Bone To Be Wild

Happy Halloween Everyone!

My littlest brother went to school this morning wearing a beanie, a cape, one boxing glove, and part of a Grinch costume. The only thought my Mom had as she watched him walk out the door was, "Please God don't let him get beat up."

Last night Hoop and I drove around for three hours picking up pieces for our costumes and ingredients to make popcorn balls. Braving the crowds of irritated parents and kids the night before Halloween is not something I would recommend for the faint of heart. "You can either be a fairy or a hippie!" I heard one Mom snap to her angry little boy. "I want to be a pirate!" He wailed in response. "Well you should have thought about that last week before they ran out of everything."

Two hours later I was feeling much the same as that frustrated Mom had. "Can we go home now?!" I begged Hoop as he dug through a bin of multicolored hair spray. "I need a can of red." After everything had finally been found and bought we piled into the car to go home. "So where exactly are we going?" Hoop asked. I thought over the many bars in the area, surely one of them would be having a costume party. "I don't know. Where do you want to go?" Hoop thought for a minute. "Well the Shores have a much better neighborhood. The houses are closer together, and-" Then it dawned on me...

"Wait. Are we going trick-or-treating?" "Isn't that what you had in mind?" I burst into laughter. No wonder it had been so difficult convincing him to dress up! "Aren't we too old?!" Hoop shrugged. "Do you really think they'll turn us down?" So there you have it. For the first time in ten years I may be going trick-or-treating tonight. I dug around all morning looking for a kid I could borrow. But none could be found on such short notice. Maybe we can just follow behind some cute little family. I hope we don't get egged.

Daily Hoop Conversation:
Tink: Look! *Points to an advertisement on the side of a Winnebago*
Hoop: "Costumes, Masks and More."
Tink: We could stop there.
Hoop: No, I don't think so.
Tink: Why not? It doesn't hurt to check it out.
Hoop: I am NOT shopping in a Winnebago. I mean, how much stuff could they possibly have in there?
Tink: *Cracks up*
Hoop: What in the hell is so funny?

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Sorry for the late posting. I'm a bit frazzled this week. So instead of giving you the whole weekend recap in one lump, I'm going to save my sanity and post it in bite sizes.

Friday: Hoop and I drove down to Ormond Beach to meet up with some of his family from Tennessee. His Dad, Nash's little boy, Nana, and Nana's husband were all camped out at a cousin's house for the night. We arrived at (what appeared to be) a quaint country home, nestled in the middle of nowhere. There were horses out back, massive Oak trees in front, and ten large dogs running through the yard. I imagined I'd be happy in a place like that...

...until Bee, Hoop's Dad's cousin, informed us that she was being held hostage by a band of wild Rednecks. These particular country folk liked to get drunk and run down the road at night shooting things. One time they crashed a party she was throwing, just because she hadn't invited them. "I knew something was up as soon as I opened the door. There were five or six of them dirty little hicks, all carrying guns!"

"You didn't invite us, so we're gonna shoot the first person we see!" One of the Rednecks had yelled from the doorway. Apparently they couldn't count, otherwise Bee would have been the "first" person they saw. She must have realized this too. Because instead of getting scared, she simply slammed the door in their faces. This is the part of the story where I would have called the cops. But not her. She went back to her party, enjoyed herself, and then put her house up for sale the next day.

Have a spooktacular evening.