Halloween Eve, and we had
not gotten the traditional pumpkins.  I
could have easily gotten some at the grocery store, but the girls and I decided
to drive to Lendt’s Pumpkin farm.  We had
been there several times before, and though it was getting late, I figured we
would have enough time to look around a bit, haul the wagon out to the field,
and pick our pumpkins before they closed. 
It might even be kind of fun if it was getting dark.

We got there, and of course, we
didn’t see many pumpkins.  We wandered
around the wooden Halloween cut-outs, and took pictures by the “How Tall Are
You This Year” sign.  The kids had fun,
but it made me a bit melancholy.  The big
Charlie Brown now looked like Kilroy. 

As we headed out to the field, the
proprietor came up to us and asked, “Are you here for pumpkins?”  I replied, “Well, yeah…” 

 “We don’t have any more pumpkins
left,” she said.  “The ones in the field
are all rubbish.”  She told us that if we
hurried, we had about 15 minutes to get to Pinehaven, a petting zoo/pumpkin/Christmas
tree farm that featured haunted hayrides. 
We got over there with 10 minutes to spare, picked out our pumpkins,
paid our $20 and headed home.

I’m usually pretty good at making special moments, but not always so good at remembering to be in them.

“We can only be
said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our
treasures.”
Thornton
Wilder

I just found out about a recall of plastic “Ugly Teeth.” because According to a CBS news report, “paint on the teeth contained 100 times the allowable level of lead.”

I told zisixi about it, and he said that he just gave some of those (along with vampire teeth) to some people at work. 

An article from the  New York Times (9/1/07) states that though 20 percent of the consumer products for sale in the US are Chinese made, safety standards are voluntary, and are not mandatory until the voluntary measures have failed.

“Time and again,
through the translators, they made clear they did not understand this
concept,” said Nick Marchica, an engineer and former agency senior
aide. “What they told us was, ‘As far as we are concerned, voluntary
means we don’t have to.’ ”

Mr. Marchica said some Chinese
products, like electrical extension cords or children’s jewelry,
frequently violate the standards. But the consumer agency is
handicapped in finding those goods or blocking them from reaching
American buyers. The commission has no inspectors at factories
overseas. And at ports in the United States, the agency is overwhelmed.

In Los Angeles area ports, through which 15 million truck-size
containers move a year, a single agency inspector, working two or three
days a week, spot-checks incoming shipments. Agency officials would not
permit the inspector to speak with a reporter, but colleagues said her
assignment was all but hopeless. “It is completely ineffective,” one
agency official said.”

I am not an organized person in the best of times, and holidays stress my abilities

Final costume decisions: 
Daughter1 – zombie
Daughter2 – Luna Lovegood (from Harry Potter.  I had to warn her that if people hadn’t read Harry Potter, or seen the movie, they would not know what she was.  Luckily, she was ok with that.)
Daughter3 – cute cowgirl

We had a homeschool party, so Daughters2 and 3 got to do a trial run on their costumes.  One of the older boys helped Daughter2 with her tie – I had printed out instructions (you can actually purchase a “how-to-tie-a-tie” video for $13.95) but I couldn’t really figure it out.

I was running late, so I threw some chips and salsa into a paper bag, along with my quarterly 941 payroll taxes. I didn’t have a stamp, so I planned to stop by the post office later. 

The hosts of the party have a huge pole barn – they own a tree-trimming business, so its big enough to hold lots of equipment.
Years ago, a friend of theirs made dozens of chain-saw sculptures from trees that they had cut down.  The sculpture range from cute (animals) to kind of creepy (skulls).

The kids had a great time jumping on the trampoline, playing foosball and pool, and just running around.  I had a good time talking to the other parents, and suddenly I realized that I had only 20 minutes to get to my oldest daughter’s school, and it would take me 30 minutes to get there.  I couldn’t find the paper bag I had brought, so I just grabbed the costumes and other stuff I had brought, rounded up the kids, and took off.

Once we got on the road, I called Daughter1′s school to let them know that I was running late.  When I was about half-way there, I realized that I had left my taxes in the paper bag. I called the hostess, and left a message with her son to please look for the bag.  After I picked up Daughter1, I realized that I would not be able to make it back to the party to look for my taxes, so I called the accountant and asked them to print out another copy for me. 

I stopped at the accountants at around 4:30.  I had the tax form and an addressed envelope in my hand by 4:35.  It took me about 15 minutes to get to the post office.  I got the taxes mailed off (certified to prove that they were actually sent on the 31st,) at around 4:50.

Then I had to get home, feed the kids, and put the last minute touches on costumes.  My sister and mom came over, we ate dinner, and went out trick-or-treating around 7:00.