For my Dad, on Vetrans' Day

I can not forget the men and women who have fought and served to make this country free. Some are still with us, but many more are not. Too many have been forgotten, and lie in unmarked graves on foreign soil. Some are honored by family and loved ones. All are to be remembered and loved and THANKED for the sacrifices they made! God bless them and all who miss them. Thank you, Vetrans, for your unselfish gift of service to this Great United States of America! We owe you a debt of gratitude that mere words can never espress!




Today I think of my dad... he wasn't a colonel or a general or anyone who got a lot of awards, but he served his country with every bit of his heart. He was in the Army during WWII and was a POW in Switzerland, during the German occupation. He then served in the Korean War, and later joined the Air Natiional Guard, while he also had his "day job". He loved this country and he was a wonderful example of a solidier, a husband and a father. I miss him today, and yet I know he looks on from Heaven and prays that our country will be strong and love God as he did. Thank you so much, Daddy! I love you always.

Autum 2011 - Hallowed Eve

Hallowe'en... derived from the words "Hallowed and Evening". So many conflicting emotions. Is it evil, is it the devil's holiday? I loved Hallowe'en as a child. There was so much excitement and fun involved. When I was little, playing outside in the dark was a deliscious treat in itself. We would go out in the back yard of my friend's house, and hide in the dark, and count to 100. We would count ...to 1@@ with our faces against the rough trunk of their old maple tree and then say, Here I come, ready or not!! We always found the ones hiding because their heavy breathing from running would give their locations away.




We would twirl around in circles and make ourselves so dizzy, our heads swimming until we fell down! There is nothing like giggling until your heads swim, is there? We ate too much candy, and I have to say, that still happens to me a lot! Now it's not 7-Up Bars and Chico-Sticks... it's probably Lindt chocolate truffles if I can justify buying them!



One year when we were about 12, we went and soaped some windows... not anything too bad, we didn't want to cause any real damange... we figured the recipeients of our pranks would understand that we just wented them to enjoy the spirit of fun ... or at least that's what I told myself.



The first or second year of highschool we knew we were getting too old to Trick or Treat. We were not even remotely true adults... we were 14 going on 10. We had one tall friend, he lookeed like a man from the chin down. But he had this sweet face that looked like a choir boy with the hint of a mustache wishing it could grow on his upper lip. We know he wouldn't pass for a Trick or Treat Worthy kid. But we thought he'd make a great "Big Brother".. I'm sure I was with Laura Lorenz or Alice LaChapelle and probaby Richard .... we all got sheets out of our linen closets... or maybe even stole them off our beds. I'm not sure my mom and dad knew that we'd appropriated those things. Since I buy my own sheets now, I am sorry, Mom and Dad about the holes I cut in the sheets... Guess it's kind of late..



We went to the houses there in the olld neighborhoods... up to the doors ...all excited and with our stomachs full of butterflies, or perhaps moths... What will they say when they see us, these poor unsuspecting neighbors... of course we moslty went to homes where we were unknown. All of us except the tall kid, Larry, kneeled down on the steps so we looked like little goblins... innocent voices that we made as childlike as possible called out "Trick or Treat!!!!!!!!" and we tried to hold our laughter until our bags were gifted with more and more treats ... Then when the poor unsuspecting victims had given out the sugary bounty, we all stood up and said, as politely as we could.. "Thank YOU!!! " and giggling we ran off down the sidewalk to the next house... That was one of the most shamefully fun memories I even enjoyed... LOL!



I hope you don't hate Hallowe'en.. I hope you can enjoy it, and make some great memories... I did. I didn't think of the devil, or evil. I thought of fun, and ways to make it special. I did think of how we had the responsibility to not harm or destroy anything that wasn't ours... or anyone. I hope that you can share the love and grace of Christ to each child and each adult that you find on your front porch or at the mall ( Yes, some of us like Malls) today, and that with His help you can turn what the devil may have purposed for evil into a day that God can use for HIS Glory!



God Bless you all today! Enjoy your Hallowed Eve!

Winter in Skedattle...

Here it is January already, in fact half way through January! Christmas and New Year's has come and gone.... Why do I always find myself looking back and saying "Where did Christmas go??? Can it be that Thanksgiving was a month and a half ago, and suddenly the stores are reminding me that Valentine's Day is February 14th. Not to be faceteous, but I do not have any confusion about when Valentine's Day is... I just want to know where the last 2 months went. Another winter here in my adopted city, and my life never has been so full. My work kept me on my toes until it suddenly came to and eld. This blog was started in probably 2008 and now it's 2011 and I just found it for the first time in 2 or 3 years. I guess it's worth keeping. Suddenly it's the first third of November and I'm looking at my Hallowe'en deccorations and thinking, uh oh, Christmas will be here in a week or so! LOL! Time passes by so quickly,

A Happy St. Patrick's Day to You, Boyo!

