Throwback Thursday for Halloween

It is the end of my monthly Throwback Thursdays and Halloween so why not combine them?  I was thinking today as I ready my house for an impromptu Halloween bash that my neighbor thought I should have that this is one of those days where we as parents come full circle.  I read on Facebook that my hometown had talked about pushing trick or treating to Friday since rain is in the forecast for today.  As long as I can remember we had either cold weather or rain on Halloween and we went door to door anyway.  Our parents made us wear coats when it was cold and rain coats and umbrellas when it was raining, and as soon as we were out of their sights we took it all off because hello! no one could see our costumes!  Now as a parent I would probably do the same if I lived somewhere with cold weather.  "You'll catch a cold!  You'll be sick!"  There is always a part of me that remembers my youth, but then that part of me is shushed by the parent part of me.  It is a vicious argument.

Tonight I am allowing my youngest to break from the parental hold and trick or treat with friends in another neighborhood.  Oh, the fun we always had when our parents let us run free.  She will too.  And her parents?  We will now play the role that our parents played.  My driveway is the center hub for four neighbor couples and two of my friends where we are having trick or drink.  I am serving two different rum punches, chicken tortilla soup, appetizers and everyone is bringing candy to pass out to those who dare come up my drive.  Of course, it took some time to realize that our parents were sharing booze and candy in one's driveway while we ran the neighborhood begging for treats, but I learned from the best and why not emulate this trait as well as the others?  Happy Halloween!

The first costume I remember was one that I have use to have a photo of, but that was one of those pictures that got lost when our basement in Indiana flooded.  I was a skeleton and my neighbor friend, Davy, was Casper the friendly ghost.  My costume was one of those pre-fab costumes that you put on over your other clothes with a matching mask.  I really and truly have a nudging memory of that costume that I don't think comes from the pictures I use to look at over the years.  I always remember being in store bought costumes until I was old enough to start coming up and designing my own.

These pictures above are from when we lived in North Carolina for ten months. My outfit is an old dance outfit from a recital I had when we lived in Pennsylvania. 

I do remember carving pumpkins every year with my dad.  He was very meticulous in his carving.  First we cleaned out the pumpkin with our hands and spoons.  We always had newspaper spread out and we would dig in with our hands and squeal about how gross it all was.  I would squish the pulp and seeds between my fingers and watch it ooze out.  In the beginning it was all so much fun, but by the eighteenth handful we would lose interest and my father would use a spoon to clean it all up.

Then he would draw on the face with a black marker.  Our faces rarely changed.  I liked the triangle eyes and upside triangle for the nose and the jutted, scary, toothy mouth.  After the face was drawn on, he cut it out following the pattern, and giving us instructions on being careful to follow the lines.  When the face was carved he always trimmed the top so that it would fit back on the pumpkin.  Inside would go the candle and we were allowed to take our pumpkins into our rooms at night to use as a nightlight.   My mother's job was to wash and dry the seeds and then roast them in the oven.  Then we would eat them.  It was all very exciting!

I tried to continue the tradition with my kids, and while they enjoyed it some when they were little, the tradition isn't the same when living in a hot weather climate.  The pumpkins can not be cut early like we could do a week or so before the holiday.  Pumpkins in Florida have to be cut almost the day before because within 24 hours or so the black mold over takes them and they shrivel down into tiny shrunken pumpkin heads.

Madison wasn't too sure about all the Halloween stuff her first year.  I bought the costume at Target and painted on her nose since she wouldn't keep the fake one on.  She thought the feet part of the footed costume was odd, but she did walk over to the neighbors to get something delicious.  We only went to a couple of houses to visit neighbors that first year, but by the next year she was a pro and insisted on walking and walking and walking the neighborhood; our own and her friend's.

Madison's grandmother made the M&M costume for her second year and she went trick or treating with my Steelers buddy's daughter, Brianna.  We all met in Lamaze and Brianna and Madison got to be buddies because the parents enjoyed one another.  (We still do!)  I remember it was very hot that night we walked their neighborhood and Madison was sweating inside her M&M sweatshirt costume.

One of the traditions that we had with our kids was going to the pumpkin patch to select the pumpkin to carve.  It started with my mother who saw a patch one day while we were driving with Madison and we pulled over to investigate.  We continued that each year whether it was with Grandma, us, or friends.

One year the girls and I went to a friend of ours from school to cut pumpkins.  He had kits with exotic designs while his son, Cameron, and Darcy lost interest pretty much right away and went off to play,  Madison and I worked and worked on ours.  We enjoyed having something different instead of the faces.

