Cloudy with a Chance of a Headache

We ventured out to the Palladio theater today to see a sequel.  We paid for our tickets, bought our concessions and proceeded.  What we got was a headache.


Of epic proportions.



The movie kept having red lines flash through it like subliminal messaging.  But instead of encouraging us to buy more concessions or to convince us of a certain agenda, they only made us regret going to that theater  in the first place.  I could have spent $2.50 less per ticket elsewhere, but no, we apparently wanted the migraine package.  And the flashing red kept going on during the entire film.  Once, we could only hear only sound, but that was brief.  No one came in to tell us they were addressing the issue, no matter how many patrons went to complain.  Most of us stayed because naturally, kids wanted to see how it ended.  Even if it ended with a headache.  The Redhead was included in that group.


Once the movie was over, no one close by wanted to hear our complaints.  A girl that worked there interrupted me and just told me the manager was in the box office.  She wanted him to handle it.  He handled it by forming a long line of refunds.  You had three choices: refund in cash, refund on your card, or movie passes.  No Ibuprofen included, which is what I really wanted.  Maybe even an explanation or a promise next time would be better. Most everyone bought concessions, so it was still a win for the theater.  I would've just settled for an attempt to have fixed it during the movie.  No one should feel like they're in A Clockwork Orange.



Despite the flashes of red lines, the movie was cute.  It was punny.  But it wasn't designed to handle poor customer service.  It was just designed for entertainment.  And the red lines weren't a bonus.

I've been waiting for her ET moment.

As a child, it was pretty much the only thing I remembered from first watching ET at the age of four in a drive-in.  I remember ET hiding in the stuffed animals, and it was enough to make me want an ET of my very own.  Which by the way, never happened.

For whatever reason, I started dumping The Redhead's stuffed animals on her bedroom floor, underneath her loft bed.  We have boxes (big boxes, embarrassingly large amounts of these things) stacked in her room and in the garage, knowing full well these are The Redhead's oxygen.  Out of any toy she has ever owned, stuffed animals are her favorite.  They're her Cabbage Patch Dolls, her Barbies, her action figures, her American Girl Doll, all the things I wish she'd play with.  But instead we have these.  And lots of them.

We both feel terribly guilty it's taken us this long.  We knew better.  We knew how much these guys (and gals) meant to her.  And still mean to her.  They all have names and joys and faults.  Personalities.  And now they've been unleashed.  Finally.  After how long....?

But none of that matters anymore because I have my ET moment.

And now we have a new project to start!  Because all of those stuffed animals have to go somewhere...

I talked myself into it.

I wondered if this would happen after a brief text conversation that happened a couple days ago.  Someone asked if we were having our annual Halloween bash.  I stated, "probably not," and they commented "too soon, huh?".  And I was afraid at that moment, that knowing me, I would talk myself into it.  Either to be contrary, prove that I could, or just because it reminded me.  And if you know me, I love challenges, I love proving and disproving theories, and most of all, I absolutely love throwing parties.  Adore.  Live for.  The reason for my existence.  I even made it work the year my husband had been out of work for two months and no one even knew, and the party didn't look like anything had happened- a combination of ingenuity and the prior year's clearance finds.

And although it won't be the same without the unwavering assistance from my fabulous friend A, our Kansas deck, our creepy basement, the big grill, or the things that were in our other yard.....we're doing it anyway.  Because after all, it's tradition. And most of all, it's a party.

They were in my way.

I always do this.  All of a sudden, I'll realize something is in my way and right then, I have to do something about it.  It doesn't matter what else I'm doing, whatever I've decided has caused me grief must pay.  And today, they were boxes.  They've been in the garage in my way for weeks (months), they've been blocking the cabinet doors to all of my fall decorations, they even make it difficult to get to the mail collection.  But today of all days, I decided to conquer them.


How?


I listed them on Craigslist.  That was my big payback, my revenge.


