Too much supply. Not enough demand.

Every Halloween, I end up buying way too much candy for trick-or-treaters. I'm not sure why I fall into this pattern every year. I just always overdo it.

It's not like I don't have past experience to learn from. This is our eleventh Halloween living at this address, and in the past ten years, we've probably had a grand total of five trick-or-treaters come to our door.

We live in a rural area, so it's not like kids are going to casually walk past our driveway en route to visit the rest of the neighborhood. Our driveway is kind of long, so that can be a bit intimidating as well. Basically, the only way a kid is going to knock on our door, is if mom or dad drives them up to our house.

Which is why every year on Halloween, I start the night with a huge bowl of candy. And when the last few minutes wind down for the designated trick-or-treat time, the bowl is just as full.

So if you're in my neighborhood this Saturday, November 1st, between 4:00 and 7:00 PM, feel free to stop by our house to take your fair share of this bountiful harvest. If I'm impressed with your costume, you can help yourself to two handfuls from my big bowl of treats.

But if this Halloween is like every other year of the past decade, my family and I will be grazing on milk chocolate and partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil well into next year -- in fun size!

What would you have done?

The other day, I was driving westbound on I-94, a few miles east of Barker Road. It was late in the afternoon, toward the end of rush hour, so traffic was a bit heavy and slow moving. As traffic began to break up a bit, I noticed that the car ahead of me kept swerving out of his lane. (We were in the middle lane, so there was one lane on each side of us for him to veer into.)

It was obvious that this driver was somehow impaired and that he only had partial control of his vehicle. Through his back windshield, I could see the driver vigorously shaking his head back and forth. He was either trying to wake himself up, or sober up. Was he a drunk driver? Or just a guy who desperately needed a nap? Either way, it seemed like a dangerous situation.

As I followed behind at a safe distance, my heart rate began to speed up. It was one of those scenarios where you are just waiting for something bad to happen. Just as I was about to get on my cell phone to call 9-1-1, this driver took the next exit, and was soon gone from my sight. Hopefully he headed straight for a hotel, or a gas station to purchase an energy drink. The sooner he got off the road, the better.

If I would have witnessed his car sideswiping another driver, I would have felt terrible for not being proactive in reporting the situation. But what is the best course of action in a situation like this? Is it appropriate to dial 9-1-1 to alert the local authorities? Is it feasible to expect the cops to locate this driver in a timely manner?

If you had witnessed this driver swerving in and out of his lane, what would you have done?

Online Grocery Shopping

I don't like grocery shopping. I'm not sure why I developed this attitude, but there is something about this chore that has me looking for excuses to put it off for another day.

Going to the grocery store used to be a simple task when Jack was a baby. He would sit in the cart, content as could be. I could breeze through the aisles quickly, and complete my shopping in 30 minutes or less. But now that Jack is three years old, he has no interest in sitting in the cart, and would rather explore the store at his own pace, in his own erratic pattern. What used to be an efficient trip, is now a chaotic, drawn-out experience. So when I received a brochure in the mail the other day from a company offering grocery delivery, I took interest.

I've vaguely known about this type of service for awhile, but I never really seriously considered it for myself. I wondered, who is the typical customer for this type of home delivery service? Is it mostly people who can't physically leave their homes? Or perhaps individuals who don't have time to spend in a grocery store. Or, maybe it's people who just prefer to do all of their shopping online.

There are a number of companies online that offer home delivery of groceries. Because there are so many available, I have to believe that a fair number of shoppers rely on this type of service. Here are just a few:

PeaPod

NetGrocer

EthnicGrocer.com

GroceryWorks.com

PD Quick

Have you ever shopped for groceries online? Is the delivery service reliable? Can I expect a total stranger to be as particular as I am about picking perfect produce? And is there any real value to having your groceries delivered straight to your door?

If you have ever ordered groceries online, please share your experience.

I'm not convinced that online grocery shopping is the best option for me. But when I think about the hassle of chasing Jack around the liquor department of our local Pick N Save for 15 minutes, anything is possible.

Old World Wisconsin: Autumn on the Farms

This past Sunday, Jack, Jennifer and I attended Autumn on the Farms at Old World Wisconsin. The weather was unseasonably warm for mid-October. And although the day's events were supposed to represent the fall harvest, the warm weather made it feel more like a mid-summer festival.

Dozens of volunteers dressed in period clothing to give visitors an authentic look at how farming was done years ago. Here we found some of the lady-folk preparing a lunch for the hard working men in the fields.

