It was really hot outside just a little while ago. So much so that I said to myself, "Wow, this is a perfect summer day! In October!" Then out of nowhere, it got super cold! Autumn arrived rather noticeably in the form of a cold front and showers. It's as though she came running up, panting her cool breath over all of us, saying in between giant breaths, "Sorry I'm late!"

I, for one, am happy she's here. Part of me really likes the darker days, the rain, the crisp air. And the part of me that doesn't? Well, I try not to dwell on it, or else the weather will get me down. So I embrace the mysterious, dark deariness that these days bring, wrapping the season around my shoulders like a black velvet cloak, enjoying it as best I can.

One good thing about Fall is all the cold-weather holidays. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas...

Halloween and Samhain have just passed, and it was pretty wonderful this year! I'm still fairly new to my pagan path, so this really is the first year I've ever celebrated any of the pagan holidays with other people. The first was Mabon, and now also, Samhain.

Like I said, it was wonderful, but it was also kind of a weird day, overall! Lots of bizarre energy in the air. It didn't help that I forgot to meditate that day, so was a bit frazzled, in general. First, I got up the courage to put black hair gel in my hair. After I did so, though, after all the apprehension, I was actually totally bummed that it really didn't make my hair black at all. Slightly darker? Sure. It looked like it does whenever it's wet. But it was a far cry from black. Thanks a lot, Hot Topic Girl! Heh.

Anyway, I went to the gas station on my way to the store, and a little old man was trying to get directions to someplace. He came over and asked if I could help him, looking a bit bewildered, and holding a paper with a few notes scribbled on it. He showed it to me and asked if I knew where this place was. We were about two blocks from it at the time, so I told him how to get there, and he blew a kiss of thanks to the heavens. "You're the only one who knew where it was!" he said, sounding simultaneously incredulous and relieved. He thanked me a few times. He seemed really nice. I hope he got there okay.

I did some quick shopping at Target, then came home to put my makeup on. I considered making a small Halloween gift for a friend of mine, so I went down to 7-11. I thought it would be cute to put some candy in a Halloween mug, and my 7-11 is a pretty decent one, often having nice things. So I took a chance and went down there. They had some cute Halloween Pez dispensers, so I grabbed a jack-o-lantern one, and walked around the store looking for a mug of some sort. I didn't find anything, though. I went back to the counter, looked at the Pez candy and decided I didn't want it. I set the one I'd been carrying back where I got it, pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the time and realized I only had an hour before I needed to leave. I shook my head, put my phone back in my pocket and left the store, walking quickly back towards my apartment. All of a sudden I hear, "Hey! Excuse me!! YOU!!!!"

I didn't think those yells had been directed at me at first! I whirled around to face the 7-11 lady, who was clearly pissed off. "YOU PAY FOR CANDY!" she screamed, pointing at me.

"What? No, I didn't get the candy," I explained.

"I see it! Right there in your pocket!!" she shrieked, still pointing.

I stuffed both hands in my pockets and brought out the contents of each, a set of keys in my left hand, my phone in my right. I said in a very stern but calm voice, "I didn't GET the candy. I changed my mind and put it right back where I got it."

"Oh," was all she said as she scowled, turned around and headed back into the store.

Oh my GOD, was I furious! I wanted to flip her off or scream at her or ... something!! Mostly, I wanted her to say, "Oh, sorry," or something of the sort, but I think she still believes I took the candy. Wow. That sucked! Also, that was the first time I've ever been accused of stealing something! Man.

I was so burned up and crazy-feeling that I called my mom. I knew Joe was working, and wasn't sure I could get a hold of him. When I told him that later, he said I could always call him. Joe's the best!

My mom is the best, too, because she said, "Well that's her problem if she thinks you took it. Not yours. Don't worry about it. Just do your breathing exercises and you'll be fine."

When I said it pissed me off, she said it pissed her off just to hear about it. So I said, "Okay, let's both just not be pissed off, then!" And we laughed.

