It’s Fall, Y’all!

Fall is here and with the change of season, for our family, comes football. My husband has umpired high school and college level games for years and loves it. With our move to the city with no yard for the dogs, it has become necessary to walk them more frequently and that job falls to me in the evenings when he is at a game. (See what I did there?!)

The change of season not only brings football, but the change in temperatures (from 85 all the way down to 79!), the little bit of crispness at dusk and dawn, pumpkin spice all the things, school in session, and of course Halloween on the horizon. The last dog walk of the evening is my favorite. There are very few people out, it’s quiet and calm and it gives us a chance to relax and settle in for the night. All the townhouses in our community have automated porch lights so it’s actually bright enough to see festive decorations trimming doorways along our route. Fall is here.

As I matched Hippo’s pace on our evening jaunt, my eyes scanned the sidewalks for possible hazards – the dog will eat all kinds of gross findings. I took a deep breath and as I rounded the corner under the large maple trees that line the walk, I saw something that looked out of place. It was a leaf, but oddly suspended mid-air. I stopped suddenly and Hippo looked up at me expectantly. I followed the line up from the leaf, and at eye level, about 5 inches from my face, is a spider the size of a quarter nestled in his ginormous web. (For the record, I’ve NEVER seen a web this huge before in real life. At least 6 feet high). His fat juicy body was the size of the coin, and his legs spread out from there, daring me to come just a little bit closer. I swallowed the bile threatening to exit and I abruptly stumbled back and turned the other way. Hippo glanced at me again, convinced I’m nuts because, let’s face it – I am certifiable when it comes to bugs. Scorpions, roaches and rattlesnakes were 3 things I was very happy to say “adios!” to as we drove out of south Texas. Spiders have never been my favorite, and after our stint in Hawaii and coming face to face with a cane spider, my hatred has far from waned.

When I say “stumbled back and turned the other way”, what that really means is this: you know when someone startles you and you freak out? Like when your kid stands at the top of the stairs, just out of sight waiting to nail you? You get to the stairs, they yell, “BOO!” or “Gotchya!” and you react by jumping straight up, hair standing out on end, and yell something super intelligible like, “HAWOGHGHHGHHHHH!” while your heart races and you marvel at the fact that you just almost died and why would your dear, sweet offspring want to give you a heart attack like that?! No?! Just me? I digress… But that’s basically how I reacted to a spider 5 inches from my nose. In the dark. In the fall. When it’s almost Halloween.

I consider myself a rational person. Intellectually, I comprehend the fact that arachnids have their place in the food chain and if we didn’t have them, other insects would flourish blah, blah, blah. I love trees. I don’t love that they are spider houses. If you are a spider, and I see you – I will murder you or hire someone to murder you. If you have more than 4 legs, I want no part of you. Do not come to my house. I don’t need roommates and I do not want to be your friend.

Picking up dog poo and taking deep breaths to calm down (not necessarily in that order), I collected myself and vowed to never ever under any circumstances ever go on that side of the road again. I also vowed that now my husband shall be the chief evening dog walker. I brought Hippo in and grabbed a drink of water to calm down. After leashing up the other two, we head back into battle. It’s the littles and me against all the creepy crawlies. I’ve just about talked myself back to a normal functioning adult when what do I see? A RED ROACH SCURRYING PAST MY FEET. I should mention that my feet are exposed – bare and in flip flops adding to the heebee-jeebee creepy feeling. As if that wasn’t enough, the universe decided that I must be tested further when it’s mate joined him from one patch of grass, across the sidewalk and under a bush, followed by what appeared to be a baby. Awe! How sweet. Mr. and Mrs. Roach and family crossed the sidewalk right in front of me. And on the same night that I almost died from a a spider on my face!

Just give me the dang straight jacket now. If it comes with a padded room, great. As long as the door seals tight and no bugs get in, I think I’ll be good. Happy Fall!

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Halloween

I LOVE Halloween.

Like, a lot.

Probably more than most people. More than Christmas and my birthday put together. It’s one day a year where you can dress up like a lunatic, act crazy, get candy from strangers and it’s all perfectly acceptable! What’s not to love, right?!

