Samhain and the day of the dead

Do you know what you celebrate? Do you know what you believe?

Halloween, All hallows eve or Samhain (a druid holiday for summer end) all have murky connections and observances.

All Hallows Eve is where very superstitious people believed that the dead could return to earth. To appease their loved ones in remembrance they would leave treats on their doorsteps.
They also would dress up in costume to "trick" the evil spirits into thinking they were on of them - a major reason that Halloween costumes are so gruesome.
I mean why else really do you want to dress your child up like Jason, or Freddy?
Doesn't he just look so sweet? Mama's little serial killer.

All Hallows Eve was supposed to be the day before All Saints Day a sanctified day in which one would remember and thank the unnamed Saints. Over years and years of mixing religion and superstition this became known by many as the day of the dead. (Not the official day of the dead, but many have moved it to suit the holidays) In which some people would honor their ancestors and visit graveyards with treats. food and costumes. Mostly everyone seems to have forgotten All Saints Day and the fact that they were suppose to come back to God after celebrating a pagan holiday.

Samhain is much more complicated and much harder to find the truth on. All the web sites carefully select their words and phrases, things like The old Celtics would make large bone fires and have sacrifices.
Hmmm.... researching the old druids you find out that they used to do human sacrifices to their gods and several high religious days of the year. 
After Catholicism went into the druid areas of what is now Scotland they switched to animal sacrifices. They would then walk through the large burning fires smoke to purify themselves against evil.
Samhain is also called The Witches New Year.

Now this is what I found trolling through hundreds of pages on the internet over the last two weeks - many sites contradict each other, many try to down play past events and histories.

I would suggest that you do your own research on the matter if you don't like mine or my interpretation of what I found.

Just beware of the easy searches things like "History of-" Those are the links that try to down play the origins, instead try searches like "How to celebrate-" or just the name its self.

Now many people have asked me why I don't celebrate Halloween or allow my children to (I didn't as a kid and I never felt I was missing out on anything). Now, besides the fact that I don't believe in any of the above reasons to celebrate, I also have issues with Trick or Treating.

One - as stated above I don't find dressing your child up as a demon, witch or murder to be cute.
Two - I don't think its fine to teach your children not to take candy from a stranger or to talk to strangers and then one day a year tell them its ok.

So for all friends and family that think I am silly or mean for not celebrating this strange day filled with superstition and myth, I have answered you.
Now, in turn you can answer me. WHY do you think its a good day to teach your children to celebrate?

Christmas gifts and House!

Alright I lied house updates first!

My roof is done (has been for a few days but I didn't have time to post pictures!)

I organized my hubby's tools and set up a mini shelf until next spring when he can go out and really do it.

This is the original to the house 61 year old cast iron bathtub

The yucky hole after the men took out the tub.

I will post more pictures of the new tub and bathroom as it continues to be finished.

We still have to do the floor, walls and shower parts before its all done.

Now to the fun part! Christmas gifts and Black Friday in October (complete failure by the way!)

We hit Sears, Kohls, and Target.

Target is where we did most of our shopping.

Hint if as a store you want to bump up your black Friday by a month

Here is what you need to do -

a. Have you Christmas items out on the shelves.

b. Have some of them on sale.

c. Have winter items on sale - not just coats.

I won't be wasting my time with this day next year (Target wasn't bad but still not even half their Christmas section was out)

So my incredible BFF bought my hubby and I an early Christmas gift, so that I would have it when my sisters come for Thanksgiving!

Pretty!

Sun Chips Project Day Fourteen

So I am posting this a day late - I did however take this photo on Friday. So far the bags have endured snow, rain, children and some sun. (I know that's a lot for 14 days)

Do I think the bags have changed at all? A little.
Do I expect results this soon? Nope!

Honestly, I think I will be digging these out of the snow in the dead of winter before we see some real changing.
I will continue posting every Friday no matter so that we have an accurate photo blog.

Shingles and Toys!

They backed up this huge truck into my driveway then swung a long arm around aiming it at my roof. Then the driver got to ride the conveyor belt up to my roof! How cool is that?
I would think this was the coolest job ever if it weren't for the snow melting off my roof right now.

See the package of shingles riding the belt? Seriously! I am a little kid out here today playing with lots of new toys!

I also got good/bad news Saturday in the mail. This years property taxes on our new home!
 
