Happy Halloween!

As promised, I have some pictures of our dog, Murphy, all dressed up for Halloween. Unfortunately, I had to snap these quick because Murph does not like having things on him...he shakes and cowers until we take everything off. Kelli and I only spent $5 on this costume from Target because anything more is just not worth it for him. Our Mom thought we were nuts when we brought it home.

Darth Murph

This costume actually also came with a felt mask with little holes for his eyes, but there was no way he was keeping that on...he scratched it right off. Here he is with the helmet. He managed to keep that on for a few minutes. I also had to roll up the pant legs because they were too long and he kept tripping on them when he tried to walk (even more reason for him to hate the costume).

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Trick...or Treat?

So, now, onto the story of the trick I played on my little sis, Kelli. Let me preface this by saying that I am a very nice sister; however, sometimes duty calls. I have had the idea in my head for this trick for a few weeks now, just waiting for the right time to carry it out. The right time happened to be this past Friday night. Kelli had gone to the mall for a couple hours with her friend. Since the mall closes at 9:30, I knew she'd be getting home soon after that. As soon as my Mom left to pick Kelli up, I quickly filled in my Dad on my idea and enlisted his help. Basically, the idea was to put the movie "The Ring" (which I own) into her DVD player in her bedroom and freeze frame it on the scary character Samara's face (there's a really good closeup of her at the end of the movie). Knowing full well that Kelli would be freaked out by this, I decided to take it a few steps further. My plan included unscrewing the light bulbs from her overhead light, bedside lamp, and upstairs hallway light. So, her room was dark except for the glowing light of her TV. Plus, we put a Halloween Sound EFX CD on in the room next to hers so she could faintly hear the creepy sounds coming through her wall. So, this was all set up for when she got home from the mall. I also needed the help of my Mom to get her up to her room as soon as they got home. My Mom had the idea to tell Kelli she had left some pictures on her bed that she had forgotten to carry down earlier. Therefore, as soon as they walked in the door, Kelli sat down on the couch and my Mom pipes up, "Kelli, before you get comfortable, can you run up to your room? I left some pictures on your bed that I forgot to carry down earlier. I need to look through them for Aunt Jo." My Dad furthers this by saying, "Kel, try to hurry up though because we're going to put a movie on." So, Kelli goes running into the living room to head upstairs. Now, I knew she'd put on the hallway light before going upstairs, so when she flicked the switch and it didn't go on, she called out, "Um, the hall light must have burned out." My Dad calls to her, "Okay, I'll get a new bulb...just hurry up and get those pictures." Kelli runs up the steps anyway and into her room. Not even 30 seconds later we hear her barrelling down the stairs screaming like she was being chased. Then she goes, "Who put that on my TV?? Get that off my TV!!" The rest of us ran into the living room laughing hysterically and she started laughing too. She said it was so freaky because just as she was turning into her room, she saw the glow from the TV and wondered who had left it on...she peeked around the corner of her dresser to the TV screen and that's when she started screaming.

This is basically the picture that was frozen on her screen (without the background and words):


She says she will get me back, but I really don't know what she could do to scare me. She says it may not be just scaring me for revenge...and I'm not really sure what she means by that, so I'll keep you posted.

Happy Halloween!

Countdown to Halloween: 1 day!!!

My Costume History - Part 6

Well, this is the final installment of my Halloween costume history. Tomorrow is the big day already! I have one last costume to show though. My costume in this picture is yet another homemade one. I have usually preferred to go the homemade route whenever possible. It just always seems like more fun that way.

Example:
Me as an Old Lady, Erin as a Pirate, Kelli as Roadrunner - I think Erin and I were around 12 or 13 here...Kelli looks to be around 2 or 3.


I wore an old shift dress that belonged to someone in my family and we stuffed the top of it to look like I had big you-know-whats. The cane was also borrowed, as well as the shawl (which I believe my Great-Grandmother made). We already had the wig. If you look closely, you can see I am wearing knee-high stockings that I ripped to make them look old. I can't remember where I got those ugly glasses from, but I do know my Dad made up my face to look like I had wrinkles. He also gave me lipstick drawn outside my lip line.

The plastic parts of my sisters' costumes were store-bought, and again, my Dad did Erin's makeup. I think somehow they made the sword...possibly from cardboard and duct tape??

Recently, when my Mom and I found this picture, she started laughing because she said my face looked so little and lost beneath the glasses and wig. This has been a lot of fun for me, finding these pictures again. Not only because I know people are laughing at me, but also because it's been a great chance for my family and I to relive some of our favorite Halloween memories.

