HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

(Wish I could say this was my front porch but ..... alas, it's from Martha Stewart's Halloween show....coool!)

I watched Martha's special yesterday and absolutely loved the pumpkin snake....it has a string of christmas lights inside to provide the perfect illumination. I would so love to do this next year (unfortunately I don't have an entire staff to hollow out 30 pumpkins of various sizes so it probably won't happen)....anyway, great idea.

Last night was "Trunk or Treat" at church. After looking for oh, about 29 days for a trunk decorating idea on the web I actually ended up with one of my own design, prompted by Afton's costume.....even at 16 her greatest dream is to be a princess .... in this case ... Mulan (on the left....she's so cute huh!?)

Sooooooo you know the saying "Behind every Mulan ....is a great MuShu!" Voila!

That was fun. Had I been thinking ahead (remember it took me 29 days to even get an idea) I would have gotten one of those fog machines and set it inside the trunk so MuShu would be showing his MoJo! Oh, and the best part!? We won most creative trunk!!!! Yay for us!!!!! (The prize......a two pound Hershey bar....Afton was stoked!)

Oh, and one more thing.....in case you were planning on making that plastic jack-o-lantern your "personal feed bag" (as "Hungry Girl" calls it) here's something REALLY SCARY for Halloween!

Tootsie Roll Midgee

1 Midgee = 23 calories, .5g fat

Milky Way

1 Fun Size = 75 calories, 3g fat
1 Mini = 38 calories, 1.4g fat

Three Musketeers

1 Fun Size = 63 calories, 2g fat

1 Mini = 24 calories, 0.7g fat

Individually Wrapped Twizzlers

1 twist = 40 calories, 0.25g fat

Smarties

1 roll = 25 calories, 0g fat

Mini AirHeads

1 Mini = 45 calories, 0.5g fat

It's all about attitude...

Sunday was a particularly trying day...disappointing since that's the day I look forward to ...just for some peace, uplifting thoughts, etc.







I know times are tough but does talking about how terrible it is really make any sense? I mean you can be financially strapped and grouchy or financially strapped and trying to see the good things in your life.....both are hard but one has significantly more appeal.....right?









Last night we had a family home evening and one of the quotes (attributed to "unknown") was particularly meaningful to me:



"From guidelines given to us in the scriptures and by the words of prophets, we learn that life is a teaching experience. Self-pity and discouragement do not come from the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But life can be both bitter and sweet. It is up to us to choose whether we want to reflect the voices of gloom or gladness."

Anyway, I agree times are tough, budgets are tightening, jobs are scarce, the land of plenty may be less plentiful but there are lots of happy things around also and I'm going to enjoy life regardless! (That's my vow and I'm sticking to it!)

Along that line I've been trying to think of how to save money....live with less, cut back, etc. After a long discussion with my wise daughter I think my first step will be planning meals.....this probably seems ridiculous to most.....(I know everyone else already does it but I'm not one of them). After reviewing slightly over a month of expenditures yesterday I discovered we spent over $1,000 last month on "groceries!" THAT has got to be a record. I mean it's not like we eat caviar for breakfast or anything. The biggest problem for me I think is just not planning what we're going to eat and then cooking based on the latest dish Food Network presents.

This morning I tried to make out a menu for a week.....so far I have two days and that was the two days we just passed......I simply don't know how people think up what they want to eat a week or even a day ahead of time......(sigh) it's going to be a challenge....