Halloween and a Haircut

I'll start with Halloween and talk about the haircut second. I'm writing a Halloween post a few minutes after I finished handing out candy to the neighborhood kids. I live in a small town a few blocks from the town square in a nice little area, so we got about 95 trick or treaters this year. I almost ran out of candy, but my husband had some extra Kit Kats and I had some extra suckers sitting in our kitchen cabinets.

That's me dressed up in my Animal hat and gloves ready to pass out candy in this cold weather!

My bucket of candy and plastic Halloween rings.

Four of the five doxies going nuts because people are at the door.

I also tortured took pictures of all five doxies (our three and my father-in-law's two) in Halloween costumes. They don't tolerate the costumes well except for Sebastion (the former show dog). So here's some pictures to ooh and ahh over:

 

Sebastion the Dinosaur

 

Peter the Alligator

Benjamin the Squirrel

Lilly the Witch

Boo the Bat

 

I also decided to wear my one Halloween shirt that fits today to work with some fun earrings.

Peace, Love, and Vampires!

Yesterday (Tuesday) I got a haircut after work. It is the same thing I've been getting, but it feels nice to have my bangs trimmed. It is also nice to have someone else blow dry and style your hair. I'm really not very good at it, so this is the only time it looks really good. I was also liking my sweater (I have a thing for black and white stripes.), so I decided to be a little silly and take some pictures.

I do actually have weight loss things to talk about, but I'll save that for another post.

My Four Day Fall Break Weekend of 2012

I had Friday and Monday off, so last weekend was a four day weekend. I was much busier than I thought that I would be, but it was still a lot of fun.

Friday I went out to eat at Olive Garden with some friends from work. I didn't know about taking pictures for the blog in front of them, so I didn't. I got the soup, salad, and bread sticks which was a mostly healthy and very filling meal. Afterwards we went to the mall and did some shopping. Well everyone in the group except me bought something. It was fun to hang out and see them buy stuff, but I just don't have the money to buy frivolous stuff right now. It really shocked me to see how much money people are willing to pay for things. I would rather have savings and investments. I guess that makes me a "weird girl" which I kinda already knew that I was!

What I wore out with my friends on Friday.

The black painted stripes are starting to wear off, but I love these earrings!

Saturday was spent running some errands, doing a little cleaning around the house, and having fun with my St. Joe friends at a Halloween party that night. One of my friends has a house in Rensselaer (which is were St. Joe is and that makes a halfway point from my house and Lafayette) with the perfect yard to throw a party. In the back yard there is a small "shack" or "shed" with a kitchen in it and an an open space on the other side which has a booth, tables, chairs, and just enough room for a TV and karaoke machine. There was tons of tasty foods and drinks such as chili, sandwiches with apple butter, chips, dips, desserts, a punch with a "brain" in it, and mixed drinks with fun names such as purple people eater.

Our entertainment was a scavenger hunt, a costume contest, and karaoke. My costume didn't turn out like I planned, because my pink flared jeans were too tight to wear and I couldn't get my pink feathers to stay in my hair. That would've made my hippie costume be more costume-y and less like a modern day hippie wannabe. Oh well, I've already got an idea for next year as long as I lose some weight!

Sunday I spent getting some organization and cleaning done around the house. I went through all the stuff I took out of the linen closet in the bathroom and either reorganized back into the linen closet or tossed it because I didn't need/want it anymore.

I finally picked up the guest bedroom and reorganized my "motivation" closet.

I also got rid of clothes in my "everyday" closet that didn't make me feel or look good. I don't have much left that fits now, so I really need to get back on track this week now that my stress is lightening up.

Monday was spent running errands, doing more cleaning around the house, and getting ready for the workweek. I first went out to Wanatah to my parents house to pick up some of my old "bigger" pants from my sister that she didn't need right now. How embarrassing to gain back enough weight to ask for your bigger clothes you gave away back. Now if that isn't motivation, I don't know what is! Anyway, I felt like taking pictures so here are some pictures from my drive out there:

There are lots of farm and country pictures. I grew up in the country and am kinda starting to feel like more like a "town person." I still miss the country though.

This picture and the one below are the Porter County Fairgrounds. I was a nine year 4-Her and am kinda missing it. I think it would be fun to be a group leader.

This is a doggie spa I passed on the way to Valpo. I bet my dogs would love to run free in there!

I stopped to see if there was anything interesting, but I took a picture and included it to share a little fact. I used to work at this Wal-Mart for about six months after I graduated college.

This isn't a good picture, but that car in the distance is awesome!

That afternoon I had a dentist appointment for a check-up and cleaning. Everything is okay this time which is nice.

Clean teeth before I eat and ruin it. They used key lime flavor to clean my teeth which was tasty yet kinda weird.

I spent the evening cooking some food for healthy lunches, watching The Voice, and typing up lesson plans. Here is to a fresh start on eating well this week!

End of August Randomness and the Bathroom Reno

Let's just say that that one week challenge I gave for myself this week didn't work out so well. By Wednesday I wasn't even following what I set out to do. I've been spending some time thinking, planning, and trying to get motivated again. I'll either have a post up on Sunday or Monday talking about weight loss, exercise, and eating goals for September. Right now I'm just going to put a few random pictures up from the last few days of August.

Randomness

I wore this (my outfit from my one week challenges this summer) on Wednesday. It technically fits and I didn't bust the zipper or any seams out, but it felt very uncomfortable to wear. I kinda felt like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from the Ghostbuster movie.

I found this while at the Dollar Tree. I couldn't believe this is a real product that people buy. It made me laugh and I got a picture really quickly before anyone saw me.

My outfit on Thursday. I forgot to take a picture at home, but remembered once I was at school. It kinda makes me sick to think that this shirt was almost big enough to give away and now it fits again.

One of my fourth grade girls made these bracelets for several of her teachers including yours truly. I think this is a good sign that we have a good group of fourth graders this year.

I saw this sight while stopped on Broadway not too far from the hospital. I was wondering why on earth is traffic stopped and these geese were trying to cross the road.

A shirt that I think might work for work. Still gotta try it on with some black dress pants.

Our three crazy doxies all on the same chair.

I didn't have one of these and we had friends over on Saturday night (as you can tell, I have one now). One of them brought a couple bottles of beer with him and it took us a while to find something to open them with. They were going through the tool box using all sorts of stuff and we finally found the paint can opener which worked well.


 

The Bathroom Reno

 



The new shower head.

The new overflow plate with the already installed handle and spout.

The last bit of wallpaper bit the dust earlier this week.

The guest bedroom has the added amenity of a toilet.

We also have a sink on the bed for your added comfort if you choose to stay in our guest bedroom. ;)

The walls are painted and the floor is going in.

Which would you rather have- the old linoleum or the new tiles?