Candy Corn & Other Fall Fun

I've been eagerly waiting for October to allow myself to put a cute Fall template on my blog.  It is now twelve days into October  (It's twelve days into October???  REALLY???), and I've just had the time to stop and think about it.  I was very very excited to find this cute template with my favorite fall treat...Candy Corn!  Otherwise known as The Great Diet Destroyer.  And don't EVEN get me started on Mellowcreme Pumpkins.  I can eat a whole bag in one sitting.  Of course, then I feel like I have a 50 pound weight in my gut, but I remain undeterred. 

This is my favorite time of year for many reasons:  cooler temperatures, football, sweatshirts, football, beautiful colors, football, pumpkin scented candles, football.  Are you seeing a pattern here?  Just wait until basketball starts.  Then the craziness REALLY kicks in.  One of my favorite yearly rituals is pulling out my box of Fall decorations.  I always buy new things on clearance once the season is over (see Mom, I really was paying attention all those times I rolled my eyes at you), so every year when I open my box I have one of those "Oh wow!  I forgot I bought this!" moments and I get excited all over again.  This year it was these cute little pumpkins that made my pulse race:

My favorite Fall decoration is this basket I put together the year Aaron and I got married. 

It doesn't look like much, but I saved my pennies and bought the basket and the goodies to go inside it when we really didn't have the money to spend on frivolous things like pumpkins and fake leaves and scarecrows.  Every year I get excited to pull out my "punkins" because it reminds me of how far we've come from that teeny little 3rd floor apartment and the '86 Honda Civic with red duct tape on the seats. 

So this year, as I began to pull my decorations out of my box (while watching football) Pepper was standing nearby wondering what the heck Mom was doing and what that weird smell was (pumpkin candles from last year).  And when I pulled out my precious basket that dadgum dog turned into Cujo.  All 8 pounds of her.  I kid you not.  Her hackles went up, her teeth bared, and this low menacing growl came from deep down in the pit of her little belly.  Then the snarling started.  And then the barking.  And then, of course, being the team-player that he is, Rowdy woke up from his nap and ran over to join in the fun.  They weigh less than 30 pounds between the two of them, but trust me, they can be a deafening 30 pounds when they want it to be.  It look 10 minutes to calm them down enough to put the basket where it belonged.  And still - two weeks later - every time Pepper comes into the living room she jumps when she sees my beloved pumpkin basket.  And she snarls at it a little bit before moving on to other things. 

Let me just say that I am extremely nervous about her reaction to the Christmas tree.