Happy Halloween!

Halloween is my favorite holiday.

Most people give me a quizzical look when I say that. They wonder how this could possibly be. I think an ex-boyfriend thought me slightly sacrilegious because of it.

For the record, though, I'd like to say that I'm not a hellion. I don't worship the devil, nor do I ignore the apparently more acceptable holidays of Christmas and Thanksgiving. Let me tell you why. I'll begin with a list:

• Candy!
• Plastic, orange pumpkin baskets. They're small, but so cheerful!
• Carving pumpkins! My favorite part is scooping out the insides!
• Lightly salted and baked pumpkin seeds!
• Being creative with costumes!
• Seeing the creative side of other people!
• Late-night parties!

Besides all this, Halloween ushers in the rest of the holiday season! It's the first in a long line of holidays, so when you get to Halloween, you know that there are a lot of other great holidays soon coming!

But let's get a little more serious . . . Here's are some psychoanalytical reasons behind my love of Halloween:

Halloween was always a happy time in my family's house. My mom sews, so she almost always helped my brothers and sisters and me make our costumes. Just imagine being nearly anything you want! A seamstress for a mother is a child's Halloween dream. My dad was happy, too, that his wife could make the costumes -- with six children in the house, spending money on costumes in the store was much worse than spending money on material to sew. Not only were my parents saving money on the costumes, though, they were not spending money in large quantities, period. With Thanksgiving, you spend a lot of money on food, and with Christmas, you spend an exorbitant amount on clothes and toys and gadgets.

While I know my parents love each other, I also cannot remember a Thanksgiving or Christmas when they did not get into a loud financial argument. According to my dad, mom spent too much. According to my mom, dad didn't spend enough.

The middle ground? Halloween. Although my mom probably buys too much candy, she still never spends very much on it. How could one do that, anyway? There's only so much candy you can get . . . I think my dad is pleased with that.

My dad also enjoys the Fall; he likes walking outside on crisp, cool October evenings. So he enjoyed taking my sister and me out to trick-or-treat. He was probably just as excited to walk around the neighborhood as we were, so it made the whole night that much more fun.

So there you have it.
Halloween is my favorite holiday.


Thing I'm thankful for: chocolate!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN !

This isn't the best picture of the jack-o-lanterns my dad and I carved today, but it's the best I have right now. I just wanted to put something related to Halloween on here.

AND I wanted to say that I'm finally officially declaring Halloween as my favorite holiday. As a Christian, I feel a little guilty not saying that Christmas is. But I'm not sorry about it. Because I've gone over the reasons for Halloween in my head, and they're good ones.

• It's the closest holiday to my birthday.
• It's the closest holiday to Daylight Saving Time, which should probably be a holiday itself.
• After a long, long period in the calendar year of no national holidays, Halloween ushers in the winter holidays.
• Nowadays, it's pretty much a holiday devoted to the young and young at heart, which I think is great.
• It gives people a reason to dress up like their heroes, use their imaginations and creativity, and ask for candy.
• That last point is a good transition into this one. That is, Halloween gives people a reason to chow down on candy. You can pretty much eat tons of candy on Halloween, and no one will say, "Do you really think you should have that?" And even a week after Halloween, you can still munch on candy. All you have to say to yourself and others is, "Oh these things? They're Halloween leftovers!"
• Eventually (and inevitably), we all get a little sick of non-stop candy, and this is the perfect feeling to have going into Thanksgiving, when food is about as healthy as it gets.

Am I leaving anything out? If so, please write a comment.

Thing I'm thankful for: carving out those pumpkins today with dad. Okay, he did the cutting, but I did the cleaning -- pulling out seeds and pumpkin yuck is kinda fun for me. Anyway, it was fun. Thanks for the fun Sunday, dad!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween reminds me of lots of things; one of them is candy corn and peanuts.

