Halloween Horrorscope

Ascaryus (Jan 20-Feb 18): This Halloween looks to be a scary one foryou. But before you go around crying, "Ooooh, I want my mummy! I want my mummy!" think about this: You want more lovin’, right? Well, if you run around like a scaredycat, you will, to quoth the raven,"Neverscore."

Pieces (Feb 19-Mar 20): Vampires are evil, hypnotic people who will emerge in the night and drain you. Sounds like someone I used to date. You need to be careful because you may have closed the metaphoric coffinlid on a relationship, only to find that this person will rise from the graveyard of your heart to worm their way back into your life. One word of advice from "Buffy The Vampire Slayer": A vampire can only come in if you invite them.

Scaries (Mar 21-Apr 19): You've got to pick up every stitch this Halloween because, unless I miss my guess, it must be the Season of the Witch. If only every holiday could be commemorated with a bad Donovan song. Wouldn't it be great, on Thanksgiving, to sit around the table, giving thanks for the bounty we are to receive by singing a rousing round of "Mellow Yellow"? That is truly the most horrifying thought you can befaced with this Halloween.

Tarot (Apr 20-May 20): Sure, you ladies have been looking for some lovin'. But you don't want to go for just any Tom Dick and Harry. And heaven for fend you go for any Jack you find, especially when that Jack is some hollow-headed grinning gap-toothed idiot. But then again, despite his weird exterior, if you look inside, you'll see a flame burning bright. This might be the season of the witch, but if you try not to act so witchy and look past the odd exterior, you'll find hidden depths in the ugliest places.

OnlyOneEye (May 21- Jun 20): Horror is in the eye of the beholder, whether that eye be bloodshot and yellow, peering at you from the shadows of the night, or whether the eye is a horrible dismembered giant radioactive eye. What is truly scary? A werewolf? A werewolf is not so much a horrible half-man half-beast as a chronic undershaver. A headless horseman is just the victim of a particularly bad hair day. In much the same way, you can find the brighter side of anything that comes your way, no matter how horrific or annoying.

Dancer (Jun 21-Jul 22): Scary is relative, and we don't just mean your crazy relatives who threaten to come visit for six weeks, but rather the idea that whereas a movie with monsters made out of cardboard boxes and paper mache may have been the scariest thing you'd ever seen when you were eight, it now looks like crap. You must get over your initial fears of a new project or relationship; although it seems insurmountable now, if you stick with it, you will eventually be able to overcome it.

Tao (Jul 23-Aug 22): Frankenstein's monster was, of course, made out of the parts of a couple dozen other people, which must have been hell when it came to custody hearings. Nothing's more awkward at a family reunion than having one-tenth of Cousin Harry show up at the buffet. You, too, feel like you're being pulled in twenty different directions, but you'll soon receive the jolt you'll need to get on your feet again.

Vertigo (Aug 23-Sep 22): Pity the poor skeleton who wanders around on Halloween, looking so unfashionable in all-white a full two months afterMemorial Day. Of course, he can't help it, and he is actually successful in the love department; after all, he is "ribbed" for her pleasure. This week you'll find that you attract more flies with honey than even dead zombie flesh, and being inherently nice to the opposite sex will make them flock to you like vultures to a skeleton.

Webra (Sep 23-Oct 22): Zombies are pretty well-known for trying to suck the brains out of people's heads. As was every high school algebra teacher I ever had. Coincidence? Considering that those people were always pale on the point of being green, had trouble communicating more than moans and incoherent screams, and had awkward, stumbling walks down the hallway, I think it's lucky I escaped without some horrible "Night of the Living Dead scenario. " You escape a horrific fate worse than death, if you can steer clear of boring people at parties.

Scareio (Oct 23-Nov 21): You think you're being slick, but the truth is that you're like a ghost; people can see through you, and all the noise you're making is more effective scaring small children and dogs than actually doing anything. It's time to leave your old haunts and take care of that grave matter that's all your vault.

Sekeltarious (Nov 22-Dec 21): Boo! Scared ya!

Capricandycorn (Dec 22-Jan 19): You're in the zone this week! TheTwilight Zone, that is, and it's going to be a creepy thrill ride with anincredibly ironic twist at the end that serves as a commentary on our mixed-up Cold War nuclear society. Don't let the creepy situations you get yourself into this week get you skittish. Let them get you Skittles; why not go Trick-or-Treating? It's fun to dress up, get given stuff, and not have to give ten percent to a big guy named Huggy Bear. And Halloween candy doesn't count as calories!

