Trick or treat?

It's that time of year again...time to get out the old clown wig, paint the faces of our kids, while secretly wishing our faces would remain as clear as their's will a week after all that gunk is washed off. I have fond memories of Halloween as a child; my parents always let me be creative with my costumes, and took me to all the neighbor's to collect cheap thrills, which sometimes resulted in much less cheap thrills at the mercy of Dr. Krample, the mean family dentist. By the way, that's his real name....or maybe it was his secret alias....if so, he has a really sick sense of humor!!

Well, Gerald and I have taken the kids to some of the old Bonanza neighbors the past few years. We usually only get to a few places, though, because all the old folks are so amazed that I am actually old enough to have kids of my own, and always want to reminisce about old Halloween's gone by...and to think that I thought that there was no way they'd remember the year that Sherry and I went out as a 2 headed old lady....GROAN!!!! When we finally get out the door, after a few laughs and "extra candy for Mom and Dad", it's time to race on to the next yard....maybe they won't remember the "good" old days!

I'm not sure whether or not we'll take the kids out this year; I think a Halloween party with friends and a limited supply of junk food would be fun. Plus, a candy apple made in my kitchen scares me much less than one coming out of a kitchen followed by 2 yappy poodles and a smoking cook....did your mom make you throw away the goods that weren't wrapped in sealed plastic? I never appreciated that when I was a kid, but I'm sure my mom prevented all sorts of outbreaks by pulling that trick.But one festive activity that we did partake in was carving pumpkins; and after hearing "this is gross" about a hundred times, and after bandaging up Monika's wound from sawing her palm with a steak knife, (how many moms saw that one coming) we ended up with 4 pretty snazzy Jack-o-lanterns!

Who wants to jump on the bandwagon or "bandboat"?

Well, I was going to do some yapping about how cultural progressions have altered our religious views and convictions, but I think I'll save that for a day when I have more emotional energy. Today, I feel like I need to share what's in my heart, not what's vibrating around in my head...hopefully those thoughts only gain "umpf" with an extra day or two of brain activity.

I have been struggling with something that is rarely talked about. Women don't really comment on it, or seem to put any thought into it. But, somewhere, deep inside the intuition cubicle of my brain, I have a feeling that I may not be alone in this. Which is really sad, because if most women are silently carrying the same burden, wouldn't it be super if we'd just open up, share our thoughts and work together to fix the problem? Well, I think that would be a swell idea, so I'll go first...."Hi, I'm Heather, and I'm a kindred spirit-oholic." "Hi Heather"......

Seriously, I long for the kinds of friendships I had in high school...not that I want to be friends with high school students. I just miss and crave the closeness of those friendships. The absence of judgement, fear of not being approved of, and of not being thought of as worth spending the only 25 minutes of social outing time we get once a week with.

I don't know about you, but I feel so drained when come home from an outing and all there was going on was a bunch of gossiping, and superficial yacking, leaving about 0.01% of the chatter about things that we all wanted to talk about...our REAL LIFE struggles, victories and dreams. I have a few friends that start on that treck with me, but something always seems to get in the way...

I'm not harping on you guys, I love you all. Just wondering if I'm alone in this boat, and everyone else hopes I sink this one, or if there of some of you that want to jump in with me.

So, to quote the annoying insurance sales man's reocurring line in Groundhog Day, "Am I right, or am I right? RIGHT RIGHT!!!

Seven years ago, we set out to conquer the world together. We didn't have any long term plans in place, or much experience at all, but we knew that as long as we were together, any road we took would be great.We started out with a few simple things, and a modest lifestyle, which I long to experience again, especially on stressful days. The only thing we had to worry about was keeping up with the horse list and make sure the garbage made it to the curb, which was harder than it sounds due to growing up on a farm. We filled those first few months with movie marathons, late night pizza orders and spying on the odd social habits of the people a few houses down from us. :)

We dove right in to the reality of life within a year, and became parents, which forced us to grow up faster than others our age. We managed to keep the house from burning down, even with those old fuses and that errupting furnace. We had bought vehicles, houses, land, diapers and Dora parafanilia long before we were even of legal age in the States.

We dreamed big and started at the bottom and worked our way up. We took chances and reaped rewards; we said no to propositions and saved our butts. We struggled through lonely times, and flourished in frienships. We held on to the stuggling one, even when the pull was almost unbearable. We weathered sickness, depression, fear of failure, betrayal from friends and family. There was nothing that shook us apart, and nothing ever wedged itself completely between us.

Persistance and commitment, forgiveness and grace...passion and romance, love and respect....those are the keys to a glorious marriage. I love you even more now than I did then.....