Happy Halloween 2007!

AND I have found my cape! I was a little worried because I usually have it readily available but...I have it.

The picture to the left is LAST year's costume. this year's will be similiar, I imagine. My hair is shorter and I have fishnet stockings and some longer gloves...Anywho, it should be good fun...

Now, I have to get off my duff and get some things done...

So in the MODIFIED immortal words of Zacherley...."Happy Halloween, WHATever YOU ARE!!!!"

The Nightmare Before Christmas - What's This?

The above video shows one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite holiday movies, Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas. It is being released this Friday for three days only in 3D. I'm looking forward to the chance to seeing this cinematic delight on the big screen this weekend.

It is truly a special film.

Of Hershey Bars and "REALISTIC" Pumpkins...

A few years ago, the "realistic" pumpkins hit the retail market.....What makes them so cool is that you can carve a FAVORITE image and keep the pumpkin year after year. Unfortunately, the cheaper of these CARVEABLE orbs WERE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to cut into and most of the end result made you wish you'd just LEFT it to be thrown into the compost heap. The easier to cut, realistic pumpkins were/are VERY expensive and you still need to have patience and a modicum of skill with a cutting tool to do anything. There is a guy every year who sells EXQUISITE pieces of artwork each year with his realistic pumpkins. I believe his eBay ID is "Pumpkinking"...Look him up, they ARE AMAZING!!

Anywho....since my skills with an X-acto knife are not that great, I begged Santa to get me cordless Dremel drill a few years ago. I planned on using it for many tasks; however because my mind is SO very cluttered and my focusing skills are dulled...'sigh'....I have sadly only used my precious drill on these pumpkins...

Now, here's my problems....I KNOW that I had two more at least either completely or partially carved and another was sketched out. This was verified by my offspring...One Creature, One Dracula (he may have been the partial one), and the BRIDE of Frankenstein was sketched...

But they have disappeared....Has the Creature fled to the Lagoon? Did Drac go back to Transylvania? I DON'T KNOW.....WHAT OF THE BRIDE??????? WHAT HAPPENED????

Anyway.....SOME OF THESE PUMPKINS ARE GETTING THE DRILL IN THE NEXT DAY OR SO...

Or ELSE!!!

Oh....and the Hershey Bar part of the blog...oooh...I ate one of those before I started typing. YUM YUM!!

So You Think It's Too Early For Halloween?

Well, as Wilford Brimley barks during his Liberty Medical commercials, "THINK AGAIN!!!"



I did 20 years HARD TIME in the retail INDUSTRY, and I KNOW EARLY....and this ain't it...

This is only PART of the INSANITY I put myself through beginning each Labor Day weekend. The frivolity DOES NOT end until I'm watching College Bowl games on New Year's Day (Go BADGERS!! Go WILDCATS...um THAT would be KENTUCKY...and yeah, SOMETIMES we know what to do with those little balls that have the points on the ends...oh how I digress again....).

ANYWAY....This picture on the bottom is just a little corner of a HUGE bookshelf. I do plan on taking more pictures next week and release the glory of my Home Decoration Creation in bits and pieces to the roving eyes who may skid by. I don't know if the AVERAGE, NON-Holiday-decorating Homo Sapien could handle it all at once, so I MUST BE CAREFUL...

With great power comes....great...something-something....

As you can see by this picture, I am a HUGE fan of the Jack-O-Lantern...Now, as a PRACTICING, Born-Again Christian I am well-aware that many people sitting on church pews get all bent out of shape celebrating Halloween and whatever Pagan rituals that might be associated with it. I DO NOT get caught up in this MESS...TO ME, a Jack-O-Lantern is a wonderful, cut-up, GOD-CREATED vegetable, emitting a wonderful glow when the sun goes down. Pumpkins make GREAT PIES, and the seeds are delicious too. There is ONLY something inherently evil if it is in your heart to make it so....SO, I shan't Picard this holiday. Halloween is a fun time for dressing up, eating candy, watching scary movies, and ENJOYING the wonderful change of season. Besides, Halloween is ALSO my Dad's birthday, so IT WILL ALWAYS BE a celebratory time. I also have this corner shelf adorned with some Peanuts memorabilia (another long-time seasonal tradition of ours) and some cards.

Now, the picture on the top is our front doorway. Each year I have to slightly modify the decorations somewhat. This time last year, we did not have our plasma TV OR our new living room set, so things that I had for my "sit-abouts" are no longer available to me (or are in different rooms). The ghost hanging on the door was one I made over a decade ago. The orange covered "table" that is sitting on the floor is ACTUALLY a large DOLL CASE. In it, is a $500 Scarlett O'Hara doll from The Franklin Mint! I covered her with orange material and put a black tree on top (which has ornaments on it -- I'll have a better picture later in my Flickr Album). In front are two ceramic owls which belonged to my late Mother-in-law.

So, you see....I've only begun to fight...er...um...decorate...OR AT LEAST SHOW PEOPLE...The outside will be started in the next couple of weeks. The inside, except for some odds and ends stuff is nearly complete and there is NOT ONE ROOM that doesn't have SOMETHING in it.

You see, I have to start early.....If I didn't -- I'd NEVER get done!!!