It has certainly been a minute since I have posted anything about DC here.

After a year and and almost a half of being at home due to the pandemic, I started back at work a couple of days a week back in July (2021).

I have to admit that I got used to being home and I am finding it difficult managing my time since going back to work. I can’t put my finger on what the problem is, since I was able to keep up with everything before the pandemic while working full time, but this is the way it is – for now.

I am sure I will get back in the groove at some point, but right now I feel as if time management is a long lost skill.

I have so many stories and ideas in my head but I just haven’t made the time to write anything or finish writing anything down.

But…

since Halloween is a staple here at Taking it a Step at a Time, I figured I could at least get that “on paper” (and to be honest, I started writing this post before Thanksgiving and now it is January, mid-February, March, mid-April, mid June, late July, August, early September, October. Time management – Fail) .

This year (2021) was different, but only in the way that DC did not even mention Halloween until the beginning of October. Usually we are choosing costumes in August.

He also chose to wear two “rerun” costumes.

One was a character he had worn years ago, but it was one of those one piece all in one jumpsuits. This year he picked the “real thing”.

The other was an actual rerun costume that I had to buy a million pieces for because there was no such thing (and almost no one knew who he was). It doesn’t look it but it took a lot of work gluing and sewing bolts or cogs (?) to everything.

He was excited when it finally did enter his head and although there was not as much going on as in past years, the activities that were happening, were in person (masking protocols in place or outdoors) and not on a computer screen in the kitchen.

Two of the parties that we usually attend, Camp and Best Buddies, were scheduled on the same day.

Fortunately they were scheduled with enough time in between for us to be able to attend both.

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“DC has two Halloween parties to attend today. My very first thought was of the last time we attempted to do a Halloween party marathon. We only made it to the first of the three that were scheduled, due to the Halloween nor’easter of 2011. When I texted *Tonya about trying to do both; her reply was “Double header. That sounds doable. No storms expected?” It’s funny how things stay with you.(Link to that storm here). It’s cloudy today but no storms in sight. Fingers crossed.” Facebook October 23, 2021

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There was enough time between to get to both but not enough for a costume change, so DC was Woody for both parties. He was Woody back in 2010, but this was the “real” Woody, according to him.

They had fun at Best Buddies. DC’s buddies did not show up but that is a story for another day.

The Moms?

We waited in line for coffee for the entire run of the party. After which I felt the need to announce to everyone waiting for us that I was the calm one (No details, but just know that I am not usually the calm one!)!

We determined that we’d have plenty of time to stop for lunch on the way to the next party at camp. We decided to stop at a place half way between the party we just left and camp. Historically this place is never busy. Never.

We pulled into the parking lot and as we were getting out of the car, an entire motorcycle club pulled in right behind us. We weren’t all that concerned. We still had plenty of time.

Famous last words…

It was a ‘de-aster’ – as DC would say. We waited a long time for our orders. DC’s was completely wrong and we had to start the whole process all over again and Sally locked herself in the restroom, but we did finally make it out of there and made it to camp.

DC and Salli were not phased by any of this, but Tanya and I were ready for a vacation.

We had to settle for coffee, but this time there were no lines and we were able to sit and relax for a good hour or more. By that time, I could do nothing but laugh at the events of the day.

Trust me. It was much worse than I can describe here.

DC was thrilled by a surprise visit from ‘Ron”.

AND…

He found his pumpkin on his own. He did not give up and just grab a random pumpkin with someone else’s number and we had no 9 vs. 6 issues (as in the past with 12 and 21) – it was his number.

Progress.

(Since it is already October, we have our Halloween 2022 party schedule and Best Buddies and Camp are again on the same day – so we get to do this all over again. We should probably just bring our own coffee for the first party. Ya think?)

There was a new addition to our Halloween activities last year.

A new used book store had opened up in town. I had kept that information from DC for a good year (?) because, you all know that as much as I love how much he loves books – there is just no room for any more. Every open space in our house is full of DC’s books. AAAAND, I did not want to have to listen to him begging to go to the book store any more than I already do, knowing there was one right here in town. I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret forever, but it wasn’t difficult during the pandemic (yes, I do understand that it is not over, but you know what I mean) since we weren’t going all that many places anyway.

The bookstore along with the other stores in the complex, organized a “Haunted Trail” that went along the sidewalks of all of the shops. It was pretty cool and I hope they do it again this year.

DC opted to re-use his “Time Keeper, Spy Kids – All The Time In the World” costume (yes, we must say the entire title) from a few years back. I was glad because I was pretty proud of putting that one together at the time.

It was fun and of course – there was the bookstore. The secret was out!

On to Halloween Night:

DC’s friend, BB (above in the Spiderman costume) joined us for the first time on Halloween night.

DC’s costume choice? Dimitri from Anastasia.

Yes, ANOTHER guy in a suit.

As usual, no one knew who he was, but he was happy to be Dimitri. I did get him an Anastasia tote bag to trick or treat with to make him more identifiable. It did not do the trick, but that’s okay; one must have a matching Halloween bag anyway (Halloween rule: #2).

They ate pizza at *Coach and *Candi’s house and trick or treated afterward.

They always have a good time together.

So there it is… finally! Halloween 2021.

We’ll be back in a few weeks for 2022.

We are READY!

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In case you are curious – Halloween Rule #1 is: Wear as much clothing underneath your costume to keep you warm. NEVER wear a coat OVER your costume.

For Past Halloweens – Visit our Halloween Page