Friday, October 8, 2010

Not Yet!


Halloween-- I
love that holiday! Actually, I love it so much that I think it should be an official three day weekend that's celebrated around the world.

Trick-or-Treating brings the best excuse of the year to buy too much chocolate and a guilt-free opportunity to pass out candy to little kids-- In a one for you, two for me, kind of way.

It's the time of the year when the Fashion Police take a day off so people of all ages, shapes and sizes can dress up in everything from rubber masks of Richard Nixon to Cinderella and Michael Jackson. I personally wear my usual orange tee shirt and Halloween socks with candy corn and bats on them-- And of course, I time October 31st so my Botox is pretty much worn off and wear my "real" face which I figure is scary enough.

Decorating for this holiday, and Fall for that matter, is a favorite pastime but I admit, my husband was shocked when he saw the movers unload box after box labeled "Halloween" into the house when we got married. I made lame excuses about it not realllly being all that much stuff but two months and three days after our wedding, Halloween arrived and decorations were in full, over the top, force. I smiled and assured him that his money back guarantee to return me had already expired. He was stuck with me-- and a house full of all things Halloween.

You can only imagine my thrill when Godson was born on-- you guessed it-- Halloween! I swear that kid came out saying "Boo!" and is as big a fan as I am. He's taken over coordinating decorations inside my house, which now skew a bit spookier as he ages, with a wide variety of spiders peaking out from every nook and cranny. And, he turns our front yard into a big, funky cemetery but he keeps in mind that we mostly get young kids knocking on our door so it pretty tame out there.

Ahh October and Halloween. It makes me happy....

Right up until I walked into Bloomingdale's on Monday and spied a huge Christmas section already in full twinkle light glory. It stopped me in my tracks faster than a record player needle scratching across Elvis' Blue Christmas.

I ask you, do we really need all the Christmas paraphernalia on store shelves before the smell of Milky Way Bars and Almond Joys have intoxicated me beyond reason? Is it okay to start hocking Christmas shopping before Charlie Brown's The Great Pumpkin airs on television? And if there really is a Santa Claus, don't you think he would-- Wait. His. Turn!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've already made my Christmas shopping list but I don't have the packages wrapped by the fireplace yet. It wouldn't hurt them to wait a few more weeks to put out the giant white and silver Christmas trees covered in Bloomingdale's ornaments blinking and flashing while shoppers splurge on Godiva chocolates for Halloween! It won't spoil their sales quotas but it will dash this little girl's annual, one and only, Christmas wish for a full month of Halloween with treats and decorations and visions of goblins dancing in my head.

Sheesh, I've barely pulled out all my bats, witches and Fall fabulousness and Bloomies rains on my parade-- again! Grrrr. It's enough to make a girl cancel her credit card. (Well almost.)

Next week I'll be back in beautiful New York City to see family and get a huge dose of Fall foliage. I'll be shopping at Bloomingdale's too, so keep an eye on the 6 o'clock news. If their Christmas windows are already on display, I'll be the crazy lady you see NYPD's finest carting away kick, screaming, and begging for Halloween decorations.

Hope you are enjoying autumn and looking forward to Halloween!
Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor.com - Joanna Jenkins
Photo Credit: © chispas - Fotolia.com

65 comments:

  1. Do you have any idea how precious you are?
    And how many people you make smile every day?
    Count me in as one - every time you post!

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  2. We had our wedding rehearsal on Halloween night. Married November 1st.

    That probably explains a lot of what's happened in the last 30 years.

    :-D

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  3. I just finished creating a spooky skull that I wired a motion detector to. foliage in NYC like in the city? Central park I guess. I would imagine you would need to go up the Hudson to see fall trees.
    I agree about Christmas being pushed marketed too soon.

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  4. Best line ever: It stopped me in my tracks faster than a record player needle scratching across Elvis' Blue Christmas. It's nails the feeling I have upon seeing christmas decorations before their time (just after Thanksgiving).

    I, too, love Halloween, but I think you've got me beat in the enthusiasm department. As a diabetic, the winter holidays don't quite beckon with the call of sugar delights....but autumn is my favorite season and i do love the customs.

    And please, don't do anything to antagonize the NYPD!! They don't fool around!

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  5. okay, you're halloween spirit is infectious. Because I needed some .

    and agree re the next day flip to Xmas. Crazy.

    have a great trip

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  6. Okay, now don't do anything silly in New York,,,I so can understand your pain in this one. I worked in retail and a couple years befor I was done, the same thing with the decorations. Everything is so commercialized. it drives me crazy. So how about this, you go ballistic if they have Valentines stuff out. Oh my blood pressure just went up thinking about it...love that you love Halloween. have a great weekend.

