I have never gone in for Halloween as an adult. I’m not sure why. I didn’t relish dressing up and going to costume parties. I don’t think of Halloween as a holiday for adults.
I think of Halloween as a time for children.
A time to run around in the dark, usually with Dad, with a flashlight and get FREE CANDY!
Or if not candy, then at least a matching binky.
The pumpkin carving is for adults, if they are going to do stuff like this.
But, ultimately, a time to be a child. I think of Halloween as a holiday of innocence, not bacchanalia, which is what adults make of it. The revelery should be for candy and ghost stories, not dressing like sluts and getting stoned. I think.
This year, I really enjoyed Halloween. I had fun designing Monkey’s costume. Monkey and Bun were cute as puppies; they got a lot of rave reviews around the neighborhood. DearDR came home early from work to take them trick or treating (the only picture I got of Monkey and DearDR is too dark to see). We chatted with the neighbors; and after a half hour, we came home and gave out candy.
It was nice. It was low-key. The weather was perfect, which is rare. It’s usually freezing cold, and/or raining.
And now it’s November. It’s All Saints Day, and I think of and pray for my dead, dear and departed. It was a mad scramble to get to Mass, but we made it, and I’m glad. Halloween marks the end of “easy” holidays, and the beginning of the slide into the madness of Thanksgiving and Christmas. The eating, buying, decorating and traveling madness.
Monkey’s birthday is in there too, and Bun’s right after. So it was nice to go to Mass, a moment of peace for me before we get on with it, this business of living. I vow to take it as easy as I can on myself this time of year. Keep my expectations realistic, if not exactly low.
Anyway, I just wanted to say, I really enjoyed our Halloween, and I hope to enjoy the rest of the year as much. As much as this: 
Red Pen Mama 