I hope all of you have enjoyed reading about and seeing pictures of some of my Halloween costumes. Tomorrow, I'll post a special Halloween picture of my doggy and re-tell my recent Halloween trick on my sister. 'Til then...goodbye and good night.

Countdown to Halloween: 2 days

My Costume History - Part 5

I am still continuing my history, now going from showing you more traditional costumes to just a bit more eccentric. By eccentric, I mean not what just anyone would come up with for a Halloween costume (especially as a kid). I'm not really sure how I think of my ideas, but for this one, I imagine I was wandering the costume store to see what appealed to me...I probably thought, "This looks unique and different...I'll pick that." Erin looks like she came up with her costume the same way...see, us twins sometimes do think alike. I'm pretty sure we were about 10 years old in these pictures.

Example 1:
Erin as a Hobo, Me as a Gypsy - Erin wore our Dad's suspenders and one of his plaid shirts stuffed with a pillow...I don't remember how we did those patches--not sure if we pinned them on or had Mom sew them on old jeans (maybe Erin remembers?). Her big plastic tie and jacket were the costume set. Oh, and that's Dad's hat. We both had a pair of the sneakers she was wearing...do you remember those? They were checkered and glowed in the dark! My plastic vest and skirt were my costume set. I tied my Mom's gold shiny scarf around my head. Dad did both mine and Erin's makeup.



Example 2:
Here's me sitting on our steps showing off my Dad's decorations that were meant to scare the trick-or-treaters as they came to the front door (this was in addition to whatever he had set up outside). Of course, though, the lights were turned off to add to the effect.


Okay...only one more day of my costume history...I know, I know, you are sooo upset. Well, alright, I'll throw in a couple extra things...like, maybe, my dog in a costume and a really good trick I played on my sister...[in best evil voice] ha ha ha.

Hasta mañana...

Countdown to Halloween: 3 days

My Costume History - Part 4

Yesterday, I showed pictures of myself as Cyndi Lauper. Even though people often dress up as their favorite musicians and movie stars, I wouldn't consider Cyndi Lauper a typical Halloween costume. So, today, I will be showing a couple traditional costumes I've worn. It seems that every few years I felt the need to dress up in the more well-known kind of costume. It is always interesting on Halloween to see different people's interpretations of the classic Halloween characters. Some prefer to go all out scary, while others prefer to stay "pretty" or more appealing. I usually chose to make my costumes somewhere in the middle...not too extreme either way.

Example 1:
Erin as the Devil, Me as the Witch - This particular Halloween, we both went the traditional route. This is us standing by our old light-up Haunted House. We still have it in our attic somewhere. I remember pretending there were real people living in that little house...yes, I had quite an imagination!



Example 2:
Me as a princess, Mom as a Man, Erin as GI Joe (she was always a tomboy!) - I wore my Mom's old prom dress, which we had to pin up and fold at the waist to make it fit. My Mom wore one of my Dad's suits. Looks like Erin had the boxed plastic costume with mask! Oh, and standing between Mom and me is our old Black Lab, Pappi (I think she was wearing one of my dad's t-shirts). If you asked anyone in my family, they'd tell you that this princess costume was typical of me (I never wanted to be ugly on Halloween!).


In case you are wondering, my Dad never wanted to be in the pictures. His costumes always consisted of some horrifically scary mask that he would find at the store. I can't tell you how many times he would be lurking around dark corners waiting to scare us on Halloween night. Also, he used to set up elaborate decorations in the house to make it scary -- including fake spiderwebs, skeletons, black lights & black light posters, weird lighting set-ups...you name it--he's done it.

This is a little digression from the costume thing for a minute...I remember one Halloween when we were in either high school or the very beginning of college. Erin and I had a sleepover at our house that night...we invited a few of our girlfriends and rented scary movies. After Kelli (our little sis) was done trick-or-treating, my parents took her to visit the Grandparents for awhile. So, we stayed at the house and continued our party. Well...somehow we decided to start dancing...(Susie or Dee, if you are reading this, surely you'll remember this night!). We turned off the lights in our den (except for the black light) and blasted the music. Where we were dancing, we have a big bay window that looks out over the backyard. Unbeknownst to us, my parents and sister had returned while we were having our little dance party. My dad parked the car out front and walked up the driveway to the backyard. Of course, he had his scary skeleton mask with him, so he slipped it on and stood staring in the bay window until one of us saw him...Sure enough, one of us caught sight of the skeleton face and screamed...which led to everyone screaming and diving down to the floor. It was extra freaky because, when standing outside the bay window, only his head was high enough to be seen. Once we realized it was him, we started laughing hysterically and yelling at him. I still haven't forgiven my Mom and Kelli for being part of his scheme.

