Giant Inflatable Santas Already?

Well, we're in November now. Halloween is officially behind us. I can safely say this because as I blog, my neighbours down the street are attempting to blow up an rather enormous inflatable Santa Claus.

This is not new. I just looked back on last year's blogs and saw that the same neighbour had been almost as early last year with his Decking of the Halls. This year, he's two days earlier. I should be getting used to it by now. I suppose they're trying to be the first to inspire the neighbourhood to get into the holiday spirit. I live in that type of neighbourhood. I've noticed as I walk the pups that where there's one house that's decorated for Halloween, you'll find the neighbours on either side, for several houses down, also bedecked for the holiday. Then there will be a gap where there will be undecorated houses. Then there'll be another pocket of houses, all festooned with decorations.

Christmas is the same way. If one house has lights and inflatables, the houses around him will also have holiday decor. It may not be inflatable but it's giving it a pretty good challenge for glitz and sparkle.

Still, right now, Mr. Giant Inflatable Santa Claus is alone in his attempts to decorate for Christmas. I can't help but think that might last for at least another couple of weeks until people physically start craving Thanksgiving turkey and, as a penance for the calories they WILL consume, they put all their energy into decorating early. Right before Thanksgiving, it's forgiveable. I mean, what's a few more days before the start of the Offical Deck The Halls Holiday Season?

Nevertheless, as much as I adore Chrismas and the holiday season, I haven't forgotten that it was just Halloween yesterday. At times, I was besieged by trick or treaters and yet, at the end of the two hour candy-giving-out period, I still managed to have some candy left over. Granted, I had deliberately picked out every single blue raspberry flavoured Tootsie Roll pop from the Costco sized bulk package I'd bought but even without my small little crime, I still had plenty of sugary treats left.

I'm quite glad about that. If I'd have run out this year, I think I might have had to hide next year. I don't think there were quite as many kids coming through. I was slightly disappointed in the lack of costume-efforts in some of the cases. I don't mind high schoolers trick or treating, even though some people think they're a little old. However, if they can't be bothered to even attempt to dress up and come around with their plastic grocery bag and ask for candy, they're not going to get much from me. To me, Halloween is about creativity and having fun with the spirit of the holiday. If you're just in it for the free sugar, then I'm not going to reward you the way I do the other kids who do make an effort.

I did have some cute kids come through. There were a lot of parents trick or treating for their young 'uns this year. They'd wheel the tiny kids up my driveway in their strollers. The little kids were adorable but clearly not used to people just handing them candy for the sake of it. I tried to make sure I gave the really little kids soft treats like Gummi Life Savers or, at worst, Twizzlers. Jolly Ranchers were reserved for the lazy high schoolers who were really just out begging. I gave the cute toddlers Skittles and a Tootsie pop. I let the elementary kids/middle schoolers choose from my bowl if they were dressed appropriately. I think my favourite costume went to the four-year-old Frankenstein who was green from head to toe and complete with bolts and square head. He was also smiling like a fiend. Any kid that can go that far to dress up and still be enjoying himself earns himself four pieces of my sugar-filled snacks.

What I also enjoyed was the fact that since I live down the street from the police station, the patrol cars were not only out, checking on the unchaperoned kids and keeping an eye on their safety but they were also giving out their own Halloween candy. It's nice to see them being so responsible yet also getting into the spirit.

What I didn't enjoy was seeing this rather creepy person riding around on his bicycle with a Michael Meyers hockey mask and stopping in the middle of the street to just stare at the kids. As an adult, I thought this was a little creepy. I don't mean in the horror-film-I'm-going-to-axe-you-sort-of-creepy, I mean in the "I'm a creepy neighbourhood weirdo and I might just "Lovely Bones" you in my basement sort of creepy. I thought, initially, it was one of those high school boys I see from time to time in the neighbourhood who are the stereotypical geeks. They slink around with a few other high schoolers, clearly too cool to do much but not cool enough to do anything.

Well, I was wrong there. Mr. Michael Meyers Hockey Mask Face turned out to be, you guessed it, Larry the Potential Serial Killer.

