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11/01/2003 Entry: "Halloweeny Two Thousand Threeny" I really had high hopes for Halloween this year, but after last night, I am never going to do Halloween again. First off, I had no idea those bracelets were flammable. Second, kids are so sensitive, and parents are really too permissive about coporal punishment. Those brats deserved to be beaten with my bamboo cane after knocking over... Just kidding! Halloween was Great! We had a blast last night. First, the weather was WONDERFUL. It was 75 degrees out, mostly clear skies, almost no wind (which, when setting up props, is a boon). Second, Sean came by with his wonderfuls kids (and, really, they are wonderful and polite, I know I keep saying that, but it should be noted), and Sara also came over to provide conversation about her new job, her parents, school, and other topics. The stuff we gave out was a hit, and we had more kids this year than I planned for, which wasn't as bad as it sounds, because I had a backup plan. We first moved here in 2000, but that year, some pervert was prowling around our school playgrounds, and we hadn't caught him yet. We had maybe 15 kids. In 2001, it was just after 9/11, and we were all freaked out, Christine had broken her ankles, and Oreo was sick. We has about 10 kids that year because everyone was convinced we'd be attacked on every holiday. Last year in 2002, we had that sniper shooting at people around here. We had about 20 kids. So I sort of assumed about 25 this year. We had about 45. I had only made 35 goody bags, and then I ran out of the "good candy" as well as the squeezy monster horns, but we had enough glow bracelets (I got a 50-count tube), as well as "back-up candy" which were Tootsie pops and Smarties. After it was all over, we had a bag of spider rings (I know, from my past, that 144 will last you forever), some Tootsie pops, a lot of Smarties, and a few extra empty goody bags. The glow bracelets were a hit (especially with parents), so we'll do that again next year. I am not sure about the goody bags because they were tied close, so the kids/parents won't see what's in them until they get home. We know some of the neighbors with kids around here, so maybe we'll get feedback later on. Most kids were aged 10 and under, and I saw NO teens. I usually expect like a few of them (and we have gotten them before), but not this year. All but a few kids had parents in the background, and most traveled in clusters of 3-4. A few kids were notably grabby (oddly enough, most were girls), but most were polite. There were no real clever costumes this year, and only a few looked hand-made. But I was just glad there were so many! I noted, at least on this street (which is very long, only has one bend which we're on, so we can see either end in the far distance), only about 1/3rd of the houses were handing out anything (assuming they went by the standard porchlight alert system), and only about 10 houses bothered to decorate, But those that did, man, were pretty decked out. Three houses down, where a policeman and his family live, they had it done like a creepy crime scene. He had his cop car, police lights, and everything out. They also had a huge inflatable Frankenstein, a large skeleton, fog, and a lot of extra details that went for more whismy than scary. Another house has a realistic graveyard, complete with stone columns, iron railings, and realistic headstones. One house had a HUGE spiderweb made of ropes, with a huge wooden spider on top of it. Christine set up the tombstones, the grim reaper, an a man crawling out of his grave. We also got a so-called "easy-to-assemble" coffin, which was not easy to assemble, and sprung apart at the slightest touch. I put up fake spiderwebs across the windows, and set up candles everywhere. Then we parked our two cars in a line, and sat under our eaves in some comfy plastic deck chairs, ordered pizza, and Christine, Sara, and I handed out candy and glow bracelets to everybody. Of course, I forgot to take pictures, but Sean took some, so maybe he'll send some to me and I'll put them up. All in all, it was a good day, and I look forward to Halloween 2004.