Tag: halloween

Halloween Allergy Free Candy

On By Michel McDonaldIn HalloweenLeave a comment

halloween candy sign
Halloween is a fun time of year for children and adults alike. It’s the time when you can role play and be someone you are not. It’s fun, yes? I think so.

It’s not fun when a child comes home from a long night of door-to-door begging for candy (let’s call a spade a spade), only to find out they can’t eat 3/4 of the candy they collected because they have food allergies. And yes, food allergies are real. I am lactose intolerant which means no milk chocolate. I won’t die, I’ll just fart until no one wants to be around me, even me. Oh and it causes stomach cramps. Have you seen what happens to children with peanut allergies? Imagine having to tell your child that all their efforts were for nothing, because if they eat the candy they collected, they might die.

At first when I saw this sign on the Today Show website, I was like most people who probably think this is just too much PC bullcrap being shoved down people’s throats. But then I started thinking about how legit the allergies really are, and I put myself in my little 2 to 10 year old shoes and thought how I would have felt all those years ago if I were told I couldn’t eat any of the candy. I would have been devastated. So instead of thinking about how PC this sign is and start thinking how the children might feel. Also, that candy that you spent a lot of money is just going to go into the trash, so you’ve wasted money on candy that will never be eaten.

Now, I don’t agree with everything on the list, like come on, carrots? Raisins? Really? No child wants dried fruit or vegetables. I mean come on people. And if you hand out apples or oranges to kids, their parents are just going to throw them in the trash, and you have a huge chance of your house being decorated with toilet paper.

There are a few things on the list that I used to love to get as a child, and that is Necco Wafers, Smarties, Life Savers and Lemon Drops. And if you really want to hand out chocolate candy with or without peanuts, why not do both? Why not put a sign on the door saying you have dairy free, peanut free, and gluten free candy as well as regular candy? That way the parents of children with allergies will know which house to go to, and they can tell you that their child has the food allergies so they know which bowl of candy to grab. It’s not that difficult.

I did the Today Show Halloween Candy Poll and was shocked by the lack of empathy of Today Show viewers and website readers.

Today Show Halloween Candy PollIt never occurred to me before reading this article that there might be a child out there with food allergies. I know there are children out there who were born diabetic, so I am sure those parents don’t even introduce them to Halloween because the candy could literally kill them if they ate too much sugar. Or maybe those parents bring their child to a Halloween party where they know the candy is sugar free.

Hey, speaking of a Halloween party, why couldn’t the parents who have children with food allergies just throw a kick ass haunted house and Halloween party with allergy free candy that all children could enjoy? This way the kids can still go home with a bag full of candy that they can eat, and they will have a fun memory of the party they went to. I seem to recall going to a Halloween party or two as a child where I never even went home with a bag full of candy. I remember bobbing for apples and playing games, and it was fun. I think this is the ultimate solution to this problem. Don’t you?

Halloween Whopper Discontinued???

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

bk-halloween-whopper5b25dWe went to Burger King a few days ago and they had a sign on the door saying they were out of the black buns for the Halloween Whopper. They told us they would get more buns that evening, but of course we didn’t go back. Today we went back to the doctor’s office to get my blood drawn, and decided we’d try again for the Halloween Whopper. They had a new sign on the same door saying the Halloween Whopper was discontinued.

WHAT? DISCONTINUED? Ok, that’s a bit dramatic lol.

We went in and I asked the woman at the register what the delio was. She told me that they only allowed 1 pallet of buns per delivery, and they only get their delivery twice a week. How can they possibly expect to sell any Halloween Whoppers with only 2 pallet of buns per week? I would imagine that if Burger King spent, and this is just a wild guess, millions of dollars in advertising, that they would have enough black buns for every Burger King per delivery. How is it possible that they could run a million dollar promotion, and not have enough product? It just seems like a bad business practice.

I heard about the buns causing people to have green poop anyway. Just think of it as green slime, like you know, from Ghostbusters. Slimer has invaded your stomach and is causing you to poop green lol. I’m sure it’s from whatever dye they put in the buns. I’m not sure the A1 would cause green poop, but then again I hardly ever eat A1. I haven’t actually had it since I was a child because it’s nasty.

