I’M A FREAKIN’ TEXAN!
GRANTED, I CAN’T MOVE & HAVE POOR CIRCULATION, BUT I USED 2 MAKE IT TO 50 DEGREES B4 I GOT COLD-NOW IT’S 70 DEGRES! (AROUND 71 DEGREES!) AGAIN ,I SAY, I’M A FREAKIN’ TEXAN!
FRI. WE WENT 2 TRUNK OR TREAT AT CHURCH AGAIN. THERE WAS NO FISHING OFF THE BACK OF THE TRUCK THIS YEAR, BUT 1 VAN ‘RAN OVER’ SOME1 & HAD A CSI THEME. I GUESS THAT WAS LIKED, BECAUSE THE NEXT VAN PUT NOT JUST PANTS, BUT A REAL PERSON UNDER THEIR VAN! TURN-OUT WAS AMAZING (100 KIDS?). IT WAS WINDY, BUT I LASTED IN MY COSTUME ALONE UNTIL THE SUN WENT DOWN & IT WAS ABOUT 66 DEGREES. i came prepared w/a blanket & shawl! LOL & FIA, SITTING ON MY LAP, MAKES ME WARMER. STILL, I ENDURED ENOUGH COLD & A RUNNY NOSE, SO I OPTED 2 NOT TRICK OR TREAT ON THE ACTUAL HOLIDAY.
AS 4 COSTUMES, FIA WAS ARIEL (& COULD SING ARIEL SONGS-SHE PRACTICED!), JESS & ZACH WERE FROM LORD OF THE RINGS-JESS WAS ARWEN & ZACH A RING WRATH, MARK A COWBOY, & I WAS NOT JUST ANY CHEERLEADER, AS MANY THOUGHT, BUT I WAS SANDRA DEE FROM GREASE.
I LOVE THE MOVIE GREASE-DID U NOTICE THE “R” 4 RYDELL HIGH?- & HAVE BEEN JOKED SINCE HIGH SCHOOL I WAS SANDRA DEE (OLIVIA NEWTON JOHN) ; BECAUSE I LOOKED LIKE HER & MY HAIR WAS STRAIGHT IN THE DAY, BUT CURLY, LIKE HERS, WHEN I PERFORMED AT NIGHT!
HOWEVER, MARK POINTED OUT HOW I WAS LIKE THE C SUPERHERO CHEERLEADER WHO COULDN’T DIE FROM THE TV SHOW “HEROS.” HAVE U SEEN HERO? IF SO, IT’D MAKE MORE SENSE. THERE WAS A SMALL CHANCE I’D LIVE FROM MY STROKE, SO I FOUND THAT HILARIOUS, & WHENEVER THE SHOW’S PHRASE, “SAVE the Cheerleader–Save the world!”, WAS WHISPERED, I DIED LAUGHING!
AT CHURCH ON WED., I MEET THE 8 & 9 YR. OLD GIRLS 2X/MONTH. WE FOCUSED ON MANNERS & COURTESY THIS TIME. LET ME SHARE A FEW THINGS CONCERNING MANNERS & DISABLED/HANDICAPPED/ETC:
–The biggest courtesy is to not avoid a person who is different. It is a Little awkward at first, but those who do not have experience with people with disabilities will never feel comfortable until they just leave their comfort zone.
–AS A CARETAKER, MARK RAISED A GOOD POINT:
I dislike strangers approaching people with an obvious disability in public to satisfy their curiosity about why a person is in a wheel chair, blind, deaf, or whatever. How is that helpful to ask someone something so sensative in a public place, or from a stranger? SAY I’M IN THE MALL. I MAY NEED SOMETHING MOVED 2 MANUVER, BUT NO1 IN MY FAMILY SHOULD BE ASKED WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME. I SHOULD NOT BE STARED AT EITHER LIKE A CIRCUS FREAK!
–BE COURTEOUS & THOUGHTFUL-OPEN DOORS, ETC.
— WHEN C-ING A SHOW OR SOMETHING, DON’T STAND IN FRONT OF THEM.
—DON’T “BABY TALK,” TALK SLOW, OR TALK LOUD. REMEMBER, IT IS A COMMON MISTAKE 2 SIGN 2 ME–ASL is so they can understand me., NOT SO THEY CAN SIGN TO ME-IT IS A COMMON MISCONCEPTION!
—BE PATIENT—DISABLED R SLOW & OFTEN MAKE MISTAKES.
–Do not assume they can not participate in daily living activities because they have a disability.
–Ask before helping.
–FROM MARK, WHICH I LEFT IN, BECAUSE PASSENGERS IN A VEHICLE CAN COMMUNICATE THIS 2 DRIVERS: Do not park “momentarily” in handicapped spots- tons do this.
CAN I POST A PERSONAL COMPLAINT? I’M OFTEN ASKED ?S THEN PEOPLE RUN 2 MARK, MEANING WELL & BEING NICE, BUT I END UP DEALING W/THE MISCONCEPTION & APEARING 2 HAVE ‘CRIED WOLF.’ 4 EX., I CAN BE ASKED IF I’M COLD. MOST ANYTIME, IF I FEEL A CHILL — WHICH IS THE MAJORITY, I SIGN ‘SORT-OF.’ THIS DOES NOT MEAN I WANT A COAT! MY KIDS HAVE LEARNED THE ART OF ASKING ME THE RT. ?S & NOT ASSUMING EVEN THE ‘OBVIOUS’! WHEN I WANTED A COAT, I GOT 1, THANKS 2 THE HELP OF AN OBSERVANT SISTER-IN-LAW (SIL).
JENNY LYNN'S NEWS 
I loved your costumes – and thanks for explaining the details about them. It has been a long time since I saw ‘Grease’ and I’d forgotten a lot about it.
I REALLY appreciated the points you made about dealing with people with ‘handicaps’ (as though we don’t ALL have handicaps – some are just visible). My observation has been that it just takes some time to think through what you observe. As for public asking ? that are none of their business, I remember once stopping someone in a cafe to ask him how tall he was and he explained the same thing to me. As if I shouldn’t have already known. People used to stop me and ask me if ‘All those kids’ were mine.Or they’d say things like ‘You must be Mormon or Catholic’ to have that many kids. (This was when I only had 5 little ones I’d take places with me.) Anyway, thanks for the information – it is good for all of us to review how we approach others.
Glad you had a good Halloween! Thanks for sharing it with us. Love, Aunt LA and Uncle Dee
Wow, your Trunk-or-Treat sounds like a ton of fun! Ours was sooo cold that night! Naturally none of my kids listened to me, what does Mom know, after all? And they all froze! When they went out trick-or-treating later, they all wore coats! It looks like you Texans sure take Trunk-or-Treat a lot more seriously than we do! Glad you had so much fun.
Lynne Hurley