wow, november

happy face
Originally uploaded by Julep67

As I was flipping over calendars at work this morning, after having traveled to work in the sunshine (last week the street lights were still on when I was en route to the office), it was a bit of a surprise for me that October was over already.

I mean, I know it's the end of October when little kids stand on my front porch and I reward their cuteness with mini boxes of smarties but still, last month was a blur.

The weirdness started at the end of September when we both had a terrible cold. Toward the end of October, Mark was hammered with a horrible flu. It started with a migraine and when the migraine ended, he was left with terrible body aches and a bit of shortness of breath. When I took him to the doctor (after 3 days of feeling like hammered shit), they suspected that it could be N1H1 and gave him a 5 day dose of Tamiflu. It did help his symptoms and after 3 days on it was able to go back to work but I don't think he had the swine flu.

When the crazy weird panic settles down, we're both going to get the shot. Mark because he's diabetic and me because whenever I get a flu or cold, it could turn into bronchitis or pneumonia. Normally we refuse the seasonal flu shot but with this, at least they know exactly what they are vaccinating against. I'll still not get the regular flu shot, it's just a crap shoot every year.

On Friday, we celebrated Gracie's barkeversary. It was a year ago on Friday (October 30) that she joined our family. We've seen so many excellent changes in her over the past year, it's just amazing and we're really proud of her.

Saturday night was a bit disappointing. Normally, I have between 150 and 200 kids at the door and this year, I think I might have had 80. I wonder how much of that was down to Halloween being on a weekend night so folks went to parties instead, and how much was pure panic over N1H1 and folks kept their kids home. Whichever it was, the kids we did see were super cute and they all got extra candy for making the effort.

So I guess that's where October went. Hopefully , November will be slow and groovy and we'll be able to enjoy it a little bit more than we did October.

where's the water?

where's the water?
Originally uploaded by Julep67

Last night, Mark took me for the last official ice cream cone of the summer. Summer's officially over later today but it feels like it's going to stick around for a while and I'm not complaining. The ice cream cone was pretty yummy, we just went to the DQ near our house while we were out doing some errands last night.

The big indicator to me that summer is almost over is Sam's nose. When the days start to get shorter, the pigment in his nose fades and it turns from very black to pink. The very tip of his nose is showing signs of pink right now.

I actually love this time of the year and can't wait to get my Halloween decorations up. I hope to get my windows washed this weekend so I can get my window display up. I got the neatest table cloth at the dollar store this year. It's a flanel backed, black table cloth with lots of pumpkins and skeletons and stuff on it. Yay dollar store! I also know exactly where my box of decorations is so it should go pretty smoothly. Last year, both Mark and I had pneumonia in the fall and I didn't really bother thinking about Halloween until almost the week before, which isn't really like me. It's one of my favourite holidays and I'm really looking forward to it at the moment!

weekend update

gracie and sam
Originally uploaded by Julep67

I sure hope you like doggie photos because you can expect to see even more of them here. We have double the number of puppies at home so, it makes sense that I'll be taking double the number of photos of said puppies.

The weekend went very well. We all slept well on Friday night (Gracie in her crate, Sam on his bed) and spent Saturday all together, hanging out in the yard or in the house "bonding." Sam and Grace are doing lots of playful puppy wrestling. After they bore of that, they'll either attack rawhide chews or just lie in a sunbeam. It's really cute how well they are getting along. I love that small as Gracie is, she's scrappy.

Yesterday, I rearranged the furniture so that they'd have more open space to roar around in. They way they were tussling on Saturday, I was afraid that someone would be body checked into the furniture and get injured. It was a good excuse to clean too. I'm such a bad house keeper that unless I'm rearranging the furniture, I rarely worry about behind the sofa.

On Friday night, we had 86 kids at our door. We were down almost 50% from last year. Not sure what happened there, the weather was great but maybe because it was a Friday, more folks went to parties. Mark kept the dogs in the basement while I shelled out. Gracie was really good and sat under his desk, on his feet. Sam, on the other hand, stayed at the top of the stairs and barked every time someone came to the door.

Some of the costumes I saw were pretty cute although I was a little disturbed by the number of "pimps" I saw. I guess they are this year's "Harry Potter" because I didn't have one HP at the door all night.

This week, I'm going to see if I can work full days each day. I'm almost finished with my second course of antibiotics and am feeling a bit better. I still don't have a lot energy later in the day but I'm not too bad early in the day. It will get better, day by day, I know.

caution danger tree

caution danger tree
Originally uploaded by Julep67

did you see lots of trick and/or treaters this evening?

our neighbourhood was absolutely buzzing with kids. About 5 minutes ago we took down the decorations from the porch and turned out the lights.

we ran out of candy and scared a few kids. It was a fun evening.

our gravel stealing neighbours next door (and the uptight guy who lives on the other side of them) were total asshats tonight and did not shell out. How do you not shell out in a neighbourhood full of kids?

I hope they egged and tp'd. jerks!

almost

ghostly garland
Originally uploaded by Julep67

The day before Halloween can be one of the longest days of the years for a little kid. Thoughts of free candy, wearing a scary costume and getting to run around your neighbourhood, with your friends, in the dar, on a school night can make you go crazy.

Today the weather was gorgeous here and I hope that it holds on for one more day. It would be so neat if the weather actually was decent for the trick or treaters tomorrow night. I'm a little bit afraid that the construction might keep the kids away. Our driveway is still completely ripped up but at least the sidewalk is in. It's not the easiest to navigate in the dark. Honestly, I'm a little worried about it.

We're pretty much ready for tomorrow. I have some garden ghoulies to put out tomorrow night, along with some "danger" tape and some spooky garlands we found at the dollar store last week. I have my goodie bags all done up and sitting in box on a little table by the front door. I'll do the garlands and put our shaking skull on the porch when we get home from work tomorrow. Mark will put the strobe light in the basement window (it shines under the porch) and we found a CD of ska halloween songs tonight (not at the store, in our CD collection!) so we'll play that through the window too.

I'm a little bit excited about tomorrow night too. I'm not sure why but I really am.

bag o'eyes

bag o'eyes
Originally uploaded by Julep67

my halloween treat bags are ready to go.

I made up about 160 of them, there is candy leftover and I'm taking it to work tomorrow.

This year, we bought only stuff that we didn't really like, gum and jawbreakers and sour skittles and rockets.

the nice thing about this is that I won't be tempted to eat them. Mini-m&m's would not have a chance around here but skittles? I'm not worried.

I found my giant glittery door frankenstein yesterday so I think I'm ready for the "big day" now!