this n that again

I won a raffle at work yesterday.
It was a big to do to raise money for the activities department.
They raffled off a bunch of donated gift baskets.
I had my eye on "The Scary Basket"..........it was filled with half a dozen horror flicks,
theatre popcorn, and candy........and it's the one I won.
My work friend Chas won the Starbucks Coffee basket. It was his second choice.....he had his eye on the autographed picture of the Bengals coach..........but was happy with the Starbucks.
I'm going to give "The Scary" basket to my sons when they move into their new place. I think they'll like it.
It was a fun day at work yesterday. Chas and I were both slap happy silly........we goofed and laughed a lot.
He reminds me of my friend that passed away awhile back......... it makes my heart ache a little for my old friend......"oh stop it!" is what he would say.......

Random stuff:
I think children from kindergarten on should have their own alarm clock....and should use it......I don't remember ever having to wake my children for school.....they'd get up to their alarm.....never had to "push" them out of the bed in the morning. But I always gave them a morning hug/kiss, and breakfast.........but never any wars about getting out of bed.
I think that by the time a child is in the sixth grade he/she should be reading the newspaper daily.
Children need routine...&.....consistency............... meals at the table with mom and dad........hugs, patience..   play time outside.......parental involvement and love.............and a pet if possible................

My oldest son watched Pinocchio over and over again when he was a child.......he was facinated by that show.....daughter did the same with Jurrasic Park........I can't remember what show middle son watched over and over when he was a child if any.........but I remember when he was a little older he loved Slingblade.....every once in awhile, still, he'll playfully and in a funny muffled/accented like speech  say something like "will you make me some biscuits and mustard?"

Once when the boys were in middle school I took daughter with me to the grocery. I left the boys at home. I forgot to tell them a roofer was stopping by to have a look at the roof. The boys were in their bedroom when they saw a man climb up a ladder past their second floor bedroom window. They called 911. The police held the guy in my yard until I got home to verify his story. Oops!
Another time I called 911 because while going down the basement steps I thought I saw the figure of a man in a dark corner in my basement. It was the Christmas tree with a baseball hat on the top of it.
When I first divorced and the kids would spend the night, or several nights at their dads house I was afraid some of the time to be here alone at night. So I had this reAlly  big stuffed bear. I'd sit him in a kitchen chair at the kitchen table..throw a flannel shirt over his back...even put a baseball hat on the top of his head........and I had a little 4 inch t.v. that I'd sit on the table in front of the bear, turned on....and then I'd crack the kitchen curtain just enough so that if  anyone looked in it would hopefully look like a really big guy was awake in the kitchen watching t.v.  Silly I know but I slept a little easier............When we rented a place early on, a man came in our house, through a window as my husband and the 2 boys slept. I saw him looking in the window at me as I pretended to sleep on the couch. I'd jnust given middle son who was a newborn a bottle. After he looked in the window, while I lay frozen in fear and hadn't yet taken action, he went around to a back window and came in our home. I finally made the decision to fight, woke husband, loaded a gun that we had at the time, and called 911. When husband pointed the gun at the guy, guy ran and jumped head first out the kitchen window......so we had a good ending in that no one was physically hurt....... But I was a little paranoid when at first I was on my own................and that's all. I'll stop rambling now.....