Yeah, I hate it, but it's OVER

I have 364 days until I have to endure Halloween! Not that I am counting, but it did occur to me when the siren sounded through town, signaling the end of the Trick or Treat festival, that I have a whole year before I have to do it again.

Yes, I am the halloween Grinch. Joe sang, "You're a mean one, Mrs. Grinch!" all night long and I do not deny it. I admit that I love seeing the kids dressed up, especially my own little ones. As you can see form the photos, they were just adorable! However, it just isn't my holiday and thank God, Laura handed out candy until she was finally worn out, when Alexis and Daniel took over.

Joe took Daniel out, Catie took Alexis, then Andy and Sam took over taking both little ones out and then on to "Trunk or Treat" at Sam's church. Daniel was finished quickly and sat down to eat his candy. Then he changed his mind and went out again when he heard Uncle Doo Doo was taking him.

When 8pm came, Alexis was stil going strong and energized by candy. Joe and I were ready for bed! Only 364 days to go..........

CHIN KIDS ON HALLOWEEN!

Obama Plan

Halloween 2003

Joe and I were going through some old photos tonight and this one was too good not to share! Catie and Andy in 2003......WOW! 5 years makes a big difference!

Time for an Editorial

Health insurance is always in the news and with an election coming, the Republicans and Democrats are busy debating what is best to cure our country's problem with being able to afford health care. As a Republican, I cannot endorese anything that the government runs. It is plain and simple. They will screw it up.

However, I do believe that there has to be a way for everyone to get health care. I cannot encorse a system that allows people to suffer or die because they are out of work or underemployed. For the most part, I do believe you should earn what you have, but when I hear a kid in my kitchen say they need an operation, but their parents can't afford it, my heart breaks. I heard that last week. The little girl can't hear.

Insurance companies are now playing doctor. In order to fuel their profits, they have decided to change the doctor's prescriptions to cheaper pills. It was a bit ironic yesterday when Laura told me that she was recovering from surgery WITHOUT her pain pills because the type her doctor prescribed wasn't covered and she had to wait a day to get the doctor to rewrite it. That is a night of severe pain because her doctor cannot know what each insurance company covers!

Two hours later Joe returned from the pharmacy to tell me that TWO of my prescriptions were not filled. I have taken both in the past, but the insurance company recently decided not to cover them because they are expensive. The pharmacist said she had to call my doctor and request that I be changed to other drugs. I am furious because I already took the "other drugs" and one didn't work and the other interacts badly with my other medicines. So now the insurance company doesn't have a complete list of what I am taking and they will mandate drug changes that could end up to be dangerous for me.

Catie recently needed some eye drops for an infection. The insurance company wanted to switch the prescription. When I called the doctor, he said the drug they offered would not work as well. I paid in full for the right drug.

It has come to a point where profit is overriding good quality medical care. This is when we need a law. There is a reason we go to the doctor. He or she prescribes what we NEED to get well. I cannot get over Laura suffering last night. It is wrong.

Every year I begin to dread the last day of October. I have earned my title as the Halloween Grinch! I love Christmas, Easter, 4th of July and Thanksgiving. I even get in the spirit for Memorial Day, Presidents Day and Martin Luther King Day.....but you can keep Halloween.

Yeah, I remember being a kid and looking forward to the loot. That was before I moved to Knight Street where the kids begin to line up at the curb before I even got home from work! They wait for the siren and charge like a herd of buffalo and they don't stop coming for hours. The first few little ones are cute, but by the time you stand at the door handing out candy for 2-3 hours straight, even the cutest tot looks like a football waiting for a kick.

Joe saves the day each year as he runs back to the store for more candy (no matter how much I buy) and plays the spooky music. I make everyone I can find take a turn at the door and last year Alexis was our champion. She never got tired. The only good part is seeing my grandchildren show up in their costumes. We do have some fond memories of children barfing (down Laura's back) and kids who give it up early and return to hand out candy.

When Cat was here, Halloween began in September and I was forced to get in the spirit of pumpkin carving and decorations. Catie calls it her "Personal Holiday" since her birthday is in October. I don't get the connection, but she does....she has been wearing Halloween stuff since October 1.

The countdown is on........I can't wait for Thanksgiving!

A Perfect Ending to a Great Weekend

After a fun filled Homecoming week and a winning football game, Andy and Sam had a great time at the annual Homecoming dance. They always look great together, but they sure do clean up well!

