A Halloween MeMe

I've been tagged for a spooky "MeMe" (which I gather is a kinda-meme answering questions about myself) by No Cool Story at More Cowbell. So here goes:

1. What's the scariest movie you've ever seen?
Hmmm. I'm not into scary-scary movies. No blood-filled slasher films for me. But every once in a while there's a sci-fi or psychological "scary" film that I do see (I Netflix them, though, 'cause I just couldn't handle them in the theater, not that I ever get out for a real movie anyway.) There are two that always make me scream and hold my husband even though I've seen them multiple times and know exactly when the scary parts are: Signs, which makes me scream at three predictable points and the end of which, as a long-time asthmatic, horrifies me, and The Others, which is not scary to me, I think, in the way it's supposed to be, but the old medium lady's face freaks me out SO MUCH especially when she comes to the kids hiding in the closet, and the ending is soooo chilling to me. And, well, I'm always scared by things about mothers killing their children.

2. What was your favorite Halloween Costume from childhood, and adulthood?
Oh, that's hard. I'm going to count childhood as under 18, and adulthood as over 18 for this one. In that case, hands-down my favorite childhood costume is when I re-created a Rogue Squadron pilot outfit from Star Wars. I freeze-framed the movies and also scoured the books for details, right down to making and sewing on a name patch with Aurabesh lettering of the name of the pilot (from one of the books) I was going as, sewing on gold star buttons for the proper "rank insignia", and making a Rogue Squadron patch as described in the books. I worked for four months on that costume. As an adult, mmmm. I think that would be last year, when my husband and I went as a Christmas present and a Christmas tree.



3. If you had an unlimited budget, what would your Fantasy Costume be for this Halloween?
Oh, goodness. I got so caught up in letting Ems choose what we're going to be and going from there, I haven't even though of it. Something quirky, of course. And I get more pleasure from making clever costumes than from spending a lot of money; in fact, spending the least money possible is part of the fun for me. So if I were going to have an unlimited budget, I think I'd do something like period Renaissance garb that I could wear to Faires and other places, not just once.

4. When was the last time you went Trick Or Treating?
Well, I took my daughter last year. ;) I know, I know. Actually went, not taking one of my kids, when I was 14. Technically I thought I was a little old, but I was taking my brother who was 11. The year after he was allowed to go alone, but that year I was okay with giving one last hurrah (and getting candy!)

5. What's your favorite Halloween Candy?
Favorite candy to be given, or favorite candy only available at Halloween? I've always been a fan of Three Musketeers, Almond Joy, 100 Grand, and the like, but I am also a fan of candy corn, which is only available this time of the year. Pure sugar, mmmm!

6. Tell us about a scary nightmare you had.
I have a lot of nightmares, and sometimes do some scary sleepwalking (trying to harm myself or others in my sleep, and the like), but I don't remember them, usually. The last nightmare I remember, I had when I was pregnant with Bridget. In my dream, Bridey was breech, and the doctor said, "So, we're going to schedule you for a c-section." I said, "Well, I'd prefer to try version first, I really don't want a c-section." My doctor (who was NOT like this in real life, holds the mother's wishes in highest esteem, is a fan of version and has even delivered breeches vaginally several times in the last five years, and sees c-sections as a last resort) said, "No, I won't allow that. When would you like your c-section?" It went on like that for a while, and then I went out to call my husband in to try to get him on my side (which is strange because my mom took me to all my appointments this pregnancy, but in my dream for some reason my husband was there) and my HUSBAND said, "Honey, aren't you being a little unreasonable? If the doctor says a c-section is best, you'd better schedule a c-section." (Again, my husband believes that I need to do whatever is right for me when it comes to childbirth and trusts me to make the right decisions for myself and my babies. He'd never say that.) So then I called my mom, who even though I have differences with her has ALWAYS been my advocate in situations like that, and is a registered nurse and also sees c-sections as a last resort, and SHE said, "Well, Anne, you know, breech births can be pretty risky, it's better for you to have a c-section if that's what the doctor says you need." And I was going out of my head because no one would listen to me when I was listing all the other things we could try BEFORE that last-resort c-section, and they were dismissing my wishes like they were not important or relevant. *sigh* It was a very scary dream, I woke up crying and angry and terrified.

7. What is your Supernatural Fear?
I don't really believe in most supernatural things... I guess if they were real, vampires would be the scariest because 1) they "infect" you when they bite you, turn you into one of them, which I find incredibly creepy, and 2) I do NOT want to live on this earth forever in this mortal body without ever passing on to the next life. *shudders*

8. What is your Creepy-Crawlie Fear?
You know, when I'm pregnant I get really easily grossed out and afraid of spiders, bugs, etc., but when I'm not, they're not that bad; the only ones that really bother me are bees (afraid of getting stung), maggots (eeew; 'nuff said) and scorpions (again, afraid of getting stung.)

9. Tell us about a time when you saw a ghost, or heard something go Bump in the night.
I don't feel it's appropriate to share my experience with spirits, I hold them as sacred and am not gonna talk about it here.

However, once when I was little, we had a raccoon in the attic and it seriously sounded like a big ol' man walking around up there and it was creepy as all get out.

10. Would you ever stay in a real Haunted House overnight?
Hmmmm. Assuming they existed, it depends what I was getting out of it and how dangerous the "hants" were.

11. Are you a traditionalist (just a face) Jack O'Lantern Carver, or do you get really creative with your pumpkins?
Pretty traditionalist. In fact, we have our own traditions; growing up my dad always had at least one "ghost" pumpkin, which was white and we carved a "ghost face" on, and a skinny tall one and a short round one that we made into Bert and Ernie.

12. How much do you decorate your home for Halloween?
Decorate? What's decorate? ;)

Some years we have a few Jack-o-Lanterns or decorated pumpkins outside. Somewhere we have a witch that's supposed to hang on the door that my mother-in-law gave us, but I don't know where it is and it's kinda cutesy for me.

13. What do you want on your Tombstone?
The works-- pepperoni, sausage, onions, bell peppers, all of it. ;)

Seriously, besides name, dates, etc., maybe a verse from Scripture:

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

Hopefully I will have that peace in my heart my whole life, so I think that would be appropriate for my tombstone. And it's from the Bible, not the Book of Mormon, so my non-member family won't feel alienated. ;)


So, that's it! I am going to tag happy mommy and Titus Todd for this MeMe, if they will deign to participate. ;)