October seems to have decided to blow by at the speed of light. (It could stand to hurry up a wee bit more, btw, because any and all election mentions make my head explode at this point.) I looked at the calendar yesterday and realized that if I wanted to finish with the Halloween decorations before Christmas, I needed to get on it. So, Alexis and I ventured into the yard to work on the last few decorations for the yard.

I've mentioned that Alexis is a WUSS and is scared of all scary Halloween stuff, and I had thought about toning it down this year. Then I thought again and figured she could either get on board the Creepy Train or just hide in her room until November. The Creepy Train ain't stopping. So, I pulled out my favorite decorations, the ghost lanterns that I like to hang in our big Oak tree.

Alexis was not a fan of the ghost lanterns. At all. As soon as I lifted one out of the plastic tub, she started whining and whimpering and complaining, "I no like goats, Momma."

I wanted to reply, "I no like wussy chicks and they are ghosts, not goats." I didn't, though. I just ignored her and kept on putting up the ghost. Then another ghost, then another ghost.

Alexis backed further and further away, continually saying, "Put dem away, Momma!"

I ignored her. The Creepy Train doesn't stop for wusses.

Finally came the big payoff. I carefully led the extension cord through the yard and plugged in the entire ghost colony with a flourish. "Taa daa!" I said.

Alexis looked at the ghosts. Alexis looked at me. Alexis looked at the ghosts. Alexis looked at me.

Suddenly, she took off running, fast as she could. She ran and ran and ran, not once looking back.

She grabbed hold of the first ghost she could reach and yelled, "Ook, Momma! Pretty lights!"

Uh huh. This kid is gonna LOVE living here in a few weeks when the Light the Place Up Like a Griswold Train starts rolls through.