180's. Opportunities to do something different. Normally I don't do much on Halloween, I just enjoy my kids. Well today I went and got a costume - a monk's robe, because I have been living like a monk for the past year. And I decorated my own house, for the first time, for Halloween trick-or-treaters. Got some spooky music. A fog machine. A red light to replace the white light on the porch. A good portion of spider webs. One of those candy bowls with the skeleton hand that grabs you. And a bunch of carved pumpkins my kids and I made. It was pretty scary for the little ones.
Trials. In trials we learn who we really are.
little signs of encouragement. sometimes just enough to keep going.
My company has trick-or-treating at work. So I asked the wife if the kids could come to work, and she agreed! A big surprise I was thankful for the other day. Well today when she dropped the kids off, I met them in my monk's robe. My son didn't even recognize me. Ha! We all went around together, it was nice to make the rounds.
I dropped them off a couple hours later, they were full of candy and sweets. I thought that was the last I would see them for 4 days. I took a photo of them in their costumes. Then I went to my place and set up for trick-or-treating.
After I was all set up, and darkness fell, I sat on my front porch wearing my robe and hood, with the smoke and howling music and red light and spider webs, and the 5 carved pumpkins. I sat in my chair and drank a porter as I greeted all the trick or treaters. Some of the little ones were very worried. I kept having to take my hood off because they really were unsure about the whole thing. The parents were all amused, a bunch told me it was really good.
The air was still, so the fog hung around my house, all the way down the walk and into the road. The effect was really good. I heard the kids on the street talking about "that haunted house." Funny thing was, I spent only about $40 on everything because it was all on sale as I bought it at the last minute.
Anyway, as the night wore on the traffic started thinning out. A bunch of kids came up and what a surprise, it was my own kids! Ha! I wasn't expecting THAT! How nice!
Wife had driven them over - she lives about 3 or 4 miles away. Remember, she has a protection order against me. And she has protected the kids, too - I am not allowed near them except during the times she's agreed, although we are negotiating that away. Well tonight we forgot about all that crap. She drove them over and they ran up and were delighted to see all the decorations and especially the fog.
When we were carving pumpkins the other night, my 6-yr old had done a bunch of sketches of pumpkin faces, like maybe 20 of 'em. Some of them were really good. I took one of them and reproduced it exactly in a pumpkin: googly eyes and a big toothy grin. She came up and was so pleased to see it. I told her I loved her drawing so much that I wanted to use it on my pumpkin. She took the sketch and compared for a long time. What a great feeling, to be able to pay her that compliment. She was in a great mood, giggly and playful.
All of them were. My (almost) 12-yr old told me my place was the spookiest place they had seen all night. They kept calling to their mum to come up on the porch, to see the decorations and their pumpkins and the fog machine and everything. She was like that wild horse, coming close but still wary, skittish. I stepped away from the porch for a moment to let her come closer to see. The kids couldn't figure out why she wouldn't come up. "I can see from here," she said from ten feet away.
They wanted me to go trick-or-treating with them, but their mom was out there, and I am still restrained, so I just stayed on the porch. Told them I needed to stay put for the trick-or-treaters. They went by themselves for about 5 minutes but came right back.
After that the kids just hung out on the porch for 20 minutes with me, fiddling with the fog machine and making spooky faces. My six yesr old became a "zombie princess." Wife stayed in the road or sat in the car, not sure what. She was a "ghost", heh heh. Not really. she didn't dress up at all.
Anyway it was a blast of a night.
We are in the 11th hour here on the divorce process - nearing final settlement. I don't know if she will change her mind, I certainly don't expect it. I am broke. I live in a rental house and I have no furniture. But I am learning to have fun without her, and getting pretty good at it!