Darcy wore the same clown costume when she was old enough to get around and trick or treat.  She wasn't as impressed with the whole thing as Madison had been, but she kept her costume on for a bit.

Madison meanwhile went through her phase of princesses.  She was sleeping beauty, and snow white, and Jasmine.  Her grandmother made the Jasmine costume and it was a favorite in the dress up box for years.

After that Halloween we began the trick or treating at our house with our friends and the pictures became the "red wall" photos which I have posted on this date for years and so I won't post them here now.  This will be our first year without the gang as everything comes to an end.  Madison stopped dressing up and roaming the neighborhood last year.  Darcy will probably stop next year.  In the meantime the parents forge on with trick or drink.  Coming full circle.

Monday NFL recap week 8

Steelers: 

Defense - If they aren't going to score, we aren't going to win. 

Troy - Had his pick and a tip and didn't have any penalties. 

Run, Ben, Run - Nope. Not this week. Instead he took the sacks. All five of them. Five! Can someone say offensive line breakdown?

Shaun Suisham - Sigh. You knew it would happen. Kick fifteen straight and sooner or later it was going to go against him. I just didn't think it would be missed field goals two in a row. I refuse to get down on him like my buddy was because without Suisham we would be winless this year. 

Pryor's beginning - The Raiders quarterback took the first snap on the 3 yard line, faked a hand off, and since the Steelers defense was rolling around on the ground and in the wrong positions, he took off running 93 yards for the first score. Longest run by a quarterback. Of course it was. Steelers didn't recover until five minutes before the game ended. 

Traveling - Why are the Steelers flying across the country the night before a game?  This isn't the first time they have waited to arrive. They did that when going to England too. And know what? They play like they are jet lagged, coming alive when it is too damn late. 

Discussion - My Steelers buddy who invites me to his house each week to watch the games dislikes Peyton Manning, our one disagreement. We were watching Manning come back from a huge deficit when he lamented, "Why is it that Manning can throw those short passes and make it look easy? How is he any different from Ben?" The difference is Manning calls his own plays and runs his own damn offensive while Ben is at the mercy of a guy that was fired from his job as a head coach with a losing record. "Yeah, you're right," Scott said. My favorite words. 

Other:

Detroit's comeback - The Cowboys came back to take the lead in the fourth quarter by 3 and looked to be the winner with less than a minute on the clock.  Obviously, the defensive wasn't too worried about Strafford and company since they let them come barreling back down the field in three plays to the one yard line. The Lions had no time outs and the clock was ticking down the seconds so Strafford signaled for his guys to hurry to the line for a spike of the ball. But when Strafford got to the line of scrimmage he noticed the defensive was nonchalantly standing around waiting for him to spike so what the hell, he changed his mind, jumped over the top and scored the touchdown to win the game. Then since no one bothered to even attempt to tackle him he ran into the end zone just to make sure. 

Matthew Strafford post conference - Could he be any more good ole boy? "Shoot I don't know, I'm making a play man."

Calvin Johnson - 329 yards receiving! What? Second most yards in a game in 94 years. 

Dallas defense - Should be scrubbing the team's toilets this morning for dropping the ball on this game at the end. No excuses. 

Cordarrelle Patterson- On the opening kick off in the game against the Packers he ran 109 yards to score. A 109 yard kick off return. The longest in NFL history and one that will remain in the books since there isn't any more yardage to add. 

Kansas City - 8-0. I got to watch them this week and until they meet the Broncos in three more weeks I think they look good to stay undefeated, despite this close game with the Browns. 

Broncos comeback - Peyton looked rattled against the Redskins with three picks and a fumble, but remember who he is. Down 21-7 he sat on the sidelines, reading, studying, and suddenly the Broncos were 38- 21. The defense helped out as well and the 7-1 Broncos won the game 45-21. 

Dolphins - So much for my prediction for them this year. Four losses in a row. Four times leading to then lose. 

England - Again? And again with the crappy teams crossing the ocean? I don't get it. 

Jets - Oh, did they play this week?  At least the Steelers made it close. I can take solace in something.  

NFL football picks - week 8

Last week - 11 - 4

Overall - 77-43

Carolina over Tampa - At first I had an itsy, teeny weeny feeling in my stomach that I should take the Bucs.  It passed.  Must have been gas.

Detroit over Dallas - The Lions had a loss last week in a tough game while the Cowboys sailed past the Eagles.  Detroit is at home.  I went with that.

