368 recordings of 29 types, 16 old SVU, 22% clear.

 

I waited around for the gardeners so I could ask them to please put the leaves into the leaf bin, then I took off for Elk Grove. This meant I got there a lot earlier than I actually meant to, time to have a little chat with Joan. She thinks the parents are too hard on Joanna, that she should be allowed to do her little Magic Schoolbus kits even if she's being punished. But what can get her attention? There has to be something that she wants badly enough to try to behave for it! Then it was time to leave. "Gareth, get on this side, Joanna, go around. Gareth, where are you going?" Oh, says Joan, you shouldn't make statements with more than one instruction, because the last one is the only one they remember. She knows this because she was a teacher. (This is likely why she says everything twice, though I notice that habit a bit less these days.) Grrrrr.

I brought her the last of the pomegranates, the squirrels can have the rest. What a year!

 

Because I was still early, I could stop at my house to put the gate up if the dog had stayed out of the kitty litter. Of course he hadn't, so I put him outside for the rest of the afternoon. Then we went to see "Cinderella." Still too early so we started walking, and ended up in the nature area for a few minutes.

Waiting for the play, Joanna was bugging Gareth, and I threatened to sit between them. She just can't help herself. Watching me, she "just happened" to poke him... so I sat between them. Joanna was less interested this time than I would have thought, though she did yell out what color Cinderella's dress was supposed to be. She wasn't interested in autographs at the end. (It later developed that she was in a hurry to see Grandma, having forgotten that wasn't going to happen until the party, or as it happened, not till she got home after the party.)

 

We ran a couple of errands for me. I left them in the car while I picked up a couple of tickets for a movie on Thursday. Then we went to Papa Murphy's where I got a jack-o-lantern pizza. The guy didn't hear me say "yes" to the family size so I said it louder, and I suppose I was rude. Anyway, he apologized for me being rude, so I feel terrible.

 

Back at the house I had a Hallowe'en Lego set out and some seasonal stickers. This kept them pretty well occupied, as well as Gareth reading the science books. Joanna couldn't be bothered, but the stickers were a hit and she made a jack-o'lantern with the Lego. We tried to make spidery chocolate chip cookies, but it didn't work. The last hour or so they were wild, and Joanna decided "fart" was the funniest word in the world. I finally said that if she said it one more time, she'd have to spend time sitting on my bed.

 

She really canNOT help herself. It may have taken 30 seconds. She started to argue, realized it wasn't working, and went into the bedroom. I only made her stay there about a minute, and she was slightly subdued when she got back. I made the pizza.

 

I read some more of Pinocchio to them (only two chapters left!) and then Bernadette came with their costumes. We got changed and were ready to go across the street to the party.

(I really am not hanging from the ceiling!)

Which was fun as usual. Gareth had too much sugar, I suspect, and began to feel wonky, so we went home a bit early, leaving Joanna and Bernadette to go through the haunted house. (Which is in the neighbor's back yard!) Very clever costumes! I especially liked the KFC family... Colonel Sanders, two chickens, and two buckets. We found Waldo. Oscar and Cookie Monster were there.

 

Instead of a scythe, I had a pizza cutter. It's a shame I didn't think to remark I COULD MURDER A PIZZA until two days later. I did mutter, under my breath as I was trying to peel the lid off a container of salad dressing, that "you would think Death would have a better grip" and sent someone into hysterics.

 

On the whole, a nice day!