Happy Halloween!

Today is Hallowe'en. In days of yore this would have meant I was prepping the house for trick-or-treaters. It would also mean that the husband's family may have had a monthly gathering to celebrate October birthdays and carve pumpkins. I admire people who can carve them with intricate designs, but I always feel bad for the poor pumpkin I am asked to carve. I can't carve worth crap and my pumpkin faces always look messed up rather than funny or scary. So I have put a ban on myself to keep me from inflicting harm on the poor things. It was the humane thing to do.

Where we live there aren't any children who go door-to-door requesting candy. Yes, there are children, but the malls and community centers around our neighborhood do a wonderful job of hosing trick-or-treat events inside. Which is a good thing as the weather being nice is a crap shoot. That and drivers don't seem to want to slow down on our street, making navigation much like a Mortal Kombat version of Frogger.

I miss those days of yore. It was always fun to see the kids in their costumes, which would often inspire me to get into costume myself. It was also always fun to see delight in those happy faces when I would drop a full sized candy bar into their bags. That's right, no fun sized candy at my house for Halloween!

Tonight I will be working on the budget for November instead of being part of the Halloween festivities. What are your plans for tonight?

Change Is In The Air

 Life is in transition right now. Nothing huge like a death, birth or joining, but still a transition.

The transition is internal. I'm making a switch in my behavior and my belief system about who I am. Some of this has been the result of a study I did called Captivating. Some of this has been bubbling up for years. To summaryize, I am not simply the product of a broken world or my past mistakes. I am loved. I am beloved. And I have a purpose. Amazing what knowing that will do for a girl.

I'm being reacquainted with my purpose, but I know that it has to do with healing and with reconcilation and that writing is a key part to it all. I also believe that everything I have done up to this point has not been in vain. It has all been building toward who I am now.

I'm also excited because of how this fits with my current story. It's almost like the story is a metaphor for my journey. Mallory, the heroine of my tale, is on a journey. She doesn't realize it at the time the story opens, but she is. And her journey is going to take her into the mouth of hell before she realizes who she is and what her purpose is. I can relate.

The mouth of hell part of her journey is based on her choices and the choices of others. I'm a firm believer in free will. We all make choices in life that lead us toward or from our purpose. And each other. I know I've lived my fair share of those experiences. Mallory is going to live through hers. The key is that I have lived through them. I have survived. And in doing so, I know more about who I am. And what I want in life.

Change.

That seems to be a theme in my life right now. Something worth exploring as I move forward with the story, with work, with the renovations and with my relationships. Change isn't a bad thing. It's rather neutral, really. So why not take it for a spin? You never know where change might take you.