Yes. Instead of giving out candy to kids like a normal nice neighbour, Larry the Potential Serial Killer was riding around on a borrowed bicycle, trying to scare the crap out of kids.

I know that the bicycle was borrowed because he came up my driveway to my front door in an attempt to scare me. Since I'm not a complete moron, I had figured out who it was ahead of time. Larry proceeded to tell me all about his adventures as the Weirdo in the Mask on the Bicycle. It turns out that someone had seen him riding around on his borrowed bike and called the police. Larry, in turn, had defended himself to the police who, apparently, know him and are his 'buddies.' He had told them that yes, he could understand people being scared of him but it was 'the nature of the costume,' that people were scared.

Me, personally...well, I wasn't scared by the Michael Meyers mask as much as I was alarmed that a forty-something-year-old man felt like that was the best thing to do on Halloween night in a neighbourhood full of little children. What's wrong with a fog machine and a scary Halloween CD playing?

After Larry had told me his sad tale of being 'warned by the police to stop his creepy behaviour' (my paraphrasing), he tried to get me to invite him in. In turn, I thrust my candy bowl at him and said, "Have a lollipop." He didn't want one. It didn't stop me from saying, "Oh, hey, look, more kids!" and ignoring him in favour of the cute moppets who were marching up my driveway for their Skittles.

This was my Halloween night. The candy held up. The puppies had a bit of a yip but actually were pretty good considering the strangeness of the evening to them. I'm sure being gated in the kitchen while fairies, Yodas, Spidermen and monsters rang the doorbell for their candy was a strange occurance in the life of the pup.

Of course, they haven't seen the giant Santa Claus in the neighbours yard yet. They haven't even begun to see strange. I'm personally a little worried about the Christmas tree and their love of biting pretty, shiny, swinging things.

Still, though my neighbours with the giant inflatable Santa might disagree, that's a few weeks off yet.

Happy Tuesday!

Feeling a Little Too Much Like Bridget Jones

It's Halloween day and it's about as beautiful out there as it ever could be at the end of October on an Autumn day.

I have my trick or treat candy ready to go. I'm hoping I have enough. If not, my porch light will just have to go off early and I'll close up shop. I had planned on being festive and lighting my three carved Jack o' Lanterns but it's been rather warm and like most carved pumpkins in the neighbourhood, mine have a case of the rot. They have that saggy, caved-in look. I'm still going to attempt to light them but I think they might be slightly more horrific than I intended.

My weekend has been sufficiently Halloween-y/Autumnal. It began in a nice way too. My boss decided we were all leaving at 4 p.m. on Friday for a happy hour in celebration of my first job placement. It was nice and unexpected. It's just another reason why I like my job. At this company, there's no debate about whether it's fair to leave early because some people would have to take paid time off. There's no doubt that people can't make it...everyone shows up and everyone has fun. It was nice to get to know my coworkers/boss a little more and it was far more laid back than any awkward event at my old job.

Saturday was nice too. I took the pups for a long nature hike over the woods. I was very impressed at their stamina. We went up hills, down hills, on bridges, on gravel, on woodland pathways and they didn't stop once. Rory had a bit of a problem with some of the bridges because the wooden slats were far enough apart that her little paws got a bit stuck in them but she kept up. My goal was to wear the two of them out so I could be gone for a Halloween party most of the evening without feeling too guilty.

I took them for another walk not long before I left for the party. It did occur to me at this time that in the process of wearing the puppies out, I was also making myself quite tired. Sometimes my grand plans aren't quite so well thought out.

The party itself was a great party. The hostess- my friend and former coworker- goes all out and doesn't miss a single detail. The only problem was that as great as the party, the food and the drinks were, what it came down to was that I was the only single person at the whole party. When I say single, I mean in the Bridget Jones sense, not in the sense that I was the only person at the whole party.

