Trick or Treat!

Marla and her husband brought Carsen over yesterday to trick or treat, along with a one of Carsen's little friends (and her parents).  Look how cute they were! And this picture really doesn't do their costumes justice: Carsen's long sparkly veil, Ella's equally sparkly Wizard of Oz red slippers and little plush dog carried in a basket...

The sweet young couple across the street from us had their two-year-old, Georgia Kate, out trick or treating. Three little nieces and nephews showed up, too, and also three of the grandparents to help hand out candy while the neighborhood trawl was going on. One grandma even dressed up! 

Georgia Kate as Minnie Mouse! She's just

 turned two and is the most darling little girl. 

The neighbor's niblings. Everyone got lots of candy!

We had a handful of other kids from the neighborhood: a Policeman and a Wolf-Man, a Devil and Spiderman. I didn't take pictures of them, but they were awfully cute. 

 

It's all about the candy!

Last week I went ahead and bought Halloween candy while on a big monthly shopping trip to Sam's. I decided on a large bag of assorted chocolate "fun size" bars.

Today at work I decided I should have some non-chocolate candy to offer, so I stopped at a Dollar Store on the way home and bought Nerds Gummies (they didn't have the regular ones, which I would have preferred), Laffy Taffy, Sunburst chewies, and miniature Chick-O-Sticks. Remember those?

Then I made up about a dozen treat bags full of a little of everything for the children I know, including four at school. My little best buddies. :)  Tomorrow night Marla will bring Carsen and a friend of hers, and our neighbors across the street will be coming by with their toddler and three nieces and nephews. I have treat bags made for all of them, plus plenty of leftover candy for any other trick-or-treaters that may show up. We always have a few!

It's almost Halloween!

 Spotted at the vet's office yesterday.

Poor George suddenly developed a painful ear infection a couple of days ago, which is what we were there for. This seasonal display in the lobby made me smile.

Also yesterday, I finally bought Halloween treats for this year. I dare not buy them too far ahead of time. Years ago, I bought chocolate and candy early in October, ate the whole lot, gained 4 pounds, and still had to buy more to replace what I'd eaten! I won't be making that mistake again.

I only bought one kind of chocolate this year, given how expensive it seems to be at the moment. I chose Reese's cups, which usually go over well (and I love them!) along with an assortment of Halloween themed lollipops and small snack sized bags of mini–Cheese Balls. And when they say "mini", they aren't joking! 

Happy Halloween Eve!

Updates

Just a few short updates on everything going on this month:

We did it! My friends helped me complete 400 Postcards to Swing States this past Sunday afternoon! We had a little postcard party over at Barbara's house. Out of the 400 postcards I committed to, I had already finished 275 (!!) ahead of time, so I only brought the remaining 125. Karen H. brought an additional 100 postcards she needed help completing (for down ballot races in the non-swing state of Ohio). We made short work of those 225 postcards, and had a little time left over for talking and eating the potluck snacks we'd brought. 

It's a relief to have it done.

Left to right, clockwise: Maggi, Marian, Barbara, Paulette, Karen, and Yours Truly, struggling to get a selfie that included everyone.

I may or may not have mentioned that I'd planned to have the Postcard Party at my house. Obviously, that didn't happen. Barbara was kind enough to offer to host because our small renovation project is still not done. Yep. Still not done! Our house remains in disarray with one room emptied out and being worked on.

This is what happened. The guy took longer than he expected, and at the end of the week he'd allotted for us, he was only about 70% done. He had other job commitments starting that Monday that he couldn't get out of. It's meant some delay in the finishing work, and he's been coming over for an hour or two here and there when he can. It's been dragging on a lot longer than I expected, though.

To be fair, Rick's doing really good, careful work. He's taking his time and every part that he finishes looks great. He pays attention to detail. We're also getting an absolute steal on the price of his labor. Since he'd never tried coffered ceilings before, he wanted to get some experience with them, and I think he lowballed the price a little bit because he was unsure of how it would go. Well, it looks terrific! So, if it takes him a little bit longer than we expected, so be it....

but DAMN I'm tired of all the furniture from that room being crammed into the rest of the house! We can barely move! It's okay for a week, but when it's stretching into the third week, it gets old, fast.

