The One With a Happy Halloween

 

 

Tonight is Halloween 2023. And it was definitely a memorable Halloween for a variety of reasons.

 

 

First, Emmie and I hosted our first garage haunted house.We had wanted to jazz up the garage for the holiday, so we decked it out with lights, a skeleton, Halloween decorations, and assorted other things. It was actually pretty cool. We even played music and sound effect playlists on the TV. And, of course, the Great Pumpkin light was on!!!

Then, Emmie and I decided to move the chairs and fire pit to the driveway. We were out there for two hours giving candy to a total of 18 customers (the last four were Kiff and his friends).

Kiff spent time with friends and Bri was at her friends house.

We did have two kind neighbors come by. One complimented us on our yard. The other complimented us on how we have decorated our house over the years, which was also nice to hear.

 

All and all, a very happy Halloween.

The One With the Holdovers

 

 

This weekend, we saw a sneak preview of the holiday movie, The Holdovers.  

I wasn't too sure what to expect. It was definitely set in the late 60s and looked like it could go either Dead Poet's Society route or Mona Lisa Smile - both exquisite movies, but one more to my liking.

Surprisingly enough, the movie was its own unique creature. It tells the story of four kids who have to stay at a New England boarding school over the course of a Christmas Break - two of which did not intend to stay. Eventually the parent of one picks up three of the kids, leaving one who did not intend to stay behind left at a school with staff he doesn't particularly enjoy. We start to see their stories unwind and realize they have their own sadness, backstories, and secrets they are hiding. The end is a powerful moment on movie drama.

We all loved the movie. The only thing I would have liked is almost an epilogue about what happened to the characters ten years later, or so, to know that things worked out okay. But, other than that, it was a great take.

The One With Tri-M

 

 

Earlier tonight, Bri was inducted into the Tri-M honor society at DHS.

 The honor society is dedicated to students who excel in the music realm and hope to share their love of music with others. Bri got in for her grades, but also her ability in concert and marching band.

As part of the induction, students have to perform. Bri performed a color guard routine I Aint Worried by One Republic. It was an amazing performance. 

What was just as neat was seeing other people that Bri has known and grown up with over the years get inducted as well. It is amazing to see how far they come.

After, we went to Cherry Hill to celebrate. Though there were not too many people there, Bri and Kiff knew all of the people ordering at the three other windows...which was wild!

Congrats to Bri on being inducted into her first High School Honor Society. 

The One With 30 Years of Hocus Pocus

 

 

 

 Who would have thought that 30 years ago, this movie came to theaters and would be a Halloween cult classic. I know I didn't. In fact, I never saw the movie in the theater (though my Dad took Patrick to see it - and although he had fun with Patrick, he severely disliked the movie).

 

However, it was fun to go together as a family to see the movie in the theater. It was phenomenal. Getting to see it on the big screen made me aware of some of the dialogue that I had not noticed before, such as when Bette Midler says to Sarah Jessica Parker, "you were dancing behind me, like an idiot." More amazingly, we never realized the Binx the cat - when he was a boy - was played by Sean Murray, better know as McGee on NCIS (as show we have come to love in the past year). That was awesome to see...though he did not provide the voice. 

 

Overall, the experience was great...though hiccupped a little by a group of teens looking for the phone by the climactic ending....clearly they didn't know they could wait ten minutes and the light would come one.