There's a scene in Bridget Jones' Diary where Bridget goes to a dinner party thrown by her married friends. The dinner party is nothing but married couples, "smug marrieds" as Bridget calls them. Well, I felt very much like Bridget at my friends' party on Saturday night. It wasn't her fault- she did a great job of checking on me. It's just hard to socialize with people who you don't know and obviously all know one another. I attempted conversations but I couldn't ever break in. Since my friend/the hostess had invited every one from my old office, I thought a few of my old coworkers might show up but, alas, there wasn't anyone there I knew.

In the end, I left slightly earlier than planned because in the absence of distraction, I began to worry about leaving the puppies alone. It had already been over six hours. I got home feeling slightly too-spinsterish and feeling a little blue. I discovered that the puppies, particularly Sookie, were furious with me for leaving them and they wouldn't come near me. When you come home feeling slightly Flump-ish , the last thing you need is your dogs to be angry with you. What you want is for them to come sit with you and let you know you're loved. Instead, it took them almost an hour to decide I was forgiven.

I woke up today still feeling a little blue so I've spent the day doing things that make me feeling in the Halloween spirit. I made butternut squash soup which I'm going to have for dinner tonight served in a mini pumpkin. I made a pumpkin simple syrup to make into a cocktail later tonight. In short, I'm having my own little Halloween party after trick or treating is over. I did think about dressing the puppies up but given that they don't even like their winter coats much, I was afraid they'd chew each other's costumes to pieces.

All that's left now is to light the pumpkins, mouldy as they are, run the vacuum around and make sure my candy is by the front door. I also have to gate the puppies in the kitchen since I know they'll go a little nuts if the doorbell rings. Other than that, we're ready for Halloween!

As long as I don't run out of candy.

Happy Monday and I hope you had a good Halloween.

Being a Writer is a Nuisance

Why being a writer is a bit of a nuisance, by Captain Monkeypants

1. Because it’s hard. Even when you want to write you
a. Don’t have time for it.
b. Have time for it but suddenly feeling like watching those episodes of “Parenthood” that you have on your DVR.
c. Have puppies who don’t understand why their ‘mother’ is sitting at a weird contraption hitting buttons when they want to play.
d. Discover that Microsoft Word is going to freeze up on you and even if it’s done an auto-save, it’s not auto-saved the fabulous paragraphs you just wrote and you’ll never remember.

If you do actually write, there’s the inevitable question of “Why am I writing.” In my earlier writing days, the rush and thrill of creating something, of creating worlds on paper was enough. Now, as I’m nine books in, I’d love to say I still get that rush but I’ve been out there in the real world and it’s just not as easy to stay wide-eyed and bushy tailed in hopes that the first time you submit it, you’re going to get published because it’s fabulous.

Here’s the thing. It may be fabulous. It may be well written. It may just land on the desk of the editor or agent or publisher at the wrong moment. They may just have read a book that they liked or seen a movie and suddenly, that’s what they’re in the mood for at that moment. So when they read your query letter, they’re just not in the mood for that particular kind of book/story and so they send you back a rejection.

To them, it’s just a casual response. To the writer, no matter how often rejections happen, they still sting.

It’s interesting. My new job as an IT recruiter means that I’m constantly trying to help people find jobs and, at the same time, fill positions we currently need to fill. Sometimes they match up. Sometimes they don’t. Sometimes, I get calls from people who are desperate and out of work and really need a job but when you look at their resume, they haven’t done very much, if anything, in IT at all. They may have used a computer in their life or they may have been able to replace the keyboard on their dad’s computer but it doesn’t mean they’re qualified to work at a help desk.

It’s hard when you get a candidate like that. I want to help them but, really, they’ve called the wrong office. We help Information Technology professionals find jobs, hence the “IT” in “IT recruiter”. I’d love to find everyone a job but it’s just not possible. Also, if they’re been doing something like Help Desk/Technical support and they suddenly want a job as a database programmer, it’s just not possible if they haven’t actually done any database programming.

The point of this is that this type of thing happens to me several times a day, in between juggling candidates who are qualified for jobs and people running into my office needing me to change my direction and start trying to find candidates for a completely new job we just had open up. Yet, each time, when I get a call from an unqualified candidate, I do my best to put aside my frustration and really hear them out. Each one of them is a human who just wants a job. Sure, there may be times when I’d rather work on getting actual qualified candidates into jobs because that’s how I earn my money but it doesn’t hurt to talk to people for even a few minutes just to see if maybe, just maybe their resume is just bad and they actually are qualified.

