Every year at the Draper City Park in Utah, a large tree is decked out in thousands of strands of Christmas string lights. It has been dubbed "Tree of Life". A few nights ago I was driving around with the family in search of a car wash near by and I noticed that the graveyard/mortuary was all decked out in Christmas lights, so I decided to drive through and check it out. It is here I discovered what I now lovingly call "The Tree of Death". It's actually quite beautiful, and they actually give out free hot cocoa and roasted marshmallows at the cemetary. Plus I am willing to bet there won't be droves of onlookers surrounding The Tree of Death. Lastly, the Tree of Life is clear down in Draper, where as the crematory is just up the road. Where would you go?
I also notice that the Tree of Death has a beautiful white glow, whereas the Tree of Life appears to have more yellowish lights. Now that I think of it, I wonder if I should actually call it "The Tree of The Knowledge of Good & Evil" instead of The Tree of Death. What do you think?
I was going to post some pics of a vintage Slimer puppet I fouund; but my spouse taught me today that shopping at the DI is a waste of time. I will rebrand this blog into a sports blog, like a normal. No more money and time wasted at the stupid DI, garage sales, or thrift stores! I will definitely plan a Super Bowl party this year, and enlist my son in peewee league football. I will need to buy one of them Rokus to watch all the football, baseball, and everything else that's ends with "balls" games.
This year, I predict, my boys (The Browns), will take the Super Bowel LIII!!! The final score will be 59-0 against the Raiders. See me analysis below.
(place holder football strats)
Wait, I think my wife probably wants me to turn this into a cleaning, cooking, parenting, relationships, and home decor/improvement blog.
Over the years I have been collecting plug-in plastic and plaster Jack o' Lanterns. There is just something very satisfying seeing a window full of these spooky guys! I paid $1 each for these! All found at the DI. Let's have a look see.
M&Ms Red Mascot, East Corp Toys Co, 2001
Blow-mold with no markings. Who knows when this was made? It's very flat. I can send more pictures if you need to ID this Jack.
Trendmaster, 1993
Jakks Pacific Inc, 2003
Square Teeth, The Paper Magic Group, 1998
4-in-a-row, Trendmaster, 1995
Sharp TeethThe Paper Magic Group, 1998
Stack o' Jacks, Gemmy Industries Corp, no date stamp
Was this a light-up blow-mold? Does anyone have info on this one?
Do you have some of these at home? Which ones are your favorite?
They're back again this year! Not sure how many years they have done the Square Pumpkin, but we're talking 35+ years now! I really wish they would run a new local commercial. TV is all but dead these days. Arctic Circle has ditched the "Square Pumpkin" title it seems, and now just offers a spooky Halloween themed kids meal box. It's not as cool as in years past, but I'll take it. The food is the same, the only difference is the box, and the annual Halloween "flashlights". Gotta keep them safe for Tricks and Treats!
This boy is also obsessed with cheese burgers right now!
Milen got the Franky, and Ava got the Eyeball. The flashlights don't change much from year to year, but they are a fun little tradition. One year they had robot flashlights, which was stranger than aliens for Halloween. Like I said, I'll take it. (They're better than the flashlights featured in the above commercial . I wish I knew when that commercial aired. I wanna say late 90's, early 2000's?) McDonald's is lame now and doesn't offer Halloween Happy Meals, and BK is totally out to lunch when it comes to their kid's meals. The Burger King Kid's Club is dead.
Milen got creative with the lights and used them to light up the ghost shelf
Anyways, I got my usual Pumpkin Pie shake. This time I added chocolate, which made it kind of taste like pumpkin chocolate chip cookie ice cream. And for some reason they topped it off with a Nilla Waffer.
Any other Utahns out there? What do you think of the Square Pumpkin meals? If you're not from Utah, do you have any local eateries that offer Halloween themed kids meals? If you do know of any other fast food joints with halloween offerings this year then please let me know! and show me pictures!
If you live in Utah and love Halloween, then you need to check out Ream's! For the past few years I have found some awesome stuff. Incredible selection for a grocery store, and super cheap! If you are not familiar with Ream's, it is a local grocery store chain here in the beehive state. There is a scotish mascot, and the stores are pretty run down. I still have fond memories roller balding to reams to see what tapes and video games they had for rent.
Between two Ream's location, checkout what I found this year. It's like stepping into a time machine!
Look at this! You ever see a full page of Halloween in the newspaper mailer, for a grocery store!? Beautiful.
I had to have one of each of the purple, green, white, and & orange ghosts. Just 99 cents each!
Sadly, I only found the orange and purple (with eyes) windups.
Construction of the DI Treasures Nerd Cave has begun, in the only room on the apartment available, the unfinished basement storage room. At least the kids can't get in and destroy (although they have broken off the child lock before. I'm sure it's only a matter of time until that happens again).
BARF!
Real life, it can be ugly.
Robo Rally, safe from the children.
It is a work in progress, still mostly a cluttered storage room, but things are starting to fall into place. I scored a free TV with 2 AV inputs, so I have hooked up my N64 and PS2 slim for games and as a DVD/CD player. I need more extension cords and a couch and or comfy chair. A couch would be a challenge squeezing through the narrow entry way to the basement.
We'll see how far I can come in another month.
Do you have a Nerd Cave? What is it like? Where can I see pictures? Have you been relegated to the basement?
For the past 3 years I have been creating what I like to call my "Toytivity". Largely inspired by one of my favorite holiday classics, Merry Christmas Mr. Bean.
I was lucky enough to find a decent nativity set from the DI on the cheap so I can use the manger to really sell it. 2016 is my favorite so far. I only wish I owned more female action figures. A Blackstar demon will have to do for now.
