I just wish you well (with a twinkle in my eye).

To me, Halloween is an innocent day of treats and fun for children and adults. I usually head up to my sister's place, and while she and her family make their own rounds trick or treating, I stay behind and meet their neighborhood trick or treaters. Yes, I've been told that I am a bit TOO liberal with the candy (i.e. I give out too much to each child), but I love doing it. It's a lot of fun!

Random Comment: This photo is from Halloween 2008, and WOW! I can really tell a difference. I've lost quite a bit more weight since then. I really have stayed away from the candy. WOOHOO!!!

Take Over

I’m gonna do it again. I’m going to post a plug and encourage others to check out another Christian artist. Personally, I prefer music that is honest about our condition here on earth and about the only hope we can cling to. Aaron Shust is just such a lyricist, singer, musician, etc. He writes deeply compelling songs that convict, motivate and encourage. His latest CD, “Take Over,” has gripped me.

Check it out!

Inquiring Minds Want to Know…

Why do some yogurts seemingly explode when you open them? This happens ever so often to yours truly. I am innocently about to partake in a delicious, healthy breakfast. I cautiously pop the seal and flip back the foil lid, and in doing so, I get splattered by drops of nutritious goo. One such occurrence happened here at my desk about 5 minutes ago. WOOHOO!! I know yogurt is good for me, but I wonder about the benefits to my clothing and hair?? Hmmmm...

Just Haven’t Met You Yet

My sister posted a link to this video on her website. Sorry to be such a copycat, Sis, but blog about it, I must. This video made me smile, and I'm still grinning about it. I love it! Yes, it’s completely silly and frivolous, but it’s also charming and adorable. No, I’m not talking about Michael, although he is rather cute. I’m talking about the idea of finding love in the frozen food aisle and the dream some of us still have of meeting someone some day...sigh!

1. I’m a feverish roMANtic, despite the missing man.

2. I love songs like this, and even though I have yet to experience love for myself, I can still sing along.

3. This song is from Michael Buble’s latest CD, which is my new favorite. I love the mix of classic crooning melodies from my Mom’s era along with new contemporary stuff. It’s awesome! [This is my subliminal plug to urge you all to rush out and buy his new CD. RUN!]

4. I need to start shopping at this store. I can’t remember the last time this happened to me. So, if you find me hanging out in frozen foods, now you will know why! Hee hee!

Happy Thoughts Indeed

Smiley Packages from Amazon.com: I got a package today, and it just made my heart skip a beat. OK, so I ordered the books for myself, and I knew exactly what would be in that box, BUT it still made me giddy with excitement when I saw the box, and the eager anticipation was still real as I slit the box open to find my treasures inside. WOOHOO!!

Long hikes at Eagle Creek Park: Becky and I explored some trails at the park yesterday with me snapping photos along the way. The colors were gorgeous (better with sunglasses--according to Becky), and we enjoyed the fresh air and exercise, too. What a rush! I don’t know if I have mentioned it before, but I do love autumn. (Hee hee!)

Memories of England: Is it crazy that I am still fixated on the country of my forefathers, and that the mere mention of England makes me smile and sigh? I thought a 2-week visit would cure me of my British obsession, but it has not. It has only worsened my feverish condition and made me yearn for more. I loved our Anglophile excursions, and I am ready to make the journey over the pond again for a longer stay if possible. I think perhaps I should consider taking a 6-month-sabbatical and exploring more. Hmmmm...

Mental Notes:
1. You still have yet to blog about your first overseas adventures. Get cracking on that! You need to finish your "memoirs" while they are still fresh in your head.

2. You need to find a financial solution that would allow you a less limited travel budget for an extended stay in Great Britain. AND (AHEM!) I think we can take the sugar daddy suggestion off the table! Hee hee! It's just not your style, cupcake*.

*Additional Mental Note: STOP calling yourself "cupcake" on your blog! You are leaving it in this one time as proof of your desire for transparency with your readers, but come on, it's completely frivolous and silly to continue to come up with nicknames for yourself here. Let it go, Mel-Belle.

Sunny Fall Day in Indiana

It's lovely today. The sun is shining, the fall colors are in their prime, and the temperature is hovering just under 60. I would love to take the afternoon off and go explore the woods with my camera in hand. However, there is much to be done here in the office, and so I will press on with the piles before me, but if only...

