• I generally like the snow. I was gleeful about the snow until I had to drive in it.  I don't like driving my 2WD truck in snow-esp up or down hills. I definitely don't like driving in the snow when everyone (including myself) is freaking out behind the wheel. Harrowing experience. In order to get into work yesterday, I threw anything I could possibly think of in the back of the truck to weigh it down...rocks, giveaway pile, anything heavy in the garage.  The truck still slips and slides around in the ice, but much less so.
• I thought I'd get a 'snow day' yesterday, but alas, every single person from my team made it into the office. I was the last one in at 10:15 a.m. Boy, did I feel like a wuss. Yeah, I worked some from home in the morning, but I really, really wanted a snow day. Instead I worked a normal day. It takes the fun out of the snow for sure :(  I don't know how anyone who lives and works in Seattle managed to rationalize a snow day yesterday. The major roads were totally dry by the time I made my way into the office. There was a minimal amount of snow on the ground by noon. It did make for a nice evening commute though.  I'm just jaded and jealous because I didn't get a snow day. Damn consultant world. 
• Snow is like crack for Roo. She gets out into the flakes and acts as if I just pumped her up with 'roids. It is pretty cute.  I very much enjoy walking the dog in the snow. 
• We get less snow by the lake then around the rest of the City. At first I was bummed, but now I am thankful because that means I was able to get home at a decent hour Monday night.  One of my co-workers was stuck on I-405 on Monday.  It took him 10 hours to get from Issaquah to Snohomish. I am not joking...10 hours. Total gridlock. I am no longer complaining about my commute home on Monday.
• With the snow, my veggie garden is officially over for the season. We were still picking lettuce until this weekend. It wasn't the best lettuce ever, cause it was the tail end of the crop, but it was organic and free and tasty. Now we have 8 sad, partially consumed heads of lettuce covered in ice, along with a number of other plants that appear frozen and dead.  Maybe next year I will build one small cold frame.
• Thank goodness we have a warm and toasty house.  Definitely not as drafty as the old pad.
• The news says another storm might hit today. I am now checking the hourly updates. There is no way I am going to attempt to drive the truck again in all the snowy conditions. I'm leaving if it even appears that snow might happen this afternoon. I will get my snow day, dammit!

Since Roger and I moved to Seattle, we have lived in places where the density of trick or treaters on Halloween is  low to non-existent. This is what happens when you live in Capitol Hill and the Central District, I suppose. Not too many kids around or else we had a poor location for safe trick or treating.  People take their kids to malls or rich neighborhoods. At the old house we tried to pass out candy only a few times.  The few times we did, no kids showed. The old house did not have a lot of street friendliness, so I assumed that was part of the problem. The one time we didn't pass out candy, some kids showed up and we felt like crap such that we ended up turning off all lights in the house and hunkering down in the basement so we wouldn't have to confront our guilt.  We always thought part of the problem was that we didn't get home early enough. Parents make their kids trick or treat a lot earlier these days it seems, and so we  thought that we just missed the boat with trick of treaters.  Given that context, we discussed that of all the places we have lived, this might be the best opportunity to see the kids in their cutie costumes.  To this day, I still remember Baby Steve Young from way back in the day when we lived in the Albany House.  As Beth put it, there is something about babies and dogs in costumes that is just too much to handle.  Way too cute and adorable and hilarious.  Having no kids of our own, I wanted to see the current trends in kiddie costumes.  We had already tortured  Roo earlier this week by forcing her into a  Batman costume we found at the Goodwill. Any time I look at the photos I snicker and giggle to myself.