I’m not comparing this to an agent/editor/publisher, exactly. Unlike my 4-5 calls a day from unqualified candidates, they deal with hundreds, even thousands of submissions a day from unpublished writers. They can’t talk to each one individually. They just don’t have time. They have time to scan the query letter, decide if it suits them and move forward or, more likely, send a rejection.

On the opposite side of the fence to this is the writer, in this case, me, who has sent my novel/short story to them in the hopes that they’ll stop and read it and think, “oh, this sounds promising.” Instead, what usually happens is that they skim the letter, think, “Oh, well, this isn’t what’s selling,” and send the rejection.

It’s sad but true. Sure, vampires are selling now but five years ago, it was dragons and wizards. What is hot now will not necessarily be hot in five years.

I suppose what I’m saying is that sometimes it just doesn’t seem fair. I have so many rejections, there are times that I wonder why I write. I’ve mentioned that before. It’s disheartening. I know the optimist in me always hears, “You can do it! You just have to keep trying!” but sometimes that optimist drowns underneath a sea of rejections.

And I know it’s not because I’m a lousy writer. For a while, I let my self-doubt believe that. I know I can write. It’s not arrogance, it’s confidence. Like a singer who can sing or a dancer who can dance, I’m a writer who can write. Being a writer and submitting something is like going to an American Idol audition, I imagine. There are thousands upon thousands of other hopefuls. The wackiest ones make it to the judges so that their ridiculousness can be mocked on national TV. The pretty ones make it because even though they may not be the best singers, they’re decent and they look good. Some of the power-house singers make it because they’re that good. Yet for the thousands you see lining up to audition, we, as a TV audience, see, maybe less than 10% of those and that 10% includes the worst of the worst.

So you can’t tell me in that other 90%, there aren’t some really, really good singers who got missed because they weren’t boisterous enough or they didn’t have a sad story like a mother who has cancer. I’m not knocking or mocking those that have sad stories it just seems like those are the ones we always see on TV because they make the best drama and, let’s face it, people like drama. In that 90%, how many of them are good but they’re not TV worthy?

What happens to the 90%? Some of them re-audition the next year. Some of them give up. Some of them realize that maybe they’re not a TV singer and find somewhere else to sing. Yet if their dream is of becoming a recognized music artist, chances are they’re going to have to get on TV at some point and thus begins the downward spiral of them trying to figure out what they did wrong.

It might be that they simply aren’t good enough. That would take away a huge portion of the leftovers. Yet maybe they are and then what? I suppose my point is that, as a writer, the biggest nuisance is trying to stay positive, to not let the rejections sink you because if you’re good enough, you know it. There’s only so many times you can submit something, get rejected and still think that the agent/publisher/editor just wasn’t in the mood.

Of course, when you submit anyway, chances are, they’re just reading a query letter and they judge you on that. Just like on American Idol, you get just by a couple of moments of singing. It’s not enough. In the end, you end up with seven+ seasons of a show where the only winner who succeeded was from the very first season. Everyone else who has done well on that show didn’t actually win; the winners turn into Top 40 radio standbys but without any real presence. It’s not about the singing, it’s who can make the money. I think the writing world is the same way. There are plenty of writers who can’t actually, um, write but they can sell books. It’s writers like that who make it hard for writers like me. I self-published. It’s freakishly hard work to get yourself out there. Still, I’m trying.

It’s just a huge nuisance. Ah well, at heart, I do it because I love it and that's the important thing.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Have a great weekend and Happy Halloween!

Almost Halloween

I can't believe it's almost Halloween. I mean, I know I've been waxing poetical about Autumn for some time now but it still seems that it's not time for Halloween yet. After that, it means Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away and then...Christmas.

