Halloween 2021

Shane and I went shopping for paint after church. It was a Carrie request.

Lowe's was out. The shelves looked bare and the employee said, "We have what we have and we're not due to receive any new shipments until 2022."

I don't know about other places, but there have been more gaps on store shelves lately from the global supply crunch.

But I was able to find a can of yellow spray paint at a store closer to the airport. It was a further drive, but Shane and I had a good Audiobook.

Carrie wanted the paint for the finishing touches on my costume. That's right! This is a Halloween post! If you thought it was going to be something else, you got tricked and you're in for a treat!

Carrie and Shane are both big My Hero Academia fans.

Shane wanted to be Deku, his favorite character, for Halloween. Carrie was happy to buy him a costume.

Carrie bought her costume piecemeal and put it all together. She was The Smile Hero: Ms Joke! 

She picked Ms. Joke, because A) she likes the character, and B) Ms. Joke likes to poke fun at Mr. Aizawa who teaches Shane's character. Ms. Joke: "Hello, Future Husband!"

That should tell you who I was dressed up as: Shota Aizawa. We're both teachers.

Carrie made me try on the costume and took a picture, but I never got it. You'll be able to see me in costume later on.

Our first stop of the night was in Scottsville. The downtown businesses, some local groups, and churches put on the event.

I drove, because Carrie's costume didn't allow her to sit. There as no flex in the shorts! She leaned the car seat back and half fell into it! She was willing to put up with a couple hours of discomfort for an A+ costume (but that willingness shrunk the longer she was in it!).

Carrie brought a bag full of smiley face buttons to hand out as we went.

"Do you want a smile?" She'd ask.

I'm so glad I captured this smile on camera! Carrie tried to treat the people giving kids treats. She normally doesn't like to draw much attention to herself, but it was Halloween and she was in character!

Shane was candy focused. He looked forward to a big haul!

He'd turned his nose down when I'd offered him a grocery bag. "I want a big bag that won't break if it's full of lots of candy!" he declared.

We parked on the north side of town. We walked south and turned at the gas station to trick or treat at the Methodist church we used to frequent. 

We crossed the street when we didn't see any other action down that way.

Carrie gave an officer a smiley face as we walked past the police station.

There was a line of people coming out from the farmer's market pavilion.

It was trunk or treat o'clock!

We hopped in line to go around. Shane photo-blocked.

I've never decorated a car for trunk or treat. Maybe we'll do it and pass out candy on day when Shane's older, because no one's going to knock on our barn.

It wasn't as busy as The Lawn, but there was an impressive amount of people for Scottsville.

UVA cancelled trick or treating on The Lawn again this year, so it wasn't even an option.

I think the local folk did an amazing job making an event for all of the kids. It was definitely a blessing!

Shane stopped to sample some of his haul when we finished walking through the downtown area. I wish Shane had a local best friend we could've walked with, but he saw kids from his school and even said hi to a teacher as we walked around.

I thought Shane and I would drop Carrie off at home before going out for Round 2, but we did not. Carrie requested a specific neighborhood: Laura and Amy's! Amy had told Carrie their streets drew people from all over over.

They let us park in front of their house and took some family photos, too!

The first house we came across the owner told Shane he could get extra candy if he impressed her with a trick.

He was game!

And he got extra candy for it, too!

It was only a pair of streets, but most of the houses were decorated, there were lots of cars parked, and way more people around than could possibly live there. There seemed to be some sort of communal treat station in the cul-de-sac.

They gave out pizza and cider in addition to candy!

Best treats ever! I almost asked for some myself!

All I got was a selfie while Shane ate (I plan on collecting the Peanut M&M's and other unfavorable candies from Shane's bag later!).

It was a great pair of streets. They're officially on our radar for Halloween next year!

Some of the decorations got even better as darkness fell. 

Shane would have loved to have stayed in the area longer just to look at some of them, but Carrie was at her limit.

We made our way back through all the houses and then it was time to call it a night.

I was a little worried Halloween would feel a little flat this year, but everything worked out great! Hopefully, we'll find a friend to walk around with us next year and all the COVID precautions will be a thing of the past.

I'm On Even When Off

Friday was a teacher workday. "No students! I'm off! WOOOHOOO!"

Only I ended up with my student, Shane. He poked at my during a zoom meeting or two and generally demanded attention. I took him to a park later for punting practice, but there were no other kids so I was chief playmate. Shane requires a lot of attention.

And then there's the rest of the family. I forget why (Carrie was upset/hurt/busy), but I ended up listening to one meeting while working on the barn early in the afternoon (Before doing even chores, too!). I took Loki out for a walk and my schedule felt far more full than I thought it'd be for a day at home.

I like having stuff to do. I like being busy and I like to feel needed, but I could stand for a little less of both of those than I've been getting lately. Life feels full. The workload is not enough to overwhelm me, but it doesn't feel like I get any full days off, either.

