Spooky Halloween Night

A few years back, my daughter Mia was totally excited about her second Halloween.  She was almost three, which put her in the category of really, really, really excited kid who wanted to go out trick-or-treating, but not the so excited that we will be out for six hours knocking on doors (which is the phase she is now in--or so she says).  Anyway, as Halloween approached, she started to refer to it as "spooky Halloween night."  I have always thought it was a cute thing to say, and I still refer to October 31 by Mia's moniker. 

As I think about Halloween, I admit I am a little disturbed by the "spooky" part of it.  Our neighborhood has a "Scariest House" award that is democratically awarded each year, and this year's winner has a terrifying flying ghost/skeleton, several tombstones, a witch or two and a massive bat that you must pass under in order to reach the front door.  Others have ghosts, zombies coming out of graves, and, in one instance of gore gone too far, three men strung up on a gallows, one of which has a head, but the rest of the body missing (apparently torn away by the looks of the guts hanging out of the base of the head).  Seriously, who puts that in their front yard?  I mean, as an adult I don't think I could sleep with that image in my mind, I can't imagine what that guy's kids have to do to go to bed at night. 

Ahh, Halloween, a time of tricks and a time of treats.  For me, I remember it as a great victory last year as I was able to overcome all temptation and make it without any candy for the entire month of October.  I even remember my friend Paul giving me an empty candy wrapper for a gift.  Awesome.  This year, it is exactly what it is supposed to be:  scary.  With all will-power gone, I continue to struggle to just give up the sugar.  It has, once again, taken over.  This weekend, we had my wife's entire family up for a little pre-Halloween party.  A good time was had by all, but let's be honest:  cake, ice cream, apple cider, caramel apples.  All these things mean one thing to a dieter:  doom.  I mean, come on, there is really only so much a person can do to withstand the temptation before giving in. 

Now, I have all of the holidays looming, and I don't really have the jump start I had last year.  With a whole month behind me, I felt like I could do it.  Now, I have faltered so much I just don't have any confidence to make it past Halloween, let alone the four birthdays and five more holidays that come by January 1st.  So I guess what I have to choose is whether to throw in the proverbial towel and wait until January, or whether to just suck it up and start again tomorrow.  Not a happy choice my friends, not a happy choice.