Autumn Catch Up

First off, I would like to send a big welcome and Hello to all of Mrs. B's readers who are visiting my blog today. I hope you enjoy your stay and feel free to peek around in my archives. For those that don't know me, my name is Jessica. I am a 31 year old mom from the great state of Michigan which right now is threatening us residents with the "S" word this week. I won't say it, but I will spell it out for you, S - N - O - W. Just don't say it out loud. Maybe the weatherman will be wrong. I have been married to my soul mate and best friend for almost 13 years now. We have two little heathens of our own, ages 8 and 11, and two black kitties, Inky and Mouser. Oh and mustn't forget our little flock of backyard poultry. We have four chicken hens, three duck hens and one very naughty duck drake.

Now that my little intro is done, on with the blog. I apologize for my little disappearing act. I have been keeping myself quite busy. I have been working at the Halloween USA store, which I love very much. I love helping people with their costumes, deciding on the right accessories, picking out the perfect decorations for their homes, etc. If you want to find a Halloween USA store near you, check the site:

http://www.halloweenusa.com/

These are the costumes I have tried on so far. The costume links aren't from the store I work at. Apparently we need to get a bigger web presence.

Greek Goddess
http://www.halloweenexpress.com/greek-goddess-adult-costume-p-3942.html

Roman Empress
http://www.halloweenmart.com/adult-costumes/roman-greek/Roman-Empress

Snow White
http://www.halloweenexpress.com/snow-white-deluxe-adult-costume-p-18780.html

Velvet Fairy
http://www.halloweenexpress.com/fairy-velvet-adult-costume-p-13527.html

Midnight Mistress
http://www.adultcostumeshop.com.au/contents/en-us/p1057.html

Mr. Inky decided he was done with my very expensive Partylite tea light tree. This translates to the cat tearing through the house for no reason other than feeling like a good sprint and taking a table out on the way through. So I used this as an excuse to get my Halloween Partylite decor out and order more. My friend, Steph, is going to be getting my whole paycheck I swear. Partylite is an addiction I tell you. Here are a few of my favorites.





I pulled my gargoyles out of their hiding spots. For some reason, my camera was not being cooperative so they are a bit fuzzy. I got these two imps a few years ago at Family Dollar for $3.00 each. They are real concrete, not that cheap poly resin material. You could knock someone out cold with one of these guys.





Fall Bounty: Pie Pumpkins, Indian Corn and Eggplant. We had these given to us by a family friend. It has been too cold and much too rainy to be in the pumpkin patch with the kiddos. I am going to tie up the Indian corn with some ribbon and hang it on the front door. We will probably do some painting on the pie pumpkins. The eggplant is for supper one day soon.



This is what our yard looks like right about now. Leaves, leaves and more leaves. Now if it would stop raining for just a few days maybe we could have a raking party.



Lastly, I have been working on Autumn cleaning. Most people do their Spring cleaning but I feel Autumn is a great time for it too. Halloween marks the turning of the year in some beliefs and cultures, the new year. What a better way to mark this change than to clear out some clutter?

I am not comfortable sharing photos of how bad my clutter was but let me tell you I have a severe case of hoarding when it comes to paperwork. Maybe procrastination is a better word choice. It isn't that I want to keep the stuff. It is more often that I just put it aside to deal with later and then keep shuffling it until it is lost in the chaos with other papers. Then weeks down the road, or months in some cases, it is found again. These are the lessons I am learning from this years Autumn Cleansing. I am finally learning to organize our very small living face more efficiently. I am learning to let go of things I thought I would use but still haven't touched in months or longer (not counting my Halloween goodies, of course). Most of all I have been working on getting this bad hoarding/procrastination habit under control. It's a tough process but it is moving along.

What are you all doing for the Autumn season?

~Jessica~