Moving on....

It's over.....my favorite day of the year.

Last night we had a grat time. We brought chili and cupcakes over to a friendsmhouse. Had the grandmas meet us so they could see the kids and eat and be merry.

It was a nice turn out. All the kids piled together and walked the streets, collecting candy.

It saddens me how much less it is from years past.

Every year we walk with the kids, we reflect back to how many kids roamed the streets til 10pm looking for that last house. And how sometimes we would come home just so we could make that first unload to go back out and collect more.

Now, as it stands, we barely hit a quarter of the neighborhood and turned back home. The parents and waiting for the group no doubt slowing down the progress of the energetic kids.

But now it is more of a social affair. How nice for the kids to be accompanied. By all the parents.

More often than not, what a child wants is their parents time (that is until they get old enough to want nothing to do with them.)

On this night, every parent, mother and dad are there - dressed up right along with the kids - walking the neighborhood and having a great time. So I can't feel too sorry for them.

When we got back to the house, all the kids dumped their candy and started sorting, and swapping. It looked like a kids version of a swap meet.

Though Halloween isn't what it used to be, I must say, at least for us, it is probably the best version of what it could be considering the times.

Now will set in the hustle and bustle this time of year brings. The crowded malls the stressed out people, the serious overspending from people who don't have the money.

Though I want to love this time of year, it usually overtakes me and I inevitably end up wanting to move to the north pole or Siberia until January. But once again, I will try to get through it with a smile on my face.

Merry Thansgive-o-ween.