Here is a picture of Walt Disney with Pat O'Brian, and the "King of the Leprechauns", Brian Conners, from a 1959 photo promoting the Disney show, "I Captured the King of the Leprechauns". I was enthralled with all things Irish about this time and loved Disney. One of my favorite movies back then was "Darby O'Gill and the Little People". Actually, not much has changed! And the incredibly handsome Sean Connery was one of the leads in the movie, and captured my heart for sure.

Always, always, my Irish heart will love this story and the olde sod will call to me... This is a memory from childhood that, though dim, is still a part of who I am... the Irish Lass from ... well, let it suffice, my heart longs for Ireland.

Return to Writing

I .am baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaackkkk!! It's been 3 years since I posted on here. I actually forgot I had this blog. This may seem surprising but at my age, I don't think so. I forget a lot of things lately. I guess it's part of having your head so full of stuff... it sounds like a fairly reasonable explanation, don't you think?  But now that I've rediscovered this vehicle for my never ending train of thought, I may very well become a true blogger affecionado again! God willing. Bare with me for now, and give me some time to regain my footing here... Yes, I realize I've had three years, give or take a few months, but I have to reorganize my mind a bit. Yup!

♪ Luis Miguel.net - Luis Miguel World Wide/Mundial Fan Community

♪ Luis Miguel.net - Luis Miguel World Wide/Mundial Fan Community

I found this on line today, and fell in love with the bright sunny warmth of the color and light. It's been since February since I posted, and since this is promising to be the hottest day of the year here so far, I wanted to commemorate it. That's all I have time to write for now, but I will be back!

Where did it go???

I thought I’d be wonderful at this… I had all these plans to put some deep and profound thoughts in this blog, to show that I had something of substance to say, but so far I’ve fallen flat on my face. I made a futile attempt at making my thoughts a creative celebration of life, and all that was occurring around me. Then the Holidays came, and I was somewhat overwhelmed, and blogging suddenly became much less important and just being awake and getting dinner on the table, presents bought and wrapped and sent, and getting to work and home each night was the thing my dreams were made of… I know, bad sentence structure…again…

Christmas this year was nice, but also kind of sad. My husband and youngest son and I were here in Seattle together, the first year that we didn’t go to Spokane and spend Christmas with the rest of our family. My two older children and their families were 300 miles away, and all of my grandchildren with them. My newest grandbaby, Abigail, celebrated her first Christmas and I missed it. But we were all well, and had homes and food to eat and a lot for which to thank God. So we “kept Christmas” in new ways, and some old, too. Once again I decorated the tree Mom gave us about 20 years ago, and as I put on each old ornament, I remembered Christmases past, as many must do each year. It was just so wintery this year that weather kept us from even planning a trip over the Cascades.
Michael had to work Christmas Eve, which also would have stopped us from going out of town, and I worked the day after Christmas. We wanted to do something to make the evening special, and fun, so I suggested going out to dinner at someplace special. We got last minute reservations to Anthony’s in DesMoines. It’s very lovely and elegant, but yet can be casual… does that make any sense? The view would be wonderful, but it was dark so we could only make out a few boats with Christmas lights in the boat slips nearby. The romance that you would expect from the movie “Sleepless in Seattle” is very unrealistic, I would have to say, because it’s so cold by the water that you could certainly freeze every known appendage off if you stood outside long enough to reflect on the beauty of the Puget Sound. Maybe it’s me, but we were happy to not be by the window and have our meal in comparative warmth. The crab fettuccini was delicious as always… our waiter seemed a little stiff at first. He reminded me of an evil, uptight Kelsey Grammer. But we sort of gently teased him and gave him a big tip so that by the time we left we had him in a much better mood. After all, it was Jesus birthday, and not a day to be angry. I don’t blame him if he didn’t want to be working that night. It would be a bit sad, and I already nearly found myself in tears that night, too. We were having fun but someone said something about how we would be eating Mom’s home made Christmas bread if we were in Spokane… and I suddenly found my heart aching from those I love that were far away. The Christmas bread was not even the half of it….although it would be missed.

