General musings

So tomorrow is Halloween. It’s never been a holiday that’s excited me all that much. Probably because when I was a kid, I wore the same costume every single year — a black witch’s hat, a black cape, and a plastic orange pumpkin for collecting all that sugary goodness.

Seriously. I never remember going as anything else. (My mom didn’t have a lot of extra money for a costume.) But as long as I got candy, I was pretty happy.

Sadly, this year, I will be at home, cleaning mounds and mounds of papers and other debris off my desk and generally trying to get my house into some kind of cleanly shape. Luckily, though, I have a candy dish full of dark chocolate to console me while I work. Yummy! 😉

What about you guys? What are you dressing up as for Halloween? Going out with the kids or no? And most importantly, what’s your favorite candy?

Mine is those dark chocolate Godiva bars filled with raspberry you can get at most department stores. Mmm … 😈

I was wondering how deep we’d get into October/November before I had to break out the many, many layers of clothes I have to wear in order to keep warm in my icebox of an office.

The answer: Oct. 27.

Layers worn: 4.

And what did I see on my way to work yesterday morning? Snow! Seriously. Little hard pellets of snow gusting around.

There was nothing to worry about on the roads, but it was still weird, because it’s really early for snow here. We usually don’t see any white stuff until down in November, around Thanksgiving.

Wonder if the early snow means we’re in for a cold, snowy winter …

So I went and voted yesterday. Thought I’d do it early and avoid what are sure to be long lines on Nov. 4.

Overall, it was pretty painless. Stood in line a few minutes, waited for a crashed computer to restart, and then got my ballot. I filled out a paper ballot that was scanned through a machine after I was finished. (The election workers told everyone several times not to mark outside the boxes — wonder if they’ll be any hanging chads this year?)

Once the ballot was scanned, a little message popped up that said “Your vote has been counted.” And I was done.  

Anyway, I just want to encourage folks to get out and vote — early like I did or on election day. People in other parts of the world long for the freedoms we take for granted here in the U.S. Voting is one of them. So whatever your political affiliation is, go make your voice heard. It’s what Wonder Woman would do. :ww:

So I went out to the mall today to run an errand. And what do I see sitting inside JC Penney all shiny and green and lit up and ready to be taken home? Christmas trees.

Seriously. Christmas trees.

People do realize that it’s October, right? That we’re still three weeks away from Halloween? That it’s still 2 1/2 months until Christmas? :rolleyes:

Seems like the holiday trees come out earlier and earlier every single year. It takes some of the magic out of the season for me. There shouldn’t be any Christmas decorations out until at least Thanksgiving. That’s actually what I do Thanksgiving morning — put up my Christmas tree for the holiday season. But I’m weird that way. 😎

But I guess those trees in the mall are telling me to start making my holiday shopping list now. Sigh …