Happy Halloween!

Halloween, the fun tradition of getting candy as you go door to door bothering your neighbors. Personally, I love it. I have been patiently waiting those 9 years in between when I quit trick or treating in high school to when I had a child of my own. Ok you got me, I also begged dorm mates for candy on Halloween. So not quite 9 years. But close enough, an eternity, in fact.

Little did I know though, in our neighborhood, you can apparently go trick or treating well into your grandma/grandpa years, without children. Yes let me repeat that, without children. Only in our good ole neighborhood can you find drunk grandparents going door to door, drinking, and asking for candy. All the while commenting on the greatness of our neighborhood. At least they did dress up and say trick or treat and thank you. If I had only known. Well, at least I will know for when Caedan outgrows trick or treating. It sure beats buying candy.

Hello to Old Friends

Prior to rediscovering Panera, I was a Starbucks junkie. So we got to know the baristas quite well. All the baristas love Caedan. However, one was particularly fond of him. She dubbed him skater boy. He always had a big smile for her. She in return would spoil him with cookies.

One day she wasn't there anymore. We always wondered what happened to her. Well today, skater boy and barista were reunited. She recognized us and came over to say hi. Odd that we form such a relationship at the places we venture to.

What do you get the Panera Lady?

It is no secret that I love Panera. I like to believe that Panera loves me back. Sure, I know they are a chain and have no time for loving a mom in Frederick. However, in my mind they love me and know me by name and order.

As I have written before, all the Panera employees at our home branch are particularly nice to us. However, one lady stands out. She amazes me, in fact. She starts our order while I am in the parking lot. Yup, she spots us in the busy shopping center and starts collecting our order. She has 2 everything bagels in a bag to go, not sliced or toasted. She also places the duet cookie in the bag so that Caedan won't be reaching for it the entire meal. She also has started ringing us up and has my cup waiting. What more could you ask for? She even knows not to mention the word cookie and if we aren't getting bagels she knows to let me grab one and hid it in my purse when a certain toddler isn't looking. Talk about customer service!

How do you repay someone who goes a little beyond their call of duty? So much so as to let other employees know how to ring up our order. Crazy enough, I can't even recall her name. Sure we see her almost everyday, but sadly I never look at name tags. However, we are grateful for the awesome lunch experience she helps achieve for us.

By the way, if you ever read this, can you ask the main Panera man to bring back the Chicken Tomesto sandwich? Fabulous and I miss it.

You can borrow our pumpkin

Today marked another photo shoot for Caedan.  He has gotten pretty used to posing for pictures.  I like to think that he enjoys it.  That might be going too far, but at least he is usually in a good mood.

The beloved Halloween costume pictures.  This year Caedan is a turtle.  Last year he was a dinosaur and a lion.  We started our photo shoot inside.  However, Caedan was pre-occupied by the "steering wheel," he dreamed up out of your standard stroller wheel.  We could not draw him away from this important task long enough for pictures, so outside we went.  

When outside, after taking numerous shots, our neighbors arrived home.  We both mumbled our forced hellos.  The one you say when you can't believe that you had to cross their path again.  Well low and behold - they offered us their pumpkins to borrow, in case we want to pose Caedan with them.  We graciously declined.  All the while, joking how once we had the pumpkins on our property, they would call the cops. 

Deficit by the end of 2009

The HOA just kindly wrote me to let me know that by the end of 2009, there will be a nearly $40,000 deficit.  They are requesting we vote to allow them to raise the HOA fee more than the maximum 5% a year.  

The letter goes on to state that they NEED this money in order to do write-offs and generally keep the community on track with its vendors.  Umm sorry.  We already give you more than enough each month.  I am sorry that other people aren't paying.  But like always, let's ask for more from the people that actually do pay their bills.  No thanks.  Why don't you manage the money better.  Or perhaps, cut out some of the worthless extras.  

Better yet, make the parents of the kids that broke the playground equipment pay for it.  Don't come crying to me that you need more money.  So does everyone.  You need to just deal with the money we give you and and make it work!

When I get some spare time...

I will definitely be catching up on my conspiracies.  Or should I say the world's conspiracies?  

After waiting and waiting for Conspiracy? to record on my DVR, I finally looked at amazon.com.  To my amazement they have the complete series waiting for me to purchase.  It was beckoning and I answered.  

I have already seen the Lincoln episode when it aired on the History Channel.  However, the pack includes three discs of fun.  Some episodes are on conspiracies I didn't even know existed.  This will definitely be a thought provoking event that you won't want to miss.  Too bad Brian doesn't share my passion for history, conspiracies and the unknown.

Car Shopping

Trying to find a car is like trying to find a god hair brush. A number of them will get the job done, but they aren't exactly what you want or need.

Apparently there are supposed to be some really good deals and finds out there. If you see one, please let me know. All we have encountered are overly excited salespeople, who can't give you anything better than $500 off. Well, thanks, but no.

Is it too much to ask? I would like a car that has navigation, cloth, keyless entry, enough leg room, and a pretty interior and exterior. I want a car that feels right! Please?