As I stated in an earlier post, Old World Wisconsin isn't just a collection of old buildings. Thanks to the efforts of the volunteers, the experience for visitors is truly authentic. Recreating the daily activities of our ancestors is really an act of passion for these folks.



One of the reasons we decided to head to Old World Wisconsin, (besides the fact that it's a fun place to visit), is because my father-in-law, John, had his team of Belgian horses there for a demonstration in the fields.

Pictured below is John guiding a single-blade plow while "Duke" and "Dan" take care of the heavy pulling.



Here's my mom taking a picture of Jack and Jennifer standing next to John's team of work horses.


Jack and I exchanged a high five as we rest our feet for a few minutes. I don't think those folding chairs were accurately depicting the early 1900s.


With Jack wearing overalls, he resembled a little frontier boy of the time. His modern-day sneakers kind of ruined the look though.

Here's Jack looking all cool wearing my sun glasses.



This past weekend was the first of two consecutive weekends that Autumn on the Farms will be held. The final weekend will be August 18 and 19 from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm.

If you're interested in seeing a draft horse demonstration, sawmill operations and steam powered tractors, then Old World Wisconsin is an ideal destination for your family this coming weekend.

Milwaukee County Zoo: Autumn Visit

Few Autumn days can surpass the beauty and comfort that we enjoyed today. With temperatures reaching the high 60s, it was a perfect day to go to the zoo.

Being the rapscallion that I am, I felt compelled to call Jennifer at work and describe the weather as "Perfect. Simply, Perfect". She, (not surprisingly), told me she hated me. (That's a little game we have between us. I remind her how great my life is. She reminds me how jealous she is of me. It's all in good fun.)

The leaves are now turning in southeastern Wisconsin, and with a sky as blue as can be, the scenery was exhilarating.

The zoo was really busy today, despite being a Thursday. If I had a dollar for every stroller I saw, well, let's just say I would have a whole bunch of dollars. And there were lots of dads at the zoo today as well. That was nice to see.

After cruising through our usual circuit: gorillas, flamingos, monkey island, the playground equipment, etc... Jack and I came upon a large group of peacocks. (In this picture, you can only see one peacock, but trust me, there were many more just inches away).

I don't know how many peacocks actually live at the zoo, but it seems that around every corner you can see both males and females. It bothers me to see kids chase after the peacocks. I wish their parents would teach them to respect the animals a little more.

As a special treat, we got to see the giraffes being fed from the observation deck. This ramp, as well as the privilege of feeding the giraffes, are relatively new features. This new giraffe habitat is a drastic improvement over the old one.












Here, Jack contemplates his strategy for convincing mommy to let him have a giraffe at home.













Regrettably, I got Jack excited about riding the zoo train. Unfortunately, I found out from a hand-written note on the train station window that the train wasn't running today due to "forestry problems". I'm not sure what that meant, but I had to find a distraction fast.

Fortunately, the carousel is right next to the train station, and Jack enjoyed his very first carousel ride. I was a bit nervous at first because I thought Jack might get freaked out once the carousel starting moving. To ease him into his maiden voyage, I had Jack ride a stationary giraffe. The next time we go to the zoo, I'll let him break one of the horses or exotic animals.

With all of Jack's running around during our 3-hour visit, he was dozing within minutes of getting back into the car. Cool air, lots of exercise, and a nice, long afternoon nap from your toddler makes for a pretty good day.

Dum Dums on the Carpet

For the first three years of his life, Jack had little interest in candy. But recently, he has started to develop a bit of a sweet tooth. And with that discovery, comes a new found interest in sampling some of the various sugary treats available in the world. One such example, the Dum Dums Pop.

Jack refers to Dum Dums as "lolly pops". And when he is handed an unwrapped lolly pop, he seems to find more enjoyment making a "slurp, slurp" sound, rather than actually tasting it. But after Jack has had his fill of the lolly pop, it is usually abandoned at a most undesirable location.

Here is a lolly pop left for dead on the carpet in Jack's bedroom.


With Halloween only a few weeks away, we are heading into the peak season for "candy accumulation overload". So, rationing Jack's candy intake will be very important. I don't mind letting Jack enjoy a bite size candy bar every now and then. (There are health benefits to chocolate, right??) But as a general rule, if more of the candy treat ends up on the floor than in Jack's mouth, I'll feel no guilt in throwing that candy in the garbage.

How do you plan on handling your kids' candy stash this Halloween? Will you limit how they consume the candy? Or do your kids show self-restraint?