TRICK OR TREAT!

Hmmmmm...Why do I love Halloween so much?  Goes back to my childhood when I seemed to always be sick at the end of October.  My costume would always be ready, lovingly sewn together by my mother and the excitement was unbearable waiting for the 31st.  All the neighborhood kids and me would have planned for weeks what we were going to be.  It never failed when it finally got here I would be in bed under a croup tent with either pneumonia or bronchitis.  Old Dr. Peede taught my daddy well and he'd have that smelly old croup tent covering my bed at my first labored October breath.

All hopes of collecting candy with my friends would be dashed.  Trying to cheer me up my mother would always bring them in to see me when they came Trick or Treating at our house.  She never understood how devastated I was to see them lined up at the foot of my bed in their costumes....smiling at me with candy drool in the corners of their mouth.  Oh, how I wanted to be out with them...and my costume  would just sit in mother's sewing room.

But don't feel sorry for me...Almost every summer my hero, next door neighbor Jerry Meeks, would get bored and set a plan.  We'd dig out our Halloween costumes and in the heat of June, July or August I'd follow him all over the neighborhood Trick or Treating.  I don't remember a single household that didn't drop SOMETHING in my paper bag!  It wasn't always candy...sometimes a muffin, sometimes a dime...but always something.  Gawd how I worshipped Jerry!  My mother never knew until I was grown about our mid-summer Halloween jaunts.

Needless to say...by the time I was a  older ( and I had "outgrown" my chest problems just like Ol' Dr. Peede told my mama I would) dressing up and giving out the candy was always a treat for me.  Then to have children of my own...I finally got to do Halloween like I had always yearned for in MY childhood.  Oh how much fun I had getting my boy's costumes picked out and made.  Taking after my mother, I'd get the sewing machine out and whip up clown costumes, dracula capes, genie britches & turbans, bats and goblins.....I only remember two of their costumes that were store bought.  One year my youngest son was hell bent and determined to be a fireman...Mom couldn't sew that one up for him.  Another year my oldest really, really wanted a store bought costume of some wrestler...can't remember the name...but we got it.  I sure hope my boys, now men, remember the fun we had Trick or Treating when they were little.  I sure do!

Now I have a granddaughter and always look forward to what she's gonna dress up for come Halloween.  Last year she was Supergirl...Meemall (this is how she spells Meema, so Meemall it is)  can't wait to see her costume for this year!

Now, Hallow's Eve is here...and my porch is decorated and waiting for the neighborhood ghosts and goblins.  There's plenty of candy in the hall and I'M READY!  Bring it on.  No tricks for me....all treats.  I might even ask Myrtle to help me give the candy out..Here's a photo of my friend Myrtle:

Naaaaaahhhhhhh...Maybe Myrtle WON'T help me...She might be a little too rough around the edges and scare some o' th' lil' chilluns!

Keep memories of childhood in your heart.  Turn your porch lights ON!  They're comin' and what YOU do might make a lasting impression on some of those Trick or Treaters!  And my tip for the day is...ALWAYS BUY YOUR FAVORITE BRAND OF CANDY..That way you get to eat what's left over!  I'll leave you folks with my Halloween treat to all:



HAVE A SAFE AND FUNFILLED HALLOWEEN! - KRISTYEMAC







REMEMBERING HALLOWEENS PAST

Being the mother of two grown sons I've never had the opportunity to observe, first hand, the thrill and excitement of Halloween through a little girl's eyes. But from the experience with my boys and their little friends I always thought the little boys were by far more into trick or treating than the little girls. Having a young granddaughter now, and from my observations many years ago, the little girls all just want to be a princess or anything else "froo froo" that requires lots of makeup and frills. The little boys, on the other hand, would start planning WAY in advance and come up with anything and everything from a prince to the ugliest monster that ever breathed fire!

Pumpkins were the first priority starting in early October. We had a farmer outside my hometown of Lillington, NC that raised pumpkins for sale. He was a truck farmer and this was before there were pumpkin farms that catered to the general public. Mr. Blanchard (the farmer) would let us come out and pick through his carefully tended rows of wonderful pumpkins until we had just the right ones. Our thing was carving those suckers! Therefore we picked out the biggest and weirdest ones we could find. My boys would have the best ol' time running up and down those rows hollerin'... "Come look at this one!"..."This one's got warts, Mama!"..."This one's so big we'll never get the stuffin' out of it!"..."Can this one be mine, Mama?"...on and on with lots of laughs and a few spats over who picked the best one. All in all we would usually get about 10 of the biggest ones Mr. Blanchard had.





