My psyche, snow, and Target...

Those of you who are in New England, live on the east coast, or have any sort of exposure to the media are probably aware of our crazy Snowtober storm. Yes, that's right, we were treated to some heavy rain followed by even heavier snow and wind. This lead to the inevitable power outage. It was exciting to lay in bed Saturday night and listen to the branches and trees creaking and breaking. By morning my street looked like a it had been hit by a tornado. Power lines were down and trees were blown across the road.  We lost a huge limb out back, but it caused no damage.

We did lose power for about 12 hours. You know what I do when I lose power? I wander around Target for a few hours to stock up on batteries and flashlights and somehow end up with extra Halloween candy and some cute tops which needed a good home. It was the only way to comfort my battered psyche.

The 12 hours without power really stressed me out. I realized that the fatigue of managing the move and the reality of leaving my town (and most especially Amy) have me just barely keeping my head above water. Losing power and having the additional worries of staying warm and keeping the food from spoiling were more than I could manage.

Once the power came back on I felt such relief. It was so nice to return to my regular worries which felt like old, though annoying friends. A power outage on the other hand, is nothing but a thug.

Happily our town did not postpone Halloween and my children were able to collect plenty of candy for me to steal from them when they are not paying attention. Tramping around in the cold seems to have given everyone colds, so today I was back at Target to return the unopened extra bags of Halloween candy and the surplus lanterns so that I could purchase mucinex and tissues.

This my friends, is the thrill of middle age. What adventures will we have next?

Secret muumuu.

Tonight we observed that most sacred of childhood holidays. Halloween!

We had a bumblebee.


And Cleopatra.


I was a butterfly.


David was a civil war soldier, but I don't have a picture of him. He wasn't dressed yet when Lily and I headed out to meet up with Lily's friends.

David and Rebecca went out with the big kids in our neighborhood but we all met later at a friend's house for pizza.

You can't tell from the picture but I am wearing a bright orange satin prom dress. I got it at the junk store thinking it would be wonderful for halloween. And it was wonderful, except for the boning which started to dig into my ribs about half way through trick or treating. I was also wearing heeled boots. My feet may hurt for days.

My costume got me thinking about movie stars who flit about in high heels and skin tight clothes all the time. Don't they get exhausted from walking in those things all the time? I was so happy to come home and put on an old lady nightgown. Maybe movie stars have secret muumuu's for when they get home.

What were we talking about?

Halloween is also a big deal for us because it is the day after David's birthday!


The girls and I got him some new shirts and special gloves that work with his iphone.

That's all I've got today people because I am so tired. I promise I'll make it up to you tomorrow.

The day the leaves fall.

Fall in New England is pure splendor. All of the heat of summer fades and leaves us with crisp blue skies and an explosion of color.

The maples go first, all fiery red. All of the other trees seem to take their cues from the maples and like dominoes they all begin to turn.

This morning we woke up to find that our street had turned gold over night. The leaves had begun to fall in earnest. With every cold damp breeze there were more on the car, the stairs- I found a few in the house having hitched a ride in Rebecca's hair and on my boot heels.

The day never seemed to brighten and the heat was turned on for the first time this season. It was a message from winter- "I am coming, prepare."

It was the right day to carve pumpkins.

So much planning goes into carving jack-o-lanterns. The children draw pictures of possible garish faces. Many are discarded.

Once the final choices are made the real work begins. The pumpkins must be gutted.

I gut mine in record time with Rebecca not far behind. Lily tarries knowing that eventually someone else will pull the sticky mess of seeds from the orange fruit.

Finally it is time to carve and this a job that falls to me. By now the children have wandered off, allowing the factory of mom to turn their designs into truth.

There are seeds on the floor and now bits of fallen carved pumpkin walls are gobbled by the dogs who wait beneath me.

One by one I complete the faces. In go the candles. Off go the lights.

Darkness.

Then...







Boo!