The Joy I Get

I am full of joy today - we got Dilly Bars at work today for October birthdays. It is gorgeous, cool & crisp outside. I love my hair (switched to a new shampoo which smells amazing, and leaves it so silky straight and soft). I am listening to Snow Patrol sing of someplace cold & caked with snow, a secret place. I am wearing my favorite new sweater from Express (after discovering how much I love it in charcoal grey the other day, I went back and got it in espresso brown, which I'm wearing today). Really, it doesn't take much to please me.

But two things I'm most excited about today are this - I have Halloween plans and pre-Halloween plans. My Halloween plans are simple, but thrilling. I get to hang out with my friend Amy Lee, and she's making Ratatouille, and I'm making Tarte Tatin, and we'll drink sparkling apple cider and pass out candy. Nothing special except it's two dorky women and a baby (she's preggers) hanging out, thrilling little trick-or-treatin' kiddos, and making French Food.

What really brings me joy, though, is this: Saturday I get to spend time with my two favorite people under three feet tall. Ana & Josiah. This post is basically going to be about how cute and wonderful they are, and all the fun things I have planned for us to do Saturday afternoon.

First of all let me say, they are an idiosyncratic little bunch. Ana has fallen into the habit of calling me Mary Poppins. I love it! Whenever I go over to visit, it seems, she's down in the basement, hanging out. And when she hears my voice, I can hear her start to yell, sing-song like, "Aunt Trinette, Aunt Trinette" as she pitter-pats her way up the stairs. But as soon as she reaches the top, and I sweep her up for a hug & a (usually slobbery) kiss, she's all "Mary Poppins, Mary Poppins". It's pretty hilarious.

The last time I spent quality time with them, Josiah repeatedly told me "Aunt Trinette, do you know why I love you? Because you like to have dance parties", or "Aunt Trinette, do you know why I love you? Because you like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, just like me" Imagine if life and love were really that easy. I could go up to any man I might like and be like "Hey, So-and-So, do you know why I love you?" (Whoah, newsflash, I didn't even know you did love me!), "Because you like to watch Entourage, just like me", or "Hey, So-and-So, do you know why I love you? Because you like Honeycrisp apples, just like me". Wow, simplicity!

Anyways, we always have fun together, the three of us little dance partyin' maniacs. And this Saturday should be no exception, well, except I'm kind of getting tired to listening to the Robots soundtrack or Faith Baptist's Christmas program cd. So, I will probably be bringing some music of my own for us to jam to in our pirate costumes and princess accessories.

I also have planned some fun little pumpkin activities, like carving, roasting the seeds and maybe even making some marshmallow treats topped with orange & black candies or something spooky-festive like that. I can just see the mess that will ensue, and so I must be sure to spread out newspaper over the mess that may already exist. The mess is half the fun though, and who, if not an indulgent aunt, better to let them make a mess? Or let them play with knives, for that fact? I mean, if we are going to be carving, we better do it the right way, and really, they're old enough to learn (well, maybe not Ana, but she'll survive, I did).

I did find some pictures, for our inspiration. Hopefully we can manage to make something slightly resembling jack-o-lanterns, all artistic, Martha Stewart ambitions aside. The main thing is, we're going to have so much fun, and spend time together, making memories and being family. Really, that brings me the most joy of all.