Rudi and I have not yet carved our pumpkins, so I’m eagerly awaiting his arrival so we can get on with that.

In the meantime, I offer you some seasonal fun:

• Slate‘s “Tracking Tricks and Treats“
• The National Confectioners Association’s statistics and background about Halloween
• The History Channel offers you a history of the holiday
• “Scaredy Cat” from Garfield’s Halloween Adventure
• It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (Yes, it’s the whole thing; no, I don’t know how they got permission, either….)
• Me!
  

  I’m not telling you. But I have a highly intelligent readership and I bet that you can figure it out. Feel free to check the comments if you’re feeling stumped. I’m sure someone will leave a clue there… And if you need a close-up of one of the details, feel free to check after the jump. (more…)

If you do not go to a costume shop to find the key items you need in order to make a Halloween costume work, you will need to be more creative.

I may not have figured out the villain for my novel yet, but I have figured out my costume for tomorrow. I just hope I haven’t used all my creativity in one fell swoop.

Photos tomorrow…

Since I couldn’t have my real-world favorite Mets in the World Series, I was rather pleased to have a number of my fantasy team players suit up for the Fall Classic.

From the Detroit Tigers, I managed catcher Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez (one of the greatest catchers in the game today), closer Trevor Jones, and Placido Polanco (although Placido didn’t remain on my team for the whole season).

From the Cardinals, I managed outfielder Preston Wilson and shortstop David Eckstein.

It’s very rewarding to see your players go on to succeed when your own shortcomings lead them to a last-place showing.

And as David Eckstein’s former manager, I can say that he really was deserving of being named the World Series MVP and that I am so proud of his performance.

The guy isn’t normal MVP material. He lacks flair. He doesn’t hit home runs — just two for the regular season and one in the postseason. (Some pitchers hit more home runs than that!) But what he lacks in headlines, he more than makes up for with heart and work ethic. David may be one of the hardest working players in baseball. When he’s walked, he sprints up the basepath as if it’s possible that the ump could change his mind and that the catcher could throw him out after all. He throws himself at every ball that’s hit near him, as do all great shortstops, but you never doubt that he could have taken a step earlier or reached a bit further. He makes great time between bases because he’s not busy watching the plays (something that drives me batty with players!). David’s checking in with his base coaches to see what he should be doing. And, sure, he only hit .254 during the playoffs and .292 during the regular season. But he’s almost impossible to strike out; he struck out a mere 41 times in 500 plate appearances during the regular season and once in 63 times at the plate in the postseason. Somehow, any way he can, he’s going to put the bat on the ball. Which all just goes to show that heart and hard work really can make you a player for the history books.

Three beautiful things from John’s wedding last weekend. (I swear, I really will post about what a terrific time it was over the weekend.)

1. Jason and Essia’s daughters, Nina and Lylia, colored and drew me some pictures. I didn’t have any kid art for my fridge and I didn’t realize how much improved it would be once it was properly attired. My favorite is one that Nina did of herself and Lily with hearts over their heads.

2. John is a college friend (and my first boyfriend), so the wedding offered the opportunity to see old friends. Jason’s family came from San Francisco. BW came from the town where we all went to college. Joe, whom I don’t think I’ve seen since college, came from Connecticut’s northwest corner with his wife and a photo of his son. And Kim (hi Kim!) and Warren came from North Carolina with their two adorable kids, Katharine and Thomas. The last time most of us were together was four years ago at Kim’s wedding, and it’s been more than a decade since we lived under one roof, but it was wonderful how we were able to pick up as if we’d just been away for summer break. If one’s college is one’s alma mater (literally, “kind or dear mother”), then these are some of my siblings.

3. John’s Kim (not the same Kim from above) seems really sweet and complements his personality and quirks. This was my first opportunity to meet her and I’m so happy that she was everything I would want for John. May blessings rain gently down upon them for time immemorial.

I arrived home from work today to find a foreign guest waiting on my doorstep. Why, it’s renowned explorer Leif Erikkson all the way from Iceland!

I knew as soon as I saw the postmark who my secret Yarn Aboard 2 pal was — Carola of No Sheep and the City.

Look at all the goodies she sent me (and click on photos to enlarge them):

The main purpose behind this exchange is, of course, the sock yarn. Carola did a great job picking out yarns I’d like. On the left is Regia Nation in Fun Color. On the left is Dicentra Designs yarn in Solar Energy from Crown Mountain Farms. She also included this Badcaul sock pattern from Amelia at My Fashionable Life. Carola says the pattern is supposed to be a good one for the novice cable knitter, which is perfect for me!

She also sent me a variety of candies from Iceland. Three of them are licorice-based since licorice is a traditional Icelandic flavoring. Rudi is drooling over them. Apparently European licorice is not the same as American licorice and he loves European licorice. The other candy, the Hraun Bitar are chocolate creme wafers covered with rice crispies and chocolate. I’m glad Mum lives far away because she would really like these and I would feel obliged to share. This way I can keep them all for me!

And last but not least, she sent me some great Icelandic souvenirs — a postcard of Reykjavik, a 10 krónur piece, and a puffin magnet. I had mentioned here that I’d like to see penguins in person some day. Since Iceland isn’t noted for penguins, she offered me some native, but still unique birds instead!

Carola, takk fyrir for all these goodies. You are a kick-ass Yarn Aboard pal. I am unworthy of such spoiling. And thank you, once again, Amanda, for being such a good hostess and allowing me to play along. (And please thank Mr. Clothesknit for the two of you matching me up so well.)

Leif and I will be hanging out for a couple days while I show him the sites of D.C. and while he recuperates from his long journey and refuels for his next stop.

Well, there’s one week ’til the start of National Novel Writing Month.

You’ll be pleased to know that I do have an idea for my novel. It could be 175 pages worth of idea. Let’s hope…

I’m going to write a mystery. The idea is the combination of a suggestion from Dad, current D.C. events, and general answers to my late night questions provided by Rudi.

I have a protagonist. I have a victim. I don’t have a perpetrator yet, but I’m sure I’ll be surprised as I go along.

My goal for the month is to write every day. I have lots of fun things planned for the month of November, so I’m not going to stress about the word/page count. If I get to 175 pages or 50,000 words, that’ll be great. But if not, that’ll be fine, too. I have a bad habit of abandoning things that I can see clearly aren’t going to work out, so I want to remove that impediment from the start. If my goal is merely to write something — anything — for 30 days, that seems accomplishable and easy to rebound from if I slip off the wagon. If I were to stick with the official rules and didn’t write the necessary 5 pages a day to stay on track, I could see abandoning the project after the first weekend in November.

So, I’m starting the typing exercises. Warming up the computer. Clearing the extraneous stuff from the schedule. But also keeping it realistic and fun and meaningful in the long run.