And maybe I'm bad at it, but sometimes when I do get breaks I'm not sure what to do with myself. I wonder, "Wait...what should I be doing that I'm not?"

And that was the story for the start of the weekend.

Saturday started with barn chores. Soccer was next. Then Carrie needed some more help around the barn while Shane showered. I took Shane into town to do some errands, but Carrie needed me back for a hay delivery.

I saw the tractor and thought I wouldn't have to do anything. I thought wrong.

The tractor unloaded the pallets from the back of the truck, but the pallets had to be unloaded by hand. If we ended up being repeat customers, the sellers said they'd be happy to leave and rotate pallets in the future to make it easier (but not this time!).

The sellers drove off happy. I don't know if they told Carrie in advance if we'd have to unload or if my help was a pleasant surprise.

I hope it was a surprise. It wasn't too intense of a workout and I'd like to think I brightened someone's day!

I was able to rest some afterward, but it was limited. I thought about trying to write, but whenever I sat down by myself...

And if Shane wasn't playing, humming, saying "Look! Look!", and making sound effects in my ear then Carrie would wander over! There's next to no chance I'll finish my year goal of drafting a book of some sort. I can't consistently create conditions I can work in.

Sunday was Halloween. That was a lot of fun....and another post. A big post.

I Should Be Working

It's November 15th. I should be updating my Schoology page and ironing out details for what I plan to do in my classes tomorrow. On B days, my students start filtering in at 8:45 AM and I don't have a break until lunch at 11:15 AM. I get to work around 8:30 AM on average, so that gives me just enough time to make copies and get situated if I need to.

But now I'm writing. I have a basic plan for tomorrow, and my brain started poking off in other directions. 

I'm letting it continue.

Punt Practice

Soccer has been great for Shane. It's social, requires exercise, and he finds it fun.

But never has Shane ever gleefully practiced any sport when I offer to practice with him.....until now!

Shane had to set goals in school and one of his goals was to "get better at punting."

"Want to practice?" I asked.

"Sure!"

I was surprised when Shane took me up on the offer. Then I was more surprised when I was the one ready to go in first! I didn't want to say quit, though, so we kept at it. Eventually Carrie came up from talking to someone at the barn and joined us, too!

Poor Loki was going nuts watching from inside!

I let him out when I went inside to poop (You can only put that off so long...).

Shane practicing wasn't a one off thing. We went out each night for three nights in a row! On Friday, we went to explore a new playground and when no one was there we looked up a video on proper goalie punting. 

We ended "practice" with him trying to punt the ball off the top of the playground while I filmed it. Nothing video worthy, but it kept us entertained in the fall air! 

Gaming

"[Shane] hasn't been using the Switch," Carrie said.

And she was right. He hasn't. Shane will use it if it's social. Cole or B calls about Minecraft? The Switch is on! If one of us offered to sit and watch him play something, Shane would be all about it. If we went on a road trip, he'd be happy to bring it along and wear out the battery, too.

But in general, he's not enamored with anything on the Switch right now. Sure, we could buy a new game and he'd probably crush on it for a while.  However, we have so many other options I don't see a reason to buy anything.

And I'm happy to report Shane's been on something of a retro gaming phase lately. It started with beating Portal 1 and Portal 2.

Then Shane beat Mega Man X again.

He even played some X-Com!

I loved Xcom, but I didn't discover it until I was in the 7th grade. I wasn't sure Shane was old enough for it, but he grasped the concepts well enough and didn't throw a fit the first time things went bad (Expect things to go bad in X-Com...it's hard!).

But with all these retro games, it's social for Shane. He knows Carrie loves Portal (She sings the songs). He knows I played Mega Man X growing up (and I'm the one who taught him how to play). I hadn't planned on showing him Xcom, but somehow it came up. I showed him Master of Orion 2, as well, but the danger with the big strategic games is that I have to hold back from playing for Shane ("Do this first....now this! Oh! If you do this...") Shane wants me to sit and watch him play while I want him to learn through a trial by fire. 

Shane's total "retro gaming" only adds up to a handful of hours each week. What he'd really like is the addiction simulator, AKA Roblox. He had a frustrated meltdown one night when I said he could use it, but then it wouldn't work.

We've done less of it, but the family has gotten some truly "old school gaming" in, as well!

Shane went on a winning hot streak at Don't Break the Ice! Carrie went 0-3 and she got flustered! She challenged Shane to a rematch the next day, but Shane's still the overall house champion.

On a whim, I bought the My Hero Academia card game to play with Shane since he likes the show so much. I paid full price at the End Games.

Shane and I enjoyed playing together, but the jury's still out on a final grade for the game. I think Pokemon plays better and smoother overall, but maybe the hero theme will capture the spark of Shane's flickering interest. 

I haven't played any new video games myself. I find that I don't want to put the energy into starting or learning anything new. Or if I do, I can't settle on anything and do something else instead. I still have my puzzles I use to stretch my brain a little and unwind. Shane tried my mahjong game the other day and had fun for 10 minutes before moving on.