Then to add insult to injury, day before yesterday we discovered an ant infestation in our pantry and kitchen shelves. We had to move all the food out, and everything stored in the kitchen cabinets where we saw ants, because the exterminator guy is coming later today...my house is a shambles. Seriously.

The only other thing I wanted to mention is that my skin is almost healed (and much, much better). Thank you all for the kind words and encouragement on my last post! Once I got started on antibiotics and prednisone I started to feel better, fast. That's a relief, at least.

I'll sign off with a picture of the front porch that I've been getting ready for Halloween. Several of our neighbors have been decorating, too, which is fun. As soon as I buy some candy, we'll be ready for trick or treaters. 

Double jab, hoarders, and Halloween lights

Every year about this time our school district offers employees a free flu shot. I always take it, and usually have no aftereffects other than a sore arm. Monday was the day. This year was a bit different than usual, because the pharmacist giving the shot had brought along Covid boosters to offer as well. I was super happy to get both at once and have it all done. I also read somewhere that getting a flu shot and Covid shot at the same time is thought to boost the effectiveness of both. It was something about a more vigorous antibody response. I think that's probably accurate, because for the first time ever I felt like crap after a vaccination. I developed a low-grade headache, muscle aches, and a feverish sort of feeling that lasted from late Monday afternoon until this morning. That never happened to me with either of those vaccines alone before!

I'm feeling a bit better this afternoon. That's a good thing, because I had to go all over town trying to find toilet paper! Yes, toilet paper. Since yesterday afternoon everyone around here has been suddenly buying up and hoarding toilet paper along with other supplies. I had to ask around to find out what the hell was going on.... apparently, the port strike has people in a panic about supply drying up and they're rushing out to grab everything they can get their hands on, with toilet paper being the number 1 (ha!) thing they're desperate for. It's crazy! I don't know if that's mostly around here or all along the east coast. Gregg and I were literally on our last roll of toilet paper (!!), and I had to go to three places to find any after work today. People are being the same jerks they were in the pandemic...buying up far more than they need and stockpiling it. The girl ringing me up at the dollar store (where I eventually found some) said that one woman had just been in and spent $140 on toilet paper!! People are ridiculous! Not to mention selfish and thoughtless. I bought enough to get my house through a week or so and left the rest for others. Hopefully someone didn't swoop in after me and empty the last of the shelves, but I wouldn't be surprised to find out they did. People just tend to suck sometimes, don't they?

Since this week has been a bit...bleh...I decided to order myself something cheap and cheerful on Amazon so I'd have something small to look forward to. It got here today: a string of bright purple and orange Halloween lights! 

The original plan was to string them up around our little front porch area to welcome the trick or treaters, but I like them so much on the mantle (along with some of the other Halloween junk I had Gregg drag down from the attic) that I might end up keeping them there and ordering some more for the porch. They were only $10, and they're making me smile.

Halloween recap

Yesterday was the most fun I've had at Halloween in ages!

To begin with, we pulled a few seasonal decorations out of storage a couple of weeks ago. 

This past weekend I had to go to the drug store to pick up some prescriptions, and while I was there I bought some extra candy and small toys to hand out (glow in the dark bouncing eyeballs, anyone?!). I also picked up a few other things I'd been needing, including razor blades. I didn't think about how that looked until I got home--buying candy and razors right before Halloween! I wonder what the cashier thought.

Here are the treats spread out on the table for sorting. I wanted make loaded treat bags for the kids I knew who were coming. 

Guess who I got to see?! Little P.!

I also got to see Carsen, who is 4 and a half years old, now. She's growing like a weed.

Here's my favorite photo of the night: Prophet, Carsen, two little girls (who are nieces of the nice young couple across the street) and an extra girl whose parents are friends with Marla. Look how cute these kids all were!

The kids all had sooo much fun! Here's a little clip of them acting all jubilant after one house gave them candy. It reminded me of being a little kid on Halloween, myself.

Speaking of little kids.....the Batman had a blue tongue! All the neighbors were super generous, and most had good candy.

