Dazed and Confused

Ok, so I don't really get Halloween anymore.
I understood Halloween when it was like this:

And I understood Halloween when it was like this:

I still understood it when it was like this, too:

But somewhere between this:

and this:

I got lost.  Baffled.  Confounded.  Muddled.  Perplexed.  Puzzled.  I just don't get it.
When did Halloween become so inappropriate?  So tasteless?  So... slutty?

When did the goal of Halloween become to show as much skin as humanly possible without being naked?  What happened to good old-fashioned creativity and a little homegrown ingenuity? 

I haven't dressed up for Halloween since college, and, being that I was never a big Halloween fanatic anyway, I haven't really missed donning a thrown-together costume and swilling down hunch-punch at some equally thrown-together house party.  Call me old-fashioned (or just old, if you like), but I've moved on.  (Let's be quite honest, the part of Halloween that gets me is this:)

I don't mean to sound harsh, but I just don't understand.  In all honesty, I just don't get it.
I mean, honestly, do nurses really dress like this:

Does a police officer go out in her cruiser dressed like this:

I work in a school.  How often do I see anyone dressed like this:

And, seriously, could Pochahontas have canoed all over creation (not to mention painted with all the colors of the wind) wearing only this:

It baffles me.
And not to mention the message it's sending to younger kids, who want to look grown up and dress like they see older people dressing.  (My job now creeps into every facet of my life... it's a knee-jerk reaction I have no control over.)

What's so wrong with dressing like this:

Or even this:

I know, I know... I'm 100 years old.  I can't help it.  It'd be fine with me if everyone created their Halloween costumes from objects lying around their houses--creating masterpieces out of cardboard boxes and pipe-cleaners, but I know (sadly) that's not the way of the world these days.

On a happier note, I'm so excited to see the Bulldogs play today!  I can't wait to see them take on Kentucky tonight, and I cannot believe how pumped up everyone is.  I'll leave you with this video someone put together in preparation for the game tonight.  Go Dogs!!



Happy Halloween!  (I'm not really sour, you know, just an old soul.)

Weekend Update

So, before you say anything...
I know I've been slacking big time lately in the blog department. 
Can I blame the insanity that is work and school 100%?  I hope so... because I am.
Work is absolutely nuts most days and every day is a new adventure, but I really like what I'm doing, and I love the people I'm doing it with.  I'm beyond blessed by all of the wonderful people who have entered my life during the past thirteen weeks (thirteen weeks... how nuts is that?!), and I'm so thankful for their guidance, wisdom, and influence.
This past Friday I took my master's comp exam.  I'm not going to pretend I aced it; I'm not even going to pretend it was remotely easy.  It was quite the opposite, actually.  In other words, it was really, really hard.  In fact, it might have been the hardest test I've ever taken to date, but, you know what?  Lord willing I passed, and it's over.
Friday night Lindsey and I went to downtown Columbus' Ghosts & Legends tour.  It was admittedly cheesy, but it was a good time and a new and different look at my hometown (which is not easy to come by in a place I've lived for almost twenty-six years).  It was great to get to hang out with Lindsey and a fun night all around.

Saturday I spent the day/night in Starkville tailgating and cheering on the Bulldogs.  Did I hear someone say bowl eligible??  I couldn't be more excited about our postseason possiblities, and, although Saturday night's game wasn't pretty, I'm always excited to add another 'W'.  I had the greatest, most relaxing day, and it was so great to be able to enjoy such a leisurely Saturday in one of my most favorite places in the world.

I've got another busy week this week, but I'm excited to be back in Starkville Saturday to see the Bulldogs take on Kentucky.  I'm hoping we can keep this winning streak going, and I'm excited to hang out with so many of my favorites again, too.
Oh, and how could I forget to mention my favorite new thing in my life...

Fro-yo has arrived in Starkville!!  As you may know, I have been a little obsessed with the frozen yogurt phenom since my Spring Break trip to Dallas.  Therefore, ever since I first heard of Starkville's very own yogurt store opening, I couldn't wait for that great day.  And now it's come!  Local Culture opened Thursday, I've already been twice, and I love it so much already.  I'm so thrilled that fro-yo is making a comeback.

