This Perfectly Imperfect Life

a beautiful end to a beautiful day! it's after dark now and still in the 60's with a balmy breeze! about 26 trick-or-treaters thus far! not much else doing today! did 6 loads of laundry and watched the halloween movies all day on amc, my mom came over for a while... got my mom watching halloween 1 and 2!!! gorgeous sunset tonight! this is out of order, but, here's my booper again w/her witch hat on! i started to get a bit upset when all the little girl trick-or-treaters started coming to the door in their adorable costumes ~ wondering what my daughter would've been dressed as this year ~ but, it was a brief moment of wistfullness & i've been ok since. (though my husband's a bit of halloween grinch & i'm trying not to let it ruin my spirit!)

today's the 6 year anniversary of our cat, mr., (mr. man to be exact!) finding me! yes, he was a stray and he definately found me!!! ya know how ya call to a "stray" and they run in the opposite direction from you?! not this guy!!! he made a bee line right to me! here's mr looking his usual adorable self! from 09/06 and this is from earlier this evening ~ guess he'd had enough celebrating 'til next year! well, i've lined our "property" (our part of the complex) with salt ~ old wives' tale way of protecting everything inside the outline (your property & selves) from mischief, both from human and other-worldly nuisances. a good thing for a night like tonight!!! and i've set out 4 mugs on the table - 1 w/coffee for my nana, 2 w/hot cocoa - 1 for my grandma and 1 for my daughter - and 1 w/tea for my husband's mother ~ all of whom have passed on. i've also set out a treat bag and a mini halloween beanie baby for my daughter next ...

this is one of our 2 grand neices born since this august! today was 'one month' picture day!!!

been fiddling with our new camera (as you can see!), changed the background on this here blog (which you can also see!) and baked my very first ever home made pumpkin pie (this afternoon!)!!! (hey, it's the small things in life, right?!) and now i'm baking a chicken for dinner ~ the house smells delicious!!! i've also been working on a story idea that seems promising!!! and this thursday afternoon, we leave for millsboro deleware for the annual punkin' chunkin' contest this coming weekend!!! i can't wait ~ not just because we've never been, but because we haven't been away from the complex since march and it's a cheap weekend! it should be a blast! fall leaves, on the corner of the property, wk of 10/25. that's my booper! itsn't she the cutest thing?! wk of 10/25. fall sky, view from front porch, wk of 10/25. (this camera takes some gorgeous pics!!!)

that's not entirely true ~ i did spend more than a few hours trying to figure out what the BLEEP is wrong with the cd-rw rom drive - it's toast and it'll cost at least $89 to replace (probably more) and we just don't have any extra $ at the moment (heck - at any moment) and it's my freakin' fault for leaving the software disc for our new digital camera (that my mother bought for us) in the damn drive for a few hours because my husband called & told me to get ready to go for drinks at the american legion & he was only 5 minutes from home so i rushed to get ready & thought it'd be ok to leave it in there. i should've done laundry - i should've taken a shower - i should've finished cleaning the kitchen and the bathroom - i shouldn've scooped out the litter boxes - i should've taken a walk... i'm in a total "F it" mood!

please see my previous posts on this topic, October is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month Parts 1, 2 & 3. i've been contacted by a local internet newspaper to become a volunteer reporter/writer for them. i've rec'd answers via email with respect to all my questions except 1: will they run a piece on october also being domestic violence awareness month & not stick it in the opinions or letters section where people may not think to look to see what's there? i've told them until they answer me on this, one way or another, i will not accept or reject their offer. that was early last week. there's only 2 full weeks left in the month. if i do not get an rsvp about this & i will gladly update this post with the paper's name.

go to www.halloweenmovies.com and click on get tickets, then look to the left side of the page that brings you to and click on theatre locations to check for one near you! (10/30 & 10/31) i'm not digging the 2 towns the theatres are in here in nj, but, if tickets are available & my husband or a friend will go with me, i'm there! i've always wanted to see this movie in the theatre & it was only re-released in ca for the 25th anniversary & i was so disappointed!

monarch butterfly, 10/12/06 monarch butterfly, 10/12/06 mr. buff 2006! (he's been working out since last halloween!!!) this little hosta didn't bloom in spring or summer! but, this past sunday, it began to open it's flowers, pretty much a new one every day this week so far! just in time for the cold! buffalo ny got 2 feet of snow last night! we've got the frost warnings all over the tv now ~ here comes the cold! i tucked the perrenials in this morning underneath blankets of dried leaves & said 'see ya next year!'

