Costume for Halloween? Let me know!

Road Trip!

Apologies if the last two months of blogging have been lacking,
but now I can explain why...
Looking for a new job;
after a few offers were declined-
found a wonderful position at an Illinois-based
outpatient aquatic therapy facility,
working full time on contract.





Driving about 75 miles/115 kilometers each way
with interesting scenery every mile along the route.





Also on the lookout at sunrise and sunset
for deer who may decide to try to cross the Interstate,
as well as for state troopers in their ever-changing vehicles
(mustangs, camaros, pick-up trucks, etc.)
not that I ever speed, but...





New jobs are always intimidating the first few weeks
with each side sizing up the competition,
and making sure they follow the stated and unstated
protocols of the office.
As if I am trying out for a school play...
Is my hair OK?, Am I wearing the right clothes?
Do they like me?






The play opened this week
we will see how the reviews turn out.





M

Blueberry Elf

I love costumes.
Always have and always will.

As a child I remember being
somewhat envious of other kids
wearing their store-bought
fancy costumes and masks,
but only until I realized
my Halloween costumes
were always original.
The earliest photograph
of one of my Halloween costumes
is of me; crouched, perching
on an old tree stump
in the front yard,
as a blueberry elf.
Greenish-blue tights, and a sweatshirt
with wire-strung cardboard and fabric
wings, and green tipped fabric ears,
along with a matching acorn-shaped cap
made my imagination fly and play
like the magical fairies of the forest.
I was 5 years old.

I have since learned it must be genetic...
My grandmother and great aunt also
loved to dress up and allow their imaginations
to soar.




Great-Aunt Cleone left me a scrapbook
and I can easily imagine being
part of her group of friends
at a costume party in 1916.
I am not sure who "Lu" is, though.






Remember your most outrageous costume?
I have trouble deciding.
Was it the year I convinced an 11 year-old friend
to be the tail-portion of a two-person
polka-dotted horse costume?
(Designed and build by my parents).

In high school I was in theater...
No further explanations are necessary.

Dating required the young man to plan on
wearing a partner costume
when going on a date in October.

Or perhaps in my early 20's when I
decided to throw a costume party...
Behind a ski boat....
Imagine what skiing
on the muddy Mississippi
does to a white prom dress,
or an old tux,
or a non-washable, fuzzy, leopard-print
"Jane" (without Tarzan) outfit.

Then I got into Civil War Reenacting.




Once again, no further explanations.

Or was it the year a girlfriend and I decided
it would be fun to dress as two
bunch of grapes;
I wore purple, she wore green
with plastic vines and leaves in our hair,
pinning corresponding colored
medium-sized
balloons
all over each other...
And then could not fit into the car...

Around that same time I was teaching water exercise
at various pools in the community.
Let's have another water-based costume party!
I was happy to provide water-proof costumes
to those who tried to forget to bring their own.
After all, fancy HATS, wigs and jewelry
are all you really need when you are
chest-deep in a swimming pool.





I knew John was the one for me:
We met in high school theater.
He loved the rock group KISS.
He was a Civil War reenactor first.
He understands that we have more containers
in the attic filled with costumes
than Christmas decorations.

He gets me.
M

If You Would Not Fail...

More answers for the ongoing question:
What would you do with your life
if you knew you would not fail?


From Timothy;
one of the two instructors
and owners
at Studio Escalier:


Stop sleeping Monday thru FRIDAY,
so I could paint all day, and teach all night.
Then, ask my French bank for 35 million dollars,
to buy and renovate every crusty building
in my town to my standards,
just as a weekend project
(including the old chateau.)
Lastly, elect a suitable friend as mayor,
who'd permanently restore the name of my town
back to Argenton-Chateau,
and build me a train link
from Saumur to HERE to Bressuire!


---Note from Marty:
Michelle -
I need your answer soon...
your comments to the same question are next...

Open Door Policy

Our house was built in 1929,
and John & I are the second owners,
buying this little slice of heaven in 1990.
The previous owner was a mailman in our city,
and we believe the home was built
utilizing mail-order house plans.




Our Craftsman/bungalow style home offers many special touches;
a built-in desk and covered bookcase on one side of the fireplace,
and a glass-fronted bookcase on the other, unusual light fixtures,
sparkly glass doorknobs, and warm, golden wood floors.





Most of the plaster walls had a single layer
of what may be 1930's wallpaper,
and much of the woodwork is in original condition.
We have an open-door policy,
so stop by some time and say hello!

River Views

Yesterday:
Our 20th anniversary.
Photos from LeClaire, Iowa
of a riverboat offering day-cruises,
and an unknown plant-of-the-day...?




Polar bear regatta
Davenport, Iowa.