Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone! Is everybody out there donning those costumes and getting zonkered? Dang, wish I could be there.

Halloween used to be one of my favorite holidays....that was before I nearly caught the kitchen on fire. I guess it's a blonde's perogative to walk out with water boiling on the stove. Go figure.

I remember it as if it were yesterday...

The kids were maybe 10 and 14, I suppose. Maybe a little younger. I fixed them hot dogs and french fries being as they were in a hurry to get out, and that was the quickest thing I could whip up. I'm not sure where their father was...he had a habit of leaving it to me to take the kids trick-or-treating, while he did a little tricking and treating himself (another story for another time).

The kids downed their dogs and fries, and we flew out the door.

Took us about an hour, then we headed back home with enough cavity-producing sweets to last a lifetime.

It was about when I got to the back door, I saw it. SMOKE.

I ran inside, and the kitchen cabinets were on fire. I paniced, then grabbed the phone.

And dialed 411.

"Operator."

All I can remember is shouting, "My house is on fire!"

The woman on the other end said, "Dear, you've called the operator. Dial 911, not 411."

Talk about blonde!

Well, I said to hell with that, took a pot, filled it with water, and put the damn fire out myself.

As this was a rental, and I sure as hell wanted my deposit back, I tried painting over the burnt cabinets with white paint. Don't even waste your time, folks. Doesn't work.

So, this is one of my not-so-fondest memories of Halloween. I never fail to screw up holidays, and this was my one last holiday I didn't have horror stories to tell, and now I managed to add one more to the pot.

I hope everyone is having a safe Halloween. Just remember it's 911, not 411, and you'll be all right.

Don't forget tomorrow I'll be guest blogging on Kathy Holmes' blog, "Women's Fiction With Attitude"! See you there!