My dad likes everything crunchy.  If a food isn't crunchy, he'll find a way to make it so -- usually by adding pecans, peanuts, or Fritos.  It irritates my mom to no end, and honestly, I think he overdoes it a bit.  But when he added peanuts to candy corn, I think he found brilliance.  It's the perfect combination of soft and crunchy, sweet and salty.  There is, I suppose, opposition in all things; Halloween treats are no exception.  :)

Happy Halloween, everyone!  I hope it's your best day all year!


Thing I'm thankful for: crafting while watching a movie!

HaPpY HaLLoWeEn!

I just learned about another reason to celebrate Halloween . . .  On this day in 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.  What a triumph.

Now, I have another reason to add to my why-Halloween-is-my-favorite-holiday list.  :)


Thing I'm thankful for: fresh flowers

Hey, Way to Go, Nicole Richie!

Apparently, she posted this on Facebook:
"Girls, can we all pledge that we will not dress slutty for this Halloween?"

I think that's pretty cool.

Her Halloween costume this year? Toy Story's Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl -- and not a sexy one. Just a modest, family-friendly character. See for yourself: Nicole Richie as Jessie.


Thing I'm thankful for: good, clean Halloween costumes

All Late-Night October Thoughts Lead to Halloween?

It's late, and I should most definitely be in bed.  But I don't want to sleep; I want to write.  There's something about this time of night/morning, though, that makes me feel I ought to write something especially poignant and thoughtful -- something that will stop you in your tracks and cause you to say, "Wow, that's incredibly insightful."

Nothing particularly grand, however, is coming to mind.  Here are some things that are:

• I went to a haunted house tonight.  There's something truly gratifying in being scared or startled.  I think those are good emotions to have sometimes -- certainly once a year.
• Why must companies make sexy versions of all Halloween costumes?  Why do women wear them?
• Polaroid pictures are pretty great.
• Candy corn and peanuts are a good team.  People should start saying, "We go together like candy corn and peanuts!"

As you can see, Halloween is on the brain . . .  Oh, how I love it!


Thing I'm thankful for: a newly-made bed.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Here's a fun Halloween video that my sister and her husband made a few years ago . . . Enjoy! And have so much fun today!!!


The Haunting of Halloween from Adam Miele on Vimeo.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Halloween is my favorite holiday!


Thing I'm thankful for: class that doesn't start until noon!

I am Iron Man

No, not really. I was Pepper Potts, though. For Halloween. I know, I know -- I was a character played by Gwyneth Paltrow last year. What can I say? I like her characters. And I like Pepper Potts from the new Iron Man movie. So I decided to be her for Halloween, and in order to get the complete look, I had to dye my hair red. I used a non-permanent color, and this was the result (Those are my friends Lina, Brandy, and Jackie.):


I think I looked pretty similar to Paltrow. See?


The only thing I didn't have time for was curling my hair. That would have made the costume perfect. Would you like to know the top two responses to my costume?

1. "Where's your Iron Man?" :(
2. "Your hair looks really good like that!" :)
   

Apparently reddish hair suited me. So the next day, I bought a box of Nice 'n' Easy Natural Reddish Blonde hair color. My friend Brandy dyed it for me. It did not look like a natural reddish blonde.

To make a long story short, I kept the red. I went to a salon to have them even out the color a bit and add some blonde highlights. This is what my hair looks like now (Please disregard that this is a bathroom-mirror shot and that I was really tired when I took it.):


What do you think, Busy Nothing readers? People who know me have extremely different responses. Some like it a lot, some like it okay, and some don't like it at all and have no problem telling me so, which I don't actually mind. As for me -- I think it's okay. Just okay. I'm having somewhat of an identity crisis. I don't really recognize myself in the mirror, anymore. I mean, I don't feel like me. But it will grow out, and I think I need practice with change, anyway.


Thing I'm thankful for: long e-mail conversations with my family.

