The Great Pumpkin

Well, its time to celebrate the season......my favorite holiday.....Halloween! My family likes to celebrate it all month, so naturally, Jordyn has several costumes to get her thru the holiday :) This particular costume was purchased by grandma barbara, who we recently learned will be visiting for Thanksgiving..so we are very excited about that! I also like to celebrate the memory of my father, who passed away in February 2003 and was born on Halloween. I have fond memories of going trick or treating with my mom (who would also dress up and go with us), while my dad stayed home to give out candy to the kids. But he would still find time to enjoy his birthday, by having a few of the other dads in the neighborhood over, and they would drink Margaritas (or some other concoction he would cook up :) and listen to music......most likely the Eagles, a little CCR, or perhaps the Doobie Brothers! He loved to have a fire going, even though it was California...and not very cold.....so when we got home, we would warm up in front of the fireplace! Then, he would insist that we go thru our loot to make sure all of our candy was safe...to help with this, he would taste-test a few "questionable" looking snicker bars! Then, of course, there was always the excitement of awaiting "its the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown".....which only aired once during the week....so you had to make sure it was marked in your TV guide and you didnt miss it (no videos to watch it over and over again like there is now)! My dad would make a giant pot of popcorn on the stove(no microwaves back then) and he would fill a giant brown paper shopping bag from Thriftymart, rolling down the sides for easier access, and we would all munch out on popcorn, watching the antics of snoopy....er.....the red baron....while the butter seeped thru the bag. Sometimes we would even splurge and have Jiffy Pop! I cant imagine a childhood without this Holiday.....every year we looked forward to picking out a costume......Wonder Woman.....Miss Piggie......Darth Vadar (actually i liked this one soooo much i wore it two years in a row).....and then there was the dreaded year my mom waited till the last minute to purchase a costume and Denise and i had to be Apes, from Planet of the Apes. My mom insisted they were cool costumes, but Denise and i felt otherwise! But at least we wore costumes....some kids today go out trick or treating and dont even bother to wear a costumes......just go from house to house expecting candy......wheres the fun in that? Dressing up and getting into character is half the fun.....perhaps thats why i play in the SCA! :)
Well....the baby is up so i better go.....ill share more holiday traditions next time..........
cheers~