(no subject)
I had a headache for most of Samhain, so I didn't end up doing a ceremony (although I did get the altar room all cleaned up and rearranged. Is it bad form to use your athame to scrape candle wax off the altar? I put the candle sticks in the freezer and whaduyaknow--it really does make it easy to get the wax off of them.
There were no pumpkins at Safeway, but Corey found some at Albertson's. He chose a big one for himself and a little one for Amanda. I saw an episode of "Good Eats" in which he mentioned a trick for cleaning out a pumpkin quickly: an ice cream scoop. I would never have thought of that. For years, I have used a tablespoon and ended up with tired hands that were itchy from all the pumpkin goo. Even the little spade that comes with pumpkin carving kits wasn't much better. It takes a long time and is a terrible mess. With the ice cream scoop, that big pumpkin was clean and ready for carving in under two, maybe three minutes at the most. I told Corey that if Alton Brown and I weren't happily married to other people, I would be at his house right now to express my gratitude. It was that much easier.
Alexander designed the pumpkin faces: both had triangles for eyes and noses and each had five teeth on the top of the mouth and none on the bottom. He supervised my cutting very carefully to make sure I did it correctly. Amanda didn't go trick or treating with us; she stayed at home with Theo. Corey and I took Alex out and had a fun time. There is a house on Baker St that we will have to go to next year (they went all out), but for the most part, there weren't a lot of houses with lights on. It was raining the whole time, although that didn't bother Alex. Theo said that there were only three trick or treaters that came to our house. Oh well, MORE CANDY FOR ME---BWA HA HA!!!! I mean, what a shame.
About half way through, Alex started insisting that we not follow him up to the door. He's getting braver. When we got to one house, we couldn't see the door, but we could hear a man growling. Alex just froze and didn't say anything. We came up the walkway (it was parallel to the door, so we couldn't be seen by the people in the house). There were two people in masks bent down to Alexander face level. The man straightened up and said that it was good to see parents accompanying their kids trick-or-treating. I guess they thought that he was alone. I put my hands on Alex's shoulders and said, "Well, he's only five". They immediately took off their masks, revealing a pleasant middle-aged couple. The lady looked just mortified that they had scared a Kindergartner, but Alexander was fine.
When we got home, Theo helped Alexander sort out his candy. Amanda jumped into the middle of it, but I think we have enough candy here to tempt her away from her brother's.
Amanda was too tired to sleep when I lay down with her after her bath. When Corey woke me up at 1:30 am (as he was going to bed) to take my insulin, my headache had returned. When I said that I had intended to do some kind of ceremony-but it was now too late, he pointed out that it was still Halloween in Hawaii. I love that guy. But I just didn't feel up to it.
When I got back from walking Alexander to school (it is just pouring rain today!), Amanda and I went downstairs to the altar room and did a smudging and said a brief prayer to the spirits of the dead for Samhain. Or at least I did. It's hard to maintain a reverent attitude when a toddler is pulling books from the shelves and tossing them on the floor. And then there was the squatting and grunting. I guess there is a reason that traditionally, shamen have been people past their child-bearing and caring years.
There were no pumpkins at Safeway, but Corey found some at Albertson's. He chose a big one for himself and a little one for Amanda. I saw an episode of "Good Eats" in which he mentioned a trick for cleaning out a pumpkin quickly: an ice cream scoop. I would never have thought of that. For years, I have used a tablespoon and ended up with tired hands that were itchy from all the pumpkin goo. Even the little spade that comes with pumpkin carving kits wasn't much better. It takes a long time and is a terrible mess. With the ice cream scoop, that big pumpkin was clean and ready for carving in under two, maybe three minutes at the most. I told Corey that if Alton Brown and I weren't happily married to other people, I would be at his house right now to express my gratitude. It was that much easier.
Alexander designed the pumpkin faces: both had triangles for eyes and noses and each had five teeth on the top of the mouth and none on the bottom. He supervised my cutting very carefully to make sure I did it correctly. Amanda didn't go trick or treating with us; she stayed at home with Theo. Corey and I took Alex out and had a fun time. There is a house on Baker St that we will have to go to next year (they went all out), but for the most part, there weren't a lot of houses with lights on. It was raining the whole time, although that didn't bother Alex. Theo said that there were only three trick or treaters that came to our house. Oh well, MORE CANDY FOR ME---BWA HA HA!!!! I mean, what a shame.
About half way through, Alex started insisting that we not follow him up to the door. He's getting braver. When we got to one house, we couldn't see the door, but we could hear a man growling. Alex just froze and didn't say anything. We came up the walkway (it was parallel to the door, so we couldn't be seen by the people in the house). There were two people in masks bent down to Alexander face level. The man straightened up and said that it was good to see parents accompanying their kids trick-or-treating. I guess they thought that he was alone. I put my hands on Alex's shoulders and said, "Well, he's only five". They immediately took off their masks, revealing a pleasant middle-aged couple. The lady looked just mortified that they had scared a Kindergartner, but Alexander was fine.
When we got home, Theo helped Alexander sort out his candy. Amanda jumped into the middle of it, but I think we have enough candy here to tempt her away from her brother's.
Amanda was too tired to sleep when I lay down with her after her bath. When Corey woke me up at 1:30 am (as he was going to bed) to take my insulin, my headache had returned. When I said that I had intended to do some kind of ceremony-but it was now too late, he pointed out that it was still Halloween in Hawaii. I love that guy. But I just didn't feel up to it.
When I got back from walking Alexander to school (it is just pouring rain today!), Amanda and I went downstairs to the altar room and did a smudging and said a brief prayer to the spirits of the dead for Samhain. Or at least I did. It's hard to maintain a reverent attitude when a toddler is pulling books from the shelves and tossing them on the floor. And then there was the squatting and grunting. I guess there is a reason that traditionally, shamen have been people past their child-bearing and caring years.