Trick or Treat....

I returned home from work last night, with what had to have been one of the most painful migraines that I've ever experienced, at 6:20 to discover that it was "Trick or Treating" in my neighborhood (It started at 6- I was only 20 minutes behind schedule!). Had I known what the next 2 hours would be like, I probably would have kept on driving!

My future father in law (who will for the rest of this post be referred to as my FFIL) spent the evening with us because my fiance had to drop him at the doctors office this morning for eye surgery. He was already there when I got home, making an effort to entertain and calm my overly enthusiastic boxer, and failing miserably!

Thankfully, I had the foresight to purchase candy on my Monday grocery run, knowing full well that even though I had no idea exactly when trick or treating would be, it was definitely coming! So, at least I was prepared in that sense. It was all the other stuff that I wasn't prepared for...

Here's how it all went down:

The best part of my day, on the day's when Lucy doesn't come to work to assist me, is returning home to Lucy. Even if I've had a bad day, my first 5 minutes in the house with Lucy are always wonderful! (And yesterday, WAS A BAD DAY!)

Our evening greeting ritual is the best in the world, and I wouldn't change it for anything. I get down on the floor with her, and she hugs and kisses me and I hug and kiss right back! When she's all done with that, she goes in circles around me with her little boxer butt wiggling! I tell her about my day, and ask her about hers. I absolutely love it! Can't live without it! Wait for it all day!

The whole time I'm taking part in this little love-fest, my FFIL is in the living room chatting away to me.

"Hey, Marianne, how do I work the remote?"
"Hey, Marianne, what's for dinner?"
"Hey, Marianne, do you have candy for the kids?"
"Hey, Marianne, what channel is KDKA?"
"Hey, Marianne, do you know....?"
"Hey, Marianne, Robbie says..."
"Hey, Marianne, can you set the alarm on my phone?"
"Hey, Marianne, how much longer is dinner gonna be?"

...And the headache gains intensity- QUICKLY!

I give Lucy one more kiss on the top of her head, and try to drown out the voice coming at me from the living room as I run downstairs to find something to cook for dinner. As I'm running back up the basement stairs, I hear a knock at the door and pray that the able bodied man warming my couch will take care of the trick or treaters while I defrost the chicken. It was a nice thought. "Hey, Marianne, there's kids at the door!" Ugh, really?

I grab Lucy and a bag of candy and proceed to the front door! Lucy thought this whole ritual of adorable toddlers dressed as ducks was the perfect opportunity to distribute some boxer kisses, and the toddlers didn't mind my slobbering boxer one bit! I got a big giggle out of the whole thing. From that point on, when someone knocked at the door, I grabbed Lucy, who had her leash on, and opened the front door to let her greet the kids! She did very well!

As I'm handing out candy and attempting to restrain a 60 pound boxer from bestowing way too many kisses on the adorable "duck toddler", my phone starts ringing. Oh, boy! Let it ring! Lucy and I finish up with the kids and I head to the kitchen to check on my phone and the defrosting chicken. It was Rob calling me, and I tried 3 times to call him back, but he was having the usual issues with phone, and frankly, I was out of patience. My FFIL was still in the living room asking 90 questions, and my headache was getting to the point of explosion at a very quick speed!

2 hours, 2 bags of candy, 2 Mountain Dews, and way more than 2 curse words, Trick or Treating was over, dinner was on the table, everyone was home, and I was ready for bed!

The whole ordeal exhausted the little boxer, temporarily, and she chilled out for a couple of minutes after enjoying a few bites of homeade macaroni & cheese, and bbq chicken! (But the chill out only lasted a couple of minutes. My head had no sooner hit the pillow than I heard "Hey, Marianne- can you come down here and calm this dog down?")

What a night! I'm sure glad that's over... Too bad that I didn't sleep a wink last night. Probably had something to do with all of that Mountain Dew at 7PM or the fact that I had a voice in my head that I couldn't extinguish! (Wonder whose voice that was?)