The Halloween Social Contract

I'm getting to experience the little kid fun of the whole trick-or-treating thing again. Bell is Tinker Bell this year and has the act down. She will gladly perform for anyone who passes by, stomping, pacing back and forth with her fists balled up as she gives you her little irate look. My kids are getting older but they still plan on trick or treating this year. I think it's fine as long as they dress up and I also take that stance for kidos that come treating at my door.

One of my favorite episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm is called “Trick or Treat,”. Larry indignantly denies candy on Halloween to some girls who are in their late teens, and are in no costume.The girls, obviously angry, later toilet paper Larry’s house and write derogatory graffiti on his front door. When Larry calls the police to his house, the following exchange occurs:

Officer: So they had no costumes?

Cheryl: Right, no costumes, and for some reason that really upset him [Larry].

Larry: Yeah.

Officer: Now, you’re sure there were no costumes, I mean, because sometimes they can be very subtle costumes.

Larry: No, they weren’t subtle at all, there were no costumes. They were just going around from house to house trying to get candy, okay? . . . .

Officer: But they knocked on the door, they said “Trick or Treat?”

Larry: Yeah, they said “Trick or Treat.”

Officer: And you had treats?

Larry: I was giving out candy all night. But, I don’t have to give them candy. They don’t deserve candy. And I don’t deserve this (gestures to house and door, which had been toilet-papered and laced with derogatory graffiti). . . .

Officer: Did they threaten you in any way? Did you see weapons of any kind?

Larry: No, there was no threat, except for the “trick” threat.

Officer: What’s the “trick” threat?

Larry: The trick or treat. No treat? Trick. It’s a threat! How far can you take these threats?

Officer: If it was any other night, sir. . . .

Larry: Trick or treat – bang bang! (gesturing as if pointing a gun).

Officer: But, it’s trick or treat, we cut the kids a little slack on Halloween. There’s a kind of a social contract that you enter when you open up that door. They say “trick or treat,” I would advise you to give the treat.

Cheryl: (Shaking head) Why don’t you just give them the candy, next time, Larry?

Larry: I will not be intimidated. Even on Halloween.

Oktoberfest

Don and I spent the weekend with Kirsten & Bella at Snowbird. Kirsten has this unexplained "little kid phobia" which we are trying to help her break. She looks at them with a bit of horror and tries not to get too close. We started her out slow (sitting together in the back seat) and wore her down little by little. I knew we were making progress when she actually starting singing the Backyardigans songs with us. This was under protest at first but Don is nothing if not persistent, he won by threatening to play the song over and over until she at least sang the chorus.

It was beautiful weather so we started with a short walk up the mountain where we got to see some deer along the side of a trail, then on our way back we saw some fishermen catch a fish. To her delight they let Bell reel the thing in. We got our fill of wildlife at dinner when as we were eating a Moose walked right by the window.

We joined the night owls for swimming by moonlight that night and were truly exhausted by the time we got back to the room. All except for Bell who was running around saying "This is my new house!".

Saturday was spent enjoying the Oktoberfest fun. Don and I had our FILL of Beer and Brats (...edit to the original posting for Rich) and the kids got their faces/arms painted, they played on all of the games and then we took a ride up the tram. We had such a great time we have decided to do this every year.

I now pronounce you...

I can't thank everyone enough for all of the love and support that all of you have shown Don & I over the last few months! Special thanks to Heidi, Mary & Angie (and of course Stewart) for helping us make the wedding perfection.

Heidi you are an angel and so talented. You are one of those amazing people who can walk through a store, see the end result in your mind and then make it look even better. You also have such a wonderful heart and loving personality. I had so much fun running around with you and Sam getting all of the final items on Saturday. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I was a little stressed because I had to travel to Florida for a client meeting that Wednesday and Thursday but Heidi and Angie spent time with us on Friday to put the final decorations in place. We had soft lights hanging from the tress and the arbor was decorated in beautiful flowers and ivy.

Saturday we had tables, chairs, linens, flowers and food to pick up so we made great use of my two strapping boys. After we filled their tummies with a good breakfast they were wonderful to help us lug everything into place. Don answered all of my phone calls with "What can I do for your love?" even though I called him every 3 minutes in a panic. I was literally running until 4:30 pm when I was physically pushed into the shower by Mary as she calmly told me "I'll take care of everything." and she did. Beautiful Sasha was there to do my hair (as wells as Kirsten's and Bella's) and it looked just how I wanted it to. Sisters, friends, daughters, nieces and nephews ran through the room as I put the final touches on myself to the background music of Grace & Merritt pounding on Alec's drums. I had to take a moment to stop and take it all in. I could not have been happier to have all of you there sharing that moment with me. Sasha gave me that last... your hair is not going to move... spray, Suzanne came through with the perfect shade of lipstick, and Mary, Heidi, Lara, Angie, Jo, Sandy and Heather your love and support makes me realize daily how lucky I am to know you. Quick kisses of luck from everyone and I was handed a beautiful bouquet of flowers to hold and was steered towards the door.

Bella decided that she did not want to part with her flower pedals and started picking up the ones that she was told to throw. She also made the executive decision that being a flower girl was NOT for her and was thankfully whisked away (distracted from hanging on Daddy's legs) by Uncle Joe. Kirsten and Mary looked beautiful in their matching dresses and Josh & Sam looked like fine young men in their nice dress shirts and slacks. Mike did a wonderful job performing the ceremony, giving us words of love perfect for us. We did the "kiss" to cement the deal and then I had a mental block on what I had prepared to say! I did manage to flub something fun and Don finished it up perfectly saying all of the things I forgot to... like thank you to Heidi, Mary & Angie for all their wonderfulness and to Mike for his time and words and Stewart for his beautiful backyard. Finally we got a quick but very Catholic blessing from Mom Sandoval and then the music started and we sent everyone down to eat with the bees that would NOT be lured into the traps.

Mary, thank you so much for your wonderful toast. You words meant so much to both of us and set the tone for the fun that followed. We had dinner and then danced until 11:30 to a mix of 70's and 80's music (depending on who got the DJ's ear) to the twinkling white lights and beautifully lit pool. When we finally wound down the party Don & I grabbed the to-go basket that Mary & Sasha had prepared for us and headed off to Park City to spend the weekend behind a "Do Not Disturb" sign.