Ghost, goblins and Harry Potter

I love Halloween. It’s the one night of the year that I can pretend that I like children.

Just kidding!

Ok, ok. Kinda kidding. Kids are OK. I wouldn’t mind being a grandmother, but I’m not ready to be a mom yet. That’s a full time job and I already have one.

But I do like handing out Halloween candy. I don’t even mind handing out candy to older kids. I remember being older and still wanting the loot on Halloween. If they make the effort to dress up, they get the candy. I did have to interrogate two girls this evening to see what they were. They were dressed in plaid with a tool belt. Construction? Lumberjacks. So I gave them the candy.

I also buy good candy. No Tootsie Rolls or Dum Dums in my candy bowl! This year, it was an excellent mix of Reese’s, Milky Way, Snickers, and Almond Joy. OK, ok. So I may be the only person who likes Almond Joy. Why did you think I bought the bag? I let the kids pick out their own candy and I KNEW that no one would want that. MORE FOR ME!! The Reese’s were the big winners this year. I bought two bags and those were picked clean in the first hour. Remind me to only buy Reese’s next year.

This year, I asked kids to only take one piece of candy because I didn’t buy all that much. It was really funny but the teenagers were only taking one piece without being asked, but the younger kids were little piggies! I had one kids reach his hand in and try to take as much as his hand could hold! The little plague carrier probably infected the whole bowl.

I almost turned the lights out at 7:30PM but decided to take my chances on someone showing up while I was eating dinner. I only had two more people show up and they were just about the cutest costumes too! My favorite was a little boy in a spiderman costume, head covering and all. He had the sweetest little voice. When he reached in to get some candy, he picked out the Almost Joy. I was so happy that I gave him a handful of candy to reward him.

So happy Halloween all you ghosties and ghouls! I’m sitting on the couch the rest of the evening watching a Ghost Hunters marathon.

A winter wonderland!

Well, I figured out why we haven’t seen any deer tracks on the walkway up to the front door lately:

They’re afraid of ambush. Seriously people, the snow is now piled up higher than the snow thrower can throw. It’s about time for some warm weather to melt away some of this hell.

I’ve had to shovel the tree too:

I’m a little concerned about the tree though. I think it’s started to separate into three pieces at the top. We’ve been planning on ripping it out and next summer might just be the time to do it!

Not all of us are ready for Christmas though:

Fuzz has decided that he is a “Bah Hum Fuzz” this year. Maybe he’s upset that I decided not to put milk out this year, but instead some of the Aubert 2006 Ruling Vineyard Pinot Noir instead. Or maybe some of the 2004 Sine Qua Non Papa. But that’s only if Santa is REALLY REALLY good.

Crap Relocation Program

I’m not sure why we entertain so much.

Sometimes it’s because we like having people over and sharing wine and laughing and having a good time. Other times, I think it’s because it’s the only time that we really clean the house.

The Holiday Party is the time for the largest Crap Relocation Program of the year. I have spent the last two days either cleaning or moving crap around the house. Not getting rid of anything, no!! Just moving it around.

Sometimes the stuff goes back to where it needs to go; like books. Other stuff just gets in the general area; Christmas decorations. The rest of it has been shuffled around the house for the past two or three years. It has no permanent home, but ends up in one pile or another. This is stuff like cookbooks. They might stay on the shelf for about a month, then they end up back in the kitchen where they get moved from counter to counter to pile and then back up to the office. It’s kind of like our very own Great Ocean Conveyor Belt, but instead of moving warm water up to Europe, the one in our house moves the cookbooks and other flotsam and jetsam from one room to another.

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The good news is that the tree is finally decorated. FINALLY. This is the latest that we’ve pushed the decorating in a long time.

As usual, we got the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. That’s the best time to go and get the BIG trees. We’re talking 10 ft and taller. Ours is 12 ft this year. It’s kind of skinny, especially compared to years past.

Cutting it down this year wasn’t as difficult as it has been. Last year it was pie, mostly because my dad was here for Thanksgiving and he cut it down for us. But cutting down the tree involved the usual rolling around in the snow, sticking your head in the tree and dragging it to the trimmer. This year we had an additional complication though; some lovely person stole our tree wagon. So Husband had to hike back and get another.

I always feel bad for the guys at the guys at the trimming station when we drag our tree up. The little shakers are meant for 6 ft trees and smaller, not monstrosities twice the size. I also have to giggle when they are trying to bale it.

The guys get the last laugh when the watch us wrangle it on the tractor to bring it back to the truck, which we always borrow from my friend Lisa. Thanks Lisa!!

Anyway, there were a few more loose needles than usual this year, and I swear I was picking spruce needles out of my hair for days after getting the tree. The last straw came when I went to the bathroom about a week later and found some needles in my pants. Honest to goodness, my first thought was “I’m pooping pine needles.” I hope they got there from when I was watering the tree.

Now for the photos:

You remember the tree in all it’s bare nakedness:

Tree is on the left. Husband is not naked.

Then came the lights. Pitiful light picture!! Only 1200 lights this year. Last year, it was an 11 ft tree with 1300 lights. We are trying to be energy conscious and green this year. Well not really. It was late and I was tired.

If you look closely, you can see the strings that we use to moor the tree to the banister upstairs. We wouldn’t want it to fall!

And finally, the tree is all of it’s decorated splendor!

The tree is a little Charlie Brown this year. It tilts a little to the left (perhaps because of how we (I) tied it off). There are big holes but you know, with a lot of decorations and some tinsel, it cleans up pretty well.