Category: fun

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was just better when I was a kid. I am so glad I grew up when I did. My brothers and I put on our costumes, then burst into the chilly night air, with Mom close behind, watching us walk up to each front door, knock or ring a doorbell, wait eagerly for candy, and say “Thank you” before strolling on to the next house.

I still remember all of it. The excitement. The cool evening. Debating with Mom about whether I really needed to wear a coat (it covers my costume!), then putting on my coat because I never won that battle. Smiling as people opened doors and praised our costumes. Checking the bag (after they closed the door, of course) to see what kind of candy we got. Comparing candy later at home with my brothers, while Mom made sure to tell us we weren’t eating piles of that junk before bedtime or we would have a stomachache.

Kids today miss out. It’s not the same. Trunk-or-treats don’t even come close to old-fashioned trick-or-treating. I get it, I get it. It’s not the same world anymore. That makes me sad, too.

I’m glad we got to take the kids trick-or-treating when they were little, and Halloween happened to fall on our weekend. I don’t know if they remember it, but I sure do.

My husband and I wanted to make sure they experienced a traditional Halloween, a real Halloween. We walked around the neighborhood, with them decked out in their costumes, passing other kids dressed up in theirs. That time, we were the ones waiting nearby instead of the one knocking on the doors. We were the ones making sure they said “thank you”. And you know something? For different reasons, it’s just as awesome.

Happy Halloween!

Beaches, Sunsets, and Classrooms

This week, my husband and I celebrated 19 years together. We’ve made a tradition of taking a weekend trip near our wedding anniversary. It fell on a weekday this year, so we took a few days off to spend our anniversary at our favorite beach.

It threatened to rain on us, and it was actually sprinkling as we set up our chairs and umbrella the first day, but that was surprisingly soothing: relaxing in our chairs and listening to the gentle rain tap lightly on the umbrella, waves crashing rhythmically in front of us. Then the rain decided to give us a break, and we spent a beautiful afternoon alternating between jumping in the waves and half-dozing under the umbrella.

The days went by so fast. I loved our time together, nothing to worry about but what to get into next. On our last evening, we took a long walk down the beach, picking up seashells that caught our eye, pausing to take in the pink and blue and purple sunset that managed to peek through the clouds, seemingly just for us.

Today, my husband is helping our older daughter set up her classroom for her very first teaching job. I’m not sure which one is more excited about it, him or her! She has talked about being a teacher ever since she was very little. I got her a teacher Barbie doll many years ago that she still has, with a mini chalkboard, stored away with other cherished toys in her old bedroom closet. We played endless hours of school over the years, sitting in front of her while she instructed, preached, told random stories, issued commands, whatever popped into her head as she strutted in front of us. And now, here she is, awaiting the first day of school and her first classroom of (real) students.

I have been thinking of both of them all day. It’s fitting, actually, that the two of them are working together on her classroom today. They have always been close. I love that she was at our house when she received the job offer, and I love that my husband is with her today, working in her classroom with her. They deserve to share this happiness together, after all the jealous and bitter attempts by his ex to drive them apart. It didn’t work on them, and it didn’t work on us. Go figure.

I’m looking forward to heading home and hearing all about his day, and her classroom, and her new school, before we settle into our weekend together. It’s going to be diabolically hot, but yard work doesn’t do itself, so there is definitely some heavy sweating in our Saturday forecast. But after that (and after much-needed showers) is our date night, so it will be a great day, no matter what.

Snow Days

Quotes about snow don’t typically get my attention here in the sunny, hot south, but the last few days have been anything but typical. After a long, cold night of freezing rain earlier this week, we woke up to a thick layer of white, glistening ice.

I remember the first snow of every season, growing up in the north. No matter how old I was, that first snow was always exciting. Before anyone stepped foot in it, or drove in it, or touched it in any way, it was so beautiful and peaceful, a smooth, calming blanket of sparkly white.

Something else that was exciting about those long-ago days was getting a day off school if the snow was heavy enough, and that thrill hasn’t changed, either. The best part of this oddball snow and ice storm has been this: my husband and I found ourselves with three straight snow days!

We couldn’t resist venturing out into the ice, crunching our way around the yard, dashing back inside, shivering, to warm back up before heading right back out. He thought he was clever and asked me to come out and look at something, just so he could throw a snowball at me. One look at his trouble-making, smiling face, and I knew what he was up to, but I went outside anyway, just so he could let loose and then laugh like a little boy (albeit, a very tall little boy).

This weekend will warm up quite a bit, and the sun will likely erase every speck of snow and ice, leaving us with mud, muck, and memories. I can’t say I want a repeat of the arctic cold and the polar ice any time soon, but I can say, there is no one else I would rather be snowed in with than my snowball-tossing, snuggling, laughing, best friend and blanket sharer.

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