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  7. I'm with you! It's barely back to school time and already
    Christmas junk is showing up in stores! Enough already!!!

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  8. Oh I love Halloween! It's the best holiday to decorate for. And I agree with you that seeing Christmas decorations in the store this early in October is ridiculous. Santa can wait his turn; we have Autumn leaves and ghouls, witches and pumpkins, gourds and cornucopias waiting in line ahead of the stars and garlands and fir trees of December.

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  9. nice. hope you havea great trip jj! i dont even want to start thinking christmas yet...cant i just enjoy this moment....

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  10. Me too..Me tooo....I love fall and pumpkins and scarecrows and CHOCOLATE!!!!!! Fall gives me joy in my heart.
    Love how you write about it.

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  11. Do you give out See's candy for Trick or Treat? If so, I'll be on the next plane over with costume on. Might be a bit taller than the little ones but there's still the kid in me, right?

    I would love to see pictures of the decorations! A birthday celebration AND halloween?? Godson is really going to have some fun!

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  12. I agree with you, there is something very enticing about Halloween.;) Previously not celebrated in Scandinavia, even here the holiday is slowly gaining hold.;)
    Enjoy your trip to NYC, luckily here the Christmas display comes up first in a month.;)
    xo

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  13. Well, we don't really do Halloween. Which is actually a lie, as it has become something that youngies have started getting into. And of course the department stores really go for it big time! But there isn't a 'sense' of Halloween, if you know what I mean. And hey, it's not pumpkin season anyway. As for Christmas, I have to confess that I'm planning to put my tree up in November this year! I've got a couple of weekends away in December and then my sons arrive with their families, so I must have things ready for my three adorable granddaughters!

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  14. I like the warm colors of Halloween, and the rustle of leaves dancing along the ground. Little smiling scarecrows everywhere you look, and jack-o-lanterns grinning down from neighbors porches. It's great fun.
    In defense of department store Christmas displays: Professional Christmas tree decorators go from store to store, it takes a long time to do each one. So they start early. That's why one Macy's will be decorated before another.

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  15. Everyone knows I love me some October...all 31 days! Santa would wait his turn. You're so right.

    One of the joys of not shopping in stores....no jumping ahead of any season.

    It's so cool that Godson was born on Halloween!

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  16. You sound just like my older daughter. She has trunks and trunks of Halloween decorations. Huge black cauldrons and life size witch and broom. She decorates their house for each holiday. Joanna, were you joking about the Botox? Me, I am a one holiday decorator: Christmas. Well, maybe a little on Valentines Day. Our yard sale is today. The garage here is a large two car garage and it is crammed half full with things to put out and around the driveway and yard today. It is my idea to have the yard sale, hubby wanted to call the thrift store to pick it all up. Ha.

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  17. You hand out candy the same way I do!

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  18. Too funny where is the pictures of your over the top I mean gorgeous Halloween decor!! My bday is day before Halloween I think that is why I love fall and halloween so much! I was in Macy's and saw xmas decor too!! Too early but I think I need to get on it also. Have a wonderful weekend!

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  19. I too love Halloween but only put out a few decorations that I have had forever. Living in the country we don't get many kids but for the last 2 years we do get one special little boy. My grandson is going to be a fireman (just like his dad) and at 4 he is so excited!!

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  20. You have made me feel like a bit of an underachiever in the Halloween decorating department. All I have is a pumpkin on the porch and a few little things in the house. At least I don't have any Christmas decorations up yet.

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  21. I love that you love Halloween, I think it shows your joie de vivre!

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  22. Ugh, you said the "C" word! The blindness of most of us to the hyper-ironic materialism of it just baffles me.

    I found a very very deep well of Halloween enthusiasm inside me in my thirties--the first time I lived in a traditional neighborhood where kids were likely to trick-or-treat. So if you need a character witness at your trial for disorderly conduct, I'm your woman!

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  23. Ever since we brought Simon home, Halloween has not been our friend. In fact, we hide! He's the Si-monSTER!! He goes bizerk when the doorbell rings. There's no way to avoid it, so we either go out or shut all the lights and hide in the back of the house and watch TV in the dark. I know...pretty slack, huh!

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  24. I Love HAlloween!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  25. I agree - no Christmas stuff until we have enjoyed and recovered from Halloween.

    I love carving pumpkin faces and making pumpkin soup. OH, and those clear clear cold mornings are just fabulous.

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  26. I sure enjoyed it when my kidlets were little but my own interest has waned since they're grown. Sure, we'll get the pumpkin and shell out gobs of candy to the wee cuties at the door, but the decorations have long since ceased.

