November 1st Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Dani & her friend Adam

Good Morning! So, did everyone have a good Halloween? Around seven last night, my doorbell rang. I was in the living room watching TV, and Paulie was in the family room watching “his monkeys” – a.k.a. wrestling. I hear him say, “Who the heck is that?” I replied, “No clue.” I went and opened the front door, and much to my amazement, we had two trick-or-treaters. I couldn’t believe my eyes. We have lived here for sixteen years, and we have never had a trick-or-treater.

Dani & Debbie

I told the boys to hang on for a second, and I went out to the car, where I have all of my book signing stuff, and dipped into my stash of candy. I gave them each one of everything I had, so they made out pretty good. Even though the boys were in masks, I recognized their voices. They are friends of Dani, and live just up the road from us. I still can’t get over the fact that they walked down our dark, busy street, with no sidewalks, to come trick-or-treating at our house, and then still rang the doorbell when there were no lights on.

Dani & My Mother-In-Law

Halloween this year was strange all around. My sister-in-law’s kids, because of their crazy schedules, did not do Halloween this year, and with PJ all grown up and working, and Lys away at college, Dani was the only one who went and visited the grandmas and our friends Debbie & Nick. No pictures this year with all the kids together in their costumes; it was really sad.

Dani, her boyfriend Randy,
& Randy's little sister, Bella

Dani, who is not a fan of trick-or-treating, didn’t really want to go out at all, but because her boyfriend’s sister is only eight, she agreed to go out. I made her take her Halloween bag, even though she said she would not be getting any candy. I wanted her to get candy, and I told her as much. She told me if I wanted candy, I should just go to the store and get some. LOL. Even though I do love candy, I assured her that was not the reason behind my insisting. I wanted her to stay young for just a little while longer.

Dani & Bella

I am such a dingy, though. Even though it was only Dani visiting my mom, my mother-in-law, and Debbie, I wanted to have pictures. I brought my camera in to my mom’s, but completely forgot to take a picture. (I got distracted when she gave me a dark chocolate with orange cream filling.) I did get a photo of her with my mother-in-law (after she reminded me), and Dani and Debbie also posed for a photo together.

Dani & Randy

My head was just not screwed on straight yesterday. The whole, everyone not being together, threw me off my game. I realize with the kids getting older, things would be different, but with four still left at home – Max (16), Dani (15), Grace (14), and Holly (11) – I thought I still had more time to adjust, that the transition would be gradual, not BOOM, tradition shattered.

Let the games begin...

So, in case you missed it, today is November 1^st – 26 days until Thanksgiving, and 54 days until Christmas. Good grief! Today is also the first day of NaNoWriMo. Yeah, I’m a glutton for punishment, I signed up again. This time, however, I am going to focus on finishing up stories I have started, instead of starting a new novel. I know it isn’t following the rules exactly, but I figure 50K words is 50K words.

On that note, I should wrap up this blog and get working on doing exactly that – FINISHING.

I hope you have a wonderful day, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge:

Don’t they make a lovely couple?

You have ten minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count, and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.