Halloween 2023

Yesterday was our annual Trick or Treat party, diminished in scope and enjoyment by the fact that Lisa was required to work and could not attend, which was a ridiculous development. 

None-the-less, we put on a decent face and went forward. We bought a ton of candy (not featured: the two $20 bags of KitKats and Reece's that someone (born in 1976) ate, depriving the youth of their spoils)

 

Our food included a revolting eye cake, a Frankenstein themed tray of brownies that Sawyer ate before the party, deviled eggs and a cheese and sausage tray Smiley prepared, a fruit and a veggie tray, chips and salsa, and a much smaller pot of chil than our norm. 

Lisa and I paid good money (well, she did) for matching baseball costumes, and I wasn't going to wear mine out of solidarity, but she texted and asked me to put it on: 

At 5, with zero guests on hand, I set out the candy and started giving it out to trick or treaters. 

 

We continued our traditions, which included giving away pencils and other non-candy items as a voluntary option for the kids (one that was chosen far more frequently than you'd think); I gave away WE Energies cookie cookbooks to those who wanted them and had legit interest (again, very popular); we kept a stock of Halloween buckets on hand to give away to young kids who came up with only a grocery bag to trick or treat; and later in the evening we gave away shots of alcohol to parents that stopped by with their kids. 

Then my friend Tre and his family showed up, and I handed over the reigns to Smiley while I went out with them while my Godson trick or treated. 

It's impossible to adequately capture the volume of trick or treaters or the atmosphere of our neighborhood, so all I present to you are a few scant pictures to get a taste of it: 

As for costumes, Smiley was a 70's hipster: 

Junie was a twisted Cupid 

LuLu was a grim reaper 

And YaYa and her boyfriend were characters from Everything Everywhere, All at Once  minus, to their detriment, the sausage fingers, but including the scowls. 

This is Junie's friend Bella

Tre and his wife

My colleague Steven

My grandsloth 

The doggos

    

Back to this guy: at one point, at the height o f the party, with the house full of joy, he calmly says to the room: "Hey. Matthew Perry is dead."

The party ground to a halt. Sorrow and shock settled in, and we spent half an hour commiserating and checking our phones - even Sawyer sensed the mood change and calmly tried to comfort us - while Mr. Buzzkill happily enjoyed his moment in the driver's seat. He did this once before - I have blocked out the memory of the celebrity - by matter of fact-ly telling me a beloved icon had passed. 

Some people's children. SMH. 

(creepy coincidence: only minutes before someone had found and asked me about a Friends statuette I have)

Anyway, aside from Mr. I Ruin Fun, it was as good a party as you can have when the hostess and driving force is absent and many RSVP's were declined. 

Next year, we aim to do it right!

My Day

While I spent the morning filling up a Little Library downtown with Lisa, took Junie to and from work, delivered a centerpiece to YaYa for her upcoming party,  and sacrificed half my Jimmy John sub to LuLu -  the bulk of the day was spent with Smiley.

First we went to the library to pull some books for his classwork, then went suit shopping

Then we spent the rest of the evening at a coffee shop, where he did coursework while I did some work of my own. 

A busy day - but a good one!

A Long Narrative on a Bad but Uneventful Day

So for a few weeks our church has been advertising this event, and I reminded the family, more than once over that span, that I wanted us to go. 

YaYa and her boyfriend begged out citing a prior engagement but said they'd try and go another time. To me it sounded like polite fiction but fair enough. That left me with three other kids and (alas) Junie's friend Bella. 

 Lulu didn't want to go because she doesn't like chicken, so ok. She decided to go somewhere else instead, and took Junie and her friend along with her - this, Junie said she was too tired from homecoming to go out to dinner. 

Well, that still left Smiley, but he was working until 6 which meant we'd get there pretty late - oh! He walks in early, at 4. Great, let's go I say. 

No, he'd already agreed to meet up with LuLu. 

Ugh. 

Whatever. So I sulked in my bedroom. It didn't help that I had woken up sick with a bad cold, that the rain and the cold weather had been nonstop since Lisa left on her trip, and that I was just generally bummed. 

Then an hour later I heard footsteps in the empty house. 

No burglar folks. It was Smiley.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be out with Lu." I said. 

"Naw, she had already left so I just went up to my room."

"Annnnnd you didn't think of then going with me like I've asked for weeks?" 

Boy was I angry at the lot of them. 

 I went alone, pretty miserable in body and spirit, paid my money, waited a good 20 minutes in this line . . . 

Got to the front and the woman in front of me was firmly declaring to the kitchen staff that if they were out of white meat, they didn't have to bother making her a plate. 

Trivia: I can't stand dark meat

So the kitchen guy looks past her to me and says "What are you looking for?"  (which sounds combative in print. It was not)

"White meat, but you're out eh?"

"Yeah, what you see is what we got left."

What I saw wasn't much. 

Now I should mention that about 10 times as I waited in line I thought about just leaving and considering the $15 I'd paid a donation to the church. So I was not in a place of indignation when this happened. 

"What about those chicken tenders I saw that kid have? Can I have some of those?" I asked. 

You know that scene during the run on the saving and loan in It's a Wonderful Life, when the one bank customer asks for only the smallest amount she can, and George is so happy he kisses her? I was half expecting a kiss from this dude, such was his delight that no further ruckus was made. 

So for my $15 I had three kid sized chicken tenders, a handful of fries that were obviously the end of the bag scraps, the very last dinner roll they had, and a spoonful of cranberry sauce. 

Shrug Whatever. They obviously had far more people than they expected and they'll do better next time I'm sure, and besides, it gave the kids some unwarranted validation for not going. 

It was not - at least prior to 7 pm - a good day for me at all. 

Candlelight: A Tribute to Taylor Swift

For Christmas we bought the 4 kids - Swifties all - tickets to a candlelight tribute to Taylor Swift.

Tonight they journeyed there together, and by all accounts it was money well spent.

The venue was certainly GORGEOUS.

And aside from a tired, introductory joke about Swift's exes (followed, ironically,  by playing Lavender Haze, a song about get current six- year relationship), the show was a respectful and entertaining tribute.

I'm happy they enjoyed it, and even happier they enjoyed it together!