Then we went home and watched “A Christmas Carol” together. Even Michael stayed up and watched, which must have been a sacrifice. He isn’t much for watching any movies with us when he could be battling some alien world on the internet with his friends. He even said it was rather good, so it must have been the Spirit of Christmas to prompt that kind of comment. I’m half kiddng, and maybe half serious… he is very busy with his own life of late. It’s a rare and precious moment when we are all laughing and enjoying the same things it seems.
Christmas Day we opened our gifts to one another and had a lovely, if I do say so myself, brunch… lots of hot coffee and bacon, eggs and sweets…and then I baked a cherry pie for taking to dinner. We went to our friend’s and Pastor’s for our Christmas meal, and had a wonderful time. They are a wonderful family and Steve and Pastor Dave seem to be kindred spirits in so many ways. I think Dave has really become a good friend and Tandi and the kids are also the kind of people that bring the best out in those around them. The food was super, and just what I would have chosen if I’d had to pick a menu. The rest of their family from here, and various kids of all ages, filled their home and gave us the boost we needed, as they treated us like part of the family.

The ladies played cards, and the kids played video games… and the men talked about eating.. and ate.. we all just relaxed and enjoyed the blessings of family and friends… corny sounding, perhaps but I don’t know how else to put it. Oh, and my pie turned out great. If my mama never taught me anything else, she taught me how to make good pie crust. Just ask my husband, he will tell you.

We called all the family throughout the day, we sent our Christmas blessings to my son Peter and his gal, Andrea, and the new baby, and the girls…. We spoke to my daughter Heidi, and were happy to hear that she and her two younguns were with Steve’s dad and step mom Christmas Eve, and with Mom and Steve’s step dad Christmas Day. Peter and Andrea were there, too, and of course all of the other “kids” in the family. So they were all together and even though we missed them, it was so good to know that they had each other. Steve’s mom and sister were in love with Abby, saying how sweet she is, how her eyes are so blue and she is just such a good baby. Of course, she’s my little angel, and I have to say, I know my mom and dad are looking down from Heaven and are talking about how beautiful their little granddaughter is. It gives me an indescribable feeling when I look at her picture.. I haven’t seen her face to face since October, but Mom sent some pictures of her from Christmas. It’s like there’s nothing that can compare to that innocent beauty of a baby, especially a grandbaby. Of course, all of my grandchildren make me feel that way. They just grow up so fast. I’m sure all grandparents feel this way. If you could only capture those sweet moments forever… like the song says, “If I could put time in a bottle.. If I could make wishes come true, I’d save every day ‘til eternity passes away, just to spent them with you..”. The song is supposed to be romantic, but I think it applies to all of those we love.

So the Holidays are passed. I have to admit, they last a lot longer at our house than they should because I can’t stand to take down my Christmas tree. Yeah, I just got that done last week. And what’s even worse is that wasn’t even a record. One year it was the 13th of February when it finally was all tucked back into boxes and the Valentine’s stuff was out. It seems like laziness, but I know it’s just that I miss the lights and the pretty treasures that have been hung on our tree for the past month and a half. This year the tree went up late, too, as I was sick and had no energy the weekend of Thanksgiving. It was only about 10 days before Christmas that the whole decorating thing was done, and it took me about 3 days to get the tree up. I never do anything simple, and you’d think I’d learn. Well, at any rate, it’s done for now, and yesterday I hung the tiny glass heart ornaments that I sometimes also use on our tree over the dining room table. They are satiny shades of red, hung on gossamer ribbon, from the chandelier. New beaded heart shaped coasters hold glasses on my white table cloth. I have a new cake plate for a tiny heart shaped cake that is also embossed with red hearts, so the place is decked out for Valentine’s Day… You may say what a silly woman that I am, trying to make every day a celebration. But it should be a celebration in that we have a life that is blessed. The knowledge of how much we are loved, by our families and friends, and by our God, is something to be celebrated and cherished always.
I hope you are all warm and knowing that Love today.

Peace!

