Gearing Up...

What a weekend! I feel as though I didn't get a lot accomplished the last couple of days, but at the same time I feel like I did a lot. Early Saturday morning began with a trip to the flea market with David and a couple of our neighbors, Becky and her husband Bubba (gotta' love nicknames in the south) whom we are close friends with. David and Becky share a rich enthusiasm for gruesome Halloween decorating, so they were on the prowl for bloody and gory props. Our neighborhood takes Halloween extremely seriously. We live on a street in the very back and have earned ourselves quite a reputation for putting on good shows.

My feeling on it is slightly different. You see, Halloween is my birthday. I love everything about Halloween--the candy, the costumes, the decorating, and especially the history. It tickles me when I get an opportunity to enlighten some unsuspecting folks that Halloween was actually a religious day and had absolutely nothing to do with the devil. That usually surprises people. I've always enjoyed having a birthday on Halloween. It made for fun birthday parties growing up! As an adult, I enjoy being on the other side, handing out the candy to the cute little kids rather than taking it. I'm also quite content with the "cute" side of the holiday--the witches and cauldrons, the jack-o-lanterns, mummies, black cats, and ghosts. David on the other hand, is all about the "icky" side--the blood, the entrails, sinister scarecrows, creepy clowns. Bleck! Give me old fashioned Frankenstein, I say!

David and Becky are actually already building and crafting together their Halloween props. I'm forbidden to spill the beans on what's being made, but I will say that my garage is currently filled with PVC pipe, wood, and power tools. It is no joke. Whatever happened to just hanging a paper-hinged skeleton on the front door framed with those cottony spiderwebs that you stick the little plastic spiders in?

This is where I get a little bummed out. It's been a very, very long time since I've lived anywhere that accommodates real trick-or-treaters on Halloween. Apartments just don't get that kind of action. Building our house changed all of that for us. The last two Halloween's that we've been in our house, I've seen more trick-or-treaters than I've seen in years. It actually reminds me of my old neighborhood where I grew up, which was filled to the brim with kids in costumes. It's a lot of fun and I do enjoy it, but I will admit, having spent several years NOT doing that, I now feel like I forfeit my birthday for the day. I mentioned this to David recently, that I feel like my birthday now gets a little lost in the shuffle since he gets so creatively consumed with Halloween. He pointed out to me that we can celebrate my birthday any night that I want, whether it be before or after Halloween. He also reminded me that not everyone gets to celebrate their birthday on their actual birthday, depending on what day of the week it falls on. I get that. And I do get that Halloween is something fun for him (like the way Christmas decorating is fun for me) and a way for him to put his artistic skills to use (his pumpkin carvings alone are astounding), and that the day cannot be postponed just so I can have the satisfaction of celebrating my birthday on the day. But still, it would be nice to be able to celebrate it ON my actual birthday if it permitted. Now that we live in this neighborhood though, I just don't see that happening. I feel selfish and pretty bratty even having an issue with it. After all, it's not like I'm twelve years old. But jeez...Oh well. I'm sure October 31st will be a load of fun regardless.

As for some of my plans, even though it's on the early side to be planning, I'm going to try to organize a pumpkin carving party for my neighbors the weekend of Halloween. We're going to supply tables and chairs, the tools, carving patterns (in case anyone needs ideas), and some delicious treats to snack on. Everyone will simply have to bring their own pumpkin. I've never attended a carving party, but I'm beginning to hear about them more and more, and I thought that it could be a fun way to get both the adults and kids working together and being creative. Plus, it's a great excuse for me to be able to whip up some fun Halloween treats. I have so many magazines filled with ideas for the cutest desserts, but who am I going to make them for? I don't have any children of my own and having dozens of baked good around the house isn't the wisest idea for someone following Weight Watchers. This way I'll revel in the joy of making them while getting to pawn them off on everyone else. Hurray! Hopefully this party will work out how I envision it!

Some small, but good, news...I ran a little this weekend. Saturday evening I decided I needed to get some power walking in before I got too tired. My house sits on a big circle, and I usually always stay on that route for my walks. Back when I was attempting to do the Couch25k challenge, the brief running intervals would cover about a third of the circle. Usually by the end of the 1-2 minute runs, my muscles were screaming to stop. Remember, my running skills are non-existent. So I decided to walk about four laps that night. On my final lap I decided to give jogging on pavement a little whirl with no program to accompany me. It wasn't a fast jog, but off I went. And I'll be damned, I was able to jog the entire circle. I was out of breath by the end (I don't think I understand how one is supposed to properly breathe when running) but I finished. I was so proud of myself. Only a few months ago, one third of that jog was a huge challenge, but here I was completing the entire circle. Powerful baby steps...

Yesterday, Sunday, started off with a lot of pep but ended pretty somberly. Football kicked off the start of the NFL season, and David was like a kid in a candy store. We went to watch the game at a place called Chicago Pizza, which we actually haven't done in a couple of years. We used to watch games there pretty regularly when we lived closer, but our house is much further away now. It felt good to be back there, even though the Steelers (David's team) suffered a brutal loss, putting it kindly.

Last night I caved and watched a mesmerizing documentary on 9/11. I usually avoid watching those kind of specials at all costs because they depress me, but last night I felt compelled to. It was two hours long and I was glued to the television just as I had been a decade ago. It was odd, because watching the footage, I was almost hoping there was going to be a different outcome. I was actually thinking, 'get out of the building' towards the firefighters who were going in as of they could hear me and follow my directions. As a result, I couldn't sleep at all last night. That day just gets under my skin in such an uncomfortable way. I can't imagine what it must feel like to have lost someone to such an evil, senseless tragedy. My heart goes out to all of those families. Such a sad day.

Alas, life goes on. Everyday.