Halloween

It's Halloween night. The coldest wind yet this season is battering the last of the leaves from our trees outside. It snowed earlier today around noon, but all the parents of Midland bundled up their kids and brought them to our street earlier tonight. Parker's asleep, Maryn's in the shower, and Avery is still at a friend's house.

It's been a month since I blogged here last. As the three of you who read this blog already know, I passed my dissertation defense last week. I am now officially Doctor Brown. I've felt no pain to speak of for ten days now. After eight years of that constant weight, I just feel kind of ... bouyant right now, you know? The thing that's just been there for SO LONG is no longer there. It's weird. I feel a little at a loss. It's not as though I don't have things to do. As usual, I have a stack of essays to read and grade just to my left as I type this. There have been basketball games, play rehearsals, holiday parties, classes, and a million other things, so it's not like I've been sitting around eating bonbons and watching Oprah reruns. But that nagging feeling in the back of my head is gone, and it feels weird to not have it there. I feel like I'm supposed to start writing the Great American Novel or start putting model ships in bottles or something. I don't know what though. I'm sure Suzy has some suggestions.

Anyway, victory looks like this:

Yep, victory looks like a pumpkin-head in a tie. 

Anyway, I've been doing my little radio show for the last couple of months now, and it's turned out to be pretty fun. For someone who loves movies and going to the movies as much as I do, I've been surprised at how rarely I actually do either of those things. I get a little self-conscious about how few new releases I review on a Movie Review Show. But I figure most people watch stuff on their phones or laptops or Apple hologram watches or whatever these days, so reviewing something on Netflix or DVD is as valid for most movie goers as a new release. Right? With the winter awards season coming up, I hope to actually get to the theater and see some of the big, new movies coming out. If you're wondering, the link to that blog is marksmovieshed.blogspot.com.

Avery finished her basketball season this last week. Their team ended up winning all but one game all season, and it was just such fun to watch her get out there and be good at something that I just have no concept of. When the girls win Young Authors or get an art piece placed in the community show, I think, "Sure, I get that." When Avery sinks an outside shot from close to the three-point line or snatches the ball away from an opponent and passes it down court, I think, "Wait, what just happened? How did that happen?" It fills me with a lot of pride and satisfaction to see her find something that is just hers. The fact that she's good at it is just gravy.

Maryn is working hard at school and in rehearsals for Schoolhouse Rock: The Musical. She's the president of the Beehives at church and seems to thrive on that kind of responsibility. She's a very good kid.

Parker is getting bigger and smarter all the time. She's insane and loves movies a little too much, but she's fantastic and we love her. She wandered up to me today, hugged my legs, and just said, "I love you, Daddy" for no reason at all. She's pretty great.

I know that this is a short, mostly Mark-centric entry after a month of nothing. But it's all I've got this evening and I think I hear some Halloween candy calling my name.