Halloween, why hast thou forsaken me?

Okay, so yeah, I have been remiss in blogging. But I need to check back in to lament the sorry state of American children's holidays. Halloween got off to a pretty good start on Saturday -- frankly, I'm not sure I've ever been part of a better collaborative costume, with Rich/Chris/Hilary/me joining forces for an Archie/Jughead/Betty/Veronica juggernaut. I should have known that after such an auspicious start it would have to go downhill.

But not immediately. While I was running this morning I saw what might be my favorite kid ever waiting for the bus. She was a pretty cool pirate. We had a conversation that went like this:

Me: I like your costume.
Coolest kid ever: ARRRRRR!!! Thankssssss!!!

But you know, from there on out, the day has sort of refused to live up to the hype. Both Chris and I came home early from work today, but so far we've only had two, yes two, trick or treaters. (One of them was a pirate, but a boy pirate.)

So after 5:30 we gave up for a while and went to the mall to buy a suitcase for our upcoming trip, on which more below. But the mall was positively swarming with kids trick or treating. Like, from store to store. At the Northgate Mall. I mean, I guess they had to be somewhere. And the mall is warm and dry. But, you know. The mall?

So we gave up and went for Korean barbecue for dinner and then came back and promptly got two trick or treaters who are holding the line on tradition and quality and freezing their toes off, marching steadfastly through the night for Snickers bars and Rice Krispies treats. I applaud you, boys.

Oh, yeah. So the trip. We're going to Hawaii in a couple of days, first to hang out with Jake and Kara in Maui and then on to the Big Island for some beach and volcano action. I have a new suitcase and everything. Hooray! Vacation.

I'm trying to figure out where I'm going to do especially cool long runs while we're away. This past weekend Sean and Yaniv and I went up to Cougar Mountain, which was slow and fun except for how I fell twice and now have some lovely multicolored bruises for the beach. Hawaiian runners, volunteer your suggestions!

Maybe I should bring our dish of candy over to the mall while I wait.

Odds and ends.

I have been thoroughly chastised for not blogging. In point of fact I have been blogging; I just haven't been blogging here.

Some news:

If you're looking for a good way to waste time while convincing yourself that the procrastination is really okay because you're preventing the onset of Alzheimer's, you should check out the puzzle game here:

http://shygypsy.com/farm/p.cgi

This thing is way more addictive than it has any right to be. Chris and I almost have it finished. The end of this puzzle is going to leave a void in our lives.

This morning I race my first race since Hood to Coast, just a little 5k that I run every year:

http://www.runforchildrens.org.

I finished in 22:35, so my speedwork is actually paying off. Moreover, the sub-22 time I've been targeting is starting to feel achievable. I was pretty happy with the time.

Moving right along, we have finally booked our vacation. We're going to Maui (staying with Jake and Kara) and the Big Island. I am counting the days...