The Night In Question

(The Wedding Party)

So, it turns out twenty (20!) bags of candy weren't enough, after all, and we needed to borrow one from Neighbor Dan who only bought 9 bags but his were three times the size of ours so it balanced out pretty evenly in the end.

Despite the last-minute nature of our decorating due to my brother's bout of the plague followed by his trip to the Bahamas and delayed return from spending an extra day with his girlfriend, we looked pretty good. A little sparse compared to previous years, but the trick-or-treaters didn't seem to notice.

(A Wedding Crasher)

The wedding party went over nicely. Several people even crashed it to have their pictures taken with the bride. Later in the evening, my brother joined them and sat very quietly until unsuspecting visitors came up close enough to collect their treats.

(Spot the Living Guest)

Reactions ranged from glorious screams to comments of, "Really?" (but only following a sideways jump of at least three feet), to one woman who got into a snit and just stomped off. Generally, though the responses were great, especially from the kids and foreigners. The kids, in particular, showed no fear. They posed with zombies and in front of the hearse and danced with the skeletons.

(Spiderman Does a Turn With the Singing Skeleton)

One German gentleman came up and, explaining that it was his first time here, asked me when the holiday normally occurred and how long it lasted. I told him it was always the evening before All Saints' Day and, although the decorations went up a few days earlier, the kids came by only on this one night. He seemed intrigued, yet bemused, by the whole concept. He especially didn't seem to understand the gorilla chasing the six-foot banana down the street.

Another German family came by later in the evening. They were relative veterans, it seems, as they were all dressed as pumpkins. I informed them they made a very sincere pumpkin patch but I don't think they got the reference. And the only beagle that showed up was dressed as a lobster. 

The giant banana came back later in the evening all out of breath. He took a couple of candy bars and said, "Thanks. That monkey's been after me all night long."

(Giant Lawn Cat Is Watching You Trick-or-Treat)

Final tally: 200+ kids of various ages and sizes plus almost as many parents/guardians (many themselves in costume), three dogs (one disguised as a crustacean) and the equivalent of 23 bags of candy. And lots of appreciative compliments. Guess we'll do it again.

(Y'all come Back Next Year, Y'hear?)

Tasks and Rewards

Yesterday was my brother's birthday. Because this is no longer the land of the free and home of the brave but the residence of those who submit to bureaucratic paranoia, we (mostly he) spent the better half of the day downloading forms, copying documents and expediting them back to Connecticut because, even though he has never been out of this country in his life (excepting one three hour lunch trip to Nogales as a preteen) and even though he has lived in this same town for going-on thirty years, and has renewed his driver's license a number of times during that period, he must now present a certified copy of his birth certificate in order to renew it this time. Between the copying costs and the postage, he's spending close to $60 (never mind the time wasted not celebrating his birthday) just to qualify for the renewal.

We made up for it with a birthday dinner of broiled lobster in drawn butter, shrimp and scallops sauteed with sweet red peppers in a bacon/garlic butter sauce over pasta and corn on the cob accompanied by a very fruity, spicy Gewurztraminer and chocolate cake for dessert. You can erase an awful lot of frustration with a meal like that.

A Good Start To a New Year

My brother came back from the store on the morning of New Year's Eve with a couple of treats: a pound of shrimp and three lobster tails. So New Year's Eve dinner consisted of shrimp in linguine, a large mixed salad, and broiled lobster in drawn butter. (Despite this generation living all over the country, we've been New Englanders for the last 390+ years. Doing anything else with lobster is just gilding the lily.) And a 2010 Argentine Malbec. Sure it's a red but it was very fruity and went quite well with the seafood.

There were a couple of minor issues. Mom didn't notice that the shrimp had not been shelled and popped a whole one in her mouth legs and all. My brother made her spit it out and we took a minute to make them edible for her (and insisted she use her fork). She claimed she could get the meat from the lobster tail herself but couldn't with her fork and we, again, had to stop her from pulling it out with her teeth. We warned her she could cut her lips on the shell but she didn't seem to mind the risk.

Once we had the rest of her meal prepped and safe to eat, she lifted her glass and called out "Happy New Year!"

Our goal is to get her to the next one, but at least her attitude is in the right place.