I love Christmas. I'm just not ready for it yet. I know the stores would like it if I was because they're already trying to entice me to look at the white, red, green and gold aisles of decorations and trimmings. I know Christmas seems to arrive in stores earlier each year but I don't really recall Halloween being bumped for Christmas decorations. And yet if you go into any shop that has season decor and items, it seems like the Halloween aisles have shrunk dramatically and Christmas has crept into the empty space.

I think it would be nice to have Halloween first. If they must, stores could put out the Christmas stuff afterwards. I mean, sure there are a few Thanksgiving decorations but after you get past turkeys, pilgrims and pumpkin-y stuff, there's not much to it.

Ah well. I refuse to surrender to the commercial call of Christmas until after Halloween. I'm a big fan of Halloween anyway. I love the dark allure of the holiday. I like carving my jack-o-lanterns. I like that the weather gets crisp and when it's windy, you can almost picture the creatures that Halloween surrenders creeping about in the shadows.

This year, Halloween is on a Sunday. I was sort of hoping my neighbourhood would have its trick or treating hours on Saturday instead as some other neighbourhoods are doing. As mean as it sounds, that means I wouldn't be home since I've been invited to a "reduce, reuse, recycle" Halloween party. I plan on reusing/recycling all of my old Halloween costumes so I will be a renaissance maid with dark angel wings, a pirate hat and '80's accessories. As far as the 'reduce' part of the party, given my love of food and eating, I think my clothes will be reduced in size when I put them on.

Still, I don't mind giving out candy to trick or treaters. It's just that last year, I spent $11 and ran out of candy in an hour. This year, I spent $22 and hope it lasts two hours. I'm not a chocolate-giver-outer. Bags of chocolate not only melt and get yucky but you also get a loss less pieces in one of those. I got one of those all-purpose Wonka candy bags- 6 lbs- with over 150 pieces. I also got a box of 100 Tootsie Roll pops but I'm giving those out gingerly because I'd rather like some of those left over. I've become a fan- particularly the blue raspberry ones. I'm actually a bit cross that if you want just the blue raspberry ones, you have to mail order them on line and it's super expensive. Why don't they sell bags of individual flavours? Does anyone really like grape?

I'm also a bit worried about the puppies on Halloween. Sookie has a yippy tendency to bark at strangers. I'm going to gate her and Rory off so they can't yip too closely at the trick or treaters but I have a feeling that they're not going to be happy. Also, I made the rather silly mistake of having fun with them and the doorbell one day. I was outside and I rang the doorbell and hid and then knocked on the window. The pups got excited. Now everytime they hear a doorbell ring- particularly on TV- they get rather excited and sit up, waiting for someone to knock on the window. Silly Captain Monkeypants!

Nevertheless, giving out candy is quite fun. I'm hoping that at least some of the kids have good costumes. Last year, there were lots of masks but no real costumes. I like a good effort. I think I'll reward the good efforts with two pieces of candy.

Unless, of course, I run out. Again.

Here's hoping 250 pieces does it!

Happy Wednesday.

Deceived by the Weatherman!

When I woke up this morning and turned on my TV, I was expecting Frank Marzullo and the Fox 19 Stormtracker weather. Instead, I got Pat Berry, Frank's substitute. I really didn't mind because I've found that Pat tends to be far more accurate about the weather. Also, he's not so smarmy.

Pat was telling me how we were to expect some severe weather. We were under a tornado watch. For all you non-tornado-state folk, a watch means the conditions are right for a tornado. When it turns into a warning, well, then that's worrysome.

Pat told us that we were going to be getting some major storms from the west with major winds and strong rain. Essentially, we were to batten down the hatches because we were in for a bumpy ride.

I admit. I was excited. We've had a very mild weather time lately. We've had a few storms but nothing for quite some time. We've had breezes but no wind. So, when I went to work, it was with anticipation and a slightly naughty hope that something would happen weather wise.

All morning, the skies darkened. I waited. I sporadically peeked outside to see how the clouds were looking. They grew greyer as the morning progressed yet...no rain.

Finally, by lunch time, I went home to let the pups out and it was raining sporadically. When I pulled into my driveway, it was raining enough that I ran so I wouldn't get soaked.

