Did I mention she has a pink tail?

Here is the Halloween kitty, right before she collected 286 pieces of candy. Notice she has a bag and a container? You have to like a girl that plans ahead. But with all that candy she ended up with only two cherry Laffy Taffys, my favorite right behind Klondike bars and chips.

And one hysterical Halloween moment: A local media celeb lives on our street. We ran into him and his family about three houses in. Carly looks at him and says, "You look just like ***." He just smiled and said, "Yep, that's my costume tonight." A little later, she stops and says, "Don't you think they pay him enough to live somewhere else?" I am still laughing. But remind me to have a conversation with her about how smart people live below their means.

If you see a flying monkey, you know I'm toast

A giant Ash tree sits just outside the window of my home office. Most days it's a beautiful testament to nature, although it sometimes blocks my view of the hood. Which you might call spying, but I call knowing your neighbors.

But that tree is scaring me today. It looks cold, wet and windblown, and frankly a little pissed. The kick-ass wind is bending those branches this way and that - mostly toward me. I even heard it whisper, "Watch out missy. I know you're in there."

And that leaves me with a dilemma. Where do I go to escape this Wizard of Oz-ness with its flying pumpkin and ghost? You might need to check on me later. And if I'm not around, don't go near the tree.

How to lose a sale in one easy step

So I'm in Dillard's today - in handbags, mind you - when a salesclerk asked if I'd like to see their newest "control" product.

Ummmmm . . . don't think so. She obviously hadn't read about my near death experience. And why the hell was she asking me that anyway? I wasn't even in that department for crying out loud.

Stickers and lollipops for me

You're going to be so proud of me, bloggy friends.

I got a flu shot today. Voluntarily. I know, I was such a big girl.

I know some of you might be thinking, "What's her boo hoo?" Let me tell you. When I was a kid I was in the hospital for about a week. Had a severe case of strep that left a mass over my windpipe. Treatment? A shot every four hours in my leg, alternating between right and left. It went on and on and on. While I appreciate being able to breathe, the end result included a huge phobia. Needles, hospitals, doctors . . . you name it, I avoid it.

But I got the flu twice last year. Once so badly it felt as if I had been hit by a truck, which promptly backed up and did it again. No exaggeration.

So I took a chance, motivated by the free shot and the fact that no one wanted to take my blood pressure. It better work.

Get your coat and gloves ready

What would you do? Pay $745 for heat or go without?

You knew I was going to say a bad word. And I did. More than one.

Wanted: One aerial photo

One of the windows and the heater in Scott's car haven't worked correctly in a long time. So we finally decided to get them fixed. Don't know the cost yet, but the sorrowful look the man at the counter gave me tells me I'm going to gasp and say bad words. (On a side note, the repair shop is named Woody's. How could you not take your business there? Much cooler than Mr. Fix It or Joe's Repair Shop.)
But this post really isn't about getting the car fixed. It's about the trek Riley would walk daily unless I pay for bus service or drive him myself. Remember this post?
Woody's is about half a mile (roughly) from Riley's school. So after I dropped off the car this morning I walked home. Wanted to see how long it would take. 33 minutes door to door. Had I started at Riley's school, it would have been another 7 to 10 minutes. So say about 40 minutes.
When I got home I called the transportation company to find out why the house across the street (which is closer to the school than ours) qualifies for free busing and ours doesn't. The houses behind mine all qualify as well. According to their "highly accurate" GPS, which is the final determination of who rides free and who doesn't, our house measures in at 1.99 miles. The other house - which is closer to the school both to the north and the west - comes in at 2.01 miles. No review, no exception. (By the way, neither of these houses qualified last year.)
What ever happened to common sense? I guess if the "highly accurate" GPS says it's so, it must be. Too bad for me. Just another thing to be aggrevated about.

Nobody can eat just one

Carly just asked me to watch her chips. Watch? Eat? I agree, same thing. Chips are right behind Klondike bars on my food chain. She should know better.