Month: October 2003

Happy Halloween

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Work was nice and relaxed today … and I got off a bit early. Now I’m waiting for the kids to get here so we can go Trick-or-Treating. In the meantime, here’s this week’s Friday Five:

1. What was your first Halloween costume? I honestly don’t recall. I can tell you that I’ve dressed up as a ho-bo (sp?), pregnant lady, and Punky Brewster, but that’s all I can remember.

2. What was your best costume and why? Errr … I don’t know. I wasn’t all that into dressing up even when I was younger.

3. Did you ever play a trick on someone who didn’t give you a treat? No. I’m too nice for that!

4. Do you have any Halloween traditions? (ie: Family pumpkin carving, special dinner before trick or treating, etc.) Not so much now, but when I was a kid I remember my mom buying us those mini pumpkins so we could paint faces on them using poster paint.

5. Share your favorite scary story…real or legend! Gosh … I really can’t think of one. The scariest movie I ever saw was Halloween. Actually, watching it on Halloween was also one of our traditions when I lived with my parents.

Honestly, I much prefer giving out the treats than getting them. I think one year after I moved away I even came home to help my mom pass out the treats. I love seeing all the different costumes, especially on the kids under 5. I can’t wait to have a house and get that opportunity again. No one trick-or-treats in our apartment building.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Connect Four

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I’m not the type of person who has a problem accepting change. Life cannot remain stagnant, otherwise there’s never room for improvement. However, I really really hate it when companies change the design of their board games. Don’t they realize that we grew up with a particular game and have a fondness for it? First they changed Candy Land. Then they changed Aggravation. And now, they’ve changed Connect Four. To some, it’s not a big deal. But to me, it is. It’s just wrong to change the color of the pieces. It’s a downright travesty! When I saw the new Connect Four at Target I couldn’t bear to buy it even though I love the game and Joe’s kids expressed interest in it. It’s just not right, and I couldn’t do it.

So when I came across the original version at Walmart, I snapped it right up. And I suggest you do the same before it’s gone forever. Run to Walmart right now!

Credit

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Today I ordered a credit report from all three national agencies to make sure my information was accurate and up to date. My credit score falls into the highest (Excellent) category, which is higher than 70% of the population. Cool beans! I feel all responsible because I’ve always made a point not to carry a balance and I don’t have ANY instances of delinquent payments.

I don’t want to end up like 35% of the population who has credit card debt exceeding $10,000. That’s just crazy! I charge EVERYTHING, but I do it because a) It’s easier to keep track of expenses, b) I have less transactions/payments to balance my bank account, and c) I get rewards and cash back for stuff I buy anyway. But I never spend beyond my means and I always pay off the balance in full every month.

All this info puts my mind at ease. We plan on buying a house in the next year or two and it’s good to know we shouldn’t have a problem getting a home loan.

Misleading Networks

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I’d like to know just what is going on with tv nowadays, specifically cable channels. How do you manage to have a network called MTV, which stands for Music Television, when half your programming has nothing to do with music? Sure, Punk’d is hilarious, but it doesn’t belong on MTV! Neither does The Real World. I weep for the people out there who actually enjoy watching videos because you won’t see them on MTV anymore … nor on VH1.

I see this trend happening to other networks now as well. TLC is The Learning Channel, yet their schedule is full of shows like Trading Spaces, While You Were Out, and Wild Weddings. What does that have to do with learning? Even the Discovery Channel has started to suck. I used to rely on those channels to provide educational programming regarding nature and culture. But now the interesting programming is sparse.

Joe pointed out that the networks air what people watch. Well I say create a new network for that stuff. You can have a channel called “House” that has all the Trading Spaces and spin-off shows. Then you can have a “Reality TV” channel, because god knows you need your “reality” fix. And then maybe, just maybe, I can watch some educational programming before my brain rots out of my head.

Cable prices continually increase, and the decent programming declines. Each channel airs the same five shows all day long until you want to puke. I watch more local network tv than ever. What’s up with that? Wasn’t cable supposed to rescue us from the shitty network programming? Now it seems to be the same.

I’m just completely disgusted that I have 200+ channels and there’s nothing to watch tonight.

CategoriesTV

Love-a-lot

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Speaking of Care Bears, we have a new addition to the family. She was a gift from Joe for Sweetest Day. And yes, I did remember this year! So now the collection slowly begins. Is it wrong that I want a shelf containing all the Care Bears? Although I do have a question – what is with their shifty eyes? They’re always looking to the right as if they know a secret they’re not telling you. Those crafty little bears … you better keep an eye on them.