BOO!

Awww Halloween. Probably my favourite holiday of the entire year. Little prepwork, little shopping, no cooking large meals for family – just pure sugar fun.

When we were kids, my Mom and Dad were not Wicked Witch parents like a lot of us are today (ME AND RICH INCLUDED) - they let us keep ALL of our Halloween loot. They didn’t pilfer through it and steal ¾ of it for themselves, their office colleagues or use it to stuff birthday piñatas like my brother in law does (no worries, my nephews are not Working Mommy blog readers). There was nothing in the world like the thrill of pouring out your pillowcase on the carpet to start the meticulous process of classifying your candy. First, you'd just admire the pile and see if it was bigger than your sister’s or not. Then – you rolled up your sleeves and started sorting.

We had a multi-tiered system that required intense concentration. First, you'd sort out the chips because they’re the biggest and you didn’t want them to get crushed. Then you went for the chocolate bars because those, really, were what you went out trick or treating for in the first place. Toostie Rolls, lollipops, gum, caramels, Rockets, any kind of chews (Mojos etc.), etc. Then you’d break it down again and sort out the chocolate bars by brand, the gums and lollipops by colour, the chips by flavour etc. Make a couple of trades here and there and by that time, photographic memory kicked in and you had an intense relationship with EVERY piece of candy that you had collected. If a Wunderbar went missing, I’d call out a search party.

There was even a hierarchy to how you’d eat it. You go for the chocolate first because that was the gold. Eat your favourites, then move down the food chain. Tootsie Rolls and Pops (because they are sort of ‘like’ chocolate), gummy candies, Kraft caramels, Mojos, Rockets – throw in a bag of chips in between to cut down the sweet factor. Then the BB Bats (toffee first then the pink ones) until all you were left with were the peanuts in shells and those candy kisses (the chewy molasses teeth pullers in the Halloween wrappers) which you’d usually just chuck out.

Simon starred in his Halloween play this morning. He was the ‘ghost’ in a cute little production his class put on for the parents. I was so proud – he did such a good job and remembered all of his cues. It was a story about a big pumpkin (played by Anais) that a witch (played by Celeste who truly has a future on the stage) wants to pull it out of the ground so she could make pumpkin pie. She can’t pull it out by herself so a ghost comes along (Simon) to give it a try. They had put a long white sweater on him and sheet over his head with two eye holes cut out of it – but he couldn’t see because it kept slipping so they took the sheet off him half way. The ghost flexes his muscles and tries to pull the pumpkin out of the ground but can’t do it either. Then a vampire comes along (Geva) followed by a mummy (Zaniah) and a bat (Kaitlyn) who all try to pull out the pumpkin but fall into a pile on the floor (Simon was the only one on cue for the tumble – so proud!). In the end, they get it out and make pumpkin pie which they throw over to the goblins (played by the rest of the class). It was all set to a musical recording so the kids knew their cues etc. Before each character had their go at pulling out the pumpkin, there was a line in the song that said “and they thought about pumpkin pie” and the kids had to tap their temples in thought. Rich videotaped and if I could figure out how to upload videos to this – I’ll eventually get it posted.

Photos of tonight’s trick or treating event will follow shortly.

Have a safe Halloween everyone! Bring on the peanut butter cups!

Week in Review

Tuesday Simon took his class photos so it was yet another morning of scrambling around trying to find clean clothes that fit properly, making sure no Cheerios were crusted to his face before leaving etc. These are days when I'm thankful for not having a daughter - no pony tails and barrettes to fuss with etc. He wanted his hair in "spikeys" so I did the best I could. He's in bad need of a hair cut and his hair is total Lilly hair from my Mom's side and just wants to lie flat on his head. They used a new photographer this year so hopefully the prints won't look as cheap-ass as last year where Simon was superimposed and floating in front of an electric blue background. We already got the proofs with two poses to choose from and they seem much better. His hair managed to stay sort of spiked, he unzipped his sweater a bit by himself (to look cool I suppose)and he's not looking into the camera in either shot. In one pose he's making a very unnatural 'say cheese' forced smile so I think we're going to go with the closed-lip shot even though I'm so proud of this boy's teeth. They are not perfect but straighter than me and Rich's ever were before orthodontics saved our lives. We were convinced he'd inherit the 'wolf-boy' teeth of his parents but so far so good!

I'm still sick - I can't seem to kick this damned thing. The congestion has moved up into my head and I woke up deaf with a major sinus headache this morning. Mommy finally gets to party this weekend but I won't even be well enough to go at it properly. Tomorrow night two of my friends' bands are playing and Staci is coming up from Toronto which always brings everyone out of hibernation. The shows thankfully start early so it shouldn't be a late night. Then, Saturday - Julie is hosting a Halloween shindig but I don't have a confirmed sitter yet so Rich might have to stay back. I took tomorrow off because I have a bunch of unused vacation days left that I don't want to go to waste before the end of the year. I think I'll hit up a clinic in the morning and get some antibiotics to clear this out.

A little tribute to Trisha's Grandpa, Philip Arthur Garner who sadly passed away on Monday. Very few of us seem to have any grandparents left any more which is a sad thing. Our sympathies to his family and friends.

Hacky Birthday to YOU!

I’m writing my letters to contributors today who submitted material to the August/September edition of my work magazine. It’s only just gone to the mailing house yesterday. It’s so embarrassing to finally send people their complimentary copy in late OCTOBER for content they submitted to you in JULY. Some of the conference plugs we included were for meetings that took place two weeks ago and people will only hear about them in two more weeks from now. Not the sunniest moment for me in work history that’s for sure.

A word from the wise. Do NOT eat chocolate covered almonds when you’re suffering from a chest virus. The little nutty pieces just irritate the throat for hours afterwards causing even more frequent hack attacks.

I got sick last Thursday with what I’m sure is bronchitis. I had it last year around this time of year too. I don’t think I’ve been sick since then so I can’t complain too much. This year, Simon’s reaction to hearing me cough out a small puppy is more like this:
- Mommy are you sick?
- Do you need to see a doctor?
- Do you want me to check you? I’ll be right back (at which time he goes to unearth his plastic stethoscope which he places on my stomach makes a “baboombaboom” sound and then tells me I’m all better). Snookums.

It’s my Dad’s birthday today – and Dad I know I haven’t called yet but I’m waiting until I get home so we could all cough out “Happy Birthday to Pappu” together because I know he’d like to hear that. Happy birthday Dad – I still look up to you and in your little girl’s eyes you are, and always will be, my Superman. I love you.

Conversations with Simon

Me (on our way out to the store): Do you need to use the bathroom before we leave?
Simon: No it's okay, I farted already.