Thankful Thursday

Happy Thankful Thursday! 

Today I am joining back in with Rebecca Jo for her Thankful Thursday!!! Stop over and join in!!

I am first and foremost thankful for my family! We are tight knit and we support each other no matter what! My first cousin passed away last night so if you have any extra prayers for my Aunt and her family; it would be appreciated!

I am also so very thankful for the worlds best cat sitter! She is amazing with all four of my cats! They love her and her entire family! This I know because I got cameras in my home when I began traveling for work....both for security and to be able to check in on my furry kids.  They all come running to the front door as soon as she walks in - she gets a better welcome than me! HA HA!  Sometimes her husband comes over for the visit and they crawl all over him and also her daughter! They love her daughter Savanna also! It makes my heart happy that they enjoy visits from the whole family.

I am thankful I was raised in the era that I was. We had so much fun and learned a lot about life while we were growing up ...we did not always get everything we wanted all year round (picked a few things from the Penney's catalog for Santa to bring us at Christmas), we played tag and red rover, built forts and stepped on rusty nails, get hit with a belt if we did something wrong, either won or lost games and competitions (there were no participation trophies), walked up huge hills after the bus dropped us off at the bottom (not at our driveways), froze to death waiting for the school bus (schools today are cancelled if it is too cold), had chores to do (not for an allowance but because we had to do our part for the family). We did not grow up confused and entitled and expecting life to be peaches and cream. I was prepared by my parents for life - real life - and sometimes real life sucks but I will get through and make the best of no matter what is given to me or NOT given to me. Thank you Mom and Dad!!!

Here is an example that prompted me thinking about my childhood today...

We have a lot of drama back home and thanks to Facebook I am able to follow it all even though I am out of town this whole week! HA!

The town where I grew up posted this last night on Facebook and it spurred MANY MANY comments both positive and negative.

Seriously?!?!?! Postponing Halloween??? Can you do that??? That seems totally crazy to me! We trick or treated no matter what the weather was! I can remember it snowing on Halloween and wearing a winter coat under my costume because I wanted everyone to be able to see what I was supposed to be! And running from house to house in the pouring rain...I am so totally confused why parents today think their kids will melt!!

Then I checked the Facebook for the town I live in now and was a little happier with their decision....

They posted a poll and NOT MOVING Halloween won! Also, they are going each family one free poncho if you go down to the Municipal Building today. What a deal!!!  So kids get ready to get wet tonight and make awesome Halloween memories! PS - You will not melt...and you just might be a little better prepared for whatever life throws at you. Like when you are traveling out of town for work and have no umbrella.  You pull up to the work building and have to run across the entire parking lot in the pouring down rain - HA HA! Which happened to me today...FUN FUN!

What is your opinion about how children are being raised today?  Do you think this generation is prepared for REAL LIFE? Is your Halloween on Halloween?? What are your thoughts on moving holidays for weather? Am I being cold-hearted?

Happy Halloween everyone!!! HUGS HUGS HUGS!

Wednesday Medley

Welcome to this week’s Wednesday Medley!

If you want to join in the fun...copy the questions below and answer them. The just go visit Here and link up!!!

Here we go!

1. During Red Ribbon Week a red ribbon or rubbery silicone bracelet is worn to remind others to live drug free lives and honor the sacrifices of all those who've have lost their lives fighting the war against illegal drugs.

Do you have family members or loved ones in law enforcement? No I do not but I lost my first cousin Mike last night. He passed from using illegal drugs and was brain dead.  His son took him off life support over a week ago and he finally passed last night. DON'T USE DRUGS! It is your family that suffers! Wearing any memorial ribbons or bracelets? No, I am not.

2. There isn't an International Day for October 30th.

What is your suggestion for a new national or international day? How about international powerful women day!

3. On this date in 1938, Orson Welles performed his radio play of H. G. Wells' The War Of The Worlds. Some people understood it to be an actual news broadcast of a Martian attack though there were disclaimers throughout the show.

Have you witnessed an example of people behaving to the contrary in spite of warnings? Every time I fly on an airplane! HA

Bonus question: Did you listen to or do you stream radio shows? Listen to books or prefer reading? Definitely prefer reading

4. Happy 80th Birthday, Grace Slick!

She sang with psychedelic band Jefferson Airplane and later reincarnations Jefferson Starship and Starship.

