Halloween

Next to Christmas, Halloween was the holiday I most looked forward to as a child. My memories of Halloween start when I was old enough to go out with other neighborhood kids, all of us clad in plastic sweaty masks and maybe a cheap costume worn more-often-than-not over a winter coat. Most years the weather was blustery cold. Behind those masks our restricted vision and runny noses, paired with cumbersome costumes, would make for some precarious trips up and down the roads and yes, across alleys, through yards, and a couple of times on a dare...through one of the two cemeteries in my neighborhood. We loved it!

We would take old pillow cases and drag those things around with us for two - three hours, piling as much candy as possible into them. We mapped out our routes so as to maximize the number of houses we would hit. We always went to the house at the bottom of the hill first because those people were too busy to answer their door and so put a bushel basket of candy out on the front porch!!!! We had our favorite stops, not-so-favorite stops, and even a few houses that we didn't go to. By the end of the night, tired and cold, we would all make our way back home, anxious to check out our stash! I can remember separating my candy into "types" with candy bars being the big ticket item. While Clark Bars were a favorite Halloween treat, Mallow Cups followed a close second. They were a two-fold score because they were yummy tasting and inside the package were point cards. Now I can't tell you the purpose of those points and I don't think I ever sent off for anything...but I saved them nonetheless! Today Halloween candy takes up a couple of aisles in Target and the choices are endless; everything is prepackaged in individual servings and candy bars are in miniature (an obvious benefit). While I like the convenience, I am glad to be from the generation in which a candy bar was a candy bar...oh the joy!!!


My girls grew up during the time when our entertainment industry was being flooded with Halloween horror movies, and everything surrounding the holiday took a slightly gruesome turn. We lived in a great neighborhood and were still able to take the girls out to visit neighbors and enjoyed the trick-or-treaters (well there was the guy who dressed up in some sort of just-escaped-from-the-grave outfit and literally drug an ax along the road behind him...yea the police had to come take him away). Somehow the innocent candy-gathering holiday had lost a bit of its luster.

I still see commercials on TV that portray the traditional Halloween and I am hopeful that families with young children still tune into "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown," still carve pumpkins and roast pumpkin seeds, still ponder which would be the best costume to wear, and make plans to enjoy the evening with neighborhood friends and family.

We are going to visit family in Atlanta this weekend and hope to see carved pumpkins, trick-or-treaters, and fall colored leaves (my sister-in-law loves a good fall gathering so I'm certain she has this all in order)!! Check out some pictures from our past Halloweens and have a fun, safe, and candy-bar filled Halloween!!

Baby, Baby!!

Baby showers are just too fun...You have one slightly apprehensive first time mom-to-be in a room full of women, most of whom have given birth at least once (and single-handed to hear the stories). Add food, cameras, and those beautifully wrapped boxes and you are guaranteed a good time. I just returned from Birmingham and Nicole's second baby shower. The first, here in Panama City, was hosted by our cousin Sue, Chelsea, and Katelyn. That shower was a family affair...complete with a beautiful cake created by Nicole's brother-in-law (the budding pastry chef), Aaron Conrad. It was a great experience for Katelyn to be a part of the behind the scenes prep that goes into an event...she put together Nicole's pac'n play, polished silver, and was Sue's partner in crime!! Chelsea "flew " in from Atlanta the morning of the shower so she had a limited role as a hostess ("uh, very limited," says Katelyn rolling her eyes)!! Family and friends from both sides of the family gathered to shower Nicole with love and gifts.

On Friday of last week Katelyn and I headed up to Birmingham with the car FULL of the gifts from the first baby shower...the second baby shower was the next morning. Though not planned, it turned into a Dodd girls' weekend...David left Friday right after work with his friend Jonathon and headed over to Oxford, Mississippi to enjoy some Ole Miss football and Rich stayed in Panama City to babysit the dogs (okay...Gabby) and work some in preparation for his trip to North Carolina today. On Saturday morning we all got up and it was truly like when the girls were growing up and all four of us would end up in one bathroom!!!!

The shower was given by Nicole's girlfriends and was held next door at Meredith's home. I enjoyed this shower so much. As a mother it is sooooo....I am having a hard time coming up with the right word....overwhelming, encouraging, amazing (you get the idea) to witness the love being poured out by friends and teachers that work with Nicole. Meredith's home was decorated beautifully (no small task as she has two small children and her husband Jonathon was in Oxford with David). The food was fabulous and I was very glad I had skipped the bowl of Special K earlier!!! I was finally able to put faces with names of teachers that Nicole talks about all the time. Her Briarwood family and her neighbors are a blessing to her and I feel so good knowing that all these women will be right there when Nicole, David, and Claire have their daily adventures!

With the shower over and all the gifts home...Nicole and I went downtown to pick up her baby crib. She also took me to see St. Vincent's hospital where Claire will be born and gave me a rundown of all the important info..."Starbucks is in the lobby mom!!!" Chelsea and Kate got some homework done in the early afternoon and then we went out shopping and for dinner. I don't think it is possible for us to go to Birmingham without making a trip to the Summit to visit our favorites...Williams and Sonoma, Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Pottery Barn (and now Pottery Barn Kids), and either P.F. Changs or California Pizza Kitchen.

