Can you feel it???

Can you believe that it's almost Halloween already???

I'm still getting over the fact that summer is gone.....for the most part - it was one of my best summer's ever. Lots of ups and downs, but the ups meant far more than any of the downs....

Little known fact:

HALLOWEEN IS MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY!!! By far......

From the decorations to the costumes......from the costumes to the haunted houses........I am a freak when it comes to Halloween. It's technically my Christmas =)

Sometimes I don't think I ever grew up.....I guess we all have things that make us feel this way...least I hope =) otherwise...I'm a lost cause........

It's sad that kids today don't have Halloween the way I had it as a kid. I can remember when I lived in South St. Louis City (born there & lived there until I was 10, believe it), we walked blocks....and blocks....and blocks...we used pillow cases, not bags. bags would have been pointless!! It was different then. There was no worrying that some jackass was going to slip little Joey some poison of some kind in his candy.....you got things like popcorn balls (I never ate one, but it was cool to get for some dumb reason), apples, and sometimes the little old ladies would make cookies or brownies.......there were no razor blades to be hidden....

Every house seemed to glow - if they didn't have a light on (as is the custom for people with candy) you were shocked. Seemed every one decorated...there were cemeteries in front lawns......there was mini-haunted houses created in people's living rooms (we did this often at my house)....adults dressed their part....creepy organ music drifted out from inside......spider webbing covered any exposed porch railing.....black lights replaced regular light bulbs....it was amazing to me!!! Hell - it's still amazing. I get mesmerized by the creepy decor and cool lighting!!

My MOST favorite Halloween EVER was when I was about 12. After moving from the city...I moved to a little town about 15 miles before Sikeston, MO. It was a teeny tiny town called Morley, Mo. One of those "if you blinked you missed it" towns!!! I know at least one person that reads this blog can tell you I am NOT exaggerating =) !! It's just like one of those small towns in the movies where everybody knows everybody. Where kids are free to be kids, we rode our bikes from one end of town to the other just about EVERY DAY!!! (Yes, I said town....just like country folk do) =) .......We played army in the woods, caught frogs.....it was one of the only happy times I had as a child....

Back to the Halloween part.....

Our house was one house down from one of the two cemeteries in town. This said...it was a tad bit freaky at Halloween. One year my Mom (who is a bigger Halloween nut than me, or used to be) decided we were going to make our own haunted house....right in our living room and dining room!!! We took black and white sheets, hung them from the ceiling, and covered them in neon/black light paint.....we replaced all light bulbs with black light bulbs.......spider webbing was EVERY WHERE!!! We stuffed various dummies. My cousins lived in the same town and they got in on it too. My cousin Carrie....was made to look like a dead chick from the neck up....we then pulled apart our dining room table, placed her head in the middle and covered it with a sheet. She looked like just a head on a table...we surrounded her head with the candy.....whenever the kids would reach for it, she'd pretend to bite them.......it was pretty wicked.....

We did something a bit different with my cousin Ronnie. We had various dummies stuffed with straw around the place. We took him...stuffed his shirt..with straw and made him look just like the other dummies. You couldn't even tell the difference!!!!! We sat him in the corner where the kids had to walk by to get out....as they'd go by he'd grab them!!!! I was made to look fake and dead as well. I was hidden behind icky sticky spider webbing and you didn't even know I was there til I touched you!!!!.....Dry ice was every where....lots of fog....lots of kids....lots of screaming....and finally ........LOTS OF DROPPED CANDY!!! I can't tell you how many kids lost it.....we tried to give it back, but they wouldn't take it!!! =( Oh well....that was the easiest Halloween candy I ever got =)!!! I had more fun that year being in the Haunted House rather than trick or treating!!! We were the talk of town until the next year!!! Nothing will ever compare to that year!!! But believe me - I'd LOVE to try and top it =)!!!!

These days I haven't had the opportunity to do something like this....I would love to, but maybe next year......

I would LOVE to go to a haunted house this year though!!! I think a bunch of us from work are going to go next week!!! THAT will be a blast!!! If anyone else decides to go.....I BETTER GET AN INVITE!!!!!