My partner decided since they didn’t have the Halloween Whopper that he would have a Big Fish sandwich. I decided that I wanted a Whopper since the Big Fish from the other day left a brick in my stomach. The regular Whopper was awesome, so I didn’t really miss the black bun aka green poop.

After that I went straight to the gym. If I’m going to eat unhealthy food, I have to burn off the calories.

Weight Gain

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cycling, Diet, Food, Noom, Pain, WeightLeave a comment

WeightGain

We went to the doctor’s office today so I could get my clearance note for surgery to remove my parotid gland.  They had me step on the scale and I was shocked to see that I was 205lbs.  So yeah, I’m a bit verklempt lol.

One of my issues with exercising is that when I walk or ride my bike or do anything that burns calories, the Noom app tells me that I can eat more calories, so I end up eating those extra calories, but then I might even go over those extra calories because I think to myself that I did such a good job that it’s okay.  Well, that’s not how it works.  I should still stick with 1400 calories, 1500 at the most.  Even if it says I can eat 1700, I should draw the line in the sand at 1500.

I’ve been using the Noom app for my cardio, but I decided to download the Noom Cardio Trainer.  I’m sure that it will still show the extra calories in the Noom app, but I just want to see how it goes with the Noom Cardio Trainer.

I’ve been eating those Quinoa and Tofu burgers every day with hamburger buns which is not a good idea; I should be eating them without any bread.  Here is my typical day:

Every morning I will either have a bowl of Malt-O-Meal or a banana for breakfast, which by the way the Malt-O-Meal is a green food (which means healthy) and the banana is obviously a green food.  For my morning snack (second breakfast?) I usually have a banana.  For lunch I normally eat a Weight Watchers Smart Ones frozen dinner, although I’ve been eating the Quinoa and Tofu burgers, both by the way are green, except for the bun of course.  Afternoon snack (linner?) is typically a banana or crackers or sometimes I will have a bowl of broccoli.  That has been consistent.  Dinner is typically a Weight Watchers Smart Ones, but I’ve been eating the Quinoa and Tofu Burgers.  For evening snack I’ve been eating a lot of crackers.  I need to stop doing that, but I get so hungry that it feels like I’m famished.

I’m assuming that my issue here is the bread and the crackers.  I also have to admit that I’ve been eating candy corn, but not daily.  I’m guessing that the amount that I’ve eaten so far is finally catching up to me, so I will stop eating them for the rest of the season.  If I am having this much difficulty from the candy corn, just imagine how it’s going to be when Eggnog is available in stores.  I’m going to go crazy because I just LOVE eggnog lol.

So getting back to the Noom cardio trainer, I have set up 5 days a week to go riding on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.  I’m going to go out 5 days a week to do at least 11 miles per day, if I can do more, then great, but I’m not going to push myself that hard.  The app suggests 5 days a week, so I’m giving myself 2 days off, but not 2 consecutive days which is why I chose Sundays and Wednesdays as my days off.

balance ballI am also going to buy that Gaiam Total Body Balance Ball Kit which is sold on Amazon for $20.  It has an exercise DVD with it which I can watch while doing the exercises in my bedroom.  The doctor at Physical Therapy told me I should buy one so I can do exercises for my back since I only have 3 more sessions left.  My insurance only pays for so many sessions, then I’m on my own.  My back isn’t in as much pain as it was, but anyone who has, or anyone who knows anyone with scoliosis knows that the pain is really bad.  The only thing that really helps my pain is the exercises.  Pain meds don’t do anything for my back pain, they help my parotid gland pain, but not my back pain.  $20 is a small price to pay for pain relief.  I wanted to buy one at Target, but they were the same price, but without the DVD.

I really hope I can get back down to my comfortable weight of 192lbs and possibly get back on track with my weight loss so I can get down to my ultimate goal of 170lbs.  Considering I lost 70lbs this year, 35lbs shouldn’t be that difficult to lose, although it’s harder than I thought.

So to recap, my goal is to stay away from Halloween Candy and any other holiday sweets, bread and to exercise more and to try not to eat more than 1500 calories per day, even when the app says I can eat more.

Ready… set…  GO!

