Sunday, October 26. I went to stake conference wearing clothes I usually wore to work, in addition to my jack-o-lantern tie, orange belt, and orange socks. I sat near some people in my ward, and they liked my tie and my belt, so I had to point out my socks as well. Our bishop's family was sitting a few rows ahead of us, and the girls I was sitting by convinced some of Bishop's daughters to come by us before the meeting--I think candy helped with that. During the meeting, Kelli and Katie were making the toddler daughter giggle, and Sister Eyring didn't seem to know why she kept laughing, although she later did look back at us, but it was at a time when the girls weren't looking. Sister Eyring gave candy to the little girl, and we were all amused as we watched her spit the candy out onto the floor. I wrote on my main blog, and I remember my mom freaking out by the thumbnail picture of the mouse and then asking her parents if they'd seen the picture. That night I went to an indexing night at the home of our second counselor; I was indexing on my laptop on the couch and a deaf girl named Shantel was talking to me. I also wrote on this blog at some point.
Monday, October 27. During my lunch break I went over to Kneaders and got a candy apple with my lunch. I think I asked for cinnamon, but I think I ended up with a Butterfinger because they were out of cinnamon, and the person who brought it out to me seemed to think the cashier had done something wrong. That evening I attended a four-ward Halloween party at our church building. I pulled out our old Fred Flintstone costume and our toy woolly mammoth. I showed up and walked past my bishop, who was wearing a skeleton morph suit and black shorts. There was a table set up with a bunch of goodies on it. There was a bowl of generic candy, which I wouldn't eat; a bowl of popcorn; and apple cider with dry ice in it, which I thought was a brilliant idea, incorporating two Halloween traditions together (cider and dry ice). They had a station where you eat the donut from the string. Less popular was the apple bobbing station, which I had never done before. They were keeping track of record-breaking times on a chalkboard. I went to get my apple, and decided I was determined to get one particular apple, so then I remembered my swimming training and breathed out under the water so that I could immerse myself and get the apple. When I came out with a yellow apple in my mouth, the guy writing down times was impressed, because I was the new record. I had done it in about thirty seconds, beating the previous record by Kit. Kit told me he was going to beat my time. He did, and lots of people beat us, having times of about a second. I didn't care about the time, though; I was just happy I got an apple. I talked with various people, including a Chelsey whom I had never met and some people from the Deer Hollow Ward, a Lindsey dressed as a hillbilly and one Shay. I also saw Shaelene Christensen dressed abstractly as a candy corn but I didn't get to talk to her. Several people commented on my costume; one guy said the mammoth was his favorite part, and someone told me it should have been purple. There was a table with candy apples as costume prizes, and you could nominate a costume, but I thought it would be in poor taste to nominate myself. They started a dance party. I didn't care to participate. My friend Emily came dressed as Cruella DeVil. We went out into the hall to look for alternate activities. In one room they were playing Werewolf (a game like Mafia), which I don't care for; we tried to photobomb some people but they saw us. Our bishop was doing a lot of dancing, and his son won a costume as a "skeleton hunter." Rachel and Madi were trying to get me to dance, and Rachel told me, "Put the elephant down." There was a lull in the songs, so the DJ (David Orton) put on the "Monster Mash," and I could tell it was a cheap knock-off of the original. Then I went home and got ready for bed before watching my Halloween show for the day. The Shay I had met at the party texted me, saying, "A friend gave me your number." My mom came home from swimming and I told her I was going to watch Frankenweenie (the original), and she was glad I hadn't watched it without her. Either that day or the next, she said she had been talking with Laura Anderson, who had been talking with Madi about me, including about girls who were interested in me. This is my journal entry for the day:
"Today I listened to Dracula while working. What a good read! I went to Kneaders and got a candy apple. Tonight I went to the combined ward Halloween party with my Fred Flintstone costume and stuffed woolly mammoth. I bobbed for apples and was the best time up to that point. Girls tried to get me to dance."