Shar

Happy Late Th!anksgivng

Thanksgiving...
I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving yesterday.... as ususal, I didn't get this posted in time, and so it's a late wish, but it was born in my heart much sooner... the moment I think of those I love, I wish the best for them.
We stayed in town for the Holiday this year, mostly because Mike had to work the next morning at the insane hour of 4:30 A.M.... This world has changed so much, and the way the stores open on "Black Friday" while your Thanksgiving turkey is barely cooled off from the oven is, to me, a bit sad. I know the retail world and our economy are dependent on profits that seem to peak right about this time of year... I know people's lively hoods are important, I want them to have food on thier tables, clothes on their backs and a warm blanket and heat... all the stuff I want and appreciate for myself. But I don't see why we have to act like crazed beasts at 5 in the morning the day after we are supposedly giving thanks for our blessings. It's like there's never enough...bccause we always want more, better, the most, more than the next soul..more than our fair share, his and yours and mine, too...
Or maybe I'm wrong, maybe it's giving.... perhaps I need to reasses my thinking. Maybe it's because we want to give those we love the best, to show our love, our hearts for others. I'd like to think that..really... so maybe I'll try to believe that. I hope it's true, I REALLY DO...
So the day came, we were here, I was getting over some weird flu bug, and didn't have very much energy. I came home from work on Tuesday with this ailment, you do NOT want me to give you details... went in to see my doctor at 5:30 and she told me to stay home, and rest and try to rehydrate on Wednesday. Next morning I called my boss, leaving a message that I'd be out that day, and she called me back, very angry, to tell me that I would need a note from my doctor saying I was told to stay home on Wed. She was spitting mad and snarling at me about someone from my company seeing me at the store after I left, shopping. Yep, I was shopping. Since I had the car and had to drive myself home I stopped at the store ... I had to have something to settle my stomach, and no one was going to get it for me except me. So I was out having a great time, getting bread for toast, and ginger ale, and believe me, it was a party!!!!! I later had to go to the doctor and stopped to get my prescriptions, which was even more fun, as it took about 40 minutes of waiting and I really wanted to be in bed... or anywhere where I would be warm and comfy, not aching and shivering and wanting to cry and soooo.... yeah.... I confess, I was bad. I was trying to take care of myself... I would think that even though I wasn't at work, I deserve to have food and drink, when it was needed.
So I didn't feel much like doing anything yesterday, but since the family shouldn't have to suffer we accepted an invitation to our pastor's for dinner. It was great to have loving, good people to spend the evening with... our pastor and his family are so cool. They treat their guests like family, which what we are, in Christ... it's such an amazing blessing when people can come together and be close when you come from different places and backgrounds. We had fun, laughed, and enjoyed food that we all brought..and were thankful to God for our time together and all that we have..
At the same time, it was hard...not having the holiday with our families in Spokane... my son, daughters, and their children, and my in laws... how we miss them all. But thanks to God that we are all well and doing okay... have homes, and all we really need...I hope soon we can all be be together... I hope you are all with those you love..
God bless...
Shar

This is a post I have on my old blog from 2005, I found it and thought it might be something that would help me to remember how a real Christmas feels. I'm sort of rushed lately and the idea of the HOLIDAYS are a bit daunting. It's so easy to get caught up already in the business of making Christmas perfect, and spending like there is no tomorrow. So, please forgive me for getting a little ahead of myself and the season..

I can only try to go back and relive that moment and feelings I had.... try and put it into words again.... just to keep it for remembering...

We are members of a little Foursquare Church that has struggled for a while to grow, but we've made such dear friends there... we started this amazing tradition of putting on a Live Nativity each year.. this was a post that still makes me feel the undescibable sense of God's presence, the Love He has for us all...

Post Christmas, 2005..
Our Live Nativity was amazing again this year....I have to recall last year's little miracle first, though. It set the stage for every other year, because we knew God was with us...
It was raining, both nights, the drops of water glistening in the lights on the "stable". Hurriedly,everyone was preparing to start the little reeanactment of Jesus' entry as the perfect Son of God so many years ago. Just as the tiny "angels" came on the scene, the rain stopped. We held our collective breath as the story unfolded, watching in wonder as the words from John were spoken..... ancient, yet always fresh, telling the Christmas story. As the closing moments came, and we all moved inside for refreshments and fellowship, the skies opened up again with a hard rain.... and stopped again, the same way at each performance. How does one explain that???
This year we wanted to offer our neighbors a place to come and be reminded of God's Gift to us all again. It was 2 nights, with an enthusastic, smiling cast and supporters. Little kids playing angels "hovering" in white, Mike as a shepard, and Steve as a wise man, treasure in hand. The little pony making soft pony noises, as if he wanted to let us all know he was watching. Little "Baby Jesus", aka Justin, playing with a piece of straw from the ground, so sweet; he was perfect in the part. His little cheeks pink with the cold, and his chubby hands reaching out to explore the face of "Mary". The feeling of wonder as we again re-enacted the Nativity in the little "stable", erected on a grassy space (by our awesome resident carpainter, Don Sykes) in the church yard; an imaginary Bethlehem.. Imagining what it really must have been like to welcome the Christ Child that first Christmas. Nothing could touch that occurance, the angels and the worshipers all paying homage to the Son of God... Wish we could have all been there... Those of us who stood there in the chilly night smiled and felt His presence, felt a quiet joy. Thanks to all of you who were there.... Love to you....Mike, Steve, Mary, the Munoz's, the Barretts.. all our church family.
Christmas is over now, and I feel a tiny bit sad, but it was a time of love and closeness for me and mine.. I hope it was for you, also. If not, I pray this new year will bring you into a place where you can know God's presence and peace. He's always there to be born anew in our hearts and lives each moment.Love and God bless...
Shar

