Trick or Treat bucket...list

As I have told you before, this year I made a bucket list of things I wanted to accomplish for each holiday. Another Halloween has come and gone, so here is the list of activities on my bucket list. I accomplished these between mid-September and October 31.

Trick or treat. I wanted to go trick-or-treating. But it's not really socially acceptable for a grown man to go trick-or-treating without children, and I don't really know any children who live close to me. But on Halloween I dressed up in my Vector costume and went to my grandparents' house, and they gave me candy. It wasn't seasonal candy, but I figured I could eat it since I obtained it through one of the most seasonal activities there is. Then I walked around in my Vector costume and went to my friend Shane's house. His mom answered the door and gave me candy--and then I went inside to watch a movie; we watched The Invisible Man.

Dress up. My first costume opportunity this year was my Haunted Half Marathon, where I wore my Vector costume. Some of you asked for pictures. I didn't care for any of them, but here you go.

I also dressed up as a vampire (my favorite costume) at a stake event and as Vector again on Halloween itself.

Give to trick-or-treaters. I gave to one group of kids, and we kind of recited the Vector/girls "pajamas" dialogue as I gave out the candy. But I only gave to that one group, because I had other things I had to be doing.

Rake leaves. I really hate doing chores. Recently I recognized (1) how dumb Facebook is and (2) how much time I waste on Facebook, so I decided I can't go on Facebook on any given day until I have read my scriptures, done a chore, and exercised. But I will gladly rake leaves for my chore, because it's so fun and autumny to be out in the crisp air.

Watch a scary movie. On September 30--the same day I bought a car--I went on a little shopping spree, buying lots of things I don't need but that are fun. One of my purchases was a six-DVD set of classic Universal monster movies. I had seen lots of parodies of those classic movies (Mad Monster Party?, The Munsters), but never the movies themselves. Throughout the course of the season, I watched The Wolf Man, The Mummy, Dracula, and The Invisible Man. Invisible Man was my favorite; Wolf Man was probably my least favorite. I still haven't watched Frankenstein or Bride of Frankenstein.

Go to corn maze. This one required more effort on my part, but barely. I went to Cross E Ranch, technically in Salt Lake City, but basically North Salt Lake. We made it out of the maze, so that's all that counts. I didn't find it extremely thrilling, but it was a fun atmosphere.

Bob for apples. I first bobbed for apples three years ago. At first I was a little weirded out by it--you know, germs and disease--but then I remembered that the year before I had taken a swimming class, and pool water is probably worse than apple bobbing water. I was disappointed when the stake event did bobbing in a pool of styrofoam. That doesn't count! But my friend Susan filled her sink with water so some of us could do it.

Eat donut from a string. I had a little get-together at my house a few weeks ago where we ate donuts from strings (only three of us participated) and watched Mad Monster Party? I used pumpkin donuts then, but then I did it again at the stake event. I decided I could have the non-seasonal donuts since I obtained them through seasonal means.

Hear owl hoot. Sadly, this is the only one I didn't get. Three years ago in October, I heard an owl hooting outside our house. Two years ago in October, I found myself on a trail later in the evening and heard owls hooting. This year, I tried to put myself in positions to hear owls. I went on some late runs/hikes, but I didn't hear them. On Halloween night, on my way back from trick-or-treating/watching Invisible Man, I walked through the local Springhill Geologic Park to try to hear owls. I didn't. But I did tell my Amazon Echo, "Alexa, make owl noises." And "she" did!

Even though I didn't hear the owls, I'm glad I had it on my bucket list, because I did things I wouldn't otherwise do. It was fun to walk through miniature woods on a dark autumn night. This is the same status as attending a St. Patrick's Day parade earlier this year. I didn't do it, but I really tried. And on St. Patrick's Day, as I walked through the parade route at the Gateway, I stopped and bought an orange turkey tie, which I have been wearing this week.

Play in leaves. After raking one night, I sat in the pile and threw leaves in the air. It wasn't much, but it counted. I had thought of playing in leaves with a cat, but then I got an indoor-only cat.

