Halloween and other Scary Stories

I really need to start taking pictures again. My phone was my inspiration. Now all I've got is my brain, which lately has trouble keeping up. There have been major changes in the Whitlock household lately.

1. We moved our only living room chairs so we can look out the window and at the television at the same time.
2. The tv now takes about 20 minutes to turn on. Poor feller is gonna kick the bucket soon.
3. I wore makeup for the first time in over a month. This is especially funny since it was just to stake conference, where no one even saw me because it was a broadcast. Hey, I put on makeup when I want to!
4. Neal and I realized that cooking together really was fun and began making an effort to do so again (with delicious results, I may add).

So when I said major changes, I really meant minuscule ones that make a big difference to me.

Since before we were even married, I have been planning different awesome couple Halloween costumes for this year. Unfortunately, my planning stayed entirely on paper, which means that a couple weeks before the date, Neal and I defaulted to Inspector Space Time and Constable Reggie as depicted by Troy and Abed from Community. How's that for an incredibly obscure reference? We gathered the necessary constable costume and a robe and bowler hat. And then we just didn't dress up. You have to understand. At five in the morning, putting on 'real people' clothing is already a stretch for me sometimes. So instead Neal wore a sort of orange shirt and I wore my orange dress with black leggings. I tried to put on some costume makeup (it doesn't count as real makeup, okay) but it just made me look more haggard than normal.

We did, however, have some friends over to celebrate the holiday. We ate some award-winning chili (based on results from 2012 Bowden Family dutch oven cook off) and cornbread. We watched the ever classic film Blackbeard's Ghost. If you haven't seen it, by the way, it is definitely worth the time to find a copy. I want to be amazing like those aged "daughters of the buccaneers" someday. There was one hitch in the plan. I forgot to buy candy for trick or treaters. Well, I remember three days before but Neal was concerned we would just eat it all. I saw some children down the street coming my way and had a mini heart attack. What does one do when there is no candy to be found in the house? They had already seen me through the window! I scrambled and found two options: two ring pops of unknown age (they don't go bad, they're sugar!) and several Kool-aid packages. Yah, pretty wretched pickings. Luckily, they didn't actually stop, but after the second scare I made a friend bring some over as part of her party contribution. In the end we only got a few, but the robot dance from a darling neighbor made my night.

So now, Happy November! This is one of my favorite times of the year. It isn't yet Christmas season full on, but since I am a musician I can begin singing and playing Christmas songs on the piano as "practice." It doesn't even matter that I no longer perform in choirs...I don't skip to Christmas, no way, I just enjoy it for longer.

In truth, I love the way a month of thanksgiving coincides with the most stressful month of the semester. Just when I think school is going to turn me into an insomniac sugar addict, I see an influx of gratitude on via social media. My mother always encouraged us to celebrate Thanksgiving, so I continue the tradition with a thankful chart. I usually gather autumn leaves, but the early snow means my chart may be more freestyle decor this year. And when I wake up at three (as I have consistently for the last two weeks) I will try to see the joy. I mean, I am grateful that I have a cozy bed and we have a bedside table which holds my water bottle so well. That way I'm never too parched.

Well, that's all for this Sunday evening folks. I promise I'll take some pictures before I post next time. Those pictures really keep me on track.