Our new neighborhood is quite kid friendly with lots of kids around playing in the street and stuff, so we were both quite hopeful that we'd have lots of kids cruise by the house.  We went out and each picked out the 'cool' candy we thought we'd like if we were trick or treating.  I got the Willie Wonka/Sweet Tart mix pack, Twix/snickers/starburst mix bag, and Reese's peanut butter cups.  Roger picked out kit kats and nestle crunch candies. We were set!  We were gonna be the cool house where the good candy comes from.  We talked about how much fun it was to be a kid during Halloween.  The excitement of trick or treating and all the stupid stuff you do as a kid. Then the excitement of coming home and sorting all the candy into piles before gorging yourself.  We were perhaps a little too excited to see what would happen in the neighborhood this year.  I am convinced that the quantity of trick or treaters is a direct reflection of perception of safety,  kid friendly neighborhood  and pedestrian safety.  That means good things for the future if we have little Roginas. The bottom line--there was a lot of Halloween trick or treating hype in our house leading up to the big day.  Then over the course of the week we ate most of the chocolate candies while vegging out in front of the TV, and at the last minute we had to put aside the Willie Wonka mix pack of candies so that we'd be sure to have candy to give away. 

Yesterday I wanted to ensure that I did not miss one single kid, so I took off from work at 3:30 to go home and make the house trick or treater friendly.  I put out our carved pumpkins and lit the candles. I strung some orange lights at the base of the steps.  I turned on the porch light and made sure the rooms facing the street were adequately lit.  Then I put the dog in the basement to make it easier to open up the door and pass out candy.  I did all this prep before 4:30.  By 5 pm it was dark and I started to bake some cookies to pass the time while I waited for Roger to come home and for the kids to arrive.  I listened carefully for the sounds of children yelling trick or treat.  I kept looking out the windows to see if I saw any pedestrians on the street.  Nothing.  By 5;30 I was starting to get depressed about the fact that no kids had come by.  How could we be so wrong? Roger and I were convinced that we live in a trick or treat kind of neighborhood. By 6 pm I was bemoaning the state of the world.  What have we come to that kids aren't allowed to trick or treat anymore?  Why isn’t Seward Park a good neighborhood for trick or treaters? There are tons of kids around!   I was feeling quite distraught by the time the door bell rang for the first time.  I answered the door to find  our very first trick or treater--a toddler dressed as a Lion and his parents who were also in costume.  So cute. It was early but he had already taken off his mane. I made him put the mane back on so I could see the complete costume.    I became hopeful.  I could hear kids voices out on the street. Perhaps the time had arrived for trick or treaters!  I was overly ebullient with the first set of kids.  I complimented costumes and handed out big handfuls of candy.  I even thanked the first couple of groups for coming by.  I THANKED them.  Wow, I must have seemed like a desperate stalker.  With each ring of the doorbell my spirits rose.  By the time Roger got home I was near giddy.  They came in waves, but by 7:30 we had at least 30-40 kids.  Roger, who sadly had to work late, only caught a few of the kids after he got home.  The one downside is that is was so cold last night that many of the kids had coats on over their costumes.  I felt weird asking, but I made the kids tell me what they were if their costumes were obscured.  Our favorite includes the sisters who replied “I’m a drama queen” and “ muffle muffle Shortcake.”  Roger is convinced she said “Chocolate Shortcake.”  Hilarious.   Some kids even volunteered to show me their costumes after I asked.  One of the cutest was a little Scarlett O’Hara. She was maybe 6 years old. 

We had plans to go out to dinner with friends and needed to leave the 'hood. I felt guilty and so did Roger, so we just put out a bowl of the remaining candy for whoever came by.  Just as we were leaving, the wave of high school aged kids were coming out.  We passed two large groups of teens  as we pulled away from the curb.  Probably the first teen that encountered our bowl just dumped it into their sack, but who knows.  I’d like to believe they were honest and leave it at that.  Someone I work with said 7:30-8:30 is generally the peak hour for trick or treating, but we missed that.  I was kind of sad to miss the kids, but I really wanted to eat some lobster, so my hunger won over the desire to see the kids.   

Next year, I'm gonna take it to the next level.  Maybe I will wear a scary costume. Maybe I put out more decorations. Maybe I'll make a small haunted Halloween scene in the front yard like John and Yaya used to do when I was growing up.  Now that we have verified that our 'hood is in fact a good trick or treating neighborhood, maybe we'll throw a little get together so everyone else can see the cutie costumes. I was pleased with the outcome.  And I’m glad that Halloween still brings out the kids-at heart in the Kurtz household.