Treats...

I wish I was a big ol' tech geek and I knew how to do that thing they do at the very beginning of one of my very favorite shows - Glee.  That thing where they catch you up on what happened last time with some clips and catchy dialog.   It's all sing-songy in the background.  It appeals to my general feeling that I should have a theme song that plays every time I enter the room.  And perpetual clapping.  And a laugh track. 

I could blame my step-mother for the fact that I haven't checked in.  Apparently, I am heathenizing her because she chooses to read my blog regularly rather than reading her daily devotional.  I submit that she should approach the dude that writes the devotional and challenge him to be slightly more entertaining.  Because I wholly believe that God digs funny.  Or maybe my next project should be a daily devotional - Jenny style.  But, while I care about my peeps, that's not the reason for my slight absence.

We here at the Savvy Cavy household love Halloween.  We love the decorations.  We love the anticipation.  We love the costumes.  We love love love the candy.  Every year Hubs takes the kiddos out while I stay behind and pass out the candy.  Well.  This is the year that I said NO MORE!!!  I wanted us all to go out together.  It was something new!!!  Hubs was worried about how we could pass out candy but I didn't care.  Oh no.  Not I.  But Hubs took off with the kids and after going up the street and coming back down (having hit probably 20 or so houses in the process) and having only two homes pass out candy, he was done.  Our street is hit or miss when it comes to the Halloween goodness.  I'm not just talking about the loot.  I'm talking about that feeling that those of us that grew up in the 80s remember of it being crowded and fun.  Everyone wanted to pass out candy and everyone wanted to get candy.  There have been two years out of our 9 on this street that I would say that Halloween rocked out loud.  Hubs took them out and came back with a giant candy bar and a book or video about Jesus that one house gave out.  I loved that Christians were taking an opportunity to be culturally current and do something with such love.  The people knew that it was about the candy.  They knew that there are many people who think that Halloween is not honoring to God and won't even participate.  But they found this totally sweet spot of compromise.  Then, for these two awesome years that I'm talking about, they fired up their grill and handed out hot dogs to everyone as well.  Everyone was out those two years.  Everyone was smiling.  Everyone was friendly.  We felt like neighbors.  And that was a big deal because we do not live in a neighborhood.  We live on a street.  And it isn't until you live on/in one do you discover the difference between the two.  I yearn in my heart for a neighborhood.  I yearn for a community.  I want the cul-de-sac where I grew up.  We would just fire up a grill and like 5 houses would hang out and eat together.  One of the houses would do it up for Halloween by opening their garage and serving punch - some for the kids and a totally different one for the adults.  I want my kids to grow up with other kids.  I want to nestle in and take root.   There have been some highlights.  There is a friend who lives two doors down and that has helped immensely.  But I want girls for my girls and older guys for my older guy.  They need friends.  And I need a place where letting them go outside and play doesn't mean that every time a car speeds over our ineffectual speed humps, my heart drops to my stomach.  This house has been a blessing but this is not where we will be for the long haul.  Unless, of course by long haul you mean until the housing market makes a return, then yes, we will be here for the long haul...  Anywho.  About Halloween.  The one awesome house we had on our street was sold and the God-lovin', people-lovin, candy-lovin folks are gone this year.  And I'm pretty sure they didn't leave behind instructions or provisions for the new owners.  So.  Hubs comes home and we put a sign up by the candy that says take two and jump in the van.  I took a wrong turn to get to our destination but it turned out to be exactly the right turn.  We pulled onto a street that led to the planned street and it was unbelievable.  First, the weather was AWESOME (which, obviously, had nothing to do with the street.  It's not like it was all dark and ominous at our house and then we ended up at this street and the clouds parted and the heavens sang and the sun streamed through)!  And there were all these kids and parents milling about.  And the people giving out candy were all sitting outside of their homes next to fire pits and their friends and their cocktails.  They bought good candy and smiled.  At least two houses had dog treats out for pets wandering around.  Some dressed up.  Some dressed their dogs up.  The houses were decorated.  They appropriately oohed and ahhed over my children's costumes.  It was amazing.  It was a total return to our childhoods.  Hubs and I were probably far more excited than the kids.  Until we got home and we sorted and shared candy.  Then everyone was all excited.  And when we got home, our house had not been toilet papered or egged.  It seemed like the first person did not dump the entire bowl into their bag as we feared because there were pieces still in there and around it.  And I'm glad.  I really didn't want to sacrifice someone else's Halloween so that we could have a good one.   It was, by far, the best Halloween we have ever had.  It was so good that I didn't even care that I didn't make time to go dress up like a burrito and get free food from Chipotle.  That's pretty dang good.  Ditching our neighborhood and trick-or-treating as a family gets 10 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. 

I made some homemade beef stock in the crock pot yesterday.  It's a two day process and today is the congeal fat day.  So.  I'm congealing fat and don't know how it turned out.  Don't fret!  I'll let you know!

Tonight I made up a dinner in pretty quick time.  I say that.  Hubs was really hungry so he might have different idea of that...  I had some unsweetened shredded coconut, some panko bread crumbs and this amazing Thai basil sea salt mix that my mom got from Hawaii.  I don't think that amazing is inappropriate to use here so I will reiterate - amazing.  I coated some strips of chicken with flour, dunked them in the egg wash, tossed them with the mixture of the coconut, bread crumbs and sea salt goodness and pan fried them.  It was new, made up and on the spot.  I'm really quite terribly proud of myself.  It was GOOD!  8 out of 10 Jenny's jewels.  Probably it would be better for my heart if I would bake them next time...

I'm going to be laying low for a few days.  We do our run-through of Unbound tomorrow night.  And then we have a shin-dig to go to on Thursday night.  And then Unbound finally comes together.  It's gonna be big.  It's gonna be amazing.  If you live in my area (and you know who you are...), please volunteer.  We need you and honestly, you need to see this happen.

Here are two things I will leave you with.  As a result of Unbound and some ethical friends, I have decided to start with one change in our household.  From now on, any chocolate that enters into our home will be fair trade only.  This is good for a couple of reasons.  The first is the insulation project that has begun on my backside.  I don't need any more siding on the tushie so it's time to reel that beast in.  Fair trade tends to be more expensive so - I won't be buying it as much!!!  And therefore I won't be eating as much chocolate!  The second reason is that there are children who are enslaved to cut down the cocoa pods using machetes.  What I want you to envision is a boy about the age of my son - 9 years old - climbing up a tree with a machete and hacking down cocoa pods.  Then think about him holding a pod in his hand and chopping down on the pod with the machete so he can split it and get the beans out.  I have no business being a cog in a machine that does that to children.  To children who are often taken from desperately poor countries, taken from their families or sold into trafficking by desperate, selfish members of their families and forced to work under such dangerous and oppressive conditions.  It's my second step.  My first step was becoming involved in Unbound.  This is my first considered consumer move of making my dollar make a difference.  If it's not chocolate for you - maybe it's coffee.  Maybe you stop buying stuff made in China.  Just know that at some point, it can't always be about how to spend the least.  At some point, it also has to be about how to truly consider cost.  If the cost involves the oppression of someone, then a penny is too expensive.   If you will step to the side, I'll come down of my soapbox right here...

Okay.  I said I would leave you with a couple of things but then I forgot the second thing.  And you know what that means???  I'm off to bed, Fred.  I want to say goodnight to the lone reader checking me out in the Netherlands.  I want to say thanks to all who take the time.  Smooch.