And just like that, I had an e-mail box full of takers.  Really?  Boxes?!  It's just cardboard! Well, that certainly beats cutting them up so they'll fit in the recycling can...


The fun part was trying to figure out how to get them out of the garage without traipsing throughout the house with them.  Sure, I have a garage door opener.  But the neighbors don't need to know our garage is still full of more junk than it should be, right?  Well, I opened it just enough and started randomly shoving boxes underneath.  All forty plus of them.

Fortunately this afternoon, one tall, slender redhead in a business dress with a short, tight skirt and heels came to take my boxes to be her very own.  No men were around to drool as she loaded her car with the miscreant cardboard.  I helped her, not looking nearly as tall or slender, and definitely not wearing heels and a short dress.  But regardless, I couldn't wait for those boxes to depart!


And now all of my fall decorations?  It's going to be so awesome.

Special Delivery

I had an incredibly special delivery awaiting me on my doorstep today!  From Scentsy!  Of course, I ordered it, but it arrived!  And my massive collection of scented wax just grew!


And boy did Scentsy go out of their way to make me feel special.


First, it arrived in a box.

Just a normal box, right?  Then there was a bunch of brown paper that didn't need its picture taken.  But there was a foil bag!  And not just any foil bag, one with a zipper!!!

And inside?  Oh inside was something marvelous!

Not the wax.  No, I knew about all of those.  It was this.  It was an ice pack!

After that, I didn't feel so cheated by the $8 shipping costs.  I felt like I'd gotten my money's worth.

Oh yeah, and all dozen of the scents were worth it too.  But they hardly compare....

The cat wasn't nearly as amused about the delivery.  She much prefers my Toms.

The Tag Artist, in one Afternoon...or two

If I didn't know any better, I would've thought I was up to some serious mayhem when I purchased all of this spray paint, at once, at the Retail Giant.

I had been inspired by something from Pottery Barn, so I took some skeletal hands from Michael's ($1.99 for 12, use a coupon if you remember), some ecru paint, and a basic bowl from the 99 cent store.  And super glue.  Use super glue.  Nothing else.  Trust me.  You trust me, right?

But unfortunately, not all projects and ideas work out.  No matter how well executed.

By the way, I forgot that Styrofoam has a tendency to do ugly things once sprayed with paint.  You don't need to see their mangled faces of deformity.

Now, I'm not supposed to breathe in spray paint, not even be around it, so I decided to do all of the projects at once, as well as a mirror and a couple other things, just to act like I only did one project.  We'll also pretend I haven't had multiple chalkboard projects, that old gold curtain rod I spray painted bronze, and any other projects I've done since moving in.

 

Of course, as soon as I painted him, I found one I liked better, without a lone eyeball and a Terminator appearance.

Also, I've been wanting one of those awesome ticket holders that all the Pinterestese seem to have.  And I wanted my own.  So imagine my excitement when I went to Michael's for a shadow bow, and found out they have them with slots!  And they were 50% off.  I could've paid $5 for a slotless one, but it was worth the $10 for this one.  Then it was time to design it.  And I had a hard time finding what I wanted.  And after I bought some things, I found this simple sheet of scrapbook paper at Hobby Lobby, vintage ticket design, and just like that, I didn't have a use for anything else.  I couldn't have made it better.

Also while there, I had an additional brilliant idea.  I was wanting to make a sign for The Redhead's bathroom, and while the idea involved vintage wood pieces, I saw this scrapbook paper, and it hit me...

It's not perfect because I only had two sheets.  And the first time I attempted to use a chalk marker, which is why you see white splotches.  Then I used the second piece of paper, and it didn't fit.  So I tried it on the paper with the white, and although I actually needed smaller stencils, it works.  The Redhead didn't want me to make another one.  I already had the frame, and although that's not a mat, it's just on top of the white, it really works.  I added more splotches to make it appear deliberate. Mister Man thought it was part of the design.  No...but it is now.

Yeah, I have all sorts of projects in the works.