So many of our neighbors were extra generous with treats, and everyone seemed to have a really good time.

At the end of the night, George and Poppy were sorry to see everyone leave. They had a great Halloween (with lots of doggie treats) too!

Halloween greetings!

Happy Halloween! I'll be spending the day tidying the house, running a couple of errands, and then settling in to light the candles, stream some spooky movies, and wait on trick or treaters. Even though we have some new little ones in the neighborhood, I doubt we see any except for my friends' kids. Carsen and Little P. are supposed to stop by so that will be at least two. Our new neighbor Heather (the dog foster lady) texted me yesterday to tell me she would be giving out candy and plans to dress up to do it. (She also said that because of Covid she might "stand back 10 feet and throw it to them" hahaha!) So P and C can go over there and get some candy from her, too. I love giving out candy although I've unfortunately never lived in a neighborhood that got very many trick or treaters. The few who do turn up get handfuls.

So I'm off, but I wanted to leave you with some Halloween funnies. I hope you all have a good time tonight if you celebrate Halloween, and if you don't then I hope you have a good weekend instead!

Kids and Halloween

My little friend P is ready for Halloween. He keeps changing his mind about the costume he wants to wear for trick or treating. At first, he planned to be a superhero that I'd never heard of (the Flash?) but since then he spotted a Ninja costume for sale somewhere and that's what his heart is set on. At least for now, anyway. His mom reports that he's also obsessed with the idea of carving a pumpkin this year. She's never carved a pumpkin in her life (oh the horror!) so she had no idea where to even begin. When I told her that I've carved plenty of pumpkins in my time, we hatched a plan to surprise little P a couple of nights before Halloween. Mom invited me over for a little pumpkin carving party....she's supplying the pumpkins, I'll bring along some safe carving tools and the knowledge of how to proceed. Oh, and candles. There's something magical about lighting a candle and putting it inside of a jack o' lantern to glow! I'm also planning to pick up a pizza on the way over to share. Little P. is going to be so surprised when I show up at his house to carve pumpkins with him and his momma! 

“First of all, it was October, a rare month for boys.”
― Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes

Here's a piece of Halloween art he made for me at school the other day. His mom said, "See? What did I tell you? He's obsessed with pumpkins this year!" when he presented it to me.

Of course, good manners meant a thank you note and reciprocal gift the next day:

That silly boy sat himself down at my desk one afternoon this week, put my reading glasses on, and said: "I'm MISTER BARLOW. Do not bother me, I am working!" Hahaha. That kid is a riot. The next day he rang the front door buzzer and when I looked at the camera, he was grinning up at it with a fake moustache and sunglasses on. I laughed so hard! Seeing this little guy is often the best part of my workday. I'm sure we'll have a blast carving pumpkins and eating pizza when the night comes!

Happy Halloween!

It's Halloween night and we're all prepared with candy. 

Although we've only had one single trick or treater all night. And she's too little for candy....

She's so cute, though, that I don't mind that she's the only one! Mom and dad are dressed as Ghostbusters.

Happy Halloween!

First Halloween

This was by far my favorite trick or treater tonight even if she did sleep through the whole visit!

Baby Carsen is wearing candy corn socks, a shirt that says "Boo" and a bee hat!

 Her cover has a pattern of cartoon dogs in costumes on it. 

A blast from the (Halloween) past!

Happy Halloween! I'm pressed for time this morning but I didn't want to let the day go by without wishing you all a safe and fun holiday! Here is the result of a bottle of wine and a couple of hours of work with my friend Meg back in 2011.

The tiki pumpkin was my very own creation and remains my favorite!

Having fun at work

I still absolutely love my job. I'm so glad I continued to apply for positions in the school district even though it took 3 long years to get a foot in the door. I feel certain I'm exactly where I'm meant to be.

I've found (much to my surprise) that I really enjoy middle school age kids. They're an unpredictable lot--sometimes they seem like little children, still, and sometimes they show flashes of maturity beyond their years. I find them incredibly endearing, even when their behavior leaves a lot to be desired. They make me laugh every single day, and when they're hurting my heart aches for them. Twice last week kids were sitting in the office crying, and even though both of them had really misbehaved and were in trouble, I couldn't stand the sight of their tears. I remember how tough those years were. Growing up is hard. I have compassion for them.

