The Halloween Blur

Well, Halloween came and went so fast that I barely noticed.

In that line...Are you kidding?!

Every year, the city of Orange hosts an event for children and their adults at the Traffic Circle (Treats in the Streets) where Chapman crosses Glassell. The stores hand out candy and various organizations come out to represent themselves or raise money. It's really a mad house (as is anything involving candy and children). People stand in a line worse than those at Disney for the newest hottest ride that moves slower than cold molasses just to get candy. The line follows the street up and down and even across at the crosswalks. My small group seems to think this idea is "fun." I suppose that if you have an older child, it might work, but mine's 15 months and not going to eat the candy anyway. I will be the one waiting to buy until it's half off the day after, if I really want candy.
So, to be a good sport I dutifully packed up my kid and all his accouterments in my little Honda Civic and drove a half hour just to participate. Of course parking anywhere near the event is horrendous, so I parked a couple blocks away and got some exercise.

Oh, yeah... Costumes. Um...

As for costumes, I didn't really plan for the holiday this year, so I dressed the monkey in a red t-shirt and jeans with a white hat (read: Gilligan). I wore a red shirt and jean shorts with my hair in pigtails (read: Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island). Instead of using the stroller, I hijacked my sister's old red wagon and used that to hall the diaper bag and other stuff. He really enjoyed that! What I didn't count on is the wagon not fitting in my trunk nicely and having to tie my trunk down (something my husband typically does better than I do). There I was driving down the 91 to Orange with my trunk clunk-clunking up and down with every little bump for a good half hour. I should have tied it tighter.
If I wasn't so suspicious of people in internet-land, I'd post pictures. The Monkey was cute, but he refused to wear his hat. So, it killed the whole ensemble. I did skillfully avoid the horrendous line by getting our requisite 2 pieces of candy from the firemen in the middle of the street, and I bought an overpriced grilled cheese sandwich from a local band's fundraising food stand only because I was starting to feel shaky from not eating.

Black Lantern O'Jack

As for our pumpkin carving, that happened the day before (a week before Halloween). I ended up just buying one from my local Albertsons. It was rather disappointing because by the weekend it had developed disgusting black mold all over the inside, and by the day, it had started creeping up the outside.
I guess my general conclusion is that I was totally, completely, and utterly unprepared for this holiday. I didn't even have candy to give out until about 6:45 that night. Though, 'twas nothing a quick trip to the dollar store couldn't fix.

Manners and Candy

Still, as I was driving to the store, I saw the trick-or-treaters out with parents and such.
Being of the teacher sort, I had half a mind to put up a sign that read "No manners, no candy!" It was amusing to me, but probably not so much to other parents and participants. I decided against it solely based on the effort it would require.
As with every year before since we've been in the neighborhood, I had left over candy. Most of my neighbors don't even hand out candy, so I could understand why the munchkins would not come looking up and down our street. Also, they seem to be an older crowd. Alas! more for me...

Whew!

Anyhoo, I think I wrote a whole lot more than I was expecting. Enjoy!