Feel-good feeling on an unexpected night

So, I love Halloween. Not as much as Christmas, but I do enjoy it. I like candy, dressing up, acting like someone else for a night and wearing hilarious makeup. Otherwise, Halloween is pretty sweet. Plus, journalists love esoteric, punny costumes. So, all in all, great things.

I bought 4 bags of candy for the neighborhood tonight. This is the first year that we've a) been home for Halloween and b) had time to hand out candy and c) lived in a neighborhood that seemed to have a lot of children. So, four bags seemed to be enough in my head.

So far, we're an hour into the candy hand out and it seems that I grossly underestimated how much candy I needed. I started out with the method of handing them the bowl and letting them take what candy they wanted. I always loved those houses when I was a kid, but I soon learned that those people were either a) rich b) ill-prepared for the size of my desire for candy or c) all of the above. Turns out this kid - who I'm pretty sure has a future in the NFL or NBA - had GIANT hands and snagged about 2 Whoppers, 1 Snickers, 2 Milky Ways AND 1 3 Musketeers. Wow. For a 12-year-old, he should start running more to get his Combine speed up.

Then, there was this weird encounter. We have had a few homeless people come to our door to ask for candy. I can't say no. I mean, if they truly are homeless and I am so blessed to have enough money to buy a bag of candy, how can I not hand it out to them. But, then there's this thought process of should I give them canned food instead of non-nourishing candy? I mean, it seems odd that I'm handing them chocolate bars in substitute for a meal.

So, all in all, it still felt good to help people. This is definitely the first time that I've had homeless people come to my door for Halloween, but I wasn't exactly mad. I was just shocked, then bemused, then excited I could help in some way. So on an usual

Side note: Favorite costume so far was a little 2-year-old dressed as a very made-at-home peacock. When I asked her what she was, she said, "Pee." Then, her mom said, "That's right, hunnie, peacock." Adorable.

Second side note: We also got a couple of those "I'm a teenager and too old to go trick-or-treating or even to dress up in costume, but here I am at your doorstep demanding candy" kids. I gave each of them ONE piece of candy and asked one dude what he was supposed to be. He turns out, showing me a backpack on his back and says, "A college student." I respond, "Good aspirations, kid."