Last night we had our annual Halloween Dance and Carnival. I volunteered to do face painting with the help of an older high school girl (the daughter of one of our math teachers). I had so much fun! One of the assistant principals along with the choir/piano teacher set up a sound system in the gym and played lots of current hits as well as old Halloween favorites like "Thriller" and "Monster Mash". (Earlier in the day, during afternoon announcements, Principal Oates had said, "DJ O'Neil and DJ Leroy are going to be spinning tunes for you tonight..." which really cracked me up). There were games to play for prizes, a "Haunted Science Lab" that was a darkened classroom where you put your hand in a series of boxes to "guess the body part" (things like slimy wet noodles and peeled grapes)...a "Creepy Critters" room with snakes and spiders from the school's science labs...and concessions for sale like candy and popcorn and soda. The kids had a blast! Watching them have so much fun, dancing, running through the halls with groups of their friends, laughing and playing games and being silly and carefree and young....was a total joy. Definitely good for the spirits!

I have to share photos of my three favorite costumes of the night. First up, for fans of the US version of The Office, I present to you Prison Mike and Dwight Schrute!

And of course, Bob Ross! This kid hammed it up all night long, running around and pretending to paint on any available surface and posing for the camera.

Wonder Woman was a very popular costume for the girls this year (yeah!!) and I probably saw at least a dozen of them, but this was my favorite--a real little Wonder Woman:

I'm so glad I have a job where I get to have so much fun!

Halloween in my 'hood

This is a giant display in front my neighbor's house. Every other house in this neighborhood has something Halloween-ish on display, but this is my favorite. Look how big it is! And it changes colors, too. It goes from white to purple to dark and then back to white.



BOO!!!

Getting in the mood...

...for Halloween! I decided it was time to pull a few decorations out of the "holiday closet" to add a little seasonal cheer to the house.

I love my Edgar Allen Poe LED candle.

And just look at these cheerful guys! 

I also added some purple lights and big fuzzy spiders to our front door, but I didn't take a picture because I'm not happy with the way it looks yet. I still need to buy a couple more pumpkins because I have two carving parties to attend before the big day! One is small, just me and Marla and Martina at my house where, in addition to carving pumpkins, we'll be discussing our book club selection for October (In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware). The other is a big party thrown every year by a couple I know. For the past 3 years I've had to turn down their invitation because I always had to work the Saturday night before Halloween, but this year, thanks to my new job and my wonderful work schedule, I was free to accept. I'm looking forward to it.

Speaking of parties, there's going to be a Halloween dance at the middle school! I volunteered to help out and I think it's going to be a lot of fun. One of the halls leading to the gym (where the dance will be held) is going to be a "haunted hallway" with games and activities. One of the science teachers has snakes, geckos, and a bearded dragon that will be on display. The 8th grade math teachers are having a "throw wet sponges at your math teacher" contest, and there's going to be Halloween bingo, games of Cornhole, and a costume contest in addition to the dancing and food. I'm not sure what I'll be doing yet, probably serving as a chaperone, but no matter what I do I think it will be a good time. And even better: I'll earn "comp time" that I can use later if I need to leave work early or come in late.

I'm also happy that I'll get to be at home on Halloween night this year, instead of having to work at the mall. I hope we get a few trick or treaters. I saw some candy at Walgreens that I'm planning to buy to hand out (along with chocolate bars):

Sugar skull lollipop rings!!!! How cool is that?

Do you enjoy Halloween? Do you have any plans for celebrating it? I'd love to hear about it if you do!

More signs of the season

Americans love Halloween.

No sooner than the month of September begins, the stores all start to stock merchandise for the the big night.

Behold the "seasonal" aisle of the pharmacy where I went to pick up a prescription for my husband tonight:

Skeletons that light up.
The one on the right is
playing a ukulele! 

Look at all the candy! Notice how all the boxes are orange, black, and purple.

My favorite....candy corn!

Even Day of the Dead got an end cap this year!