I think it's stories like this one that has made me love Halloween so much...my parents always made it fun for us, which makes me want to keep that going every year.

Tomorrow...Part 5...More costume fun!

Countdown to Halloween: 4 Days

My Costume History - Part 3

Okay...so yesterday we looked at those old plastic costumes that we know all too well. After a few years of having those plastic ones, I started getting into making my own (usually by borrowing various articles of clothing from family members). Sometimes, I wanted to just be something typical of Halloween, like a devil, or a witch, or a ghost.

However, one particular Halloween, I was going through my Cyndi Lauper phase. Yes...I loved Cyndi Lauper...and I have pictures to prove it. Somewhere I have a cassette tape recording of me singing her songs...but that is for another time.

I don't really know how my infatuation with Cyndi started. I remember seeing her on TV, but it became serious when my Godmother, Aunt Jo, bought me my first Cyndi Lauper record for my birthday (I believe it was my eighth). See, Aunt Jo, was always (and still is) the "cool aunt." So, when I got this record, it was just the greatest thing in my life.

Sure enough, that Halloween after my birthday, I decided to dress up as...you guessed it...Cyndi Lauper.

Example 1:
Here's where it all started...the record:



Example 2:
Me as Cyndi for Halloween (don't ya just love the accessories?)



Example 3:
Closeup - And, no, there was nothing wrong with my jaw...I must have had a huge piece of candy in my cheek! The smudged, 80s-blue makeup is wonderful, by the way. Also, the wig was a regular clown's wig that we spray-painted with this glittery stuff to make it "extra-Cyndiish."



Tomorrow...Part 4..."A Traditional Halloween."

Countdown to Halloween: 5 Days

My Costume History - Part 2

So are you finished laughing about yesterday's pictures yet?

I don't know if any of you remember these types of costumes, but they were the ones that came in a box, with the cheap plastic costume and mask. The plastic smelled like the liner of an old swimming pool and the mask started to smell after you kept it on for awhile (ya know, you couldn't breathe so you drooled all over the inside of it). Well, maybe that was just me. Sorry. Anyway, I still remember every year going in to Toys R Us to pick out my costume, seeing the shelves lined with those costume boxes. It was so much fun to peer down into the clear plastic top of the box to see the mask looking back at you...the question was always, "Who do I want to be this year?"

It's a shame they don't have those kind of costumes anymore...I'm not really sure why they don't, aside from the fact that maybe children were suffocating inside them? I sure hope not. I mean, you do see children's costumes out there, but now they're actually made of quality cloth material. Bleh...who needs that?! It's just not the same.

So, anyway, onto the costumes.

My mom couldn't remember exactly when these were from, but she's pretty sure they're from our Kindergarten year...so, five years old.

Example 1:
Erin as Oscar the Grouch, Me as Cookie Monster (we loved Sesame Street). This is us standing in the foyer of our Mom-Mom and Poppy's house. I don't know if you can see this, but I have a real spiced wafer cookie taped onto the front of my costume....pretty ingenious, huh?



Example 2:
Here we are with Mom visiting our Grandmom and Granddad. Every year, they would give us a little ziploc bag of some candy (usually Snickers & Milky Ways), spiced wafers, and a red apple...yes, that's right...an apple on Halloween. Gram always said that she had to give us something at least a little healthy. I just remember that when I decided to eat my apple maybe a day or so later, it always tasted like a spiced wafer. Erin could attest to this.



More to come tomorrow!...Part 3 "My Punk Years"

Countdown to Halloween: 6 Days

My Costume History - Part 1

I love Halloween. Always have. The best thing about it (besides the candy) is dressing up. Every year you get a chance to be something you've never been before. Of course, the possibilities are endless! I've had my fair share of wacky costumes (most of them chosen by me). However, most children go through their early years at the mercy of their parents' picks for Halloween costumes.

My twin, Erin, and I know this all too well. Our parents are sick, sick people, I tell ya. When we were 3 years old, my parents dressed us up as Playboy bunnies. Who, in their right mind, dresses their little girls as Playboy bunnies? Umm, my parents...people with a sick sense of humor. Oh, you know, they say it was just so cute...and, oh, it was so funny. But, I can't believe they let us go out of the house like that!

Example 1:
Erin & Me - front view...looks fairly normal, right?



Example 2:
Me & Erin - side profile...What? Little girls don't have those yet!! And don't ask me what the glasses/noses thing is...'cause honestly, I have no idea what that is all about.


Yep...that's right...our parents took us out like that! After I grew old enough to know what they did, I questioned my Mom about it. Nonchalantly, she replied, "Well, I didn't make you go to nursery school with those in."