Good News -
1. We bought the home for $110,000.00 and the state tax appraiser values our home at $127,000.00!
2. The $1300.00 they want in taxes has already been set aside in our mortgage!
3. With the old carpet being ripped out, the addition of a dishwasher and of course our updates to both the bathrooms our home now has equity before we have even made the first payment!

Bad News-
1. Taxes - YUCK!

It took the two young men less than half an hour to drop all the shingles off on my roof! Sweet!
Now we need the storms to stop along with some nice sunny dry weather! Four days of rain and snow, come on we normally don't get our first real rain storm until next weekend - seriously Utah loves to rain on Halloween!

Sun Chips Project Day Seven

Did anyone really expect them to look differently?

I didn't, but I have to keep an accurate log of photos.

Good news kids and dogs have left them alone, ignoring them completely so that is one worry down.

For the more serious side of composting please check out this blog!

Now on to house updates! Our old roof is off and thrown away!

Right now its rain proofed which is good as this coming weekend should be a wet one!

Monday if all goes well they will be laying down the white shingles on the roof.

I feel like a kid in a candy store with all the good things that have been happening the last few months!

Did you know that six months ago we had committed to staying in the mobile home?

God is good!

Banks, checking fee's and what to do.

Recently we bought our home, our loan originated with Stearns Leanding Company (a company I would never reccomend). My hopes were answered that they would sell off our loan shortly after closing and our loan is now in the hands of  Bank of America.

I am not unhappy about this, in fact we are thrilled that an actual bank will be handling our bank statements - as the other company couldn't even read the bottom of the paper work we gave them - I was terrified of their math skills.

However, this has caused me to pay more attention to news articles concerning this bank. (Follow the link for the full story.) Bank of America is now charging 8+ dollars for checking and to talk to a teller! Alright please answer me this, Why do people use banks that charge?

Seriously I have used a bank once and only once for my one year in higher education. As soon as I moved back home I returned to my credit union. A credit union that not only does not charge me fee's on my checking account, but credits my checking account interest every month. So again I will ask you, why do normal everyday people use banks when they only cater to millionaires and businesses and they treat the every day common man like something to be wiped from their shoes?

Here's something else you might not know, credit unions (if you do your homework before placing your money in one) have the ability for federal protection against failure just like banks do. All you need to do is make sure the credit union you are looking at is protected. I have banked at small credit unions and large credit unions.

With smaller credit unions you get more hands on involvement, board meetings, yearly dinners and voting rights. They normally will do several types of personal loans, savings accounts and car loans. Bigger credit unions still have voting privileges (normally by mail) and offer the larger loans for houses, and small businesses.

If every common everyday average household would leave the world of banking and go to a credit union the banks would remember who REALLY keeps them in business and who they need to cater to! The world is not made up of multimillionaires nor is it made up of huge companies, its the everyday man who pays more than 25% of the daily banking  revenue, revenue that they are trying to cash in on by charging all of these extra fee's!

Now some (especially the smaller CU's) need you to belong to a group, be related or have a savings account with said bank with a small fee keeping the account open at all times. The larger CU's do not require much more than an open savings account with 20.00 of non touchable money. Now seriously 20.00 one time that stays in your own account earning you interest or high monthly fees for a bank that treats you badly? To me its a no brainer, I mean seriously people didn't you ever watch its a wonderful life? CU vs. Banking!

So if you are a bank customer wondering what to do, you do have options. Credit Unions have all the same services as banks, they offer checking, savings and of course debit and online banking, you just have to shop around. Which I don't think is too hard when you think of how much money you might save a year (96.00 a yr on checking at Bank of America now).

Yes, my ranting is done - for now.

Answers and Projects

First on Monday I asked what to things you need to survive while traveling in space.

I also said I would pick a winner from the answers - I have to pick half of both love the pepsi and nano! What great picks!

Going technical and nerdy (sorry I am who I am - married to a nerd and I am converting!)
Here are the two things you need to survive if you ever troll the universe.

Dr. Who teaches us never to leave home without your sonic screw driver!

And we also learn from Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy that no matter where you roam never leave home with out your Towel!

Now on to house updates!

3rd bookcase installed in bedroom
Head board and base board of my new bed put together and done!

Also the roof project has finally started!
Father and son (our contractors) are pulling, ripping and tearing the old layers of my roof off.
This is great because my home is 61 years old! It had more than 3 layers of roof tiles stacked one on top of another - which causes the roof to be very heavy.
So this coming winter I can rest easy knowing that out of all the things that might go wrong in a new home - it won't be a leaky roof.

