An Eventful Week

In a lot of ways I am glad this week is over. I am exhausted. I applied for a new job this week, and the interview was today (more details to come on that next week). But the week of Halloween is always pretty busy when you have kids, and sometimes even when you don’t have kids.

This year Kate made matching witches’ dresses for our girls. They turned out really well, and the girls were excited to wear them. Patrick dressed as a dragon, and commented that I should dress as a knight. Sometimes he’s lucky that I am not a knight, because I may be a dragon slayer. The kids cleaned up on Halloween. They hauled in plenty of candy for me to eat. I felt bad not being able to take them trick-or-treating, but I have a class on Tuesday nights from 6-10, and since it is a once-a-week class, I can’t really afford to miss. The professor was gracious of the pagan holiday, and promised that we’d be out of class early. He let us go a whole 20 minutes early.

Even though I missed the festivities of Halloween, I didn’t miss the part that I enjoy the most: carving the pumpkins. Whitney and Patrick carved their own faces with minimal help from me. A few years ago my dad came over to carve pumpkins with us, and after nearly suffering a heart attack while watching Whit wield her own knife, he decided not to participate with us in this annual tradition. But despite his (justified) concerns, no one has ever drawn blood during the carving.

But the fun of Halloween wasn’t just for the kids. Kate and I attended a costume party at a good friend’s house. The party is an annual event, and with all of the busyness of our lives, it is the one time of the year that we get to catch up with some good people. Usually my costumes leave much to be desired, and this year was no exception. I was going to dress up as a fairy, but couldn’t get my costume together in time. Plus Kate threatened me with my life when I mentioned that while dressed as a fairy I was going to ask people if they wanted to see my magic wand. Anyway, I borrowed a Malevolent costume from my sister. Kate made herself a devil costume. We weren’t able to stay at the party for long, but I am glad we went. It was good to catch up with some of our few friends.

Now that Halloween is over, we can start looking forward to Christmas. We even got the kids' Christmas pictures done already.

Two weeks ago Kate got a call from the school advising us that Whitney failed an eye exam. Last week Kate took Whit to her uncle Bob (an ophthalmologist) and he concurred that Whit needs glasses. This news did not come as a shock to me. Kate and I are both blind as bats without our glasses, and our kids are screwed in this respect. I just didn’t expect Whit to need glasses before she was nine. At first she was apprehensive, worried that the kids at school would make fun of her. This fear was justified. Kids are mean. But she is now excited and loves her purple glasses.
As if all of this excitement wasn’t enough for one week, the basketball season started Tuesday. Football and baseball are all well and good, but I live for November first. My dad offered me his Jazz tickets for opening night, and though I felt bad because it meant I wouldn’t be home for a single night this week, I didn’t feel bad enough to pass up the tickets. Looking at the Jazz this year I am more optimistic than I have been for several years. Not only did the Jazz beat the Rockets on opening night, but they beat the Suns in Phoenix tonight by four points, not an easy feat.
I took Patrick to the Jazz game, and he was just as entertaining as the game. He was proud of the fact that he smuggled his Halloween candy into the Delta Center. After the game I asked him if he had a good time. “No” he replied. Then my uncle Ard said, “Yes you did. I saw you clapping for the Jazz dancers.” Patrick rolled his eyes up at me and smiled. “I did.” He admitted. That’s my boy.

P.S. On my profile I have updated my lists of favorite movies and books. If you would like to debate, discuss or otherwise get more information about why I listed what I did, please let me know.