All rock 'n' rollers over the age of fifty look stupid and should retire. — Grace Slick.

Is pop music solely the domain of younger artists? No way! I still love Grace Slick!

5. Tomorrow is Halloween. Any fond memories of Trick Or Treating or escorting little ones while they made the rounds? I love taking my nieces and nephews trick or treating. I am out of town for work this week so I will miss it :-(  Favorite costume? I was a person riding a unicorn last year - by far my favorite. When I was little, I was obsessed with Planet of the Apes and wore the plastic Planet of the Apes mash and costume for at least three years in a row!!

Bonus question: As an adult, have you attended a Halloween party or fancy-dress ball? My friend from high school invites me every year but I never go because it is a true PARTY and I do not drink so I do not think I would have that much fun  Sexy? Or spooky? Definitely funny or spooky - I do not do sexy Halloween! HA

6. Please share with us something interesting about your week. As I shared above, my cousin Mike passed away last night. Please keep him and his family in your prayers. My Aunt is suffering the loss of her son. :-(

Please leave your link below. Thank you!

Just a random Tuesday

Good morning everyone and happy Tuesday!

I am traveling for work this week and so far, nothing exciting to post! Fingers crossed something exciting happens ONE DAY this week!

I am definitely hitting a meeting tonight after work so if nothing else, I will make some new friends!! YAY!

So, today I will leave you with my inspirational posts so far this week from my Instagram...I try to keep it positive and happy there! HA HA!

Always remember...

Perfection!!! 

Words to live by...

And the inspiration that this too will pass... 

A newscaster in the Pittsburgh area posted this picture yesterday.  If you are not from Pittsburgh you probably will not think this costume is funny or cute. We love our chipped chopped ham in Pittsburgh and Isaly's is a Pittsburgh original!!! Sooo cute...lunch meat for Halloween! This just might be my costume for next year I love it so much!! Although, I will definitely LIE about my weight! HA HA!

I hope you are all having a fantastic week! I am off to catch up on your posts!

HUGS TO YOU ALL!

What are you for Halloween this year? If not you, what are your kids dressing up as? Do you like Halloween parties? Do you go to Halloween parties? Have you ever heard of chipped chopped ham? What is a food you have in your town that we should know about and taste?!?!

Recap of Variety Halloween Party

I have been busy this week so it has taken forever to get this post ready!!! 

 

This year I again got to be a part of the Covestro / Variety Charity Halloween Party! It is such a blessing to participate and spend time with the amazing kids and families that attend!!!  It was such a great time! I can not say enough about what this charity does for special needs children and their families! They provide bikes to children that otherwise would not be able to ride one and voices to those that otherwise would not have one! This party is their opportunity to trick or treat with other kids and not have to feel challenged or judged!!!

 

Click below to see previous years excitement...

2013
2014
2015
2016
2018

 

 

As you know, I enter the pumpkin contest every year. Last year I cecorated a pumpkin to look like a sweet little unicorn and I won first place!! YEAH!!!

 

So, this year I just went for what won last year...bling, color and sequins. Sadly, it did not work as well this year and I did not even place but it was SO fun!! Here is my pumpkin after I painted it red!

 

Then I drew on my cat face...

 

 

 

Added sealing lacquer paint and lots of glitter!! 

And finally sequin horns and a black furry boa...say hi to my cat devil pumpkin! HA HA!

 

 

The day of the party, the cafeteria looked amazing! I usually help decorate but with my travel for work I was unable to assist with any setup so it was all a wonderful surprise to me last Saturday!!! The theme was Disney this year! 

 

 

Soooo cool!!!!! 

Here are the adorable centerpieces. Covestro makes polyurethane so they produce little beads of many different colors that can be blended together. They used the beads inside the centerpieces along with lights to make Minnie Mouse heads!!! So cute and creative!

And Mickey Mouse - se, no bow!?!?! So super cute!

I just thought these were so cute and creative! 

This is the STEM location when they do little fun experiments with the kiddos! An Covestro employee built this entire wall, the toybox and blocks, etc. and painted it all. He is amazing! Shout out to Steven!!

