The few trick-or-treaters we did get were unenthused and depressing. Of twenty-ish kids, probably fifteen were in t-shirts and jeans. A few were in street clothes and generic monster masks, though several weren't even wearing the masks but carrying them. I saw exactly two full costumes - a spiderman and a tiny terrified ladybug. Only a handful actually said "trick or treat," wtf?
I'm really pretty bummed about this because it was the first time I've been able to fulfil the adult end of the trick-or-treating social contract, due to only just now living in a neighborhood, and the kids went and fucked it up. So maybe I quit Halloween? I don’t know. I sure as hell quit it in this part of town. I'm pretty sure most of those kids were from the projects a few blocks over, so nobody had the money to dress them up like fairy princesses, fine. So you draw a bear face on a paper plate or you wear your mama's dress. You make a goddamned effort. Everybody who came to my door was just lame and bored and made me sad.
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The assumed trauma of going to the vet has loomed over us for ages and we finally went this morning. With my past cats it's never been the funnest of outings and now, with ex-ferals, I had no idea what to expect but definitely not a party. I figured we'd have yowling and clawing and maybe some serious disrespect for the vet. But it was incredible. Things they'd never done before, but did today with near-total docility: got trapped in the carrier for a long time, rode in a car, were touched by total strangers, were picked up by people who weren't me or Logan, were in a building that was not our house, were fed squicky banana-flavored (the hell??) worm medication, and were jabbed over and over by needles.
The entire endeavor, including transport to and from, including all the rude personal violations, evoked a little wriggling and exactly one meow. We still can't believe it.
Oh and news: Moose primarily identifies as a woman and no longer wants to live a lie. We ask for your sensitivity and support during this difficult time of transition. The pronouns are going to kick our ass for weeks.