BOO!!!!! Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween to all you Spookers, Monsters, Heros, Action Figures, Princesses, Beauty Queens, Bugs, Hobos, Rock Stars, and Celebrities!!!!  And those are only the costumes I can remember!  May your bags, buckets and pillow cases be overflowing with yummy treats at the end of the night!  And to all you Moms and Dads who sneak their treats from the bags, buckets and pillow cases after the younguns have retired their costumes and succumbed to sweet sleep... hide the evidence of the candy wrappers deep down in the trash cans and just know...... the kids count their candy and pretty much know what you took anyway!  :  )

I'm really going to miss seeing trick or treaters and handing out candy this year.... but we are new residents and live in a remote area, so I'll just have to keep the Halloween traditions that I can, which is making a big ole pot of chili and watching scary movies.

Back in the day when my girls were little... we had some close friends and neighbors that we would gather with at one of our houses... eat chili, dress the kids, take tons of pictures.... which to this day are still quite hilarious!.... and then us Moms took the younguns trick or treating while the Dads stayed at home passing out candy and enjoying their 'special' beverages.... aka beer!  Afterwards when all the kids were tired and starting to whine.... we would gather back at he house hosting the chili (we would change up houses year to year)... all the kids would dump their treasures into a pile and the sorting began.... of course.... there was a lot of gobbling of goodies in between the sorting!  Their eyes would sparkle each time they came across their favorite candy and treats.... especially the full size candy bars which was considered the MECA score!  And then.... there was the pile of .....eeewww ick.... I don't like this or that and us parents would descend and scarf the unwanted treats up, thinking we had scored good as well.  Ahhhhh those were the days..... and they passed way too quickly!

One year when I was 7 months pregnant with my youngest... my middle daughter had strep throat with a fever and wasn't allowed to go trick or treating.... so.... I took her bag in hand with my oldest daughter to gather her goodies for her.... but somehow.... no one quite believed I was gathering for a sick child.... one look at my belly and the .... uh huhs and 'those looks' came from each candy giver... yet.... they did indeed drop a goody into her bag.  I happened to be following a father and child most of the way around the neighborhood and he made several comments along the way about how shameless I was to be collecting goodies for my pregnancy.... and then..... we came upon my house, and as we approached the house.... there was my daughter...nosed pressed to the glass... drool dripping from her lip as she watched everyone scampering around in their costumes and collecting candy.... I walked inside, grabbed the candy bucket and dropped candy into his child's bucket and gave him the biggest grin I could manage and watched him drop his head and actually deliver an apology to me!  Gotta say..... priceless!!!!  Thus.... note to candy givers.... don't assume, just drop candy into every bag, bucket or pillow case that is thrust before you with a glad heart!

Then there is the debate about teenagers who go around trying to gather candy and goodies too... some dressed up, some not.... but definitely containers in hand with which they hope to score some goods.  My thoughts are this.... who doesn't like candy... especially chocolate???.... and they usually start their rounds later in the evening when most of the younger children have come, gathered and gone home.... they are quite brave to go trick or treating knowing that some of their peers may have reason to tease them unmercifully the next day at school.... but their quest for treats is stronger than their concern of being ridiculed.... so I say.... give them treats!!!  They usually have quite creative costumes and they always make me laugh.... I'm impressed with their bravery and I myself ravaged all of my girls stash in my own quest for treats.... they are harmless and just want chocolate.... no harm no foul!  They will appreciate and enjoy your gifts and they are basically trying to have harmless fun.  Some of us either take much longer to grow up or we never grow up.  Halloween may be a "children's holiday".... but support the child in all of us... give to the teenagers!  Plus.... you are less likely to get your house "TPed" and/or egged!

I gotta tell about my favorite group of teenagers who descended on my house for treats.... it was the swim team from the highschool.... and they came dressed in nothing but (meaning... barefoot and barechested) in their itty bitty teeny weeny speedo's with goggles on their heads!!!!  Have you ever seen a highschool swim team in their speedo's????  They were all ripped with 6-12 pack abs.... cute as can be and a little overwhelming for a 50 year old Mom!  Talk about bravery!!!!  Let's just say..... they got extra handfuls of candy as I tried hard NOT to stare and look like a perve!  Did I mention it was about 45 degrees that night???  Bless their hearts.... I still can't believe they were that desperate for candy... but I betcha they went home with more than anyone else that night!