Above is the right side of the wall and pictured below is the left. Is this not amazing??! Like a real life castle for the kiddos!!!!  Se that clock on the far far left? Well, Steven actually painted an Easter Egg into the display (Easter Egg meaning secret that you have to figure out). He made Big Ben (the clock from London) on the far left of the display with Peter Pan and he set the clock to 7. Get it?!?! Big Ben here in Pittsburgh is Ben Roethlisberger #7 on the Steelers!! Cute, hugh???

 

 

Here is table one of the pumpkins...see my devil face there?!?! HA!

And table two of the pumpkin competition. Every one of the Disney movie paintings was done by an art student at University of Pittsburgh. Every year; an art teacher assigns his class to make artwork for the party. So cool, right?!?!

Here is another of the artwork created...

 

And another….

 

These last three pictures are all from the picture room where the families get to get their pictures together... 

The art students do such a great job!!!!!!

 

 

I did not get nearly the pictures  usually do since I was busy making balloon animals and hats the entire time for both parties!! Here are our pre-filled ones we were prepping before the party! We were definitely the busiest table there!! Such fun! The kids loved the hats and animals!!! My favorite was Felicity who loved my cat I made for her even though it was a dog...she had it meowing the entire party!!! These children and their families truly are amazing!!!

Lastly, remember that dog that I made that was a cat....well, in between the two sessions we googled how to make a cat and learned how to make these! So, the second session when they wanted a cat ...they actually got a cat! HA HA!

Great to have a profession to fall back on when my job ends! HA HA!

 

Have a fantastic day everyone! HUGS!

 

What is your hidden skill?? Tie cherry stem with tongue? Balloon animals? Burp on command? Etc? Come on...you know you have one!

 

 

Happy Pink Witches Night Out

Happy Monday guys! I have to share with you the exciting Halloween party details but first I have to let you know about an awesome party I happened to run into when out of town!!

Remember that Bubble Tea place?!!??! Well, the tea was so good that I decided to drive back and get another one the next night. I am SOOO happy I did. 

I got to the town and there were tons of people out and about! Tables and booths n the streets and sidewalks everywhere! Turns out, it was Pink Witches Night out in the town on Denville, NJ!!! It is a fundraiser and awareness raising for Breast Cancer. All the stores donate a portion of their profits to Breast Cancer and there are tons of raffle baskets, giveaways, etc.

Here is the pamphlet...

The inside... 

And the map where you could get free stuff and samples!!! 

The pink flags were all over the town...see it across the street...

There were tons of giveaway booths with great stuff!! 

Some people (that knew about it in advance-HAHA) dressed up as witches!!

They had this fun game...reach in the bra and get a ping pong ball - you win the prize that is on the ball...so funny!!! This lady tried to get her son to do it and he would not (he was like 14 and SOOO EMBARRASSED-HA) so she posed for my picture! Thanks mystery woman!

All of the store fronts were decorated so cute too!

Here is a shot down the street...

Afterwards, I headed home and forgot dinner. So I stopped at Chick-filA. That place is ALWAYS crazy busy!!!! No matter where I go, in what town, there is always a line at this place. I decided to wait to try it out.

After eating there - I do not understand what is so great about it to wait in a line this long for chicken it took me 1/2 hour to get my food - I will never do it again. Tastes just like everyone else's chicken to me. HA!

Once I got back to the hotel I dumped out the loot bag and here is all my stuff! Lots of lip balm, hand sanitizers (I go through a lot of these), stress balls, clips, band-aids, floss, travel mug, etc. 

Oh, and, the most important thing....I got a pink extension in my hair. They put these in peoples hair for free too! I still have it in there - I love it! 

Happy Pink Witches night out!!

I hope you all are set to have a great week!

Happy Monday!

How was your weekend? Do you like free stuff? Do you  know a survivor? Are you a survivor? If so, congrats on winning the fight for your life!! You are in my prayers!

Mid-Week Updates

UUUGGGGHHHHH!!

I am so sorry to be starting this post off on a negative note especially since I am planning on linking up for Rebecca Jo's Thankful Thursday!!!.....but I am SOOOOOO frustrated!!! 

Some spamming idiot named Mark just left about 400 spam comments on my blog overnight!!! 

I tried to delete all of his annoying comments and ended up deleting all of your amazing comments! 

So, my sincere apologies that I did not even get a chance to respond to your comments from yesterday before they were deleted. UGH!!

