Emo Burrito

Ok, so this post is going to need some background... And I would like to know everyone's opinion on something here. Please leave comments.

First, Hayley and I got Rock Band for our wedding. When playing rock band, you have to pick a band name. It gives some auto-generated band names, and the first one to come up was Emo Burrito. We liked it. We would say we needed to have band practice. We would talk about Emo Burrito like it was actually our band.

Flash forward to now, when we have a little baby boy. He was born in September, and we're trying to think of a costume for him. He has a little shirt that says, "Boo!" on it, and we thought maybe we'd just put him in that. We could make it a family thing, and get (or possibly make) other T-shirts that say, "Rawr!" or "Eeek!" or something. He also has a cute little Halloween sleeper that could work. Not real costumes, but hey, he's a baby. he won't really remember Halloween and just a shirt or sleeper would be easy.

But then one day, I was swaddling him up because, you know, he's so tiny! And everyone knows newborns like to be swaddled. They look like little, wrapped up burritos. Because of our Rock Band band, I often call him our little emo burrito when he's all swaddled. Then it hit me--that could be his costume! We could get a blanket with some emo band like The All American Rejects, or Coheed and Cambria or something,  and find a tiny wig to style all emo-like for him! If the blanket doesn't work out, maybe some weird, onesie from Hot Topic, and just a black blanket. And maybe even put ace bandages on his wrists with a little red stain on them. Black eye liner is out, sure, but he could be a little Emo Burrito mascot!

Is that even funny? Am I the only one that thinks so? Would anyone even get it? Would we look like horrible people if we dressed up our seven-week-old baby in an Emo outfit, complete with ace bandages alluding to him having cut himself? Should we just stick with traditional? Or maybe even his "Boo!" shirt?

Please share your thoughts. And don't hold back. Tell me I'm a moron if dressing my baby as an emo kid isn't funny.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you're all having a great Christmas break! I am. I am staying at Hayley's sister's place in Washington. Her whole family has been very, very nice. I won over all the kids right away, (he he) and was very touched that everyone gave me a hug as soon as I got here. All of Hayley's family has been very accepting of me and they really make me feel part of their family. The only one I had to try extra hard with was Hope. She actually cried when I got here, because she had even been avoiding pictures of "That Guy" the week Hayley was here before me. She's finally warmed up. Hasn't given me a kiss yet, but she'll do it before Monday, I promise you that!

This is the first Christmas I've spent away from my family besides the two I spent on my mission. I adapt pretty well to my surroundings, and I'm not homesick too often. On my mission, I was surprised at myself at how OK I was with being in Mexico. I missed family at Christmas, but it wasn't too bad. In college once, I even moved to a new apartment building once without telling my family. But what really made me miss my family for Christmas was this. My dad really describes the family traditions well, and it made me wish I was there to eat cheese soup in breadbowls, watch the kids open their Christmas PJs and the ensuing fashion show, reading the bible account of Jesus's birth, and the little pageant that the kids act out. I missed you guys!!!

But what I did love was being with Hayley for Christmas. I feel so great that I got to be included in the Gray Family traditions of reading "T'was the Night Before Christmas" and "The Polar Express" and Luke chapter 2. I feel so much a part of Hayley's family. They really have made a great Christmas for me! Hayley and I will probably be at all sorts of different locations through the years, but we'll be there together. And I can't wait for that.

So I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, too!

My spooky Halloween story

Ok, so I'm not the kind of person to talk about scary stuff or to dwell on ghosts or spooky things like that. I do, however, get on scary movie kicks now and then, but usually regret it. (Jason, remember that one movie where the werewolf flipped off a guy?) As a kid, I liked scary stories and even made my parents buy a few of those R.L. Stine books, including various volumes of the Goosebumps series. In short, I love Halloween and on occasion, I like to be scared.

So on the way to work last Friday, I was listening to 101.9 The End after hanging up on the phone with Hayley, and the were taking calls of listeners who were telling their creepy ghost stories. Some of them were really disturbing, some funny, and others just spooky. I was totally hooked. On top of that, Hayley had pointed out the sunrise and it was very fitting for All Hallows Eve, with lots of whispy clouds in the sky, and the rising sun turned them red, orange, then pinkish, but kept enough cover that it was still dark outside. The scene was perfect, so when I got to work early, I decided to stay in the car and continue to listen to the ghost stories. I was freaking myself out a little, and even watched our un-finished third floor for any suspicious movement.

By the time the next commercial came on, I hadn't seen any apparitions, and resigned to my fate of working the rest of the day. I left my car even with the joking thought that I shouldn't be so intrigued by scary stories or some spook would follow me around! Well, once I got to my desk, I was again creeped out. My mouse was off the desk just hanging by the cord, my tissue box was shoved behind the two monitors on my desk (it is usually on the shelf above), some books and binders I usually keep propped up and on the right side of the shelf were scattered or lying on the left side of the shelf, and some papers I haven't touched in months were out of order and on top of the books. My desk was in a mild state of disaray. I'm farely certain it wasn't the cleaning crew. They never touch my stuff, and have even left cash on my desk untouched before. I have seen them more than a few times lately on the nights I've worked late, and I sorta trust 'em. It was definately freaky.

So what do you think? Did I actually get haunted by a ghost that left the radio, but didn't really have enough time to cause total rucous? Or were some people at work messing with my stuff? Whatever the truth is, I think it was quite fitting for it to happen on Halloween, right after listening to 30 minutes of ghost stories. :)

Halloween help!!!

Some of you reading this may know that Halloween is my favorite holiday. As a kid, I loved the costumes, the candy, and staying out way past bed time. I loved the scary movies and cartoon specials on TV. My favorite is still "Ichabod Crane and the Legend of Sleepy Hallow." Other favorites include "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" and "Gremlins."

Well, the tradition lives on. I even get on scary movie kicks now and then (and I'm usually disappointed, as in the case of "Darkness Falls"), and I still like getting scared at haunted houses or corn mazes. I even Like to dress up now and again. Las year I was a ketchup bottle, and it freakin' rocked, as you can see below.

If you're wondering, yes, it is homemade, and yes, it's made of duct tape and poster board. I KNOW! I'm the coolest.

But this year, the creativity is not coming and I have no costume as of yet. Here's the dilemma: I have three co-workers that want to do something together, so we're trying to come up with a themed costume idea so we can all dress up. We've thought of being characters from NBC's The Office (I would probably be Kevin), characters from the Dukes of Hazard (I would probably be Boss Hog), the Publisher's Clearinghouse Prize Patrol, or characters from the board game Clue (an idea that I really love, but wasn't received with as much enthusiasm as I hoped). The thing is, I want it to be something I can still use for parties and other times when a costume may be in order.

So here is where I beg for help from all of you. What should I be? Any group Halloween costume ideas? I may even take a really good single costume idea at this point, since my group isn't being as cooperative as I hoped. I even made some "labels for this post," hoping that any stragglers browsing blogs might find this post and give me an idea or two. So what do you all think??