Happy Halloween, Part 2

I didn't take enough good digital pictures. But I did take some. I'm sorry if I left anyone out; it wasn't done on purpose. :)

The goods:


Halloween is huge in my family. Every year, mom fills up this gigantic aluminum bowl with tons of candy. To give you an idea of the size of the bowl and the amount of candy it contained, I placed a penny next to it for a reference.


Lily was Cheer Bear.


Macy was Harmony Bear.


Together, they were the cutest couple of care bears I've ever seen.


I took more pumpkin pictures.


Summer carved the one on the bottom of the next picture. I really like it. Sum's so artistic.


I left out the best part of the girls' costumes -- the hearts on their buns. Cute, huh?


Macy and Clay prepare to trick-or-treat.


The Rebers came over for the festivities. So did the Aguirres and the Chad Woods. But I didn't get a lot of pictures of everyone, as I said before. I mostly took pics of the kids, including the littlest Reber. She was a bumblebee, of course. The cutest part of her costume is the little stinger. Can you see it?


She's mobile.


Here's Angela with Macy, who looks like she could be Angela's kid. (Note on Macy: The girl loves candy. Just about every moment I saw her tonight, she was chewing on a fresh piece of candy. No playing for this girl; she was all about serious candy-eating business tonight. That's my girl!)


Jeff and Clay inspect the candy.


I think this is a good picture of Summer. Lexi and I were discussing how cute Lil' and Mace are. I think it's easy to see why when you look at Sum and Clay.


Brooks and Jacki came over, too. Here, Jacki gets into catty character.


When mom saw this picture, she said Brooks and Jacki are gonna have cute, cute kids. Yes, they will be cute, and they'll have chubby cheeks! (Those are the best kind of baby cheeks.) :)


Can't get enough of those heart buns . . .


After everyone left, I decided it was time for a little "Napoleon Dynamite." So mom, dad, and I watched it and laughed. Good times.

Thing I'm thankful for: Those heart buns? :) Seriously -- just having so much fun with my family.

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's my second favorite day of the year! (My first favorite is Halloween!) I love it because my mom loved it. I love it because I threw one of the best parties ever on Valentine's Day. And finally, I love it because it's about love! Romantic love, family love, friendly love. Just love. It reminds me of my favorite scene in "Elf."



Happy Valentine's Day, world. I hope it's a good one for you. :)


Thing I'm thankful for: cool weather in Texas!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

Yeah, that's right. I've been listening to Christmas music. In fact, I listened to it on my way home from the haunted house I went to on Halloween. And double in fact, I listened to it a few weeks ago, when I was feeling particularly lonely.

I thought, "Huh. I wonder if 23-year-old me had anything to say on the matter. I'll take a look at the ol' blog."

I expected to see a passionately opinionated post about how people should not be listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving; after all, I was fairly black-and-white in my younger years. (Aren't we all?) But I surprised myself. Check this out: Christmas Before Thanksgiving.

Everything I said then is what I want to say now. That is, Christmas should be celebrated as much as possible throughout the year. I don't think it makes the actual holiday any less special, and if it does, that's . . . That's kinda strange to me, actually.*


*People say the same thing about Girl Scout Cookies. Like this: "If they sold Girl Scout Cookies year-round, then they wouldn't be as special." Here's what I say to that: "If they sold Girl Scout Cookies year-round, then I would be able to eat them year-round!" Special or not, they would still be as delicious as ever.


Thing I'm thankful for: the musical stylings of Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, and Andy Williams. I can never decide which one is my favorite. :)

Red Again!

I dyed my hair red as part of a Halloween costume last year and decided to keep it that way for a while. It faded within a few months, and I let it grow to my natural dirty blonde. I knew I had to spice up the color again, so I thought about getting more highlights.

Something about moving to Texas, though, made me want to be daring again. So I did the red thing again, and honestly, I think I'll stay red for a while.

The photo doesn't really capture the true color; in real life, it looks even more red. I like it a lot. I just wish I had freckles to match. (I love freckles!)


