Would You Like Bacon With That?

Before our 13.5 hour drive home from Oregon, we stopped at the famous Voodoo Doughnut store in Old Town Portland.  They are famous for wacky-topped doughnuts with unique (and sometimes irreverent) names.  But what intrigued us most was their Bacon Maple Bar.  I just had to try it.  Brent and the boys waited in the 30+ minute line outside in the cold and brought our orders to the car.  I was expecting little bacon bits sprinkled on an ordinary maple bar.  No.  These were substantial good quality slices of bacon over fresh, thick homemade maple icing.

 Sounds pretty gross, huh?  But think about a nice ham with that yummy sweet glaze on top.  It works.  Or think about your pancake and bacon breakfast, with the maple syrup spilling over onto the bacon.

This is the Voodoo Doll.  It is filled with raspberry jelly, so you can poke it with the pretzel "stake" and see the ooze.

Oli says that Day's Market in Provo sells these types of unique doughnuts.  Maybe I"ll have to try their version of the Bacon Maple Bar for comparison.

Temple Grandin

Every once in a while, you just happen upon a gem.  Put this movie in your Netflix queue, or get it from Redbox, or see if any video stores are still in existence and rent it.  Watch it with the whole family.  You'll all laugh and cry.  Claire Danes was fantastic.

Halloween 2010

Our friends host the most fabulous Halloween dance party every single year.  We happened to have some photos of this painting from last year's party, so why not turn Brent into the Abe Lincoln clown?

Steph's Mexican skull cake

And look.  Someone just happened to dress up like the cake!

This is Millie's Bollywood costume that I borrowed.  Sadly, I have no pictures of Millie wearing it.  Why?  Issues related to dog barf, hail storms, and a panic attack.

Mango from Saturday Night Live

 Eve had plenty of leaves covering the back side.  But Adam, not so many.  Well, none.

I had to explain to my kids what a Smurf was.

Dave's Pharoah costume was pretty darn gutsy. He owned it!  Steph was one of a set of 3 sassy witches.

Doesn't everyone need a plastic horse lamp hanging in their family room?

Mr. Peepers from Saturday Night Live.  Not only did he look the part, but he acted the part for most of the evening.  Hilarious.  Although, I'll admit that I had to Youtube both Mango and Mr. Peepers when I got home.

Jersey Shore group.  I've never watched this reality show, but I think I get the idea.

Garage/art studio/dance room.

Some of the fellers.

Noelle had this oversized ice skating costume in her basement and was hoping it would fit somebody.    Oli snatched that thing up no problem.

Simon threw this together in about a minute.  There's a cute little top hat on the purple hair, but sadly, my photography skills are lacking.

Trick-or-Treaters Chart

I think I'm pretty normal.  Maybe a few mild quirks here and there.  I don't remember why it started.  It probably had to do with one or more of these:

1) Running out of candy for trick-or-treaters
2) Ending up with a ridiculous excess of candy after trick-or-treaters
3) I rather like numbers and charts

For whatever reason, I began keeping a tally of trick-or-treaters back in the year 2000.  If someone else in the family answers the door, they know they better add the tally marks - or else... This revised chart is much more cute and readable than the original ripped-off piece of cardboard, bent and wrinkled, with uneven lines and thick Sharpie writing.

So, in case anyone ever asks me these questions, I have the answers:

Q: What year did you have the most trick-or-treaters?

A: 2008 with exactly 200 decorated children getting candy at the door.

Q: What years were cold and miserable?

A:  Easy.  2000, 2002, 2010.  I don't have a record of 2004, so it could have been cold also.

Q:  Over the past 10 years, what is the average number of trick-or-treaters?

A: 144.8

Call me weird.  It's okay.