    Your irritation about the early appearance of Christmas products (I saw the first Christmassy ad on TV three days ago) puts me in mind of Suldog's annual campaign to remind American retailers that "Thanksgiving Comes First.

    "http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com/2009/09/thanksgiving-comes-first_28.html

    No too much of a concern here in Canada where Thanksgiving comes this Monday.

    Have a great weekend, Joanna. :)

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  27. Ahhhh,yes! If I can look beyond the weeds that have taken over my yard the two weeks I've been gone the mum bed is shinnin' out the back door in full bloom.

    I tried to start my lawn mower and it's blowin' fuel out the exhaust pipe....I'm thinkin' it's no a good thing! Hubby says I'm done but I can hear my lawn yellin'< "Nezzy, why have you forsaken me"??? Heeehehehe

    Have fun spookin' your joint up!

    God bless ya and have a spectacular weekend.

    BTW: I only buy 'Treats' that I like. We sometimes get 6-7 out here on the Ponderosa but last year had no little spooks. :o)

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  28. I wish the fall could last ALL year. Halloween should be a month-long event, not a one-day sugar rush. I am sad that I'm in a neighborhood where there is not likely to be many trick-or-treaters.

    And Christmas, again, is going to come too early.

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  29. I don't celebrate Halloween but I love to go out on my balcony and howl at people as they trick-o-treat. ;)

    thinking of you. one love.

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  30. I can't believe the retailers already have Christmas things out. I agree that November is acceptable, but not already.

    But I do like your one for you, two for me way of thinking. At that rate with the number of kids we get here, I'd be fatter than a hog.

    You might need to post a picture of your "cemetery" for us.

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  31. Love this post!

    Love Fall!

    Love Halloween!!!!

    Enjoy NYC!!!!


    xoxo

    ~Pissy

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  32. I love the illustration at the top! Doesn't the lead Jack-o-lantern look as if he could unfold his hidden, lanky body at any moment, and do a song and dance? That looks like a very merry Jack.

    Speaking of merry, no!! No! We cannot have Christmas decorations yet. There must be at least a consistent snap to the air before I will consent to think about Christmas shopping.

    Also, don't feel bad about the excessive decorating. I used to live across the street from a man who had a three bedroom house, one he slept in, the other were stuff to the rafters with his various holiday decorations. This guy had a Giant Inflatable Turkey in his front yard for Thanksgiving. We called it the G.I.T.

    A giant purple spider was atop his roof every Halloween (God, was it ever easy to give directions to our old house) and a working train with Santa as the engineer for Christmas.

    Also, a snowman that we referred to as "Stalking Snowman" in the living room window, peering out from behind the drapes.

    Nothing less than that ever strikes me as being obsessive any longer :-)

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  33. I love October. It may just be my favorite month. We now live where we get lots of trick or treaters. I'll buy them some candy, too. ;-D

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  34. As most of us KIWI's don't 'do' Halloween (it's not a kiwi thing) I have no idea how you can go ga-ga over it!
    But I'm happy that you are happy... even about the botox wearing off.
    Hope you have fun in NYC... and leave the window displays ALONE.

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  35. I'm in complete agreement! My daughter and I were in a store that had the Halloween and Christmas items displayed together. It was just wrong!

    Have fun in NY!

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  36. tbh, i don't even like christmas anymore...it seems like it starts around the 4th of july and is nothing but buy buy buy. BUT, i LOVE Halloween!

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  37. We have more Halloween decorations that Christmas, probably because we have a big party every year :)

    Love the botox comment--too funny.

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  38. I love Halloween! And I was horrified to see Christmas cards at Target last week. Too early.

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  39. You love Halloween? Perhaps it's just a spell you're going through...Have you tried that Scots tradition - dooking for apples?

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  40. I loved Halloween when my kids were younger. I never had to buy window decs as I just put up whatever they made at school!

    My 17 year old is really disappointed that we don't decorate any more. I may just have to pull out my favorite pieces and relive those happy days of cleaning before and after decorations, trying to stay out of the candy until the big day, and dealing with last minute wardrobe malfunctions on the big night!

    I love your posts!

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  41. A girl after my own Halloween heart! It's my favorite holiday too, and I'm up in arms about all the Christmas decorations out in stores already (and not just b/c I'm Jewish!). I'm working on my costume (see my latest blog post if you're curious) and my decorations are out. LOVE it, and for us it is a 3-day weekend since we have little kids and it's jam-packed. We have a party at school, a party w/ friends, and we'll trick or treat around the neighborhood. WOOHOO!

