What will you be for Halloween? Do you remember how exciting that question used to be? I think my favorite Halloween was when I was a nurse. Now I'm a little too old to do the Trick or Treat thing, but I think I'll get into costume anyway. Just imagine - I could be anything. My humdum funk of life would be exciting, romantic, wild, crazy, and adventurous just for one night!

I think I'll dress up as a ghost first. I would love to be invisible for 24 hours. No more "Honey, where did YOU put MY keys?" (does anyone else get this?) or "Hey, Mom, can you run to the bank for me today?" No more "Can you come in to the office early today?" or "Can you babysit for us?" I'd just do whatever I wanted to do. Twenty-four blissful, relaxed hours for just me. Ahhhh - I can barely imagine.

Or how about dressing up like a princess. I'd be whisked off to my castle where my beloved Prince would go off to his princely duties and leave me in my gold and satin trimmed room. I would spend hours adjusting my crown encrusted with sparkling diamonds. Then, I would comb my three yard long golden tresses and try on all my sparkly, gold, lacy dresses that keep me from doing anything that looks like work. I would read, pet my cats, eat fudge and stay skinny. I would take long luxurious naps in my comfortable garden, visit with my princess friends, and take one whoppin' Princess Shopping Trip!!! Ahhhh.

I might dress up like a writer. I'm not sure what to put on though - do you know? I am a writer in a way. I mean, I try. But, I want to be a "real writer" for a day. One that hides away in a cute cabin overlooking the ocean, surrounded by nothing but silence, classic books, oodles of contemporary novels, and new pens that never get lost. Oh, and a new laptop, of course. I would put my feet up and go to town working on that exciting novel that my publisher is begging me to write. My fan mail would arrive in a large cart once a day and I would read a few and smile - and then write on. I would never cook in my cabin. Instead, a maid would come once a day to clean up my little messes and fix me plates of cold finger foods to eat from all day long. Cheese, chocolate, crackers, exotic fish, cookies, and cakes and fruits. Oprah would be trying to call me but I would be too busy writing to answer. Oh yeah.

I have a feeling Halloween will find me right where I am as I write this - stuck to my old computer chair, in a quaint office with piles of papers and unfinished work laying everywhere. But, it sure is fun to dress up!! What are you going to be this Halloween??

I think every month I think up a new tool I "must have" to help me make my finest scrapbook page yet. You know what I mean? I bet you do it too. A new gel pen, a die cut, a sticker page, a template, a cutting edge - limitless. I know there is some man that must sit in a room all day thinking of new tools to invent so that we will just have to have it and scoop out the necessary dollars to purchase it.

So - let's take a moment and share our favorite scrapbooking tool. The one you can't leave home without? Or just have to purchase and put in your "toolkit"? Scrapbook season is upon us as the days get cooler and nights grow longer. It's a great time to invest in those tools. And share it here with us so we can get one too.

I am wedged uncomfortably in between my one year old grandson and my 21 year old son and I don't like it! And I figured that if I'm wedged, someone else is bound to be wedged as well. What am I wedged between? Let me explain.

My little grandson is turning one this month and he's such a busy boy. He never sits still and when he is up on his feet, he is going ninety-to-nuthin'! Yesterday, here at my house, he was laughing and teasing my mom and myself and in the rush of it all, he ran smack-dab into a wooden chair. Ouch ouch. He cut his eyebrow but not bad enough for stitches, thank heavens. He is now proudly sporting a black eye and swollen eyebrow area. It is so tough to watch him, this very busy little boy who is exploring, running, learning, laughing, and then - whammy - he falls or runs into something. Invariably so. It just makes my stomach cramp to watch him! I want to put him in a bubble to keep him safe. And, speaking of bubbles -

there's our 21 year old son who rides fast motorcycles for thrills and chills. I haven't ever watched him trick ride. But, I've seen photos and heard the gruesome stories. This boy was very busy when he was small too. And loud. You sure didn't have to wonder where he was. Follow the voice and a trail of blood and sure enough, there you'd find him, beat up, banged up, but happy as can be. I purchased a few boxes of butterfly band aids back in the day and called it good. I don't think a butterfly sutures would hold much together now though. If he crashes that large motorcycle at a fast rate of speed - well, I never want to know. I long to put him in a bubble to keep him safe.

How can these boys, two decades apart in age, be so alike? And how can I, mother, then grandmother, remain the same over the years, unchanged, terrorized by their lack of safety, their unruly nerves? If you get lucky and find a double bubble, please send it my way! I have two little accidents-waiting-to-happen with very little in common except for their need for speed and butterfly sutures. And for a mom/grandma who adores them and closes her eyes every time they whiz past.