By the time I let the pups out, the wind had crept up. There was a tornado of leaves. The rain started to pour and so there was this massive cloud of rain. The sounds of the wind was intense- the trees were creaking, the leaves were scattered and there was no way to catch your breath. Needless to say, the puppies ran in pretty quickly.

Then...it stopped. It lasted less than five minutes. It was enough to make the yard look windblown but that was it. By the time I went back to work, it looked as though we'd just had a quick Autumn downpour. Ironically, the tornado sirens were blaring as if there was danger but, by this time, the skies were clearing, the wind had dropped and there was little to worry about.

All afternoon, the skies continued to darken but the most we got was a few heavy downpours and a little wind.

I have to admit, I was disappointed. It's my own fault. I allowed myself to fall for the drama of the weather. Normally, I can resist it. Normally, any time the weather reporters work themselves into a gleeful frenzy and tell us what terrible, awful weather is headed our way, I know to wait patiently and see what really happens.

Today, unfortunately, I fell for their frenzy and I hoped we would have some major weather. I blame the fact that it's been so dry and calm of late that I was ready for a little Mother Nature.

In the end, while we did have a little wind, we didn't get the drama I expected. I'm a little sad by that. I'm also a little sad that at work, our network and software is maintained by our Chicago branch. They had power issues today and so our software was affected. However, my network and software stayed mostly up while my co-worker's didn't. She went home early. My boss was supposed to fly to Chicago but he got stranded at the airport so he went home early.

In the end, I was the lone employee in the office, listening to the slight wind outside and sporadically checking to see if it was raining hard.

Since I like my new job and I still have a lot to learn, I didn't mind holding down the fort. I just hoped that it would be against something more dramatic than the odd thunderclap and gust of wind.

Ah well, what I learned today is that you should never, ever give in to the frenzied energy of the weather reporter, no matter how sincere he sounds. Just because he's got a report that something weather-wise is going to happen doesn't mean it will happen.

Still, I suppose in the end, it's better that there was nothing than something bad...right?

Happy Tuesday!

Indecisive Autumn

We are having a very peculiar Autumn so far. It's usual to have an Indian Summer during the earlier part of the season. It gets cold and then, suddenly, it gets warm for a while. In our case, we're having our Indian Summer all over the place. A few nights ago, it was frosty outside. The days were chilly enough that a jacket was necessary for going out in the morning. Even during the day, it was nice to have an extra layer. When it's like this, it's too cold to sleep with the windows open and the body heat of two little puppies is rather nice to have at night.

Then it gets warm. It's done this a few times now. Yesterday, it was a warm, almost hot day. The night temperature got down to 63 degrees. For us, this is considered rather hot for a night in October. It means you wake up at 2 a.m. sweating because you've put the thicker comforter on the bed and the puppies are still burrowing under it, adding more heat to the situation.

We also haven't had any rain. When I say no rain, I mean literally no rain. We're almost 8 inches short for the year. We were supposed to get some rain today. Alas, no rain. Tomorrow, we're supposed to have heavy rain. I'm hoping this is true.

The thing is, while it's nice to have a variety of temperatures, it makes it a little hard to plan things like Autumn meals. For example, silly me listened to Frank Marzullo and the Fox 19 Storm Tracker Weather and I believed him when he said it was supposed to be cold and rainy on the Sunday of this past weekend. It ended up being almost 80 degrees and partly sunny. I had planned a nice warm Autumn meal- my mother's 'mincemeat' recipe with noodles and lettuce salad. I still made it. It was still tasty. Yet it wasn't the warm, comfort food of a chilly, rainy Autumn night. It was the rather overly heavy meal on a balmy Indian Summer night.

Tonight, we're trying for something a little less comfort food and a little more fun. Gorganzola mashed potatoes, grilled steaks with red wine-braised mushrooms and haricot vert beans with herbs. It sounds fancy but I'm just using up things I have on hand. The nice thing is that now I've mostly learned to cook, I can make a pretty good meal out of a few ingredients. It's all rather fun.

