( don't laugh this is sometime around 1983ish I'm not for sure on the year, most of my siblings, and a cousin in the back. My baby sister is not yet in the picture but you can see the size of the pumpkins. The one behind me, I'm the redhead at the bottom! LOL! is almost bigger than I was!)

I don't dress up for Halloween much anymore. I used to growing up. I can remember my mom always did HUGE parties at our house growing up. I can remember one time, she made us menu's with octopus legs, which was hot dogs cut part way up and the legs curled when they were cooked! We had to order our spoons and knifes. They had strange names and we didn't know what we were ordering. It wa so cool. That's the one I remember the most. She always had us do pumpkins and for school we always entered a pumpkin carving contest. One time we got it for the BIGGEST pumpkins. My mom always has had a garden too. She grew these enormous pumpkins one year. That was great fun. I was going through some old pictures. I'll see if I can post some since I don't have any this year.

We did get quite a few trick-or-treaters! It's was fun. I like being buried in a neighborhood. The parents were either walking the kids to the houses and waiting for them on the sidewalk or driving to the end of the street and letting the kids walk up the street. We did get one set of teenagers, but they were dressed up and they were actually doing a food drive for canned stuff for a local church. I thought that was pretty cool! I gave them more candy!

I am back to being undecided. I don't like the way things are going in this election from either side. I was sold on McCain/Palin and still lean more that direction because the unknown scares me.

We are struggling in different ways as most people are. I can't afford to be stressed both physically and emotionally. The best way for me to keep going is to have something positive to look forward. Right now that's Halloween! I am looking forward to staying home (I get off early that day! YEAH!)and passing out candy in our house! It will be fun! We have a lot of kids in the neighborhood so I am hoping we'll get a lot of trick or treaters! That will be fun.

Oh and then there's Ghost Hunters. My favorite show and one of the few shows I watch religiously! On Halloween they do an all night show! Lots of fun!

Carl is so good, he's always so optimistic! He always tells me to think of the positive! I try but sometimes don't always succeed!

Oh back on a funny note, the bunny has now made it 4 days! Maggie's bunny! The night before last she was playing with it and got sidetracked and went to the pantry. She was trying to get something under the door. I couldn't figure out what it was. I opened it, moved her food, moved the trash (which we put in there to keep her out of it!) and couldn't find anything. I didn't know what she was after. But she was determined. Finally I moved a bag and there was the rest of her bone that she had the other night. She must have put it in there or it fell off the shelf. I don't know how she knew it was in there! But she was determined to get to it. It looked gross so I tried to throw it out, so when Carl took her out to play, I had to throw it out. She came back still looking for it!

We have been able to leave the air off at night and in the morning. It warms up during the day but we are in the low 90's and it's nice. This is what living down here is all about! When it starts cooling off and you maybe need a sweater at night if that!

So today I made soup for our Sunday family dinner with the cousins. I do a Loaded Baked Potato Soup and this time I did that and the Broccoli Cheese. I didn't like the Broccoli Cheese as much it wasn't as thick I normally like so next time I'll try it with the cornstarch.

I'll post my recipe again it's been awhile since I have so here it is. I like to top it off with cheese and green onion and bacon bits on top in my bowl!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

* 2/3 cup butter
* 2/3 cup flour
* 7 cups milk
* 4 large baking potatoes, baked, cooled, peeled and cubed, about 4 cups
* 4 green onions, thinly sliced
* 10 to 12 strips bacon, cooked, drained, and crumbled
* 1 1/4 cups shredded mild cheddar cheese
* 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup of heavy cream

Directions:
1. Pre cook the potatoes like baked potoes, then scoop out the middles for the soup.
2. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium heat until browned. Drain, crumble, and set aside.
3. In a stock pot or Dutch oven, melt the margarine over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in milk, whisking constantly until thickened. Stir in potatoes and onions. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
4. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Mix in bacon, cheese, sour cream, salt, and pepper. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until cheese is melted.

Oh and Maggie's Mr. Bunny is now on day three of survival. She would bring it to everyone tonight and make them throw it. Everyone had to have a turn! It was pretty funny. The bunny's pretty slimy now! GROSS! But she loves it!

We've learned a new thing for Maggie (our lab). We've had trouble finding toys for her, that she doesn't shred or eat in five minutes flat. From bones to stuffed animals. We had a smaller stuffed bunny that was an ornament. It was medium size, but the string that was attached to it was missing. So we let her have it. Now it's become her toy. She's been getting bored, so we're trying to find stuff for her. She hasn't tried to rip it's arms or legs off and it's smaller that she can't rip the eyes out. It's something she can't get a grip on enough to tear it apart, but she does shake it in her mouth and throw it up in the air. Then she'll bring it to us and drop it at our feet and want us to throw it. She retrieves it better than her ball.It's also really soft so that might be part of it too. We gave her a bigger bear a while ago and she had it's arms and legs off in no time. The bunny so far has lasted two days. Last night I found her sleeping with it, not eating it! YEAH!! So we'll see how long Mr. Bunny lasts! This is day three! She played with it a lot this evening- meaning that she'd drop it at our feet and get us to throw it.

Another post steeler!