Thing I'm thankful for: random phone calls from old friends

Paul Offit is My Hero

Well, it's been almost a month since I blogged about Fall and two things that, for me, go with it: sweaters and the flu vaccine. (Read 'Tis the Season.) Despite what I thought was a harmless virtual "wink" to all the anti-vaccination folks out there, I unwittingly opened up some uncomfortable dialogue among family, friends, and myself.

It wasn't terrible, really, but I've found myself getting increasingly irritated over recent news of the swine flu vaccine, Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy's talking points on Larry King Live, and conversations with friends who disagree with my pro-vaccination beliefs. The thing that gets me the most is that a lot of people who don't want to vaccinate themselves or their children somehow think that because I would, I must not have done my research, like they have.

My roommate is an epidemiologist at the CDC, and she specializes in pandemic flu. We've had many a discussion on vaccines and the history of the anti-vaccination movement, and she's reminded me of a lot of biological facts I learned in college biology classes but somehow forgot over the years. Listening to her explain what she studies day in and day out is so fun for me -- but more than that, it makes me want to tell everyone what I know and believe about science.

So although I had initially decided against posting something about vaccines on my blog, I decided this afternoon that I would do it, anyway. It's my blog, afterall.

I won't tell you that you need to support vaccines, too. I won't tell you that I think you're an idiot if you don't support vaccines. (Because I don't think you are.) And I won't go on and on about why I think the way I do.

Instead I'll let Paul Offit do that. He's the co-inventor of a rotavirus vaccine, and he is featured in this month's Wired magazine. I wholeheartedly agree with his sentiments on all things vaccines. Also, Amy Wallace, the author of the article, is superb. Really, I can't stress how much I enjoyed reading this article.

The article is lengthy but, for me, riveting.
Read An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All.


Thing I'm thankful for: party Fridays and Halloween Saturdays!

Get Candy?

I bought a candy bar tonight on a whim. I wanted something sweet, and the thing that really appealed to me at that particular moment was a Snickers. I was excited to eat it, since it would be the first candy bar I would have eaten since Christmas, and even then, I only ate a few miniature Kit-Kats. Before then, I don't know when the last time was that I had a candy bar. I didn't even have one on or near Halloween.

I will admit, I have had my fair share of candy in the last few months. I ate lots of M&Ms, lots of Junior Mints, and lots of York Peppermint Patties. But candy bars? The big chunks of chocolate around 250+ calories a pop? I hadn't had one in so long!

What happened when I bit into the Snickers? Not much. It was a huge let-down, in fact. I was surprised it wasn't as good as I was expecting. That's when I decided I'm not eating candy bars again. I will only let myself have the "Fun Size" bars, and I will only eat them very occasionally. See, I learned something about myself after all these years: The expectation of candy is more appealing than the actual candy itself.* Unless mint or peanuts are involved in the candy experience, I really don't need to waste the calories.

*This does not include baked goodies, such as homemade cookies. Those are almost always worth the calories. Especially when they come from my kitchen, if I do say so myself.


Thing I'm thankful for: my seester. Lexi, I love you.

Fostering Autonomy

I think a lot about decisions -- how people make them, what factors influence them, and how they learn the ability to reason in the first place.  That last one is particularly interesting to me, especially in regard to parenting.  How, I wonder, do parents teach their children to be autonomous?

So I look at my own parents because let's face it: my siblings and I are nothing if not autonomous.  Sure, I get indecisive sometimes, but I usually know my own mind.  My brother Brooks definitely does, too, and it's wonderful.  He is such a powerful speaker, and I think it's because he knows himself well and he knows how to make decisions.

But back to my parents . . .  I think at the heart of making decisions is having a strong sense of identity, and my parents knew how to foster a strong sense of identity and consequently, autonomy.  They let us make decisions about all kinds of things when we were young.  They let us cut and dye our hair any way we wanted; they let us paint our rooms bright purple or green or any other color we had in mind; and they let us choose our own Halloween costumes.  They didn't help us with homework or school projects (nor did I really want them to; their "help" once got me a 54 on a math assignment), and if we were about to fail at something, they usually let us fail (again with the 54 in math).

