Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Halloween at Martial Arts Moms' House...

Our family and friends REALLY get into Halloween. We decorate our yard elaborately, (I'll post those photos tomorrow.) The adults dress up and scare the older kids, along with a few adults. (See our friend Bubba in photos below. I, the resident Master Makeup Artist, outdid myself this year. His entire head was silver with black accents and an "eye" in the back of his head where he has this particularly weird "knob" of skin. Again, see photos below).





Bubba - The Front View - Make Up by Martial Arts Mom


Bubba - The Top View - Cool Gothic Cross




Bubba - The Eye In the Back of His Head



The fortune teller below is me - the red eyes not contacts but because my daughter got a bit close with the flash, but the effect is pretty cool anyway.) I was a bit down on myself for being a blonde gypsy but a friend paid me a high compliment and said I looked like Nancy Wilson of Heart. Don't I wish???


We block off our street on the Halloweens which fall on weekends and make a sort of block party of it, serve free chili & its counterparts at our house, chicken wings acros the street, coffee and hot choclate.
But anyway, we went to get our pumpkin the other night and settled on a HUGE one - like a 40 lb one. My 11 yo son "Buddy" wanted to carve Ray Mysterio's mask into it but a really cool "ghoul" design template was included in the carving kit and he agreed to that instead. Well, because our pumpkin was so huge, the template was too small. So, using the template, I freehanded it larger onto our mass of orange pulp.

Well, Hubby carved it, we lit it and went out to the street to see how it looked from the street, Buddy yelled, "It looks like obama!" Now here's where my political views become perfectly clear. I groaned, "Oh, shit!" I decided that I'm going to make a flourescent sign that will sit right next to the jack-o-lantern that says, "Now THIS is REALLY Scary!" Unfortunately, the photo turned out too blurry to post.

Am I the only one who finds irony in the fact we were carving a "ghoul" and it looks like obama?

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

R.I.P. - My Tank - The Ford Explorer Sport That Saved My LIfe!

This is my "Tank"...my "Baby"...May she rest in peace! The good news though - I'm above dirt! And even better news - I'm "adopting" her older sister, the EXACT same vehicle except she is one year older but with less miles, she has a sunroof, a kickin' stereo, 4WD and a tow package. Since she will be the older sister who has it all, I think I'll name her "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia"! Photos to come of her once the adoption process is complete!

Above: Passenger Side Front
Above: Passenger Side Front

Above: Driver's Side Front
(First impact - the concrete median)



Above: Front View of the Tank


Above: My view after last impact
- except the view is upright in this photo.







Friday, October 16, 2009

How NOT to Celebrate Sammy Hagar's Birthday!

I was in a major car accident Tuesday night on my way home from work.
It is a HUGE blessing that I walked out of it alive with only a bruised lung and bruised sternum, plus a few other bruises and soreness. Not a cut on me though, despite the windshield and passenger side windows imploding.
After hitting the slick spot, I turned into the swerve like you are supposed to, keeping my cool. But I started hydroplaning, did two 360's and flipped my car after I hit a slick patch and hit the concrete median head on, went airborn and the car landed flat on the passenger side. Didn't think I had hit my head, but both airbags deployed and smoke filled the car. I kind of wish I had lost conciousness as it was super scary spinning like that, seeing that concrete wall coming at me, thinking I was a goner. After I hit the concrete median, I went straight up in the air, was looking at the sky thinking that was my preview of heaven, then landing flat on the passenger side. Scariest thing I've ever experienced in my life!
When I came to a stop, I realized my chest hurt but other than that, I seemed okay. Again, suprising no one more than me, I remained calm but realized I needed to get out of there - with all the smoke, I was afraid the car might catch fire. I tried to release my seat belt but couldn't find the release (not realizing it was behind me because I was hanging from it). So, I was having a hard time breathing because of all the smoke (which turned out to be carbon fibers from the airbags) so I turned my attention to hoping the power window would open so I could breathe again. I thought for a second that the electrical probably was shot and it wouldn't open, but said a little prayer that it would and it did! I opened the window above me and it worked so I could breathe again, then figured out how to unfasten my belt climbed out, realizing since I was hanging from it that the release was behind me, not to my right as it normally would be. (My large console saved me from falling all the way down tot the ground...I'll never curse it again if they don't total my car!)
Two men helped me but you should have seen the faces of the cars passing by - their jaws just dropped seeing me climbing out of there of mostly my own volition. The second man said he'd stay with me until the ambulance got there. We talked. I looked at my car and in a defeated voice, told the man that now I didn't know what I was going to do - I was on my way to pay my electric bill so they wouldnt' shut it off (money is VERY tight since hubby and I got back together trying to catch up.) and now I didn't have a car either. After the EMTs arrived, the man came up to me and handed me a $100 bill and told me to go pay my electric bill and disappeared despite my insistance that I couldn't accept it. I didn't even get his name or anything. What an angel!
The EMTs checked me out and said I looked okay - that I could go to the ER if I thought I needed to, but when asked if I was their mom or sister, would they think I was okay to go home and just go if I felt something was wrong. They said they felt I had a bruised chest and lung, that other than that, I seemed fine and that I'd be extremely sore for a few days but that I should be okay. They told me if I felt like something was not right, to go to ER.
So, The first two days were the worst soreness. Not quite 72 hrs later, I'm still very sore today...okay, make that VERY sore today, and new bruises keep turning up in places I didn't even realize had taken any impact, but I'm alive!. Scariest thing I've ever been thru in my life. It is a true miracle that I am alive.
Boy, after my "almost divorce" and reconciliation, and now this, I've had one heckuva year, haven't I?
Take it from a Sammy Hagar Fanatic, this was NOT the way to celebrate Sammy's birthday!

Friday, October 9, 2009

Are Hooter's Hot Wings Really THAT Good?

Seriously - I really want to know. Are the hot wings at Hooter's really THAT good?
Or are they just average, with the main attraction being the Hooter's girls who serve those hot wings?
I think I know the answer.
My husband and I have been debating this for years. I've never been there but of course, he has. I have always resisted going there because:
1. I don't really care for hot wings in general, and
2. Even though my "hooters" would stand up to any of the Hooter's girls', any woman who has even a shred of an inferiority complex would be intimidated by those young, perky waitresses. (Okay, maybe "stand up" is not the most accurate term here, but gimme a good push up bra and it becomes applicable! I know TMI.)
Hubby and I have had many lively debates regarding this, always prompted by a commercial on the radio, a billboard, or passing by one of the restaurants. He insists that their chicken wings are great. He has recently added that they have great burgers to his argument. (He knows I love me a good burger.) I maintain their food is probably okay, but that guys just want to oogle the Hooter's girls and that is the main draw to Hooter's. I have prodded, "Okay, if the wings are so great, I'll go get "to go" and bring them home to eat...Will they be just as good then?" Hubby giggles and doesn't really have a defense for that one.
Whatever the case, I have resigned myself to being a "Hooter's Girl" for the day. More just to fuel the fun we have debating this issue than anything else, I got a copykat recipe for Hooter's hot wings and dipping sauce from the internet and am going to attempt to make them tonight for dinner. I won't be wearing a Hooter's tshirt or short shorts. I'll probably be wearing jeans and nice low v-neck tshirt (complete with my best push up bra!) so he'll get some of the effect anyway! Hey, you have to work with what you got...Let's just say that I NEVER wear turtlenecks!
I'll let you know if his argument for the awesome Hooter's wings stands up in Martial Arts Mom's court...