The other thing about this peculiar Autumn is walking the dogs. Some evenings, I need a jacket. Some evenings, I don't. It's hard to tell sometimes. Tonight, there was a slight breeze but not enough to require a jacket. It was enough to scatter the carefully raked piles of leaves that are sitting in heaps by the curb. I don't have enough leaves to do much raking. That's the nice thing about not having my own trees. The puppies would probably like some leaf piles but considering the mess they make with the few leaves we have in the garden, I think I'm ok with them having a nose in the leaf piles we pass as we walk.

Tonight, there were lots of people out raking. Larry the Potential Serial Killer was one. We haven't seen him since he stalked us in his car and I had this horrible feeling I was going to get trapped. Fortunately, Mike (he of the very large backyard and also the recipient of my unwanted pampas grass) saved us by being out for a stroll and stopping to chat to Larry not long before the puppies and I had no choice but to pass by. Thus, Larry was preoccupied and couldn't stop for one of his up-close-and-personal chats without being rude to Mike. He did, however, make an overly enthusiastic suggestion that I join him for a bonfire in his garden sometime soon.

We'll see about that. Given that I call Larry a potential serial killer, it's probably not likely to happen. He does make me a little uncomfortable. Maybe he can invite Mike instead. They both seem quite lonely. They're both unmarried men in their mid-to-late forties. They could have a famous time together!

Still, he's not the only one contemplating leaf fires. Someone had just started one as the pups and I continued our sojourn. While the smell of leaf fires is appealing, this particular one was a little smokier than the normal fire and the smoke was a little much. It was bad enough for us as we passed by. I can't imagine being the one standing over the fire.

Nevertheless, the fire made the air smell Autumnal. It would have been just a little nicer had it been crisper in temperature but it was still nice. I'm hoping it's not the last leaf fire we see/smell this year.

Although I think I'll pass on Larry's.

Happy Tuesday!

A Squirrel in a Bucket....

This has been one of those weekends that has gone by quickly because it's just been busy. It's the kind of busy that's good though- where I get things done but still get to relax. Not all of it has been planned busyness. Sometimes that just...happens.

Saturday, for example, I decided that I'd have a relaxing morning with the puppies. I had been woken up early by Wife of Dog Whisperer yelling at her dog. I'm talking 5 a.m.-early. When we got up around 8 a.m., I let the puppies out. Then I saw Wife of Dog Whisperer running around outside in her pink pajamas. Her very pink, large pajamas. It was a cold morning and I couldn't figure out why she was running around with no shoes and coat on. I ended up getting dressed and investigating but I couldn't figure it out. It was peculiar.

I read for a while. I've been plodding through A.S. Byatt's The Children's Book. I didn't like it very much when I started but it's one of those books you feel compelled to finish to see if anything would happen. Well, it took forever and I can safely say that not much really happened at all. Instead, there were pages and pages of minute detail about everything. There were politics. There was social commentary. Yet...not much happened. I was hoping I'd start to care about the characters but what ended up happening is I couldn't remember who was who and all the children just blurred together. Still, I was determined to finish it.

I didn't finish it on Saturday. Instead, I decided to go and see "Paranormal Activity 2" since the first one had inspired The Reluctant Demon and I thought I might get some more ideas. It wasn't a bad movie, if you liked the first one. It was clever how it tied in with the original. However, it was a lot less scary because it was sloppy. For example, most of the initial 'spookiness' is captured through views from individual cameras all over the house. It was very distracting that, night after night, the kitchen camera managed to capture the exact same view- that of the kitchen island with a cup on it and a bowl of apples. Some days, there were bananas in the apple bowl. Other days, there weren't any apples. Yet, every night, there were apples, no bananas and the same cup. I think they were reusing the same image. It may not seem like much but when you're watching a film that is hoping to shock you with sudden, unpredictable things, small details like that mug are distracting. Also, when one of the characters is dragged away by the demon, she's bitten by it too. I'm sorry but even though I'm sure it's terrifying to have a demon in your house that's dragging you down the stairs, for a demon, that was a pretty wimpy bite. I mean, come on- can't the demon have pointy teeth that ripped through flesh or something instead of a human-like bite mark?