Tuesday, October 28. I went to institute that night, wearing a Peanuts Halloween shirt, and people told me they liked it. Then I went home and watched The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Wednesday, October 29. I had a phone interview scheduled with Western Governors University, so I walked over by the Church Office Building and sat on a bench until they called me. They asked me what I knew about WGU (I told them my sister was taking classes through them), and they told me they would let me know in the next week or so. (They never did.) While I was out, I went to the temple to print off same family name cards. I didn't know where to enter, so I walked around Temple Square to see if I could see people entering or exiting, and eventually I found it. I had to ask the brother at the recommend desk where to go to print names. I went to get lunch at Nauvoo Cafe. They were advertising turkey pot pies, so I thought I'd get one, but I was requesting one in the wrong place. It didn't taste very good, and I felt disgusting after eating one. I went back to work and put in a breath mint when my boss, Reid, called me up to his office. There was a box of donuts outside his office, and he said, "Would you like a donut? Elder Snow brought them." I had a breath mint in my mouth, so I said I might when we were done. He had a huge map in his office; I said, "Have you always had that?" and he said he just got it the previous day. A girl named Sherilyn who "worked" at my work came and talked to me because she had seen my last name and knew she had Melville ancestors; she was descended from Daniel Dutson Melville (who I later learned was the son of my direct ancestor Alexander Melville). That night my family was carving pumpkins. My mom and sister and niece brought home food from Atlantis Burger. The gyros were leaking juice out of the box and all over Allie, and I said I was disappointed they didn't get me a pumpkin eggnog shake. I asked if I could turn on my Halloween music, and they said yes, but the TV might have been on too, I can't remember. I was talking with them about the amusing story I heard on the news about an old man driving on stairs at the U, and I told them that my favorite comment was when someone said "He makes one little mistake and you want to take away his license," and someone responded "I would hardly call driving up and down stairs a little mistake." Allie hadn't been paying attention but she wanted to know what we were talking about when we were laughing. Susanne was really laughing and saying she hoped they never publicized who the guy was. I wanted to make my jack-o-lantern to have spiral eyes. It was harder than I thought, and one eye broke. Then we found various candles to light them and take pictures. Susanne remarked about how happy my mom's was.
"Today I stepped out for a phone interview with Western Governors University. Then I found my way into the Salt Lake Temple to print names, then I went to the Nauvoo Cafe and got a gross turkey pot pie. I went to Reid's office, where he has a huge map. I had a hard time focusing today, since I woke up from a dream where I feared being punched in the nose because I wouldn't let a guy hurt his girlfriend. I learned someone at work is descended from Alexander Melville.
"Tonight we carved pumpkins. Mom's is the best, Pops's is the worst. I wanted to do spiral eyes, but they didn't really work. Then Mom and I watched Frankenweenie in 3D, and we ate a quality apple from our own tree."
Thursday, October 30. At work, I had a personal bio published on the employee intranet page. After work, I went down to my car, and it wouldn't start. It had done that in April earlier in the year, but then it started after waiting a bit. I looked at websites, including Awkward Family Photos, on my phone while I waited. Then I tried again, and it didn't start, so I had to call my parents and ask them to pick me up. My friend Emily had invited me to a Halloween party at her school, so I had to text her to let her know I didn't think I'd be able to make it, and she sounded a bit concerned. My parents came and we tried to jump the car, but it didn't work. They drove me to the parking attendant; I told him I had to keep my car parked overnight and had put my parking permit in the window. He asked if I needed a jump, but I told him we already did; I just wanted to make sure my car didn't get towed. Then they drove me home, and I texted Emily to see if it was worth going to her thing, and she said it wasn't. I was looking for my keys, because my dad had had them, and after he looked around for them, I realized I had them in my room. I apologized that I had wasted his evening. My mom commented that we weren't very considerate, because my dad didn't say "It's OK" when I said I wasted his time, and that I apologized to him but not to her about wasting the evening. I explained that I apologized for wasting his time because I had him looking for the keys he had already given me, which she didn't have to do. Then I watched Mad Monster Party? I wrote in my journal:
"My bio was published on the Intranet at work today, and lots of people asked about Thanksgiving music [because my bio said I listened to Thanksgiving music]. I was easily distracted today and felt like I was spinning my wheels. When I got to my car, the engine wouldn't turn over. Mom and Dad came to give it a jump, but it didn't work. We had to leave it.
"I was going to go to Emily's school carnival, but I didn't because of the car thing. Then I came home and watched Mad Monster Party?.
"I was also amused by the story of an old man getting lost at the U and driving up and down stairs."