Day trip, shopping pleasures and a little melencholy...

What a weekend, busy and not so productive at home, but fun! My plans are almost always pretty unstatic..is that a word? I don't go many places out of my little comfort zone by myself.... I'm just not a great freeway driver after growing up in a place where there was so little need to use the interstate. Anyway, my plans to visit Snohomish didn't come to fruition... we had some things that took precedence over getting out of the house early... so it was after 1 when we actually got on our way..

We decided instead of the little town of Snohomish, we'd go to Bothell, and visit some places that were special to Steve, my hubby. He lived there as a young boy, and his grandparents lived there when we met. Now they are buried in a cemetary close by. We've been gathering family information for genealogy records, and one of the ways we're collecting photos of headstones of our ancestors.. grandparents, great grandparents, uncles, and my parents. So we took some photos of Steve's paternal grandfather and grandmother.

I never knew his grandmother, she passed away the year before we met. But I did breifly know his grandfather Allan, and really loved him. I only met him a few times really, but he was my husband's hero, and he was a fascinating man.... larger than life is an oft used phrase, but it was the perfect way to describe Grandpa. Steve still talks about him with such awe and love... so standing there while we cleaned off the headstone as best we could with no tools, I found my eyes stinging with tears and my throat aching... sadness and admiration, missing a man I really didn't have much opportunity to know well. Why do I always find myself in tears when I go to the cemetary.... even if the ones there were not my family? I was moved in the same way when last summer we visited the grave of my older brother. I never met him at all... he was born 3 years before I was, and died the same day. So why do I miss him? God only knows... and He understands even when no one else does, including myself.

After the cemetary and then driving by Steve's old house, snapping a couple of pictures there, and then seeing the place his grandparents had lived, we went to Country Village. It's a crafter and collector's dream... which made me suddenly feel so much lighter hearted. My poor spouse is not terribly excited about collecting country home deccor or crafting. But he knew I'd been dreaming of going through this wonderful group of shops, so there we were. I found some great little treasures to carry home and just had a lovely time. Funny how much the soul feels refreshed getting away from the city, and just relaxing in a warm, charming atmosphere. The place is very cute, with ducks and chickens walking around and a real box car next to the stream there, converted into a great antique shop. I'll post a couple of pictures, if I can get them to show up... I was really ready to come home when we realized it was time to head back..

We had promised to pick our youngest son from work, so we hurried to make it in time, and thankfully out timing was perfect. The hotdogs we'd bought for lunch had long since hit bottom... so dinner was in the forefront of our minds... California Pizza Kitchen was a very pleasant way to wrap up the day, and... well, a good time was had by all, as they say. They don't normally have chicken pameseana but the waitress cajoled the chef into whipping it up for me anyway... sooooo yummy!

I hope you all have had a weekend filled with laughter and family, and fun.. autumn is a perfect time to reflect on our blessings and enjoy the moments we have with our loved ones...

And it's so cool to have an extra hour of sleep...

My New Identity...Check it out!

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Very Lady Sharleen the Talkative of Grasshopper in the Hole Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

I've been trying to catch up on all the comments and wishes I found belatedly on my page on the day after Halloween. I'm even surprising myself at the amount of time it has taken to write a few lines and say thank you. So please bare with me. I find a new friend and get lost in her blog, her art, her thoughts. I drift in thought and get distracted. My cat tries to crawl up on my keyboard and I'm all discombobulated... doesn't take much, really. I attribute it to my job, and the wonderful skills I've developed in mulit tasking. I can no longer do one thing alone, to completion, without jumping around to some other distraction at least momentarily. But to be honest, that's kind of my inner hyperactive child coming out. Makes me remember hearing, just a few years ago in my Freshman English class, "Sharleen, please take your seat......Miss Culkin, are you visiting with your neighbor??...Sharleen, would you like to pariticpate in this class??" and so on and so forth...sigh..