Then it was home to keep those punkin's cool til it was carvin' time!  We learned from trial and mostly error that you don't carve punkin's til' about 3 days before Halloween.  Come a few nights before Hallow's Eve the boys would help ol' mom set out the jack 'o lanterns and Halloween was ON!  Oh, how I miss having the young ones in the house for Halloween.  Always too much candy eaten and usually on a school night.

Those were the days and now I'm in my old lady years and tend to want to cut my lights off and eat what candy I've bought all by myself!  Living in an older neighborhood we just don't get many trick-or-treaters here.  Some years 10 or 15, some years 1 or 2.  If the young parents today knew how many memories and how much joy it brings to us older ones they might reconsider bringing their Princesses, Ghosts and Goblins to an older neighborhood.....takes us back to earlier times when we were the young parents...worn out from gettin' those younguns dressed and made up and traipsing all over the neighborhood...to return home and tuck in those sweet babies with their tummies full of sweets!


Yeppers...me and my boys had a good ol' time back in the day!  Sure do miss my own little goblins.  Here's a little somethin' from me to you...click the link for scary action:

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/Vy4PXBhkJwjGlKN5

And, tomorrow night get your best candy out and be ready to enjoy the children....I mean the ghosts and goblins...and fairy princesses...I STILL think boys have more fun on Halloween!

"ANOTHER SATURDAY NIGHT"

Another wild Saturday night in Ocean Drive...As Sam Cooke would say "Another Saturday Night And I Ain't Got Nobody".....but wait...I did have somebody!  I had THREE wonderful friends, albeit via the internet,  and whooped some royal butt in Hand and Foot canasta....3 out of 4 games to be exact.  My partner, JIMBOB, from Plano, Texas and moi whooped up on DENA (his lovely wife) and Miss MOMO, from the melting snow in Colorado.  It was our night to shine and my good luck to be able to find all three of them online this evening.  My condolences to MOMO as she and I have a running penalty of having to eat loads of chocolate should we be the loser.  Last I heard from MO she was on a definite chocolate high and looking for colorful bandanas and a tambourine to go sing out on the roadside.

Now for those of you not familiar with Hand and Foot Canasta...it's a fun game played by my grandparents and enjoyed today from younguns on up to the old wise ones.  I had a choice of putting on some finery and going downtown to try my luck at finding a partner for fas' dancin'...or stayin' in and playing some heated card games with some funny friends.  I can tell ya' my head will feel a lot better tomorrow morning having chosen the card games.  And I do believe my spirits were lifted considerably due to the banter between the four of us for a couple of hours relaxing in my PJs.  Back to Hand and Foot canasta...we have a great website hosted by my friend, DENA...where you can download the game and join in 24/7 with folks from around the world.  We've got some regulars from Puerto Rico, Australia, Mexico and Germany, just to name a few faraway places. We've got families that gather from all over to meet in our game lobby and play a round or two of Hand and Foot, being the next best thing to sitting around the kitchen table if they could all be together at home.  I have to admit I've had a tear or two in my eye when we have one grandmother show up from Florida, joining her granddaughter in Germany and her son serving the good ol' USA in Afghanistan.  Yep..I've "met" some mighty fine (and fun) folks since I found this website.  Check into it if you like to play cards...It is a very friendly and family oriented site...and Miss DENA will kick your butt if you get out of line...Yessiree...this ain't no MSN gamesite!  Don't worry if you don't know how to play..the instructions are simply put and the regulars are always willing to help you learn.  You can even play with "bots" til you're comfortable enough to take on some of the regular players.  Here's a link to our website:

http://www.hand8foot.com/

Tell 'em Kristyemac sent ya'!

Hope You Guys Are Ready For Me!

Here is the start of something.....whether you find it wonderful or nerve grating....doesn't much matter as long as whatever I come up with makes you tune in!


I'm just an over the hill Grandma, aging dancing queen and roadside junk seller and I keep being told that I have life stories I need to put down in print.  This will be my attempt to do so.  Give me a little while to put my thoughts together and we'll get started.  In the meantime, you can always check out what I've been up to on my youtube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/kristyemac .