2001 Versus 2011 - Halloween

I love Halloween. Besides my famous soup in a pumpkin, I love all fall dishes and desserts. And I sense from facebook that I share this passion with a lot of my 198 friends.

I finally had that infamous Halloween party I have been wanting to host for the past nine years. While we held one my senior year in college with the football frat, this one differed slightly and here is how:

1) I didn't have to have anyone "work" the door, turning away unwanted party-goers. Although there were two other parties going on on my floor, there were no mystery guests. The only non-invited guest was a miniature pincher dressed as a lobster, but Scout didn't mind [and neither did I].

2) I baked all day long and served homemade cupcakes, cookies, dips, snacks and my famous soup. Meanwhile, back at the Zeta House in 2001, We spent twenty-five minutes hiding all of our food so drunk guests wouldn't eat our groceries.

3) I had a little wine/beer table. Flashback to 2001: We had five kegs of Milwaukee's Best Light - AKA "The Beast".... and the kegs were kicked by 2 AM. Oh - and we had to get up at the crack of dawn [you know - like 10 AM] to drive to Canton, Ohio to get the kegs by closing time at noon.

4) My mini pumpkins/gourd decorations are still in tact today. Back in the Zeta house, the mini pumpkins were dumped in the washing machine, unbeknownst to us and my roommate ended up washing [and drying, mind you!] a mini pumpkin - only discovering it while she was folding all of her laundry. At least we had a laundered pumpkin.

5) There is no evidence of a party in my condo this morning. In the olden days, those new rushes were forced to come to our house before noon with hangovers to scrub our house clean like unpaid maids. Besides a pumpkin gone missing - I think I saw it smashed outside today, my peers are pretty mature - having helped clean up my place before I passed out at 1 AM.......

Baby Boom

Wow! Long time, no talk, people.

I feel so lucky because I had the best summer ever. I just took Madison in and didn't take it for granted.

One Saturday, I was about to go boating and I had a little baby on my hip. "My sister is due any day," I told the proud parents. And just then, I received a text that my sister was in labor.

So, I went to meet the baby. And we talked a lot. Not the baby and me. We didn't talk at all. In fact, he just did a whole lot of baby things that I am sure I did, too. And Janie [that's me] thought more and more about the kid thing. I am not a natural with these newborns. I like the toddler age. That looks fun. But what happens to a couple during this time scares me terribly. I talked with my brother-in-law and sister. A lot.

And here is what we talked about: Vasectomy? Tubal Ligation? Which? So - something needs to happen to prevent the procreation when a couple is done reproducing. Correct? What is more invasive? One of them needs to do something. A woman cannot take birth control hormones forever. It's not healthy. The rhythm method results in more kids. So does the "pull-out" method. And my understanding is that most couples who have several children end up with abstinence anyway. So - why the heck have kids if you don't feel like that was a goal in life? [They did not tell me this, I have just read a ton on the topic]. No exploitation, here!

I still feel like at forty, if I can manage to have one, I would. But I am not going to lie here. I hate liars, anyway. I am not afraid to die. I am not afraid of a lot of things. I am terrified of child birth. I am perfectly happy and proud to show off my ten year old golden retriever. I have raised her. Yeah - she's wild and all. But, I have had her since she was a pup. I don't need to "squeeze something the size of a watermelon out of something the size of a lemon."

Besides, how would I give up my pinot grigio for nine months? Life is too good without kids. Besides, we have a horrible overpopulation.