Well, actually, I just find so many little details, and beautiful thoughts in each person's page, and I want to take the time to find the delightful facets of each person's hearts....so it may be yet a few days before I can answer. But I'm getting there... one tiny step at a time.

And at that, I need to go make some coffee and get ready for a busy day. I'm going to the town of Snohomish today, to spend time away from the big city of Seattle, and wander for extended period of time through shops that I usually only dream about and I will be like a 5 year old girl in a toy store... wish you were all coming with me!

Love and hugs... I'll tell you about it when I get back, maybe I'll get some photos!

Shar

Almost Halloween Post

Halloween is fast aproaching... but somehow it's been on my mind for months. I always loved Halloween as a child. I loved being scared, and the idea of being out on my own with my young friends in the dark held a magical fascination for me. (In fact, even playing outside after the sun was down in the summer seemed like a delicious treat. I loved seeing the stars twinkling overhead, the little lights in the sky winking at me through the apple tree next door. And the moon.... oh, the moon was another thing. It hypnotized me... the pale face of that every changing presence in the night... I am still completely moonstruck... and probably always will be. )

But Halloween meant dressing up in various and sundry pieces of things found and salvaged, sometimes created or purchased, that gave me a new identity for the night. I could be princess, the clown, the gyspsy, or whomever I dreamed of being. I used to lie awake for hours, dreaming up elaborate costumes.. I remember imagining myself to be a fairy, with gossamer wings and a little lighted lantern to guide me as I flitted about... sort of a take on Tinkerbell, I'm sure... Even now, I would so love to dress in shimmering light, as if I was some ethereal creature..LOL! But maybe a funny hat and a fuzzy sweater will have to do, as the frame I enhabit would be most ludicrous posing as an angelic presence. Fairies are not pictured with middle aged bodies, unless it might be the 3 in Cinderella who were doing the "Bippety Boppety Boo" chorus.... hmmm..

In the midst of all these rosy pumpkin colored dreams, I have a huge aversion to anything evil... so I shy away from any witch and devil references. I don't like to encourage children to find any attraction to things that are dark and really dangerous. I won't use them in my deccorating, and it is sad to me that the real dark forces in the world are not taken seriously. I have to keep in mind that things that some people have attached meanings to, such as black cats and pumpkins are things that God created, and not meant for evil purposes.

So I observe Halloween as a day of enjoying the good things that God has given us in the harvest time, of sort of a pre Thanksgiving time, when we can just enjoy the autumn beauty, and all the smells of the fallen leaves, the smoke from chimneys and the pumpkins piled in fields. My Halloween pumpkin smiles out on my front porch, and I ooh and ahh at all the little gremlins at my front door. I love giving out candy, and sometimes the kids are probably too old to be Trick or Treating, but it's still fun. My youngest son, Michael, is 18, and in college. I will probably not see his friends knocking on my door this year, but if they do, I'll be as excited to give them treats and comment on how they look as if they were 7 years old still. It's hard to grow up and give up those times. I remember my best friends forever :o) in school and myself, trick or treating when we were much too old. One of the guys was very tall for a 16 year old so we decided he'd be the "grown up". The others of us got sheets and cut the customary eyeholes so we could see, but instead of being straight forward about what we were doing, we would walk up to the porch of our unsuspecting victims and kneel down so we appeared to be young kids. When the door opened and the nice person gave us the candy they were offering to us, we stood up and said, "Thank you!!" in high voices, and then rushed off. I think several of them were not very amused by our tricks... I probably felt a bit guilty, at the time... but now it's pretty easy to forgive myself! I guess I knew then that it was the beginning of having to grow up. I still don't like it, and that was 40 years ago! I would still love to play outside in the moonlight..... spinning in the dark until we all fell to the ground, dizzy and laughing like we were lunatics... which I guess we were. Of course, that's pretty silly when I seem to always be watching my step and fretting so I DON'T fall down in the dark nowadays!

Well, all this to say... have a safe and unspoiled Halloween. Watch out for little kids and silly teenagers and shuffling old grandmas walking around in the dark and don't let the scary stuff, the really scary stuff take the fun out of your Halloween!

I'll be hanging out at the Above Mentioned Function tomorrow... see you there!

Blessings and warm hugs! ...and....

BOOOOOO!!! :o) (giggle)

Shar

Oh, and send me some cute pictures of your little kids, big kids and yourselves dressed up for the festivities!