Avon Sugar Cookie Dough

On By Michel McDonaldIn AVON, Diet, FoodLeave a comment

My cousin Tabitha Vavrick sells AVON on the internet and in September I bought these Halloween cookie cutters.  They were very inexpensive and I love cookies, so I bought them.  I posted on Facebook that I was going to make them with Sweet N Low instead of sugar because of my blood sugar issue, but people warned me against it and told me to use Splenda instead, but I can’t use Splenda because it gives me the worst stomach cramps.  They told me to use Stevia and that it turns out gives me something I won’t discuss here since we are talking about food lol.

I decided that I would just go ahead and use sugar despite my problem with being a diabetic, but those same people warned me against using the recipe that came with the cookie cutters.  I don’t know why I let people talk me into alternative things.  They told me to find the Paula Deen sugar cookie recipe, which I did and I made and the cookies were awful.  I mixed all of the ingredients right and they just didn’t taste very good.

That was a month ago and a few days ago I wanted to try it again, but this time using the recipe that came with the cookie cutters.  I did it, and it was wonderful.  I don’t mean to give any secrets away by posting this recipe card, but they sell other cookie cutters that don’t even come with a recipe (their 3D Christmas Tree cookie cutters) so I figured that if someone bought that, they would want a good recipe, and this one is the best.

I have had sugar cookies my entire life and they don’t taste like this recipe, probably because the recipe that the professionals use has sugar on top of the cookies and these don’t.  That makes the cookies sweeter, these don’t need that extra sweetness because they are awesome on their own.

You could decorate them if you wanted to, but that would just add more sugar to it and I’ve tried coloring cookies before, it’s not good lol.  The cookies taste awesome alone without any extra sugar on top.

If you wanted to buy some of these or other cookie cutters, buy them from my cousin Tabitha Vavrick.  They have some great prices on a lot of their products.

I can’t wait for December so I can make the 3D Christmas Tree Cookies with this recipe.

My New Website

On By Michel McDonaldIn Web DesignLeave a comment

new website home

My website has been under construction for quite some time now.  I’ve been trying to think of something interesting to do with it.  My problem was, I had so much crap in my old website that I felt overwhelmed.  It’s kind of like I had a hoarding problem, but I was hoarding old images and old information that is no longer relevant.  I decided the best thing I could do was to back everything up on my computer, then delete it all on the website and start from scratch, and this is the result.

The index page is just an image that says welcome to the page, I didn’t take a screenshot because it’s a temporary image.  I will have to work on that page some more.  The home page is like a Windows desktop with icons and wallpaper.  I wanted to make it so that no matter what screen resolution you are using, you could see the full image and it will resize when you resize the browser.  It’s also stationary so when you are scrolling through a page, the wallpaper is always there.  Although the icons on the home page don’t go down that far that you need to scroll if you are using Google Chrome with a resolution of 1280×768 if you have a widescreen monitor, and 1024×768 if you don’t.  Of course the wallpaper is 1280×768 so if you don’t have a widescreen monitor, the wallpaper is squished lol.

Right now (in October) there is a picture of 2 pumpkins for Halloween, but I will change it for each holiday.  I figured it would be easier to use a desktop image for the home page than to have to keep changing the theme for the whole site every holiday.  When I was using FrontPage themes, I would have to change the theme, and then go to each individual page and adjust things.  Sometimes it could take hours or days, so this is just one page I have to change the wallpaper on.

new website eqWhen you click one of the icons on the home page, you will get a page that looks like this.  I decided that I wanted to emulate the Facebook Timeline idea, but with a thinner banner and a 256×256 icon which is the same one you see on the “desktop.”  The game pages (EQ, EQ2, LOTRO and DCUO) all look the same where you see a 256×256 icon of all of my characters images with a bio.  I also thought it would make them more interesting if I gave them a story.  I haven’t finished them all, but I’m working on it.

I don’t really have to have all of this information out there, but it’s fun.  Even if nobody ever looks at it, it’s still something that makes me happy.

I haven’t quite figured out what I want to do with the crafts page, whether I want to add patterns or just images of the things I have made in the past, or both.  I am still waiting for inspiration.  My Holiday page is still empty, but I am working on that.  I made the icon with 4 holidays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years, but I mean what information could I possibly have for anything but Halloween?  All I have are my pumpkin pictures, so perhaps I will change that to a Halloween only page.

Update, I made the change already.