Home at last and surprisingly with a second wind, we turned on the Auburn/LSU game and went to work on the nursery. By the game's end (yes, we still say "War Eagle"), the nursery was as done as we could get it. Minus the things that David wants to do...put together the crib, and hang the curtain rod and chandelier, it looks like a sweet little home for Claire...Nicole even managed to wash all of the tiny baby things and they are neatly lined up in the dresser drawers.

Taking a last glance at the nursery before leaving just cements in my mind that Nicole isn't just pregnant...she's going to have a baby!!! It's amazing and so exciting and we can't wait for Claire to come and rock our world. You see the nursery use to be the home of David's guitars and more recently the rock band stuff, so it is only fitting.

One of my favorite "fall" people has to be Julie Mullins. Her birthday is on Halloween and she exudes the festive spirit of this holiday in a joyful way. She also has some of the best Halloween related recipes such as the following Pumpkin Dip. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Dip

1 pumpkin (4 - 6 pounds), washed and dried

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic, minced (or garlic powder)

6 ounces swiss cheese, shredded

4 slices white bread, toasted & crumbled

2 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 pint half and half

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut 2 inch slice from top of pumpkin and save.

Remove seeds and fibers from pumpkin.

Blend oil & garlic and rub into inside of pumpkin.

Place pumpkin in a large roasting pan.

Alternate layers of toast crumbs and cheeses inside of pumpkin.

Combine half and half, salt, pepper, and nutmeg and pour over layers in pumpkin.

Replace top and bake pumpkin 2 hours, gently stirring contents after 1 1/2 hours.

Serve with Frito Scoops or flatbread.

Fall...Where are you?

Is it fall...anywhere? It's mid-October and I have pulled out the pumpkins, planted the mums,purchased the required autumn scented candles, stocked the pantry with the necessities to make chicken and dumplings, and filled the candy dish (a couple of times) with candy corn....SO WHERE IS FALL??

Truly, this is what I miss most about my childhood. I grew up in northern West Virginia and as I recall, it had perfect four-season weather. When school started (always the Tuesday after Labor Day) the mornings would be slightly cool and the days would be bright and sunny. Up the hill from my house and on the walking route to Hamilton Junior High School, were two very large apple trees. In my memory(note the disclaimer) one was a green apple and the other a red delicious... we climbed those trees many a fall day and picked the biggest and best looking apples we could find. It was a challenge to see how high we could climb, find the largest most perfect apple, and still manage to avoid "old man Boil" as he was oh so fondly referred to. He didn't own the trees but you wouldn't know it by the way he acted.

October would usher in frosty mornings and beautifully colored leaves falling from the trees. One of my favorite fall art projects in grade school required the collecting of fallen leaves (that hadn't turned brown)and the rendering of crayon rubbings on newsprint paper. I never got tired of that art project and each year it would appear like a trusted friend. School memories come flooding back as I sit and remember...another was the annual fire prevention week. Smokey the Bear would arrive on the fire truck at our grade school and we would have a pep rally of sorts, cheering on the efforts of the local fire departments. During the week before this very important visit we would learn all about fire safety and the details of the annual poster contest would be laid out. The winning fire prevention poster would be announced at the rally and I remember vividly wanting to win that poster contest. While I had a lot of creative ideas I could never quite get them on paper like this one little girl. I don't remember her name, but she had the most artistic posters, and I believe she won that contest more than once.

During the month of October our classroom would fill with art projects. Bats would swing from the ceiling along with witches made from coat hangers and black pantyhose. Jack-o-lanterns with cellophane colored eyes and mouths would adorn the windows. Black Cats would line up the top of the bulletin boards with long curling tails dangling down the chalkboard. I loved all that stuff...it made school so much more enticing somehow and I know that it was in those classrooms that I picked up the decorating bug that to this day bites me at the start of every season.

As time progressed and I was in high school, fall became synonymous with high school football. Now I readily admit I was not popular in high school...wasn't a cheerleader...but I loved Parkersburg High School's Big Red Indians and was a loyal football fan. Our school was one of the largest in the state (my graduation class had 724 students)and was usually a contender in the statewide sports arena. Buddy James football was big and our team won the state championship during my senior year in high school...Exciting as that was my, memories once again are of the frosty cold fall nights at the stadium where the cheering section would huddle together to keep warm. The cheerleaders would be dressed in their wool pleated skirts and lettered sweaters...teeth chattering at times between cheers!! When Katelyn cheered in high school and we made the weekly trip to the football stadium to watch the games, I have to admit it took some getting used to sitting in oppressing heat, eating snow cones and wearing tank tops. It just seems like football should be played in cold weather...otherwise what is the use for stadium blankets????

So here I am in Florida for my 26th straight fall and I do what I can to urge the season into existence. I pull out the decorating stops. I light the candles that fill the house with the scent of a hundred pumpkin pies and I wait, sometimes in frustration(like this past week when the temperature was nearly 90 degrees), for that magic morning when I open the back door and the outside has caught up with the inside of my house and it feels like fall. Katelyn waits with anticipation for the morning she can leave for school with a new favorite sweater, not because her school is so cold it feels like a meat locker, but because the air has a chill to it and wearing the sweater just feels good!

Chelsea is up in Auburn, several hours north of us, and I keep assuring her that fall (her absolute favorite time of the year)is going to be spectacular up there. Her first year away from us and all of our "autumn traditions" leaves her feeling as if she is missing out on the season...but hold on I keep telling her, it's coming and you are gonna love it up there cause it will really feel like fall.
So fall...don't let me down...we're all ready and waiting.