DuckMasters Contest

The Chick (Alexis) is in the KHTV Duck Master's contest. You can take a look if you Click the link , then click on the first Duck Master photo, and she's on page 2 all decked out with a crown of blue flowers.

Cause I'm Slow!

I went ahead and changed my template to give it a Thanksgiving look even though Halloween isn't over yet (but it's near enough what with all the candy hanging out in this house). I'm as slow as molassas on a winter day and I have to do things the hard way.



It's also almost time for NaBloPoMo to begin and I figured I'd better get things set here so I'd be closer to the starting line. I had a little picture link over in the sidebar there but I lost that when I changed templates and danged if I can find another to replace it as easily as I did that one. I also can't remember how I even got that other one on there. I'll just have to try to remember to put a little icon or something up with each post in November (if I can figure that out) so ya'll know I'm a participate.



I could do a lot of the web stuff before Blogger came up with this new fangdangled stuff. I know they changed stuff just so they could mess with my mind!


So. What do ya'll want me to ramble on about in November?

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The Halloween carnival at the school last night was so crowded that I could barely concentrate on my Bingo card. I'm going to blame the conditions on my not winning even one bingo game, mainly cause I don't want to admit that I'm probably the unluckiest Bingo player on the planet. The last time I won playing Bingo, I was in the 5th grade and I gotta tell you good people, that was a LONG time ago!

Zach's homeroom class had this little game going on. He came home wet and cold cause he just had to volunteer to get smashed in the face with wet sponges. His teacher even took a turn at being a target. They sure had a lot of fun trying to earn money for their room.

Two Hours and Counting

That's how long I have left before that big yellow bus pulls into the drive.

I've almost come down from the kiddy high I've been on for over 10 days now and all I can think of is how good that couch feels with my body reclining upon it.

No rest for the wicked though, tonight's the Halloween carnival at the school, and the rest of the week has dibs on my time here and there too.

Zach's in trouble cause he had a D in Math. He's grounded which pretty much makes me grounded too because who else is going to make sure he's deprived of all the things he likes to do?

I'm Kicking!

Figure of speech ya know.

I just realized it's Friday and I haven't posted anything since way earlier this week. I was thinking back to see if I could remember why,,, and then it hit me,

last Friday was the last day I had that was kid-free for a few hours.

And Special K said there was a full moon,

double whammy!

Jerri really decorates her place up for Halloween and has both of the things I've posted photos of up there. Jillian doesn't like either one of them, nor many of the decorations very much. Jerri uses the motion sensored "rat-in-a-can" to keep her from sneaking out onto the car port. It works cause Beans will climb you like a tree if that rat starts shaking that can when she walks by.

She uses the second little item, the animated "rat hat", to keep her out of the fridge. Beans grazes all day and because she'd rather have sweet than healthy, Jerri had to find a way to make sure she has fruit or carrots over the other stuff. It works, she won't go near that fridge if she thinks the "rat hat" is hiding in there.

What's for Supper and At War With Hughesnet

Here's my first try at making a Chicken Enchilada Casserole. If it tastes as good as it looks, I'll be full as a tick about dark-thirty.

My homemade pica de gallo. I made a batch to go with the fried catfish last night and it was so good that I made some more to accompany the enchilada casserole. I was out of cilantro but it was still some fine eatin' without it. Here's another relish type dish that I make when we have fish or good ole pinto beans. It's just thinly sliced cucumbers, slices of onion, a few turns of the pepper mill and salt, and a couple of tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.

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Now, about those HughesNet folks. Since August, I've only had a few rare occasions when their speeds have been anywhere near what they advertise. In fact, the speeds are often not even as fast as my old dial-up. Apparently these folks are selling services that they don't have the equipment to handle. Their tech folks (the ones that speak English clearly enough) must have a script that they read from too and they're full of every lie the company can think up.

If anyone reading this is thinking of using Hughesnet's shitty excuse of a broadband service, PLEASE DON ' T so you can save yourself a lot of grief.

I must say though, They are quite good at collecting their monthly fees for their crappy service.

Ole Charlie

Whenever I get in a funky mood, a little bit of down home Charlie Daniels fiddling sets me right.

It's Friday!!

Nuff said, I'm going back to bed.

I was born 100 years too early!

By the year 2050 people could perhaps be marrying robots and because I'll be missing out on this little upgrade in living standards, I'm jealous!

