365 Inspirations—304: Halloween

Halloween brings back too many memories to count. I was born on Oct. 28th, but I was taken home from the hospital on Halloween. I was a Halloween baby. My father tells the story of how my parents brought be home on that day and how the kids in the neighborhood were being noisy and were told to be quiet because there was a new baby in the house.

I grew up with birthdays and costume parties rolled into one. Devils, skeletons, witches, goblins, fairies, princesses, ghosts, and angels all showed up at my doorstep for a party.

I loved trick or treating and have fond memories of freely roaming the neighborhood for candy with my friends and getting an entire pillowcase full of it by the end of the evening. Back in the day, kids had a lot more freedom than they do now.

I remember learning this 1969 tune in elementary school. I have a great memory for songs and often remember words to songs even after hearing something for the first time. This song's words have stuck with me since childhood.

Up until my 40th birthday, I held big Halloween parties in my house with a live band and the works. These days, I don't do it anymore and I wonder if I'm losing my zest for Halloween. This is my absolute favorite time of year. Today I hung up some decorations, bought some candy for the THREE kids we will probably have tonight and I still need to carve our pumpkin!

I had breakfast with my best friend this morning. She took me out for a belated birthday meal. She is tied into my many Halloween memories. She has to go to her kids' kindergarden today for a Halloween party and I helped her get stickers and other things for this evening. It was fun. She bought me an artist's portfolio for all the collages I've been making these days.

Tonight maybe my husband and I will watch a movie and eat popcorn. We want to be around for the kids tonight.

Do you have fond memories of Halloween? What are they?

365 Inspirations—281: Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

Gluten-free dark chocolate cupcake with raspberry frosting

"Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going to fast—you also miss the sense of where you are going and why."—Eddie Cantor

I don't believe the weather person in Seattle. The forecast calls for rain, rain, rain,...but we have sun!

And who coined the expression 'You can't have your cake and eat it too'?

Of course you can have your cake and eat it too, and you shouldn't feel guilty about it. Like my husband always says, "If you can't enjoy life, then what's the point?"

It's not that I believe life should be just one BIG pleasure trip where you can do and eat whatever you want, whenever you want. Of course work or even hard work is part of that equation, but who says you can't enjoy work? Or even hard work?

If it's work you enjoy, you get to have your cake and eat it too!

So are you doing what you love? Are you enjoying your moments?

We don't know how many moments we get, so we might as well make the most of them.

Today, despite fretting about the classwork and grading that I have for my classes today, I felt the need to get outside in the fall air and see how much the leaves had changed color since last time I was out.

My husband and I headed out to Greenlake and did a 3-mile walk, our favorite. The leaves had in fact changed color quite a bit and they were stunning.

We started out with rain and ended with bright sun!

It was around 12pm when we started our walk and suddenly we were hungry. We stopped off at Mio Sushi right across from Greenlake and had a delicious bento box lunch. I had the miso salmon and California roll combo. It was delicious.

Next to Mio Suchi is a place called Cake Envy. They do wedding and other event cakes, but they also make cupcakes daily. I'd never tried it and I was curious, so we decided to split one cupcake and a mocha for our dessert. We had the gluten free dark chocolate cupcake with raspberry frosting. I was surprised at how rich and moist the cupcake was for being gluten free!

So now it's about 3pm, and it's time to go to work. I teach ESL from 5:30-9:40pm. I like my job and love my students this quarter. I feel lucky that I get to enjoy my day and enjoy my students and classes!

Do you believe you can have your cake and eat it too? Do you take time to enjoy your life?

365 Inspirations—268: My Favorite Season—Fall is Here!

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."—Albert Camus

Some people can't wait for the warm weather of summer to hit or the merry days of the winter season with snow, holidays and skiing. While I enjoy the other seasons, fall is my FAVORITE.

I was born on October 28th—three days before Halloween. As a child, my memories of this season are quite vivid. My father told the story of how I came home as a newborn baby on Halloween and how he had to chase some kids away outside because they were making too much noise.

Ghosts, devils, vampires, fairies, clowns, skeletons, pumpkins and other characters used to show up at my house for a combined birthday/halloween party when I was a kid. Up until my 40th birthday, I still enjoyed throwing Halloween costume parties at my house. I even had a few live bands in my living room.

I had my writing group over to my house last Friday and one of the members asked why I don't have my Halloween parties anymore. I thought, Well, maybe I'm too old for them?

Instead of Halloween parties, I've been choosing to go away for my Halloween/birthday weekend to a scenic, relaxing place like a hot spring or country town. Last year we went to Breitenbush Hotspring in Oregon.

But maybe I should bring the Halloween parties back. They don't have to be huge, just a fun gathering with friends.

I saw pumpkins in the grocery store the other day. It seems a bit early, but I was happy to see them. I take a scenic road to work that has a canopy of maple trees overhead. I noticed a tinge of change in the leaves colors. I can't wait to watch them change on my way to work. I am no longer wearing short sleeves and sandals. Instead, I actually need a jacket! Warm soups and hot teas are sounding like a better choice right now.

Fall started officially last Sunday and don't forget to turn your clocks back on November 3rd—you still have some time.

Happy fall everyone!

Do you like fall season? What is your favorite season?