Day 7: Give Me ALL the Holiday Things!

Usually I don’t buy Halloween décor out of season. I HATE being rushed through the year and I don’t like that the commercialization of the holidays seem to start sooner and sooner. On the radio last week they were talking about Amazon Prime Day (and everyone who has jumped on the bandwagon because of it) being the new Black Friday. As if the original wasn’t bad enough. And don’t get me started on Christmas in July, it gives me rage monkeys. But I couldn’t help myself this year. 2020 has been a bit of a bumpy road and I needed a little early October joy in my life.

I wasn’t going to do it. I halfheartedly tried to fight it, but I think I bought my first October item either in late July or early August from a vintage shop. Once that premature holiday line had been crossed I galloped the rest of the way with gusto. There was no need to hold back now….and I didn’t ;)

I got my first Pumpkin Spice Latte in August the day it came out, and realized that I am kinda over it. I found an alternative last year that became my new favorite and after tasting the PSL this year I don’t see myself changing. The PSL seems cloyingly sweet in comparison and not as enjoyable as it once did. Sigh, something else 2020 ruined for me. From there it was a slippery October filled slope. I bought some discount Halloween crafts for my residents and that opened the door to buying more stuff for me. Then it was pumpkin pop tarts (which I swore I would NEVER buy again, but well….) Next came Zombie skittles and what goes best with zombie skittles, why  a neon green zombie hand pen with a feather boa around it of course. I mean, how could I not? I found my monster cereals at the start of September and may have done a little shuffle dance of joy right at the end of the aisle while hugging them.

The avalanche of new things continued even though I already have 18 boxes of decor. At final tally it was a whole folding table full of new stuff, and then came the dueling banjo skeletons that I just HAD to have. I named them Billy Bob and Earl. I also bought a spooky mansion October advent calendar but I’m pretty sure it was a scam and I am never going to see it. Maybe it will be a Valentine’s surprise?

Once I had my banjo playin’ fellas and a countdown calendar in route, I decided, why wait till October, I will start decorating now. I did get the boxes down in early September but unforeseen circumstances like smoke, family, and exhaustion kept me from decorating until the end of the month, but that didn’t hinder my purchasing power. I bought a Sleepy Hollow Bed and Breakfast sign from the coffee shop yesterday and am considering going back for another that is all about zombies. Also in the shopping cart was a new costume because the one I bought earlier in the year wasn’t cutting it anymore and that paved the way down the holiday rabbit hole that lead me to a pair of Scandinavian vampire trolls. I know, I know, I have a problem. The first step is admitting it. But I don’t want a cure. I’ll have you know I saw a Pegasus costume for bunnies and I neither bought a bunny nor the costume, so there is some hope for me yet…….but I really thought about it for a few minutes. 

What October purchases have you made thus far? Did I actually leave anything else for others to buy?

October Thought Day 10: A Bit Out of Control.....and I Like It, Like It, Yes I Do

There is a meme going around about white girls and pumpkin spice everything, and the sad thing is, I sorta....ok really, relate to it. It isn't so much that I love pumpkin spice as it is the fact that I pretty much love anything pumpkin. I have a real problem when it comes to pumpkin.....everything. If there is a picture of a pumpkin on it, I buy it. If there is wording that has pumpkin in it, I buy it. I really have no control over the matter. I have tried to abstain from pumpkin buying and what do I do instead, buy more pumpkiny stuff. Is there a Pumpkin Buyers Anonymous group that I could join? Cuz it has the word pumpkin in it and I would totally go. See, what I mean.

This mania extends to other facets of October as well. Holiday magazines. For the other eleven months of the year I might buy a magazine here and there but come fall, I'm a goner. This year I have amassed 15 different holiday magazines. Periodicals that I don't even give a second glance to at any other time. But they had fall things on the front so I was greatly compelled to purchase them. It got so bad this year that I bought two of them twice because I thought that I didn't already have them.

I have bought two more pumpkin cookbooks that I really didn't need and a sweatshirt that communicates my love of pumpkin spice. I have made a batch of pumpkin spice cupcakes and am planning on having a pumpkin everything day with a friend later in the month. My mania seems to be reaching abnormal and worrying proportions.
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But the kicker was today. I went to my second corn maze and this one had a pumpkin patch. I had my two trusty pumpkin sherpas with me and they did an amazing job of finding exactly the pumpkins that I liked. They did too good a job in fact. I came home with 13 pumpkins. It was almost twelve, but then as the hay wagon was leaving the patch I spied one more perfect pumpkin. I actually yelled for the driver to stop (I had to yell, the tractor was loud and I didn't think he would hear me). I jumped off the back, scooted down the row, grabbed my pumpkin and was back on board in a flash. My two sherpas were just shaking their heads at me. As I sat surveying my pumpkiny loot, one of the sherpas said "you have a problem." And when I cast longing looks at the passing patch and turned to tell them I wanted just one more, they both said "NO, you don't need any more." To which I replied, of course I don't need them, I want them. I may have looked a little like Gollum when I said it and called the orange orbs my precious as I sat in the middle of them and tried to hug them all.
Last year I think I had twenty some pumpkins. I am mulling over the idea of getting 31 this year and carving numbers into each of them. I don't know, that may be taking things a bit far, but then when it comes to October, moderation doesn't seem to be my strong suit.