Is it really November?

I think I lost October. I know I saw it around here somewhere, but it slipped by me so fast that I'm feeling a little disoriented.

So I keep clicking on the time in the top bar on my computer, reading again the date that is revealed and trying to convince myself that it really is November. That whirlwind of costume sewing and classroom parties and candy (so much candy) that happened earlier this week did actually culminate in Halloween, the last day of October. And now - November. November is starting a little slow - even the Great Pumpkin came to our house a day late this year, lazy guy that he is.

Does the Great Pumpkin visit your house? He only started visiting our house a couple of years ago, after I learned from a friend that a simple request to the Great Pumpkin hotline could result in yearly visits from this fine rotund friend. He is quite an accommodating holiday hero, tailoring his services to each individual household's needs.

At our house, the Great Pumpkin only visits after my children have sorted through their Halloween trick-or-treating haul and saved out only as much will fit into a quart-sized ziploc bag. Then they leave the rest of their empty-calorie-laden bounty on the table when they go to bed, and during the night the Great Pumpkin takes the sweets and leaves a gift. Reasonable gifts - a single DVD or a modest iTunes gift card.

My girls have made the transition to this holiday tradition quite easily, and the significantly smaller collections of sugar bombs hanging around our house has made me a much happier mom. This year my 13-year-old did finally have a problem with the whole transaction. A direct quote of her reaction to my handing her the quart sized bag: "But I worked hard to get this huge haul of candy!" After some not so memorable snippy comments back and forth, though, she agreed to trust the Great Pumpkin, and was happy with her new iTunes buying power.

OK - actually, the Great Pumpkin wasn't even organized enough to get an iTunes card - rather he left her a twenty-dollar bill with the note that it could be used to buy a DVD of her choice or used for iTunes downloads (her younger sister got a DVD). Next year he'll probably know to plan ahead and get a gift card, if he's not to sidetracked by other Halloween issues.

Well, now it's November and I need to convince my husband that the trash can is the best place for this huge bag of candy that he hid somewhere around the house the other night. I hate to be wasteful, but so far I can't think of any better options. Any ideas?