It seems like we always wind up taking Bill's vacation time in October. We get home in time for the kids to trick or treat on Halloween, but I miss most of the scary movies on television and never quite manage to get my act together enough to decorate the house or carve pumpkins or any of the rest of it.

But we're home this year, with no plans to go anywhere, and no vacation time left if the urge did strike. I've got cheap paper mache tombstones in my kitchen window, and drippy red blood that won't quite stick to the window.



And while we were at Walmart looking for costumes and cheesecloth to use, I took my first trip down the yarn aisle in months and my heart sank a bit because the shelves were so empty. There's an ugly rumor that they're going to close the whole section, and the manager tells me it's true, they just don't know when.

But the end must not be here quite yet. They've got new colors of Bernat Softee Chunky and a new-to-me yarn, Caron Simply Soft Heathers. The colors are gorgeous and it's almost as cheap as the regular Simply Soft -- $2.07 for a 250 yard skein.

I'll be buying enough for a Mommy-size sweater on the way to scrapbooking Friday night, when there aren't any little witnesses.