Today we plan on finishing up the cabinets as well as fixing some light fixtures!

Fun Quiz

The Question - if you were to travel in space, to reach the stars, see other galaxies and meet other life - What two things would you need to survive?

Please post your guess below and on Wednesday I will post my answer and choose which answer I like the best.

Funny kids and house updates!

This was the box for my guest bed/couch for the office. Instead of wasting it we decided to put it to good use. A few cut out windows, drawn on curtains and flowers and voila! The kids had a fun play house - it lasted almost a full two days!

I know amazing right? LOL I do love my rough and tough dastardly duo!

In fact today Prissy told me, "I'm gonna run away!" She even added in a stamped foot and a funny crossed up face.
I asked her, "Where are you going to go?"
We did just move into the neighborhood after all.
Her reply was, "I'm going to go across the street!" Sheepishly adding on at the end, "After I look both ways."

Gotta love 7 year olds!

On to house! Today in the mail arrived a 10% off coupon to Lowes, with it my hopes of conniving convincing my husband to buy a dishwasher. I love our new old house, but it needs some serious updating. A dishwasher was on top of the list!

Under the guise of another project I had already conned managed to get my Hubby to remove the 24 inch cabinet next to the sink leaving the perfect hole for a ... you guessed it! A dishwasher!

Coupon in hand I went to pick up my sweet Hubby and of course because he is sweet...

We of course came home with this gem! I am in love! (Of course with my Hubby and not the new shiny, lovely dishwasher - LOL!)

Add in the fact that I went shopping this morning with my BFF and my day has been great - or will be until my Hubby reads this!

Sun Chips Project Day One

This is my own version with my own rules - I fully know that Sun Chips say to compost it in a compost pile - I am not.

To see and read up on how the Sun Chips team composted their bag please click the link.

I am going to leave my two bags with some old chips still inside out in my new back garden, where they will be exposed to the elements.

I want to know and see how long without any "extra" help it will take for these bags to decompose.

I will not be touching them
I will not add any chemicals, bugs or dirt save what they are laying on top of.
I will not be doing a daily post on this.
I will try to update the bag progress every week.

This is not a blog to disprove their theories, more to answer an inner musing of what will happen to the bags inside of dumps and windswept debris that litters our highways.

Honestly if it can decompose in one year on its own I would urge all companies to start finding ways to make their own form of decomposable packaging.

As I live in a very windy area I have added large rocks to hold them in place, next I will instruct my children to leave them alone - this will be the real test! LOL

So again I am not trying to call them liars or duplicate their findings, I am doing my own backyard thing more for myself than to make a point.
Thank you for reading!

A late birthday post

Prissy with her new polka dot pants enjoying her 7th birthday with a sleepover with her BFF D!


She was a very spoiled girl and we had a ball! Grandparents came a few days early as we didn't have any plans for Prissys big day as our house is still in shambles.

Work update - Fridge is in and connected - water, power ect. Microwave is up and over the stove. My instant hot water is on as well as our reverse osmosis and the house water filter. My husbands new office desk is put together as well as the guest couch. I have been working hard at cleaning floors and organizing my kitchen items into their proper places.

As for the newest member of the house, well he really seems to like pillows for his head! He is getting better at house training and his indoor accidents are dwindling.
He now sleeps upstairs in our room and he is as fun as ever!

What do you smell? Smells, shopping and house!

Inhale, exhale... smell that? I am sure you do. Does is make you smile? Wrinkle your nose or sighr ? Is it stale, fresh, invigorating or normal?

Yet smell is one of the best memory triggers in the world. The smell of coffee, dog food, french fries, sweet and sour chicken, pumpkin pie, all trigger memories, emotions and physical reactions from us.

Right now I smell rain, damp old house and pumpkin spice.
 
I am once again going to do a double post half of this topic will be on this blog and the other half  on my writing blog.

For those that follow my blog you already know about my new old house. Its new to me - we have been here almost two weeks. It was built in 1951 and has an old people smell to it, dusty, musty, dirty type smell. I am working to remove this as we get rid of carpet and clean walls and floors.

This week has been filled with rain, cold weather and falling leaves. I love the mushy smell of fall. Love it! Add to the fact that I now live in a house that reminds me of my grandparents I am in heaven! Utah is filled with nice, neatly planned houses. The streets are wide and straight, and each neighborhood is laid out in uniform.

