It's time to get serious deciding what costume to wear for Halloween. Each year I decide that next year I'm going to buy myself a quality black cape to look like an evil, mysterious man. Alas, I never do. The costume capes that I find in the stores are thin as sheets - good enough for four year olds.

Walking is fun around here as it's become cool so the need is to keep moving to stay warm. Once there's ice on the sidewalks, it's not as much fun.

Bill I have found (but not bought due to my being too short) amazing black capes (some with red linings should you lean toward ) at vintage women's clothing stores.

No Halloween for me this year. I'm dogsitting and DH is going to be doing a show with the band. Since Halloween is my favorite holiday I've been trying to figure out how to celebrate it but the logistics are so crazy that I would not enjoy it at all.

So I'm going to take all 3 dogs and go for a long spooky walk down at the boardwalk with them.That will keep all of them relatively calm, give them their workout, and give me a chance to relax.

It will also give me an excuse to not have any candy around. Both DH and I have started to mutter about cutting down on sweets so this is an ideal opportunity to do so.

Dagmar next year

Halloween is my least favorite holiday. I've never enjoyed dressing up. Good thing we never get trick-or-treaters at our house.

I'm starting to think of Thanksgiving. My kids and my in-laws will be here. We'll invite some friends and see who can come. It'll be a small group, I'm sure.

DH and DSS love Halloween. I can take or leave it, but I decorate the house for them. They are so much fun. Our neighbors aren't having their party this year, so I may get away without a costume for me. I have a pumpkin sweater that I often wear for trick or treaters if I'm costume free.

I've always enjoyed Halloween as I love to see the trick-or-treaters. Except the year I fell on Halloween and broke my tail bone-- not so fun.

Not sure about this year though as Ellie is afraid/cautious/timid of strangers. I'm not sure how we'll handle kids at the door, but I suspect we will have dh sit in the living room with her while I answer the door, or vice versa. If it seems too traumatic for her, we can turn the lights off and not answer the door.

I have pumpkin earrings that I'll wear. We get no trickortreaters at home, and thus there will be no leftover candy. Surprisingly, no candy has showed up at the office yet. (But there's still next week).

I am enjoying the great fall weather in Bakersfield that has finally arrived with the rain. The nice temperatures will probably last about 2 weeks, then it will get cold and foggy. But that means hot tea and hot soup!

Bill, try http://www.darkknightarmoury.com/c-1...aks-robes.aspx

I used to love Halloween, especially (but not only) because it's also my birthday. However, the last decade has seen a ridiculous over-commercialization of the holiday, which has become nearly as big as Christmas. For me, it sucks a lot of the joy out of it to see Halloween-themed socks, planters, sippy cups and garbage bags along with enough plastic decor and polyester costumes to fill entire stores. I enjoy seeing the kids trick-or-treating (and will be taking my 10 year old out), but not much else anymore.

I agree Andrea. I still put of my scary decorations (no nice smiley witches for me) but I'm seeing fewer and fewer kids out. And they are all escorted and sanitized and I'm sure each piece of candy is logged and tagged by which house it came from.

Back in the day when we went out no one would be caught dead with their parents. We ran around like wild things. I'm glad I was a kid back then and not now.

Dagmar

The adventures of kitty fostering. Oh, my. Waffles, the kitty, came home with me on Wednesday and I set her up in the cat bathroom for the night. She is very friendly but only when my other cats are not around. Culley, our formerly feral cat, seems to want to be her friend or at least let her know that he understands her situation of being the new kid on the block. He lies down just outside of swatting range and ignores her hissing and growling. Louie, our part-dog cat, is very curious and tries to get a little closer. Ringo, our first cat, is terrified of her.

Yesterday, I took the afternoon off and tried to get her more used to the situation. She only wanted attention when I closed the door to wherever we were. Then she'd relax, roll around next to me and ask to be pet. She likes to lick my nose, too. She's eating well and using the litter box so no problems there. We decided to leave her out and let her explore. She found her way to the guest room last evening and I found her in my son's room this morning. She's still hissing and growling any time one of the other cats comes close. But for the most part, the other cats are going back to their usual routines and leave her alone.

The person for whom I'm fostering says that it would be okay if I were to like her and want to keep her. My assistant thinks I should. I don't think my DH would approve although he does like her. She's so tiny! 4 years old and between 6 and 8 pounds. I feel bad for her, she's endured so much in the past few months (her owner left her with one friend for a month, then another friend who was supposed to keep her for a week until the third friend would take her, but instead this friend took her to the shelter).

Allison As I said on Fb I'm partial to torties. Natalie :queen :is our second and she's full of personality and fire, just like Mudpie! Nat is tiny too - she's about 3 years old and is down to 8.5 lbs from a whopping 9. We just spent almost $400 to try to figure out why she's lost the 1/2 lb. (which really does register on her teeny frame) but she's fine.

I think Waffles' hissing and growling is probably due to being the new kid and the only female. Mudpie growled at Mishka, our male cat, for all of their 16 years together. He kept trying to make friends all that time and they did reach some sort of tolerance after the first year.

They're all different and I think as an experienced pet person you already know that. If you keep Waffles I think you'll have an interesting pet. But your house is pretty full - 3 cats and 2 dogs, yes? - so if you find her a great home that would be awesome too.

I think you do most of the pet care so you make the decision, yes? I'm sure you'll do what's best for Waffles just as you have done for all of your pets.

Dagmar

DH and I went to lunch yesterday and while there the conversation went to pets. He asked about whether or not we'll keep Waffles and I said I don't know at this point. He said, either way he'll be fine as he's a softy. To which I said, "I can't have a kitten, but a 4 year old cat is okay?" He said kittens are a pain, just like puppies. I disagree. Puppies are SO much more work. Kittens, as long as they understand the litter box, are pretty easy.

Waffles ran into the cat room this morning when I went to feed the three boys. She jumped on the counter and hissed at Louie and Culley--both of whom basically ignored her. I fed the boys and carried her to my son's bathroom and fed her there so she's not hissing. She was fine. She comes out from behind the couch when I call her. The boys are all still curious, but not as much as before. It's a lot quieter. And not as much biting. My hand can heal.

The dogs are pretty ambivalent about her being here. Bogey whines a bit when he sees her, but he's not aggressive (he just wants to smell her). Misty ignores her like she does with all the cats.