Bonjour Teenage Vampire

Two parties in one night. For Halloween, we were invited to two different parties. Both started at 8 p.m., and both held the promise of a good time.
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Two parties in one night.

For Halloween, we were invited to two different parties. Both started at 8 p.m., and both held the promise of a good time.

It was nearly 7 p.m. and we still weren't ready to leave. There were last minute costume issues. The Glinda the Good Witch dress my mom Janet had sewn for me back in 1999, still fit, and the hoop skirt I wear underneath was in good shape. But the crown needed attention.

The sequin trim that had been hot glued around the bottom the year Y2K was a thing had come loose, and the sparkling stars adorning the front needed to be re-glued also. Glenn is way more patient in a crisis, so he was gluing while I handed out candy.

In a typical year, we get between 30 and 50 trick or treaters. We hadn't planned on being home past 7:30 p.m., so we'd only bought two bags. By 7 o'clock there were only 5 tiny candy bars left.

Before the crown was finished, I realized I had no wand either. Glenn to the rescue once more. He found a skinny dowel in the garage and fashioned a star from cardboard and tinfoil. After handing out the last of the candy, I started turning out house lights, to save kids the trouble of stopping at our house. I didn't reach the last light in time, because a couple of kids were looking right at me from our now dark front step.

I gave them each a quarter (talk about inflation. . . it was a penny in my day), and turned the light back on for them, so they didn't have to walk down our stairs in the dark. Years ago we ran out of candy, and had pretended we weren't home. It felt so wrong. Anytime you skip participating in a shared ritual, you feel guilty. Like when everyone else goes up for communion in church, but you stay in the pew.

It was hard getting ready with most of the lights in the house turned off. Then there was a false eyelash frustration. Turns out lash glue has a shelf life. The last time I remember wearing false eyelashes was 2012, so the glue I was using was at least that old. 3 attempts on my right eye until the lashes stuck.

Earlier in the day I had blackmailed my daughter Mabel into helping me shoot a short Halloween video, which we posted on YouTube. It's called Bonjour Teenage Vampire. It was so much fun to collaborate with her. I came up with the script and props, and she did all the post production on her laptop. I swear she fashioned the credits and sound effects in 5 minutes. Astounding.

This generation coming up is so deft with technology. There's no anxiety when they navigate tasks. A dance of fingers on a keyboard, and they've finished a project.

Halloween came and went. We made it to both parties. We had fun.

Going to the grocery store tonight, it was impossible to ignore the giant Christmas wreath on the front of the building. The day after Halloween, and they're on to the next holiday. But wait. . . they're forgetting Thanksgiving. That's not fair. Thanksgiving decorations should go up first, and then Christmas.

But what decorations? Giant turkeys? Pilgrims? Black Friday shoppers?

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