I'm overthinking this. This is why I make up silly paranormal romantic comedies about demons rather than try to be scary because it's easy to overthink things and then the scariness vanishes.

Anyway, I digress. So I came home from the movie and let the puppies out. Then they puppies began to bark. Then they began to whine. It's the type of whining they do when there's a bunny or squirrel almost within reach and they can just about taste it. I went out to investigate. I looked around and saw nothing. Then I realized that it wasn't in the yard next door but there was a squirrel laying under Possibly-Joe's fence and it was only two feet away from the pups. Fortunately, there was a fence between it and my puppies but they wanted it and they wanted it bad. They wanted it so badly that Rory literally attempted to chew through the chainlink fence to get to it. I'm just happy she has normal teeth and not super-strong steel teeth or something.

Then, as I was contemplating whether the squirrel was stuck or it was just sitting there, Wife of Dog Whisperer came out to inform me that the squirrel had fallen from a tree and her dogs had almost got it so she had put it on a rake and put it over the fence. Unfortunately, it had attempted to crawl back into the yard. The result was it being stuck under Possibly-Joe's fence within smelling range of two dachshunds. Wife of Dog Whisperer shrugged and said there wasn't much we could do. I, however, disagreed. I mean, the poor rodent was clearly dying. I did not want a dying squirrel anywhere close to the puppies because it was torture for them. They REALLY want a squirrel. I also didn't fancy a dead squirrel there either because...well....ew!

So, I took it upon myself to solve the problem. I shut the pups indoors and went about using a shovel, a bucket and a rake handle. This was no easy feet. The chain link fence is four-feet high. The squirrel was on the other side of it. I managed to get it out from where it seemed to be trapped but getting it onto the shovel was no easy feat. Fortunately, the squirrel still seemed to have a will to live and it helped me out by using it's claws to cling to the shovel. Thus, I hefted it and the shovel over the fence and gently attempted to drop the squirrel in the bucket. The squirrels will to live remained and it would NOT let go of the shovel. I literally had to ply its claws off to let it go.

Thus I had a squirrel in a bucket. It was still alive. I didn't know what to do with it. Finally, I decided that since I was taking the puppies over to the woods for a walk anyway, taking a squirrel in a bucket would be a good idea. Thus, I ended up depositing the poor squirrel- which was still alive- in the woods on a pile of leaves. I have no doubt it was going to die but at least it could die somewhere comfortable.

The rest of Saturday was not quite so exciting though I got my pumpkin carved. Sunday was also pretty quiet although I got a nice phone call from an old friend inviting me to an 'old timer's reunion' at one of my old workplaces.

Am I an old-timer??? I shudder at the thought. Still, she's a good friend and it might be fun to see some of my old coworkers since it was a job at a hospital that I actually liked.

The only other unplanned excitement was that the doorbell rang this evening. This may not seem exciting but my doorbell only rings when I hit the button. The puppies went nuts. Turns out it was Dog Whisperer himself accompanied by Son of Dog Whisperer. He's a boy scout now. Son of Dog Whisperer, I mean...not Dog Whisperer. Dog Whisperer is too old to be a boy scout. Anyway, he's selling popcorn. I bought some because I'm one of those people who is horribly crippled by guilt if I'm directly asked by a child selling cookies, magazines, popcorn or wrapping paper and I say no. So I don't say no. I didn't say no this time. Now I'm going to have an enourmous tub of popping corn that cost me $10. It's a good cause. I just don't eat that much popcorn. I may have to share.

So, that's been our rather odd weekend. It hasn't been bad. The only thing I feel bad about really is that I've been promising Sookie and Rory that one day, they'd have their very own squirrel. I even went looking for trees to plant last weekend so they could have their very own squirrel tree. Then, when I had the opportunity to give them one, I didn't. Instead, I put it in a bucket and let it go in the woods. I know they knew what i was doing and they were not happy with me.

Oh well. I'm sure there'll be other squirrels. Just not in a bucket...I hope.

Happy Monday