Halloween

I hosted a party for a bunch of adults and kids at my parent's house. SO glad it didn't end up raining, although we thought it was going to. I even rushed around that afternoon preparing stuff for inside in case it did rain.
Games, signs, food, decorations. Parties are great!
Maybe we'll have one almost every month now...

And your name shall be Squishy . . .

I have nicknames - probably more than I can remember (I obviously have memory issues).
But I don't remember how I got most of them. Or who gave them to me. Or what happened that I would get such a name.
Most of them are pretty obvious, but some of them have personal meaning behind them, but I cannot - for the life of me - remember what the story behind them happens to be.

Steph - obviously just a shortening of it
Step-on-me - Thanks, FullHouse for coming up with such a cruel name.
RefrigerAder - Not sure where she got it, but a good friend of mine uses it sometimes.
GatorAde - Again, not sure why this girl started it - perhaps has part of my last name in it?
MovieStar - got when I was younger perhaps because I was supposed to be a movie star
Monster - I don't remember this story (but he got me a Monster drink to show me...haha)
AderHater - they rhymed and he said I was a hater - but we all know I'm not (all the time).
Goober - well, this is just a name used for everyone....ha!

I've also been called Mom, Grandma (apparently they can't keep our names straight), the occasional 'cruel' word my friends and I would yell at each other in jest, and there were probably a lot of others as well. And probably names that were used behind my back to talk about me. Ha!
So - do you have a nickname for me? What are your nicknames?

Leaving

All of these soldiers getting deployed makes me sad.
My brother went years ago - at the first of the war. It was sad, it was scary, but he returned home safe and alive. Thank heavens!!
I know even more people leaving or friends who's husbands are leaving. I hate it.
Why? Why do you have to leave? Why do they keep sending more troops?
Why can't they stay home and be safe?

Good luck, soldiers. We love you and appreciate you!!

And oh - how I wish they wouldn't have to keep going...
Come home safely!!

Drive-Thru Window

We have a window in the kitchen that has no screen that opens out conveniently onto the back porch. It's been very handy when having backyard cook-outs and such.

We've even used it as a 'Drive-Thru Window'.

Tonite's conversation:

"What kind of cookie would you like - with or without chocolate?"

"Both, please!"

"And for you?"

"Both, please. And do you have a restroom in there I can use??"

hahahahaha - silly boys!!

From a Distance

A song that Bette Midler sings. I've sung it for years and hadn't really thought truly about what it was saying....

From a distance, there is harmony, and it echoes through the land. It's the voice of hope, it's the voice of peace, it's the voice of every man.
From a distance we all have enough, and no one is in need. And there are no guns, no bombs, and no disease, no hungry mouths to feed

Such words makes me feel like the world is great and wonderful. It's truly Heaven on Earth. But then the song says that:

God is watching us. God is watching us.

Of course God is watching us.

God is watching us from a distance.

If God is watching us from a distance, then wouldn't that be saying that He's seeing us as stated above. That from a distance everything is great, grand and wonderful. I am pretty sure that the song is truly saying that God is watching from a distance, so to Him, everything seems great and He does not interfere, He does not listen, and He does not help. That is a terribly sad thing to think.
The song still sounds pretty and I will still sing it, but I do not believe it. I do not believe that God only watches things from a distance. I believe that God loves us and absolutely knows what's going on - firsthand, not from a distance.