Kansas City over Cleveland - At some point I need to watch this Chiefs team (and why is no one glamoring for a name change here?).  The Browns started out making us all think things would be different this year, but then they didn't.  I think the Chiefs go 8-0 today.

New England over Miami - Brady is not happy about last weeks game.  Guarantee.  The Jets?  Ugh.  He won't lose this week.

New Orleans over Buffalo - Now suddenly that I stopped picking the Bills they are the little team that could.  Still not picking them this week though over the Saints who had a week off.

Giants over Eagles - I had this one the other way around, but changed it while turning in my picks to try and change things up over other people.  Both teams are ugly.  Either team could play crazy today and tromp the other.  I just went crazy for crazy sake.

San Francisco over Jacksonville - Does this even need an explanation?

Cincinnati over Jets - Hey, I'm all for the J!E!T!S! beating this team.  I just don't see it happening.

Pittsburgh over Oakland - Well, today is the day.  We shall see just how far along the Steelers really are and whether or not they want to be.

Denver over Washington - Unless the Broncos are on a downward slide I feel a win from them as Washington is still trying to decide what game they are playing.

Atlanta over Arizona - I wasn't so impressed with the Falcons when they played the Bucs, but I haven't seen the Cardinals play.  Plus I needed another crazy shake up.

Green Bay over Minnesota - I'm done jumping in front of Josh Freeman to protect him.  He had a raw deal here in Tampa.  Shake it off, dig down, and climb back up the football hill.  Pfft.   Not sure he can do that.  Hasn't shown it so far.  Won't do so against Aaron Rogers.

Seattle over St. Louis - Who picked these lopsided Monday Night Football games?

Throwback Thursday

This past week was my brother's anniversary.  I don't remember the exact date, but then I don't remember anyone's anniversary date.  I consistently forget my own.  It has to do with an obsession I have with odd numbers.   However, my SIS posted several wedding photos of the happy couple that brought some chuckling in our house, and so when I searched through my photo boxes for today's post I decided to go with the one marked "Wedding Photos" in honor of my bro and his wife.  Somewhere I think I actually have pictures in a wedding album, but I couldn't find that and just went with the loose pictures in my box.

Family Weddings:

Rusty & Susan

I figured I would start with my brother's wedding since it started the whole idea and he was the first to tie the knot.  To be honest I remember very little of this day.  I vaguely remember having to wait around to have my picture taken with the photographer instead of going right away to the reception.

I also remember my father handing me his camera to take photos like the one above.  I didn't remember all of the people that were there until I started looking through these pictures.  My grandparents were there.  My niece and nephew were there.  I didn't even remember who I was paired with in the wedding party until I saw the photo of us walking together.  (Chad for those of you wondering and keeping score)
 

I do, however, remember the reception.  It was at the country club and my friends and I sat at a big table and ate and talked.  I remember walking around greeting people too and letting my dad photograph me with everyone.

Maya & Jay

I do remember this wedding.  It was in Boston where my cousin Maya lived and it was in July.  I remember this because right before the wedding our Indiana neighbor died suddenly and unexpectedly on my father's birthday, a year after my dad died.  My mother had to reschedule her flight to Boston to work around the funeral and the wedding. 

The wedding was outdoors and very beautiful.  Madison was with us and I had found her a cute dress with a hat that she actually kept on for awhile as she ran around the gardens where they were married.  The photo above is Maya's mother, Marilyn.  I remember taking this picture as we walked the gardens to the reception and I also remember being winded by the hike and thinking that I really should lose weight.

Beth & Dave

I had no pictures of Tom's sister Beth in her wedding gown.  Instead I had pictures of her rehearsal dinner on a farm in Iowa where her husband's family lived.  Tom and I were dating back then and we drove from Indiana to Iowa for the wedding.  Tom was in the wedding so I hung out with his other sisters' dates.  We had a blast driving around in my car looking for some type of farm animal to give the happy couple as a wedding gift.  (Julie's date was always looking to shake things up)  We almost bought a pig, but the guy selling it was a tad creepy so we went to the reception empty handed.

The other funny thing about this wedding, which again I have no memory of except it was in a small church like the one I use to attend at our farm in Indiana, was that I wore a dress that looked exactly like the one the bridesmaids wore.  The big difference was that my buttons were gold.  It is a family joke now.

Cara & Tom

I actually remember quite a bit about my own wedding.  Since my mind seems to be going I should probably write it all down so that my kids have something to read when I do forget it.  We had cameras on the tables at the reception so I have a lot of dark photos that people took mostly of the same scene.  It was an outdoor wedding overlooking the water.  I remember thinking that it went by so fast.

