Halloween Marketing pays off!

If you provide full size candy bars, they will come. For the past few years we have had very few trick or treaters and I decided that was going to end this year. What to do? How to overcome the obstacle of a home that is more remote and has a long dark walk to the front door. Hmmmmmm....I know, MARKETING!

I do have two degrees in marketing, even though they are very old degrees, so I put my thinker cap on and decided to market our home for Halloween. It didn't really take a lot of effort.

Doug and I taught two different primary classes over the past two years, so for the last two weeks, I have been privately speaking with the kids we had in class and advising them that we would be hosting Halloween with full size candy bars. Eyes lit up upon receiving this revelation...and you have to admit, church is a good place for revelation. I try to do my part!

Final bit of marketing...last week at church, I spoke to the Primary President and asked her if there was any way she could announce that Sister Miller and Sister Gunter would be giving out full size candy and to be sure and drop by. She replied that somehow the word would get out!

It did! I had 85 full size candy bars and I am happy to report they are all gone! (NO, Doug and I did not eat them!)
We had waves of all sorts of ghosts and goblins and we had a blast handing out candy.

Next year....100+ bars will be ready! I promise.

7 weird things about me....like there really are 7 weird things about me.

I was tagged by Morgan to write 7 weird things about me. I spent about two hours trying to come up with some things. Nothing has come to mind yet. I'll sleep on it and see what inspiration I get. OK. I was kidding....weird is a relative term or a term used for relatives.
1. I used to put Campbells tomato soup in my spaghetti sauce (my only defence is that my kids slurped it right up)
2. My husband is weird...does that count?
3. I did not have a normal BYU experience...but it was the 70's.
4. I have an annual pass to Disneyland.
5. I am a registered Democrat, but usually vote Republican.
6. I am not interested in eternally procreating.
7. I was the first person at BYU to own a pair of Earth Shoes and yes, once again, it was the 70's.

Thank you Morgan for tagging me. I think.

I was dissed by my own daughter

Yes, its true. I was insulted by my own daughter on her blog. After all these years she is still trying to out me and blame her lack of culinary skills on me. This is the girl who cut the nose off her Barbie dolls and disappeared every time the stove was turned on.

Can a mother be blamed because she had sympathy for a non-cooker? It does seem funny that a certain daughter (who used to be her mother's favorite) knows how to make a killer lasagna, macaroni and cheese,chocolate chip cookies and a few other basic necessities. I shared my best with her and this is how I am treated. My heart is broken and yet I am a big enough person (because I haven't lost a stinkin' pound at the gym) to forgive. I will forgive because I am a good christian woman...I will not forget.

It was sunny today!

There is nothing finer than a sunny fall day in the great northwest! It was hard to work today...but then, its hard to work everyday! A bit harder when the monsoon's hit.

Kind of a hodge podge day. Worked, was visit taught - didn't notice a giant spiritual boost, but I could've missed it because I was tired. Then...a trip to the gym and now I anticipate soreness tomorrow. I will report that I can now do 25 minutes on the elliptical and need to do it 4 times a week because......I have not lost one freakin' pound in two months.

James, my trainer thoughtfully pointed out that I haven't been regularly attending the gym until the last couple of weeks, so maybe I was overly anticipating results. It could also be the fact that I often stop at the Taco Bell on my way home to have a cheesy double beef burrito! I'm really glad one of his clients threw him in the pool today...it made me feel better. I wouldn't try it though.

To be fair, I do feel better and am stronger now....I don't feel that I am yet tough enough to beat someone up...mentally I am strong enough, just not physically. I'll probably get there soon.

To close....I made a very fine pan of lasagna tonight. It was so good, but now I'm on carb overload. Can dessert be far behind?

Work out pants...

Why is it impossible to find workout pants with a pocket? Guys stuff has pockets all over it, women workout clothes are skin tight (and trust me, there aren't that many women with perfectly toned figures) with no pockets, zippers...nada to hold your car key, membership card and Ipod. I was informed that some women pack these items in their bra. Can I just say...gross! and possibly sweaty IF one really works it.

I have been wearing the same one pair of pants to the gym for two months...I finally found a pair I like, but I'm going to have to sew a pocket on them tomorrow. That will probably ruin them, but at least I'll be able to carry something.

Well, perhaps I have carried on long enough on this subject, however, because I am old, one forgets.

Bend me...shake me...

Allyson, Doug and I signed up a few months ago but it took me two months before I could muster the time and energy to go in to Bally's. I knew what going in would mean. Pain.
I wasn't wrong.
Going in also meant I had to meet my trainer, James.
Pain with some laughs.

Surprises:
I didn't know that the gym is a mini "Peyton Place". Yes, I am dating myself...but everyone knows what "Peyton Place" means. A living soap opera. Well, they still exist...at Bally's, 24 Hour Fitness and/or any other gym. I now know the "scoop". I told my trainer I'd tell him one story for each story he tells me.....of course, mine are all old stories. Nothing exciting has happened to me in 25 years. Lets just say I traded info on the naked wife pictures shown by guys at the gym to the husband , for my boyfriend, the first streaker at the Cowboy Bar in Jackson Hole. Intriguing!
Next week.....my blind date with Mr. Utah!

Findings:
I feel better, am a little stronger and can now do 20 minutes on the elliptical machine. Although as James says, I only did it once. It will happen again....I am determined.

Things that help you workout:
Ipods with good music. I especially like Thriller...and The Devil Went Down to Georgia. Helps you pick up the pace. You have to be careful to not start singing along....people stare.

My Spiffy Niece...

Paije, Brinley and Carla came to visit for a couple of days. I really enjoyed spending a little time with them, even though I still had to work.

REALLY appreciated Paije showing me some shortcuts and tips for spiffing up my blog. Given enough time, I would have eventually figured most of them out, but it was great having an expert whip me around and get my page looking a lot better and in a much shorter period of time.

You think that when you get old and your kids are grown that you will suddenly have a lot of time to do all the things you didn't have time to do for the past twenty years......NOT!

Give up that dream. The hope gets you through all the busy years and then you find that its an urban and suburban myth. Not true at all. If possible, you are even busier. Sorry to burst your bubble, but that's my job as an old bag.