I suppose if I live to be 96 or so, I might be able to attend the wedding of a great-great-grandchild who chose a non-living mate, but I'm going to doubt that the first models that come out will be bald-headed, wrinkled up, old fellas so, at my ripe old age, I'd miss the boat.,,,even the raft for that matter.

Can you imagine having the perfect mate though? Someone who liked all the same things, who didn't ever argue, who picked up after themselves, brought flowers (ones you didn't get the bill for!). The list could go on forever! You'd just select your preferred model and then program in all the traits you want it to have.

I wonder if all the models will have built in heaters suitable for warming cold feet up against?

And I wonder if you can preorder?

What's Up?

Not a lot here, just been mosying about some.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are Tae Kwon Do nights for the Chick and Zach so we hurry with the homework to get there on time. They'll be testing some time the end of this month or the first part of November to see if they're ready for their yellow belts and then they'll have a break until January when the next class begins.

A couple of times on Thursdays I've been bringing Beans home with me to spend the night so the Chick and her Momma can have some time alone together. When she spends the night with us there's a lot of toddler-type reading going on,,,she reads the pictures to me,,, and lots of playing. Not much else gets done but who cares when you're having fun!

Abby stayed Friday night. She pretty much entertains herself so all I had to do was makes sure she was fed on a regular basis. For a tiny girl, she can sure put away some groceries!

Last night Zach had a little buddy over and I finally persuaded them around midnight that it was time to get some sleep if they planned on going to Children's Church this morning. Nanaw also needed some sleep as she was getting to be a cranky old broad by 11 or so.

Zach has spent the past 3 weeks reading a book for a book report and I'm sure glad he finally finished it today. Tonight I'm helping him do a couple of scrapbook pages to go along with his book summary so he can turn it in tomorrow and be done until we have to wrestle about reading the next one. I would give James's right testicle if I could find a way to get Zach interested in reading because I've found so much joy in my love of reading over the years, I've never had to fight boredom as long as I had a few books in my "to read" stack.

James finally got a day off today. The harvest is done on the part of the farm he's responsible for so he's now got hunting plans on the brain. He also cooked up some fine vittles on the grill this afternoon so I've had a belly full of chicken and ribs and have been fighting the urge to nap since about 1 or so.

Ok, I'm outta here now.

I hope everyone's had a lovely, relaxing weekend!

I AGREE!

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.",,,,, President Theodore Roosevelt's ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907.

Taking a Sweet Breath of Air

My Morning Glories are especially loving this cool, clear, air and the brilliant sunlight.

The temperature today is down 20 degrees from what it was last week, can you believe it's only in the low 70's? Feels like Fall for a change. The Canadian cold fronts that have pushed through over the past few days have cleared the air too and the usual haze and humidity isn't wrecking havoc.

Little Boy Found!!

Jami called me just a few minutes ago to tell me that they've found the little boy who's been missing since noon yesterday. He'd managed to walk about 2 miles through the woods behind his grandparent's house.

Thank God he's safe!!

MISSING, James Michael Jones, age 3

This little boy either wandered away from his grandparent's home located on Crowleys Ridge in Helena or he was abducted. He's been missing since around noon yesterday. My son and some of his fellow correctional officers were called out to help in the search with their horses and the tracker dogs. As far as I know this morning, the little boy hasn't been found. My prayers are with this family during what has to be a nightmare.

The area surrounding their home is wooded forrest, full of gullies, kudzu, and snakes.

Maximillian Sunflowers

My Autumn sunflowers started blooming last week so that means it's October around here.

Leftover Nanaw

My horsey is slightly broken down and moving slow.

The pickle jar is empty.

I'm educated in the toddler translation for the names of the whole Wide World of Animals.

I've found I'm still fast enough to prevent a toddler from peeing in the a/c vent AND get her to the bathroom in time.

I know why it would be insane for 50+ year old women to give birth.

2 yr old girls think they like salt on their pancakes, but they don't.

1, tiny, melted, chocolate chip can cover most of a 2 yr old face.

"Keeeeeee" means see when you're 2, and no sometimes means yes, but not always.

Miss Jilly Beans spent last night and today with me, did you guess?

What I'm Learning during my second trip through 5th Grade

First off, I'm learning that they've changed the names of some of the stuff in Math as well as changing the way the stuff is done. The second thing that's quickly become apparent is that "the old dogs and new tricks" thing is a lot harder to get a handle on when you're actually an Old Dog.