Because I haven't posted in almost a week. Long story short I now have a heart monitor for 30 days! Don't worry it's just precautionary. Just having a few bumps and we don't know why. So on goes the monitor. But it's TINY! and I can hid it under my clothes for the most part. It looks like a small battery pack like a pager. I can take it on and off to shower. It beeps when it receives something not normal. I am simply AMAZED at the way technology has changed even since I've been doing the 'routine' heart stuff since the day I was born. Everything was so huge even up to a few years ago. Now they just plug you into a computer!
Anyway - here's something fun to chew on! I stole this from our friend our Becky!

8 FAVORITE TV SHOWS I LOVE TO WATCH
(I'm not much of TV watcher so I'll see I can find 8 some are the same as Becky!)

Ghost Hunters (my favorite!)

Amazing Race

NCIS

Old M*A*S*H re-runs

That 70's show (the mom makes me laugh hysterically!)

Family Guy (I know it's terrible but terribly funny!)

Fox Football Sunday! (does that count)

Chuck

8 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS

Vitto's

Spaghetti Factory

Cracker Barrell

Texas Roadhouse

PF Changs

Cheesecake Factory

(I can only think of 6)

8 THINGS THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY

Went to work

worked on a really cute christmas frame for work display

made a really good chicken dinner

watched chuck

watched monday night football

took a long hot bath

read a book

tried to go to bed early and stayed awake till 1am

8 THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO

a garage sale we're having next week!

getting bills paid off!

hopefully being able to refinace the house next month - it's in process

Fall weather and Fall food!

80* tempts!

being able to turn the air off again and sleeping with the windows open

maybe going to the fair or doing the corn maze with the cousins

sunday dinner with the cousins next week. they are always fun!

8 THINGS ON MY WISH LIST
Take a vacation - A LONG one!

Go to the Oregon Coast!

Get out debt

Go back to church full time! I wish I could sit through a whole block!For health reasons I haven't been able to in a few years!

Have a few kids

have another dog, probably a small one

remodel our bedroom and the kitchen. otherwise I like our house! Those two rooms need to be a tad bigger. We have teeny master bath.

Own my own business

So I think I'm just going to wrap myself in bubble wrap and lock myself in a closet with padded walls. I think that might be safer.

So here's a list of things that I've broken, lost or misplaced in the last week.

1. my little toe. I broke my little toe last Saturday, we were cleaning off the back patio. I kicked the corner of the door. Yes, it's broken, it's black purple, green and bright red all at the same time.I had to wear flip flops to work because I couldn't put shoes or socks on!!

2. I ran into a fixture at work (at least I think that's what happened) I didn't even notice that I was bleeding, my boss noticed it from the back. It was the back of my arm. I had a hard time getting it to stop bleeding because I'm on the meds still. I'm not even sure what stabbed me or what I scrapped up against. It didn't really hurt just bled a lot.

3. I chipped a good portion of my front tooth on Sunday and I wasn't even eating anything!.I have to go have it fixed in the morning.

4. The worst of them all and make the rest of them seem silly, is my diamond fell out of my ring. I was just thinking I needed to have it cleaned. We were on our way back from dinner and I noticed it was gone. I am just sick about it. I don't know how long it's been missing. If it fell out at work or on my way to work or after! I am hoping it will turn up after but I highly doubt it.

Someone please tell me this year is almost over!!

I am feeling cautiously optimistic about the month of October. I am hoping it will bring good things. It's already bringing cooler temperatures. My rash is gone. There are a few dark spots were the spots were the worst but you can't really tell.The meds did there jobs and I finish those tomorrow.

I am back on my regular schedule. Hoping I can make up for some time gone last week. I just have to have some dental work done but other than that things are good. I might hold my breath on that though. I don't want to jinx it!

I am ready for the fall and Halloween season. I want to decorate the house and make a few changes We are going through the storage and hopefully will have a garage sale with Holly and Julie. They want to get rid of some things too so we thought it would be fun to do one next week. We'll see how that goes! In the meantime I am ready to do some more crafts and fun stuff! So I hope to stay busy!

Brighter Days and Peanut Butter!

It didn't start off as a good day. I was not sure what awaiting for me at work today. It was okay. I am not sure what to make of changes and the attitude that has transpired there. Hopefully this week will be better. My goal is to be more optimistic and to try and not stress. I keep saying that! I did have my follow up with the dermatologist today. All the lab work came back normal! Which is good! I don't have Valley Fever and other sorts that I was tested for!We still aren't sure of the initial cause of the reaction. I am still taking my heart meds so she ruled those out all together because I was getting better. Now if I have another outbreak after I finish the meds then we may back track. But for now this is a positive note! And the rash is clearing up. I just have a few splotches and I'm pealing in a few places.