Previously I’ve been Cat in the Hat and the minions were Thing 1 and Thing 2. cropped-img_4310.jpgThe hubby and I have done the Outlet and Plug in (and will reprise our roles this year while trick or treating with the kids). Dressing up is just fun and we get into it big time. Even as a kid, I remember dreaming up all kinds of craziness with my parents each year.

At the gym, we had a Star Wars-themed dress up day a few days before the main event. I still had clients to train, but I came armed with my buns and a borrowed-from-my-son light saber.

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Those buns, however, did not come without some work!

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It’s been about 10 years since I’ve done this….and I quickly remembered why!

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Dead animal, anyone?

We were told that we could of course dress up on Saturday – the big day. I hadn’t given it much thought, other than going trick or treating with our kids in the evening. I hadn’t planned on dressing up that morning for spin and training sessions…but then I got to thinking….

What could be fitness related, but allow me to actually train?

Enter the grand-daddy of fitness costumes:

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“Let’s sweat to the oldies!!!!” Thank you Richard Simmons!

I didn’t know it was possible to love the holiday more than I already did!

Happy Halloween!!

The Halloween That Wasn’t

It all started so great. 5:30am, Jake is awake and trying to wake up Hannah. I lean over and whisper “Happy Halloween!!” And he exclaims, “Oh Yeah!” And then excitedly asks to put on his crocodile costume!

Sure it’s, 5:30 am, but knock yourself out! By this time Hannah is tearing down the hall looking for her elephant costume. I then have to break it to them both as they are putting on their shoes that trick-or-treating starts at night. The crestfallen looks I got were priceless.

Grandma comes over to workout (after the sun has risen) and stays to visit for a bit after. They are still doing great and excited for the festivities, running around in their costumes being crazy.  I hop in the shower, my niece comes to watch them for an hour or two while I run last minute errands.

Then I return home to a fevery hot mess. Poor kid. Jake needs a nap bad. Plans to do “the afternoon downtown trick-or-treating” get canceled as they finally fall asleep precisely at the time we were to leave.

Jake wakes up and groggily announces that he doesn’t want to go trick or treating and that he feels yucky. We were invited to a friends’ party and of course, with a fever had to cancel that as well.

While I’m bummed that it was not to be the Halloween I had envisioned, (it was one of my favorite holidays as a kid, and still remains so) it does happen to be one more holiday to cross off our “Daddy Countdown Track” (that would be our kid-friendly countdown to daddy calendar/timeline).

And as I sit here typing this….this is what I’m looking at:
Poor feeling-under-the-weather babies!
I also have to add that my rockstar friend Becky (the one having the party) stopped by with a yummy treat for me and the kiddos as well as a plush soft blankie for Jake – and that’s what he’s snuggling on the couch right now! SO SWEET!!
So cheers to the Halloween that wasn’t for us and here’s to next year when we’ll get to trick-or-treat with Daddy!! YAY!

Halloween 2011

Halloween this year was interesting…to say the least. Unfortunately Eric was out of town for work, so he missed this one.
Hannah dressed up as a lady bug this year…
 She wasn’t a big fan of the hat!
 But I did manage to snap one pic with it on!!

 

 Jacob had a Woody from Toy Story costume, but refused to put it on….
 Here he is with our friend Batgirl!
 Jake didn’t really get what Halloween was all about. Luckily we went with some friends to show him the ropes 🙂
 Once he figured out that he could go up to some one and simply say “trick or treat” and get candy, he was all over “doing it for Hannah”!!!
 It wasn’t too long and he got the hang of it!!
 So fun!

 

It was fun watching him try to figure it all out. Hannah just ran after the big kids and screamed and giggled! When I asked Jacob if he wanted to get into his costume since the other kids were doing it, he said, “No! I’m Jacob”
I guess he just wanted to be himself for Halloween.
I love that kid!
He did have a couple of pieces of candy that night, but then magically it disappeared by morning. Go figure!!! And we will be donating the remainder to the troops overseas. I am proud to say I did not partake in the candy eating at all. Quite a difference from last year when I bought candy way ahead of time, ate it all, then had to go get more!!! LOL!!
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