Boo.

Mary, our dog, is the only other female in the house. Chris and the boys play with her, cradle her Schnauzer snout in their hands so they can make eye contact as they speak sweetly to her, and provide appropriate human/dog affection. They...touch her. I don't do any of these things. But, Mary adores me. Pines for me. Will do anything to please me. Like allow me to dress her in costumes.

She was Uhura for Halloween.

Mary was a little disappointed that she didn't fill out her Starship Enterprise uniform as well as the original Uhura. My friend and Mary's seamstress, Julie B., said next year we can fix that. Falsies. Mary smiled.

The boys are great about participating in what has become a family tradition—a Halloween costume theme that includes Mary as the token female character.

The older boys chose to change out of their Captain Kirk and Spock costumes for trick-or-treating. But Redmond enjoyed being Scotty. Might have something to do with the Taser.

Duke was an elf. We're not sure what Parke was. He wore a mask from his Theater class and a black robe. We called him "creepy guy".

**********

Chris walked around the neighborhood with our boys and I stayed home to man the door. We had close to 200 trick-or-treaters. One group of little girls who I didn't recognize lingered for a bit. I commented on their costumes and asked if they were having fun. Finally one of the girls asked, "Are you the lady who wrote that book about Mormons?" She looked like she was eight-years-old.

"Yes," I said. "That's why I'm giving out full-size candy bars."