Magna is not. Well the streets are pretty straight - for the most part. It is a mining town that grew and took over the farming area. Thus causing  a hodgepodge of properties, house styles, yard sizes and streets. It reminds me again of Washington. It reminds my husband of back East. He grew up in Rhode Island and has had a hard time in the cookie cutter neighborhoods that all look the same. No problems here, this street has personality.

Last night after my father and Di left, I was called by my BFF. She had just found out that Shopko was having a HUGE sale half the store is 30-70% off from Thursday to Saturday. I was thrilled! I had just agreed to hosting Thanksgiving dinner at my new home! I didn't even have enough plates to serve everyone!

Now my plates have a history, when my hubby and I were first married we ate off of my old college set, then we inherited my grandmothers old Correlle set. What is odd about this is I have two great fine dining sets, but didn't have a good everyday set. So when our life started to improve last year  I went shopping!

I found a great set of square pink Correlle dishes that serves 4. I found them at Walmart for 29.99, knowing I would want to host parties and entertain I asked my hubby if I could buy two sets. We had the money, although it would have meant a tight week for us. He said no. This would not have been a bad thing if it hadn't of been for the fact that Walmart stopped selling it the next week and every where else the price jumped up to 60.00 for the same set!

Shopko is selling my set of dishes for 110.00! Good thing though with the sale I got 60.% off and was able to buy the set for 48.00 and a few loose dishes bringing my total of plates up to 10.  Now all I need is Dad and Di to remember to bring the folding chairs with them for Thanksgiving and I will be fine!

Also on sale was the desk that my Hubby wanted, instead of being 199.99 for each of the two pieces (bottom and top) we bought them for 89.00 a piece. It was a good thing we went last night as they won't be there tonight! As sick as we are all feeling right now and as run down as we are, I love this house and am excited for Thanksgiving when all of my family gets together!

A rant and then back to the blabble

I am upset, to say that I am angry or livid would be fine as well. I will be meeting with the Principal of my daughters school!

 Let me re cap the story for you starting back a few years. Anytime I took Prissy to a new Church she would come out of her Sunday school class wet. Why? Because she hates to ask strangers to let her go to the bathroom. She hates talking about the potty or anything to do with the bathroom.

I explained this to her teacher on Prissy's first day of school, I also made Prissy promise to raise her hand and ask to go to the potty when she needed to.  On Wednesday, my daughter has been sick but well enough to attend school. She asked her teacher if she could use the bathroom and was told, NO. Because of this my daughter came home from school with her pants stuck to her and poo caked to the inside of her cloths and body.

She had had diarrhea and had been unable to hold it. When I wrote the teacher wanting to know why this had happened and what we could do to make sure it never happens again. Did she express sorrow that my daughter had been dirty all day long? Did she explain that my daughter needed to have told her that she had had an accident?

NO.

Instead she pulls my daughter off to the side and says, "Remember why I told you, you had to wait? Alli was in the potty and only one of you can go at a time."

Pause. Blink. Your kidding right? I asked the teacher for a plan that this would never happen again, I mentioned Dr.s notes and talking with the principal. Did I get a letter back? Anything? NOPE. As I said I can not have my daughter coming home dirty, staying in school dirty, due to a snotty teacher who doesn't seem to care that my daughter spent the day filthy!

 How dare she! What type of teachers are we producing now? Is this what they are taught in college? I have been fine with her teacher up to now. She is a little airy, fluffy and ditsy, but she is a first grade teacher. I am just still in shock that she is acting like this was fine! I can tell you that when I was in school this was not ok. If a kid was sick or had an accident they were taken to the office and taken care of. Rant done - for now.

This is my bookcase, the bookcase I had my books on before as well as my movies. My hubby was able to fit his books onto his book cases. Our friend Shayne gave us a really great entertainment center that I am currently in the process of filling up with movies.

That said, why on earth do I have eight more boxes of books that don't fit on my bookshelf? My sweetheart has so nicely offered to buy me another two bookcases. This way everything will fit nicely. (Again)
Seriously I know it all fit before... somehow...

This is my new bed sheet set that I pick up at a bargain! I think it will be great! Nice, light, comfortable and looks amazing in my white bedroom!