Sometimes I wish they had been more involved in my decisions, especially when I was getting ready to go to college, but all in all, I think that in letting us decide how we spent our free time or how we personalized our bedrooms, for example, they let us create the people we wanted to become.  I know plenty of people who don't know themselves or who aren't confident in the identities they've formed, and they are constantly paralyzed by indecision.

I'm so glad to have the parents I do.  They are not perfect and I don't idealize them as such, but they did some things really well.  Fostering autonomy was one of them.

Thanks, mom and dad.  You're both pretty great.


Thing I'm thankful for: altocumulus clouds.  They really are the best.

One Thing Everybody Wants

It's Halloween, but candy, costumes, and haunted houses are not on my mind. What's on my mind is something altogether different. What's on my mind is love.

For some reason, I thought of "La La Land" this weekend, so on my drive to work today, I listened to the soundtrack. One of my favorite songs is, of course, City of Stars, featuring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. Every time I hear it, I'm struck by the perfect way in which the songwriters expressed the human condition:

City of stars
Just one thing everybody wants.
There in the bars
And through the smokescreen of the crowded restaurants––
It's love––
Yes, all we're looking for is love from someone else.
A rush,
A glance,
A touch,
A dance–– 

To look in somebody's eyes
To light up the skies
To open the world and send them reeling
A voice that says, "I'll be here,
And you'll be alright."
I don't care if I know
Just where I will go
'Cause all that I need's this crazy feeling–– 

A rat-tat-tat on my heart . . .
Think I want it to stay.

I really think that's it. That's what life is all about. We're here to feel love and to give love. I've felt this purpose more acutely in the last few years than maybe I ever had before, but boy, does it change things. It gives the world color and forces my understanding of things to be nuanced. It fills my heart with loneliness but also with gratitude.

"Love. All we're looking for is love from someone else." Such powerful words. I am resolved to remember them.


Thing I'm thankful for: a cozy place to sleep.

Far and Away: Goodbye to a Roommate

Before I knew Michelle as a roommate, I knew her as half of a pair of Irish girls. I remember the Sunday she and Sandra introduced themselves in church. I thought, "Whew! At least I have a boyfriend! I would not want to be in the dating pool right now. Those girls are beautiful, and they have Irish accents!"
"Hi, I'm Sandra O'Conn-er from Dooblin."
"And I'm Michelle Law-ler from Lim'rick."

No, there was no hope for any girl in our ward to shine while those two were here.

There was one reason I was delighted to have them here in Georgia, though, and that was for study. I wanted to learn the Irish accent and imitate it, as I am wont to do with any speech different from mine. Sadly, I missed out on both of their talks in church! How was I ever going to learn their accents? We weren't really friends, and I had no intention of introducing myself to them . . . They were beautiful and Irish! So intimidating!

Until one day, I found a weak spot. I had prepared a fruit dip of marshmallow fluff and cream cheese for Linger Longer (singles potluck) one Sunday in early Autumn. After most people left, I grabbed my nearly-empty bowl of dip and headed for the door. As I was leaving, I ran into "The Irish Girls," as they were called, and Sandra said, "Oh, you're the one who made that dip? It's gorgeous!" I was amazed that she described food as gorgeous, and she and Michelle were amazed that there was such a thing as marshmallow "fluhf."

We became acquaintances after that -- I invited them to my Halloween party and other gatherings, and we'd say hi in church. It wasn't until my Ugly Sweater Christmas Party, however, that we were actually able to talk much and become friends. It was after that party that we stayed up late and played Phase 10. That was the night Sandra cheated at cards, and Michelle's head kind of floated off her head because she wasn't interested in cards at all. We stayed up late with a few other friends, talking and laughing. It's one of my best Atlanta memories.