The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

I Am Infected

Yes, it is true. I am infected with the cleaning and organizing bug again. I seemed to recover and move past my chronic need for tidy for a few months. I thought I was cured. The hustle and bustle of preparing for my British travels in May along with LOTS of overtime this spring and early summer seemed to bring me past the infectious hurdle. I started secretly letting things pile up – neatly of course in an orderly fashion far from the eyes of the madding crowd, so to speak. No one knew. No one needed to know, as I closeted the burgeoning chaos.

But I knew. The creeping dust bunnies mocked me from behind my bed, my books begged to be reshelved, my stuffed dresser drawers groaned each time I opened them, and my closets moaned in agony as I shoved more and more inside them. I could no longer ignore the encroaching mayhem. It was time to sort, purge and reorganize, and so it began.

The plan was to clean my bedroom closet first. I started removing a couple of boxes from my closet last week, but once I started going through those boxes, that reminded me that I was wanting to redo the way I organized my scrapbook and greeting card supplies. So I started tackling that second project, too. I made no less than 3 trips to Walmart in as many days before I had my paper and cardstock organized just the way I wanted it. Then when I went to restack the freshly organized bins, I noticed the thick dust behind my bedroom furniture, and that just wouldn’t do. Thus on Friday and Saturday, I removed the furniture and began cleaning the walls, the crevices between the walls and the carpet and vacuuming thoroughly (sneezing quite a bit along the way, too).

On Sunday, I returned back to the closet project doing more of the same, emptying the closet completely, wiping everything down, vacuuming, etc. I worked until nearly midnight and then exhausted climbed into bed leaving my living room covered with boxes and storage bins.

Tonight after work, the furious cleaning, purging and organizing will continue. Hopefully, I will be able to complete the closet project before another “need” pops up on my radar and beckons me to it, distracting me from my current purpose. I’m already contemplating cleaning the bathroom walls, reorganizing the kitchen, and goodness knows, I really need to sort through my books again. It might just be time to purchase another book shelf, too. Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books-A-Million and Half Price Books have been frequently visited by yours truly as of late, and I want to make sure my newest residents feel welcomed in their current home...

SIGH! Yes, I am really in the thick of it now. I’m deeply infected and overtaken with the bug once again. I need help. Hee hee!

MP3 Random Play

Today is just dragging by. You ever have one of those days? Well, I’m there today, and so I decided to put my MP3 player on all play just to see what I would hear. I guess the theory was that it would be some whimsical entertainment for my mind as I worked on some busy, mundane tasks at my desk. I think it worked. Hee hee!

First of all, I was blown away with the fact that I have 1192 songs on my player right now. WOA! That’s a lot of tunes on this tiny piece of equipment, but I love having all kinds of music at my fingertips depending on the day, my mood, the weather, the tension, etc. I am ultimately responsible for my own attitudes, but somehow music helps get me in the zone.

This was the first 10 songs to play on my random mix:

1. My Immortal (Evanescence)
2. Glow (Britt Nicole)
3. Lady in Red (Chris de Burgh)
4. Maniac (Flashdance soundtrack)
5. Hurt Me (LeAnn Rimes)
6. Do You Want to Know (Josh Wilson)
7. Sometimes Love (Chris Rice)
8. Can’t Stop Now (Keane)
9. You Are the Sun (Sara Groves)
10. Saints & Angels (Sara Evans)

Isn’t that hilarious? It just made me laugh. What a mix, and it could have been even crazier--considering the range of selections I have downloaded. Some big favorites in the mix and a couple of songs I forgot I even had. It was very entertaining for me on this chilly afternoon.

Mental Notes:
Rethink track number 5--never been that crazy about it.

The Joys of Autumn

I love fall. (Stop rolling your eyes.) I know I blog about this every year (sometimes more than once), but autumn is just awesome! The cooler temps, the crunchy leaves on the ground, the smell of pumpkins and apples in the air – it’s all good stuff.

This fall has started off with a bang in Indiana.

1. It’s been really cold already, and there has been a chilly wind almost every day. Plus the weather man is threatening snow this weekend. Hey, that reminds me. I need to make sure I can find my snow shovel. YIKES!
2. It’s been super rainy here of late. So those crunchy leaves I was talking about are a bit hard to find. You are more likely to feel a squish as you make your way across the soggy ground, but the trees are still pretty with their brilliant pallet of colors anyway.
3. Someone told me that there was a pumpkin shortage this season, and that if I found pumpkins, I should buy up quickly in bulk. Personally, I don’t usually use all that much pumpkin, but I do like to have a can or two on hand. Now before you make a mad dash to your local grocer, let me state for the record that I have not been able to confirm or negate this alleged pumpkin deficit. Both groceries I have visited this week have had whole pumpkins and canned pumpkin as well. So, it is quite possible that the lack of pumpkins might just be a rumor, but I do like to keep my dear readers informed.