So, when did an average become a mean? Did I learn that back in 1965 and have just forgotten it? Before you even get to the mean part, you've got to learn the parts about, organizing your data and finding the range. Mean is the 3rd step and then you've got to find the Median and Mode.

We're working on graphs now and learning even more new, or forgotten, terms.

I still can't remember the difference between a mean, mode, and median.

I think brain cells are dying here.

And while I'm moaning here, what's up with the Book Reports? Back when I was in school, there were two kinds, Written and Oral. Zach brought home 3 or 4 pages of book report examples! Each 9 weeks he has to do 2 of them, for 1 the teacher assigns the form, the 2nd is his choice which could include,

Writing a Radio Announcement about the book

Giving a Sales Pitch about the book

Creating a Book Jacket

Make a Movie about the book

,,,And the list goes on (they could even do a Power Point Presentation).

I think I prefer the old way when you only had two choices and the teacher decided which one you were to do.

I hope I can pass the 5th grade this go-round and if I do, I might have to drop out before entering the 6th again.

Annual Credit Report

Folks, it's a smart move to check your credit report at least once a year. The government now makes the 3 major credit bureaus give you a free check one time a year and it's pretty simple to do,,,except for Transunion's,,, you need account numbers and practically your mamma's, mamma's, birthday and birth weight to get at their report. (I personally think they do this so you'll throw up your hands and have a tantrum before finally giving up).

Anyhow, the reason I'm suggesting this fine idea, is because whilst doing the annual check of our credit worthiness I found 2 potentially negative items on the report from the Experian agency that hadn't been there when I checked last year. They have this little button you can click if you disagree with their information and they're supposed to investigate and correct their mistakes, etc...

I'm not sure how much time or effort they spend on research in order to make corrections but I'm here to tell ya, it's best to skip that little step cause it takes them about a month to do their "investigation" and apparently they don't do much during that period of time cause when I finally got the results, nothing had changed and I knew something smelly was going on in regards to those 2 potentially negative items.

So, I got out my magnifying glasses and tracked over to the Original Creditor section of the Experian report and see where both of the items in question originate from Helena Regional Medical Center.

"AH-HA", says I, " I know we haven't used the services of these fine folks since they garnished our bank account for someone else's bill back in 2002, so let's see what those crooked scoundrels have been up to now."

So, I called them and reached a lady named Brenda first, who knew nothing because none of the relevant information came up on her computer screen, so I'm transferred over to Ken in the financial office. I gave Ken the two account numbers in question and asked him about the services we supposedly received because we'd never actually been in his hospital on those dates and we'd also never been billed for the invisible services that were showing up on our credit report.

First we verified the last 4 digits of the social and that matched.

"Hmmm", says I. "So, who was this patient who received these emergency room services?"

"Mr. SoandSo received treatment", says Ken.

"Ahhh, it so happens that Mr. SoandSo is not a member of our household, I don't know who Mr. SoandSo is, where he lives, or anything else about Mr. SoandSo, and something fishy is going on since Mr. SoandSo has the same social security number as my husband", says I. "What billing address do you have on record for Mr. SoandSo"?

Ken informed me right quick that he wasn't allowed to share that piece of information with me.

"Then let me give you our address and you can check to see if it's the same as Mr. SoandSo", I suggested.

After I gave him my address Ken says, "Oh,,,Ok,,I think there's been a mistake here somewhere."

"Oh yes, Ken, that just happens to the the exact reason for my call", says I. "And since you're all up in this little matter of correcting mistakes, let me give you the other account number, again, and you can fix that error too."

After giving Ken the second account number, again, he proceeds to tell me that those charges came from the emergency room Doctor's billing service and it had nothing to do with them.

"How is this so", says I? "It's a charge from your emergency room doctor and he gets his patient billing address and other information from you, right?"

Ken agreed that indeed the information came from the hospital and he quickly agreed that there'd been some mistakes and he'd call me back after he got everything corrected.

5 hours later he called and said everything had been fixed but it would take at least 30 to 45 days for the information to be corrected by the credit bureaus. He did promise to send me a letter with the results of the investigation, so if it wasn't corrected by then, I'd have something to prove the charges weren't ours.

Now all I can do is wait to see if it's done.

It's scary folks, and it's sad, but it's a good idea to keep an eye out for this stuff.

And it sure can make you cranky to deal with it!