Halloween...

It's almost Halloween, and that means little goblins and ghosts will be frolicking in the streets begging for candy and other spooky surprises.

Halloween is a neutral "holiday" for me. When we were kids it was great because Mom and Dad would load us up in the car and we'd drive all over the county (once it was snowing, and do you know how hard it is to fit a costume over a snow suit? It's not easy). We didn't go door-to-door, but we did hit up all the relatives, their friends, and teachers. In high school we were usually playing football, or hanging out with friends because begging for candy was not as cool as it once was.

Pumpkin carving this weekend with the Johnson clan. 

College on the other hand, now that was fun because nobody is at home telling you the costume you chose wasn't appropriate for public. You could actually win big bucks for having creative costumes in college! One year we helped the neighbors out with their costumes. We had one ugly woman and one drunk in jorts that left little to the imagination. Those memories are an entirely different blog - and this is a family friendly environment.

We used to always carve pumpkins, too. Dad would cut into it and we'd scoop out all the guts and made the typical jack-o-lantern faces. Then they'd stay lit for two seconds since the wind was usually blowing, and they'd mold in a week - but it was still a good time. We once tried to toast the seeds. Notice I said once, because they turned out that bad.

Our costumes never turned out bad because Dad was the master of the Halloween costume. One year I wanted to go as a martian and he made me a little UFO that was basically a box, covered in tin foil that was held up by a pair of suspenders. I wore a green sweatsuit and had little antennas. I think he cussed that box every time I had to get in and out of the truck. My sister once went as Pippi Longstocking. Mom braided her hair on a coat hanger and spray painted it red. When we were really little I was going to go as a clown. Mom painted my face white and sat me at the table to eat supper before finishing up. Sis was in her highchair and would have none of that. She screamed bloody murder and I couldn't wear face paint.

When we went candy grabbing we usually made the rounds in Republic. One year we stopped at great grandma's and she was sitting at the table eating breakfast. When we knocked on the door she couldn't figure out whey we didn't show up the night before. She had fallen asleep on the couch early, and by the time we got there she was under the impression it was 7 a.m. We got her all straightened out and gathered up our moon of cheese (we got the good stuff) and headed out. We got sour cream sugar cookies at the other great-grandma's and we would sit with grandpa on the couch and have a few random pieces of candy before we took back off for home - where Mom and Dad would check for needles.

Back then we bought that line because school told you to be cautious. Now we know it was a ploy to sort out all the good stuff, eat it when we went to bed, and leave us junk like Sixlets and Tootsie Rolls.