Speaking of Indiana, the other night on the phone my Mom asked me if I was a Hoosier now. I literally gasped in horror at the suggestion, and she laughed at me. I don’t know why I continue to fight the status of becoming a Hoosier. I have been in this state for more than 13 years now, but somehow, I still like telling people that I’m originally from Michigan. After all, I was technically in Michigan for nearly 22 years, and so I guess it is only natural that the Great Lake State still has a piece of me and perhaps always will.

Anyway, back to fall. I’m glad it is here despite the chilly, wet conditions. This is my favorite season – the sights, the smells, the sounds (raking leaves, leaf blowers, rain pinging the window pane) and the tastes.

Even though I am pretty faithful to my Weight Watchers plan, I did nibble on some candy corn recently. I also learned a valuable lesson. Just because you like candy corn, does NOT mean that you will enjoy or appreciate every new candy corn flavor on the market. I tried the caramel apple and the sweet apple flavored candy corn varieties, and I think I’ll just stick to the regular stuff in the future. All candy corn is not created equal. It’s just a fact, my friends. Consider yourself warned!

Enjoy the season and savor some delicious candy corn for me, my friends!

Chronically Early

When my 15-minute Microsoft Outlook reminder pops up telling me that I have 15 minutes before my meeting, I pack my stuff up and head out right away. I’m usually the first one to arrive at a meeting, but I’d rather be too early than walk in late. In fact, I’d rather skip something altogether than show up tardy.

I hate being late for church, work, a project meeting or even dinner with friends. I have reoccurring nightmares about showing up late for class and getting demerits. I got demerits once for being late to a BJU Sunday morning service. Apparently, my one infraction caused more inner turmoil than I realized, and it continues to plague me even in my sleep. I am haunted by the memory. HA!

Today I had a funny thought while I was waiting on a meeting to get underway. Personally I freak out if I am going to be late, and when I arrive 2 minutes late I feel the need to apologize over and over for my tardiness, and yet, I don’t seem to be bothered much by other people being late to meet with me at all. I have friends who are typically running a few minutes behind, and it doesn’t phase me to wait on them. OK, 20-30 minutes is all right. I’m starting to wonder if I have the right location or not. Maybe I should call them? At 40 minutes late, without any phone calls or text messages, I’m starting to feel “stood up.” I’ll try calling again, and once we connect, I am just relieved to hear their voice and discover that they are alive and well. We’ll reschedule and move on. And yet, I would literally be flogging myself if I made any one wait on me like that.

Yet I don’t seem to have any problem making GOD wait on me...
I’ll get with YOU later, LORD. This is not a good time.
I’ll have to reschedule our heart-to-heart, LORD.
Not now, LORD. I am just not in the mood.
Wait a minute. I need to see how this movie ends, LORD.

OK, maybe I don’t say those things out loud, but that is exactly what I am stating with my actions. I owe HIM my all. Each second, each breath is a gift from HIM, and yet I struggle giving HIM 30 minutes or an hour of my time. Or I whine about having to get up early on Sunday morning to hear my pastor speak HIS Word.

So let's get this out in black and white, shall we! I don’t mind asking the MAKER of the Heavens and earth to wait on me, but I can’t handle holding up a friend I’m meeting for coffee? I don't seem to mind taking time away from my LORD and MASTER, but I panic at the thought of delaying a meeting with my boss or co-workers because of my tardiness? AHEM! Hmmmm...seems rather out of balance, doesn’t it? I’m too much of a people pleaser. I should attempt to use my time wisely with everyone but not lose sight of WHO actually owns my time, my life, my all.

LORD, I’m sorry that I try to put YOU on the back burner in my life. I should be out to please YOU above all else. Please forgive me for taking advantage of YOUR patience and long-suffering.

Help me to make time for YOU.
Help me to need time with YOU.
Help me to want more time with YOU.

Jumping Back In

Reconnecting with friends on Facebook has brought back incredible memories about Camp Spearhead. It’s a good thing. My two years serving on a weekend ministry during my college semesters and then as a summer camp counselor were filled with immeasurable joy. It was hard work, back-breaking at times, but it was well worth the effort, and I am forever grateful for my experiences there. Camp Spearhead will always have a special place in my heart.

