Happy Halloween!!

Hooray for Halloween!  This is one of my favorite images ever, and I've been saving it for today.

Right now, it's pouring here in Philadelphia, though according to the guy on TV, there will be a small window early this evening when trick-or-treaters should be OK.  Of course, there are parents who are SO upset that they didn't postpone it since it might be raining.  Because God forbid their children get wet.  Another woman was upset because it would be dark, so "why can't they move Halloween to the summer, like with other holidays they moved?"  I'm getting ready to cut someone ...

Since it's Three on Thursday today, I've decided to share three favorite Halloween-related things with you.

1.  When I was in first grade, we lived in Chicago, and on Halloween, it was really cold and already starting to snow.  I never had a store-bought costume, and my mother was not the type to create one for me.  She would do things like hand me a plaid shirt and say, "Tell them you're a lumberjack."  Most of the time, it was cold or rainy, and so it almost didn't matter what your costume was, since you had to wear a coat, hat, etc.  Anyway, my "costume" that year was some of her red lipstick, and I was supposed to be "Miss America."  One older woman in the neighborhood was giving out fancy hats to young kids (when I think about it now, I think she might have not had money for candy, and was giving away some of her old clothes so kids could play dress-up.  Anyway ...).  Everyone was SO excited.  I got one of those hats that was a small piece of fabric with a face veil.  Well - I just thought that was PERFECT for a beauty queen.  So I immediately put it on over my knit hat I was already wearing.  Walked around all evening, thinking that yes, it was making it even clearer that I was supposed to be Miss America.  When I returned home, with lots of candy and a whole new sense of glamour, my mother said, "Oh for God's sake - you look like you had too much to drink and got thrown out of a dive bar."  Clearly, she had no eye for style. ;-)

2.  One year when my nieces were little, my sister had gotten way behind on things and so improvised costumes for all of them.  My niece Liz was dressed in a ballet tutu, really bad makeup, and junky jewelry with a fright wig on.  My sister told her she was dressed as the "Town Clown."  Liz thought it was great.  A few weeks later, they were downtown and passed a hooker on the street, and Liz pointed, and proudly proclaimed, "Look Mommy - Town Clown, Town Clown!"  It did not go over well, but to this day, it's a favorite family story.

3.  A few years back, my niece Amanda and her husband had a huge Halloween party.  Amanda had set a plastic pumpkin on a table with a note that said, "November 2 is All-Souls Day - feel free to take a slip of paper and write the name of someone you'd like to be remembered in prayer, and we will take it to our church for a ceremony there."  By the end of the evening, there were quite a few slips of paper, which was nice. The next day, Liz (the same Liz as above) came over with her family, and at some point in the afternoon, walked over and pulled out a slip of paper.  Then she said, "OK guys, who is this?" and proceeded to act out what was finally guessed to be the assassination of JFK (clearly someone had put his name in the pumpkin for prayers).  Everyone was kinda puzzled, but then she pulled out another slip and said, "Amanda - I don't even know who this is," and handed the slip to her.  Amanda also didn't know, and put it back into the pumpkin, explaining that it was likely someone's friend or family who was asking for prayers (the sign in front of the pumpkin was long gone by now).  To which Liz replied, "WAIT.  Are you telling me these aren't for playing charades?"  And from then on, it has been referred to as The Time That Liz Invented Dead People Charades.  And in case you are wondering, then we played said invented game for an hour or so, making up our own ideas as we went along.  Because why waste such an opportunity???

Anyway.  I hope you have a lovely day, with lots of goodies, whatever you desire them to be.  Enjoy!