Time to check out the Urban Legends Reference Pages: Halloween (Halloween).
The biggest things to remember:
– poisoned candy has not been proven to have ever happened
– objects embedded in food have all been pranks played and have been few and far between
So relax a little. 🙂
We went off to the movie store Friday night, because nothing is on tv on Friday nights, Sarah was away so the volume of the house had gone down by two-thirds and, well, WHY NOT? I was instructed by Emma to pick her out a Dora movie, preferably one she hadn’t seen.
A near impossible task, I might add.
And there were a lot of Halloween movies already checked out, including Dora’s Halloween. Go figure! We had to settle for the Pirate Adventure. Meaghan got Harry Potter 2 & 3, also subtitled as “I can’t remember what order they come in AT ALL” and I let the clerks know I still love them even though I see them about once a month or so.
My guy Mark wistfully commented on how our house must get all decorated at this time of year – certainly we must go all out. Alas, I had to break it to him we did not. Not because I have huge problems with the commercialization of halloween, the mass consumption of goods and the keeping up with what the neighbours did to their house, nor is it the fact I am mired in BIRTHDAYS at the same time, or the fact I have a horrible memory and still have no idea where I put what little decorations we do have, no.
It’s just I am inherently lazy. That, and if I do make the effort, I really Make An Effort. So much so, I channel my Nanny Daly, the neat freak one, the one who spends THREE DAYS arranging the ornaments on her Christmas tree so they are each equidistant from one another and when we visit we are allowed to look at it from the doorway and the edge of freshly-vacuumed carpet where we must never walk unless we have spotless white socks. So for me, Christmas is the all-out occasion and all I can handle for the year.
But I digress. If I decorate, the older children barely glance at them. Might be the candy coma they are in, who knows? Emma was happy enough making a family of construction paper pumpkins and sticking them to a few windows.
So instead of burdening Mark and the other clerks with that image, letting them all know how crazy I could get given half a chance, I deflected to conversation.
“So what are you going out as?” Mark inquired as he rung up my movies.
My jaw dropped. “You mean you can’t tell?” He looked confused and I rolled my eyes at the female clerks as I patiently explained, “I’m a Super Model. DUH.”
“Oh, naturally!”
“Of course!”
“I could tell right away!”
All the female clerks chimed in they knew exactly what I was talking about, firmly nodding their heads in unison. Mark backed away from me slowly. Meaghan muttered something about it being time for my medication. Those people need to get out more.
And here you thought it was just Halloween! “Trick or Treat” is the universally accepted way to wish Addison a happy birthday. Emma woke him up at 8am, and later three of us gave him a big birthday HUG! And he loved that so much!
*sigh* Well, there’s a milestone. He’s eighteen now. Excuse me while I go cry…
All those congratulatory comments are making me feel warm and squishy. 🙂 I know it may sound corny and all, but I couldn’t have done it without you guys, especially the long-term readers who keep telling me that I CAN and I AM.
You da bestest. Virtual hugs all around.
Not that I was having a bad day, it was a pretty fine day as it goes. I got some sleep, got some housework done and kept up, didn’t get stressed over lunch, spent time with Emma, had lunch on time, didn’t spend all morning on the internet, got to listen to music AND go for a walk to get the mail.
Lots of mail.
Oh look, a big white envelope. A big white envelope with a magazine inside, specifically the Nov/Dec issue of Home Education Magazine. Hmm.. let’s browse the contents…
AH! Let’s fall over! There, right on page twenty-five is the article I submitted! Yes, I knew they accepted it and were going to print it, but – MAN – nothing prepares you for seeing your name in print like that. Sure, I’ve done articles for websites, lots of free writing, but this? This is So Big Time. Knock me over with a feather.
I went further into the post office after getting the mail from our box, as I had a parcel to pick up. As the clerk found it, I hastily opened up the magazine (again) so I could show her MY NAME IN PRINT!
AH! She was excited too!
I skipped all the way home. I showed the kids (“Calm down, Mom.”), I called my mom (who promptly had to go and tell all her co-workers) and I emailed Ron (he’s in a class, I think.).
Me! A Real Writer! I may need to go lie down and hug the magazine.
Oh, and the ladies who so graciously allowed me to interview them for the article? Dawn, Christina and Spunky, prepare yourselves for a bit o’ traffic.. 