The Winds of Autumn

Today is the first day of fall.  Although it doesn't feel like it here (according to my car, it was a sweltering steamy 98 degrees when I left work this afternoon), it's starting to look a little bit like autumn, and there's a tease of the changing season in the morning air.  In tribute to all the good things that come along with this my favorite time of the year, I thought I'd kick off the season with, of course, a list.  (Y'all know they're my favorite.)
101 Things to Love about Fall

"I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house, so I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air."--Nathaniel Hawthorne

1.  Cardigans
2.  Scarecrows
3.  Flannel sheets
4.  Reese's peanut butter pumpkins
5.  Apple cider
6.  Bales of hay
7.  Class reunions
8.  Trick-or-treating
9.  Pumpkins

10.  Cinnamon

11.  Chili

12.  Indian summer

13.  Pumpkin patches

14.  Your favorite old worn blanket

15.  Turtlenecks

16.  Caramel apples

17.  Carving pumpkins

18.  Beautiful sunsets

19.  Passing houses decorated with pumpkins and mums

20.  Suede

21.  Halloween
22.  Harvest moon

23.  Halloween parties

24.  Pretty fields ready to be harvested

25.  Cornfield mazes

"Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile."--William Cullen Bryant

26.  College football

27.  Huddling under a blanket at football games

28.  Candy corn

29.  Tailgating

30.  Ghost stories

31.  Haunted houses

32.  Cool weather

33.  Halloween candy

34.  The warmth and comfort of home

35.  New fall TV

36.  Tailgate food

37.  Rosy cheeks

38.  Leaves changing

39.  Sweaters

40.  Rainy afternoons

41.  Smell of burning leaves

42.  Corduroy

43.  Raking leaves

44.  Bonfires
45.  Boots
46.  Fall weddings

47.  High school football

48.  Scarves

49.  Cozy socks

50.  Fall mums

"Change is a measure of time and, in the autumn, time seems speeded up.  What was is not and never again will be; what is, is change."--Edwin Way Teale

51.  Warm pajamas

52.  Wind blowing the leaves

53.  Jumping into a big pile of leaves

54.  Bourbon

55.  Neil Diamond's September Morn

56.  Building the first fire

57.  Driving with the windows down

58.  James Taylor's October Road

59.  Hot chocolate

60.  Sleeping with the windows up

61.  Rosemary Clooney's Shine on Harvest Moon

62.  Burning candles that just smell like fall

63.  Argyle

64.  The juxtaposition of life and death

65.  Cowboy boots

66.  Dark nail polish

67.  Hearty foods

68.  Hayrides

69.  Cool mornings turning to warm afternoons

70.  Decorating for Halloween

71.  New school supplies

72.  Apples

73.  Cold fingers and noses

74.  Fall colors:  orange, red, rellow, and brown

75.  Walking through crunching leaves

"Deep inside, we're still the boys of autumn, that magic time of the year that once swept us onto America's fields."--Archie Manning

76.  Nutmeg

77.  Shorter days

78.  Letter jackets

79.  Bobbing for apples

80.  Thanksgiving

81.  Pep rallies

82.  Mini pumpkins

83.  Gourds

84.  Scary movies

85.  Wool coats

86.  Indian corn

87.  Fall festivals

88.  New fall clothes

89.  Homecoming

90.  It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

91.  Remember the Titans

92.  Pumpkin pie

93.  Hocus Pocus

94.  Walks in the woods

95.  Tomato soup and grilled cheese

96.  Reading outside on a fall afternoon

97.  Holidays

98.  Long-sleeved t-shirts

99.  Harvest

100.  Apple pie

101.  Rogue cotton on the side of the road

"The acoustics of this season are different and all sounds, no matter how hushed, are as crisp as autumn air."--Eric Sloane

Happy first day of fall!!