The traffic this weekend is going to be insane, since my town is in the path of the massive annual War Eagle Crafts Fair. Last year, we made the mistake of driving in the vicinity of the fair one afternoon and got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic for over half an hour. So I'm having a bit of a dilemma with regards to our kids' Halloween costumes. We've still got two weekends to finish picking up their costume supplies, but I'd much prefer to get our shopping done this weekend rather than fighting even more crowds later.  read more »

Okay, I admit it. I may have been overreacting when I was lamenting the commercial-spawned "death" of Halloween. I guess I'm a bit of an elitist when it comes to DIY holiday culture. I have to admit that I hold more respect for people who work through their problems instead of just throwing money at them. But I do understand the concept behind paying for convenience, and I know that some people are just more creative than others. (I'm still sticking to my guns regarding those obnoxious inflatable lawn decorations, though. They just need to go away.)  read more »

As I mentioned in my last post, Halloween isn't exactly floating my boat this year. Honestly, this isn't a sudden thing, as it seems to have been slipping into shopping oblivion for the past few years (like most of the other holidays). I knew things were going downhill when they started selling greeting cards for Halloween. The presence of pre-fab foam gravestones in every retail outlet only confirmed my fears - Halloween is dead. And I don't mean dead as in "super kewl and hearse-creepy dead", but rather a watered down and stepfordian version of dead.  read more »

Halloween is only two weeks away. I still don't have my costume in order, as I'm having serious second thoughts about spending so much cash on a dozen wigs to play the part of "Cousin It". Honestly, I'm just not that excited about Halloween this year. It is, by far, my favorite holiday of all, but this year I feel unprepared. Last year, we had a party and invited all of our friends. We had a blast, although I got sick from trying to finish off the jello shots at the end of the night. (Everclear is vicious!)  read more »

Halloween is going to be the next holiday...to sneak up on me. I have a great idea for a costume, but I'm not sure if I can afford it. I want to create a Cousin It costume based on the character from The Addams Family. To do this, I was planning on sewing a few dozen wigs to a trenchcoat. Then I could wear my prescription sunglasses on top to complete the look. It looks like the cheapest wig I can find is about $5, and seeing as I would probably need a bunch of them, that makes for an expensive costume.  read more »

My favorite holiday is just around the corner - Halloween!. What makes it even more fun is the fact that it is also my kids' favorite holiday. They even like it better than Christmas!  read more »