Bunny Bunny, Boo, and Bailouts, Oh My!

Bunny, Bunny!

Phew, so glad to get that out of the way.  Confused?  See yesterday's post.  

Happy October 1st.  I love October!  Leaves turning vibrant colors, crisp air, sweaters, pumpkins, and my Annual Random Acts of Kindness Party  What more could you ask for?  We are going to have a great month together, gearing up for and celebrating Halloween.

It was just about a year ago that we sold our house and were preparing to make our move from Louisville to Dallas.  We lived in our Old Kentucky home for four years.  The irony, for someone who loves community as much as I do, is that we really only connected with one set of neighbors.  Then, literally weeks before we moved a new family moved in to the neighborhood.  They were great.  Four kids - all around the same age as my boys - fun, social, and generally nice to be around.

They introduced me to the world of "BOO"ing.  Forty two years of life, homes in nine different states, a Halloween Junkie, and I had never heard about the Halloween tradition of "BOO"ing your neighbor.  Once my eyes were opened to the idea, I called everyone I knew.  I called my friends, my sister in-law, my niece, everyone and anyone I thought might get into the act of "BOO"ing.  I single handedly booed my co-workers, other neighbors, and teachers and kids at Matthew's preschool.  I was, for all intent and purposes, a "BOO"ing Ambassador.

So, for the few remaining soles in the world who still might not know what "BOO"ing is - today is dedicated to YOU!  I will share the idea and then we'll "spread the spirit" by "BOO"ing other websites or Blogs.  Think of the fun of it!

BOO!

The air is cool, the season fall

Soon Halloween will come to all.

Ghosts and goblins,spooks, galore,

Tricky witches at your door.

The spooks are after things you do, 

In fact a spook brought this to you!!!

The excitement comes when friends like you

Will copy it & make it two

We'll all have smiles upon our faces,

No one will know who "BOO"ed whose places!!!

Just two short days to work your spell, 

Keep it secret, hide it well.

Please join the fun, the season's here.

Just spread these "BOO's" & Halloween cheer.

Join www.highlowaha.com 

in catching the Halloween spirit and "Booing" two more blogs.  Simply cut and paste this into the comment section of two of your favorite blog sites.

The fun doesn't stop there.  Make a post in our comment section at www.highlowaha.com letting us know you saw this and your name will go in a 

Trick or Treat drawing, to be held on Friday, October 31.

O.k., so my idea is to have each of you cut and paste the orange text and then post it in the comment section of two other blogs.  Let's see how far we can make this spread between now and October 31!  Don't be shy.  How about posting our "BOO" in high-profile blogs such as Oprah's, Ellen Degeneres's, Anderson Cooper 360, Larry King, Joann Fabric's blog.  Think outside the box!

If you've never heard of "BOO"ing and you are interested in doing it for your neighborhood or co-workers, let me know and I will forward you other helpful "instructions."

Still on the topic of Halloween...  Half the fun of holidays is the build up - the anticipation of what is to come.  For Halloween it's the excitement of deciding on a costume, hearing what costumes your friends have decided on, enjoying the decorations in your neighborhood, finding pleasure in simple things like carving a pumpkin or creating a ghost.  Life's simple pleasures... they are out in full force during the Halloween season.

Each day this month, I will share a simple daily activity that my boys and I will engage in to build their excitement and to make sure life's simple pleasures don't escape them.  Emphasis on the word, "SIMPLE."  Sure, there are more elaborate things we could do (the internet is FULL of them), but that isn't realistic for our hectic life style.  Instead we're going to keep it simple.  Feel free to follow along with your family, friends, (or residents).  And, if you're doing something similar, how about sharing the ideas you have?

Today's activity...  Of course... BOO a neighbor!  Per my sister in-law's recommendation, I assigned this to October 1, in an effort to maximize the number of families who get "BOO"ed by Halloween Day.

Now Bailouts.  Not the stock market.  Not the credit market.  This bail out is a Highlowaha bailout.  Midnight yesterday marked the end of the 77 day period, in which we were supposed to accumulate 9,153 views of our site.  We missed the mark by 508 readers.  I was trying to imagine... what's the opposite of Dividend Cookies?  When we exceeded our goal by 1,765 views, I baked chocolate cookies using exactly 1,765 mini chocolate chips.  So, if you miss the goal, what happens?  

I consulted with my MBA husband.  He suggested lowering pay or firing people.  I had to remind him, though he feels like this is my full time job and that so many of you work like paid staff for highlowaha, there is no pay and there is no staff.

Cut backs.  That's what I decided on.  We should still celebrate the 8,645 views we've had over last 77 days, since that's nothing to sneeze at.  BUT, times are tough.  Fewer readers... fewer donations.  Fewer donations... fewer giveaways.  Fewer giveaways... fewer readers.  You see where I'm going with this.  Yes, today we'll celebrate, but we'll have to do it in a no-frills way.  No perks.  Cut backs.  Chocolate chip cookies without the chocolate chips.  That's what one of our lucky readers will win.   To the Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) box I go...

And the winner is...  

KATIE KOLKMEIER

Announcements:

• RAK Box:  Get your name in the RAK box and be the recipient of a Random Act of Kindness.  Send me a postcard with your mailing address.  Postcards should be sent to Claudia K. Beeny, 4012 Harvestwood Court, Grapevine, TX, 76051.  You've got to be in it to win it.
  
• Have a Pet?  Don't forget to send a picture to kkolkmeier@gmail.com by tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. (EST).  You won't want your pet left out of the fun!
  
• Blog-a-thon:  We have 14 of the 96 slots filled.  82 more to go.  Who do you know?  How can we get them signed up?