All's Quiet

Well, Hubby is off to Madison for job interviews, and I am realizing how much I have come to enjoy my little bits of quiet and autonomy that exist hand in hand with school days.

It's nice to have the house to myself today -- even with all of the normal housework stuff to be done and the phone ringing every few minutes (mostly with Hubby needing my "personal assistant" skills). What would he do without me?? I mean, besides his own laundry and the other obvious things....

Fall has arrived en force here -- leaves are changing so rapidly it's practically like time lapse photography (without the time lapse). This weekend, in a joint exercise with the neighbors, we are going to take the girls to a pumpkin patch for some fun. It's supposed to be 65 and sunny and Halloween is right around the corner so it's definitely time to go bag our limit of large orange gourds. Gotta have pumpkins, right?

Halloween is a favorite of mine. Of course, every holiday has it's high points, but I like that there is no "formula" to Halloween. No real structure is imposed or required to enjoy it. It's one of the few holidays where you can just fly by the seat of your pants. No special/traditional meal to prepare. No need to attend a service of any kind. No need to put up elaborate decorations (but you can if you want to). Just a costume and some candy combined with running around in the dark with your friends. Ta-da!! Holiday!

Now I just have to get the girls to decide what they want to be this year. And really, how cool is that for a kid? Getting to decide for yourself once a year just what or who you want to be. Just for a day -- sky's the limit.

Go for it , kid. Knock yourself out.

And at their ages (7 1/2 and 9) their choices are tinged with just enough actual belief you can almost see the magic. Just a glimpse of it, mind you, out of the corner of your eye. But you can see it none the less.

And yes, for the record. I dress up too.... I have my cloak and my hat and my wand thankyouverymuch. Halloween is for big kids too, you know. And I need to catch a glimpse of my own magic once in a while. If for no other reason, just to remember what it feels like.

And the cloak? Crushed purple velvet, of course. Very fashion forward they tell me.....