* * *

I felt considerably better after talking with my mom. I grabbed my camera and went into the bathroom to apply my cat make-up. I'm actually really happy with the way my whole costume turned out. I love being a punk kitty! My favorite part was the safety pin through one of the plaid kitty ears. That's just the cutest thing in the world. Add to that that they were 50% off, and they become the best Halloween accessory EVER! It was so easy to throw together, and it was a lot of fun to wear, too.

The Samhain circle celebration I went to was really nice. It was a little odd and chaotic, just because there were so many people, and a few interruptions. But overall, I really loved it. There was a spiral dance, a nice song, blessings for those who have left the world and come into it in the past year, and jumping over the fire for those who wanted to. I was afraid to at first, but it was a small fire and I was determined to do it! I mean, why not, really? So I did, and it was so simple and great!

Silly as this may sound, I was totally proud of myself for going for it and jumping the tiny fire. It's so easy to let little nagging fears keep me from doing things, and any time I do even the very simple things I'm afraid to do (making small talk in an elevator, for example), I think of it as one more positive step towards managing my anxiety. Because of that, I left the gathering feeling really great inside.

Other little things made me feel good, too. The smell of the incense, the beautiful carvings and jewelry in the shop just inside the gathering space. Even the kids who were there. Two kids in particular were super cute. One was a boy dressed as the Grim Reaper. He even had a foil covered sickle! Some tiny children with their parents came up to trick-or-treat, and the Grim Reaper Boy ran out with a bucket of candy to give out to them. As he raced over to them, one little ballerina girl did a sudden about-face and made a beeline for the safety of her mother's arms! She took off so fast from pint-sized Death, I couldn't help laughing!

The other cute moment of the evening involves another "kitty-cat" there that night. There were only two of us. The other cat was a little girl, maybe 2 years old? She was standing near me at one point. I said hi to her and she shyly looked away. I lowered my eyes and shyly looked away from her, too (so she wouldn't feel scared of me). I glanced around, pulled my belt from behind me (which I'd looped through my back belt loop), and whispered, "This is my tail."

She reached behind her and slowly brought her fluffy cloth tail around the side of her and held it up for me to see. I smiled, gave her a thumbs-up, and said, "That's awesome!" She grinned at me, and I just about melted into a puddle on the floor.

Later, as we were leaving, I saw her and said, "Bye, Kitty!"

"Bye!" she said cheerily. I was so surprised! What a cute kid!

Afterwards, I went out to dinner with Misti and her husband. We had a fun time, and the food was really tasty.

And that was the end of the night!

* * *

Well, not quite. I ended up staying up into the wee hours of the morning, because when I got home, Joe showed me what he'd bought me earlier in the day. Two SIMS expansion packs!! I played the SIMS when they came out originally, and then got distracted by life and whatnot and didn't go back to it. I was kind of discouraged by the fact that there were so many limitations on what I could do with them. I didn't really pay attention to all the expansion packs out there until I stayed with Derek and Heather a couple weeks ago. Heather has a ton of the expansion packs and we had a great time playing with our couple we invented, Slack and Jack Daniels. They were cute!

Anyway, when I heard about the Makin' Magic expansion pack, I knew I had to get it. I mean, SIMS with wands and spells? That's too cool to pass up! And Joe got it for me! He also got me Unleashed, which is the one with all the pets and stuff. Super cool!

Joe helped me install the games, and I spent several hours on Saturday playing with everything. My newest couple is Opal and Oscar Mayer. Oscar's bio? "I loves bologna." Ha!

Joe and I also saw Alien in the theater on Saturday. I'd never seen it before and was thoroughly freaked out afterwards. It was awesome!

Then we went to Target and bought a dresser. Joe stayed up all night long building it. It is SO cool! It looks great in our bedroom, like it was always meant to be there. I'm really happy with it.

All in all, I've had a great weekend. It was very contemplative, which I haven't really touched on yet, but likely will, soon. Lots of thoughts spinning through my head lately (what else is new?). For now, I'm just going to enjoy this recent arrival of Autumn and see if I can't welcome her, relax, and have fun. After all, that's what life's all about, right? Having fun? I like to think so.