2001-11-01 - 12:01 p.m.

On the internal soundtrack: "Something", Beatles

Yay! Halloween!!

When I got home, Poindexter had strung up the Halloween lights and put out a "Happy Halloween" sign at the bottom of the stairs. He had the masks out and a bunch of plastic pumpkins that we lined up in the window.

Evelynne: I'm so excited! Little kiddies in costumes!
Poindexter: Yeah! Chop 'em into little bits and pieces!

He said the same thing to the receptionist at work, when he called trying to reach a former coworker, and the receptionist said, "Yeah, put 'em in a stew!"

Thanks to Callie for reminding me of the many uses of a digital camera. I was so excited about getting pictures of the kids that I didn't even think to take pictures of us. So here I am, ready to throw open the door and jump at the kids:

And here's Poindexter in his monster mask, lurking behind the pillar:

Well, we had just enough trick-or-treaters to keep me from getting depressed about not having enough. I think we had about ten, in five groups. We had a tough bunch this year -- nobody was scared except the very youngest ones. Last year I think I gave a start to a few in the 6-8 year-old group.

First up was a little Superman who lives down the street. He looked completely jazzed to be out and about. Laughed at me in my Scream costume, and laughed even more at the monster. Kept looking and laughing. I got a photo of him that would have been fabulous if it hadn't been all blurry. Goddammit.

Next up was an angel, a leopard, and a lion. The leopard, a girl, explained earnestly to me that she was a leopard and pointed to her spots. The lion, a little boy, got a glimpse of Monster-Poindexter, and, well, you can see his reaction for yourself:

He kept staring, openmouthed, the entire time he was on the porch. Wouldn't take his eyes off Poindexter. His mother encouraged him to say Happy Halloween to the monster, so he did. "HAPPY HALLOWEEEEN!"

Harry Potter (also from down the street) came by, along with the returning Superman, who wanted to see the monster again. Harry Potter asked if the monster would come over, and I said, "You can go chase him if you want", so he did. Chased the poor nice monster into the bathroom after poking him in the chest with his magic wand.

Up next: A blue Power Ranger and a ... something with black fur, yellow belly, and two gray teeth. No idea what it was. The little black toothy thing was quite frightened of Poindexter and hid behind his parents' legs the whole time.

A young Pooh came by with his mom, but was more interested in the pumpkin lights than anything else, including the candy.

Finally, we had a witch, who wasn't scared at all, and her little sister, a very young, frightened Piglet. Poor Piglet. Kept trying to climb over her mother's shoulder to get away from Poindexter (who was well inside the house, about 10 feet away, and not moving except to wave). I told her to watch while I ran over and kissed the monster full on the "lips", but that didn't convince her one bit.

That was it, unfortunately. We have an entire bowlful of candy left, which we offered to the painters this morning. I'm going to have to throw candy at everyone who drops by between now and next July, most likely. Anybody want some Kit Kats, Reese's Pieces, Dum-Dums, or Goldenberg's Peanut Chews?

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