But all this reminiscing--recounting old stories and sharing pictures--has made me miss the experience even more. So much so that I decided it was high time I got back into serving those with special needs again. I’ve been thinking about it for years, but I hadn’t done anything about it until now. Shame on me! So recently I made a few calls and jumped back in with both feet.

It’s official now. I am now a volunteer with Lutheran Disability Ministries Inc. (LDM), an interdenominational ministry with a mission of “equipping the Church to minister with people who have developmental disabilities.” I will be serving as a camp counselor on a few upcoming SonRise Weekend Retreats, and I’m rather excited (perhaps elated is a better term) about this opportunity--interacting and bonding with new faces, meeting others in my area who have a heart for those with special needs, sharing GOD’s love, exploring the great outdoors, etc. I’m psyched.

I confess that I’m a bit nervous, too, since I am going into this blindly. My last summer at Spearhead was in 1996, and if you can do math, you can see that it has been a LONG time, a REALLY LONG time. So I feel a bit rusty now 13 years later, but I think I can work through it with GOD’s help. I’ll miss the familiar faces and dear souls that I was privileged to call my friends in South Carolina, but I’m optimistically hoping to gain new friends, stories and experiences along the way. It’s all an adventure, and I’m holding onto HIS hand with all my might.

I’m Buzzing…

No, I’m not on drugs or alcohol.

I am experiencing a new phenomenon in my life: an exercise high!

Eighteen moths ago, I would get winded going up a flight of stairs, let alone a walk around the block. I’d get heated just walking over to another building here at work.

Twelve months ago, I was able to walk a 2.5 mile loop path about once a week without too much grumbling. My feet would be numb half way through, and at times I thought I was going to keel over dead , but I could do the whole loop if I pushed myself. Of course, it usually took me a day or two to recover.

Six months ago, I was able to briskly walk that same 2.5 mile path without too much exertion a couple of times a week. In fact, sometimes I would walk a bit more along the path because I felt pretty good and didn’t want to stop. I was starting to test my limits.

About a month ago, I randomly started jogging a bit along the way. I’d start out walking along the path and get my pace going, and then I would move into a slow jog for a couple of minutes before resuming my brisk walk.

Recently, I have started to jog for longer distances on the same path. OK, I’m no marathon runner yet. HA! But I am jogging more and more each time. I start out walking, and then I can feel my body wanting more. So I turn my walk into a jog for a few minutes until I can tell it is time to back off a bit again, and I move back and forth from walking to jogging the whole way now. This is quite a big deal for me. I’m relearning how to pace myself and discovering how to breathe again and take it one stride at a time. And it feels so good.

I’ve always secretly hated those people that seem to love or crave a good workout. I just didn’t get it. They would talk about exercise like it was a drug or a need to them. Without it, their life was off some how. I would smile and nod, but inside, I thought they were crazy.

Well, I’m starting to understand their drive and motivation. No, I don’t get exercise in every day yet, and half of the time I still have to push myself to do it. BUT, I am starting to understand the exercise high—the physical buzz your body has when you regularly exert energy like that. It feels great to press my limits and push myself farther and farther. And when I am done with my walk/jog, I feel wonderful. I feel ALIVE. I’m pumped, ready to do a somersault and prepared to take on the world. It's an indescribable rush.

It's That Time of Year Again

It’s that time of year again. Come on, you know what I’m talking about -- that “don’t-get-attached-to-any-new-TV-series” season. The chopping block has already been activated. Don't get attached, Mel!

After all, I’m still stunned at the cancellation of Eli Stone and conflicted that The Unusuals is gone for good. At least I still have Castle and Fringe to keep up on, too. They survived somehow. Now I totally understand why Cupid wasn’t renewed even though it did have some good moments, but come on, The Unusuals and Eli Stone were both quirky and filled with brilliant writing, etc. They will be missed, and I’m not sure that the Vampire Diaries, Parks & Recreation, and Community can fill that void, my friends. Fingers crossed!

In other news, I'm starting to lose interest in The Office. GASP! I know, it's rather shocking! I used to love that show, but something was off last season, and I'm sensing more of the same this time around. Hmmmmm... Anyway, I am glad I still have a bazillion crime shows to watch.

OK, on the flip side, I might consider cutting some shows myself or rather eliminating them from my DVR list. I have started considering the possibility that I might be watching just a wee bit too much television. GULP!