We did have a fun evening. Carl and I. He wanted to bake cookies. He wanted to give it a try. We've talked about doing Peanut Butter cookies. I did chocolate chip cookies a few weeks ago. I really enjoy baking and have gotten fairly decent at it. My cookies are getting lighter and fluffier. So today it was Peanut Butter cookies. Carl made me promise he could do it. I just had to tell him what to put in it and how to mix it. And not to get mad at him! (I'm not sure why I would) impatient, but not mad! So I found a recipe from some more of my food blog sites. (which I'll add more links on here soon). and found one that added peanut butter chips. I 've never done it with peanut butter chips before. They were EXCELLENT! And no- I didn't loose my patience with Carl. Actually I think he got bored before he was done! He was supposed to roll them in the sugar and do the fork thing. He didn't get that far! He did the first batch and then he was done! But it's ok cause he finished the laundry! So I can't complain!

The cookie are fabulous with the Peanut Butter Chips so I'll post the recipe. Now the recipe here calls for both chocolate chips and peanut butter but we just did peanut butter. He didn't want to get to fancy!

So Here is the recipe courtesy of BakingBloneWeblog
1 cup + 2 TBS peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 TBS milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Peanut Butter chips
1/2 cup Chocolate Chips
3/4 cup Sugar (for rolling dough balls, may need more or less)

Preheat oven to 350.
Line baking sheets with parchement paper.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the peanut butter, butter. Once combined beat in the white sugar, and brown sugar until well blended. Beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla.
In a large bowl wisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gently add to creamed mixture and mix until almost combined. Fold in chocolate and peanut butter chips. Chill dough for at least 15 minutes.
Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls. Genlty roll the dough balls into sugar and place dough balls on parchment lined baking sheets. Carefully press each ball with fork tines to create a criss-cross pattern.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets for 5-10 minutes until sturdy enough to be transfered to a wire rack to cool completely.

Every 6 months the leaders of our Church gather for a Bi-Annual Confrence in Salt Lake City, Utah and it's broad-casted worldwide. We gain knowledge, inspiration and direction from our leaders. This General Confrence like many other are moving and inspirational.

I was moved by the message from our leaders during this difficult time. Both in my personal life and in the world around us.

The messages were clear and simple.

I will mention just a few of them that stood out to me and will make a difference in my everyday life.

1. The Best Is Yet to Be!

2. Find a place to go and Relax

3. Take Care of Each Other- There are Angels Among us!( Pres Hollands talk moved me to tears!)

4. Laugh and Laugh often. (I loved Pres. Wirthlins talk!)

5. Families are the most important

6. Don't Stress!

7. The are others there to help us

8. The Lord hears our cries and answers our prayers!

This morning was a little better. The rash is now 'grouping'. I took an oatmeal bath last night so I wasn't flaming this morning. But I developed some new symptoms which were in my mouth and my throat was sore. So I called the dr's office and they told me I could get them into a dermatologist or go to the Er. I took the dermatologist! They said it was the same thing my dr had and he was going the right direction. There isn't much they can do for the sores (they aren't really uncomfortable for now) It's official name is Erythema Multiforme. I just have a severe case. I had four drs look at me today because they all want to see it. The most uncomfortable places are actually the insides of my hands and feet and my lips feel sunburned. It's very strange! I don't feel sick.

So where do I go from here-
1. Tomorrow I have to go do a bunch of blood work. (I was hoping to go into work tomorrow) They want to rule out any other things that might be going on inside. White blood cell counts, other viruses etc, etc.
2. Keep taking the currents meds. Right now I think it's four different meds. I had to get a calendar but I still refuse to get a pill box!! I HATE HATE that part of it. I was having a hard enough time taking the heart pill.(which they don't think is causing it but aren't ready to rule it out or have me stop taking it yet they dont' want to risk it!)
3. Keep taking the baths and the lotion mixes hoping that it clears up the rash so I can at least go back to work.

Work won't even let me come back even knowing I'm not contagious. I've been around my entire family before and after the funeral! The whole thing infurates me but that's a different story!

So I am determined to get rid of this and whatever is causing it. I am just hoping it doesn't spread and isn't inside my body. That the meds will work!

I think! This is me at the DR's office again yesteday. They have started to form tiny blisters. It's hot in certain areas. It's more an irritation than an itch. My DR was very alarmed when he saw me. But he had to get out the text book to see what it was. He ruled out hives and all the others common rashes. This was anything but common. Lucky me! It's something called erythema multiforme. It's a more serious condition but not life threatening, unless it's gets inside my body and my face then I might have issues. So far it's just my lips.

He started me on a HEAVY dose of steriods. He said the dr on Monday did not give me a heavy enough dose. Nor did he give me an anti viral medication which he should have. I probably should have that in the first 24hrs.

I feel ok for the most part. It's mostly mental. Trying to keep my spirits up and not let this get me down. Especially about missing work and other things I should be doing. Especially when I don't feel REALLY sick. I just LOOK really sick! I feel like I have leprosy or something. The little round circles are turning colors and that's something else we'll have to keep on.

In the meantime I am trying to keep myself busy. I've printed lots of pictures to hang up around the house. Stuff I haven't had time to do. I want to work in the yard, but it wasn't recommended for fear of making it worse.

The tempts are getting really nice in the evening now so we try to be out there a lot more with the dogs. It's too cold to swim. I also have a few good mystery books I'm reading. We went to the library last weekend. So if anyone has any good reading recommendations I'm all for it. I love to read! I might pick up my crossstitch again too.