The funniest thing about the pictures that I found was how young everyone looks.  In this photo above the three people whose faces you can see are Tom's sister Julie, his brother Dick, and his husband Clint, although they weren't married at the time.  Clint's hair is now gray and Dick's hair is almost gone and he certainly does not have that facial hair.

Julie & Mike

Again, no photos of the bride in her gown, but this one above was from the rehearsal dinner on the beach at a landmark hotel that is no longer standing.  The wedding was at a chapel on the beach and I actually remember some of it.  Mostly I remember waiting around again to take the photos with the photographer because Tom was in the wedding.  Clint and I fooled around taking crazy photos while we waited.

Like this one of the family gathering up all of the flowers that were around at the rehearsal dinner.  That's Tom's youngest sister Nancy, Clint, Dave (Beth's husband) and Beth, and his mother.

At the reception after the wedding everyone else turned the tables on us and took our picture.  I'm hiding my chins, obviously.  It was a huge reception because Julie knows like a million people and they were all invited.  I remember talking to a guy who knew that Tom and I had purchased a house from one of Julie's friends.  I had had enough to drink that I started mouthing off about what a mess the friend had left the house in, and then I asked him what table he was sitting at and he responded that he was at the table with the couple I was bitching about.  Oops.

Nancy & Brad

Nancy's wedding was outside Chicago and it snowed that morning.  Madison was so excited to see snow.  I do not remember the wedding.  But I do remember that Madison and her cousin Mark had a blast dancing at the reception.  I was pregnant with Darcy at the time and so I got to sit around at the reception and watch everyone else drink.

And of course the family had to have the picture of Cara and Clint.  This is a typical picture of me with the deer in the headlights eyes.  Just one of the many reasons why I hate having my photo taken.

Somewhere I have pictures of my cousin Jason's wedding too, but they were not in the box.  That wedding I actually remember.  Tom and I were dating and we drove to Georgia for the ceremony.  We stayed in a hotel and hung out with Jason's parents and family the night before.  I was really skinny then and had a kick ass dress.  My Aunt Helen was hit on by an older gentleman at the reception and so she kept grabbing Tom to protect her.  Too bad I couldn't find those photos.  You'll just have to take my word on it.

Friends & Co-workers:

Robin & Scott

This was the first wedding I was ever in.  Robin had just turned 19 and I had just turned 18 (our birthdays are the 17th and 18th of November).  All I remember about it was that I had to leave for Florida right after the reception and my parents kept hurrying me along.  This summer we looked at pictures of the wedding and we attended church at the same place they were married.  I remember signing the wedding certificate in the foyer.

And I remember wanting them to cut the cake at the reception in the basement because I wanted cake before I left for Florida.  My dad took the pictures and they aren't the best color wise.  Russ always took the pictures and most of the time they weren't always the best.  He also always managed to get his picture taken at the weddings too.

Tammy & her husband whose name I have forgotten

This was the next wedding I was in and again I remember more of the reception.  Tammy and I aren't in touch anymore and she isn't married to this guy, who I really liked, but can't remember his name, but I liked this outfit at the time.

This is me with Tammy's dad.  Tammy and I met in high school and one day in class I mentioned that we had a bee hive in our tree in our front yard and we didn't know what to do with it.  Tammy turned around, she sat in front of me alphabetically, and told me that her dad would take the hive because they raised bees.  Jerry came to our house the next day to get the hive and it turned out that he and his wife and my parents use to bowl together back in the day.  He was a hoot, her dad.  I loved her family.

And here is the picture of my dad at the wedding enjoying some of the liquid refreshments.  I had quite a bit to drink at the reception and flirted with the photographer who was a friend of the family and married.  I might have gone off with him if Tammy's mother hadn't kept pulling me away.  I blame the alcohol.

Sharon & John

When my friend Sharon got engaged I was pregnant with Madison.  I remember sitting in a restaurant and planning her dates for her.  I picked the date thinking it would be a month after the birth of my kid and it would be perfect.  That is what happens when you have no idea what it is like to have a child.

I remember every detail of this wedding from beginning to end.  Sharon and I stayed up most of the night before the wedding talking, and just when we went to bed Madison woke up to breastfeed.  I had very little sleep and the next day was sick as a dog, something that I had been since giving birth.  I had a 102 degree fever and so my dad acted as the maid of honor for almost the entire day.