Friday, October 31. In the morning I sat in the living room, looking on my computer, and posting the video of Thriller cat; Emily later texted me telling me how great it was. I drove my mom's car to work, and she drove my dad's, and my dad drove our Pathfinder. I listened to the radio, hoping they would play a Halloween song, but they didn't. I remember they played Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" as I was in the parking garage. As I had been doing earlier that week, I was laying out The Autobiography of Andrew Jenson while listening to Dracula. At one point I had to return something to the return room. I was wearing an orange belt and my jack-o-lantern tie, and as I walked into the return room, the missionary complimented my tie, even though her back was turned to me, and it was then that I realized they had a mirror so they could see when someone came in. My mom called me in the afternoon, because she was ready to come get my car towed if necessary. I met her in the parking garage, and while I walked over I was eating a Halloween fruit snack. She tried starting my car, and it immediately worked! Not wanting to turn it off in case it wouldn't start again, she decided to drive my car home, leaving my dad's behind. Eventually I left work, and as I walked out into the partly cloudy evening, having just listened to Dracula, there was an awesome feeling of Halloween in the air. I drove home and said I wanted to go running; I was going to drive to Tunnel Springs Park. My dad said I should test drive my car somewhere close, but my mom didn't want me to drive it running, because I wouldn't have my phone and it would be dark. I assured her that I wouldn't run for long, and I wouldn't be too far from home. As I drove up to the park, I passed lots of trick-or-treaters, even though it was still light outside. I was running on the trail in my pumpkin shirt, and the only other person I saw was a cyclist. I ran up to an overlook where I'd never been before, and as I looked out over the valley in the autumn breeze, thinking that the next day was November, it was a very pleasant experience. I drove home with the windows down, while the setting sun reflected from house windows, and I sang along with the Mad Monster Party? theme song. I saw lots of trick-or-treaters on Liberty Road, just by our house. I knew we didn't have a lot of candy, so if that group came over, our supply would be decimated. When I got home, I told my mom that my car worked just fine, and she thought I would have been running for longer. I went out to buy more candy (and make sure my car still worked). I went to Winegar's and bought some fall-themed Hershey's Miniatures, but I didn't know that it was sufficient, so then I went to Dick's. On the way over on Orchard Drive, I had to stop behind some other cars in the middle of the road for some jay-walking trick-or-treating families. After they had all passed, one of the drivers honked indignantly at them. At Dick's I got fall-themed mini Kit-Kats, some caramel apples (cinnamon and regular), and maybe some pumpkin English muffins. I also bought a Halloween-themed Lunchables nachos. I took all the stuff home and ate my Lunchables, which was gross, and a pumpkin-faced microwave quesadilla my mom had made for me. While I was gone, three trick-or-treaters had come, the only ones the entire night. Then my dad and I went to get his car. When we got to the bottom of the hill, I realized that I needed to get gas in my mom's car, so I stopped and my dad filled it up; he told me he usually fills up sooner, but it wasn't my car. When we were getting on Highway 89 from the roundabout, Maroon 5's "Animals" was playing, which I thought was a dumb song but semi-appropriate for Halloween, due to the howling. We got his car and drove home. Then we learned we were going to pick up Susanne and Allie to go get frozen yogurt. As we got in the car, my mom was talking to our neighbor, and I felt bad I didn't introduce myself. I played my Halloween playlist from my phone in the car, and when a song from Mad Monster Party? was playing, my mom said she listened to it on her way home, since the CD was in my car and she drove it home. We picked up the girls, and then we went to Orange Leaf, but it was closed. So then we went over to my grandparents' in Centerville and visited. On the way there, we watched some women with a very small girl, who was walking up to a house while the women watched; Mom and Nan said it was probably the parents who wanted to keep going, not the kid. At G'ma and G'pa's, Allie asked why I was wearing green shoes instead of orange or black; I didn't have orange shoes, and black isn't too Halloweeny by itself, and the green matched the green on my Peanuts "Happy Halloween" shirt. I had declined the candy my grandparents had for trick-or-treaters, but when we were leaving I decided it was appropriate. After we left, my mom said she thought her parents were glad we came, because her dad had a big smile on his face as we were leaving. I said, "Or was he happy we were leaving?" We went to Arctic Circle for pumpkin shakes since Allie hadn't gone trick-or-treating because she was giving out candy. I got a pumpkin cheesecake shake; my mom got pumpkin caramel. While we were waiting, they were a little slow, and Allie yelled something rude, and we had to shush her. Then we dropped them off and went home. My dad went to bed while my mom and I went downstairs to watch The Munsters' Revenge. I put my shake in the freezer and ate the cinnamon caramel apple. My mom remarked that it was a decent movie. Then I went to bed and stayed up reading an article about Halloween movies in a Halloween anthology I had. I wrote in my journal:
"I worked today and got back to Andrew Jenson's Autobiography....I had to drive Mom's car because mine didn't start yesterday, but when she came today and tried it, it worked. I listened to Dracula at work, and when I came out, it was a warm, cloudy evening. It felt like Halloween.
