I know, I know, I should probably be talking about last week’s storm. How no one can believe we had snow like that before Halloween; how the power was out a couple of days; how there’s still folks without power. (Can you believe that?) ‘Round these parts, ‘bout all you could hear was the sound of people whining and generators doing their thing. You got your little portable ones that give you a few lights, heat, fridge, and hot water all the way up to what we call the “Taj Mahal,” where life goes on without interruption. Charlie and me have something in between: a small automatic job powered by propane, and we’re thankful for it, let me tell you.

No, I’m ready to move on from the weirdness of snow-covered jack-o-lanterns. The sun’s out, snow’s melting, and I’m hoping to get some bulbs in before we really get hammered. Before we start planning who’s bringing what for Thanksgiving and putting together Christmas lists. Before that jolly, old toboggan of holiday fun picks up speed (and a few extra pounds), finally coming to a welcome stop, January second.

What’s new in Mahoosuc Mills? Let’s see, Shirley made one of them kitty litter cakes for her Halloween party at work. What a hoot! You ever seen one? Well, check out Shirley’s picture. Anyways, it’s this cake you make in a kitty litter pan. Really! You melt miniature Tootsie Rolls to look like you-know-what, and put ‘em on top. Then you serve it up with a litter scoop. Sounds mouth waterin’, doesn’t it?

So Shirley’s telling us about the party, and she says, “I was going to dress up as Little Bo Peep, but since I was bringing the kitty litter cake, it come to me: I should go as a cat!”

Without skipping a beat, Dottie goes, “Then did you switch to the regular size Tootsie Rolls?” I swear, we almost pee’d our pants, we got to laughing so hard.

What else? Well, I guess Dad’s all done with golf for the season. (Can’t be sure. Some years, he’s pushed it into November.) Now, his bowling leagues are heating up. He bowls down to the Stars and Strikes. You know, the big balls, not candlepin. Golf’s really his game, but getting out and bowling is a nice social thing for him. They usually have lunch after.

“Joined a new league on Fridays,” he says to me. “And I hit the jackpot with my team.”

“Oh, yeah?” I reply. “Who’s on it?”

“Just me and Evelyn Purdy and Jacqueline Bouchard.”

“Eh, la, la!”

“I know. All the guys on the other teams keep coming over to our lanes to visit.”

“Well, they’re both nice looking women.”

“Yup. Easy on the eyes.”

“But are they good bowlers?”

“Doesn’t matter!”

Oh, and the girls and me are still trying to come up with a craft project for the Christmas Bazaar at St. Hyacinth’s. As I’ve probably told you, we always have a booth down there where we sell stuff. Donate half the proceeds to the church and use the other half as pin money for our field trips. Last year’s item was a hat tree, made by gluing little hats to miniature trees. Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time. We made about forty, sold two. Ended up giving ‘em away, and even then some people didn’t want ‘em!

God, did we laugh! What a great bunch of gals. Our feeling is, if you have fun doing something, even if it doesn’t turn out exactly the way you planned, you know what? You still had a good time!

That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!

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