BOO! All are welcome to the Scary Spirit of Halloween!

I’m so in it…I decorated my apartment, I bought pumpkins for carving, I put up cobwebs, orange lights, bats, black candles - Snow, I hung the glow in the dark Mr. Bones you sent me!!! It’s in my hallway and if you go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, its right across from the toilet to scare you! But most importantly, I’ve decorated my office … this is all to bring back the Spooky but Fun Spirit of Halloween back into my life. Not that it was ever really missing but I kind of felt like well, I don’t have kids so why am I decorating or baking or making a jack o’lantern, etc, but one of the gifts that was given to me by my parents was a very magical childhood that went hand in hand with a love of celebrating holidays and that you are never too old to enjoy them and somehow I’ve missed that gift of mine the past couple of years. For example, my mom was one of those people who dyed everything green on St Patrick’s Day – we’d wake up to green oatmeal, green OJ, and some holiday appropriate treat to bring to eat at school, like cupcakes, and she’d get out our shamrock pin so we wouldn’t get pinched (or Snow, do you remember those pins we had that would swivel open and there was solid perfume underneath?) and we ALWAYS ate corned beef and hash and potatoes for dinner that night.

So to honor the Spirit of the Parents Who Are Still Young At Heart, I brought in a fun candy bowl with a hand that grabs you and says spookily “want some candy?” and some other decorations and last night I made mini cupcakes and decorated them in Halloween colors and guess what? Everyone here is laughing a LOT, smiling a LOT, and is in a good mood … and do you know is having the most fun? ME. That’s the secret I think that my parents knew all these years – its fun to watch other people get a kick out of the little things you do, its fun to watch other people laugh and scream at a silly spooky bowl, and if a tiny cupcake can make someone more friendly or have a better day, then why wouldn’t I feel good too?

So there you go, lesson for the day from Joyce and Charlie - if you make someone feel good, you’ll end up feeling good as well. They would also like you to know that they will be celebrating Oktoberfest next week, so drop on by if you are in the neighborhood, but don’t you DARE bring any guacamole – it’s not German!! Wear your lederhosen should you be so inclined and to really get a laugh out of them, knock on their door and announce in your best Clark Griswold voice, "My family and I are looking for sex"!