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!

 

 

I am a clown!!!

I had the best day of work EVER on Monday! 

I volunteer every year for the Variety Halloween Party at work and this year is going to be the best ever! This year myself and two others volunteered to make balloon animals and hats for the kids that attend.

"Otis the Clown" came to our work and we had a four hour meeting with him to learn how to make hats, animals, swords, etc. It was awesome! I am soooo excited to get to do this!

Here is the first thing he taught us...the classic dog hooked to a hat. We are supposed to attach everything to a hat or wheelchair arm so the parents are not stuck carrying the balloons the whole party! Makes sense!

Another dog...I added eyes with a sharpie...

A halo hat!! This is my favorite..it is adjustable and can be made in any color!!

A sword holster....perfect to put over the kids shoulder and hold the balloon sword...PS -- we never make a sword just for the kids; Otis says always make one for the parent too so the kid has someone to sword fight with - smart, right?!?!

This is supposed to be a hat with Mickey ears. The theme of the party this year is Disney. The ears are the white part for practice however; to make Mickey Mouse the day of the party; the white will be black.

Here is me wearing my crazy crown hat I made! These can be all different colors, etc.  We have hearts and smiley face balloons to attach to the top.

And finally - the standard flower!! I think this is my favorite!!! PS - that is "Otis the Clown" in the background. He was a fantastic teacher!

We learned a crazy hat with a spider on top! It's Halloween of course! This is Ryan wearing the hat...he will be clowning with me!

And a ghost in keeping with the Halloween theme!

At the end we were just experimenting to see what things we could come up with...Otis made this monkey in a tree!! I love it! It has found a home at my desk at work!!! HA HA!

Here is a basic crown hat...I foresee a lot of these in my future on party day!

What a fantastic day! Thanks to Otis for being such a great teacher! I can not wait until the day of the party!!!

If you want to see previous years parties check them out here...


2013
2014
2015
2016
2018

I hope you all have a fantastic day!!! HUGS HUGS HUGS!

Wednesday Medley - Halloween

First let me start out today by saying thank you!!! Thank you for your prayers and thoughts for me and the city I love! I hope someday, somehow we can stop the madness of these horrible attacks so no other town has to deal with it!!!! Your prayers and thoughts help so much!

Now onto happier things...or scarier maybe?!?! HA HA!

Today I am joining Terri again for her medley of questions.  There aren't any rules and there is no obligation. Link up if you want to.   

Here we go........

 1. You’re in a horror movie. Are you the final person left, the first to die, the comic relief, the skeptic, the smart one, or the killer?

I would definitely be one of the ones to die, not sure how far in the movie I would die, but I definitely would. I would not be first because I am not that person that checks the basement to see what the noise was or answers the door at 3AM even though I think I shouldn't.  I am also not a run when you are scared person...I am a hide in the closet or under the bed person and that person ALWAYS dies eventually! HA


2. While watching scary movies, are you the person who yells at the characters, the person with their eyes covered the whole time or the person who falls asleep?

Eyes covered 50% and yelling 50%


3. If you were dared to spend the night in a “haunted house”, would you do it?

Nope - no way - never! Not for a million dollars! I am terrified of that stuff! I went to a "real life" haunted house tour. We walked through in groups and I did not sleep for weeks!!!! UGH!


4. Favorite horror monster or villain?

Don't have one except Count Chocula!!!  I LOVE that cereal!!!


5. Favorite horror or Halloween-themed song?

Thriller - Michael Jackson! I love that song!  When I was in high school my twirling team The Modernettes used that song and we actually did the dance from the video! It was so fun and I still remember parts!!


6. Tell us something random about your week.

I have officially finished installing Pergo in my first room in the condo!!! All I have left to do tonight is the transition piece from the closet to the flooring and the molding around the wall.  It was fairly easy except for that last row and believe me it is not perfect. Bute, since I am not a Contractor...I think it is good enough!!!  I am sooo proud of myself for doing this on my own...only 3 rooms left!! HA!

Here is the view from the bedroom door...

And here is from the room to the door...

This is the close up of my hardest row!! This last row was like a puzzle...it was different widths and had to go around doors and under molding. It took about two hours last night to get these last row of three boards in place! UGH!! Other than that, it has been soooooo easy and fun!

 

My house already feels cleaner with the carpet gone! HA! I recommend this project to anyone! Seriously! Don't pay someone else...it is sooo easy to do yourself and you will have the best feeling of accomplishment and saving money too!!

 

PS - The cats are hilarious...they are sliding all over the place!! LOL!

 

Thanks again to Terri for creating another awesome Wednesday Medley!!

 

I hope everyone have a great Halloween day and night!!!! Be safe out there! Thanks for all the kind words of encouragement - you helped me decide I was capable of handling this project on my own! HUGS!

 

Anyone trick or treating tonight? What gave you your last feeling of accomplishment? What lately has made you feel proud??

 

 

Variety Covestro Halloween Party 2018

WOW!!!! Hi everyone!!! I am still on a high from the Halloween party this past Saturday! A HUGE thank you to Covestro and Variety Children's Charity for allowing me to participate again this year!

What an amazing day! I was so blessed to be a part of it!!!

Prepare for A LOT of photos!!!

Here is where my pumpkin is sitting right now...she looks so pretty on my patio!!!

Guess what?!??!?! I won!! First place in the pumpkin contest!!! We set all the decorated pumpkins out and the kids get to put their ticket with their favorite pumpkin and we count the number of votes each one got!! My strategy won!!!! They loved unicorn and she won first place!! First time I have ever placed! HA! Here is a close up of her...

 I won a gift card to Amazon - yippee!!!

Here is a look into the DJ and dance floor area!! That is our DJ - he is awesome every year!

The dance floor and seating from behind...

 Here is the completed Millennium Falcon! This thing in huge - they are leaving it up until the end of the year. We have a Breakfast with Santa and they will use it for that also. Thanks goodness since this was sooo much work for the STEM team!

Here is the finished product of my ceiling - remember the last post - up and down the ladder...here is why...HA! I hung all those dangling things...HA!

Here is the front of the dancefloor...

And the cafeteria...

Another shot of the cafeteria...

Entryway with adaptive bikes...

A shot of the doorway on the side of the building...

And a hallway...there was not an inch of the cafeteria that was not decorated!!

I love the food names this year...there was Jedi Jello...

Princess Leia's pudding...

Decorated cupcakes and cookies...

There was Padawan Pizza...

Storm Trooper Chicken Tenders and Chewbacca Mac N Cheese...

 Here is a close up of the cookies...so super cute!!!!

And we had crafts around the room for the kids to entertain themselves.  They could make a Halloween Pet Magnet...

Make a Tissue Paper Monster...

Make a Magic Scratch Zombie...

And put their thumbprint on a vase that is given to the CEO of Covestro and other helpful individuals...

Here are me and my friend Kathy from work that does this every year with me. She is the Storm Trooper and I am the short, chubby lady riding the unicorn!! HA HA!

Me alone!! I loved my costume and the kids did too!!!

Here are two other employees posing in front of the Millennium Falcon...

These little girls wanted their picture me - I was flattered every single time someone wanted me in the picture - BEST COSTUME EVER! I love these kids!!!

This was the only other blowup at the party! It was a sibling of one of the variety families...awesome!!!!

Thanks to Covestro and Variety for allowing me to participate again this year! I am so blessed to have found this wonderful charity to donate my time and energy to! Love these kids!!!