Happy Halloween!

Halloween Greetings, visitors to 83 Durant. I'm writing this post while sitting by the door waiting for the trick-or-treaters to show up. Jake has taken Lucy up to Ruthie's house where the kids (Lucy, Ruth, Woodrow, & Aiden) will trick-or-treat together (probably just to a few houses). Carter is here with me, being protective. He tried to pounce on the first three-year-old witch who showed up at our door. Thankfully, I restrained him, and now I have him in the front room, with a baby gate in the doorway between the front room and the hallway so that he can see what's going on but not be a danger to visitors (or himself for that matter).



Lucy is dressed up as Madeline. There's one shot up there, but there will soon be more once I get the camera unloaded.



We had a lovely Halloween today, with Jake competing at Orchard Cross, a cyclo-cross event at a New Hampshire Orchard (Applecrest Farm). It was a great day, with kids and families in costumes. Lucy's friends Emma and Jonah even raced in the kids event. There were cider donuts, lots of dogs, and good New England fall fun.



I'm blogging while I wait for the doorbell, so as long as I'm writing a silly (and soon-to-be-interrupted) post, I'll give you some mini updates on our lives.



My book: I currently have in my hands the proof for my book. I even know what the cover will look like. I'm making the index, which is a difficult thing to do. It's supposed to be out in January, which is pretty exciting. And by the way, if you're reading this and want to read my book (seriously, people, it's an academic book) don't pay the full price on Amazon. Seriously. That price point is really meant for libraries buying the book. But if you seriously want a copy, let me know, as I get a considerable author discount and I can hook you up.



Upcoming Holidays:

1) Lucy's Birthday: Boy, she's a bit excited about this. She's very into telling us what is going to happen on her Birthday. One of the things she claims is that she will use the potty then. Potty training has not really been happening, as every time we suggest we try, she responds "I will use the potty on my Birthday!" Jake's sister Jess informed him recently that Josh did something similar, so we are hopeful that she really is into this and we will be diaper-free by Thanksgiving. That would be something to be thankful for indeed.



2) Thanksgiving: Are you coming to our house? Because a lot of people are. If you are coming, you might want to BYOC, by which I mean, Bring Your Own Chair. I am quite sure we will have plenty of food, but chairs may be in short supply. Our official Thanksgiving dinner will be on Friday (so we can get the marked-down, day-after-Thanksgiving turkeys on sale, of course).



3) Christmas: We have no idea what we're doing yet. We're thinking we might just be sticking around here because of



4) Los Angeles: Bridget's going to LA for her business's convention in January. Do you have any recommendations for things she should do there, besides enjoy the chance to sleep through the night with no interruptions from Lucy?



Sadly, Lucy has been night-waking a lot lately. Mostly I mean that she's been waking up in the middle of the night demanding a drink and a diaper change. But also, for a couple days now, she's been waking up super-early and insisting that it's time to wake up. This makes me grumpy. I think I'm going to take it out of her future allowance. Or possibly her trick-or-treat candy.



Also, somewhere out there, there are photos of me in a Madeline costume. It was sometime in grad school, at a Phillips Place Halloween party several years ago. After a quick combing of photo albums, I have not been able to find any pictures. I suspect that they only existed electronically in some older online photo gallery thing that I have no longer have access to. If you have a picture of me as Madeline, could you send it to me?