As if that makes it all okay.

To be continued...(Part 2 tomorrow).

U2 Comes to Philadelphia

So, last night, I got to see U2 in concert. It's really kind of a long story how it came to be that I went to see them...but, I'll spare you all the details of the backstory. Basically my friends, Keith & Michelle, had originally bought four tickets to the sold-out concert. As of last week, 2 tickets were still not spoken for. When they asked me at that time if I'd be interested in going, well, of course I was, but decided not to because I'm trying to save some money. Flash forward to yesterday afternoon (the day of the concert)...I'm in the grocery store with my Dad, shopping for my Gram. I get a call from Keith on my cell, explaining how they still had 1 ticket (his sister had taken the other) and asking if I was interested. My response: "You know what?...Yes, I'll go!" I started jumping up and down in the store (even though I got funny looks from my Dad and other shoppers). Yeah, money might be an issue right now, but how many times does U2 come to town?...especially since, I've never seen them live before.

Anyway, it was an excellent night...The concert lasted just a shade over 2 hours. We were on our feet the whole time (except for during the slow songs when we sat because the people around us were too). It's amazing because you don't realize how many of their songs you know until you see them in concert. I've heard people complain that U2 doesn't change up their setlist enough from night to night. That well may be true, but for someone who has never seen them live and has no previous U2 show to compare to, then it's just awesome.

The crowd immediately around us was pretty subdued (we were almost in the nosebleeds)...not too many annoying people except for the guy in front of Michelle and me...we decided he must be learning to count on his fingers or something because he held his hands up for long periods of time, constantly switching the number of fingers he was showing. The occasional fist pump...ok...but if you have to have your arms up through an entire song, it gets very annoying for the people behind you (especially because I'm not that tall and so his hand was pretty much right in front of my face).

Here is the setlist (from U2.com) :

Main Set: City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, Elevation, Electric Co., The Ocean, I Still Haven’t Found What I'm Looking For, Beautiful Day, Miracle Drug, Sometimes You Can’t Make it On Your Own, Love and Peace or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet The Blue Sky, Miss Sarajevo, Pride (in the Name of Love), Where the Streets Have No Name, One

Encore 1: The First Time, Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of, Fast Cars, With or Without You

Encore 2: All Because of You, Yahweh, 40

Caught Ya!

I took these pics last Saturday when we were watching the big PSU game vs. Ohio State (and, yes, of course, we won!) I got everyone when they weren't looking (except Michelle!). I like the candid shots. What you don't get to see is that immediately after these photos were taken, I was beaten down with a shoe to the head.

Vince and Michelle


Megan, Tim C., Tim B., and Keith

"So brown eyes I hold you near,
Cause you’re the only song I want to hear...
A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere..."

This is so funny; I had to share...I was reading about old editions of the Farmers' Almanac and some of the little tidbits of information they used to contain, when I came across this. I started laughing hysterically. Here is an excerpt:

"Don’t peck a woman on the forehead or the end of the nose, or jerk at her bonnet strings in haste to get through. Do take the left hand of the young lady in your right; let go of your hat, just let it drop. Throw your left hand over the lady’s shoulder and let it fall down to her waist. Draw her gently and lovingly to your heart. Don’t be in a hurry. Her left hand is in your right … clasp it firmly, gently, and with thought and respect. Don’t be in a hurry. Her head lies on your shoulder. Look into her half-closed eyes. Lean forward with your head, not your body. Take good aim … the lips meet … the eyes close … the heart opens … (don’t be in a hurry) … the heart forgets all bitterness, and the incomparable art of kissing is learned."


I can only imagine how this would read if it were to be rewritten for 2005.

What's With Today?

So I spent today in the hospital...but, not as a patient. I took my grandmother in at 10:15 this morning for what we thought would be a routine colonoscopy...but being that Murphy's Law sometimes wins out, anything that could go wrong, did go wrong. I am happy to say though, that Grammy is just fine and is home. Had there been no bumps in the road, we would have been done at the hospital by lunchtime since this was an outpatient procedure. We got through registration and admissions without a hitch. I then sat with my Gram, keeping her company and calm while she was waiting for the trip to the OR. Finally, she was ready to go, after visits by a nurse and an anesthesiologist....hugs, kisses, I'll see ya in a little bit. I head to the waiting room to read my book. 20 minutes later, the nurse comes out to get me and asks me to come back with her to see my grandmom...I instantly knew something wasn't right because they had, initially, told me that they would be out to let me know how things went and to send me to get my car. So, I get back to recovery, and they have my Gram in a private room because she is nervous and worried. Turns out, they couldn't finish the procedure because they couldn't see as far as they wanted and needed to...then, of course, Gram believes it's because something is wrong with her and she was a little upset by that. So, after I talked to the nurse, I assured Gram that it was only her anatomy (as they explained to me) and they didn't want to push through whatever was resisting. They hadn't found anything to be concerned about in the little bit of the procedure they were able to complete. So, of course, my next question was, "Now what?" The doctor then told us that they were going to do a different procedure called a virtual colonoscopy that involves Gram having to drink that wonderful BE (barrium enema) crap and having x-ray pictures taken. However, this posed a problem...the people in x-ray were fighting the doctor on the fact that my Gram wasn't on their schedule for the day. The doctor basically told them there was no way he was sending her home and making her do this all again tomorrow. Finally after a good bit of persuading, and a phone call from a higher-up, they agreed to do it. However, this meant we would have to wait around until they could squeeze her in.

