Best Cocker Spaniel Aunt ever t-shirt

Cocker Spaniel salt and pepper shakers

$300

Pendleton blanket

Touch lamps(USB)

$100 Amazon gift card

Necklace

Candles

Cinnamon Roll mix/scone mix/gingerbread

UC Davis Aunt shirt

Lego London phone box

3 books

And I have already been up for two hours already! Today is going to be a busy day-doing Meals On Wheels in a few hours and then a potluck and handing out candy to trick or treaters later .

The Spirit Halloween and Halloween Express stores are open!(and yes, I had to see what they had ,and the one I was at was VERY well stocked-they had a ton of decor for people who do that sort of thing.)

Target already has Halloween stuff in their stores-and best of all they have the Libby pumpkin bread kids which(IMO) are the best pumpkin bread.Throw some cranberries and pecans in there..*chef’s kiss*

 When I was in grade school one of many teachers had a whole day where she taught us about Hanukkah and we even had  potato pancakes(and when I went to her retirement party  I mentioned that that is tone of my memories of her(and a good one at that!)

This was pre internet and I have earned so much thanks to the internet and also because I am just a sponge  and also because I live in  California which is much more of a melting pot than other places(though not true of ALL of California but certainly true of San Diego and definitely of Los Angeles.

It’s Halloween creep and even back to school creep!(of course Halloween and Christmas are not that surprising..I have seen Christmas and Halloween stuff in the stores for a *while* now! When it comes to back to school stuff..they need to let kids enjoy their summer!

The house I lived in until I was 12 my bedroom was off of the living room(where all of the Christmas gifts were!)

Every year-until my dad switched to Home Depot-we would go to the Boys And Girls’ Club to get our tree.My parents now have a fake tree which is better for any number of reasons(not least of which is that you don’t have to deal with watering it and dealing with pine needles.) My mom has a lot of the ornaments from when I was a kid-made them at school-orange and hot pink-not sure who thought those were Christmas-y colours!

Other traditions:Going through the Sears WishBook(remember that?) I think ours always was dog eared by the end of the season.

Going to my grandparents’ house in our VW van, and driving home in a car with marginally working heat and “Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney on the radio.

Had my traditional Thanksgiving breakfast of pumpkin pie and coffee.Woudn’t be Thanksgiving without it, to be honest.(Costco makes the best pumpkin pie,IMO)

My nephew hosted a Friendsgiving the other day and smoked and cooked a turkey.Got rave reviews all around.He takes after his aunt!I’m intimidated by the idea of cooking a turkey but I’m sure(with some help from YouTube..there’s no shame in YouTubeing what you need to know) I would have everything under control.The one thing that I insist on is that for the most part,I have to be the only person in the kitchen.If I need help,I’ll say so!

I love this time of year. I sleep with the windows open even(it isn’t cold here at night yet)

Of course Halloween is coming up soon. I love Halloween.Not in a dressing up and decorating sort of way but I love it just the same.

For me it’s about the food(of course!) I remember the good old days when people would make Halloween treats like popcorn balls.The ones they have now which are factory made and not nearly as good IMO, Back in the day(and to this day)they have these sheets of caramel that you could wrap around an apple-instant caramel apple! Except when I did it they used cruddy quality apples.I took a couple of bites of the apple and peeled off the caramel 😂(Caramel fan here, needless to say!)

When I was a kid I had my favourite candy.It was a really good trick or treat when you got something like Jolly Rancher sticks(apple and watermelon for teh win!).My holy grail was the lady that handed out root beer barrel candles.So many happy memories associated with those!

One tradition that has been standard the last number of years is watching a horror movie(usually The Exorcist but there are others.)The Exorcist has been called The Scariest Movie Ever Made.True enough.For this first bit it’s more psychological for the first bit and then it gets proper scary. Having watched it a few times here’s a few notes:

Merrin’s “Oh shit” face when he sees that the small figurine is of Pazuzu.

The St. Joseph medal which miraculously shows up later on in the story.

The clock in the office stopping which freaks Merrin out(definitely symbolism there:Your time is almost up)

When Chris MacNeil is walking home you can clearly see kids In Halloween costumes.The veil between the living and the dead is very thin at Halloween.Between that and Regan playing with the Ouija board you can see why what happened..happened(the book takes place in the spring, I believe.)

I an in my element this time of year.Lots of cooking and holiday related things going on.

Oddest thing this year?I have done my Christmas shopping piecemeal-present here and there-actually I did some of -the vast majority of it-when I was in Oklahoma City for my family who lives there and just left it there for my sister-in-law to wrap(yes she knows what she’s getting for Christmas. This is a recurring thing in our family.)

But everyone else?Have bought their gifts just here and there but I am getting my niece and nephews and brother gift cards.Much easier for me to wrap(I hate wrapping gifts it looks like a toddler did it) so I have come to rely on gift bags.I think they are the best thing ever.Heh.

Tonight is the first night of Passover.Even though I don’t celebrate it I have always been interested in it.

Here’s an example:Had Gadya which is sung during the Seder. It’s a cumulative song, and the different things(cat, stick, water, the Angel Of Death) represent Israel’s enemies.

*Why is this night different from all other nights?