I love this time of year. Halloween to me signifies the beginning of the holiday season; my favorite time of year.

Every Halloween I have the day planned just so. When the hubby gets home we have a big dinner. The kids will eat less candy with full bellies, right? RIGHT? We start the trick-or-treating early and we’re home in time to inspect all the candy, throw out the crap and joking hazards, then snuggle in front of the fire while we watch Halloween shows. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it?

It’s never quite happened like that. Last year I remember requesting to get off an hour or two early from work and being told “sure if it’s not too busy”. Of course there was some crisis and instead of getting off early I worked more unpaid overtime (this was pretty much a daily occurrence). Then had to race around the house as we slapped together our costumes, find the flashlights, and made sure everyone was going to be warm enough. We headed out the door an hour behind schedule with no dinner yet. This meant constantly taking candy away from poor Cody who was hungry and could not resist the temptation of carrying around a bag full of yummy treats. We raced around the neighborhood only to find many were already out of candy, then had to race across town to drop kids off and pick others up from their Halloween activities. Ended up grabbing some fast food along the way and got home in time to inspect candy, brush teeth and off to bed… exhausted.

This is pretty much how we’ve spent our last several Halloweens. Not this year! I have a much less stressful job so far. I’m off for the day and as soon as I hit publish for this post, I’ll be laying out the costumes, finishing the laundry, then preparing dinner. This just may be the year we get the Halloween we always plan and wish for. I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow.

How do YOU like to spend your Halloween?

By the way, if you’re looking to kill some time and want to play a Halloween game, Jack shared this with me today: Halloween Hangman. Be sure to have your speakers turned up. This is a fun one!