The next Spring I needed a roommate, and since Sandra was moving back to Ireland, Michelle needed a roommate, too. By this time, we knew each other fairly well, so after Michelle's summer holidays, she moved into my apartment. We quickly learned that we liked to talk. And talk. And talk.

The funny thing is that Michelle and I didn't actually spend much time together during the day. We are both super-busy almost all the time, and Michelle goes on more dates than anyone I've ever seen! Still, those late-night chats were great. We had our share of arguments and disagreements, but I consider those hours well-spent. Mostly we'd philosophize and talk about guys and girls and who was currently dating. We'd talk about family and Ireland and all kinds of things. I know I will miss those hours-long discussions that stretched into the early-morning hours.

Michelle's in Utah now, and I miss her. This apartment is somewhat depressing without another person to fill the space. For now, I will have to be content with the things Michelle gave me while she lived here: practice at honing my Irish accent, the knowledge that everything sounds truer and wiser in Irish, and the irrefutable fact that Ireland is better than America.

Also, Michelle probably unknowingly taught me a handful of Irish phrases:

• All over the shop. "She's all over the shop!" This is my favorite phrase. It could mean anything from "He's crazy" to "I'm tired and completely out of it" to "That person's completely hyper."
• Gone off. "That milk has gone off." Food that is spoiled.
• Knacker. "He's a knacker." A knacker could be a jerk or an idiot.
• Lovely. "Ah, she's loov-ly." What you say about someone you like a lot; someone who is an all-around good person.
• PMT. Premenstrual tension. Apparently, PMS is not used at all.
• Sofa and cushions. "That sofa comes with two cushions." When referring to a couch, or sofa, the pillows that come with it are called cushions.

That's all I can think of for now. I did come up with a couple others, but when I looked them up for spelling online, I realized that they were indeed cuss words, though Michelle assured me otherwise . . . :)


Thing I'm thankful for: a happy, friendly roommate who shared a bit of her spirit with me. I love you, Michelle!

Love is a Choice

This post may seem an odd one after Halloween, but a friend just e-mailed me a link to an article about love that I thought was too interesting not to remark on.

In the article (When the Words Don't Fit), the author states that "love chooses us." I think that's crazy. What does that even mean? Love chooses us. Ha!

We choose love! Or put in a different way, we choose to love. Love is a choice. It's not magic, and it's not some intangible, indescribable thing that just floats around in the clouds and plops on two random people at a time. It's not like Cupid, shooting arrows. I have enough love in my life to know that to love is something we consciously and conscientiously do. It involves getting to know someone, sharing special moments with that person, and doing acts of service. Love isn't "a fancy or a feeling," as Hartley Coleridge rightly observed. It's an action.

I'm so tired of people pretending like it's magic, as if it makes romantic relationships more romantic.

The one benefit about this false concept of love, is that I can immediately tell whether I will truly get along with someone. That is, if someone starts to act like love is some sparkly, pink, ethereal thing, then I know we will never really understand each other. It's an easy way to filter the so-so friends and dates from the wonderful, kindred-spirit types. :)


Thing I'm thankful for: my roommate's bobby-pinning skills. I needed hair help!

Busy Nothings: Best of 2009

Okay, Okay. I realize this is a little late, but although I wouldn't say I blog regularly, I do still keep this blog up. And it's been five years. Here's what I blogged about during the fifth year:

Christmas was Different This Year
What I Want in a Husband
Happy Halloween!
Paul Offit is My Hero
Emotion Explosion!
End of an Era
Far and Away: Goodbye to a Roommate
We Got Soaked Together, Or the Unifying Power of Adversity
Nashville!
Strange Things in Nashville
Not Just a Hunch Anymore
Photo Booths
Why I Would Make a Good Wife: Reason No. 532
A Letter to Soap
This Video Brings Me Joy
Time Travel to 1989
To Read or Not to Read?
Happy Valentine's Day!
2009 Resolutions


Thing I'm thankful for: that some of you are still here. Thanks for reading! (It really does mean a lot!)