life in autumn

I absolutely love October. I love the constant flux of temperatures. Mostly I love the cold days. Halloween is my favorite holiday. I take regular trips down the holiday aisles in drug stores, grocery stores, and Wal-Mart. I love the traditions, the breeze, the colors, the smells. This year, however, we won't be having our annual Halloween party. My grandmother is still very ill and my parents just don't seem to be 'into' the idea of throwing our annual bash. No creepy decorations. No costumes. No cupcakes. No candy. No Jell-O shots. I feel like I'm being gyped of my favorite time of year. :( But oh well.

We did go to the Haunted House on post this weekend. We took all the kids, waited in line for two hours, and FINALLY got to the door. We had an escort because the setup was a series of tents that you had to step in and out of carefully and they didn't want to risk anyone falling and getting hurt. For the price (two canned goods) they put on a really good show. My nephew David got a really good scare before we even got to the second tent and was pretty much done after that. Poor guy! I'm not a huge fan of haunted houses because I generally don't enjoy being scared but this one was very tame and I spent the entire time marvelling the props and actors rather than being scared. We're talking about taking a trip out to Dothan this week to go to Jaycee's Haunted House which is a much scarier setup. It's set in a house that's more than 100 years old and apparently this house has some 'history' as well. The windows are all boarded up, the paint is cracked and peeling, and it just looks spooky without anything else being done to it. I've heard (pardon the pun) horror stories about it and I'm half curious, half scared to check it out. We'll see. The only other traditions we have left are trick-or-treating and the Peanut Festival. I've been in Alabama for five years and have never bothered with the Peanut Festival because I'm not into carnival rides, country music, or large crowds. I probably won't bother this year, either. The kids are going trick-or-treating on Friday night but Tony and I will probably just sit at the house and possibly hand out candy.

On the religious front, I'm not sure what I'm going to do for Samhain this year. I need to fish my book out of storage. I'll probably do a small, private ritual and bake some spice cake (or cupcakes) and drink cider. I wish I could go to California for the weekend, honestly.

In other news, the fall semester has begun. For Fall A I'm taking Principles of Web Development and Business Systems Analysis. I'm very excited about the Web Development course! But I'm not so excited about taking two courses at once. I haven't taken two at the same time in almost a year. So I'm a little nervous that I'm going to get overwhelmed. Thankfully, there is only one midterm (Business Systems Analysis) but we'll see how taking two final exams goes in week eight.

I guess all is well. I have an appointment with SpectraCare tomorrow to find out about mental health care. I suppose this is good. My mood is crazy all over the place so, yeah. Tony is still looking for work. November 7th is when his unemployment officially ends. I colored my hair this weekend with L'Oreal Feria's "Chocolate Cherry". It's a very rich burgandy-ish brown that boasts wine-red highlights in the sun. Very fall. Very me. I love it! Pictures to follow at some point.

starting the new year right

This year I've vowed to reaffirm my faith. For those of you reading, I am a mostly non-practicing Pagan. Yep, I'm a witch. :P I'd like to change the "non-practicing" part this year.

I stopped practicing as much as I used to when I met my husband. I don't know why, really, because he's open to all sorts of faiths, I guess I just sort of fell by the wayside. This year, I'd like to change all of that. I'm starting off by celebrating the first Sabbat of the year - Imbolc - with a solitary rite passed on to me by my (also Pagan) BFF.

There will be candles and lemon cake and pomegranate juice. And a renewed sense of joy and self with the new year (and new season) coming.