Halloween: The Final Frontier

One of the perks that come with my job is that when I go to bed at night, I don't necessarily need to wake up at any pre-determined time. I eschew the beeps and buzzes of alarms and opt for a more natural awakening. And when I do feel my eyes starting to open and the grip of a deep sleep loosening, I wake slowly, savoring every last second of warmth and snug-ness. It's a truly wonderful way to start the day. Despite this affinity for being a slow riser, there are a few things that could get me out of bed in an instant. For example, I imagine the sound of the smoke detectors would definitely make me leap from bed on a moment's notice. Similarly, if Kristin were to run into the room shouting that someone was trying to break in or that the dogs had gone missing, that too would also cause me to leap into action. But these are obvious reasons to be startled out of bed. I have a new one for that list.

Kristin leaned over to kiss me goodbye before she was headed to work, like she always does, but sometime between telling her I love her and my daily semi-conscious reminder to drive safely, I blurted out "What the hell do you have on?" I was three-fourths asleep, but I had cracked my eyes enough to see that she was wearing a blue jumpsuit with a rather large "NASA" logo on it. She replied that it was Halloween and she decided to wear her flight-suit from Space Camp since they have a costume contest at work each year.

My eyes opened a bit fuller -- in shock mind you -- and I at once sprang from the bed and sprinted down the hall to my office in search of my digital camera. Kristin wanted me to go back to bed, telling me I could take photos of her when she came home. "Oh no" I replied, "I'm taking these photos right now for the blog. It's not everyday my wife pretends to be an astronaut."

Kristin was a good sport and posed for the two photos below. It dawned on me when I was taking these photos that Kristin went to Space Camp in 1988. She was in the 7th grade. I can't figure out what's more absurd -- that she still has the jumpsuit or that she still fits into the jumpsuit. I think it's a toss-up. Regardless, it's got to be the single most unflattering outfit ever devised. But she did get it at NASA and she's very proud of the name badge that is still pinned to it. Apparently the only thing missing from making it a true astronaut outfit is the diaper... but alas, Kristin's drive to work isn't nearly long enough to require that.

As for me, I'll be home playing the wonderful game Overlord while waiting on UPS all day to deliver a new laptop I purchased from Amazon. I'll write more about it later, for certain. As far as Halloween goes, I'm debating whether or not to put all 10 pounds of candy outside on the porch in a bowl with a sign asking kids to please take 1 or 2 pieces each. And I want to hide a videocamera on the porch to record the action. It's not that I don't want to answer the door 100 times tonight -- well, sort of -- but I think it could prove pretty interesting to see how kids react when faced with a massive bowl of free candy. I know the little doorbell-ditching punks (Canadians, no less!) next-door will probably take a few giant handfuls, but I imagine most of the little tikes around here will only take the 1 or 2 pieces. As much as I complain about how noisy the kids on my street are, I have to admit that there are some really nice little kids in the neighborhood. Every day I take the dogs for a walk there's at least a couple little boys and girls who ask if they can "pet the sled dogs". One little girl even gets on her knees and hugs Annana around the neck so tight, I often wonder if she's ever going to let go. On second thought, to hell with the social experiment: I want to see the costumes. The candy will be inside.