"I came home and drove to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. It was awesome running in my pumpkin shirt. I had the trail to myself. As I was coming back, I saw lots of trick-or-treaters, but we only had one group. I went to Dick's and Winegar's for trick-or-treat/Thanksgiving candy, then we had to go get Pops's car from the Conference Center, since Mom had driven my car home.
"Then we went to Nan's, then Grandma and Grandpa's, then Arctic Circle for pumpkin shakes. The pumpkin cheesecake's not the best. Then I came home to watch The Munsters' Revenge."
Saturday, November 1. My dad ate the other caramel apple that I had purchased the day before. I went running up to the Wild Rose Trail; I passed a smashed pumpkin on the road, and since Halloween was just barely over, I saw the house that still had its vampiric plastic flamingos in the yard. Then I went home and lifted weights while watching episodes from my first-season DVD set of Hazel--first I watched the Thanksgiving episode and then I watched the Christmas episode, so that I would know where it fit in with my other Christmas shows before the Christmas season arrived. I got a pumpkin Hershey's Kiss from a small pumpkin basket downstairs, and I was glad that I still had plenty of them to last the Thanksgiving season. But later that evening, Allie came in the room downstairs with the pumpkin, eating the Kisses and sharing with us.
Sunday, November 2. I wore my roast turkey socks. That evening, I picked up my home teaching companion, David, to go home teaching. I think we saw Bob, who lived very close to David but we didn't realize that. I noticed lots of goatheads in his yard; David walked across the yard and consequently tracked goatheads into my car. Then we drove up to the place of Lant and Nik; I can't remember whether Donald was there. We took off our shoes as we went in, since they had a sign requesting it (which David found amusing), and it was a rainy day. There was a CES devotional, and I decided I was going to watch it from home, but Lant said that he thought the stake presidency wanted us to watch it at the regional center. There was some discussion about how we interpreted his words differently. I felt a little bad that we made them late. I noticed that a house on Eagleridge Drive had turkey lights in the window. I watched the CES devo after I went home. That night Susanne came over, and I found the little pumpkin basket upstairs. I was stunned to see that Allie had eaten all of the Kisses, since there had been a large amount of them just the day before. When we asked her about it, she gave a weird laugh. I wrote on both of my blogs.
Monday, November 3. I wanted to buy clearance Halloween candy that could double as Thanksgiving candy. I think I went to Winegar's first, but a lot of their fall candies weren't on clearance and were placed with the Christmas candy. I might have gone to Dick's. I know I went to Smith's Marketplace, and I was cutting it close to making it to FHE. I checked to see if they had Free Birds on Blu-Ray, but they only had it on DVD. Then I went over to FHE--we were having a food scavenger hunt to donate to a pantry. I joined a group, and Chelsey was going to drive us; but when I saw that we were going to cram into her two-door coupe, I offered to drive. I moved my candy to the trunk as everyone got in (and I think my ice scraper as well). We were trying to find the road we were assigned to do, but I noticed it before my navigator did, so I made a quick lane change, and we went about knocking doors. Most people were pretty generous. One old man asked us if it was mutual night; he invited us in and offered us trick-or-treat candy; he gave us a whole six-can package of Costco chicken (I think). One lady in a culdesac asked us to come back in a minute so she could gather food; I was assigned to knock at that house. At one house, there was a YSA in another ward in our building (Deer Hollow Ward?) but she hadn't gone to her FHE that night. Then we drove back and tallied our finds. Our team didn't win. There were lots of goodies in the Relief Society room, but none that I could eat. I think there was hot chocolate (which it was too early for me to have), as it was a chilly evening; I was wearing my striped hoodie. Then I drove out to Shopko and looked through their clearance Halloween stuff. They had both pumpkin pie and Halloween Pop-Tarts. I was disappointed, because all through the Halloween season I had looked for the Halloween ones and couldn't find them (even though I found lots of pumpkin pie ones), but it wasn't until Halloween was over that I found the Halloween ones. I looked for Free Birds there but didn't find it. I think I got s'mores candy corn, and the cashier remarked to her coworker that they sounded good. I made a mental note that I would have to go to Shopko next Halloween season to find the Halloween Pop-Tarts, not knowing that that store would close five months later.
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