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  42. p.s. are you on Twitter, Joanna? I just tweeted this post b/c it made me so happy.

    ;-)
    if you are on Twitter, find me! I'm @erinlynn76

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  43. I think they should hold off all Christmas marketing until after Thanksgiving.

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  44. I know what you mean. I almost screamed when I saw Lowes had their Christmas trees out already!! Give me a break!!!! we all need to go on a buying strike until the stores or by next year they will have Christmas stuff up all year around.

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  45. I totally agree with you on the Christmas stuff. Let us enjoy Halloween, for crying out loud! Sounds like it's a lot of fun at your place. Maybe I'll come by and trick or treat. ;)

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  46. Christmas, already?!
    I'm weird but I'm not crazy about any kind of 'must celebrate' seasons. We haven't bought presents for years, candle light and good food are enough to have good feeling.
    Halloween is not for me - too spooky and scary! :)
    Have a great week ahead!

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  47. oh, its just gorgeous lately, the leaf colors and sunshine here in New York :)

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  48. I always knew we were kindred spirits! This is my favorite holiday too, and I'm like a kid on Halloween. My husband and I decorate the exterior of the house on Halloween morning, just so that it's new and surprising for the neighbor-kids on Halloween night. We both dress up -- even though our son is grown and off on his own. Our neighbors come over after trick-or-treating for a glass (or two) of wine, and sometimes we even tell ghost stories. One of my former newspaper editors is a magician, and he performs magic tricks for us.

    The whole this is, well, magical ... it's a return to the imaginary play we all enjoyed as kids.

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  49. It would truly be nice if we could enjoy each special holiday fully before being bombarded with the one coming up... sigh. Like you, we go overboard on Halloween with all the fixins including stuffed dummies with decapitated pumpkin heads. So much fun!

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  50. We're in the throes of planning ANOTHER halloween/birthday party here. Such fun!

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  51. And the older we get, the worse the rushing of everything seems! My life is going by plenty fast enough without Christmas in the summer.

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  52. Stores really need to give Halloween and Thanksgiving their space, it's unfair that Christmas is always crowding them.

    I love living in SF, but one of the things that makes me sad about living here is that we get no trick or treaters. It's so sad.

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  53. Mami, I do envy your beautiful California weather, almost all year 'round. But I do adore the gorgeous changing of the oaks and maples in the Midwest, and the wonderful sound of fallen leaves underfoot on Halloween night ... and all the neighborhood kids in their costumes. After Nov. 30, I am ready to move south or west ;-)

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  54. With the bad economy, stores are forced to start pushing Christmas up earlier and earlier to make a profit. Kind of ruins the tradition.

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  55. I love Halloween, but I am not over summer yet. I can never seem quite ready when it rolls around...

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  56. Hi Joanna, that is a bit rich - bringing out the chrissy decorations BEFORE Halloween has even had its turn to be celebrated. Talk about a Pumpkin Pooper. Rowe xxx

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  57. I used to complain the loudest when Christmas decorations were put out before Thanksgiving -then I worked in retail and if Christmas decorations weren't out in September you were behind schedule. Now I guess I don't really care, just happy to be enjoying any holiday. Have a great time in New York!!

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  58. I was typing away and totally lost my post. Oh well. I've been MIA..happy to be back.

    I decorated up at the grandkids' place while in Portland. We don't do it here at home...but I do wear a scarey mask to open the door!

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  59. Oh YAY! You are going to be in New York next week. You will definitely get your fill of fall foliage : ) and then some! So pretty here right now. LOVE it!

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  60. You would DEFINITELY be first on my list as the one I'd want to have trick or treat me! And yes, my birthday is on Christmas day, but even I get deeply depressed when I see all the Santa's out for sale in October - WTF is WRONG with these stores??

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  61. In recent years, I've turned into a veritable scrooge - I do very little decorating for any holiday any more. Guess it was because I was on call so much for every occasion, I just sort of lost my spirit. I actually have some pretty nice Halloween paraphanalia but I don't even put it out. Shame on me!!! After I finish writing this, I'm going to see what I can do!

    You are so hysterical, Joanna, and you are such a wonderful writer. At least, you are capable of lifting my spirits as few other folks can. Thank you!!! I need help these days.

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  62. I must have missed this the first time around... :)
    I dated a guy once upon a time who after a couple dates told me he didn't "do" Halloween, and that it was evil and wrong and a sin against God or some sort.
    Talk about WTH? I consider myself a Christian and I surely don't think it's some sort of satanic holiday. Good grief.
    I didn't go out with him again.
    Freak.

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Thanks for stopping by and commenting, I really appreciate it.