Spooky doings

It's so fun this year, having Halloween on Friday. Next year of course will be even better, with Halloween on Saturday. But they're both really good times for the holiday. Having Halloween on Friday means kids can go to school in their costumes, later go trick-or-treating, and then not have to get up early the next day for anything. Having Halloween on, say, a Tuesday, is a lot less fun.

My children's book set in October has these exact dates, and so I am living it this year. The book starts on Saturday the 25th, so yesterday I went out and tried to "walk the book," following the path my characters take (they go around the neighborhood a lot). I'm going to try to do that every day this week. 

And then the next book starts on Tuesday, November 4th, so I'll keep walking that book, even though it's not finished yet. Walking it should help me finish writing it. I hope.

We're having a delightfully spooky weekend. On Friday evening we went on the "Ghost Walk, Ghost Talk" tour, sponsored by Historic Boulder. Teen B even agreed to come, although he complained vociferously the whole time: "This is SO dumb!" "This is SO boring!" "Why do we have to walk SO far?" etc. 

The tour started at the Odd Fellows hall on Pearl Street (see Rocket Boy talking to someone in costume in the big hall on the 2nd floor). Then we drove to Mapleton Avenue and walked to the other four houses on the tour. I think we were most impressed by the McInnes House, also known as the wedding cake house, but the Grill Mansion was empty -- it was recently sold to a new owner -- so you could go all over, basement to attic, which was very fun. And it was also fun to spend time in the Carnegie Library. Rocket Boy remembers when that was THE library in Boulder (now it's the local history library). 

I didn't feel the slightest whiff of ghosts on the tour, but it was fun nonetheless.

When we were still in the Odd Fellows Hall, up at the top there was a room where they had psychics who would read your palm or do other types of divination. Teen B wanted me to do it, but there was a long line, and honestly, I didn't want to know my future. I suggested we ask them for a reading for HIM, but he didn't want to do it. But me -- I mean, what could they tell me? I'm 65, I'm basically retired, I'm married with two teenagers. I'm planning to stay married "as long as we both shall live." We'll probably stay in this house. The kids will grow up, do whatever they're going to do. I'll keep trying to write books. We'll travel, if we're able. Eventually we'll die. I just can't see anything exciting happening -- to me, personally -- from here on out. And that was a queer thought. I had strange dreams that night -- can't remember any of them, though.

Last night we went to the Haunted House at Boulder High, which is always fun. There was the usual long line (we arrived at about 8 pm and went in around 9:30), but it wasn't super cold, unlike some years, and I always enjoy watching the people (mostly young teens, out with their friends). The theme this year was "Shipwrecked Souls," and so there were actors dressed as fish, mermaids, sailors, and flappers (I guess the flappers were supposed to be on the ships that sank -- think Titanic). Teen B thought it was the dumbest theme they've ever done, but I thought it was better than some. Two years ago, with the Haunted Toys theme -- that was dumb. And Haunted Alice in Wonderland last year -- hmm. But this year wasn't bad. It's not super scary to me anymore because I know no one's going to touch me, I'm not going to die. Also, I know where in the basement they're going to put someone following us, or a loud noise, or someone with a knife stuck in them, or someone hanging from up above. So there's less suspense than there would be the first time you go to it. But it's still fun.

We finally got all our Halloween stuff down and decorated the house a little, nothing too complicated. I set out all my little dolls. I looked on eBay to see if there were any I wanted to buy this year, but nothing appealed to me. There are three or four dolls that I don't have, but I didn't feel the urge to spend $30 or whatever to obtain them. Instead, I ordered myself some long-sleeved shirts (pre-owned, not expensive). Since I'm a little thinner this year, I feel the cold a little more, probably won't want to wear short-sleeved t-shirts every day all winter.

It was hard for Rocket Boy to reach the Halloween boxes, up on high shelves in the garage, and get them down with his injured rotator cuff. Speaking of which, he has an MRI scheduled for Monday, i.e., tomorrow afternoon. We went back to the orthopedist this week and she said yup, better have that MRI right away. Monday is also the day he starts his new job, at 8 am (online from home, no driving yet). This seems problematic to me, but it's his rodeo, not mine. I just have to remember to be quiet while he's working.

The company he's going to be working for sent him a big box of swag -- a t-shirt, a water bottle, a mousepad, a pad of paper and a pen, a paper clip container, a book written by the company founder, a shopping bag, and I forget what else. Just ridiculous. "More junk to fill up the house," he said, as I pulled out item after item. Yup.

What else? It wasn't a good cooking week, although I would say it was a good eating out week (the photo is of my Spooky Pizookie at BJ's last night -- I could only eat about a third of it, but it was yummy). I made a new Indian dish on Monday, and that was OK, but on Tuesday I made a new recipe for tortellini soup and I screwed it up. It called for a 28-oz can of tomato puree. I saw the 28-oz cans of tomato puree at the grocery store, reached for one, put it in my cart -- and it turned out to be a 28-oz can of tomato SAUCE, something I didn't notice until I was doing the dishes Tuesday night. I had wondered why the soup was so thin. Puree would have made it a lot thicker. Oh well. The soup still tasted good, but it would have been better with puree. I'll save the recipe and maybe make it again next year, after everyone's forgotten about it, using the correct ingredients.

This week I'm planning to make a couple of recipes I printed out that are supposed to appeal to kids, such as Cheesy Tuna and Tomato Orzo and Skillet Broccoli-Cheddar Rice. But first Rocket Boy plans to make veggie pot pie. As soon as I finish writing this we're going to go out to Munson's Farms, finally get our pumpkins, and some other veggies for the pot pie. 

I also probably need to buy more candy. The kids and I have been eating the Halloween candy as fast as I can buy it (well, maybe if I didn't put it in the Halloween candy dish it would last longer, but where's the fun in that?). 

I didn't do anything political this week -- I'm just gobsmacked by what's been going on in Washington. But this coming week (in fact, maybe today), Rocket Boy and I will vote, and that's something. Everyone running for City Council here in Boulder is a liberal of some sort, but still, it feels good to be able to choose between them. Good to have the right to choose.

And so, on that note I will bid you adieu for this week. Five more days of October. Happy Halloween!