Happy Halloween All! It's complicated...

When I was younger, Halloween was a fun, uncomplicated occasion. I got dressed up in something I scrounged up from the closets in the house, grabbed a pillow case, and headed out the door to meet up with my friends and collect goodies. Parents mulled around driveways and front doors talking with one another. They didn't come with us unless we were babies and if you were older than first grade, you didn't need your mom along for trick-or-treating. We rang doorbells and were greeted with smiles and homemade goodies. Who remembers "real" candied or caramel apples? What about popcorn balls? My friends and I didn't look for the houses that gave out full sized candy bars, but we "smelled" our way to the houses that gave away the fresh baked goodies. Then we ran around the neighborhood scaring each other until we were exhausted and our mothers called us home. Another thing that was important was our city always had Halloween on a Saturday no matter what day the 31st fell on. This was important because there wasn't any homework to do or bedtime that had to be met.

Nowadays, things are a bit more complicated. Halloween has become the "evil" day. It's the devil. I never once felt this day was evil or thought of the devil more than just another costume. It was fun. We got to dress up and ate lots of goodies. Also gone are the homemade treats. Even if you baked anything these days it would probably get thrown out for fear of poisoning. I know we went through a phase of having to x-ray candy (healthy, safe levels of radiation) because some jerk somewhere decided to put a razor blade in a candy bar. Then there's all the kids who've developed allergies. They have allergies to peanuts, chocolate; heck I'm sure some have been forced to have an allergy to fun. I know these allergies are serious. When we lived in Iowa we couldn't bring any homemade treats to school ever because so many folks were cooking their meth in the same pots and pans they made little Billy's school treats in and kids were ingesting meth!

It's complicated. The school has banned it and gone are Halloween parties (Christmas parties too, but that's another post). Why does this occasion have to be anything other than fun and why did we have to go and ruin it? Why did someone have to put a razor blade in a candy bar? Why do have to go and buy $60 costumes for our kids? What's wrong with two holes cut in a sheet? Ah, we've come so far...

Effigy Smeffigy Sarah Palin

I'm not going to discuss politics here. So if you were looking for that sort of discussion, keep on searching. What I do want to discuss is the disgusting nature of people. What makes it okay to hang anyone from a noose in front of your home? I guess freedom of speech and the fact it's your own property does actually. Okay, so I know my rights. I also know a wrong when I see it. This is morally wrong by my standards. Sarah Palin may not even give a flip if she's hanging from a noose in west Hollywood. I do. What happened to respect and constraint? I feel like I want to do it and I'm protected by the law. So why not have a dummy hanging from my roof? Yeah! I'm empowered. Are you really? Or are you just making a spectacle of yourself? By the way, John McCain is above her in the flue of the chimney, which is on fire. I should have the right as a human being not to have my likeness used in a negative or positive way unless I give permission. What's next? Will neighbors hang each others' likenesses from roofs and trees if they don't get along? It's a step backwards for humanity. During days like these all we need are steps forward--together.

"People need to help each other and that's all there is to it."

It's a simple enough statement. On a day when you turn on the news and all you hear is one terrible story after another, it's good to hear a story that touches your heart not out of sadness, but out of goodness. A woman in Dennison, TX lost her home in foreclosure. She went to Dallas as a last paragraph of the story of her life with her home so she could say goodbye. Maybe she would catch a glimpse of the person who'd buy her home. Understandably, she was crying and upset. She wasn't making a spectacle of herself, but she was crying. A woman nearby asked her why she was crying. She told the woman she was crying because she'd come to say goodbye to her home. This home was featured without a picture in the auction booklet. The woman who asked her what was the matter decided then and there to buy this home if she could. She got the home for less than $30,000. Then she told the woman who was the previous owner to get ready to move back in. They'll work out the details about payment and for now a woman and her family have a home again. If you want to read this story here's the link. http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa081026_mo_auctionangels.151177f7c.html

To Train or Not

I've recently started an exercise regiment. I almost called it an exercise program. It's definitely more like a regiment. I've just finished my fourth week. At two weeks, I'd lost 3 percent body fat. I go three times a week for one hour with a personal trainer. I then go and do cardio for 45 mins. So I'm at the gym for an hour and forty five minutes three days a week. I also go one more day and do just the cardio. I feel stronger. Of course I wish I had more miraculous results. I'm like the rest of the world and I want an instant fix. Who cares if it took me nine years to get this way. I want to look fab in six weeks or less. I'll stick with it even though I'm a bit impatient. It's a bit tough some days. I'm sweating buckets. I went to the gym recently and my trainer was off at some competition and I was left to figure it out on my own. Let me say I was less than productive. The trainer does help me keep focused on the task. He knows how to adjust all the machines without having to read the instructions several times! I know I get a much better workout with the guidance of the trainer. So if you're looking to get back in shape a personal trainer is a good way to get started. I'll keep you posted on my results.

Fall Break

What is fall break? I never had one when I was in school or in college. It's quite common now. Some students just started classes in August or September and it's already time for a break. Please and good grief! The college where I teach doesn't have a fall break, but the school systems in the area have this break. Other colleges in the state have this hiatus also. I think it's bizarre with just a few weeks or a couple of months in we need a break from it all so soon. I'm not sure what we're advocating here. How many working folks get a fall break? I'm positive many of us wish the stock market were on fall break. What about the presidential candidates? Isn't it time they took a break from the traveling and talking? My point is that in the real world there isn't a fall break. The only break we get from work is a week of vacation--if we're lucky. For some the only respite is a sick day--without pay. What do working parents of grade school children do with their kids during this time? I guess they trade a week in school for a week in daycare instead. Administrators and teachers sat around thinking of ways to get in-service training days in during the school year so they wouldn't have to waste precious summertime days and this is what they came up with. Oh, I'm sure they could dig up some statistics that say students perform better with frequent breaks--I say it all sounds a little bit like bovine fecal matter to me.