He got Sharon dressed, sewed me into my dress when it didn't fit properly, and he got us both into the limo heading to the church.  I remember standing at the alter in the beautiful historic church in the woods trying not to pass out.  At one point when the official lady kept talking and talking, something that we had not practiced in rehearsal, I thought I was going to have to sit down right there.  My dad kept urging me on with his eyes and I made it, but barely.

At the reception I spent the entire time in a back bedroom.  I had mastitis and couldn't get Madison to eat because Tom had fed her during the wedding with a bottle.  I was leaking all over the dress that I couldn't get off.  My dad spent the entire reception working the crowd.  He is in almost all of Sharon's wedding photos, and I'm in almost none.  He also took all the pictures I have of her big day.  I ended up on medication later that night, avoiding a hospital visit by the skin of my teeth when the fever finally broke.  It is my biggest regret and Sharon's too I think.

Veronica & Chris

The problem with some of the wedding pictures I have is that the weddings have not lasted.  This is one that did not work out, but both of them are still my friends to this day and they both still stay in touch with each other as they have a daughter.  So I thought it okay to post.

I didn't want them to get married.  I didn't think them a good match, knowing them both very well, and so I got totally smashed at the reception.  This would be one of the photos of me smashed.  And there are tons of these!  It was an outdoor wedding at Chris' father's house on the river.  During the outdoor reception it poured down rain and so we all went inside where we partied it up long into the night.  Sharon and I both got rip roaring drunk and photobombed the pictures.

The photographer was having trouble getting people to cooperate with pictures once we moved inside.  There was so much to do with a game room and people spread out everywhere.  He told me his troubles and I took it upon myself to help out.  Thus I am in almost every photo taken that night.  It is one of the funny stories from that night.  Later I was very sorry the marriage didn't work out because they are two people I care about.

Bill & Peg

Bill was one of the people that I met at my job at the pool that became a good friend.  He was a hard core bachelor, having gotten divorced many, many years before I met him.  He was from Kentucky and a golfer and so he was kind enough to take my mother golfing when she would visit me.  He spent many hours sitting with me in the hospital after I had Madison and was there so long because I was sick.  He eventually got set up with Peg and married her in the same church where Sharon got married.

I remember this wedding too.  We were all so happy for Bill that he had someone to share his life with as we worried about him.  He use to come to the pool, change into his suit, swim and then change out of his suit, roll it into his towel and toss the whole thing in the trunk of his car where it would sit until he came back to the pool again.  We worried.  Now we don't have to as Peg takes very good care of him and he of her. 

The reception was one of the first nights Tom and I got out and away from children.  We worried the whole night and couldn't wait to get home.  Sharon and John were young and still childless at the time.  They had a better time I think.

Co-workers

 

More and more of us from the pool got married.  Joe, above in the tux on the left, got married.  I think I was too late for the wedding, but I made the reception.  Or maybe we just invited to the reception.  I don't remember.

I do remember helping to decorate their car with the cans tied to the back and the signs pasted all over it.  It was a big reception and the gang was all there to party down.  We did a lot of partying back then.  Joe ended up having two little girls and then they got divorced long after he had left the pool.  He saw me at a stoplight after I had Madison and chased me down in his car.  He had his kids with him and I had Madison and they were all asleep.  I've never seen him since then, but I wonder about him when I drive through his parents' neighborhood sometimes.

Michelle was another co-worker at the pool.  She worked there in the summers and part time in the winters while she taught school.  Not everyone could come to her wedding and it was very small.

I was pregnant with Madison at the time and had to go out and buy a maternity dress to wear.  I used my pregnancy as an excuse not to dance too so Tom went out on the floor with my co-worker Frank's girlfriend who later became his wife.  Frank and I were not into dancing.

Michelle & Randy

These pictures are in my wedding box because my dad took them and mailed them to me.  This is my neighbor Michelle and her brothers.  I laugh every time I picture these two guys strutting the room at the country club.  I knew them before they became nice men and a part of me always thinks Michelle dressed them like this to get back at them for all the mean things they put her through. 

Then of course there is the picture of my dad at the wedding.  He loved taking pictures, and thank goodness he did, because I wouldn't have photos otherwise.  But he always loved being the subject of photos too.  I like this picture because Michelle and her family were a big part of our lives as we were in theirs.  My dad thought of her as his daughter just as much as he did all his own daughters.

Some day I might find the other photos that I am missing.  Probably when I really dig into my resolution of getting these pictures scanned and in a better order.  I have not followed my father's advice on marking the pictures so dates and names escape me, as much as these weddings do.  But I'm thrilled to have these memories via photos.