Of course, Joe and I told Andy to try his suit on about 100 times during the weeks preceeding the dance and he assured us that it fit just right. About one hour before the dance, he informs us that he "can't remember where he put the pants to his suit". Joe nearly had a stroke.

We had been out shopping all afternoon, buying new clothes for Andy's senior pictures and although he had new pants, they were not hemmed yet. Andy quickly called Justin to see if he could borrow a pair of pants (yes, he did) and found that Justin had borrowed Andy's suit pants! They were dirty, since Justin wore them, but he offered to lend HIS suit to Andy. I shouldn't be surprised at all this. So Andy picked Sam up, on time and he did have pants. They invited Joe, Catie and I to join them for dinner and we all went to River's Bend. It was really a great weekend.

EATON RAPIDS WINS HOMECOMING GAME!!!!!

It took the Class of 2009 to break the 3 YEAR losing streak in Eaton Rapids and they did it up big tonight for their Homecoming game against Perry. They started out strong and kept it coming all night, with a final score of 53 to 25!

As the end drew near, the team couldn't resist celebrating by pouring the water jug over Coach Smith's head. It was close to 32 degrees and he had to be cold, but continued to cheer his team to the end.


Earlier in the day a Pep Rally was held and the theme was Breast Cancer Awareness. The team dressed in pink shirts and socks, which they wore to the game.





Andy, however won a fundraising contest held by the cheerleaders (vote for your favorite player) and his prize was.........he got to dress as a cheerleader for the pep rally!



Each player entered the gym wearing their pink shirt and was escorted by a teacher who had a positive influence in their life. Andy and Mr Warriner chose to make a grand entrance....Piggy Back!



When we arrived at tonight's game, we found a poster at the entrance with a photo of Andy and I and Tim Robinson and his Mom to continue their Breast Cancer Awareness drive.



The pep rally included a Tug of War between the classes and of course, Andy played.

Happy Birthday to Catie!

Catie is FOURTEEN! Where did the time go? This year, since I didn't have Cat to chaperone, I decided to limit the number of party guests. After last year when Catie invited every kid in the 7th grade (I swear she did), we kept it small and went to the Holiday Inn for the evening.

They started off with pink gift bags, loaded with pink candy, pink and silver beads and some wild sunglasses that I had bought for Tate. Catie thought they were cool.



The girls have their own room (adjoining ours) and after hours of swimming, pizza, candy and chips are finally settling down. I don't expect it to last long, but Joe has been in there twice to quiet them down.

Andy, Sam and Justin showed up in time for swimming and pizza and spent 2 hours in the pool.



Andy and Sam took time out to "Play House"

TACKLE BY CHIN!

Here is a shot of one of Andy's tackles on this cold night of football. Sadly, the Eaton Rapids Greyhounds fell to Fowlerville, but we enjoyed watching Andy taken 'em down over and over!

We were all thrilled to see Shelby back, if only in the stands. She was able to attend the game tonight, dressed in her cheerleading gear, but the school would not let her cheer. Her teammates had made her a Welcome Back Shelby sign that was posted at the gate.



Next week's game is against Charlotte and we always look forward to this game. Seeing old friends makes it fun and Andy always looking forward to playing against his Preschool buddy, Jake Hoose....aka...."Jake the Snake", who is one of Charlotte's best. Unfortunately, Jake broke his leg in a game next week, so we will miss seeing him play, but will surely get the annual photo of Andy and Jake.



We have 3 more weeks of Friday Night Lights, playing Charlotte, Perry and finally Mason and then WRESTLING SEASON BEGINS! I'm just a little partial to wrestling, as it is just a bit warmer.

Birthday Month

Frankie, above, enjoying her birthday treats. Cat sent British Doggy Bones for Frankie, who normally won't eat dog treats. As you can see, she is BEGGING! Wonder what the Brits put in their dog treats?

When Karen's birthday came the first year after her passing, Catie decided to "give away" the birthday........to FRANKIE! At first, I rolled my eyes, prepared for a sad day that I would try to get through. Then Catie forced the idea until I found myself joining in as she sent out invitations and planned "Frankie's Party."

Now Frankie has the official birthday in September AND the celebration each year. In addition, we had Andy and Joe's birthdays this month and we are now rolling on to Catie's big day on October 9th. (She is counting the days now.)

This family will accept any excuse to celebrate together!