Consider this my advance notice: Hey, you still have time to cancel Halloween at your house. Oh, I know what you are thinking . . . has she gone bonkers? What is she talking about? Heh, heh. But I am totally serious about spreading this much needed piece of advice, especially to my neighbors in Land Park, Sacramento. In Land Park, we get a ton of traffic, constant door-bell ringing and even the parents try to hold us hostage for Snickers.
I realize there are millions of adults (and children, let's not forget the kids) in the U.S. for whom Halloween is a much anticipated event. You spend an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out what kind of costume to wear, how to decorate your house, what type of candy to buy, and for many, whose party invitation to accept.
Let it be known, however, that there are some of us who are party poopers. Yup, we're tired of Halloween and wish that holiday (if you can even call it a holiday -- do you get the day off work? I don't think so) would just drop off the calendar.
When About.com notified all of its writers that we should submit "Halloween content" for a Halloween extravaganza last month, I decided to write a somewhat different piece than everybody else. Imagine my astonishment when I was notified this weekend that my content made the home page of About.com. (It's the pumpkin icon, or you can click on the photo on this page.) I guess they liked it after all. Some people have no taste. :)
Photo: Big Stock Photo
The Short Sale, by Elizabeth Weintraub, from Archer Ellison coming January 2009.
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Certified HAFA Specialist
My Sacramento Real Estate Listings
Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. DRE License # 00697006.
The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available at Amazon.com.
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The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.
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Elizabeth, like you, I just may risked having my house TP's and do a bah humbug on this one!
Depends on how you do it, Patricia. :)
Elizabeth
I just buy five bags of candy and set it out; not so much to be distant from people but to save my dog some aggravation with door bells.
Regards
Tom Braatz
Hi Tom: My cats go crazy when the doorbell rings. Brandon, the older cat with kidney disease, hates little kids with a passion. I don't know if some kid picked on him when he was younger or what -- but he literally jumps on kids and bats them in the head. Now, I could use him as my Halloween decoy, heh, heh, but that wouldn't be fair to him; he gets too worked up. (I could see it now, no kid would dare to approach my porch with Brandon on it. Because he would growl and hiss like mad.)
Halloween is fun! I wouldn't cancel it. I don't do a lot for it, but I certainly hand out candy.
Elizabeth - That's funny. You don't like Halloween, either? By the way...It's not a holiday... :)
Elizabeth, in response to your last question, no I haven't looked anything up on About.com. Now, I have to, your featured article. I agree with you about Halloween but I think we are presured into participating. Personally, I am going to dress up like a banker and scare all of the adults.
I like your ideas.
Don't forget to put business cards in the candy!
All the best!
Kevin
At least we are on the West Coast. Back East we had to worry about 10/30, or "Devil's Night" as it is called back in Chicago, Detroit, etc. That is the night all the pranks get pulled (not so harmless fun like vandalism, soaping windows, etc.).
I for one am thankful that the worst we have to deal with is a little TP.
Happy All Hallows Eve.
Hi Leslie: I know there are supporters out there. It used to be one of my favorite holidays.
Hi Debi: How can you say it's not a holiday. There it is, in big black letters on the calendar -- a holiday.
Hi Fred: Who pressures you into participating?
Hi Kevin: A client gave me a 50-pound box of Ghirardelli chcolate squares to hand out. I can't possibly eat them fast enough. Besides, I'd blow up like a beached whale.
Hi Thomas: I grew up in Minneapolis, and people used to talk about October 30th, but nobody ever did anything. Nope, they saved their pranks for Halloween night.
Elizabeth- this is great. I'm surprised you got featured on About.com. for this. Now I like that site even better than when I read about the nude Yoga.
I Love the little kids, but by 7:30 or so it's only teenagers with a scary mask trying to get the good candy! Surprise, by then all I have left are the cheap suckers- the good stuff went to the little ballerinas & supermen next door.
Want to meet for drinks on Friday night and not be home?
Hi Linda: You should try weird news. You might like that site. Buck is a fun writer. And it's all true.
Drinks sound good to me. :)
I loved the article. It says about what I'd like to say. Before we know it Halloween will be another Christmas and people will be looking for presents. Well, they already are.....knocking on doors for candy IS asking for a present, isn't it?
Ha, ha, thanks, Barbara. I had a person at the conference come up to me and ask if I was the homebuying guide who did the pumpkin article. She was still chuckling about it. See, I don't care what I say; I'll just say it. And sometimes that gets me into trouble. LOL. But not this time.
No, I am NOT ready for Christmas yet. Arrgghh. I'm leaving town on Christmas Day, though. :)
Elizabeth, I just looked at Burt's column, it is funny. Now I subsribed to that too. Shall we meet in Austin at Jason's place for drinks?
Buck will be pleased to hear he has acquired a new reader, Linda. Austin sounds a little far to go, seeing as how I just got back from a trip. I was thinking more about meeting down the street at the Riverside Cafe.
I have a wedding here in Raleigh to go to on Saturday, so next time I'm in Calif, or you're in NC, we'll go out drinking!
Meanwhile, don't be too hard on the little ones! You can always give out raisins.
Hi Linda: Glad you reminded me. I have a shotgun wedding myself to attend. Two of my clients are getting married prior to Prop 8, which is could very well prevent them from getting married after November 4.
What a bummer someone that does not enjoy the fun that can be had one night a year. Just get some food coloring an old pillow case and run around the neighborhood like and idiot grabbing all the candy you can. I wish I were 10 again.
Elizabeth: When I was a kid, if someone's porch light was off it meant they were a mean old scrooge who didn't want to be bothered by us neighbhorhood brats, or they were out of candy. Nowadays, turning off the porch light means NOTHING. I think we need to learn Halloween etiquette again...then cancelling Halloween would be as easy as leaving your porch light off.
Elizabeth - LOL! Well, remember, "holiday" is from "holy day", and Halloween is definitely not that... :)
Elizabeth - Let's see if we can put a smile on the face of the Grinch who Stole Halloween. Consider for a moment that you attach a Market Analysis Certificate to any candy bars you might pass out. The kids will be distributing the certificats free to their parents, and it all it cost you was the cost of the candy, and a little time. It's a great way to "farm" your neighborhood without ever leaving your house.
My husband would happily trade places with you, we live in the country and do not have any trick or treaters at our door. Great post!
Hi Terry: If I were 10 again, I might enjoy Halloween.
Hi Chris Ann: Yeah, I remember the dark houses. We didn't go to them.
Hi Debi: So . . . Washington's Birthday is a holy day?????
Hi Myrl: The kids were throw the market analysis sheets in the street and litter my yard. Then all the neighbors would complain to me.
Hi Crystal: Well, it's too late for this year. Say, do you have a spa?
Elizabeth - I looked up "holiday" in the dictionary. This is the definition I was talking about:
"a religious feast day; holy day, esp. any of several usually commemorative holy days observed in Judaism."
I was saying that if it wasn't a "holy day", then it wasn't a holiday...
However, there is another definition:
"a day fixed by law or custom on which ordinary business is suspended in commemoration of some event or in honor of some person."
So, it looks like I was only half right. Any day that ordinary business is suspended is considered a holiday... :)
Hi Elizabeth,
Well after talking with you this afternoon, I decided I'm going to start the habit of
being a computer guy. You, Jaci, and Tom Braatz are GREAT influences. I'm working
on creating better habits.
Thank You!!
Eric Cornick
Good to hear, Eric. Now start posting on your own blog. Write something. Anything. :)