It's Halloween for Reals!

And so begins the Christmas season.

I'm not even joking. I'm seeing Christmas commercials y'all.

And I really really love it.

Tonight, we'll prop the door open for any  kids who will actually be trick or treating, assuming the weather is good. It was pretty nasty last year, rainy and cold. This year it's just cold, which is perfect Halloween weather.

I don't do the whole Reformation Day thing. I am neither Catholic nor Protestant, and besides, my faith holds that salvation comes through Christ, not your denomination, creed, music preferences, or Sunday morning traditions.

So Happy Halloween!

I'm planning Christmas presents out right now, including the big one to myself, the goal of having my novel in print by Christmas. No, I didn't manage it by my birthday. It'll still be good, and maybe even better now.

I'm also getting together ideas for desserts on Thanksgiving. It's gonna be held at my house again this year, and I have a couple of additions to the usual chocolate chip cookies.

This year, I will be making what have been lovingly named Unicorn Poop and Angel Turds (the latter of which was spoken last year.) Don't worry, they're harmless. Unicorn poop is rainbow sugar cookies, with all sorts of sparklies and color and shimmer. Angel turds are mini red velvet cupcakes, with regular white icing, green sprinkles, and mini-chocolate chips. You can see where the name might have come from (and I didn't make it up.)

The sugar cookies are a recipe online. They actually look like less work than the kosher apple cake I made one year, which was delicious, but time-consuming.

So Happy Halloween and here's to an awesome upcoming Christmas season!

Halloween!

Last night I made myself stay up and write. I was about this close to going to bed without pulling that notebook out of my computer bag and writing at least a page.

But I did.

I'm pretty tired, because I sort of tend to get lost in the moment when I'm writing by hand, but I'm glad I did it. I was desparate to get it done enough that the scene doesn't drag, not at all, because at that part, the main chararacter is pretty desperate herself.

This 30 days thing is not so easy. I mean, I talk all the time. I have a rant ready for every occasion, according to family. I should be able to do this every day, but it's harder than I thought it would be.

A visit to Target last night got me all ready for Halloween and Christmas. I know, I know, those aren't that connected, especially depending on what church you go to. But for me they are.

See, a huge chunk of my family was born in the fall and winter months. For my dad's side of the family, it's one big celebration from the beginning of October (dad's birthday) to the end of January, during which time there are a lot of birthday parties, burgers on the grill (let's face it, I live in North Carolina; it's still hot until November), and pizzas consumed.

And that's all separate from Thanksgiving and Christmas.

That's why I love Halloween. Something in the air changes. My birthday falls three days before. All the shows I watch have "Halloween" episodes. People in my neighborhood decorate, which means lots of twinkling orange lights and grinning pumpkins.

For me, Halloween officially kicks off the Christmas season, and that's when the real decorations come out.

Christmas will be tougher this year. I mean, physically. While Minnie used to prod at the tree skirt and rough it up to make it comfortable, Pippa will, I believe, enjoy drinking out of the stand. I mean, she's discovered the joys of toilet water this week, so sap water should be even better. She also will most likely yank ornaments off the tree and possibly will unwrap presents.

Oh boy.

So, here's to the start of the Christmas and Halloween seasons.