Happy Halloween


Another Halloween is upon us which can only mean one thing; the Christmas mania starts in full force tomorrow. Aaaaaiiiieeee!

This Halloween was a diversion from the normal routine of going to the Barrett's and trick or treating and celebrating Abby's birthday. I miss the chaos and taking the kids out door to door, frankly. Both of our kids went out with their friends' in other neighborhoods. Donna and I passed out candy to the 5 groups of kids that showed up. Strangely quiet.

When I think about it real hard, this was a sad day. I'm certain it is Sarah's last trick or treat night. That means that my kids are growing up and the days of walking through neighborhoods with them while they beg for treats are over. While there were days that I wanted my kids to grow up and be independent, now that they are doing that, I want them to slow down. The empty nest is actually visible from here, and I'm not sure I like it.

Sure we have several years left, but the days of snuggling with them, taking them to the park, playing in the snow with them are all but over. If this is what getting old is like, it kinda stinks. I want my kids to be a bit like Peter Pan where they stay an age forever. I'm not sure what age I'd like to order, but I don't think it's Teenage. (LOL).

I carved the pumpkins for them today, or at least cleaned them out. Sarah did the detail work, while I did the slime removal. Donna said she thought that I needed to do the pumpkins more for me than the kids actually wanting to do them. In a way she's right. We always have pumpkins, so by golly, I was going to see to it that we did this year too. It's a weird traditionalist thing in me. I'll probably do a pumpkin when I'm 60 because I think it keeps you young, that kind of stuff.

Gorging yourself on Halloween candy is also part of it, and I excel at that. M & M's were my thing this year, and my wrecked mouth is proof of it. Can't help this sweet tooth thing, I guess.

A mellow Sunday around here. We're watching our friends' dog, Bentley. He's a good dog, but it's a bit like having an adopted two year old around the house. You have to school him on respect, boundaries and what he can and can't do. With our brand new carpet, it's been a bit of a vigilant watch for a leaky bladder too. No problems so far. I have to remember to let him out every hour or so though.

Headed up to Madison on Wed. for EWUG (www.ewug.org) and some training for work. I hope to get some writing done in the hotel when I'm alone, but I've said that before, so we'll see. Hopefully I'll fit a post in then.

When I look back on my life lately there are entire portions that I almost never think about anymore that bring great memories back to me. Much of these memories are brought back when a song from the period comes on my Ipod. It is weird how the brain works that way with song and memory and imagery. Amazing stuff, and I thank God for it. I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Blogging off for now...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

National Poetry Month: Issue 18

In a rush, a poem from Richard Brautigan from,  The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster. A Good-Talking Candle                    by Richard Brautigan I had a good-talking candle last night in my bedroom. I was very tired but I wanted somebody to be with me,    so I lit a candle. and listened to its comfortable voice of light until I was asleep. Blogging off...
Read more

New Chapters

Image
 As many of you know I retired last week after almost 27 years at Waukesha County. It was a bit of a shock to some, in part because I am only 61. Nevertheless I'd given it much thought and talked it through with my family and determined it was time. I wanted to get out while I am healthy and perhaps more specifically just do something different. I am lucky enough to say I've loved my work over the past 37 years. GIS and mapping has been my passion since college and I was fortunate enough to get paid to do something I loved.  I'll be honest, while I looked forward to the date of retirement, I was not looking forward to the celebration. Like my daughter, who is more like me than not, I do not like being in the spotlight. While I've become more comfortable being in front of people in part because of my writing and its related promotion and readings, deep down I'm still an introvert with extrovert flares, as they say. But dreading it as I did, it turned out to be a spec...
Read more

Local Level Need

Image
A week and a half into retirement and I'm here to report that life is good on the other side. I've kept fairly busy so far, in fact when my wife was questioned by friends on "how Jim's retirement is going," she said, "He hasn't sat down." I think I'm still in the manic, must-get-stuff-done mode that happens when people get a week off of work. Gotta cram it all in. Well, I am starting to adjust to the fact that it will all be there tomorrow and next week, and if I don't get to all of it today, it's really okay. It's been a strange adjustment for sure, but one that I am beginning to appreciate more and more.  Before I decided to retire, one of the things I wanted to commit to was a regular stint of volunteer work. When I mentioned it to a friend who works for Frieden's Food Pantry, he suggested I look into helping in one of their four locations. They vary in the number of families that they serve, but they turn over a huge amount o...
Read more