Halloween Is Over And Other Thankfuls

I would like to start a movement to make Halloween and the day after a national holiday. Our school district does realize that trying to have real class on Halloween is an exercise in futility, so the kids only go half a day and have parties, with the other half for teacher in-service. We held our parties at preschool the week before, since Halloween was on Monday this year, so Halloween was just another day at preschool for us, except for the fact that it was HALLOWEEN and the kids were WOUND. UP. Then the next day? November 1? Don't even get me started on how kids are the day AFTER Halloween. I guess that will lead me to my Ten Things of Thankful rather nicely.

1. Preschool is only half a day.

2. We had amazing weather for Halloween. It was warm and clear. That is a thankful for those who trick or treat, not particularly for me, as our neighborhood is the "cool" place to go trick or treating and the warm weather brought them out in DROVES. We had 970 trick or treaters that night. Yes, you read that right. 970.

3. I told my husband I wasn't going to participate in Halloween next year. We spend a small fortune on candy and it stresses me out to have so many people crowding around me (we sit outside on our front steps and hand out candy, and there will be a line of 20-30 people on our sidewalk waiting to come up). Next year, I said, we're either going to be gone or we're going to hide inside. Then former preschoolers come to my house to trick or treat, just so they can see me, and I realize I'm not going to be hiding in the house next year.

4. I bought candy I don't really like, so I wasn't tempted to eat any much of it.

5. Tub Ball lives on! One day a year or two ago, my son tossed a bouncy ball into the (empty) jacuzzi tub, Ruby chased it, and a new game was born. Ruby entertained herself by endlessly chasing that ball around the tub, and when the plastic cup I use to rinse the tub out got knocked into the tub, she added that to the game, knocking the ball into the cup and fishing it out again. When Ruby died, I set the bouncy ball on the side of the tub by the cup and never touched it again. Then last week, Nora was bouncing around and annoying Fletcher, so I got the ball, bounced it into the tub, and she was hooked. The downside to tub ball is that it is NOISY, but it's a noise I can live with.

6. We have a barred owl hanging around outside at night. This one isn't saying "Who cooks for you" but is making a different sound. I looked it up and it's still a barred owl. Wish I could see it, but, you know, night.

7. Nora not only went to the vet for her third set of kitten vaccinations, but she also made "Patient of the Day" on the vet's Facebook page! She's a star! She's now 3 lbs. 12 oz., and will get her kitty maker and front claws removed (don't talk to me about this if you are against it - I don't want to argue the point with you any more than I want to argue with some one about why the HELL they would seriously vote for Trump) in a few weeks. The fleas are better, but I'll be damned if I didn't pull her out of her carrier and find one peeking out from right between her eyes. 

8. Emma was scheduled to take the SAT yesterday at a little college in my hometown, an hour away from here. We went up Friday evening and stayed with my dad. I had planned to take ingredients up there to make us dinner with enough for him to have leftovers for a few meals, but he insisted he wanted to cook for us, so we let him. He has taught himself to make a roast and potatoes in the fancy non-stick pan he bought himself at Bed, Bath & Beyond, and by golly, he's got it down! He's really doing well since my mom passed away in July. I'm very proud of how he's learned how to be domestic, and I will never, ever turn down his offer of fixing me roast beef and potatoes!

Nora making herself comfortable
in my dad's lap.

Yes, that's a grape. Yes, she got it out
of a bowl on the kitchen table. Yes, my
dad not only watched her do it but
also encouraged her.

9. While Emma was taking the SAT, my dad and I went up to the Methodist Church for their annual soup and pie lunch. You get to pick your own dessert (homemade pies of every kind) and they bring you a big bowl of vegetable soup that is ALMOST as good as the vegetable soup my mom used to make. They have a Christmas bazaar as well, although we didn't go through that. My mom never missed a year going to this event, meeting her friends up there and browsing at the bazaar before eating, and I attended it many times with her. It made me miss her a lot, but it was nice to transition it into something my dad and I could do together. And we both picked coconut cream and it was excellent.

10. I voted early! My husband has to be out of town on Tuesday, and he found out he could go to the courthouse and vote absentee, so I did the same, as I have a very small window of opportunity within which to vote on Tuesday, and there was no way I was going to miss my chance to vote in this election.

How about you? Thankful for anything this week? How about the return to Standard Time? Fer it or agin it? (I'm fer it myself - I hate it when it's dark in the morning when I have to get up.) Link up with us. You still have HOURS to write a post and join us!

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