So much is going on all at the same time! My daughter, my first born is turning 7 on Saturday! I don't have a clue what we are going to do for her b-day yet! Yelp!

Next up in our never ending world of adventure, we now have a deadline for when the house must be done, bathrooms, kitchen, guest rooms and bedrooms. Why? Well I am Blessed of course! Both of my sisters are coming for Thanksgiving! One from Cali and the other from Nebraska.

This I am excited about! I just need more plates (and they stopped selling mine right after I bought them) and I need folding chairs! We will be 9 people in my new home and I am thrilled that I have enough room for everyone!

Well I am off, I have to clean up as much of the mess as possible and make it at least look like I have been busy as my father and stepmom are coming for a visit tonight.

Microwaves and washes

Yesterday our little cutie couldn't open his black eye as he had a sticker pulling the hair together. In fact he had stickers everywhere because he loves chewing on them and playing with them.
Today it was off to the groomers - supporting local small businesses we found a very tiny one man shop and dropped Patch off.

This is what we found when we picked him up.

Now there are two ways to look at this

1) My dog is all heart
2) My dog has a black heart (LOL)

No matter what he is he is adorable and I love him!

Next we are winning the battle of the kitchen and my Hubby has finally managed to install one cabinet and my over the stove microwave!
It is a little higher than I am used to and I will need to be on a step stool to clean the top of it, but it's in and its wonderful!

Don't worry I have been taking plenty of before and middle pictures. The problem is that nothing is truly done.
Also our roofer came by and he plans to start tearing off the old shingles this week. Also I picked out the roof color - white - and this will help in many ways. First it will help keep the house cooler in the summers. Second it will help our house pop!
Right now its brown brick, with brown trim, and a brown roof. It blends into itself. Once its done we will remove the decorative shutters (that my husband thinks are really insane as he's from back East where shutters actually work) and paint them white/silver/gray whichever one matches it best.

Also last night my Hubby put up my bookshelves as well as put together our new bedroom dressers, tonight I have a lot of unpacking to do!

Night out bowling

Last night was one of those nights where you just needed to get away from it all. Our good, life long friend, Shayne has had a busy week with a megalomaniac trying to control his personal choices and freedoms.

Honestly and tell me truly if you saw a facebook post that said, "if you are in America illegally, GET OUT." Would you be so offended that you made it your life's mission to make that person pay? Would you be bent out of shape and only assume he was talking about one race? Would you the attack his religious beliefs and credibility for stating that people should follow the laws - and lets face it, it's not that hard to enter America legally. Those that can't we don't want - namely those with criminal backgrounds.

My hubby and I have been fighting the battle of the house this week. So far we have replaced the upstairs toilet, ordered the tub and fixed the sink. In the kitchen we have removed half of the upper cabinets and are attempting to put new ones in. Meanwhile I spend my free time cleaning, as the people who lived here previously smoked and never cleaned the walls.

So when our friend and his girlfriend invited us for a night out bowling we thought - Yeah! We all need a break!

All I can say is we all needed a night out to just relax. We played for two hours, ate pizza, fries and drank soda. Talk laughed and ignored the issues of the past week.

Hubby won the first game and Little man won the second. It must run in the genes. Tonight the work and cleaning pick up again, as well as a trip to the store to restock Prissy for school. Walking her back and forth to the bus stop is going to be interesting, especially in the rain and snow. I am attempting to prepare myself and the kids for when that happens. (Which could be tomorrow.)

Little boys and their toys

 

This is Little man the first day we bought him a real tool set (kid size). He went to sleep holding his precious treasures.

We are almost moved in I still have a few small odds and ends at my BFF house (for which she may kill me soon). So far we have replaced the upstairs toilet, ripped apart the kitchen and have the living room almost finished.

Right now we are working on the Kitchen, we needed to buy and install new cabinets so that I can also have my over the stove microwave.
This had turned into a major remodel - cheap, but time consuming.

We have bought our new bed set - or most of it anyway, the bed was out of stock. :( We also bought our new upstairs bathtub which had to be special ordered, so it won't be in until Tuesday.

I have been cleaning up both of the kids rooms preparing to paint as so far my daughter has been sleeping in the living room. I am not very happy with this arrangement, but everything has been very slow to get unpacked. In fact this is slowest unpacking we have ever done. Normally we are done by now.

This is different for us because we are remodeling at the same time, tomorrow my book case and Hubby's bookcases should be up which will remove many boxes from the house.