It? Has been Busy

Hello there! Do you hear that dragging noise? That's my ass! In the last week, I met with two book clubs, gave presentations to roughly 60 college freshmen in three classes, attended two work meetings, carved three pumpkins, handed out candy to 66 trick-or-treaters, enjoyed a night out with 10 other women (one of whom was subjected to an incredibly humiliating birthday treatment at a local Mexican restaurant), and along with 140 other people, attended a baptism party for my friend L's son. Unfortunately, we didn't all fit in one vehicle.

I was half an hour late for the Tuesday night book club meeting because I got Horror Movie Lost due to the fact that my Mapquest directions were butt-cobbled together by blind, insidious elves and I am an idiot who did not remember to ask for my host's phone number. Luckily, just as the light was fading from the sky, I finally found the address, and the attendees were simply gracious and wonderful. We had an absolute blast despite my tardiness and my sweaty pits and the slightly-crazed look in my eye from driving around and around like a maniac looking for the correct turn.

I know I promised some Halloween-related photos last week; they're a little late, but Daisy insisted I show the world what a mean dog mom I can be.

The only way Daisy will let you brush her or pick dingleberries from her bum or put her spider Halloween hat on is if you lift her up onto the washing machine. This way, her mobility is completely dependent on you, the human. So is her dignity.
Two of our jack o'lanterns. Yes, we cheated and used patterns. Eight years ago I actually designed three original carving patterns. Do you know how much work that was? It was a nutty amount of work. Absolutely nutty.
The cartoony version of Vlad. Hey, is anyone watching HBO's True Blood? Did anyone else laugh hysterically after last night's episode like I did? (So ... Sam is a ... COLLIE?!?!)
Daisy, without her spider costume but with some of her dignity restored.

Daisy and I would like to wish everyone a Happy Election Day on Tuesday...I still remember my mom taking me into the voting booth with her when I was a kid--it felt like we were going into a curtained phone booth to turn into superheroes. I vaguely recall that she let me push a few of the buttons for her (we were probably the only family in our county to vote for Carter back in 1980), and now that I think about it, I may have been so enamored with the whole process that I 'played voting' with my Barbies afterwards. God only knows what THAT entailed.

So vote on November 4 (if you haven't already ... and don't forget to pee first and maybe pack a snack, in case the lines are long). Also, it's NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month. Butt-in-chair, five to ten pages a day, and you'll have a novel by December first. Or, at the very least, a series of frustrated journal entries with chapters titled "What should I write about today?" (week one) or "BlahblahfartstinknothinginspiringpoopwhydidIdothistomyselfIhatewriting!" (week three). Have fun!