See a black cat. Early on in the season, I saw a black cat in my neighborhood. But there's also this black cat that hangs out around my work, with the tiniest speck of white. I don't know whether it's feral or someone's pet, but it's afraid of people. (I know because I can't resist approaching cats.)

Attend a Halloween party. I threw my own, and I also attended that stake one.

Carve a pumpkin. I carved two: one at a ward activity, and one with my family.

Mine are the one on the far left and the sad-looking one in the middle. "Sad-looking" on more than one level.

Foods. In addition to these activities, I also had the following foods: candy corn, caramel apple, pumpkin cheesecake, various pumpkin spice items, apple cider, popcorn ball, Halloween candy, pumpkin pie, pumpkin seeds.

I've already begun my Thanksgiving bucket list. Though holidays affect every aspect of my life, I haven't always done activities specific to those holidays. It has been fun to change that this year by engaging in more traditions.

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Random story of the week: So, at work, there are a bunch of senior missionaries whose cubicles are in the same row as mine. I'm glad I'm no longer next to the noisy one who yells at his computer all the time (see here and here). But on four separate occasions now, I have heard one lady mumble/whisper "Mark" as she walks by my cubicle. We don't know each other, and I don't have a nameplate, so I'm sure she's not talking to me. Once my coworker thought she was talking on the phone (he heard it too), but I don't think she is. This week, she said, "Mark, I hate you." I'm trying to figure out why this little old lady (literally) that I don't even know has a personal vendetta against me.

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Pumpkinundation roundup continues through Thanksgiving, but caramel apple items end at Halloween.

 A few years ago, I got one of these Happy Apples Caramel Apples, and it tasted off. This one was fine, but the convenience store did have a lot for sale that expired a month ago. I was going to tell the cashier but I could tell she was flustered and stressed out already. These apples have caramel and peanuts on them, presumably so they can put them in plastic without the caramel sticking to it. Not as good as caramel apples you get anywhere else. 7/10.

 Pumpkin Puffins Cereal has less sugar than most cereals. It's also one of the better varieties of Puffins. But it's still mostly just OK. 6/10.

 The Steak 'N' Shake Pumpkin Spice Shake has great pumpkin flavor, but the texture is kind of icy and watery. 7/10.

 I ate this Original Gourmet Caramel Apple Lollipop when I was walking around on Halloween night. It's almost sickeningly sweet, even for a lollipop, and the flavor was too fake for something that calls itself "gourmet." 4/10.

 I always have Brach's Autumn Mix around Thanksgiving. Brach's is the best-tasting candy corn out there, though you can't eat too much of it. I have always liked the cocoa Indian corn. Fresh out of the bag, the pumpkins are really tasty. 8/10.

 This Creative Snacks Co. Pumpkin Pecan Granola was wonderful. I ate it as cereal. It was very chewy and more filling than I expected. It was a soft granola, rather than crunchy. 9/10.

 Nature's Path Organic Pumpkin Pie Toaster Pastries are almost as good as their Pop-Tart cousins. But who cares about organic in toaster pastries? 9/10.

 Apple pie joins the roundup now as a Thanksgiving flavor. These Apple Pie Oreos are new this year. I wouldn't say they taste entirely like apple pie, but they're still really good, and the apple flavor isn't as fake as you might expect. 9/10.

 Baskin-Robbins Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream tastes just like pumpkin pie. 10/10.

 Pecan pie is also a Thanksgiving flavor, and these Pecan Pie M&Ms first came out two years ago. I don't know that they taste like pecan pie, but I think I like them better than plain chocolate M&Ms. 8/10.

 Eggnog, like Oreos and Cheesecake Factory, is one of those foods with a shockingly high calorie count. Hood Pumpkin Eggnog is very thick and a little off-putting to drink straight, but mixed with a little milk, it's just like drinking pumpkin pie. 9/10.

 This Ovation Creme de Pumpkin Spice Break-A-Parts puzzles me--why have a pumpkin-flavored item modeled after an orange? Why not model it after a pumpkin? I don't think it's super pumpkiny, but it's still good. 7/10.

At Costco I got a sample of a Pumpkin Strudel Muffin. I actually had these last year on our Thanksgiving road trip. It's pretty standard pumpkin bread fare, which isn't a bad thing. 7/10.