Since when did Halloween become all about candy, and not about dressing up?
Don’t get me wrong, I always loved the candy. Probably even more than the dressing up. But I still liked wearing a costume, and I knew I had to dress up to go knock on someone’s door.
Not the kids in our neighborhood. We’ve had several trick-or-treaters so far tonight. It’s 8:30, and I’d say we’ve probably had about 20 people knock on our door wanting candy, but I’d say maybe four were in costume. We had two draculas, and I can’t remember what the other costumes were. The really sad part, is kids will ride their bikes up to the house, alone, not in costume, with a Kroger sack, and ask for candy. They’re not even trying to pretend they’re in the spirit. It’s like we’re the candy store drive thru.
I’ll make my kids dress up. They may hate me for it, but they’re going to have to work for that candy -then give half of it to mom.
I have issues when it comes to eating meat.
I’d probably be a vegetarian if I didn’t like meat so much. I have no problem eating a hamburger, but I can’t eat something that looks like what it was when it was living. Take crab for example. Give me a crab cake, I’m a happy camper. But don’t ask me to crack open a crab’s leg and rip out the meat. Can’t do it. Not when I can still imagine it happily crawling around the ocean floor. Shrimp? I like ’em fried. But I can’t tear off their legs and peel them. Ugh.
So this weekend, Lee and I went to Fitzgerald, and our friend Dave joined us. Saturday afternoon, Lee’s neighbor Mr. Freeman announced he was having a fish fry, and we were invited.
So Lee and I were at a daycare tonight, installing video cameras as part of a web-related heidelDESIGN project.
The place was otherwise empty, and I was checking out a camera in one of the infant rooms. There were baby pictures on the wall, and almost a dozen cribs, a rocking chair, a swing, the like. I was looking at all of this and realized how quiet it was in the room except for one sound. The wall clock.
It was really really loud.
And kind of freaky.
On this day, many years ago, the world became a better place.
My Grandmother, Georgia Claire Johnson was born. There is a lot I don’t know about her childhood. Her story in my mind began when she was still very young, working in a pea patch when she was spotted by my grandfather. The attraction grew into love, and into a half-century of marriage and family.
I loved growing up with them for grandparents. They were loving. They were wonderful examples of goodness and warmth. I didn’t fully realize it until her later years, but my Grandmother was also an amazing example of strength, determination, and peace. I’ve often wondered why it took me so long to realize what a fantastic pair she and my Grandfather were. I always knew they were special – but I guess I had to see more of the rest of the world to know how truly unique they were.
Last December, she passed away. When she died, my world became emptier. But I still feel her warmth and try to use her goodness as a model, and that brings me some of her peace.
Happy Birthday Grandmother. I’m thankful you were and always will be a part of my life.
I need to vent.
I chose to be a journalist because I felt I could use my love for being with people, writing, and public speaking to do something decent in life.
I still feel that way. Sometimes I can’t believe I get paid to do this job. Other days I think no one could pay me enough. But I still believe in the basic principles of journalism. Yes, there are plenty of seedy people in the business. Yes, there are people who stopped caring a long time ago and only want to have something good for their resume reel. But I get angrier every day when I’m lumped into that same group.
Who needed Pavlov to tell us dogs can be conditioned to certain sounds? Millie demonstrates that nightly.
Do not make a sound that could be misconstrued as a “ding” or a “knock.” This will send her into hysterics. She’ll bark and run straight for the front door and bark some more. It’s not like that many people have been ringing our doorbell or knocking on our front door, but it only took a few times for her to get it.
At first, I thought, ‘hey, she’s smart.’ Then, she’d be looking directly at Lee and he’d knock on the table, and off she’d go to the door. We can no longer watch Wheel of Fortune or any other game show that dings. That’s probably best. Once, cops knocked on our door because our house alarm went off accidentally, and she stirred up such a fuss they though we had a “vicious dog.” She’s only vicious toward sensitive ears. But forget the house alarm, I think she makes a mighty fine burglar deterrent.
I’m so thin blooded. I’m very excited about fall weather, and it finally arrived today. Fall for Savannah anyway. Right now, it’s 63 degrees. I just walked Millie, and as I stood outside in my long sleeved shirt, I shivered. How lame is that. The south does that to you. I wouldn’t survive one night stranded in a snowstorm. And yet, Alaska is the place I’d really like to visit. Go figure. I have a cousin who lives in Alaska. Right now, it’s 34 degrees in Fairbanks, and by next week, the low is 18. That’s serious cold weather. If he were here right now, he’d probably sweat.
Tonight, in the middle of cooking pasta, our power went out. There was no storm, no major wind event that could’ve foretold the outage, but our side of the street was in the dark.
I was immediately thankful for a gas stove. We dug the old camping lantern out of the shop and lit a few candles. Dinner was served by candlelight, which was nice … but I never knew how quiet our house could be, minus the tv, radio, or even the low hum of the air conditioner or electric appliances. And what would we do after dinner? Sunday is one of our favorite TV nights.
It made me wonder what life would’ve been like pre-electricity. Pretty dark, I imagine. I felt like sitting by a fire and knitting.
Mercifully, as I was putting away dinner dishes by lantern light, the power came back on. It was life back to normal. But still, it’s crazy how dependent we become on our “things.” It’s probably a bad sign that it was scary to anticipate a night of doing nothing. No wonder so many Americans have ADD.
This is wonderful. I’m posting this as I sit in a chair in our living room, without any wires. Lee’s new computer came today, as did our airport base station and my airport card – so our internet is completely wireless. It works very well.
Now if only I could get Millie to work well. She’s running back and forth through the house, barking, and jumping on and off the couch. Not cute.
My computer – very cute.
Oh. I hurt.
Lee and I just finished dinner, and there was so much food. I used our crockpot for the first time since … ever. I made pork barbecue, and it was really good. There is so much, I think we’ll be eating it for years. But that wasn’t enough, I had to try out a rice casserole recipe and make garlic bread and veggies.
It was fun cooking. I love making the house smell like tons of good food – it reminds me of being at home with my mom cooking for the family. Lee was very complimentary, and he’s well worth it – but I hope he doesn’t expect this often. It’s leftovers for awhile.
It’s raining really hard here. Time to take my full belly to the couch and listen to the rain – and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, of course.
