Fender Bender, Halloween, Sorta Sad Saturday, HHN Concludes

What a week we've had! On Tuesday, I was at work when I received a tearful call from Anna. She said they got into an accident on the way to school. I left work and drove to the school. Jack had hit another car while turning into the school. The woman he hit was a teacher at another school and was very understanding. Fortunately, it did little damage to her car. Our car has a very large dent in the rear passenger door. Luckily, the door still functions normally, so the there was no frame damage. Jack felt terrible. Thomas and I were very thankful no one was hurt, but angry that Jack had made some errors in judgement. He's only been driving to school for 3 months and we had talked repeatedly about driving cautiously and fighting the "teenage instinct" that the actuaries had (correctly) calculated when we added him to the insurance. 

He still went to school that day and we had a stern discussion after dinner about expectations going forward. We believe firmly that the punishment should fit the crime. So, he has to pay for the ticket and any increase in insurance and is only allowed to drive to school. We also made him scrub the car. We likely aren't going to get the car fixed, despite the fact that that is going to greatly lower the value of the car. We are hoping that the insurance won't increase too much, and as stated, it is cosmetic. So, that was our crappy Tuesday.

Halloween was Thursday. Jack had some friends come over and they went trick-or-treating. Kara went to a friend's house. Luke had a friend come over and Thomas took the two of them. So, it was just me and Anna at home. We did not have as many trick-or-treaters as last year. We bought 360 fun-sized candy, gave two to each kid, and had about 50 left at the end of the night (including this for next year, also starburst are not popular). I went inside at one point and no one rang the doorbell. We had our lights on and our decorations up. I thought maybe the crowds had left, but when I went back out 10ish minutes later, there were still a ton of kids out. It is so weird to me that kids don't ring doorbells anymore. I remember my older three fighting over whose turn it was to ring the bell.

Luke was Charlie Brown from the It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Jack went as the same thing when he was around Luke's age. Unfortunately, we didn't save the costume, so I had to make it again. 

Kara was Brad Pitt.

Jack was Goose from Top Gun (complete with mustache). 

And, of course the yearly photo of all 4 kids. Anna had a baby mask in case she changed her mind and decided to trick-or-treat.

Friday, Thomas and I had a date night to Halloween Horror Nights. He doesn't love it like I do, but he gets a free ticket with his pass so he will go once a year. We had a great time. Well, I had a great time, Thomas had a tolerable time. He didn't like it quite as much as last year, but still enjoyed a few of the houses. We did 6 different houses, and did 3 of them twice, so 9 total walk-throughs. I had a good game plan, so our longest wait was 20 minutes. Well, 45 if you count being in line before the event opened to get a jump on the night. We were home by 9, which was good because we had a busy Saturday ahead.

I was really looking forward to Saturday. Jack had districts for cross country. Luke's baseball team had a tournament only 30 minutes from our house and it was marching MPA, my favorite band event of the year! And, Marta and Elizabeth were coming up to see Luke's game and the MPA. It was going to be a great day! But, Jack woke up sick. He still ran, but probably should not have. Fortunately, his team finished fourth, so they get to move on to regionals. But, it was not a great race and it isn't as much fun to watch when your child struggles (he still finished in 20:30, but that is a lot slower than his more recent times).

While at the meet, I got a message that Marta and Elizabeth weren't going to be able to make it. Kara and I still went to Luke's game. Once there, we sat around for an hour while it rained. The game was eventually canceled. So, kind of strike 3 on the day.

On the positive side, the MPA was good and the band had their best performance of the season, earning straight superiors. So, that was nice. But, it just wasn't the day I wanted. There was some other stuff too with a close friend having a medical emergency, but that's not my story to tell. Anyway, it was just a sad Saturday. Which was especially hard because I was really looking forward to the day. 

I think Jack is in the picture. I need to ask him.

Sunday, I went to Luke's game. They lost 8-7. Luke pitched two innings and only gave up one earned run, but it wasn't his best day at the plate (he went 1-3) and his team made some big errors. But, we did go to lunch at Culver's. 

It was the last night of HHN and Kara and I went for a few hours. We were there on the opening and closing nights. And, the house we did first, way back in August, was the house we did last. It was based on the movie franchise Insidious and was really amazing. My favorite house of the year. It was the scariest house I think they've ever done, at least in the years I've gone. We had a good run with HHN, with 11 visits over 10 weeks, but I am ready to move on to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

And to close, one kind of funny story from HHN Friday night--Thomas and I were browsing the gift shop and I got startled by a stationary mannequin. All those haunted house jump scares had obviously gotten to me :)