Halloween Pops In

Is anyone really ready for Halloween this year? Once again, I informed my children that whatever they wanted to be for Halloween had to be found in our current dress-up boxes. And carving pumpkins? Well, I just picked those up last night. So much for the annual tradition of letting the kids each pick out there own...at the grocery store. No going to a pumpkin patch for us. And this year, the pumpkin selecting happened at the grocery store alright, last night at 9 p.m., in the dark, and on the way home from a faculty viola recital at BYU. O. was there, so he picked out an enormous pumpkin with a dented side that already looks diabolical. B. was with me too, and she helped me pick out pumpkins for herself and everyone else. We ended up with four soccerball-size squashes and one dented beachball-size. At some point, the carving will happen tonight, along with trick-or-treating (which O. is supervising this year, along with a former classmate of his), eating chili for dinner (love those cans!), and watching Arsenic and Old Lace, starring the handsome and funny Cary Grant. Maybe I just need to classify this as my laid-back approach to the holidays. I'm not even stressing about cleaning up my house, decorating my house, or fixing a fancy dinner. The focus is all on the candy anyway, right? (which is going to be slyly sorted through between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., and after 9 p.m.).