Halloween Surprises

I know Halloween was many moons ago, but like many things in life, there was a good story attached to it. The evening began inauspiciously because as usual, we didn't have much of a plan as a consequence of procrastination and lack of motivation. For the kids, they put off contacting friends and finding out what was going on, and on our end, we weren't that inspired to make a big plan. Things, however, worked out beautifully. I love when that happens.

The biggest issue we were confronting was that we were sick in this house. We missed an entire week of hockey practice and there was some question as to whether or not we would even leave the house that night. A was bummed because she hadn't seen her hockey buddies in awhile, and N was bummed because he really wanted to go trick-or-treating. I can't say I blame him. To complicate the matter, A had hockey practice the night of Halloween, which was optional, but seeing as we had already missed so much hockey and there were games that weekend, the idea of going to practice was not unthinkable. Unfortunately the practice was being held from 6:30-7:30, which are peak Halloween hours, and I got a sense a lot of girls were going to skip out.

As luck would have it, however, the practice was moved earlier, so timing of things was looking good. We could now go to hockey, and then after practice, the kids could hang with their buddies in town. N's buddies were in town, as well, so he got to hang with them. There was a big soiree happening in our town, as well, so we had options. I took both kids to the arena and we skated while N hung out in the lobby with his teammate. After hockey, we all headed over to town and A took off with her friends and N took off with his. How perfect is that? They had big groups so it was fun, and I was left with no kids to watch after, though for the record, they were constantly on my mind and I was happy when we all bumped into each other.

I ended up hanging with IC for the evening and we just walked around and said hi to all of our friends, almost all of whom we know through hockey. It was quite the party. I told the kids to meet me at the Inn at a certain time, and other than that, they were free to run. It was good for all of us. I saw all of them a few time throughout the night, and they were cordial but clearly ready to depart from my scrutiny. To their credit, they were at the Inn at the allotted time, so kudos to them for that. We hung out by the fireplace and chatted with friends for a bit, then it was time to head home.

There was still time to hit our town event, which we did, though it was winding down and A's buddies had left, so we didn't stay long. We got some treats, listened to some tunes, and then came home. It was quite the fun evening, and all without much of a plan. Though I'm happy things worked out, it's not easy for me dealing with so much uncertainty, but that's just because I need to lighten up a bit more.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Heather Marie for the pic.