Ghouls, Junk Food, the Election, & Food for the Soul

Well Halloween has come and gone. It wasn't as big as I expected but it certainly was a good night out. Jack King was here from Kentville to share in the festivities. He was down for a course and had take out pizza with us at the house and helped hand out the candy. In the end there were about 150 trick-or-treaters. Not bad compared to the measly 7 to 10 we used to get at Belcher Street. I honestly expected more but being on a dead end street (some prefer to call it a cul-de-sac) does have its advantages. Unfortunately there is a whole lot of candy left over and it isn't helping with the whole "Chose Well, Life Well" initiative. The apres Halloween was good too. The neighbors all got together on the street next to two fire pits and spent the rest of the evening talking and carrying on. Isabelle did something she hasn't done in a while-she fell asleep in my lap, in her fuzzy elephant costume. It brought back memories of when she really little. Meanwhile we had an election. Now this is nothing like in Canada where there are multiple parties and only two networks to report on the returns. This was an all out, down and dirty, mud slinging election. In the end (everyone knows how it ended) it was interesting to see it from the inside. There were seven networks reporting results and making all sorts of predictions. In one case they called a state for McCain just minutes after the polls closed when Obama was in the lead with only 1% of the vote counted. It was one heck of a media circus. At least now its over and we can move on. Maggie has been through a hard few days. She had surgery yesterday to remove a lump on her side (we'll know more in a few days) and seems to be coping very well. At least this time I don't have to carry her up and down the stairs. The incision is four inches long and looks pretty nasty but she hasn't been at it. It's in a location that makes it difficult to reach, up behind her left shoulder. Maggie also has more meds now than most octogenarians. Between the painkillers, the antibiotics for the surgery, the steroids for her nose, a thyroid replacement, and another supplement, she gets eight pills a day. Jane is in charge because I can' t get my hand far enough down her throat to administer them effectively. Lastly I want to tell you about the Y. Things are going well, though I haven't lost any weight (damn Halloween candy!). The weight routine is good, the running program is coming along, and I've started swimming lessons. Now, I know how to swim, but the spin turns and stroke improvement class will build my technique so I can swim laps for fitness without flailing around like fish out of water. Today I did my second cycling (or spinning class) and had an interesting thing happen. Now I know it's the YMCA (the C stands for Christian) but I've never had an instructor pray for us after a workout before. I guess it just caught me off guard. We are in the South after all.