If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse, call for immediate assistance, toll free 24-hour hotlines for domestic violence at 1-888-843-9262 or 732-264-4111 and for sexual assault 1-888-264-RAPE or 732-264-RAPE. Youth can reach out to 180nj . org's confidential resource, the 2ND FLOOR youth helpline, at 888-222-2228. You can also go to www.180nj.org or www.2ndfloor.org for more information. (NOTE: when i tried to access www.180nj.org online, numerous times, it said the website could not be found, so try the 800 # instead!)

if you still have an abundance of fresh produce left over, even after making all sorts of delicious things, consider donating your fresh produce left overs to a local soup kitchen and/or foodbank! this is in keeping with the "plant a row for the hungry" campaign which encourages gardeners to plant an extra row of veggies in their gardens and donate the harvest from that row, as well as any of their own extra harvest, to local soup kitchens and foodbanks. most of us grow & harvest more than we can eat each season, so why not pass along some of our fortunes to others who are less fortunate?! imagine what a difference can be made if every gardener in the country did this each season! (i've heard, though i haven't confirmed, that this was started about 11 years ago by a garden columnist in alaska). unfortunately, i did not grow any produce this year, but, i did last year and unknowingly participated in the above! (i only found out about this program in february and la...

For assistance, call: 911 OR the National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (or #HOPE on Verizon wireless phones (toll and airtime free), TTY: 1-800-787-3224) Or go online to: http://www.njsbf.com/njsbf/publications/domviolence.cfm OR http://www.aardvarc.org/dv/states/njdv.shtml

not sure what happened here ~ blogger's acting up again i guess! front garden view of front garden from behind view of front garden from behind view of front from side of porch front garden front garden ~ closeup front garden ~ closeup front garden

it's a rare one today! our second day of at or above 80 degrees! so, i decided to take some pics because it was beautiful outside this morning & wanted to be out in the garden! corner of front side garden "looking towards"/looking down on front gardens from porch ~ containers on porch ~ lemon balm & dinathus making a come back! "looking towards"/looking down on front side garden from porch resident preying mantis as of 10/1/06. she's spent most of the weekend on this screen in various places & positions ~ i haven't seen her yet today front side garden i love my zinnia's! they're still going strong! i'm not sure why they all turned out pink though! i planted a combo of the pink and pale purple zinnia's and so far, only pink have bloomed! no purples! zinnia zinnia zinnia zinnia zinnia

it happens every minute of every day to men, children and women, just like you and i. it happened to me . my point in this? be aware. don't let it happen to someone you love. don't stop trying until you've tried everything you can think of and then some! it may be a thankless job, but the rewards are priceless! this gets pushed aside because october is breast cancer awareness month. i'm not saying there's too much focus on that - i'm saying there should be equal focus on both throughout this month. both can save lives . i've emailed every person i know with the above today, as well as posting it on my other blogs and emailing the few shows i watch. and i'll continue to do so throughout the month. sometimes people are too afraid to help themselves or don't know how. i want as many people as possible to see this - maybe others will pass this along as well - maybe it will help someone along the way.

this pic goes along w/yesterday's pics and it should be #4. that's the wolf man all the way over to the left. starting with this pic and going from left to right, all the bushes you can see in this pic and the gardens on either side are all lit up with orange lights at night. this is the pic that wouldn't upload yesterday ~ no matter how many times i tried! is blogger being a real pain to anyone else lately, or is it just me?!