To make a long story even longer, we spent the next 3 1/2 hours being shuffled from one spot to the next. The whole while, Gram stayed on her gurney being wheeled to each place. The nurses even started joking around about me having a new job as a hospital orderly, since I had so much experience helping them wheel my grandmother from place to place. After a lot more waiting, the x-rays were finally finished around 3:30, at which time I could finally go get my car and get us the heck outta there! I must say, though, that I have no complaints about any of the day. Yes, it was long...Yes, I'm tired...but, everyone was so nice and friendly. In that respect, we couldn't ask for a better experience.

And, after all of this, what was Gram's biggest worry?...that the "poor thing" (meaning me) hadn't eaten all day (which she managed to tell everyone she met today). She even quizzed me on what I had eaten for breakfast. When I told her 1/2 bagel and some yogurt, she did that little tongue-clicking (tsk, tsk) that grandmothers often do when they really want to just say "Oh, that's a sin." When the nurses asked her if she wanted something to drink, she didn't even answer them...she immediately turned to me and said, "Honey, are you thirsty?" To which, I replied, "This isn't about me...it's about you! Don't worry, I'm fine, Gram." So, the nurse goes out and gets us two apple juices with straws and tells us we could have a tea party (with juice). AND THEN WE FINALLY WENT HOME!

U2 Takes Over Conan


One great hour of U2 with a little Conan mixed in...a description of Conan O'Brien's show last night. It was cool to see Edge in the classic Conan "In the Year 2000" skit (along with Bono at the end of it!). There were great performances by the band as well as a chance to see their more humorous, less-serious side. The standout performance for me was of the song Original of the Species. God, what a beautiful song...reminded me of how much I love it...

Original Of The Species

Baby slow down
The end is not as fun as the start
Please stay a child somewhere in your heart

I’ll give you everything you want
Except the thing that you want
You are the first one of your kind

And you feel like no-one before
You steal right under my door
And I kneel ‘cos I want you some more
I want the lot of what you got
And I want nothing that you’re not

Everywhere you go you shout it
You don’t have to be shy about it

Some things you shouldn’t get too good at
Like smiling, crying and celebrity
Some people got way too much confidence baby

I’ll give you everything you want
Except the thing that you want
You are the first one of your kind

And you feel like no-one before
You steal right under my door
I kneel ‘cos I want you some more
I want the lot of what you got
And I want nothing that you’re not

Everywhere you go you shout it
You don’t have to be shy about it, no
And you’ll never be alone
Come on now show your soul
You’ve been keeping your love under control

Everywhere you go you shout it
You don’t have to be shy about it

Everywhere you go you shout it
Oh my my

And you feel like no-one before
You steal right under my door
I kneel ‘cos I want you some more
I want you some more, I want you some more…

Pearl Jam Rocked Philly

I had a wonderful, exciting time seeing Pearl Jam this past Monday at the Wachovia Center. I was fortunate enough to have a pair of 7th row seats, which I shared with my good friend, Patrick. I also had a great time hanging out with Tim, Kevin, Michelle, Mike, Jamie, and all the other cool people I met that evening. Hope we get to do it again in the not-too-distant future!

Here is a short video that Patrick took with my camera; it is the opening verse of Betterman, which Eddie let the crowd sing for him...the energy was amazing!!


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In addition to this video, I also have some pictures which you can view in my online photo album.

I was so exhausted and dehydrated after the concert...many of us met back at Kevin's car to drink much-needed water and talk over the concert experience. I've also lost my voice a bit due to all the singing and cheering, not to mention the mild soreness I also felt from the dancing too!
It was hard to settle down to sleep later that night because I was so wired (plus my ears were ringing!) I don't think I fell asleep until 3 a.m. But, it was definitely all worth it!

Pearl Jam puts on a great live show.......catch them if you can!