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We Take Halloween Very Seriously Around Here

[I'm obviously catching up on some pent-up blogging in between crying jags. This is my first day in the house alone without Annie, and I'm trying to cope with her absence by going about my normal routine and by sorting through cat photos for a post I'd planned to put together before I knew she was sick (look for that soon).]

I love Christmastime, and the cynical romantic in me (not to mention the chocolate lover) is fond of Valentine's Day, but my favorite holiday is Halloween. We were so bummed that we weren't able to move into our new house in Philadelphia in time for Halloween last year, as Al and I have turned decorating our yard and handing out candy into a much-anticipated geekfest.

We have several yard decorations that we collected in Mountain View, and it turns out that though we have no actual yard here in Philadelphia, our front "garden" is perfect for the tombstones. We (er, Al) put them up yesterday, and several people stopped their cars to comment. Today I've seen more folks, especially those with kids, walk by and point. So cool.

On Halloween night, we will alternately be handing out candy, blogging about the various costumes our trick-or-treaters are wearing, and tracking candy choices (Al's forte). Since Blogger, which I originally used to post our all hallows eve blog doesn't work with my new server, in the next couple days I'll be establishing a new a.h.e. blog using Movable Type. Stay tuned for that.

If I can just finish my costume in time, I will be greeting the kids at the door dressed as Patrick Starfish. (Right now my costume makes me look like a pink Klansman, but hopefully once I get the eyes and eyebrows painted on the hood, and the mouth pinned up, I'll be recognizable as a dumb-as-dirt cartoon character instead of a dumb-as-dirt racist.) Al will wear the yellow jersey I created for my SpongeBob costume back in 2000, which will allow him to concentrate his efforts on his candy charts and graphs rather than on costume design, while still dressing up (not to mention staying with the theme).