Spammers and scammers - I hate them all! Why do so many idiots "get off" in life by annoying others and ripping off the hard working people in this world...

If there is any justice or karma...there better be a special place in HELL for these people!!! Mark...go to Hell!!! :-) 

Okay - rant over! 

I am thankful that this has been my dinner every night. Ruth's Chris is in my hotel and it is just TOOO convenient not to go there to eat dinner every night! HA! This is the grilled salmon!!! YUM!!! Not very healthy with all that melted butter but somewhat in the right direction with the choice of fish right!?!? HA!

I am thankful for this nightly ritual when I am out of town...I love face masks and eye pads but I can't wear them at home as the cats try to eat them off my face...seriously! As soon as they see one on my face they attack me to try to get it off...I think they think the are protecting me...anyway...I use these very night when I am staying in hotels!

And lastly, I am thankful that I have been soooo good this week with my exercise! I am going to the pool and swimming leisurely laps every night after dinner - sometimes even making time for a quick dip in the hot tub. My apple watch says I am burning between 750 - 1000 calories during my one hour of laps so that is pretty awesome! Especially since I snuck one night and got a lava cake to go from Ruth's Chris!!! YUM!!! 1000 or more calories though :-(

Here is how I hang my suit to dry each night - LOL! It is working well! HA HA!

Last night sitting in my hotel room I was craving bubble tea so I googled "bubble tea near me" and found an awesome little place called Bubble in Paradise. I drove there in the midst of a massive storm last night and found it is in the middle of the cutest little shopping town called Denville, NJ. 

Since it was storming and this is an outside shopping plaza I just got my bubble tea and left. Hopefully if the weather clears up tonight, I will be skipping swimming and hanging out there tonight for a little browsing fun at the cute little stores.

And lastly, here is my desk today at work!  Stuck in a closet today - UGH!! I should have stayed and worked from the hotel.

HA HA!

Have a great day everyone!

Thanks for all your great comments that I have deleted. Please leave more - I promise to better in protecting them in the future!!

Hugs to you all for visiting and reading...except Mark!

Anyone else have spamming experiences? Do they annoy you as much as they annoy me? UGH! Have you ever tried bubble tea? Do you like it? What are you thankful for?

Miscellaneous Monday

Hi guys! I am checking in from my home away from home for the next couple of weeks...Whippany, NJ!

I am traveling for work for the next couple of weeks and I will be hanging in Whippany, NJ. And, before you ask, it is not near a beach and it is not warm either...Boo....Hoo!!!

Enjoy this miscellaneous post of a bunch of miscellaneous pictures from my cell phone.

I found this little gem of a treat when I was in West Virginia last weekend! It is amazing! It is so good I am now going online to order some to give to everyone on my Christmas list! I swear this little jar was gone in 1 day!

I am going to try to re-create this adorable face on a pumpkin to enter in the pumpkin contest next weekend. I will show you a picture when I am done decorating next Friday night.

I decided I need to clean out all my water bottles so I bought a bottle brush last weekend and got to scrubbing....do you think I have a collecting issue??? I never thought about it until now - WOW...I have A LOT of coffee and water bottles!!

I also found this little gem last weekend in West Virginia. It was at a flea market for $5. We needed a mic stand for my meeting and this worked out perfectly even though it is supposed to be for a video game RockBand...HA HA! I scribbled the face for anonymity purposes.

My cousins daughter posted this picture. She is visiting this beautiful place - Interlaken, Switzerland. It turns out that this is where my Mother's side of the family is from. It looks so beautiful there!!! I now know why I love water!!

Like is mentioned above, I am working in Whippany, NJ for the next few weeks. These New Jersey drivers are crazy. I thought we were bad in Pittsburgh but we are great drivers compared to here. On my last trip; I almost got hit four times during a half hour drive from Newark airport to Whippany, NJ. So, this trip I chose this car hoping people will think I am a cop - LOL! It seemed to work a little I think...LOL!

Last, but not least, I pulled over to get this photo as I was leaving the hotel this morning.  Don't the dark mums look great with the yellow?!??!? I just thought this looked soooo pretty!!! They have these colors all over the town and it looks amazing!

That's it for me today. I am off to read your blogs!!! 

I hope you all have a great week!!! 

HUGS to you all!