Halloween

We had our neighborhood Trunk or Treat tonight.  I found a cheerleader costume at the D.I. a couple of months ago for Evelyn - only $3.  Margaret got a painted black nose and whiskers.  What a cute little black kitten.

A little enthused to go get candy:

And now to get geared up for my teenage son's Halloween party tomorrow night.  On the agenda:  "Creature from the Black Lagoon" movie with loaded nachos, popcorn and candy.  To be followed by some 'Night' geocaching and then warm butterbeer and donuts upon arriving back home.  Should be a lot of fun!

Mette

In the quest to decide on a name for our little Margaret before she was born, our family went to drastic measures.  We very much like old names, family names, historically important names, and tend to steer completely away from anything trendy or overly popular.  I liked Helen.  Porter liked Lucy.  And Bill had his heart set on Margaret.  We knew that the middle name would for sure be Deloris, after Bill's late mom. A bracket was drawn up one night (think college basketball March Madness here), with our top ten or so names.  Bill, Porter and I each filled out our own brackets, pinning name against name to see who would move on to the next bracket.  In any event, I don't really remember the outcome, just that it didn't really help much.

As time pressed on, I eventually softened to the name Margaret Deloris.  In fact, I grew very attached.  And when Margaret was born (on Deloris' 75th birthday) I wondered how I could have considered calling her anything else.

Just this past Sunday, Bill and Porter were having fun on a website where you can type in your full name and see how many people in the U.S. have the same name as you.  They typed in Margaret's name and it also suggested other forms of her name to try, like Maggie, Meg, Marjorie, and............Mette. 


Mette?

Before Bill's dad Brian passed away, he was an English professor.  He was also a playwright.  One of the plays that Brian wrote was entitled Mette (pronounced Metta).  Brian wrote this play about his Danish great grandfather Anders Nelson's first wife Mette, a stalwart, brave, faithful woman who Brian greatly admired (enough to write an entire play about her!)

Astonished, Bill went to wikipedia and typed in the name Mette.

This is what he found:

Mette: a female name of Scandinavian origin, descended from the name Margaret.

I must say, it sent chills up our arms to find this.

People have often asked us if Margaret was a family name.  We would tell them that mostly we just loved the name.  We both had Margarets in our family trees, but they were way, way back in the family lines that we didn't have any histories on them.

But now the name Margaret, the name we love, means ever so much more.  And one day, our Margaret will be able to sit down and read the incredible play that her grandfather wrote about a strong, steadfast  woman from our family history, who shares her name.

the gem of our neighborhood

Evelyn thinks the world of our neighbor Ed.

If ever I can't find Evelyn in the house or yard (she is a world renowned escape artist), I know I need to look down the street with the kids in the culdesac, or across the street at Ed's house.

When Ed comes across the street to visit or say hello, and Evelyn is anywhere in close proximity, we know that Evelyn will want to be involved in the bulk of the conversation....because Ed is very exciting to talk to.

And Ed makes Evelyn feel very important.

Recently, I found Evelyn sneaking back into the house through our kitchen sliding door, carrying the Arctic Circle coupon flier that we had gotten in the mail that afternoon.  I asked her where she had been and she, without hesitation replied, "I wanted to show Ed the Square Pumpkins.  I think he needs one for dinner."

A couple of weeks ago, just before bed time, she wanted to show Ed her bubbles:

He's a wonderful, wonderful man.

One of those people that just restores a person's faith in the inherent goodness of mankind.