I would love to get some feedback, so please tell me if you like it or hate it and why.

Writing Books

On By Michel McDonaldIn Books2 Comments

I started writing my autobiography again on my netbook using SoopBook.  I was using just a regular word processor before but it seems easier using SoopBook since it uses the WordPress blogging platform that I use to write my blog with.  It’s easier to do it when I’m using something that I am familiar with.

I have 3 1/2 chapters written down so far.  It has been a little taxing on my emotions having to go through each and every memory.  What is even more difficult is having to remember when each memory happened.  So many things happened and it was so many years ago that sometimes the memories just bleed into each other and I can’t remember which event happened first and second and even in which month or year.  I am doing my best to remember but these things take a lot of time to write.

I have sort of veered off to another book that I wanted to write.  I figured that if I’m going to have an autobiography, I should probably be known as a writer first.  So I am writing a short story about an Indigo Child named Henry who has a premonition about something that will greatly impact his life and he has to stop it from happening before he loses everyone he loves.  It’s not going to be a huge novel, think of it as a half hour episode of the Twilight Zone.

I wrote the first chapter today and I have many more ideas for the second chapter in my head but I will have to get to it tomorrow.  It’s really a heart breaking story and every time I think about what I’m going to write I start to cry because I know how it will end lol.

I don’t even know where this story came from, it just popped into my head out of nowhere.  I was trying to read a book and I just couldn’t focus on what I was reading because I had this big story churning in my brain and I was just thinking, how can I be reading this book when I need to be writing this amazing story about this amazing little Indigo Child?

It’s going to be a Halloween story so I hope to be finished with it before or on October 1st 2011.  It will be my first ever story that I have ever thought of so be easy on me when you criticize me because I’ve never written a story before.  Of course when I have it published I will link the ebook in my blog so all 5 of my readers can get first dibs lol.

I’m hoping that this little short story will get bigger and end up being a novel instead of a short story but we will have to see how many twists and turns my brain can think of.  I am giving it a title that will be open to a second book, maybe even more, who knows.  We will see.

Cirque Du Freak eBooks

On By Michel McDonaldIn Books, eBook, Kindle, Nook1 Comment

I started reading the Darren Shan “Cirque Du Freak” books late last year on Halloween.  I figured it was time to start a new series of books and since it was Halloween, I wanted it to be some type of horror book and I remembered the Vampire’s Assistant started out as a book so I figured it would be a good read.

The ebooks were only a couple bucks and I figured it would be a very good purchase.  I didn’t read them all right away, I read the first 3 then stopped to pursue other books.  But last month I decided that I wanted to finish them once and for all.

These books are small so it doesn’t take more than a day to read them, less for everyone else who doesn’t have dyslexia.  So it usually takes me 2 days at a couple of hours each day to read them.

The first book was very similar to the movie but with a lot more detail.  At first I thought the movie was all 12 books rolled into a movie but after the first book I realized it wasn’t the case because decades have passed in the book where only maybe months have passed in the movie.  But the movie also didn’t get to the war of the scars either and with Darren and Mr. Crepsley leaving the Cirque at the end of the movie, or rather the next day when Darren has had his rest, it leaves it open for more story which I doubt they will ever tell in movie format.

The books were very good to read and since I had most of the characters in my head from watching the movie I was able to visualize most of them for when I read the books.

I hate giving away plots or story lines because I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone but if you do get a chance to read these please do.

I said the books were a couple bucks, well, unfortunately they raised the price.  eBooks are now $7.99 each but you can buy the actual books in a set for only $35 on Amazon.  That’s only a couple bucks per book and it is so worth it.  I don’t know if $8 is worth it since they are so small though.  I’m just glad I bought the whole series when I did lol.

If you weren’t aware of the story, here is a synopsis from the Cirque du Freak Wiki:

The Vampire’s Assistant is a fantasy-adventure based on the first three books of the series, The Saga of Darren Shan, by author Darren Shan about a teenager who unknowingly breaks a 200-year-old truce between two warring factions of vampires. Pulled into a fantastic life of misunderstood sideshow freaks and grotesque creatures of the night, one teen will vanish from the safety of a boring existence and fulfill his destiny in a place drawn from nightmares.

