Trick or treat, smell my feet

So today is Halloween. What did I learn this year?
1) Eating candy on an empty stomach is not a good idea, even though I was doing my little sister a favor (she doesn't like chocolate, so I eat it for her- such a sacrifice!)
2) Traffic is crazy-horrible in Parker at 5pm when everyone is trying to race home, to take their own children home before the cold really sets in
3) Scary houses are great for teenagers and adults, not two-year cousins and four-year old sisters
4) I am the coolest biggest-older sister in the history of big-older sisters, according to my littlest-baby sister E

Allow me to elaborate on my day. I had organized a BLT party with three other offices on my floor, so I was running around, toasting bread (thanks Lynnea!) and warming up cooked bacon (yum!), while my boss Laura and another co-worker were racing around, trying to get the BOT books out. After everything was set-up, I had to go to class. Who organizes a BLT party during their Adulthood & Aging class? Me.
After class, I did do some work. But I had to leave early, since I was going trick-or-treating with my family: two sisters, step-mom, dad, two aunts and one cousin. This is when I learned about traffic down south (my border is anything south of Colfax). It isn't fun.
Finally, my middle sister H and I arrived at my Aunt Kat's house, where we gobbled down pizza and got the little ones ready for some trick-or-treating fun. My cousin M was a Firefighter and E was Tinkerbell from the movie/story 'Peter Pan'- hence my outfit. H dressed up like Captain Hook; she looked like a female Johnny Depp in 'Pirates of the Caribbean' look-alike.
While we were trick-or-treating, we were all laughing and running door to door. H and I made sure the little ones were being polite, saying 'thank you' and 'trick-or-treat' to the homeowners.
There was one house, where the two of them wouldn't come to the door. A man was sitting still on a lawn chair (he must have been freezing) and when you would walk by, he would jump up. I knew that he was a real person but even I wanted to have some fun- I walked up to the door and when I walked past him, I stopped to look at him. Since he wasn't moving, I decided to poke him but when he jumped up, even I screamed!! It was so funny, for myself and the adults in our party but not the kids- they took off, running to the next house!!
When we returned to Kat's house, M decided to dump all of his candy on the floor and begin to eat it. Naturlich, I had to join it. Another sacrifice, for the good of mankind.
Then I ate some of E's chocolate candy. It was for her own good. Really.

The moral of my story is that I was on the receiving end of huge hugs and kisses from M and E, just because I dressed up and went trick-or-treating with them. Making a fool of myself, dressed like Peter Pan (nope, not Robin Hood) all day and walking around in the cold for an hour was the easiest thing to do- those two had so much fun and hopefully they are learning that you don't have to "look cool" all the time, that it is okay to have fun when you get older.
Especially when you get paid in hugs, kisses and chocolate.