And my favorite Halloween of all time is the year I smeared vapor rub (I didn't have any vaseline available and vapor rub was just as good, just smellier!) on the car door handles of a very over confident highschool kid!!!  I still can't believe I was that mischievous....  but..... it WAS really really funny!  I was actually at a neighbor's house across the street.... the neighbor is and always has been quite the 'funny man'... when this kid pulled up and parked his car on the side of my yard.... my neighbor and his buddy started messing with this kid and asking him if he knew whose house he had just parked in front of and if they were him.... they would move his car!  My neighbor and his buddy were just trying to stir it up.... and actually succeeded in scaring the kid enough he ran off to move his car.... of course.... we were laughing soooo hard we were about to pee our pants.... but the story got better.... the dingdong moved his car to the other side of our yard and went off with two young ladies clad in short short short daisy dukes... he was a cowboy and trying to act quite the Dude with these two young blonde bimbo's.... so my neighbor decides that someone wearing all black (me of course!) should go grease up his car door handles.... and so.... I did!  LOL  But... having no vaseline, I had to use vapor rub.... have you ever tried scrubbing vapor rub off your hands??? The more you scrub the worse the smell!  Ahhhh that was really too funny..... to us old folks of course... not to the kid because it made him look bad to his blonde daisy dukes!  But isn't it a night of 'trick or treat'???  That was the only trick I ever did for Halloween.... I never toilet papered anyone, threw eggs or did anything other than hand out candy.... that one trick has been enough to keep me giggling for years to come.

May you all have a happy, safe, and fun Halloween.... enjoy the treats, but beware of the 'tricks' too!

Changes

Hello blogger friends!  I'M BACK!!!!!!  I see by my latest post it has been over 3 months since I last blogged..... my deepest apologies for the long lull.... it has been a very long and wild ride these past 3 months.... but I'm ready to get back in the groove again.... soooo.... here we go!!!!

There have been some changes in my life these past several months.... the BIGGIE of course is our move/relocation.  We are now in Hutchinson KS (or Hutch as the local yocals like to call it) and we just love it!  I can't decide if I feel like I'm living in Norman Rockwell Land or Mayberry RFD!!!  Either way... our new home is nestled in the woods... on a cul-de-sac street that we are the only house on our street.  We have deer wandering around our back yard every morning and afternoon grazing on the prairie grass... we have wild turkey that roam around our yard all day and night.  In fact one day last week when I was putting together one of the basement bedrooms.... I walked into the room and immediately saw this HUGE face pressed up against the window staring at me!!!  You can only imagine the volume of my piercing scream.... until I realized it was one of the wild turkeys staring at itself in the window!!!  We have two big ole owls who sit in the dead tree at the end of the street hoot hooting!  We have squirrels the size of small dogs scampering all around.... and those are the only animals I have seen.... I have heard many more at night that I can't identify and have absolutely no gumption to go check out!

The 2nd biggest change is the marriage of our youngest daughter in September.  The wedding was "Vintage Hollywood" and absolutely gorgeous... the reception was a total blast!  I didn't see a single wall flower or pouting face all night.... I mostly saw smiling (if not giggling) faces, lots of dancing.... or what I am sure was supposed to be dancing but was really flailing bodies on the dance floor... but again... everyone was having such unabashed fun... you couldn't help but join in with the flailing activity!  Heck.... even my Dad, who loves to 'slow dance' joined the flailing group on the dance floor and attracted several ladies who surrounded him and flailed right along with him!!!  That was one of my favorite memories of the reception!  Needless to say.... a good time was had by all!

I truly had the best of intentions of keeping up with my blog during all this time of change... but life got away from me to the point that my exhaustion is totally exhausted!  After my Grandma's funeral, I had to get right into the final stages of 'wedding planning'... and house listing/showing... then the wedding was upon us before we could blink, then the movers arrived the week after the wedding, then we were on our way to Hutch, and from the time the movers arrived until last week... we had no TV, Telephone or Internet.  I was beyond thrilled the day I found and unpacked my laptop... so much so... I immediately scooped it up and headed to the first Starbucks I could find so I could get plugged in and caught up with my email.

Now..... the first floor is unpacked and looking like home.  I'm just sooo happy to have my kitchen put together and back to cooking after 3 long months of surviving on Chilpotle and McDonald's sweet tea!  Like it or not I have to start lugging and unpacking the numerous boxes in the basement.... which I just now have all my paper cuts healed from the unboxing of the upstairs.  I have found a pilates studio and started back with classes.... (note to my Pilates Connexion friends.... I'm soooo thrilled to have found a studio, yet.... I dearly miss all of you and my hand to my heart promise... I enjoyed Pilates Connexion MUCH MUCH MUCH better!)  I took a mosaic tile class and actually finished my 9" X 11" mirror project.... hoping to do more!  I have found a wonderful family doctor (and have already had a physical, booby squish, and bone density scan..... I've been declared fit and healthy and my cholesterol numbers are EXCELLENT and my BMI is 20!!  WOOT WOOT!!!!), I've found the PERFECT church, I have found a nail salon and go to my new hair dresser on Wed..... so..... basically.....I'm HOME!!!!!!!  And as they say.... "There is no place like Home.... heel click, heel click.... There is no place like home.... heel click, heel click"!!!  The yellow brick road leads straight to our house, our door is always open, and our welcome mat is out.... so hop on the next twister and come visit me and my peeps "the munchkins"!!!

Hugs from Dorothy and Toto!!