16-year-old Darren was like most kids in his suburban neighborhood. He hung out with his best friend Steve, got decent grades, and usually stayed out of trouble. But when he and Steve stumble upon a traveling freak show, things begin to change inside Darren. That’s the exact moment when a vampire named Larten Crepsley turns him into something bloodthirsty.

Newly undead, he joins the Cirque du Freak, a touring sideshow filled with monstrous creatures from a snakeboy and a Wolf Man to a bearded lady and a gigantic ringmaster. As Darren flexes his newfound powers in this dark world, he becomes a treasured pawn between the vampires and their deadlier counterparts. And while trying to survive, one boy will struggle to keep their brewing war from devouring what’s left of his humanity.

There is a lot more about the story than in this synopsis but you can find out about it by reading the books.  This synopsis says the movie is based on the first 3 books but that isn’t exactly the truth because so much happens in the 2nd and 3rd book that you never even see in the movie.  If I were you I would just get the books and find out for yourself.  I double dare you.

Crocheted Kitchen Towel Topper

On By Michel McDonaldIn crafts4 Comments

Remember going to Grammas house and seeing these on the oven or fridge door?  Ever wondered how they make those?

I always have a towel on the fridge door because… well, that’s what you do, right?  When I’m done with the dishes I dry my hands on that hand towel.  Well I was thinking, I wonder if I could find a pattern for making the towel topper so when I dry my hands it doesn’t come off all the way.

Well I found one and you are welcome.

My search brought me to YouTube which has a full 22 minute video of how to make it from sewing the chain into the towel with the yarn, crocheting all of the rows, making the button and the button hole and then finishing it off.  It’s really not that difficult and it looks so good.

The video on YouTube also has a link for the full instructions which is over on the Art of Crochet by Teresa blog on Blogger.  The video is over on YouTube via the Art of Crochet channel.

My problem is that I have carpel tunnel syndrome which means my hands get numb very quickly and I feel a very painful pinch in my palms so I shouldn’t really work on this.  The problem is that I love to crochet so that’s a huge bummer for me.  I mean, I can see the endless possibilities with this, I can make a topper for a towel for every holiday and for every season.  Like in the summer I can have the sunflower or watermelon towel, Christmas can be the Christmas towels, Halloween, Easter…  If there is a towel for everything then you bet that I would want to make a towel topper for that time of the year.

I found like 4 Christmas hand towels in a drawer too that would look so awesome with the vintage Christmas yarn that I have that has the mixed red, white and green colors in it.

Maybe some day I might be able to do this but for now I can’t but that doesn’t mean I can’t share the pattern and video with all of you crafty people so besides the link above which you can view to rate, comment and subscribe to, here is that video.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdePxyZ6Kog

Information OVERLOAD

On By Michel McDonaldIn Books, eBook, NookLeave a comment

I have been reading a lot of books lately, I’ve made it a point to read every day.  When I finish 1 book then I start another the next day. It can take me 4-5 days to read a book depending on the difficulty and/or length of the book.

The last 2 months I’ve been reading an average of 4 books per month and this month since I bought my Nook I’ve already read 3 books. Although 1 of those isn’t available in e-book format so I had to read it from the actual book but still. We’re somewhere in the middle of the month and I’ve already read 3 and I can see myself reading 2-3 more.

I wonder if I read so many books if they might blend together in my brain and then I won’t remember what I read from which book.  I might think that what happened in the David Eddings novel might have really happened in the Piers Anthony novel and vice versa.

Just as long as I don’t think what happened in the Marguerite Labbe novel happened in the Xanth novel, then I’ll be fine because that would really confuse me lol.

Tomorrow I start reading “Crewel Lye: A Caustic Yarn” by Piers Anthony. By the way, if you have not read any Xanth novels by now based on my past recommendations, you should.  They are so good.  There are 35 in the series although only 33 available for sale and only 17 available in e-book format.

And if you haven’t read any of the Rainbow eBooks yet you should start with “My Heart is Within You” by Marguerite Labbe.  Next month I will be on the final book of the Triquetra Trilogy which is sad because I kinda wanted that series to be longer but that’s ok, she has written other books.

Maybe since I’ve become such a Nook worm (get it? cause I have a Nook… no?) I should dress up as a worm with glasses for Halloween, although instead of reading a book, I’d be reading a Nook lol.