Halloween Hangover

Another Halloween is but a memory. A memory and a tummy ache from way too many Smarties. Those little powdery, sugary candy disks are just irresistible--it's the only time of year I get them. I tried to out-psyche myself and bought some dark chocolate M&Ms so that I wouldn't steal from the treat bowl, but I'm weak.

We had lots of trick-or-treaters this year, many more than last year. I actually ran out of candy. I had to save one more package of Smarties before they were all gone. The youngest was about 3 or 4, I'd guess. I'm not very good at guessing, but he looked about the same age as my friend's 3 year old, so I'm going with that. He was a dinosaur and having a blast. That's such a cute age. They get more excited with each house they go to when the realize what is going on. He jumped off my front porch and marched down the sidewalk saying, "Trick or Treat!"

We had the usual ages of 5 to 10, and they were everything from princesses to witches to super heros to Thomas the Tank Engine. But what was really cool were their bags! No pillow cases for these guys--their bags matched their costumes. That must have cost a pretty penny. And some of the bags were these cool quilted figures, so you put the candy in a witch's head or something like that. I was most impressed.

One of these little beggars came as the Grim Reaper. In the lowest voice he could muster he said, "Trick or Treat." I had a flashback to the Halloween party my folks had when I was a little kid, when someone came as the Grim Reaper. It scared the pee out of me--almost literally. That costume has given me the shivers ever since, even when it's on a 10-year-old.

Of course, we got the older kids, too. They were the ones with the pillow cases. We had a group of 12 to 13 year olds. I love that age. This is probably their last big night at costumes and trick-or-treating for the fun of Halloween. Next year, they'll be too cool, so they'll just walk around in packs, wearing all black, and wanting candy even though they aren't wearing costumes. We had a group like that come to the door, too. I told them they were my scariest group yet.

In that group of 13-year-olds, one of them was wearing a King from Burger King mask and I told him that was really scary. He pulled his mask up and said, "Really?" He seemed quite pleased. I said, "Yeah. Haven't you seen those commercials? They're disturbing." Well, they do scare me. They are so disturbing, I couldn't even find one on YouTube to show you what I mean. But you can go here to get an idea.

By 8:30, we blew the candles out of the jack-o-lanterns and turned out the lights. It's always a little sad for me. I love seeing all the kids in their costumes and hearing them say thank you and even a "Happy Halloween" every now and then. Of course, I'm also worried that now it is dark around my house and those black-clad teenagers that I was a smart-ass to might come back and smash my pumpkins.

Not only is today the end of Halloween, it is the beginning of November and National Novel Writing Month, which I did sign up for. I have a folder on my desktop ready for my 50,000 words, I have a place in the house that I think will be ideal for writing, I have the story in mind, and I have a pot of coffee brewing. I've thought about it a lot and I've come to one conclusion.

I am out of my fricken' mind.

But I'm going to try it anyway.